Die by the Arrow Network

Neverwinter Arrives

Aalwein — Thu, 02 May 2013 20:16:04 +0000

After months of closed and weekend betas, Neverwinter has finally launched entered open beta and with it dreams of bringing the table top Dungeons & Dragons spirit to the massively multiplayer online platform are potentially realized. Wait, didn't Dungeons & Dragons Online already do that? I'm confused. In any case, Neverwinter brings the ultimate geek game to current generation standards and perhaps draw in a crowd that might previously have been missing from the scene: the classic Neverwinter Nights gamers. Read through the cut for my review and how to play it with a XBox360 game pad!

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RIFT Grindhouse: Post-60

Aalwein — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 17:58:25 +0000

Raptr shows me as playing RIFT more than World of Warcraft now, which of course is only true over the last year of actually using Raptr because I've probably got another 2000+ hours in WoW (and, in fairness, at least another 5-600 hours in RIFT) pre-da...

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Sixty: Storm Legion Endgame

Aalwein — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:07:59 +0000

Reaching the Cap Again Raptr says I've logged 89 hours in the last week. That's insane - although, in fairness, a lot of that time was spent staring at the character select screen. Still, it took about 10 days, or about 35 hours, to go from 50 to 60 ...

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Return to Telara

Aalwein — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 01:03:11 +0000

The Storm Legion Beckons Yeah, I'm game hopping. What of it? I just can't seem to find a game right now that can command my attention for more than a few weeks at a time. After enjoying a short jaunt back in Azeroth (six max level characters later), I...

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Wearing Out the Welcome

Aalwein — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 17:55:32 +0000

Since the launch of Guild Wars 2, I've been a bit of an MMO floater. I've jumped around between GW2, World of Warcraft, Vanguard, and even sat idle in The Secret World for a bit. This is a result of two things: free to play going mainstream and no mainstream games that are really grabbing my fancy. That's not to say the above games aren't all great games - they all have their strong points - it's just that none of them have everything in one package to keep me sticking around. That said, I've recently jumped back into Guild Wars 2 bringing my wife along with me, which affords it the official title as my "current game." For the last month or so, I've been battling away in Tyria, picking up where I left off on my level 50-something Ranger. In that month, I've accomplished level 80 and 100% map completion, joined the super-guild Gaiscioch, and tossed around a few heads in fractals and dungeons. Oh... and started another nasty altoholic episode. Read through the jump for my full review of the entire Guild Wars 2 experience.

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Tillers and Pandaren Cooking Reference Guide

Aalwein — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:55:29 +0000

With a couple of months now passed since the launch of Mists of Pandaria, I've done a whole lot of mindless farming - literally farming not the gamer slang version. Let's face it, there's a whole lot of achievements associated with farming and cooking,...

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Tiller Friendship Farming Spreadsheet

Aalwein — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 06:01:37 +0000

One of the big new features in Mists of Pandaria is the farming side-game. It obviously ties in with the new cooking system as the new it thing in World of Warcraft. Part of the grind is raising your friendship - a new form of reputation - with each of...

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Pandas, Dailies, and Pet Battles Oh My!

Aalwein — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 18:10:21 +0000

You didn't think I'd miss the launch of the latest, greatest WoW expansion did'ya? Sure, I've been off playing games like The Secret World, Vanguard, and Guild Wars 2, but Warcraft is the olde standby, the warm bed we always return to when we seek comf...

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Guild Wars 2: Early Review

Aalwein — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 16:34:59 +0000

Three days ago early access opened for those who pre-purchased Guild Wars 2. With a nice amount of sleep and a trip back into The Secret World for an evening, I still managed to log enough hours to get my ranger to level 25. I've completed a ton of content, explored large swaths of the world, and even found some time to survey crafting. To put it simply, so far the game is amazing. Less than a third through level progression, 25 levels is barely 30% of the total 80 levels to earn. Still, it's no small accomplishment considering the breadth of activity required to gain them. It took several days of steady playing, exploring all five starting cities, and clearing to completion two of the five starting zones to gain level 25. But Guild Wars 2 brought the fun back to the journey, making all 25 levels a joy to gain instead of an exercise in grinding. Read through the cut for a full review of the first 25 levels.

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Guild Wars 2 Pre-launch Is Go

Aalwein — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 02:27:10 +0000

I've jumped into Guild Wars 2 head first and logged many hours in these first two days of pre-launch. I'll be writing a full review soon and another at the one month mark. So far, I like what I've experienced. ArenaNet has refined and polished so many standard MMOG features that just scream "try me" it's staggering. Get some - you won't regret it. I will be streaming the game as much as I can over the next month of play. It seems to run a lot smoother than The Secret World so I'm actually able to enjoy playing and streaming at the same time. So if you aren't already watching, head over to my Twitch.tv channel to watch some live gaming.

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