Well, not in the sense that I only eat herbal foods, ride a bike and buy non-plastics. No no, I’ve gone green in that I am the newest sucker to get addicted to Cultivation & Apothecary.  Holy shnikes is this the best/worst thing ever. I started last night at around 8pm and didn’t stop until midnight. WHERE DID ALL THE TIME GO?

The only reason I picked this up is so that I could make my own Skull White dye’s later on down the road. Paying 1200g for one dye is a little ridiculous. Even I am not that greedy. In fact, once I can make them and dye everything I want, I’m going to undercut the shit out of the market just to make a point.

Anywho, I think my seeds are done.

Spider-Plant Man loves Cultivation.

But seriously, I just worked 6 days at work and have been super tired as of late.  But I have the next couple days off! Hooray! I plan on getting to some more zombies. They keep looking at me as I check my mail every morning grunting and moaning as any zombie would.

In WAR news, I finally hit T4! yay! So far I’m liking it!

Ok,  gotta run!

Anywho, here he is. I was having some difficulty with my camera last night. The focus was being very stubborn. I’m also not very good at eyes. I may need a small brush or a magnifying glass. I messed up several times. I eventually just said screw it….it’s a zombie.

And now for an updated pic of my Knight of the Blazing Sun!

FEATHERS!

]]> http://theconquistador.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/1-down-19-to-go/feed/ 1 The Conquistador http://theconquistador.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/day-off-impulse-buy-mood-zombie-regiment/ http://theconquistador.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/day-off-impulse-buy-mood-zombie-regiment/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:20:02 +0000 Ryan Couch http://theconquistador.wordpress.com/?p=61 ]]> So today I decided to check out the new hobby store that is right down the street. I plan on doing an article on them within the next week or two since they haven’t had their official grand opening.

I digress…

I stopped by the hobby store today and they had all GW products marked at 25% off so they can make room for their grand opening shipment. So I loaded up on paints and snatched my very first Zombie regiment for my Vampire Counts army!

Most excellent.

So I was so stoked I immediately started putting them together. I had it out with the glue a few times. After a while we reconciled and constructed our undead minions gracefully. Although, my fingers probably still have a strong dwarven grudge against the glue.

After the third zombie, I was so excited I wanted to start painting. I scrambled through all the Undead miniature painting guides I had bookmarked over the past week to scout some ideas. After obtaining a plethora of paint today (25% off!) and choosing one of the three assembled zombotrons….i panicked.

I was so afraid to ruin my zombie that I decided to pull a gobbo from Battle of Skull Pass and do some playing with colors, washes & highlights.

Poor Gobbo

So after about an hour of testing stuffs on the gobbo, I decided to give my zombie a go.  I think I did ok for my first detailed model. The Skull Pass models aren’t as detailed as army models so this one was a little intimidating. I feel fairly satisfied with the skin and pants (at least for a first go). However, I am not a fan of the way my boots turned out. Oh, well. At least I have 19 more tries to get it right!

Also, I wanted to do a half-rotting skin-half-skull face and I am missing a color to give the skull color I want. So I will pick that up tomorrow to finish him off.  So pardon the unfinished face.

It’s going to take me a while to finish off 19 zombies. heh. I’ll post updates as I do them!

1) What is your current main character’s name (or names, if you play multiple games)? Explain how you chose the name.
Sollozzo Pizarro – Knight of the Blazing Sun – Dark Crag.  The first name, Sollozzo, I pulled from my all time favorite movie, The Godfather. It originates from the character Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo. The last name originates from the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro González, 1st Marqués de los Atabillos.  Pizarro is also the leading role in one of my favorite stage plays Royal Hunt of the Sun, about Spanish Conquistador’s conquering the Incan Empire. Since the physical culture of the KoBS is a mix between Spanish Conquistadors (hence the title) and Italian Settlers, I thought the two would be quite fitting together.

2) What was the name of your very first character in an MMO? Explain how you chose that name.
Pherhis – I started playing Guild Wars and needed a name for my Ranger/Mesmer. I had no idea what to call him so I used a generator. Bam. Exciting huh?

3) Have you kept a specific name through various games, or do you tend to change your naming habits based on the individual game?
Gosford – I typically use the name Gosford for my main characters. It’s also myXBL gamertag and various other things. My Dwarf Slayer alt has obtained this name.

4) Do you ever reserve names, planning to use them for characters that you might play later? If so, what are they and why do you hold on to them?
I do sometimes. Just depends.

5) Of the three common archetypes in MMOs – tank, healer, DPS – which is your current main character?
Tank – I’ve played with every possible class combo you cab imagine in an mmo. Tanks, healers, dps, ranged dps, support, etc. I typically play healers.

6) What archetype was your very first character in an MMO? Why did you choose it?
Ranger/Mesmer (GW). I guess (like most mmo noobs) a hunter style class appealed to me. The Mesmer class seemed kinda neat too. When I started playing WoW, I played a resto druid.

7) Are you usually attracted to one archetype over another, or do you play them equally? Why?
Umm. I like the basis for Shamans in fantasy games. I also like barbarian/fighter/guardian classes. I typically play healers but for WAR I went the tank route. The KoBS appealed to me more than the IB or SM due to it’s natural leadership. I’m sort of a leader in things I do in life and the culture of the KoBS was nice too. I have a couple different Warrior Priests (one is on a core server), so I will have another healer soon.

8 ) What is your favorite feature from an MMO you no longer play?
GW had some really nice visuals going on in a lot of the zones. Sometimes I would just sit there and look for a bit.  In terms of WoW the one feature I miss about it was the game itself before the expansions.

9) Is there an MMO that you would play if it was free? Which and why?
Eve. Economics in Space.

10) How do you measure the success of a character in an MMO (total kills, titles accumulated, wealth, rare items collected, level reached, etc.)?
I’m not going to follow the meme crowd and say “the people”. People are great but I am an achievement junkie. In an RPG, I like to explore every possible element that I have access too. I am the kind of person that will explore every part of the map just to find that special something, whether it be a burning windmill or a huge castle. The Tome of Knowledge is my best friend. I respect it and it respects me.

• - Greenskins
• -Empire
• -Wood Elves
• -Vampire Counts

In the end I ultimately chose the Vampire Counts. My decision was based on several perks that in the end outshines the other armies. Something about playing a swarm of undead zombies was a huge plus for me. When I’m bored at work, I daydream a lot and about 90% of it is structural planning for the post-apocalyptic zombie invasion. I work at a home improvement store so it’s filled with all the necessary survival tools in case of a zombie invasion. So zombies are a big part of my day to day life.

But I digress..

Zombies are sweet, The Von Carstein family and Sylvania is super rich in lore (well, I guess all the armies are) and the models themselves really impressed me. The black coach is possibly one of the coolest rares ever. So after I read the VC book a few times i’ll be ready to start collecting some units. I’m still painting Skull Pass stuff for practice, so I have time. Plus once I start my vamp army, I want to have a little more experience.

the other three armies, The Orcs & Gobbo’s (greenskins), Empire and Wood Elves all had some really nice things going for me too.

The Greenskins just look like they would be alot of fun to paint and play. They sort of remind me of Lenny in Of Mice and Men. Big, dumb and silly. What’s not to like?

The Empire holds a special place in my heart due to my WAR toon; a Knight of the Blazing Sun. The Lords & Heroes and Special Units were all rather intriguing but I wasn’t so much impressed with the core units. I felt like I wouldn’t enjoy painting them. Oh well.

The Wood Elves caught my eye in the beginning. I liked the mystical forest fantasy element that came along with their lore and units. The models themselves were very nice and I was really impressed with the Eternal Guards and all the Lords & Heroes. Not that the Vampire Counts will be too much easier, but the wood elves seemed like they are totally awesome if painted really well but sorta lame if they are poorly done. This is an army I’d like to take a second look at one day when I have more experience in painting, playing and other things of such things and stuff.

Well, that about wraps it up! hoping to have some more Gobbo paintings done by Thursday!

Go go Vampire Counts!

The Mailbox system has been going haywire as of recent. It has always been somewhat of an issue, but in recent days using the mailbox is more irritating than renewing your driver’s license on your only day off….while suffering from a migraine.

So you log on and see that you have 4 auction house messages in your inbox! Hooray! Hooray indeed, until you try to see what you sold (or didn’t sell). Just opening the first piece of mail is a 17 minute ordeal. The mailbox “politely” informs you that your process is pending…pending? PENDING?  *squinty eyes*

Now I know nothing about coding. I couldn’t program a VCR…(well actually I can).  But it seems to me there is a critical error on an individuals part. Go figure right?

OHH BUT THERE ARE BIGGER PROBLEMS THAT NEED FIXING FIRST! …you might say

Perhaps, but when people are so frustrated that they cannot use the Mailbox or the Auction House (oh yes, the AH is having some difficulties too), you slow down the server economy. People don’t want to deal with long waits and don’t use the AH. They begin to vendor item’s out of frustration. This is bad….and not like the greatest album ever created by the great & illustrious, now social inept and disgusting Michael Jackson.

Anywho, rant over.

What the heck does that mean?!

Well, a guild is “it’s own living entity”! It had it’s own experience bar and levels just as any character would. A guild’s advancement makes the guild an even more powerful entity.

For each successful level, the guild will receive new rewards. Sometimes it’s new guild tactics. Sometimes it’s access to the communal guild hall or even spiffy mounts! In our case we received a third tactic slot for our second standard and an extra tactic point.

There are a several things that contribute tot he advancement of the guild’s rank.  Such as…

• Any time a player receives experience from killing an NPC, Enemy Player or completing a quest.
• Acquiring new Tome of Knowledge unlocks
• Obtaining and maintaining an RvR Keep! The guild gains initial XP for the capture and also gains XP over time depending on how long they hold it.
• RvR scenario’s & Renown
• Public Quests & Influence

All of these things will make your guild stronger!

Naturally, I contribute to the guild every day. Just by questing and doing scenario’s. But I like to pride myself on the fact that I am an achievement junkie. I have completed every known tome unlock in the tier 1 & 2 area’s. So this also helped contribute!hooray for guild levels!

In other news,

Here is a purple cave in High Pass

!!!!!!!!!!!

-Ryan

In other news, I did start a couple goblin archer’s last night.  My camera is in my truck right now so I’ll try to post some screens of my progress tomorrow.
However, I will post a screenshot of my Knight of the Blazing Sun! He is only rank 23 atm. I figure I will post new screens every time he starts to look significantly different.  I really enjoy making him stay true to the colors of the sun. So lots of yellows, whites, golds & oranges. I’ve seen a few who like to go pink, purple, green. It just looks funky to me >.<

So here he is, in all his glory!

I named him Sollozzo Pizarro after two of my passions. Sollozzo, being a character from Mario Puzo’s the Godfather (and in the film). Pizzaro is the name of the leading role in the play Royal Hunt of the Sun, a play about Spanish conquistador’s who advance an expedition to Peru. The Pioneer title, because it fits the whole conquistador essence (though my title often changes)

-Ryan

A Euro server by the name of Karak Eight Peaks (K8P) has achieved the world first successful breach of Altdorf and captured Order leader Karl Franz on 4/5/2009! Very impressive! How did I know Europe would get this first?

Mythic themselves have issued a press release congratulating them. Check it out!

http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=739
]]> http://theconquistador.wordpress.com/2009/04/14/world-first-karl-franz-capture/feed/ 0 The Conquistador :P