Over Two Years of Everquest 2

I was inspired by Rao’s recent post.

I decided to look through old screens I had of the game, and see what exactly I had that people might actually want to look at. I decided that a time-line of sorts was in order. I still have shots from my beginnings on Butcherblock the 2nd time through, all the way up until now. My experiences on BB when I first started the game back in ‘06, and my experiences on Nagafen (essentially my first 6 months with the game) were never screen-shotted. Pictures and descriptions to follow after the break.

And Everything is as it Was…

However laughable it might sound, my household has returned to it’s former self. Briefly side tracked by newer, shinier MMOs, me and my roommate have returned to our previous MMOs, and instead of having bad things to say, we’re complacent.

My roommate played WoW, while I played EQ2. We both hit slumps, and we both started searching for new MMOs to play. Along came Pirates of the Burning Sea. I managed to play the game for about half of my free 30 days, before finding enough fault in it to be dismayed. John took about a month longer to come to the same conclusion. Today, via Hudson, I read this article, and realized that we are not alone in thinking that the game is fairly lackluster. If you’re too lazy to click the link, it basically says that 7 of the 11 PotBS servers are coming down, and the remaining populations are merging. Not a great sign from a game that launched a couple months ago. It won’t be surprising if the game comes to a demise sometime this year.

So where did this leave us? I moved on to Hellgate: London, and John went back to WoW after some coaxing by his family. Eventually Hellgate got boring for me as well, so I was still looking for something new. Finally, some talks with Rao got me wanting to play EQ2 again. So I rolled a Guard on his server (Unrest) and we chatted and I played and things were good. For a while. Once again, playing through the same content I had played a thousand times before proved to be boring. Once again, I was left wanting something new to play. Boredom drove me to log onto my Paladin a few days ago. I was just planning on soloing the quests in Kylong Plains until I got bored, when my Dad sent me a tell. He told me that his guild (that he had been in since before I left the game) was building a raid force, and had been raiding here and there. He said that they were in need of a high level Brigand, so I should log him on and join up.

Within 15 minutes of having been on, I had my toons in a new guild and was on vent and was preparing to do some questing. It was refreshing and a lot of fun to have some people to group with again. We did some running around in Kunzar Jungle, until it was time to call it a night. My Brigand managed to get an AA and a level, his first of each in about 4 months. A couple nights later, my Dad and I grouped up and he got me started on the Thugga quest line. Apparently I had already started it, but wasn’t aware of the reward at the end. I had already collected the tome pages, just needed to do the language quest to start the rest of the series. So we did everything up until the fens quest, where I was stuck waiting on a named Yha-Lei. Luckily, we didn’t get stuck camping, as some guildies wanted to do some named hunting.

So we were off to the Jarsath Wastes, a zone I had yet to enter til then. We checked for a named shark (a rather large, orange con heroic), and he was up. He was easy enough to take down, but only dropped a treasure chest. A general was next on our list, whom apparently drops some nice scout boots, but he dropped a treasure chest as well. The AA on the other hand was nice, I believe I got another during this run. Afterwards, the group decided a Crypt of Agony run was in order, and I was ready to get my DPS on. So we headed in, tore some shit up, and had an awesome turnout. Ornate and Exquisite chests were dropping left and right, and I managed to come out with 3 new pieces of gear, although I have yet to equip any of it due to level restrictions. Still, upgrades are nice to have.

Today, my Dad and I grouped up again to finish the Thugga quest line. We only had to camp the first named, and only for about 10 minutes. We moved on from there, getting the next two named without camping, and a couple other named on our way through gathering necessary items for the quest. I was lucky enough to get some legendary shoulders from a named Giant near the field of bone; ornate chests being rare off of ^’s. Finally, I finished the quest line and received my Band of Thugga, a fabled ring. Afterwards, we started working on the Shackle series in Kunzar, and I’m up to the point now where I have to go into the City of Mist for the next update. Only a couple more steps and I’ll have my Tynonnium Shackle.

I started to get tired, so me and my Dad headed to Teren’s Grasp so he could make me a couple items through the commission system. First was a “Riliss Chick Leg”, a +25 Str/Sta, +50 CA dmg charm slot item. A great upgrade over the +10 Str hex doll that was present. The second item was the AA respec mirror, which may or may not come in handy some day. Either way, nice to have.

So my adventures in Norrath have begun anew. Warhammer got delayed to the fall, and is really the only new MMO on the horizon I’m interested in, so EQ2 is the game for me until then. My roommate seems like he’s going to play WoW until AoC is released, at which point he’s switching games again. Personally, AoC doesn’t seem all that great, but I suppose I’ll see once John plays the beta, which starts at the beginning of the month. Anyway, I’m happy with EQ2 again, and I’m back in the swing of things.

The Chess Master

I’ve had a tradition for a couple years now. At some point in time, one of the higher ups at the casino thought it would be a good idea to buy a rather nice chess board for the break room. Once me and Ted found out about it, we discovered we both enjoyed the game. From then on, we tried to get the same lunch every day so we could get a quick game in. Eventually, Ted went to Day shift, and I was still on Swing, so we could no longer play. We played a few games here and there at his house or mine, I played with my Dad a couple times, also with my roommate John. Recently I went to Day shift, so the tradition was on. We haven’t managed to get the same lunch nearly as often as we used to, but we’ve managed to get in a couple games a week at least.

Last week, I started a new tradition. At least, I’m going to try and make it into one. I invited two of my fellow officers, Don and Ray, over to my house to have a couple beers and hang out. You know, one of those get out of the house and into a different environment kind of things. So last week we sat around most of the night, having some beers and talking mostly. Somehow or another the topic of chess came up, and Ray said that he knew how to play and that we should. So I got the chess board, we set up and play. Don, not knowing how to play, decided to get in on the action still, playing referee and shit talking in general. He also came up with a cool idea. He said we should play a series, best 4 out of 7. So we got the games going.

First, a little background on the players. I learned to play chess when I was around ten years old if I had to guess. My Dad had a board and taught me how to play. I wasn’t any good, and lacked the patience to really enjoy it, so I got my ass kicked over and over and didn’t want to play much. Later, I received an electronic board as a gift, one with a built in computer that tells you where it wants to move when it’s its turn. I played with that quite a bit, but wasn’t much good still. Finally, I played it in various forms on the computer throughout the years. Other than playing with Ted, I really never had steady practice, so my experience is minimal.

Ray cooked up this story from his past: Apparently he was on the Chess team at his junior high, and they took the “CIF Championship”. He also said something about his teacher being registered as a “Grand Master”, and having beaten him. So he was basically really cocky about the whole thing, and completely confident that he would be kicking my ass. Other than this, I didn’t know much about his chess history.

In round one, it did appear that I was in trouble. He beat me pretty quickly and pretty easily. I was impressed, but it’s not like I hadn’t lost before. I had to feel him out. I tried a different opening the second game, and though I lasted longer and did more damage, the end result was the same. Thinking he had the upper hand, he let his guard down, and didn’t pay as close attention to moves, costing him the third round (though I opened differently and I believe that was a factor). In the fourth round, we both paid attention, but I still managed to tie up the series 2-2. At that point everyone wanted to go home, so we said we would continue the series at work. This never happened, so yesterday I invited the fellas over again.

As I said, I’m trying to make a tradition. Every Tuesday, beer and chess. Not as exciting as some things, but still a nice change of pace. Anyway, yesterday the guys came back over, and we continued our tourney. Round 5 started off after we drank a couple and chatted for a bit. Round 5 was much like round 1, I got my ass kicked quickly. I started to think that Ray was much better sober, so I made sure that we continued to drink and tried to slow down the game by taking longer turns. Granted, being able to think longer is a good thing, but slowing the game down caused more alcohol consumption, giving me an advantage. Turns out, I’m pretty damn good, sober or not. He wasn’t so lucky. Round 6, I came back with a vengeance and worked him over; same with Round 7. I took the first tournament, even with all the shit talking and “credentials” that Ray was packing.

Not one to give up easily, he suggested another best out of 7. I agreed to it, and the first game, went long. Much too long. The good thing was that he managed to make enough mistakes that even though I should have been checkmated, he managed to pull a stalemate, causing the first draw we had seen vs. each other. Great way to start out a tourney. We played two more games, and we both won one each. All in all, both nights were very enjoyable and I intend to keep this going.

1st Tournament:
Gdub: 4-3-0
Ray: 3-4-0

2nd Tournament:
Gdub: 1-1-1 (so far)
Ray: 1-1-1 (so far)

The Mediator

There is a lighter side to drama. There’s the satisfaction of knowing that you single handedly helped someone you care about, when they’re going through a tough time. That you helped them realize something they may have done wrong, or showed them a different way of looking at things. I take pride in the fact that I could help when it was needed.

Two of my very close friends had a pretty serious argument the other night, that almost lead to blows. It was pretty bad, from what I hear. See, the thing is, being on day-shift and all, I had to go to bed early, and they continued to drink the night away. I didn’t hear until the next day about what happened, and it was apparent that it was pretty serious. The next day at work, I went through the whole day feeling like shit; not only because I was slightly hungover, but also because I was stressing out about what to do with them. It wasn’t really my place, nor really my business. But I felt inclined to help, only because I love them both, and I don’t want to see shit like that happen to people I care about, even if they’re doing it to themselves. I also saw a pattern form; one party was taking jokes a bit too far, and the other was taking things to heart way too often. The situation escalated from joking and horse-play to shit talking and then threats. Thankfully the threats weren’t carried out, but alcohol wasn’t helping any.

Today I had a mediation session with the two of them. That’s not a title I gave it, I didn’t try to make it too official or unwelcoming. I just simply asked one of them what happened, then asked the other, and then asked an unbiased 3rd party, and got three different stories. The 3rd party’s story matched more with one of my friend’s stories, so I at least had a pretty strong understanding of what had occurred. So I sat the two friends down in the garage, and asked one what happened. When one would interrupt, I would stop them, and tell them to just listen to the other. Made them take turns talking. Then I would interject with something to help the conversation along, and stopped them when things took turns for the worse. Overall, it was a good session, and we covered a lot of ground. Compromises were made, and everything is as it should be again. They’re closer than they have been in months.

Your welcome.

Drama Makes the World go Round…

The past month or so has been drama-filled. It seems no matter how much I try to avoid the bullshit that life can throw at you, I still end up dealing with it. Thankfully, most of the drama that’s been happening really doesn’t have much to do with me, but it’s still effecting people I care about. The funny thing about me is that I’m a pretty selfish person, but I still care about my close friends, enough that I’ll try to help them out when they need it.

So a while ago I made a post about my friend who was dying from cancer. Shortly after the post was written, he passed. Later, we found out some dirty shit about his “wife”. It’s a long story, so I’ll stick to the main facts. He got married to his girlfriend while he was on his death bed. Technically, he was still married to his ex baby momma, so the marriage to the new girl was null and void. She only married him so she could get his social security for her and her kid (who was not his at all). When the social security went to his true wife, and his real kids, the girl was pissed, and showed her true gold-digging colors. Less than a month after his death, she began dating one of his “best” friends. Some of my circle of friends thought this was disrespectful towards the friend that died, so there’s a feud brewing. This really has nothing to do with me, but I do have an opinion about it, and the best thing for me to do was write her off completely. As for the guy, I don’t give two shits because I barely know him.

A couple weeks ago, my friends Ted and Tyler got fucked over. They were living in a pretty nice house with 3 other guys. One of the guys, Will, worked with Tyler in Valet at the Casino, the other two were brothers and friends with him. One day, after work Ted got a call from his landlord asking about when he was going to pay the rent. He told the landlord that all of the rent money was given to Will, so he thought it had been paid. The landlord told him that Will had gone in that day, given up his keys and said he moved out. Ted got home and found that Will and the brothers had moved out, along with taking some of Ted’s furniture. Not to mention, he ran off with around $1000 of Ted and Tyler’s money. So Ted made a police report and Will now has a warrant for grand theft and embezzlement out on him. A week or so went by, and no one knew where they went. Until the other day.

I was coming home from work and as I was turning right on a street by my house, who do you think I saw in the turn lane? Yeah, Will was right there. So I flipped a bitch and followed him for a good 20 minutes. This could have been an awesome story, but I’ll tell you right now that I didn’t get led to where he was staying, nor could I do much of anything. I did get his plate number, so Ted could put that in the police report, might help to get him caught sooner. Unfortunately, Will caught on to the fact that I was following him, and I’m pretty sure he figured out who I was. So he started doing circles around blocks and leading me on a goose chase. So I had to give it up, mainly because I was running low on gas, and stopping would have caused me to lose him anyway. My phone was also dead, so I couldn’t call Ted about it until I got home, so that pretty much sucked. Either way though, he’s going to get his in the end.

My last story is a bit more involved, and a bit more personal. Last night we went out to the bar with Herbie, Megan, and Drews. We didn’t drink much, just played pool mostly for a couple hours, then went and bought a case of beer and came home. We all had a good time at the bar, save for some drama with AJ and his on and off girlfriend Kendra. All that amounted to was Megan going and picking Kendra up and taking her to her house, where Kendra stayed, and Megan came back to the bar. When we left the bar, we told everyone to come to our house. Gina went with Megan and Drews and Herbie came with me. On the way to AmPm Herbie got a call from AJ who was talking shit about whatever bullshit had happened earlier in the night, so when we got to my house Herbie said he was going to go handle shit. So he took off. Amber ended up coming over to get Drews, and hung out for a while. Everything was cool. A long while later, Herbie came back. Drews and Amber left, and then the shit hit the fan. Herbie and Megan started fighting, and I’ve become accustomed to that, they do it all the time. But this time Herbie went a little too far, breaking strings on my guitar (I don’t know how he managed to just break strings and not the whole thing, but I’m thankful I still have a guitar), and breaking the shower curtain rod in my bathroom (I’m still trying to figure out how he did that as well). I went to the bathroom and discovered the curtain in the tub, and went out to the garage to say something about it, when Gina pointed out my partially broken guitar. Gina then started to go off on him about it, and I mentioned the fact that the curtain was fucked up, and it went from there. They had a good ol’ yelling match, and I wasn’t really in the mood for fighting, so I was just making sure it didn’t get out of hand. Thankfully it didn’t, and eventually there wasn’t anything else to say and Herbie and Megan took off.

I wasn’t really pissed about it at all last night, but this morning it sucked taking a shower without a curtain, and I couldn’t plunk around with my guitar like I usually do. I was mostly irritated with the disrespect, but I didn’t do much about it at the time. I figured it would all blow over and that would be that. Come to find out, the story gets much worse after they left our house. Herbie went much to far, beating on Megan in the AmPm parking lot, and cops were called, and he was arrested temporarily. He made my decision for me. I was beginning to think that most of our drama happens when he’s around, and I was thinking that maybe we shouldn’t hang out with him as much. After everything I found out that he did last night, I’m done with him. I’m not hanging out with alcoholics that beat their girlfriends, and he should count himself lucky that none of us were around for that. I already know that my other friends don’t approve of that kind of behavior, and a couple of them might even be kicking his ass for it.

So we’ll see how long I can go without any more bullshit happening. The more I avoid it, the more it comes to me, I just hope that it will stay minimal. The cutting out of a so-called friend may help.