I've been extremely busy lately, so it's been difficult to write new content for the blog. For that reason, I grabbed another article for today's update.
How many of you have ever tried Runescape? I haven't played it in a while, but I've been wanting to log back on my old account to check it out again. I played around 2004 if I'm not mistaken, and it really is one of the more enjoyable "free-to-play" games. Hopefully in the next couple of days I'll get my own review of the game posted. Until then, enjoy this:
There are many great ways to earn fast money on Runescape and the best part of it is that, you will have fun at the same time. Although it is possible for beginners to make quick money, the biggest amounts can be made by those with more experience and higher levels of skills such as mining, fishing, combat or thieving.
One of the quickest ways to make money on Runescape is to just check out every General Store that you pass. Sometimes you can find bargains, such as cheap daggers, which can then be sold in a weapons shop for a lot more money. You can buy only what you can afford, but you will reap profits every time. This is a great method for beginners and experienced players.
Fishing is another way to make fast money on Runescape. Especially tuna and lobsters are worth a lot and if you can practice your cooking skills, you can make quite a bit while increasing experience also. For more advanced Runescape players, it is worth killing some giants. This is because you can then collect their bones and sell that for 300 gp in World 1. By collecting only 1k of these bones, you will quickly add 300 k to your account.
Thieves have great chances of making fast money on Runescape. You can steal furs from the Fur Stall, for example, and then sell them to a trader. This method has the potential of making up to 12 k in only around an hour. Of course, you need to have a thieving level of 34 before this can be pulled off. Making an armor out of steel will also make you rich quick.
No matter how you earn your money on Runescape, you will have fun doing so. There are many things to try out and countless methods for becoming rich. Nothing like trying them all out and seeing what is most profitable.
Jamie Hunter
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamie_Hunter
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Mobsters Guide
I know that the social media apps have become vastly popular over the last year or so. I play Mobsters myself, which seems to be one of the better ones. In fact, many of the other games like “Heroes” and “Vampires” are based off of it, and the system I’m going to talk about in this post will work very similarly in the other games as well. All you have to do is understand the elements at play, and know how to interchange words like “energy” and “blood”.
Here are a few tips to become a notorious “Mobster” on Myspace. I’m going to approach the game from a “fundamentals” perspective, so it might be better suited for a newer player.
Essentially, three things determine how powerful of a Mobster you will be. These are money, stats, and mob size. Before we get into that, I wanted to mention the specs you can choose when you first start, of which there are also three: Tycoon, Insomniac, and Bulletproof. Tycoon type gains money faster, Insomniacs regenerate energy faster, and Bulletproofs are stronger in combat. I chose tycoon, and I still feel like this was the wisest choice. My personal “strategy” is to essentially build a “fortress”-- by that, I mean stack defense, and income. Have you ever heard the saying “the best offense is a good defense”? That’s exactly what I’m aiming for.
Money
The best way to gain income is through the use of territories. The primary reason for this is that you get money even when you aren’t online. Now that’s a powerful advantage to have. For this reason, I highly recommend re-investing all the money you make from fighting, missions, and other territories into buying new territories. Another reason to do this is to avoid the 10% deposit fee at the “bank”. Also, I urge you to SAVE all of your Favor Points. Later in the game, they are extremely hard to come by.
Fighting can yield a decent amount, if you spend time scouting out the best players to attack around your level. Typically, it’s safest to attack those who have a Mob Size smaller than yours-- of course, there are exceptions. I believe the maximum amount you can earn per attack is $70,000.
Missions are really minimal money, rather they are designed to gain experience, which is also important. You don’t want to make a ton of money and remain low level, having your stats lag behind. For this reason, it is important to balance your efforts while you play. Make sure you use all of your stamina for fights, all of your energy for missions, and then use all of your money to buy territories. After that is accomplished, it’s just a waiting game until you regenerate properly.
Stats
There are five stats in Mobsters: Attack Strength, Defense Power, Max Energy, Max Health, and Max Stamina. My personal strategy involves stacking defense and energy as high as possible. I just feel that the others are dismissible. Attack is overrated, because ultimately your mob size and equipment determine how “strong” you will be. Not only that, but to be useful you would have to couple attack with stamina, so that you could fight more often. As mentioned earlier, this is not the most effective way to earn money. Health is essentially useless if you have such high defense that you won’t lose fights often, or won’t take much damage. So voila! The only logical choices remain.
Mob Size
When it comes down to it, mob size is what’s going to determine how well you do in the game for the long run. The reason is that you can only use one armor/weapon per mob member you have! This being said, if you have a very small mob size, not only are you more susceptible to attack from others thinking you an easy target, but you will put out very minimal damage. So try and convince your Myspace friends to play, and if they don’t want to, I would recommend making some posts on the Myspace forums. That has been the best resource I have found yet for getting mobsters. Do NOT attempt to use any of the “add-trains” or websites. Use your head.
Hopefully, these fundamentals will boost your game play in Mobsters. Once you get the techniques down, it really just becomes a waiting game for the majority of the time. Enjoy, and have fun playing!
Here are a few tips to become a notorious “Mobster” on Myspace. I’m going to approach the game from a “fundamentals” perspective, so it might be better suited for a newer player.
Essentially, three things determine how powerful of a Mobster you will be. These are money, stats, and mob size. Before we get into that, I wanted to mention the specs you can choose when you first start, of which there are also three: Tycoon, Insomniac, and Bulletproof. Tycoon type gains money faster, Insomniacs regenerate energy faster, and Bulletproofs are stronger in combat. I chose tycoon, and I still feel like this was the wisest choice. My personal “strategy” is to essentially build a “fortress”-- by that, I mean stack defense, and income. Have you ever heard the saying “the best offense is a good defense”? That’s exactly what I’m aiming for.
Money
The best way to gain income is through the use of territories. The primary reason for this is that you get money even when you aren’t online. Now that’s a powerful advantage to have. For this reason, I highly recommend re-investing all the money you make from fighting, missions, and other territories into buying new territories. Another reason to do this is to avoid the 10% deposit fee at the “bank”. Also, I urge you to SAVE all of your Favor Points. Later in the game, they are extremely hard to come by.
Fighting can yield a decent amount, if you spend time scouting out the best players to attack around your level. Typically, it’s safest to attack those who have a Mob Size smaller than yours-- of course, there are exceptions. I believe the maximum amount you can earn per attack is $70,000.
Missions are really minimal money, rather they are designed to gain experience, which is also important. You don’t want to make a ton of money and remain low level, having your stats lag behind. For this reason, it is important to balance your efforts while you play. Make sure you use all of your stamina for fights, all of your energy for missions, and then use all of your money to buy territories. After that is accomplished, it’s just a waiting game until you regenerate properly.
Stats
There are five stats in Mobsters: Attack Strength, Defense Power, Max Energy, Max Health, and Max Stamina. My personal strategy involves stacking defense and energy as high as possible. I just feel that the others are dismissible. Attack is overrated, because ultimately your mob size and equipment determine how “strong” you will be. Not only that, but to be useful you would have to couple attack with stamina, so that you could fight more often. As mentioned earlier, this is not the most effective way to earn money. Health is essentially useless if you have such high defense that you won’t lose fights often, or won’t take much damage. So voila! The only logical choices remain.
Mob Size
When it comes down to it, mob size is what’s going to determine how well you do in the game for the long run. The reason is that you can only use one armor/weapon per mob member you have! This being said, if you have a very small mob size, not only are you more susceptible to attack from others thinking you an easy target, but you will put out very minimal damage. So try and convince your Myspace friends to play, and if they don’t want to, I would recommend making some posts on the Myspace forums. That has been the best resource I have found yet for getting mobsters. Do NOT attempt to use any of the “add-trains” or websites. Use your head.
Hopefully, these fundamentals will boost your game play in Mobsters. Once you get the techniques down, it really just becomes a waiting game for the majority of the time. Enjoy, and have fun playing!
Monday, November 24, 2008
WoW Gold Guide
Hey everyone,
Haven't had much time lately to update, so I apologize for that. Hopefully over these holiday months I will have more time to invest here. I've been playing WoW though, and that's been good fun since WotLK was released. As such, I figured I'd include this article (since I don't have time to write one of my own) in the spirit of the game. So, check it out, I think these are some useful tips!
"Great Gold Making Spots"
Angerclaw Maulers
Head into Felwood and find a nice cluster of Angerclaw Maulers. These guys respawn pretty fast so when you kill all of them in an area, the first ones you killed will start to respawn and you won't have much downtime. Even though they don't necessarily drop a lot of higher end items, you will get a lot of stackable Claws, Jaws, Bones, etc... that sell very well as vender trash. On top of that, you can skin them and make even more money off of the Leather that you sell at the Auction House. On average, this will bring in about 40 Gold per hour. Whelps in the Badlands
A good spot for a low level 40 is the Eastern Side of the Badlands. Here you will find a LOT of Whelps, mainly the Scalding Whelps. They can do a good amount of damage but their hit points are low so you should be able to solo these just fine. They drop a lot of leather, a handful of blue items and a lot of very nice greens. I wasn't even grinding these guys and I got a Dark Whelpling for one of my drops. If you're a skinner, you'll definitely love this spot because you will get experience, gold/loot, and you can skin these guys.
Power Crystals
There are several different colored power crystals needed in order to complete the Crystals of Power quest which is given by J.D. Collie in Un'Goro. These blue, green, red, and yellow crystals can be found all over Un'Goro and are very easy to collect because they are usually a safe distance away from most mobs. When you go to sell the crystals, I have found that they sell best in stacks of 7 because that's how many of each color are needed to turn in for the quest. I have seen a small stack of 7 sell for as much as 1 Gold which equates to about 3 Gold for every 20 that you collect. In an hour I was able to collect about 90 power crystals which comes to about 13 Gold. Another thing to be aware of is that you can utilize the Gatherer Mod to help you locate these a LOT faster. While this isn't a 50+ gold per hour strategy that everyone is looking for, it is something that is very easy to do. Also, because there are a few other Un'Goro gold making strategies listed in this guide such as Skinning Devilsaurs and Gorillas or collecting Essences of Fire, you can essentially be doing one of those in addition to collecting the power crystals all at the same time.
Crusader Enchant
The Formula: Enchant Weapon - Crusader is one of the most sought after formulas in the game. There is only one place to get one of these (besides the Auction House) and that is from the Scarlet Spellbinders which can be found at the tower on your way up to Heartglen. Click here to see a map of where you can find them. While you may have to invest some time before it drops, don't forget that this formula is worth anywhere from 250 to 350 Gold! In addition to the Crusader Enchant, you will find a lot of other nice green and blue items along the way including some of the cards that make up the Elementals, Portals, and Warlords decks. As long as this place isn't being farmed, you will have no problem making the money to justify your time up here. If this area is heavily occupied at the time, you would be better off using one of these other strategies and try coming back at a different time when it's less crowded. I have personally done this before and found mine in about 4 hours. With the profit I made from the formula as well as the other items I found during this time, it came out to be about 100 Gold an Hour for my time. If you are looking for a little more encouragement to get you going up here, someone else in my guild got it around their 15th kill which they obviously got very lucky but just to let you know that it could drop at any time.
Demonslaying Enchant
Over in the Southwest Corner of Azshara west of Forlorn Ridge, you will find some Highborne Apparitions and some Highborne Lichling. They don't have too many hit points which means you can kill a ton of these things in a short amount of time. These guys drop a lot of mageweave, as well as some nice green and blue items. I have also gotten quite a few Patterns and Plans such as Formula: Enchant Weapon -Demonslaying. On average this should make you about 40 Gold Per Hour depending on how much this area is being hit at the time.
Credit:
Andrew Sander
http://www.WoWtips-Tricks.com
http://Worldofwarcraftacademy.com
Article Source: Andrew Sander, EzineArticles.com
Haven't had much time lately to update, so I apologize for that. Hopefully over these holiday months I will have more time to invest here. I've been playing WoW though, and that's been good fun since WotLK was released. As such, I figured I'd include this article (since I don't have time to write one of my own) in the spirit of the game. So, check it out, I think these are some useful tips!
"Great Gold Making Spots"
Angerclaw Maulers
Head into Felwood and find a nice cluster of Angerclaw Maulers. These guys respawn pretty fast so when you kill all of them in an area, the first ones you killed will start to respawn and you won't have much downtime. Even though they don't necessarily drop a lot of higher end items, you will get a lot of stackable Claws, Jaws, Bones, etc... that sell very well as vender trash. On top of that, you can skin them and make even more money off of the Leather that you sell at the Auction House. On average, this will bring in about 40 Gold per hour. Whelps in the Badlands
A good spot for a low level 40 is the Eastern Side of the Badlands. Here you will find a LOT of Whelps, mainly the Scalding Whelps. They can do a good amount of damage but their hit points are low so you should be able to solo these just fine. They drop a lot of leather, a handful of blue items and a lot of very nice greens. I wasn't even grinding these guys and I got a Dark Whelpling for one of my drops. If you're a skinner, you'll definitely love this spot because you will get experience, gold/loot, and you can skin these guys.
Power Crystals
There are several different colored power crystals needed in order to complete the Crystals of Power quest which is given by J.D. Collie in Un'Goro. These blue, green, red, and yellow crystals can be found all over Un'Goro and are very easy to collect because they are usually a safe distance away from most mobs. When you go to sell the crystals, I have found that they sell best in stacks of 7 because that's how many of each color are needed to turn in for the quest. I have seen a small stack of 7 sell for as much as 1 Gold which equates to about 3 Gold for every 20 that you collect. In an hour I was able to collect about 90 power crystals which comes to about 13 Gold. Another thing to be aware of is that you can utilize the Gatherer Mod to help you locate these a LOT faster. While this isn't a 50+ gold per hour strategy that everyone is looking for, it is something that is very easy to do. Also, because there are a few other Un'Goro gold making strategies listed in this guide such as Skinning Devilsaurs and Gorillas or collecting Essences of Fire, you can essentially be doing one of those in addition to collecting the power crystals all at the same time.
Crusader Enchant
The Formula: Enchant Weapon - Crusader is one of the most sought after formulas in the game. There is only one place to get one of these (besides the Auction House) and that is from the Scarlet Spellbinders which can be found at the tower on your way up to Heartglen. Click here to see a map of where you can find them. While you may have to invest some time before it drops, don't forget that this formula is worth anywhere from 250 to 350 Gold! In addition to the Crusader Enchant, you will find a lot of other nice green and blue items along the way including some of the cards that make up the Elementals, Portals, and Warlords decks. As long as this place isn't being farmed, you will have no problem making the money to justify your time up here. If this area is heavily occupied at the time, you would be better off using one of these other strategies and try coming back at a different time when it's less crowded. I have personally done this before and found mine in about 4 hours. With the profit I made from the formula as well as the other items I found during this time, it came out to be about 100 Gold an Hour for my time. If you are looking for a little more encouragement to get you going up here, someone else in my guild got it around their 15th kill which they obviously got very lucky but just to let you know that it could drop at any time.
Demonslaying Enchant
Over in the Southwest Corner of Azshara west of Forlorn Ridge, you will find some Highborne Apparitions and some Highborne Lichling. They don't have too many hit points which means you can kill a ton of these things in a short amount of time. These guys drop a lot of mageweave, as well as some nice green and blue items. I have also gotten quite a few Patterns and Plans such as Formula: Enchant Weapon -Demonslaying. On average this should make you about 40 Gold Per Hour depending on how much this area is being hit at the time.
Credit:
Andrew Sander
http://www.WoWtips-Tricks.com
http://Worldofwarcraftacademy.com
Article Source: Andrew Sander, EzineArticles.com
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Character Transfers
Well, a friend of mine has been bugging me to reactivate my World of Warcraft account lately, so I figured I'd look into it. It hasn't been too long, I played over summer, and my account has a 50 Undead Warlock I've built in random spare time. Trouble is, he plays on a PVP Realm, and I enjoy the PvE myself. I think it's easier to get around on for the casual player. Anyway, I was absolutely delighted to hear that they now offer character transfers among ALL server types. Last time I did transfer on WoW was last spring, and it wasn't an option then.
You have to think, it definitely makes sense for Blizzard to offer this service. In fact, it's one that's available on numerous MMOs. The reason is that it's a great accesory. What are you supposed to sell along with an account subscription, especially if your game is one that technically denies the sale of currency and items? Seems like it was a logical step to me, and it's just overall convenient, especially now that I'll be able to level with my friend. However, keep it cash-only; don't make the mistake EA did with UO by offering in-game tokens that could be redeemed for the codes. I think that practice essentially steals revenue, especially with the advent of duping.
You have to think, it definitely makes sense for Blizzard to offer this service. In fact, it's one that's available on numerous MMOs. The reason is that it's a great accesory. What are you supposed to sell along with an account subscription, especially if your game is one that technically denies the sale of currency and items? Seems like it was a logical step to me, and it's just overall convenient, especially now that I'll be able to level with my friend. However, keep it cash-only; don't make the mistake EA did with UO by offering in-game tokens that could be redeemed for the codes. I think that practice essentially steals revenue, especially with the advent of duping.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Dark Age of Camelot
Well, I'm heading out to a wedding later this afternoon, so I figured I'd update a little earlier today. So what I have for you is a quick review of DAoC, based on my experiences over the last week or so.
The original release date was October 10, 2001. DAoC is now under the domain of the EA Mythic team, who also manage Ultima Online and Warhammer Online. Current client version is v1.95, and obviously the expansion at this point is Shrouded Isles. Like many other MMO's, they were offering a 14-day trial, so I decided to jump in on the fun.
Overall, not too bad of an experience. mmorpg.com rates the game as a 7.71 on a 10 scale. I'm not sure if I would go that high. These days, the game seems to be plagued with low server populations (about 430 players on the Lancelot server where I played). The graphics are reminiscent of EQ1, and needless to say leave quite a bit to be hoped for. I've spoken to a few old vets, and there have also been complaints of hacking. Gameplay is familiar in style to other MMORPGs, but the game "system" if you will is one that makes it special.
DAoC includes elements of both PvP and PvE. Their Realm vs. Realm system is pretty renowned, and seems to get the most praise from players I've encountered. Personally, I joined the "Albion" realm, and made an Avalonian Mercenary. I didn't really do any class research prior to playing, but it sounded almost rogue-like, so I figured I'd give it a shot. (On a side note, there are 44 classes, and 18 race possibilities). I breezed through many of the beginner tutorials, gaining a few level ups. Already, I began to encounter system messages relating to "invasions": enemy "Midgar" players had captured various outposts. Unfortunately I must not have advanced far enough to witness any of the action, but the concept sounds pretty intriguing.
Overall, I'd say if you're looking for a change of pace, at least get the trial. Yes, you have to provide CC info, but naturally you can just remove the info right after providing it if you'd like. If you go the route of downloading the client like I did, be prepared. The file is 1.92GB, so it will require some patience. Head over here if this strikes your fancy.
Have a great Saturday. There's many hours of play time ahead.
The original release date was October 10, 2001. DAoC is now under the domain of the EA Mythic team, who also manage Ultima Online and Warhammer Online. Current client version is v1.95, and obviously the expansion at this point is Shrouded Isles. Like many other MMO's, they were offering a 14-day trial, so I decided to jump in on the fun.
Overall, not too bad of an experience. mmorpg.com rates the game as a 7.71 on a 10 scale. I'm not sure if I would go that high. These days, the game seems to be plagued with low server populations (about 430 players on the Lancelot server where I played). The graphics are reminiscent of EQ1, and needless to say leave quite a bit to be hoped for. I've spoken to a few old vets, and there have also been complaints of hacking. Gameplay is familiar in style to other MMORPGs, but the game "system" if you will is one that makes it special.
DAoC includes elements of both PvP and PvE. Their Realm vs. Realm system is pretty renowned, and seems to get the most praise from players I've encountered. Personally, I joined the "Albion" realm, and made an Avalonian Mercenary. I didn't really do any class research prior to playing, but it sounded almost rogue-like, so I figured I'd give it a shot. (On a side note, there are 44 classes, and 18 race possibilities). I breezed through many of the beginner tutorials, gaining a few level ups. Already, I began to encounter system messages relating to "invasions": enemy "Midgar" players had captured various outposts. Unfortunately I must not have advanced far enough to witness any of the action, but the concept sounds pretty intriguing.
Overall, I'd say if you're looking for a change of pace, at least get the trial. Yes, you have to provide CC info, but naturally you can just remove the info right after providing it if you'd like. If you go the route of downloading the client like I did, be prepared. The file is 1.92GB, so it will require some patience. Head over here if this strikes your fancy.
Have a great Saturday. There's many hours of play time ahead.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Ultima Online: Your First Character
It could be argued that new players are the future of the game.
You may customize your appearance however you see fit. If your account has the ML upgrade, you may change your race to an elf. However, it is most likely in your best interest to remain as a human, because they inherently have more carrying capacity. After you are satisfied, and choose a reputable name (make it good, later you will be doing business with other players!) you may continue to the next screen. Although a map with a list of cities appears, it doesn't matter which you choose; you will be started in New Haven. New Haven is rich in tutorials, beginners quests, skill trainers, and areas friendly to the new player. If this is your first time ever in Ultima Online on a new account, you will have the (young) player status. This means that you cannot travel to felucca, or be harmed by monsters and other characters. Again, it is in your best interest to keep this status until you feel comfortable.
So you have began, and you see you character embodied now for the first time in New Haven. In your backpack you have a couple tools related to your skills, and 1000 gold coins (1k). The best thing you can do is familiarize yourself with the basic game controls- movement, skill and item use, opening and closing interfaces, etc. You should also orient yourself with your envrionment. From where you have started, open your radar/map (alt + r). Directly to the West is a white building, the bank. Here you can store items, resources, and gold that you don't want to lose during your adventures. Any time you save up a fair amount of gold or resources, store them here for safe keeping.
Once you are comfortable enough, it's time to get down to work. Let's begin with some lumberjacking. Outside of the Eastern gate of New Haven, there is a small forest which you should travel to. When you get within a few tiles of a tree, double left click on your axe, and target the tree. Upon a success, you will have some logs deposited into your backpack (11 to be exact). Since you only started with 10 skill in lumberjacking, you must be patient; it could take a few moments. Now we will get into some technicalities that will save you from burden and carpel tunnel. If you open your options menu (alt + O) and click on the tab in the lower left of the menu (that looks like a 180 degree arrow), you will be presented with the MACROS menu. Click on the ADD button. Under Keystroke, in the KEY field, enter a key you wish to use (I often use F8 for this macro). Now, under Actions, left click on the first blank field and, while holding your mouse down, scroll down to "LastObject", and release the mouse. On the second blank field, use a similar action to go down and select "LastTarget". Hit Apply and Ok on the macros menu to accept and close it out. Now, give it a try! Hit the button that you opted to use in the last step for this macro. It performs the action of chopping the tree, saving you from manually clicking. Please note: you must do the first double-click and target of each new tree you want to chop before using your macro.
Finally, it's important to keep in mind how much you can carry. If your lifebar is open, you can double click it to bring up the large status window. Alternately, press Alt + S to achieve the same effect. Near the bottom of the status window, you should see a small icon representing a weight. The number next to it is a ratio: How many stones you ARE carrying / How many stones you CAN carry. Each item in Ultima Online has a weight. One log, for example, weighs 2 stones. While you are out chopping wood, it is a good idea to keep this window off in the corner of your screen, or to check it often, to make sure you don't go overweight. If this happens, you will be unable to walk, and the only cure for it is to drop items to lessen your weight. Another method for dealing with your weight restriction is to buy a pack horse or llama. (You can get them from an NPC Animal Trainer for about 550 gp). Because you only start with 1,000 gp, it is a substantial investment for a new player, but if you guard your animal from monster attack and keep it near you, it is a tool you can use forever. A pack animal is capable of carrying 1600 stones, and will give you more time between trips to the bank. I would recommend it, because as you stockpile and sell resources, you will quickly make back the gold you spent.
The best thing you can do is to stockpile your resources, even though it may get dull. Mining works the same as lumberjacking (you can even re-use your macro from the last section, provided that you manually mine each particular spot the first time by hand). On a side note, you may get a message saying that your tool was destroyed, if you encounter this, use your tinker tool to create more; you must have ingots in your pack to do this.
If you wish to sell your goods to players, it would be best to sell in quantities of 1000 or more. If you wish only to start saving gold right away, then you could sell to NPC's sooner than this. Make frequent trips to the bank to deposit your earnings, gold and resources alike. Keep at it, and work on building up a stockpile of gold!
Creating your first character might not seem like that big of a deal. A few point-and-clicks, choosing your appearance, alright. But appearances can be deceiving. The skills you choose as a new player are really all you will have in the game to begin with, so they are important! Although you do have 5-7 character slots to begin with (depending on your expansion packs), you must wait 7 days to delete a character if you happen to make a mistake-- So pay attention. After you click on the "new" button (regardless of your server) you should be faced with a screen similar to this (1-1):
Picture 1-1
I would advise against choosing any of the premade templates. They tend to spread points among a number of skills, granting you no real advantage. Later, you will find that you can buy these same skills for a low fee from NPC trainers. For this reason, choose the ADVANCED button. After making this selection, you will see this screen (1-2):
I would advise against choosing any of the premade templates. They tend to spread points among a number of skills, granting you no real advantage. Later, you will find that you can buy these same skills for a low fee from NPC trainers. For this reason, choose the ADVANCED button. After making this selection, you will see this screen (1-2):Picture 1-2
This is where you will make the choices regarding your stats (strength, dexterity, and intelligence) and skills. Many skills are resource intensive, meaning you need a good deal of gold or items to build them up to a practical level. Any of the crafting skills are this way, likewise is archery. Magic skills (magery, necromancy, and chivalry) are similar in this way, however, if you are patient and find a way to obtain a LRC suit. One of the best characters to create as your first, which is also one I build my accounts around when I make a new one, is a resource gatherer. A strong build for this type of character is as follows: 40 Mining (first skill), 10 Lumberjacking (second skill-- so that you begin with an axe and a little skill), and Tinkering (third skill-- this will allow you to create your own tools such as shovels for mining). For stats, I would recommend 59 strength, 11 dexterity (for stamina reasons), and 10 intelligence. You can vary this slightly for a bit more dex, but a good rule of thumb is to keep all of the strength you can, to increase your ability to hold the resources you gather. Next, you get to choose your appearance (1-3):
Picture 1-3
You may customize your appearance however you see fit. If your account has the ML upgrade, you may change your race to an elf. However, it is most likely in your best interest to remain as a human, because they inherently have more carrying capacity. After you are satisfied, and choose a reputable name (make it good, later you will be doing business with other players!) you may continue to the next screen. Although a map with a list of cities appears, it doesn't matter which you choose; you will be started in New Haven. New Haven is rich in tutorials, beginners quests, skill trainers, and areas friendly to the new player. If this is your first time ever in Ultima Online on a new account, you will have the (young) player status. This means that you cannot travel to felucca, or be harmed by monsters and other characters. Again, it is in your best interest to keep this status until you feel comfortable.So you have began, and you see you character embodied now for the first time in New Haven. In your backpack you have a couple tools related to your skills, and 1000 gold coins (1k). The best thing you can do is familiarize yourself with the basic game controls- movement, skill and item use, opening and closing interfaces, etc. You should also orient yourself with your envrionment. From where you have started, open your radar/map (alt + r). Directly to the West is a white building, the bank. Here you can store items, resources, and gold that you don't want to lose during your adventures. Any time you save up a fair amount of gold or resources, store them here for safe keeping.
Once you are comfortable enough, it's time to get down to work. Let's begin with some lumberjacking. Outside of the Eastern gate of New Haven, there is a small forest which you should travel to. When you get within a few tiles of a tree, double left click on your axe, and target the tree. Upon a success, you will have some logs deposited into your backpack (11 to be exact). Since you only started with 10 skill in lumberjacking, you must be patient; it could take a few moments. Now we will get into some technicalities that will save you from burden and carpel tunnel. If you open your options menu (alt + O) and click on the tab in the lower left of the menu (that looks like a 180 degree arrow), you will be presented with the MACROS menu. Click on the ADD button. Under Keystroke, in the KEY field, enter a key you wish to use (I often use F8 for this macro). Now, under Actions, left click on the first blank field and, while holding your mouse down, scroll down to "LastObject", and release the mouse. On the second blank field, use a similar action to go down and select "LastTarget". Hit Apply and Ok on the macros menu to accept and close it out. Now, give it a try! Hit the button that you opted to use in the last step for this macro. It performs the action of chopping the tree, saving you from manually clicking. Please note: you must do the first double-click and target of each new tree you want to chop before using your macro.
Finally, it's important to keep in mind how much you can carry. If your lifebar is open, you can double click it to bring up the large status window. Alternately, press Alt + S to achieve the same effect. Near the bottom of the status window, you should see a small icon representing a weight. The number next to it is a ratio: How many stones you ARE carrying / How many stones you CAN carry. Each item in Ultima Online has a weight. One log, for example, weighs 2 stones. While you are out chopping wood, it is a good idea to keep this window off in the corner of your screen, or to check it often, to make sure you don't go overweight. If this happens, you will be unable to walk, and the only cure for it is to drop items to lessen your weight. Another method for dealing with your weight restriction is to buy a pack horse or llama. (You can get them from an NPC Animal Trainer for about 550 gp). Because you only start with 1,000 gp, it is a substantial investment for a new player, but if you guard your animal from monster attack and keep it near you, it is a tool you can use forever. A pack animal is capable of carrying 1600 stones, and will give you more time between trips to the bank. I would recommend it, because as you stockpile and sell resources, you will quickly make back the gold you spent.
The best thing you can do is to stockpile your resources, even though it may get dull. Mining works the same as lumberjacking (you can even re-use your macro from the last section, provided that you manually mine each particular spot the first time by hand). On a side note, you may get a message saying that your tool was destroyed, if you encounter this, use your tinker tool to create more; you must have ingots in your pack to do this.
If you wish to sell your goods to players, it would be best to sell in quantities of 1000 or more. If you wish only to start saving gold right away, then you could sell to NPC's sooner than this. Make frequent trips to the bank to deposit your earnings, gold and resources alike. Keep at it, and work on building up a stockpile of gold!
Note: In this tutorial, I assume you are using the 2D client. However, if you wish to create a new account, or even try Kingdom Reborn (the newest Ultima Online client), click here. They also offer a client download through other sites.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Everquest: Living Legacy Promotion
This was announced a while ago, but I only learned about it recently. Sony (Online Entertainment) is currently holding a promotion, welcoming back old players who have accounts in good standing. Inviting you to “Celebrate your Hardcore Heritage”, they are offering free gameplay until July 25 in commemoration of the games 9th Anniversary, which occurred on March 16th.
If this sparks anyone’s interest, the official announcement link is here. On that website, they offer a download of the installer, as well as help if you have forgotten your account information. Further, they list a lot of additional in-game content such as events and bonuses.
Just for checking it out, each account is granted a bundle of items, designed to better equip your potentially lacking characters of the past. It also appears that each zone grants an extra (25%) experience bonus, and increased loot. If you end up enjoying your time, and renew your subscription, you will be rewarded with “The Temporal Chrysalis” (item), and the “Secrets of Faydwer All-In-One” software pack.
SOE has also extended a similar offer with additional bonuses to past subscribers of Everquest II. The official link for this program can be found here. Note that EQII free play is extended until July 31. I would recommend anyone with interest in either of these titles to jump back in game and take advantage while the offer lasts.
If this sparks anyone’s interest, the official announcement link is here. On that website, they offer a download of the installer, as well as help if you have forgotten your account information. Further, they list a lot of additional in-game content such as events and bonuses.
Just for checking it out, each account is granted a bundle of items, designed to better equip your potentially lacking characters of the past. It also appears that each zone grants an extra (25%) experience bonus, and increased loot. If you end up enjoying your time, and renew your subscription, you will be rewarded with “The Temporal Chrysalis” (item), and the “Secrets of Faydwer All-In-One” software pack.
SOE has also extended a similar offer with additional bonuses to past subscribers of Everquest II. The official link for this program can be found here. Note that EQII free play is extended until July 31. I would recommend anyone with interest in either of these titles to jump back in game and take advantage while the offer lasts.
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