EQJunkies

From the Open Beta Site:

FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test Will Start on Sep. 1!

We would like to take this opportunity to provide an update regarding FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test, which was announced to be postponed on Aug. 31, 2010.

Along with the completion on investigation and correction of the critical issue, we have decided to begin FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test on Sep. 1, 2010 at 19:00 (PDT).

Starting on Sep. 1, 2010 at 19:00 (PDT), acquisition of registration code required for FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test will be available.

We are looking forward to your participation in FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test!

Who else is excited?

Like many others I have been waiting for the FFXIV open beta to go live, but it appears it will be postponed.  From http://entry.ffxiv.com/na/index.html:

FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test Postponed

FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test, which is scheduled to begin at 19:00 (PDT) on Aug. 31, 2010, will be postponed due to a confirmation of critical bugs. New schedule will be releaseｄ at a later date.

Along with the postponement of FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test, the issuing of registration code for FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test will be postponed as well. With the download of client software’s installer, it will be suspended at 19:00 (PDT) on Aug. 31, 2010.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

I, for one, am REALLY disappointed.  I was looking forward to giving it a shot tonight.

I am not quitting EQ2; actually I am still really enjoying the game.  Sadly though, real life stuff has begun to pile up on me and I just don’t have a ton of free time at the moment.  When I do get a chance to play I feel guilty because I should be working on pressing things.
Let me be more clear: I am thinking about/studying for my Computer Science Qualifier around the clock.  It has completely consumed my life and is solely dictating my stress level (which is at an all time high).  Once I manage to put this test behind me (the last formal exam I will ever take in my life), I will be able to return to teh games.  Here is the funny part though: the department has still not announced the date of this exam.  My estimates are that it will be somewhere between May 10th and May 20th, but the exact date is anyone’s guess.

Look for me to return to teh games in late May; until then I will be on a hiatus…

Everytime we try to get away, it pulls us back in...

Hey Everyone,

The site has been updated to the most recent version of Wordpress and some new plugins have been added as well.  It has been a long, long time since the last update and I apologize for that, life has kept me busy over the past months (almost a year) – it is good to be back!

All of the EQJunkies were playing EQ1 last year for awhile.  There was one night when all four of us were on at the same time!  Slowly though, people started to drop off.  First, Greldor had to stop playing since school and his wedding were taking up all of his time, next Surly stopped playing due to work and girlfriend commitments.  Landuran hung in there for awhile, but ultimately he got bored with the game.

I continued to play (four box) for many months.  I managed to reach T5 in Seeds of Destruction.  About the same time I accomplished this the developers decided to hand out better gear via MMs, which was all it took for me to jump ship.  With that single action they trivialized all the work that I had put in over the previous six months.  I mean, I expected that the new expansion, Underfoot, would make my gear useless, but MM gear is low risk better reward – that was simply unacceptable to me.

After I quit EQ1 I started to get busy looking for a home IRL and didn’t have much time to devout to gaming.  After that, I spent a lot of time messing around with MythTV and getting that system setup to help avoid buying cable (more details on all of that will come out on a later post).

Recently, I somehow convinced Landuran to give EQ2 another shot.  I revived my character on the Crushbone server and managed to convince a couple of our old EQ friends to join us.  So far it has been fun and I will keep you posted on how things are going in Norrath.

In the coming months I hope to revive this blog to its former self – providing information on MMOs and also the occasional information regarding linux, MythTV, and linux gaming.

There have been a bunch of posts on the official Sony forums recently about returning to Everquest.  I will attempt to keep an up to date F.A.Q. here to help those are thinking about coming back.

Q1: What’s the latest all-in-one pack I can buy to get caught up with all the expansions?

A: Seeds of Destruction.  You can purchase this ONLY online through the station store or on the server select screen.  There is a new expansion coming out in November, Underfoot.

Q2 – What level can you start using Mercs?

A: Level One.  You just need to own Seeds of Destruction.  Mercs are free until you hit level 10 at which point you pay a small fee every 15 minutes you have them active.

Q3 – Given my long absence and all the changes in the game since I quit… would you recommend I start over with a new char?  Or try and remember how to play my old ones?

A: You have three options (I believe):

1. Goto the new 51/50AA server.  You start at level 51 with 50 AAs.  I hear they have a solid population.
2. Goto the Stormm Server (I hear a lot of people say they have a good population of new players).
3. Start a new character on your original server or another normal server.

If you decide to start fresh on a normal server give Bristlebane a shot.  My guild, Meiyo, is more than willing to help you get started again.

Q4: What has changed since I have been gone?

A: Short answer…everything.

Long answer:

1. Experience is a lot easier to copy by.  Getting to level 70 won’t take you more than a month even if you are a casual player.
2. Everyone gets an experience boost on AAs till you have 1,000.  This will help you catch up faster
3. Your old gear probably is worthless.  SOE introduced defiant gear which is a common drop off of any mob and easily bought in the bazaar.  These items will help you get going again.

Q5: Where Should I Experience?

A: Anywhere you like, but if you are looking for guidance…I would suggest the zones found in this post.  SOE introduced hot zones to provide players with a place to go to gain bonus experience.  Because of the bonus experience you will also notice those zones make it easier to find groups.

SOE has updated the hotzones:

• Level 20: Everfrost Peaks

• Level 25: Permafrost Keep

• Level 30: Iceclad Ocean

• Level 35: Tower of Frozen Shadow

• Level 40: Great Divide

• Level 45: Eastern Wastes

• Level 50: Velketor’s Labyrinth

• Level 55: Kael Drakkel

• Level 60: Western Wastes

• Level 65: The Ascent

• Level 70: Icefall Glacier

• Level 75: Valdeholm

• Level 75: Frostcrypt

They are really running with the frozen summer theme, haha.