Where I’ve Been!

Boy…it’s been a long time since I’ve done anything here at the Server is Down, and I’d like to say that it’s because I was on a top secret mission to save humanity.  But the reality is I just got busy at work, with other hobbies, actually playing MMOs, etc.  It’s been a busy six months or so and I thought I’d just recap where I’ve been:

1.  Age of Conan:  Did anyone not try this game, at least a little bit?  I’m sure there were some, but I got sucked into playing it and decided with a buddy of mine to do a little experiment.  For the first time we decided to app with a “hardcore” guild.  Insanity!  We actually did get into the guild pre-launch and boy, I have to say they were the most organized guild I have ever been a part of.  Let me just say that an almost fully populated guild wiki was up and running by launch day.  Phenomenal stuff.  Played AoC for about a month – absolutely loved the look and feel of the game.  The bad part was that when we hit 80 at the end of our fourth week, there was really nothing to do.  The raids, such as they were, were already packed with a waiting list.  Besides harvesting to finish off our tier 3 city and battlekeep, there really wasn’t anything to do.  It was sad really, but we hung up our hats and retired.  Maybe in a year I could see popping back in and seeing what it’s like.

2.  Warhammer Beta:  I got into this beta early this spring, much to my delight.  I had been waiting to get in since GenCon 2007 when I won my beta code.  I played the beta pretty hot and heavy up until AoC launched.  Obviously at this point tons of people have seen the game, the NDA is down, etc., so there’s no point in recounting what the state of the game was back in March.  But I can say that even back then it was fun, smooth, and a lot of things were different than they appear today (and I have the old screenshots to prove it!). 

3.  EQ2 (yet again!):  Yes, I returned yet again to EQ2, along with Darren and some of my buddies.  This marked our third return to EQ2 since we originally played the game back at launch (my most recent venture back being fall of 2007 when Kunark hit).  This time around we went back to our old stomping grounds, Guk.  We joined up with a guild called Revelry and Honor, and they are a fantastic bunch of folks.  We spent several weeks leveling up new characters there and currently sit in the low 60s.  We are on hiatus from EQ2 (yet again!) as we prepare to dive into Warhammer in a couple of weeks.

4.  GenCon 2008:  I defintely enjoyed going back to GenCon this year for the third year in a row.  I think we’ve committed to making this an annual trip for as long as jobs/families allow, and it’s really a lot of fun.  A weekend of hanging out with good friends and playing your favorite games, all the while having access to the biggest gaming store in North America?  Priceless.  I did pick up a few new games this year from my favorite studio, Fantasy Flight games.  I bought the new World of Warcaft Adventure game, the new Battlestar Galactica game, the new Game of Thrones “living” card game, and another game called Conquest of the Empires.  I also got to play in a couple of Heroscape events and snagged my GenCon exclusive figure for that.  All in all it was a great con and I’m looking forward to 2009.

5.  Wizard 101:  Yes, I did download the client for this game and played for a few nights last week.  I got a character up to level 8 or so and it was pretty fun.  I can see how kids would love it.

6.  Warhammer Online:  Just got finished playing the preview weekend which finished off the closed beta for Warhammer Online.  Open beta begins in about a week with the game going live soon after.  Definitely plan on having a lot of fun in this game, so I’m sure I’ll have more stories to post in the weeks ahead (if I can get back into a regular writing schedule!).

So that’s it folks.  I’m still alive and kicking, and I hope all of your gaming adventures are going well.  I’ve got a Labor Day weekend of gaming lined up, so I plan to enjoy that thoroughly.