Armour Crafting in AOC

I'm just about to hit level 57 in Age of Conan and have only just decided to take up Armour Crafting despite that I read on the official forums it's hard work gathering some of the resources.  Various kinds of leather being the main ones.  I could have started crafting at level 40 but couldn't decide what I wanted to do...lol.

I think it will come in useful though as I can, if they want it, supply my guild with any armour they may need as self crafted armour is much better than you get in drops and has gem slots.  Other than that I can sell it but it probably wouldn't be very lucrative considering there's probably a large number of others doing the same thing.  I mainly want it for my own use, for my guild and basically just the experience to try it out even if gathering resources is a bit of a grind sometimes.  

It was either that or weapon smithing, but armour is probably more useful.  I can buy or trade rare weapons (or anything else) from the Trader screen where players put them up for sale, and I've sold a few things myself that way, but I wanted to try another trade so I chose armour.  There's also the option to trade player to player directly so there are plenty of ways to do things.

I'm already an Alchemist so as long as I can get the ingredients, I can supply my own potions.   In the early levels up to around level 40 or so, I never bought anything from merchants and relied solely on drops (except for Epic and very rare ones I assume), because I was saving for my horse, but now I have one and have reached higher levels I'm finding a stock of potions is heavily required to survive.  

Most ingredients for all crafts can be purchased from merchants, but there are very rare ones that need to be found via quests or taken off the cold, dead bodies of enemies.   The most used recipes come from trainers, but there are also rare ones that are drops from bosses or I believe can be bought and sold from other players at the Trader screen. 

There's so much to do and learn in this game and I'm still only Free to Play which I hope to remedy in a couple of months.  I'm still a MMO newbie...lol.

Deus Ex : Human Revolution

What can I say....I bought this game on Wednesday and installed it, but didn't have time to play until last night which ended up being a 6 hour marathon.  I only really stopped playing then because I had a neck ache..lol.

Previously I had read a lot of reviews and watched some Let's Play videos and had more or less decided to buy it no matter what since I loved the first game in the series so much.  I played every mod that ever came out for that game.  It was, and still is a true classic.

Deus Ex:Human Revolution is all I hoped it would be and more..  It's not just drop dead gorgeous graphically, but the game play is excellent with a good and diverging story with lots of side quests, and I haven't even left the first city yet.   I can see this being a long and very involving game, much like the first installment.  

In many games I either turn the music off if possible, or lower the volume so I can't hear it because it eventually gets annoying, particularly in games that announce every enemy encounter before it happens, or even if an enemy is somewhere close and never attacks.  The music in this game is unobtrusive and pleasant to listen to especially in the city hubs where it''s always appropriate to the situation.

It doesn't hurt that Adam Jensen is so nice to look at either...lol.  In fact all of the characters and animations are top notch, as is the voice acting.  Cut scenes are like mini  movies...and that is not a criticism. 

Choices and consequences...this is how a game should be and it's done well in my opinion.  I'm trying to go the stealth route mostly as it gains more reward and feels more tense, but like most stealth games I sometimes lose patience and go in guns blazing, which I am pretty good at if I do say so myself.   I've been playing fps and other shooter games since they were first developed way, way back more years than I care to remember at times, so I've had quite some practice.

Another thing is it's such a pleasure to play a game that has no problems with crashing or any other glitches, or at least I haven't had any at all.  I'm extremely happy with STEAM, as I am with Fallout New Vegas and a couple of other games I have that use it and I imagine it will be the same with Skyrim. 

The only complaint I have and it's not really a complaint as such, is some items don't stack in the inventory, but hey, someone has already made a mod for it.  I haven't tried it yet because in a way it's a bit overpowered with the amounts of items one can store, but I might give it a whirl later when I need, or want to keep more items.
It's here if anyone is interested:
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showthread.php?t=121202

Between this game, Age of Conan and Skyrim when 11:11:11 arrives, I'll have my gaming fix for quite some time.  I can already see Deus Ex:HR has a lot of replay value.

I'll write a bit more later and add some screenshots.  Need to catch up on 40 or so winks....especially since I spelled the name of the game incorrectly and just realized in time to change it before I logged out.

Let Me Google That For You

Update:   Just a small clarification here.  I would NOT use this for the pleasure of humiliating someone or for cheap thrills as that is not something I would do.  I DO NOT believe in humiliation to get a point across as many people do.   That mentality just shows how insecure the people who feel the need to put others down actually are. 

I don't consider myself juvenile or immature enough to find satisfaction in that kind of behaviour, so I don't need anyone to suggest or remind me to take care where and how I use it....if I can even be bothered.  Thanks all the same, but I'm not completely devoid of common sense.

I found this link today when I was reading some topics on a game forum where a frustrated poster was trying to get a message across to someone who couldn't be bothered to try to "get it."

I've probably seen it before but never really took much notice even though I use Google quite a lot myself.  I must say it gave me a good laugh when I clicked the link.  

This is the absolutely perfect solution to that person who is looking for quick answers to a problem but doesn't bother to read or even skim over other posts in a related forum thread,  ignores mod Readme's, can't be bothered typing a question into a search engine or is just too damn lazy (and worse than that, they say they are too lazy.)

I'm going to make use of this in future I can tell you.....in the right situation of course.  See above.

 As stated on the search page:
"For all those people who find it more convenient to bother you with their question rather than google it for themselves."

Let Me Google That For You
 http://lmgtfy.com/

Then there's this one for when you're really pulling your hair out with some people or have had a bad day:
http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/

A Few Oblivion Screen Shots

Playing around with a new pose mod.


Just passing the time

Kitty Cat

Love

Trying out as a model

Peace!!

Games Bosses...Arrrggg!!!

What is it with game bosses???  In particular at this moment bosses in Age of Conan, but any game really.  I hate them.  





It's rapidly becoming my opinion that they are basically cowards and scaredy cats who can't take on a puny warrior single handed without help when they realize they are about to lose.

For example I'm trying to kill the Blood Defiler Guardian in my Destiny Quest which is a single player quest, and when I get him to 50% health he knocks me down and runs back to his pool of blood to heal and before I can get up he's back at 100%.   I've poisoned the blood pool as part of the quest requires yet he's still a pain in the rear....literally.   I'll get him though and stay in the cave if it takes me forever as I've tried to get through this instance several times.   It's part of my main quest so I can regain my memories and lost abilities according to the main story.

The first few times was my own fault because being a newbie I didn't realize I wasn't using my combos properly.   Fixed that and killed the other baddies with no problem even when they came in pairs and even though they are leveled exactly to me for this quest.  I had big problems with the Arch Mage in the same area because of this, but he was a pushover when I finally got it right.  He also summons huge snakes to help him when he starts losing....didn't work this time buddy.  Ahhhahaha!!!

UPDATE:  I got the Blood Defiler Guardian this time.  The trick was to lure him so far away from the blood pool that he couldn't get back to it in time to regenerate after he knocked me down and I was able to chase and catch him before he could get back.  Also laying into him and running to keep him away from the blood pool helped me to regain stamina which was my main problem as I couldn't use combos without it. I had plenty of stamina potions but they didn't work fast enough unless I ran and kept him following me so I could also regen stamina.  I tried that before, or so I thought, but this time it worked on the second try.  Yay!!

 It felt SO good and like I really achieved something that I was starting to think was almost impossible.

I hate bosses in general in games.  Another example is a boss in a sewer system in AOC.  I would get him to half health and then he summons half a dozen crocodiles to help him....but in the end he FAILED epicly!!!lol.

It doesn't help that I have crap reflexes and start losing focus in a long drawn out fight due to arthritis in my hands and fingers, but I'm persevering and more importantly...winning.

Giant bosses who need help to kill a single human wielding nothing but a huge axe (and some awesome combos and abilities mind you) have confidence issues IMHO.

Watch your back you cowards!.  I'm coming to get you!   Eeeyyaaahh!!!

Finally! I Have A Horse

After much scrimping and saving my coins in AOC I finally have my horse.  A dapple gray that looks a lot better in game than in screen shots where he/she looks more white.  I probably need a better lighting situation..lol.

This wouldn't have happened for a little while yet as I was four silvers from having enough money to buy the horse and training book, but due the kindness of another player I am finally able to ride.   Believe me a horse is an essential in this HUGE world, not only for getting around faster, but it also comes in useful for galloping at full tilt through a group of enemies if you have to, or want to pass them without fighting.

Handling the horse is so much easier than in any game I've played to date.  So smooth and intuitive.  Plus it has reins and stirrups for that extra bit of realism.  Since I'm a free player I only get basic training, but there are options for normal dismounting, obviously, and for an extra fast dismount if you happen to be caught out by an enemy or just want to get into the action.   The horse can climb slopes the player has difficulty with and can go into cities or in fact anywhere really.

What led to this is another player asked me to team up for a couple of quests in the Fields of the Dead which is the burial grounds of my race and clan and has been desecrated by enemy forces and evil magic.  I was admiring his black horse and mentioned that I was just a few silvers away from getting my own and to my utter surprise he opened a Trade Window and gave me the rest of the coin I needed.   Then he waited while I went away across the continent to buy my steed.  When I  returned he also gave me a heap of potions and some armour he has no further use for at his level.  We then went on to decimate groups of werewolves and their bosses to save a dying man from his nightmares of being bitten and losing his comrades to a grisly death.

This was a big deal to me because making money is HARD and I've been hoarding what I have and not buying anything so I could get the horse.  I've been relying on potions, weapons, armour and other drops from enemies to survive and if I say so myself doing very well considering I'm now level 47....just over halfway to the level limit.   Not that the fun stops there as there's so much more to do and discover afterwards.

I've since learned however that taking on resource gathering and trade skills as early as possible is a good way to make money because you can sell what you gather or create.  I haven't chosen a trade yet, but I am now gathering resources for future use and some drop from enemies as well.  I didn't know or actually realize that until much later than I should have despite reading the forums and anything else I can find about the game.

I won't mention the player character's name in case he wouldn't want me to, but if he ever reads this he'll know who he is since I've mentioned my character name in other posts....lol....thanks!   It goes to show kindness exists even in a game, and I have to say I was taken by surprise by it considering some negative stuff I've heard about online games, none of which seems to apply to AOC by the way.    Anyway, this player is several levels above me and has also given me some useful game tips since I'm still a newbie to this game in a lot of ways.

This game is hard for a beginner, but tactics and other strategies have paid off and allowed me to move forward pretty well.   It's also a very social game which I really like so you don't have to go it alone, and in fact you often need comrades to complete many quests as it's impossible otherwise.  Group quests are a lot of fun as well.  The game's quest manager tells you if a quest requires a group or can be done alone so there's no confusion there.  There's so much to discover and learn and so much further to go.  I can't see myself getting sick of it anytime soon.

Here's a pic of my new horse.  As far as I'm aware I can't give him/her a name but I'll think of a fitting one for a brave steed.

This is what I'd really die for...not literally..lol.  I think I posted a pic already but here's another one.  I have to subscribe to be able to have one though as free players can only have a basic horse.

Just for something different here's a screen shot taken last week in a dungeon.  The poor "bloody" guy was trapped beneath a stone door that crashed down on him and ...errrr..severed his top from his lower half.  It wasn't my doing.  I had to break the door down to get through which is why it doesn't show now.

A little less grisly... a tree.  XD.