Do you have a livejournal account ? if yes what is it ? and you can add me there ! http://starskybunny.livejournal.com

Nope, not livejournal. Hate the site. Have a blogger account for years, barely use it.

What would you like to know, young Grasshopper?

If given the opportunity, would you perform as a magicians assistant and, if so, what illusion/trick would you most like to assist in?

Screw being the assistant. I wanna be the Magician. The amount of magic-related "crap" my Mum bought me as a child. Only problem is that now I'm an adult I believe in different magic, and illusions have lost their whimsy. Thanks Chris Angel, you really are a douchebag

What would you like to know, young Grasshopper?

Advice from one member to another....

I wrote this originally intended for the members of the Two Awesome Gamer's Server on Minecraft, but you know what... this applies to ANY minecraft server... any Game server for any game. These principles apply to anywhere and everywhere you go. And I feel the need to educate the uneducated... if only for a moment.

---

Dear TAG Community Members

Advice from one member to another....

I've been on this server since day one, not because I'm uber special friends with J3za and Whitelite, but because I was, am and always will be a fan of their work. Not just in Skyblock; which myself, Myrgon, VynaNyx and SpikeShadowfang tried for ourselves one day and failed so hardcore it was beyond laughably pathetic (and thus gave us a new perspective on exactly how hard it has been for TAG to create that entire series, and still keep at it because each and everyone one of YOU have enjoyed it - I'm sure there has been more than a few moments where they've probably wanted to pack the whole thing in and give up, but have kept going because of their fans comments and praise for their awesome work); but because they are great people, with interesting ideas, who work hard to learn how to play the game and still have tremendous fun with it.

And when they said that they were turning their server into an area for all of us fans to hang out in I jumped at the chance, lucky enough to be accepted and to have been given the chance to show I can be a responsible player from the beginning, they granted me the ability to play in their arena... and I've applied myself to being a contributing member of the server ever since.

The TAG Community Server, which some of you may not be white-listed on -yet-, is a wonderful place to play Minecraft with like-minded fans of both the game and the Two Awesome Gamers. However, there are some of you, and I will not name names because it's not necessary (each of us have our moments at all of this)... who simply don't know when to grow up and act their age, and stop being children about certain things.

Firstly... The server is not there for your personal pleasure, you are not there to have anything and everything you want handed to you on a silver platter, and you're not there to meet and greet J3za and Whitelite. You're there to play minecraft, make friends, and HAVE FUN. In the last few months, I have barely seen any of this happen like it should, and I feel the need to take a moment to write this too you, white-listed or not. Pay attention please.

On the whole most of us get along well; we do not grief, we do not insult, we do not play petulant little mind games. We're happy to help one another, be it gathering supplies, building epic cities, or just running around like nerds making jokes at one another. We're not here to PVP, to beg, to steal, to lie, to cheat. We're mature adults. We behave like it. Most of us do anyway. Some people recently have proven that they're beyond incapable of it, and subsequently have lost their privileges (you heard me, they are privleges, not RIGHTS, use a dictionary if you're not sure of the difference), and phooey to them. You upset others that's what you get, you agreed to the terms when you applied, just like everyone else did.

We're not here to pick sides, there is no us against everyone else, we are a community. The -whole- server is a community, and although we have drawn lines in the sands with Towny, we're not all at war with each other. Individual vs Individual, town vs town, or nation vs nation... none of it exists on the TAG Community Server.

That said, you should also note that just because you're new does not mean we're going to welcome you with open arms (less so after the last few people who have been kickbanned because of the mess they created during their time with us), nor does it grant you automatic privleges once you first log in. We're happy to help new people find a footing and build a place, but we're not all going to jump to give you everything you -want- when you start, and probably wont ever unless you prove that you deserve it. We don't know you, J3za and Whitelite do not know you, and you haven't done anything to earn respect, trust or friendship just because you're one of the few who can now log in because your username was placed on a list. All that shows is that your application was good enough that they're giving you a chance.

Also, people who also jump up and down when the server goes down irritate the heck out of me too. Server management is more than just 'make a payment, play minecraft, ???, profit". For a start, there IS no profit in this. From a business stand point it's a sinking ship, money spend is greater then income earned. J3za and Whitelite empty their pockets once a month so that we can all hang out together. They try to find ways to make enough to cover the costs, so that you don't HAVE to pay, and if you don't like that system either then walk away. They're doing the right thing by us, so at least think about doing the right thing by them. Have patience... because Servers crash, plugins don't work, things clash, ISPs go out... unless you've actually ever hosted a server you won't understand how much work it can actually be. Cloudcube have, for the most part, helped us out a lot. But even then there is a lot that is out of their control, just like it is out of J3za and Whitelite's control. Things happen... deal with it.

Speaking of which, this leads into my biggest pet peeve... J3za and Whitelite OWN the server... they pay for it's hosting, they deal with all that comes with that. This is THEIR space and YOU are the visitor. They have assistants, people who have proven worthy enough to be granted permissions above and beyond an average community member... you are not one of them. You don't pay for it, you don't fix it when it crashes, you don't have to deal with the backlash of a hundred angry members when things don't work out and no-one can get on. You come in, you build, you chat, you dig, you play, you have ALL of the fun... but they put in ALL of the hard work so that you CAN, often giving up their own time to do so. People who cannot understand that... frustrate me enough to write posts like this.

If you don't like the server issues, go somewhere else and play. No one is making you stay on the Two Awesome Gamer's server, there is nothing holding you there, keeping you hostage... you don't like it, then find somewhere you can play by rules you do like. I personally love playing on the TAG server, I actually haven't found any other server that I am more happy and enthusiastic about playing on, and I live with the outages because I understand that sometimes it happens, just like sometimes it doesn't. It's frustrating as hell, but it's part of playing the game. If you don't want any down time then play single player on your local machine. That's pretty much your only option. All servers go out sometimes. This is just a fact of life.

If you're lucky enough to get white-listed next round, just... have some respect, have some patience, stop jumping up and down yelling at everyone to be noticed. We'll happily welcome you, we'll happily help you... one day we'll even call you a friend we hope. But attention seekers, griefers, and over zealous idiots just drag the fun level down to zero for all of us. We're all on equal footing here; we like TAG, we love Jeza and Whitelite's work, we enjoy each other's company, we like playing minecraft... treat us like such, show us that you share that interest, and we'll get along easily enough.

Signed

Mea "The Frustrated" Kitty

[Rant] Art Issues

You know what it is? I struggled for YEARS to get my art to what -I- thought was an acceptable quality so as to open for commissions. I've done an entire University degree in art, that includes at least 2, maybe 3, semesters (half years) of Life Drawing. I'm 30 and I've been drawing pretty much -every- day of my life since I was old enough to hold a pencil and apply it to paper, in an attempt to get better at it.

And I still can't get commissions. For that matter I can't even get more than a handful of faves on my work. And I can guarantee those who DO fave my art, I can name because they're my friends.

I am suppose to be better than this, half the greatest artists in the world were dead, or close to it, by my age.

So remind me again why I bother doing this? I'm not good, I never will be, I shouldn't bother.

/endrant
Weird Dreams Ink
Graphic Arts, Web Design and hosting
http://weirddreamsink.com