Flashpoint thoughts

As a celebratory end to her flashpoint review series, Shintar of Going Commando interviewed Michael Backus of Bioware, responsible for SWTOR's flashpoints. First off, I think it's really awesome that she did this, and that Bioware took the time to answer. Flashpoints have not gotten much attention lately - people tend to talk more about class or expansion stories and raids - but they're a beloved part of the game to me and an important part of the 'vanilla experience'. The interview fuelled passionate discussions about flashpoints, both on Shintar's blog and on Reddit. I hope that Bioware is following this valuable feedback closely. The post gives a rare insight into the current state and direction of flashpoints and prompted me to write down the following thoughts.

SWTOR's Dark vs Light event: three months later

In my post SWTOR's Dark vs Light event and why it is ill-received by the community, I voiced my disappointment with how this event disregards oldtime players and lacks new content. I still stand by this, but the post came off more ranty than usual. That's what I get for posting it in the heat of the moment without proofreading, I guess (it was late and I just wanted to go to bed). Perhaps this is why people have reacted surprised when they hear that I have created two Dark vs Light characters. Although if they'd have truly read the post, they should not:

"I don't mind casually rolling a couple of characters to level them up through PvP (...). I might go for some of the lower tier rewards (...), but if LOTRO's raid turns out to be good and I can find some people to battle them with, I'll probably head over to there instead."

- Me

And that's exactly what I've done. Yes, I'd have rather seen a new flashpoint or a new raid than this event, but that's no reason to be sulky and sit in a corner doing nothing. I love group content, so that's what I've spent most time doing this summer, but I did find some time to create two Dark vs Light characters I love. So how did I do? (Spoiler: prepare to be not amazed.)

LOTRO's Farmer's Faire 2016 in pictures

2016 Has somehow developed to "the year of LOTRO festivals" for me. Since my return to the game to try out the new raid and instances, I've begun to feel more involved with it again. Never before did I write so much about LOTRO festivals on Ravalation. I find myself participating in festivals I never tried before (usually because I didn't understand them or because they are around for only a short time): first the Buried Treasure event, and now the Farmer's Faire. Here's another photo report.

Review: Cashtronauts

Once upon a time, I won the game Cashtronauts on a super awesome giveaway by Gamerwife. As I was too distracted by MMOs (story of my life) I must admit that it stayed dormant in my Steam library for a while (bad Rav!) until I finally got to try it out. Here's the verdict by an absolutely clueless gamer girl.

Drawing diary: August

August has been a very busy month for me. Unfortunately, this means I don't have much to show you drawing wise. On the upside, it also means you won't have to dig through so much text for a change. If you find yourself thinking "more pictures, less talking, Rav", this post is for you!

I basically did two things this month:

Fashion Friday: evil sith inquisitor

Today I'm sharing an outfit with you that, for a change, doesn't cost a billion credits on the galactic trade network by now and is relatively easy to get (provided you have a high level character) - but it still looks really awesome! And you don't have to take my word for it: just before posting this, I saw @Chitonfya post a screenie of their character with a similar dye on Twitter. What can I say, great minds...

The pretty girl with the emo make-up is my new Dark vs Light character Ravadis, a dark side assassin. She has been on my wishlist for a long time, because the female inquisitor's voice is just perfect for evil characters, but somehow all the inquisitors I made previously looked too cute to play pure dark side. Guess what? I'm loving it. Luckily I'm duoing with Marinka, so I have a shoulder to cry on when I feel bad about Ravadis' actions. We're such saints. But I should stop rambling, you want to know what the set pieces are already!