We’re doomed! DooOOOOOOMMMmmed I tell you!
After a very busy work week last week, I finally got some time to sit down and EQ2 my little heart out this weekend. I drove home very much looking forward to vegging out in front of the computer…
And then didn’t.
A part of my mind is finally coming to terms with the fact that IT is what I do and, unless I decide to take up the career of a homeless bum living in a cardboard box, it is probably all I’m ever going to do. As a result, I have started working on certifications again.
Not really a fun task. The books are expensive, written by the winner of the “Let’s see who is the dullest writer in the world” award, the extra supplies make the books look cheap, and the exams… sheesh.
The certification I am working on now is one that I have held in the past, but it lapsed some years ago. The current version is 7 tests. Each test is $125. The 2 study books I bought for the first exam came out to just about $100. Then, I had to spend $200 for the software so that I can actually do some hand’s-on while I study because I am definatley a hands-on learner.
Anyway, I’ve been working on studying that in whatever free time I had last week and, for whatever reason, when I got home on Friday night, I plopped down on the couch and dove into that book instead of gaming.
When I finally did get into the game Saturday morning, I went harvesting… which is when I realized that the apocolypse is near. You see, I harvested an ebon cluster.
So, put your affairs together now because we don’t have much time left.
By rough estimate, I have spent nearly 30 hours harvesting in Rivervale and Everfrost over the last two weeks simply looking for ebon clusters. When I finally got one on Saturday, I had to stop, open my inventory, and visually confirm that it was there because I simply couldn’t believe it.
Of course, I “need” 8 more of them in order to craft the armor and weapons I want. I doubt that will happen though. I’m quite certain that my brigand will be level 52 long before I see that many.
Which brings me to the next part of the story.
Once I finally finished harvesting, it was off to do some hunting. I finished off all but the ^^^ heroic quests in Steamfont and then started trying to decide where to go next. I was sitting at 43 which I felt was probably a bit low for Sinking Sands.
So, I ran off to The Feerott… and remembered in about 7 seconds why that is my least favorite zone of all of the Shattered Lands.
So The Sinking Sands got a few young ‘ins this weekend. Some of the fights got ugly. My brigand’s armor is definately dated and those level 47 mobs were tearing through it, but I mostly lived. My survival rate was directly proportional to casting luck on my wizard. If one of my big nukes got resisted once, I lived through the fight. If one of my big nukes got resisted twice, I died before the mobs did.
It was definately a balancing act, but it started paying off. My levels kept increasing and the fights got easier if not prettier. I’m hoping that I can passably limp by scrounging armor and weapons as I can find them because the drop rate for ebon clusters is seriously screwed up and I’m damn sure not paying what people are asking.
The end of the weekend saw my brigand and wizard both level to 45. I knocked out a couple of levels on my sage and another few levels on my tailor.
Mostly though, I didn’t play nearly as much this weekend as I usually do over the weekend. I spent far more time studying and moving furniture around than I did playing.
This week will prove another light play week most likely. I’m traveling for work again tomorrow which means going to bed early tonight, probably no blog post tomorrow and probably no game time tomorrow night.
This coming weekend, I’m debating gassing up the truck, throwing the camera in beside me, and just getting out of town. I used to love doing that. I would have no destination in mind and wouldn’t even hit the main highways. Just find some back road that goes to no where and just driving looking for something to take pictures of.
I’m not sure what I’ll do. I just know that I seriously need to get out of town… if only for an afternoon.
Of course, if I happen to harvest another ebon cluster this week, I might just lay down outside and wait for the meteor strike.
