Putting the “Lock” Back in Lock & Bolt

Warcraft News

Hi.

I’ve pretty much been neglecting my warlock for the longest time. After I boosted my shaman, I really began enjoying the hell out of her, and kind of pushed my once-favorite character aside. Since I have been back to Warcraft in the last couple weeks, I’ve been investing a lot more time in her. She is currently halfway through level 98, and I’m optimistically hoping to get her to 100 by the next couple days. I’ll be honest, my main goal in leveling her was to be able to start accruing Treasure Hunter followers to start making more gold via Garrison missions, but since I’ve been leveling her, I’ve been remembering what fun she is to play! She’s demonology (as you can hopefully tell from my tall dual-wielding demon friend in the above selfie), and that spec is so damn fun.

I’ve created and halfheartedly leveled a few other classes, after I get Ms Hexxia to level 100, I will work on my Warrior next, then my Hunter, most likely. Since I’m not actively raiding this xpac anymore (may always change my mind, but for now I’m content to not be) I am free to focus on whatever the hell I want to do in-game, and that freedom is slightly exhilarating in a sense. There’s nothing poking away in the back of my mind, no pressure or rush to gem and enchant gear, to farm for a piece of loot in LFR, etc. The game is fun again, which speaks volumes, and makes me ever so happy I took a break when I did.

A brief mention: with the announcement that flying is coming to Draenor, I noticed a lot of conflicting emotions. I for one am fine with the announcement, and the ‘attunement’ process involved with attaining flight for my characters. There were a lot of negative comments (or mostly comments about negative comments) and that makes me sad. I think a lot of people, myself included a lot of times, get too involved in this game and don’t remember that it is just a game. In my mind, there is a reason for every change or update the Devs make, and while it may not make sense at first, if you just absorb the information and revisit it at a later time, it may make more sense. They are also human, and aren’t governed primarily by the player’s wishes. Yes, we ‘pay’ them in some respects, but Blizzard is also a company that needs to make a profit, and sometimes ours aren’t the only voices they have to listen to. I still do enjoy this game tremendously, and acknowledge the fact that with several different titles, the focus from Blizzard may shift from game to game, and some may feel neglected at times.

And that’s all I’m saying about that. *nod*

 

Streaming

I recently (yesterday) re-downloaded Forge, a streaming service that is free, and is currently still semi in the development process. It starts streaming immediately as you boot up the game, and doesn’t require setting up a streaming software and then linking it to Twitch. The only problem I personally have with it is that my stream quality is very grainy and pixellated, and I don’t have a ton of options to fine tune the stream. My computer is a good one, I can stream fine on Twitch and the quality is decent/good, but my internet is not the strongest, plus I don’t know how far my data is being transmitted to bounce back onto the Forge server to stream, so it may be garbled just because the center is super far away. Apologies if I’m not getting the terminology right =P

I want to start streaming on Twitch more regularly (I know, I know, this is something that I say all the time). I think it will help me if I just do it when I play, and not build myself up to “okay I’m streaming Thursday night from 8-10 here we go”. If I do it more often, I won’t have a chance to build it up into Something Major in my brain.

I realize this is a silly thing, but it’s me, so silliness abounds. Duh.

Skyrim

I’m really tempted to do a Let’s Play series on playing and leveling a mage-type person through Skyrim. I’ve started a few characters, but I never make it that far, as my usual play style in that game is stealth and archery, or dual-wielding weapons. Thoughts? ^.^

Steam Sale

I HAVE BEEN AVOIDING IT AND DON’T LET ME LOG ON THERE AND BUY THINGS OMG

But I kind of want a new game to play. BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH LOL.

 

 

I enjoy how rapidly my blog post deteriorated into insanity. I hope you all do too ❤

Have a great day! YES YOU

 

Turning ‘Meh’ into ‘Yay!’

Hi, my name is Byx, and I’m a game-aholic.

 

I was talking with my friend Jaedia the other day about burnout, etc with different games.

She had posted about feeling ‘meh’ about FFXIV, and I’m realizing I’m feeling the same way. It stinks how a game that once captivated me, I’m now just looking at with a bored feeling, logging in momentarily, then back out again. I want to like the game, I still do like the game, but I think I became too obsessed with it and am now feeling burn out. So I’m going to take a bit of time off, and come back a little after Heavensward comes out *nod*

What’s nice is I don’t have any obligations to any games, so I’m free to roam around as I like, spend as little or as much time in them as I want. Be as productive, or unproductive as I see fit. It’s a nice feeling.

IN OTHER NEWS

Hi-Ho Warlock, AWAY

My warlock is halfway through 96, I’m hoping to have her ding 100 at some point this week or next. I’ve began churning up gold via Treasure hunters and selling off the greens/random grays I get from salvage crates. My next alt up to 100 will be my Tauren warrior, after that I am torn between my druid and hunter. I’m enjoying the game again, which is a happy, good feeling! It felt awkward for the first couple days, but now I’m back into the groove!

Skyrim

lol hi

I’ve been streaming (although not recently, okay only one day, but I’ll do more, LAY OFF ME) a play-through of Skyrim, but TO THE SURPRISE OF NO-ONE READING THIS I made another new character. I’ve always wanted to play through the game as a mage-type person, so I am attempting that. Thus far I’ve pretty much stuck to the sneaky archer type, so I’m going the fire and brimstone route. Well, conjurer probably, but still.

OH IT’S HAPPENING, LOKIR.

Even though I’ve played through the game countless times before, I still get that same rush of ‘Ooh, I can do whatever I want, yesss’. Main story quest? Pfft. Side quests? Pffft. I’m going to chase this fox through the forest, and go from there. I’m going to make a beeline to the Mage’s College, and start up that quest. I’m going to start killing random townspeople. Wait, no, murder is frowned upon, haha, sorry guard.

Cross-Stitching

OOPS real life crafting is appearing in my blog! OH NO.

I’ve been working on a ginormous cross-stitch for my Mom and Evil Stepfather for Christmas. I’ve been posting the progress on Twitter, and I’ve got five of the twenty-nine panels complete. I love cross-stitching, I find it very soothing and calming, plus I can multitask and watch Netflix at the same time ^.^. It cuts into my gaming time, but it’s a fun hobby, so it’s okay. I’m finding the balance between the two, and reminding myself that my free time is my own. Dammit.

 

Short ‘fluff’ post today, but there ya go.

 

Let’s go on a Safari!

SCREENSHOT TIME for Murf’s post at Murf Versus for the Newbie Blogger Initiative! I haven’t been participating much this year, even though last year I was a “newbie” , I wanted to try to tag along and join in the fun. There’s always next year!

First up: Selfie!

/flex

She’s a cutie, my little Tauren warrior.

When Warcraft implemented the S.E.L.F.I.E. cam I was a little snarky about it, but now I’m obsessed. It shows off the new character models so well, and being able to do different emotes and have filters for it is super fun. Being able to share them on Twitter from within the game client is neat as well!

Next: Heroes or Villains!

She may be tiny, but she’s my little hero in FFXIV. Whether she is completing quests, helping out the locals, taking part in an epic story line that spans across the whole continent, or taking time out of the seriousness to goof off with friends or just explore.

Third: Landscape!

Mulgore is probably one of my favorite zones, and has such a nostalgic feel. My very first character I created in Warcraft was a Tauren Druid, and I spent so much time just flailing around in this zone way back in BC, learning what the hell I was doing before I finally ventured into the dangerous zone that was The Barrens. I played on a PvP server, got slaughtered so many times. Also, dangerous due to Barrens Chat *shudder*

The green hills, the mountains ringing the little snug and cozy valley, the animals roaming around, especially the packs of kodos, really made this zone feel so alive when I first started playing the game. I always enjoy questing through it on a Tauren, even though my time there is now usually very brief ^.^

Finally: The Scariest Place!

BEAR

Skyrim is one of those games that manages to make me jump at silly times, like when I’m going through a cave and a Draugr pops open a tomb door and starts shuffling towards me, or when I’m minding my own business walking down the road at night and SUDDENLY BEAR.

 

There ya go! My four entries to the contest. May the best screenshotter win ^.^

Listless

Being a long-time Warcraft player, Tuesdays are a somewhat significant day. These are maintenance days, servers being brought down for a few hours to install a major patch, or a few minutes to just reset them. This has resonated with me as another ‘start’ to the week, or another cycle of the week.

I’ve been very listless with my gaming lately. I can play a game for a couple hours, no problem, all is well, but when I get the thought of switching to another game, or logging off to take care of something and come back to that same game, I get restless. I can’t get back into it. I’m looking for something new, as most of us do from time to time. Luckily, I have heard on the winds (from a couple bloggers and friends) that TESO has now gone un-subscription-based. This makes me very happy. I did enjoy the game in Top Secret Beta, but not enough to pay another sub fee. I’m excited to download this new world, and dive into it and explore, without the stress of feeling obligated to play or log in and do something because I’m paying for my game time.

So what have I been doing, game-wise?

SO HAPPY

I’m leveling up (yet another) alt, alliance side. I started with a Gnome, but they are just too short, and my cat keeps attacking the monitor when I play her, so I rerolled a Worgen priest. I think she’s in Redridge now, killing Murlocs or curled up in front of the fireplace at the Inn. Probably the latter.

I’ve also been debating diving back into DAI, I miss the game, it’s been a couple weeks since I logged in to accomplish anything.

Wheeeee

Plus, Sera makes me laugh.

I also want to dive back into Skyrim, finish ME2, mess around in GW2.

 

Basically, my gaming state is now mirroring my mental state, which is everywhere all at once and it’s quite frustrating ^.^

 

Maybe what I need is a break from all gaming, work on other things for a bit, then come back and revisit it.

 

Give myself a reset.

Hello There, Old Friend

Today’s Throwback Thursday post features Skyrim! I’m going to try to make this a regular installment. I had meant to do this last week, but I got ranty on everyone and postponed my topic to a different day, which wasn’t Thursday, so I couldn’t use the appropriate phrase. This is going to be a day where I post about games I don’t play on the regular, but that when I revisit them it’s a pretty easygoing process.

This game is pretty.

Skyrim is one of ‘those’ games for me. It can be set aside for days, weeks, even months at a time, and when picked back up, it is so easy for me to immerse myself in the story and quests once again. This is definitely one of those games where the muscle memory kicks in after a very short period, making it comfortable and easy to play the game after a break. I love that feeling. It’s like putting on an old sweatshirt, or curling up on the couch after a long day. The comfort, familiarity, is an amazing feeling to have in anything, especially in a video game. The music, the sights, the sounds, the glitches, it’s a very easy game to come back to.

When I first started playing Skyrim was when it was released. I made a Khajit, and she evolved into an archer/thief/assassin. I had to do some major surgery on my computer, and that save file was lost, which made me upset obviously. All that time and she was just gone.  I tried and eventually stuck with it, and leveled as similar a character as I could, but it never really felt the same. So I switched tacks. I created a warrior, heavy armor, sword and shield, more of a charge in and bowl everyone over character, and it was fun, but I missed archery. I really love the archery system in Skyrim. It’s challenging, but once you get it down, it’s fantastic. Plus the bows look very cool IMO.

One moment please, Sir. 

I of course have mods installed, nothing crazy (ie the ‘sexy’ mods or the mod where you turn all the dragons into My Little Pony’s) but instead ones that embellish and aid in questing, I have all the DLC’s, which further enhance the story. I am very much so taking my time again playing through, I ended up making a wood elf that I was going to have as a stealthy dual wielding thief, but then I ended up making her kind of a copy of my Khajit. Whoops.

Have I mentioned I’m an altoholic? Because I totally am. In every game ever.

Can you spot the housecarl…?

I think in the main storyline I’m only at the first time you talk to Parthurnax, who by the way, is a very cool dragon dude. I’m leveling up my archery, one handed weapons, light armor, and speech skills. Much like real life. I am contemplating changing gears and pimping her out in mage gear to do the Winterhold quest line, I’ve kind of always wanted to play a mage all the way through in Skyrim, but I’m wondering how I can do that without dying. Probably a mix of conjuration and restoration magic hm? Or getting a very sturdy housecarl or companion.

Here, have some more pictures because this game is so pretty:

 

This game will always have a special place in my tiny cold little heart. Even revisiting the same old quests over and over again is fun, the potential for roleplay and developing a backstory and an actual character is astounding. Sometimes I even just play to cruise around on one of the adorable fat horses and listen to the music, admire the mountains, and get dive bombed by dragons.

In other news, this morning I’m going to spend some time messing with the blog, categorizing things correctly, adding a blogroll, figuring out how to make my blog look the way I want it to. You know, normal stuff! I do like my current theme a lot though, so probably won’t change the actual look. I don’t want to do anything crazy!

I hope everyone has a good day =)