Five Reasons I Wish I Was A Sith Lord

As a youngling I was mesmerised by the awesome power of the Jedi in Star Wars. I wanted to know what it felt like to use the Force, lead epic battles against a ruthless enemy, wield a Light Saber and whiz through space as laser beams flash all around me.

Some people, when asked what fantasy land they would like to live in, may say they’d love to travel through Middle Earth and meet Gandalf, others feel deep kinship for the Na’vi on Pandora in the movie Avatar. And then you hear about people insist they were born in the wrong era, and should have been a bomber in WW2 or an adventurer crossing the new lands of America.

As for me, I felt I wasn’t so much born in the wrong era but should have been born…

This post has been inspired by Marcy Kennedy and her recent post Five Reasons I Wish I Was A Jedi. At the end she asks the question:

What do you think would be the best part about being a Jedi? If being a Jedi isn’t for you, what’s your ultimate fantasy career?

Whilst the Jedi held my fascination for many years it wasn’t until George Lucas announced the Star Wars prequels were finally going to be made that I started to wonder about the Sith. Would we find out more about this dark mysterious opposite to the seekers of light and peace, the Jedi? Would we finally get an answer as to how Darth Vader turned to the dark side and learn of the history of the Sith?

RIFT: A New Adventure

If you need a break from reality and TV, movies, music or books aren’t doing it for you, I suggest you take a trip to Telara and enter the world of Rift. This game is amazing. It is visually stunning, highly polished and brimming with more fantasy stuff than you can shake a magic wand at! This is pure escapism at its best.

I’m a big fan of MMORPG’s (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) and played World of Warcraft for 4 years until I became bored with the same old junk rehashed in an attempt to keep players subscribing. I loved the lore and the story lines but the endless quests for killing 10 beasties for no other reason but for XP started to get very old. In fact the main reason I found it so appealing was due to the friendships forged, a good many hours were spent laughing till my face hurt. Sadly many people have moved on and I’ve lost touch with most of my online WoW pals.

So I stopped playing WoW about 6 months ago after the Cataclysm expansion. There were some new things to do, and exciting places to explore but the fun had gone out of it. I cancelled my subscription and went back to my writing. I keep a keen interest in up coming MMO’s because I love the story lines and sense of adventure.

There are 3 MMO’s I’ve kept my eye on – Star War: The Old Republic, The Secret World, TERA & finally Rift. I’d seen the in-game videos and scree shots but I wasn’t expecting it to be so good. I’m a bit of a fantasy nerd so this suited me just fine with the lore and magic and epic battles, the virtual world is teaming with life unlike other MMO’s I’ve played. I’m so surprised at how much I’m enjoying the game I thought I’d share some good/bad points with you good blog reader types.

Warcraft Monopoly Money Set!

Click to view larger size.

I’ve finished my World of Warcraft Monopoly Money Set in record time! I thought it would take a lot longer but once I got going it was full steam ahead! I’ve hit “the zone” many times whilst writing but never had the same experience whilst working on a graphic design project.

Like the other areas of my Warcraft Monopoly theme I wanted the money to look slightly different from the original Monopoly, yet still maintain the character of looking like…well, money.

I borrowed a few ideas from UK bank notes, the curly font at the top and tag line under it. I took some time with the Warcraft crests to get them looking the right size and in the right place. My Warcraft Monopoly differs in one aspect from original Monopoly money in that they are all the same colour. I got around this by making sure the crests were bright and vibrant and the amount clearly displayed in the centre.

I used a range of textures and filters etc to get the look I wanted, on olde worlde look, not like our own at all, something that wouldn’t look terribly out-of-place in the actual game itself. As you’ll see from the larger image below I also included well-known phrases spoken by the in-game characters from each race, I thought it added a little extra to make the money stand out and look different from one another.

To say I’m happy with what I’ve achieved is an understatement! Considering I only started the Zombie Monopoly board on a whim: “I wonder if…” kind of thing, and now I’ve done so much with the World of Warcraft one, I’m surprised by it all. I don’t know what to do next really, apart from box design or player counters, hotels and houses perhaps…we shall see.

In the meantime please do check out the image below, give it a click and see it full size. Below you will see the complete set of  World of Warcraft Money. Click the image to view the hi-res version – this one isn’t such a big file just over 2MB, with an image size of  1371 x 1420 pixels.

Click to view larger image.

EDIT: After an interesting comment from Rebelord, who confirmed my doubts over the use of the same colour for each note, I have changed the hue and saturation of the Warcraft Monopoly money sets to give a clearer visual over each denomination. I’ve tried to remain true to the UK version of the original Monopoly money but some of the colours are very similar. I’ve kept the 500′s the same colour though. I’m not sure which one I prefer so let me know your thoughts. Click the image below to view the larger size.

Click to view larger size.