The 50 Pound Cat's MMO Adventures

Maybe a GM pulled the plug because we won?

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:40:18 PST

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long delay between posts. But hey, here I am and some blog is better then no blog. I think I have said this a few times before, but I will try to be a little more active in the near future.

Let me explain the story behind the picture above. My clan and I besieged a city, here we all are gearing up and getting ready for the big fight.

Long story short... we won the siege!

Then... servers crashed... and rolled back... looks like we didn't win the siege after all.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day, and we will try again! I promise, I will keep in touch, Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat signing off.

Fun In The Alfar Lands

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 09:30:36 PDT

Ahh.... just another day in wonderfully Agon, and a nice little bit of hate on good old Cthulhu. ;)

First however I would like to tell you about poor Mk. I was marking a runestone, when he decided to stormblast up to my location above the bank in Shoal. It was then that his explosion caught me with it's blast as he tried to get up the last few feet. Needless to say, the Alfar guard towers made short work of him. Poor guy. Oh well1 That's what he gets for messing with me, hehe.

I got this after declaring war on The Industry.

Hey and look! A crafter from The Industry! I love crafters!

Moving Around In Agon

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 07:25:09 PDT

I've headed down from Alfar lands to a small Chaos City on an Island called Jhali. I love exploring in DarkFall. I have been to Jhali before, but I've never fully explored the islands south of it. There appears to be some decent spawns for new and veteran players.

Oh, one very interesting thing about Jhali is the fact that it is very very close to the Sea Towers. I believe that during the Sea Towers, the town of Jhali then becomes alive with PvPers. I expect one could hang out here and eventually get good loot from the towers.

A brief return to WAR and thoughts on EVE

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 11:57:00 PDT

So, in my little break from darkfall I have decided to give warhammer online a try again. Right now war is giving ten free days to returning players, although their free trial goes to at least level eleven and I did not get that far in my ten days so really I could have done the endless trial FYI if your interested in trying the game out yourself.

Anyways, warhammer is very fun and colorful with interesting classes, but I quickly burnt out. I think I burnt out because the game is a traditional diku mmo with a heavy emphasis on pvp and rvr. I think I just don't have it in me to play those kinds of traditional leveling class-based mmo's after playing darkfall for so long. It's just so easy to become bored hitting the same old buttons and being restricted to your pre-defined role.

I also thought about returning to EVE but you know, I already know even before re-installing the game (actually I did reinstall the game lol but I never logged in) that I will become instantly bored upon really playing the game. Eve is a great game, but it just takes too damn long to do anything!
In the end, I will be returning to darkfall shortly. There is just no other game on the market right now that comes anywhere close to the unique and awesome fun that is darkfall. And, who cares if it's taking the devs awhile to update the game? It's obvious av is just a noob at the mmo buisness especially regarding things such as hype and there is no reason not to enjoy their game in its current state.

Taking a break from good old Darkfall

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:57:06 PDT

Alright, well, I suppose it was fated to happen someday. I can proudly say that I have stuck with darkfall longer than I have many other mmo's. This is a testament to how fun, addicting, and engaging the darkfall experience is. But, everyone burns out eventually. It's not even the grind exactly, I actually have had a fairly powerful character for a while now, it's just that I feel like I have been there and seen and experienced much of what darkfall has to offer.

It's time to explore a new land! (And maybe revitalize this blog a little more).

First off, let me say that I am a complete sucker for new things and the next mmo does have some of my interest.

The game is called Final Fantasy XIV, a name I'm sure your familiar with. It is a very PvE focused game, in fact it has no PvP whatsoever. This is such a big change over DarkFall that I'm honestly not sure if I'll be able to adjust.

Final Fantasy has a number of positive aspects and I'm sure it will be a success. I do not think that the game will be hugely popular.

The reason for this has to do with the controls and the style of the game. FF14 just does not have a smooth and familiar enough control scheme to be a success on the PC. I'm sure the game will fare far better on the PS3.

If they are able to implement a better control scheme then I'm sure the game will prove to be a commercial success. It sounds silly honestly saying that a control scheme will make or break this game for me. I mean, if it's a constant struggle to read quests and talk to npc's then that means there is a problem.

This is the year 2010 after all. Like many I am flabbergasted as to how squareenix chose to release the game into open beta like this. It is also looking like a hardware mouse will not be at launch, unless they chose to release it AT launch, which again, would make no sense to me.

Long story short, FFXIV is not for me and it doesn't look like I will be playing it! The game doesn't have pvp anyways.

A New Hat is Discovered, and Scenery

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:29:33 PDT

Check out this new hat I found! Very cool. I will definitely want to get more of these for my PvP adventures. Nothing better then killing someone wearing a cool and unique hat accessory! (too bad I can't wear this over my armor!) As unrealistic as it would be, I do wish Darkfall would let you customize the look of your character more without sacrificing the benefit of the heavy armor.

Near where I found that hat, I found this awesome looking hole in the ground! You really have to see it in action to appreciate how cool this place is, but take my word for it, it's very cool. Thank you for reading this small update, and I promise more are coming.

Assorted DarkFall Scenery

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Mon, 31 May 2010 08:46:00 PDT

This is one of the wolf cities. I like the look of that temple, or whatever it is!

This dragon must have been here a long time to turn to stone... the best thing about this dragon, is that his eyes are made if iron! Very cool.

Chaos chests indeed to spawn everywhere.

One of our scarabs in action.

How many mounts are in this picture?

Thank's for reading everyone! More blogs to come!

The Ship Event

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Sun, 30 May 2010 08:45:48 PDT

Remember the ship event a few weeks ago? It was an event where the developers spawned boats at ports and along the coast all around Agon. I believe the idea was that there would be some race vs race ship warfare, but I'm not sure how well it turned out, because I never got on one of the damn things.

Our boat arrived outside shoal to pick us up. A GM had been waiting there giving out repair shards and black powder for the adventure ahead. "Great!" I think to myself, "Time to go sail and fight some other ships!" This will be my first real ship-on-ship warfare so I'm very excited.

But... when I go to get on to the ship, it's full of enemies! What the hell? Our alfar ship is already chocked full to the brim with PKs from other races? Obviously, none of us are able to get on the damn boat and many die trying to. Our Alfar forces were actually very weak and small, there was no way we could capture this boat from the people already in it.

Thank's for the great communication on what we were facing GMs! Why bother even giving us the repair shards and powder? To supply the people already on the boat I suppose...

But, I don't mean to gripe too much, I actually had a lot of fun. I had two water breathing rings already, I was prepared for any eventuality. So I just sunk to the bottom of the water and started shooting arrows at people.

The boat-dwellers were actually very smart, and few of them got into the water to fight, so I didn't actually manage to kill anyone, I was only able to hit one persona couple times.

However... there were corpses EVERYWHERE! And so my friends and I went to town, looting everything we could.

All-in-all I got a battlehorn and multiple full gear bags, and I of course, did not die myself. So it was a very satisfying and fun event. I look forward to the next! People will always complain about these things, but I think they should be doing events like this on a weekly basis.

Rocking the Full Plate

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:45:39 PDT

Hello everyone, I wanted to share these two pictures of me riding around the Alfar lands rockin' the full plate!

I love this helmet!

Cow Nose Video's presents: Taunt 4!

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:34:28 PDT

I have another great little video for you guys. It's not to long, and like all my other videos, it just shows a little slice of life in Darkfall. I really like this one, I hope you do to! As always, please click the link below to view the video in it's HD glory.

Click here to check out the video "Taunt 4" in HD!

Misc. Sacrifices

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:34:57 PDT

Village Capturing in Darkfall

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:30:00 PST

One way for clans to make gold in Darkfall is to capture villages. Villages are where people can have their own player-owned home. There is a limited number of these available across the entire server so they are very expensive and highly coveted. The reward for capturing a village is only around 2,000 gold. Really, not much in the big picture of things. It's for this reason that very rarely will you run into another person when trying to capture a village and so usually they aren't the PvP hotspots I think AV originally intended them to be.

Here we are coming up to the village now.

Here is the control point. All we need to do is destroy it, and the village will be under the control of Cthulhu! Siege hammers and battlespikes are used for destroying buildings and control points like this. So, we equip our siege hammers and go to work...

And there we are! Not too bad for about an hour's work, and the gold in the clan bank will be nice.

Exploring Agon

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:29:01 PST

Hello, and good day everyone! Today's blog is just going to be some screens of my explorations around Agon. Agon is a huge world and there is plenty to see and explore! Exploration is all the more exciting in Darkfall because you never know who might try to kill you!

This first image is a simple one. Just training my magic skills on some skeletons in the Alfar lands.

After skeleton hunting, I go and relax under a giant mushroom.

Next, now this is much further away, I make it east to Hammerdale. Hammerdale is controlled by NEW and is a neutral city, a decent place to re-gear and stock up if you are in the area. NEW is a Darkfall clan that welcomes all new members so that they can be taught the inner-workings of DF and PvP.

I ran into this wolf guy while in Hammerdale, scary!

And finally, I wanted to share this picture of a lighthouse.

Alignment Grinding In Darkfall

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:08:00 PST

Kind of a fun little video showing the deep inner world of alignment grinding in Darkfall.

Remember, click here to see the HD version!

Another Great Newb Story!

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:00:02 PST

I honestly like newbies and they do the darnedest things. This particular recruit of mine has done some particularly funny things, but he is full of inspiration and definitely makes the game more interesting.

Oh boy... maybe, this was a good thing? Somehow? Haha, either way, I love it and it is a fantastic story in my opinion. Epic!

Darkfall milestones: Herbing, Mining, AND Lumberjacking at 100!

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:18:50 PST

Yup, not too much to say here, but I hit 100 Mining and 100 Herb Gathering (and lumberjacking, I just forgot to take the screen) in Darkfall! Go me! These are the first skills I have managed to get to 100 in Darkfall.

1337

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:59:00 PST

Hehe, worth a screenshot and a post.

Dragons in Agon!

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 12:32:02 PST

Yes, the almighty flame-lizard lives on in Agon. There before you you see the fearsome fire-dragon! Actually, I'm sure there is a better name for this guy, but Fire Dragon works for me at this point. Oh, but of background, I am still on my alignment-getting adventure during the taking of this picture. I'm running towards the human lands to try to find some easy prey there.

He doesn't look so tough...

..and this is the last thing I see. No "lol" needed! Hehe.

Three Unrelated But Still Significant Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:31:45 PST

I could have made three separate posts, but each of these pictures has only a small story associated with them, so I'll just write it up here!

I attacked someone and killed them, and then I ganked them, which I didn't realize gives you even more negative karma. I didn't realize how much negative karma you got from killing members of your alliance all-together so I turned red instantly and thus could no longer enter cities of my own kind. So, I decided to start hunting around for people to kill for alignment. One of the first places I found was this island hamlet where I killed one person afk swimming, and another chopping a tree. Then someone mining in full armor reacted and slayed me, but it was fun.

Running further along, I ran into this cool looking city! (monster owned)

I think this doorway is an entrance to a dwarven city. Just a guess. Untill next blog, farewell!

Kitty On a Boat and The World Smallest Iron Node

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:09:06 PST

I recently got the chance to try out sailing in Darkfall. I think almost everyone's first ship is a raft, and in my case this was no exception. Rafts are the first craft you can.. craft.. and they are also the cheapest. That said, they have no cannons and you are rather exposed on a raft.

One of the main activities a group of people can do while sailing is fish. This makes rafting both a fun and productive activity!

After sailing around a bit we landed on this island and cooked our fish using one of the previous mentioned campfires.

Oh, and as a small bonus, here is a picture of the worlds smallest iron node. There may be smaller out there, but so far this is the smallest I have seen.

A Day In The Life of a Noob

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:30:06 PST

I was out hunting goblins one day when... well, just watch the video.

Click here to check out my 30 second Darkfall PvP video titled "A Day In The Life of A Noob"!

Oh, and this is my first PvP vid, and my first vid ever! Grats to me hehe. Yeah this is a 30 second video, however I would totally love to make more videos. I'm not really a big video-watching type tho, so I wouldn't want to waste peoples time. But if it is a fun and exciting video, then heck yeah, I'll post it!

Found a Giant Crystal In DarkFall

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:10:00 PST

Exploring around DarkFall hunting for mobs and metal nodes to kill or harvest, I came across this giant crystal! At first I thought it was a giant metal node... but unfortunately you can't mine from this sucker. Still, a neat find and shows Darkfall has lots of interesting things to see and places to explore.

You can see a town in the first picture, this is a town who's inhabitants have been killed by the undead! It's an undead town! You can still see the lizard-on-a-stick left by it's original inhabitants.
Man I love lizard-on-a-stick. Ever since fallout, it's been my favorite meal.

Thanks for the warning o' skeletons! Oh, and you can see the giant crystal behind the sign! It's color is more natural in this light too, it was dusk in the previous picture.

Campfire's In Darkfall

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:13:00 PST

Campfires are one of the recent additions to DarkFall. I happened to see this one infront of the bank. In my opinion they seem good for crafting food on the go, but I would rather just bring enough food for me in the first place and do my cooking at a proper station. That's just me however. And this WOULD help if you were really out in the middle of nowhere and needed to make some food badly.

A Tour of Sorgom

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:02:00 PST

As you know I have recently been baising my adventures out of a city called Sorgom. I showed you a little of the city in a previous post, but I wanted to show you a little more. This is a stone dedicated to the god Melek! I'm not exactly sure what use it is for, but you can find stones like these in all the Alfar cities.

The first thing you see when you enter the vicinity of Sorgom... a fantastic Alfar statue!

Sorgom is almost like a paradise. I love the water outside it, it's defensible position, too bad it is NPC controlled!

This is the lift you need to take to get to Sorgom. There are actually two lifts and two levels too the cliffs. Very defensible!

Here's a nice shot of the lift in different light. (Bonus: guard tower! These things are a boon.)

Exploring even further around the city Sorgom

noreply@blogger.com (Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:20:00 PST

I grab a couple wands, some basic gear, and I hit the road! I'm ready to explore the lands around me. I don't plan on doing much major killing or looting, I just want to see what is out there. Exploring in DarkFall can be so much fun!

And I did find something really interesting! These statues are genuinely creepy and scary...

What an evil looking thing!