Gamedays and Conventions

This past Saturday was Gameday in my town- I am officially a gamer now, I hit my one-year anniversary! It’s been lots of fun, scary, intimidating, frustrating, exhilarating, and exhausting, but I now have three characters to choose from in my stable: a Ranger, a Rogue and a Sorcerer. It’s grows on you, too- I want to make a Fighter and a Cleric (still!) and druids and bards just fascinate me! But when oh when would I ever find the time to play them all, let alone level them up to really see them in action?

Which brings me to Con season. Spring brings several conventions to my area: ConDor, Kingdom Con, and Orc Con up in LA, plus Comic Con is just around the corner in July, so we have plenty to choose from. We picked Kingdom Con this year, as we’ve never gone and it’s in our city. All gaming, all the time I’m told- I’ve never played at a real convention before. My first was a two-day Gameday my group ran last November- it was insane! Six slots over two days, gaming long into the night and early the next morning, I surprised myself by wanting to do them all. I didn’t, alas, so this time I am really looking at the scheduling board to see what’s available. I am also hoping there will be some vendors set up- I really need some new dice…wow, I really am a gamer at this point…

So, a what’s a girl to do when Gameday is a month away? Settle into SWTOR of course! It’s not as pretty as World of Warcraft, and you don’t get to play elves or cow people, but it’s a close second. Jedi’s and Smuggler’s are a good consolation prize for the lack of colour and depth of field that is characterizing the game for me right now. I got over it quickly enough though- I have about 3 or 4  characters running at the moment, with a few more to come. This time around I wanted to try out everything, so I’m taking my toons up to level 10 then starting a new one. It’s been an interesting system so far, and it’s teaching me a lot about the mechanics and overall tone of the game. Plus, I get to create characters, which is my favorite part of gaming!

Hmm…Blasters and Lightsabers, or Daggers and Crossbows ?

Identity crisis

There comes a point in gaming after you’ve played your first character for a while, become comfortable with her, created a few other characters, and become comfortable with them too, when you wake up and realize- you are scared of your baby.

That, my friends, is the curse of the middle tier character levels. Your baby is no longer a baby- she’s a full-fledged Ranger/Fighter/Rogue/Wizard, and she’s hard to play. Her weapons do more damage, or even have abilities of their own. Your character’s attacks have increased- more attacks mean more math, more bonuses, more penalties to keep track of. More opportunities to incur the wrath of your table mates with your indecision and bad feats choices.

So, what do you do? Play low-tier, dump the extras, and nerf your beloved? Lock her away in a closet and roll a new level 1? Act dumb and let the boys at the table do your math for you? Nay, I say- nay. You pull out the books and get cracking! Learn how to tabulate those new bonuses, read up on those extra feats you now qualify for, and get out there and kick some goblinoid butt!

But keep that level 3 Rogue in your bag, just in case. . .