Diablo is Evil

by Liz on May 15, 2012 at 12:09 am
Posted In: Blog

Before you say “Well, duh”, give me a minute to explain context…

I’ve been a fan of Blizzard games for a long time. I’ve played all their major titles since their first incarnations; though, admittedly, I dabbled just a bit in Warcraft 1 and never managed to beat Diablo 2. Still, I’m what some might consider to be a mildly-rabid fangirl for Blizzard games; they make good stuff, I like their art style, and it doesn’t hurt that all of their games are put out for Macs as well as PCs the day of release (all you PC-exclusive gamers have NO IDEA how good you have it in the games department. Jerks.)

I’ve had my eye on Diablo 3 since it was first announced at Blizzcon a few years ago. My interest was initially luke-warm (“Oh Boy, more clicky-clicky”), but as time went on I became more and more excited. My appetite was also wet by playing “Torchlight”, which made me realize that a whole lotta clickin’ actually can be fun if the methods of the clicking and the rewards rendered from the clicking are good enough. And it’s just so dang PRETTY! The clincher for me though was seeing all of the awesome goodies in the Collector’s Edition box set; an Art Book filled with delicious images from Blizzards art department AND a sweet little demon skull with a USB gem in it’s head (which also contained Diablo 2, which I never finished) for only $40 more? Where do I sign, Blizzard? JUST TAKE MY MONEY!

Some things, however, were not meant to be.

By the time I realized that the release date for Diablo 3 was right around the corner, the collector’s editions were all sold out. While not the main problem with my acquiring the game, this definitely made me a little sad. I knew I could trade/purchase these items later (I hoped), so it wasn’t the big reason why I can’t get Diablo 3 right now.

If I just caved in and bought myself Diablo 3, I would be dead to the world. I would crawl into my little demon hole, clicking like mad to destroy all of the evil corruption in the world with my magical lightning arrow flurry tornado smash (I’d of course be rocking the Demonhunter; Gotta stick to the Pew Pew), and any attempts to drag me kicking and screaming back into the real world would be met with a lot of whining, begging, and, well, kicking and screaming. And with BPD book 4 books coming in this week (meaning lots of AE books to draw in and orders to ship out), AND of course Anthrocon next month, there’s no way I can afford that.

So now I have to just try and avoid all gaming websites and blogs and review podcasts and twitter and, well, let’s be honest, the entire INTERNET for like a month or two so I can be spoiler-free until I can actually allow myself to play the game and not feel like I’m a complete failure. It just HAD to come out during the busiest time of my year, didn’t it? It’s not entirely their fault, but really. Couldn’t they delay it, like, 3 or 4 months? Blizzard’s all about delaying stuff, right?

So for all of you jer-I mean, super lucky people who are right now playing Diablo 3, destroying evil and sewing their evil demon fields with salt…. leave some for me, OK? I’m gonna have a LOT of catching up to do, and I can’t have you ending all demonic suffering before I have a chance get at ‘em. It’s only polite.

So yeah. Diablo, you’re an Evil Game for making me feel this way. Go die in a fire.

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[ 14 Comments ]

Year 5 Begins with a New Site, New Schedule, and a New Format

by Liz on May 6, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Posted In: Blog

Hey, guys! I want to give you all a heads-up as to what’s happening with BPD.

One of the things I prided myself with in the first few years of BPD is the fact that I was able to keep updates reliable and on-time. It was important to me that you guys all knew, when you came to the site or opened your RSS feeds on update days, the comic was there. It was an unspoken promise i made when I started the comic, and one I wanted to keep. However, you may have noticed in the last year that I’ve had problems keeping that promise all the time. Some of the breaks or filler pages were necessary emergencies (such as the month I took off to care for my mother), but others could have been avoided with better planning and a less stressful schedule. There’s a lot of work I do outside regular BPD updates, much of which has slowed to a barely noticeable crawl over the last year.

So that brings us to today. There’s a lot I want to do with BPD, but with the update schedule as it was before, it would have proven near impossible. So because of that, I’ve decided to cut back to 2 days a week, and will now be updating Monday and Friday. I know some of you might be disappointed by this; however, I felt it was better to update consistently twice a week, than force a 3-a-week schedule that I can’t keep up with 100% of the time. The comic format will also change; I’ll be doing a mixture of newspaper daily strips, landscape pages like I did before, and sometimes full comic pages. It will depend on what that day’s individual comic script calls for.

I’m also introducing a few new things: Every Tuesday (starting NEXT week), I’ll post blogs about stuff I find interesting; reviews of games or movies I’ve seen, awesome stuff I’ve found online, opinion posts, convention journals, and whatever else I can come up with. Every Thursday, I’ll post a behind-the-scenes sketch or piece of artwork. There’s nothing on Wednesdays… yet.

What am I doing with all that time I’ve freed up? Well, since I’d like to write more long-form stories, but don’t want to take months and months to tell a single story one strip at a time, I’ll be producing self-contained, FULL COLOR comics that you’ll be able to purchase and download. The stories will reflect what’s happening on the site, but will be totally optional for those who choose not to buy them. They won’t be too expensive either; mostly around $2-$3.

Finally, sometime in the near future, I’ll be starting a sponsor program. You’ll sign up, contribute a few dollars a month as a sponsor of BPD and get some neat perks for yourself; stuff like store discounts, early access to limited & OOAK items, exclusive downloads, and more. Plus, the more people sponsor the comic, the more stuff everyone as a whole – sponsors AND non-sponsors alike – will get. Extra comics, color comics on the site, possibly even one the extra stories available to everyone for free. I’m still working out the details on that and figuring out what the individual & group perks will be, but I’ll give you guys all the info on that as soon as I’ve worked it out.

So there you have it! BPD is back to 2 comics a week (for NOW), but now with scheduled blogs and sketchbooks, bonus optional comics, and sponsors in the future. I just need to finish polishing up the new site first… ;)

Thank you for your support, guys! I couldn’t have done this for as long as I have without you, and hope you like the changes I have in store.

[ 8 Comments ]

“Tatersaurus Rex” : Now available for Preorder!

by Liz on April 26, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Posted In: Blog

the 4th yearly BPD comic collection is now available in the shop for preorder! Every preorder includes a special surprise gift as well; I’m not gonna tell you what it is, but I know you’ll love it. ^_^ Click on the preview image below to go directly to go snag your copy NOW!

Are you going to Anthrocon this summer? Use the coupon code AC2012 on ALL ORDERS made between now and then to cut out your shipping costs so you can pick your items up from me directly (YES I’LL BE THERE! WOO!!) There’s no restrictions on items or order total, so long as you’re going to the convention. So use that code if you’ll be at the con, and I’ll see you in June!

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[ 4 Comments ]

Quick Update

by Liz on March 29, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Posted In: Blog

Excellent News! My mom’s test results from after the surgery came back. The actual cancer area MUCH smaller than they originally estimated, and it looks like none spread outside the surgery area, so she’s clean!! :D She still has more recovery time to get through before she’s back to normal, but it’s a HUGE relief to know she’s made it. And I’ve said it already, but HUGE thank your to everyone who’s been sending their well-wishes and prayers her way. You guys are amazing, and I’m so humbled to have fans that care.

As for the comic specifically, normal updates will resume on Monday. Thank you SO much for your patience everyone! It’s been a HUGE help not having to worry about comic updates during this whole ordeal with my mother, but it’ll be nice to get back to work. :)

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You guys are amazing

by Liz on March 17, 2012 at 12:04 am
Posted In: Blog

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s been sending their well-wishes and prayers to me & my mom over the last few days.  It’s been really, truly humbling to hear all of the love and support.  I know my mom would be flattered (after she got her head around the idea of all these strangers on the internet who know who her daughter is!)

My mom had her surgery today, and as far as I can tell all went well.  I haven’t spoken to her yet, but my brother’s with her and says she’s doing fine.  She’ll be in the hospital a few days to recoup until they send her home after Sunday.  It’s a huge relief; I was terrified of some mid-surgery surprise popping up, but thankfully all went as it was supposed to.  Not sure what happens now, but I’ll know more in time.  Hopefully the hard part is over, and it’s just a matter of recovery.

[ 16 Comments ]