Weekend Mad Fun

Raelyn Lightfoot provided a nice warm fire for our lane.

My weekend was mostly spent with a certain buxom and bootilicious metal lady. Yup, I'm talking The Original Rump Shaker, The First Lady of Metal, Bend-Over-I'll-Show-You-An-Oil-Change, Miss High-Kicking Marionette. I must have done that fight, oh, eight times over the past two days. Not bad actually, considering it's every two hours. I could have done more! More, I tell you!

Marionette is another one of those places where you get to observe the population of Tyria in all their glory. I've noticed several things while chillin' in mah lane waiting for The Clanking Skank.
1. Racial distribution. Of the 20 to 25 peeps holding the line, there are usually only one or two of each of the non-humanoid races (Asura, Sylvaria, Charr) and the rest are humanoids (Norn and human).
2. Everyone looks great in black Abyss.
3. No one likes a brag-linker. You know those dudes who link up every legendary item they own in map chat? Yeah, don't do that.
4. Everyone loves Quaggan movies! Return of the Quaggan. The Quaggan of Wall Street. The Silver Quaggan Playbook.
5. Positive and negative reinforcement occurs in roughly equal proportion in map chat. ("Good try, everyone! We'll get it next time!" and "You guyz sukk. Your all N00bs. This server is FAIL.")
6. Everything's more fun when you can dance!

The lovely girl on the left started a dance party. In the end, almost the entire lane was in the groove! :)

This strange creature showed up to fight Marionette.

Me kicking watchwork butt in the golem suit. Aw yeah! 

View from Griffonrook Run end chest.

Lornar's Pass is certainly getting some love from all the players waiting for event. The zone is stuffed to the gills with people all the time. I imagine the prices of iron, seasoned wood and soft wood have gone down quite a bit in the TP. 
Me, I've done the JP plus the two diving goggles locations, as well as finished some Slayer achievements.

I also went on my first Twilight Arbor Aetherblade Path run. Well, kinda. I joined a PUG through LFG and they were already part-way through it. It was a hot mess. I died so many times on the last boss. I felt awful. The only redeeming thing was the fact that one other party member died more than me, and they refused to rez him after a few times cuz he was completely useless. Didn't get any screenshots because I was too busy getting electrocuted. I would like to officially thank Peeled Potato and Keysoh from Sea of Sorrows for being so kind to me, and even taking the time to escort me to a few Aetherblade Chests at the end.

Got a cool staff from the Mystic Toilet.

In between mostly-losing battles, space-bar-breaking jumping puzzles, and having my heart restarted in TA, I also had time to do some crafting, retrait Spiral (again), level Mousekin to 60, get my butt kicked in PvP, and even spend some time in Real Life baking coconut cookies and watching interesting movies recommended by Imgur. All in all, a wonderful weekend. I hope yours was good too!

Did you know that one of the GW2 servers is named after a player? It's a bit of a sad story though. He died before the game was released. His name was Roger "OldRoar" Rall. You can read the story at the Sanctum of Rall website.

Madness Madness Madness

Okay, quick first impressions of the Origins of Madness content. (I made notes! I'm such a nerd.) 

Number 1: the icon for the Origin of Madness achieves is a Sylvari high-fiving a Marionette. Huh.

High-leaf!

I did the Marionette event first cuz I just happened to be logging in when it popped. When she came down from the "space ship", I actually laughed out loud and said, "Sexy lady!" My man-friend gave me a quizzical look from across the room. :D
Of course, we lost that fight, and many others after that. I'm hearing that's not unusual. In a way, it was kind of fun to do an event with absolutely no kitten clue as to what the mechanics are. It was a true adventure! Plus, we still got some rewards in the end, so it didn't feel like a total waste of time.
One complaint though: I wanted to SEE the fight! I kept looking up to see what was going on, and more often than not getting killed for my curiosity. I got to see the sole of the Marionette's fashionable boot a few times.

I found a perfect quote on the Official GW2 Forums by perilisk.1874, talking about the Marionette fight: "At least 20% of any open world zerg are going to be useless — griefers, afks, or just undergeared, underleveled, or underskilled. In playtesting (assuming it’s even done) an event with 100 people, assign 20 to actively try to wreck the event. If you can’t make it work, it isn’t going to work in-game."

Question: What lane were you in at Marionette?

Answer: Um....Lane 2. No, that's Lane 4. Uh, the northwest lane. Fck it, I'm in MY lane. Let's fight!

If you fought Marionette, you probably know what I'm referring to. Lucky for us, there are some super-duper folks over at the GW2 subforum on reddit. Lots of helpful fight hints over there, and user Vancelot put up a pic of lane naming in Marionette. This has been annoying, especially in overflow where servers are mixed. Besides the numbering, the more concise way to identify your lane is which NPC is there: Taimi, Marjory, Braham, Rox, Kasmeer. I prefer thumb, pointer, middle, ring, baby fingers! Of course, you could always just pick lane 3, that way you're always right, no matter the numbering. 

Marionette Lane Numbering Convention -- please use!

After Marionette, I followed my HUD quest tips and went to L.A. I actually found the story instance without much trouble and spoke to all the NPCs. The new asura, Taimi, is adorable but misguided. She wants to meet Scarlet? Hmm. We'll see where that goes, I think. An odd storyline happening there, for certain.

I'd never met Rox or Braham before, having been on hiatus when they were released. Rox looks mental! Those spacey eyes! I love her, even though her dialogue is dim-witted. And Braham, shockingly just found out he is Eir's son! OMG. (Whoops, is that a spoiler? Nah, it's on the wiki. Can't be.) He's so flaming though. Goofiest Norn I've ever seen. Talked to Logan too, the 'tard, and sang a little ditty to myself: "Logan, oh, Logan, no one likes you." Received another quizzical look from the man-friend. :D

And Kasjory are back! Everyone's favorite girl-on-girl group is back on the beach and tugging heartstrings with Kasmeer's sob story about her daddy. Oh, boo-hoo.  

Kasjory, with me pouting in the background.

I've been trying to pinpoint why their story seems so... hrm... stooopid. I don't what other word to use! I mean, I like them. Their dialogue is usually funny, but sometimes it just seems forced or contrived or obvious or something. (Thesaurus, help me out here!) False, phony, affected, fake, overdone, strained, artificial ,recherché (Recherché? Sheesh, the word itself is recherché.), unnatural, unspontaneous. Does that sum it up? Also expresses my feelings for most of the dialogue in the personal story line. "We could never have done it without you!" Yeah, right. Colour me cynical.

Anyhoo... after the story instance, I went and found the Secret Lair. They said it was somewhere beneath the Durmand Priory, and I actually remembered a cave beneath there when I had been exploring before. Without checking any hints, I prowled around until I actually found the entrance. All by my lonesome! For some reason, I was inordinately proud of myself. I did something without the Wiki! Yay!

But after that, I gave in to my nerd-brain and did some research before heading out into the fray again. At that point, it was only about two hours after the content had been released, so info was sketchy, but Dulfy, may the Six bless her, already had  up a Secret Lair Guide. That's how I found out I needed to get Power Cores to unlock the door to the Secret Lair. Off I went to find some Energy Probes, using this helpful map from the forums.

Locations of Energy Probes.

Did a few of those, then headed to big Wurm thing. Did the beach escort first, lost. Did the swamp one a few hours later, lost. Did the other one after that, lost. Hmm. Something's fucky. Turns out Wurm fight is mega-hard and requires all three head-teams to coordinate. So, maybe this fight is for later, once people figure out the mechanics. It's permanent so I'm in no rush.
(Speaking of later, I've never done Tequatl either. I've heard there's a server that does it daily, but that could be a rumor. I'd love to get those achieves.)

Having fun waiting for Wurm escort events.

So that's it for now.This blog post is long and I'm supposed to be working, plus my fingers are freezing so I need some more coffee. Polar vortex can kiss my butt! Brrrr.

Bored While Updating? Read Me!

I'm bored cuz the game is updating.... but I'm super excited for the new Origins of Madness content. I have no clue what's going to happen. Well, that's not entirely true. I know there's a big wurm, with a U, not a worm, with an O. I know there will be stomping and hopefully not the Tom Connors kind. I know that it will be nice to see fresh content and not have to hear "Won't you donate and make this a happy Wintersday?" one more freaking time. I will be reading the Patch Notes as soon as this blog post is done.

So quickly posting my screenies from the last week while the game updates. Eating whipped cream with pumpkin pie also. Yum!

Finally got my 5,000 reward! Massive woot!

Beaker's Empty Belly achieve. Who would have found this without the Wiki??

Poor brave little Wifty trying to put out un-put-out-able fires. 

Now THAT'S a chest!
Reward for Mistwrought Vault, the jumping puzzle in the WvW borderlands.

Check out the tattoo on the back of this Whispers agent. Super coo-hoo-hoo-hoool. :D

Took Mistress into the Cavern of Secrets... and then further in.
Didn't realize there was another chamber to explore.
They were printing out maps of Tyria. 

OMG used my Total Makeover Kit on my Ele. She looks amazing!
I was really trying to go for the look of a stern Norn queen, not some pansy princess.
Nailed it!

My new Sylvari Warrior having a nap on a Norn bed. (Dreaming of my ele, perhaps?)

Did We Win? We Won!!

I literally just finished my personal story line. I am grinning from ear to ear. My cheeks hurt from smiling! I'm a bit embarrassed that I'm actually feeling this happy about it. I mean, killing Zhaitan was anti-climatic and the conversations with the Pact afterwards were melodramatic, but I've still got a goofy grin on my face.
I don't want to post any screenshots because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. Although I imagine almost everyone and their uncle has finished this by now! I'm a bit slow, eh?
But just quickly, before the memory fades, small stand-out parts:

• Eir and Garm during the final movie-like cut scene of the "new dawn"
• The sincerity in my toon's voice when she spoke to Trahearne
• During the final big song, with perfect timing during a pause in the lyrics, Spiral said, "This rose has thorns and here there are!"
• The extra special ending when you talk to the magician a few times. Totally loved it!

I stayed through all the credits, talked to all the characters, including Demmi, who seemed a bit out of place, and was actually hesitant to leave. But it's almost 2am... and there are more dragons to slay! Or maybe a cozy bed to climb into. :D

Gem Shop Purchases and Other Frivolities

Mistress Madheart -- new hairstyle

I told you that I got gems for Xmas, best gift ever, and I've been trying to be frugal in spending them. I bought a Collection Expander (awesome!), two character slots (now I have all 8 classes, plus a spare slot for fun), and after much hesitation, I finally bought a Total Makeover  Kit (on sale).

I thought I wanted to change Mistress Madheart's hairstyle to the 70s Pert Plus hairdo, but when I looked at it in preview, I didn't like it. Couldn't get images of Charlie's Angels out of my head. (The old ones, not the new laughable garbage. Although I love Lucy Liu!)

Anyway, I opted for the half up-'do. It's hard to get used to seeing her like that though. She seems more... mature or something. It doesn't quite jive with my backstory for her, at least her story so far. I've had to invent more chapters. She's growing up, becoming more wise since she's moved away from D.R. to explore the world, but she's still the wary, intelligent, manipulative, ambitious girl she always was. Of course, the hairpin is a perfect play to hide a poisoned needle, for when those undercover missions go wrong. And she can still take her hair down when needed to seduce corrupt officials or bewitch young guards. :D

I was pleased to see that there are new quests in Kessex Hills to go along with the altered landscape there. Since the Tower fell, toxins have been leaching into the lake and contaminating local fishermen's catches. At Triskell Quay you can wash away the toxin, or cure sick folks. I really like how the world changes with events. This reminds me of that noob quest in Queensdale where the bandits poisoned the water supply.

Speaking of Queensdale, was back in that area and tried to ride the champ train. Got tired of the trash talking. Must have been a bad day. Went and tried i up in Frostgorge Sound as well. More respect there, but by Ogden's Hammer, they were fast! I was staggering along behind them, just trying to keep up. Felt like WvW. Got some nice tips on speed boosts for mesmers from the group though, so that was nice.

Toy Griffon Tonic

What else is new? Hmmm, oh, got an Endless Plush Griffon Tonic. Kinda dumb actually. You get this recipe and unlock it, then craft it... and it's account bound. What's the point of having a recipe? I mean, the potion is account bound, so why even bother having to craft it? That recipe is useless now. Not like I'm going to craft a potion for each of my toons to haul around. Pfft. Dumb. But he is awful cute, isn't he?
Apparently there's someone over on a crafting site, can't recall the name, that's made a real-life version of him. Too bad I'm too old for stuffies. Okay, I'm lying. I still have two stuffies. But one I've kept from my childhood for sentimental reasons, and the other was just given to me last year by my little niece and nephew, so I have to keep it. :)

I had another conundrum today that has furrowed my brow and detracted from my girlish good looks. (Ha!) I used the last of my gems to buy five Metallurgical Dye Kits from the cash shop. I opened them all and actually got one of the new dye colours: Recall.
So here's the problem. I don't want it. I mean, it's purple, which I love, but I honestly can't tell the difference between it and the 47 other purple dyes I've already got. Honestly! Yes, I have a small obsession with collecting dye colours, that's obviously why I spent the gems, but I think I've reached the point where the gold I could get for selling this dye outweighs the hoarding instinct. Maybe. I haven't sold it yet.
But don't you find that there's just a few colours you stick with, and the rest just gather dust? Having eight toons, they each kind of have a colour scheme, so I can spread out the dyes I have. Spiral wears anything, she gets first choice on dyes. Lazuli wears blues and some girly colors. Mousekin wears somber metallics. Agga wears fall colors, like rusts and mustards. Mistress wears what I think of as "royal" colours, rich purples and reds and blues. Wifty likes yellows and greys and strange combinations. (She is a bit strange, that one. I love her!) Everyone needs a black-ish dye and a white-ish dye to highlight.
So perhaps all the forum talk is true and the dyes are just cash grabs. Probably, right? I mean, is there anyone out there who is just dying for another brown?

OMG, it's perfect! Now I can, like, dye my thigh-high leather boots in the exact shade to match my Mini Fawn's eyes. Squeeeeee! Everyone in L.A. will be so freaking jelly!

Other than these small things, it's biz as usual in ol' Tyria. I do my dailies, trying to rack up points to get to 5000. Bought an Ascended necklace with my laurels, then realized it was probably not the best choice. Oh well. Ran the story mode of Arah, then realized a few days later that I need to run it to finish my personal story quest line. UGH. Did a dungeon with the gang, four-manned what's-his-nuts, the Asura in Sorrow.

Been a long day at the computer working, so I'm gonna log to... um, read a book maybe? Keep on fighting the good fight! And dressing stylishly too!

I asked the Minstrel to sing for me, and the little Asura starting cracking up! 

Metronomes?

Have you seen the article at GamerZines yet? They got an inscribed metronome from ANet. Read the article to find out what the inscription says! Very interesting marketing, I think.
They're also discussing its significance over at GW2Guru.

Twenty-Fourteen FTW

Happy 2014! I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve and Day. I went to my sister's and hung out with her, her hubby, plus a friend of hers, and my anonymous man-friend. Two people played Lego LOTR while the rest of us shouted encouragement and made unnecessary commentary. (Frodo, nooooooo!) There was drinking involved, of course! I'm sure I have completed the Thirst Slayer achievement IRL by now. I don't drink often, but when I do, I give it 110%. :)
In Tyria, this achieve is much more difficult. A player commented that it takes 60g to do it. I looked it up and his estimate was actually low. It's 80g or 700,000 karma. Really? Yikes. I'd better get started!

I've also been working on unlocking all the story modes of the dungeons. I use the LFG tool to find a group. I've had some pretty good luck getting matched up with some nice folks!
Last night's run through Sorrow's Embrace was fun. We were totally fail, but we didn't care! That's the best feeling. Not everyone is an uber-awesome-fantastically-geared player. People get downed. People die. People rez, run from the respawn, aggro a room full of elite dredge and drag them back to the group, and wipe the whole party! It happens. But it's how you deal with it that makes a great team.
At one point in our run, a girl said she had to go help her parents print something. (HA! Classic. But not as funny as, "I've got to rescue my dog from the treadmill." True story.)
So we waited for her... and had a dance party. The comments by Psarilys Liasal cracked me up! I love meeting fun gamers. :)

What else have I been up to? One sec, let me check my screenshots folder. Ooh, here's some good stuff.

Karka Queen. Got a Settler's Insignia recipe. I think that's good.

Met the Mocha Scooby Doo Guild. Wait, that's not it. Um, Modus Sceleris. Right. Kicked their asses. :D

Faced Tequatl for the first time. Exciting! (Got photobombed by a Risen Krait Damoss. Loser, get out of my screenie!) Totally failed the event. We were the leftovers in 2nd overflow, so we tried, but just didn't have enough players or enough coordination to succeed. Very cool to see the dragon though. Impressive! One of these days I need to turn on my webcam and capture my face when these things happen! I'm like a little kid, mouth agape, eyes wide. O.O

Who lives here?

I leave you with this screenshot, of a castle. Do you know where this is? You've probably looked right past it a thousand times.
Did I tell you I got a new graphics card for Xmas? Best gift EVER! Oh wait, except I also got GEMS. My family picks names for Xmas and my brother-in-law was my Santa this year. He totally won points in my eyes! It helps that he's a hardcore gamer and an IT professional as well. He knows what I like. A few years ago I was his Santa and I got him, like, 15 games on Steam. When he got all the activation emails, his face was priceless! The rest of the family doesn't understand. They just smile and nod and back away slowly.

So my new graphics card has restarted my fascination with the scenery of the game. I have that same gawky tourist feeling that I had when I first started playing in beta. Everything is so pretty! I stop and stare and smile all the time. So many high-fives and headbutts to the art team of ANet. :)