The Blue Banner

Early visitors might recall the image above as my very first banner, and although I thought it looked great at the time, a friend later commented that my characters looked rather cartoonish. After much thought (and arguing), I agreed somewhat and decided to start on a new banner.

Starting with Snippy, I ended up creating a new skin (see Playbox banner) for her, but when I got around to Liabelle and Khaki, I ended up creating new characters from scratch. Eventually, I decided to redraw Snippy as well, but to my dismay, my friend found just as many flaws with the new banner.

Eventually, I managed to finish the banner despite my friend's comments, and to summarize my remaining thoughts, I have decided to use another self-interview.

Q: How long did you spend on the new banner?

A: The banner took roughly five days to design (while doing other things), and that is roughly the same time it took for my first banner. Unlike the first, I had a lot less learning to do, so I ended up experimenting a lot more.

Q: What are the major differences between banners?

A: The main difference between banners is the canvas size I drew them at. For the first banner, everything was drawn on a canvas the size of the actual image, but for my new banner, I used a canvas several times larger and shrunk it once I had finished. Apart from that, Liabelle and Snippy are now in reversed positions, and Lia appears slightly more shy. There have also been some subtle changes, such as adding shadows to help the text stand out more.

Q: Are you satisfied with your new banner?

A: For the most part, I think the banner looks great, but I did notice a few problems upon shrinking the banner. Moreover, I do not like how Lia turned out: her jaw looks misaligned and is supposed to look more like:












In addition, Lia's jaw appears closed (until you zoom in on it), and the shading along Khaki's lower face should have been more smooth.

2011 EDIT: These issues have been addressed. The banner has now been updated.

Q: What is Liabelle wearing?

A: She is actually wearing a pink Demon's Harness (as a homage to the original banner), but for those of you who prefer purple, I have posted an unused sketch below:







Q: Do you own an Adaman Hauberk now?

A: Unfortunately, no. Originally, I was not going to release this banner until I did, but knowing that could be a long time, I decided to show my loyal readers something special. I have also posted the lower half of my Hauberk below because some of the detail has been obscured by text.

Government

A few weeks ago, my LS hosted a "miscellaneous help" session, and more accurately, everyone was invited to a Rostrum Pumps run. For this event, I got to form a BST detachment outside of the main alliance, so Liabelle became my personal healer for the run! While this event is not new to me by any means, I decided to use the opportunity to test my latest BST gear.















Pop NM - Alastor Antlion

There are three roles a BST can fulfill:

1. Pest Control - A BST can "Charm" nearby Antlions to keep would-be links under control.
   
2. Kiter/Secondary DD - When multiple Executioner Antlions are up and the main alliance is occupied, a BST detachment can easily kite or stall Antlions to give the group more breathing room.
   
3. Backup Tank/Primary DD - Often, the primary tank drops dead or the whole alliance ends up petrified. Under either situation, send your pet to stall Alastor, and if you are brave enough, charge into the fray yourself.
   

KS99: Early Bird Catches the Wyrm

This was a tough battle to get the hang of, and we lost all but our fifth and sixth attempts (with my orb being the latter). Judging by our successful runs, having a good number of healers and ranged DDs seems pivotal for success, but unfortunately, I did not win anything special from this KS99.















Limbus - Proto-Omega

And here we have our third Omega win after wiping on both our previous attempts. In the end, we were rewarded with a Homam Corazza, Cosciales, and Manopolas (along with a disturbing message by Frenesc).















Sea - Jailer of Hope

We also started tier 2 Sea jailers this week, and for once, I had no idea what I was doing. Although this jailer had nothing on my wishlist, it was a fun fight to keep up with because I was the only WHM for an entire alliance. No torque from this NM.















Sea - Jailer of Justice

After losing thrice to this NM using the crowd control strategy, the LS decided to zerg JoJ and called my DRK for some action. As a result of our astounding success, we have decided to zerg JoJ from now, and to be honest, I prefer one to two minute fights as well. Again, no torque dropped.















Sea - Jailer of Temperance

If you thought Government bought its tier 2 jailer pops, guess again! After several members complained that we had nothing but JoF (both JoF) runs as of late, the LS agreed to try new jailers, and the Zdei NM graced us with its presence.















Again, another tough fight for only one WHM, but I ended up being the only casualty thanks to my medicines, sharp reflexes, and kiting instincts. Thankfully. I managed to beat the only other person who wanted the Axe, but once again, no torque as per usual. Sadly, I would have received the torque as well since the only other person who wanted it was absent, but I am happy with my new toy nonetheless.

Mog Bonanza 3

So, another year, another Mog Bonanza, and another chance to complete my Guttler without doing any work. Compared to last year, there were more rank 1, rank 4, and rank 5 winners, but a lot less rank 2 and rank 3. I suppose the monetary prizes have been rather disappointing as well, but in addition, SE also removed the HQ Ground King bodies from this year's rank 1 selection.













And this time I have won... only rank 5 prizes; hurray for wasting 140k gil! If you are curious which column represents my main character above, it is the fifth.












As mentioned in my previous post, I chose a statue set for one of my mules, so the rest of my characters ended up with exp scrolls.