things-to-do
Latest
Tattered Notebook: There's too much to do in EverQuest II!
For this latest Tattered Notebook, I'd already planned -- and in fact was in the middle of -- writing impressions of Scars of the Awakened, EverQuest II's most recent meaty update. I've collected a slew of notes taken from the adventurer and crafter questlines, including some tips and time-saving tricks. But amidst all that intense update research (I gladly sacrifice myself for you guys!), I got distracted. And no, it wasn't by a shiny! You see, although the land of Cobalt Scar opened up just over a month ago, I've been pulled away and unable to complete everything I want to in that zone. Why? Because in that same time, there have been multiple city festivals, a round of Moonlight Enchantments (with new quests and brand-new housing items that were a must have), a double XP weekend that just begged for some serious crafting advancement, a commissioned housing project to complete, personal houses to decorate, old quests to finally finish up... and that was just to start! As the guilt for not finishing the entirety of GU66 settled in, friends who weren't as high-level as I wanted to play together in areas they had access to, which coincidentally did not include the latest update. So off I ran through older zones and dungeons with lower-leveled friends. Needless to say, my in-game adventures of late have stretched all over the map of Norrath. Sounds busy, no? It was during all this that I had to finally lay my delusions of finishing everything I have planned before EverQuest Next to rest; there's just too much to do in EQII!
Wings Over Atreia: Twelve activities for Daevas under max level
You know me: I'm the lollygagger. In no rush to zoom through games, I tend to wander about just taking a gander at things. I peek into all the nooks and crannies and am easily sidetracked by all the shinies. In the journey vs. destination debate, I am a proud pompom-waving, card-carrying member of "the journey is half the fun" crowd. It's a wonder I progress at all! But progress I do, and in Aion I had been max level for quite some time. Emphasis on "had." Then 3.0 rolled around. It's actually odd being lower-level again, unable to participate in everything because of level restrictions. Sorry MJ, no dungeon for j00! It's my fault really, since I could level but have been distracted with housing, mentoring, etc. Then I got to thinking about just how many things there are to do even without being max level. Whoa! Sometimes people have the (in my humble opinion, erroneous) idea that Aion doesn't really start until max level, that everything you do before reaching that exalted pinnacle isn't playing. Don't be absurd! The game doesn't start at level 60; it starts at level 1. Remember the part about enjoying the journey? Why worry about reaching some magical number! Just play. After all, experience happens -- before you know it, you will level up. Previously, Wings Over Atreia discussed some things to do once you reach endgame. Here, in no particular order, are 12 ways to take your eyes off your experience bar and just play with reckless abandon before maxing out.
The Daily Grind: Your maintenance day doings
Many MMOs have maintenance during the regular week. EVE Online's server goes down each morning between 6 and 7 AM Eastern. As I type this the World of Warcraft servers are offline, and there are rather a lot of people deciding what to do with the remainder of their day. Some are headed to school or work and the servers should be back up before they're home, hopefully. Others are planning a long day of spending quality time with their chores. This morning we thought we'd ask - when your game has maintenance during one of your playtime windows, what do you do? Are you fond of catching up on your console gaming? Perhaps you prefer to curl up with a good book, or head out to spend some time with friends? Take up a new craft? What's your favorite thing to do for maintenance?
Player vs. Everything: Maxed out and bored
Congratulations! You've hit level 70 (or whatever max level is in your favorite game), and you're officially a badass. For many players, this is a goal they've been striving towards for months -- even years in some cases. The feeling of having that first max level character is immensely invigorating. It's like putting the finishing touches on a long-term project or getting to the last page of a monstrous novel. What an accomplishment! However, after basking in the glow of your newly maxed out character for a few days, you quickly realize you have a small problem: What do you do with yourself now? The answer to that question is going to depend heavily on what game you play. For most people, it's going to be PvP, raiding, or a nice mix of both. You'll probably continue collecting gear for your character or working on your skills. Depending on the game, you might be able to work on some sort of alternate advancement or achievement system for your character -- maybe even hunt down some unique titles. All of this is pretty standard fare for endgame content. Sooner or later, you'll probably get a little bored of it. Don't fret, though! There's a whole host of other interesting things you can do to keep yourself entertained at maximum level that go beyond the planned content. Read on for a few suggestions.
TUAW's Top X Things To Do if You Can't Attend WWDC '07
Developers and other Mac notables are descending once again on San Francisco for WWDC 2007. It is sure to be a week of exciting product announcements (not just from Apple, mind you), parties galore and elbow rubbing in a way only the Mac community can lay claim to.But what if you can't go?Fear not, oh devoted reader of ours, for we have a 10-step plan that is sure to shake the "can't get to WWDC" blues. Who cares if you can't join the keynote audience Monday morning in giving Steve Jobs a standing ovation just for walking on stage? And who needs to go to the Delicious Generation party! It's just going to be a bunch of drunk Mac notables standing on tables and singing Daisy Bell together. Besides, the t-shirts we're giving away at our TUAW meetup are gonna be way cooler, but if you can't attend that... why go to WWDC at all?If you're stuck at home and unable to acquire your wife's credit card number, our list of suggestions is for you. Besides, these are gonna be, like, way funner than anything happening in San Francisco this week anyway: Take chalk, umbrella, sleeping bag, get an early start on that camp-out for June 29th Furiously refresh Engadget and MacRumors for live coverage of Jobs' keynote Seek out every developer's blog you've ever bought software from and ask them if you can share their room or just sleep on the floor if you buy a second license Ignore the live coverage and don't check your RSS feeds so you can have all the excitement of playing Keynote Bingo Monday afternoon with what will likely be a pixelated and barely-working QuickTime stream Collect apple cores, attach to puppeteering rigs, put on a show to convince family that this is what Steve meant by 'Core Animation' Get VMware running Linux inside Parallels running Vista on your Mac Pro; leave your body and watch your own head explode Try to come up with slightly weird pronunciations of 'Leopard' to memorialize Steve's rendition of OS X 10.2 as "Jag-wire" Console yourself with the knowledge that this year the Apple party is in San Francisco, so there's no chance you'd get to go to the Company Store anyway Buy an iPiggy Bank and start saving for Macworld '08, because #3 isn't a very good plan to begin with Phone your local Apple Store on the hour, every hour to ask "did you get [it] in yet?" Have a friend make the calls once the store recognizes your voice and/or blocks your number And there you have it: 10 great ways to entertain yourself if - like many of us - you'll be watching the coming week's festivities from a distance.
