2015 Will Be A Big Year

Hey, GW2-ers! How's it going? How was your holidays? Has Tixx been good to you this Wintersday?

I've been puttering around in Tyria again! I logged on to see the Wintersday festivities, only to find them moved to Divinity's Reach. They've done a great job of decorating it! All the same games and prizes were there too, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping for something new. Even a new song in Bell Choir would have been nice. I love the new striped scarf thing but can't afford to buy it.

I can, however, justify spending real hard cash on this!

Spiral Madheart 2015!

What's that? You don't see anything? Well, for those faithful readers who have been following along, I got a free Total Makeover Kit a while back and changed Spiral's face. And I've regretted it every since! I couldn't adjust to her new face. It just didn't look like HER. She looked so... nice. So sweet. Spiral can be sweet, of course, but she can also be spiky, like a cactus.
So I splurged and bought gems to get a Makeover Kit on sale and changed her back. I had a big grin on my face when I saw the "old" Spiral's mischievous smile. :D

I also bought a Black Lion Key and opened a chest. Got a Hair Style Kit and used it on Flaxi, my Warrior.

Flaxi Barnborn, Norn warrior

Once again, the preview in the kit (on the right) never seems to quite match the real thing. She looks a bit psychotic in the game... not sweet and happy like in the preview! Oh well. Might just be lighting and graphics options. I hardly play Flaxi anyway: warrior is not my thing. She and Butterscotch Ripple (ranger) are the only two characters I have that aren't at level 80.

What else has been going on? Oh, I took Mousekin out to do some of her personal story and she found her Mom!

That's Galina Edgecrusher of Blood Legion. She has the same purple eyes as Mousekin and pretty close to the same white & grey fur. I'm figuring that Galina hooked up with Snarl Backdraft, cuz you know they're making googly eyes at each other between their snarly spats, and she had Mousekin, but since Mousie was a pale and scrawny cub, she cut all ties to her. (Although, Charr give their cubs to the fahrar anyway.) But I've always thought Mousekin was a female kitten that was picked on for being too pretty to fight. That's why she chose Iron Legion and Guardian. Anyway, I never really roleplay but there is always a bit of backstory in my characters. Thought I'd share. :)

Okay, so one other thing. Have you guys tried key farming lately? OMG. I freaked out! I thought I'd go to a key farm real quick and ended up baffled and stalled. I take it they tried to kill key farming with that so-called "Feature" pack in September. Now you have to be level 10 to start your personal story line. Well, a quick Google shows that most folks just do cooking to level up, which really only adds a few more minutes to the key farm. Lucky for me, I have mats galore, so I didn't even have to fork over that much coin to get a few key runs done. Didn't get anything cool out the chests though.

Okay, maybe one more other thing.  :D
Have you been to the lowbie zones? They changed the hearts and stuff!
In Metrica Province, the progeny are moved over, and the weird heart with the ooze and the protesters is different.
In Queensdale, you now dance for the cows and "tend" the corn rather than watering it.
In Wayfarer Foothills, Bjarni is no longer up on the hill with that loonie, Linnea. He's down by the first pass into the zone. She's up there with some other guy, although in all her madness she still refers to him as Bjarni when she runs off to chase the jackalope!
Caledon Forest has a new heart and Plains of Ashford has TWO. So strange.

I'm not sure if I agree with all these features and changes. That little compass up at the top right showing where to go next? Yeah, hold my hand cuz I'm a BABY.
Unlocking stuff as you level to 10? Uh, why?
Plus I've always thought that leveling in GW2 was way way WAY too freaking easy. It's not even a challenge. There is no feeling of accomplishment when you reach 80. All this new stuff just adds to the feeling that the game is designed for lazy people who love to look good but don't want to work for it.
Oh, except for the endless collections of crap that are unlockable now. You could work on that every day for forever. Don't get me wrong: I loved collecting in Rift. It had me hooked. But the system in GW2 with the unlocking and the random crap all over the map... *sigh*... why? To give people something to do, I guess?

Sorry, that's enough ranting from me for now. Truthfully, I am enjoying wandering around in the game again. It still amazes me with its artistry and creativity and humour. I love finding hidden nooks. I love listening to NPCs. I love the jokesters in map chat. There haven't been too many games in my life that have captivated me for this long. :)

I'm off to bed! Happy New Year to all and to all a good night!