Weekend (20 May) - Book Two, The Song of Chord

Weekend (20 May) - Book Two, The Song of Chord

Yes, I've started writing the second book in the trilogy. But don't panic! It'll be awhile before I start posting anything, so writing buddies are off the hook for now. I should also be getting additional help from a more formalized writing group by then. The second book will start in the same timeframe that the first book ended. That decision was actually a tough one to make. The worlds of Spark and Chord were once twins to each other, but the devastation done to Spark by the Wizard Wars and the loss of Song utterly changed that world. Chord takes center stage in book two, and the difference between the two worlds will be dramatic. Dice's Troupe remains the center of the story, and their challenges will mount.

Patch 5.3 goes live today, 21 May. The biggest news (which probably only I didn't know about) is that the world of PvP is eliminating the stat called resilience from nearly all gear. Wow. Instead, everyone (pvp or not) get a base 65% resilience. On top of that, pvp gear now has a cap at ilevel 496. The stat Pvp Power is becoming the key stat over resilience.

The reason for all this is to make pvp more accessible to non-pvpers. A well geared player in pve gear can now compete in pvp given he gets 65% resilience and can acquire ilevel pve gear that beats the cap on pvp gear. Overall, pvp gear (weapons, mostly, I think) have more pvp power, which is supposed be to the difference maker. Additionally, it appears that some effort went into making pvp healers stronger by increasing the healing effect of pvp power. You pvpers out there will have to let me know how this works out and what you think about the changes.

On the pve side of things, Blizz has even enticed the Wild family. Leveling from 85-90 got a little easier by reducing the required experience needed by 33%. None of the level 85s (Wild, Philly, JB) have volunteered to try it yet, however.

On the baseball front the Padres have won three straight at home. They are looking suspiciously like a real team. Hard to fathom. They still sport a losing record, though, at 21-23, but hey, two more wins and . . .  let's not get ahead of ourselves. We were at the games on Saturday and Sunday and will be in the stands for the Tuesday/Wednesday games against the Cardinals. My uncle is a rabid Cardinals fan. We'll have some fun taunting each other about our teams. The Cardinals lead their division with a 28-16 record. But we beat'em last night, 4-2, against their super hot rookie pitcher.