You skipped a month...
To answer a few of the comments about my announcement from last month, the reason why I was unable to do a proper critique was due to the fact I couldn't access my inventory. Period. I could access the Inventory Arranger through a series of backdoor links, but in the end, it wouldn't help me get to the Customize Me page. This put me in a very awkward position. I could either review the items using just the preview, which at the time was not working in my favor due to being stuck in an avatar outfit I grew tired of, or cancel the reviews altogether and just wait this bug out. I chose the second option.
I wasn't going to to move any of my items into Storage after reading about a bug that deletes items if you put too many in the trunk. Most of the users who have experianced this have not gotten their items back and probably will never get them back since, according to the TOS, Gaia is not responsible for those kind of things happening. I also do not have a mule account, nor do I see this bug a reason to have one to begin with.
As of this typing, I'm still suffering from an Inventory Bug, but thankfully so is everyone else. I can preview the items just fine now, as well as play around with the items I do have in my inventory since I can now access the Customize Me page. That said, on with this month's critique! <span id="test21520053">. . .</span><br/><div id="post21520053" style="display:none; margin-right:75px;">
This month's collectables are Head Case and Holy Gauntlets!
 Lots 'o Yellow
This month's collectables are brought to you by the color "yellow." Yes, that color that is used to color in the Gold Gaia coins that we value and seek. So you know that these items will be worth a lot later on. Yeah, right. These items actually are playing off of a lot of niche anime genres and are gambling on users who are obsessed over the shows they are based off of, especially the Head Case. Let's start with that one.
That do is SO you!
It's been a long time since the Mythic Hair has been released, but Head Case is really just an extension (no pun intended) of that wig, which was also an extension of the Elemental Hair a few months before that one. It isn't so much a "hand-me-down" as the teaser suggested so much as it is the avatar artists finally giving the hair styles all the Avatar Editors out there have been doing on the forums for the last year and a half.
The default style is none other than the Super Saiyan look. If you haven't see the Dragonball series, then you're not missing much as far as the refferance to that show goes. Then again, even if you haven't seen the show, you probably know that blond spikey look is from the series. To be honest, the design of the hair is a bit too close to how it was designed in the show, but generic enough to avoid any lawsuits. Not like anyone could sue since the fanchise is dead and the creator is designing characters for Blue Dragon and Chrono, but you never know these days.
Golden Spirals is actually a hair extension rather than a hair style, and it gives you a pair of spiralling curls that, in my opinion, form horns similar to the girl witch Eureka. (Yeah, I know I just dated myself, but I doubt anyone reading this knows what kid show I'm talking about.) With my avatar's raven black ponytail, it looks rather silly. Your best bet to use this extension properly is to find a hair style or wig that isn't so heavy in the contrasting styles. I found through playing around that the girl version of the Elemental Wind Hair actually works the best for my avatar. If your avatar has red, orange, or blonde hair, you should be fine with this option.
Zephyr Swirls is another hair extention option which essentially gives you small cloud-style horns. They automatically match both Wind options from the Elemental Hair, but I found a more interesting with the Elemental Water Hair. It's a nice alternative if you cannot wind a pair of horns from Faunzy's Flute or afford the blue dragon horns from the NPC store. But like the Golden Spirals, you'll have to find a style or wig that won't fight with its coloring.
Shark Fin on My Head is a useless option. You can already buy a similar item by trading in fish, for crying out loud! Why would you want to use this mode? Because the fin is bigger?
Tribal Tails gives you a pair of striped side-burn tails that... well, they just look awful on my avatar's current hair style. This hair extension relies heavily on the use of large bangs layering over the area just above the ears in order to look good. To look the best, they have to be brown or dark hair. What few wigs I have didn't make it look any better, though I did like how it looked with the Oni Mane. This mode, much like the other two before the Shark Fin, is yet another in the line of "could work well if you can find something that won't fight with it" catagory that has been developing so far for this item.
Medusa's Head is an option a lot of users were expecting with the green snake egg Evolutionary Item but ultimately never got until now. And as far as it matching said snake, it doesn't. There's no detail in the snakes in this wig to the point where it looks like you're wearing a bad costume rather than actually looking like a Gorgon. The Poison Hair from the Mythic Hair looks better than this simply because of the detail! For a cartoon look, it's fine. But I doubt anyone that wants to actually cosplay as a Gorgon will use this option.
Spike Ball Head turns your hair into that of a punk rocker's dream do. Or into a ball of spikes. Unfortunately for some, you're going to be stuck with a bald head instead of spikes coming out of your current hair style. As of this typing, said option is not present, but I'm leaning on the possibility of it being added if enough people say they want it in Site Feedback. As far as design goes, it's really rather boring. I don't see who will get any use out of this item outside of the ones walking around like they are from One Piece. The only way you can spice it up is to invest in one of the head tattoos, as it adds that extra kick to the design that this option is ultimately missing.
Overall, this item only has one or two useable options. As to what those options are, it all depends on personal taste. For me, I don't think I'll find a use for the options I was so critical over, but at the same time, you never know how cool something is until you combine it with something else. Hence the tattoo comment on the Spike Ball Head. Still, each of the options presented in this item could have easily been store items, not because of their lack of theme link, but due to their lack of flexibility.
Holy Hands
It's been a long, long, LONG time since we last had a pair of Gauntlets (excluding the pair that comes with the Chess Set) that were not only thematically consistent from option to option but interesting in design. How long has it been? The first and last ones before this were the Ice and Fire Gauntlets. The only thing left now is to expect there to be a Demonic Gauntlet.
The default option for the Holy Gauntlets is as gauntlets. Lucky for us you don't need to invest in two of these, as one item will cover both hands. Unlucky for us is the fact that there isn't much else to write home about. It's just a gold pair of Angelic gloves.
Might Shoulder Gaurd gives your avatar that really sleek and sexy one-arm gauntlet look. It even comes with a glowing angel wing coming out of the back, so you know it has to be a good option! Which it is if you are guy and don't plan on wearing a shirt with it. Judging by the shape of the cross, I would be very surprised if the bra on girl avatars are removed with this option. Still, it's a rather sexy and sleek option if you've got an armor fetish.
Glory Lance isn't a hand-held item. Instead, your one-arm gauntlet is given a redesign so that instead of a functional fist you're given a large pointy object that you can swing around like a sword. While the overall design of this weapon is rather interesting, the thing that kills it for me are those sunburst rings at the shoulder and elbow joints. Did it really need those? The shoulder one alone blocks out the face, and you can't exactly move your arm to help fix that problem. On top of that,it's not as sexy as the option above. It just makes you look like a really odd gold cyborg.
The next four options are the Holy Shield in some kind of variation. It features a Sunburst design as well as a Seraphim Wing option. Both can be equiped on your hands as well as mounted on your back. The one limitation is that the Seraphim verion takes up a hell of a lot of space when on your arm. So much so that there is only one hand-held option. More often than not, you're going to see this used as backwings, since that's the real draw to the shield. If anyone is actually using it as a shield, it will more than likely be coupled with any of the gauntlets in this item or some kind of Spartan inspired outfit. Personally? I'd go for the Aztec Warrior look by combining the it with either the Tama Spear or the Drome Staff.
I would be lying if I didn't say that Holy Circle looks like your avatar is given a halo made out of alchemy circles. You know, the complicated kind that are introduced very late in the Full Metal series. As far as halos go, it definately knows its place in Art history. I want to say Art Deco because of how sleek the line work is, but the coloring also suggest Bizentine. Either way, if you didn't like the gold circle that is part of the Masterpiece collectible, this option is a nice conservative alternative in both design and visual weight.
The Holy Pendent is the unapologetic second-generation--or rip-off, depending on your point of view--of the Angelic Pendent. While there is no "Off" mode for its holy glow, it sits in the exact same spot as the Angelic Pendent and offers the same look in that respect. It even layers on top of all torso items, which no other necklace in my inventory can do! The difference between the two is the coloring and the size of the glow. Unfortunately, I like the design of the Angelic Pendent more, as it is more subtle of an accessory than this option is.
Overall, the Holy Gauntlets is a very well designed item worthy of being a Monthly Collectable. This is probably the rare gem for the year and one that I would highly advise to invest in. We all know that the prices of collectables gradually go up as they get older, but the price of this item could very well hit the speed of the Steel Ninja Headband or the Horns of Demons as far as value inflation is concern.
Hairy Hands
This month's items are both a hit and a miss. You have one that is worthy of being a collectable in every respect despite some of its flaws, while at the same time you have another item that was probably better off having its options being sold individually as a NPC store item. It doesn't take a n00b to know which is the better of the two buys.
I mean, hell, you're talking to someone who couldn't do a proper critique last month and discovered he bought three-too-many of the Metal Gear Solid collectible...</div>
 Zeek Slider · Tue Jul 15, 2008 @ 11:30pm · 2 Comments |
