Punishment Of Luxury: WoW Classic, Guild Wars 2, EverQuest II

WoW Classic is beginning to get its claws into me. The diluted enthusiasm of yesterday is begining to coalesce into something more concentrated. I waited until after lunch to log in today but then I played for four hours without a break and I didn't much want to stop then.

I'm sitting here now, typing this post and itching to get back in and level up some more. It's quite a long time since I've wanted to play an MMORPG more than I wanted to write about it and wouldn't you know it, sod's law, all of sudden I'm staring down the barrel at three of them.

My delayed start in Classic today was mainly due to a hospital appointment but also because I logged all three accounts into Guild Wars 2 to pick up the seventh birthday present on my oldest character and the Victorious Anniversary Achievement Box on each account.

The box includes a few nice things and a rock you can stand on. I thought it sounded ludicrous but I have to say I quite like it. It is literally a small rock that goes in your Toy slot that you can pull out and stand on, whereupon your character strikes a triumphal pose. I've only seen it on a Charr so far. Looking forward to seeing what an Asura does with it.

"Ahem. May I remind you who is the Princess here?"

There's also a free Black Lion Key in the cash shop. I love these and so does Mrs Bhagpuss, who does map completion not infrequently to get them and has been known to buy them from the Gem Store.When I told her there was a free one she was considerably more excited than she was for WoW Classic (although she has now actually made a character there (Gnome Warlock) and leveled her up to five).

While I love opening the boxes when it isn't costing me anything, I would never buy a Black Lion Key.  A) they are far too expensive and B) what you usually get is total garbage. Total garbage was exactly what I got on the first two accounts, the two I play these days and also the two that have the Heart of Thorns expansion, which you have to have to be able to use gliding.

My third account (chronologically the second but third in terms of usage) only has the core game so of course that was the one that got the big ticket Exclusive item, the Watchwork Wings Package. Naturally it's account-bound and more surprisngly it looks fantastic. I would absolutely use it on either of the accounts that can, y'know, freakin' well glide!

I was, initially, very annoyed but I calmed down a lot when I realised the "Package" part of the description means you get both wings and a backpack. The backpack is also splendid so at least I can use that.

Take a look at what you could have won...

Fun and exciting though all that was, it obviously wouldn't keep me logged in and playing all day. If it wasn't for WoW Classic, though, the other new addition to the game that came with yesterday's update certainly would. Cooking has finally been raised to a skill level of 500 and I would be on my chef right now, grinding away at the stove. So to speak.

Cooking was the first tradeskill I took up in GW2 and it remains one of my favorites. It's been languishing for years but now it's back! Prices of various ingredients are booming and things will be chaotic for a while, which is always fun, but cooking is going to have to go on the back burner until I cool off on Classic.

The other hot ticket right now, were it not for Blizzard parking their elephant on everyone's lawn, would be EverQuest 2, where there's not only the new Panda quest to enjoy but also a new Fabled dungeon. I really enjoyed the last two of those. I spent a good while getting killed in them before I managed to tweak my gear and build sufficiently to start downing names and looting upgrades.

Can't stop! Things to do!

This time the schedule's so crowded I haven't even patched EQII up yet. Maybe tomorrow, as the theme tune to The Littlest Hobo would have it. Could have used that as the post title if I'd been as smart as the dog.

As far as posting about Classic goes, I have so much to say I don't know where to start. The reason you're not reading any of it now is that I know if I get stuck into a post about it I'll be here all night. Only this time I don't want to spend the evening writing about the game - I want to play it.

So I'm going to! Bye!