Working on Pets
stargrace 
I finally started crafting the pets & mounts that come from Zerith Mortis. Goodness, you need a LOT of supplies, and there are a lot of different pets. Hopefully I can continue to work on this before Dragonflight releases.
2022
Meal Prep
I’m trying to eat better, and one of my major issues (besides snacking when I’m stressed) is portion control. A lot of times I’m just so busy and stressed during the day that I’ll binge eat whatever is laying around as I come across it. I don’t often feel like cooking, and because I have two littles, one who has very strict dietary requirements it means that I don’t eat very well.
In an attempt at making some time to take care of myself, I went and planned out 5 breakfast/lunch/dinner that I could make all at once and just have for the week. I don’t mind eating the same things for multiple days so long as I enjoy what I’m eating. I made egg & ham breakfast wraps for breakfast, I made a veggie soup & buns for lunch, and dinner is rice & chicken with bell peppers & pickled onion. Snacks? I got carrots and tzatziki. So far (3 days in, I know that’s not much) I’m moving more and I’m eating my prepared meals without snacking outside of it. There are some growing pains, but it’s a work in progress.
Next? I need to work on stress levels, and sleep. Maybe not trying to do ALL the things every single day. That one will take some time. But, for now, this is a start.
Two Point Campus
I mentioned in an earlier post that I was trying out the xbox game pass for $1 this month, and with it came a handful of games that I was eager to try – Boyfriend Dungeon (which I’ve already played) and Two Point Campus. I loved Two Point Hospital (think Theme Hospital), and this game is more of the same, in a different setting. The humour is light and fun, and the game runs smooth. Honestly, for $1 I couldn’t really go wrong. The game pass has certainly already lived up to the hype and the price I paid. Now I’m trying to earn microsoft points to continue the subscription without having to pay a dollar amount, but even if I were paying $10/m I’m fairly certain I’d get value out of it. I tend to buy a few steam games a month, and then I rarely / never play them. While I may dislike the fact that everything is a subscription these days, there are still ways to cut costs.
Anyway, the game was exactly what I needed. Something light hearted, relaxing, and challenging enough to be fun without having to look up guides and information online. You can play sandbox mode, or you can complete the challenges one ‘level’ at a time. The tutorial is very straight forward and built into gameplay, so you’re hands on right away.
So far I love having game choices without being quite so tied down by cost. Even with the games rotating, there’s enough variety and time for me to get what I want before it moves out (so far, at least. We’ll see if this holds up).
In any case, it was a nice relaxing evening, and I can’t wait to see what new games come my way. Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
Before We Leave
How is it that this game actually released back in 2021, and I’ve never heard of it before! Before We Leave is a city building game with graphics that I absolutely fell in love with. It is a part of the xbox game pass for PC and it reminds me of a mixture of Banished, Dorfromantik, and all of those other city building games where you’re in charge of minions and need to survive. I haven’t gotten very far into the game yet, but there’s a tech tree (I’m researching at a library at the moment), mining, harvesting, growing, and everything in between. The people show up from a hatch in the ground where they’ve been staying, and finally decide it’s time to live above ground. Right now I’m building a ship, I imagine you get to move on to other islands over time, and things are not complicated (yet). There hasn’t been any combat or invasions but I think that’s coming.
Have I mentioned enough times yet that the value from the xbox game pass is insane? Well, it is. Here’s the 3rd game I’ve tried this week, without having to invest in anything more than $1 (I know the price goes up after this month, and I know that games tend to shuffle around and I may not get to play them forever). If I love the game and then decide I want to purchase it, that’s an option too.
In the meantime, I’m just having fun figuring out the best places to put roads and buildings so that everything is accessible (which is the major issue with this game so far). As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
AI Art – I have Thoughts
I have watched the art community react in horror to most of the recent AI developments when it comes to art. People are worried about their jobs, people are worried about their style being stolen, people are worried about their actual works being stolen and used to create these AI generated pieces. AI art is getting to the point where it is difficult to tell that it’s AI generated. As an artist (even if beginner) myself, I’m torn. I absolutely do NOT like the idea of artists work being stolen. I’ve already had to splash giant watermarks on my own stuff when it was being taken for NFT’s – but how long until the AI can remove the watermarks (this is already a thing, I know). How long before a company doesn’t even bother to hire an artist to design for them, but instead types in the artist they want to emulate, a bunch of key words, and there’s the next piece already done for them in a matter of seconds.
As mentioned above, I agree that AI art can be great for certain things. Much like a reference, or for generating ideas that an artist can then take and put their own spin on. I don’t make a living from my art, so I don’t see the later part becoming an issue for me personally, but I can see why some artists out there may be worried. It’s already difficult to make a living as an artist. How many will be replaced with AI over the next 5 years?
I belong to a few Facebook art groups and already people have been posting their AI works claiming them as their own traditional pieces. While that might fool someone who doesn’t know any better, to some of us it’s pretty apparent (especially when the person drops 10+ pieces, all a different style, with no proof of process). I think that having a time lapse of the actual work is going to become more important, and I think there will be more requirements to ‘prove’ you created the piece yourself.
I think technology can be amazing, but I think in this instance it’s also very dangerous. I’m just incredibly uncomfortable with using artwork without permission from the artist, in any capacity. I guess we’ll simply have to see where this goes.