A Day Late and a Lot Short

I typed this last night - along with a lot of other stuff - but only just now am getting around to posting it. I'll let you guess why.

Just barely under 4.6k now.

My lingering cold has progressed to the crippling head pain stage. My head is killing me, I'm nauseous, and the screen is shaking or my head is, I can't play like this. It's just as well because I think the bloom is off the rose for the CB for me.

I think I've successfully broken it.

Finally got a run going with my dream team of a pair of Rangers, a pair of Monks, and an Ele. Actually, it was a Rit and a Monk but, on second thought, that actually makes a lot of sense. And a PUG rather than having everyone on vent to co-ordinate tactics. But, as I expected, it worked like a charm, especially once the team figured out that the best way to win was to forget about the shrines and just camp the spawn. Newbs rez up, try to fight, get smacked down. Try to run, get Pinned Down. The score climbs up and you win. It's just that simple. The hard part is getting those first few early kills that mean you can pen them in their base. But if you can do that, there's really no way to lose.

Also, since my reflexes were shot, I made the run to Rata Sum to get into the Polymock game. Always been intrigued by that since it wasn't in the preview weekend. But, having seen it, I think it's rather more like the Rollerbeetles than Dwarven Brawling. Interesting enough but more of an example of just how far the developers can push the game engine to encompass formats they weren't originally intended for. And, in this case, the answer turns out to be not very well since there's a rather clunky interface where you have to hunt down and click on an NPC to move from turn to psuedo-turn. There's also not as much variety as I'd like since each piece comes with 8 skills but 5 of those are common. Shared between all of them. So the real difference is in those three skills and the real test figuring out the best way to block and interrupt and guard them to finish off your foe before they finish you off.

Anyway, I beat up on the first opponent, who was rather easy. My reflexes were sapped by my illness and all but even I can still interrupt 3~4 second casts and flash up a stance before a hit lands. Flush with my success and wanting to explore the format a little more, I moved on to the next opponent, who was at an outpost I'd already visited. He was a bit more difficult. Even more so since I didn't notice - thanks to Hero panels covering up my chat box - that I'd won a new piece for beating the entry level guy. I was stuck with my original three pieces including the abysmal Merlock guy who's just a waste of space, really. And the critters the second guy rolled out were much more impressive than the first. Even handicapped by my own lack of attention, though, I was able to finish them off. Took a try or two but I eventually managed it. And that's where I got off the Polymock boat, because to continue I need to get to another area I haven't visited yet, find another NPC in another outpost. Which sucks since I want to keep fighting, not race through the countryside. I can't even play a non-quest round since you need a common, uncommon, and rare piece before you can schedule a match. After beating the 2nd annoying little Asuran bastard, I got a Kappa who's grape flavored but I still need that golden piece (And I've noticed I have a Fire Imp, too, from beating the 1st. That probably would have been useful.). Which I've looked into and is only available after the end of a lengthy string of quests. G fucking g, devs. I want to practice and try out my new pieces, I want to see the ins and outs of their bars, I want to try out different sequences and combinations, I want to play another match. But I can't. I can't even go back and redo the quests I've done. Until I make the trek to that distant outpost, I can't play another round of Polymock at all. And, you know, that suits me just fine at the moment. Stupid little Asuran game anyways.

Tomorrow is the last day before November madness consumes me, so I'm not sure I'll get to play much. I've got a lot of last minute preparations to go through first.