The Journey is Half the Fun – Enchanted Lands

I have not spent much time in The Enchanted Lands since I rolled back in with Echoes of Faydwer.  It has never really been one of my favorite zones.  I did some Runnyeye adventures a while back, but I have mostly left EL alone in favor of fun in Faydwer and Zek.

But now JBoots quest had brought me here.  It was time for another run.

Still, so far I had not made a mistake.  Each run I did right the first time.  I was cocky.

So, of course, I screwed it up on my first attempt.

I went to Banoo Corest outside the granary in the field that dominates the entry to EL.  The last time I did this run our ranger forgot that her evac cooldown had not yet expired, so we did it without evac, just a straight run.  I decided I would try that again.  Of course, when we were doing that run, I was following somebody who knew the route precisely and my map was not completely blacked out.

I hailed Banoo, got the update, and off I went, 8 minutes on the clock.

The first stop, the Runnyeye Ward, was easy enough to find, you can almost see it from the granary.  After that I was running on memories and instinct.  Still, I was confident.

Tagglefoot Farm I knew I could find.  I just cut right from the ward, followed the fence, went through just south of Chomper’s pond and followed the river.  As I got the update I even stopped to pick up “Foomby’s Stolen Goods” from Foomby, who stands right at the near corner of the farm.

Now I was a bit lost.  I knew I just had to veer left to hit Camp Ghobbler, the tower with all the nightbloods hanging around it, but how far left was in question.  I altered course by about 120 degrees.  It appears that about a 70 degree shift to the left is actually optimum, because I ran right past the tower, saw it off to my right, then had to loop back to get the update.

Then I turned to the difficult bit, navigating my way from the tower to Goblin Pass.  I know where it is on the maps, that pass between the two mountains just southwest of Runnyeye, but with a blacked out map I was trying to navigate by landmarks. 

I ended up running through crowds of aggros and picked up quite a parade of followers.  The clock was running down as I zig-zagged looking for a landmark.  Finally I saw the mill on the river south of Runnyeye and knew I was way off course.  I tried to get a direct route to the pass from there, but I picked up several casters, got rooted, and died.

Thus ended my first attempt.  My first failure on the quest.

But, since I had not used evac for the run, I would not have to wait for the cooldown timer to expire before I could start again.

Back to Banoo I went.  I arrived with less than a minute left on the clock, so as that ran down I buffed up again and was ready for my next attempt.

Since my cross country experiment failed so miserably (at level 37 a lot of mobs were still yellow to me) I decided to go with the more traditional run that includes an evac part way through.

I got the quest update again and off I went.  I followed the same route to the ward and then to the farm, but this time I went directly to Camp Ghobber and evac’d the moment I got the update.

Evac puts you back on the docks in EL.  I ran down the dock, did a fae glide over the water and headed straight to the Runnyeye Ward again.  From there I followed along the road, keeping as clear of aggros as I could.  Fortunately, on my last run, I had gotten close enough to the pass that the southern mountain that forms the pass was visible on my map.  I bore along, skirting the western edge of that mountain, following it around until I got the Goblin Pass update.  No problem this time.

I reversed course and headed for Lookout Stump, the next update required.  I was a bit worried about this stop because, in the pass, it has been one of those locations with which people have trouble getting the update.  This must have been fixed since I last did the EL run, as I got the update for the stump before I even touched it. 

I veered around the stump and headed for the hole in the barrier wall that has the stream running through it.  A splash in the water and out I came just south of the Runnyeye Ward again.  From there it is just up the river bank and to the granary.  I finished with two minutes left on the clock.  I could have stopped for a sparklie, had I seen one.

I ran over to Banoo and got the quest update from him, plus the Amulet of the Far-runner. 

Seven levels to go before I can wear it.  But I did get a lot of discovery experience on the run, almost enough for another AA point.

And now I am set for the final stage of the quest, the run through Feerrott.  Another blacked out map to face.  Another zone where I seem to lose my bearings. 

When The Internet Is Down

I saw an interesting little post on another WordPress blog titled “Five Things To Do With A PC When You Have No Internet Connection.”

It is mostly directed at more maintenance type issues.  The author does not suggest Minesweep or Solitaire as ways to pass the time, sticking to more productive pursuits. 

Still, it does make you think for a moment about how used we can get to having a live, always on connection to the whole world in our homes and offices.   It can be quite depressing when your connection goes down and your computer is no longer a magic portal to knowledge and entertainment.

When it happens to me, I usually just go read a book.

My Simulation Of Playing EVE Online

My EVE Online account has lapsed. I can no longer log into the game to run missions or train new skills. 

But, for a while, I can pretend I am still playing.

Before my account lapsed, I started training Caldari Cruiser V, a skill that takes over 29 days to complete.  This morning I launched EVE Mon, just to see if it could still read data from my account. 

It can.

So for the next 23 days or so I can still do what I have done for most of my EVE Online career, check EVE Mon every once in a while to see how my skills are progressing. 

So in early March I will have to decide if I want to re-subscribe and spend another month setting up skills for another month off.

If I play my skills right, it could be like EVE Online for half price.

Of course, I cannot actually play the game half the time, but I wasn’t really playing the game anyway.