Hammerfist Clan adds WoW

Hammerfist Clan, the guild I'm a member of, has added a World of Warcraft team to go along with the other sponsored games in the HFC lineup.  I know I'm biased, regarding HFC, but it really is great to be able to go game to game with people you already know and have built friendships with over the years versus having to start over each game trying to find a guild that works.



Currently HFC has teams in six MMOs:


LoTRO (Lord of the Rings Online) our oldest branch were we recently celebrated HFC's 11th Anniversary, LoTRO style - complete with fireworks, parade and freezetag. The LoTRO team has a ton of experience as many have played since beta and have a variety of max level characters. (Brandywine server)

 LoTRO team and other HFC members that came to celebrate

RIFT.  One of my personal favorites.  The RIFT team is pure awesome!  We're casual but do raid Mondays/Tuesday, and have other team activities throughout the week, including Crifting, Instance runs, pick up raids and PvP. (Faeblight, Defiant side)

RIFT team, Greenscale Blight Raid

TOR (Star Wars:The Old Republic).  HFC has two teams, one Republic and one Empire. Both are very active and have raid schedules.  I'm not playing TOR at this time but I believe they raid on Fri/Sat/Sun. (Canderous Ordo for the Republic & The Shadowlands for the Empire)

TOR Republic beating SOA

 
TSW (The Secret World).  With the recent launch of TSW, the team is still leveling, but we're all enjoying this game. It definitely is one of the different ones, but many of us have opted for lifetime subs, so the TSW team should be around for many years.  Currently the offiers are working on setting up days for Guild Instance Runs and team PvP. (Arcadia dimension)

 TSW in Fusang pvp

GW2 (Guild Wars 2).  The GW2 has been playing the beta weekends, while we impatiently wait for launch in August.  It will be a fantastic team, blending the PvPers (w00t), along with the team-mates that are all about PvE and the crafters. (Server selection is still being discussed, but we've been on Eternal Grove for beta)

HFC team, Borderlands PvP

Newest addition, WoW (World of Warcraft), to the mix is fantastic for the polygamerous, like me, that play a variety of games. WoW is still going strong and with the Mist of Panderia expansion out in the next few months, it will continue to be one of the foundation MMOs. I'll be relocating one (or more) of my toons there and likely rerolling a few to experience all things WoW! (Bealgun server, Alliance).

 Sithi on one of her many mounts

Overall, I'm very excited by all the new things happening with HFC. Recent additions to our already busy forum is a member article section were news and reviews will be featured, along with a new area of non-gamer topics, including interesting discussions on food, sports, books, movies and music.

So, if you're looking to connect with casual-core gamers that honor real life over gaming, but take our gaming serious - in a fun way of course -  check out the amazing community - Hammerfist Clan.

HFC is an 18+ age drama free guild. Currently using Mumble.


Team application

Code of Conduct for HFC teams

How HFC began - Gaming is theraputic.

Guild Wars 2 - blogs & links

It's wonderful to see more blogs appearing on the 'Net for all things GW2.  I spent some time today, collecting a variety of GW2 blogs (and info sites).



Dragon Season - http://dragonseason.com/Front/tabid/124/tagid/133/

The Tyrian Order - http://www.thetyrianorder.com/

Guardians of Tyria - http://guardiansoftyria.com/

Crossing Tyria - http://crossingtyria.com/

Guild Wars 2 Journal - http://www.guildwars2journal.com/

Angerina Warpride - http://angerinagw2.wordpress.com/

GWOnline - http://guildwars.incgamers.com/

Flame Throwing - http://flame-throwing.com/

The Feral Engineer - http://theferalengineer.wordpress.com/

Talk Tyria - http://www.talktyria.net/

Under the Pale Tree - http://thepaletree.net/

Sage Like One - http://www.youtube.com/user/SagelikeOne

Killabytes Online - http://www.killabytesonline.com/

Nerdy Bookahs - http://nerdybookahs.wordpress.com/


Other GW2 Links:

GuildWars2Fans

Guild Wars2.com

Guild Wars2 Guru

Guild Wars2 Hub

Guild Wars2 Junkies

GW2 Database

BandofBrothers - New Player Handbook 

 

GW2 Database

A guildie posted this on our guild forum.

The GW2 database is live. 

It's going to be an wonderful resource for all things  GW2 and our travels around Tyria.  It's a Curse.com site, (and I do love what Curse does - premium member here!), so should be well maintained and accurate.

The DATABASE includes:

• A scalable map (kinda Google mapish).
• Item list - everything from armor to crafting materials to gizmos
• Achievements list - heading but blank pages still
• Traits list - by profession
• Skill list - by profession, race and pet skills
• Skill Calculator - will all be crunching stats/numbers here

 And, the one I'm thrilled to see  - Recipes.  (All of them are listed.)

I've always love to cook in game, and  do plan on leveling Cooking.  Knowing when I reach that frustration point on discovery, there is a resource out there is great!  I tried cooking in beta, ArenaNet did not lie this is an advanced skill and quickly can suck up the resources for a low level character.

Database is bookmarked for future use. Wonderful job again Curse!


There is an updated list on GW2Guru (June 15 updated) of other 'unofficial' web apps (not addons), wikis, calculators and databases.


Now if we only had a release date....

Pre-launch, big patch, stress test = busy gaming week!

Busy gaming week coming up with three of my favorite games, The Secret World, RIFT and GW2.


The Secret World (TSW)
The big one of course is the head-start for pre-orders for The Secret World on June 29th.  We've been meeting to put the coordinate the guild launch (officially Templar) as the official launch is quickly approaching on July 3rd. 

The guild I'm is terribly excited as we were named one of the 50 founding guilds for TSW.  I don't know how much effect that will have playing but our team lead won a lifetime sub (we had a challenge match to see who won that!).   I had already pre-purchased a lifetime sub (learning from my big regret of NOT buying it with LoTRO!), but thought that was an awesome reward for the guild.

TSW has vastly improved over the past month (now that the NDA is lifted), and anyone that hasn't been back since the first open beta should give it another shot.  It looks really good now!


RIFT
The other exciting news, RIFT patch 1.9 launches on Wednesday, July 27th.  Three faction PvP, mentoring, a new world event and barbershop are the things I'm really excited about.  I'm really excited about all the new things TRION is adding to RIFT.  The three faction PvP that is NOT related to the two in game factions should be a novel approach.  That and adding crafted goods to PvP, awesome.

The addition of mentoring will be nice to play with new people to the guild (won't really help with my fourth toon four levels from 50, but it will be great to get XP while helping out guildies.


Guild Wars 2 (GW2)
Announced today on Facebook, another mid-week stress test.  Another Wednesday, July 27th (10-2PST).  A short window of play time, but enough to get a few hours of GW2 goodness in.  This game is like a bloody drug, and my guildmates and I moan for days after our withdrawals.

When GW2 goes live, I have a feeling my other MMO loves will be on the bench for a few days/weeks.  I've been totally in love with all aspects of this game in the two betas I've played. 

The beta tests (IMHO) have been very similar to the wonderful experience I had with RIFT during beta weekends.  TRION and ArenaNet really seem to be on top of what a quality MMO should be.

Guild Wars 2 - pet collecting

Guild Wars 2 has exceeded all expectations and I'm thoroughly loving the Ranger.  Part of the fun has been searching out the companion pets available for rangers in Tyria.

Over the two beta weekends, I and a few guild-mates managed to locate and charm 24 land and 3 aquatic pets. It has been fun locating and sharing the info with the other pet happy people in our guild.  I even ninja-stole one from one friend.  Never trust me when it comes to pets/mounts - I've warned them!

I didn't get photos of a all the pets charmed, but here are some that were:

Juvenile Whiptail Devourer (Charmed Plains of Ashford, Devourer's Mouth, Charr area)

Juvenile Lashtail Devourer (Charmed Diessa Plateau)

Juvenile Lynx (Charmed Snowden Drifts)

Juvenile White Moa (Charmed Snowden Drifts)

Juvenile Alpine Wolf (Charmed Outcast's Cleft)

see more GW2 pets >>

Rift Quest Series - Crocnard Mount

Just finished this for the third time (fourth time in 9.5 more levels!).

It's long, but fun and gives much of the lore about the Faceless Man and has some decent rewards including the awesome Crocnard Mount!   My opinion the best mount in the game.

Below is the write up on ZAM for the quest chain, followed by an excellent walk-thru from the Herding Cats Blog.

** If you don't have Dragonslayer rep to decorated, you will have a few hours of rep grinding mobs in Shimersand (repeatable quest at Wrymbane Spire turning in ritual firebrands) or running Charmers Caldera.

Water Saga - Crocnard Mount

Water Saga (Rift Quest Series) :: Wiki :: Rift :: ZAM

Prerequisites: Level 50.  To combat the Abyssal, Ascended can embark on the Water Saga, an epic quest series that unravels the origin of this lunatic cult. Guardians and Defiant must stop the Abyssal resurgence, save important members of their faction from the cult’s insanity, and learn more about the sinister Tidelords, the heroes who first imprisoned Akylios, and the Faceless Man’s secret past. Aimed at high-level Ascended acting alone and in groups, the Water Saga offers both epic loot and a swift and cold-blooded Crocnard Mount. ^[1]

This new Water Saga is a compelling story of heroes and traitors alike in the continuing struggle against the Abyssal Cult, released by the opening of the gates of Hammerknell. From the wreckage of Estrael and her companions, to the long-held secrets of well-known heroes, both Guardians and Defiant alike are beckoned to travel across Telara to engage in this fascinating saga!

Defiant
On the Defiant side, this begins in Abyssal Precipice with the Faceless Man. For anyone curious about his background, you will love this series.^[2]

Act I Achievement: Exploring the Deep

1. A New Era for the Abyssal
2. Meetings of Interest
3. Tomes of Madness
4. A Personal Request
5. Rescue Mission
6. Blood in the Water
7. Explorers of the Deep

Act II Achievement: Soggy Historian

1. The Wreck of the Novia
2. Hiding Among Dragonslayers
3. Last of the Zardonis
4. Out of the Fire
5. A Token of the Fae
6. Enchanted Wood
7. Heir of Nyx
8. Wishes of a Dominata
9. Reclaimed from the Storm
10. Remains of the Great
11. Bound in Death
12. A Mask for All Seasons

Act III Achievement: Lord of Madness

1. Joining the Cabal
   
   • Initiation
2. Traitor of Meridian
3. Seals Against the Deep
4. Unworking the Ritual
   
   • Ilchorin's Favor
5. Breaking the Bond
6. Faceless Gratitude

This is a good walk-thru of each step and what the requirements/rewards are:

From HERDING CATS BLOG
I love this easy write up on the Water Saga Quest chain.

Act One

• Start the chain by picking up a quest in Abyssal Precipice, a Tier 2 dungeon.
  5-man group required
• Head to Iron Pine Peak and go pick on a camp of baddies. This is marked as a group quest, but it was laughably easy with four people.
  solo or duo; reward: collectible book
• Run around a lot and listen to lore in Meridian and Freemarch. Spoiler: you get a “madness” debuff during this stage of the quest that allows you to see giant tentacles and other horrible things around Meridian. It was actually pretty creepy.
  solo; reward: collectible book
• Head back to IPP and meet a very neat new lore-based character, and escort them out of danger. This was marked as a group quest I think, but I completed it solo.
  solo or duo
• Grind time! You have to kill 100 cultists in Iron Pine Peak. Yes, 100. Yes, you can do it in a group to make it go faster.
  solo grind; reward: epic essence
• Go talk to the librarian at Chancel of Labours. Get used to it, you will be seeing him a lot.
  solo; reward: the title “Tidelord” and an achievement

Act Two

• Head to the coastline of Moonshade Highlands and kill some elite and non-elite NPCs to collect four items.
  duo
• Head to Shimmersand and talk to the Dragonslayer faction. You must be Decorated with the Dragonslayers to continue. For what it’s worth I did all my Dragonslayer quests while leveling up and probably three days of dailies, and was pretty much exactly Decorated by the time I got to this quest.
  solo rep
• Swim out to the middle of the Lake of Solace and loot a chest. Then back to the Chancel to turn it in!
  solo
• You now need to obtain an item in the Tier 1 version of Realm of the Fae. It’s just after the first boss, so your group can quit early if they want.
  5-man group required
• Time for quests and lore in Shimmersand! I had no problem doing these solo.
  solo
• Back to T2 Runic Descent, this time to kill a mob near the end of the instance. Completing this will give you a hat that is both delightfully ugly and, for my bard, anyway, best in slot.
  5-man group required; reward: the title “the Soggy”, an epic hat, an achievement

Act Three

• Head out to lake shores of Freemarch. You get to do a few cool quests while wearing a neat temporary costume. (solo)Kill a named elite dude in the middle of the lake. We had three people doing this quest, and he still kicked our butts the first time. Also, some kind of water breathing ability or potion will help a LOT.
  4-5 people
• Next up is an exceedingly neat series of quests that let you run around up above Meridian.
  solo
• Complete an air rift of level 44 or higher for a special drop. I did one solo in Iron Pine Peak, but it would be faster and easier with a group.
  solo/group rift
• Run around the world doing some solo quests, then kill a named elite in Moonshade Highlands.
  duo
• Go back to Shimmersand and lure five cultists to a watery death.
  solo
• Head back to the shores of Freemarch and complete a ritual. We had six people helping with this particular part, but five would have done. You want the fight to be as short as possible, so don’t skimp on DPS!
  5-man group
• Voila! Turn in that last quest back in Meridian, and congratulations.
  reward: achievement, epic shoulders, a crocnard mount, and the insanely awesome title “Mistress/Master of Madness”

How many forum members does it take

.... to change a lightbulb?

One to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed.

Fourteen to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.

Seven to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.

Seven more to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.

Three to correct spelling/grammar errors.

Six to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb".

Another six to condemn those six as stupid.

Fifteen to claim experience in the lighting industry and give the correct spelling.

Nineteen to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb (or light bulb) forum.

Eleven to defend the posting to the group saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this group.

Thirty six to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty.

Seven to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs.

Four to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL.

Three to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group.

Thirteen to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too".

Five to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy.

Four to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

Thirteen to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs."

Three to tell a funny story about their cat and a light bulb.

AND

One group lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now
with something unrelated and start it all over again.

Back in WoW

After cancelling my sub to World of Warcraft back in December, I've missed it...alot.  Not that I've ever been heavy into end-game raiding, etc., but I miss Azeroth and there are still so many things I haven't done there.

So, talking to a friend that has been playing and asked him to send me a scroll of resurrection.  Looked at all the sub options and decided to go for the annual pass as I know I'm playing a panda!  Diablo III, I hadn't had much interest in, but will likely try it now.

Watch out Azeroth, I'M BACK!

Having been gone so long with Rift, LoTRO and most recently TOR holding my attention, there are so many changes, it feels like a new game again!

I flew back to Stormwind just in time for the Horde invasion, so helped fight them off, only to be totally owned by an undead warlock up behind the keep.  When did 'locks get 140K health?  Ouch!

After that I decided to check the Darkmoon Faire, I can't remember the last time I attended one, so when did it move to its own island?

Pretty cool.  It felt like a a faire instead of a traveling carney event it use to.

Now we have one of the seasonal fun events - NobleGarden.  Time to chase down eggs and work on those achievements!

It feels good to be back.

GW2 - purchase now

Guild Wars 2 Pre-Purchase started today.  So of course had my order in a little after midnight.  Digital Deluxe Edition.  https://buy.guildwars2.com/

I'm definitely looking forward to spending time in GW2 as our guild has a number of people that will be playing.  Many of us interested in the PvP aspect of the game.  It should be good times.


The only thing I'm really hoping for is that it WON'T release to close to The Secret World's June release date.  TSW is the one I've been waiting for more than any other game in recent times.  Crossing my fingers the beta next month proves it was worth the wait and FunCom can put out a good game at launch.


It's definitely been a good gaming day - my Kinect finally arrived and I've been testing that out as well.  It will be a fun way to get in shape.  One day MMO's using a Kinect - gamers will be the fittest people out there!

Karraga and HM EV

Finally we did it.  Fabricator went down and Karraga was literally a cake-walk. Well almost.

We did manage to down Fabricator after only two tries and Karraga one attempt and he was dead.

Big yeah there.

As we were feeling so awesome, we decided to test an EV HM.  First attempt we wiped immediately on the turrets, but after that we sailed through with minimum deaths taking down Annihilation Droid XRR-3, the trash and Gharj, before we had to call it on account of people's schedules.

We were really surprised at how easily it all was coming together.  I think we'd 'assumed' it was going to be much harder than it was, but all of us being well geared has helped.  No enrage timers hit and a fun night.

Good upgrades for many of the team too!