by Savanja on Jan 04, 2006
by Paul "SLiDE" Shortt
<!-- if (!document.phpAds_used) document.phpAds_used = ','; phpAds_random = new String (Math.random()); phpAds_random = phpAds_random.substring(2,11); document.write ("<" + "script language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript' src='"); document.write ("http://ads.tentonhammer.com/adjs.php?n=" + phpAds_random); document.write ("&what=zone:25"); document.write ("&exclude=" + document.phpAds_used); if (document.referrer) document.write ("&referer=" + escape(document.referrer)); document.write ("'><" + "/script>"); //-->One of the most popular new year traditions is to make resolutions. People make promises to themselves to do things better or in some cases worse. This tradition is traced back to early Babylon when folks would make a mental note to return borrowed farming equipment (That reminds me, I should probably take that snow blower back to my neighbor). So let's grab a glass of champagne, put our arms around our neighbors and sing some Auld Lang Syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
mleh mleh mlehmleh flemleh?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
blah flah meh auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
Mleh mleh mlehmleh mleh mleh mlehmleh,
for auld lang syne.
Are those the lyrics you know? Yeah me too.
Alright, let's take a look at some of these new year's resolutions.
Statistics show that 50% of people who partake in New Year's resolutions vow to spend more time with family and friends. This should include you gaming buddies too. While I'm sure that blood relatives are supposed to take precedence, we don't want to ignore the people who we fight with and die with on a daily basis. Isn't a strong guild sort of like family? Sure it is. Next time your spouse wants to drag you to the grocery store, you tell them, HEY!, I need to spend more time with my family. Who can say no to that?
It's all about money and raiding and dueling and master chests these days. Let's take a step back and just enjoy life a little more. What? Your guild leader needs you to scribe 12 adept III spells for him by tomorrow or you're out of the guild? Pffff. Just take it easy man. Go for a dip in the ocean off of the Thundering Steppes. Ride a griffin across the map and bounce some carp jerkey off of some unsuspecting skeletons' skulls as you fly by. Take it easy because it's just a game.
Yeah, so we all need to lose more weight. Well how bout we switch it around this year! Let's plump up those toons of ours. As it sits right now, all of our characters look pretty darned fit, with the exception of those halflings and ogres, but they can't help it, they're built that way. Let's give a round of applause to those game designers who work so hard for us all year round. I'm sure they wouldn't be opposed to gifts, gratuity and songs of praise. Maybe if we're nicer and complain less, they'll give us the opportunity to fatten our characters up a bit. McDonalds Zones in each town would add on that extra pudge quite nicely.
This has been a huge problem for monsters, mobs, and player characters one and all. Someone needs to do something about this annoyance brought on by all the wizards out there. I can't even take a walk anymore without someone or something going up in smoke after being struck by some type of fire or lightning spell. Couldn't we perhaps find some other means of killing things? The ice spells are fine. How about we replace the fire with rubber chickens? If you get hit by enough rubber chickens you'll die. Rubber chickens don't cause things to go up in billows of acrid, flesh and fur smelling smoke.
New Year always seems like a great time to stop drinking. However, most people are not even close to being ready for such an enormous lifestyle change. Look at Tipsy Tina in Qeynos Harbor. She's still drunk. Look at Hubert Downs in Starcrest. He's still drunk. It's not an easy task. Over the past year I've seen players drink more while playing Everquest 2 than I'd care to admit. While these people can be a barrel of laughs, they are recipe for certain debt. So while some of you may choose the quit drinking resolution, I will be choosing the Stop grouping with drunk people resolution.
Have you ever promised to learn something new? Now's your chance to start a new alternate character. Start a class that you've always wondered about. Start in Freeport or Qeynos if you haven't tried it yet. Challenge your mind in the coming year by researching questions you might have. Browse the Ten Ton Hammer web site (shameless plug) , search the SoE forums and find out where Farmer Wilcott resides. Less out of character chatting (/ooc) to find answers and more research will do everyone some good. There are plenty of sites and information available to search for the answers you need.
Be a big brother or sister for those poor, wild eyed no0bs being beat down by moat rats and traitorous farmers. Give away a stale adept 1 spell that you don't really need to a stranger. Point some people in the right direction when politely asked. Respect players camping mobs. Toss out a high level spell upon a mob dominating a fellow player in some of the lower zones as you pass by. There are tons of things we all can do to help each other out.
Owe some people some money for all that armor you ordered? What? You've seem to run out of cash? Time to get out of debt! It's New Year and no one wants to start 2006 with plat debt to the local armorer. Start making some money. Crafting is a great way to start. Make some items and sell them off for profit. What could be better than that? Perhaps working is just too unthinkable. Next step would be harvesting and collecting. Rares and collection items can net some high end cash if priced right at the broker. So, stop borrowing money, stop visiting that wiley gigglegibber goblin, and stop spending your money on pretty robes and paintings when you know yer broke.
Clean out your bags! If you are anything like me, you still have stacks of tin clusters in your bank slot and you have no clue why. Don't be afraid to destroy books or old quest starters that you'll never ever use. Clean out your quest journal. It's always nice to have about 10 free slots at all times for some breathing room. How annoying is it to pick up a quest only to find out that your journal is full? Add some things to your guild bank, sell things off and organize your bags according to category. Even naming your bags can save you time searching for items in the future.
Get to your guild events on time! It's bad enough trying to organize and coordinate a raid of 12 or more people when everyone is on time, but when you have to wait for group members to run clear across the world only to need a strategy explained all over again it causes headaches, grumbling, and sometimes even a failed event because certain people may be on a time schedule. So let's get to work on time guys and gals so that everyone can kill things in a much more timely manner.
Well that should about cover it for the top ten new years resolutions in EQ2. If you have any special in game resolutions that you plan on following, feel free to start a thread in the TTH forums.
Hope your 2006 is fun, enjoyable and safe.