Fashion of TERA

I've read some people complaining about the lack of armor variety in TERA. I'm not sure what they're talking about. Maybe as a Priest I have more armor variety, but I wanted to show you folks some of the various dresses my Priest has worn so far.

Newbie Outfit, note how well clothed she is...

One of the first pretty dresses I picked up. I love this color

Pretty in pink, different style from the purple dress

A little dark, but I love the sunburst on the side. Same as the pink dress just a different color

This was my favorite. pretty blue with a really nice flower/vine going up the side

Neat design. I don't know how much I liked the gold...

I don't like brown very much... 

My current outfit. I'm digging the corset type thing

So, that enough variety for you? I'm only level 37! That's 8 different dresses. I think 8 diverse looking outfits is pretty good in 37 levels. I'm happy with the variety of my character's clothes. The game is gorgeous and even though I wish her breasts were smaller I love the way Edyarea looks.

I wonder if I take too many screenshots....

Batman Arkham City

I started working at GameStop last week. I've worked there in the past (4 years, various stores in Colorado 2006-2010) and decided to go to my local store to see if they had any positions open. So now I'm a Senior Game Advisor working around 20 hours a week. A perk to working at GameStop is "checking-out" games for 3 days at a time. My manager suggested I try Batman Arkham City and I figured why not? Arkham Asylum had fantastic reviews but I never tried it back in the day.

So I bring home a copy of Arkham City for the PS3 and pop it in my system. The game is a lot of fun and I recommend it for anyone who hasn't played it yet.

Game Play
The game play is typical for action adventure type games. You start off as Bruce Wane and get thrown into the "jail" town of Arkham City. The game tells you how to hit guys and eventually how to use the multitude of Batman accessories you pick up (like the grapple gun). You get to hit guys and counter their attacks. I really like how the game continuously reminds you how to use abilities. It's easy to swap between main quest objects and side quests on your map. Fighting mobs of criminals is entertaining and when you knock out the last one you get a little slow motion scene with your final hit. I personally had the hardest time against enemies with guns. I finally learned the easiest thing to do is to sneak up on them individually and use a stealthy strangle until everyone is dead. I died a lot while playing. I think it would go more smoothly for someone used to this genre of game. There are a lot of side-missions and extras (like picking up Riddle trophies) for completionists.

Story
The main story line was a joy to play. You see many of the "big bads" of the Batman series and have story events to take down most of them. I didn't finish the story, but did get more than halfway through (Diablo 3 was a bit distracting...).

Graphics
The graphics are what I've come to expect from modern games. It is crisp clean and fun to look at on my new 50' Plasma. The world is dark and it seemed as I played my Batsuit got more frayed.

Overall I had a good time playing it and now can talk about it to customers, which was my primary goal. I'd let to try it again to finish the main story. Next check out is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. 

Healing as a Priest in TERA

In Tera I made a rule for myself that I could not create any alts until I hit level 60, which has been challenging... I'm curious as to how the other classes play and it's eating at me that I can't find out. I picked a priest because I wanted to know how healing would be translated to "true action combat". Also, everyone needs a healer in their party. I'm level 37 right now and have  a handful of healing spells. A self direct heal, a party direct heal, and three aoe type heals. I also am able to cleanse harmful effects like poison. The heal I seem to use the most is Restorative Burst. Here's a picture of it for ya.

White ring = Restorative Burst

Restorative Burst
Basically you cast a white ring on the floor 10 yards in front of your character. Anyone who stands in the ring gets healed for quite a bit.

Focus Heal
The direct heal, Focus Heal, let's you target 3 party members and heal them directly. By target I mean hover over the character and then press space. Your party members turn green when they are targeted so you know who is about to be healed.

Regeneration Circle
Regeneration Circle makes a huge circle around you and puts a HoT (Heal over Time) on everyone in it.

Healing Circle
Healing Circle is similar to Restorative Burst. It puts a little circle directly in front of your character and directly heals whoever is in it.

So there it is, the first couple healing spells I've seen. While trying to properly place heals you have to avoid getting hit from attacks. I've died a couple times to BAMs swings due to trying to get in close to save my party members. T.T dead priest cannot heal.

Tera has a fun and interactive healing system. I'd like to try the Mystic for comparison, but until I hit 60 I'm stuck with my Priest.

In closing I leave you with the frog drum.

Hehe Frog Drum!

Diablo 3 First Impressions

Hello folks! Today I'm going to write a bit about Diablo 3. Here are my first impressions of the game.

Game play
The game play is pretty standard for a dungeon crawling game. You run around and hit things, collect gold, items and xp. There are vast areas to explore and an ungodly amount of achievements. The skill system is interesting, and I'm sure I'll write more on it the further in I get. The game has the same addictive quality that Diablo 2 has. As soon as I hear birds chirping I realize I might want to stop...

Connectivity
The first couple days have been rough with the servers, which is frustrating to say the least. I still don't understand how the company that runs the most successful MMO with literally millions and millions of players can have server issues. Really Blizzard? Did you completely miscalculate how many people would play? I just don't get it.

Graphics
The graphics are disappointing for a modern game. Overall the feel and aesthetics to the game are nice, but characters have almost no detail on them, and on some monsters you can count the polygons. I feel like I'm playing a game that was released in 2006, not 2012. The cinematic videos are nice, but I'm disappointed that your main character has no role in them whatsoever (I know, it would take more resources to have 8 different videos... but really we've been waiting 10 years...)

Group play
So far I've enjoyed playing with my boyfriend. I have not played in any public games or played with anyone else. It's easy to party up and jump to where ever your partner or group is at. On the flip side, I like having a companion for my single player games.

Hardcore, only way to go

I highly recommend playing hardcore mode instead of regular. I might change my tune in the higher difficulties, but for now I couldn't imagine playing the regular way. Perma-death makes for heart pumping, adrenaline filled moments.

So if you haven't gotten Diablo 3, go pick up a copy. Or get the trial from one of your friends.  

Current Gaming Goals

Lyrestra at Musing of an altoholic wrote an end-of-expansion bucket list, so I've decided I would write my current gaming goals.

Diablo 3
-Finish campaign on Cuddles my Barbarian in Normal Hardcore mode
-Finish campaign on Lillyann my Sorcerer in Normal Hardcore mode with my boyfriend's Monk

Tera
-Reach level 60 on my Priest
-Start an alt after Priest hits 60

WoW
-Down Deathwing with my guild, Skrubz Inc, on Ninakas
-Get more achievements on Kasaii

Batman Arkham City
-Finish game before my shift at GameStop on Saturday May 18, 2012

Final Fantasy XIII-2
-Finish game
-Do all side quests/missions/objectives

Rosetta Stone
-Finish all 3 levels of Japanese before my Totale subscription expires in September 2012

Well that seems like a decent list so far. I'm not allowing myself to buy more console games until I beat a good chunk of the ones I own. It'll be a long time before I buy another game... but at least with the ability to check-out games at GameStop, I can try a lot of the games I've had my eye on for a long time, like LA Noire and Red Dead Redemption.

I would also like to thank Syp from Biobreak and  Huntress Maruka from Neurotic Girl: Games Keep Me Sane for mentioning my blog. 

If Women Ruled WoW

This is a pretty entertaining video about what WoW (or really any MMO) would be like if men were rare instead of women. 

The WoW Ironman Continued (Level 18)

Hello folks! Last week I talked about my first experiences with the Ironman WoW Competition. Today I give you a quick update on my 2nd attempt. We ended last week with the death of Iroknee and the birth of Norastandel a blood elf hunter. 

She is progressing through the levels at a better pace than Iroknee did. I've reached level 18 without too much issue and it's been smooth sailing so far. I have no had any close calls yet.

I keep wondering when Ironman will become difficult. Yes I failed on my first character at level 8 because I was stupid, but the hunter seems almost too easy so far. I think it will be when gear starts becoming relatively important, possibly in the Burning Crusade zones. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see how long Norastandel lives.

Have you done Ironman? What's the highest level you made it to? Which class did you play? 

How a Hookah Works

Last week I covered the origins of hookah. Today I show you how a hookah works.

This photo is originally from Blue Lizard Hookah the website for a hookah lounge in Tampa Florida. The bowl on top is typically covered in foil (though I have a little metal piece with holes) and the coal heats the shisha within the bowl. My hookah also has an ice holder on top to make the smoke cooler thus giving you a smoother smoke. If you have your own hookah I highly recommend putting ice in the vase with water, as it will help cool the smoke as well. You can put other liquids in the vase, such as milk or alcohol. I've personally never tried alcohol and only tried milk once. Milk made very thick smoke, but does have a chance of bubbling back up into the hose which is gross. Personally I only use water.

If you own your own hookah make sure you clean it regularly. Buying a plastic hose will allow you to clean the hose easily. Most hookah hoses have metal coils inside which will eventually rust and no one wants to inhale rust. If you buy a hose with a metal coil inside try to find one where the coil is made of stainless steel. If you do not clean your vase, stem, and hose regularly you will get the taste of other flavors you've smoked. 

If you smoke in a hookah bar ask for mouth tips. They are little plastic pieces you attach to the end of the mouth piece and reduce your risk of contracting a cold or disease from past smokers. Also look for hookah bars that use natural coals as opposed to quick lights. Quick light coals will make the smoke taste... bad. If you live in Colorado I recommend going to Hooked on Hookah either in Colorado Springs (6406 N. Academy Blvd. Colorado Springs, CO 80918 (719) 886-7107) or Boulder (2065 30th Street, Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 442-4364). Both locations use quick lights, but the staff is very friendly and have a nice quiet atmosphere most nights. Another great location in Boulder is Hookah House (1325 Broadway St, Boulder, CO (303) 444-0804) they have great service and use natural coals. Hookah House gets crowded and is a very small space, but the service makes up for it. A lot of hookah bars in Denver are very "clubbish" which I personally am not a huge fan of, but it depends on what you are looking for in a hookah bar. Should you be on Oahu and want to check out a cool hookah bar in Honolulu, The Burning Tree (3613 Waialae Avenue  Honolulu, HI 96816 (808) 626-5694) wasn't bad. In the San Francisco bay area there is Hookah Nites (235 University ave. Palo Alto, CA 94301 (650) 330-0654) and a lot of other hookah lounges I have not had the opportunity to visit yet.      

Eventually I plan on writing reviews about various hookah bars I've visited, but that is for another day. Hope you enjoyed this post on how a hookah works along with some recommendations on how to smoke and where to smoke. 

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. 

       

The Panda Exterminator

Today I present you with a WoW video about Pandas! This is a newer video from Oxhorn, who brought us other great videos like ROFLMAO (Oh no, it's stuck in my head now). Anyway, enjoy the video below =)

"I'm uber uber 1337. So uber uber 1337, what a wonder feeling I'm pwning again."

TERA first impression

Hi my name is Susi and I'm addicted to MMOs. I picked up TERA last Thursday  and haven't been able to stop playing since. I have a severe case of altoholism, but this time I decided to stick to one character until I hit 60 and then make an alt. After debating my way through which class I should play, I realized characters were mostly stuck in their roles, so I picked a Priest. Primarily so that I can group later on (without having to wait 30min+ for a group), and I always end up playing a healer so might as well just start with one. Edyarea was my first character in the original Everquest, a high elf Cleric. I tend to remake her any chance I can. So behold! The new Edyarea!

T.T why can't I make her chest smaller?

I journey into the game and play the first couple levels. The first thing you notice about TERA is how beautiful it is. The female characters are a bit... under-clothed, but have some very pretty outfits. The world itself is a joy to look at. I can see why people think WoW looks terrible now, with so many pretty MMOs coming out. Honestly the beauty of TERA reminds me a bit of Rift. I was impressed with how pretty the world in Rift looks as well.

So in most other MMOs your quick travel is either a teleport or riding on a mount of some sort in a set path. TERA does have some teleportation but they also included Pegasus flight paths.

First look of the first major city

So ya I was thinking the Pegasus look cool. Pretty anyway, and I happen to really like pretty things and flying horsies. But then something awesome happened.

Pegasus! Enable WARP DRIVE!!

OH YEAH! Warp drive Pegasus! I thought it was pretty neat, and it does make the flight paths a little faster. I just chuckle every time I go through one of these. It feels like space MMO meets fantasy MMO.

That's all about TERA for now folks. Next time I'll talk about combat, group play, and why healing is mildly more entertaining in this game. Stay tuned!

PS if you are playing and would like a Priest buddy I'm level 24 right now on Freeholds. Character name is Edyarea

First steps into the Ironman WoW Competition

A  few months ago I read stumbled across WoW's Ironman competition. This is a post about my first experience and failure with WoW Ironman. The rules for the competition are as follow:

Level from 1-85 using the rules below.

1. Only White or Grey gear. No Heirlooms of any kind.
2. No transfer of gear, items, or money from any other character (yours or others).
3. No gear enhancements, including gems, enchanting, and reforging. Class abilities are allowed (eg. Rogue poisons, Shaman imbues).
4. No specialization, talent points, or glyphs. No pet talent points.
5. No professions or secondary skills, except for First Aid.
6. No potions, flasks, or elixirs except for required quest items.
7. No food buffs or other external buffs (including buffs from items and other players).
8. No groups or assistance from other characters, even if not grouped.
9. No dungeons, raids, battlegrounds, or arenas.
10. No guilds, except for level 1 guilds created specifically for the Ironman Challenge.
11. No Refer-A-Friend.
12. No addons which assist in combat and/or leveling (eg. leveling guides, Ovale).
13. THE BIG ONE: No deaths. Character death for any reason disqualifies the character

The following are allowed:

1. All class abilities, racials, and personal buffs.
2. All mounts, bags, and non-combat pets.
3. All quests, including holiday events and dailies (unless prohibited by some other rule, eg. Fishing and Cooking dailies).

After mulling this over for a day or so I decide to restart my account and join in on the fun. Instead of choosing my class, race, ect. I used random.com to generate some numbers to choose what I would play. From this we get Iroknee the male human Warlock

Fear Iroknee

 I thought this would be fun and easy. Ok maybe not easy, but the challenge was great. Finally I had a reason to play WoW again, though wasn’t I just as happy not playing? I was very impressed with how detailed the Warlock spell Shadow bolt looks. I guess I have never noticed it before.

Pshhhoooosh Shadowbolt!

There is a little skull at the end! How cute =) I wonder if male gamers notice these things. I thought things were going fairly well with Iroknee. Had a few close calls with Kobolds that respawn too fast. However my leveling bliss was not meant to last. I was level 8 and decided to engage 2 level 10 Murlocs. By the time I started running I was already dead.

R.I.P. Iroknee, sorry for being dumb and attacking dudes higher than me.

This could not be the end, I had to continue try again. Back to the random generator and we get a Blood Elf Hunter!

Why are Belfs sexier than Nelfs?

Well this can’t go any worse than Iroknee did. Check back later to see my continuous failure at Ironman WoW!

Origins of Hookah

I have decided that I will be writing about Hookah as well, because it's my blog and other game bloggers write about random stuff too. So expect a random hookah post mixed in with the posts about gaming. I'll even talk about good games to play while smoking, which there aren't too many because you need one hand to smoke. Or you need to get really good at hands-free smoking.

Writing about hookah makes my blog slightly international still, since hookah originated in India about a millennia ago. It was designed out of coconut shells and was meant to smoke Opium and hashish. The hookah made it's way through Persia where people started smoking Tombeik with it. Tombeik is a type of tobacco grown in modern day Iran. They redesigned the hookah at this point and it was made out of wood. About 500 years ago hookah made it's way to Turkey, where modern day hookahs were designed. It was primarily smoked by the upper classes and intellectuals. This is where it changed from a wooden design to glass and brass and became more of an artwork.

Evolution of Hookah

200-300 years ago hookah cafes became popular in Turkey. Hookah spread into Lebanon and Egypt and around this time shisha as we know it came to be. Shisha is what we refer to in America as the tobacco you smoke out of a hookah and is tobacco, honey molasses, and dried fruit. This is brief overview of the history of hookah, you can read more here if you would like more detailed information.

"Cigarettes are for nervous people, competitive people, people on the run [...] When you smoke a narghile, you have time to think. It teaches you patience and tolerance, and gives you an appreciation of good company. Narghile smokers have a much more balanced approach to life than cigarette smokers." (Ismet Ertep, 71 years Turkey)

When we were in Germany during the summer would we bring on of our hookahs down to the river (the Danube). We enjoyed many lazy warm summer days smoking, grilling, and drinking. 

We also enjoyed bringing the joys of beer pong to Europeans. The French folks in our group got very good at playing. 

A gaming post to follow this one tomorrow! Check back =)

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. 

Newbie Blogger Initiative

Hello wide open internet world! I have decided to restart my blog. I'm no longer abroad, but don't want to come up with a new name. Although I was very tempted to do The Smokin' Gamer and talk about games and hookah, it just seemed like a weird thing to mix.

So I've decided to try and renew my blog thanks to the Newbie Blogger Initiative. Apparently all of the awesome bloggers I follow (Syp, Ferrel, MMO Gamer Chick, Green Armadillo, and Tipa to name a few...) are in on this madness. Syp is the forerunner leading the charge. You can find out by clicking on this lovely image.

So, what will I be blogging about? I ended up signing up for the WoW annual pass when I found out they were introducing Harvest Moon style farming through the Tiller faction. You get your very own instanced farm plot to raise crops and animals. And I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who felt that subbing for a years worth of WoW was worth what I could just do in any Harvest Moon. Ah well, now I have one MMO to stick to.

I have 4 85s, one designated as my achievement char. I'm part of a tiny guild that is trying to raid. Last 3 of us were signed on and we joined with another guild for their raid night. Not terribly promising on the raid front, but I enjoy chatting with my guild leaders so much I'm reluctant to leave. WoW as a whole is just feeling very dead. I am on a low population server which probably explains why I feel it's so dead. For now I'm mildly enjoying it. Though if anyone wants to come raid, we'll get you geared and ready! Bloodscalp - Alliance- Skrubz Inc

Also playing a little bit of EQ2 in German, just to keep my German fresh. I'm considering resubbing to SWTOR to play that in German instead.

Expect another post on Friday! Though it might just be about hookah, because I really want to write about hookah for some reason.