drops of pain hit the ground

Neverwinter currently being under attack, most of the time I'm on the battlefield. Today's chatter was on...well, it started on dragons...

[Zone] Lolthissia Virmilion@kinkizzle: dragon plox

For those who don't know, she means "please".

[Zone] Freedom@cherriesman: the dragon is dead



[Zone] LeeBee@o0l0oo0l0o: i got 1 hit on the dragon
[Zone] Lolthissia Virmilion@kinkizzle: oh noes ;n;
[Zone] Malie@drevanias: dragon in 48
[Zone] Lolthissia Virmilion@kinkizzle: ty malie

Instance #48, Malie means.

[Zone] Darkness@rathlian: dragon at #36
[Zone] Pandemic Apocalypse@greypandemic: #56 dragon just popped with 19 minutes left
[Zone] Valareos Draconrouge@Valareos: I hate that teargetting bug

Valareos means "targeting". What he's saying is that the hit box on the dragon enemies is variable, and annoying. While any player can hit a dragon with AoE attacks--"area of effect", those spells/abilities that send damage into a specific area, not simply to one or more individual targets--to hit a dragon specifically, the best way seems to be to generally aim between the shoulder blades, where there is no dragon to be found. The only other way to hit the dragon, to date, is to log out of the instance and log back in. Which takes time and is even more annoying.

[Zone] Sune@constancenoring: halectrizar just hit me for 27k damage, ouch...

Ooh, I haven't seen Halectrizar yet. So you will know, this is Halectrizar:



I'll try to pull these over to an image host in a day or so, but for right now, this and Glaxenheim the Pale below come from the Forgotten Realms wiki page.

[Zone] Dakota Tarin@baocat: nothing like being reminded... it's a dragon.

So true.



[Zone] Sune@constancenoring: #54 up
[Zone] Jim@jimnarious: dragon #73
[Zone] Whisp@puff2009: having fun?
[Zone] Brixton@Brixton-Blitzhacker: I am purinas new Dragon Chow

To be fair, all the dragons on the battlefield are Greater Dragons. They are big, they are bad, they cover easily HALF of the center battlefield bowl...and they eat us like chips, so yeah.



[Zone] Otto@throsbi: your not the only one lolo
[Zone] Dakota Tarin@baocat: New formula! 10% more dwarf!
[Zone] Signar Shadowdagger@zanthesninja: its a good thing drow are not tasty
[Zone] Signar Shadowdagger@zanthesninja: we are kinda burnt

I don't know about burnt. Drow are something...maybe they're more like exotically spiced?



(The above image comes from GameGeex, but is an official promo image from Neverwinter itself.)

[Zone] Kel@thejondude: dwarves are the potatos of the dragon food chain, earthy and goes with everything
[Zone] Dakota Tarin@baocat: and bitter. takes a lot of sugar to off set em. or fey, in dragon chow.
[Zone] needy@deathrise2: lol good one
[Zone] Dash@deadphoenix3: idk, I like my elves well done. *wonk*

Well done, indeed.



(All other images are mine, with three of my in-game characters.)

choose your weapon, time to pay

A new Fortress 2 trailer--Meet the Spy. This one makes me giggle like a five-year-old.

While we're (not) on the subject, what the hell is wrong with Technorati?

A casual mention on another blog brought me to theirs, wherein they promised vague blog supports in exchange for registering an account on their system.

Okay, I thought, blogs always need traffic. Or...something.

So I registered. And then hit the very excited "Claim your blog!" button. Wherein I was told my blog had been "suspended" from their service due to "potential phishing violations".

The hell?

That was two months ago. Tonight, I wander across another mention, and--this time, grudgingly--return to Technorati. I sign in and see, once more, the excitable button. I click it. I see this:



So is it a move sideways, or a move down, that they're now telling me I'm likely a spam blog?!?

Honestly. This is ridiculous.

This next is directly from an in-world notecard sent to me last night:

Daryth and the rest of the Isle of Wyrms staff would very much appreciate your support for the JIRA issue:

http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-2374

__________________________________________________________

Avatars in Second Life have been evolving since the very beginning. If you’d like to see them continue to improve with more realistic movement and more artistic possibilities, please help by voting to support Deformations.

This is an issue that effects the future for all Avatar collectors and creators. Without official support, LL has plans to disable the uploading of future Deformation anims. Our aim is to fight to gain proper support from LL for deformations instead of letting this amazing tool be disabled.

__________________________________________________________

What are Deformations?

Deformations transform the appearance of an avatar beyond what can normally be achieved via "Edit Appearance"

A deform animation can move a joint such as a knee or elbow to a different location, allowing for shapes and animations beyond the movement and size restrictions of a basic human skeleton.

Why are Deformations important?

Both the Basilisk Dragons/Wyrmlings/Hatchlings and the Seawolf dragons use deformations as a vital component of their construction. Neither sets of AVs could look the way they do without Deformations.

*see Below the FAQ for a longer list of reasons to support Deformations*
Why is this JIRA important?

Although LL have agreed to respect existing content with respect to deformations they plan to patch the route via which new deformations can be created thus making it difficult/impossible for new content to use deformations. IF we can get LL to adopt this JIRA then deformations, in some fashion, will become a supported part of the SL experience and eligible for a few annoying bugs to be fixed.

Why is your vote so important?

Currently LL are primarily only concentrating on infrastructure work on SL. Several Lindens have stated that work of this nature will only be undertaken if a JIRA receives a lot of votes. Previous JIRAs have needed around 1000 votes in order to get LL to sit-up and take notice.

We feel that this issue is much more than content created within the context of the Isle of Wyrms and to that end IoW staff have been working closely with Seawolf staff to raise awareness of this issue to both are communities and to other avatar creators in Second Life.

What's this I hear about Gryphons?

Development is well underway and they'll be the next avatar available at the Isle of Wyrms cathedral. Other creatures such as phoenix, chimeras, dragon turtles, and hippogriff are also on the drawing board for later in the year.
__________________________________________________________

Six reasons to support Deformations

* Improves the overall appearance of SL * Much like sculpties have, by increasing the potential for more realistic and artistic creations.

* They would help SL look less out-of-date * While LL is celebrating that SL is six years old, it also means the technology is at least six yeas out of date ... something like deformations will help bring SL back up to the animation level that people see & expect in 2009. All LL has to do with something like deformations is properly support it and the content creators will take care of the rest ...

* They allow for more out of the box thinking * For many people, being something other than human in a virtual world is simply a given: why be human when you could be ANYTHING else. Deformations allow for much more impressively created & animated avatars.

* They may even increase the appeal of SL to new players * or those that might have left, by allowing for a higher level of quality in animations and character design.

* Disabling the ability to use deforms wont solve the problem * If LL's concern is griefing or misuse, there's already a slew of ugly deform anims in SL, pulling the plug on any new ones isn't going to make the griefing go away. It's just like any other tool in SL, there's always people who are going to abuse them, the root of the problem is the people themselves not the tool they use.

* LL can claim its a feature and not just another bug * They won't have to do a lot of work for something that appears to add "new" functionality - just clean up the functionality of something that's already there.
__________________________________________________________

Useful Links:

The main JIRA issue:
http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-2374

The Council forum post for info & updates:
http://www.daryth.com/council/showthread.php?t=2878

Stickman Ingmann's page on how to vote for a JIRA:
http://www.seawolf-monsters.com/wiki/KB/OtherIssues-JiraVoting

__________________________________________________________

Thank you for your time and your vote.

This is important, it doesn't just affect large or feral avs--it affects every single Tiny on the grid, too (including Autogenic Alchemy's). Please vote.

your foot's like lead, what did you think I said?

What Not to Wear, 101.



This young damsel was seen at Adam & Eve's BOGOF sale last night (now sadly over, but look for it next year!), as I was perusing shoes to smuggle home. Let me preface everything I'm about to say by saying she is not unattractive. Even though I captured her at an angle, she's got a good skin, a good shape, she looks very pretty. I am not saying she, herself, is a blight upon the grid.

No, that might be caused by the folks at Freesoul Design. What kind of hell crack were they taking when they designed those pants, for example?!? (Click the small image to see the whole outfit.) It looks like nothing more than three sculpted prims joined together, large enough to look like far oversized baggy pants, completely covering each leg. Instead of fabric folds, we have fabric-patterned lumpy plaster--because sculpts? Cannot be made to flex.

Honestly, when she first wandered in? I thought she was walking around wearing sheepskin. I kid you not.

Then the top. Dear gods. Not only is it modeled after one of those standard white cotton wifebeaters, but it's partially transparent. And it's not even transparent in a good way--it looks like nothing more than spilt pancake makeup, smeared into the fibers--save for the translucence. Add in the translucence, and I have to think someone held her down and poured olive oil on her chest, because water doesn't wet things down like that.

And even given it's supposed to be a wet tank--why in the hell would you go shopping wearing a wet tank top?!? In everything else in her inventory, she thought, ooh, yes, let's wear the striped sheep pants sized for six of her cousins, all mashed together, the oil-soaked tank top, with the oh-so-endearing grape jelly stain on her left hip, and hey, just for fun, the shimmery ginger tentacle hair that will not stop waving every time she even thinks about moving.

I'm not even bringing up the child-size denim ballcap chained to those pants, or the fact that the pants in question are low-cut, so the wide lace-frilled band of her white thong--white thong, get that--clearly shows.

Hon, you might as well just stamp "SKANK" on your forehead and get it over with. And this comes from a former escort. For the love of all things, dress better.



Somewhat segueing from there on the lingerie bit, Szentasha at Vanity Universe and the Lingerie/Beachwear expo has pieces I haven't seen at the main store: Xena, and Vampirella. Including a black velvet variant of the Drakulonian fighting strap.

Yes, I'm a fan of Vampi. Shhh.

Also, Indyra Originals at the expo has a free version of the limited-edition white fishnet set she offered a few months back. So if you missed out on the limited edition offering at the main store? You can come by the expo and get one for free!

There's a lot more things at Vanity Universe for the next few days, but trust me--the lag? She is not so good.



In other news of freebies, let me briefly mention the W&M Designs hunt, that's going on until the 20th of July. Essentially, track down a number of small beach balls hidden all over the sim, in and out of the main store.

Sorry, did I say small? Perhaps I should emphasize that. In fact, click for the larger picture, and tell me where the beach ball is there.

Yeah. They're really tiny.



They've completely revised the sim. It's gorgeous now, with trilling brooks, unexpected wildlife--like, f'rinstance, rounding the tree and seeing this gleaming mutant cobra, basking in the sunlight--as well as quiet little getaways and scattered cuddle and relaxing poses. It's beautiful, really, really beautiful. I must go back.

But maybe not to hunt.



And AzA Zymurgy and Lacey Martel finally got their own sim. It's an OpenSpace sim, but still, AzA's having grand fun designing it. I can't wait to see what he's done with it once it's finished.

And this amused me to no end.

I think, after the 20th...when three of the main large hunts close--I'm declaring at least a week moratorium on freebies and hunting. I'm back up over 46,000 items, and that's all from unsorted clothes, skins, shoes, toys, furnishings, jewelry, bizarre Japanese weapons (okay, I admit, I'm keeping the alligator gun--shooting alligators at someone seems so much more stunning to one's victim than simple bullets!), and various other ephemera...from the last week of June until now, I've added more than 3,000 items due to notecards, textures, landmarks, and the freebies themselves. Aaaaack! This must stop!

walk like an Egyptian

Friend of mine really, really wanted a dragon. To the point where, when all we could do, with all our efforts, to secure one for her, seemed to have failed....she fell into pits of despair that nearly put her out of our reach for comfort.

However, two days ago, she heard word from the Council of Wyrms. She was chosen to receive a dragon, based on her treatment of the wyrmling in her care.

She is very nearly thrilled beyond repair.



The new Egyptian dragon, making her island look small, and her hoard of coins, ankhs and amphorae look smaller.



The new dragon staring at her puppy.

Yes, for any who don't know, friend Midnight is now a Bast dragon. That's her very own Fluffy looking at her in somewhat unease. For any who know her, or have seen the ship's dog of the Mare Angelus, she is a standard breed, not a toy. The Bast dragon is very large.

I still best her on multiplicity of forms, and shifting ability. But my sole dragon-form is wee and weak, and may never grow larger, I know this. She has advanced beyond me in the ways of draconic magics. I'm very impressed.