Everquest Next officially cancelled.

[Syllestrae]

Mixxalot!

I'll check it out.  I don't have a ton of playtime, been busy making more hobbits, but it'd be good to be able to chat with you guys again . 

This is the latest halfling running around (she smiles a ton, just not when I make her stop running around so I can snap pictures).  Got another one due in December too :p

[Mixxi]

She is beautiful! And another on the way. So happy for you, Syll.   

My own halflings (actually, a dwarf and a gnome, if you want to go with what they played as kids in EQ) are both in college now, so the time goes quickly!

[Menemas]

Heya   I haven't seen anything about that shard.  How's the activity level in the lower level areas (if someone were to start fresh, are there still lots of newbies running around, or is it mostly Velious crowd?)
[/quote]

Tons of lower level activity.  There are some level rangers where people tend to concentrate into relatively few zones, but there's plenty of people around.  There are good leveling guilds to find people if you wanted to go off the beaten path a little more. 

The raiding scene is kind of awful, but it can be avoided and is no reason not to check out the server. 

[Corsair]

Been away for a while...life/work is...annoying. Plus EQN died...blah blah blah.

I need to get back in the saddle on a game at some point. Still putter on occasion in old EQ-2 with my kid.

But more importantly, Syl, what a cutie! Congrats on half-pint #2 in progress as well. Great stuff.

I am thinking of supporting Pantheon, or maybe backing Elyria...wish I had any insight into what might be the most likely place that might become a long-ish term "home". I have hesitated to commit yet in no small part due to backing Landmark as a way to support EQN development and feeling....a bit burned by that decision.

[PinkRose]

I'm close to backing Pantheon myself, but holding off, mostly because of your same reason Corsair.
HI CORSAIR!
HI SYLL!!
But I'll back it if I get good money for my house.
I'm in the process of moving to a house which has a first floor that can fit my current house, with a laundry room 3 times the size, and then it also has a basement with 7 additional rooms!
But Landmark  really burned me (no offense Adeste), especially since I was really stretching to spend $100 for a game at that time.
I hope Pantheon shows some more actual game footage soon.

[Mixxi]

As far as I'm concerned, Black Desert is home.

[PinkRose]

I love to hear that Mixxi.
Not trying to steer anyone away.
Go get your BDO on!

[Mixxi]

I was just adding that in, since so many were talking about what they were playing. It has been loads of fun, though, to play a game again when I can do what I did yesterday, which is, at a moment's notice, group up with Tuppen, Vilidius, and Askari for monsters and quests. We get groups going with Auren and Talon, too. I haven't group with Saga people regularly in a game for long time, and it's nice to have that again. I don't know why you didn't like it, Pinkie, but I know for a fact that there's no way to know what this game has to offer in a few days of playing. I still discover new things -- and significant things! -- months in. Like yesterday's trip with Talon on my ship discovering more pirate islands. Or yesterday's surprise mining of "strange rocks" on the beach to discover giant oysters with pearls that I can take home and put in my house. (Ha! Re-reading this, I just realized that I did a helluva lot yesterday.)

I know you guys are waiting for future games that you're pretty dedicated to, but I wish, while you're waiting, you'd really give BDO a shot.

[Corsair]

Congrats on the new house Pinkie! Where-abouts did you guys end up choosing? The place sounds wonderfully large for the growing kidlets. Give a shout if you back Pantheon, I am basically willing to throw in as a communal effort, but don't want to go in just on my own.

Askari teased me with a little BDO. I would actually sign up and dig into it this weekend....alas instead of a relaxing break I am summoned to Vietnam for work/meeting crap. Not what I was hoping for.

So while I may still try it out, it won't be this weekend.

A question on BDO though gang, do you think it has much to offer a more casual schedule player, who simply gets a bit time-hosed by kids and work more often than they wish? I have zero chance of heading in to BDO with a "I'll really push myself to catch up to others" strategy....I would be lying to myself. That simply will not happen.

[Askari]

Corsair, there's definitely zero need to push hard to catch up to others in BDO. I think your enjoyment of BDO will come down to whether you enjoy any of the "puttering about" that is a large part of the game (farming, fishing, worker-managment of resource nodes, crafting, gathering). There are all sorts of things to putter with besides simply whupping monsters.

The two things that I would warn people about BDO:
1. If you get into any kind of tradeskills... plan on spending a decent chunk of real life cash on warehouse space and carrying capacity. If you don't get into any kind of tradeskills, plan on grinding mobs for cash.

2. There are benefits to being logged in all the time (afk horse riding to raise horse skills, afk fishing, afk strength training, afk energy regeneration), so people who can't leave their computer on and their character in game while they are asleep or at work may feel disadvantaged compared to those who can.

I'm quite enjoying BDO, but then again I can stay logged in all the time, threw a lot of real life cash into the game for big warehouses and toys, and love all the strange puttering around "Farmville" style of gameplay.

[Mixxi]

Great game for a casual player.

Tariq and his future camel will keep an eye out for you.