Pixel-clothes Philosophy

OKAY.  I have a DAY OFF.  So today I may actually go around and catch up on all the awesome outfits posted lately by the creative, talented people in my blogroll.  I’m excited!

I’m also excited to make a little change in the personal kin I run for my own cosmetic storage use.  If you see a kin member running around Landroval with “Landroval Style” as a kin tag — that’s me!  Feel free to run up to me, tell me about your outfit, ask to be on the blog, or just say hi!

I’m also woefully late in submitting an article to the fantastic group blog I Rez Therefore I Am, and after thinking and thinking (and blanking and blanking) about what to write, I realized I want a few more perspectives before I start talking about cosmetic pixel-clothing and identity.  So, if you good people don’t mind, here’s where you can help me out.

Answer me this:  Why do you care about cosmetic clothing?  

I know, that’s waaay open-ended, and it’s meant to be.  Here’s my answer.

I care because in a virtual world, without body language, without the context of the “real,” without the details of voice and smile and attitude, visuals are what we get.  Emotes and says and how a player conducts herself while questing, rp’ing, and pvmp’ing — those all matter.  But in the end, when someone sees a character from across a crowded Pony square or in the Stangard mead hall or on a flet in Caras Galadhon, the visual is the message.  It’s a character’s outward expression of identity.

Also, I like the pretty.  And those two reasons can exist side-by-side without a speck of conflict.

But how about you?

Apologies!

I’m in the middle of training for my new job, and holy COW exhausted.  I have plans and plans and plans waiting, but they’ll keep until I’m not faceplanting on the keyboard and ending up with QWERTY embossed on my forehead.

<3  More soon!  Outfits!  Hilarity!  Houses!

Meet the Models

I…am like the crazy cat lady of alts.  No, really.  I have more than one account (oh, I’m not even going into how many accounts I DO have.  Thank you, Christmas presents and f2p!), and I fill those accounts UP with bit players and cosmetic models and beloved characters.

But I use a lot of the same rp characters over and over as models, so I thought I might introduce a few of them in their everyday outfits.  You’ll see these folks wandering around Landroval on a fairly frequent basis.

Today I Marry My Best Friend

The post title says it all.  Squee!

This new “Light of the Two Trees” fabric is surprisingly breathable!

So then Elvis showed up, because, like, that’s what HAPPENS in Vegas weddings, and he was all, “Mae govannen,” and I was all, “Suilad,” and stuff.

And lo, the Valar sang into being the Chicken Dance.

Landroval Style

Now, I wouldn’t call Landroval the best Lord of the Rings Online server.  The only other server I’ve tried is Laurelin (can you tell I’m a roleplayer?), and despite the lovely people I met there, the time zones didn’t work out.  That said, I’ve been a happy-as-a-clam Landroval player for five years now, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

My characters are surrounded all the time by toons wearing interesting, colorful cosmetic clothing.  Roleplayer or not, raider or not, people find a ton of different ways to make their characters look as distinct as possible within the boundaries of our few hairstyle and face options.

Not that I want more hairstyles or anything.  *cough*

So if you have a toon on Landroval, and you’re tickled pink by your chosen cosmetic outfit, please drop a PM to me on the official forums as Luned (or contact Luned, Gisala, or Nidhil in-game), and I’d be happy to feature your screenshots or take a few of my own.  I’ll also be keeping an eye out for cool outfits seen in the wild, so to speak — but I’ll always ask before publicizing you here.

Thanks!