Take a signature graphic, if you will - only this particular "class" of images revolves around showcasing a person's usual or favorite build of eight zOMG rings. Since this is a user-made creation and not something supported by GaiaOnline at this point in time, various formats exist, each reflecting the maker's personality... or something else entirely. Although the precise form varies, the standard method of making one is still using an image editor like Adobe PhotoShop [costs monies], or GIMP [the free option].
The Essentials
Bar none, a ring tag should have 2 things first and foremost on display: the username, and the 8 rings s/he uses commonly. People can then identify that "so-and-so uses these rings" whilst out on a typical day in the worlds of zOMG. It is these both that tie in together to form the essence of a Ring Tag, otherwise it'll be a mere signature graphic.
Customization and Additions
However, that does not stop other people from adding in what they like. Other common "parts" I've observed from other people's Ring Tags are as follows:
- the Avatar: This basically links a player to the ring build more effectively, as the avatar is what's seen in zOMG... more readily than the username is.
- Individual and Overall CL: one for each ring, and the overall summation of the build. Though most players will have a full build of 10.0 rings, there are a few people who will put out the effort to keep a running total throughout their play time.
- Total Charge: While I don't keep up such a thing because it increases easily, other people put this number on their tags, which signifies how many cumulative Orbs that account has gained [barring salvaged Rings, of course].
- Clan Name: something that identifies which Clan the player belongs to.
- a Caption: a little line of several words that pertain to the avatar, the player, and such.
While the background is great and all, what's a dissertation without some examples? The following is a running count of the ones I've made for my personal use - they also double as a running record of what rings I've used, for one.
Great googly moogly! This is my first foray into Ring tags, as I tried putting down the TCL at the time. This was made around Winter '08, when zOMG was still new, and after I had hit CL10. At the time, I was on my way to being a zOMG Forum reg - I can still remember posting on threads where I knew what I was talking about, with near reckless abandon. The avatar was my calling card too, since I had that equipped for a long while. xD
For this tag, I went with judicious use of transparency effects. It might not be apparent here, but everything else that's not text, rings, or the avatar is indeed transparent. The background even features several shades of transparency, to create an overall effect, as well.
Well on into 2009, I turned this out. Still part of WTF?! Clan [acronym for Wonderland's Troublesome Freaks, not the more widely used What the F**k], and by this time I shed the Ninja avi, took up a new hairstyle [that I use to this day], and swapped out Shark Attack for GGGuns - the latter had the extra range to hit Robofish in the tunnel, and as I discovered later, worked much better with my buttonmashing tendencies. "Tactics wins the day" is an obscure shout-out to my Tome of zOMG Tactics guide.
The theme here was an edgy kind of design with shaped metal, but with an aged and mildly grungy kind of look. This was made possible by PhotoShop's layer styles, and those would become a staple of my ring tags from this point on.
Summer '09 would hit, and the Duremite pride would come bubbling forth. This is a hearkening back to the days of old, when I first joined GaiaOnline in the Summer of '07, right before the Great Water War. I chose Durem based on a random selection, and lo and behold, the rest just fell into place. But back to '09, this was also an avi that graced the zOMG Chatterbox with - there exists a "twin" of this particular Ring Tag too, for the guild's sponsored Twin Day. As for clan however, I bailed out of WTF's and joined CTHD on a friend's invitation.
For this tag, I dug up the assets from the old zip package that was distributed for the '07 Water War, cleaned up the Druem pennant some, and ran with that theme. The other images were lightly coated with a 1pixel stroke on the outside.
Fall/Winter '09 would swiftly approach [wow, it looks like tags are a seasonal thing], and since I consider myself to be a Winter fan, this tag popped out of the woodworks. Ring build is still unchanged.
If you can't see the theme, perhaps you're color blind? [Just kidding sweatdrop ] It's an Ice-themed motif, witht he background being a curious mix of a metal gradient with an icy light-blue color. Everything else either is that color of blue, or has a glow representing an icy aura about.
Change in imagehosting account aside, a bunch of changed occurred eek First time I've made a tag whilst genderbent [ ninja ], several changes in rings as well, and a new clan! I decided to ditch Defib since I usually play with experienced people much more than I do randoms. Rock Armor assumed that slot, and functions as an effective Ragesink. Due to Dodge becoming less and less effective, I had to give up the Ghost. [ emo ] So Divinity fills that slot, since I tend to dissipate a full bar of Stamina VERY quickly.
The theme here goes against my usual preferences in design and is very minimalistic, with most lines being either 3pixels or 1pixel in width. Clear and concise, if you will - perfect to go along with the Engineer theme that I thought up. In fact, the crosshair cursor and coordinate axes are taken directly from AutoCAD 2011. For the other half of the tag, I reused a sort of scientific fiction and technological look, marked by the geometric designs of the boxes. Even the font itself is reminiscent of this, and as well it should be. It's a copy of Celestial Being's fontface, after all. xD [Celestial Being is from Gundam 00, fyi]. Oh and the caption is a quote from Team Fortress 2's Engineer.
The Engineer, on his job
Hey look buddy, I'm an engineer; that means I solve problems.
Not problems like 'What is beauty?', because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy.
I solve practical problems.
Not problems like 'What is beauty?', because that would fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy.
I solve practical problems.
Hope you enjoyed this journal. 3nodding
