...And Then Comes Back (A Returnee Thread)

[maareek]

Title in reference to this thread.

So, in the past I accumulated a little wealth and made some not quite standard characters with it but I hadn't really ever done most of the "standard" builds. Didn't really worry me when I decided to give everything away and leave (I knew more or less how they would play and it didn't really make a lot of sense to me to make builds everybody knew when I had the resources to do off-the-wall things) but things do change. Sometimes... we play sequels.

I decided to give Diablo 3 another go several days ago. I played it for about a month when it first came out (and before - I was one of those "I got all the achievements in the beta, do I get a cookie?" people), had a lot of fun but in the end left it sitting on my desktop for a long, long time. Finally I figured, "it's been almost a year, let's see how much better it is now" and I must admit they have improved the game a fair bit to my mind, but still what I get most from playing D3 is a real desire to play Diablo 2. The game's a ton of fun and definitely Blizzard quality, but it just so very clearly was not developed for me and the way I enjoy playing.

So I figured I'd poke around a bit at the SPF and waxed nostalgic. Saw a thread about AT running and waxed nostalgic hard. Then I looked at the Mat/Pat/Guardian thread, to see what people had been up to (hoping to find the Frenzied Zealbarb replacing the Fishymancer as "char everybody owns;" I am disappoint :/) and was struck by just how much love people have for their cookie cutters. Also, by some real gems like this one I just can't resist sharing (though I imagine most of you remember it). I've always enjoyed THC's characters, but I'm more used to seeing Demon Arches put to amazing use so the top-end optimizing floored me. Maybe 1.13 isn't as bad as I originally felt, years ago...

Anyway, after the reading around and the nostalgia I decided I did want to give those cookie cutters I never got around to a go (also that I honestly miss doing AT runs, but that's probably more a manifestation of a brain condition than anything else...) so I started a new sorceress. I had a level 25 Fishymancer sitting around I started after I originally tired of D3 but parked (I hate Normal. So. Very. Much.) who provided what could loosely be termed twinking gear. EasePease will very soon pass level 21 (notice the attempted reassurance in the name? I'm not kidding; I hate Normal) and can finally begin making extensive use of teleport (remember how much I hate Normal? I love teleport twice that amount - I still fondly remember my Teleport/Fireball Warrior from Diablo 1) so the hardest part has passed.

I don't intend to reach my former level of wealth (but you never know...) or to win any more MFOs (though I only need, what, four more for most all-time? :scratchchin: :crazyeyes but I will definitely dig in for a few magic finding sessions from time to time. Without all those leet itamz I don't feel much compulsion to figure out and do strange builds, so it'll probably just be boring stuff (apologies to anybody seeing my return and expecting multiple crazy septs already in the works [also, sextet or bust; paladins are the suck]). That said, with the 1.13 drop odds it shouldn't take more than an hour or so in Hell to best my previous rune wealth, so who really knows what may open up.

Anyway, I don't know if anybody around now actually remembers me (or if anyone I remember is still around), but whether so or whether no, love to all of ya for reading and just in general for keeping this place running and awesome. I'll see you folks in the IFT and in some Mat/Pat/Guardian threads.

(And, no, this isn't just a plot on my part to finish off my thread septumvirate [Introduction, IFT, OT, Sept, Giveaway, Goodbye, Return]. I don't even know how you could think such a thing...)

Spoiler

Nothing useful here, just notes to myself about old stats because the search is borked for old posts (note to me, I'm only 100% on the AT runs ... least certain on the Pindle runs).

-20,000 AT runs
-4,000 LK runs (best rune: Gul)
-1,000 Baal runs
-1,200-1,500 Pit runs
-10,000 Pindle runs
-literally no clue on Meph. Guess of 1,500 - 2,000. Last known count was 1k.

Best rune: Sur (Travincal), second best: Gul.

Best rolls:
-Griffon's: Perfect
-Mara's: Perfect
-Death's Fathom: 27%
-Death's Web: +1, -43%
-Fortitude: worst
-JMoD: existence

Grail: -6
-Mang Song's Lesson
-Cow King's Horns
-The Cranium Basher
-Torch of Iro
-Herald of Zakarum
-Level-up Cold Facet

Since I know some folks dun liek to read...

tl;dr: I was gone. Now I'm back. Hai!

 

[pharphis]

Nice grail -6. I hope you plan to finish it in AT until you find the remaining TC 87s.

Good luck and I look forward to reading about your progress. Pretty sure you said in there somewhere (or meant to say) that you're going for 99 on a

Spoiler

singer or FoHer

. Awesome!

Someone who still loves AT even after finding a Tyrael's? I think you might make me sick.

Edit: SC or HC?

 

[nulio]

Welcome back! I do remember you.

Be careful although, avoid Fabian or you'll be Fabianized and you'll make a bunch of horking barbs Even Nagisa made one Pitbarb!


And my usual question to returnees... Are you thinking of PvPing?

 

[logoutzero]

(...)Anyway, I don't know if anybody around now actually remembers me(...)

Welcome back! We've had a nice influx recently of players returning, even if only after 2-6 month "goodbyes" (there is no goodbye, only see you later!)

I probably fall into the latter part of that above statement, as I'm fairly sure you don't know me. But, I've surely followed some of your threads in the past. So, yeah.

We're still alive and kicking.

Not sure if you played/plan to play HC, but we have a pretty decent group of almost-consistent regulars. We also have a dedicated Hamachi server "The Moo Moo Farm" hosted by some idiot that wants to feel loved and important.

Anyway, always nice to see a returnee. Take it easy

 

[NagisaFurukawa]

...so that's why your name showed up on frozzzen's wall.

Welcome back. Looking forward to seeing your typical insanity pop up in some form or another. The rune drop rate is extremely off-putting (ie. you were right), but in this case that might help you get settled in quite fast. Kind of strange timing though. Not interested in HotS... or already cleaned out all the available competition?

Most of your good things have long since passed on to people who are maybe actually still using them (shockingly), for which I claim 0% responsibility. Hope to see you around in a future MFO. There needs to be somebody to dethrone Fabian after all.

Have fun ~

 

[Anri]

Welcome back, certainly do remember you.

I have the same issue when attempting septs; except the class I cannot seem to like is Assassin. lol

 

[frozzzen1]

Mutalisks > Archons. No, wait... Zerg best anyway.

Week 1 Enigma + Infinity knowing your sicko playstyle, week 2 retirement :badteeth:
But yeah, we need another sicko to outdo Fabian in MF style. I'd cheer for you, but Protos just suck too much >_>

Hope you enjoy your stay.

EDIT: Wait, you never found HoZ? Wat d... must suck being Protos...

 

[Fabian]

"dethrone Fabian"

"outdo Fabian"

"avoid Fabian"

aw you guise are too cute. Like anyone could outdo me.

Good to see you maareek, we definitely need some oldtimers back!

 

[Mungojerry1]

"...
-20,000 AT runs
-4,000 LK runs (best rune: Gul)
-1,000 Baal runs
-1,200-1,500 Pit runs
-10,000 Pindle runs

Best rune: Sur (Travincal), second best: Gul... "

Now, I've played D2 since 1999 or whenever it came out, and know how hard it was. But just seeing those number of runs compared to nowadays single-play-through-no-re-run-almost-enigma-+-CTA-out-of-it-chars it just makes you cringe a little bit. Even though in my heart I know that makes runes so much more awesome it's not easy to behold.


And WB always nice to see old timers around here

 

[Kestegs]

Tl;dr FTW!

Welcome back!

 

[Drystan1]

I saw something about StarCraft. P>Z

Welcome back, maareek. I think a lot will remember you. Good luck, and may all your drops be green, golden and orange.

 

[bassano]

Nice, very nice, I am glad you are back, time to put some effort to run again even from my side
are you still interested about area85 running to complete your grail?
I am looking to see you around more often,
have fun

 

[Pyrohemia1]

I hope you have a great return to D2, but you won't see me because I'm not here.... Oops.

 

[Fabian]

maareek, frozzzen, Nagisa, bassano and Pyro posting in the same thread in 2013.

<3

 

[skiffcz]

^
Now the question is, how many of them have the game actually installed :badteeth:

Good to see some new old faces though. Im looking forward to some dual wand zealing aurabarb with minions cookiecutter pat thread in like next 2 days anyways :whistling:

 

[Corrupted]

What kind of '07 sausagefest is this? :smug:

 

[Ohomemgrande1]

Oh hi maareek

 

[RobbyD]

Yeah, I remember you... Mr. Frenzied Zealbarb. I'm still looking for a 4os Caddy with Zeal staffmod based on your build (though I dare say that 1.13 rune rates have taken the bloom of the rose of swinging Death fast since Grief is so attainable now).

Glad to see you back.

 

[maareek]

Thanks everybody. Much better response than I had expected. Apparently there’s still a lurker or two around I remember. ;p Also,

maareek, frozzzen, Nagisa, bassano and Pyro posting in the same thread in 2013.

<3

I must agree.

@pharphis: Definitely a singer in the plans, but unless FoH comes as an Oskill on something I’m not remembering...I think not. And if I ever decide to go for 99, it will be with a Blova. My favorite build, ever.

That link to your thread was definitely interesting, thanks for that. 75k would be an insanely large goal – that’s probably more than bassano, Corrupted and I combined have done all time and each of us is pretty crazy... – but I see you’ve changed your mind on doing the 99er in AT so cheers for sanity. Also as far as AT running with a Frost Nova sorc goes: sirpoopsalot did some comparisons back in the day. Also bcoe discusses his FN AT runner (which uses more attainable gear, read: Tal's – I think bcoe was at grail -3 or 4 when he finally found his Death’s Fathom; I know he had the second Tyrael’s first ). I’ve also given it a go (with a ridiculously well geared Frost Nova/Nova build) and I would say it’s definitely fun but if you tend to zone out at all (or watch TV or anything) during runs, I would not suggest it for HC. By all means do make one, though, if you have full Tal’s, cause they’re crazy fun.

I’ll be playing SC. HC in D2 never really appealed to me – I don’t see it as more challenging, really, just as more of an annoyance; a limitation with no real upside. Some folks get an accomplishment feel from it, and I’m happy for them, but my playstyle and mindset just don’t jive with it; if I want that accomplishment I’ll play something like Faster Than Light. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. Maybe if I could stand the early game I could get into tournament characters, and I know that would be interesting/feel like an accomplishment, but, Flying Spaghetti Monster, do I hate Normal.

@nulio: Probably no PvP. When I left I had made a character to give it a go sometime, and I may again, but honestly if I want to compete against other people in a game I’ll go play Starcraft.

And, believe it or not, I’m somewhat familiar with Fabian, already, and I’ve always been a barb lover, anyway. That said, if I had no gear limitations and an Enigma I'd be doing my Pit runs with a Poisonmancer instead of a barb, efficiency be damned. Poisonmancers are just too much fun. But Enigma is very low on my to-do list so that's a long way off.

On the Fabian subject, I agree with him: you guys are cute. Pretty sure I’ve traded him some decent stuff in the past and I’m about 99.99% sure some of my items ended up with him (whoever was responsible for that giveaway...:whistling so I’m partly responsible for the monster! ;p In truth, though, what I do remember from before I left is this: Fabian’s completely willing to aim for the highest efficiency he can get (I’ve watched some of his vids and been pained by what he doesn’t pick up, for instance), whereas I am not, so I know from brute math over any lengthy period his performance numbers will exceed mine. However, in a time limited scenario Mr. LuckBox* (as some people call me...) certainly can come out ahead.

Spoiler

*Nobody calls me Mr. LuckBox.

@logoutzero: I won’t say no, because I probably could be talked into starting new HC characters with a group sometime, but I’ll certainly have to leave it at we’ll see. Thanks for the offer, though.

@Nagisa: Over time I’ve lost a lot of passion for competitive playing of Starcraft. I’d guess it’s mostly a time issue (I just don’t seem to have enough these days ), but the simple matter is I’ve gotten to the point where if I log in it’s mostly just to play team games with friends, and even that’s something of a just sometimes thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve beaten HotS campaign (a few times, actually) but the multiplayer just isn’t appealing to me that much at this point.

As for the items, I’m glad they all (well, I’m sure there was a ton of junk that just got deleted, but you know what I mean) found good homes. And happier they didn’t spend all that time just sitting in my hard drive. The only items I miss would be the 1.09 Ravenclaw and the beta CtA ... and maybe the crafted sorc amulet, but it’s certainly possible to get replacements (though those last two may be a little bit tough...) so it’s no real worries. Considering how long I’ve been gone I imagine you’ve restarted about a dozen times since then, anyway. ;p Though, out of curiosity (I never had a plan for it, anyway) do you remember who got the JMoD? Just interested if they did anything special with it.

@Hector: It’s good to be remembered! And to have some support on the not-quite-sept front.

@frozzzen: Actually, in Brood War Mutalisks are > Archons, as long as the Mutalisk controller is good (really good). Doesn’t matter, Archon’s still the coolest unit from the greatest game ever. If it helps you cheer for me, I play Random in SC2! Also yeah to no HoZ. I think bcoe had it be one of his last few, as well; weird little useless shield. And yes it does suck being Protoss (I do remember by the end of Wings of Liberty I basically expected any game I randomed Protoss against a Zerg to be a loss.)

@Fabian:

aw you guise are too cute. Like anyone could outdo me.

My mind read this in the voice of Lenny Bruce. I laughed. Thank you for that. Also, hihi!

@Mungojerry: 1.13 changed the game completely in terms of rune drops, no doubt, but even at that my rune luck was quite bad, even by 1.12 standards. No concern on my part, though, as I had very good item luck, and I think items are way cooler than runes.

@kestegs: Thank you for taking time out of your busy day of spamming to make such an in-depth, well-reasoned and lengthy post. ;p ^_^

@Drystan: Starcraft lovers unite! We meet at the convention center, east wing, room G, directly beside the meeting for bad spellers. Don’t let them near your shoes.

@bassano: For sure gonna try and do some more running. I figure the tough part left of the grail is the Cow King hat. I may call it quits at grail -1 over that thing. :badteeth: lol Good to see you’re still around, as well.

@Pyrohemia: Pyro? Haven’t seen him. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Or who I’m talking to. Good to (not) see you though.

@skiffcz: 2 days is way too quick. I’m getting old! In a week, though, well who knows...

@Corr: Good one. I loled.

@Ohomemgrande: Oh hi yourself, oh leaver of “lousy swords.” ;p

@RobbyD: Meh, swinging the Death at max speed was just a small part of that variation. The build still has tons of other uses, plus using Grief instead doesn’t really change anything, build wise, other than bosses taking a touch longer and freeing up some points in Frenzy/IAS on gear. Good luck with that drop, although personally I definitely wouldn’t wait for a Caduceus (so rare...) to drop with the right staffmods. Offhand weapon won’t be doing much damage, anyway, once you get Frenzy charged so any scepter with Zeal would be a huge green light to me for the project, though even if you can’t get all 5 hits from Zeal, it’s not the end of the world as I would definitely put completing the zeal cycle in a calculable amount of time (that is to you finish the total zeal attack in, like, a second or a second and a half, or whatever you can easily measure) as more important as you can figure out how many zeals to fire before you need to swing a Frenzy off.

Glad to be back.

Spoiler

I like to make long posts ... I probably didn't spoil anything there, though.

 

[maxicek]

Welcome back, of course we remember you.