August 2021

Let’s Harvest

stargrace August 21, 2021 No Comments

I often log into an MMO not to actually do anything in particular, but just to enjoy the fact that there are other ‘people’ around. I spend a lot of time with my kids (in fact, all of my time is spent with my kids) and I need some sort of extra interaction or I just want to watch conversations float by without really being a part of them. Harvesting in FFXIV is the perfect addition to this. I’ve been going through my log book and completing harvests one at a time, marking them off of my list. I use this in conjunction with FFXIV TeamCraft which I absolutely adore.

It will display a map, and even create routes for you to travel to collect the resources that you haven’t collected yet. I’m hoping to put these items on the auction house, or even just give them to my retainer and then craft with them and put THOSE items on the market. One of the super handy features of FFXIV TeamCraft is that it will take the items you have, and tell you what recipes you can make (and even tell you which recipes are missing only one or two components to make something).

I also need to complete the DoH/DoL jobs that I’ve been neglecting. The only one I’ve completed is mining, and that was ages ago. Once again I’m in awe of all the things ‘to do’ in game, and I love that there are so many options, be they crafting, harvesting, adventuring, or something else.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

The Sims 4 Legacy: 3

stargrace August 20, 2021 No Comments

Velours Legacy had to start looking for a partner in life – after all the whole point to a legacy play through is having 10 generations of one family line. She tried to make friends with the grocery delivery person but they were not interested in anything other than delivering her food. So she went to the local gnome tavern (as one does) and made friends with everyone she could.

Eventually her and a gentleman hooked up, and she got pregnant! She wasn’t actually interested in getting married though, so she broke up with him and decided to raise the baby on her own (which also didn’t last long, Velours has some pretty strong feelings for Ulrike Faust, a lady who belongs to the Renegades club).

With her boyfriend out of the picture I’d like to say that Velours focused on what was important in life, her unborn child and maybe her job – but no, she spent all of her money buying an animal shed and then a llama named tiny.

Velours was about to give birth and had absolutely nothing prepared, and no money to do so but she did have a llama, what more does a person need.

Bluebell was born, a little girl who was very easy to care for. The house also got a few improvements as Velours got a few promotions in her job as a paint brush cleaner. They almost have a fully functional kitchen, a bathroom, and TWO bedrooms (one for her, and of course one for Bluebell). Tiny is thriving, and Velours has harvested some of the fleece for yarn! Knitting is most certainly on the agenda. One generation down, 9 more to go! Hopefully Bluebell is able to live a happy and carefree life. So far things have remained pretty calm, I don’t expect they’ll stay that way.

Gaming

Self Discovery and Kindness

stargrace August 19, 2021 No Comments

I consider myself to be a kind person. Not a perfect person, but kind. I have a lot of empathy. I like to think I actively work to make a difference in the lives of a select few others. This isn’t intended to be a boast but more like an explanation as to why a game like ‘Kind Words’ appeals to people like me. It came across my feed this morning as “games people like you play” and there was a sale going on for it. The game is ‘older’ having been released back in 2019, but with the pandemic and all sorts of world craziness going on, I can see the appeal.

It’s less game play and more community orientated. You can write letters to people, anonymously, and people can respond. You get stickers, a little room to hang out in, and decorations. There’s music. At the time of writing this I haven’t actually played so I’m not able to give actual gameplay experience but I read reviews that bring up some good points.

Games like this are not a replacement for therapy. There are some people out there writing about very serious issues that need a professional to help them with. That can make the game seem very heavy, reading actual letters from people that are absolutely heartbreaking. The inability to actually help more than responding with kind words is something a few players spoke about – especially if you’re a fixer (someone who likes to fix problems). You might find this sort of gameplay distressful.

Then there’s the fact that this is the internet. While there IS a community surrounding Kind Words, there’s also trolls and children and people responding inappropriately (you can report) or responding with ‘i love you’ and stuff like this. That doesn’t mean there’s no value in the game, but that you need to be aware and take it all with a grain of salt.

I think the fact that we live in a time period where games like this exist at all, is wonderful. There are so many options to do good out there, and I appreciated the reminder that sometimes all it takes is a few kind words.

That’s not a substitution for doing greater good, either. It’s just one small thing that takes a few minutes where you can make a difference in someone else’ life. Or maybe someone can make a difference in yours if you’re having a bad day.

Knitting Yarn

Cable Hoodie – Update1

stargrace August 18, 2021 No Comments

Now that I’ve finished my TAAT socks (picture will be posted once I actually weave in my ends, so sometime by 2025 I’m sure) I’ve decided on my next project. It’s called Cable Crush Hoodie and it’s a pattern by Chantal Miyagishima (Knitatude) which you can find on Ravelry and on her own site as well. It’s an absolutely beautiful sweater that includes cables in the front and back, a batwing sleeve construction, and a hood with icord draw string. I’m knitting it in upcycled wool from knitpicks, which is basically wool constructed of bits and pieces of other wool that wasn’t enough to make an entire skein of type A. Chantal’s patterns are easy to follow and use lovely construction, my silver bell sweater was also one of her designs and had I used the appropriate yarn I’m sure mine would have turned out better (not that it isn’t lovely, it is). I’m hoping to do well with this one, and have it turn out as beautiful as all of the others. I have never knit a hood before, but I have done quite a few cables. It’s knit in worsted yarn, so I’m also hoping it doesn’t drag on forever and maybe I can get it completed before Halloween. We’ll see. I’m a bit further along than this picture shows, I’ve done 8 rows of ribbing, and I’m on row 6 of the body. I’ll do row 1-10 4 times, so I’m 6/40. That’s something, at least. The sweater starts out at 230 stitches and grows to 310 – I’m hoping to knit 5 rows a day. Let’s see if I can do it!

Gaming

I Want to Catch Up

stargrace August 17, 2021 4 Comments

A ton of my friends are playing FFXIV right now. World of Warcraft is also still being played, but it’s not boasted about as much. I’m playing EQ2 (and EQ1) and meandering my way along – but let’s face it, most of the time you want to be playing where all of your friends are playing. I love FFXIV and I was playing it a lot this year, but no one I knew was playing at the same time as me. I was on a different server (I’m not even sure why) and basically just going through the motions.

Then friends started to trickle back, and then they absolutely flooded back, especially with the announcement of a new expansion. I started getting excited too. I haven’t finished the MSQ (main story quest) yet with current tier content, I think I’m on quests around level 75 or so. I still have things to unlock, and quests to work towards. Not only that, but I absolutely love crafting in this game, so I’ve got that to work on, too. I just recently raised all of my DoH (disciple of the hand) jobs to 70+ (with one at 80) and all of my DoL (disciple of the land) jobs have been at 80 for some time. I also finally leveled a class I enjoy to 80 (bard) so that means I’ve got both bard and dancer sitting there. Next, a healer. Then maybe a tank – having one of each type of job is handy for those days when I want to play one thing or another. FFXIV caters to people like me who always have a BILLION alts – but who don’t really WANT a billion alts, we just want to be able to do it all. Now I can. Easily. Inventory is probably my greatest hold, and I recently went through and cleaned out my retainers making some hefty gil in the meantime thanks to all those new players.

Any way. The point is I WANT to catch up before Endwalker. I’ve got 90 some odd days I believe, and I’m confident that if I actually PLAY the game, I can get there. Or you know I may just continue on as I have been, dipping into all of the pots out there and just enjoying myself. Who knows.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Let’s Harvest

The Sims 4 Legacy: 3

Self Discovery and Kindness

Cable Hoodie – Update1

I Want to Catch Up

You Missed

Leveling Up With Timewalking

The Construction of Quail Landing

Making Gold – One Sale at a Time

Timewalking, Gets me Every Time