Scatterbrained

Recently I seem to be a bit scatterbrained and find myself with no clear sense of direction in my gaming strategy.

EverQuest

I suppose my first choice right now in gaming is EverQuest. I’ve been working to try to get my fledgling character moving in this game but keep running into issues.

First, I could not log in. Then it was the 4K screen and my less than 20/20 vision that would not allow me to read anything on the screen. Then it was logging in again.

Finally, I had it all working. The queues were decent, and I was able to get into the game to play, I was able to figure out how to tweak my setting so I could actually read what was going on in my UI, and I started my journey.

And then I was hit upside the head with the realization that this was EverQuest and it was made last millennia with gameplay elements from way-back-when which meant it too FOREVER to move from one level to the next.

Ok, so I proceeded to whack and hack and smash and zap spiders, skeletons, wolves, wasps, and pretty much anything I could find in the immediate area around my starting city. After 5 days of this, I made it to level 3, and the devs were beneficent and decided to increase the experience gained by killing monsters. I gained another level and a half in another day and was just about to the point where everyone suggests I might start looking for a group when the devs looked down from on high and proclaimed they didn’t like short queues.

So now I am back to not being able to log in…and I’m off to other games in the meantime.

Settlers 7

My next choice was another nostalgia title, Settlers 7. Actually, I had never played the 7th incarnation of the game, but I loved previous versions, so I decided to give this one a try.

And I’m enjoying it. Sure, there’s a learning curve, and I’ve gotta figure out what types of food are best for what types of soldiers. But I get a lot of enjoyment when I see my grain being carried to the bakery to be turned into bread. Or my woodcutters chopping down a forest to be turned into planks and made into buildings.

I’m gonna stick with this game, but it’s not gonna hold ALL my attention right now.

Destiny 2

So then I decided to go with something a bit more action-oriented and settled on Destiny 2. Previously, I was heavily into this game and actually completed a couple of the campaigns to the point where I considered I had finished the game.

Of course, expansions came out, and I fell behind, but I still put this game in the completed column – at least for the base game.

Now I go back, and things are very different. Rather than following through a main storyline to being the game, I’m allowed pretty much to do whatever I want. I suppose that’s a good thing, but since I’m trying to get into the game again, I’d prefer a bit more structural guidance.

We’ll see how this goes, but for now, I’m enjoying re-experiencing the European Dead Zone and seeing how things play out. I am kinda taken aback by the lack of character levels and the fact that I start out at a power level of 750, so I have a lot of learning to do. I’m sure I’ll be able to figure things out, and in reality, learning and figuring out what I’m doing again is part of the fun.

It’s a Wrap

So, for now, these three games are on my shortlist for enjoyment. Of course, Out of the Park Baseball is on the agenda too, but even with these three as my focus, I’m not feeling hooked by anything in particular. I want to continue my Secret World Legends journey, and LOTRO, and perhaps even getting up to max level in WoW before the next expansion, but who knows.

As I said at the outset, right now, I’m a bit scatterbrained with regard to gaming. Even though I have the time, I don’t have the focus. I feel a bit like Dug from Up when I spot a squirrel – I’m ready to chase whatever shiny object crosses my vision.

I suppose I’ll be able to grab a bunch of screenshots as I journey from place to place, but I sure would like a little bit of focus to maybe reach some kind of endgame in one of the games I enjoy.

Ramble 2020.02.41 | Scatterbrained