Who am I

Posting this as an entry for blog carnival for character diversity that GuildMag is holding. I first heard of it from the Under the Pale Tree blog (brilliant Guild Wars 2 blog btw) and decided to make my own post as well. This is the character I will playing in Guild Wars 2

My name is Rhymelark and I was awakened from the dream to the gentle light of dawn filtering through the leaves of the Pale Tree. Our mother gifted me, while I was in the dream, with images of ships with graceful sails navigating the currents of rivers. The images entice my imagination and I know I can not long stay here in the Grove for the river calls me. Quickly I will have to learn what ever I can in the Grove while I can still resist its siren call.

With a last glance at the Grove I will cast off and follow the river and explore its length and follow its hidden the tributaries to the wonders that they may hold. I will cast my lines in its flowing waters and at night feast on its bounty under the setting sun. Who knows what adventures it holds for me and what joyous memories I can add to the dream as thanks to our mother.

On the far horizon a storm is building and I may have to lay anchor and help defend the world from the threat that the dragons pose. When that time comes I shall not shy from the conflict but ride out its tides and resume my journey once they have been delt with.

My fellow sylvari describe me as wistful and slightly absentminded. They are incorrect in thinking so. I pay close attention to everything thing that happens around me. I just do not cast the same importance on things as they do. While they endlessly wish to discuss the Ventari tablet I would rather watch the world around me and learn from it. I sometimes even sympathize with the nightmare court in their view that we rely to much on the tablet. I have even been approached a few times by them to join them. That will never happen though. Their ways are vile and they are blight on our mother.

I am a peaceful person and would rather rely on words to solve conflict. When words fail though be careful that you are not caught in the rapids of my anger for it will wash you away in a wave of steel . Never mistake me for being a lone easy target for I am never alone. Swiftleaf, my constant companion and friend, is always with me. She like me was born from our mother and we mirror each other perfectly. Where my sword strikes from the front a fanged bite is sure to follow from behind.

[For those who have not guessed Swiftleaf is a Fern Mastiff (image below)]

Roles in Groups

After reading a few articles today about people complaining about the dps of their classes I am once again reminded why I prefer the certain games more than others. Games like WoW limit classes to three roles DPS, Tank and Healer. Even though WoW has a lot of classes with interesting abilities you are shoved into those 3. You are constantly reminded by a DPS meter either one you have installed or someone linking the the DPS stats in chat. You are rated at how good or bad your DPS is. No matter what class you are or spec if you are signed on as DPS you are expected to have close to the same DPS as the others classes specs. The way dungeons and raids are designed in WoW it is rare that it would be expected anything more of you than how high you are on the DPS meter.

This is why I prefer games like LOTRO where dungeons and raids are designed more around roles and abilities. Besides the standard 3 roles mentioned above you have the Crowd Controller and the Group Buffer/Debuffer. It is not just the work of the tank anymore to do all the crowd control and it is suddenly not just about the dps meter but how useful you are to the group. Take for example the captain class it's damage is so so but look what it brings to the party. As it fights it gives buffs or short heal over times which eases the stress on the healer. He also comes handy with those ever useful combat rezzes. You get the Loremaster who is able to Crowd Control large amounts of enemies. Allowing you take on smaller groups at the time which eases the stress on the tank. She is also able to provide some much needed power to classes running out of power like a minstrel. And so the list goes on.

This in my opinion makes a game more fun to me.

Spring Cleaning

Last week week my kin (Guardians of Hope on the Gilrain server) decided that it was time for a change. We had been living in our cluttered hobbit holes for a few years now and it just didn't fit us anymore. We had fun times at Yarrowbank our old neighborhood. We had parties and mystery detective games though the years here.



Our new home away from home is in the Elf neighborhood of Eithel Ivrin. For hours after the initial move you could see hobbits, elves, dwarves and humans scurrying from the escrow person to their houses and back again. I think in the future when we move again I will buy a house closer to the escrow person XD

A toast to Guardians of Hope and our new neighborhood. May we build new fun memories in our new home.

I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night

he's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and gotta be fresh from the fight... *cough*

Right, now that I have gotten that out of my system... End of last week I procured a copy of DC Universe Online (Damn you steam and the ease of purchase you make games) and after a lengthy download and then update I finally got to try the game. My over all impression is that I love the game so far. I get to fight along side iconic superheroes like superman and it feels like what I do actually matters.


(Dark Ember my heroine in the game)

Firstly those who are looking for a massive dose of customization you won't find it at the start of the game. You have a choice of 3 body types for each gender. the starting costume pieces you can choose from is also a bit limited. This does not mean you can not create a unique character from the get go that looks awesome. As you play the game you collect new costume pieces with stats. You can add these pieces to your costume list. It is good to note at this point that you can have a different appearance to the armour you wear. You can change your appearance as well as colour scheme at any time with out any in-game or out-game cost.



Playing the game it self feels like you are playing an action game rather than an MMO which is pretty awesome imho. You really feel much more involved while fighting than most MMOs I have played. I have been playing the game with my 360 controller which works excellently with the game. You can also play the game with keyboard and mouse but I can't imagine playing it without my controller now.

Now for the bad. The chat box is very basic and league (aka guild) chat is very rarely working. We have been told by the developers that this is being worked on and will soon be improved (see interview on Massively.com)

I have also moved from the EU servers over to the US (game allows you to play on both server groups) mostly because I got tired of going into instances and not understanding a word people are saying cause they refuse or can't speak English.