So much has gone on between now and the last post.  It’s been ages!

Here’s what kept me busy for the past few months:

• The local Journeyman took place, and I didn’t get anything new painted for my Cygnar
• After the Journeyman, I helped coordinate and run the Warmachine Events at the NOVA Open
  • I wrote software to manage the registrations, raffles, and painting competition data for the convention in about two weeks, while working 10-hour days, in roughly two weeks
  • 40+ players showed up on the weekend of the event, 9 Tournaments happened, and over $1,000 in prizes was handed out
  • I got about 12-16 hours of sleep total over the course of five days
  • The Pink Army raised over $1,500, and was awarded to a dude in Tasmania, Australia.
• After NOVA Open, I was fairly burned out, as were the rest of the guys at my local shop, so we played mostly High Command
• A new game shop opened up, and most of the local guys shifted to it.
• Work exploded
  • Sept / Oct is the end / beginning of the Gov’t fiscal year, and it affects everyone in the area.  We got [card]swamp[/card]ed.
  • One of my peers was let go, at about the same time
  • My direct supervisor is leaving at the end of the year to start his own business, so I now have to manage projects, learn all the server admin tasks and keep writing & testing code.
  • I now have to recruit and hire some programmers
• I got distracted with Magic: the Gathering
• I got distracted by EVE Online
• My best friend and his wife had a baby
• I turned 27
• My wife went freelance, and is now working from home, so what was my hobby area and storage had to be converted into a work space for her while at home.  All of my rebranding material is her work – she’s a Graphic Designer.
• My desktop died and had to be repaired

Rebranding

If you’ve been here before now, you may notice some changes.

I’ve ditched the massive sliders that were up top, and gone with something sleeker and sexier.  Also, Dinosaurs, because why the hell not?

I’ve done some freelance programming work, and needed a company to protect my personal liability from professional, and thus Plarzoid Productions, LLC was born.  One night, while brainstorming logos, my wife doodled this pseudo-8-bit dinosaur and I was hooked.

The cool thing is that he won’t just be appearing on the site.  I have an online store in the works, where you will be able to purchase Plarzoid branded t-shirts, mugs, and all sorts of other things, which get you cool gear, and help me pay for the site’s hosting.

OK, so maybe I’ll be the only one that buys anything, but I’m still pretty excited about a Plarzoid T-shirt.

Not just a pretty face!

Not only do I have a new look and feel, but I am incredibly excited about the loads of new content in the works, most of it looooong overdue.  Stuff like…

• Product Reviews
  • Secret Weapon Miniature’s weathering pigments
  • SWM’s crushed glass & water effects kit for making slushy snow
  • Advanced Deployment tokens
  • Dragonforge Resin Bases
  • Micro Art Studios Resin Bases
• Hobby Tutorials
  • Extreme Ghetorix How-to
  • Legion of Aquablight Redux paint scheme How-to  (Clemroc, this one’s for you)
  • 2-Brush Blending video
  • Extremoth build
  • Painting Fur (Circle Battlebox)
  • Hobby Challenges
    • Brass Rod Full IFP + UA in an hour (YouTube video)
    • Speed painting
    • Send me your challenge idea!
• Non – Warmachine Stuffs
  • Infinity (Pan-O)
  • Magic: the Gathering videos and discussions
    • Decks, drafts, sealed & limited play
    • Game play recordings
  • High Command
  • Malifaux 2E
  • 40k
    • I have 400 pt combat patrols for Dark Angels and Tau
  • Relic Knights (whenever it finally arrives)
  • Fiction
    • I completed NaNoWriMo 2012, I’m hoping to do so again this year, and recently wrote a small narrative for the Tierany event for NOVA Open
    • 40k fluff for my Tau & Dark Angels
    • Perhaps some fiction to go with my…
• Battle Reports
  • My meta is working on becoming more competitive, and I have to up my game or get left behind (Stick to the code)
  • Battle Reports from my learning games of some the above
  • Possible game-play videos for M:tG?
• Strategic Geekery
  • Introduction to programming (Java), and other stuff about learning to write programs
  • Computer & Life Hacks
  • Movie Reviews (GO SEE GRAVITY IN 3D IMAX, DO IT NOW)
  • Convention coverage
• Contests & Give-Aways
  • Free stuff!

Networking

One of the biggest things I think needs to change around here is communication.  I want the blog to be as accessible as possible to you, the readers, and I want you to feel more connected to me, so we can discuss stuff.  There’s been a serious lack of comments around here, and I;d love to know what I can do to make dialogue easier.  To that extent, there’s now even more ways to follow the site, and let me know what you like or don’t like.

The Plarzoid.com facebook page and my twitter account (@plarzoid) will both send out notifications whenever a post goes live.  The site also has an e-mail subscription feature, and I’m sure I have an RSS feed link around here somewhere if that’s more your style.

In addition to giving you more ways to contact me, I’m going to be much better about contacting you.  First, I’m going to be showcasing other blogs and YouTube channels on a regular segment called Roll Call.  Secondly, I’ll be crawling around the internets, looking for good blog posts and YouTube channels drop in on.

A Fresh Start

A new look.  A bunch of new content.  More ways than ever to start a dialogue.

What has two thumbs and is super excited?  These guys…