March 30, 2010

Easter Jogging

Put poor Spazzy through his paces today. I heard the world shout for the Easter Wabbit Hunt and of course, I had to go try that!
Went to Logar, behind the windmill, where these fine fellows were hanging out.
They opened a bunch of portals and I just jumped in one randomly. Ended up in Dragonfang Ridge. Started galloping.
Now I normally like events. They add some spice to the game when you're so bored killing the same old mobs you could do it with your eyes closed, one arm behind your back, eating a jelly sandwich and singing Dixie. But this event was mildly frustrating.
There were five rabbits to find. No clues. Just go forth, foolish mortals! The darn wabbits could have been ANYWHERE. Taborea is a big place! So here's 30-some folks running around randomly looking for bunnies and it's complete chance if you find one. And since there are only five to find, only five people are really happy and think the event was enjoyable.
So perhaps a suggestion to the Event Leaders is to make an event where everyone wins at least a little prize for showing up. Or maybe more small prizes to go around and one big prize. Or maybe just create an event that requires skill and not dumb luck and a fast mount.
So as you probably have guessed, I did not find a rabbit. Being the stubborn person that I am, I will probably try again if I see the announcement on another day. I'm nothing if not determined.
Besides, Spazzy has been getting fat eating too many parsnips. He needs a good run now and then!

March 29, 2010

The HP Dilemma

So I’m finding out that a lot of the “end game” stuff is way too hard for a regular level 55. Everyone I meet is geared to the nines and I feel a little out of place. I have less than 10,000 HP, which seems to be the magic number that everyone looks for when partying up.
The thing is this: I’m a mage. Not a knight or a warrior. A MAGE. I’m not supposed to have high hit points. I’m supposed to have high mana and high MA (magic attack). Mages are supposed to stand at the back and toss fireballs while the tanks, err, tank. Doesn’t that make sense?
But that’s not how it works out in RoM apparently. Every class is expected to have more than 10k HP. I suppose that makes sense in a way because some of the big elite bosses can one-hit you with an AOE but I think people should consider more than just HP when grouping up.

For example, what if you’re a rogue and you have a DEX of like a million? You’re going to dodge every feeble hit good ol’ Worr tries to make! (See video link below)
Or if you’re a mage and you have, say, a bazillion physical defense. Wouldn’t that mean that you could stand there and take hits like Rocky? Or even just root him with a killer-maxed-out lightning bolt and then pick him off before he ever touches you? (That’s what I’m doing now in AV.)

Besides, it all goes back to what I said before about everyone’s role within a party. Tanks go up with their ginormous biceps and glittering plate armor and take the punches like manly men. Rogues flit around like dark shadows, stabby stabby stabby. Scouts stand waaaaaaay back and puncture eyeballs with arrows. Priests, druids and mages huddle together far from the nasty blood and guts and do their magicky thing. It all works out. A perfectly balanced party.
Nevertheless, I am still aiming for 10k HP to fit in with the expectation of end game players. I will probably not go higher than that. I want to leave room on my equip for more Int and MA stats and less Stam so that I will be an effective mage and do my job as The Cowardly Barbecuer of Mobs.

For fun, check out this video of a R/K soloing Worr . Pretty cool.

March 25, 2010

Bunch of Stuff

Today was a crazy day. On top of working like mad, I also did Spiral's Dino dailies, did a quick run through NoM, and started a new alt, a crazy-looking druid.
Going back to the beginning of the game was quite fun. I leveled to 10 in no time flat, plus leveled my gathering to 10 as well just in case. The quests seem so easy and the XP is so high. It's insane. But I guess that's how they rope new players in, right? They make it easy to start so you feel like you're awesome...until you end up at level 30 in Ystra killing ENDLESS numbers of Reindeer and wanting to scream.
So now that my new elf is level 10, I'm taking her to Varanas and back to the places I know. But I also put a teleport marker on the Elven Island and my plan is to someday open up a passageway for any humans to go to the Island. I always thought it was unfair that human toons couldn't go there and complete the quests. Of course, when I mentioned that, the elves got their ears in a twist and said that it was their island! Whatever. END APARTHEID!!
The other thing I did today was take a quick peek at some new stuff about Chapter III. I guess they are opening up one of the zones in April. That's soon!
So here is a pic I took of one of the funky dudes we're going to see there. Wonder if he's friendly?

March 24, 2010

Ode to Spammers

O, gold spammers!
How do I hate thee?
I hate thee to the depth of the Heart of the Ocean
Where I dost hope thy die a horrible death.
I hate thee to the level of ten,
Which is all thou seemst to get to.

Thou makest me lie down on a hill of fire ants,
Thy spam and thy "Great Deals",
They annoy me.
Thou fillest mine heart with loathing
And mine ears with irritation
And I shall hate thee all the days of my life.

March 23, 2010

A Quick Jog Through Kalin's

I did Kalin’s Shrine for the first time the other day. Holy freaking CHAOS, Batman!
I’d been in there once before but died quite quickly at the first boss. So this time when a zone shout came up, I made sure to tell them that I was a Kalin’s “virgin” and that I had only 7700 HP. They said it was okay so I said, “I’m in.”
I briefly debated taking either a Phoenix’s Redemption or Big Angel’s Sigh but then decided against it. As a level 55, I can’t accrue XP debt, only TP, so I thought it might be better to save those for when the level cap comes off.
Anyway, my group of six were all level 55. The tank had I think 13,000 HP or more. There were 4 mages and 1 priest. The tank just blazed on through the place, running full tilt! I was racing to keep up and loot and keep an eye out for quests. I had zero time to look around. I actually thought to myself, “I guess I’ll have to come back for a sightseeing visit.”
Runes of Magic Kalin ShrineThe first boss killed me, as expected. They told me to stand under his butt but I guess I wasn’t close enough. I’m not sure if I should be proud of that or not? :)
There were actually a few more bosses after him and then a BIG boss at the end. They gave me some hints to survive, but nope, I still died.
But it was cool cuz as I was lying there on the floor, I got to see all the action without worrying. It was chaotic. Madness. This guy, Regin, split into like 20 of himself and set the whole damn place on fire. I was glad I was already dead.
At the end of the run, I stopped and said, “I have to take a picture for my scrapbook.” They thought I was silly but I wanted to have proof I made it through. Plus the end guy was pretty cool looking.

One more note: the guy who invited me, Frostbite, was super nice and helpful and understanding. I want to give big props to him for being such a great player.

March 22, 2010

Beautiful Places of RoM #1

After the hectic pace of this past weekend, I spent today gathering and crafting. And of course I took some time to just enjoy the scenery.
This screenshot was taken from a high vantage point over the Sea of Snow. There are a lot of icy "ramps" you can run up to get a beautiful view of the land and I happened to be there right at sunset. Lovely, isn't it?

EDIT: I was thinking after I posted this that I should GO OUTSIDE and see a real sunset now and then. Spring is here and I should spend less time inside and more time out enjoying the fresh air. :)

March 20, 2010

The Madness of Triple XP

The Triple XP weekend is super busy! I took this screenshot of the daily Dino run for level 53 and up. We had a FULL raid of 36 people! Very cool. But also very laggy.  :)
Spiral hit 55/55 today, thanks to the 3x XP. Woot! Now she's taking a break while I level some alts, including Sister Agatha, my P/S.
Playing alts really makes you realize that certain classes are more of a "fit" than others. For instance, I have a K/War that is about level 30 and I just don't like playing her. I feel she is sooooooo slow. I don't want to delete her cuz I worked hard to get her where she is but I think I need to read the forums or something to find out if this is how it is with K/War. It's not really fun to play.
However, I also have a K/R who is super-fun. He has two swords and he just goes choppy-choppy-choppy like one of those Japanese chefs who set stuff on fire at your table.  I almost expect the mob to fall down into little bite-sized pieces all arranged nicely on a plate with some wasabi and rice.
Okay, back to the game for me. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

March 17, 2010

Swimming with Swords

Fighting Bungas UnderwaterWent with my guildmate, Elahir, today to kill Bunga Elites. I've never done that before but she was kind enough to invite me along.
The fun part about it was killing underwater! We did this circle of bungas and one was on the bottom of the pond. Pretty cool, although a tad difficult to maneuver at first.
We were trying to get a Staff of Admiration to drop, which we succeeded in doing. (Yay, Treasure Hunter!) Our plan was to sell it on the AH and split the profits. Unfortunately, we didn't know the darn thing was Bind on Equip! So it can only be unbound and sold on AH using an Advanced Bind Lifter. They're very expensive and not offered for sale very often. I have a few but since Ela picked up the staff, I couldn't unbind it.
In the end, we used a purified stone to take the Purity X stat off the staff and we're selling that. At least we'll make some money and it was a neat experience for me.

March 16, 2010

Blood, Sweat and Tears aka Upgrading

I’m pretty stingy. Frugal. Penny-pinching. I don’t have a lot of gold to go around and certainly fewer diamonds so I try to use my money wisely.
I recently leveled Spiral’s rogue side to 54. I had always said that if I got high enough, I would stop wearing the Tempest Heights set and switch to more level-appropriate gear. I have collected five out of seven pieces of that set, but all the pieces are below level 50 and the set bonus isn’t cutting it anymore.
So I decided to record the results of the upgrading of a pair of pants to see how much money I spent and what the results were.
So I went to the Enchanter NPC and gave him a peanut butter sandwich, a backrub and my spleen...kidding!
I gave him 12,474 gold and he gave me a fusion stone that gave two stats plus a random. I chose to buy the stone that gives Defense I and Life II , partially because those are decent stats and partially because I already had some in my inventory to match together.
Okay, so I needed nine matching stones to make three Tier 4s but as the third stat on the stone is random, I ended up buying 30 stones before I got nine that matched. Here is the break-down of the stats I got on top of the Def I and Life II.
7 Intelligence, 4 Light, 3 Mist, 2 each of Spirit, Stamina, Earth and Dark, and 1 each of Ability, Life, Flame, Might, Energy, Whiff.
Plus I got 2 stones that didn’t have an extra stat, just Def I and Life II so they match with anything in this group.
As you can assume, I used the seven Int stones plus the two “blanks” to upgrade my gear.
Then I had to buy belts to transmute the Fusion stones into Mana stones. I bought the Dress Uniform Belts in Obsidian Stronghold, Mercenary Square, because they are the cheapest piece that gives you a Tier 3 stone. I only bought four belts because I had three free belts that I had received from playing Malatina’s game.
I used two pieces of gear I had saved to get the two extra stats I wanted: Stam X and Strength X. The pants already had Energy X on them.
So this is how the pants look after the upgrading.
Now for the cost:
30 stones x 12,474g = 374,220
4 belts x 1,583g = 6,332
TOTAL COST = 380,552

I should also note that I used 13 Arcane Transmuter charges which you can get for free with your Phirius coins, although you can buy them with gold and diamonds too, I think.
To offset the cost of this upgrading, I usually turn nine of the leftover stones into one Tier 5 and sell it on the AH. My price is 200,000g so I get a payment of 187,999 after the AH cut. If I can sell two Tier 5s, I’m almost break-even.
Just tonight, a guildie and I had a great chat about upgrading and she told me that I should use puris (purified stones) on my best blue or purple armor (yeah, right! Like I have any purples!) and then just tier up my weapons using junk stones. She said that the armor needs the stats, like above, but the weapon benefits more from tiering. Good advice. That's why I love my guildies.  :)

March 15, 2010

The Origin

I was bored today and thought that I would take advantage of Spiral's rogue side and do some sneaking.
First placed I tried was Hall of Survivors. That didn't work out so well...they saw me! Guess I'm not as sneaky as I thought. Or maybe it was all that garlic I ate for lunch?  :)
But I'm not one to be easily discouraged so I collected by tombstone and tried somewhere else:
The Origin.
The OriginI had one quest in my list that said "Proceed to the Origin" but didn't have a clue where to go. I actually had to Google it to find out. Turns out, the entrance is in the far reaches of the Jade Valley which is a little corner of green tucked away in Aslan Valley.
I didn't know much about this place going in. I figured it must be high level since my quest came from an NPC in Green Tower. When I got there, I realized that it was a darn scary place! Everything in there was a 55 elite I think! Even the worms. Cuh-razy!
But the zone was so beautiful, I decided to venture in further...and further...and further. It seemed endless in there! Most instances are pretty linear and don't seem to go on that long. The Origin just kept going and going.
But it was a very magical place and I just kept sneaking my little self forward to see what else there was. The place was full of rivers and waterfalls and lots of elven buildings with their fancy decorations, huge trees everywhere, and some really cool statues. Of course, it was also full of Fierce Wind Lords and Fortifying Elementals and Extermination Trees and a Life Leecher. Sounds like a friendly bunch, eh? The kind of NPCs you want to bring home to Mom.
My palms were actually sweaty as I tip-toed my way through the beautiful maze of death-traps. There were a couple times I thought I was a goner. Once I passed a hole in the ground and a beast came up out of it and attacked me. Thank goodness for my Vanish skill!
Another time I was sneaking between two Giant Stone Elementals with maybe only a body width and a half between me and them, when one of the dudes lost his head. Like, LITERALLY, his head fell off! It was so funny! He bent over and picked it up and put it back on. Very strange.
But I made it out alive. I ended up at a bridge with a magical barrier that I couldn't pass through so I just ported out and back to ugly old Varanas. I kinda felt like I had been on vacation for a bit. A stressful, sneaky vacation, but a vacation nonetheless.

March 14, 2010

Never Trust a Man in an Egg Suit

There's this guy on Osha server named PhatCat. I think he's probably the most well-known person on there, although many other players I'm sure would beg to differ.
PhatCat was the leader of a guild called ThePhiriusWorkshops, a guild of crafters and gatherers. An interesting idea. Unfornately for poor PhatCat, there were other guilds that thought it was humorous to war on his guild of pasty-faced potion-makers, kinda like bullies beating up the geeks at school. So PhatCat merged with another guild, I think Overkill, to gain protection. Smart move.
Anyway, everyone knows PhatCat because he is very active in the RoM community. He has events and give-aways and is generally very outspoken and cheerful on the world chat.
I truly admire PhatCat for his originality, enthusiasm and creativity. I have not seen any other guild have events or give away anything to anyone. PhatCat is like the Pep Squad of Osha! (Once again prompting the brawny quarterbacks of Osha to give him a swirly in the Varanas fountain.)
PhatCat and a friend, Zoe something, were standing out front of Varanas bridge the other day doing a bit of a schtick routine. Zoe had opened a portal and was telling passers-by to enter the portal. "What lies behind the portal? Riches? Virgins? Go through the portal!"
PhatCat was there dressed in some silly costume, telling everyone, "Don't believe her. Don't go in the portal! Don't do it!"
It was a mildy entertaining routine but no one was falling for it. I stood and watched for a while and people pretty much ignored them. I understood that they were trying to elicit some reaction in people, any reaction, and to just spice up life in Taborea a little bit. I thought it was nice.
That's why I stepped through the portal.
I think I was honestly expecting something mundane. I would be transported to some room in the Ystra Labyrinth and someone would be there with a small gift from the crafters.
Well, that's not what happened AT ALL.
I ended up here.
Nothingland.
Absolute emptiness. I ran in one direction. Nothing. I ran in the other. Nothing.
It was FULLY awesome! I had never seen a place like this in RoM. I couldn't even imagine where it might be. Under a floor? Off the edge of the world? I was just amazed. I felt like I had died and gone to some bizarre in-between land.
They let me sit in there for a little bit before Zoe showed up. Just poof, she appeared.
I asked her, "How did you find this place?" She said, "Through a lot of hard work."
We chatted a bit, I showed her my reindeer, she showed me her WarTiger. Then she told me that if I wanted out, I had to port. Fine by me. I took one last look around the Land of Nothing, and went back to my regular life in Taborea.
The next day I found a transformation potion from PhatCat in my mailbox as a gift for being adventurous. So nice!
And a truly one-of-a-kind day. Thank you, PhatCat.

March 12, 2010

Masked Ball Event and More

Spiral and the Masked Ball Organizers
Wow, another new event started yesterday! What an exciting week.
In Varanas Central I found that the Valentine’s decorations had been changed to ones of spring. How refreshing! I can almost smell the dog poo thawing on the lawn…winter is almost over!
So it is time for the Masked Ball in Taborea.
The first task I completed was to deliver Masked Ball invitations to five different NPCs around Silverspring and Howling Mountains. Pretty simple task and I got two potions to transform me into a Baroque Noble Lady. Ooh-la-la!
Next I did the second task, collecting 5 Dazzling Pink Clovers and 3 Breaths of the Spring Goddess. I already had picked up the three Breaths when I did my dailies, so I simply had to go to Helen’s Farm in Howling Mountains and pick my clovers. For my troubles, I received some treats that restore 20% of my HP. Not bad. I'm sure there are more things that I could possibly get with this quest. It's probably random.

While I was doing that, all the event folks came online and started an anniversary event called Offering for the Goblin King. The GM did a zone shout and gave us the following list of things to collect: one grape, one simple first aid potion, one small empty bottle, one rusted axe and one zinc ore. We also had to have a Kentucky chicken pet following us.
Wow, did I ever run! (Well, I suppose Spazzy ran and I rode but you know what I mean.) I was under the impression that there would only be one winner. My heart was racing when I arrived back at Varanas Central with my loot. There were tons of people standing around the event GMs.
Oh no! Had I lost again??
It actually took me three tries to give them my stuff cuz I was rushing so much, not knowing if there would be only one winner.
But all was well. They were giving out multiple prizes to everyone who found the right stuff. After I gave my loot, they asked if I would sacrifice my chicken. I said, “Sure thing.” (Odd request, I thought) They killed my chicken, sniff sniff, and told me to step up on the fountain. I did that and then they told me to STAND STILL. Whoops. I guess I was excited and moving around too much and they couldn’t target me.  :)
I got a Cat Mask and a Cat Tail as my prize. Pretty nice! I actually already had a cat tail from the Halloween event but I didn't have the mask, so that's cool. And I feel proud that I won something!

Later on, one of my guildmates did the Lucky Portal game in Pioneers Colony. He said that it was just pick a portal and if you get the right one, you win a price. Pretty random really. I think his words were, "Anti-climactic." I think he also said that his portal took him into NoM. That would pretty scary for a lowbie!
I also saw on the zone chat that someone got ported to a volcano somewhere and the GM told them they would have to go back through the portal or they would be stuck there. Perhaps a riskier game than I first thought!

March 10, 2010

I Was Rolled on by a GM

Today was a fun day! I was puttering about in Aotulia Volcano, doing some dailies to get double XP and level my rogue side, when up on the screen comes: "The event team is now online!"
So I transport immediately to the bridge of Varanas, since that is usually where all events start. There were a bunch of folks hanging around but no GMs, no event person, nothing.
I waited.
A few minutes later a GM spoke out, her voice booming across the lands (hee hee) and said something like, "Give food and shelter to a poor GM. We're scattered around Howling Mountains and Silverspring. Find us!"
Well, chaos ensued, as they say. People started galloping all over the place. Mammoths and dragons and war horses and war tigers and ostriches trampled all over each other. My little reindeer and I took off as well, racing everywhere trying to find the GMs. I went in houses, underwater, looked up big hills and on top of buildings, checked inside FA and inside Twilight Mine...nothing.
Well, I guess I didn't go exactly everywhere because after about 15 minutes of fruitless searching, a message came up that there were four winners and the event was over. Bummer.
I was kinda glum cuz I really hate to lose but when I went back to Varanas to port somewhere else to continue on with my boring day, I found an exciting sight...GMs all over the bridge! Four of them!
I hung out there and watched the fun. The GMs were at first about 50% bigger than us regular toons. Then I guess they felt that wasn't impressive enough cuz one of them grew up to be a huge giant. One of the other ones didn't want to be outdone, so she shrank to itty bitty-ness. Well, then they started shrinking all the gaping people around them. It was pretty cool.
One GM, it might have been Curtis, grew huge and then ROFL'd on us!  Too funny!
As I was standing there, I received three "Little Cookies" from one of the GMs. Don't know what they do. They don't have a description on them really. But thinking about it, maybe that's what shrunk the regular people: they ate the cookie.
I took a ton of screenshots of the GMs but this one is my favorite because it shows everything. You can the big elf GM, the pretty GM with wings, the shrunken toons and also GMs Brad and Curtis PvP-ing with some crazy guys who wanted to duel just for kicks.
I suppose I don't have to say they lost.
RoM GMs at Anniversary Event

March 8, 2010

Happy Birthday, Frogster!

Got a super surprise today when I went on to play...double XP and TP!! Woot!
Turns out it was the beginning of the Birthday celebrations in honor of Frogster's one year anniversary. I had read about the events before but forgotten all about it. :)
I followed the forum link to find out more about the events taking place. It says that all week we'll get double XP on quests and mobs, and double TP on mobs. That is fully awesome.

They also have great sales in the Cash Shop and lucky me bought a bunch of diamonds a few weeks ago for my birthday so I have tons of spending money.
First thing I bought? A gasha, of course. I think I'm addicted to those things. They're kinda like scratch-and-win lotto tickets. I like the thrill of not knowing if you're going to get a big prize.

I briefly saw an Event Leader come online during the day and do a shout-out but I was busy and couldn't investigate further. The forum says that there is a Zurhidon Rampage event every day on Channel 1. I'd like to try that and see what the prizes are.

Also on the forums it says there are other events that can come up any time during this week: The Lost Guardian of Oblivion, Road Runner, Give to the Needy, Offering to the Goblin King and Lucky Portal. They all sound really interesting. I hope that I get to do each one at least once. Events are a great way to spice up the game, in my opinion. I've been playing for almost a year now, and I find I'm more interested in playing when there's something new to do. I've done the Halloween, Xmas and Valentine's events so far and I really enjoyed them all AND got some sweet loot.

The last thing that I got excited about today was wings in the Ruby Shop. I have been thinking about wings for a while now but couldn't justify the high price. But they had Little Devil Wings for 119 Rubies and, as luck would have it, that's exactly how many rubies I had! So I now have a nice pair of purple bat wings. I think they're kinda cute.
So Happy Birthday, Frogster! And many more!

I'm a Noob

My time in Taborea didn't go so great tonight. I feel like an idiot!
Here's the story. One of my guildies wanted to go to Clops and so did I. He was finishing up some stuff, so I started the group and got some really great high-levels to join. Great looking party, nicely balanced, everyone good to go.
Except that I'm a dummie. I have never been to Clops before and I got lost on the way and DIED. How embarrassing. Level 55 and dead. One of the party members actually came and got me and opened a portal for me. Wow, did I ever feel embarrassed!
Then, we get to the Clops entrance and, duh, I'm not keyed yet. I thought I was but apparently I had to go to some pink crystal and get The Mark of Uguda. So they had to wait for me some more.
But my bad luck doesn't end there. I finally get inside Clops and I bend down to loot a corpse and ... I get stuck! Freaking STUCK. Can't move, can't turn, can't jump, nothing. OMG, I was furious!
So I logged off and logged back on but of course I was not the instance anymore, that would have been too easy. I was way out at the resurrection point. So I port back to the Clops entrance, cuz at least I was smart enough to mark a transport point there, and then the stoopid door won't open.
Yes, friends, I had to abandon the quest and go back to ... wait for it ... the resurrection point to restart it.
So I just told my patient and tolerant party members to go on without me. I was so upset! I actually wanted to cry. Silly, I know. But I had been trying for so long to go to Clops and I finally got there and I messed it all up. I was mad at myself and mad at my computer and mad at the game and just plain old mad.

But I took that anger and frustration and tried to make something good out of it. I went and helped lower levels with things I knew how to do, things I do well.
I killed Wattken for two nice girls. I got a huge raid together for Giant Fruit Cactus. And I helped another guildmate with his quest line so he could be ready for Clops too.
It made me feel a little bit more like an experienced player and not some silly noob who is a drag on her guild and her party.

P.S. Please vote on my new poll. It's over there on the right --->

March 6, 2010

The Binpikes

Lynn BinpikeSo I joined the raid on the Binpikes, Lynn and Worr. Don't they sound sweet? Noooooo. They are big, gigantic, humongous, huge, enormous, large, and otherwise un-small minotaurs!
The group was very nice though. They told me pretty much right away that I was "90% going to die".
I lol'd. Seriously! Out loud. Thought I might wake the BF.  :)
But our beautiful and insanely geared tank, Sintress, showed those overweight cows who's boss. That's right, Lynn and Worr. You got your butt handed to you on a plate by a GIRL.  Nyah-nyah-nyah.
In other news...I died.
Ha! Well I lived through the fight with Lynn but then totally got stomped on, like literally stomped on with HOOVES, by Worr. Jerk.
But then I actually got a purple drop from him. A completely useless purple drop, a 2H hammer, but still, it was nice to get a prize.

March 5, 2010

As Taborea Turns

I love getting to a new level. It's so fun to get new stuff! I have a few new 55 pieces including a blue rarity Prayer Robe with 106 dura. I've plussed it to 6 and tiered it to 4 and added stats of Defense X, Energy X, Stamina X, Acumen X, Energy X and Spirit XI plus two runes, Triumph IV and Mayhem IV. The defense of the robe is now just over 1000. Pretty cool. And it looks nice too!
Of course upgrading gear caused me to run through the little money I had left after the whole Gasha binge so now I'm selling whatever I can get my hands on.
After all that, I did some dailies and turned them in on my Rogue side, which is level 52. I tried to defeat some of those Naga elites but got my butt kicked. I was a teensy bit closer to killing them than I was at level 54 though! There is hope. 
Went to the Spirit of  Tempest Heights event outside of Obsidian Stronghold and had some fun. I actually solo'd a beetle!  Woot!!  It was a tough fight though and I used a lot of pots. Wasn't really worth it if I just looked at the loot. The chests just gave me mats. But I feel all strong and 55-like cuz I killed one. :)
I think I'll have to jump on Sister Agatha and get her to whip up some of her special Deluxe Seafood for Spiral. Yummy! Nothing like fresh lobster drenched in butter to make you feel like a million bucks. (Oh and increase your magic power by 20% too.)
Yikes, just joined a raid on the Binpikes. Never done them before and probably going to die again but I'm going for it! Wish me luck. 

March 3, 2010

The Day Has Finally Come!

Tonight the Academy of Roleplaying Game Heroes (ARGH), would like to present the award for “Most Excruciating Journey to Reach Level 55” to…SPIRAL!!

OMG, Oh-em-GEE. I can’t believe it! Me? Wow! Thank you so much. Hey, this statue is heavier than it looks. Oh, gee. Whew. I can’t believe it. Speech time, Okay.
I’d like to thank Frogster and Runewaker for creating RoM, a game that is more addictive than crack.
I want to thank my guild, Medieval - WOOT! - for helping me when I needed it and for having a library when I was too stubborn to ask for help.
A big thank you to Borrofar. I know we had our differences but it was so great to work with you. I love you!
Oh, let’s see…thanks to Spazzy, the best reindeer ever. Thanks to Snoops, George the Mayor, Krodamar and Krodamon, Daily Quest Manager, Ancalon, Phil August, that crazy clown…what was her name?…oh, yeah, Malatina. I’d like to thank everyone I’ve ever partied with – you know who you are! And also…

Is that the music? I’m not done! Two more seconds!

I wanna thank the big G, and by that I mean the gigabytes of RAM in my hard drive. I want to thank the makers of Advil. Thank you to Juan Valdez and his little donkey – Hola! – and my cat, Willow, and … oh gosh. I said I wouldn’t cry!

Most of all I want to thank my BF for not getting too mad at me for disappearing to another land for an entire year. I love you and I promise I won’t…what am I saying? You know I’m not going to stop playing!

Thank you! Thank you so much! WOOT!

March 1, 2010

Getting There...

Really busy with work so I haven't had much time to play or RoM or blog.
But the good news is that I am finally making some progress towards reaching level 55. I went to Aoutulia Volcano, however it's spelled, and learned how to do the "Dinos". I had heard people shouting about it on the zone chat but didn't know what they were referring to. I even tried to look it up on the RoM DB but there are no "dinos". But then my guild leaders took me there and showed me where to get the quest and yes, it does involve killing dinosaurs.
The nice thing is that groups of level 54/55s get together and do this daily quest all at once. You just have to kill 12 of the dinosaurs for one daily. That's it. So a group gets together and runs in a loop killing 12, then going back to the quest receiver, turning in, then doing it again. There are so many 54s and 55s trying to get XP that there's almost always a group running.
To be honest, I thought it was odd that people were being so cooperative. I've found at the higher levels, you're expected to be able to do things yourself and finding help is hard. But I suppose everyone gets frustrated with never reaching 55 and that's why people group up. It's still self-serving. As soon as people are done their own dailies, they leave the group. I don't think anyone sticks around to help the others once they're finished their own.
Whatever. It's fine. It's just good to be seeing some progress on my XP bar.