I absolutely hate trying to get money for anything but I have bills and I work on a ton of low / non paying things so, you know, a.
I'm going to be starting a sticker / postcard club on my Patreon / Ko-fi, possibly around next week. My hope is to arrange a set of set of tiers that correlate to different projects I manage. Like, one specifically tailored to SCG, one to my general art, etc.
You can trust me to build you a website, I'm great at that. You apparently cannot trust me to setup an email server for you, I seem to always be missing something -w-
I think I will indeed go forward with doing a sticker club thing
Reddit banning people for saying Luigi is just another footnote in my upcoming book, "If your website needs robots to moderate it, it has become too large"
I'm so busy! I have so much going on! But I love it, this is going to be a great year <3
Claude AI playing Pokemon compared to Twitch Plays Pokemon is fantastic. TPP was a fun tribute to the cooperative efforts of human kind. Claude is a frustratingly slow and methodical experience that is no different than watching a lab rat play it, but with countless more e-waste.
What even is a "real job" nowadays?
Jerma's fursona is a maned wolf
Like, I'm so excited to see what could happen that it hasn't even properly hit me yet.
I think what I'm most excited about re: the TF2 news is that we could see community created updates tested, balanced, and implemented into the base game beyond the scope of what we've ever seen before.
Same with weapon balancing too, I think there's so much potential.
Same with weapon balancing too, I think there's so much potential.
I've gotten more from small interactions, deep 4 am conversations with people I barely know than I typically get from great authors or great directors. I've laughed at dumb memes more than I have at expensively produced content. Perhaps you're not "famous", but you are to me.
Not everything you make is going to be a hit, it won't explode or blast you with likes and followers. But if you make just one person feel or think about anything, you've influenced them. That's powerful, and we're all equally capable of it.
The cool thing to keep in mind when creating is that everything has merit. If you spend 30 seconds photoshopping a stupid face or some text on something and post it, someone will laugh. Someone will laugh at it years later even. Keep making things!
One of these days, I'd really like to try and compile a collection of old internet memes / pictures I've collected over the last ~18+ years.
Drum roll...
Absolutely hurts to hear about the passing of Viktor Antonov :(
My favorite David Lynch moment is him in Twin Peaks as the FBI superior, he's hard of hearing and yells a lot and inadvertently yells "BONSAIIIIII" into a secret microphone hidden inside of a plant
I'm don't know how much depth I want to go into but if I can quietly nerd out about this; I managed to create a web form with no captcha that has stopped 100% of bot activity and I'm really stoked about it?????
In positive news, there are solutions to our problems, just takes a bit of awareness and cooperation. Don't give up, folks~!
Being a Tally Hall fan is fun because you can walk into the Subreddit and everyone will be going buck wild over absolutely nothing and you'll be like YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Slowly getting there, we'll check back in another ~15 years
I think it's important to appreciate the beauty the world has to offer, to immerse ourselves in the experiences of those around and before us. I love art, I love seeing it, making it. I love being alive, and want to enjoy it as long as I can.
I love music and movies and books and comics and poems and short stories and games and everything. There's so many ways to share emotions and memories, and I love them all. I feel terrible for those who can't fathom the beauty that can be told through the language of art.
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I love most about talks about the 50X0 series is that it's entirely focused on the price and not what benefits the cards actually have
Whoa, yeah, ok, yippie!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! Thank you all for your support, I am looking forward to getting more art out there for you all to enjoy! Thank you so much! >w<
I need to draw more aaa
I'll never stop playing TF2 for as long as I can. No other game can I hop into with a bunch of people I cherish and shitpost all night with.
Those most excited for AI are the ones who will be most easily replaced. Those unwilling to learn new skills, or try new things, just looking to have the credit without the work. The uninspired sort who shows no contempt for those around them. Really not a lot of job potential.
I think it's time we stop joking about Skyrim re-releases when Naughty Dog is allowed to keep doing this shit
#TheGameAwards
How far away are we from recreating 'The ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny' in Fortnite?
YCH items and reminders need to be in their own section on the FA front page. On average, at least 30% of front page posts are reminders or other such sales pieces.
Treat maps like you would any art, constructive criticism is fine if requested, but don't throw insults at creators just because you don't like their work. Especially those trying to bring unique content from underrepresented cultures in a game like TF2.
It personally troubles me, not just as a server owner but an artist. Maps are complicated things, they're art that also has to be functional. TF2 is also a hard game to balance, so it takes a lot of work.
Content creators in TF2 need more understanding and respect.
Content creators in TF2 need more understanding and respect.
A posted I wanted to share from Twitter, I've been following this creator for a while, they recently made a really cool map that made it into TF2, but they've also been struggling with the difficulty of getting feedback on their work.
If you ever wonder what rich people do all day, it's train and judge dogs apparently
Goku balloon :3
I need people to understand that "Don't feed the trolls" means literally blocking/hiding and moving on, not turning every single thing into an example of why we can't feed the trolls (feeding them by proxy).
Bluesky is understandably going through some growing pains but I swear the majority of my feeds right now is constant "Don't do this!" posts, complete with screen capping things that ideally, we're not supposed to be seeing.
Today, we are going to #look #for #hashtags
( o) ( o)
This is the mentor I grew up with
Finally removed the Twitter link from my link page, replaced it with a link to my Allied Modders account :3
Did I post this already? I think I did but now I am re-posting it because it is cute
This isn't meant to be an ego thing, I don't insist people always have a way to see what dribble I post! I just wanted to make it for fun :3
I wanted to do this earlier, a couple months ago when people were starting to migrate away from Twitter. My intention was to have a page with the content I wanted to share with an aggregate of links to anywhere it was posted so people could follow their preferred site.
This morning before bed, I put the finish touches on cruxes.space, a "a personal collection / backup of micro blog posts"; meant to store my twitter backup. I limited it to posts I made with my cross poster, which is also what will populate it going forward.
Posting this again for reasons
I'm so close to finishing this...
We need a return to fan sites. Translator's note: A subreddit is not a fan site.
If there's any game that could be awesome to see in the new Zelda remakes, it'd be Earthbound
I have a lot of criticisms with TF2, but this is one that is difficult to ignore this time of the year. Community servers cannot fairly compete with free items, simple as that.
I wonder if it takes away from the content itself, are people enjoying the new maps less because they're forced to be there? Do fun gimmicks get seen as annoying distractions? Is it fair to the people who want to make content for this game to not control the context it is played?
With contracts, you have to complete tasks against other players, you can't really control who you play with on a Valve server. If you do, it's most likely organized kicking of players outside of your friend group. It turns the whole thing into a competition.
Valve eventually claimed it was an unfair system, and admittedly, I don't have data to suggest otherwise other than at least on my server, everyone had a fair chance to get a number of items.
Halloween used to be a huge thing for SCG, it's when we had reliable around the clock traffic, we had organized events where people happily waited in line to be the next person to get an item, it was even better when everyone had an individual item timer, we let people fly around
But what does affect me personally, it creates an incentive to play on a Valve server that a community one cannot offer without breaking Valve's rules. We can't give away free items, at least not the "new" items reliably or permanently. It's simply an unfair thing to compete with
There are other reasons I dislike the idea of contracts, they use fomo to entice people to focus on particular objectives with the overall game being an aside and they create conflict for people to fight each other over if someone simply playing is interfering with their task.
I have a grudge against contracts because simply put, they are quests that can only be achieved on Valve ran servers, they cannot be completed on a community server. I run a community, so I definitely have a bias! But at the heart of it, I just find the concept unfair.
It's that time of year where I complain about Halloween contracts in Team Fortress 2. A lot of people I am friends with work hard to put out great content each year for TF2, this is not a complaint against them, they're awesome, as are a lot of TF2 content creators!
Posted a little thing on my Patreon, talking about a quick mod I made for my TF2 servers! https://www.patreon.com/posts/113661649
I helped fund a book; 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦 by Waneella. Waneella is one of my favorite artists, their work in pixel scenery is divine, and helps portray the world in a surreal yet comforting way. The book shows her work, process, and history, all of which are inspirational to me.
To put it simply, I could push myself to be a better artist which takes up time I can't easily spare. Or I could move on and try and different medium, which again takes up time I can't easily spare. And I'm not sure what the right course of action is.
This one is comfy tonight~!
Took the weekend to relax, the proceeding month is going to be insanely busy, but it will hopefully all be worth it. <3
sketchy
I've so much to do still, it's hard to stay focused, but I will do my best. <3
Impossible choices...
I've already decided I can't deal with AC next year, it's too expensive and even having brought prints with me this year, I didn't make enough to cover the cost of going there, it's just not worth it.
Like, I think keeping the artist alley focused on at-con artwork is fine, it's actually better for new artists or people like me that don't have the means to offer as much as others, but they need to acknowledge the problem of visibility otherwise it just hurts the artists more.
Like, if AC wants more money, just ask artists to pay for their spot, just ask. Make the tables more visible if you do. I think if the tables aren't moved and it's just artists with sketchbooks next year, it's going to be way more transparent.
The proposal to saying "If you want to sell premade goods is to purchase a bodega table" just doesn't sit well, because those tables were already in much better view than the artist tables were. Every artist I sat with agreed that we didn't get good visibility this year.
I don't know, something doesn't sit with me with AC. They screwed artists this year by pushing the AA far away from the DD, putting them behind the food stand tables, and not providing good signage.
Mind you, I'm not suggesting it's a bad thing, just a sign of the times right now and something I am curious to see if advertisers are aware of and try to work around. I am not aware of how metrics are collected, but I'm sure AI clients poisoning statistics are a thing
Now it's like, where are people seeing trailers for things organically rather than hearing about it and seeking the trailer? Theaters are dead(ish), game expos are dying, and surfing without adblock is you just get blasted with propaganda.
Like, I am genuinely curious if Twitter as an ecosystem collapsing over the year and a half or so has helped contribute to this general lack of awareness. The adblocker war has been a big part of it for years, but that used to just be obtrusive web ads.
I have to wonder if there is just an actual breakdown of general advertising. I feel like there are too many shows, games, properties, etc that come out; get no attention, and then are followed up with "I didn't know that was a thing?"
Forget street wear, we need to start dressing like Pokemon trainers
I've only played Birth By Sleep for like, an hour, and I'm pretty sure Terra is autistic
Get ready world, I'm about to be extra annoying
Sometimes you just gotta start scribblin'
I think artists should just have their own hosted galleries and rely on webrings again
People speculating that IGN has been taking money to indirectly promote games like, yeah? This isn't new ;;
This has been a weird week, I want to talk about it soon
People generally don't look at marvel superhero movies the same way, they're seen more as a "fun for all ages" type movie with huge budgets and serious attention and end up being formulaic and samey, but people sometimes get upset if you say they're for kids.
I don't know, I guess my gripe is that I don't see why Minecraft has to be seen as a kids movie. The original fans were mainly internet denizens while it spread around slowly, kids who played it back then are most likely adults now. Just another not reading the room type movie
This game was cool
Trump pitching his 2024 healthcare plan to his campaign staff
I don't think anyone truly understands how difficult I am when it comes to handling NSFW art. It'd be so much easier on me to just keep everything in one spot, but alas, I don't want to.
"It's about to go critical!"
While I'm posting art, please also have this piece done by https://twitter.com/ahaanso; t'was a gift from @Bleet, a very kind sheep ^w^<3
I'm really just tired of watching companies chase dead trends and watching basically the same game get released every six months, watching people get hype and later on vent about how toxic it actually was the whole time.
When games had servers ran by people, there was usually someone behind the wheel curating an experience for them and their friends; in cases like mine, a larger community as well. Toxicity has always existed in games, but there was a lot more you could do about it back then.
I genuinely believe that replacing server browsers with matchmaking removed the incentive for people to learn to behave and smooth out any edginess which is why people are seemingly more vile today. You're always guaranteed a game and have little say in who joins yours.
Another one for the record~
Concord trying to set itself up as a big brand name before the game even launched feels like a mistake too. Having an episode in that upcoming series, hyping it up like it's a big commitment, a new legendary IP
Find your audience first, establish fans before you do fan service.
Find your audience first, establish fans before you do fan service.
I ended up watching The Bear because of all the jokes I kept seeing, I thought it was going to be more of a farce but it ended up being stellar and hits home in a ton of ways.
Looking forward to the next season!
Looking forward to the next season!
I don't know, I just think maybe big budget games just need to stop being made for a while, there are so many that die out right away lately. Especially trend chasers that take years to make after the trend already died out.
Tonight, we're locking in. It's been a wild last few weeks, but I think I'm back to normal and tonight I'm going to blow through the commission list~!
I'm the arc of my story where I feel lost and unsure of what I should be doing, which is usually followed up by the big revelation that gives the motivation to keep going beyond what I thought I could do
Something I put together the other night with some free time, an incomplete collection of music I enjoy https://rowedahelicon.com/music.html
Also, I'm sorry, but Valve soft-announcing Deadlock on the same day Concord comes out, utterly obliterating it off of Twitch, Twitter, etc, is funny to me.
Now that we can talk about Deadlock, I will say I played it in June. I'm not a MOBA person so it's just not my thing, but I would probably enjoy it more if it had PVE. It's still quite a salt-inducing genre and not a game I'd ever want to play with others :(
New mouse get, back to work!
Consider the possibility of hosting your own personal website!
I need to know what spirit I need to make peace with because I am just trying to get by. Between ~$3000 spent on dental stuff yesterday and my mouse dying this morning, I'm not too thrilled >:(
Digging around for old mice rn because I can't get any work done with it.
Digging around for old mice rn because I can't get any work done with it.
My next blog post, titled "Beware the Jabberwock, my son", will be posted in a few days. It is about internet trolls.
It's crummy that Valve removed the secret pride flags but I do get it. The cool thing about TF2 is you can just mod them back in!
So this stuff is actually really good. I tried a few flavors and I'm surprised by how good they were. I've been looking for something I could get in bulk to cut back on coffee + energy drinks and this is probably it.
Hello, I am not into vore, but send me your voracious tummies and I will put spongebob on them
I immediately rescinded my leave from Twitter because I was devastated by Dragoneer's passing, but I maintain my firm belief that yesterday's lawsuit announcement is a warning sign to start leaving Twitter. I will instead wind down my activity here slowly in favor of BSky.
Good morning, I'm still a bit in shock, but I feel this shared love radiating from the fandom.
Focus on the positives today, ignore trolls, they're severely outnumbered.
Let's live our lives today as best we can, carry things forward for those we have lost.
Focus on the positives today, ignore trolls, they're severely outnumbered.
Let's live our lives today as best we can, carry things forward for those we have lost.
Good morning, I have written a journal expressing my thoughts about Dragoneer that can be read here. https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10924759
I kept it brief, focusing on the good things. I will miss him deeply, but I am thankful his suffering is over with.
I kept it brief, focusing on the good things. I will miss him deeply, but I am thankful his suffering is over with.
I have some thoughts I want to share tomorrow, but for now I just have a lot on my mind.
Sorry, immediately breaking my Twitter ban to say holy shit, Dragoneer died?
Am I the only one getting hit with like, a ton of random friend adds on Discord today? I swear I've never had them at all, today I've had 9 so far.
Artists who do badges, does anyone use a precision cutter tool like a cri cut? If so, any recommendations for one or an alternative I can use to cut out badges?
I just think YCHs, reminders, trades, etc posts on FA should be in a separate category of their own. I feel like a good 40-50% of front page submissions are basically ads at any given time.
Tonight's warmup, went for a short walk in the fog earlier and wanted to draw that. It's wild to still be able to see the stars in the sky while the ground in front of you is hard to see.
If you know, you know. (CoM)
Tomorrow is shaping up to be a busy day, Friday will be too most likely. There's a few things I want to get done by the weekend, and if I can, perhaps I'll take a day to relax :3
What kind of content would you want to see from my patre*n? I'm not sure what people like most from me and need inspiration!
Finished a commission tonight and immediately messed up and saved over it, I have to redo part of it but I thankfully at least took a screenshot to reference it, I'm so pupset with myself though :(
More commission work tonight, but also some tweaks I need to make to some of my scripts :X
P*treon gives me anxiety, I'm always looking for new things I can try and do for my patrons. Tonight, I'm considering the novelty of offering access to a gallery of all of my really old / really bad art
Not something I expected to have in common with Elon but whatever
My plans today/tomorrow are solely to work on my comm queue, ideally have everything done before the weekend is over. Feel free to come write to keep me motivated :3
Just a reminder, you can keep up with all of my antics across different places by visiting rowdythecrux dot dev :333
May today be a powerful day for me, please bring me to my next destination~
I really wanted to come up with lore that was also a little more optimistic and casual too; I am my fursona and I'm just a thing, here for my time like anyone else. Plus, I fell in love with the idea of this goober trying to speak to earthlings before it knew their native tongue.
Leukos Arsenikon is another Crux thing, meaning "White Arsenic"; it is purely coincedence that it sounds similar to Rowedahelicon, another note in the "it all just fits together" list.
Having no gender is also a remnant of some versions of Crux lore (although not a strict rule), it was something that attracted me from the start. This was foreshadowing to being NB, and being "It" just sounds better to me.
Space faring + planet hopping is more of a personal thing to represent periods of my life before the internet where I was often quite lonely. Rowdy speaks openly of a finite existence, but in a way to appreciate each and every moment of life while we have it.
Much of this is based on Crux lore as well, which although is intentionally vague, details such as them being inter-dimensional beings and poison eating qualities have come up in a general frame of reference for Cruxes. As does the alchemy symbol.
The premise of being a reflection of the light from stars is based on the general idea of how randomness of the events in life and some things just being a matter of time and place. It's also based on my interest in stargazing and how a lot of what we see is unfathomably old.
This is the only time you'll see me talk about this out of character! I've always had space and the cosmos in mind as a central theme but never wanted to get too weird with it because I didn't want it to seem cringe, nowadays I don't give a single hoot about that.
After like, 15 years, I finally wrote out a decent summary of my internal "lore" that I've thought about off and on. I've written it out here, as well as some other details about me and my fursona (we're basically one and the same ΘΔ).
https://rowedahelicon.com/fursona.html
https://rowedahelicon.com/fursona.html
The nib on my tablet pen is getting really worn, and it's the last one I have...should I finally look for a new tablet? For context, I've been using the same one since 2009.
I had a really good time at a local anime con this weekend, it was a really wild, almost spiritual time. AC reinforced my love for being a furry, and this weekend reinforced that further. I also truly appreciate how social I've become and the places its taken me.
I want to "have" a Brain Age game on my "Steam Deck", any recommendations?
Another busy weekend done with, back to commissions <3
Looks like the CPU melted down the rubber and everything, I'm not hurt or anything, it was wild. I felt a pain and thought maybe I had a hair caught and had taken it off. Smelled smoke and saw the watch turn off suddenly.
My galaxy watch just suddenly got really hot and burned me a bit, then shut off; RIP, it was a gen 1 that lasted for quite some time ;w;
Was staying up late, getting started on commissions but suddenly I have a thing I have to do later today so now I must restttt
That said, I did actually miss the look of Vista a lot when I first used 7; I've always been a fan of dark themes, even as far back as XP. I loved the Zune theme the most. I miss 7 a lot now compared to 10/11 however.
Sometimes nostalgia is kind of vapid but I try and think about when I was a kid on my own computer for the first time, I wasn't sitting there at 13 using Windows XP going "wow this sucks, I miss Win 98; I was sitting there going wow, this is awesome
Especially now since the rising trend seems to be enthusiastically getting rid of people from the equation entirely. Shoving AI in everywhere as much as possible.
I think the fact that "flat/corporate" design took over seemingly everywhere at once, in interfaces, designs, logos, etc is what really gets people. It all did "shift" as a culture because it really was a unified effort.
I think they visually represented a time when computing was pitched as fun and magical. Computing had a heavy emphasis on the joy and wonder of making & learning things, meeting people, etc. Flat design takes away from all of that, appealing to everyone by appealing to no one.
The fediverse is awesome because there is a heavier focus on fun, hobbyist tech. Smaller yet more connected circles and groups. The closest you'll get to "old internet" but with an actual fresh coat of paint.
Can we not collectively freak out every single time a minor shares their opinion on this website
All in all, an excellent time! Looking forward to next year. I love being a furry, I s2g.
I'm a little sad I didn't get to really hang out with folks that I don't see often, but it was a busy time! Had an excellent time in the artist alley as well! Lots of work to keep me busy the next few weeks. <3
My anxiety panel talk was a bit hit again this year, always happy to see people and hear their stories, got to watch another group of friends form as a result as well, always wild to watch happen in front of me. <3
I'm late, but I had an excellent time at AC with folks and friends! I'm so late because I had a friend over for a few days to help them save money on a plane. But it was a great trip!
When it rains, it pours, and today is no exception! I'm hanging in there, but could do away with some of these extra challenges, here's hoping Monday works out better ^w^;
Born to "fuck you, pay me", forced to "please support me on Patreon"
I gotta say, I'm happy with myself. I went into this totally blind with nothing sketched out and I think I did a pretty stellar job~!
First order of business tonight, play around with static site generation, something I've never really dabbled in before. But I have an experiment in mind and I want to see it work :D
Hehe :3
Every time I see some "pet rock" level of nonsense thing take off and benefit someone, I scramble through ideas I have and think what among them could actually work out for me.
I don't like having to consider what money can be made from every single thing I'm up to right now, but I'm in my struggle period. Trying to find things to do that people are interested in is tough, and I'm unable to try new things if I don't think they'll lead anywhere.
Took some time to work on personal stuff last night, inspired by someone I met via the fediverse recently!
Redid my core website, making the design inline with all of my other personal site designs as of late. And finished my fursona page finally!
https://www.rowedahelicon.com
Redid my core website, making the design inline with all of my other personal site designs as of late. And finished my fursona page finally!
https://www.rowedahelicon.com
A little late, but enjoy :P #pridemonth
Hearing the sound of the fingers hitting the keys in "My Castle Town" is so relaxing to me, it's unreal.
Hahahaha, but wow, it's birthday time again, woke up to a lot of love from friends and family and my fops; you all make it so good to be alive <3
Lesson learned, I can't draw (furry) faces staring straight at the camera, too creepy in my style I think ;w;
Oh and birthday on Wednesday :>
Back home in CT for a bit, got a lot of work ahead, business and personal projects!
Furry servers in multiplayer games
Come join me for the Overcoming Shyness and Anxiety panel, Thursday July 4th, at 6:00 PM ET! Located in the DLCC, room 333~!
https://anthrocon.sched.com/event/1eONk/overcoming-shyness-and-anxiety
https://anthrocon.sched.com/event/1eONk/overcoming-shyness-and-anxiety
Has #savetf2 gotten anywhere so far, any sort of confirmation Valve is listening? Even as simple I know a dude who works there and they're talking about it, sort of thing?
I should do Furality someday but I somehow never hear anything about it until it is happening
Those messages being right in your face and difficult to disable is annoying at best, manipulative at worst. I won't even get started on the effort needed to actually obtain these items on servers full of bots and tryhards.
Community servers cannot give out free items, at least those you can take with you outside of said servers. All players, but especially new ones, are guided directly into Valve servers with an incentive that other servers cannot give out.
These reminders play *everywhere* including while on a community server, but contracts cannot be completed on a community server, only a Valve one. This not only creates an unfair level of competition, but literally annoys players into playing on Valve servers instead.
You're primarily told about these contracts through a set of voice lines that play very frequently from Ms. Pauling. Repeatedly throughout gameplay, you're given a verbal reminder that contracts are a thing. It's not clear how to shut it off, resulting in the following.
An example of manipulative behavior from Valve, contacts. Contracts are missions the game gives you to complete and receive item rewards at the end. There are some base contracts, and then ones given out during events like Halloween. #savetf2
Wild to see Humble Bundle talk about helping the planet when just two days prior they helped shovel AI trash which has been already been demonstrated in its current infancy stage to use immense resources.
https://dataethics.eu/the-environmental-costs-of-generative-ai/
https://dataethics.eu/the-environmental-costs-of-generative-ai/
I watched Scavengers Reign per the suggestion of @FaolPlay, a remarkable and thought-provoking series about adapting to life on an alien planet. I loved it, covers a lot of abstract themes like the balance of nature, growing up into your own person, etc. Would highly recommend!
My thoughts on #savetf2; tl;dr, the community has always had the power to fix it but doesn't seem to understand. Removing the bots isn't saving TF2, just Valve servers. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n_6u-FeH8Vb3Tph6hsxOoNMhGc5_r8K4UuK9GDel_KM/edit?usp=sharing #fixtf2
#savetf2 is not going to #fixtf2, the game has been in decline way before the bot crisis. However, stopping the bots are at least a positive step forward, and hopefully something happens.
If it doesn't, please consider just playing/starting up a community server.
If it doesn't, please consider just playing/starting up a community server.
Online communities that can act as safe spaces for the LGBTQ+, those with autism, those who have trouble socializing and so on, are always worth defending. Even if it's just a small group of friends.
Corporate internet will never do it right, we'll continue to do it ourselves.
Corporate internet will never do it right, we'll continue to do it ourselves.
:3
Contemplating a small increase in my art rates, I've always undercharged myself for the work I put in for pieces and it's really slowing down other goals I have.
I'm concerned that I just won't sell anything given the state of things today, but I'm already not making money so?
I'm concerned that I just won't sell anything given the state of things today, but I'm already not making money so?
I'm definitely not going to name names, but since it appeared as a question on a feedback form, there's another complication in the form of TF2 Youtubers trying to be the "voice" of everythin; like trying to benefit personally off of the movement rather than cooperate with others
I don't think #savetf2 is DOA or anything, just that it's REALLY poorly organized so far. There was the original date, and then June 3rd being "the date!" And then this website for the petition which is barely getting spread around. It's really chaotic.
That's really not that many so far
One of the things that stands out to me was that ads put a lot of negative attention towards community servers. I'm not saying they're good, but people are so quick to write off the whole thing based on something Valve themselves encouraged. #savetf2
That's why you see posts like "Here is how to trick ChatGPT into making your resume shine!" while there are still huge groups of people who genuinely believe you still can get a job by nagging your local businesses about one.
Like, there's so many problems right now that need solutions but there's so much discussion that needs to take place and by the time there's any kind of headway, there's already a ton of new problems stacked on top.
One thing I hate about the present is everything is so fast and yet so slow; not too long ago everyone was talking about the threat of AI and why we needed UBI and then all of a sudden all of these jobs are lost and there's still no answer for it.
Predicting that Valve will announce Deadlock around the same time that SaveTF2 starts
More importantly, I want people to at least entertain the idea that Valve really isn't the fun on your side company they used to be; they're a company like any others, money is the motive.
Please don't defend companies who don't care about you, especially like this.
Please don't defend companies who don't care about you, especially like this.
Mind you, I don't want to sound like I am pessimistic about #savetf2 #fixtf2, because I would really love to see the bot problem be solved; but I want people to realize they're really just asking to save Valve servers.
TF2 has a lot more problems that people don't talk about.
TF2 has a lot more problems that people don't talk about.
Here are some of my preliminary thoughts on #savetf2. I have a lot I can say about it, but I at least wanted to put out the basic gist so far.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n_6u-FeH8Vb3Tph6hsxOoNMhGc5_r8K4UuK9GDel_KM/edit?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n_6u-FeH8Vb3Tph6hsxOoNMhGc5_r8K4UuK9GDel_KM/edit?usp=sharing
Kabosu :(
Every time I join a major discord with thousands of people and like, 8 admins, I am immediately reminded that gatekeeping is actually quite important in some cases
The virgin visual stimulation overload versus the chad visual coherent readability
Bsky now has DMs! You should consider checking it out, and if you do, follow me there at https://bsky.app/profile/rowdythecrux.dev :3
There's a lot I can say about the prospect of another #savetf2, and honestly, I have no idea where to start.
I uh...I think wikifur was hacked
Getting tired of problems manifesting themselves out of nowhere and having to sink time into. Bonus points if it's with some vital piece of tech that somehow has zero documentation anywhere :'3
And yes, admins can be just as shitty, and communities can definitely be poorly run. Got a problem with management you can't solve? Start your own!
I believe that community moderation is a real skill, and one that is required today more than ever. Your forums, discords, twitch streams, etc; all are a few bad actors away from turning off people you would normally love to associate with.
Please be nice to your admins!
Please be nice to your admins!
It's very important to keep your community safe, difficult too. You're allowed to make mistakes, and most of the time a simple understanding and apology helps clear the air.
But some people can and will join just to disrupt your vibe, it is OK to deal with these types swiftly.
But some people can and will join just to disrupt your vibe, it is OK to deal with these types swiftly.
Warm up sketch
Please recommend to me a decent portable printer
Problems fixed, commissions worked on, sleep sched reset. Productive night! Just need to keep up the flow after I wake up and things'll be golden~!
As expected, some really annoying out of nowhere problem pops up to throw my attention away from things for a hot minute (thanks Linux!) Going to chill for a bit and then get to work finally x.x
Dropped a snow leopard friend off at the airport today, that means the trip is officially over. I've been away for over a week now, time to get back to work!
Big things happening in my brain today
I should add, there's a million ways I can improve my presence as an artist for sure. I'm trying my best, but my attention is split across a million things just trying to stay afloat. Suppose I'm just dissatisfied at how much investment of time and/or money everything needs now.
I love being an artist, but it's just not realistically profitable for me to be one and I feel like it won't ever be perhaps ;;
Invest more in things to sell at my table. I certainly don't want to knock other artists down or anything like that, and I definitely understand how hard it is on artists these days, but I can't help but feel a little inadequate comparatively to other tables I see.
I am starting to see little difference between some of the artist tables and that of dealer tables. Everyone has big displays and selling the usual items; stickers, prints, buttons, etc. I always feel so small by comparison, but I haven't yet reached a profit that allows me to
There's something I want to rant about though, if it's ok! Am I the only artist that gets sort of...intimidated...by the artist alley at these cons now? I feel like artist tables used to be a lot simpler and just art focused. The last few cons I've gone to however...
I loved my weekend at FWA, I don't want to say too much about it because I know some folks close to me feel like they missed out, so I'll just say I had a good time and look forward to seeing / meeting folks in the future. <3
Made it to FWA!
Will be at FWA this weekend! Please come poke me on Telegram if you'd like to say hi!
Something about Debian 12 makes source engine based servers crash when loading transparent textures. Probably kernel related, going to have to investigate whyyy
Alternatively, make my bills go away so I can actually stay focused on trying to fix something for more than 5 seconds before getting distracted with numerous endeavors >:(
I need a youtuber to sit with me so I can talk about the amount of work programmers in the TF2 modding community have been slaving away at these last few weeks just to keep all the fun mods people like alive.
The community will talk to anyone other than those who want to fix it.
The community will talk to anyone other than those who want to fix it.
I will once again implore people to just play on or start their own community server. The bot problem is so easily manageable with community mods that there's no reason the idea shouldn't at least be entertained these days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2stmQfv93oQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2stmQfv93oQ
I am once again asking Square Enix to bring Kingdom Hearts to Steam
Who am I going to see at FWA?
Just be a therian, it's great
I've only ever heard of like, a handful of projects based around Sony properties for example (Bloodborne Cart, LittleBigPlanet Restitched, etc) and all of them get shut down in the same fashion.
There's a lot of hate directed at Nintendo for being a C+D / DMCA happy company but I don't think it's entirely warranted sometimes. I say this because there's nowhere near the level of fan content generated for any other gaming company's property, so there's less action taken.
I want to make a recipe site...I have some good ideas for one
Today is a mother/earthbound soundtrack kind of day
Posted a short message about my table at Furcationland! Will be free for everyone to read on the 29th! Just a short recap of my time there and a little bit about what's next!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/furcationland-103113600
https://www.patreon.com/posts/furcationland-103113600
Fan content has a place, mod content has a place. It helps people grow up to be artists, modders, programmers, etc. It inspires them to try goofy shit and then take it seriously.
We would have Undertale today if we didn't have the Earthbound Halloween Hack?
We would have Undertale today if we didn't have the Earthbound Halloween Hack?
I know companies don't have to do anything, they have their rights, they don't need to talk to fans. I'm just sort of tired of people saying it's just how it is.
We don't need this barrier.
We don't need this barrier.
I know part of the motivation here is that no one wants this to be true, no one wants to see Nintendo walk in and just shut down two decades of fan content for no reason. Between this and what's going on with Bethesda, I sure am tired of companies not just communicating more.
A fun detail about the Nintendo DMCA thing is that the company involved (if legit), when researched, reveals a trail of similar confusion with other folks involving different companies.
The notices are vague, confusing, and the company is associated with spam emails.
The notices are vague, confusing, and the company is associated with spam emails.
This will have some pretty gnarly effects for modding if this does turn out to be true, I'm going to keep a close eye on this.
I've been following it for a bit now, there is definitely a patent troll in the equation which seems to get away with it because of how flawed the DMCA process is. But assuming this is true, this is a pretty disgusting overreach on fan content, even by Nintendo standards.
Will be posting a new entry on my blog soon, cooking up some big topics behind the scenes.
Recent events in the world make me realize my goal is more attainable than I initially suspected!
Recent events in the world make me realize my goal is more attainable than I initially suspected!
If you see me online, yell at me to stay focused, I have a lot of work to do >w<
William Wonka
I sincerely wish Bluesky would stop changing their API in regards to tagging images because it seems any time I try and tag something as suggestive, the syntax for it changes.
Wow, getting back in the swing of work, a lot to do but tonight went ok :'3
Life is too short, do something fun today
So far the 64 bit update seems great, notable performance increases! I'm so surprised that it was pushed out so quietly, easily the biggest thing to happen to TF2 in a while.
Thankfully, not much damage done to the servers for now. And now it'll be easier to sort out bugs.
Thankfully, not much damage done to the servers for now. And now it'll be easier to sort out bugs.
Back from FCL and back down in NC! Got a lot of work to catch up on~!
FF7R: Rebirth is literally everything I wanted from LoZ: Tears of the Kingdom
I'm having an I can't draw night >:(
A reality TV show where a random person's bills are paid and they're given some money to mess around with for a month to do something creative and you check back later to see what they did
Shout outs to Avalis for being so cool. I swear every time one of them find one of the Avali comms I did, they hunt down the rest. I love drawing cute bird people
Quicky Rabbit Rowdy sketch
Time for the favorite time of the year, places that aren't in America start doing their April Fool's jokes to the bewilderment of Americans
You know what they say, carpet denim
I need to get better at planning, I know I do, I always seem to run into issues that I didn't anticipate because I didn't plan ahead correctly.
This set me back an entire month, I can't keep doing this to myself.
This set me back an entire month, I can't keep doing this to myself.
I'm a tough Crux, I'm feelin' good, but I've realized that I'm still not really progressing yet. I've made so little progress on my goals so far this year, and I feel like I'm still very behind. It's a crummy feeling, but can't let it slow me down.
The PSP came out today, March 24th, 2005. I still have and maintain mine, it was the device that led me into learning about programming, art, community and even helped me become a furry.
There's so much stuff I want to do!!!
2 AM thoughts
Is there a brand of shoe similar to something like converse but cheaper?
Controversial opinion, I don't think the Moogles are that ugly :(
Someday I'll be rich and I'll spend so much money on bandcamp
????????????????????
Been busy / quiet the last two weeks, just been working extra hard on a project, but it is wrapping up finally! I hope all is well; it is a cold and rainy night here tonight, peaceful.
Still working on some of my first big posts, but today, I have published a short article on an analogy I came up with way back in the day.
https://thestoa.blog/2024/02/27/baseball
#community #gaming #teamfortress2
https://thestoa.blog/2024/02/27/baseball
#community #gaming #teamfortress2
I forgot to mention but I beat Hi-Fi Rush the other day and wowee what a fun ass game
Oh, darn, I missed the nomination window for the Ursa Major awards. ;~;
This is how I do 5 second concept sketches with my mouse right as I'm about to go to bed. I can't wait until this one is done because you'll all be like...oh!
The next article for my blog, The Stoa, will be live on Friday! But my patrons can read it a couple days early here!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/stoa-baseball-98916170?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
https://www.patreon.com/posts/stoa-baseball-98916170?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
Does anyone have any suggestions on where else I should be trying to advertise c*mmissions? Sticking to my trio of socials seems a little limiting >w>;
Not surprising, but really silly watching it happen to a friendly co-op game.
Games of old didn't often have server capacity problems because they were designed to allow for anyone to host servers.
This is frowned upon now because it puts more control of a game in the hands of players, meaning mods that circumvent micro-transactions.
This is frowned upon now because it puts more control of a game in the hands of players, meaning mods that circumvent micro-transactions.
Robots/people in power armor wearing hoods/capes pointlessly is such a rad trope and I love seeing it
The summary of the Xbox stream is: We're going to be the Netflix of video games!
Best part was when it was asked how streaming/cloud services would affect game preservation and Phil gave out a total non-answer about they do their best to make sure games work across platforms.
Best part was when it was asked how streaming/cloud services would affect game preservation and Phil gave out a total non-answer about they do their best to make sure games work across platforms.
"Safe and responsible AI" is the next industry buzzword and you cannot tell me otherwise. I've not seen it be said like that until suddenly when Google, Mozilla, Etc are all saying it.
Today wasn't great, a really annoying thing caused a huge setback. Thankfully it's all taken care of now, but it was an entire day essentially wasted.
Tomorrow will be better. <3
Tomorrow will be better. <3
Today hasn't been great so far
Found out I missed applying for a table at FWA because it was never shared in the telegram room. ;~;
Going to build a Bsky app that is just frutiger aero flavored
It's a blue sky kind of day, you can also follow me there too!
https://bsky.app/profile/rowdythecrux.dev
But for all my socials, check https://rowdythecrux.dev
https://bsky.app/profile/rowdythecrux.dev
But for all my socials, check https://rowdythecrux.dev
Fraeven setup this monitor because the text was so hard for us to read
X64 testing day!
Hourly comic day??? I missed it again D:
eepy
Aged like milk
I used to think I wasn't creative, but lately I think my creativity is more either locked behind emotional concepts rather than tangible ones, or in tune with how I perceive myself in other ways; an inability to articulate my thoughts either because of autism or something similar
Like, I spend much of time either working, or lost in thought somewhere. If I'm doing physical activities, it's usually walking; where I am against lost in thought.
I like my fursona, but I don't know how to visualize that love via artwork. I just draw faces and such.
I like my fursona, but I don't know how to visualize that love via artwork. I just draw faces and such.
I think one of my biggest annoyances an artist in relation to my fursona is that I really have a hard time trying to depict myself doing anything, it's hard to draw when it always feels so aimless? My fursona is very much me and I feel like I am difficult to physically portray?
I'm being introspective today so apologies in advance for the stupid bullshit that comes out of my keyboard.
Oh my word I am actually enjoying writing
I'm feeling baja blessed
Today, I have finally launched my blog. I only have the introduction post for now, but I will be writing more ASAP.
https://thestoa.blog/
https://thestoa.blog/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmb0APDIIl8 Everyone wake up, a new feature-length TF2 SFM dropped
Sorry folks, I still owo and uwu and rawr and :3
They/Them causing May/Hem
HELP
Registered for AC and tossed my name into the artist alley lottery~! Here's hopin' :3
Sorry, I like PHP. I use it so much that it is impossible for me to write ? without accidentally writing it as ?>
Waking up early every day because I roll over in my sleep and my tail hits me in the face >:(((
I'm just going to pretend I'm cool, yeah, I'm rad~
Woke up feeling pretty motivated today~!
Post going up on Patreon later, will be talking about my 2024 plans with SCG in addition to a quick catch up on other smaller projects!
Style practice stuff :>
Enterprise is giving me the run around regarding a toll fee >:(
I was charged 24 dollars because my rental car was flagged as a tractor trailer. First they thought I was saying I never took the toll bridge. Next they thought I was asking for my receipt. This has been weeks now.
I was charged 24 dollars because my rental car was flagged as a tractor trailer. First they thought I was saying I never took the toll bridge. Next they thought I was asking for my receipt. This has been weeks now.
Ok, maybe a little lazy. I spent the weekend basically doing nothing, my sleep has been out of sorts and I wanted to relax and recuperate~! I'm back to full swing today though! ^w^
Re: My blog; I'm not being lazy I swear, I really don't think I'm a good writer and I taking the time to learn before I commit to anything.
Despite being nocturnal, I really dislike this time of year when it's dark most of the day. I seem to dislike it more and more every year
My first goal is to make money though, nothing else is going to happen until I get that sorted out, which is probably a good thing. I'm going to at least try not to be stupid with my pacing!
It's going to be a busy year, and admittedly I am most worried about stretching myself too thin. However, I am excited, there's so much I want to do or at least set into motion. It's a powerful thing for me, I spent a lot of my 20s without any sort of goals or direction.
I started working on a design document for the first game I want to make :3
Finally putting my money where my mouth is, I am almost ready to launch my blog.
The blog will focus on internet communities / culture, social gaming, and whatever else I deem relevant. I've been running a community for over 13 years, I have things I want to talk about.
The blog will focus on internet communities / culture, social gaming, and whatever else I deem relevant. I've been running a community for over 13 years, I have things I want to talk about.
As upsetting as the last few days regarding artists and AI have been, I have also seen a unification of artists in such a productive and endearing way that I haven't seen on Twitter in forever. I have faith that things will work out because people are not lying down here.
I am a passionate speaker, but I need to relax before I speak more.
I don't play fighting games but I think it's neat that people have custom fight sticks with designs and such
Still baffled on how setting up a lil' TF2 server for friends was the canon event for almost every single aspect of my person and my life today.
I've reached the point where I've begun either blocking or leaving spaces that continue to allow AI art without at least making it clear that it is, I continue to see big accounts post said pictures trying to pass them off like memes, it's exhausting.
Just a reminder, I can be found at the following places~! https://rowdythecrux.dev
Me, a dog, thinking about what you're asking of me
Got my 100% completion back in RE4R finally! :'3
This morning, I assembled my goals for 2024~! When I am able to do so, I will share pictures of my "goal board" :3
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10771919/
https://www.weasyl.com/journal/175207/goals-for-2024
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10771919/
https://www.weasyl.com/journal/175207/goals-for-2024
hahahaha
A lesson I want people to (re)learn in 2024 is that if someone without virtually zero reach posts something intentionally heinous / spiteful on the internet, you don't need to screenshot / quote them, ruining everyone else's day with their rage bait.
Don't feed the trolls.
Don't feed the trolls.
A productive evening, yet still so much unfinished, I'd gladly continue working but I promised myself I'd sleep early today X//3
Link to avatar: https://shad0wartz.gumroad.com/l/cruxreboot
After a hot minute, I finally got a proper avatar for myself setup in VR. It uses the Crux Reboot by Shad0wArtz, base texture has been modified to my markings (which are always inconsistent yes). Shirt uses a design from Welcome to Nightvale.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays ( ´･ω･ `)
Since I keep my art stuff mainly focused on @scritchworks now, I want to shift the focus of my "main" to discussions regarding internet / gaming culture next year.
You know what? Heck you. *Unmagics your school bus*
I'd get a lot more done if stuff didn't randomly break on me >:(((
My hecking twitter bot broke this morning but I fixed it >:(
>Sean tell us about your new game
>Starts hyping expectations immensely
HERE WE GO AGAINNNNNN #thegameawards
>Starts hyping expectations immensely
HERE WE GO AGAINNNNNN #thegameawards
I LOVE HIM
Best ongoing game! #thegameawards
Is Anthony Mackie being attacked by ghosts #thegameawards
I knew Pizza Tower wasn't going to win, as annoyed as I am. But I still maintain that "best debut indie" shouldn't come from a studio of people who have had experience in making games already.
Is Grover going to fuck the chicken??
It's time! #thegameawards
I decided against adding this to the final version, but @fraeven suggested I go for something like an aurora effect in the sky. I'd like to do more starry night art, so I will definitely be applying this effect to a different piece.
Almost all of the most influential games I've played have been silly and or serious RPGs, I'm going to make my own.
You should totally play #KnuckleSandwich
A quick warmup thing I did last night before work, something I sketched previously that I wanted to use for my socials. Influenced by both real life events, and my recent studies on Steven Universe art~!
It's alarming to me how often I see people fall for edited screenshots of headlines, more so when I encounter a group of people arguing over it without having even checked its validity.
Made a link directory page for myself yesterday (´・ω・｀)! https://rowdythecrux.dev/
The next feature I am going to add to my poster tool thing is the a editable list of terms that need to be scrambled in order to not get eaten by any algorithms
I watched @earthboundusa with some friends. A documentary about the fan base surrounding Earthbound and its rise to popularity in the US. Would highly recommend even if you're not a fan of Earthbound, it's a time capsule of early internet social culture. https://earthboundusa.com
Heehoo
Really fascinated with the progress of this so far. There's a lot about it I like, but not all of it. Still work to be done with it, but I am practicing!
Having one of those "I'm so bad at art aaaa" days but it's more of a "I know I am capable of doing better, I just need to get there" sort of thing.
Does anyone have experience with s/elling digital p/rints online? As in, files to download, I want to know if it's a viable option or too open to theft or something.
Now going to take a break, but already thinking about tonight's work, there is art that I need to get and an art thing I want to experiment with!
All in all, I am happy with this so far. I continue to get comments asking if I will make this public, the answer is maybe? There's a lot of work to be done on it before it could be used easily. It is a personal project for now, but if I lack the time, I will share it anyway.
And as I showed off a bit ago, I now have a way of translating people's handles across different sites. This still has some kinks to work out, and I want to think about how to scale it better, but I am happy with it so far.
I've also ported my image resizer from my Trello tool over to this for the same reason I have one there. Bluesky has really strict limits on file uploads, so I instead I scale down the picture only as much as it needs to be to fit the limit.
Next, I was able to get replies working. Posting a message populates the "Reply to" section below with the required information that came from the post before it.
You can also manually supplement the correct IDs from a different post to reply to them.
You can also manually supplement the correct IDs from a different post to reply to them.
Today's mini project was to finish up the basic error display and a bit more handling. Now if *one* site fails to post, the others will and I can correct whatever went wrong on the one that failed.
Forgot to share! I picked up this awesome hoodie from @campmustelid recently~!
Work smarter, not harder
Next thing I gotta fix!!!
Had an epiphany, if I were to become a twitch streamer, I know exactly what my gimmick would be.
Ready to push myself to new limits
Look...I'm trying not to hype myself up it's just...I got the feeling...
"can you draw mae borowski teleporting bread"
"sure :>"
"sure :>"
I'm feelin' good about my little steps lately, got content warnings working after having hit a roadblock with Twitter's API (and the lack of contemporary documentation).
I will need to account for Mastodon's CW bar next, but that will come later! I don't post lewd anyway.
I will need to account for Mastodon's CW bar next, but that will come later! I don't post lewd anyway.
Oh...that was easy!
Sorry, I am so vocal today!
I wanted to mention that over the next few days, I'll be moving some of my art off of my FA / Weasyl account and moving it over to the ScritchWorks pages. Then, these will become pages for my personal art, commissioned stuff, etc.
I wanted to mention that over the next few days, I'll be moving some of my art off of my FA / Weasyl account and moving it over to the ScritchWorks pages. Then, these will become pages for my personal art, commissioned stuff, etc.
Excuse me, what makes this an indie game?
Now back to working on art, but happy I got that done! I've tried to build a really basic centralized method of posting everything. I need to convert the original ScritchWorks tools over at some point so it can be *slightly* faster, but I am happy with this so far.
Success~!
I am still annoyed that Tunic got shafted last year over Stray. I do of course have biases towards games I enjoyed (Which includes Stray) but it's rough to misguided praise. Stray shouldn't have been considered an Indie game, and Pizza Tower should get more recognition.
I'm sorry but Pizza Tower not making it to the GOTY nominations is a mistake. I know BG3 will win it, but in my honest opinion, Pizza Tower deserves way more attention. It's an absolutely fantastic title in every aspect.
Today's warmup project, making a separate form for quick art uploading. While I do have my Trello uploader, that is built around commission work, this would be more for personal stuff.
https://youtu.be/Gs_48zNZw9g Cool song :3
Goober :>
Good morning, world!
Part of the appeal of stuff like Frutiger Aero to me is at least in the scope of UI design, I associate it with a brighter, optimistic future. It was exciting to see and use computers! Everything so bright and shiny! A huge contrast to everything being so flat and bland now.
So! I *finally* took the time to finish my cross posting tool, multiple account support AND photo uploads! Sorry for all of the random "test" messages! :'3
