Update

Orv is wrong about who owns this blog.

Robes competition

that is all, for now.

The anti-car.

I have crap luck with cars.

Now, I can understand why I've had crap luck with cars in the past. Being young, and broke, I'd buy cars with saved up cash, which meant cheap-ass cars, and something perennially wrong with them.

But then my last one threw a rod on the way home from work at three am, and i hadn't had enough saved up to cold buy a new one. So I went to the dealer and told them I was going to be getting a car.

And I got a sweet car. Really high interest (due to having a crapload of cash out on my credit for a house i no longer live in, but that's another story), but I got a sweet, low mileage, Grand Prix with serious horse.

It was pimp, and I kept it up pretty damned well. Then the thing started making this helicopter noise on the way back from chicago last weekend. I swore in the car for three solid hours as I nursed it home.

One guy said it was a collapsed lifter, a stretched rocker, and I was swearing up even more. Took it to the dealer, and said 'This car has way too few miles to be doing this'. They took it apart, say it's a rod bearing. They also say that they can probably get Pontiac to pay for it, as it shouldn't be doing that stuff.

Anyway, I've been carpooling to work lately, so it's only in the cramp-legged kia half the week. At least I have some wheels to borrow for the interim, I suppose.

In good news, Nine Inch Nails dropped another album last week and it is pretty killer. There's a whole huge internet entity around it, like there is messages from the future and all that...it's pretty cool to follow, if you're into that whole 'breaking the third wall' thing.

Anyway, onto official discussion stuff. There's been less and less saber requests coming in. I think this is good, because it shows that people actually like the options in the selector...although I'm sure that there will be a bunch of people getting promoted after the coming GJW. Cool stuff.

I have, however, been seeing a lot of requests for character images. And yeah, I do them...but they take me forever to do. So, If i told you I'd do one, please be patient, otherwise it'll either not get done, or end up looking like shite. I put about 1-2 hours of solid work into each, and that's not easy to budget with a 60 hour a week job and a girlfriend.

Otherwise, been working pretty solid on the H2H guide. Hopefully it'll launch soon.

As for Blog contests... This one will be a bit more complex. There's a competition that is on the DB site from me. It's fiction this time. Go find it and do it. First place gets robes and a shiney.

I am NOT Nic Cage.

The RoS trailer has been released. It's really cool, in my opinion. Jac, Sarin, and I put our heads together and rocked it out, working from Raken's work so far for the RoS plot.

Check it out. Good stuff.

And no, I am not Nic Cage, despite what some people are saying about the voiceovers. :P

the good, the bad, and the awesome.

Wow... People actually read this!

The winners of the trivia robes challenge were:
Jonus Rai Sadow (a.ka. King of Wolves)
Ashia Kagan Keibatsu
Ras Stormraven

I'll be working on their custom robes over the next few days and getting it uploaded.

"Why do you give away Custom robes, Muz?"
Because all the other perks are locked into specific ranks, and thus tied to activity. If I gave away a custom lightsaber to a DJK, he'd possibly have no motivation to work for the next promotions.

"But doesn't that defeat the purpose of having it a DC-perk?"
Yes, somewhat. But I also know how infrequently those positions open up. A lot of people complain that it seems lie it is always the same people who are getting those jobs, and to a point I agree. So I tend to give away Custom robes as a reward/prize because it's not something i want people going for just for the reward. That way people don't work their tail off to get a DC job, then let it go to pot when they get their robes.

Weird logic maybe, but I don't care.

Also, made a new seal for the Outer rim war.

To be honest, i think that wars against other clubs are a bit more important than other people do. While I can see the point of having clan feud and great Jedi Wars to determine who among ourselves is best, I would much rather see the DB utterly devastate all other clubs in competitions like this. And with us faring so poorly in the last week, I got a bit annoyed. People don't seem to care about beating the other clubs? That's like saying that you don't care about getting a girlfriend because you would rather masturbate.

Anyway, I'm not the only one who thinks that, which is why they've announced that medals and seals and the like would be going out for the people fighting for the DB's glory in this.

Jac announced his retirement this morning. He's been GM for years. The DB is literally a better place because of his hard work, and we'd not be even resembling the same club if not for this man's efforts. Very few people realize how much crap a Grand Master has to do, has to put up with. And Jac not only handled it, but he pushed past it to make this club...a hobby for most of us...more involved and fun than many things that we have to pay for.

So, I urge everyone to take a second, and let Jac know how much you appreciate the club, how much fun you've had in the last few years. A lot of it had to do with his work.

Updates, and a small competition.

It's been a while since I've posted to this blog. That's because I've been up to my eyeballs in 'secret projects' for the Brotherhood. The Hand to hand guide is progressing nicely, and shouldn't be too long now. the robes and sabers and warbanners have been going out in good time frames, so it's all pretty good.

"Gah Muz, secret projects?"
Yeah, and I can't really talk about the huge projects. I've learned from the other people in the club that if I start talking about the stuff that will take months of work, I'll take a lot of flak if it doesn't launch when i initially plan. And to be really honest, nothing this large ever launches without a hitch.

"Hay Muzz, R we gonna get ne mor sabers or robes for djk?"
First thing first, speak properly. I'm not asking anyone to bow or scrape because I'm a DCer or anything, but using real words instead of imstant messenger speak makes me think better of you. Maybe that doesn't seem like it matters to you, but think about the fact that you were asking something of me. :P

And the answer to the question is no. I have no plans to expand the DJK selections at the present time. I may expand it after the next Great Jedi War, but that's not going to be for a while. The reasons are simple: I have a lot of projects that require a lot of my time and attention that will help the brotherhood a lot more than adding a few more selections. And if you want more to choose from, you should just work hard and get promoted. Journeymen get what they get because they need to be working at getting knight, but still deserve *something*. Knights get a bit more to choose from, but they still need to be looking at doing more for the club, and they can get more selections once they join the equites. And so on and so forth.

But, I suppose you are reading this, so you can get a chance at something neat.

The first three people who read this blog and email me the correct answers to the next trivia questions will get a special prize. I'm thinking custom robes and other goodies, but I'll reserve the right to change my mind. Whatever it is, it'll be cool.

1.) What is the name of the AI aboard Muz's ship?
2.) What was General Grievous' name before he was made all mechanical?
3.) Who cut off Muz's arm, causing him to have to build a prosthetic?
4.) At what rank are you allowed to use a saber staff from the lightsaber selector tool (not a custom one)?
5.) What language contains the curse 'Echuta'?
6.) What guy in the DB is known for his thrusting and bending people over tables?
7.) What was Darth Maul's name before he became a Sith?
8.) What color lightsabers do the Imperial Knights in the 'Legacy' series use?
9.) Why is there a stylized Lion's head on Muz's warbanner?
10.) At what rank can you get a custom lightsaber?

If you can answer these questions and not be able to find my email address, I'll be disappointed in you. Send the answers to me, quick.

Self-cannabalizing.

I'm eating my own face.

I've got some really bad swelling back in the corner of my right jaw. It's gotten wedged in between my teeth so every time i talk or try to chew something, i get some great pain.

Anyway, had to call in to work and go to the doctor. Couldn't sleep last night, or really eat anything, so I've been slouching around here trying to recover.

And that's the good news for you people... As it means that I've been doing some new stuff for the Brotherhood. Let's just say that as soon as I can figure out some of this newfangled code stuff, it'll be Herald-Style Hannukkah. I've already uploaded a bunch of extra stuff today and made some serious headway on some other projects.

So now, I have to figure out what to eat between the yogurt and the pudding. :P

n00bcakes need a patience frosting

Been busy the last few days with all manner of things. Character images, robes and sabers galore. I'll have a full report around the holiday. (That'd be the American holiday of Thanksgiving, where we indulge in a display of gluttony and sloth that make all the third world countries renew their hate for us annually)

Anyway, The reason I'm writing today is to explain something very important to the FNG, the n00bcakes, the journeymen. And that word is Patience.

In case you've been living in a hole, you realize that I'm the go-to guy for most graphics around the DB. My background in graphic design, my programs, and my skills all make me ideal for this job. And I think I do a reasonable job, otherwise the Jac would have booted me out of the office back in february. :P

And, you'll also note that I spend a LOT of time on the various work i do for the brotherhood. And let's be real honest. I've put in enough hours that I could probably write it off on my taxes. And I do it for free. Look at the robes. Each one of those took about an hour to develop, if not two. Look at the sabers, and again, much the same. And then we have character portraits, banners, and various stuffs all across the brotherhood, nevermind the various projects i'm working on.

And the point emerges:

Please feel free to ask me to do graphics for you.
But realize that those personal requests WILL take a back seat to any other projects i have running.

Which means that if you wanted a character image, and I said I'd do it, I will. But I'm not likely to get it done for a few days...maybe a couple of weeks.

Sorry, But if Jac says 'Muz, do this up...', I'll be damned if i do GRD NummNut's 'Custom sword' image or whatever before Jac's request. Thems the breaks.

So the moral of the story is: If you're lucky enough for me to take on your graphics job, have the decency to settle down and wait for me to get it done. DO NOT pester me in email, IRC, or whatever. I'll get to it when I have time. In essence, don't act like you're paying me to do the work when you're not.

And yeah, paying in compliments is nice, but not the same. ;)