Make up your mind, whydontcha?!?!

With my CoX cancelled, CO beta over, and I never got into Aion...I find myself wanting.

I fired up, well as slow as it takes to install it, slow-simmered EQ2 again. I tried going back to CoX, so why not try going back to EQ2? I totally missed the blog discussion about starting out in EQ2 made by Wolfshead, Tipa and others back in July. I think I would have enjoyed partaking in it.

The difference in CoX and EQ2 is you are able to reach max level really fast in CoX, but I have no clue how long it would take to level up in EQ2. I have a feeling several months if not years?

I honestly don't care about leveling fast, however I do like leveling around people, even if I don't necessarily interact with them. I like the feeling I'm playing an MMO instead of a single-player. I like leveling fast to get to the place where more people are playing. That's usually end-game. I seriously doubt I'll stick with EQ2 any longer than I did CoX this time around. I'll probably not see many other players.

So against the wishes of some on the EQ2 forum, I joined the highest populated server. I figure if starter areas are in general lonely to begin with after release, why would I want to join an underpopulated server where players are even more scarce?

In the meantime I'm also continuing to play hordeside in WoW and starter area players are scarce in the 11 million player game also. I came across just about the same amount of players - about 3 or 4 tops - running around like I was.

Right now EQ2 is giving me that feeling of progression I enjoy. Now that I've picked a dps class, I started out on a healer, I feel like I'm leveling even faster than WoW. I read somewhere you shouldn't try to level fast in EQ2 because of AA's. But the idea of turning off XP? I just can't get into it. It's something I'd regret later if there was a chance I'd ever hit level 80 or whatever the max cap is in EQ2.

The one thing EQ2 has going for it is I don't really know how fast I should be leveling. In WoW I already wish I had a main to funnel me some gold so I could twink my alt up a bit. I think I'm going to just start over on my main's server and use the neutral AH to get some cash. In EQ2 I have no idea how weak my character is. It feels fine so far, I've only died once or twice and I don't have that nagging feeling that things should be going faster.

I'll probably play EQ2 until the grind disease hits me or Aion or Champions Online is released. Then I'll revel in the newness of those two games until the shiny-ness wears off. Then who knows?

It's the principle of the thing

A comment over at Keen and Graev's blog jumped out at me. Not because I don't necessarily disagree or think the commenter is wrong, but because its things like this that cause me to not want to raid.

Background: Keen is wondering whether he should resub to WoW and is worried there is still a grind at each level to get gear to climb up to the next tier of instances.

Here is the comment someone made to Keen:
@Keen If you have heroic loot (which is i200) you can easily farm ToC and other heroics and get upgrades ridiculously quickly…maybe VoA and OBS too because they are so fast.

A fresh 80 in greens can be raiding the highest end content in a week, without a ridiculous grind. I took an ele shaman alt to the T9 coliseum 25 raid a week after dinging 80, and we downed both bosses (only 2 available at the time).

What bugged me? #1 he was on an alt and #2 he was in greens and #3 he was a fresh 80 (hence the greens).

Now he could very well be in a pug or with good friends or whatever situation, but if he showed up to a raid I was in I would want to log.

After reading Greedy Goblin's post on his blog about not needing good gear to raid well, I realize in theory I shouldn't be "elitist". But my problem is too many people like the Keen commenter feel they can show up on a character they don't play much, in bad gear and actually contribute to a raid.

Now to be honest, I would love if this worked all the time. I don't like playing much (i.e. raiding for better gear) anymore. So if I could log on in what I was wearing no matter how weak it was and get to raid that would be great. Everyone wishes they could do that! But in reality, I bet an epic, that if everyone showed up like the shaman in greens they wouldn't have downed the T9 boss. I mean even typing that I realize a T9 boss is going to require more than T4 or it's equivalent gear.

I understand that he means, since most everyone else is in decent gear by now you'd think, Keen will be able to hop in, probably not contribute much, but get to raid.

At a point Blizzard has to make this possible. Because without a gear reset and no way to get gear fast you'd be left out in the cold if you didn't do dungeons in order when the bulk of the players did.

I don't disagree with the commenter, I just refuse to believe he did much more than get carried through the 2 bosses. In other words, I think they probably could have 24-manned it.

Makin' the rest of us trees look bad

Blowing a leaf in the wind (my version of a tip of the hat) to the Tree Bark Jacket blog. Keeva has updated her already nice blog to look even better!

Her advice was key in helping me not fear Sartharion + 3.

She has 5, read it, 5 druids! I was toying with the idea of leveling up a horde druid in my "Questing the Vanishing Azeroth". So that would be 2, but 5?!?!?!

Anyway, Go take a look at what a blog can be when you do more than post your everyday rants in it (who me?)

And don't forget to update your links!

My previous Aion post...

was an attempt to see if I get what appears to be bot comments.

I got 4 comments recently all with links to selling various MMORPG accounts, but they made it sound like they were actually reading and commenting on my posts.

They tripped up when they mentioned EvE when I was actually talking about Everquest.

I'd rather read troll posts than see sales spam.

This blog isn't popular that I get so many posts I need to filter the real ones. I just see 'em and move on.

But this time I was curious enough to wonder what in particular triggers them. So far I haven't had a bite on the Aion post. Maybe it will just take some time.

WoW's toehold

As Keen fights the urge to return to WoW, it makes me realize what an even more advantage WoW has over so many other games.

Just the mention of something changing (that isn't even scheduled until next year) puts a bug in everyone's ear and instead of giving something else a try we go back to what we know. I don't have the audacity to exclude myself from this.

I'm trying out Chronicles of Spellborn (it's free now) but the idea of questing through areas that may be forever changed later had me back to WoW. And while I was playing CoS I was thinking it would be nice if the ui was exactly the same (it's pretty close to WoW's to begin with). Later I'll have the nerve to complain about games being WoW clones, if I haven't already. I'm embarrassed of myself.

To be honest I don't know if I'll go through with my "Questing through the Vanishing Azeroth". I logged onto a Blood elf that still had a Halloween costume timer running from last year. I finished a few errand running quests I had started almost a year ago before parking myself back at the inn.

My toe slipped.

Aion gets an A for Amazing!

Man I can’t wait for release, this game has so much potential!


WoW is awesome, but this game has wings.


I haven't played yet, but after receiving 4 comments in a row, I want to see what comment this generates.

By the way, my blog content is based a recent post by Hardcore Casual.

Champions Online open beta

...is over.

I had been told by a friend it was going for a week and I didn't bother to double check. It actually only lasted the weekend.

I got past the starter area, but I wasn't enjoying it so much that I was eager to play a lot. In the back of my mind I felt I still had a week to try it out. But even then that strong desire to get back in there and play during the weekend just wasn't there.

I think I know what WoW had in the beginning that is missing from many other MMOs and it seems very simple. The feeling that you are improving. The quick and early level dings made bright yellow and shiny. Your skills improving with each whack or blast in blue. Loot, even when grey (poor), being better than what you had. And as you level getting more spells or attacks.

Champions Online starts you out with decent powers (attacks) (City of Heroes, depending on which type of archetype (class) you chose could be painful starting out because your powers were so weak). But at least for the few levels I made it through, didn't give you any more powers. You don't need them, you can do just fine with the 2 you start out with, but you *want* them.

You get to slot some things, but they slot areas (?) instead of armor. Instead of taking a glove reward and putting it in your hand slot (simple enough), you get a "Primary defense" reward and put it in your "Primary defense" slot (Huh?). I get that a pair of white (common) gloves are better than (grey). But it's not apparent that a talisman is better than a shirt when they can both go in the "defense" slot.

When you level it is showy, but since you're not getting anything special by doing so its just fluff. If I had my sound off, I'm not sure I would even recognize that I leveled. The feeling of progressing is extremely important. Why do so many of us get bored at end-game? Because the feeling of improving ceases to exist, or slows to a crawl. So you should definitely give the player some idea that they are getting stronger early on, or it will feel like a slog from the get-go.

It's like Champions Online and others are copying models, but forgetting why the models are how they are.

Once more with feeling

I'm thinking about following Tobold's lead and taking the opportunity to level up through the areas that the WoW Cataclysm expansion will remove.

I never got a horde character very far, even though I mentioned many times I wanted to. Here's just another reason for me to do so. Since the expansion won't be released until 2010 and even then who knows how late into the year, I feel like I have plenty of time to get to Burning Crusade. Maybe even take it all the way to the end of Northrend, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

CoX Cancelled

I didn't spend much time mulling it over before cancelling CoX for, maybe the third time now? I played City of Heroes/Villains for almost exactly 2 months. Will I ever go back again? I can't say no, because maybe this is how MMOs are meant to be played by me. Play one, get bored of it, jump to another one, play it for a while, go back to an older one, repeat the cycle.

Extended raid lockouts

What a great idea.

As I mentioned before I logged back onto WoW for a short period to raid with my guild. They had chosen to extend the raid period for Ulduar and as a result we finally downed another boss because we had the extra time to work on it. Actually I think it was less about having the extra time to work on the boss itself and more about being able to tackle an encounter without being burned out from clearing up to that point since the time was spread out over two weeks. As a result we got a peek and a few attempts at another new boss and that's the part I enjoy about raiding.

But the main reason I think everyone is okay with extending the raid lockout is because we are intermingling it with the newer instance. The first few bosses in Trial of the Crusader are easily downed so people get loot from there even if they missing out on the loot from us not re-clearing most of Ulduar.

This is different from my days doing BWL/AQ40/Old Naxx in a previous guild. We made it to C'thun. But when Naxxramas was released there wasn't enough time to check it out, plus do BWL (which gave arguably better gear/time ratio) and wipe on C'Thun. Had we been able to extend the raid lockout, we could leave C'Thun available and spend extra time working on killing it/him/her without having to devote so much time to clearing what had to be the longest instance ever (portals must have been made with the place in mind!). Instead the only way I managed to kill C'Thun was to go back after we had all outleveled and outgeared it. Oh well I digress.

I wonder if raid lockouts will immediately apply to Icecrown? Keep in mind there are guilds that exist, like Ensidia and Stars that would lose sleep to gain an edge. Even so, I wouldn't care because I feel like extensions are so useful to the majority.

CO & ToC

Well I was fortunate to get into a WoW Trial of the Crusader (ToC) raid. I had to look up the name because I haven't been keeping up with raid dungeons anymore. I just showed up and was able to participate - hooray for people being busy at Blizzcon? It wasn't enough to get me itching to play full-time again (funny we talk of a game in working terms) but it was a nice diversion. I got to hear a few guildmates stoked about the Cataclysm expansion. I can see myself playing enough to reach level 85 since leveling through content once is usually fun, but its waaaaaay to soon to tell.

I am checking out the Champions Online (CO) open beta. As many said, it looks horrible at first. But that's the default. You can modify your settings to where it looks pretty good. I removed the comic book outline look and have something I can live with. However one thing I don't think you can get rid of is the clay look. This is the look EQ2 tried to sell so hard back when it was first released. It looked weird then and it looks weird now. The bodies you create work okay as clay, but the faces just don't look right. I guess since you look at your characters backside most of the time, maybe it shouldn't matter so much?

Additional instances cannot be launched

I was visiting Big Bear Butt's blog (I'll call it B4) and was suprised to hear, the "Additional instances cannot be launched" issue is still prevalent.

When I took my break (was it a month ago?) this was happening. I had a group ready to help me finish a partially cleared instance we "humped" (this seems to be the common phrase across servers) the instance entry for at least 30 minutes trying to get in. I joined a group doing a re-visit to Hyjal, we couldn't get in for a while but we finally did. And me and a friend were duoing some 5-mans and couldn't get in. And once I was farming sanguine hibiscus and couldn't get in.

I consider it another nail, not that I need anymroe, if after a month or so, you still can't do older instances. And, according to B4, perhaps that's how its supposed to be, they are herding us to the wrath instances. He even noted he couldn't get in Stockades easily.

I think that's unacceptable. One of the joys, at least for me, was being able to take my relatively decked out main and finish up old stuff I didn't have time or support to do with a group.

Just like B4 I take it as a given to be able to enter an instance anytime I want. I scoff at the people that complain about the weekly server downtime. Because I understand maintenance is necessary. However, when the server *is* up I should be able to partake in the activities Blizzard has set before us. I consider it a basic necessity.

Painting myself into a corner

I logged onto WoW last night, since I've already plateaued in CoX.

My current state in CoX isn't a surprise or disappointment. I knew I'd only get so much out of it before having to look elsewhere again. There are several areas of play to keep you busy in CoX, but none of them will hold me much longer:

I leveled relatively fast due to AE. I wasn't expecting a long, drawn-out leveling experience. I knew what to expect as far as missions, although I have to say I enjoyed the newer missions better. When I title this post "painting myself into a corner" I really wasn't refering to this but it does apply. AE is a really fast way of leveling, so much so that I don't believe I'd enjoy leveling another CoX character the "old" way. After sailing to America by boat once, if you were given the option to take a sonic jet, which would you choose for your subsequent visits overseas?

Task forces are a series of missions that can only be completed by the 8 people you started with. I did the Croatoa task force, one I was really looking forward to, only to find I'm still not sure what everyone was ga-ga over. It took much longer than I expected or liked it to. I have zero interest in spending hours doing a task force, if I wanted to do that I'd be raiding in WoW. So after doing some of the fastest ones (Katie Hannon, Numina and Lady Grey) we did the latter in 30 minutes or something and I had never been there before, I knew I was done with task forces.

Speaking of raids, I participated in CoX's form of a raid. They used to have one called Hami raid (you fight a big jello mold called Hamidon). I didn't bother doing that one again. But the new one (to me) is called RWZ - Rikti War Zone raid. You speed around tearing down Pylons that keep up a shield that protects the Rikti war ship. (If I'm not explaining the details right, it doesn't really matter.) Once all the pylons are down, you fight through waves of Rikti (*the* enemy in Cox) until, from what I can tell, they build the shield back up and the raid is suddenly over. I cannot imagine doing that more than two times just because I'm bored.

Another thing new to me was Invention Origins (IOs) and sets. These are enhancements you gather materials for and create (CoX's version of crafting). You can get materials as drops, purchase a grab bag of them from AE tickets, or purchase them from Wentworth's (Auction House). It bugged me a little that in order to craft not only did you have to be at a workbench, that's expected, but you had to zone either to your Supergroup base or the "University" building. Imagine each time you wanted to make a copper bar you had to zone into an instance. For someone who used to run from anvil to AH and back several times, the CoX way is bloated. Also the idea of earning the influence (gold) to purchase necessary IOs, not only do you need the materials you need the recipe for the specific IOs. Imagine having to purchase a recipe for a Frostweave bag each time you wanted to make one. The grind I saw ahead of me wasn't appealing. Like I said about WoW, I guess I'm the one changing, not the games.

I had my most fun teaming (grouping) with players. Constant advice given on the CoX forums is to find a supergroup. I fell into and actively sought out several supergroups for my various alts, none of them had more than 4 players on at one time. One Supergroup I'm in I never saw anyone after they invited me. And its not like I'm playing at some weird time. I can't say for sure, but it felt like I was either waiting or searching or trying to build my own team, more than I played on one. And I chose one of the highest populated servers. Maybe you can blame this on AE, but that complaint only goes so far.

That leaves PvP (Nope) and badge hunting (achievements). I didn't want to fall into the trap of badge-hunting, so unless there is something I'm missing out of that list, re-visit of CoX is coming to a close.

So with that, I logged back on to WoW last night. I clicked on each of my characters and could not bring myself to choose one I wanted to play. The title of my post is the feeling that I couldn't create a new character because I feel like if I'm going to play I should be on my max level character doing achievements. And I didn't feel like doing achievements on my max level character. I've painted myself into a corner and it was all my doing. Since I didn't feel right creating or playing on an alt, and I didn't feel up to jumping back onto my main, I logged off again, without ever entering Azeroth. Sigh.

Opinion or review?

Over at Keen and Graev's Keen gave his opinions on why he won't be playing Champions Online. Since it was negative, several commenters have blasted him for it.

Some of the comments immediately reminded me of why Tobold took a 3-week long hiatus from blogging. Keen seems to be a bit more thick-skinned, unwilling to back down (and he shouldn't ). He's removed some of the troll comments. Let's just hope it doesn't wear him down, because I missed Tobold when he was gone and I'll miss Keen as well if he decides to take a break because of posters more interested in arguing and disrupting things than actually making valid or interesting points. It reminds me of our current town hall meetings but I won't go there.

Keen doesn't like CO. He gave his reasons. If you disagree, why not explain why instead of saying Keen doesn't know what he's talking about. How can you not know whether you individually enjoy something or not?

Some made points that he's made glowing reviews in beta in the past only to change his mind later. He's not the only one there. This leads back to my question why so much hype surrounds games in beta, only to fall so quickly a few months in. You can't fault Keen for being pretty much like the rest of us. And as one commenter said, given how fond Keen usually seems about betas, this should really let you know how bad CO is.

To be honest, the console aspect explained by Tobold is what really has me concerned whether I'll end up liking this game or not. I still want to try it out, if only because its something new. But according to Keen, and a sinking feeling in my gut, I'm just going to be throwing some money out the window. As one commenter said, in this economy no one wants to do that.

What changes?

With the discussion of lifetime memberships and how long we stick with a game, it got me wondering? How can a game have so much hype during beta, then kinda fall flat after the first few months of release?

WoW had the hype. I remember reading an article from someone in beta. In this case the hype was justified. I remember trying WoW beta then wanting to play so badly I subscribed to another game (EQ2) because I just couldn't wait. Had my computer at the time been able to play EQ2 smoother perhaps I would have stuck with it, but once WoW was released I jumped ship.

I don't remember much hype about LotRO, but it was there. I'm sure it was supposed to be a WoW killer, but it was quickly drug out of the arena with the rest.

Now Warhammer Online had hype. Guilds were disbanding in WoW to head to WAR. I really felt it would put at least a chink in WoW's armor because WoW PvPers *always* complain about WoW PvP. And I saw the videos, they made it look decent. But I was wary. Yet I gave into the hype as the time of release grew close. I'm sure I was in one of my "I'm bored with WoW" phases I seem to swing in and out of, so I gave it a shot. I always enjoy creating a character and then the inevitable struggle of finding a name I like. It's fun to run around with everyone else as we scramble to get our bearings but then MMORPG ennui sets in as you realize you're killing 10 more rats. Then the question becomes is this game doing it better than WoW does. Is it doing it at least as good as WoW is? And with WAR if killing ten rats isn't the point, then killing 10 orc players pretty damn well be. And for me it wasn't.

But how long was Warhammer beta? What did those players in beta do that was so much fun for months, that it wasn't fun for many of the rest of us?

I'm pretty sure I'm going to play Champions Online, because all of the stuff I enjoy doing will be there and last me at least a month. But to be honest, I haven't heard a lot of hype about CO. At least there isn't really much for me to get disappointed about later.

Update: The reason why I hadn't heard much is the NDA had not been lifted as of this post. Coincidentally it was lifted the next day. Turns out there isn't a lot of hype because apparently it doesn't deserve it.

Lifetime subscription - no thanks

Tobold commented about how players are scoffing at the Champions Online lifetime subscription offer.

I remember when Lord of the Rings Online offered a lifetime subscription. I don't remember why I didn't opt in. In the end, I didn't play long enough to cover a lifetime subscription cost.

Tobold says "Once bitten, twice shy" and I think he's correct. I think Warhammer Online had the biggest hype of all the games post WoW and I don't know if I even played longer than a month. Although I shrug it off, especially since I'm not much of a pvper, looking back on what I expected, Warhammer Online was a major let down for me. But since I didn't spend more than a month or so for it, the sting isn't lasting. Imagine if I'd paid a lifetime subscription? I'd probably try to force myself to play it just to get my money's worth. Ewwwwh.

You don't *have* to do anything

I decided to make a new post in response to a comment from my previous post.

Regarding "...then what is the point in playing at all? You shouldn't have to put time and effort..."

Well that was part of my point. I'll point out there is no mention of fun.I understand it is most likely implied. But in my case, I feel like I was getting to the point that WoW was a habit instead of an enjoyable activity.

Like I said WoW hasn't changed, but I think I am. The core idea of all MMORPGs is to put in time and effort to improve your character.

I logged on the other day to spend time getting a pet. I was able to do it within a 1/2 hour. I'm okay with that.

What I think I'm no longer okay with is making a goal to get 100 pets.

You're right, you don't have to spend a year getting a drake. WoW doesn't force anyone to make goals to get 100 pets. But it is an achievement (and if 100 pets isn't an achievement yet...it will be.)

Note: As I type I realize I'm unable to express exactly what I feel is wrong with the whole thing. Not wrong for everyone - wrong for me. I think when I am able to convey it, I'll finally get why I played for so long and why I will eventually cancel for good. I'm not there yet. ;)

Visiting the World of Warcraft

I logged back on the other night to do the Wolvar/Oracle orphan pet quests. I wouldn't have even known about it if I hadn't been told personally.

I don't think the orphan quest was part of any type of meta. But I'm reminded of the hubbub over allowing players who missed doing the brewfest (and get the monthly brew quest which was a requirement for Long, Strange Trip achievement) a chance to get the 310% violet proto-drake at the end of the year long meta achievement.

I remember being annoyed that because I decided to take a break from the game I had screwed myself out of the running for one. Basically have to play the game an additional year because you'd have to drink a brew every month for a year. I thought what sucked was if I knew about it I probably would have took care of meeting the requirement. The hubbub was several players felt everyone should have known, based on reading forums, WoW insider and the like.

Since I haven't been playing WoW much I haven't been reading about WoW much either. I don't frequent the forums, check MMO champion or WoW insider like I used to. And I guess my question is, if I'm no longer a rabid WoW player does that mean I shouldn't get certain rewards anymore? It certainly feels like it.

My friend and I looked down the list of achievements, and I noticed some new Pirate Day (?) achievements had been added. I don't remember if they are part of the meta or not. But it is a one day event, and if you didn't know it and miss it you miss out. We both agreed it seems like WoW expects you to play the game all the time every day. Not only that you should be reading about it if you aren't playing it.

What is the saying "you should live and breath it". Maybe I'm coming out of a fog, because I know I was that type of player.

But I'm getting more and more offended by it lately. I don't want the feeling I'm being punished for treating this as an occasional hobby. But I'm the one who is changing, WoW is the same as it has ever been. I'm the one who is learning to adjust. So if next time, my friend isn't able to keep me abreast of WoW-goings-on, and I miss out on a new pet, or a new hat, or a new mount, it won't be that big of a deal. And to be honest, although I can't say for sure, since I actually did get a pet, I think I'm learning its okay to miss out on something in the World of Warcraft for a change.

WoWtards

If you've been reading the past month or so, you know I've been playing CoX (City of Heroes/Villians) instead of WoW. As a result I've been reading CoX forums intead of WoW.

I just had to share a few of the comments/sentiments I've noticed.

One poster lamented about how WoW players were coming to CoX and ruining the "adult, mature" atmosphere of their game. A game, I feel the need to point out, involving dressing up in tights and a cape. When did games become the domain of just adults? I admit I also get tired of the occasional kid-mentality but when I do, I can easily choose to cocoon myself with other adults, by teaming with them, guilding with them, etc. with nary a "pwnz0r" in sight. But this poster seemed to think the entire game should be insulated against kids. I'm sorry but kids make things more unpredictable, and quite often, more fun. And if a kid, immaturity and all, can't play a hero game, why does it exist?

Another poster mentioned that WoWtards are infiltrating CoX. Gotta love stereotyping! I wasn't sure how he knew it was a WoW gamer, but if you can do an instance in WoW you sure as hell can manage in CoX.

Double XP weekend

This past weekend CoX had double XP. I had been looking forward to this, not simply because of the bonus, but because I thought I would find more players outside of AE doing missions.

It didn't work out that way, other zones were still as empty as usual. And AE was still the place to get the most XP, even with missions giving double!

Even if missions gave triple or quadruple, the problem is you can't beat AE's accessability. Depending on the mission any player can join. You don't have to worry about sidekicking someone (bringing them up to your level). You don't have to travel, the missions entry is always in the same spot. The rewards - in the form of tickets are better. You can use tickets to buy exactly what you need, versus missions dropping random stuff you may or may not (usually the latter) be able to use.

I didn't count how many levels I got over the weekend, but I doubt I got a single level due to double xp from missions. AE is simply better for leveling fast. So that's where I spent most of my time.

One group in particular was amusing to me. I think I mentioned before how CoX vets are calling players who level in ae "AE babies". And yes that's supposed to be derogatory. You level up through AE so you don't know anything about playing the game. Hence you're a baby. Yeah its dumb. Anyway, I joined one team that ending up being quite amusing to me. It was a team where a Fire/Kinetics Controller (a archetype combo able to clear a mission made for 8 players solo) had us all doorsit (you don't participate in the mission, you just "sit" at the door). The Fire/Kin let us go afk if we wanted. But some of us used it as a chat room. What was funny is at least 6 of our 8 team were vets. Well the funny part is many of them had excuses for why they were leveling in ae. Apparently having one character you leveled up "the hard way" gives you a get out of ae-guilt free card.

If leveling up outside of AE is so fun, why don't they continue doing so on their alts? And if leveling up outside of AE is hard, why do they think any new player in their right mind would want to do so? For some stupid badge of honor?

I've noticed some players have taken to advertising themselves for groups as "N month vet, etc." To be honest, if it takes you 30 months to be a decent player I'm not sure that's a good selling point. Because like I've said playing CoX isn't hard. I'm not sure of what is in the game you can't learn to do at 50 that you could learn at any other level. I leveled up the "hard" way and if I had a friend that wanted to come play with me, I'd rather they be able to level up fast so that we could do whatever the hay we wanted with basically no level restriction.


They should remove XP from AE, after I get all of my desired characters leveled up that way.