FA+
Shop
Check out InkEtch, awesome artist
Posted 3 years agoHey everyone. I know I haven't posted anything in a long while, but hope everyone is well and good as winter starts to roll in.
Wanted to shoutout for a friend of mine, Ink, who has opened for commissions recently and hasn't garnered much of a following yet on FA.
He's a very creative fellow that does great stuff. He can work around a lot of different genres like fantasy, sci-fi, or modern slice of life.
You can check out his gallery along with the deets below:
https://www.furaffinity.net/user/inketch/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/49723143/
Wanted to shoutout for a friend of mine, Ink, who has opened for commissions recently and hasn't garnered much of a following yet on FA.
He's a very creative fellow that does great stuff. He can work around a lot of different genres like fantasy, sci-fi, or modern slice of life.
You can check out his gallery along with the deets below:
https://www.furaffinity.net/user/inketch/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/49723143/
EverQuest: Emergent Story in an MMO?
Posted 5 years agoI wanted to share a little story with an experience I had last night in EverQuest, an MMORPG.
EverQuest was an MMO that premiered in 1999. It was the precursor to World of Warcraft, which in its vanilla days inherited a lot of elements from EQ. It is still around to this day, however it is a far cry from the shape it had in its yester-years.
That is why I went to play on Project 1999's classic server. They recently started a new server called Green which is as bare bones as it gets. No expansions as of now. For giggles I rolled an Enchanter, which is a mage class that specializes in pacifying mobs. It's a group oriented class, but that is great because EQ is a very group oriented game. The world is dangerous with powerful monsters if you do not watch where you step. You start with nothing except your own ignorance and are forced to earn your way into its vast world.
There are no maps in this game, so after reveling in personal discoveries and encountering new areas I happened upon a hill infested with orcs. A paladin was struggling there so I saved her and then was like "hey, let's team up." There were patrols everywhere, and we struggled to survive. I was very green in both character ability and knowing what I was doing. We had fun chatting with each other about the game and what brought us back to it during our down time.
Eventually, we encountered a monk. And then a bard. And then another companion. We built a small team and had many trials and errors together trying to lock down these spawn camps of orcs on the hill. In one instance I attempted to "lull" some stationary enemies so we could pull them one by one. Lull basically makes it so that one enemy fails to notice that we've attacked its compatriots. When this failed and a horde of orcs charged me, it was hilarious to run them off by having to leave the zone entirely. Yes -- enemies will chase you in classic EQ across an entire zone until you leave it. It's crazy.
One thing that's nice about the game is its pacing, which permits for a lot of textual chat. We had lots of inter-character banter together about how we returned to EQ and past experiences with character classes and areas. Among all this we had to contend with players gathering "trains" of orcs from their mishaps and having to try and flee to a zone's exit. A "train" is basically a horde of mobs that has coalesced from someone aggroing them, and they happen to become an engine of murder for anyone that might be close by when it passes. This makes for lots of fun "RUUUUN!" moments.
The awkward scampering about and hurtling ourselves at rough polygonal enemies ended in us becoming more of a honed fighting force. We figured out how to pull, how to tank, and how to deal with stray patrols that slammed into us on the hill. We built chat macros to help communicate better. All in all, I not only made some new friends, but I learned things about the game.
I felt accomplished, and I felt like I had made my own story. There was no NPC that tried to make me play their story. There was no tedious task I was forced to do. I was slaying powerful foes, making friends, and getting more powerful by my own sheer force of will. I had started with nothing, but I had gained something -- and I still have a long way to go.
It is for these reasons that my heart goes back twenty years ago to EverQuest. Today, MMORPGs are really not massive nor multiplayer games. They are hand-holding, solo-catering, instance-dungeon experiences that do not promote social interaction or community building. The magic of EverQuest in its unrefined glory is that it forces so many limitations on its players that you are forced to band together. You meet other people and build your own experiences from your own decisions.
EQ's prevailing adventure mechanic is A) find camp, then B) kill mobs. But because of the obstacles and limitations established, it allows for other seeds of experiences to grow. It is sad that such an archaic concept of camping mobs is the go-to for me when it comes to MMO's. Hopefully one day MMO's will get back on the right track and find their identity once again.
What are you MMORPG experiences you cherish most fondly? Share them below!
EverQuest was an MMO that premiered in 1999. It was the precursor to World of Warcraft, which in its vanilla days inherited a lot of elements from EQ. It is still around to this day, however it is a far cry from the shape it had in its yester-years.
That is why I went to play on Project 1999's classic server. They recently started a new server called Green which is as bare bones as it gets. No expansions as of now. For giggles I rolled an Enchanter, which is a mage class that specializes in pacifying mobs. It's a group oriented class, but that is great because EQ is a very group oriented game. The world is dangerous with powerful monsters if you do not watch where you step. You start with nothing except your own ignorance and are forced to earn your way into its vast world.
There are no maps in this game, so after reveling in personal discoveries and encountering new areas I happened upon a hill infested with orcs. A paladin was struggling there so I saved her and then was like "hey, let's team up." There were patrols everywhere, and we struggled to survive. I was very green in both character ability and knowing what I was doing. We had fun chatting with each other about the game and what brought us back to it during our down time.
Eventually, we encountered a monk. And then a bard. And then another companion. We built a small team and had many trials and errors together trying to lock down these spawn camps of orcs on the hill. In one instance I attempted to "lull" some stationary enemies so we could pull them one by one. Lull basically makes it so that one enemy fails to notice that we've attacked its compatriots. When this failed and a horde of orcs charged me, it was hilarious to run them off by having to leave the zone entirely. Yes -- enemies will chase you in classic EQ across an entire zone until you leave it. It's crazy.
One thing that's nice about the game is its pacing, which permits for a lot of textual chat. We had lots of inter-character banter together about how we returned to EQ and past experiences with character classes and areas. Among all this we had to contend with players gathering "trains" of orcs from their mishaps and having to try and flee to a zone's exit. A "train" is basically a horde of mobs that has coalesced from someone aggroing them, and they happen to become an engine of murder for anyone that might be close by when it passes. This makes for lots of fun "RUUUUN!" moments.
The awkward scampering about and hurtling ourselves at rough polygonal enemies ended in us becoming more of a honed fighting force. We figured out how to pull, how to tank, and how to deal with stray patrols that slammed into us on the hill. We built chat macros to help communicate better. All in all, I not only made some new friends, but I learned things about the game.
I felt accomplished, and I felt like I had made my own story. There was no NPC that tried to make me play their story. There was no tedious task I was forced to do. I was slaying powerful foes, making friends, and getting more powerful by my own sheer force of will. I had started with nothing, but I had gained something -- and I still have a long way to go.
It is for these reasons that my heart goes back twenty years ago to EverQuest. Today, MMORPGs are really not massive nor multiplayer games. They are hand-holding, solo-catering, instance-dungeon experiences that do not promote social interaction or community building. The magic of EverQuest in its unrefined glory is that it forces so many limitations on its players that you are forced to band together. You meet other people and build your own experiences from your own decisions.
EQ's prevailing adventure mechanic is A) find camp, then B) kill mobs. But because of the obstacles and limitations established, it allows for other seeds of experiences to grow. It is sad that such an archaic concept of camping mobs is the go-to for me when it comes to MMO's. Hopefully one day MMO's will get back on the right track and find their identity once again.
What are you MMORPG experiences you cherish most fondly? Share them below!
Rat Year: What are your Fave-rats?
Posted 5 years ago2020 is the Year of the Rat with the Chinese Zodiac. I was actually born during the Year of the Rat and have always had an affinity for mice and rats. There were a lot of fantasy properties growing up that were likely influential in this. The Don Bluth film, Secret of NIMH, has always had a nostalgic niche in my heart. (Talk about haunting, memorable, and creepy for a kids movie. Did anyone notice the raining mouse bones when Mrs. Brisby visits the owl?) There were also other fantasy properties growing up, such as the American Tail films and the Redwall series of novels. I adored rats so much that I even took some as pets. Smart, empathic, and vibrant in personality they is.
And so, I've come to ask all of you:
What are your favorite rats (or mice) from fiction?
For me the answer is two-fold. The first would be Freya Crescent from Final Fantasy IX. I've always had an interest in her way back in the early 2000's when I purchased FF9. I think that Square chose to portray a race of rat people in their fantasy story because they wanted to celebrate their tradition of being portrayed in fantasy fables from around the world. Freya is a strong character that oozes with conviction despite her plights within the story. She's also a Dragoon, which is my favorite Final Fantasy class from from ye olden Final Fantasy II (now known as IV). I'm going through an FF9 playthrough right now, actually.
The other answer is something I'd encourage anyone to look into who is not in the know: Skaven
Skaven are one of the most unique things to sprout from the Warhammer Fantasy property. Warhammer is rife with gothic portrayals, steam-punk technology, and magic. Skaven are celebratory in all three. In fact, imagine rodents whose technological prowess is inspired from Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, magical steam-punk, and ninja-faction stab-doings. They are an immoral parody of man spanning in a continent wide Underempire deep within the earth. In the table-top game, you must often roll to see if they blow up when they use a variety of weapons such as the warpfire thrower. All in all, Skaven are intriguing in their resourcefulness, black comedy in their mishaps, and truly terrifying when you imagine the harsh realities of Skavendom. I love Skaven so much that I've even created a Skaven fan character.
(Did you know they also invented a murder mousewheel of death with zap-cannons on it?)
And so, I've come to ask all of you:
What are your favorite rats (or mice) from fiction?
For me the answer is two-fold. The first would be Freya Crescent from Final Fantasy IX. I've always had an interest in her way back in the early 2000's when I purchased FF9. I think that Square chose to portray a race of rat people in their fantasy story because they wanted to celebrate their tradition of being portrayed in fantasy fables from around the world. Freya is a strong character that oozes with conviction despite her plights within the story. She's also a Dragoon, which is my favorite Final Fantasy class from from ye olden Final Fantasy II (now known as IV). I'm going through an FF9 playthrough right now, actually.
The other answer is something I'd encourage anyone to look into who is not in the know: Skaven
Skaven are one of the most unique things to sprout from the Warhammer Fantasy property. Warhammer is rife with gothic portrayals, steam-punk technology, and magic. Skaven are celebratory in all three. In fact, imagine rodents whose technological prowess is inspired from Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, magical steam-punk, and ninja-faction stab-doings. They are an immoral parody of man spanning in a continent wide Underempire deep within the earth. In the table-top game, you must often roll to see if they blow up when they use a variety of weapons such as the warpfire thrower. All in all, Skaven are intriguing in their resourcefulness, black comedy in their mishaps, and truly terrifying when you imagine the harsh realities of Skavendom. I love Skaven so much that I've even created a Skaven fan character.
(Did you know they also invented a murder mousewheel of death with zap-cannons on it?)
Star Trek: Picard vs Old Trek (Spoilers)
Posted 5 years agoThere are friends and acquaintances here that do journals on occasion. I really like reading posts that delve into pop culture, general interests, or food for thought. Contributions that stimulate discussion, promote thinking, or convey passion. I thought I would contribute for a change.
I just finished watching the first season of Star Trek: Picard. It was a rather interesting experience for me. When I've stated my blunt grievances to others on the show, they asked why I still watched it. I told them that it was like watching my house burn down. I had to watch it burn from beginning to end. That's an over-the-top analogy, but it stresses how a particular property of science fiction has transitioned from one state to a completely different (albeit unpleasant) one.
My pops, brothers, and I would watch Star Trek: The Next Generation together when I was younger. We were big into science fiction and fantasy in our early days thanks to such exposure. This was the late 80's to early 90's where there was no internet. Once an episode aired, unless you were lucky with a re-run, that was it. I remember us recording what episodes we could on VHS, commercials and all. How those tapes became precious and their degradation (or consumption) led to heartbreak. (Yes, your VCR could vore your tapes. That magnetic tape getting all caught up with its innards and being ripped from the cartridge if it was in a bad mood.)
I remember how we would wait an entire week for each new episode with anticipation. There was no Netflix binge-watching in those days. Once an episode aired my dad would call his friends and talk about the episode in depth. One of my fondest memories of Star Trek was visiting some friends out of state. When we stayed there we watched the two parter, The Descent, which re-introduced a titular villain and the Borg. How often does a show bring people together in a living room these days? What sparks enthusiasm and debate week after week? In this day of wonderful, yet over saturated television, I hope it does so more often than not for you. Star Trek ruled the 90's with TNG, DS9, and Voyager for many sci-fi fans.
Anyway, Star Trek made me feel good. Old Trek does so to this day. The magic of Star Trek is two things to me: A hopeful future and the discovery of problems with creative solutions.
Now, onto Picard
As most of you know Star Trek takes place centuries from now. There's no poverty or hunger. Earth is part of an interstellar alliance of myriad cultures and creatures that share ideals of unity, equality, prosperity, and discovery. The story exists out there in the unknown. While there are stories that revolve around the inner workings of the Federation, many of the stories juxtapose this Utopian establishment and ideology against issues that still plague other parts of the galaxy.
The Federation, and its space-faring organization Star Fleet, uses its developed tools of diplomacy and sciences as a lens to confront the issues that exist on other worlds and cultures. To the characters of Star Trek it's talk first and shoot second. The primary goal is to acquire understanding to absolve any potentials for conflict.
This is cool in two ways: For one, it shows a positive approach in dealing with general uncertainty. Two, if shooting does occur it has much greater impact. The fact that violence is so sparse means that when an episode comes around where shooting happens it really means something.
Finally, not everything can be solved positively or end hunky-dory. When this does occur at the end of an Old Trek episode, it has more meaning ... but it needs to be applied properly.
Picard sets the tone out the gate. The very establishment of the Federation has become a political statement of the current times. It has become racially prejudiced and conveys a sense of aggression through its typically Lawful Good characters of the Federation. Shaking up the foundation of the federation with racism is an interesting idea, but it is not earned in the plot. The event of creating synthetic lifeforms that rebel does not justify a complete shift in attitude. What do I mean by that? The racially prejudiced perspective and treatment of synthetics prior to the rebellion was so out of character for Federation citizens.
Also, the attitude of the Federation versus the Romulans does not conform to previous attitudes of the show. If anything, look at the Klingons and the Federation as a historical example. They cherish their hard won alliance, however somewhat tenuous it may be. They had a war-faring relationship for many years, but the Federation stands for peace and unity regardless of the creeds it faces in a tumultuous galaxy. So, the attitude toward the Romulans within the story is jarring and illogical.
A hopeful future does not just apply to the Federation and other elements of the setting, but to characters as well.
The hopeful future perspective of many characters is twisted inappropriately in the show. Seven of Nine was a character that grew to cherish her humanity, yet retain her scientific pursuit of perfection attained from the Borg. She was like the best of both worlds. It would make more sense for her to be a scientist within the context of the show, but instead she becomes an interstellar pew-pew cowboy. Her perceived future is bathed in the hopelessness that humanity can't get better and must be zapped with a laser gun. It is not longer worth being human in a positive way that started with her personal quest in Star Trek: Voyager.
What about Icheb? What about Hugh? Is there any thoughtful positive outcome or meaning to their deaths? Is there any chance to explore what positive hopeful lens they may have in the future as characters? Is there any chance for them to have their faith renewed in a hopeful future if they've acquired a negative view? No. Unfortunately, the future of Picard is a grim-dark future for cameos of beloved characters.
As the show progresses, Picard uses diplomacy to a degree in order to solve the greater issues at hand. He clearly prefers it over violence. While these ingredients might be fresh and tasty, they are lost in the base that is the stew of this show. The foundation and events surrounding Picard are soured with illogical circumstances and irrational setting choices. When a Star Fleet admiral drops an F-bomb, it (hilariously) hit me at the core. It was not only out of character, but using the F-word is an anachronistic word that was purged from the human lingo centuries ago.
In another example, there is a new character called Raffi who has a deep repoirt with Picard. She expresses her resentment for the material wealth he has with his estate. It was expressly demonstrated in previous shows that humans in the Federation have advanced beyond a desire for things as well as the whole poverty thing. This example along with the Admiral's usage of swear words are all symptoms of a larger problem with the backdrop narrative of Picard.
On a final topic, I know that the season-long story may just be the new norm for Star Trek. However, I ran across an observation online that reminded me why I liked the self-contained episodic stories so much. If I didn't like the story of one episode, I could look forward to a completely new one down the road. With a season long story if I do not like the story it is not fun to continue watching the show. The mystery of "what will our characters get into next time" is so much more fun and hard to predict than "oh geez, I think 'x' might happen because of 'x' cliff hanger."
To sum it all up, I hope that one day Star Trek will return to its roots of a hopeful perspective of the future. There are simply some tenets and rules established in the setting that make for this manner of storytelling. I think it is fine to bend these rules and tenets (Deep Space Nine did it with Section 13 and the Dominion War), but it needs to be done sparingly and be justified. In Picard it feels like the rules and tenets are broken.
It has often been said that Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future was so restrictive in its "perfection" that it made it hard to convey drama in TNG. However, I imagine this extreme rigidness produced some great television when it challenged writers and started to lax slightly in Season 3 onward. If Roddenberry wasn't so restricting, would it have made for such unique and positive television as TNG evolved?
Wow, this post was too long. Thank you for reading! What are you opinions? Are you a Trek fan or curious about Trek? What did you like or dislike about Picard or other areas of Star Trek?
I just finished watching the first season of Star Trek: Picard. It was a rather interesting experience for me. When I've stated my blunt grievances to others on the show, they asked why I still watched it. I told them that it was like watching my house burn down. I had to watch it burn from beginning to end. That's an over-the-top analogy, but it stresses how a particular property of science fiction has transitioned from one state to a completely different (albeit unpleasant) one.
My pops, brothers, and I would watch Star Trek: The Next Generation together when I was younger. We were big into science fiction and fantasy in our early days thanks to such exposure. This was the late 80's to early 90's where there was no internet. Once an episode aired, unless you were lucky with a re-run, that was it. I remember us recording what episodes we could on VHS, commercials and all. How those tapes became precious and their degradation (or consumption) led to heartbreak. (Yes, your VCR could vore your tapes. That magnetic tape getting all caught up with its innards and being ripped from the cartridge if it was in a bad mood.)
I remember how we would wait an entire week for each new episode with anticipation. There was no Netflix binge-watching in those days. Once an episode aired my dad would call his friends and talk about the episode in depth. One of my fondest memories of Star Trek was visiting some friends out of state. When we stayed there we watched the two parter, The Descent, which re-introduced a titular villain and the Borg. How often does a show bring people together in a living room these days? What sparks enthusiasm and debate week after week? In this day of wonderful, yet over saturated television, I hope it does so more often than not for you. Star Trek ruled the 90's with TNG, DS9, and Voyager for many sci-fi fans.
Anyway, Star Trek made me feel good. Old Trek does so to this day. The magic of Star Trek is two things to me: A hopeful future and the discovery of problems with creative solutions.
Now, onto Picard
As most of you know Star Trek takes place centuries from now. There's no poverty or hunger. Earth is part of an interstellar alliance of myriad cultures and creatures that share ideals of unity, equality, prosperity, and discovery. The story exists out there in the unknown. While there are stories that revolve around the inner workings of the Federation, many of the stories juxtapose this Utopian establishment and ideology against issues that still plague other parts of the galaxy.
The Federation, and its space-faring organization Star Fleet, uses its developed tools of diplomacy and sciences as a lens to confront the issues that exist on other worlds and cultures. To the characters of Star Trek it's talk first and shoot second. The primary goal is to acquire understanding to absolve any potentials for conflict.
This is cool in two ways: For one, it shows a positive approach in dealing with general uncertainty. Two, if shooting does occur it has much greater impact. The fact that violence is so sparse means that when an episode comes around where shooting happens it really means something.
Finally, not everything can be solved positively or end hunky-dory. When this does occur at the end of an Old Trek episode, it has more meaning ... but it needs to be applied properly.
Picard sets the tone out the gate. The very establishment of the Federation has become a political statement of the current times. It has become racially prejudiced and conveys a sense of aggression through its typically Lawful Good characters of the Federation. Shaking up the foundation of the federation with racism is an interesting idea, but it is not earned in the plot. The event of creating synthetic lifeforms that rebel does not justify a complete shift in attitude. What do I mean by that? The racially prejudiced perspective and treatment of synthetics prior to the rebellion was so out of character for Federation citizens.
Also, the attitude of the Federation versus the Romulans does not conform to previous attitudes of the show. If anything, look at the Klingons and the Federation as a historical example. They cherish their hard won alliance, however somewhat tenuous it may be. They had a war-faring relationship for many years, but the Federation stands for peace and unity regardless of the creeds it faces in a tumultuous galaxy. So, the attitude toward the Romulans within the story is jarring and illogical.
A hopeful future does not just apply to the Federation and other elements of the setting, but to characters as well.
The hopeful future perspective of many characters is twisted inappropriately in the show. Seven of Nine was a character that grew to cherish her humanity, yet retain her scientific pursuit of perfection attained from the Borg. She was like the best of both worlds. It would make more sense for her to be a scientist within the context of the show, but instead she becomes an interstellar pew-pew cowboy. Her perceived future is bathed in the hopelessness that humanity can't get better and must be zapped with a laser gun. It is not longer worth being human in a positive way that started with her personal quest in Star Trek: Voyager.
What about Icheb? What about Hugh? Is there any thoughtful positive outcome or meaning to their deaths? Is there any chance to explore what positive hopeful lens they may have in the future as characters? Is there any chance for them to have their faith renewed in a hopeful future if they've acquired a negative view? No. Unfortunately, the future of Picard is a grim-dark future for cameos of beloved characters.
As the show progresses, Picard uses diplomacy to a degree in order to solve the greater issues at hand. He clearly prefers it over violence. While these ingredients might be fresh and tasty, they are lost in the base that is the stew of this show. The foundation and events surrounding Picard are soured with illogical circumstances and irrational setting choices. When a Star Fleet admiral drops an F-bomb, it (hilariously) hit me at the core. It was not only out of character, but using the F-word is an anachronistic word that was purged from the human lingo centuries ago.
In another example, there is a new character called Raffi who has a deep repoirt with Picard. She expresses her resentment for the material wealth he has with his estate. It was expressly demonstrated in previous shows that humans in the Federation have advanced beyond a desire for things as well as the whole poverty thing. This example along with the Admiral's usage of swear words are all symptoms of a larger problem with the backdrop narrative of Picard.
On a final topic, I know that the season-long story may just be the new norm for Star Trek. However, I ran across an observation online that reminded me why I liked the self-contained episodic stories so much. If I didn't like the story of one episode, I could look forward to a completely new one down the road. With a season long story if I do not like the story it is not fun to continue watching the show. The mystery of "what will our characters get into next time" is so much more fun and hard to predict than "oh geez, I think 'x' might happen because of 'x' cliff hanger."
To sum it all up, I hope that one day Star Trek will return to its roots of a hopeful perspective of the future. There are simply some tenets and rules established in the setting that make for this manner of storytelling. I think it is fine to bend these rules and tenets (Deep Space Nine did it with Section 13 and the Dominion War), but it needs to be done sparingly and be justified. In Picard it feels like the rules and tenets are broken.
It has often been said that Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future was so restrictive in its "perfection" that it made it hard to convey drama in TNG. However, I imagine this extreme rigidness produced some great television when it challenged writers and started to lax slightly in Season 3 onward. If Roddenberry wasn't so restricting, would it have made for such unique and positive television as TNG evolved?
Wow, this post was too long. Thank you for reading! What are you opinions? Are you a Trek fan or curious about Trek? What did you like or dislike about Picard or other areas of Star Trek?
