So Paxmar has been doing a roaring trade selling harvests and collectables – why have I never sold these on the broker before? I try to keep Paxmar totally self-sufficient and she’s probably my richest alt.

I started thinking about, well, what do I spend the money on? I mean, she doesn’t need armor, she doesn’t need spells – she barely uses food and drink. So in the end I started buying up missing bits from collections. I only bought items from collections she had already started and I stayed within her tier range. It seems silly to complete a level 50 collection on a level 30 toon. Also I strongly suspect I’ll be really hurting for ways to get experience at higher levels and then all the lovely collections that I could have used will be gone. But Paxmar had a fair share of low level collections that she wanted to complete and that was a pretty straight forward decision.

Meanwhile, Paxmar decided it was high time she found religion. It’s surprisingly difficult to find a set of Deity quests that do not involve killing! Here are her experiences so far. [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

The Shadow Odyssey missions have Void Shards as rewards which can be used to upgrade your gear, including jewelry. The Basic Void Shard Jewelry is much more affordable but if you are looking to dress your character in the best, you should be looking at the infused sets. But most of them are wearable by all so it is not as simple a decision as it is to pick out your other pieces.

The webgnome has come to the rescue and we have all of the jewelry laid out for you by set.

Shard Infused Jewelry

There are 24 sets of three pieces, where each piece costs 13 Void Shards to craft. Unlike Greater Shard Armor, the infused jewelry does not require you to purchase basic jewelry. Infused jewelry pieces are stand-alone and each type has three pieces which comprises the set. Each set has two bonuses: one for wearing two pieces and another for wearing three.

The recipes for infused jewelry can be found in Far Seas Strategic Pricing Manual Volume 3. Crafters should read Far Seas Tradeskill Missions and Faction for more information about gaining this recipe book. The jewelry items can be inspected at a mysterious Quellthulian Infused Shard Jewelry Merchant at 1678,452,895 at the Dropship Landing area of the Moors of Ykesha. If you purchase the items from the Merchant, it will cost you an additional two shards per piece (so don’t!).

The full listing of the Infused Void Shard Jewelry, by set, can be found as a table with class filters in our reference section.

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

Dragonica is an upcoming MMORPG with side-scrolling gameplay in a brightly colored 3-D world. We were lucky enough to be able to play in the Closed Beta but European readers can still get a quick look if they act fast – there is a stress test taking place today and tomorrow which simply requires a gPotato account to join in.

A Few Hours of Dragonica

Note: These observations were based on the European Closed Beta in May 2009 and may not reflect the final gameplay at launch.

The first encounter with a game is the download and installation which can’t help but affect the overall experience. The Dragonica website is beautiful, clean but informative with flash used as an addition and not a requirement. It is what a good MMO website should be like and responds very well. The download options were to be expected as that of a free game hosted on filesharing websites, although I prefer a direct download without the hassle, I must admit the option I used (gamershell.com) was painless.

[More...]

Posted by Sweenster on http://mmorpg-info.org.

Did you all spot this in the The Dev Q&A Thread – 4.6.09 – Answers!!! post on the SOE forums? It appears there will be something special for tinkers soon.
Here’s an excerpt from the Dev Q&A Thread – the bold emphasis is mine:

Q: Will you be expanding tinkered items? I would love to blast through Sinking Sands on a gnomish dirt bike with dual elemental capacitors WOO WOO And think about raising the level of our Cow Launcher I wanna pull new raid mobs with cattle

A: As the level cap continues to rise, all tradeskills can expect more recipes and items. Tinkerers can also expect a bit of upcoming live event fun, as well.

Well, I’ve been meaning to make Paxmar a tinker (she’s a very old-fashioned sort of gnome) and this reference has spurred me on – time to get it done.

Becoming a Tinker

The useful skills of a tinker are not just limited to gnomes anymore: almost anyone can learn the basics of tinkering! [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

Far Seas Strategic Pricing Manual Volume 3 includes the Shard Miscellanea that can be crafted from Void Shards. These items include weapons, shields, baubles and symbols.

Each item costs 18 Void Shards to craft.

This equipment, which includes all the Void Shard crafted pieces for the secondary, ranged and charm slots, can be viewed in game at a mysterious Quellthulian Shard Miscellanea Merchant at 1680,452,890 at the Dropship Landing area of the Moors of Ykesha.

We’ve broken down the list of Shard Miscellanea into five categories:
[More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

I usually post collections of browser games by category but no way am I going to find other flu games as much fun as Sneeze. I stumbled upon this flash game via Eating Bees and it totally used up all the time I had allocated towards writing a blog post. But you know, I bet you’ll have more fun playing this than reading about void shards anyway!

The premise is simple:

You are a virus infecting humans. Survive by making your human host sneeze and infect other humans. Infect the target percentage of the population to reach the next round.

You can sneeze only ONCE in each round. Move your human with the arrow keys, then press the Space Bar to sneeze.

Once you let loose your sneeze, the population will continue to spread your virus.

You must infect a minimum percentage of people per round or else it is game over. Everyone you infect adds to your point score, with bonus points once you reach your minimum.

For a high score, you’ll need to balance your victims: Children (dressed in red) spread the virus quickly but are only worth 5 points each, whereas the Elderly (dressed in yellow) move slower but net you 15 points per infection.

It’s a simple little game with edgy graphics, fun sound effects and gameplay with just a touch of strategy. I’m hooked.

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

Are you making full use of the in-game macro system in EQ2? Many people use macros to add a line of text to each cast – a most annoying use of the system, if you ask me! But far fewer seem to take advantage of the ability to cast effects or to set up systems for situational spells.

We already have a whole set of guides for using macros for everything from swapping from solo to group gear to creating a quick mute button but as things can be hard to find (the gnomes are working on a new navigation system) I thought I would take the chance to highlight the posts in a single reference guide.

• Using Macros in EQ2
  A basic tutorial on the macro system and how to create a macro.
• Equipment Macros
  You can have separate hotkeys for solo, group and tradeskilling clothes, making it quick and easy to change outfits – without even needing a phone booth!
• Waving Not Drowning
  Get Enduring Breath from the Fishbone Earring quickly and easily with a single click.
• Equipment Slots
  The 24 slot numbers to go with the /use_equipped_item command.
• Using Macros in Combat
  Free up critical hotkey space by combining spells and combat arts.
• Utility Macros
  Store commonly used commands for quick reference.

Have you found other ways to use the macro system? Leave a note in the comments so that we can all learn!

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.