Well folks, tonight the server is undergoing some kind of maintenance, probably gearing up for the big switch! The game is down while… while something happens. I even asked Dewberry and even he says that he’s not sure if the current GMs will be sticking around when HKO makes the full switch to Sanrio Digital.

It certainly looks like there’s a whole cast of new GMs, though. I just found out about the GM Event Blog, which has blogroll links with fancy new buttons to several GMs whose names I’ve never heard before, but among them are some old favorites. I’ve updated my own blogroll accordingly (this is for my reference as much as yours - I rather like having bookmarks I can quickly access to read up on what the GMs are up to and get to know them!).

Anywhat! Tonight was another exciting event. I’m glad to be able to participate in these before the switch happens, since it seems so up-in-the-air whether our new Aeria friends are leaving or staying. GM-Dewberry and GM-Lime were present for this one!

Incoming transmission! All your chatting room are belong to Florapolis! What you say?!

You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been inside any of the Chatting Rooms before.

Here’s everyone gathering around in excitement, wondering what tonight’s spectacularly fun-filled game is going to be!

The room is filling up, the attendees milling about.

Glee! The game, it starts. First to lay down the rules.

PRIZES DID SOMEONE SAY PRIZES?

It took a try or two before everyone caught on. The flooded chatbox here is only a small taste of what is to come.

We caught on. Oh, how we caught on.

Some of the emote combinations brought forth less-than-appetizing images.

This round was worth remembering because I was the second person to state the answer. Sooooo close to getting that gorgeous White Ruffled Shirt!

For much of the game, I and others were far from the first ones to state our answers. KittyMaster was one who dwelt at the bottom with me, but she made a triumphant victory in the bonus round!

Another game is coming up on Friday! I hope I can be there! We’ll all have to tune in next time. Same HKO time, same HKO channel and all that.

Here’s a bit more of HKO adventuring.

I made it inside Oyakata’s house! It looks like a tropical paradise.

Cookiebow’s house on the Wind Pathway looks like a giant cookie jar!
Do you think that there might be giant cookies inside??

Before I knew it, I was hunting for a Pyrodon… O_O OMG. IT’S A DINOSAUR! He’s such a high level! And he has teeth! And claws! I’m scared!

For a while I kept my distance…

Bunnyfly! Would you shush?! Oh no, he noticed us!

*CHOMP* AAAAAAAAAAAAHH

Whew! It’s a good thing Bunnyfly knows Sleep Powder, or else we would have been dinner!

S’been a while since I posted anything about my HKO adventures! I logged in on a whim last night to take a break from all the portfolio work I’ve been doing lately. I was gathering stuff for a quest when an announcement came up preparing everyone for an event! I always miss out on these because of work, so I’m glad I got to show up for this one.

Here’s everyone gathered around for a game of anagrams formed out of the names of the people in attendance, with GM-Lime as our host and GM-Pomelo observing from his godly spot on a rock.

Argh, so close! The clue here was “crews inn sops” and my guess was “PrincessSnow”… silly me, her name is “Snowprincess”! Haha, if I hadn’t gotten that backwards, I might actually have won something in this game! XD

The game comes to its conclusion.

The winners got these snazzy Hello Kitty hats!! There was a consolation prize even for the folks who didn’t win anything. I got some corn on the cob!! 83

T’was most enjoyable. When I have time again I will have to get back into playing HKO.

…I wonder how many times I’ve said that in this blog?

I’ve spent the last week or so in the 80’s.

Seriously, that era just had the best cartoons. I mean, there was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Thundercats.

Unfortunately, myself being born in ‘88, I missed out on a major chunk of that decade, and many of the cartoons were off the air by the time I was old enough to know that Saturday mornings were mornings to be glued to the television, and many of the toys weren’t being distributed any more.

Thankfully, now we have the Internet.

My obsessions lately are all related to Hasbro toylines! I wonder what the reasoning behind that could be? Anyway, I just can’t stop watching Lady Lovely Locks, Jem & The Holograms, and the original My Little Pony. Oh, there was a series that I watched growing up called My Little Pony Tales, but it is rather different from the slightly older cartoons. I like the original MLP’s fantasy elements, rather than MLPTales’ scenarios where the ponies essentially lived as humans.

So here, enjoy the My Little Pony intro song. It makes me smile every time I hear that tune.

Oh man, THE AWESOME PASTEL COLORS. These cartoons are the culmination of why the 80’s were awesome.

Now enjoy the sweetness that is Lady Lovely Locks, about a girl with magic hair and pretty dresses. Her adventures involve being kind and dutiful and learning about the world around her, themes which are basically ignored in childrens’ cartoons of today.

And now for something completely different.

I’m still not entirely certain what age group Jem & The Holograms was directed at, but I am in love with it. There is more wacky hair, fabulous makeup, and asymmetrical clothing (complete with plenty of legwarmers and shoulderpads) in this show than ever achieved by Saved By The Bell.

Watching the truly outrageous intro song sufficiently summarizes what Jem is all about.

By the by, full episodes of all of these cartoons are just a Youtube search away. If any of you guys are interested, I highly recommend checking out each of them. At least one or two episodes, just to have the experience.

Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, each of these cartoons came about along with toy lines from Hasbro. Ebay searches yield all kinds of spectacular dolls and outfits for all three of these lines, and it really, really makes me wish that I had money to spare on collecting all of them.

Huh? Oh, I’m 21 years old, yes. Why do you ask?

Do you guys want to see something cool?

This is Stencyl. Stencyl is a game-creating platform. You guys like games, don’tcha? Have you ever had ideas to make your own? Maybe you’ve looked into software such as Game Maker and RPG Maker. Maybe you fill notebooks with drawings and ideas for characters and settings and weapons and costumes. Maybe you’ve never done anything of that, but reading about it right now has just perked your interest.

If so, I’m thinking you definitely want to keep your eyes open for Stencyl’s open beta release this fall. Its interface is smoother and easier to navigate than existing game-building software, and it is highly community-driven. If you can’t quite figure out how to script a certain action in your game, you can search for it on StencylForge and find a script someone else has made available for just that purpose.

Super Noni’s Adventure is one of the demonstration games on the official site, showcasing what can be done with Stencyl. I helped in creating it!! The graphics that I contributed will show up as the game expands with more levels. The stages and scripting and music were all put together by friends of mine. Plus, it’s a totally adorable and colorful game and you guys should totally check it out. c;

For more reading on Stencyl, here is an article about it on G4.