For the past month or so I haven’t done much gaming. I’m actually not even subscribed to any games atm. I’ve been working on putting together my website, and get it up and running. This has been really fun so far. I have alot of plans for my website, and that includes moving “Sneaks Speaks” to a full gaming blog. The framework has been laid out so with out further ado:

Castleman’s Creations

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! I have alot of plans ahead including populating my portfolio, adding a asp.net gaming blog, making it more dynamic, and updating content. Let me know what you think and stay tuned for updates.

A few days ago Darkfall released that it would be starting a NA server soon. I’m really looking forward to trying this game. I’m all about the “sandbox pvp” style game and lately Warhammer hasn’t been doing it for me. That I haven’t really had any real time to sit down and get a good gaming session in. I have been following Darkfall ever since Keen and Graev started playing it. It really is more my type of game. I’ve come to find out why I didn’t like WoW, and why Warhammer didn’t really work for me.

I like to be able to kill anyone, talk to anyone, and not be forced to work with someone just because they are in my realm. I come from Lineage 2 where there were no set sides. It was build your alliance and try to play the political game as best you could. I had a blast in that game, and that’s including the grinding. Darkfall will hopefully renew some of that vigor gaming I once had. Even though Warhammer was fun it was to casual and that left me lackluster. At first I loved that about the game, but as time passed I realized that it was it’s casual nature that left me uninterested. I didn’t have to really login to do anything unlike other mmo’s I’ve played. I wish it all the best when LotD releases but you won’t see me playing Warhammer regularly anytime soon.

I’ll be rolling onto Darkfall as soon as it hits NA. I’m also almost done my website, and with that I’m going to switch over to a asp.net blog. So stay tuned for more updates.

This post has been a long time coming I swear. A little update of what I have been up to lately. I started a new project a few weeks back that I will hopefully get to spend some time on soon. It involves Warhammer holler. I have actually been extremely busy at work. My company is growing and I have been coding like a mad man to keep up. Plus I took vacation last week and didn’t really touch a computer all week. When I did I was researching on how to make stuff for my website (not sneaks speaks) and trying to figure out what I want my Jeep to look like.

The wierd thing is that it’s pretty quiet in the Warhammer world right now which is a little eary. I haven’t had much time to play, but hopefully I will be able to unleash my new project here for everyone soon. I have also been looking into Darkfall Online. It’s got that “sandbox pvp” style I really love. I have been mostly reading what Keen n Graev’s have to say about it. Sounds like alot of fun, but needs some work which hopefully by the time it comes to NA will be finished and polished. No worries I will still be playing Warhammer for a long time. I like the game and it’s casual nature. Plus I need to get to 40 on my BW.

It is going on a month now that the WCPI has been up and running. With no end in the cross linking growth of the entire Warhammer community in site. I have come accross some really great folks over there that are determined to make the community grow. It amazes me that even getting close to a month the shout out thread grows daily! People are returning the shout out favors left, right, up, and down. I am truely astonished at the amount of commitment that these guys/gals are showing! I hope it keeps up for a long time.

Another awesome thing about the War Lords in the WCPI is that I have not come across one person that I didn’t like. I have not even come across a person who has left me with a bad taste in my mouth. There are times I don’t always agree on some of the stuff people are writing on, but it’s still good stuff. I say cheers to all the folks at the WCPI!

If your not involved in this “schindig” I say what are you waiting for? Get involved in the community and it will make your entire life feel more complete!

Forjador, over at Portraits of War, never ceases to amaze me with his talents. He’s back with some more stunning drawings!

I got some play time in this saturdfay morning. Alot of which was scenarios, and I finally started working with my new tradeskill Talisman making. This lead me to were I need to create an alt to get some low level talisman objects so I can level it on the main. Not sure what alt to create yet, but thinking about an Engineer or Slayer when they come out. Though I’m patiently awaiting my turn to start Choppa’n!

You see how many Choppas that scenario had? Yes, that was the most I have seen in one scenario, but there were always atleast 3 of them at a time. Choppas seem to be more popular then Slayers. I always see alot more Choppas then Slayers in scenarios which is a bummer because I would have thought the other way around. These guys are beasts to btw. You get a few of these greenies flailing around you and you are dead meat. It makes things very difficult in some situations, and I have found I use fiery blast a whole lot more now-a-days. I have also noticed alot of frustration with people in scenarios about all these choppa’s. I have personally liked it because it helps me get better at defending melee dps on my BW. I’m starting to get in the habit of looking for terrain advantages and places that offer cover. I can’t wait to get some more aoe skills.

All in all I like seeing the new waves of people in the lower tiers. Good for killing people which is my number one hobby in WAR atm.

Okay, so I’m going to list off some of the things that I am looking forward to, and things that are on my mind about Warhammer. Since Mark Jacobs has recently released another State of the Game to the public. This comes in the form of a novel (just a heads up). I would have given you an exact number, but quite frankly I have a few in mind with no real estimate on how many I wanna touch on. With that being said I will begin:

Server Merge: It was about time for this. I honestly and full heartedly think Mythic launched with way to many servers. I think they should have started with 15-20 and that’s it. They made great strides in the past months to transferr people to more populated servers, and this was good. I just think they should have done it sooner. Though I’m looking forward to Dark Crag gaining some new faces.

RvR: I still love killing people in Warhammer. I have liked all the skirmishes and keep sieges I have participated in. I even like scenarios sometimes when it isn’t a blow-out. I loved the idea of the open RvR influence rewards, and the willingness that Mythic has showed to improve every aspect of the RvR portion of the game. I think time will make this better, and the constant changes being made have all seemed for the better.

Patch 1.2: I think this patch was really good, and I’m looking forward to patch 1.3. I have been paying attention to my damage output lately on my Bright Wizard and it seems I’m doing well. I still think the combustion is a little high, but my damage output is good. I think most of it comes from the lack of gear I’m facing. I think the event went great, and the arrival of the Slayer and Choppa will be a big hit. The official forums seem to be rolling on nicely. Hopefully Mythic will keep getting the feedback they need to make their game even better. Overall I think this was a good patch.

Lack of Central Hubs: What I mean by this is, there doesn’t seem to be any great gathering points in the game. People are scattered everywhere thoughout the 4 tiers, 3 pairings, and numerous zones. The capital cities are nice, but I never see them flooded with people. I know in past games there were towns. As you progressed in the game you went and made a point to centralize yourself at these towns. These towns would be a center for economy, group building, and a starting point for pvp. In Warhammer I have never experienced anything like what I have in previous games.

Economy: Or should I say the lack there of. There is no economy in Warhammer. I’m not a fan of the auction house because I think it is a pain in the ass, but I’m wierd about that. I have always liked the shop method of buying and selling. Set up shop while your afk, and leave it at that. The lack of economy is only good for one thing, and that’t to keep gold sellers at a minimum. With no real reason of needing gold, then gold sellers are obsolete. I never find myself having to really work for something in Warhammer. This will probably be different when I start worrying about higher level gear, but after that then what? The economy is boring enough said.

Zone Domination: Thank goodness they are making improvements to this, and making it easier to understand. When I first started I never knew really what was up with this thing. Now it’s starting to make better sense. It seems Mythic will keep making strides on this system. Which is good because it is the major part of the end-game.

Bug Fixes & Client Stabilty: Good thing they are keeping this on the top of their list. Ever evolving your game and the way it performs is a must. Keeping everything working correctly is a vital part to keeping subs. They still have some things to work on, but atleast they know it.

I touched on a few things that I think are important. I know there alot of other things that might be or are more important then these things, but these are some of my major concerns. All and all I think Warhammer is a good game, not great though. They have room for improvement in alot fo areas, but I have faith they will do their best in making this game an over the top success!

Ok, so this has been on my mind sometime now about how the servers are seperated in WAR, and a few other games alike. My first major mmo was Lineage 2, and there were only 9 servers. Later they added more and took some away and such, but in the beginning there were 9. On these 9, alot of countries played on each one of them. I made friends from all over Europe, South America, and North America. Why is it in Warhammer, I can only play with Americans? I want a worldwide server. Why do we faction out depending on our locations.

I know some of the reasons are language barriers and such, and that I can understand. I just want to know why there isn’t even an option to play on a worldwide server. Why it is split when it comes to Mythic and GOA. I know it can be done because of other games. I like interacting with different people from all over, but as it is now I only get to interact with all people that live in NA. Don’t get me wrong I love the USA, but I also like people from different lands.

I’m not sure if this is even viable now since the game has been out for half a year now, but would be cool. Also I know this and that is if I ever get on development team the servers will be global by language, and I won’t start with 50+ servers. You need masses in WAR, and by having alot of options to pick from as far as servers it spread everyone out. That’s why it felt empty on Dark Crag the first time around. Even with all these server transfers going down, I’m not sure how it will turn out. I will keep nuking on though because WAR is fun, and I like the devs!

One step closer to what you might ask? Well that step is closer to world domination. A little background info for you all. So, I got involved in the WCPI. Since getting involved it has been a blast. There is a forum for us WCPI Warlords over at the WHA. Just a way to keep track of everything and keep in touch and to get to know everyone. Well it seems that a running joke has started. I’m a pretty wild guy I like to have fun. I say some pretty wild things. One of these things involved a statement concerning “no pants”. Now I just kinda ran with hit, dropping no pants statements here and there. Well it lead me to make a “No Pants Needed” avatar for the WHA Forums. It has grown a little bigger today with the involvement of a poll option.

VN poll here.
WHA poll here.

I finally got the internet back at the crib, and it came in the form of a Verizon Fios wireless connection. It was awesome not having to be connected to anything as I play on my laptop. What a good night to come back to also. Things were popping in Troll Country. I got a little open RvR action in the form of a WB vs WB, maybe a little less then one on the Destro side. It was fun actually seeing people out and about. I’m still a T2 lowbie though so I have to watch myself, but it is alot of fun. I didn’t get any good drops, but I did get some much needed xp.

The new 1.2 patch has alot of great new features, and I’m liking everything so far. Well not everything, but I already explained my reasons for not liking 1.2 in a previous post. The Twisting Tower scenario is wild! You get to be launched from your spawn point to a landing on the top part of the tower. That was one of my favorite things when I was first launched as a Greenie in CB. Be sure to pick up your pies so you can through squids on enemies faces also. Oh, and one more thing. I turned into what I thought was a lizardman in the Twisting Tower last night when destro got the Oculus of Change. Not sure how it happens, but is that a sign of what’s to come?