So I read Gestalt Mind on a near-daily basis.
I don’t personally know Rao, but he always seemed like a cool guy. Some of the posts on the EQ2 Players website, the Official Forums, along with his constant commentary about the game have reignited my interest.
I got to thinking the other day, about how whenever I happen to play EQ, no one that I personally know, nor many of my “internet-only” friends are ever on. So, along with my self-inflicted burnout, boredom struck from lacking people that I truly enjoyed playing the game with to hang around. My solution? Start a new toon on a new server.
Most of the blogs I read are gaming related. I started reading most of them, because the writers were players of EQ2, and I enjoyed seeing different perspectives of the game (granted, some of the blogs are dedicated to other MMOs, but I still enjoy the content). Unfortunately, a lot of the EQ2 bloggers have either let their blogs go dormant, or they’ve moved on to other games, much like I had in recent months. For most of this year, I’ve played PotBS, Hellgate London, Call of Duty 4, and other various single-player games. Many of the aforementioned people have done the same, or are looking ahead to the new MMOs on the horizon.
Because most of my fellow EQ2 bloggers had fallen out of the loop like I had, I only had one constant reminder of the game: Rao. Rao and I don’t have a personal relationship as I mentioned previously, but we had a common bond through the game, and have read and commented on each others’ blogs for quite some time. I gave it some thought, and decided that I would email him and see if he would be interested in getting together on his server to play the game. He accepted my proposal, and I created a new toon on the Unrest server where he plays.
Not knowing exactly what class to start out with, I scanned my memory of his recent game related posts, and remembered that he mentioned something about his guild being in need of a Guardian. Granted, I may never join his guild, I may not even see this new toon hit the level cap, and I just might want to join a different guild when the time comes. But the option of joining his guild is ever present, knowing that I’d have an “in” with him, so I decided to make a class that would be desirable. Plus, I’m a damn good tank.
Surprisingly, I’ve enjoyed the Guard thus far. He was created on Saturday night, and though I spent the first couple hours chatting it up with Rao, he managed to hit level 8 before I called it a night. On Sunday, he hit level 12, completed a large chunk of quests, earned his first 3 AA points, and almost finished the Bristlebane’s Day quest line (which isn’t bugged in Neriak, by the way). Rao was kind enough to jump on his Tailor and make some bags for my new lowbie. He then logged on his Carpenter to make some boxes, and then even sent me a plat in the mail. There was already talk of making some CA upgrades, and I’m sure armor will be in the works as well. We’ve pretty much decided that he will use his Brigand/Wizard dual-box combo to power level me, and then we’ll be a force to reckon with when we’re on par with each other. Throw in a healer and we’ll be set for trashing instances, even if the pace might be a little slower than a full group. But, a friend of his also dual-boxes, so we might just have a 5 man group very soon. I’m liking the idea so far.
If any of the other bloggers in the circle want to join us, feel free. It would be nice if we did something like what was done a while back with the worldwide blogger chat channel, but much more fulfilling having more players to group with. Just a thought. Anyway, this will most likely end my EQ2 hiatus, and hopefully I can come up with some more game-related posts for the site. Stay tuned.
