This summer's vacation spot seems to be Perfect World, a free to play game with a pretty extensive cash shop. I tried to tell myself that I wouldn't give in, that I wouldn't buy anything, but the fashion outfits that are available are soo cute! I couldn't see myself running around killing mobs in a ball gown, though, so I bought as close to sporty as I could without breaking my bank. Then, I went ahead and bought an inventory stone, because 32 inventory slots were just not cutting it, what with everyone having the ability to gather everything they see in the world, and items needed for dragon quests and crafting. So, out of a 20 dollar outlay for gold (which exchanges at 1 to 1 ratio), I have spent 6 bucks on an outfit and 9 bucks on extra inventory, leaving me 5 gold for either a pair of bat wings (icky) or a polar bear mount that I cannot use yet anyway. I may just spend that 5 gold on a couple more clothing items, like an itsy bitsy skirt for 1 gold and a butterfly top for 4 gold, or a 3 gold top and a 2 gold pair of shoes. Or maybe I'll splurge and spend 4 gold on those hot leather pants, but then I would need a top to go with them, and the only blouse for 1 gold is hideous. Looks like this may not actually be the last time I spend real money on pixels.If you are interested in seeing how many different clothing items there are in game, check out this,
"Rate my Character!" thread on the forums. Lots of pictures of all sorts of styles of clothing, and worn in so many ways!
This game is so beautiful. I haven't figured out how to turn off the UI so that only the image shows yet, so bear with me as I post the ugly UI with the pretty game world. The picture below is of the center of Archosaur, one of the main cities in the game, which is in the center of the game map.
If only I knew how to get rid of the ugly UI...
See the water with the lilies floating in it? The detail on the dragon statues holding up the center platform? Almost every city I have visited in this game has this large feel. Most of the cities are pretty empty, with a player here and a cat shop there. Archosaur, however, doesn't have any problem filling up the vast space it occupies. There are numerous quests (I don't think I have scraped the surface of them yet), and every small businessman with anything to sell seems to have their shop set up here. Below is a picture of an area not crowded with cat shops.
An empty part of Archosaur?
I don't have any more pictures, mostly because I was under a deadline. The guild master was cleaning house and anyone under the age of thirty was to be kicked. Now, if I had dug in and stuck it out with Delgada, I would never have made the deadline. I rerolled (notice the picture taker's name in the top left corner) and following a
guide on how to level a cleric, I seem to have stopped beating my poor cleric's head up against a wall. As of the second they shut down the servers for maintenance, Eromee was a healthy 32, with 65% of the experience needed toward the next level.
As for the faction purge of low level characters, I think I understand the reasoning behind this. A faction can only have 200 members, and of those 200 members, members of thirty and above gain reputation and ranks, which transfer over to the faction somehow. Anyone under 30 is just wasting valuable space that could be filled with a higher level, contributing character. I am guessing that I will soon figure out just how I can contribute to the guild. I realize this is a very elementary understanding of how things work. As soon as I have this figured out, I am sure I will post about it.
Speaking of quests, there are several types. Solo killing quests give you a kill number and mob name. Spiritual cultivation quests are a must do in order to train certain spells. Dragon quests are an easy way out of the daily grind of regular quests, of which there seem to be plenty (go find my needle in this field full of hay stack men), in that the items that fell of the mobs you killed before you do these quests become turn ins. Be ready to travel to strange new places and meet lots of new people, as your quest could take you south to the City of the Plume, then could take you as far north as a guy standing on a bluff overlooking a huge ravine, miles from any teleportation points. Then, that wonderful guy could be nice and have you turn in something to the nearest city, or he could decide to make you kill 40 of something (or choose to pay a fee) to someone on the other side of the world. I would recommend doing them for a change, but not exclusively. I am working them in because I understand the tokens they give at the end of the ten part chain can be turned in for mounts and other items. If I can manage to collect the right amount of each color token (copper and silver) I can bypass the need for buying a cash shop mount. Of course, this will take an enormous amount of time and some luck. Time will be the teller of whether I decide to splurge on more gold for these items.
There is a way for non gold buyers to get their hands on gold, through an in game gold trading system. If I ever get to making enough money to purchase any that way, that may be the way to go. Then, I might be able to splurge on something really fancy, like a snake mount...
That will be 50 gol...err, I mean dollars, please!
