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Dowlphin

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Blog Entries posted by Dowlphin

  1. Dowlphin
    For a total Pinkie Pie fan, having good color display is even more exciting. Of all the colors, I am most stunned by how awesome and vivid pink looks on my monitor. So I made a comparative photo. It's not perfect, since a photo camera has trouble with photos like this. The monitors should display a color gradient from pastel-like at the top to extremely vivid pink on the bottom.
     
    The photo will look different on various displays, but the relation (hopefully) should become clear. There should be a distinct difference.
    In natura the difference is even more extreme.
     
    Fun fact: My 27" Eizo monitor (on the left) was cheaper than the 'budget' 21.5" Yiynova digitizer display on the right. (Both are IPS panels!)
     
     
     
     
    Here is the color gradient I used for making the photo:
     
     
     
     
     
     
  3. Dowlphin
    I am noticing this more frequently in recent episodes: Vocals are being distributed on the stereo channels depending on where a speaker is in relation to the camera.
    This can add acoustic information and some pseudo-realism (if not overdone, which happens when factors like sound reflection on walls are disregarded), but it is a tricky thing to use, because it is very easy to break immersion with it, and this happens especially when a speaker's position changes not by moving, but due to a changing camera position. Because then the watcher becomes aware of a 'camera man' teleporting around in the scene.
    I think this is especially noticeable in MLP because lately they're overdoing the stereo separation with lateral voices.
     
    I don't know why people who get paid for this stuff ("professionals") don't notice those subtle but crucial details, but I guess treating this area as an art form might be more than what is the norm in the business.
     
    This isn't a rant. It's just that I keep noticing various things that disturb immersion and would love to contribute my expertise, but unfortunately things aren't that easy.
  5. Dowlphin
    Derpy: "I have good news and I have bad news..."
    Twiley: "Tell me the bad news first."
    Derpy: "Oh... well, OK.
    I ate them."
    Twiley: "Huh? Ate what?"
    Derpy: "The muffins."
    Twiley: "What muffins?"
    Derpy: "The... the ones I made you."
    Twiley: "Oh! ... Well, it's alright. The gesture is what counts. ... Of making them, not eating them of course.
    So what's the good news?"
    Derpy: "I made you some muffins!! :-D"
     
     
    inspired by: http://dm29.deviantart.com/art/I-Made-You-Some-Muffins-But-I-Ate-It-All-330950147
  9. Dowlphin
    I just had an epiphany. Finally I am able to put this into words.
     
    Things happen for a reason, people are influenced greatly by their surroundings. A chain of events caused Luna to become Nightmare Moon, and the forces of love and empathy weren't powerful enough back then to stop it from happening, and neither could it be defused.
     
    During "Luna Eclipsed", you could notice from her manners that things were different back then.
     
    A thousand years later she returned, and her return coincided with a most fortunate chain of events that put the Elements of Harmony to a very different use ... actual harmony. Oh my, Celestia might have put discrace on those magical sacraments in the past, by creating a great and painful division. This becomes clear when you consider that Luna didn't return as Luna, but as the same she was when she was banished.
     
    So it was actually Equestria that had to change, that needed a thousand years to grow into a state of being able to mend that old wound. Luna had the role of the somewhat involuntary teacher (basically a nemesis), and Celestia seems at least to some degree unaware of how she should have shown more humility upon their re-uniting. That fateful act of banishing her beloved sister surely influenced her rule deeply in the following millennium, allowing her to turn Equestria into a place where love and compassion has grown strong enough to be able to right the shortcomings of the past.
     
    Luna's strong yin energy facilitated this passive approach. We can fight certain difficulties, but at some point, everypony is at their limit, and when Luna reached that limit, she allowed herself to succumb to weakness, staying true to herself by making a great but necessary sacrifice in order to teach a world the hard way; a world where there was no feasible alternative for its betterment.
     
    You know that wherever the sun shines, the night retreats effortlessly ... and it has to. This so easily invites exploitation.
     
    You think Nightmare Moon was the aggressive, offensive pole in this conflict? Wasn't she to some degree a mere reflection of Celestia's approach of that nature? Her active, burning sun within - attacking problems upfront? Might she have neglected to offer Luna the space she needed for fulfillment? Did she become too full of herself without noticing and thus influenced pony society towards neglecting the night? ... Life tends to show you on the outside what is deep within yourself that you don't want to see.
     
    Nightmare Moon was a corruption; the result of imposing the energy of the sun onto the silent beauty of the night.
     
    This mistake shall never be repeated.
    Thus, I am writing these words
    as an homage to Luna's elusive greatness.
     
     
     
    UPDATE 2015-09-17: And this might be why there's that odd contradiction in the sisters' theme and personality: Celestia likes to rule by not ruling, to just support and nourish and instill confidence and let ponies figure things out within their own potential, while Luna is surprisingly forward and active. This might have been different long time ago, with Luna being very yin and Celestia being very yang and that having been the cause for the crisis, so the sisters have now moved closer to each other and that works.
  13. Dowlphin
    When Twilight Sparkle was made to experience her worst fear by Sombra's Door, Spike came quickly and interrupted its captivating influence. But I think without Spike, Twilight would have made it on her own, too. Spike broke the spell while she was still fully in the grasp of her fears.
    The opportunity lies in allowing this to continue on its own. What would have happened is this: Exactly because it is her worst fear, it would have a devastating effect. A prolonged experience would be unbearable for her, thus creating the necessity to find her source of inner strength, to empower and call upon the little bright light of positivity buried under those fears, and because Twilight is also very smart, she would eventually figure out that this cannot be 'right'. She would stop believing that any experience she might have could be that horrible and desperate, and that refusal of belief in her fears, combined with the gained skill in tapping into her positive spirit regardless of the circumstances, would allow her to overcome them.
     
    I know this because I have experienced a process like that with ayahuasca. That's how emotional healing works ... the hard way ... when less severe means aren't available or sufficient.
     
    So this is actually the weakness in Sombra's Door: Less severe fears are way more tricky. People can learn to live with them, to incorporate them into their life, they don't catch attention, thus they can remain undetected. But fully experiencing one's worst fears isn't sustainable and thus carries in itself the seed of its demise. We are unwilling and unable to live with them, and when fighting this battle inside of the mind, at the end the only casualty can be the fear that struck root there. Ironically, Sombra's Door magic is too powerful to be able to prevail.
  15. Dowlphin
    Everypony becomes evil - that would be hilarious.
     
    Look at this and imagine the hilarity ensuring:
    http://giuliabeck.deviantart.com/art/Nightmare-Derpy-279568219
     
    They'd all scheme and fight against each other and eventually realize that it's pointless, in part because when everypony is evil, nopony is evil. They'd also realize the stupidity and unsustainability of a life like that.
  17. Dowlphin
    The bandwagon is irresistble.
     
    Any mod desginer here who would like to do that? ... The model would make sense as a warhammer as well as a staff.
     
    Although I guess some picture edits would be fun, too. I'm just not in the mood for stuff like that, otherwise I'd make something myself. But maybe this idea inspires you for all kinds of weapon-associated stuff involving that scepter.
     
    But imagine how hiariously grotesque it would be to bash a dragon head in with that silly smily face. ... Or to roast some bandits with unicorn power. (Rainbow beam spell maybe.)
  19. Dowlphin

    New song idea

    By Dowlphin,

    Just a basic concept at this point.
     
     
    "Cowntry Song"
     
    Graze this lawn
    Graze this lawn
    Moo moo moo moo
    Together we will graze this lawn
    Moo moo moo moo
  21. Dowlphin
    I felt like writing this as a kind of antithesis or observation of a field that is very much not like what MLP tries to convey, and also to use the momentum of my recent motivational low for something productive.
     
     
    Someone pointed something out recently - I don't remember where - that at least should make one think, regarding player behavior in the MMO space game "EVE Online". He said, it's a fictional game, it's phantasy. Doing things we can't realistically do in real life. So what are you phantasizing about?
    More specifically he said that if a player feels inclined to play a criminal in an MMO and to cause other players grief, they're acting out their suppressed urges, and they would totally do that in real life if consequences were as tiny as they are in the game.
     
    I think he wanted to point out that we should at least not kid ourselves about that.
     
    There are many things I'd like to do in that game, but somehow, they don't involve causing other players grief. That's just not inspiring to me, nor entertaining.
     
    There are even those who delude themselves by claiming they're preparing new players for the harsh world of EVE by blowing up their ships using trickery, but the irony is that they are the ones who make the game world what it is.
    It's kinda related to the situation of mafia protection money: Protection from who? ... From the mafia's punishment for not paying.
     
    There is a player who leads maybe the biggest alliance in the game (aptly named Goonswarm) who organized actions to, for example, try to ruin the game's economy, and CCP cherishes it, because it's all a sandbox environment and an experiment and all that. But it should make them stop and ponder (which apparently it doesn't) that that guy just so happens to be the same who just before that got a 30 day ban for encouraging the player community to drive a suicidal player into taking action and actually ending his life.
     
     
    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-04-27-ccp-players-attempt-to-destroy-eve-online-economy-is-f-ing-brilliant
     
    http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-26-ccp-launches-investigation-after-eve-online-fanfest-panel-accused-of-mocking-suicidal-player
     
     
    That is one example of how they're nourishing antisocial behavior and mindsets that can and do bleed over into real life. EVE Online has a rich history of meta-gaming, where players extend ideas into the area outside of the game's set rules - often with malicious intent, because the way the game is designed hinges on that. I don't see bold new ideas put into practice to do something amazingly constructive in EVE. In that department it's just following the constructive tools given that ultimately serve the purpose of fueling the mayhem.
     
    Referring to social and evolutionary sciences... playing games - the animal world shows us what it's all about: It's preparation and practicing skills for the real world. Conditioning habits.
     
    Look at the games humans play and you know how their world works.
     
    It gets even more interesting when said meta-gaming comes into the mix and successful players join the game development team. Then it becomes like a huge goon-jerkoff.
     
    The day might come where CCP will reap what they have sowed when some players take the so welcomed meta-gaming to the next level and act out a grand scheme that destroys CCP itself. Can you imagine any more fame and glory for a criminal character, for a player who loves to inflict harm and cause destruction? No better way to destroy the game economy than to destroy the game itself. I mean, the borders ARE blurring, and it's not really helping that CCP is actually represented by corporations and a faction in the game just like every other group there. Waging war on CCP is just the next logical step in this social experiment that CCP encourages so much. I guess the real world isn't rotten enough for them - they felt the need to rebuild it on a smaller scale, in the so-called virtual world, to observe what they already should know and see everywhere in the real world.
    A philosophy/approach that is only tolerated up to an arbitrary limit set by one party is unwise and will not prevail, since it creates the desire to challenge that authority.
    CCP is playing with fire and they might burn themselves.
     
    It is much more interesting (but requires courage and pioneer spirit) to run social experiments with a better future in mind, instead of encouraging the worst in people. Because then the common modus operandi of competitve business becomes masked by self-delusion, and it's all just about catering to the lowest common denominator in order to maximize profits, and the philosophy talk is just the distraction from those motivations.
  22. Dowlphin
    This idea just came to me while rewatching Bridle Gossip:
     
    Maybe Zecora speaks exclusively in rhymes because her first encounter with poison joke caused her to be unable to talk in anything but rhymes, and then she decided:
     
     
    Joke's on you, my little blue plant!
    If you expect me to yearn for a cure, then I shan't.
  23. Dowlphin
    I might write a long account of my experience at the UK's convention "BUCK" later, but I wanted to tell you about a funny experience I had on a bus on the way from Manchester Airport to the city:
     
    An senior lady entered the bus with her niece, who was like the perfect target audience for MLP in any way; must have been between 5 and 7. I talked to the lady and mentioned MLP and the convention and we chatted. She asked her niece whether she had heard of My Little Pony, and the little girl said, in a rejecting, kinda snobbish tone of voice, something like: Yeah, I know what it is. ... But it's for little girls!
     
    I guess from a different perspective it's not just funny, but also a little sad that we live in a society where some young girls deny their age, their identity, and thus, in a way, their childhood. Has society become so unsupportive of childlike nature that the desire to be all 'grown-up' has permeated through teenager level into kids' age?
     
    Of course it's just one case, but I still find it a bit sad. ... In retrospect, that is. At first it was really just ironically funny.
     
    I'm so happy that MLP inspires so many people to nourish and maybe even rediscover their inner child.
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