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August 2006 Donation Item Critique |
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This month's items are Gwee the Dragon and the Angelic Microphone! 
Call in the Replacements
Is it just me, or does one of the modes of the Angelic Microphone look like it was designed to replace both the DJ Headphones and the Angelic Mini Wings? I don' tknow, maybe it's just me. But that dragon is so damn cute! Let's start things off right, shall we?
The Voices From Above
I have this sneeking suspesion that the Angelic Mic is in line with the PineApple laptop in that you can put it in your Gaia Home. But unfortunately, I am suffering from a bug that is preventing me from even accessing my Gaia Home. Go figure.
Why do I have this paranoid thought in my head? Well, the Angelic Microphone's default position is that of a mic and stand. The microphone is designed after the early days of radio broadcast. You know, the days when they aired old-timey country music and big band jazz on the radio? The days your great grandparents tell you about before their was television? Yeah, those days. This microphone could be from those days, minus the weird wings on either side of the microphone. The cool thing is that when you sit down, the mic stand lowers! It also is a stand-alone accessory, which means you don't really have to match in order to play in front of it. However, I do suggest picking out something that is Angelic in nature. Don't want to shove your Goth rocker with their Guitar of Demona in front of this mic, now do you?
The next three modes, I have to tell you in advance if you haven't found out already, you can't wear a hat with. In fact, most hats cause these modes to de-equip in one strange fashion or another.
The first of these head gears is the Winged Headset. Here, you get a nice, pearly white pair of headphones designed to give you the sounds that the BOSE company probably only dreams about. And just like the DJ and Ports before it, you can couple this headphone set with either you ZONY MP3 or CD player. However, given the bulk of the size, you would look rather rediculous without something equally as bulky on your avatar, be it big hair like in the preview picture or a puffy jacket that you can by from Liam. Futhermore, if you are trying to make it match, you'll be hard press to do so. The white doesn't seem to match any of the whites in my inventory at least, and I doubt there are many white items out there that it can match with and still look stylish, if not decent.
Winged Headband keeps the same design of the headset, only with shorter wings and a band going across your forehead. I like the design of this mode, in that it's very futuristic. The trouble is that you can't find anything that is white enough or futuristic enough to match it. I would have so loved to try and make my avatar cosplay as if it was in the universe of Tron, but alas, I cannot. Who knows what kind of use, if any, this mode can offer. I couldn't find one before this critique.
The Mic Headset is what all the Gaian Idols out there will be wearing soon. Unfortunately, the bulk of the speakers kind of makes this mode unattractive to anyone about to step on stage. It looks more appropriate for someone who is fighting a war and needs to contact HQ in a hurry. Again, it's too white to be matched successfully with any of the war gear available on the market. It's also too big for anything that a Gaian pop star would wear. The closest thing I could find was to break out the Elegant Veil and dress up like Madonna during her stage preformance of 'Like a Virgin.' Not a pretty sight even for someone like me who likes to crossdress his avatar just for the fun of it.
Speaker Bag mode is designed to replace both the boom boxes and the various bags in Gaia at once. How? By broadcasting your music everywhere you walk! Seriously, though, you can do that in real life what with backpacks and purses now offering slots for your iPod to sit in while you walk. Gaia is just jumping on that band wagon before it's too late. Now, realistically,the Speaker Bag is suppose to be a portible speaker used to get your message across if you can't afford a bull horn or megaphone. It normally comes with a small microphone that is connected to it somewhere. This said microphone is nowhere to be found on the bag of this item. As such, the only good thing you can do with the speaker in this bag is broadcast your MP3s to everyone in your Gaia Town Zip Code as you walk past them.
(Please note that you really CAN'T broadcast MP3s in Gaia Towns with this item in this mode. That would be breaking copyright laws out the ying yang.)
The next two modes probably go hand in hand with each other, but chances are most people won't realize this unless they know something about music and audio technology. The Tweeter and Woofer Modes to most will just be new wings. The Woofers are detached chibi wings of the angelic nature with what appears to be a pair of 20'' subs close to your ears. The Tweeters are smaller version of this, naturally with smaller speakers near your wrists. Do not be fooled by their positions! They are not back wings or winged bracelets! They are actually just speakers that hover around you like some crazy MegaMan villain. Those that know what Woofers and Tweets are already know that you can't have one without the other, making these modes warrent the purchase of second.
For those of you that don't know, here's some more schooling! Tweeters are tiny little speakers in a sound system, more often than not a theatre surround sound system, that broadcast high frequency sounds. Musically, the broadcast the treble in your tracks. Woofers, on the other hand, are big speakers that broadcast the lower frequency sounds or the bass in a musical track. That's why whenever a pimped out car stops next to you at a red light, all you here is the 'thump thumpthump thump' of whatever they are listening to. They put some woofers in there to up the bass, which is probably more desirable than increasing the treble, as it would blow out your ears in a big bloodly mess.
The last mode in the Angelic Microphone, I have to admit, caught me by surprise. It's known as Necklace Speaker. Basically, you get a tiny speaker in the same shape that has been carried throughout the item, only it is attached to a necklace. Now, what surprises me about this is nothing to do with the item matching or accenting capabilities. It's the fact that the artists put into a Donation Item a piece of equipment used more often than not by those with damaged vocal cords. That's right. These kind of items in real life are issued to people that can't speak due to smoking or some kind of trauma to their voice box. Those of you that watch South Park know what I'm talking about. I don't know why the artists decided to put that version in, but if this was a real item, I bet the audio quality would be better than what they issue in real life.
Overall, this item is a good accessory, but only if you have enough white items to match it. However, I really wish there were more items that would match both the brightness of the white and bulk of the design better. Maybe in the future there will be something, but for now, there really isn't anything.
GWEE!!! SQUEE!!
Gwee the Dragon, from this point out, I'll be adressing as a 'she.' Why? Because I think it's a girl dragon! I mean, look at her eyes! What male dragon has those kind of eyes even as a baby?
Gender debate aside, Gwee is the newest in the new line of Gaia Pets. Mochi now has some competition, and this time, she's packing heat! Litterally! As cute as this little dragon is, the one thing Mochi has over her is the fact that Gwee tends to be shy. Two of the modes you can have her in feature her hiding for crying out loud!
So what modes are there? Well, there is the standard flying next to you pose that is common with baby dragons. So common, in fact, that I have two games that feature baby dragons flying around with the main character. Gwee will do the same thing whenever you are in Gaia Towns with this mode.
Gwee also is another member of the ever popular On My Head club, whose members include the likes of Kiki, CoCo, and Mochi! However, unlike the cats and dog, the dragon likes to just sleep on your head. She looks rather cute there, but also makes a rather stylish turban piece if you have enough greens and browns that match her scales.
The two modes where she is hiding are known as On My Back and Behind My Head. As the name suggests, when you turn around, you'll see her hiding rather peacefully behind either your back or your head. However, most users will end up using this mode for one reason only. Mini Dragon Wings on your back or on your head, provided you have the hair that shows enough of the wings to make it look like you have a pair. That being said, Gwee is pretty much going to be safe from the cameras in the Avatar Arena, provided nobody turns around.
Fire Mouth mode puts Gwee around the back of your neck and in attack mode. Here, she is spitting out a little ball of fire, possible to defend you but mostly because she is hungry. This mode I can see being used by those that like to dress dark and love dragons. It is the perfect pet for such an angsty dresser.
Finally, you can hug Gwee with In My Arms mode. Here, much like the other pets before, you can hold the little dragon in your arms very lovingly. As usual, this pose looks better sitting down, but in this case, it also looks different when you sit down! Because of the tail and the long body of Gwee, she ends up actually fitting on your lap when you have your avatar sitting down! I think this subtle detail is an excellent addition and adds so much to the little dragon. It actually makes her feel like she's an organic thing in Gaia!
With all the complaints about there not being enough fantasy items in Gaia, it's nice to see a mythical beast become the third in the Gaia Pet line of items. But why third, is my question. I mean, this little cutie could easily roast those parrots and Mochi with no problem! What took so damn long?!
And Thank You! I love you all!
I would like to take this time to thank everyone that comes to this journal and actually reads my critiques on these Donation Items. Frankly, I didn't realize how many people actually visit and take these things seriously (or even as some kind of entertainment or commentary on an item they've already decided upon). The comments and encourangements you posted in my last entry when my computer died told me what I needed to do this month. And so, I did so.
Donation Item Critiques will continue for as long as I have money or Gaia Gold to spend on the items. And it's all for you guys out there that want to know what this honest Joe thinks about this month's investment.
Again, thank you for your support. heart
 Zeek Slider · Tue Aug 15, 2006 @ 10:37pm · 10 Comments |
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