tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73514955119942775582024-03-14T10:56:22.354-07:00Family Gaming XPMZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.comBlogger323125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-20687393517456895502020-05-11T03:10:00.000-07:002020-05-11T03:10:05.326-07:00Animal Crossing New Horizons - My Latest Game CrazeI think this is the first time that I will have posted an identical blog post in three different virtual places simultaneously:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">(L-R) Mary, Peter, Diana</td></tr>
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<ul>
<li>My Personal Blog <a href="http://mondaymollymusings.blogspot.com/">http://mondaymollymusings.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li>My Family Gaming Blog <a href="http://familygamingxp.blogspot.com/">http://familygamingxp.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li>The Association for Media Literacy's website <a href="https://aml.ca/">https://aml.ca/</a></li>
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This is because the topic is relevant to all three sites: my recent use of the video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons.</div>
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a video game <a href="https://www.animal-crossing.com/new-horizons/">produced by Nintendo</a> for the <a href="https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/animal-crossing-new-horizons-switch/">Switch</a> console system. It has become a very popular game to play during the recent global pandemic for many reasons. This game <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/05/07/animal-crossing-new-horizons-nintendo-stewart-pkg-vpx.cnn">set sales records</a> and created buzz in the mainstream media. <a href="https://thenextweb.com/gaming/2020/03/24/we-got-5-game-devs-to-explain-why-animal-crossing-is-so-damn-good/">This article </a>consulted game developers and asked them to explain the reason for the game's popularity. They mention things such as:</div>
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<li>a relaxing escape via the comfort of doing daily tasks</li>
<li>the desire to "do your best" for your village and villagers</li>
<li>rewarding for those who like structured tasks and those who like to explore/discover</li>
<li>feeling accomplished/euphoric when tasks are accomplished (the hook)</li>
<li>ability to achieve at your own pace without time pressure and complete collections</li>
<li>agency / ownership and social aspects - joy without harm</li>
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I can tell you why I enjoy the game. </div>
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1)<b> It's something to do that is enjoyable and can use many hours.</b></div>
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Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a lot of fun. There are so many things to do each day. You can go shopping (at Nook's Cranny or The Able Sisters, plus the assorted vendors that show up in the town square to buy and sell their specific wares - anything from Leif with his flowers to Daisy Mae, who offers turnips only on Sunday mornings for the stock/stalk market and trended on Twitter last week). You can visit others, whether they are "real" or not. Fishing, gardening, bug catching, shell collecting ... I can spend hours playing and it helps pass the time. It's a place to go when I can't actually physically go anywhere right now. As <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8215143/Why-Animal-Crossing-New-Horizons-popular-Nintendo-Switch-right-now.html">this article from the Daily Mail</a> suggests, the game eats up your spare time and many people (who aren't essential workers) have a lot of spare time on their hands right now.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">I got stung by wasps but I'm okay!</td></tr>
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2) <b>The game has cross-generational appeal, and not just for "gamers".</b></div>
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In my nuclear family of four people that reside in my home, three of us play Animal Crossing: New Horizons (which I will refer to in the rest of this post as ACNH) every single day. The game demographics are quite wide. The rating of the game suggests that it's for children, but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/arts/animal-crossing-covid-coronavirus-popularity-millennials.html">this article by the New York Times</a> describes its appeal to millenials. Dr. Romana Ramzan, an expert quoted in this article, explains how the game is attractive on multiple levels. Children can do adult things, and adults have a gentler, idealized existence where you experience calm and control. It's a simple game to learn but allows me a lot of creativity, like this <a href="https://www.thegamer.com/why-is-animal-crossing-new-horizons-so-popular/">post by website The Gamer says</a>.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">My family, posing at Harv's (photo) island</td></tr>
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3) <b>I can play the game whatever way I want.</b></div>
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The last game to captivate me in such a way was Minecraft, another "sandbox" game that offers multiple ways to interact. (The game I loved the most before that was Webkinz.) I notice that my young adult daughter, teenage son and I all play in different ways. Our methods relax us, like <a href="https://www.spieltimes.com/original/opinion/why-is-animal-crossing-new-horizons-so-popular/">this article by the SpielTimes</a> mentions, and we all have different priorities - and that's okay. There are benefits to engaging in certain activities but players do not fail if they ignore or minimize those tasks; for instance, I had not been visiting the villagers inside their homes regularly, which meant that I received less DIY recipes from them. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP78lEkPdS1DJ9U4mprMsUfF4vxmqlz8HrzzSAdl41P5XcwPt6VlI8k9wrHCIwXwoNV-gaouOhE0s_aXcTm9hqMSGHgdVIAr84crrA7lsr51ElTs6mvcC2o2a30vSpHQQ_Eaf7nlLBpl0E/s1600/IMG_6926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP78lEkPdS1DJ9U4mprMsUfF4vxmqlz8HrzzSAdl41P5XcwPt6VlI8k9wrHCIwXwoNV-gaouOhE0s_aXcTm9hqMSGHgdVIAr84crrA7lsr51ElTs6mvcC2o2a30vSpHQQ_Eaf7nlLBpl0E/s320/IMG_6926.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This is me farming peaches on a different island.</td></tr>
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4) <b>The game provides me with a social outlet and achievable goals.</b></div>
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Sometimes, my family will sit down and just watch someone play ACNH. It's gentle and calm, as this <a href="https://www.howtogeek.com/663363/why-animal-crossing-is-great-and-why-you-should-play-it/">How To Geek article describes</a>, but it is also entertaining. When my son landed on Tarantula Island, we all watched attentively as he captured the "most dangerous" creatures in the game. (Tarantulas make you faint. You can't "die" in ACNH but seeing a big spider attack you is thrilling enough.) </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYndgv9Hq-LzyCk8_ZDVTBCrxNK1WuY9rZmKu71FfDrdip5g5iasLR_kR4_5fguzrt0s877TxQKhKiCbOoTlC57IwyMLomYKnOg2BxG3BYatE41Z-5vFHBn6Rjcai-wYdX8zMTq7TtW9w/s1600/IMG_6813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYndgv9Hq-LzyCk8_ZDVTBCrxNK1WuY9rZmKu71FfDrdip5g5iasLR_kR4_5fguzrt0s877TxQKhKiCbOoTlC57IwyMLomYKnOg2BxG3BYatE41Z-5vFHBn6Rjcai-wYdX8zMTq7TtW9w/s320/IMG_6813.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">I caught an oar fish!</td></tr>
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I've also invited some of my friends that also own ACNH to our island. It's the only way we can visit each other right now. We love seeing how others have designed their islands and visiting with the non-player characters that live alongside them.</div>
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I love to take photos in real life and I've been able to transfer this hobby into the virtual realm. I've linked my ACNH account to one of my social media accounts and have been posting screen shots of my adventures (late at night, so that those who aren't ACNH aren't peppered with too many photos of my video game play). </div>
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ACNH can also be used to explain every single media literacy key concept.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjZcWBRLqDW5UZEnhGdZevmsNzzsnKqm8YnQfuFe4goEHxmyjyrBhCZeieUf8vCO0oxT4DK8NaNImxsfUqLta3fD1wnXrfAEaJzJiRTwo1bFIZddWi-IWKx5KUFL0b5MIlSkGOZwZC8tuT/s1600/IMG_6840.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjZcWBRLqDW5UZEnhGdZevmsNzzsnKqm8YnQfuFe4goEHxmyjyrBhCZeieUf8vCO0oxT4DK8NaNImxsfUqLta3fD1wnXrfAEaJzJiRTwo1bFIZddWi-IWKx5KUFL0b5MIlSkGOZwZC8tuT/s320/IMG_6840.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">At KK Slider's concert</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1l7qrfGbcTeSdc3fdyWUxW0JVqJy9m6rMR3_C53wiHNxEgC0elxgH6vFnw7dTfswKJBjv54canHUZGmgsWXTzJs3QF4yayIpOmKIhZFmQvpG-LYYkWceNoCa3oO08ziETswwbNLI_DXje/s1600/IMG_6841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1l7qrfGbcTeSdc3fdyWUxW0JVqJy9m6rMR3_C53wiHNxEgC0elxgH6vFnw7dTfswKJBjv54canHUZGmgsWXTzJs3QF4yayIpOmKIhZFmQvpG-LYYkWceNoCa3oO08ziETswwbNLI_DXje/s320/IMG_6841.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Enjoying KK Slider sing tunes on request</td></tr>
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1) <b>Media construct reality.</b><br />
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My current / new reality is partially shaped around my game play. I report to work (which is just another room in my house) from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm and then I go visit my island of Morioh. On Saturdays after 6:00 pm, each of us visits the island for a free concert by the ACNH singer KK Slider. On Sundays before noon, some of us seek out Daisy Mae to buy turnips.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShh-JIj7A53Hp1uLx7LA19fLgD_McthOVlrigQbEtr_tdX2ZVKa9yq0pOKJHRoGz6h1h44YtNndzipSKesxovzbT1QlVr2zRCojhTk1u4axNkJQwjbwfQZ0cV9qLGi5CtACTwxEqH44LV/s1600/IMG_6925.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShh-JIj7A53Hp1uLx7LA19fLgD_McthOVlrigQbEtr_tdX2ZVKa9yq0pOKJHRoGz6h1h44YtNndzipSKesxovzbT1QlVr2zRCojhTk1u4axNkJQwjbwfQZ0cV9qLGi5CtACTwxEqH44LV/s320/IMG_6925.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Me with Daisy Mae</td></tr>
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2) <b>Media construct versions of reality.</b><br />
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The avatars on ACNH are flexible. Players set up their virtual stand-in at the beginning of the game but then have options to change it throughout the game. My wardrobe in ACNH is gorgeous and probably more along idealized versions than reality. However, I chose my hair to closer match the actual colour and the way that my hair growth has "wings" sprouting from the sides.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ESRXCZ1-ZtmPnIBCaX-lz3Y0lZwG40t-_jLaaoPoEDKkvRjpbvr6HVFdcGRJJVJpwJVg7wVX7qvoAi4cJ8DaEvwCpYfkQD844N0oE015qLS5ysUrvROKOSsFwT_p6TofHdhywm3glFSn/s1600/IMG_6924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ESRXCZ1-ZtmPnIBCaX-lz3Y0lZwG40t-_jLaaoPoEDKkvRjpbvr6HVFdcGRJJVJpwJVg7wVX7qvoAi4cJ8DaEvwCpYfkQD844N0oE015qLS5ysUrvROKOSsFwT_p6TofHdhywm3glFSn/s320/IMG_6924.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">I'm dressed as a super hero!</td></tr>
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My ACNH house is tidier and much more coordinated than my actual house. </div>
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3) <b>Audiences negotiate meaning.</b><br />
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ACNH has its own set of memes, in which the community of players exchange jokes and humorous observations that would be lost on non-players unfamiliar with the "lore". Also, I have been very cautious not to post any ACNH images during school hours, because audiences might see this activity as unfitting for a teacher or a waste of time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Here are the best Animal Crossing: New Horizons memes we've found ..." src="https://blizzardwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/ac-meme-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">You won't understand this joke unless you know that Blathers the museum curator hates bugs.</td></tr>
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4) <b>Media have economic implications.</b><br />
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Ontario Premier Doug <a href="https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/03/20/ford-frustrated-as-dozens-line-up-for-eb-games-launch-despite-pandemic.html">Ford was extremely unhappy with EB Games</a> and their lack of safety precautions when they released ACNH - this caused <a href="https://www.blogto.com/city/2020/03/hundreds-line-buy-video-games-toronto-despite-pandemic/">huge lines to form in front of stores</a> as consumers purchased the physical copy of the game. (My own family decided not to line up on the day it was released and had to wait three [long] weeks before they were able to order and receive a copy of the game.)<br />
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In-game economics are significant. Bells (and Nook Miles) are the currency and expanding connections helps you financially if you are interested in buying and selling turnips at a major profit. Players will sometimes offer their island access codes if their turnip prices are particularly lucrative, and even <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/24/culture/elijah-wood-animal-crossing-trnd/index.html">celebrities like Elijah Wood can come to your island </a>to take advantage of the great offer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRy02zxO-Z_OQ7CW2XJNm9CvuEJ_HyqTz3uPD_MHuXKLM1ATUghdkKgjp22wioJ0Jnapj1sgq4tzAiGaJ4qN4dEu9jBqqXVCprpSuBr4jTXSO_0tGRncUs2PpG9inZUkseXrRwCIqb52U/s1600/IMG_6802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRy02zxO-Z_OQ7CW2XJNm9CvuEJ_HyqTz3uPD_MHuXKLM1ATUghdkKgjp22wioJ0Jnapj1sgq4tzAiGaJ4qN4dEu9jBqqXVCprpSuBr4jTXSO_0tGRncUs2PpG9inZUkseXrRwCIqb52U/s320/IMG_6802.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This was the first place I lived on ACNH - a tent.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_aw-h4if6yT8djUc9oCgEizFdGMUiLKe2Q0yQe7rTArFFQBWpKxwfBDI1aEI-KCErBU6IfjFwN6oVI0Zx_GsL3mB1t5OUvjSGkpk8Zh6PM4ywHVEyfjyNzEx9J5GbcKjQWF1nUhhhOqtH/s1600/IMG_6803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_aw-h4if6yT8djUc9oCgEizFdGMUiLKe2Q0yQe7rTArFFQBWpKxwfBDI1aEI-KCErBU6IfjFwN6oVI0Zx_GsL3mB1t5OUvjSGkpk8Zh6PM4ywHVEyfjyNzEx9J5GbcKjQWF1nUhhhOqtH/s320/IMG_6803.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This was my first house, with a loan.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjZLmOZinvSeLOaDqjjoFgePTvFg-OOHMcZhSc1-1EImYmMP3vuzgfMSMkSjqzPfAsNrXndvf0nvLAzQK_t9EBas67q7VVju8RGukCPfgc-7kkojk3A87LY7XOSFEjyW2kSiEI3IPVnh5/s1600/IMG_6927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjZLmOZinvSeLOaDqjjoFgePTvFg-OOHMcZhSc1-1EImYmMP3vuzgfMSMkSjqzPfAsNrXndvf0nvLAzQK_t9EBas67q7VVju8RGukCPfgc-7kkojk3A87LY7XOSFEjyW2kSiEI3IPVnh5/s320/IMG_6927.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This is my house as of this week (May 2020)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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You can earn money in different ways. My son's favourite way to earn money was to go "tarantula hunting" on other islands that you can travel to after buying Nook Mile tickets. He taught me the strategy to maximize his captures (nicknamed "No Bully Lane" (c) 2020) and if I'm patient, I can wait to sell the tarantulas (or scorpions, because tarantulas aren't in season right now) for the regular going rate plus 50%.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8moymm85D4EpI71Y7w7MIxqWUVW5gFnIYCm11073Ek4WcLSMVrGq11fSZJKaxptjgPO5mdX7QHO9J5CMEfXbfqnJOmPDqR-E_-pxBqE7H8P8-6cUCG1Nvw7DvrD-HBXVrVvsSUV-eiyV/s1600/IMG_6922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr8moymm85D4EpI71Y7w7MIxqWUVW5gFnIYCm11073Ek4WcLSMVrGq11fSZJKaxptjgPO5mdX7QHO9J5CMEfXbfqnJOmPDqR-E_-pxBqE7H8P8-6cUCG1Nvw7DvrD-HBXVrVvsSUV-eiyV/s320/IMG_6922.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Me hunting on Tarantula Island</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtu1DKZcfAt831evAJL6rMm3U6yKwdOO3GzMMuXPAegQ8naXi_unkcxDtq_MQIO1MPRJ5nTf6XxWZShYfvTDG_ye6tLpJ5qWsd1l1F-yQ_b2OzMYiOmjRCqnbLsrO3SipQWYTosw6DdeGU/s1600/IMG_6923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtu1DKZcfAt831evAJL6rMm3U6yKwdOO3GzMMuXPAegQ8naXi_unkcxDtq_MQIO1MPRJ5nTf6XxWZShYfvTDG_ye6tLpJ5qWsd1l1F-yQ_b2OzMYiOmjRCqnbLsrO3SipQWYTosw6DdeGU/s320/IMG_6923.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Selling my tarantulas to Timmy and Tommy</td></tr>
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5) <b>Media communicate values messages.</b><br />
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What does it mean to be a good citizen? This message is shared in so many ways in ACNH. Good citizens pick up litter, like fallen branches. They chat with their neighbours and bring them medicine when they are sick. They are active and wander the island. They donate items to the museum. They contribute to the prosperity of the island by buying and selling items from regular vendors (Timmy and Tommy, the Able Sisters) as well as visiting salespeople (CJ, Flick, Leif, Kicks, and even "shifty" characters like Redd the Fox who sells authentic and fake pieces of art). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_6KG4a08XCP9XOrArUd4jnTJXvPCZupBFOTIjUPR9aei1oONTLVKF8W7p6U_c6wkbN7yPsjMYVUwTjE8xs-vymuPCSvGQoOd6DTkg-cSEGjq8jwpREJSerTg8GSlWRqMcq4eTGhS7g3R/s1600/IMG_6920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ_6KG4a08XCP9XOrArUd4jnTJXvPCZupBFOTIjUPR9aei1oONTLVKF8W7p6U_c6wkbN7yPsjMYVUwTjE8xs-vymuPCSvGQoOd6DTkg-cSEGjq8jwpREJSerTg8GSlWRqMcq4eTGhS7g3R/s320/IMG_6920.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLWiT8Ull6iicrTB-EHN1m6xhpGHGqm7zxjEVUzgp5sIhfZp_co_xCZrNuom7iIhj4e8y3KirRJkEhpxB9OW9L1quqEnX4cjfCo67bdHwmOpZk51mF9_B-Yq_y8vBgXxVQE0fyYNp9Yd3/s1600/IMG_6921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXLWiT8Ull6iicrTB-EHN1m6xhpGHGqm7zxjEVUzgp5sIhfZp_co_xCZrNuom7iIhj4e8y3KirRJkEhpxB9OW9L1quqEnX4cjfCo67bdHwmOpZk51mF9_B-Yq_y8vBgXxVQE0fyYNp9Yd3/s320/IMG_6921.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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6) <b>Media communicate political and social messages.</b><br />
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It's not just me who thinks this. The Atlantic ran an article called <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2020/04/animal-crossing-isnt-escapist-its-political/610012/">"Animal Crossing Isn't Escapist; It's Political"</a> and does a convincing job of describing how it supports capitalism AND pastoralism. There are elements of consumerism but also community works.<br />
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I do not know if the gender constructs in ACNH have been examined, but they are present and fascinating. There are eight types of villagers, four male and four female. The female types are sisterly, normal, snooty and peppy. The male types are jock, smug, lazy and grumpy. There are a few characters in the past that push beyond the binary, but they aren't very popular. My daughter also informed me that the player character's gender is not fixed. This game, she tells me, is popular with trans fans because it doesn't ask if you are a boy or a girl. The pronoun used by villagers to refer to players is always the gender-neutral "they".<br />
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Speaking of popularity, there are over 300 non-player characters (NPCs) that can be your villagers. Certain villagers have become very sought-after and the reasons center on their beauty. Their personalities are limited to their type, so the only difference is their appearance. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4Jhu2o0blbC6vL5u9NsYUNEf-STsxA98GdjzgAF9oM5ZytdSB3NZ11QJV658t9SBrSWEFOwmUsR6UUK63svMNya_ixLUR-kHDYqQp3sA-CqyCpClFl0vam4y8z1JlVE-duqfpGjkmosR/s1600/IMG_6929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-4Jhu2o0blbC6vL5u9NsYUNEf-STsxA98GdjzgAF9oM5ZytdSB3NZ11QJV658t9SBrSWEFOwmUsR6UUK63svMNya_ixLUR-kHDYqQp3sA-CqyCpClFl0vam4y8z1JlVE-duqfpGjkmosR/s320/IMG_6929.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">My current set of villagers.</td></tr>
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7) <b>Form and content are closely related in each medium.</b><br />
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ACNH is a video game, although more precisely it is a "life simulation video game". As such, it has game elements as part of daily chores and tasks. Will you catch that fish or will it get away? What fish will you catch? How might adding fish bait to the water increase your chances?</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGTK5QfagFvG6AirWdXTmhD31gHczo_BIo_W2UoPCSMebYoqbQaZpkBlX-m27AHkz-uCuWTG4LuzZvI6wGToCYFgC31Hry3OEqaU9C-RCWuoqIZsIJTuub0V4H4B9O1DSaL4mex3l-P9s/s1600/ScorpionFarming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQGTK5QfagFvG6AirWdXTmhD31gHczo_BIo_W2UoPCSMebYoqbQaZpkBlX-m27AHkz-uCuWTG4LuzZvI6wGToCYFgC31Hry3OEqaU9C-RCWuoqIZsIJTuub0V4H4B9O1DSaL4mex3l-P9s/s320/ScorpionFarming.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Shortly after this photo was taken, I was stung & fainted.</td></tr>
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8) <b>Each medium has a unique aesthetic form.</b></div>
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It is easy to recognize the "style" of ACNH, both visual and behavioural. When you catch something like a fish or a bug, your avatar holds it up to the camera for the player/audience to see, describing what has been caught and adding an amusing pun.<br />
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There are different clothes associated with different cultures but whatever you wear, you can tell you are in ACNH. There are different objects you can buy, learn how to craft, or can be gifted (thanks to floating presents in the sky). They can be recognized as coming from ACNH.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtiTJnwJLAN3DXQ9EjifaGcxDOrGt0BBeDV_W6ZBqiCdQn-BSv29ftPlG_OQohciwD4bvGStkZkivtiqmwWI9SlHp_7-2GhuDm-FekWgpjHBjr1YMPqXfhkpcCAGe4HuzOZbNNT8Wu1Lw-/s1600/ACNHbedroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtiTJnwJLAN3DXQ9EjifaGcxDOrGt0BBeDV_W6ZBqiCdQn-BSv29ftPlG_OQohciwD4bvGStkZkivtiqmwWI9SlHp_7-2GhuDm-FekWgpjHBjr1YMPqXfhkpcCAGe4HuzOZbNNT8Wu1Lw-/s320/ACNHbedroom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This is my bedroom.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9CCv3UO0qjAEPg1Nx1bMAzaiyxyI7_merG5Tvq9AyHuV2eHBveIF3AYC3jMCZAPDUfBrq78tZz-geKG5J5GHtmMrAoJx6G2_9Gd7GvyUyUCJF565nCBU4xsGXQAntmU-Mv_wdwNkUCs2/s1600/ACNHcraftroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9CCv3UO0qjAEPg1Nx1bMAzaiyxyI7_merG5Tvq9AyHuV2eHBveIF3AYC3jMCZAPDUfBrq78tZz-geKG5J5GHtmMrAoJx6G2_9Gd7GvyUyUCJF565nCBU4xsGXQAntmU-Mv_wdwNkUCs2/s320/ACNHcraftroom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This is my craft room.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNuLBQFeyauBbtUsPyyVn_0gml-PQ-NIGbYOqO7P7iMYwoBw-PSOduZFfsE4ju9-j9W01AH45-KyVOsTWuFmH_aqWWgxG9G_cLE64JCvkUUaIzV2LxcXJz74LSW-V5NSf5vfD8C5HHTMo/s1600/ACNHkitchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNuLBQFeyauBbtUsPyyVn_0gml-PQ-NIGbYOqO7P7iMYwoBw-PSOduZFfsE4ju9-j9W01AH45-KyVOsTWuFmH_aqWWgxG9G_cLE64JCvkUUaIzV2LxcXJz74LSW-V5NSf5vfD8C5HHTMo/s320/ACNHkitchen.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This is my kitchen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic3RCXSUoUXN7EzNCX6YHJMzxJJaCjhKf6KwotWbmX8sKkVkLWEpSI_iCLUw93SckZGyh-wW9Swy9ns5uqQXqqaaoO9m09qrXvC3v74_-7TOImhw7Mk52vDjnGXQM1Tk8FpJAbR-b8ROZl/s1600/ACNHlivingroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic3RCXSUoUXN7EzNCX6YHJMzxJJaCjhKf6KwotWbmX8sKkVkLWEpSI_iCLUw93SckZGyh-wW9Swy9ns5uqQXqqaaoO9m09qrXvC3v74_-7TOImhw7Mk52vDjnGXQM1Tk8FpJAbR-b8ROZl/s320/ACNHlivingroom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This is my living room and bathroom.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2So-TCtyaaFN-yUC5bxwoKa5eYOFom1aUNCSywapC7bQYtJRTL4FJVMiCRe0fJTvrLVWU_155pKbkCAmqzFa-MUlWL_8AmjbD14Gl_V37L42OqYl0iak_9-6Wte2YIHZFpvLbTQslFoCe/s1600/ACNHupstairs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2So-TCtyaaFN-yUC5bxwoKa5eYOFom1aUNCSywapC7bQYtJRTL4FJVMiCRe0fJTvrLVWU_155pKbkCAmqzFa-MUlWL_8AmjbD14Gl_V37L42OqYl0iak_9-6Wte2YIHZFpvLbTQslFoCe/s320/ACNHupstairs.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">This is my upstairs entertainment suite.</td></tr>
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In conclusion, I don't see any conclusion to my Animal Crossing New Horizons obsession / admiration in the near future. I won't be including it in my teaching (because not all elements of popular culture should or must be included into education), but I will be using ACNH avatars as a club photo in lieu of our in-person group photo. If you ever want to visit my island, contact me and let's see if we can connect - just make sure to abide by those hospitality rules that makes ACNH such a beloved pastime of mine and others. </div>
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MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-45702586362020470032018-11-18T12:33:00.000-08:002018-11-18T12:46:20.930-08:00Gamer ProfilesI was at the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario's annual "Bring IT Together" conference in Niagara Falls from November 6-7, 2018. The session that I got the most out of was by my dear friend, Jen Apgar. It was called<br />
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<h4 style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; font-size: 15.4px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">
How to Motivate and Engage Gamers and Support Healthy Digital Gaming Habits</h4>
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and it was fantastic! You can read more about my takeaways on my other blog, <a href="http://mondaymollymusings.blogspot.com/2018/11/ecoo-conference-reflections-from-bit18.html">http://mondaymollymusings.blogspot.com/2018/11/ecoo-conference-reflections-from-bit18.html</a></div>
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Part of Jen's presentation included a link to a gaming profile survey. The URL to her slides, in case you can't see it on the image, is <a href="http://bit.ly/gamersbit18">http://bit.ly/gamersbit18</a> and the link to the gamer profile survey is <a href="http://apps.quanticfoundry.com/lab/gamerprofile/">http://apps.quanticfoundry.com/lab/gamerprofile/</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RgxRVjXerIng0_yoXBV7XC4FJoDTqZvPhHF9EuHTSxytutQCCGffhTIpTbCL2hTLBmXjoZ3LZeq_Gls346Ydjvnj4J66Gy0PwWQPMz24QMm-vv5Lu-aemwBbNN71LWlQqKU8VASsmB6Q/s1600/IMG_8689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RgxRVjXerIng0_yoXBV7XC4FJoDTqZvPhHF9EuHTSxytutQCCGffhTIpTbCL2hTLBmXjoZ3LZeq_Gls346Ydjvnj4J66Gy0PwWQPMz24QMm-vv5Lu-aemwBbNN71LWlQqKU8VASsmB6Q/s320/IMG_8689.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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I promised that I would share the gaming profiles of most of my family members and I am keeping my promise. I asked my eldest and youngest to answer the survey questions and provide their results. They kindly complied. This post is dedicated to the awesome Gumby Blockhead, who shared his profile on Twitter.</div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
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My gamer profile: Driven, Grounded, Practical <a href="https://t.co/1640AUfKiM">https://t.co/1640AUfKiM</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/JenApgar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JenApgar</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/liamodonnell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@liamodonnell</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Niecsa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Niecsa</a></div>
— Gumby Blockhead (@GumbyBlockhead) <a href="https://twitter.com/GumbyBlockhead/status/1063398735647043584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 16, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Here are my family profiles...<br />
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Me - the Matriarch</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7YyRW_yNxG4x8PmBBkEFic3FwiMJ_r3Hwpqutdw17DqKO7jNS10LTwyJaTOzeMm22Lhq4TcSc-x4eErKEu30npSArrVOe3F-TcqRk2jaJWWf9ngj8ilTWbHHplmg94vPiN78wWE9Af6iW/s1600/DianaProfile1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7YyRW_yNxG4x8PmBBkEFic3FwiMJ_r3Hwpqutdw17DqKO7jNS10LTwyJaTOzeMm22Lhq4TcSc-x4eErKEu30npSArrVOe3F-TcqRk2jaJWWf9ngj8ilTWbHHplmg94vPiN78wWE9Af6iW/s320/DianaProfile1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOo8i-GOOL1n2GP1zryw9U7KQ-x2Vpqm0dcpdb0WyPrDNNEv8fi1R-ZqYOFaLN8WbRILUchdmPC69N8dATyOSprOHpLCGnAsdpgm2KlUgMXHXCoQ33xekkFthZU2FU1RMlR0z9RFJ5yrT/s1600/DianaProfile2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOo8i-GOOL1n2GP1zryw9U7KQ-x2Vpqm0dcpdb0WyPrDNNEv8fi1R-ZqYOFaLN8WbRILUchdmPC69N8dATyOSprOHpLCGnAsdpgm2KlUgMXHXCoQ33xekkFthZU2FU1RMlR0z9RFJ5yrT/s320/DianaProfile2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
M - the eldest</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4QNFhxTW3WFyMdC_IbsztuwIFdTOlnEMhh9Xku5bGEBzh0AAP5hyhO316-4eYHh8qJCKqQ9ozbIxSIuaUgRWnZgXu3uZrXEeiXX0SSBGKPjze7LjPxLpkxX-3ETiZhku_O_pox4ApNcZe/s1600/MaryProfile1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4QNFhxTW3WFyMdC_IbsztuwIFdTOlnEMhh9Xku5bGEBzh0AAP5hyhO316-4eYHh8qJCKqQ9ozbIxSIuaUgRWnZgXu3uZrXEeiXX0SSBGKPjze7LjPxLpkxX-3ETiZhku_O_pox4ApNcZe/s320/MaryProfile1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZRLCRXW_fpbH_QaxkDBIhVho1qFeom2nNRxYcSYxrC2QCAOIwVdSv2DNTHerxYULnVwDEq5ER6Tml5VG98D8aOm5rFKSYqDPSVYlJY7zEprxSJYyDh1PKd4PF0L0SCMqkC2TsFAJXiO0/s1600/MaryProfile2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZRLCRXW_fpbH_QaxkDBIhVho1qFeom2nNRxYcSYxrC2QCAOIwVdSv2DNTHerxYULnVwDEq5ER6Tml5VG98D8aOm5rFKSYqDPSVYlJY7zEprxSJYyDh1PKd4PF0L0SCMqkC2TsFAJXiO0/s320/MaryProfile2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;">
P - the youngest</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsIIGnvN0ZT3OTrGmaWW2nKQsx8pd6B5Yk0RnL2VIMzaIo_jy2_U69kz15JrdAAdEtJFDX5-0PEECNDfva9DUXcWirWoP0LSyGt5cfe-HYiDwb9X_GhIHlZvwaHaWb4l3fu15lCaBvjKu7/s1600/PeterProfile.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1600" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsIIGnvN0ZT3OTrGmaWW2nKQsx8pd6B5Yk0RnL2VIMzaIo_jy2_U69kz15JrdAAdEtJFDX5-0PEECNDfva9DUXcWirWoP0LSyGt5cfe-HYiDwb9X_GhIHlZvwaHaWb4l3fu15lCaBvjKu7/s320/PeterProfile.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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It seems like social and achievements are important to all three of us, whereas immersion matters a lot to the eldest but not to the rest of us. The teens' graphs seem wider / fatter / bigger than mine - is that because for many of my responses, they were lukewarm rather than extreme? I wanted to compare the results a bit easier, so I put the major categories into a chart.</div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-17b3739c-7fff-699c-4d19-59bfe2d3cd4a" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; width: 468pt;"><colgroup><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Action</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Social</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Mastery</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Achievement</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Creativity</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Immersion</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">DM</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">60%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">91%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">23%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">79%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">11%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">5%</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">MM</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">52%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">84%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">30%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">94%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">63%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">90%</span></div>
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<tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">PM</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">91%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">95%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">36%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">100%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">54%</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">39%</span></div>
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I was also taken with how similar Gumby's profile is to PM's. No wonder they have a lot of fun gaming together!</div>
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MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-71856241949842487122018-10-14T10:20:00.005-07:002018-10-14T10:20:39.253-07:00Catching up on RPG CoversI haven't posted in over 2 years, but that's not because nothing's happening. (How's that for a double negative?) We've all been playing and gaming and having fun. Here's just some of the most recent comic covers that have been completed by Miss M (who is now 18 years old and in first year university). These were completed August 2017. I'll share the more recent ones later.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKP8UIX7qETICahmBjb2BeN5alEmzcrDmR2eiajg0e_k9Ki37NQImmsXl19whEFcYRqhZV9PV_es3HuSXiJevG0W5RBa5KQiU9RbKCY_qmzzXSryfaAdk_n6vJXrXDGx4ieAt70H-w-U-/s1600/MaxCovers50-4C_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1132" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaKP8UIX7qETICahmBjb2BeN5alEmzcrDmR2eiajg0e_k9Ki37NQImmsXl19whEFcYRqhZV9PV_es3HuSXiJevG0W5RBa5KQiU9RbKCY_qmzzXSryfaAdk_n6vJXrXDGx4ieAt70H-w-U-/s400/MaxCovers50-4C_0001.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Issue #50</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGAwGNG5fzQHQk94g4i_vXsoGL5qxZUZdjtqHYISoi17vaFVFdSbTVvAw3c_UkfWycGM0sDLLeAOKm8NKUW40CB7XtRtBMHNsak9-Jm179RNCph1GAM-OyxjrpMJc1OGyJj3pcmds3lVh/s1600/MaxCovers50-4C_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1132" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSGAwGNG5fzQHQk94g4i_vXsoGL5qxZUZdjtqHYISoi17vaFVFdSbTVvAw3c_UkfWycGM0sDLLeAOKm8NKUW40CB7XtRtBMHNsak9-Jm179RNCph1GAM-OyxjrpMJc1OGyJj3pcmds3lVh/s400/MaxCovers50-4C_0002.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Issue #54</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oDaaSCdXxleeQLu6fXlWlOoxbV7Mq-7cZ5fweF4SE8ETFAIg-HuggHpV3F6k-VCFre350iF0wnDs9bL7vnwPbK2q2G4ZjLLUqenhTOep_d8vb6Awa9cu6Piws6m0CjBCMWG8XpmpvoHm/s1600/MaxCovers50-4_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1132" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3oDaaSCdXxleeQLu6fXlWlOoxbV7Mq-7cZ5fweF4SE8ETFAIg-HuggHpV3F6k-VCFre350iF0wnDs9bL7vnwPbK2q2G4ZjLLUqenhTOep_d8vb6Awa9cu6Piws6m0CjBCMWG8XpmpvoHm/s400/MaxCovers50-4_0001.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Issue #52</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywaU0mcZVlRQVmPDTNy2COCcuOZKmg4itAQc4JVXcQ-W_9cYiWD2eJy6jA2hzPDIoCnzpJf8OPGTE2S8WcDAaQJYttGTYtlrz6v__olk5ezaqM_A2vUJDzvbOP-nMZVJG3j0q24Jo_OV8/s1600/MaxCovers50-4_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1132" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywaU0mcZVlRQVmPDTNy2COCcuOZKmg4itAQc4JVXcQ-W_9cYiWD2eJy6jA2hzPDIoCnzpJf8OPGTE2S8WcDAaQJYttGTYtlrz6v__olk5ezaqM_A2vUJDzvbOP-nMZVJG3j0q24Jo_OV8/s400/MaxCovers50-4_0002.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Issue #53</td></tr>
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<br />MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-74867827490634113812016-03-18T18:01:00.000-07:002016-03-18T18:01:10.518-07:00Max Covers 35-38<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's been a while since I updated this blog with illustrations of my daughter's RPG summaries. Each one is a work of art and I admire the process she undertakes to design them. Here are a couple of "behind the scenes thoughts" for the most recent ones.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6EDl0phgbmzf6kSCsnVfe9mQ6EEl8tx4og0ehmHeDqYyRZB4fl8hW5u_y1y5AmoXpGV_Qei28cNAvRk3fimOJmXHfg66RLtXhRb-955hfX0aH8HCBlN_ZpO04Su6PvbslNHKl_8VC2Aq-/s1600/MaxCovers35-36CPlus_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6EDl0phgbmzf6kSCsnVfe9mQ6EEl8tx4og0ehmHeDqYyRZB4fl8hW5u_y1y5AmoXpGV_Qei28cNAvRk3fimOJmXHfg66RLtXhRb-955hfX0aH8HCBlN_ZpO04Su6PvbslNHKl_8VC2Aq-/s400/MaxCovers35-36CPlus_0001.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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Issue 35 was challenging for the artist to depict a leaping large cat with someone riding it. She also wanted to avoid the "too grey" colour palette so she experimented with purples and violets.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZQvwBuyzm22qy_cjqVDH84TKA_gSpASGftCj4MMkS4HspMLgkGYaOBkqmmIJmdsr55zNj8QC4Xkkz4Wj7ehtPwR2xp0uGJxW_Kuc51EZcs7KtAlotwVfbxmH0wfeg_vKYipnQaRsfV1q/s1600/MaxCovers35-36CPlus_0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZQvwBuyzm22qy_cjqVDH84TKA_gSpASGftCj4MMkS4HspMLgkGYaOBkqmmIJmdsr55zNj8QC4Xkkz4Wj7ehtPwR2xp0uGJxW_Kuc51EZcs7KtAlotwVfbxmH0wfeg_vKYipnQaRsfV1q/s400/MaxCovers35-36CPlus_0002.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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The artist really liked this cover because of its use of a speech bubble for the title of the issue. She had seen this done on real comic covers and wanted to try it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-e0WdOQNoVeYbmw6MojXCEz0VhRGKuaiuK68_yIcJIm2XsPeKn4IRkiKWlkjaRJwuu4lq4Z_4phE8J-2eMAyimuIJbdLScFlVK44bvlYia2PhbPkvDFJ0xV2Q_93wW4Aw22Gm8MkAVA5I/s1600/Roomies-BSC_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-e0WdOQNoVeYbmw6MojXCEz0VhRGKuaiuK68_yIcJIm2XsPeKn4IRkiKWlkjaRJwuu4lq4Z_4phE8J-2eMAyimuIJbdLScFlVK44bvlYia2PhbPkvDFJ0xV2Q_93wW4Aw22Gm8MkAVA5I/s400/Roomies-BSC_0001.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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This is another "imaginary" cover for a scenario that never happened. The artist likes how each character has her significant items included on "her side" of the room.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8x2qcg1QiUy-MI1Z1MN9yn89k-41d9P-LTc8UpQ4Q8GQcDLd6mdsnQVAW4wpi7Z4_JLAbNCBoCQLOT-uABZ786MQBELoFP0Su7f0_POV5PHJK4BQAqXNgFBjt3YGJCs0cxRgScOVVE6hx/s1600/MaxComicAnnual3inC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8x2qcg1QiUy-MI1Z1MN9yn89k-41d9P-LTc8UpQ4Q8GQcDLd6mdsnQVAW4wpi7Z4_JLAbNCBoCQLOT-uABZ786MQBELoFP0Su7f0_POV5PHJK4BQAqXNgFBjt3YGJCs0cxRgScOVVE6hx/s400/MaxComicAnnual3inC.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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For the first time in a long while, the artist who drew the scene did not do the inking and/or colouring. (I did.) She wrestled with what moment to portray - she was initially going to show the interrogation scene at the police station - but settled with this conflict.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTUGJeLnxtDwFlyhRnkjTLjyuRtoAsEEFA5BhVoJWQMaCKofLuKAQOrd4c-oXf8rGW7dmp8pvkCwwcSt_9Un_YPgJc5v8cPPHXpo30KLBCoB6iheFRYVk0Cs_o6pqbNKhugXqsFuOQw9z/s1600/MaxCover37-C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmTUGJeLnxtDwFlyhRnkjTLjyuRtoAsEEFA5BhVoJWQMaCKofLuKAQOrd4c-oXf8rGW7dmp8pvkCwwcSt_9Un_YPgJc5v8cPPHXpo30KLBCoB6iheFRYVk0Cs_o6pqbNKhugXqsFuOQw9z/s400/MaxCover37-C.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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The yellow background was unique, but worked with the Chinese New Year colour scheme to match the plot. Someone else did the inking and colouring for this cover. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_5RPU_0HImc2ao5lAKMQA2aWb4CzrAhvT3GavHzXImd-WzTcrXOZKmoR2_trEkQWTVwJnmSh0-34fTCJfqQ9hbTNYvOOJcbFLBvFrvXOc-clpAqyCi3tU90Dq_dovTCtrlM_oMWEbN2O/s1600/MaxCover38-C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_5RPU_0HImc2ao5lAKMQA2aWb4CzrAhvT3GavHzXImd-WzTcrXOZKmoR2_trEkQWTVwJnmSh0-34fTCJfqQ9hbTNYvOOJcbFLBvFrvXOc-clpAqyCi3tU90Dq_dovTCtrlM_oMWEbN2O/s400/MaxCover38-C.jpg" width="282" /></a></div>
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The artist missed doing her own inking and colouring so she did this cover. This was a pretty short adventure but the cover is quite dynamic. The red/pink background was not done previously, and even though she's done "floating heads" covers before, she liked how this one was arranged (note the female/male pattern as well as the compared/contrasted reactions of the characters). The pink floor is a stylized brain.</div>
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We're on adventure #42 and I'm looking forward to seeing the new covers!</div>
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<br />MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-43294188096089164202016-01-09T18:18:00.001-08:002016-01-09T18:18:27.136-08:00Research SaysOn Twitter, I saw Jane McGonigal share this link.<br />
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<a href="http://gac.sagepub.com/content/11/1-2/130.full.pdf+html?ijkey=UVqkXf1aWox3g&keytype=ref&siteid=spgac&utm_source=SAGE_social&hootPostID=c38d2af164b594ab05e4e8d1f699a5e1">http://gac.sagepub.com/content/11/1-2/130.full.pdf+html?ijkey=UVqkXf1aWox3g&keytype=ref&siteid=spgac&utm_source=SAGE_social&hootPostID=c38d2af164b594ab05e4e8d1f699a5e1</a><br />
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This study shows (partially) why this blog exists.MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-69720680479616989402016-01-03T12:41:00.000-08:002016-01-03T12:41:29.861-08:00Max Covers 29-34<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFRIBtlnZ6zz4lupGXxyl7D3tcWUxLQ9KEMxDSzLkYjT7Bkl9KWwD834QjBSLaDPIQ2DaBioIzz8pXcHrxFlUeta9kZmdAqqO0qxjMoBZ-cvQiJuetICD6SG7bz8dtwlWU7A93_JxgxaY7/s1600/MaxCover29-C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFRIBtlnZ6zz4lupGXxyl7D3tcWUxLQ9KEMxDSzLkYjT7Bkl9KWwD834QjBSLaDPIQ2DaBioIzz8pXcHrxFlUeta9kZmdAqqO0qxjMoBZ-cvQiJuetICD6SG7bz8dtwlWU7A93_JxgxaY7/s640/MaxCover29-C.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKrJ9tILX5aDZfyZNLLCGKmYPy2yjBKSI3EBSjMYt5tUBOorZ3qWUsTSbySd0sF6aRGKW7gGj1aeoOvnwexuuONcA5JVKiXwWoH32eERBC4DGg7PSafotLj4rBoxDM-GT1H0R2p_nsnP5/s1600/MaxCover30-C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKrJ9tILX5aDZfyZNLLCGKmYPy2yjBKSI3EBSjMYt5tUBOorZ3qWUsTSbySd0sF6aRGKW7gGj1aeoOvnwexuuONcA5JVKiXwWoH32eERBC4DGg7PSafotLj4rBoxDM-GT1H0R2p_nsnP5/s640/MaxCover30-C.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tQBBtOcDOmrmccEbEjfA0shvSQ_UdM2iIz7Ig018WZMMpu52azthpdUXOpESBlJmGPRlpeSHESvzA5naSPv7r5EIp39lxYAEpIqBHzDIhRtz3oRfeVe6-dggcYQuKrRGdAg2496qzzFu/s1600/MaxCover31-C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3tQBBtOcDOmrmccEbEjfA0shvSQ_UdM2iIz7Ig018WZMMpu52azthpdUXOpESBlJmGPRlpeSHESvzA5naSPv7r5EIp39lxYAEpIqBHzDIhRtz3oRfeVe6-dggcYQuKrRGdAg2496qzzFu/s640/MaxCover31-C.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_8ilz9onJrWk4ZYxVIzYecLWoVo4i7i37W34zPBhq9Ren4ZIT1kLbHO9mmVyxKe4p0kuA9Jt84yLWGDNtSl00I7rKhP69FaZSo02ZpmjTrZpK6vUsxThFlZ3muUnZT0Uo-4w2VkgvCFQ/s1600/MaxCover32-C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_8ilz9onJrWk4ZYxVIzYecLWoVo4i7i37W34zPBhq9Ren4ZIT1kLbHO9mmVyxKe4p0kuA9Jt84yLWGDNtSl00I7rKhP69FaZSo02ZpmjTrZpK6vUsxThFlZ3muUnZT0Uo-4w2VkgvCFQ/s640/MaxCover32-C.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnyMoYyPudhai459eBL8sVRUZIW3zh4AufVVywTuw7QpkoMT6FyD_uCt9DmV92-MppZsUzOYhBGCwW2AXUykDwRXRRUdi7iY_VhLzX5_vN2nkRnI2Hnr5BRKEjuwDEvUy8G45f7IXb1S0/s1600/MaxCover33-C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsnyMoYyPudhai459eBL8sVRUZIW3zh4AufVVywTuw7QpkoMT6FyD_uCt9DmV92-MppZsUzOYhBGCwW2AXUykDwRXRRUdi7iY_VhLzX5_vN2nkRnI2Hnr5BRKEjuwDEvUy8G45f7IXb1S0/s640/MaxCover33-C.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkp3EGS9EJVOxcAmsHeuK-qhBwaeBGMxCEIESoNP8Xs32YGzm5x2gOgY592bkdPKkrk36YhE75Pfo6DSGg-si8r9J5ZUdtPDwSoPrj5nQ1OEyX3NQwOSnmhlepGk1U8unnqkaP3xHEvV1/s1600/MaxCover34-C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWkp3EGS9EJVOxcAmsHeuK-qhBwaeBGMxCEIESoNP8Xs32YGzm5x2gOgY592bkdPKkrk36YhE75Pfo6DSGg-si8r9J5ZUdtPDwSoPrj5nQ1OEyX3NQwOSnmhlepGk1U8unnqkaP3xHEvV1/s640/MaxCover34-C.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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<br />MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-70331542555762712302016-01-03T12:35:00.005-08:002016-01-03T12:42:02.620-08:001st time as GM in an RPGI have my friend Tracey Peer to thank for inspiration for this post.<br />
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My family regularly visits the Peer household to play the Marvel Saga role-playing-game (RPG). Usually, Morgan is our game master (GM) but a couple of months ago, Morgan offered all the other players a chance to run an adventure. Because our RPG is in a super-hero universe and my daughter creates comic book covers to commemorate each adventure we have, this temporary change was nicknamed "Assistant Editor's Month", as a nod to this practice in comic book series. <br />
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My husband is often a GM in other games and is very comfortable taking this role. For me, becoming the GM was a challenge. Way back in 2004, I tried to create a role-playing game club at my school, using Dream Park; it didn't go well because I had no experience running a RPG. Back then, I had no clue what to do and the students didn't either. I am usually one of the player characters (PCs) and so all I have to worry about is how to handle the situations that arise during game play. As a GM, I'd have to create a scenario, prepare statistics for the villains or adversaries the PCs would face, but also be flexible for whatever the PCs might do. I talked extensively with my husband for tips on being a good GM - he had plenty of advice. I tried to find something similar to his tips online and found <a href="http://www.fantasylibrary.com/lounge/dave1.htm">this post</a>; it goes into a lot of extra detail that people who have not played RPGs a lot may find overwhelming. There's also <a href="http://www.highprogrammer.com/alan/gaming/gmtips.html">this post</a> - once again, if you focus on the subheadings, you can get a sense of the kinds of advice hubby provided. (There's even a whole <a href="http://roleplayingtips.com/tools/how-to-be-a-great-gm/">book</a> devoted to the topic, but I didn't have the time or inclination to pursue it.)<br />
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Experienced GMs don't necessarily have to do a lot of planning in advance, but since this was my first time, I wanted to be prepared. In our super-hero RPG universe, we had two separate but connected story lines occurring, because one of the PCs did something less-than-heroic and was sent to prison for her actions. (The other players created and portrayed incarcerated super-villains in this second game.) I decided to run an adventure for this game, rather than the main story line, because I thought that with the specific setting (a maximum security prison), it would help me narrow down my plot and villain options.<br />
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I'm guessing that many new GMs rely heavily on ideas from other media texts. I know I did. I was especially inspired by the book <em>Dead Man's Switch</em> by Sigmund Brouwer, the Hunger Games book series, as well as the story in the news about the American dentist shooting Cecil the Lion while on safari. I wanted to set up a scenario where the main characters were being hunted by outsiders who paid for the fun privilege, like in Brouwer's novel. As I outlined what I had planned, my husband asked some questions that at first sounded like he was a kill-joy but in the end was important to setting up the situation. <br />
"Why would the characters want to participate in this?", he asked.<br />
"Well, they could be promised some prize, like early parole, but it would be just a ruse."<br />
"They won't go for it. They're suspicious and wouldn't want to help anyone with a 'special project'. You have to be prepared for them to say no." <br />
He was right. When the lone superhero in the group was approached about being part of the research study, she refused. As the GM, I ended up drugging the PCs while they were in their prison cells and dropping them into the arena so they had to participate.<br />
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Another tool that I used, although with less success, was a maze map. I had seen my husband use maps in other games, but what I learned was that maps depend on the kind of RPG you're playing. In a traditional fantasy or dungeon crawl, like Dungeons and Dragons, it's important to have a sense of where the treasure is hidden and where the monsters are lurking. I used a very simple maze map, but our youngest player (my son) quickly became fed up with walking up and down corridors. That slowed down the game play because I stayed too faithful to the map. He got bored and left the game before we finished.<br />
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A snag that I hadn't considered was the details of the environment. When my antagonist (Sharpshooter) and her minions (Sporting Chance and Fighting Chance) were acting as snipers in fake trees in the hunting arena, one of the characters decided to topple the trees. I hadn't considered that move, so I had to arrange things so that it was difficult but not impossible to tear down the trees. (They bent but did not break.)<br />
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I asked my daughter what the high and low points of that game were. She said she liked the character interaction - our regular GM played a leprechaun hybrid who was obsessed with finding treasure and no one wanted to follow the menacing immortal alien who speaks rarely but they ended up together anyway. <br />
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Good GMs make RPGs look easy. I know that it takes a lot of practice and experience to make a RPG enjoyable. I liked having the opportunity to try the other side and it gave me new appreciation for all the nuances and considerations that a GM must remember while playing. Our next game with our friends will be Annual #3 on January 10, 2016 and I'm looking forward to what might happen.MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-3957728404650362012015-09-12T17:50:00.002-07:002015-09-12T17:50:46.093-07:00Max Covers 25-28I know this blog has become a version of my daughter's Deviant Art page just devoted to her comic covers of our RPG adventures, but that's okay! Here are Issues 25-28, and #28 hasn't even been delivered yet in its paper form to our wonderful audience.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgut-NI7pzjvd6Asbm1AUXZ-XEoVJNbteHpmMFOt0pcUnaKD2IGDbjzA2L2KXumBRhL6I7vv5Op8r8GWFzbSKGJ_8FNzF418cZ_dCb8PUFxwvlhXNRRBayp8Jl71HxUjfDV2uiX5hclzHKP/s1600/MaxCoversFinal25-26_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgut-NI7pzjvd6Asbm1AUXZ-XEoVJNbteHpmMFOt0pcUnaKD2IGDbjzA2L2KXumBRhL6I7vv5Op8r8GWFzbSKGJ_8FNzF418cZ_dCb8PUFxwvlhXNRRBayp8Jl71HxUjfDV2uiX5hclzHKP/s640/MaxCoversFinal25-26_0001.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
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We are so excited about the upcoming adventures! Stay tuned!MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-35316798365918701992015-07-19T17:23:00.001-07:002015-07-19T17:23:09.603-07:00Duckules!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZXIkBfqMOZzsM0mkWNN3Bcmhyf1B3GV1MP0F8n1nLMyQ_3b7YxxVxXSFZj8JQOH27rbc-3hrFQceqYFI5FkV_tmwkI3GfeBeiD3dNlDhVBAWbnOuPZFERI7SIyKpVH3uRK9naUWHoAxm/s1600/MaxCoverAnnual2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOZXIkBfqMOZzsM0mkWNN3Bcmhyf1B3GV1MP0F8n1nLMyQ_3b7YxxVxXSFZj8JQOH27rbc-3hrFQceqYFI5FkV_tmwkI3GfeBeiD3dNlDhVBAWbnOuPZFERI7SIyKpVH3uRK9naUWHoAxm/s640/MaxCoverAnnual2.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
<br />MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-26357558415562815542015-06-28T15:12:00.002-07:002015-06-28T15:12:27.741-07:00Max Covers 17-24 And MoreIt seems like this blog is becoming a Deviant-Art-esque visual posting ground. It can't be helped, when The Girl keeps producing such incredible faux-comic covers like she does! We've loved seeing how her art has improved and evolved. Here are ten more samples!<br />
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<br />MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-3200621114206597572015-03-29T13:55:00.003-07:002015-03-29T13:55:29.393-07:00New Max Magellan Covers and Pivotal RPG momentsSometimes, certain adventures really help a "party" gel together. We've been playing this particular RPG with our friends for over a year, and the last two "episodes" have been particularly memorable. In Issue #15, traditional alliances were tested, characters spoke up in ways they hadn't before, and the characters (originally a rag-tag bunch) worked together cohesively. In Issue #16, one of our friends who has not been around for a while returned to play with us. We were curious as to how our GM would bring Ogre back, but he did it with a bang and we had a great time. To celebrate, here are four of the most current comic covers, as created by our talented daughter. You know they'll be memorable when discussing the subtitles results in ten minutes of laughing-until-we-cried.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7I8vQAL1O1SEpCKKb20hFRNWOxhRuI4_Eboykhs9tvKmxSojUwqfYJzJEh9IbOM8NHdnZJSsRwg_k-iACm-VF2xGp73_mcsrky_aUzGIXqO_tYxSvaQv0N424SFo54QEdpVZowh0Nej3A/s1600/MaxColourCover16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7I8vQAL1O1SEpCKKb20hFRNWOxhRuI4_Eboykhs9tvKmxSojUwqfYJzJEh9IbOM8NHdnZJSsRwg_k-iACm-VF2xGp73_mcsrky_aUzGIXqO_tYxSvaQv0N424SFo54QEdpVZowh0Nej3A/s1600/MaxColourCover16.jpg" height="640" width="452" /></a></div>
<br />MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-35155554372047467862015-02-16T12:47:00.000-08:002015-02-16T12:47:05.767-08:00Latest Max Magellan Covers & New Home Campaign!First things first: my talented daughter has created three new covers for the RPG game we play with our friends in the west end of the city.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUD8Y2XWyncX5ani0PUMzU6o9erLt6CTSOd3lie5WKGv8su88XILut85z21BLW6lPwOAehm2I5eNJ0SQPoM7-AnkSw3xCiiwdFUYqJrplKHBX0lgX2dVXYre3U_EEjZ5gq-fNUJCXf7Np5/s1600/MaxCovers11-13_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUD8Y2XWyncX5ani0PUMzU6o9erLt6CTSOd3lie5WKGv8su88XILut85z21BLW6lPwOAehm2I5eNJ0SQPoM7-AnkSw3xCiiwdFUYqJrplKHBX0lgX2dVXYre3U_EEjZ5gq-fNUJCXf7Np5/s1600/MaxCovers11-13_0001.jpg" height="400" width="282" /></a></div>
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It's Family Day today, which made it a perfect time to launch our own Marvel Saga RPG. Hubby was the Game Master and wife, son, and daughter played the heroes on their inaugural adventure. Set at a fictional university, the protagonists had to battle Circuit Breaker, a power-hungry villain greedy for energy. The new team consists of:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Miss Myst, a prank-loving student with the ability to become invisible and intangible</li>
<li>Velocity, a physics professor with super speed</li>
<li>Putty, a quiet janitor who possesses stretching elasticity powers</li>
</ul>
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We had a great time playing together and look forward to playing more frequently, since we live together, making coordinating the games much easier! Our resident artist has agreed to create covers for this new campaign and we've had fun brainstorming the name of the new team.</div>
MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-90649920925151086852015-02-15T09:20:00.001-08:002015-02-15T09:20:14.118-08:00Analysis of a Rage QuitI have taken a break from Left4Dead because during one particularly heated game, I "rage-quit". According to Urban Dictionary, rage quitting is:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #2c353c; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">To stop playing a game out of an anger towards an event that transpired within the game</span> </blockquote>
The four of us (husband, wife, son, daughter) were playing a scenario (my girl thinks it was "No Mercy", the hospital mission) and I kept failing at my task. After I was resurrected, again, I whipped off my headphones and declared, "That's it. I'm DONE." I quit Steam and left the other players to finish the game one person short.<br />
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Later that night, I thought long and hard about what had occurred. Was it really just anger? It turns out that there were a lot more feelings behind my rage-quit. It took distance from the event and some time for me to reflect before I realized what I was experiencing.<br />
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<ul>
<li>I felt helpless and useless (because I believed the team was doing poorly because of me).</li>
<li>I felt frustrated (because I knew what I had to do but I couldn't figure out how to do it successfully).</li>
<li>I felt disappointed (because despite all the suggestions yelled during the heat of battle, I couldn't change things).</li>
</ul>
<div>
No one wants to feel useless and frustrated. Games are supposed to be challenging enough to be difficult yet still fun, and I wasn't feeling the fun. Since my self-imposed exile, the family has moved on from Easy Mode to Normal Mode and been quite successful. They occasionally mention that it would be enjoyable to have me play again, but until I can reconcile those other-than-anger negative emotions, it won't be good. </div>
MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-59954973675566791232015-01-31T19:35:00.002-08:002015-01-31T19:35:57.600-08:00Left for Dead - A New Stage for Our FamilyI checked this blog, and back in 2011, my kids used to watch my husband play Left for Dead. Fast forward to now, 2015. The kids are now 15 and 12 and as a belated Christmas present, my husband bought all of us Left for Dead for our various computers and laptops so we could play together. This has been quite the experience. Here are a few observations of mine.<br />
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1) <b>I stink at this!</b><br />
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On our four-person team, I am definitely the weakest chain in the link. The actual photo of the screen below is proof. I think my problem is that I have visual-spatial issues. I hate climbing ladders or maneuvering through doors. I'm always walking into things or getting stuck. Despite my poor performance, my family still likes playing with me.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZTX-qoxQq4ksSjpwqlGLRvr5mxZJMAMtZ1KHqid2JyBhWuxjrYEVhWfTn0ncj8zJpS2VjWVsgNSqFGlIe5YvVYTYUy9JnsnlB_xE1VlihaxQ-BzNJAPYFJ1jstMBUkbhA1wPVXTcwFt1/s1600/OLASuperCon+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZTX-qoxQq4ksSjpwqlGLRvr5mxZJMAMtZ1KHqid2JyBhWuxjrYEVhWfTn0ncj8zJpS2VjWVsgNSqFGlIe5YvVYTYUy9JnsnlB_xE1VlihaxQ-BzNJAPYFJ1jstMBUkbhA1wPVXTcwFt1/s1600/OLASuperCon+002.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mrs Peeps died thrice</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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2) <b>We all have our favourite characters to play.</b><br />
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In Left for Dead, I'm Louis, hubby is Bill, daughter is Zoey and son is Francis. In Left for Dead 2, I'm Ellis, hubby is Coach, daughter is Rochelle and son is Nick. Why do we always pick the same ones? My girl says she likes to use the female characters. My husband likes the dialogue from his characters - when he used to play with his friends, he'd use Nick. I tend to take whoever is left but I'm used to seeing and following the others, so it's become habit.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQ1H0DSxRgjlrHDmWxUWELwQ5JcBV397nZtRcN5WLKeThcxMMW6MTkv18F3CHLZlSwOFPwD2DRKhm-zbkefLV7E-EsT7habWi9DHrHZ_4udBGCVw2UUBKuf8UUVN-BWelHVoCN4nyogCQ/s1600/OLASuperCon+006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQ1H0DSxRgjlrHDmWxUWELwQ5JcBV397nZtRcN5WLKeThcxMMW6MTkv18F3CHLZlSwOFPwD2DRKhm-zbkefLV7E-EsT7habWi9DHrHZ_4udBGCVw2UUBKuf8UUVN-BWelHVoCN4nyogCQ/s1600/OLASuperCon+006.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm dead and watching son & daughter play</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3QO0JAeY3MQvMfIvLbYFaXhnLlaiKUqgOamkfWE0CAqGnvs-iWaUGhb2DapjK5SaYOQy724DX0BmvjvGAxTmht0PwLuu9mpKhXohRHae4LlRINkgwafFnr9TwLyPgaQrg1QPf-i4fqnX/s1600/OLASuperCon+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3QO0JAeY3MQvMfIvLbYFaXhnLlaiKUqgOamkfWE0CAqGnvs-iWaUGhb2DapjK5SaYOQy724DX0BmvjvGAxTmht0PwLuu9mpKhXohRHae4LlRINkgwafFnr9TwLyPgaQrg1QPf-i4fqnX/s1600/OLASuperCon+010.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, still dead. Father and son planning their attack.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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3) <b>We work well as a team - sometimes.</b><br />
<br />
We talk to each other while in-game using our headphones. Hubby tends to be our de facto leader, since he's played the game before. We've gotten a lot better at not hurting each other. (The only stat that I can regularly claim to have the best results is "least amount of friendly fire attacks".) However, there are times where hubby gets really frustrated with us. The worst scenarios are the ones where we have to collect items, like filling a vehicle with a certain amount of cans of fuel before we can escape. We won that one just once, by the skin of our teeth, after three attempts. Other scenarios have ended with "let's just not do this one, otherwise we are all going to be very grumpy".<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74BwsbYA6Tr9m5CTitxHoVfsORdCbv3iz9-UyUAY_EEcoyhUrinO9UXfOd1Pg0GWHgsvYctz58hL72aY8SiL7IjrsVF2G7_aj7dRQf2xnrLSqm3tT_VjX4Nj0UhuPaOO5QrX_ovhtyJF0/s1600/OLASuperCon+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh74BwsbYA6Tr9m5CTitxHoVfsORdCbv3iz9-UyUAY_EEcoyhUrinO9UXfOd1Pg0GWHgsvYctz58hL72aY8SiL7IjrsVF2G7_aj7dRQf2xnrLSqm3tT_VjX4Nj0UhuPaOO5QrX_ovhtyJF0/s1600/OLASuperCon+011.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We learned to use melee weapons around things that explode.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
4) <b>We feel successful, even when not all of us survive until the end.</b><br />
<br />
Most of the times I play, I do not live to see the end. However, there's a real sense of accomplishment when we finish the adventure and at least one of us makes it out alive. Here's a photo example below where only hubby survived, but we still ended with smiles on our faces.<br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoci8aJ_LsT4n-CtFTifxIUOY__7ZScI10sz8fLwyZfgA78-A8r2ohQycJE5hwYsbaXc6lWsarA3-7l1HpSjvK9p-3eft9BOtbPnxjdJhRyUgZKpSDa2W0PTD7k9cHG4BZkXUzRg-dKxVy/s1600/OLASuperCon+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoci8aJ_LsT4n-CtFTifxIUOY__7ZScI10sz8fLwyZfgA78-A8r2ohQycJE5hwYsbaXc6lWsarA3-7l1HpSjvK9p-3eft9BOtbPnxjdJhRyUgZKpSDa2W0PTD7k9cHG4BZkXUzRg-dKxVy/s1600/OLASuperCon+012.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How can one survivor be considered good? When it's L4D</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The nicest thing happened last night, when it was just the three of them playing. (I had too much school work to do.) It turns out that they were supposed to get on a helicopter at the end of the adventure to escape and my son actually sacrificed himself and jumped out of the safety of the helicopter to be with his sister, even though it meant his character didn't live at the end. That level of empathy and compassion makes my mommy heart swell with pride and happiness.MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-37537229148753632632015-01-22T19:34:00.001-08:002015-01-22T19:34:05.380-08:00Gaming Projects - RPG Covers 8-10 <span style="background-color: #fff9ee; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;">This is an Edited Cross-Post from Monday Molly Musings (January 5, 2015) about Christmas Vacation Projects</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">Project #3 = </span><b style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">Daughter's Superhero RPG Covers</b><br style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;" /><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnmU-gpQ4RikqXc65j3f3HzDBzQAgr-X3q_C2WuWZYvtVRqdKnpVRDbcTXSpCs4iH4aTSpiVOCpeVp3bdGnxe53_E9BOzY1nLk2t_l9Rf2BgQoZEnn7US8Ghw5C-eIBWGVCt2mFmlRJqy/s1600/MaxMagellan8-10_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #888888; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnmU-gpQ4RikqXc65j3f3HzDBzQAgr-X3q_C2WuWZYvtVRqdKnpVRDbcTXSpCs4iH4aTSpiVOCpeVp3bdGnxe53_E9BOzY1nLk2t_l9Rf2BgQoZEnn7US8Ghw5C-eIBWGVCt2mFmlRJqy/s1600/MaxMagellan8-10_0001.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="226" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">About once a month or so, we play a role-playing game with the Peer family at their house. I've written about it a lot more on my </span><a href="http://familygamingxp.blogspot.ca/" style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #888888; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px; text-decoration: none;">Family Gaming blog</a><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">. Because it's a super-hero game, my artistic daughter had the brilliant idea to immortalize each of the RPG adventures in a pretend comic book cover recap. She pencils and I ink and then colour a scanned reproduction. I have to say that it's very relaxing to trace lines and colour pictures. These three covers took about two evenings to complete. You can see the other seven "issues" </span><a href="http://familygamingxp.blogspot.ca/2014/10/marvel-super-heroes-new-covers.html" style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #888888; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px; text-decoration: none;">here</a><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;"> and </span><a href="http://familygamingxp.blogspot.ca/2014/03/march-break-rpg-inspired-project.html" style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #888888; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px; text-decoration: none;">here</a><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">.</span><br style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;" /><br style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;" /><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">Project #4 = </span><b style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">Son's Minecraft Book Trailer</b><br style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;" /><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">My children received some nice presents for Christmas, including some Minecraft mini-figures as well as the novel </span><i style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;">Descent into Overworld </i><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;"> by Liam O'Donnell. This book is special to us because we had a chance to be "beta-readers" before it was published. My son and I decided to make a mini-video promoting the book using our iPad's StoMo software. It took a bit longer than usual because we accidentally filmed upside down and used Windows Movie Maker instead of iMovie to assemble the final product. It took a half-day to finish.</span><br />
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(The embedded video was in the last post from January 2, 2015)<br style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21.5599994659424px;" />MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-59370274303468374652015-01-02T15:46:00.001-08:002015-01-02T15:46:44.668-08:00Our Holiday Game Project<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tpMSPK5_Y0k" width="420"></iframe><br />
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Thank you Liam O'Donnell for giving us this awesome book for Christmas. This tiny promotional video is our way of showing our appreciation (and gives us a chance to play with the Minecraft mini-figures some of us got as presents)!MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-18664561451310990162014-10-11T09:28:00.002-07:002014-10-11T09:28:11.788-07:00Marvel Super Heroes - New CoversWe continue to play our RPG in the west-end of the city and my talented daughter continues to make comic book covers for each adventure. Here are Issues # 6 & 7.<br />
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<br />MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-17256534251907537612014-09-06T17:43:00.000-07:002014-09-06T17:43:18.797-07:00Liam O'Donnell Owes Me $30 Monthly (Nearly)Now that The Boy has a regular writing gig on the <span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.gamingedus.org/category/minecraft-server-news/">GamingEdus</a> </span>website and The Girl composes on her <a href="http://delightfullyquirky.deviantart.com/">Deviant Art </a>page, this blog has quieted down a bit. However, there's still a lot going on with gaming and our family.<br />
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For instance, this summer, my daughter read <a href="http://liamodonnell.com/project/ganked/">Ganked</a>, by Liam O'Donnell. I had an autographed copy because I was one of Liam's Beta-readers. The Girl read it quickly and really enjoyed the story. Then she announced to the household that she was inspired by the book to play World of Warcraft. Even though the MMO described in <i>Ganked</i> is a fictional one (Kingdom of Strife, or KoS), it captured the feel of MMOs like WoW perfectly. Liam's cast of characters defied gamer stereotypes and the game play that occurred as part of the plot was very appealing.<br />
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Even though WoW is still one of the largest MMOs in the world, it has lost a few players since its heyday, so now it is free to play a character up to level 20. Here's The Girl's account of her WoW experience:<br />
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<span style="color: magenta;">Mom wanted me to describe my WoW characters in a couple of sentences, so I'll introduce you to my cast of characters:</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta;">My first character was Vestelle, a night elf druid. I played her when I was first getting the feel of the game and didn't really know what I was doing. I've gotten her up to about level nine, but I don't play her much anymore. As I'm thinking of one day composing a story about the group of characters, I like to think that Vestelle would be the clumsy newbie of the group who can't really catch up to the other high level characters.</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta;">Then we have my favourite character, Corrinthe, a blood elf hunter. She's really fun to play and I've gotten pretty decent at her. She has a pet Dragonhawk named Talon who accompanies her pretty much everywhere and does some tanking while she shoots arrows from afar. She's level eighteen and I pretend that she's the strategist of the group who gets really mad when nobody sticks to her carefully thought out plans.</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta;">Nyamo is my Pandarin mage, who I named after a character from a manga I read, since Pandarin are the fake Asian type race and have anime-esque hairstyle options for females. She's level thirteen and <i> </i>I plan on making her an Alliance-allied Panda when I finish that quest line. Nyamo is the girly girl of the group and is a bit squishy, play wise, but has some pretty awesome spells that make her worth keeping around.</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta;">Nerissea is an undead warlock, whose familiars are an Imp called Gakpep and a Void Walker called Thultaz. She's level sixteen, my second highest character, and kind of interesting to play, since she's super evil compared to my other characters. She's, personality wise, meant to be a little misanthropic and cynical, but is a good leader for the team.</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta;">My fifth character is Jiira, a goblin shaman who I last left off at level twelve. She's really fun to play, even though I can never get past this one boss in her story line. Like all goblins, Jiira is superficial and enjoys the thought of being rich. She's a little bossy, but she's very devoted to her guild.</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta;">Lastly, I have Dionnae, my Draenei paladin. She's only level seven, since she was made very recently, but she's still an important part of my six man band. She's very different than most of my characters, since the rest of my group are ranged character classes, but I'm getting the hang of her thanks to my brother's expertise on melee characters. She's a gentle giant and very friendly, in my mind, and is often the one to break up the frequent conflicts in the group.</span><br />
<span style="color: magenta;">I like WoW for a lot of reasons. I enjoy exploring the world and seeing what there is to see out there in all the zones, even though I get killed by more powerful monsters than I can take on when I do so. I also really like the story and lore of the game, the interactions between different races and the history of the world. I enjoy the type of fantasy that this game has (with the elves and dwarves and such) and I think it was these qualities that I noticed prominently in the game depicted in Ganked, as well as why it drew me to WoW.</span><br />
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While The Girl was playing, The Boy saw this and was equally captivated. He had watched his dad play when he was younger, but now he felt he was able to play on his own, so he tried it too. Here's The Boy's account of his WoW time:<br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">I have a dwarf paladin and his name is Amefist. He is based on my Cube World dwarf character, who is also named Amefist. He is pretty powerful. Amefist has a minor in Engineering. He has a pet bunny. I have not played recently but I think he is level 15-16. The most fun thing I did in WoW as Amefist was getting my pet rabbit.</span><br />
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I think it's neat that one media text can inspire another, and vice verse, although it had the potential to get a bit costly. The beginning of school and screen time limitations mean that both kids had other things to preoccupy them. There's also been this tendency with the younger members of our family that once we purchase an online membership, interest in the game immediately dries up. Still, this may be an ideal Christmas gift for either or both of them, and the interest is due to a well-written novel.<br />
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<br />MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-18292662330528081752014-03-16T01:00:00.000-07:002014-03-16T01:00:00.960-07:00March Break RPG-Inspired ProjectTime for the boy to take a break from manning the blog!<div>
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I've written before about <a href="http://familygamingxp.blogspot.ca/2013/10/rpging-in-west-end.html">our superhero RPG</a> with our friends in the west-end of the city. After our last adventure (involving croco-sharks), my daughter was inspired to create comic book covers of each of the five games we've played as a large group. During March Break, I decided that they would look even better in colour, so I scanned the originals, printed out a new copy, and with the girl's help, I inked and coloured them. The results are wonderful, in my biased opinion, and I have new respect and appreciation for inkers of the comic industry. It takes a long time! We are seeing them today and we'll be giving the GM copies of these pieces of art, but I thought I'd share them here as well.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Issue #1: Versus the villainous Jack in Irons! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Issue #2: Invasion of the Space Ghouls!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiraQ1cfiZ8MCqSh3ncwergogNJpuK0y38PaWEqUGVzBD1GgChQ01dlMOf5Uf0tsZeoo_VnjVrAQdJxm_gXLeqF3vo-g6n5SbQSjn_Ed0HEb1KFu1jspFwdDfyZeRgVBrPs138yLjkWq9-Y/s1600/MarvelSuperheroRPGCovers_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiraQ1cfiZ8MCqSh3ncwergogNJpuK0y38PaWEqUGVzBD1GgChQ01dlMOf5Uf0tsZeoo_VnjVrAQdJxm_gXLeqF3vo-g6n5SbQSjn_Ed0HEb1KFu1jspFwdDfyZeRgVBrPs138yLjkWq9-Y/s1600/MarvelSuperheroRPGCovers_0003.jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Issue #3: The Coming of the Crime Phantom!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxllMCV3oVaawfT1f8VtVcCX8LKFAHCI5NwqcWdLOguyVO0pGcznvPbvW4NUsMlNM4II0DfGYfXptQ_1dcQRbNqsGE3JHp1pWc_lE9-pttF4bsYigyRAKJjLTM1UDrl91SX2iNvVVKESRs/s1600/MarvelSuperheroRPGCovers_0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxllMCV3oVaawfT1f8VtVcCX8LKFAHCI5NwqcWdLOguyVO0pGcznvPbvW4NUsMlNM4II0DfGYfXptQ_1dcQRbNqsGE3JHp1pWc_lE9-pttF4bsYigyRAKJjLTM1UDrl91SX2iNvVVKESRs/s1600/MarvelSuperheroRPGCovers_0004.jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Issue #4: Their Deadliest Foe Yet!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Issue #5: The CrocoSharks!</td></tr>
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My daughter is currently reading old issues of The Avengers and The Fantastic Four, so she borrowed stylistic elements from those classic comics when designing these covers. </div>
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MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-76847799610764483842014-01-10T19:00:00.002-08:002014-01-10T19:00:44.063-08:00Short FuseThis post was written December 11, 2013 but not shared until today, January 10, 2014. No punctuation police today, so enjoy it in its original form.<br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">Today I’ll be talking about an
update to the original angry birds <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">So the pigs are at it again, and they stole the eggs again
but this is a science one so they have new things like bomb birds shocking new
power, yeah as from what I said it makes it kind of obvious he drank all the
purple enzyme as I will call it and a broken wire makes get a new power which
is the shockwave!
So now he will create a new small circle of electricity and pushing things,
and electrocuting pigs there are also three other potions the orange one is
like orange bird if it splashes on a pig it will blow up in air and kill itself
in the process, the blue potion makes the pigs become three smaller separate
parts if multiple potions are poured on a pig it’ll create that many pigs
example: three potions make nine tinier pigs and finally the pink potion turns
pigs into bubbles lifting things up in the pig and then popping and dropping
the structures. This is one of my favorite chapters because I thought about a science
one including potions turning the birds different colors and maybe it will get
a new power, this is also similar to red’s mighty feathers where red bird gains
a new power so maybe yellow bird’ orange bird’ and other birds might get a
power-up as well? We cannot predict the future sometimes I wish I could I
really do, also does anyone remember the king pig toy where he does a random
thing to your game? Well soon enough I will see the shock wave piggy so yeah
tomorrow I will make a post about angry birds go! So stay tuned next time, and
I will make it as best as I can because I do not have the app so it’s going to
be a lot harder than you think, sometimes it looks like you did not press space
because it’s such a small space, So I hoped you enjoyed this post about angry
birds update stay tuned for my next one coming next day and it is also fourteen
days until Christmas can’t you guys wait? It’s hard not getting excited so have
a good day and a happy early Christmas yeah I know its fourteen days till Christmas
this is all in total 399 words! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-84585388587994079652014-01-07T17:07:00.001-08:002014-01-07T17:07:11.389-08:00Christmas in Terraria<span style="color: yellow;">Today's post is a combination of two journal entries the boy has written. The first was created December 17, 2013. Mother, the Punctuation Police, has done some touching up on both sections. </span><br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">Christmas is coming and so is the
new update for Terraria.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">So since Christmas is coming, the creators are doing a huge
update to the game after the Christmas update. There are reindeers, elves, and the newest boss - The Santank, yes, a tank
that looks like Santa. I wouldn’t be surprised for Christmas weapons maybe
like, A Candy Cane Rifle because when they're held by their bend they look like a
gun right? But unfortunately we didn’t get any Halloween weapons which I am sad
about <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span> I mean unless you give me one <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>
but you need the password - I can give it to you in a bonus post, but presents
drop from enemies similar to the goodie bags from Halloween, you either get
green and red candy cane blocks or the rare snow globe to summon the frost
legion which is a snowman goblin army. After you beat them, an empty room lets you
have Santa! It may change due to the update, but yeah, I don’t really use
guns in Terraria but I’d love to use the candy corn rifle <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> because I love candy. Can’t wait! Here's a bit about the other
update ... you can visit the moon and fight the lunar boss which drops the S. D. M.
G. which is called the Space Dolphin Machine Gun. It's based of Edge of Space; in fact
it says “It came from the edge of space” I knew this update, the Christmas one, thanks to the Youtuber Yrimir so the next post will be more about the other
new update <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span>
So enjoy the couple last days till Christmas.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: yellow;">This update was composed January 6, 2014</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">Unfortunately we have no big info on the new update for
Terraria, which is making it hard but… I can talk to you about the new items in
the Christmas update just to let you know I’m going to catalyze</span> (<span style="color: yellow;">catalogue?</span>)<span style="color: cyan;"> the new stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">Weapons: Christmas tree sword, Razorpine, Chain gun, Frost
staff, and many more - those are the ones I could get atop my head as I write
this message... anyway moving to the next section.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">Things collected from presents: Candy cane blocks red and
green, Suger cookies, (Yes they spell sugar suger) Christmas pudding,
Gingerbread men, Pine tree blocks, the Snow globe, Star anise’s, (Which are
similar to the rotten eggs) Candy Cane sword, Candy Cane Pickaxe, And finally…
Darn it I forgot what I was going to type... oh wait now I remember! The dog
whistle summons the pet dog! And the Fruit cake chakram!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">Costumes: Mrs. Claus outfit, Santa outfit, Christmas tree
outfit, Parka (Reference to South Park Kenny), Snow hat (Nat’s hat from South Park), and I believe that’s it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">Pets: Baby Grinch, Dog, Elf, and I believe once again that’s
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">Now the way to get certain things is to summon the frost
moon (Similar to the pumpkin moon) - you’ll have to defeat the 3 bosses in it
Everscream, Santa, NK 1, and the Frost Queen. If you want presents, kill enemies
to get them! (Similar once again to the goodie bags from Halloween time)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">Finally Happy New Year - it’s kind of late but I wanted to say
that for all you readers I hope you enjoyed this article of the Christmas
update for Terraria also real quick use the naughty present to summon the frost
moon have a wonderful day/evening read my other articles too! <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span> See you all later! <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-60407947680858810752014-01-02T09:05:00.002-08:002014-01-02T09:05:27.781-08:00Shantae<span style="color: yellow;">This post was written by the boy December 16, 2013. His mother appreciates the use of punctuation so she did some minor editing January 2, 2014. </span><br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">I hoped you guys made your guess, because the topic is
Shantae<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">While Nintendo has made the 3DS and part of it is the Shop, on it Shantae started her beginning
around 1999 where a company known as Way Forward created this purple haired
genie. Yeah it gets way better. Her first game was on the Game Boy Color; she is
the half-genie protector of Sequin Land. She hasn’t made many appearances in most
popular games. Apparently they're coming out with 2 new games - Shantae: The Pirates
Curse and Shantae Half Genie Half Hero - but Way Forward takes a long time for their games, especially
with The Half Genie Half Hero Kickstarter. It's too bad it is already over. Look up her name in the 3DS shop and you’ll find Shantae: Risky’s Revenge - yes
indeed my first Way Forward game. </span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">Right now I’m wearing a mood ring and it’s
purple which means love. Okay you may figure out by now that I have a crush on a
video game character. Do you want to know why? Because she does belly-dancing ... yeah my
favorite and since she is half genie she turns into animals when she finishes
dancing.</span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">The next topic is going to be the Christmas update for Terraria
especially since Christmas is coming so you know give Shantae a chance - you may
want the first one too. Believe me, it is really fun so enjoy the Purple Haired,
Belly dancing, Half-Genie herself, Shantae! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-73755120660658967742013-12-20T12:36:00.001-08:002013-12-20T12:36:18.239-08:00Angry Birds Go!<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="color: yellow;">This post was originally written by "the boy" on December 12, 2013. All writing and editing credits go to him. </span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">Today I’ll be talking about an
update to the original angry birds <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">So the pigs are at it again, and they stole the eggs again
but this is a science one so they have new things like bomb birds shocking new
power, yeah as from what I said it makes it kind of obvious he drank all the
purple enzyme as I will call it and a broken wire makes get a new power which
is the shockwave!
So now he will create a new small circle of electricity and pushing things,
and electrocuting pigs there are also three other potions the orange one is
like orange bird if it splashes on a pig it will blow up in air and kill itself
in the process, the blue potion makes the pigs become three smaller separate
parts if multiple potions are poured on a pig it’ll create that many pigs
example: three potions make nine tinier pigs and finally the pink potion turns
pigs into bubbles lifting things up in the pig and then popping and dropping
the structures. This is one of my favorite chapters because I thought about a science
one including potions turning the birds different colors and maybe it will get
a new power, this is also similar to red’s mighty feathers where red bird gains
a new power so maybe yellow bird’ orange bird’ and other birds might get a
power-up as well? We cannot predict the future sometimes I wish I could I
really do, also does anyone remember the king pig toy where he does a random
thing to your game? Well soon enough I will see the shock wave piggy so yeah
tomorrow I will make a post about angry birds go! So stay tuned next time, and
I will make it as best as I can because I do not have the app so it’s going to
be a lot harder than you think, sometimes it looks like you did not press space
because it’s such a small space, So I hoped you enjoyed this post about angry
birds update stay tuned for my next one coming next day and it is also fourteen
days until Christmas can’t you guys wait? It’s hard not getting excited so have
a good day and a happy early Christmas yeah I know its fourteen days till Christmas
this is all in total 399 words! </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnqiVhmI838RyAReYslBFoLgOV2Kg0bcyIs2evb_CLJAzvKUrdjKxmov9TLE5JwBNbwPCNOVoPs0KOZ-uwCxzfij64XAb_L-XGf2xE7NX7Q0VU5oU4Jpp6B5vdVzeXq_wCrUe0U7Tu-2v/s1600/IMG_0049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnqiVhmI838RyAReYslBFoLgOV2Kg0bcyIs2evb_CLJAzvKUrdjKxmov9TLE5JwBNbwPCNOVoPs0KOZ-uwCxzfij64XAb_L-XGf2xE7NX7Q0VU5oU4Jpp6B5vdVzeXq_wCrUe0U7Tu-2v/s320/IMG_0049.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The boy's Angry Birds clay art.</td></tr>
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MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-18272157126389610522013-12-16T04:15:00.001-08:002013-12-16T04:15:13.399-08:00Clumsy Ninja(The boy has ditched his secretary - the next few blog posts are composed and written by him exclusively.)<br />
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<span style="color: cyan;"> Today
I’ll be talking to you about a new game called Clumsy Ninja<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: cyan;">So you’re going to a temple to train a new ninja there’s a
problem though he’s quite clumsy as the title says so your going have to train
him as much and long as you want as a
way of getting xp faster you’ll have to do quests you will gain money use money
and do very different things. Heck even throwing him around and tickling him
will give you xp and one of my favorite things in this game is the potions as
you go on the ninja will ask you to do things too every so often he’ll ask you
to buy some potions here are all of them: Tornado, Dizzy, Freeze, Rage, Jelly,
And finally Anti-Gravity each with their own special properties I only unlocked
three of them but I’ll tell you the effects of them the Tornado makes your go
spinning wildly!, The Dizzy potion makes the ninja have silly eyes and getting
up for him won’t be very easy, and the Freeze potion whatever pose he is in he
stays like that for about 30 seconds or so. I really don’t know for myself but
you’ll unlock eventually a chicken who lays eggs for you and you get fifty
coins for each egg also another currency besides coins is Gems which can repair
items instantly get certain special items and gives you more balloons, potions
or boxes/barrels it is fun when you like games that let you interact with the area
around you and you will also unlock different places also this ninja had a
sister named Kira he wants to save her from being kidnapped. This is an app for
IPad I know for sure and maybe iPod I don’t know I got it last Friday so I
don’t know a lot about it but also make sure to get the Ice rink because You
could open presents and build snowmen I would not be surprised if the presents
could have gems or coins in them so make sure you get it it’s really fun and
It’s free so you can download it.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7351495511994277558.post-42760704971006243542013-11-17T17:48:00.001-08:002013-11-17T17:48:18.964-08:00Terraria Updated News(Today's post was created by the boy and typed by the mom.)<br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">Terraria released a new update containing tons of stuff - a new biome that is the crimson, a couple of new bosses, new weapons, and a special Halloween event update as well. </span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: cyan;">The event is already over but you can trick your Steam account to think it's still October. That way, you can still have Halloween, even when it's May. It had lots of spooktastic items, such as the pet cursed sapling, a jack-o-lantern pet, and a whole bunch of spooky guns, like the jack-o-lantern launcher. I like to call it "the jack-o-launcher". (You get it, don't you? It sounds like jack-o-lantern and it shoots jack-o-lanterns. You gotta get it.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: cyan;">Here are some of the new bosses. </span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">Planterra = a giant plant from below the jungle. Beating hard mode boss will cause little tiny plants to spawn in the jungle. If you happen to come across one, if you break it, he'll come to get you. He is very powerful so be prepared.</span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">Queen Bee = inside the underground jungle, you'll find a new world - bee hives, filled with honey. If you look around carefully, you will find a cocoon with a baby bee inside. Simply use any type of weapon and kill it. She'll get angry at you and charge into battle. </span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">The Golem = when you've defeated Planterra, he will drop a temple key. Simply use it to open the entrance. You'll find lizards, flying snakes, traps, and goodies. To spawn the Golem, you must have a lizard power cell, which can either be a 1% drop from lizards, or can be found in chests inside the temple. Simply right click the machinery with a floating light above its head. Right click it with the lizard power cell and it will be awoken.</span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">Mourningwood = a boss in the Pumpkin Moon event in Halloween. He will shoot flaming wood at you. He's also, to describe him, a big, black, tree. He's also quite smart. He will eventually kill you at least once, but if you have the right gear and weapons, you are in luck of killing him. He drops a lot of cool items - the cursed sapling I was talking about earlier, a spooky twig combined with 20 souls of flight, which are dropped by the Wyvern, you will get spooky wings, the best wings so far in the game. </span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;">PumpKing = another joke on this name, sounds like pumpkin and he's also a king. It's too obvious, actually. He is somewhat like Skeletron. Shoot his head to actually bring him down. Don't bother with his hands. They're invincible. He drops pretty much every single good item in the event, such as the candy corn rifle, the pumpkin pet I was talking about earlier, the jack-o-lantern launcher, the horseman's blade, and other cool things. I recommend doing the Pumpkin Moon event, especially if you like being scary. </span><br />
<span style="color: cyan;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: cyan;">There are also new NPCs - the party girl, (my favourite). She's not really used for anything but she's especially good for celebrations. The painter is a new NPC. You can paint things by getting tools from him. He will also at certain times draw paintings for you that you can buy and hang on walls. The pirate is a new NPC. After defeating a pirate invasion, he will come to your house eventually. He will sell cannonballs, cannons, and if the party girl is around when he is around, he will sell the bunny cannon. More powerful than a normal cannon, the bunny cannon shoots explosive bunnies that sit on the ground for a couple of seconds before blowing up. If they hit an enemy during flight, they will explode immediately. This is especially useful for goblin army and the pirate invasion, because they will eventually strike back again. To get the pirate invasion, you will need to find a treasure map, dropped by enemies in the ocean and then use it to spawn the pirate invasion. A new NPC is the cyborg. He is collected after beating Planterra. He sells stuff related to technology, such as ammunition for grenade launchers, rocket launchers, and his suit. Another NPC is the truffle. To get him, you need a room made out of mushrooms. You'll need mushroom doors, chair, and table. He also sells the mysterious mushroom. Buy it from him and use it to spawn the baby truffle. The witch doctor is a new NPC from defeating Queen Bee. She sells weird things. I don't have her in our world so I don't know what she really sells, making it kind of hard to explain her. The steam punker is a NPC that is related to mechanics and cleansing the world. Once you enter hard mode, the crimson, or the corruption, it will start to grow on the normal world. You'll need to stop it by using holy water to spread hallowed. The corruption cannot corrupt the hallowed,neither can the crimson. Like the corruption, the hallowed will spread on the normal biome. Using the clentamatior, with solution which can be bought from the steam punker, you can use the clentamatior and spray it onto any biome and it will turned hallowed if it is blue solution you are using. Green solution makes it normal. Purple solution makes it corrupted. Red solution makes it the crimson. Those are all the new NPCs, bosses, and new stuff that I think you might like. Thank you for reading this. I hope you found it useful. There will be more description later. </span>MZMollyTLhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17565896547458451347noreply@blogger.com0