Blaugust2022

Still Playing World of Warcraft

stargrace August 20, 2022 No Comments

I know World of Warcraft is still a game that people feel strongly about, whether they have decided to play it or not. I decided that my enjoyment of the game and supporting those who remained to work there was the rout I wanted to go, after I took a four month hiatus. I’m incredibly happy to be back playing, and I have had an awesome time – but not with the latest expansion. I do not really enjoy Shadowlands at all (lore wise I do, it’s gameplay that isn’t appealing to me) but there’s so much other stuff that I’m thankfully never bored.

The auction house just merged (commodities only) region-wide on Tuesday, and there has been huge issues and fallout from that. Right now many items are ‘stuck’ in a pricing loop that no one can get past, making it impossible to buy any materials. Then there was the duped gold, the duped items, and all of the other issues that come with a change of this magnitude.

I keep thinking I should go back to FFXIV – but I have nothing there to entice me long term. I don’t have a community, I don’t know how to make gold there, I can’t run older content for fun (that I know of, maybe this is incorrect) and while there is housing, for some reason I just can’t seem to make the game stick. It feels like that’s a game that is supposed to appeal to me, and for some reason every time I give it a try, it just doesn’t.

In any case, I am enjoying my time in WoW – I have 23 level 60 characters, and while things look very different than they did in the previous expansion where I was 5 boxing, I’m still managing to make gold, and have fun doing it.

Where does everyone else find themselves these days? Are you playing any MMO at all? Let me know in comments, and as always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

Two Point Campus

stargrace August 16, 2022 2 Comments

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!

Gaming

Before We Leave

stargrace August 15, 2022 No Comments

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!

DailyCreative Real Life

AI Art – I have Thoughts

stargrace August 14, 2022 No Comments

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.

DailyCreative Spinning Yarn

Merino/Nylon

stargrace August 13, 2022 No Comments

This spin was an absolute delight. It’s knitpicks stroll (75% superwash merino, 25% nylon) that I picked up in bulk a few years back, when I first got my wheel. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, so I didn’t touch it at the time. I wanted to see how my sock yarn spinning would be, so I tried it out. I have 19 other bundles just like this one to work through and goodness, I am in love.

I have some dye that I hope to use (requires some preparation) once I spin some more and ply it. It is by far the most lovely fiber I’ve ever spun before, including the aplaca. I’m going to make this particular batch into a 2ply but eventually I’m hoping my spinning gets good enough that I can make a fingering weight 3ply. I spun the entire 4oz over the course of three days, which is absolutely fantastic for me. In case you can’t tell by my gushing, I really like this fiber.

Still Playing World of Warcraft

Two Point Campus

Before We Leave

AI Art – I have Thoughts

Merino/Nylon

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