Farewell, but not goodbye!

First of all, I want to QQ about missed opportunities...if only, if only!

Flaf and Khoa, this is for you! Had I stayed with the game longer I would have loved to showcase the lovely mages of the now dormant Artisans. This happened a little bit after I sent in my video submission for RoMNation, and I only wish I could have helped show the community how truly viable mages are. And from what I hear now, Flaf is living up to her title as the "Brazilian Bombshell!"



On another note, I would like to confirm that I have in fact left RoM - but not for good. I recently logged back in to keep in touch with a few people near and dear to my heart. Once an Artisan, always an Artisan! We scraped our way from the Sieging Zero Bracket to the top of our server! We completed every single instance with the level appropriate group from Windmill to Kawak's Tomb! I'm proud to have shared a gaming experience with you all, and it makes me happy to see that most have moved together to the same guild - I know you all are taking good care of each other!

For now I'm focusing on myself for a bit before preparing to enter Guild Wars 2. If you see a dainty, pink little sylvari named Flan (or any derivative thereof), please think of me! I'll be setting up another blog for GW2 as well - The Pink Plant.

So this is not me saying "Goodbye" forever, but rather see you in another life!




PS: I didn't know Artisans was featured in the Postcards section of RoMNation Episode Three! Go Artisans!

Taborean Geology

What monstrosity left this massive shell behind? In the northern reaches of Ravenfell rests a gigantic shell about the size of Tiktaalik residence - and as you can see, it's bigger than the palm trees.

Perhaps there need to be more Taborean geologists to study the sediment and fossils found on our maps. My theory is that maybe Ravenfell was once completely submerged by the sea, as evidenced by the very round and smooth mountains that suggest water wear, and a big aquatic shell wedged between two of those mountains.

My idea is that a huge currently undiscovered sea creature was swimming along between the two mountains (which would have been more like an underwater canyon) and got stuck, eventually expiring and leaving its hollow shell behind. It doesn't seem feasible to expect the primitive Tiktaaliks to have the technology to lift and strategically place a shell of that magnitude in a position that can withstand the elements. The only way to prove (or disprove) my theory is to have Taborean geologists study the sediment layers on the mountains and see what history they may uncover!

If you're not drunk ladies and gentlemen...

When I walk in the club
All eyes on me.
Im with the party rock crew
All drinks are free!
We like Ciroc -
We love Patron -
We came to party rock
Everybody, it's on...
Let's go!

Shots shots shots shots shots shots
shots shots shots shots shots
shots shots shots shots shots
Everybody! Everybody!


Youtube for those who don't know this song! ;p

Hot!

Did a little exploring after an LoDD run - behind the volcano entrance are a few lavafalls! Careful, they're pretty hot, and I had to run from a little rock patch to patch over lava to get a good shot.

Scout QQ, Mage Pew-pew!

The new set of preliminary patch notes had the server in a big debate today. What's going to happen now that scouts will no longer get an attack boost by stacking dexterity, and their arrows no longer completely ignore p.def? There were many players that re-rolled as scouts just for their massive dps capabilities, but little by little the game is starting to show mages a bit more love.

Imo, I think this scout balancing has been a long time coming. No game should be made so that one class rules over the rest, and the way scouts had it, it was almost as if they were favored. But what's going to happen now? Scouts are getting balanced, and mages are getting buffed - great. But running instances like RT Diamond almost forces you to have a full party of high-dps scouts that can drop the bosses in the immunity rotation time frame. And while I believe it's about time mages are getting buffed, I don't think it'll be enough to compensate for the dps lost from scouts in Diamond runs.

Or maybe it will, who knows until we try.

I'm happy to see that most of the mages in our guild stuck it out through Chp3 :] I'm all about balanced groups, and was never a proponent of recruiting and gearing up only scouts. I love the rainbow of names I see on the guild roster! :D

I'm hoping for a HoS-like instance in Chapter4. Take either Khoa or Flaf there and our tanks can basically pull the whole instance and watch them purg everything down to ash. I'm very much considering rolling mage for my third class - I'm hoping to run as a Mage/Knight and try my hand as dps'ing >:]

(Thank you Khoa and Flaf for being my models!)

Varanas, Silverspring

Doesn't Varanas remind you of DisneyWorld sometimes? I love the castles and architecture in RoM :]

The Ancient Dreamland, Part II: Guide

Lv5 Ancient Dreamland Boss
Kalek's Nightmare
HP: 5mil
The only real skill to watch out for is when he encases a player in a light-blue gloop stone. It completely immobilizes you, like the Demon Grasp from the last boss in HoDL, and the bubble cage from Paicha in RT.

Lv10 Ancient Dreamland Boss
Herugrim Dreamlava
HP: 5.5mil
Think of the last boss strategy in DoD. He places a dark cloud on a patch of ground with purple tendrils pulsating through it. Players caught in the dark cloud must move away, as it puts a DoT and slows your casting speed.

Lv15 Ancient Dreamland Boss
Mayvel Nightmaremuse
HP: 4mil
She places a purple skull debuff on a random player, making it so that while the debuffed target it near her, it will heal her. The way to get rid of this is for that player to run to the back of the arena and wait for the debuff to disappear - it only takes a quick moment. Be sure to keep running, because she can teleport you back to her. An unconfirmed strat is to cleanse the debuff off.

Lv20 Ancient Dreamland Boss
Hlethfir Deliriumscribe
HP: 6mil
At certain points he spawns clones of himself, and at that time the real boss is unable to be damaged. The clones must die first - and it's useful to mark the real boss before the fight begins.

Lv25 Ancient Dreamland Boss
Infected Dreamland Guardian
HP: 6.5mil
My memory is still a little hazy on how exactly this boss will react. From what I remember, he spawns un-killable adds that need to be ignored. All dps should only focus on killing the boss, and the healer should be able to out-heal the damage the mobs are doing.

Lv30 Ancient Dreamland Boss
Nightmare Beast Atollop
HP: 7mil
From what I've seen, he does a few things the previous bosses have done. He spawns the dark clouds beneath players like in lv10, and I believe he also spawns adds that cannot be killed. Big dps race here, not sure what happens the longer the fight goes on. Still need to confirm a few things.

Fury of the Defender of the Jungle

Our very first Fury of the Defender of the Jungle drop, and it was OD! We've finally made it to the point where we can farm RT Diamond for gear instead of spending an insane 40mil on that stupid bow from a non-guidlie.

Congratulations, Reactive, on the bow! This makes up for all the previous times your gear has been ninja'd from you :x!

Artisans, ftw! /proud

The Ancient Dreamland, Part I

The Ancient Dreamland, located directly in front of the entrance to Forsaken Abbey. The door of the instance belays the actual prettiness of its interior. This is the first time this mini-event is available on US servers, so I was very excited to try it out :D Unfortunately not many guildies were on earlier in the day when I made a group for AD - I brought a knight, rogue, mage and druid along with myself. Turns out mages are fabulous in here, lots of AoE for the trash mobs!

Turn around from the shiny portal into the Dreamland, and you're greeted by a crowd of floating houses and Eye of Wisdom researchers. It's a neat little place to go, even what's above us is rather pretty...just pray none of the houses decide to smoosh you like the Wicked Witch of the East :x

I always make it a point to look up, just to make sure I don't miss anything interesting or worthwhile. I'm also infatuated with the sky, and this is a fine specimen of a magical night sky! I'm a sucker for shiny things!










For Part I, I'm posting up a few screenshots I thought were rather sparkley :D Each of the shots below were taken in a different type of arena in the Dreamland. Part II will have some screenshots of the bosses that spawn every 5 levels, and some of their special attacks to watch out for. Enjoy the eye candy, and never forget to look up!

The Flower Festival

Out of all the mini-events per patch, I'd have to say my favorite would be the Flower Festival. I'm a sucker for anything cute and pastel-colored, so what more could I ask for when we were given bunnies and flower petals? :D Not only that, they had some pretty cute outfits for sale and for prizes as well...I love this hat!

I love to jump in-game, it's the closest thing I can do to look like I'm flying, lol. I've made an obstacle jumping course in the Artisan guild castle to show my love for jumping, so when I saw that the Flower Festival involved a jumping course...I was all over it! By doing this we got a few event items, and an extremely lovely mount speed buff that stacks with the 30% mount potion and Galloping Gale.


Zoom!

It's a nice view from the top. Looking up I'm surrounded by pretty pastel petals, and looking down I can view the pretty glowing stepping stones that lead to the top of the tree. A few people found jumping up to the top a bit too difficult, and started spamming Zone chat for a port to the end ;] Cheaters!

Progression!

A momentous era in Artisan history! We have just, as a guild, cleared Raksha Temple: Diamond Mode! It was surprisingly easier than I had anticipated, I was afraid for a moment that our dps wouldn't be enough...but who was I fooling, even with two priests we had Reactive, Ragingsoul and Washnock to be our machine guns :]

All in all, it was a very smooth run. It took a little longer than expected since life happened to interfere now and again (yay for afk's!), but we had no wipes and got a few tasty OD gear; Raksha's Earrings and Lekani Handguards

Other than that...the stat and gear drops made me QQ a bit. :< We were hoping to get a Fury of the Defender of the Jungle for Reactive so he could finally ditch his noob Desert Bow! ;] One day, Reactive, I promise we'll farm this for you until it drops! :D

Old News, But Good News

I've been stocking up and saving screenshots for the longest time, but haven't been meticulous about posting them up :x!

RT Bronze Full Clear:

KT Full Clear:

[PPM] Pink Priest Model: Kaelisra

[Specimen #1] Kaelisra

The Black Bunny Brigade! Did a 420mem PK trade with Kaelisra from the guild Centurions - everything seemed to go right. Two kills and the item dropped, and two new and cute outfits from my customer!

Flopsy, Mopsy, and Peter Cotton-tail. And Kaelisra. :D

And now his evil costume, rawr! Unfortunately he has the Hunter's Aura, so maybe he's not so evil after all :x We went out of our way to make sure the scenery matched his outfit though. :] Choreographed shot, ftw!

Treachery Garden

Standard procedure. Move along.

PKed?

Then you never want to see yourself drop this bag.

THE LOOT BAG.
This seemingly unimposing little canvas bag may look harmless to anyone from a PvE server...but this little thing can bring a grown man to nerdrage for hours in Zone Chat. A PvE server player visited little Grimdal one day, and was shocked to see everyone in crappy gear. It's not crappy gear, silly, it's our off-gear. We swap to our junk set so that we don't lose anything we spent actual money on - and many of us get creative with our off-set! If you PvE-ers are ever bored, drop by a PK server and check out our off-gear fashion. :]

The Old Guard +1

Raksha Temple, full clear with a full Artisan group! This was extra special for me, since 5/6 present were among the very first Artisans to join when we first started more than half a year ago. We've come a long way, and the Old Guard will continue on into Kawak's Tomb!

We couldn't have done it without you either, Ragingsoul. You'll forever be my favorite dps troll ;p

Can you spot the difference?

I took a bunch of screenshots at the Forgottenshadow x Sherla Wedding, and I still have a ton to crop and load up. Here's a cool little before-and-after shot of the guildie's wings. Turns out everyone had a pair of wings to put on, and boy was it a pain to organize and line everyone up, lol! Khoa's massive wings are blocking out poor Everlight though >:\ I'll do better next time!

Pre-Wing Action:

Post-Wing Action:

Boulangerie

Omg...I smell delicious, fresh baguettes. I want one. I need one. I can't go another day without one. I'll sell all my gear for a crumb. I just need one....little....piece....


/reeeeaaaaaach

BUSTED.

What the heck do you think you're doing in my bakery? Does this look like a charity to you!? I got a business to manage! SCRAM.

Punishment II

I've upgraded from cages to torture tables.
IKEA had them on sale, too.

Taste the Rainbow

Looking for a pot of gold to pay for your new Tomb gear? Best place to start looking is in Rashka Temple. If you're lucky, you'll stumble across a little green man that'll lead you to fame, fortune and more! All you have to do is follow him into that dark little alleyway, close your eyes, and listen as he turns on "Enable PK Mode."


Then all your dreams will come true.

(note the size of the pet goblin, and the size of Krissto)

Haiku a la Lagspike

Flan throw me a heal.

I have the priest targeted.

Oh wait, we are dead.

Titleless.

I don't think I have to say anything.

Whhyyyyyyyy!

This. Is SUCH. A tease.
It's times like this which almost make me break for a Golden Repair Hammer

Bibliophilia IV

Book Buried in the Sand


The Riddles of History

Over ten years ago, General Drake Angerfang went on a campaign. Everyone was hopeful that the general would return triumphant, but in the end only Skarbar Sharpclaw returned with a handful of survivors.

Skarbar told everyone that General Drake was killed by Zanka in Zanka's Dune, and most of the soldiers died as well.

This was shocking news, because we had all seen that General Drake was heading out to suppress the banditry of the Rotteneye tribe. Why had they suddenly changed course to Zanka's Dune to attack Zanka?

Some said that the Rotteneyes were behind it all. That they had tricked the general into attacking Zanka, knowing all along that he would be eaten alive. But wasn't Drake too smart to fall for such a trick?

The answer to that question, along with Drake's bones, have all been buried beneath the sands of time.

After the death of General Drake, everyone urged the wise Skarbar to become our new lord.

Yes, I said, "wise." While Drake still ruled, Skarbar was a reliable advisor, and his fame was only secondary to Drake himself.

After the well-loved Skarbar took up his post, he re-outfitted the army to prepare for an attack on Zanka, to avenge the death of Drake. Of course there was no shortage of enthusiasm for the campaign, and volunteers joined the newly reformed army in droves. The Angerfang Clan was particularly fervent, and nearly all of them volunteered to join Limon. The Sharpclaws were active as well, particularly in support and logistics, but none could match the numbers of the Angerfangs on the frontline.

At the same time, no one thought too much about it. We just figured that Skarbar knew that the Angerfangs wanted vengeance more than most, and would thus make the most stalwart troops for the frontline.

This campaign, like the first, did not go well.

The army was bitterly defeated, and the Angerfangs were nearly wiped out. Not only was General Drake not avenged, but the entire country suffered a major blow. Skarbar announced that he would not send another expedition until a more fit and able army could be assembled.

It was about that time that Skarbar began sending squadrons to Zanka's Dune for military exercises. While there wasn't a repetition of the previous tragedies, each expedition saw some loss of life. But the bodies of the dead were never brought back, which caused some consternation among all of us.

When General Drake died, his body was never found. Over a hundred soldiers were set off to battle Zanka, but less than 30 bodies were recovered.

Even more strange was the fact that none of us ever discovered the bodies of the fallen Zanka's Dune. It all added up to a tangled mystery which none could unravel.

Aloha!

Hai girlfriend!

I'm like, totally enjoying myself here in Hawaii! Mom and Dad putter off to buy lame tourist T-shirts and bobble-head souvenirs, giving me plenty of time to go hunting for some hot surfer boys.

My brother is a lame noob though, he stays inside the hotel room all day and plays that stupid RoM game instead of trying to not be a virgin anymore.

xoxo,
Forgottenssister

Bibliophilia III

[Sonny's Work Log]



Recorder No. 16

Tracking Project: Study Zanka

Progress Report Day 10: No progress.

How can these incompetent people stay in the organization?

Progress Report Day 19: Still no progress.

The stupid controllers still can't think of a way to injure Zanka, but they smugly say they found some interesting stone tablet fragments. Who cares?

Oh, maybe those disgusting experimenters will like them, but I'm not interested.

Bibliophilia II

[Saar's Work Log]



Controller No. 34

Mission Log: Attack Zanka

Mission Execution Day 17:

I knew from the start that these inferior puppet soldiers woldn't be able to defeat Zanka. If it was for that half-dragon causing trouble, we'd still have powerful puppet soldiers.

I'm not optimistic about the outcome of this mission. If we continue to lose puppet soliders at this rate, I'm afraid we won't be able to complete the mission.

Fortunately, we found some stone tablet fragments in the cave of Zanka to distract those impatient experimenters so they won't come annoy me.

Bibliophilia

I've made it a point from the moment I started RoM to collect and save every and any book I come across. The result of this habit is an over-crowded bank box that desperately needs space for stat storage. So now I've decided to transcribe the contents of the books I collect so I can feel less bad about trashing them, ahaha! I love to archive, and maybe this will give other players a chance to actually peruse through text they haven't otherwise read before :]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Guy's Work Log]


Experimenter No. 62

Subject: Fusion of Zanka and the specimen

Experiment Day 20:

We still can't get near Zanka....it's all the fault of those corpse controllers!

I don't care how many puppet troops they lose in attacking Zanka. I just care about when they'll get me close to Zanka so I can experiment!

If it wasn't for the fact that they keep bringing interesting stone tablet fragments from that dragon's cave, I'd hit them with a rotten tendon to show my dissatisfaction.

Experiment Day 23:

That damn annoying incompetent recorder came to push me to turn in my work log again!

Why don't they go tell the controllers? Tell them to wound Zanka! Otherwise, how can I get close to Zanka?

Speaking of those stupid controllers, how many corpses are they going to use to kill Zanka? The situation doesn't look good, and there are fewer and fewer corpses. Don't tell me they ahve to spend a few days collecting corpses to make more puppet soldiers.

I only have these stone tablet fragments to ease my frustration.

Experiment Day 27

From what I can gather from the contents of these stone tablets, it seems they are a record relating to Fernando Cosmo. Fernando Cosmo once went to the cave of Zanka to investigate what kind of wisdom the lindworm possessed.

This is very interesting. Perhaps I can hypothesise* that Fernando Cosmo was able to transform into a half-dragon using the blood of the highly intelligent lindworm Zanka.

Yes, maybe the blood of Zanka can increase the possibility of creating a half-dragon...not a bad plan for a new experiment.

Experiment Day 29:

Damn, those controllers really do have to waste a few days to make more puppet troops!?

When will I be able to begin my experimental fusion of Zanka and the specimen?

That annoying recorder was buzzing around me like a mosquito all day. Don't these controllers want to order the corpses to go kill the recorder?

Experiment Day 31:

If it was possible, I'd kill those stupid controllers myself!

If they really can't kill Zanka, can't they at least get some of its blood for my experiment? What use is the blood on a knife blade?

Have they never heard of bottles?

Never mind, I don't care. Whenever those idiot controllers can kill Zanka, that's when I'll start working.

It's not my fault I can't start the experiment. Those recorders can go to hell!

*Note: Typographical errors found in the text are left as-is.

Marilyn Monroe

Upskirt!

Triple Class System

It has been confirmed - the release of Chapter IV scheduled for April 6th will not only bring in a new map and starter area, but it was also introduce a TRIPLE class system. Confirmation is in The RoMCast #6. Also pay very close attention from 13:00-13:40. He says it somewhat quickly in passing, but if you listen carefully you'll hear that not only will you have the General Skills and Class Specific Skills for both your current primary and active secondary class, you will also have the General Skills from your tertiary (third) class. Blow your mind much?

Then again, he did mention in the beginning that this is his interpretation of what the new patch is going to bring. This is in no way a developer's podcast, and maybe....just maybe.....Swag is trying to stir up a little fuss for more RoM publicity ;p

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
!! VERY IMPORTANT EDIT !!

The RoMCast got a bunch of us a bit confused. We won't have access to the general skills of our third class, we can only have two classes activated at any given moment, just like it is now. BUT, I am still under the impression that we will get all the general and class specific skills from our active secondary class. See below screenshot for some details from GM Nytefall.