Greetings Antonia Baylers!!

Its been a while (just over a month) since the last Kaal's corner - trying like heck to get caught up...

In our last Episode:

I:

Inched ever closer to completing the bane of my existence - the Claymore!

Completed the Orb of Tunare Questline

Began the Swords of Destiny Questline

Have raided more than I thought I would

Aquired quite a bit of fabled gear!

Non Blackhawks Player of the Month!

Yeah, I know - it used to be of the week, but man are things getting busy! Hehe. Well this month's choice is none other than EWAMOO of the Guild UNITY. A frequent member of some of the tougher League raids I attend, "moo" as she is known always keeps an upbeat outlook and a helpful demeanor. Win or lose, she is all about being a team player. Well done moo!

Blackhawks Player of the Month!

This month the award goes to LONDORIE! Lond recently joined the team after a long time as a friend of the team and has been a tremendous help since coming aboard. Always willing to lend a hand and join in on any quest (no matter how late we keep her up, bleary eyed at the keyboard). Lond is also the first person ever to win both the Non-Blackhawk and Blackhawk awards! Grats Lond! We're glad to have you!

Completely shameless plug for the team. Stressed out in your current guild? Tired of the drama? Tired of inactivity? Tired of logging in and talking to yourself in guild chat? If so, consider our team. We offer a fun friendly environment for people of all levels. Whether you are a first day player or a beta tester well into your tenth 70th season toon, we welcome players of all types. You can read more about us at Blackhawksguild.com

The things I think I think

I think Im having a bit of a marketing battle with a botter. As always - no names are being named, but for the past couple of weeks Ive been in a bit of a price war with a player who seems to have a randomly assigned name, his toon is only three weeks old, a t7 crafter with a 15th season combat class.  I craft a lot of T6 armor. A lot of it. And this person has been undercutting me - consistently  - day after day. And there is nothing wrong with that. But, on a hunch - I added him to my friends list. He seems to log in, stay for less than a minute and log out. At which point all of his wares are now 1g under the lowest price seller. Im wondering if this is a macro. Maybe I'll wait till his stuff drops below the price of the rares...

I think that as of late I have been encountering more and more dishonest people coming into the game. Different guilds have different rules for membership. Ours happens to be that we require full disclosure of your alts , and that you not have alts in other guilds on this server. My issue is that, time and again people apply to the team, and just flat out lie about it. Look, some guilds  (not us) require that you raid X number of times per week, some require that you always RP. That's up to each individual guild to decide. But the typical conversation goes something like this:

Kaal  - Are you the only one who has access to your account.

Applicant  - yes.

Kaal Do you have any alts in other guilds on this server?

Applicant - no, this is my only toon

(looks them up on EQ2players)

Kaal - well you are showing 9 alts - all in guild (guildname) and half of them you logged in yesterday...?

Applicant - oh... never mind.

Just annoying I guess. Whether its applying to a team, negotiating over the costs of something, or just standard NBG issues in pugs..I am concerned at the rise in...deceptiveness.

I think Im not 100% clear on the expectations of armor customers.  I had someone approach me and ask for a t6 armor set, while I was out questing and they wnted it right away. They claimed to have all the rares. The person said I was the only armosmith of that tier online and they really wanted it done. I estimated the costs of the mats and told them what I thought would be a reasonable fee (50g) for the entire set. I then got berated for being too "greedy". Im not sure if other crafters experience this. I;ve tried the "I'll do it for the costs of mats plus tip" thing - but that usually gets me only the costs of the mats. What Im wondering is, is there any set formula that other crafters use?

I think the Swords of Destiny questline is going to ultimately be more time consuming than claymore was. And I think that SOE should hold off on further updates until the entire questline can be done. Nothing more annoying than going through all these tedious steps only to discover that you can go no further. Finish it - then publish it 100%. I suppose I will just wait and complete it when its finished. Never been a big fan of  "serialized" questing. It flopped in SWG, Im hoping they don't make it a habit here. (note: maybe theres some history of it in EQ1 or something - I still don't like it). On the other hand  - the quest itself, aside from the part where u do the same mini quest 8 times in a row, was refreshingly different and fun.

I think that now , more than ever, I am enjoying the time and effort I have invested in the League. For those unfamiliar, the League is a non guild affiliated raiding organization. Does your guild not raid enough for you but you like it otherwise? Then try out the League. Newly revamped, and with a few things tightened up rules-wise, the League offers its members a chance to raid when they want, with whom they want. Their system for loot is set up so that the more you raid with them, the better your odds of getting something good.  Check them out at http://eq2.mmo-lea...ue.org/. All they require is that you register for their site and post a hello message in their welcome forums. After that you can sign up to raid. (veterans get priority in selection , but it doesn't take long to get veteran status)  A fun organization, that can help you learn the ropes and complete those high end raids. Join today!

(side note of personal satisfaction - had someone  - a long time member of the ‘hawks a few months back endlessly whining about wanting to raid more - ultimately left to go join a "raiding guild" - was immensely satisfying to run into this individual a few days ago and note that, for all his spouting of wanting to "conquer the end game stuff" - Ive got way more Fabled gear than he. Thank you League!!)

Non EQ2 thoughts this week.

TV/Movies

I finally saw Casino Royale. Not a bad reboot of the Bond Franchise. None of the silliness of previous incarnations and a bit brutal at times. Nicely done.

Does anyone here watch Battlestar Galactica? Holy Frak! What a season finale! Too bad 2008 for the next season!

The Shield - April 3 - I cant wait! Da dat da daaa.

The Sopranos - last nine episodes ever! April 8

Sports

The Red Sox pitching is looking to be SCARY good this year. "dice-k" pitched 5 no hit innings in his final spring training start. Best of all, in the "now THAT'S being a good teammate" dept, hats off to Johnathon Pappelbon. Last year, this kid was THE best closer in the league and was widely expected to become a starter this year. Noting that the Sox were having significant trouble locating someone to replace him, he went to the manager and said , in essence, "if you want to give  me the ball in the 9th, then I want it. I'll be a career closer and chase records and do whatever it takes to help the team win." THAT'S teamwork, selflessness, and being a class act. Way to go kid. Way to go.

Conversely over in the NFL - bad behavior seems to be on the rise. "Pacman" Jones - is likely going from millionaire player to Inmate #______. Serves him right.

Other.

In just ten days , the Blackhawks are taking over Las Vegas! Roughly 18 of us will invade starting April 6th-10th. If you live nearby and are a friend of the team or would like to join in the festivities, contact me via pm on the boards!

Quote of the month:

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom" - Thomas Jefferson.

That's all for now folks.....

Or is it?.....by popular demand... the return of Kaalenarc's Kitchen (ok maybe not popular but im trying lol)

Kaals Double Battered extra crispy fried chicken fingers.

OK folks - this is one of those "ya gotta guestimate the amounts" type recipes.

The mix - most ppl use simply flour, salt, and black pepper. I add garlic powder , and some paprika.   For a starting mix figure ROUGHLY 3 cups flour, half a cup garlic powder and 1/3 cup paprika. Salt lightly and  3TBL of black pepper. Sometimes just for variety ill sprinkle in a little oregano. You've got the right mix when the flour takes on a slightly reddish color from the paprika.

You will also need:

Canola oil

6 eggs

3 Chicken breasts cut into chicken finger sized pieces.

Whole milk.

Lemon juice

For one hour before you start cooking, soak the chicken in the milk and 2tblsp of the lemon juice(in the fridge)

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

One piece at a time, pull the chicken out of the milk and coat it with the dry mix. Set it aside on a clean plate until u have coated all of the chicken. Place the coated pieces in the fridge again for about 10-15 minutes (this allows the first coating of batter to set a bit)

Crack the 6 eggs into a bowl and beat with a whisk till well blended.

Pour canola oil into a large pan (preferably an iron skillet - they work best) that u can cover. High walled pans work best to reduce splatter. Turn the heat up to med hi.

 Dip each piece of the chicken into the egg, coating it, and then again into the dry mix. Set aside on another clean plate.

Once everything has been coated a second time, and the oil is hot - uncover the pan and carefully (be careful of splashing oil) place all of  the chicken into the pan and fry it, turning frequently.  Temperature is key here - as a general rule - the higher, the better, but safety first. The recipe I based this on calls for 400 degree oil  - that's way tooo high for home use. But the higher the temperature - the less oil is absorbed and the more the spices flavor will come through. The oil should sizzle - but not smoke! As each piece cooks - place it on a paper towel lined plate to drain a bit. And serve.

Enjoy! And for those who asked  - yes, first person to complete this recipe and take a picture of it with a sign that says "Kaal's Kitchen" next to the completed dish DOES win a 2pp prize!!

See ya next time folks!!

I think Im not 100% clear on the expectations of armor customers.  I had someone approach me and ask for a t6 armor set, while I was out questing and they wnted it right away. They claimed to have all the rares. The person said I was the only armosmith of that tier online and they really wanted it done. I estimated the costs of the mats and told them what I thought would be a reasonable fee (50g) for the entire set. I then got berated for being too "greedy". Im not sure if other crafters experience this. I;ve tried the "I'll do it for the costs of mats plus tip" thing - but that usually gets me only the costs of the mats. What Im wondering is, is there any set formula that other crafters use?

I experience this on a pretty regular basis.  I am a T6 Tailor and quite often get orders while I'm out doing something else.  It seems that people wait just for the days that you have something else planned.

I don't have much of a formula, but I do figure out the cost of the materials and add a fee (1g per tier per item) as you did.  However, if they don't like the cost I quote, my fee doubles.  If they want it now and I'm doing something else that I am unable to leave or don't want to leave, I times it by 10.  I don't set out to tick my customers off, but they do get the hint pretty quickly that I charge what I charge for a reason, and that I will complete their order as soon as I can.

About time ya got another one of these up ya slacker! =)

Thanks much for the kind words! I'll admit I was shy at first to be joining a larger than what I'm used to guild but after getting settled in I couldn't imagine being guilded anywhere else. I've made so many wonderful friends and gotten closer to those I had already known. Blackhawks is definitly one big happy family and I'm darn proud to be a part of it! :o) *huggles*

As for the tradeskilling thing, I've never had a set fee, just mat. cost and donation/whatever said person feels appropriate payment and it's rare that someone doesn't donate on top of the mat. cost. But if you choose to do a set price, just set it as whatever you feel is fair for your time/effort. If someone doesn't like it then let them make their own armorer so they can make it themselves

Chicken fingers sound awesome!! (and Kaal knows how well I loooove chicken LOL) Guess I'll be making those for my tournament this Saturday

Wonderful post as always dear! *hugs*

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I think Im not 100% clear on the expectations of armor customers.  I had someone approach me and ask for a t6 armor set, while I was out questing and they wnted it right away. They claimed to have all the rares. The person said I was the only armosmith of that tier online and they really wanted it done. I estimated the costs of the mats and told them what I thought would be a reasonable fee (50g) for the entire set. I then got berated for being too "greedy". Im not sure if other crafters experience this. I;ve tried the "I'll do it for the costs of mats plus tip" thing - but that usually gets me only the costs of the mats. What Im wondering is, is there any set formula that other crafters use?

*adds Kal to his friend's list for next time he needs t6 armor* 

I experience the same thing all the time - I don't think a lot of non-crafters realize the fuel costs involved (4.6g x 7 pieces + 4.6g x 2 if you're getting the leg and chest pieces imbued), not to mention the cost of roots on tier 6.  50g is a very reasonable price for a full set.  Actually if I were tipping someone for a full t6 rare set I'd give them an even plat.  I also don't think it sinks in with a lot of people that all those other characters they see running around are played by real people that don't log in just to entertain them.

"Kaalenarc, in the latest Kaalenarc's Korner" wrote:

I think that as of late I have been encountering more and more dishonest people coming into the game. Different guilds have different rules for membership. Ours happens to be that we require full disclosure of your alts , and that you not have alts in other guilds on this server. My issue is that, time and again people apply to the team, and just flat out lie about it...

...Just annoying I guess. Whether its applying to a team, negotiating over the costs of something, or just standard NBG issues in pugs..I am concerned at the rise in...deceptiveness.

Such deception has been a thorn in my psyche since the early 80's when I first discovered dailup bulletin boards.  The internet did not exist as we know it today.  However, from any home computer, you could dial into bulletin boards and leave messages much like the forums we have now.  (Yes, Virginia, there was an "internet" but you had to have official access or gain access illegally.)  After more than twenty years of dialing into bulletin boards, surfing to chat sites and using chat software such as mIRC and Skype I can tell you from my own experience that this misrepresentation of oneself online is as old as the personal computer.  Even older when you read some of the history of the internet's beginnings.

I've long considered this issue and I've come to a few conclusions which I will share with you here.  You've heard, I'm sure, the phrase, "The grass is always greener...".  Put in it's simpler terms, it means that no matter what we have, we always want more, better, bigger, faster, smaller, etc.  Basically, whatever adjective fits the bill.  This is human nature.  I believe that lack of contentment is the reason humans have made such great advances in science and medicine.

Enter the internet.  Only internet providers know a person's true identity and even they won't look too deeply if they're paid every month.  Whatever the internet architects and providers intend, it provides for relative anonymity with little to no accountability.  And therein lies the temptation.

Combine the desire to be something you are not with the anonymity provided by the internet and the temptation to misrepresent yourself becomes too great for some people.  For some, the internet is a shortcut to being [insert appropriate adjective here] than they are in reality.  For many of those, there is no accountability for that misrepresentation.

Conflict arises, as it has recently within this guild, when those people are held accountable for their words.  I don't pretend to understand someone that would lie in order to get into a gaming guild, but I will offer you something of myself so that you might understand better what causes people to intentionally decieve others online. 

I learned a valuable lesson regarding this about 14 years ago when I gave in to the same temptation.  At the time, I was a 31 year old divorcee with custody of my four year old son.  I had joined a relatively prestigious local bulletin board in Manhattan.  Among the members of the community were nationally celebrated authors, celebrities and artists.  Not to be outdone, I exaggerated some of my Coast Guard exploits and made some wild claims concerning my lifestyle.  I did not represent myself as a different person, but I certainly embellished a bit on reality.  You'd think that at 31 years of age I would have known better.  After being a member of the community for a short time, I was invited to the Martini Club.  The club was a group of members that held a martini party at a different person's house each month.  I immediately volunteered to hold the next one.  The party was a success and I had a wonderful time meeting some very interesting people.  Then, the very next day, one of the members called me out on the bulletin board concerning certain discrepencies between my posted claims and the reality of my small apartment in military housing.  Even the true things I said were suddenly suspect.  Most of the group were forgiving of my misrepresentation but it was an embarrassing situation and altogether unneccesary.

In the greater scheme of life, playing an online game is a small thing.  However, in the little world in which we play, belonging to a prestigious and friendly guild such as the Blackhawks is a great thing.  Claiming to be poor and applying to your generosity in negotiating for an item is a way of getting ahead in the game.  In most cases, people believe there are no repercussions for lying to obtain these things.

"I am a man of my words, so today I ate them." - David Schuster, MSNBC

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Halefryk

Mystic

Blackhawks Guild

Such deception has been a thorn in my psyche since the early 80's when I first discovered dailup bulletin boards.  The internet did not exist as we know it today.  However, from any home computer, you could dial into bulletin boards and leave messages much like the forums we have now.  (Yes, Virginia, there was an "internet" but you had to have official access or gain access illegally.)  After more than twenty years of dialing into bulletin boards, surfing to chat sites and using chat software such as mIRC and Skype I can tell you from my own experience that this misrepresentation of oneself online is as old as the personal computer.  Even older when you read some of the history of the internet's beginnings.

Enter the internet.  Only internet providers know a person's true identity and even they won't look too deeply if they're paid every month.  Whatever the internet architects and providers intend, it provides for relative anonymity with little to no accountability.  And therein lies the temptation.

Combine the desire to be something you are not with the anonymity provided by the internet and the temptation to misrepresent yourself becomes too great for some people.  For some, the internet is a shortcut to being [insert appropriate adjective here] than they are in reality.  For many of those, there is no accountability for that misrepresentation.

 -------

Halefryk

Mystic

Blackhawks Guild

Outstanding post, Hale.  Very concise and insightful.  Sounds like you and I cut our teeth in the same way with online communications.  I too observed the strange penchance for embellishment that existed in the old BBS days, and which continues today.  Back then, even inter-campus "intenet" communications were heavy with somewhat...  modified representations.  Fairly early on in my experience I attended a picnic in L.A. with members of a BBS I frequented.  Those in attendance had represented VERY accurate descriptions - truth in advertising!  Those who were NOT in attendance were subject to a discussion about the accuracy of their self-portayals.   

I don't know whether I'm just ancient enough to have missed the boat on how vaulable the internet can be in terms of being able to represent myself as something/someone that I'm not, or if I'm just confident enough in my own person that I don't feel the need to create an innacurate and unsustainable persona.  Whatever the reason, my friends know me for who and what I am, and those that have dealings with me don't get a slice of something that isn't real.  To what advantage would that be? 

Because I am who I am... (social studies/history teacher)

Misrepresentation of person extends back through time well before the internet (though the internet "gave it wings" as it were - a post becomes "instantly available",whereas before you had to wait a while for the clay tablet to bake, or the ink on the parchment to dry, or, you know...).    Note the following example...

This ancient Personals Ad reads "I am a beautiful 19 year old princess with waterfont property and a nice collection of birds.  I seek a wealthy landowner with large surplusses of grain and tame monkeys for long walks along the nile and sunsets over the desert.  No Smokers please".

After careful research at the hands of emminent Egyptologists, this was ultimately determined to be sourced to the 19th dynasty under Merenptah (time period between 1295 bce and 1186 bce or so), and to have been written by an Alexandrian stonemason named Ted who had halitosis, lived with his mom, and who had a bad leg.  <shrug> 

The more things change, the more they stay the same I guess. 

I am afflicted with a strange sense of humor.  We all have our burdens to bear.