Pardus - Alliance Merger

So I'm currently sitting in a chatroom for Pardus, with the leaders and senior members of Open Space Alliance (the alliance I'm in), and Federal Force (our neighboring alliance, and ally). Lots of technical, detailed stuff are being discussed at the moment. Things like, the territorial rights after merger, economic changes and taxes, internal structures and who will uphold each position within the alliance, etc.

As you can see in this image, Open Space already has a lot of space that we own, and with the addition to Federal Force's territory, we will own nearly half of the entire Federation Human Core. Also with the combined number of members, we will be allowed 7 congress members as opposed to the 5 OSA has, giving us more democratic power within congress.

Some changes I'd like to make within Cesoho where I manage, would be to adopt FF's commodity pricing to encourage traders to upkeep buildings more-so than the building owners taking much of the profit. That way, I won't have to be the only person that supplies all the upkeep for all the buildings in Cesoho by having traders that would be willing to do the work for me for the bigger profit they'd be making by trading. A good 60% to 80% of my Action Points are spent upkeeping buildings, the planet Ook, and my Star Base, Cesoho Urban Nook Terminal. Of course, it's easier said than done, because I need the cooperation of all the people who have buildings built in Cesoho to make the necessary price changes, after I've already recently changed to tweak the prices of stim chips lower.

As of now though, the only thing keeping us from merging right away is how the merge should be done. Federal Force seems to want to keep their name as it has more of a meaning than our Open Space Alliance does, and making a compromise with the name doesn't seem to be an option as doing so will require us to create a whole new alliance just to change the name, apparently. So it's either OSA joins FF, or FF joins OSA, and at the moment, it looks like OSA would join FF and ... pretty much take over FF due to our greater number. >_>; I'm okay with the idea, and so are others, except for a few that feel attached to the OSA name. Being that OSA has been around a lot longer than FF, and how we are more established than FF is, some feel that it would make sense for the FF to join OSA. I'll leave it to the forum to help convince them that the merger would be beneficial for both alliances.

On a side note, The New Pardusian Alliance and The Guild are still discussing... or rather, quarreling about the possibility of having a drug nook within the Federation Human Core. I'm hoping we don't end up with a civil war between them over this, especially when winter is coming. D= Every winter when I've been playing, the Federation always ended up in a war with either the Empire or Union, and it might look like we'll have another war with the Union again this year. I'm sick and tired of wars honestly, because of how demanding the game gets to defend ourselves against the enemy. I mean, war got declared on Christmas day last year. @_@ Who wants to spend their Christmas fighting a war? Seriously...

Feesh! - Firion 2

So the results are in for the first poll.

What do you want to see on this blog?
Firion: 3 votes
Vicki's troll posts: 3 votes
More pictures: 1 vote
My life: 0 votes
Girls: 0 votes
Stock market (LoL): 0 votes
Other: 0 votes

Didn't get anywhere near as many votes as I was expecting, sure, but this poll was mostly here for me to learn how these polls work. Anyway, the next poll will be up in a bit, this time regarding how I should handle content that contains spoilers for games, stories, and anything else that should be hidden from some people's eyes that would ruin the experience. Anyway, my readers have spoken, so I'll continue talking about Firion.

The thermometer on the right

It's gotten a lot more chilly compared to a week or two ago now, even here in Florida. And one of the concerns I've had last year was whether if Firion's water is warm enough for him, since apparently bettas' natural habitat is in tropial areas of Asia. Because of this, I decided to get a thermometer for him, although it's mainly for tanks rather than fishbowls. ._. PetSmart didn't have any thermometers for fishbowls, so I got one that floats in the water instead of the colored strip thing where you stick it on the inner surface of the tank.

So during these cold days, I put Firion to my left, which Pugyuu, my laptop, vents out its heat towards. I put something in the way so that it isn't too hot though. Otherwise, the bowl goes to my right where it's a bit further away since I need room for my mouse on my right as well. Doing so has definitely allowed me to maintain a pretty consistent temperature between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm hoping this trick will work throughout the winter, since I didn't have the thermometer last winter, so I don't know how effective it was then.

Also, I still haven't gotten the LED light for Firion yet, since I don't think I've been to PetSmart since I posted about it. Kind of surprising, considering how often I got dragged there before, but Vicki's schedule has been ridiculously filled lately too. I'm not sure if she's even reading my blog either because of the amount of work she's getting swamped with, which is sort of disappointing. She did print out a coupon for small pet stuff, but it's for purchases of over $30 something I believe, and the light I want is only $16. >_>; Might be just better to just wait for the light itself to go on sale rather than to force myself to use a coupon.

Also, while writing this, it dawned upon me that I haven't talked about Pugyuu on here yet. There's quite a story with this laptop too, along with my previous one, so it'll be another topic to post about for sure.

Halloween Events 2011 Finale

So I hadn't really finished all the Halloween event stuff on all the games and stuff I hang out in, the last time I posted about this. Most things have come to a close now, so just a small update for now.

Team Fortress 2 - So I managed to take down Monoculus and reach the Bombnomicon without too much of a problem. Played most of the time as Scout for the mobility to get into the portals that Monoculus leaves more often, and to hunt down the gift boxes that show up randomly. ... Too bad I never found any gift boxes the whole time I played. D=

I've also considered staying in the Underworld to try to hunt some gift boxes there, but there were already people hogging all the health packs down there, that it would have just ended up killing both of us from... well, the constant damage for being in the Underworld. I wonder if Heavy has a better chance at surviving in the Underworld with his Sandvich, but getting into the portal with his slow movement, as well as getting around fast enough to grab the gift box first is kind of questionable, unless I use the Running Gloves of Urgency and take even more damage per second. ._.

The Bombnomicon is pretty interesting in that you blow up a unique, purple-y explosion when you die. Makes me wonder which effect would have dominance though; the Golden Wrench kill, or the Bombnomicon explosion. ... Oh, wait, according to the Wiki, the explosion is dominant over quite a bit of other effects, including the silent kill from Your Eternal Reward, at least, in the current update.


Guild Wars - So I decided to check out the major cities in Guild Wars to check out whether if Mad King Thorn was around. At first, he wasn't, so I went ahead and did one of the quests that gave me 50 Trick or Treat bags, and when I came to get my reward, he was there playing Rock Paper Scissors with people. I decided to hang around and participate, and he was also giving people more Trick or Treat bags for participating in each action you were supposed to do with emotes. In the end, we played a game similar to Simon Says with the similar concept using emotes, and before he left, he gave everyone a Reaper's Hood. Haven't decided which character to wear it on yet. I know that I'm probably not going to wear it on my Elementalist there. >_> And having it on the Dervish is kind of questionable. He already wears a hood.

There's my Elementalist using a Sparkler I got from the Chinese New Year's event or something. My Xunlai Storage is filled with a bunch of components for Warrior weapons for some reason, and I need to open up more space in there. Maybe I'll just sell them off to the merchant or something, since I kind of doubt I'd be using them any time soon. I'm thinking they'll be used for Heroes on my other characters, but that won't happen for a while.

Gaia Online - I don't even go on Gaia now, but Vicki wanted me to help her out with the event or something, partially because she didn't understand how the event worked, and because of how ... ridiculous it is. For someone who's not so item-driven, it is a huge hassle that isn't even fun; perhaps because the event is broken and poorly executed. I guess compared to some of the earlier years' events, it's better in that they didn't have any server issues while running this event. And honestly? I'm surprised, given how stupid and ridiculous these events are. The whole event is based off of spamming up the event forums. D=

I don't really care to explain this event, but for future reference for people who might not know much about it, here's a brief summary. It's a battle between Humans VS Werewolves, and you get to pick an action to start off with at level 1. Under the enemy's avatars in the main event forum, there is an Attack button to use your attack skills on. Using skills cost energy, and the only way to regain energy is to post in the main event forum. Aside from the energy limitation, if you are dead or have 0 health, you can't use skills either. You can heal yourself by posting in either the Humans' or Werewolves' home base forum, or get healed by an ally.

So naturally, being the main source of energy, the main event forum is filled with a huge amount of spammy BUMP posts. I found it funny that the Sticky thread regarding the forum's rules mentioned not to spam too. Makes me think that they have too many different departments within Gaia that don't communicate enough to know what the hell's going on in the site. >_> But that's not the only issue with this event. I have found quite a few grammatical errors in the event, and I'm talking about basic stuff too, like the difference between "You're" and "Your". There were other instances of grammar fail, but there were also issues with certain skills not working as described; namely skills where you have a chance of stealing the target's energy too. Of all the times I've used it, I don't think it ever gave me the energy it said it was supposed to give me. Just programming fail there, probably. Finally, the leveling up system is far from straightforward as well. It sounds like making kills is the only way to level, but not really. I leveled up mostly as a human by constantly spamming heals. Too bad I couldn't do that as a werewolf because werewolves don't get any healing skills until level 6, and they're crappy anyway. Add to that that there's not nearly enough people healing than there are people attacking, so finding people that aren't already dead is hard as it is. VERY poorly executed, but then again, my standards for quality have been a lot higher lately.

So that was pretty much my Halloween. I haven't finished the wings for Vicki yet either, unfortunately, because I can't figure out how to position the straps on the wings to hang off of her shoulders. I'm going to consult some people who might be more experienced at crafting to see if they have a solution to this before I finish up the wings.

Helpful References

Ever since I started working on this blog, I've been a lot more productive in creating things like images and such. So naturally, I have been using some tutorials on certain skills for Photoshop that I find online. This one being a very basic brush that you could download anywhere, probably, but teaches you how to make a sparkle-effect brush anyway.

http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com/university/tutorials/ps_sparkletrail.shtml

Again, another basic tutorial, and one that's very easy and quick to do to add rays of light shining down (or up, if you want, I suppose?) in your image. I like the amount of versatility these photoshop tricks and stuff have in making images, so it's very helpful to have.

http://bartelme.at/journal/archive/rays_of_light

Next, this isn't a Photoshop tutorial, but another site that I had recently used to get some references on some HTML and Javascript codes to use on this blog. They're some simple stuff, and some of them only work for Internet Explorer, which sort of disappoints me as as FireFox user, but I managed to find some codes that were worth noting.

http://www.htmlfreecodes.com/

It would also be great if I can find some tutorials that I've used in the past, back on my previous laptop, Lappy, which I don't have the .psd files for anymore. When I do, perhaps I'll post them here on this blog so that photoshoppers like myself can look at the hand-selected tutorials I've picked out to add neat ways to enhance their photoshopping skills. ... I say skills, but these are mostly beginner stuff, I guess. ._. Perhaps I'll eventually get to the point where I can do a lot more technical photo manipulations and some sketching using the mouse or something in the future. But until then, these tutorials will do.

Halloween Events 2011

I said in the previous post that I was only going to talk about one game per post now, but this post is more-so about what all the games I play seem to be doing for their Halloween event, and my thoughts about them for this year.

Kingdom of Loathing - This year's Halloween event is much like last year's Crimbo (Christmas) event, where it's in the clan dungeons, making it a more social, community cooperation event to get all the items for everyone participating. This time, it's a completely new dungeon instead of it being a part of Hobopolis like Elf Alley was. It takes place in the Haunted Sorority House. The girls of the sorority Sigma Lamda Upsilon Tau are all dressed up in sexy costumes... I guess.. ? but they all seem to be upset... and undead. They are all either one of the following: Zombie, Skeleton, Ghost, Werewolf, or Vampire. Defeating them can get you some unique items from them if the haunted house is spooky enough via closing the blackened windows, turning up the boombox that plays an assortment of spooky sound effects, and turning up the fog machine as well. Doing so will make them stronger, but by making them stronger, it unlocks more items for them to drop when defeated. Among them are some (awesome) grade booze, a potion that gives an effect that changes your avatar appearance into one of the 5 undeads, unique, high leveled equipments, and some others. Once all of the sexy, undead sorority girls have been slain, you can fight the Necbromancer, the boss, who will drop outfit pieces, a chef staff, the Necbronomicon skill book, and some consumables like most clan dungeon bosses.

I nearly missed out on all this content had I not found another clan to join, since our clan was .. also undead in that most people were inactive, and our leader was an automated bot that would farm every day, but not really be active either. Without the leader's authority to open the clan dungeon, there was no way to open this in our own clan, unfortunately. Thankfully though, Robot Porn invited me to participate in his clan dungeon, which allowed me to get all the items from this event. o_o And fairly quickly too, thanks to all the help he got from people with the vampire fangs from the Mr. Store.

Ragnarok Online - Well, our server has an event, but their event tends to cater more towards higher leveled characters it seems. I was able to do it, but it felt annoying doing it even with my level 94/50 Rogue. It didn't feel like it was particularly fun, unfortunately, but at least I did get a special backpack and wings from the quest. Not much else to say about it though, other than that the rates are currently 7/7/3 at the moment, apparently. Kind of doubtful I'd bother with RO during other Halloween events are going on.

Guild Wars - ... Honestly, I don't know if there's any special quests are going on right now. I haven't even really bothered to check. ._. I did notice that I was getting Trick or Treat bags from monster drops however. Apparently I've also been missing out on Festival Hats too, but.. not sure if I have the storage space for these things. But it IS a free hat, I guess.

League of Legends - I'm... not sure if this is a Halloween Event thing, or if it's because it's League of Legend's 2nd anniversary, but I seem to have some IP Boost active for 10 games. Also, Festive Fiddlesticks looks awesome IMO, and it's a Legendary skin, which is cool. But... yeah. I doubt I'd be buying any Riot Points until I get a job or something. D=

Team Fortress 2 - Well now, free items just for logging on, previous Halloween activities with the Horseless Headless Horseman, and a new one too? Feels like so much is going on, and I really need to get in on the action here. There's even a new comic to boot. I fought Monoculus briefly, but the eyes it shoots out have some pretty good splash damage. It's killed me quite easily, even though I've avoided any direct hits from it. ._. Also, the free items I got were the Seal Mask, and Imp Wings for the Pyro.

I haven't really gotten enough time to check out what other events there are going on, but I have a feeling this is all I'm going to get to experience this year, since I have been working on these feathered wings that I agreed to make for Vicki's costume. ._. Once they're done, I plan to post some pictures here, even though I don't think it's as good as I had hoped it would turn out.

A Change of Pace

As many of you have realized, I have started updating the blog with more posts the past couple of days. I have decided to change the way how I post my usual game progress posts by splitting them up by each game now so that I can focus on putting more details in each game rather than having a nutshell summary of each. I have also been working on adding more features on the side, although it's looking a bit disorderly at the moment. The latest additions being links to other sites that I frequent (mostly browser game sites at the moment), and a vertical banner for the blog featuring Clarine and a Golden Phoenix logo. I made the image in the common vertical banner size of 160 x 600 pixels, but then I realized that the ad I have on the side was wider than that. x_o; Go figure. I COULD change the ad to the same dimension, but then I'm afraid it would extend a bit too far down the side bar; at least for for a single post on a page anyway. I'd like to fix up how the side bar looks with a layout overhaul one day.

It's great that I'm on a roll now with getting more posts up on here, but I could use a little help in deciding what I should post next each day. That's what the poll was there for originally, but I decided to work on each of those to some extent. Instead, I think it would be better to simply leave a comment on my blog posts. It will help me get an idea of what you're interested in, and find ways for me to improve my writing. In fact, you could request things you'd like me to blog about, and I'll see if it's something I can talk enough about. Or maybe you could send me something interesting (and original) that you'd like to have featured on my blog.

Either way, I greatly appreciate your support, and I'm looking forward to seeing more comments in the future. o_o

Wishlist - October 2011

Just a quick list of things that I am looking into buying at the moment. Of course, knowing me, these things will sit in my wishlist for the next half a year or more

1. Marina Micro LED Lights, Light Set, & Hub

Firion needs more light. Read previous post for more details.


2. Nintendo 3DS

I mean, really. If this wasn't in the list here, what's wrong with me?

3. Plain Head Sweatband (Blue)

This is kind of an impulse listing, since I really don't have much NEED for a sweatband, but was wondering how effective it would be in keeping my long hair in place. Figured it's better than a girly headband, and always wearing it in a ponytail is kind of boring, but there are no other alternative way of wearing my hair that isn't stupid looking for me. If not, I was also wondering whether if it could double as an eye mask at night. >_>; ... Not its intended purpose, but I'm just a resourceful kind of guy who makes use of whatever I have available to use in a way that would get more things done, without harming anything... unless the item is just disposable or something.

4. Sony Playstation 3

This isn't really for me so much as it is for my girlfriend. Partially because my dad has a PS3 back at my house in New Jersey, and partially because the DVD player here is so crappy, it barely even plays DVDs. -_- What use does a DVD player have if it doesn't play DVDs properly? So I thought a PS3 would be a great replacement for that, as well as allowing me to play my copy of Star Ocean: The Last Hope - International - finally, which I had bought like... over a year ago. I believe I got it some time in February 2010, which was soon after I came down here to Florida. No one else we know seems to have a working PS3 around, and all this time, despite how badly I wanted to play the game, I haven't been able to play it. @_@

Okay, so maybe the PS3 IS partially for me, but it will be for my girlfriend to keep. I would have bought this a long time ago had I found a job like I had planned since I came here. =/ Even before fixing the economy, the corruption in Florida needs to be ironed out because things are quite messed up over here. Not going into politics though. Not my favorite topic, and neither is it for most of my readers anyway.

I'm trying to find more things that would go on this list, but I'm drawing a blank right now. Maybe there just isn't too much that I really want.. or that maybe I won't have much to want until I reach the door of playing more games with the 3DS and PS3 first. >_> Cause I could list the games that I want for them, but.. that'll have to wait until when I get the consoles, I guess.

Edit: After thinking some more, I realized there were two things that I've also had in mind.

5. Car

Don't care what brand, the features, and other luxury details. As long as it gets me to places safely, the cheapest car will do. Transportation is one of the things that are keeping me from getting a job right now, since the bus stops around here are ... stupidly lacking. The closest bus stop for me will probably be well over a mile or two, and waking up early enough to even fast walk over a mile to get to a BUS STOP to get to a job seems ridiculous to me. Maybe I'm spoiled to think that, but having my own car will definitely help increase my chances of landing a job. The only problem this isn't on top of the list though is because of auto insurance that I obviously can't afford to pay right now, even though my driving record is absolutely clean. Not even being stopped by a police officer for speeding and such. The roads in Florida are just.. ridiculous to me. The many drivers on the road don't communicate with the other drivers very much, the traffic lights are designed to CAUSE an accident with a $200+ fine hovering over each intersection with their red-light-runner capture cameras and their ridiculously short yellow lights, and tailgators everywhere. @_@ Second, there's no room in the driveway here for another car, unfortunately. I'm not sure where I would park my car if I were to get one at this house.

6.  Sword

Well, this has been on my mind since I picked up the way of the Sword Named Truth. But at the same time, it's been hard finding a good sword that matched my basic, standard image of the Sword. Generally, a long sword or a claymore would work well, as long as it is a double-edged sword, because many truths have two sides that can harm both the target and the user if not used correctly. This whole symbolism has had a strong impact on me, and I thought it would be nice to have as an ornament, as well as to pose with for pictures or something. Heck, if I ever do get a sword, I will post pictures of myself with the sword on here. Perhaps with the sweatband and some other stuff too. >_> Cause there's plenty of cool characters in video games that wear some type of headband.

Vincent from Final Fantasy VII

Dart from Legend of Dragoon

Sol from Guilty Gear

Although Sol's isn't really a sweatband, but it's still a band he wears on his head. ... Also, why are they all red.. ? >_> I can't think of any characters that wear blue headbands for some reason..