Dark Souls: What do you do while waiting for summons?

[Bashful Reaper]

How do you pass the time waiting for someone to summon you on PC?

I was reading a post on the Steam forums which said what I had suspected all along. That the only way to make a connection is to wait about 20 minutes for the game to collect IP addresses at a glacial pace...

So, while I wait, I doodle pictures of my characters and enemies:

Spoiler: Hollow Warrior

Spoiler: My Sorceror character

Spoiler: One of the more fun bosses, requested by a friend and promptly lost...

Spoiler: My Ranger character

Bonus points to anyone who can identify what equipment I have on my characters (I haven't drawn everything exactly as it appears in game, but should be close enough)

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Identify your equipment?! Hell, I was feeling chuffed that I was able to identify Ornstein.

I've yet to summon a human. It would feel weird, co-oping a game that is so primarily (for me, anyway) about loneliness and isolation.

 

[Javarock]

Well, I grind the level for points... And that's pretty much it. No drawing, no reading, just grinding. Not that I mind it. But when it sits there with "Connecting..." Then I wait patiently for the inevitable "Was not able to connect with [playername]" Then sigh and grind some more. The rare occasions I do get summoned are fairly fun, everyone I've met in that community in-game have been very nice.

 

[Bashful Reaper]

Identify your equipment?! Hell, I was feeling chuffed that I was able to identify Ornstein.

I've yet to summon a human. It would feel weird, co-oping a game that is so primarily (for me, anyway) about loneliness and isolation.

I guess it was a question for someone like me, who has spent far too in the game.

I have had some of my best experiences in any game playing co-op Dark Souls. There is nothing quite like overcoming a horrible boss with a bunch of you, whether it's you summoning or being summoned (Kalameet comes to mind). Most of my best online friends I have met through Dark Souls. The loneliness interspersed with a bit of camaraderie is what the game is like for me. You and your summon are both in the same predicament, silently gesturing to each other until you murder the beastie at the end of the level.

However, take whatever you like from it. It's different for everyone.

Captcha: filthy dirty mess. Yes, yes, I know... I'll sort it out in the morning.

 

[Bashful Reaper]

I roll around like an idiot. All the time.
I read webcomics in the steam browser, read in whatever book I'm currently reading, listen to music...

And today, I can also add getting invaded all the time to it. In about half an hour of me trying to get summoned by a friend, I got invaded three times, and summoned once by a guy on NG+ who also got invaded.

It's fun to win fights while being completely unarmoured. Because dragons.

Invasions are irritating at the best of times, but when you want to be summoned, it's even more annoying. If you can bear to, the best thing to do is kill yourself and don't turn human; then you can be summoned without being able to be invaded.

My friend decided to do a naked, no-levelling run. He got to the Four Kings. I don't think it was lack of armour that killed him. More the lack of being able to do enough damage as a level 4 warrior. Still, getting that far means he's pretty skilled... and a massive show-off.

 

[Erttheking]

Just fart around on my ipod really.

 

[Bashful Reaper]

Just fart around on my ipod really.

What is there to do on an iPod other than listen to music? Mine is pretty old, so there may be advances that allow you to do all sorts of things now. I'm starting to sound terribly old...

 

[Erttheking]

Just fart around on my ipod really.

What is there to do on an iPod other than listen to music? Mine is pretty old, so there may be advances that allow you to do all sorts of things now. I'm starting to sound terribly old...

The more modern ones can go onto the internet.

 

[Duh]

i own the PC version so i don't play online

 

[thesilentman]

How do you pass the time waiting for someone to summon you on PC?

I was reading a post on the Steam forums which said what I had suspected all along. That the only way to make a connection is to wait about 20 minutes for the game to collect IP addresses at a glacial pace...

So, while I wait, I doodle pictures of my characters and enemies:

Spoiler: Hollow Warrior

Spoiler: My Sorceror character

Spoiler: One of the more fun bosses, requested by a friend and promptly lost...

Spoiler: My Ranger character

Bonus points to anyone who can identify what equipment I have on my characters (I haven't drawn everything exactly as it appears in game, but should be close enough)

MOTHER OF GOD... You're really good at drawing. I'm trying to draw Artorias and I can not even doodle something that good in 20 minutes. It's taken me thirty minutes just to get a very basic anatomy sketch down. Who knows how long it'll take me to actually finish...

While waiting for summons, I usually fire up a quick game to play in the meantime, like Cave Story. Somehow, my computer hasn't exploded yet, what with it being a 32 bit system and having additional programs run in the background.

 

[Yojimzo]

Either wander the stage, mopping up the normal enemies, *normally assists in anor londo* Or i go on the computer and surf youtube while i wait.

 

[Mossberg Shotty]

I usually just go through the menus, reading up on all my items and equipment, they actually put a good bit of effort into writing that. I only own the console version though, so it always takes awhile to get a summon.

As far as the gear featured in your drawing (nice job, btw) I'de say something like:

Sorcerer: Dusk Crown and Velka's Rapier.

Ranger:Hollow warrior waistcloth,Black Bow of Pharis, and Wanderer gear, minus the hood.

 

[Windcaler]

I tend to just farm souls by killing monsters and sometimes I get some good drops too. I do the same while looking to invade whether Im playing my darkmoon or darkwraith. You could also look over gear, contemplate new builds, or just mess around. One time while waiting on a summon I got into a fist fight with a silver knight

 

[thejackyl]

Turn on my speakers for my PS3 (I usually use a headset), and swap over to my PC(PS3 and PC share a monitor) and browse the net/watch Let's Plays. Lately I've been reading on my Kindle, though I usually wont end up finishing a chapter since I'm a slow reader.

Anyways, once the sound dies completely(signalling a loading screen), I swap back over.

 

[Bashful Reaper]

I usually just go through the menus, reading up on all my items and equipment, they actually put a good bit of effort into writing that. I only own the console version though, so it always takes awhile to get a summon.

As far as the gear featured in your drawing (nice job, btw) I'de say something like:

Sorcerer: Dusk Crown and Velka's Rapier.

Ranger:Hollow warrior waistcloth,Black Bow of Pharis, and Wanderer gear, minus the hood.

Sorcerer, yep. spot on, plus the maiden robes (which are the worst armour, redeemed a little by the magic defense). Ranger, It's actually Artorias's armour, bow was right though (I blame the drawing, I was summoned before I could do the pattern on the scarf.) The sword is the Bastard sword, which I now see is far too small.

Reading the item descriptions is a really good idea. I think half of the story is in there. For example: I would never have known the sad story of Havel's predicament had I not read the description of the key to his tower.

 

[Bashful Reaper]

i own the PC version so i don't play online

I was talking about the PC version. Simply because it takes such an age. I also have it for 360, but haven't played it in months. I've got quite attached to the characters on my PC version.

 

[Tearopenthelives]

I'm on a fresh game so I tend to pop a summon outside the fire in undead burg and proceed to run the area for souls and such.

Xbox summoning seems pretty quick though most players lay waste to everything inc. bosses with little input from me

 

[Bashful Reaper]

MOTHER OF GOD... You're really good at drawing. I'm trying to draw Artorias and I can not even doodle something that good in 20 minutes. It's taken me thirty minutes just to get a very basic anatomy sketch down. Who knows how long it'll take me to actually finish...

While waiting for summons, I usually fire up a quick game to play in the meantime, like Cave Story. Somehow, my computer hasn't exploded yet, what with it being a 32 bit system and having additional programs run in the background.

Thank you, I found doing life drawing helps... I usually go a couple of times a month. And also, I find that nice paper begets better drawings.

I find that I can't hear what is going on in Dark Souls if I have any other program running over it. Otherwise I'd probably boot up Binding of Isaac or FTL. Then again that would encroach on what has now become doodling time.

 

[barbzilla]

I utilize rolling to toss the corpses of hollows off of ledges to the valley below. It usually takes a few rolls in the right direction to get each corpse cleared from the area, but eventually I get the entire area cleared. Then once I get summoned and return, I find all the corpses have come back. :-(