After a much longer delay than intended (I have no excuse) the latest episode of The Word Smith makes its internet debut at the usual venue. I hope to get the next page up much quicker than this one, but as this weekend is looking to be somewhat busy it's probably not going to be up next week.
And now a discussion about irony.
One tricky thing about writing a comic about a grammar conscious super hero who fights to protect the English language (or thus he would claim) is that I really ought to at least make the effort to be as correct as possible with my grammar in the comic, and I am not a grammar nut. Granted, there's definitely some leeway with writing dialogue since real people don't always talk perfectly grammatically and they usually manage to understand each other just fine even so. But still, it's the principle of the matter, and, while I think I'm reasonably competent when it comes to writing and stuff (technical term, that, "stuff"), I don't really have any personal pet peeves and I don't really nitpick about the finer points of grammar or things like that. This can make coming up with topics a bit tricky.
Sorry, that was a bit long winded there. Moving onto the actual topic of the moment: irony.
As part of writing this episode of the comic, I did some reading up on definitions of irony to try to make sure I was using the term at least passingly correctly. It seems to me that irony is one of those things which is a bit nebulous: oh, there's definitions and examples and that's all well and good, but it's not something as well defined as, say, 2+2=4, and there seems to be some leeway as to what is or is not considered to be irony.
An example. Some people seem to think that sarcasm is (or can be) a form of verbal irony, but this is by no means universal and not all sarcasm is ironic.
The situation that I have set up in this episode has attempted to employ situational irony -- The Pen has gone to some lengths (to the point of turning off her phone) so that her boss cannot contact her and drag her into some language related escapades but, as today's page shows, language related escapades appear to be happening anyway. Is this ironic? I'm still undecided on the matter, which is why I have the Waitress (real name as yet undetermined) babble a bit about the subject in the final panel.
TLDR version: go look at this other comic which seems to match up with my thoughts on the matter fairly well. Also go read my comic.
Until next time
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Rough Translation
Splurg!
That means, roughly translated, that the latest page of The Word Smith is up online in the usual locale. But don't just take my word for it, go see for yourself!
That is all, Freak Out,
-TFitC
That means, roughly translated, that the latest page of The Word Smith is up online in the usual locale. But don't just take my word for it, go see for yourself!
That is all, Freak Out,
-TFitC
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Charting a Course
Well! It's a bit later than intended, but the most recent page of The Word Smith is now up on the internets. The delay in getting this page up probably means that there won't be a page next week, unless I'm super fast about things, but don't hold your breath. Seriously. Breathing is important.
I also plan to continue the FFXI Let's Play! I just need a weekend afternoon (or equivalent) where I'm not otherwise distracted...
Anyway, that's all for the present.
Freak Out,
-TFitC
I also plan to continue the FFXI Let's Play! I just need a weekend afternoon (or equivalent) where I'm not otherwise distracted...
Anyway, that's all for the present.
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Those Three Cashiers
The latest page of The Word Smith is now online! This one took a little longer than expected to complete owing to some last minute changes to one of the panels. I should probably try to plan things a bit better. Anywho, the rough pencils are already more-or-less finished for the next page so hopefully it should be up more-or-less on schedule (I have a schedule?) next week.
This page also calls back to episode 2, which you should totally go read.
Freak Out,
-TFitC
This page also calls back to episode 2, which you should totally go read.
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Walk in the Park
It is a joyous day, for the next page of The Word Smith has wandered onto the interwebs. It is full of stuff. And things happen. Read it, or something.
... And that is basically all there is to say about that! Hopefully the next page will be up in about a week.
Freak Out,
-TFitC
... And that is basically all there is to say about that! Hopefully the next page will be up in about a week.
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Distant Worlds: Let's Play FF XI
Welcome to the first episode of my pseudo let's play of Final Fantasy XI. As to why this is a "pseudo" let's play and a few other details, see my previous post. Today is going to be mostly some background information and setting the stage, so let's get to it.
What is Final Fantasy XI?
As one might surmise from the name, FF XI is the eleventh entry in the long running Final Fantasy series. What might not be obvious from the name alone isthat FF XI was the first online entry in the series, making it fairly different from most of the rest of the series. It was originally released in Japan in 2002 and for PC in North America 2003. This would later be followed by a North American PS2 release, official European releases and an XBox 360 version. One of the unique aspects of FF XI is that all players played on the same pool of servers regardless of platform or region in which they lived.
FF XI was released whilst Everquest was basically the pre-eminent MMO of the day. In its height, FF XI boasted around 500 000 players which made it one of the larger MMOs of its time (see the second chart here). One could make the argument that FF XI was the last (or one of the last) successful pre-Warcraft MMOs. But that's something that is perhaps best left to the historians. For now, let's look at getting started...
In Character
The first thing one does in an MMO (and in many RPGs for that matter) is create a character. But I suspect you already knew that. Character creation in FF XI is, actually, kind of anemic compared even to other things of its time (to my knowledge, anyway.) Whilst I can only speculate as to why, I suggest the two following reasons: FF games, in general, don't place much emphasis on visual customization of characters, so Square-Enic (henceforth SE) was somewhat inexperienced in this matter, and PS2 limitations. Speaking of which, this seems like a good time to comment on one of the larger monkies on FF XI's back.
Humes. These are basically your boring old humans. They're the most balanced, in terms of stats. Nobody invites them to parties because they're boring.
Elvaans. These are, in theory, FF XI's version of elves, if elves were tall, awkward and gangly with long necks. Players sometimes called them "Dhalmel necks" after giraffe-like monsters in-game. Elvaan stats skew them towards melee fighters with high HP and low MP.
Tarutaru. The littlefolk of FF XI. Many of them have names that rhyme or containing repeated syllables, many also have various speech affectations, presumably because someone thought it would be cutaru. Tarutaru are skewed towards mages, particularly the kind that blow things up, having the highest MP but lowest MP. Fun fact: the name Tarutaru apparently comes from the Japanese pronunciation of Tartar sauce.
Galka. These are big, hulking meat bags. Technically, they are genderless though they are typically referred to in-game using male pronouns. Galka supposedly reproduce via some sort of cycle of reincarnation, but how that would actually work is a mystery. At any rate, Galka have the highest HP and lowest MP and are skewed to wards being tanky.
Mithra. These are a race of cat-people and are therefore the best, because cats. Male mithra are rare and thus are kept at home as breeders so only the females go out adventuring. This means only female mithra are actually playable. Mithra are probably the second most balanced after humes, being skewed towards dexterity.
Job Search
After picking a race, one picks a starting job. Being a Final Fantasy game, characters can switch jobs (and unlock new ones) later, but to start, one can pick one of six jobs. These jobs are the six classic FF jobs that first appeared in FFI. I won't go into much detail here, but here is a quick run down:
Warrior - wears heavy armour and can use a wide variety of weapons, but focuses on axes and great axes. At low levels can serve as a tank in a pinch, but is mostly a melee damage dealer.
Monk - wears light armour, uses hand-to-hand weapons and likes to punch things in the face. Or whatever the passes for the monster's face. Monks are pretty uncomplicated.
Thief - uses daggers and stabs things in the back. Also steals things because shinies. A melee class that does spike damage and can help control enmity/hate/agro levels.
White Mage - the classic Final Fantasy healer. They keep everyone alive and ticking. They also cast Holy. Holyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Black Mage - they cast the spells that make the people fall down.
Red Mage - supposedly a hybrid melee/mage that can cast white and black magic, but in practice ended up being mostly a support/healer. I could go on at great length about the short comings of red mages as implemented in FF XI, but I'll spare you all the rant (for now.)
Place Mats
The world of FF XI is called Vana'diel and the last thing the player selects when creating a character is one of three starting cities. These are:
The Kingdom of San d'Oria. A castle town at the north end of the Ronfaure forest, the kingdom is primarily inhabited by Elvaans. San d'Orians are a somewhat xenophobic bunch and, oddly enough, have french inspired names and have a religion headed by a strangely pope-like figure. I do not judge, I merely report. San d'Oria is at odds with the reptile-like Orcs.
The Republic of Bastok. Affectionately refered to as "Lastok," the Republic is an industrial mining town in the Gustaberg region which is the least visually of all of the starter regions owing to basically being a blasted wasteland. Bastok is home to predominantly Hume and Galka populations. The local beastmen are the turtle-like Quadav.
The Federation of Windurst. Located at the southern end of othe Sarutabaruta savannahs, Windurst is home to the Tarutaru and Mithra and is, therefor, the best (owing to the Mithra, not the easily puntable, bite-sized Tarutaru.) The Federation has an uneasy peace with the bird-like Yagudo.
Guide Lines
And this brings us almost to the end of our inaugural episode. Before we go, lets meet the tour guides for this Let's Play.
Mirayrl was my main character and will (I expect) serve as the primary guide for the Let's Play, but Beruthiel will likely show up from time to time.
I'm going to try to keep these generally less wordy than this post and hope to push through at a steady rate. Next time, the plan is to cover levels 1-30 of one of the starting nation storyline. If anyone is still reading and has a preference, should I start with Windurst, Bastok or San d'Oria?
Freak Out,
-TFitC
What is Final Fantasy XI?
As one might surmise from the name, FF XI is the eleventh entry in the long running Final Fantasy series. What might not be obvious from the name alone isthat FF XI was the first online entry in the series, making it fairly different from most of the rest of the series. It was originally released in Japan in 2002 and for PC in North America 2003. This would later be followed by a North American PS2 release, official European releases and an XBox 360 version. One of the unique aspects of FF XI is that all players played on the same pool of servers regardless of platform or region in which they lived.
FF XI was released whilst Everquest was basically the pre-eminent MMO of the day. In its height, FF XI boasted around 500 000 players which made it one of the larger MMOs of its time (see the second chart here). One could make the argument that FF XI was the last (or one of the last) successful pre-Warcraft MMOs. But that's something that is perhaps best left to the historians. For now, let's look at getting started...
In Character
The first thing one does in an MMO (and in many RPGs for that matter) is create a character. But I suspect you already knew that. Character creation in FF XI is, actually, kind of anemic compared even to other things of its time (to my knowledge, anyway.) Whilst I can only speculate as to why, I suggest the two following reasons: FF games, in general, don't place much emphasis on visual customization of characters, so Square-Enic (henceforth SE) was somewhat inexperienced in this matter, and PS2 limitations. Speaking of which, this seems like a good time to comment on one of the larger monkies on FF XI's back.
PS2 Limitations. FF XI was (perhaps still is) tethered to the PS2. While it was a decent enough system for it's time, it has a number of limitations compared to more upgradable systems like the PC, most notably (I think) it's limited memory. It became somewhat of a joke among the players that "PS2 Limitations" prevented any number of things from being added to the game. Regardless, things did well enough, technical limitations aside.Anywho... the first part of character creation is picking a race of which FF XI provides five choices:
 |
| FF XI Races from left to righ: Hume, Elvaan, Tarutaru, Galka, Mithra |
 |
| The majestic Elvaan - er, Dhalmel. |
Tarutaru. The littlefolk of FF XI. Many of them have names that rhyme or containing repeated syllables, many also have various speech affectations, presumably because someone thought it would be cutaru. Tarutaru are skewed towards mages, particularly the kind that blow things up, having the highest MP but lowest MP. Fun fact: the name Tarutaru apparently comes from the Japanese pronunciation of Tartar sauce.
Galka. These are big, hulking meat bags. Technically, they are genderless though they are typically referred to in-game using male pronouns. Galka supposedly reproduce via some sort of cycle of reincarnation, but how that would actually work is a mystery. At any rate, Galka have the highest HP and lowest MP and are skewed to wards being tanky.
Mithra. These are a race of cat-people and are therefore the best, because cats. Male mithra are rare and thus are kept at home as breeders so only the females go out adventuring. This means only female mithra are actually playable. Mithra are probably the second most balanced after humes, being skewed towards dexterity.
Job Search
After picking a race, one picks a starting job. Being a Final Fantasy game, characters can switch jobs (and unlock new ones) later, but to start, one can pick one of six jobs. These jobs are the six classic FF jobs that first appeared in FFI. I won't go into much detail here, but here is a quick run down:
Warrior - wears heavy armour and can use a wide variety of weapons, but focuses on axes and great axes. At low levels can serve as a tank in a pinch, but is mostly a melee damage dealer.
Monk - wears light armour, uses hand-to-hand weapons and likes to punch things in the face. Or whatever the passes for the monster's face. Monks are pretty uncomplicated.
Thief - uses daggers and stabs things in the back. Also steals things because shinies. A melee class that does spike damage and can help control enmity/hate/agro levels.
White Mage - the classic Final Fantasy healer. They keep everyone alive and ticking. They also cast Holy. Holyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Black Mage - they cast the spells that make the people fall down.
Red Mage - supposedly a hybrid melee/mage that can cast white and black magic, but in practice ended up being mostly a support/healer. I could go on at great length about the short comings of red mages as implemented in FF XI, but I'll spare you all the rant (for now.)
Place Mats
The world of FF XI is called Vana'diel and the last thing the player selects when creating a character is one of three starting cities. These are:
 |
| San d'Oria |
 |
| Fireworks in Bastok |
 |
| Cherry trees in Windurst |
Guide Lines
And this brings us almost to the end of our inaugural episode. Before we go, lets meet the tour guides for this Let's Play.
I'm going to try to keep these generally less wordy than this post and hope to push through at a steady rate. Next time, the plan is to cover levels 1-30 of one of the starting nation storyline. If anyone is still reading and has a preference, should I start with Windurst, Bastok or San d'Oria?
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Friday, February 27, 2015
Let's Something
So... no Word Smith page this week. (Episode 8's off to a great start, ne?) This is partly because I one panel is being a little more difficult than usual, partly because I haven't been quite as diligent with things as I could have been and partly due to fine tuning dialogue and related things. In the end I decided not to rush things and just push the page back to next week. However, this post isn't just to say how lazy I am or to waste time when I could be doing something more productive, no, I also wanted to make an...
ANNOUNCEMENT!
In addition to my (semi-)regular Word Smith updates, I am going to start a pseudo-let's play of Final Fantasy XI and wanted to get some of the preamble out of the way.
What's a "Let's Play"?
For those who might not be familiar with the concept, a Let's Play is a thing where someone plays through a game and posts about it in some form. The Let's Plays that I peruse are primarily presented on forums using screenshots and various commentaries. Depending on the person doing the Let's Play and on the game being played, sometimes reader's are asked to vote on how to progress through the game.
Why is this a "pseudo" Let's Play?
Well... that's because I'm not currently playing Final Fantasy XI. See, FF XI is an MMO and, while I played it for a while, I'm not currently subscribed to it and have no plans to restart. Thus, I will be relying on my collection of screenshots for the Let's Play, supplementing it with outside sources as necessary. It also means that there won't really be any reader interaction in deciding how I proceed, other than maybe voting on the order in which I cover certain things. Anyone who is interested should still feel free to ask (relevant) questions in the comments and I shall do my best to answer.
I am also quite happy to talk to myself on the interwebs if there are no comments/questions.
If you're not currently playing it then why bother?
Because I feel like it. Also, I'm considering this to be part of my tongue-in-cheek recaps of each final fantasy game. As FF XI is different from most other FFs, I thought I'd do the recap in a slightly different manner. This also means that the tone of the Let's Play is likely going to often lean towards the sarcastic/snarky side of things. But we'll see how things play out.
So how is this going to work?
I plan to make one post a week until I'm through all of the major storylines in FF XI and I will try to make the first post this weekend. I may talk a bit about game mechanics and other non-story stuff as I progress, depending on feedback. So I guess my first question to anyone who's interested is: how much detail should I include?
Freak Out,
-TFitC
ANNOUNCEMENT!
In addition to my (semi-)regular Word Smith updates, I am going to start a pseudo-let's play of Final Fantasy XI and wanted to get some of the preamble out of the way.
What's a "Let's Play"?
For those who might not be familiar with the concept, a Let's Play is a thing where someone plays through a game and posts about it in some form. The Let's Plays that I peruse are primarily presented on forums using screenshots and various commentaries. Depending on the person doing the Let's Play and on the game being played, sometimes reader's are asked to vote on how to progress through the game.
Why is this a "pseudo" Let's Play?
Well... that's because I'm not currently playing Final Fantasy XI. See, FF XI is an MMO and, while I played it for a while, I'm not currently subscribed to it and have no plans to restart. Thus, I will be relying on my collection of screenshots for the Let's Play, supplementing it with outside sources as necessary. It also means that there won't really be any reader interaction in deciding how I proceed, other than maybe voting on the order in which I cover certain things. Anyone who is interested should still feel free to ask (relevant) questions in the comments and I shall do my best to answer.
I am also quite happy to talk to myself on the interwebs if there are no comments/questions.
If you're not currently playing it then why bother?
Because I feel like it. Also, I'm considering this to be part of my tongue-in-cheek recaps of each final fantasy game. As FF XI is different from most other FFs, I thought I'd do the recap in a slightly different manner. This also means that the tone of the Let's Play is likely going to often lean towards the sarcastic/snarky side of things. But we'll see how things play out.
So how is this going to work?
I plan to make one post a week until I'm through all of the major storylines in FF XI and I will try to make the first post this weekend. I may talk a bit about game mechanics and other non-story stuff as I progress, depending on feedback. So I guess my first question to anyone who's interested is: how much detail should I include?
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Irony: Good for the Blood and Keeps Your Clothes Wrinkle Free!
What is this? Can it be? I think, perhaps, it is... That's right, the title page for the eighth episode of The Word Smith is live on the internets! Now quick, put it back in its bottle before it makes a mess of things.
I'm hoping to get back to my one page per week schedule (more-or-less, anyway) though it's always possible that I'll miss a week here and there. Stay tuned to find out!
Freak Out,
-TFitC
I'm hoping to get back to my one page per week schedule (more-or-less, anyway) though it's always possible that I'll miss a week here and there. Stay tuned to find out!
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Thursday, February 5, 2015
This Space Unintentionally Left Blank
It seems like I probably fail at blogging, not that the internet cares. Regardless, the gap betwixt posts has been longer than intended. Not that I've had much to blog about, but whatever...
Anywho, the only real purpose of making this post is to indicate that there is a new interlude for The Word Smith in the usual place. I am aiming to start posting episode 8 sometime in the next couple of weeks. The script is (more-or-less) done and thumbnails are coming along. I just have to set aside time to start drawing the actual pages.
And with that,
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Anywho, the only real purpose of making this post is to indicate that there is a new interlude for The Word Smith in the usual place. I am aiming to start posting episode 8 sometime in the next couple of weeks. The script is (more-or-less) done and thumbnails are coming along. I just have to set aside time to start drawing the actual pages.
And with that,
Freak Out,
-TFitC
Thursday, January 1, 2015
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