Coffee and Absinthe

As some may know, I design t-shirts on occasion, and sell them through the print-on-demand service MySoti (formerly known as Bountee). I don't churn out designs by the dozen and I only have five up for sale at the moment, but the ones I do have up seem to be gaining popularity recently.

I've posted about Squid Rocket before (which, to date, has the most sales), but over the last month I've thrown two new designs up, although they somehow managed to keep in the theme of unlikely beasties. Weird, huh?

"Yeti" features... well, a yeti (sasquatch, abominable snowman, bigfoot, wendigo, etc), who is ice fishing. The concept for this design I can't take all the credit for. I was in the mood to doodle but at a loss for what, so I asked a friend and she replied, "Draw a yeti ice fishing." So, I did, and ended up liking the sketch enough to finish it and slap it on a shirt.

"Innsmouth" is a tribute to the work of H.P. Lovecraft. It features my personal interpretation of a Deep One, as described in The Shadow over Innsmouth, but with an anime-esque twist. The text is a spoof on those touristy shirts you can find in almost any iconic town or city, this time promoting the seaside port town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts (entirely fictional and also featured in the aforementioned Lovecraft story). It's kind of a nice little joke for any Lovecraft fan, but you can still wear it out in public without people thinking it's especially bizarre or in bad taste.

When I first opened up a shop at MySoti, I didn't really think I should expect much out of it. I figured I might get a sale or two a year and when I finally decided to buy a shirt of my own design for myself or friends and family, the option would be there. Sure, there are fancier sites with cheaper shirts, like Threadless, but that's a situation where your design being printed for sale is determined by popular vote, so there's always a chance it won't ever happen. I know this from experience when I submitted Squid Rocket to Threadless and barely got 2.0/5 as a final score. Not enough to get printed. So, in a way, this is more convenient and a better option simply because I don't have to rely on popular opinion to ever get my designs on a shirt.

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

Yes, I know. I know. I'm a terrible blogger. Absolutely the worst, and I don't really have much of an excuse for the complete radio silence, other than I was kinda burnt out and busy and couldn't arse myself to blog about anything, really.

This is the newest teaser video for Guild Wars 2, sequel to the popular MMORPG by ArenaNet. For a good while, there was no new information coming out about this game, and many of us who were looking forward to a continuation of the story of Tyria were fearing the worst -- that it had gone the way of such anticipated games as Duke Nukem Forever and Starcraft Ghosts... vaporware, never to be made. While these videos alone don't definitively prove that GW2 will ever actually be released, it's still a sign that SOMETHING is going on at the offices of ArenaNet, so I'm hoping the momentum will keep up, despite all the delays and lulls in updates about content and features.

From what I'm seeing, this game is going to be fantastic. I've always loved the aesthetics of Guild Wars, which were much higher quality than competing games, such as WoW, without having to resort to an absurdly cartoony style, and GW2 seems to be going down the same design road as Dragon Age: Origins, getting darker and grittier as new material comes out. Dark fantasy is the best fantasy, in my opinion.

Another thing I really liked in this video is how they're taking the Sylvari race. In Eye of the North, they debuted, but you saw very little of them and knew even less about them. From the original designs you first got a glimpse of, they were very childlike, spritely creatures... and I wasn't terribly enthused about that. However, it seems ANet has decided to mature them a bit and make them less like scantily clad little girls wearing foliage for clothing and made them less overtly human.

I'd be lying if I said this video didn't get me all hyped up over GW2 all over again.

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

So I'm replaying Final Fantasy IX...

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

Runes of Magic got its latest big update (really, sort of a quasi-expansion, if you think about it), which introduced two new classes exclusive to the new race: Elves. So, when I have the time, as my weeks are kind of busy and weekends are spent unwinding and doing laundry, I've been piddling around on a new elven druid I made.

Druids seem to be more self-sufficient than their human priest counterparts, but this may just be racial modifiers coming into play, such as higher dexterity/agility for better dodging and more potent magic ability. I'm really not sure, but it's refreshing to be able to do a moderately difficult quest on my own when it would take me hours to get a decent party together otherwise.

Outside of Elven Isle (the newbie area if you start off as an elf character instead of a human), I don't see a lot of changes to the world in-game, which is why I really only consider "Chapter II", as they call it, to be a quasi-expansion, rather than a full expansion which normally would add more than just a race, two classes and a new tutorial location.

I also got Scribblenauts last week. I have to say, it's probably one of the most innovative and original games I've seen on the DS in a good, long time. It's really refreshing and I love how open-ended it is.

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

Prints available from my DeviantART store or RedBubble

My newest illustration and also the design for my next tattoo (probably getting it within the next 6 months or so). Can you tell I'm a little bit of a paleo-geek?

Apologies for the last two Geekends not happening. Nothing much to post about; not playing any new games at the moment and there's not a whole lot of interest happening in the games I am playing right now. HOWEVER, there's a huge update for Runes of Magic scheduled for Tuesday and I'm going to be picking up Scribblenauts tomorrow. So, there should be some stuff worth posting Geekends about in the near future.

Also, my wonderous friend Nanner was quite the peach and bought me a couple of skeins of handpainted superwash sock yarn from Poppy Flower Fibers and they were waiting for me when I came home today. They're absolutely GORGEOUS and so smooshy.

The photo really doesn't do them justice, but it will have to suffice.

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

Been slacking on my FO posts, yes. Here's a couple to make up for the relative knitting-content radio silence lately.

Name: Brain Cozy
Pattern: Brangelina Hat by Crazy Aunt Purl
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick
Needle: US 10/11 (16" circular and DPNs)

A basic watchcap-style hat to go with his scarf and fingerless mittens, to keep his ears warm once it actually starts to get wintery out. He really likes it, but doesn't have a lot of occasion to wear it right now.

It was a fairly quick knit, thanks to the loftiness of the yarn and the size of the needles. Turned out pretty nicely, I think.

From Knitting

Name: Latte Mitts
Pattern: Jacoby
Yarn: Lane Cervinia Calzetteria
Needles: Clover US 2 9" circular

This is only half of the pair, so I guess it only barely passes for an FO. I'm taking a break before I start the other one. Anyhow, unlike Nate's Jacobies, this was made not with DPNs, but the 9" sock knitting circular needle I got from Twisted Knitter. Worked out pretty well. I liked not having to move between needles several times each round, and it certainly made ribbing go faster.

Between the two mitts, I've cast on for both a simple dishcloth as well as the Sockhead Hat by BohoKnits. I'm doing it in the same yarn as the latte mitts I've done half of, so they'll match. I'm really picky about hats because of the length of my hair (super duper long), but a slouchy sort of beret seems like it works well with longer locks.

From Knitting

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

Don't mistake the title for anything lewd or bawdy. Unless you tend to get that kind of excited from knitting supplies. I know some people who come dangerously close to taking the craft down that road.

Anyhow, the nine inches I'm referring to are specifically of the Clover 9" size 2 circular needles from Twisted Knitter I wrote about several posts back. I finally cleared my WiP queue enough to cast something on to the tiny circ and try it out.

It's not quite a sock. I figured it would be wiser to try out this new needle on a pattern I already know, so I cast on for another pair of Jacoby fingerless mitts, this time using my Lane Cervinia sock yarn from my stash.

Casting on is far less tedious on these circs (obviously) than on DPNs, but I did feel a bit clumsier once I joined into the round and began knitting my first round or two than I felt using DPNs. This perplexed me just a little bit since using larger circs for larger projects, it's always very easy, comfortable and fairly mindless to do. I think it was the fact the needle is so small and the cable is relatively stiff so you feel almost scared you're going to break it as you knit.

As Janet said in her post about her experience with the 9" circular, there does seem to be a bit of play between the stitches and I do find myself moving and adjusting them along the needle to even them out, but it's nothing terribly serious. So far, I've only been doing ribbing, so once I get to the gusset on these mitts, my opinions may change.

As far as things have gone so far with them, I'm enjoying not having to move between DPNs several times per round and make sure there aren't ladders between each needle. I love DPNs, but I'm also loving this alternative to them.

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

It's that time again.

No new games this Geekend, however, as I'm still playing Runes of Magic. I've gotten a few people interested and actually playing along with me since my post about the game last week, so it's been fairly enjoyable. I've even begun working on a second character, a priest, as a nice departure from my rogue.

I still like killing mobs with two knives, though.

Nothing really particularly exciting to talk about this week; I did manage to get my ass kicked pretty hard when attempting to clear FA (Forsaken Abbey, an instanced dungeon for levels 20-25+) with two guildmates of mine and three people from another guild we partied up with. Things went pretty smoothly until we reached Ancalon (the final boss of the dungeon) and then it all went down the tubes. Long story short, we got wiped except one priest, rez'd, and before we could regroup and rebuff, the other guild's rogue decided to go after the boss again, getting us wiped in half the time. Then the main guy in the other guild's trio got angry and blamed me and my guildmates for the mistake his friend made. Pretty silly, especially when those three were going on and on about how they'd done Forsaken Abbey dozens of times. Pride goeth before the party wipe.

But that's basically what I've been up to in-game lately. Riding around on a mount, doing quests, killing mobs, dying occasionally, always having a backpack which is full when I get drops I want to pick up... and, of course, finding glitches to screenshot.

Oh, and I found and NPC named Dingle.

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

Sorry for the lapse last week; other priorities took over.

I did, however, find a new free-to-play MMO to fiddle around in, this time it's Runes of Magic. This game is, plainly, a WoW-clone. In some ways, it's a shameless WoW-clone (the GUI especially), but there are features which make it stand out as a fairly solid alternative to Blizzard's dominating pay-to-play title.

Originally a Taiwanese production, Runes of Magic (or RoM) was localized for European and North American markets by the German company Frogster Interactive, and they've done a pretty good job on it. You won't find a lot of hilariously awkward engrish in RoM like you will in other MMORPGs brought to english-speaking gamers from Korea, China or Taiwan.

This isn't to say you won't see the asian influence in this game; despite being a WoW-clone, the character designs are far less cartoony than Blizzard's, so the exaggerated proportions and shoulder pads decked out with bright, garish colors and neon lighting particle effects aren't really present. While the game itself takes a lot from WoW, the character designs would be more akin to a cross between Silkroad Online and Guild Wars. That said, graphically, the game delivers pretty well. While it's not spectacular on the level of some games and there's not a fancy physics engine to supply you with interesting ragdoll situations, it's fairly smooth and fluid. The water effects are pretty nice, too, even if you turn down your settings because your computer runs a bit hot due to a lack of efficient cooling (like mine).

There are also the occasional glitch, which don't necessarily prevent you from enjoying the game aside from providing small distractions.

When you make a character, you get a surprising level of customization options: a wide variety of hair and face options, the ability to use a color wheel to create your own hair color, a selection of skintones and sliders ala The Sims 2, Oblivion or Fallout 3 with which to change height, head size, chest and hip width, foot and hand size and even breast size (only in female characters), which can lead to some comical results (see below).

On creation, you also get to choose your primary class. RoM has the standard staple classes to choose from: Warrior, Knight, Priest, Mage, Scout (Ranger) and Rogue. Later, you will take a secondary class to supplement your primary, choosing from any of the above which you did not choose at creation. So far, you only have the option to play as a human character, but with a coming update, Elves and two new elven classes (Druid and Warden) will be added to the game.

Gameplay is relatively straightforward. You move either by left-clicking a point on the ground you would like to move to or by using WASD or arrow keys to direct your character someplace. Spacebar makes you jump, which only really serves as amusement and a way to bypass obstacles; it does not aid in combat and large falls will cause damage. To initiate combat, you double-click an enemy with the left mouse button and use numberkeys or bound hotkeys to employ items or skills/spells while you attack.

Combat itself is nothing new for anyone familiar with the standard MMORPG formula, and while you experience plenty of it, advancing in level and gaining money and items is more often accomplished through the astounding number of quests available at any point in the game. In addition to one-time quests, you have a plethora of "daily quests", which you can do repeatedly (up to 10 daily quests every 24 hours - the timer resets every day at 6am PST). Some quests are difficult and require a full party of capable players to complete, while others are as simple as going from one NPC to another which is not even on the other side of a small village.

In addition, there are instanced dungeons that parties, or even solo players can farm for higher level equipment, materials and gold without having to compete with other parties or players who may try to camp spawns. Not to mention you can freely harvest raw materials such as wood, ore and herbs to craft your own items while in the field.

There's a fully functioning auction house system and it's a fairly effective way to supplement your ability to get equipment through either farming or questing, as people don't seem to jack up prices as much as they do in some games with player-driven economies. You can even buy diamonds (the item shop currency normally bought with real money to get premium items and powerups) through the auction house with in-game gold without fear of breaking the TOS and getting banned.

On a less functional side, there is fully-operational player housing in RoM (something I understand WoW has yet to implement), which you can decorate with furniture and accessories bought either with in-game gold or with the diamond item shop currency you can purchase with real money. Some people use these houses as social gathering locations or to promote their guild with giveaways and contests while others just use them as a place to go and switch between their primary and secondary classes to advance skills and store surplus items.

Overall, RoM might be borrowing from a proven successful game, but it's still doing things to establish itself as an independent entity. As far as the free-to-play, cash shop-supported sub-section of MMOs go, this one is possibly the most polished I've played yet. It's still fairly new, and it does have problems, but I'm hoping it will get better as time goes on and more content is added. It's an excellent alternative for anyone who isn't interested in paying $15/mo to play a game like WoW.

Did I mention it's free-to-play?

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.

I'm gonna try a new weekly posting theme because I feel I don't blog often enough sometimes. Every Saturday (or Sunday, if I'm feeling lazy) will become "Geekend" (like weekend, but geeky... get it?), in which I post about video games or other nerdy things I'm interested and/or involved in.

Today, I'll talk a little about a new MMORPG I've been playing around with. It's a free-to-play Korean game, with english translation and distribution by Atlus. The game is called NeoSteam and it's a cutesy little steampunk RPG which feels a lot like a combination of Silkroad Online and Fly For Fun.

Overall, the prevailing feeling isn't so different from your typical MMORPG. You click around to move, interact, and kill enemies to gain experience points and currency. You talk to NPCs to get quests, which you do to get rewards of EXP, money, items and sometimes you get perks (prestige and titles which endow you with stat bonuses) and they often give you buff spells to help you out during your journey.

There are the usual job classes, such as mystic (mage/caster), warriors (standard melee fighters), scouts (stealth class) and mechanist (a kind of crafter/engineer class). These classes expand into specialization classes which, as the name suggest, specialize in their fields a bit more (like going from general mystic to either a sorcerer/nuker or an animator/summoner), becoming more powerful, but less adaptable.

You've got a variety of races to pick from, each with bonuses that can really boost your abilities based on what race/class combo you choose. Personally, I like the dwarf-like Poms, but there's a good variety to fit just about any preference.

There are faction battles (Rogwel is an empire who focuses on science while Elerd is a kingdom with emphasis on magic), guilds, mounts and a cash shop where you can by little boost items and novelty costume pieces to spice up your characters. Travel is more than just running from place to place, since you can ride around in steam balloons, zeppelins or use a subway to get from place to place. Of course, these transportation methods usually require some form of payment, either in the form of in-game gold or a resource, but it's reasonable and sure beats hiking for 10 minutes just to retrieve an item for a quest.

The game isn't perfect, but it's not terrible either. For a Korean-made MMORPG, it's fairly light on the level grind. There are a LOT of quests and a good portion of them require very little killing of enemies over and over to meet the conditions for success, which is a welcome change over the mindless monster-slaughter mechanics of games like Ragnarok Online and FlyFF. Being a free-to-play game, it's pretty solid and the setting is a nice, albeit small departure from the run-of-the-mill fantasy stuff every other RPG uses for its base, however if it were subscription based, I probably would not invest in it.

Originally published at stale coffee. You can comment here or there.