One to X: SWTOR, Trove, and Marvel Heroes

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update on this project, but then that’s the nature of pursuing something like this; it takes more than a couple of days to reach max level in an MMO. Last time I had reached level 60 on my first hero in Marvel Heroes and level 50 in Final Fantasy XIV. Since then I’ve more or less abandoned FFXIV but I have continued to work on other heroes in MH2015. I have also stepped back into Star Wars: The Old Republic and Trove where I’m working toward my first max level character in both games. I’m not quite there yet with either, but I’ve made significant progress.

Star Wars: The Old Republic

My healing Scoundrel was level 35 when the 12x XP kicked in, however during the weeks the buff has been available I haven’t made it very far. I could have easily leveled to 60 by now if I had only been playing SWTOR, but the XP multiplier in addition to my renewed interest in Trove has really killed my motivation to play the Star Wars MMO. However I have made it to level 50, which was the level cap when the game launched. I have a little more of my class story to finish and once I do I’ll move on to Makeb. My plan is to continue this character utilizing the 12x XP so that I can start playing the Shadow of Revan content. Not only would I like to see the new zones, flashpoints, and storyline, but I would also like to start earning the credits I’ll need to raise up an army of alts.

Once I’ve reached level cap on my Scoundrel, the plan is to continue with a second class in the game but this time I may turn off the XP buff, something I never thought I would do. I like the speed of 12x XP but I’d like to experience the planet storylines and I also prefer to diversify my leveling experience with Flashpoints, Warzones, and Galactic Starfighter matches rather than limiting it to just class story. I’m thinking I’ll start a Sage next, or maybe a Sage and a Commando so that I can test out both of the other healing specs in the game.

Trove

In case you missed it, you may want to check out this post on why I think Trove is such a great game. I’ve been back in the voxel MMO for a couple of weeks now and I’ve made some significant progress toward level 20. My Dracolyte is now level 17 but the progression at this stage is slow going and I’ve spent most of my time lately playing the Candy Barbarian instead. Both have a playstyle I enjoy but right now the Candy Barbarian is by far my favorite. Currently my Barbarian is level 12 and at this rate I may surpass the Dracolyte class and reach 20 for the first time with this sweet warrior.

I’ve mentioned this before but I’m going to say it again, the thing I love about Trove is that the leveling game and the end game are so similar that there is no reason to rush. Once you reach level 10 you have reached “end game.” At that point you can pretty much participate in everything that you will be doing at level 20 with the difficulty level increasing as you go. Thus the first 10 levels are a kind of extended tutorial, giving you time to grow familiar with your class so that once you reach the “Uber” zones (Trove’s high level maps) you have the class knowledge and skill sets to continue the leveling process through end game content.

Marvel Heroes

As I expected, I picked up another hero rather than working toward gearing out my first 60 for end game content. My approach to Marvel Heroes will likely be leveling multiple classes to 60 rather than focusing on what the game offers at max level. Of course, that might change if I find a hero that I like well enough to continue progressing but for now I’m content to continue leveling heroes. After X-23, I started to play Ms. Marvel until the Avengers XP boost was announced. At that point I switched to Black Widow and in a few short weeks I had my second hero up to level 60. This weekend I began playing up to level 10 with the other available Avengers—I have enough eternity splinters to purchase one—and decided unexpectedly on Hawkeye. I had already purchased him along with Black Widow back in December when all heroes were half off (they were only 225 Gs!), so I still have my eternity splinters to spend at a later time.

I actually tried Hawkeye last, assuming there was no way he would be my favorite of the bunch but surprisingly he was. I like the archer/ ranger archetype in general and Hawkeye has a great assortment of trick arrows—explosive, electric, poisonous, etc. The downside is that he runs out of Spirit quickly so I have been maxing out points in his basic attack as much as possible since I am reliant on it for damage. He can also be a little squishy but so long as I leave enough spirit to use his dodge ability to stay at range, I’m usually okay. Plus his Rocket Arrow is powerful enough that I can nearly one shot elites; dead mobs aren’t much of a survivability threat.

The Future of One to X

Currently I’m pretty content with these three games. Once I’ve reached max level in SWTOR and Trove I plan on leveling multiple classes/ heroes in all three games. I may swap in DC Universe Online for one of the games at some point to finish my level 17 Green Lantern but otherwise there aren’t any games grabbing my attention right now. Rift and The Elder Scrolls Online were on my list, and WildStar might be as well if it does in fact go F2P, but none of these games are attractive enough to set aside what I’m currently playing. If that continues to be the case, then I may retire this idea for now or I’ll continue to cover my progress as I level new classes in SWTOR, Marvel Heroes, and Trove, discussing the differences between the various classes during the leveling process. That could be interesting, but it’s definitely not in line with what One to X was supposed to be.

Nevertheless, I’m happy with the progress I’ve made. Once I finish Trove, SWTOR, and possibly DCUO, that will be five new games in which I have characters at max level. That’s a far cry away from the days when WoW was the only MMO in which I could play end game content. It’s not like I need max level characters in every MMO, only in those that I like well enough that the time invested is worthwhile. If nothing else, I would say focusing on reaching end game in several titles has helped me find the MMOs I like enough to keep playing. Playing until end game while time consuming, is a good way to give a game a fair chance to prove its worth. What I’ve found is that I largely prefer games in which end game is a non-issue like Marvel Heroes and Trove. Ironic, isn’t it? That in my pursuit of reaching end game, I discovered I would much rather play a game without it.

#NBI2015Safari: Han Solo vs. Superman

For this week’s screenshot submission for the #NBI2015Safari, I’m giving you all a sneak peek at a surprising piece of concept art for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII. At this point I’m sure you have all seen the trailer featuring the return of Han Solo. What you may not be aware of is the unexpected Star Wars/ DC crossover that will be featured in the film. SPOILER ALERT: The following spoilers are completely made up. If you’re concerned about learning significant plot points that won’t actually appear in the film, now’s the time to stop reading. You’ve been warned.

Does this fortress look familiar? That’s right, the last son of Krypton has abandoned earth after an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Ben Affleck and is hiding out on Hoth. Mistaking Chewie for a mutated California Brown Bear, Superman uses his heat vision to make a disturbing Wookie-skinned rug for his crystal palace. As you can imagine, Han Solo is a little upset. Armed with only a blaster and the intestinal tract of a tauntaun, Han sets out to bring justice to the Man of Steel. You may be thinking, “Han Solo doesn’t have a snowball’s chance on Tatooine to defeat Superman,” but don’t be so sure. Remember, the Corellian managed to defeat Boba Fett on accident while blind. What might he be capable of with all his senses in tact when he’s actually trying?

All right, so maybe none of this is exactly what one might call “in touch with reality,” but it is a stunning picture of the Hoth landscape. Hoth is currently my favorite planet in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and this is just one of many screenshots I’ve captured of the planet surface. The color palette is simple but spot on. Of all the winter biomes I’ve seen in MMOs this one is my favorite. You can feel the glare of the sun reflecting off the surface of ice and snow; it is stark, harsh, and indifferent toward the wellbeing of its inhabitants. Below are a few additional screenshots of this Hoth-some planet (I’m so sorry, that was really bad).

State of the Rez: Blogging, the NBI, SWTOR, and Trove

It’s been a busy writing week for me despite my lack of posts here on Waiting For Rez. In addition to the article I published on Thursday— the latest installment in the Dual Wielding series— I have also had to work on a piece for a church newsletter. The topic was on applying biblical principles in the workplace and it turned out well after several drafts and a lot of feedback. However writing the article took quite a few hours over several days and I didn’t have time for much else until it was finished. I hope to publish it at least in part on this blog in the next week.

That’s not the only thing I’m looking to publish either, I have quite a few ideas I’m eager to write about. To begin with, I would like to participate more in the Newbie Blogger Initiative. I didn’t have anything worth saying on the first talk back challenge on gamer gate and I fear that the topic for this second week— kickstarter and early access— is not of interest to me either. However I would like to contribute another screen shot for Murf’s #NBI2015Safari. I have no idea which prompt or screenshot I will share but I love the idea and I’m really glad he initiated it. I What I will be contributing to the NBI is a piece with suggestions on how to edit content for clarity. Although I’m participating as a newbie this is something that I would like to write and I feel I have enough experience on the subject that I can be helpful to other new bloggers like myself.

As for my gaming sessions, I haven’t written about them much as of late and there’s a lot that I would like to share. For starters, Star Wars: The Old Republic is still my MMO of choice and has been taking up the bulk of my time over the last two weeks. With the 12x XP buff I have gained eleven levels—my Sawbones Scoundrel is now 46—and I would like to comment on the whole experience but that will have to wait for the next Dual Wielding installment on May 28^th. What I can say is that the boost has had both positive and negative effects on my enjoyment of the game. I like the accelerated pace because it fits well with my play schedule however it has inadvertently decreased content variety while leveling because at 12x XP I keep playing class story quests and neglecting all the other types of gameplay I enjoy like Warzones and Flashpoints and Galactic Starfighter. As a result I find myself less motivated to log in. However my decreased interest in SWTOR may simply stem from the fact that I have reached that 6-8 week mark when the honeymoon phase with an MMO ends and I have to decide whether I’m going to stick with it or come back later. For SWTOR the plan is to stay but to take little mini-vacations by playing Marvel Heroes and Trove.

While SWTOR is still at the top of my MMO list, this past week I have also spent a lot of time leveling a Dracolyte (now level 16) and a few other classes in Trove. On that note, another article I plan on writing soon will cover the reasons why I’m playing it (and why I think you should be too!) All in all, there’s something relaxing about Trove. I log on and immediately begin to roam around exploring, gathering, stumbling upon random lairs and dungeons, and learning the various crafting and progression systems. With the release of the golden thread patch on Tuesday which added several quests that provide new players with a little more direction I ended up with an abundance of Cubits with which I purchased a couple of new classes. Trove is one of the most generous free to play games when it comes to purchasing classes with in-game currency. Everyone raves about Marvel Heroes (including me) but in this regard Trove wins. By the time I complete all the quests I should be able to purchase at least one more.

Basically I have the desirable problem of too many great writing ideas and too many great games to play. The hard part is having the self-discipline to forego both when there are more important things going on in my life, which there almost always is. That said, things are quieting down a little and I should have some extra time to write and game this week. I look forward to doing both and sharing the outcome here.