Massively

I don't have much time, my companions are waiting for me just outside, but I had to sit down and write a bit about the last few days.

After reaching Stormreach Harbor, we've found there is certainly no shortage of work. In fact, we've brought on even more adventurers to our guild, and our reputation is certainly growing. Most of the townsfolk in the city have been asking for us specifically when looking to rid their warehouse of kobolds, recover lost books or get rid of a few spiders. We were even paid to smash up some crates in a storeroom! No matter how well jobs like that pay -- especially from those wealthy merchants -- I can't help but feel like we have a greater purpose here.

That's not to say I won't take the money though. With our band of fighters, mages, healers and rogues becoming so large, it's easy to have someone available at any time. We get our share, spread the wealth and move on. I've actually discovered I have a knack for managing this large group, and we work well together. Even when I'm recovering from injuries and not available, I know I can depend on the guild to do their job, and do it well.

So this week I realized that I really hate kobolds. They're everywhere! Those little buggers might look small and harmless, but they can be a formidable enemy. At Gladeswatch Outpost, we held off hundreds of them as they relentlessly attacked in waves that seemed to never end. We lost a few good allies that day, and I'll never forget their bravery.

When Guard Crichton presented our reward for driving the kobold line back, it felt wrong to accept such riches through the blood of my friends. Thutmosis consoled my sorrow and reminded me that we need to use these new weapons and armor to continue the fight. It's what our fallen comrades would have wanted.

Earlier today, a few of us were commissioned to explore the sewers beneath Stormreach. It seems those kobolds like to kidnap the city's children, and Harbormaster Zin wanted us to travel to the kobolds' homes and rid the town of their tyranny once and for all.

It turns out there was much more beneath the surface that anyone had imagined. Not only were children being taken from the city, but there were mazes of prison cells with people who had been missing for weeks. We interrogated the main bosses and grand shamans we caught alive down there, and discovered a few key figures. We met one man by the name of Arlos who kept babbling on about something called the Bloodletter. We eventually saw what he meant.

In one cell, we found the body of a man who looked to have died recently. There seemed to be a strange series of reddish-brown marks beneath his body, so we moved it to the side to discover a message that he had scrawled with his own blood that read: "SEAL OF SHAN-TO-KOR".

So that's where we are now. I wrote those words down in my journal and we'll investigate them later. For now, I'm supposed to be in this tavern trading for gold and cleansing my wounds. I should go see if my fellow adventurers wish to stay here and rest or continue on through the evening. I'll keep you posted.


We didn't get too much time to play together this week (and next week will probably be worse, with Halloween), but we did accomplish a great deal in those few hours. Not only did we finish up the Harbor quests, but we also did most of the Waterworks. While one or two were done on normal mode, most were done on either hard or elite, since we always had a full group.

I'm really enjoying the new things I learn each week in this game. There seems to be so much still to learn, but I'm just thankful for the great group. One important lesson came with weapon usage and how much it matters to have something in your main hand versus off hand. Apparently that does make a difference, as does so much more than your usual quick glance at the item's DPS before determining its worth. In most RPG-based MMOs, the type of item damage does make a difference, but I feel that has gradually been watered-down as we opt to grab more generalized weapons that do damage to all foes, not just dragons or undead or reptiles, etc. In DDO, that specialized damage is still very important. And I like that.

So now we're ready to take on the new challenges. I didn't put up a poll again this week because I'm still really new to the game and have no idea what would come next. Most of what we've been doing has been along a fairly linear path through the storyline, so it hasn't been a problem yet. Of course I would love to get back to polls, but I need input from everyone. In addition to commenting on this week's adventures via the comments, give us some advice on what we should tackle the following week. If I were to make a poll now based on info I found in wikis or the DDO Compendium, I would surely leave something out.

As far as joining up with us, I've received a lot of email and in-game mail from people who want to join the guild. The way the game works, we can't send out invites until you reach Stormreach Harbor, so shoot me an in-game mail or PM once you reach the Harbor, and I'll send along an invite.

We usually play together on Sunday or Monday nights, although that's not a constant. This week, here's the tentative schedule:

Sunday, November 1, 8pm EDT
Monday, November 2, 9pm EDT

Of course these are only the times when I'm available to join up, but you're certainly welcome to play together any other time, and even if you wanted to start up a character now to join us, you could probably catch up quite easily on you own, then join us for 'group night'. Check out our guild page for more information on the guild's progress, and the names of those officers you can contact for a guild invite.

So let us know what we should do this week, and hopefully we'll be able to have the polls back next week.