Masquerade of Liars

You know what's better than grind? DOUBLE GRIND!

That seems to be the thinking at NWO for their Halloween Event that runs this week. Basically it's a variation of "collect stuff that has a chance of dropping on monsters" event. Previously you collected whatever and then could trade a number of the whatevers for rewards. This time the item you get from killing monsters must first be traded in to illusionists scattered around the main city hub. The kicker is that they trade at a 1 for 1 ratio and you cannot trade with the same NPC again until you've traded with four others. This means you will be doing laps in meaningless busy work to convert your loot into useful currency. Coupled with mediocre rewards (in comparison to previous events) your best targets are cosmetic masks (cost 200) or a low level skeleton companion (cost 600).

Ironically it is more painful to do the conversion than it is to simply get the required amount, and with so many other good events on in other MMO's I don't think this one competes at all. That is quite the problem these days, MMO's forget they are not the only game in town. Add stupid time wasting crap like the above and you can expect people to abandon you for greener pastures where their time spent is better rewarded.

Speaking of grind, Wizardry Online also has a Halloween thing going on hosted by the aptly named Mr. Pumpkin (a porkul in a pumpkin hat, I guess the Mad King's influence is far reaching?). My favourite part of it, other than the npcs dressed as reapers (you can see one in the background), is this lady, Madam Candy who gives free candy to anyone wearing a pumpkin hat. Best part? Eat the candy and you die (possibly permanently in that game).

Guess that's the "trick" part of Trick or Treat!

Impaired Living

My journal through Borderlands! You can follow the rest of the story here!

As I sat at a bar eating some chow in New Haven I mindlessly spun the vault key around on the table. Dr. Tannis was interested in the artifact but I wasn't so keen on handing it over what with our past and all. As I sat there Marcus came by and asked me to check up on Dr. Zed who had gone missing from the town. Apparently the only lead was to a place called Jakob's Cove. Having nothing better to do I took the job and took a small outrigger to the island. Upon docking I felt something was very wrong. The local PA and Claptrap confirmed this stating the isle was now overrun by the living-impaired, and it wasn't long before I ran into them. Zombies, slightly different from the ones I faced in the old country - most were pretty agile.

Fortunately my upgraded autorifle now fired burning bullets and if there's one thing these corpses didn't like it was fire. After cleaning out the town and securing it by activating the emplaced auto turrets I was advised to find the local doctor, Dr. Ned "who is totally not Dr. Zed" at his local clinic. Alas all I found was a note that he was going to hide out in his house in the bayou so there was not much else I could do but trudge after him into the murky swamp.

Came across another town deeper in called Hallow's End where to my surprise I also found TK Baha - alive... well sort of. The poor bastard had been zombified and kept muttering about brains. I put my rifle to his face and killed him permanently this time. Nearby I also encountered a large creature called Pumpkin Head (probably because of his headgear) - he was resistant to fire so I had to switch to the explosive round sniper rifle to penetrate that mask of his and eventually the freak went down. With an endless stream of zombies pouring in from the swamp I pushed on towards the House of Dr. Ned.

His weak spot is his head! :P