Welcome all to the exciting return of EQual Perspective, the podcast that talks about Everquest II. Each episode is hosted by Troy and Karen, with special guest appearances from players and designers.
This week on the show we get caught up on what our characters have been doing in Norrath and then jump right into discussions on the new Battlegrounds expansion, WoE looting, Shards and the tiring grind, and finally talking a bit of Guild talk.
I hope you enjoy the show:
I don’t know about all of you, but I have been feeling rather down in the dumps for the last several weeks. Some of this feeling can no doubt be attributed to the Seasonal Affect Disorder, often called the winter depression, a blight on my consciousness caused by the lack of sun, warm weather, and feeling imprisoned in the house. But for me, it goes beyond SAD — I have this palatable fear, a feeling like a worm in my stomach, that gnaws at me. Often I cannot control this feeling of misery and utter depression. And I often sit dumb-struck as the world passes by me, as if I was a child left alone in a big train station — the people and the trains whizzing by, off to far flung exotic locations while I sit anchored to my little wooden chair frozen by fear of the great shadowed hall around me.
I often wonder if others have this feeling? I think most people just enjoy themselves, doing whatever they find fascinating or fun without the thoughts of wasting time or that they are losing out to some greater purpose. . . I can sometimes feel this way, for a brief period of time, but then I get this feeling again that I should be doing something — something that will make a difference later on.
I often feel depressed when I am enjoying something, and the more I try to relish the experience, the more I find that gnawing anxiety at my throat. I can lose myself quickly in playing computer games, watching TV, listening to music, just about anything — but the specter is always there, looming over me.
I begin to feel jealous of others, for no apparent reason. I really have so much to be thankful for, including my health, a great wife, a fantastic family, a good job, and a beautiful country. Still, all of that is washed away when depression looms its ugly head. I try to rationalize my depression, putting it in prospective of all that I have and even all that I have accomplished. I can win the argument, but often I waste my time worrying about things I have no control of, and regretting things that bring me joy and solace.
I have decided to try and further fight my depression, with a little program called Step Forward. I have agreed to myself that if I can do one thing, each day, to move myself forward in being more creative or being more successful, that I can enjoy the things in life that I have always considered fun. That if I can take that single step forward, that for the rest of the day I can do what I want without having that guilt haunt me that I am wasting my time.
My step forward, may or may not make sense to you. As my depression comes from the lack of self-confidence and the inability to enjoy those most tiny moments that others take for granted. For I am a horrible introvert; on top of being shy and scared of most things in life — but there is a part of me that craves attention; that wants to be the center of it, that yearns to be the star, the hero, the guy who makes the winning point, the successful writer, actor, or musician; I want to be smart and knowledgeable, I want to go on wild trips, have a job that I love, create worlds of wonder in story, movies, and books. . . I want to have others look up to me; be my friend; to want to spend time with me — to tell me that I am not wasting my time here, but doing something that matters to them!
So, if I can convince myself that if I take 1 step forward, that I can make a difference. The goal of course is so after a month, a year, a lifetime I can look backward and see all the way back down that twisting path of where I started and proudly feel that I have gotten somewhere. That the steep hill in front of me isn’t impossible to climb, if I just take it step by step.
I must convince myself that I can enjoy that movie, or the computer game, or that dinner out, or being with my friends, or taking that nap in the house that I live in — if I can continue to move forward, one step at a time: albeit one day at a time.
To me, a step forward may be continuing development of my games, both computer, board, and RPG. A step forward can be writing a chapter in a book, or writing a blog post, or a producing podcast, or making a video-cast. Another step may be in engaging in conversation with a book publisher, or agent, or publishing house. A step forward, can be as easy as getting out of the house and meeting new friends, going to different places, building upon a game development, story idea, or having a progressive discussion on my future. Going to Conventions and talking with others in the field of gaming, is a step forward to me!
It all comes down to moving forward, not letting life be squandered by letting the world pass me by. I want to break the bonds of playing endless, mindless nights of computer games, that go no where and do nothing for me creatively. I want to break the chains of just coming home and plopping in front of the TV and watch television show after show, until I fall asleep. I want to do more than just go to work and tread the same path over and over and over — being a mindless one-tooth cog in a machine that spews out the same old garbage year after year.
Today I have taken that first step toward something bigger, brighter, more adventuresome — I will not lie in a pool of drudgery, ineptness, and melancholy! And when I take that step forward, I can proudly proclaim the rest of the day to myself and enjoy life.
This is my proclamation of success!
Signed
Troy
Here is another free to play internet game from the people that made Ogame. I started playing this a week ago and have as you can see in the picture been doing well. I admit that I have not had any contact with other players and could get beaten up pretty good with only 12 axe wielding indians.
On the same vein of Ogame, Wild guns allows you to pick from white settlers, Indians, or Mexican bandoleers, and build a settlement. From there you can grow crops, chop wood, mine for iron, or extract clay from the soil. After awhile, and as your reserves of raw materials grow, you can add all sorts of buildings.
One of the buildings, the barracks, allows you to build troops of various kinds and you can research new kinds of troops.
I have been playing Wild Guns less frequently than Ogame, simply because it feels like a much slower game.
As you will see, if you decide to play — and if you do remember Server 8 is the place to be — the time to make things is a bit slower. Also there doesn’t seem to be any kind of exploration in the game, unlike Ogame where you can go on expeditions to find raw materials and ships as rewards.
I find myself logging into the game a few times during that day upgrading my various raw material buildings and strategicaly looking at where I should be taking my village.
Take a look at the image below and you will see the Indian face in the uppper right corner. I assume that if you play a cowboy or a Mexican, that a similar face will be there. Clicking on it will lead you through a tutorial of the game. I found it somewhat useful.
I will say that both Ogame and Wild guns seem to lack real good tutorials. Perhaps it is the nature of the game, or perhaps because the designers are German and the English translations lack?
Troy
If you are looking for an indepth space conquer and colonization game, try: http://ogame.org/
Its free to play and after a few turns you will be sucked into the strategy and addicting playstyle. It is perfect for work, school, or even on portable devices. It plays on any browser and has relatively easy rules.
If you do play, start in universe 43. I am located in galaxy 1, solar system 319 and would love to be allies with all my friends.
Just finished recording an hour long show with Karen, otherwise known as Jaye Wizziefingers — also to many she is the cohost to the podcast “Shut Up We’re Talking”. Karen and I had allot of fun podcasting tonight and talking about a dozen Everquest II topics.
We touched only briefly on the new Battlegrounds expansion coming to Everquest II. Battlegrounds is the PVP expansion that will go live with the next series of updates. Some cool extras is that you can play against and with folks from other servers.
We also touched on the exploitation of WoE looting and the farming that is running amok on both the Guk and Kithicor servers. We both agreed in the end that it is a nice ability to sell the fantastic loot — it is just too bad that Sony just doesn’t make it lootable and dropable. Use the broker, that is what its there for.
Karen and I also briefly talk about what are characters have been doing since the last show — can you believe it has been more than a year!
I am off to try and edit the show into something cohesive and intelligible — I am all over the map like normal and it is pure chaos.
I will post the show notes and where its live when I get the information.
On January 21st, 2010 I officially began a complete re-write of my hellishly fun role-playing game, Bloodbath from 1988. I hope to spend the next 60 days in intense writing and re-design. After that, I will spend two to three months in open beta testing with players in the Grand Rapids (Michigan) area refining and honing the rules.
My first thought was to create a non-editable PDF and provide a site specifically dedicated to the game and its inevitable expansions. I will follow it up with Bloodchant and with future expansions to dungeon design and adventure modules.
Of course, I have not forgotten about Phantasm Adventures and have some really great ideas on how it will be published.
Here I am once again typing out my resolutions for the New Year. Last year I fumbled quite horribly with my goals, and so this year I am taking advice from many articles I have read on how to achieve your goals. The main idea that many of these articles detail is tiny steps and smaller goats. So many articles describe people making outlandish goals, and when they fail they blame the overall idea of making such resolutions.
I debated with my cousin the other day, that very fact. To him, making resolutions is just a recipe for failure and humiliation. I argued, that without goals one simple meanders through the year with no purpose. I love making resolutions, checking every couple of months in to see how I am doing.
Of course, if you fail like I did last year, you can become quite dejected — dare I even say, remorseful or even depressed. I am bound and determined now to be beaten, and I will not become depressed or resentful of others. And with the many articles I have read, this year I am making 20 resolutions that I have a much better chance of succeeding.
So without further delay, here is the New Year’s resolution for Troy Christensen for 2010:
1. I want to return to writing, as I did in 2008 and build up a series of projects that showcase my writing potential. I am not looking for completed novels or screenplays, but I would hope to have a short story or two. Several chapters of a new novel completed, and perhaps have contact with a number of literary agents.
2. I want to publish my 2008 novel to the Kindel. I would be so thrilled to see a review, good, bad or indifferent posted on Amazon and perhaps a dozen people download my book.
3. I want to stay away from Everquest II a total of 60 days. I totally enjoy the game, but I find I often waste too much time playing it. So over the course of 12 months, I would like to be able to not play it for 2 months — not in a row, but just say I wasn’t under a subscription for 60 days.
4. I want to go to GenCon this year. Last year I sat with a friend who did go, and he told me how fun it was. I have not been to a GenCon for more than 10 years. I have moved away from my love of gaming and role-playing and I think it would be marvelous to spend a week at the great convention watching people and experiencing new games.
5. Return to Podcasting. Last year I wanted to do so many shows, but strangely the time slipped through my fingers so quickly. This year, I am scaling my expectations way back. If I could produce 1 show on EQual Perspectives and Travels With Troy, I would be so delighted. Further, if I could be invited to three other podcasts, I would take that as icing on the cake.
6. I always love reading, but as I did last year I often found little time for it. Although completely two of Dan Brown’s mighty novels is an accomplishment — I fell way short of what my resolution predicted. This year, I have made a much more modest goal of reading three books. I could easily re-read a Heinlein book, and breeze through the latest Dan Brown novel, so that would leave just one other.
7. Play another MMO. In the next 12 months, I want to try for at least 1 month another MMO. As I have said earlier, Everquest II is so fun, but I want to broaden my horizons a bit. I do not think it would be too hard, later this year, to spend some time in another game — New or established.
8. Spend time learning more skills I can use on the job. Of course, how does one grade such a goal as this? It will be hard, but if I can earn myself a certification, raise, or new title — I would claim victory in this resolution. Such topics as SQL administration, Crystal Reporting, or even Windows 7 are just three of the many areas I would love to know more about.
9. Take my wife on a 10-year anniversary trip. This year I would like to spend five days going somewhere special to honor our 10 years of marriage. To me, it does not have to be anywhere special, but I will leave that up to my wife. I just want to be able to say to her, that she has my undivided attention for a week and that we have something to look back on for the rest of our lives.
10. Pay down our debt by 3000 dollars. We made good strides last year, but I would love to be able to drop 3 grand on our outstanding debt.
11. With taking Resolutions 9 and 10 into consideration, I would like to also make 1 house repair this year. Perhaps new carpeting or a new paint job on the inside. Otherwise, I would even consider this a victory to buy a new lawn mower — since the one I have is at least 10 years old.
12. Excercise! I would like to continue my walking regiment the entire year, with my two to three walks a day at work, and trying to use the elliptical at least 1 time a week for a couple of minutes. Perhaps in the spring, my wife and I can continue our walks on the White Pine Trails until it gets too hot. Just keep it up.
13. Play three new computer games this year. Seems silly to many, but last year I just never got out of my Everquest II rut. I did buy Left4Dead and Sims III — this year, I want to expand my gaming potential with one more title. It will be my goal to play a different game every 4 months.
14. Have my friends over playing games 24different times — I traditionally have a Monday night gaming group, comprised of Wade, Joe, and myself. This year, I would like to expand that to invite 1 other friend and play something other than computer games at least 30 times this year (basically 6 months out of the year). I have so many other good friends from Mike, Alan, Kim, Eric, and Rick, that I should have the chance of luring them over. Albeit, I would also like to go to their house (counting that as double — since I am such a wall flower).
15. Spend time with my Family — I realized last year, that I spent so little time with my Mom, Dad, Brother, and outer relatives. I want to spend at least a weekend a month doing something with my immediate family. Museums, Movies, Going Out to Breakfast, Visits — simple things really, but so very important.
16. Enjoying Work More. What am I talking about? Yeah, I know work is no fun. But last year I don’t think I really enjoyed my job as much as I could have. Set aside my differences of pay and compensation — just relish being at work and keeping busy. I guess next year at this time, I should be able to look back and say honestly if #16 was accomplished or not — I await eagerly 12 months to re-examine this goal and see how I have done.
17. Less Doctors, less pain. Last year I seemed to always be going to a doctor. After all the visits, I don’t think I was any better off or in less pain. This year my goal is to go to the doctor only 4 times. And not be on so much medicine. Last year, I averaged 1 IMITREX every three days. This year, I want to average 1/week. I can do this!
18. Buy a new computer. Some may think this is an easy task. But with my tight budget, and desires to go to Gencon, an Anniversary trip, paying down my debt, and a house repair — this is pushing it to the limit. I know so little about Windows 7, I would like to learn more how it operates and feels.
19. Start a new hobby. Hobbies are great — something to lose some time in dreaming about making something, collecting, or trading. Finding new friends, while talking to old friends about your discovery. I would like to comment next year on something completely different, some that I have no concept of now but will be so much more informed a year from now. It doesn’t need to be expensive. Just something new to add to conversations.
20. Be Happy. Another one of those great resolutions that is hard to measure or quantify. I think last year I would have graded this as a remarkable achievement — I had a great year, regardless of minor pitfalls, and look forward to another adventuresome and thrilling year. Keep my health, family, friends, and my lovely wife around me and I cannot fail.
Here it is January 1st, of 2010 and I look back on 2009 with great fondness. As I reflect, I wonder how well I succeeded in my New Year’s resolutions of the past year. I dug around in the archives and found my list and thought I would grade my results:
1. Write and complete my second novel (presumably it will be a sequel to Amish Johnson and the Pegasus Chamber aptly named Amish Johnson and the Leprechaun’s Legacy).
Results: FAILED. I have completely lost myself in front of the computer, spending most of the entire year playing various MMO games. In the end, what do I have to show for it? Nothing — some good fun, but nothing in the end.
2. Find myself an agent or publisher for my two books.
Results: Failed! After sending out two dozen requests for an agent to look at my story, I gave up. Gah!
3. Write and finsih 4 short stories.
Results: Failed. I never finished 1 short story.
4. Read 12 books (strangely enough i never have time to read books any longer — to be a good writer you need to read other author).
Results: Partial Failure — Didn’t get close to reading 12 books, but I did read two giants from Dan Brown and totally enjoyed them. The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons were huge books but I finished them both. I also read a Harry Potter book. I re-read for the umpteenth time couple books from Robert Heinlein which always enjoy.
5. Play only 6 months of a MMO (too much of my time is spent in MMOs with nothing to show in the end).
Results: Partial Failure — I stopped and started the MMOs several times having a total of a couple months off total. Need to work harder on this.
6. Record and produce 12 podcasts — I really miss my friends at Virginworolds and need to concentrate on getting back in the business.
Results: Failure! I believe I recorded two shows and was involved in two others (both of which I never saw produced as far as I could tell).
7. Go back to school (I have only a lowly Associates degree and would love to persue a degree in English).
Results: Failed. Never went back to school! I feel horrible. . . .
8. Excel in my job (learn the ERP software Vantage and get a better handle on all facets of my job).
Results: Partial Failure. I have learned a ton of new things and have grown in confidence in my job, but there is so much to learn and I have stumbled on taking the reins at learning some of the more complicated things.
9. Finish two house repairs (not as glamorous as others but the old home needs a bit of fixing up and it really needs to be done).
Results: Partial Success. With a serious lack of funds were were forced to do minor repairs. We did have the outside of the house cleaned and the bushes trimmed.
10. Start a walking regiment (not much into physical excercise, I need to get a wee bit more active and walking seems easily enough done — I have a nice walking trail right by my house).
Results: Partial Failure. Started out strong but pretty much petered out mid-year. I do say I have excelled at walking at work, doing two ten minute walks and for the most part a 20 minute walk at lunch. Better than some, but not good enough.
11. Payoff some credit debt (going against repairing the home, I would sure love to reduce the credit card debt down. Not as great as some people have it, it is still a dark and ominous cloud over my head). My goal is to reduce it by 2 thousand dollars.
Results: Success. We are almost done paying off the vile, evil credit card. We did not add anything to the credit this year and have been saving allot more.
12. Play different kinds of computer games (I always tend to play the same game over and over — strangely, this is another goal that will be a challenge.) 4 new and different games is the challenge.
Results: Partial Success. I have tried to broaden my list of games a bit, but think I can do even better. Its hard to go back to a single player game once you are used to hearing the ramblings of a hundred other players while you play.
13. Expand beyond just computer game fun (yea, another earth shattering endeavor but needless to say I do all my gaming on the PC. Perhaps I should buy a Wii or a Nintendo DS or something). buy 1 other game device.
Results: Failed. I got my DS early last year, but never really played it much. Never got any other kind of game machine.
14. Be more outgoing (I am a introverted and shy. My goal is to do things more outside of the home with friends, relatives, and different people). My goal is to do something out of the normal 12 times in this coming year!
Results: Failed. I need to do more. Didn’t do any kind of special trips this year other than the family outing. Sadly, I didn’t go to any conventions, nor did I get out much and do anything exciting.
15. Explore the esoteric more (I am so fascinated by mysticism, the unkown, things that go bump in the night but always end up sitting in front of the computer wasting my time). My goal is to read 4 books on the esoteric and pursue my long time goal of self realization.
Results: Failed. Spent all my time in games or doing nothing.
16. Persue Health (a rather nebulous and lofty goal but I need to start really being more conscious of staying healthy. I need to go to the doctor for a full check up, I need to excercise more, I need to eat less fatty and sugary foods, I need to be aggressive in staying healthy).
Results: Success. Went to the doctors and examined allot of medical conditions. Corrected problems with my flat feet. recorded my migraines and tried to isolate where they were coming from. Tried several types of treatments for headaches, pains, and lethargic problems.
17. Meet 6 new friends (another lofty goal but I want to meet new friends. A friend I consider someone who I talk with regularly and can confide in them with serious or personal issues — the internet is a great venue to meet people but it can’t stop there. I need to be more outgoing and reach out to new people).
Results: Success. Both ingame and in the real world I have met quite a number of new friends.
18. Return to my roots of Role-Playing (start up a group of weekly role-players again at least 2 times a month. Get back to writing my rules again — perhaps a fifth edition of Phantasm Adventures. Start up a web page to sell my rules and push my presence back into the world of RPGs).
Results: Varied. A dabbled with re-releasing my quintessential rpg Phantasm Adventures and several of my other titles, but floundered in the end. Never did get a weekly gaming group together.
19. Be More Adventuresome!! (God I get so tired of doing the same things all the time — my goal is try new foods, go to new places, explore areas I have never been, go on more trips, read new things, watch and go to places I have never been — talk to different people with different ideas with different agendas).
Results: Failure. I feel like my life, although pleasant and fun, is quite tiresome and boring. Perhaps thats what I like?
20. Make A Difference! Isnt that what it is all about? This coming year I want to make a difference to the world, to my country, my state, my city, my family. . . and me! A very nebulous goal and no way to pin point but I just want to make sure that I do things that others can feel proud about or makes them want to pass on fortune to others.
Results: Success. I think I have made a huge difference at work. I also have done allot on Facebook, Twitter, and to some lesser extent on my blog to make a difference. I have tried to make a difference in the games I have played and have exerted my opinion to make a wholesome change around me.
Overall, it appears that my 20 resolutions met with utter failure. But I am not disillusioned one bit. I will post my 2010 Resolutions here in a few days and will eagerly await this coming year with bold determination to be more successful than last.
Troy
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