Round and Round and Round

So the client regrets to inform me about downtime and says to check the forums…

Clicking on the conveniently-placed link gets me…

*sigh* That does get old. The Twitter thing works well as they seem to update it appropriately. Still… Q.Q

There's 40

Server First Second Rawr! Nish? NISH!? Nope.

Another vehicle that cost a ton more for only an extra 10%!!!

Hehe. Well Dend is online (which is to say, Dend is awake/alive) so he's prolly 50. If I stop doing crew skills on three alts I might get there.

Nish?

Grace Period Maintenance Un-Graceful

Attempted to get into SWTOR this morning and the client gave me this news...

This was a surprise to me as I'd already entered my Deluxe Code and been driving around on my Longspur STAP. So I click on the link and naturally get a queue...

This seems like a big enough problem to try talking to someone about. So I call 1-855-GO-SWTOR (1-855-467-9867) only to be told they're too busy. No call times or hold queue, just disconnected. *rolls eyes* So I filled out the webform...

I'm guessing the Grace Period maintenance screwed something up. BioWare does do great offline games. Yet they're still learning on the MMOs. Glad I'm not working in their tech or CS departments. It must be the worst Christmas ever for those people.

And I have to wonder… are the people at Blizzard secretly enjoying all this?

Slicing 400!

Logged in to find my over-night missions got me to 400!

Also a little over 200k in the bank...

Being able to have skill missions going while you do stuff elsewhere is amazing. And not having the skill cap by level is even better! I wonder if it will stay that way.

Tha SWTOR Skillz

Seen a number of skill interaction images and this is one of the more direct:

SWTOR Starter Hog

Finally got a speeder. Whew!

Queues Not Just In-Game

Poor Torhead. Very busy!

One More to Go, Doubtful

Well three waves of invites have gone out and I haven't gotten in yet. Been annoyed that there's no indication of when it might come. Yet Taugrim did find an image of pre-sale information:

Now according to my eMail I pre-ordered on August 8th. Somehow the SWTOR site is still online so I managed to confirm I redeemed my code the same day. Judging by the graph it's possible I might be in the final fourth wave today, but more likely I'll get in tomorrow.

*sigh* I'm sure all the cool names are gone by now.

Hours or Days Away

Roughly six hours until the flood gates open. And I have no idea if I'll be in the rush. *grumble* Really wish the starting was more communicative. While I understand they want to be able to react to server population and congestion, some sort of number or means of gauging when the game is available would be nice.

Oh well. In the interim I'll finish reading one of the best FAQs I've seen.

No, but Thanks for Asking

Gotten this three times in a row. “You have been removed from the queue because you did not accept the invitation.” Damn right. *lol* One more try and then it's bedtime.

I'm sure there's plenty of other people doing what I'm doing. Really surprised Blizzard hasn't added the queue cooldown yet.

Star Wars The Old Republic Getting Official

Glad the wondering is over. Got an eMail this afternoon…

I really hate that line “we will be emailing invitations to join Early Game Access based on the order in which you redeemed your Pre-Order Code.” Wish there was some indication where I fall in that group. At least the window is seven days instead of five. Still. *sigh*

I'd seen comments about being able to skip uninstalling the beta client yet decided against it. I'd rather make sure there isn't something weird or random left behind. There's plenty of time to get the full client downloaded. Which, now that I'm done with the raid, is currently slamming my connection…

Deathwing LFR'd

Finally managed to get Deathwing down in an LFR group. Left a couple of failures yet Aenara got into one that went surprisingly well.

Sadly the loot was pretty awful, garnering some grousing in the raid channel.

Yep. That's Gurthalak, Voice of the Deepsx3 and a Maw of the Dragonlord. *rolls eyes*

The Purple Bird

Finally knocked out Glory of the Firelands Raider on Faerune. Glory of the Cataclysm Raider is going to take a bit longer, heh.

Going to Check Again Before the User Community Does

Dababase checks… right! They better not take away any of my l00tz. I suffered nubs for them, they minez!

Besides, Paragon peoples are buying full tier sets forty-five minutes ago… while we in the US are…

Dendrolis On the Move

Continuing to tease my WoW Druid friend with mock adventures in SWTOR Final Beta...

After taking in the panoramic view of Mannett Point Dendrolis finds renewed focus, vigor and speed. He will not be detterred from riches and starches unknown!

Of course the Separatists want to defend their precious caches and endevour to end Dend's very life. Thankfully, depsite his portly bearing, Dendrolis manages to find cover and strike blue beams over his enemies!

After a lot of running and hiding behind rocks, Dend stumbles across some Republic soldiers. They had a REALLY big transport so he had high hopes of hitching a ride across all that water and terrain. That was until he came within earshot of their conversation...

Pressing onward Dendrolis' hopes soar as he comes within view of the beachhead. Only a thin strip of water bars him access from the vast treasures of Mannett Point! He pauses momentarily when he recognizes the wardrobe of a fellow traveller.

All those summers at Camp Chubby Squaw paid off. After much huffing and pufffing, the breast stroke had him across the water in record time. Having built up quite a hunger the meager forces guarding Mannett Point's beach were quickly and dispatched.

So after all that effort, all the panting and excessive jogging, it was definitely time to kick back and relax. Now inside of Mannett Point's walls, he finally finds himself a kick-ass ride. Dend is going to blow this place up... BIG TIME!

Be ready for more adventures during the next downtime!!! (or when I'm bored)

Playing EvE Tracks, Not EvE

Logging into EVE to set my training queue for the last month of paid time I have. No real interest as there's not enough PvE content to hold my interest. Yet their promo videos do make me smile—and groove. Found out their latest features Gimmix by HaZar.

Dendrolis Moving Out!

Will edit this up as I get'em...

Grumpy and needs a snack.

All the donuts are gone and the host gets grumpy.

As a Smuggler, Dendrolis is able to take cover. Yet he can smell the treats on those dirty separatists...

Separatists are falling left and right!

After cutting a swath through the scum Dend finds him self at Fort Kyle. Where is seems like every humanoid in the galaxy is after his women...

Heading East from the Fort he meets some chick who has obviously never seen Robert Pattinson with his shirt off...

With the immediate separatist problems solved, it's time to head to their bigger camp. On foot.

Realizing the twinkies won't walk themselves into his mouth from there, Dend hits level 6 and moves out!

Warcraft Exploits Running Wild

The jealous and the bored have apparently been sniffing at the top guilds and found some fun stuff. Like Wakoz here...

It's not just him but most of Paragon apparently has 4pc and 5pc sets going. Servers went down so lots of people are now snuffling about. Will be interesting to see what the Blizz response will be. I hope it isn't some form of restrictive lock-down.

I was annoyed because the instance was being reset as the LFR I was in was on the last boss. So no VP on that run. Which is okay. We had done well in fairly short order. But there were still multiple people that would leave after a wipe.

I took a moment to comment in raid, "This is a pug. People that explode after a wipe or an accident don't belong in LFR." It's not a good place for ePeen or meter-whoring either. There'll still be some no matter what I spose. Yet if Blizz adds some extra restrictions it will only make people more pissy. On the official forums, I threw something out there:

Really need to use a spell checker. *facepalm* Oh well. See what happens. Doesn't really matter right now as SWTOR beta is up. And it's time to Smuggle...

LOL! Fatty Twi'lek!! Dendrolis is the name of a WoW friend who didn't get an invite to the final beta, so I will be tormenting him with screenshots...

A Jawa Defending My Knees

Browsing through the Companions I found that the Bounty Hunter gets a Jawa, Blizz. Must have! *lol*

You have been selected to participate in the final Beta Test‏

Woot!

Didn't feel particularly special until I found out not everyone who was in last week's massive stress test was automatically re-invited. And normally I won't get too excited about doing free beta testing. Yet there were more things I wanted to poke around with since three days of testing I did get got me pretty hooked. Here's what I had at the end...

On release I'm pretty sure I'll focus on the Assassin, so I want to try other things with what time I get this final round. Thinking I'll start with a Scoundrel as having stealth and heals sounds appealing. Possibly the Mercenary brand of healing, too. Also want to work with the Sniper for PvP.

Got really wrapped up in gameplay last time. Didn't take time to screencap or write much about it—some random tweets was all I managed. Will do better this round as taking breaks and breathing is important! *lol*

Of the Force and Priorities

Can I check the forums or look at gameplay videos?

That would be no. Can I pre-order the game?

No problem!

Damned Disturbance in the Force

First the Yay!

Then the Boooo!

Hacks a'Plenty

I actually have some credit card info saved with them so this annoys me a little bit. :(

Another One of Those Elder Scrolls

Lots of places to go, lots of things to do!!

Less Than 24 Hours Now

Amazon.com Shipping Confirmation
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We thought you'd like to know that we shipped your items, and that this completes your order. Your order is being shipped and cannot be changed by you or by our customer service department.

Your estimated delivery date is:
Friday, November 11, 2011

Your package is being shipped by FedEx and the tracking number is 502724800781.

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Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
$59.54

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Was going to wait some to see reviews and some hands-on stuff but oh well. I still load up Morrowind and Oblivion so might as well poke around myself. No idea where the $10 off came from yet it was appreciated, making me go with Amazon over Buy.com or EBgames.com.

Making the Cells in Grid More Usable

Had a few questions after my initial post about making it easier to read the names of people listed in Grid. With any new configuration one of the first things I do is change the cell width since it's difficult to use with the names cut so short:

As before, get started by typing /grid or right-click on the Grid handle if it's being displayed. Click the Frame tab. At the top, set Frame Width to 60. Under "Orientation of Frame" select Horizontal, as follows:

Then scroll down to the bottom. Set Center Text Length to 7, as shown here:

Names should be much easier to see now and the health bars work like the built-in raid frames where a filled box shrinks to the left as the person represented loses health.

The other layout options are all easy to set. Play around with them until they work a way that feels "right" for you.