The Guilt Trip

I'm used to making random alts to hold names in online games. It is so irksome when you decide, yes it is time to level an alt, only oops someone is using your name. So I grab names early and often. In World of Warcraft the confirmation to delete a character is that you must type DELETE. It's good, it makes sure you don't accidentally delete your max level raid geared main character with a miss-click.

WildStar takes this one step further. They don't want you to make sure you are deleting the correct character. They want you to think twice about deleting a character at all. They want to make you feel bad about the whole affair. I never even played this character, it was just to make sure there was no other Caff running around on Evindra.

To delete placeholder Caff I was not prompted to type Delete again, I was forced to type her name. If that wasn't enough to twinge a little guilt, the avatar cries while you consider the process, and then is incinerated in front of your eyes. Ouch.

I'm so sorry Caff, I didn't know it would be like this.

Keep Your Eyes Open

You wouldn't think it would be that easy to miss a big glowing datacube, but it turns out it is. As someone following the Scientist Path, I have to find all the datacubes in a zone to gain Path XP, so I know that some are legitimately hard to find. There is one inside the trunk of Elderoot, for example. Sometimes though, you just need to take a second and look around.

When I was exploring near the falls and taking screenshots for my post about Harehollow I didn't even notice that I was walking right near a datacube. It wasn't until the next day when I was looking through my screenshots that I saw it. If it's in the screenshot, then it was on my screen so I simply wasn't paying attention.

I am as guilty as anyone as trying to race to housing, trying to race into group content, not wanting to be left behind but not having unlimited hours to play. I'm still going to tell you to slow down. Look before you hit your sprint button and head to the next objective. Turn off your AI and just look. The views are amazing, and you might be surprised by what you find.

Hashtag Not All Mordesh

I'm not saying that there are no good Mordesh. Heck, there are Mordesh in my guild. They seem like lovely folks. I do have to look sideways at their lead scientists. Maybe I shouldn't expect better from zombies, but it's a bit of a stretch to consider them good guys. After all if it weren't for the Dominion quarantining their planet and leaving them to die, they'd be IN the Dominion. Still they are our allies against the Dominion now, so what is an Aurin supposed to do?

I didn't really bat an eye when they asked me to gather Vitalus from the bodies of their dead, because what the Mordesh do with their own dead doesn't really affect me. Then outside of Woodhaven I ran into Professor Papovich who would really like to bring her dead husband back to life. She asks you gather material from dead Aurin so that she can test her process on them. The results are less than stellar, and I found this quest quite disturbing to do. Watching the mostly naked reanimated Aurin run into the woods crying "Leave me alone!" was unsettling.

I am happy to hear there is an interrogation in Galeras that doesn't involve physical violence, but I feel that I have to offer this counter point in the torture you're asked to do in Grimveil Enclave. The quest chain "The Lives and Deaths of Moodies" starts with Physician Boravic who asks you do a series of experiments on Moodies that are being kept in a cage. He has you burn them, freeze them, electrocute them, and finally cut them, all just to see what makes them tick.

Maybe you think they're animals and that makes it okay? To me that would make it even worse, but no, these "creatures" have a society. They have a village and social structure, they have religion and a love of dance. So you aren't even torturing a soldier for information, you are strictly torturing them to find out how to kill or control them more efficiently.

I don't know which of these quests may or may not be required to advance your story. Maybe if you never wander over to the Mordesh you won't be asked to do these things. Maybe you can ignore the fact that the Mordesh were one decision away from being our enemies too. But don't you think for a second that I'm going to trust their leaders. When it comes down to it, they are only looking out for themselves.

Bewildering Under Terrifying Tiki Semblance

Here Be Spiders

A lot has been said about how fun and pretty the game of WildStar is, but I think I would be remiss if I didn't talk about some of the darker aspects. Sometimes there is a fair amount of blood spatter, and of course a crit can cause your enemy to explode into chunks. The Mordesh in particular I'd like to talk about later but that post is still brewing. In the meantime we can talk about spiders!

In Sylvan Glade I came upon a mound of dirt outside one of the houses. There was an injured Aurin and a kind of splatted Aurin. She was hurt and unable to go into the Spider Queen's Den and enlists us to go in, kill spiders, and rescue Exiles who have been taken and wrapped in cocoons.

That wasn't pretty.

Entering the nest you find strange Eldan spheres, and there is a control panel further in that I wasn't able to interact with.

I don't know what that does, but probably nothing good.

There are several types of spiders. One in particular has a terrible green skull on its back, spits green clouds of poison, and can burrow. FUN TIMES! (I hate spiders.)

Why yes, it is poisonous.

I ventured as far as I could into the cave system and at the top of a wall found a little gap I could just barely peer through. There seems to be some sort of house or manor, or possibly a small township behind the wall. I couldn't find any way too it, but I'm fascinated. I want to know more!

I really wanted over that wall.

I kicked spider butt and rescued those who hadn't been eaten yet. Not everyone who ventures into the spider dwelling makes it out alive, but I was triumphant!

Look at the bones!

Chasing the White Jabbit

The other day while playing around a waterfall I spied the little orange gear of an interact-able "something" so I went to check it out. Exploration is frequently rewarded in WildStar, so take your time and look around a bit. With a single exception, any time I've gone wandering I've been happy to find a quest, some lore, or in this case achievements and a chest of goodies.

Harehollow Cave can be found in Celestion behind the Celestial Falls. I stumbled across it while heading over to catch fireflies.

Seek out Celestial Falls

Sample a Harehollow Shrink Shroom

Heading into the cave you will find beautiful mushrooms, a white jabbit, a special chest, a Grow Shroom to make grabbing that chest easier, and a Lolli-Lopp chilling out on a mushroom. Further in you can find a diminutive Aurin enjoy tea with some friends.

Definitely Not a Hookah Smoking Caterpillar

Size Compared to Normal Aurin

I think I have some new ideas on how I might want to decorate my house now. Sitting at the tea table while under the Shrink Effect was a lot of fun. I love the details of the Aurin's costume, and his stuffed toy guests.

Even if you aren't a huge Alice in Wonderland fan, you should still check out the cave. There is really something for everyone, whimsy, loot, achievements. Not much more to ask for. Okay, there's nothing in there to kill, but it's still worth it. The cave is also near a quest target so you're not really going out of your way to reach it.

If you want a clearer idea of where to search for the cave you can see it on the map below. Kind of around the a/l of Falls. There's also a handy gondola to take you back to Woodhaven once you finish your adventure. (PS that's another achievement)

Buyer Beware!

I've spent quite a bit of time in the Commodities Exchange, I'm trying to build up my little gold stash during idle moments when I can't actually play, but do have time at the computer. There are a lot of quality of life improvements that both the Auction and Mailbox systems could use, but hopefully we'll get addons to sort them out. One thing that an Addon cannot fix is when the system tells you that items cost one thing, but a different amount is siphoned from your wallet. Oops!

So let this be a heads up. If you see a really good deal, just buy one first. Make sure that it doesn't take 8 times as much as you expect. Here you can see the 69 copper Omni-Plasm that cost me (and Rades) 5 silver 69 copper.

LIAR!!!

First Encounter

I've been looking forward to meeting the Lopp again. Paying more attention, seeing what I can learn about these little people. When I got to Woodhaven the Settlers had been hard at work and one of the improvements was the presence of a Lopp who is an "Apprentice Path Helper". When I talked to him I got a 9 minute buff for Xp gains on my Path.

Other comments were "Listen to Lopp, then search for shiny." "Here, here! Use technique. Now do better on Path."

Granted this isn't what I was looking for, but I'm happy all the same. I love the Lopps.