My Wildstar Nest

I’ve been a bit distracted recently because there has been quite a lot going on in my own nest but I’ve finally managed to get to level 14 in Wildstar. Unfortunately I’m a bit strapped for cash  and will probably never manage to afford a mount because it’s all going on flowers. I am however having a lot of fun designing and playing around. This is very much a work in progress however.

Eventually I want gardens running almost seamlessly from one to another with plenty of plant life inside the dwelling too. I haven’t quite decided but I think lots of trellises might be used plus I need a massive pile of pumpkins.

Here is my relaxing outdoor area with it’s shaded patch underneath an olive tree, battered rug and book. The perfect spot for a cold drink when adventuring begins to pall. When my finances are a little sunnier, I’m going to try and build a tree house in the olive tree or at least a little platform and move everything up a level.

One of the first decorative items I got off a mob was this rather fetching bra, thrown at me by a Torine lady so naturally it had to make the interior of my nest. I’m using a mushroom as a bedside table just because and of course that’s my cup of tea sat next to the flowers.

My hedge of flowers needs some work and hopefully that garden fab kit will drop off those challenges soon before I have to slaughter an entire race of flying fish monster things but I have a plan, I just need money and more plants..

Fanciful Friday – Wildstar Screenshots

I’m well on my way towards a house and have already acquired my cup of tea in readiness of having a table to put it on. However I have a new graphics card and to say it’s slowing me down would be an understatement. There is just so much to see as you wander around.

Wildstar – My Beginnings

Having had a fairly depressing week at work I thought I’d reward myself with Wildstar so this weekend I’ve been alternating between sunning myself in the great outdoors and exploring on my Aurin.

My plan is to take my time, Teasel my little Esper is after all an Explorer and therefore needs to climb every tree and swim in every pond, lake and sea. No hill is safe from her bouncing and every single mushroom will be used as trampoline. This naturally slows down the leveling process but should allow me to get a good grasp of the world I’m currently inhabiting.

Not only am I getting ideas for the sort of decor I would like in my house to be but I’ve also been hit by a fairly naughty bug. When I was younger, I loved Dolls Houses decorating them and also making them from scratch for myself but also for friends and family. Therefore the urge to try and recreate an Aurin house as a Dolls House is too much to ignore. The devil as always is in the details so I’m grabbing as many screenshots of things I feel might be useful to recreate like those lovely flowers in their plant pots which is slowing me down even more than climbing mountains.

One thing I have found really interesting so far is that in quick succession, I met not one but three potentially interesting female characters in the shape of Queen Myala Evenstar, Avra Darkos and Belle Walker all in the start zone. Sure they might suddenly develop boyfriends or die in strange circumstances but it was a refreshing beginning, especially after the whole having to save someone’s wife as a hors d’oeuvre.

I am still playing WoW albeit currently rather offhandedly. I have my various projects lined up that I want to finish which include getting my Warlock to 90 and green fire before the expansion hits as well as farming myself a spot more gold and sorting out transmogrifications to go with those swords I mentioned a little while ago. The lure of Alpha information is also whetting my appetite for Orcs ever so slightly but everyone needs a vacation and this is mine.

Wild nights – A Wildstar Decision is made

I’ve finally managed to make a decision and it looks as I will be testing the waters by trying out Wildstar. The reasons for this are three fold, first off I’m barely playing WoW at the moment and secondly it’s just so pretty, I can’t resist.

The third or final straw was Rob Pardo’s dismissive comments on how diversity ruins fun and still annoyed,  I found myself randomly running around looking for things to kill. Somehow serendipitously I found the Torine Sisterhood and promptly fell in love. The backstory of Tresayne Toria in particular sounds interesting for the right reasons.

They say everything happens for a reason and I guess it’s true. All that’s left is to decide whether or not I wish to play an Esper as I have been doing on the beta or to try something else. I know whatever I end up with, they will definitely be an explorer but can’t quite nail down class.

In terms of race, I think I might go Aurin again purely because it’s the closest the game comes to Elves plus I rather like being able to have wings for ears.

Will it be a “forever” game, probably not. Mr Harpy has no interest whatsoever in playing and whilst I will have a lot more time on my hands come august onwards, I need to be self disciplined and do more than play games when I’m home alone.

Will it “pollute” this supposedly Warcraft blog? Most definitely.

Am I doing purely because there is player housing? Pretty much. I want a cute little mushroom house with details like these:

I didn’t pre order and might wait until the end of June or possibly later before purchasing simply because I want to get the most out of my first month and that fits in better with my own schedule than starting straight away but I will definitely be dabbling.

 

Wildstar Wonderings

If Doctor Seuss made video games I imagine it would look much like this.

I fully admit that I didn’t bother reading much if anything about Wildstar before diving in and so this is basically my own internal dialogue as to whether I wish to buy the game made external.

Plus points

I love the whimsy of the game. Exploring any virtual world has always ticked my boxes and Wildstar is no different there. Unlike recent WoW expansions too, it seems to favour wandering around looking at things rather than being forced into doing one quest at a time. It’s impossible not to smile when you shrink yourself to follow white vermin down rabbit holes and discover this:

The detail is stunning, I’m findings things to ooh and aah over everywhere I turn. I like the puzzle aspect of the game too, it’s not as simple as walk to x and kill 10 of y because after all games should get you thinking. The fact that I can wander to a higher level area and still get the quests even if I promptly get splatted pleases me.

Rivers have currents and if you don’t swim, you’ll be pulled down stream. I’ve spent far too much time drifting along testing this particular feature.

Pink Sheep…. nothing else needs saying.

Once I got the hang of the challenges I also found myself really enjoying them, especially the non killing ones (it turns out I’m a pro jumper) and yet, despite this I find myself questioning whether I wish to purchase the game.  In order to do it justice, my graphics card would definitely need upgrading especially as jerky computer games mean migraines for me but that’s not an issue as Mr Harpy points out, we’d need to do that soon anyway. I think his apathy towards the game doesn’t help but then, I know if I said I want to play this, he’d have no issue getting two copies and trying it out.

So what are my negatives.

I’m not sure of the combat side. Now, I picked a class purely at random and ended up as an Aurin Esper without really knowing what I was getting in too and I’ve no issues at all whilst leveling but I’m not sure I like those boxes the game draws on the floor.

The character creation screen lacks options I feel. I was really hoping for more hairstyles/colours plus body shapes and yes, I realise it’s a multi player game which already taxes a lot of people’s graphics but still. That said, I’m playing a blue haired bunny with a large behind.

The whole cowboys and aliens vibe bothers me too. I suspect I’m a traditionalist in the sense that I like medieval-esque settings for games.

I think the whole housing aspect will swing it one way or another for me and now I just need to stop staring at the scenery and make it to the correct level for a piece of my own green and verdant land. Plus my bags are filling up with decorative items to put in a house and I can’t wait to see what they actually look like.