That was a bargain Phizzy!  Nice find.

You're not going to need any help with this one, but we'll be online later if you can jump in.  I think you have to do some of the single player game before you can jump in to the online stuff but I might be wrong.

We'll be on Skype if you need us!

Good work last night chaps.  We finally took down the big one, or repelled him anyway!

May I take this opportunity to congratulate or esteemed leader, Hugo.  After what must be 170-180hrs he has finally reached the high level online quests.  The ones that sort the men from the boys.

None of the rest of us have made it yet.

From a brief description of what he told us last night, it takes a number of the staple 'quest ingredients' and turns them on their head.  Things we once relied on, like supplies at the beginning of a quest, or even starting together as a party, have been thrown into the mix.  It's all changed.

What if the aggression and AI of the Monsters has been tuned up a notch?

We're going to be toast, but we will bravely follow where our glorious leader takes us.  This is where the real Monster Hunting begins. 

Oooohhhhhh….the claw!!!

Swimming is awesome.  One of my new favourite aspects of the game.  Get that Jaggi armour, then head for the Queropeco armour.  It's awesome.

The game does a superb job of continually giving you something else to work for.  When you get enough items for something, you then realise that you've almost got enough for something else as well!  Love it.

The online 'cities' are really easy to navigate, and the friends thing is easy to add as well.  If we're all playing in different cities when we come on, someone just starts a new one and we all warp into it!

Glad you're having fun though.  If you need any help, you know where we are!

Good man Matt.

You could keep the Hunter's Armour for a while but I'm pretty sure that you can only level it up to level 6.  When you start hitting larger monsters, you're going to need something a bit more suited to the job.  Some of the monsters poison you, therefore an anti-poison skill comes in very handy!  You can also mix and match the armours to create your own specific skills, although I like to collect and wear the suits as 'whole suits'.  I want to look good out on the plains.  You never know when you're going to bump into some ladies and you want to look your best!

Armour spheres will keep coming thick and fast (ish) and you be able to mine them later on.

I love the switch-axe, although it is a tad slow.  I love the great sword too.  Both slow weapons but they do a massive amount of damage.  I have Demon Soul's to thank for being able to play with a large unweildy weapon!  Make one, try it out, just remember that you have to approach the monster with a lot more caution, and plan your strikes accordingly.  Keep rolling!  Saying that, you could try the great sword first.  You can block with it like the sword and shield.  Learn the combo's for the weapons as well.  There's nearly always one that starts by hitting the '+' (plus) button which I didn't learn for ages.

Rare commodities will come.  You have to hunt in the Moga Woods and go back and 'check in' with the Village Chief's son.  I think if yuou choose 'generate hunt report' from his menu then he'll swap your kills for points and give you commodities.  The boats can also bring them in, but I'm not sure if you've reached that bit yet.  I got a 'shed load' of commodities for catching a Lagiacrus when I was out in the Moga Woods.  I think capturing gives you greater rewards.

Good luck.

Yep, multiplayer is a hell of a lot of fun.  I've had some good times with randoms in online matches.  It's really fun NOT being able to talk to people. 

You get to know them through their actions, not words.  We do have fun over Skype though, when we get together as a Midlife Gamer team!

I love the Ludroth armour.  It really helped me take down the Lagiacrus.

Kepp it going brother!