13uddy

Second Life is fun, but it can be pretty weird if you end up in some places. And while a lot of things cost money that is bought with real life money, there are a TON of places with high-quality freebies if you look around a bit. Pretty much anything you may like exists there, be it general themes (fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, etc.), specific franchises or just "stuff". I like running around the various fantasy and steampunk sims and seeing what other people have created. And don't feel bad for not having seen those things. Two of my closest friends haven't seen most of them either. Sure, I love Star Wars, but I'm not going to force someone to sit through it.

Since I'm (im)patiently awaiting my birthday Friday to resub and get back on FFXIV (unexpected med cost last month ate up what I'd set aside for my sub), I spent today fixing up my Second Life character: Aside from that, I spent the day watching "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" on Netflix, re-reading "Star Wars Imperial Commando: 501st" (got about 1/3 through it) and looking at different online stores for something to get my nephew for his birthday next month.

I actually am planning to watch that this week. I was going to watch it before, but I kept getting distracted by either something I liked leaving, returning to or getting more episodes on Netflix. The two most recent anime I've seen were Samurai Flamenco and Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, both which I liked a lot more than I expected to. Samurai Flamenco appealed to me on a few fronts, but the biggest draw is because I'm a big fan of Japanese superheroes like Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Ultraman and stuff like that. It was so ridiculous at times, but I think that just made it all the more appealing to me. Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet, though, I had no real clue what to expect other than a post apocalyptic sci-fi element and giant robots. I really expected this would be a series I would only half-watch, but I was a bit surprised I got sucked in and enjoyed the story. It was interesting to watch the main character evolve from this brainwashed soldier to an individual who thought for himself.

What do you mean "hand out"? My character would be trick-or-treating! Sure, he's a grown man, but that isn't the point!! Actually, I expect his Halloween would be a lot like my own. I like to dress up and chaperone my friend's kids, but I don't actually intend to do any trick-or-treating. However, it never fails that some people will insist I take a piece of candy or something since I'm dressed up even though I'm clearly an adult. I figure my character would probably want to do something similar since he's a big kid at heart. If people are as insistent for him as they are for me, he'll have a small but decent haul by the end of the night that he would pick one or two things from and then split the rest with the kids. In the event he does stay home, he would hand out nicer sweets, like full sized candy bars or little bags of better quality candy rather than cheap stuff. He wouldn't give out anything he wouldn't have wanted, and he wouldn't stock up on anything he wouldn't want to eat in case there are any left over at the end of the night.

Patchwork stuffed animal minions. It could be anything from a simple reskin of a chocobo chick to look like it is made of patchwork material or it could be a newly made teddy bear model that appears as if it is made of parts from various old teddy bears and a few patches with mismatched button eyes. And I would also like to see more "casual" appearance clothes and armor in general that is either not flashy or formal or that doesn't look like it provides much protection. Maybe even some worn out or ratty looking hand-me-downs like a patched up robe or mismatched boots (like one metal armor boot and one short leather shoe).

Butterfly, because NOBODY suspects the butterfly! Joking aside, I think my character would most likely wish to become a rabbit. Might not be the strongest of creatures, but they have speed and agility going for them.

Not MMO gaming, but at two of my old jobs I managed to rope a majority of the staff into tabletop RPGs. Many of them had never played, but most of them were hooked after that. The one restaurant I worked at was closed on Sundays and Mondays, so the owner's son would let us all come in and game, as well as providing free sodas and appetizers to snack on. I have, however, unintentionally convinced a few nurses to start playing MMOs. I'm in the hospital frequently with my health issues, and I will sometimes talk about some of the games I play while I'm getting worked up or blood drawn and such. Every once in a while I'll be in and one of the nurses will tell me they tried out one of the games I mentioned. I know at least one of them actually gave FFXIV a shot because I mentioned it multiple times. She was already a fan of the FF franchise in general, but had never played an MMO before and was a little iffy about trying it until I apparently hyped it up. I wasn't even trying to recruit, I was just talking about how fun it was and how certain aspects are similar to other games in the series to take my mind off the fact I had needles in me.

I second that so much. I wish that more MMOs would either allow add-ons (since some seem to think any add-on or mod equals cheating) or add something to make RP more accessible and immersive to those who wish to do so.

It happens with me every once in a while. It hasn't happened here yet, but I've had past RP experience that I felt bad about for one reason or another, though usually for trivial reasons. It happened far too frequently back in Star Wars Galaxies. My Imperial characters were not the stereotypical speciesist or sexist Imperials that blindly followed Imperial propaganda, but they still followed the Empire as they believed it to be the legit government. I had plenty of IC conflict with characters that were openly allied with the Rebels, but OOC I often felt a bit bad about something my character said or did. There was no OOC conflict between the other players and myself (in fact, I usually got an OOC thanks for my part in the scenes and such), so it was all simply me feeling bad about what my character did for one reason or another.

*raises hand* I do! Well, I try to for the most part. I prefer playing a character that isn't really a master of anything, and while he might be better than some people at something, he is nowhere near an expert at these things. The things my characters ARE experts of are usually small trivial things, like being a connoisseur of sweets or something generally "useless" like that. Who really needs to know from what region a particular sugar or fruit used in the sweets originates? My characters still have their own stories to tell, they just aren't the "chosen one" or anything like that of the overall story. To use a comic book metaphor, others can play Superman or Batman, but I'm happy trying to play Jimmy Olsen or Alfred.

That last part literally made me choke on my drink laughing. Nothing says "Special Snowflake" like a comment like that. I'm sorry that this happened. It isn't fun when someone takes something trivial and tries to spin it as if you had personally attacked them or something. They could have easily just ignored you instead of getting so worked up. I haven't had anything like this happen to me lately, but it does unfortunately pop up every once in a while. The most recent was quite some time ago when I initially started the game before I had to take an extended hiatus. My first character was a Lalafell that I planned to say was found and raised by Hellsguard, so he was named using Roegadyn naming conventions. Not the most original idea and it might have been stretching lore a bit, but MOST people either didn't have a problem or they just didn't make a fuss about it if they did. But there was one person who apparently thought it was the most offensive thing ever, and instead of being civil and saying "Hey, I don't really think that your name fits", I was called every insult they could think of (though most were spelled incorrectly) and told I should "give up and die". It didn't upset me, but it was just so mind boggling that someone would take that much offense to it when I had no prior interaction with this person.

As a young child, I remember spending so many hours a week over the course of many, many years playing the arcade games at local restaurants, such as "Joust", "Pac-Man" and a bunch of others. But the one I spent the most time (and quarters/tokens) playing was the old Star Wars arcade game that was built so that you sat inside the frame and played as if you were piloting a starfighter. For console and other video games, I had all the usual games (the Super Mario Bros. series, Duck Hunt, Tetris, etc.), but it was the RPGs like Final Fantasy and other games that ate away most of my time playing. In my teens, while I still loved RPGs, I also became addicted to Monster Rancher. To this day, I still consider Monster Rancher 2 to be one of the best games ever. The influence Monster Rancher had on me is still pretty evident today with how I enjoy other games where you raise a monster pet, such as the main Pokemon series and select spinoffs (like Pokemon Conquest), some Digimon games and many others (including sites with a pet monster theme). I also think it might be a part of the reason I enjoy pet classes in many MMO games as well, such as the Beastlord of EverQuest 2 or the Hunters of WoW. I may be in my mid 30's, but I have never truly given up my dream of having my own pet monster.

*big hugs* I hope things start looking up soon. I have no idea what you do now, but I've been in a few jobs where either the actual job itself was unpleasant or the work environment was toxic. A few were bad enough that I ended up hospitalized from stress and ulcers on more than one occasion.

It boggles the mind, doesn't it? There used to be a group on Star Wars Galaxies that was anti-roleplayer and would go to great lengths to disrupt RP and harass roleplayers. I remember one event where a group of their members showed up at an RP event and one of them asked something along the lines of "You do realize you don't really live in this world, don't you?", and I replied "You do realize that at some basic level, you ARE roleplaying, don't you? Because unless you are a Bounty Hunter or a Smuggler in real life, you are kinda playing the role.". It all devolved into the group shouting the sort of witty insults you might expect from a sleepy 2-year-old. I also quite liked a friend's response to a similar situation: "Oh no! RP in an MMORPG! Next thing you know, people will chat in chatrooms! Total anarchy!".

His sister convinced him that there is a "Goddess of Sweets" when he was younger, and to this day he hasn't figured out that she was joking. Every time he has something that he categorizes as sweets (candy, cake, etc.) he gives a silent prayer of thanks. The fact that he has found no mention of her or her followers hasn't clicked yet.

Loosely ambidextrous, but favors the right hand. This is one of those select few details that are directly lifted from myself. I was actually left-handed until I started school and the teachers decided I needed to be "corrected". For my character, though, it is a product of his attempts to push himself and multitask while growing up on a farm. He can't write two different things at the same time, but he can write legibly with both hands (though writing with his left hand is a little sloppy) as well as practicing various skills using both hands just in case he ever needs to use them or his right hand or arm is injured. If he wasn't such a stickler for doing what he believes is right, he might have made a decent small time hustler by making bets that he could beat somebody at something (a friendly duel, throwing knives at a target, etc.) and use his left hand the first time and being okay, then his right hand the second and being better.

While I wasn't the most devoted player, I actually miss that game. It was my little brother's first real MMO and the first MMO we ever played together, so I have a lot of fond memories from that game. I still laugh when I think about how baffled his grandmother was when he tried to explain that he and I were playing the game together even though I lived a fair distance away.

I've been out of the loop for a while, so thank you for letting me know this exists. I've wanted to play again for a while, so this might be my best chance. I used to play quite frequently, and I still have boxes upon boxes of old cards in the back room. But several years back (not long after 8th Edition came out), not only did the gaming shop in my town close, they also severely cut back on the Magic items they got at local stores. It got harder and harder to find someone to play with (the closest gaming or comic shop is several hours drive away and there isn't really anywhere here I could just hang out and expect another player to show up), so sadly my playing and collecting kinda fizzled out. I've got a few random boosters or multi-packs as gifts from friends, but the bulk of my collection is still 8th Edition and earlier. And just to throw it out there, my absolute favorite Magic card of all time (despite the fact it isn't "legal"):

It depends on numerous factors, but basically it can be done. I've had numerous RP friends over the years that were nowhere near the level of intelligent as some of the characters they played (not meant as an insult or anything, simply stating that most of them admitted to being of "average" intelligence), yet they still managed to pull off a believable genius. For instance, a friend of mine back in Star Wars Galaxies played a scientist despite knowing very little of science beyond some things she remembered from school, but she pulled off the character EXTREMELY well. She said it took a little extra work compared to many of her other characters (such as doing a little research now and then about medical procedures in both real life and the Star Wars universe), but otherwise it wasn't much different than playing any other character of a profession or culture or something else that wasn't something she knew well.

My character would be the cautious follow-the-rules kind of driver. It would probably annoy the heck out of people behind him since he wouldn't try to speed past yellow lights, wouldn't speed on the highway and things like that. As for myself? I don't drive. It isn't that I can't drive (though I guess I can't legally drive as I don't have a license and I've only ever had permits to drive with someone else in the car, but I stopped renewing them years ago), but I've been on heavy medications for the majority of my life. I'm just not comfortable being behind the wheel because it feels like there is almost no difference with driving under the influence of alcohol. It can be a little inconvenient at times, but I live close enough to a gas station and convenience store that I can walk (more like hobble with my leg nerve issues) there if I need something, and I can pay a taxi or give someone gas money if I need to get somewhere else further away.

Why should that matter? I mean, sure, it might not be the most original to play a pirate, but that doesn't mean you can't still play one and put your own spin on it. That said, I think both characters look fairly interesting, so just go with the one you prefer.

So far, he's got Omelette, the Chocobo Chick that happened to come from an egg he had intended to have for dinner (hence the name, as he had stated "You're going to become an omelette!" right as he cracked the egg). I plan to add a few more once I've acquired a few specific minions (such as the Black Coeurl), but I haven't established any backstory for any of them yet. However, I'm REALLY hoping to get my hands on one of the real life Carbuncle plushies that comes with an in-game minion code. I have an idea that I really like that would involve one of those minions rather than the Arcanist summoned combat pet, but I don't want to get ahead of myself in case I can't or don't end up getting one.

For my character, I've worked out that he personally prefers not to teleport. Leaving the cost issue aside, he actually has a physical reaction to it somewhat akin to motion sickness. The severity of the reaction differs depending on various factors (such as distance), but it isn't anything too extreme. Mostly he will just get nauseated and disoriented, but he may also get a headache or some other form of discomfort. He will teleport if it is essential, but would prefer to avoid the discomfort it causes him and use alternative methods of travel. OOCly, though, I have no issue using teleport and return. I just thought it would be an interesting "flaw" to play with.

I'll second that! Honestly, I'm really intrigued by the character you've described so far and can't wait to see how she develops. Personally I enjoy seeing characters with a quirk or two. And, speaking from experience, playing a character who is a little bit delusional (not crazy delusional, but living in their own little world delusional) is a blast to play!

I don't personally know anyone there, but I know one of my friends has family from the area that they haven't heard from yet. She's going on the assumption that they are fine, but she and her family here are still pretty anxious to have confirmation. My heart goes out to everyone there and everyone that has family and friends that were caught in or hurt by the explosion.