Time To Let It Cool

I integrated some of the older particle work, mesh just isn't suited to that sort of draping.

Shoes may be a little wide, even though they look long, I measured a couple times.

I forget what version I'm on

Entirely mesh, except the eyeballs, hands, and tail. Yup, the avatar body is mesh too.

Between gowns and these, they're my benchmark I think for where I'm at in SL ability.

Needs more stuff. Will see about putting the system of particles in I had on the prior version, linking all the meshes into one for colour change. Also thinking of a veil.

And anklets, keep forgetting the anklets.

Evolution

Mesh mesh mesh mesh mesh mesh.

Random Idea for WoW's Pandaria Expansion

Amalgamation of a random thought train wreck:

I was made for Puggin you, baby.
Kiss makeup looks kinda like the pandas.
Approach the band, have them, or Gene do an ad, hell, Ozzy did one, why not?
100 different random players run with in a heroic gives you an achievement Looking For Multitudes and a perky pug companion.
Say, 250 different players: I Was Made For Puggin You, with one of four panda metalhead companions.
Put all four of the pandas out together and they rock a little concert.

WoW Dungeon Etiquette for Noobs

Just a few notes on how to participate, what to expect and what is expected of you.

Empty your bags of excess junk:
Yes. You'll need the room for your swag.

Visit an equipment repairman:
Yes. Just do it and be nicely shined up.

Spellcasters, have a supply of your mana juice:
Yes, it's rude to show up unprepared and have to beg off to an equipment seller.

How to form a group: (Optional)
Presupposing you have a friend or a few friends with whom you would like to enter the dungeon, there are a number of ways to form a basic group. A 'leader' may right click on a name and press the Invite option. Anyplace the person's name appears will do, be it in the Guild (J key) membership list, or the chat display [MYFRIEND], or from the Social panel (O key). Be careful, Invite is right next to the Ignore button, which can be reversed if necessary on the Social panel, Ignored subpanel.

How to queue for a dungeon:
(I key) There is also a button down on the bottom of the viewer that looks similar to a green Eye of Sauron. You will be faced with Role selection, and Random or Specific. If your class may select from multiple roles, you may check box as many as you can, you will be slotted into the first available dungeon you fit. Keep in mind, Tanking and Healer is a more serious role than the DPS, so please, know your role or have patient team mates as you learn.
The Tank's job is to aggravate the enemies into attacking them. The Tank guards everyone. (Maintains aggro)
The Healer's job is to keep everyone alive, if the Tank is doing their role well, this isn't terribly difficult. If the Tank is not, or if an impatient DPS runs about attacking everything, or if the Healer 'over-heals' this is difficult.
The DPS' job is to beat the hell out of whatever the Tank is aggravating. So, let the Tank shoot first before you join the action.
Dungeon Guide flag may be selected as well, but don't do that unless you really do know what you're doing.
Random vs. Specific. Random, will give additional rewards, usually useful, but dump you in a random dungeon. Specific allows you to pick from a menu of dungeons, choose one or more. This is useful for making sure you do every dungeon at least once as you progress, or to follow a narrative with your friends!
The group leader (Or yourself when alone) makes these selections then joins the queue. You will then wait for all the role slots to fill up before being sent off to the start of the dungeon. You do not have to travel to the dungeon, and when you leave the group you will be sent back from whence you came.

Quest Givers:
There are usually a few standing around in the beginning of the dungeon. These are usually worthwhile.

Looting the Good Stuff:
The basic dungeon sets up the loot rules as a sort of Need before Greed. Each fallen foe will round robin the ordinary loot, you'll see sparkles if you can do something with it, but the Good Stuff must be 'Rolled For'. The options are Need (You need this.) Greed (If no one wants it, I'll take it.) Disenchant (I'm an enchanter and can make use of this as materials. (Greed and Disenchant carry the same priority, if an enchanter wins it, it will be automatically reduced to enchanting materials.) and Pass (Don't want it. Bags full. Etc.)

Ordinarily, the Good Stuff will have certain benefits to your class or no benefit at all. The 'tough guys', warriors, paladins, need Str, spellcasters need Int, healers can use Spirit more than a damage dealer but at low levels, if it's a big improvement, just use whatever. Rogues, hunters, use Agi.

Loot Ninja: (Rolls Need on things they don't actually need.)
Examples of loot ninjas:
The paladin who rolls Need on Agi leather armor. (No benefit to the class, really.)
The priest who rolls Need on Mail armor. (Can't even wear it.)
The shaman who rolls Need on a Gun. (Can't even use it.)
How to deal with, call them on it. "Hey bud, uh, that's not for your class."
Usual responses from the Ninja:
Honest Abe: "Oh sorry!" gives it to someone who can use it and doesn't do that again
Greedy Gabe: "I need the gold." (Kick the idiot, you are not their unpaid workforce.)
Silent Sam: Says nothing, either doesn't do it again or keeps needing on everything, often an overseas Gold Farmer. (Kick them if they keep it up, or immediately if you're not so charitable.)

How to Kick:
Right click their frame on the top left, and select the Vote to Kick. You will be prompted with a window to type in a brief reason and confirm. Everyone else will be given a window to Aye or Nay. If the motion passes the player will be removed from the dungeon and a requeue window will pop up to reconfirm your role and another player will shortly join your party to carry on. Your party may carry on short player(s) if you feel up to it. Short a Tank or a Healer, it may be tough going.

How to Leave:
Sometimes... Right click your own panel on the top left and choose Leave Party. You may end up with a Deserter debuff and not be allowed to join a dungeon queue for half an hour.

OMG that guy's HUGE!:
That's a boss. Make sure everyone's ready.

I'm dead :(
Whoops, hang tough, many classes can help you up once combat dies down. If there is none, you may have to Release Spirit and find your way to the dungeon entrance. In many cases, just inside the dungeon entrance there is a Teleportation device to help you along the path to the last major location you've visited.

We're all dead. :(
This is called a Wipe. :) Keep calm, carry on, keep your sense of humour.
Release Spirit as prompted, and follow the Red Arrow on your minimap from the graveyard to the dungeon entrance. It's usually not hard. Some are ridiculous. If you get lost, hang tough, many classes can help you up.

Yay! we beat the last boss!:
Thank everyone. :)
To save yourself from having to walk all the way back through the dungeon to turn in the dungeon quests, (Some dungeons they come to you so hang tough for a few shakes.) On your minimap in the top right there is that little Eye of Sauron. Click on that and select Teleport out of Dungeon. Then do it again and Teleport to Dungeon, you'll be right there in the start where the quest givers were.
If you liked these people and they want to do another, you may requeue with all or some of your party and go again. I think my personal record with a random five was seven times in a row, we had a good thing going. We even wiped a few times trying crazy ridiculous stunts.

Happy dungeoneering. :)

The Fun and Exciting City of Cornwall, Ontario

Welp. The best thing that can be said, I suppose, is it's only an hour, hour and a half to fun/exciting places. The surrounding towns, inland and along the river are wonderful to sightsee, though I can imagine myself going slowly mad were I to ever live in any of them.

Dining in Cornwall. Do you want Italian? Casa Paolo, quite good. Not in the mood for Italian? Care for a run of the mill bar and grill? Kelsey's. Nope, still want fine dining? You could try Eight Zero Zero, I didn't make it to that one, closed on Sundays as is most of an uptight Catholic town. Otherwise, flee, flee ye to Ottawa. Flee ye to Montreal.

Or go to Remington's pub. Of the pubs around town I sampled, by far this is the best one, and the seeming center of Cornwall's Friday nightlife. (Six young adults smoking in front of the pub.)

Many other eateries around town suffered from inadequate competition to keep them on their game.

Tim Horton's. Everywhere. You cannot escape it. You will be assimilated.

I can't say enough nice things about restaurant and hotel staff. They were almost to every last one a shining star in a terribly bleak urban landscape.

Sightseeing. A quick drive around town, you're done. Go to Ottawa. Go to Montreal. Hell, drive west down the 2 to Brockville and tour around there. Brockville has half the population and twice the modern services and four times the interesting architecture and neighbourhoods.

Humanist Hymns

Today's fleeting epiphany. This is a hymn:



Who is the author thanking? It seems on one level, thanking God. An admission of failure to follow a set path, an inner anger that chases after a clearer and clearer picture. Thanking God for not being there at all. For that revelation that there is nothing, and that we are nothing and in the end we will be nothing.

Yet, that emptiness led the author to the epiphany that through this nothingness, he still remains. What now? The epiphany that we are nothing without everyone else. And thanks them, deserved or not, hollow or not, that's all he has to give is thanks. For whatever good it serves. The least that they deserve.

Default

The thing with privilege is one who has it needs to learn privilege exists and is real. In this usage I refer to privilege as having qualities congruent with the English speaking world's most desired qualities. I'll refer to this as the societal default state.

I'll also posit that the English speaking world's default is an athletic white male. Male privilege is hardly restricted to anglophones, but for the purpose of this musing I'll draw my lasso around the English world and concentrate there.

You're white? White privilege. You're male? Male privilege. You match up with het male sex (for women) or power (for men) fantasies? That's another privilege.

Straight privilege, wealth privilege, power by election/appointment privilege. The list goes on.

The default is largely invisible to those who fit into these defaults.

The default is much like wearing motocross armour wherever you go. Bump into someone else with the same armour, neither of you are likely to notice. Bump into someone without the armour, they will notice while the one fitting the default might not.

Bump into someone and they say, "Hey, dude, watch the elbows?" a reasonable response would be, "Oh, sorry, you okay?" "S'cool." And life goes on, a little more aware of elbows for awhile until they're forgotten about and then another bump in a crowd. Rinse, repeat.

Replay that in the context of race/gender/other privilege:
Bump into someone and they say, "Hey, dude, watch the elbows?" "No I didn't." "Uh, yeah, you did. Just watch the elbows, k?" "I did not, I didn't feel a thing." "With the armour you're wearing, it's no wonder. Just watch the elbows. Please." "I am not an elbowist, how dare you accuse me of such a thing." "wtf..."

Now, with sane reasonable people in a social context:
Say a borderline offensive joke. Someone with or without the privilege says, "Dude, that was kinda rasist/sexist/otherist." A reasonable reply would be, "Oh. Sorry about that." Another reasonable reply might be, "Oh, what? Sorry I'm a bit unclear here, elaborate?" An unreasonable response might be, "No it wasn't, you're just being a wuss." Casual dismissal. Cute.

One of the things that led to the motocross armour analogy:

Please watch that, it'll make you a better person.

And remember, they're just elbows. They can be used with intent, or by accident. And it's up to us to behave like reasonable adults.

Edit to add: The job of the people with 'privilege', then becomes to cultivate a safe enough place that when the elbows give some bumping, that the bumpee can feel secure that their protest will be taken seriously and not dismissed out of hand, ridiculed, or attacked.

Jayleden's First WoW Day

Needs Ribbons

The hair is still mostly stiff, I tried weighting the loops to the neck some but it looked idiotic when I turned my head.

Hair

Hair, not a closeup, and this is about as low as my draw weight will drop before I add some detail back in. The draw weight is 22,270. Down from 90K something, and I was usually on the lower end of the draw weight spectrum.

Skirts, petticoats, corset with gromet detail, jacket, gloves, head, ears, hair, broach. All that for not a lot more viewer intensity than a library noob avatar.

ETA: Quadrupling the vertices for smoothness brought the hair up a whopping 546. O_o

Weight Painting

Thigh bone example.

Mesh Draw Weights

So I started on a roll your own avatar.


I just nailed the eyes and my overall smugness, and learned quite a bit too. There remain a few things I'm still not happy with but I'm about ready to wear it in public without shame.

Here's the big kicker: the draw weight of my old av head was 40,579.

The draw weight of this is 2,843. Add the eyelid back in and it's 4,611.

That's CRAZY light on the rendering engine! My hair in the pics are over 20,000, and next on the list for replacement.

Every Time I Hit The Gas

I discover I still have an inch of pedal.


That's actual prim broach, something I made in... 2005.

Now I want to make my own avatar. That's like discovering I have a pre-regulation destroyer class solid fuel recoil booster in the trunk. o.o

And a Jacket

Needs some trim, maybe a broach.




I can't believe I did this layer by layer.

It's Coming Together

And gloves.


lol. Upskirt.


I made boots too.

Boots were made for another project, otherwise we're up to three days work for this far.

It Grew a Gown

Schlep.

The Schlep

This essay kind of helped me over a hump.

Anyway, experiments in mesh, a corset. 'O course a real corset might as well be a solid sculpt with no give whatsoever, it's just that an AO that will in any way cooperate is becoming increasingly rare, and few give a damn anyway. So, I used a bendy AO to show the flexing properties.

There's even shine on the bones and high shine on the gromets. Yay! :D




And that's basically how things get done. You get in there and grind away. This was about 8 hours work.