#maybe the devs were in an extreme time crunch idk

[cinnabargirl]

As much as I love Oblivion, one of the things that has always bugged me about it is the very lacklustre worldbuilding, especially concerning the west-east/Colovia-Nibenay divide in Cyrodiil as stipulated in lore. There is so much lost potential when you really get into it, and when you compare it to what's in game the latter just falls really flat. Not to mention that Cyrodiil and Imperials as a whole are supossed to be inspired by ancient Rome but what we find in game is just generic north western European inspired medieval fantasy.

[artificiary-fr]

ok so arti’s unnecessary opinion time

Just wanna give a disclaimer that these are just my sort of thoughts in general, and are in no way an attempt to demean, attack, or cause drama about any artist or staff member, or community member. Just kind of what I’ve observed and come to the questions/conclusions of. I got a little opinionated at the end but I tried not to single anyone out save for I think, one unnamed example? 

I’ll put everything under the cut here, because I know I have a tendency to get wordy (and spoiler: It did. This is a super long post, I’m sorry). So, here we go...

TL;DR: I like the gene, I’ll wait for the revamp before giving a concrete opinion, there were definitely some issues, I appreciate that staff took note/action, more communication like this or the dev streams is good (though communication between staff/community is a Thing unto itself of which I probably have a Disliked Take on and that was the really long part that isn’t necessary to read)

Okay before anything: the familiars. They’re super pretty! I like the recolors, and now I’m gonna have to grind the Kelp Beds for those boss fams. Dang. I love the kitty golem recolor.

With that out of the way, here we are - the subject of today’s discussions... Glowtail.

So, my first opinion: It’s not a bad gene! I can see some curious use for it, certainly. But there are some problems with it (and yes; I am aware staff has addressed this and pulled it to fix those problems! That’ll be more relevant later on here c: )

Note One: I think I do understand why it is a gem gene. Yes, design/thematically it does appear to fit the bill of a Baldwin Gene more. But I’d like to posit it’s the completion of a gem-gene set - Wasp/Bee/Glowtail. So in that regard, it makes sense!

Note Two: My personal opinion with the gene is that I like it, but it feels... hm. Plain isn’t correct. Like it’s missing something, I guess? I wish the segmenting was a little more prominent, and that the glow or gradient had a little more glitz/glamor, maybe some glitteries around the hips, to really sell it as a gem gene. I do like the glow we have on the other bits of dragon like light reflection, though, because it adds a little bit of dimension! All in all however even so, I do like it, and I won’t cement my opinion until we see what their updated version looks like in the future.

Note Three (The Problems): The art errors. What... what happened here?

As we’ve noticed, male snappers and male tundras are the two big offenders, with large chunks of color erroneously sitting outside the lineart quite noticeably. There is also part of the ‘glow’ (the aforementioned light reflection) that doesn’t make sense - being on parts of the dragon where it shouldn’t be, like on the front of wings where the tail is not in front of said limb, but behind.

But like... how did this not get caught before it got posted? Was it a time crunch, or it just... didn’t get quality checked before this happened? It’s really unfortunate. :c

Something I do with my art - and this is just my own process/thoughts - is when I’ve put down the base color, before I do any shading/highlights/big details, I pop a layer underneath the entire drawing and fill it with a high contrast color to the palette. That way any bits where I missed coloring in - or didn’t clean up outside the lines - becomes super noticeable, and I can fix it then instead of being a problem later. Maybe doing something like this before throwing the gene through the color automation process would’ve helped?

Last Note:

I feel like part of why these errors went unnoticed is because of how often, and sometimes how rushed, some of these updates have been - and this has been more noticeable in this year than otherwise. Is it because of community dissent with wanting more updates creating more crunch? Due to low-attention reticence creating a need for pushing more ad revenue / more “come to the site there’s new”?

I’m unsure, but it’s unfortunate nonetheless. I think staff, and FR as a whole, would benefit from like... hm. How to word this...

Maybe taking more time on updates / a more extended schedule so things aren’t as crunch (of course this being said, I don’t know what the workload is like so I can’t even say if crunch is applicable), and more open communication? Like how the dev streams were going - that was pretty well liked and everyone I know got pretty excited to see em and how the art was doing. It also opened up the avenue for more open communication / more nuanced opinions or thoughts.

---

But herein lies the huge issue, I think, with communication. This is the part where I’d like to reiterate, this is just my observations, and is not intended as an attack, a vaguepost, or deliberate callout at anybody. There’s no malicious intent here. This bit could also be construed as drama I suppose, and I apologize for that because again - not the intent. Just my take.

I’ve noticed posts going ‘no drama please’ or being tired when new updates come out of like, ‘oh boy here comes the negativity’ so I don’t think it’s just me who’s seen it, but have you guys noticed when anything new comes out, there’s an immediate rush of extreme salt and negativity?

And I don’t mean posts where its like “it’s not for me” or “I don’t like it but here’s [detailed/explained reason why]” - those are the nuanced opinions I mean. Those are fine. I mean the ones where people in forums, or on the more prolific drama blogs, are just.... mean/empty? Like “FUCK staff I hate how lazy they are with this it’s shitty looking” - that really vocal generally super salty in general minority of the community. Just hate without explanation, or just kind of aimless generalized attack/complaint.

I think that’s where communication with Staff fell off the bandwagon. The really loud, really vocal minority of folks who throw super salt or yell “This Sucks You Suck” completely overshadow the people who are well intentioned with sharing their opinions or problems/criticisms. The toxic bits and really vitriolic words are what gets seen and noticed. I think this is the majority of what gets heard, which is why communication got so closed off / shut down unless positive, in recent times. Do I agree with that? No, I don’t either - but I’m just looking at this from the outside. Idk how staff feels or thinks.

And this goes for both people who don’t like the content, and people that do.

Remember that the Keel thread got locked because someone who was white-knighting started getting real nasty with people in the thread, and going to extremes insulting artists who did mock-ups to help visualize their thoughts/opinions and was just being a real douche?

What I really wish was that we could have more open communication. Some of the things I really liked to see were like: Dev Streams, Community Updates/Q&A, Opinion Polls, That Update Progress on Breed/Gene Progress from a while back. All of that was excellent. And I like to see the community responding in well thought out ways! I like to see staff more hands on too! We’re only human and love this site and our dragons and want to see it at it’s best - but they’re also only human, and make mistakes, and we don’t know what’s goin on in there, just out here.

Trello is a really good way to kind of show that communication, and is transparent, but isn’t free-to-use for businesses, so... of course I also don’t know how Stormlight Workshop runs their business/hours so I’m just blowing hot smoke. But anyway, I think everyone would benefit from slowing down and opening up. If things are going slow, that’s okay - if Staff opens up to the community and says “This is taking longer than expected, but here’s upcoming releases / current in-progresses” I think we’d be like oh okay things are happening and it’ll be nice! As compared to everyone gets super antsy, nothing’s happening, no-one is talking... and then we get hit with a bunch of updates, some of which, like today’s, have... issues.

Of course then I worry that with more open talking or “we’re experiencing delays” the more vitriolic will get even angrier/saltier which doesn’t... help... but I mean... yeah. 

ANYWAY so I’ve written a full dissertation essay here without really intending to (see? I warned y’all! I ramble/don’t shut up ahahaha) so I’m gonna just stop myself here before I start going in circles. This last chunk I don’t really know what the meat of what I was trying to say was, now, I think. Sorry about that. It was just “here’s my stream of consciousness” apparently ^^;;;;

Have a good evening y’all! Thanks for listenin’ to my (rant?) if y’all made it this far. You’re appreciated and thank you for letting me bend your ears! Stay safe in this crazy world, hang in there, and have a good one!

[mega-aggron]

ask meme 1-150

¯\_(ツ)_/¯gdi winston

1. Who was the last person you held hands with?

erica, my friend across the hall

2. Are you outgoing or shy?

super shy ;-;

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing?

idk! i’ve gotten a surprising amount of diversity in friend and family interactions the last week or so. pretty content right now.

4. Are you easy to get along with?

i think so? i hope so.

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you?

i’d hope so?

6. What kind of people are you attracted to?

funny people. broad guys. guys with beards.

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ who knows. 

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?

lorde lmao

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable?

not really, i just usually can’t provide much input on the subject

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

uH probably my mom

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say?

“Going good, spent the weekend at home for Father’s Day. How’re you doing?”

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

shit fuck why is this always a question (at least they give me a top five instead of making me choose one :p) more recent faves:

perfect places [lorde]

pool [paramore]

bandages [hey rosetta!]

cut to the feeling [carly rae jepsen]

youth (day) [oohyo]

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair?

i don’t mind.

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?

i mean jesus did some cool shit but i don’t really think much about miracles in a modern context

15. What good thing happened this summer?

got a job doing fun web dev work :D

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

i can’t remember the last person i kissed

17. Do you think there is life on other planets?

yeah! probs not our solar system (or even close) but it is likely!!! man read up on the fermi paradox or the drake equation and get back to me, i think this shit is so interesting

18. Do you still talk to your first crush?

first “crush” (thought i was straight lol): nofirst real crush: yep! not super frequently but we just got ice cream with some friends recently

19. Do you like bubble baths?

haven’t had one in like 13 years but i don’t see why not

20. Do you like your neighbors?

yes! they’re my closest friends

21. What are you bad habits?

procrastination (but i usually pull through in the end)

22. Where would you like to travel?

so many places my dude. dubai seattle and back to san francisco are probs current top 3

23. Do you have trust issues?

i don’t think so. at the very least, not usually

24. Favorite part of your daily routine?

don’t really have one

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with?

my weight :/ i hate looking like a twig but have stayed this weight for like 4 years. also i don’t embody the physical traits i find attractive in other people so i just kinda think of myself as an unattractive person

26. What do you do when you wake up?

wait for my second alarm to go off and roll back under the covers

27. Do you wish your skin was lighter or darker?

i’m pale as fuck and sunburn, i wish i could tan at the very least

28. Who are you most comfortable around?

my friends? hashbrowns, friends across the hall, roommates, sleepovers with nitesh, dnd squad, all good options

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up?

nah lol i had a boyfriend for like a month it really wasn’t meant to be

30. Do you ever want to get married?

yeah! someday™

31. Is your hair long enough for a pony tail?

no, but the top is getting longer than usual even though i just had a haircut oops

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?

yowza hello what

33. Spell your name with your chin.

wwereecvdb

(well that could have gone better)

34. Do you play sports? What sports?

volleyball during the school year. i just got a summer gym membership so who knows maybe i’ll swim or run more

35. Would you rather live without TV or music?

tv hands down. i already don’t watch it a whole lot but wowza i love music

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

yes

it sucks

37. What do you say during awkward silences?

i don’t really think many silences are awkward? if anything i guess i try to think up a new topic to talk about but most of the time i’m fine staying quiet

38. Describe your dream girl/guy?

isn’t this like #6

idk someone who likes laughing and is a nice person. video games, beards, and being bigger than me are also plusses

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in?

uniqlo is a fun store

40. What do you want to do after high school?

LOL

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?

usually. i mean it depends on context (like, if you cheat on someone, you probably don’t deserve a second shot at that in my book) but most of the time i think forgiveness is on the table for a first offense. but if behaviors repeat for a long time, i’m less inclined to offer it.

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean?

i’m probably thinking about something, zoning out, or disagree with whatever was just said and am not trying to start something

43. Do you smile at strangers?

sometimes!

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean?

spaaaaaaaaaaaace

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?

the fear of disappointing others realizing i’ve spent as much time as possible in bed without making myself late

46. What are you paranoid about?

not much?

47. Have you ever been high?

no

48. Have you ever been drunk?

yes

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about?

i don’t think so?

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore?

red

51. Ever wished you were someone else?

i literally wish i was sara bareilles but other than that no

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself?

just like… my body structure as a wholeor maybe just the ability to grow a better beard, i am not about this 90% neckbeard life

53. Favourite makeup brand?

don’t wear any

54. Favourite store?

nintendo world store

55. Favourite blog?

mine #getrekt

nah idk

56. Favourite colour?

turquoise / teal

57. Favourite food?

hhhhh cheese tortellini w/ pesto

58. Last thing you ate?

orange chicken, sweetfire chicken, and chow mein from panda express

59. First thing you ate this morning?

a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch

60. Ever won a competition? For what?

i won a beauty pageant freshman year with my talent being rapping busta rhymes’ verse from look at me now and a choreography to super bass

i won a battle of the bands with the hip hop orchestra to be an opening act for t-pain and lil dicky when they performed here too

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what?

no

62. Been arrested? For what?

no

63. Ever been in love?

not in the reciprocated romantic way yet

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss?

i was lying on his bed watching a movie when he turned over to face me. we looked each other in the eye for a while before closing them and going for it.

65. Are you hungry right now?

li’l bit, but i’m not even halfway through these questions so i’m trying not to think about it

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends?

it’s a venn diagram, some of my closest irl friends are my tumblr friends and vice versa

67. Facebook or Twitter?

fb

68. Twitter or Tumblr?

tumblr

69. Are you watching tv right now?

nope

70. Names of your bestfriends?

i mean this list would be like 20 names long because i don’t really use the title “best friend” but nitesh winston jared and siddy are all pretty high up there

71. Craving something? What?

nothing atm

72. What colour are your towels?

teal

72. How many pillows do you sleep with?

1 to 3. usually have 3 on my bed.

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals?

nope

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have?

on campus i have my eeveelution plushies, a totoro plush and a kicks plush. at home i probably still have some webkinz, a build-a-bear dog, a giant togepi, and a treecko.

75. Favourite animal?

oh geez idk i just…. love all of them

i really love australian blue cattle dogs, elephants, parrots, chinchillas, and otters

76. What colour is your underwear?

uh it varies but today they’re white

77. Chocolate or Vanilla?

vanilla ice cream, chocolate pretty much everything else

78. Favourite ice cream flavour?

vanilla, mint chocolate chip, or cotton candy

79. What colour shirt are you wearing?

blue

80. What colour pants?

teal

(i’m in pajamas it’s ok that these colors clash)

81. Favourite tv show?

geez i’m really out of touch with tv

parks and rec was good? fma brotherhood? good

82. Favourite movie?

begin again

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2?

is this even a question? original

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street?

only have seen 22 jump street but i think i’d prefer mean girls

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls?

why is this person so obsessed with mean girls

idk i like cady?

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo?

dory probably. or squirt

87. First person you talked to today?

brent

88. Last person you talked to today?

satvik

89. Name a person you hate?

orange president

90. Name a person you love?

@caqtuscomics

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now?

see #89

92. In a fight with someone?

no

93. How many sweatpants do you have?

2? maybe 3?

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have?

2

95. Last movie you watched?

legit could not tell you lol

as a substitute, last musical i watched was sound of music last night at the kennedy center

96. Favourite actress?

…sara bareilles

97. Favourite actor?

mark ruffalo is pretty cool

98. Do you tan a lot?

NO I BURN

99. Have any pets?

yeah! parents have a dog named zoe and i love her

100. How are you feeling?

pretty ok! fluctuated the past couple days but i’m ok now

101. Do you type fast?

yes (perks of being in cs)

102. Do you regret anything from your past?

not a whole lot tbh. nothing that was so bad i’d want to go back and redo. i think.

103. Can you spell well?

yeah

104. Do you miss anyone from your past?

some high school friends, i guess. but it’s been long enough that i’m kind of over it, the ones that i miss most still make efforts to keep in touch so it’s fine

105. Ever been to a bonfire party?

just once, i think

106. Ever broken someone’s heart?

not as far as i know

107. Have you ever been on a horse?

yep! family friend rides horses and let us on hers over the years.

108. What should you be doing?

nothing! finally. (realistically, getting back into journaling. that fell by the wayside this semester and i’d love to get back into that.)

109. Is something irritating you right now?

not really. since the semester ended things have been pretty calm

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?

.-.

111. Do you have trust issues?

deja vu

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of?

i don’t cry in front of others often. not afraid to or anything, just doesn’t happen a lot. possibly satvik back in like september

113. What was your childhood nickname?

got called punkin’ by my mom (short for chunkin’ punkin’ because i was a fat baby) but didn’t really have nicknames from my friends

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state?

yep! fairly regularly

115. Do you play the Wii?

geez when was this survey made

play on my switch now. n64 and wii u occasionally :p

116. Are you listening to music right now?

nope

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup?

it’s ok!

118. Do you like Chinese food?

ye

119. Favourite book?

the kite runner by khaled hosseini

120. Are you afraid of the dark?

not really, though i still do weird things sometimes because of the dark (double takes, turn lights on/off)

121. Are you mean?

i hope not! i really don’t think so

122. Is cheating ever okay?

no

123. Can you keep white shoes clean?

haven’t tried :p don’t get white shoes often

124. Do you believe in love at first sight?

sigh i wish but i think it’s more lust than anything most of the time

125. Do you believe in true love?

not like “there is 1 person in this world destined for me” but i like the concept of making one’s relationship as strong as it can be

126. Are you currently bored?

well, i have answered 125 questions so far without looking for something more entertaining to do

127. What makes you happy?

pokemon, music, the mcelboys, humor, overwatch…

128. Would you change your name?

last name for marriage sure why not

first name i’m cool with not changing

129. What your zodiac sign?

leo

130. Do you like subway?

ye

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?

inform them that i am unfortunately super duper gay

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?

again, deja vu

133. Favourite lyrics right now?

hm!!!! geez there are so many good lyrics from after laughter and melodrama

“I’m underwaterWith no air in my lungsMy eyes are openI’m done giving up” - pool, paramore

“All the nights spent off our facesTrying to find these perfect placesWhat the fuck are perfect places anyway?“ - perfect places, lorde

134. Can you count to one million?

i mean, i know the order of the numbers but god forbid i try this anytime soon

135. Dumbest lie you ever told?

geez idk once when i was 7 i told my grandma i couldn’t find my watch while i was staring right at it so when i wasn’t looking she took it from me and swatted my hand for fibbing

as far as i know, no lies i’ve told have had big consequences; i don’t lie that often other than what time i’ve gone to bed to my parents back in highschool

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed?

closed

137. How tall are you?

6′3

138. Curly or Straight hair?

i love wavy hair

139. Brunette or Blonde?

brunette

140. Summer or Winter?

summer

141. Night or Day?

night

142. Favourite month?

geez idk most of them are pretty good. may is nice, august is my birthmonth.

143. Are you a vegetarian?

nope

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate?

dark = milk > white

145. Tea or Coffee?

don’t really drink either, but leaning towards tea (esp. chai)

146. Was today a good day?

yeah it was alright :)

147. Mars or Snickers?

uh never had a mars but i’m not too big a fan of snickers so i’ll risk it

148. What’s your favourite quote?

life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain

149. Do you believe in ghosts?

nah

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page?

“The Great Tree stands in the center of a vast forest, and a variety of living things come here to ask for its blessing.” (Hyrule Historia)