User talk:LordBiro


 * /Archive 1

Leave Me A Message
Hi...i was just wondering if you could maybe make an icon for me like you did for Gem. Just a hyperish once would be nice. You are awesome. Thanx!

&mdash; Hypernecrofear


 * No, that was a one off. And yes, I am awesome.  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 01:33, 27 June 2006 (CDT)


 * Sorry LordBiro, I didn't mean to start a trend. :) --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] 03:18, 27 June 2006 (CDT)


 * Don't worry Gem, I can't even think of a good icon for myself!  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 03:21, 27 June 2006 (CDT)


 * I can tell. Btw, you ARE a awesome! --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] 03:22, 27 June 2006 (CDT)


 * Why thankyou, Gem, you're not bad yourself ;)  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 03:25, 27 June 2006 (CDT)

Nightfall Profession Icons
You're gonna draw us something sexy, right? Apologies if it's been asked already elsewhere. &mdash;Tanaric 07:16, 28 July 2006 (CDT)


 * Hey Tanaric :D I've been a little busy this last week so I haven't been keeping up with all the Nightfall discussions, so I don't know if it's already been asked. But to answer your question: Yes, I'll be making some icons ;)  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 05:01, 29 July 2006 (CDT)


 * Good, because the current icons people have made up, are...fugly. :D [[Image:UserImage Aubray1741 ClassicIcon.gif]] Aubray1741 16:12, 30 July 2006 (CDT)
 * The Anet's Paragon icon is ugly so hard to do something great with it.&mdash; ├ A ratak  ┤  12:06, 31 July 2006 (CDT)
 * You don't have faith in LordBiro? Heretic! Burnnn in helll!!! --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] (talk) 12:48, 31 July 2006 (CDT) (Don't take that TOO seriously ;) )


 * Hehe, I have been thinking about it for a couple of days now. I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do for the Paragon icon yet, but I think I know what I'm doing for the Dervish icon.


 * I don't like any of the icons used by the Priests of Balthazar, but I think the Paragon icon looks particularly out of place!  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 13:20, 31 July 2006 (CDT)
 * I said hard and hard is nothing for lordbiro.:) &mdash; ├ A ratak  ┤  21:17, 31 July 2006 (CDT)

Draft 1
I've just uploaded a first draft of Nightfall icons.



I'll explain my decisions first of all.


 * Colors are based on the skill colours of each profession. This is the same criteria used for the prophecies and factions icons.
 * I have mixed feelings about the orange color of the Paragon icon. Paragon skills are red and yellow. Red is used by Elementalists and yellow didn't look very good. :)
 * No dual colored icons; sticking with the 2 colors used for the Dervish icon would give a very different look to the other icons used on the GuildWiki.
 * No flower thing on the Paragon icon; again this would look out of place, but I have considered cutting a flower shape out of the hexagon on the Paragon icon.

Let me know what you think!  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 05:11, 5 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Blantantly awesome. I wish I had your icon-making skills, considering how long I spent making the monstrosity that is my signature icon... at any rate, I think these are excellent. I particularly like how well they go together and feel as part of a whole, even with the two new class icons. I support their use 100%. -- [[Image:Bishop_icon2.png]] Bishop [ rap|con ] 06:11, 5 August 2006 (CDT)
 * Excellent work. I would like to see the Paragon icon with the flower shape cut into it for comparison.  For Dervish, I don't think that the two colors would look too out of place, but I understand your reasoning and I don't feel strongly one way or another.  Although as future professions are added and the available color pallet gets used, I can see needing to use multiple colors to help differentiate.  --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 10:27, 5 August 2006 (CDT)
 * As always Biro, great work. Like Barek I wouldn't mind seeing the alternate for the Paragon icon, but even if I never see that, I'd be happy with these.  --Rainith 16:37, 5 August 2006 (CDT)
 * Great job! Why not make an alternative version of the dervish icon with the 2 colors and let the users decide? Not that it would matter a lot. Well done, you are still awesome! ;) --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] (talk) 17:15, 5 August 2006 (CDT)
 * [[image:profession-icons-ingame.jpg|right]]one could note that Dervish and Paragon are the only professions with dual color icons in game, but we're varied signifigantly from the eye-in-hand design of the mesmer, so i suppose it's not terribly important. top notch work, as always, my lord. ;) --Honorable Sarah [[image:Honorable_Icon.gif]] 17:26, 5 August 2006 (CDT)
 * Heh, in direct comparison, it becomes obvious that ANet should have hired Biro after they designed the initial set of icons, as his icon-series is both nicer-looking and more internally consistent than the actual ingame ones... -- [[Image:Bishop_icon2.png]] Bishop [ rap|con ] 18:00, 5 August 2006 (CDT)

Thanks everyone, you are all very kind, especially you Bishop :P

I'll work on producing a flower cut-out for the Paragon icon later today and you can let me know what you think. My only concern is that the Paragon icon is already a little fussy (the detail on the wings isn't very discernable at original and small sizes) and I think that adding a flower symbol might make it look overly complicated. I think it would probably be impossible to tell what it was at the small size. I'll give it a try anyway :) Really this is an issue I have with the Guild Wars Paragon icon; there's far too much detail in the icon that you simply can't make out at the size used in the Priests of Balthazar menu.

Using the two colors for the Dervish icon is a possibility, but I feel as though it strays too far from the simplicity of the icons we use at the GuildWiki. In my opinion a shape and a color should be enough to identify a profession. Since you've asked though I will try using two colors and see what it looks like :)  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 05:53, 6 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Don't need to thank me, I just call them as I see them. By the way, I share your concerns about the paragon icon, but my suggestion would be for you to get even more creative and make the icon even more stylized and less exactly-as-ingame because the current in-game icon is obviously the result of a brain fart. And what we really need is just something that looks good and is immediately recognizable as a paragon icon (but not nessecarily as the paragon icon).


 * About the dervish icon, the one we're currently using for the Dervish skill articles is actually rather nice in my opinion, and at least shows that it is possible to use dual colors and still make it look okay. I'm looking forward to what you come up with. -- [[Image:Bishop_icon2.png]] Bishop [ rap|con ] 07:07, 6 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Rather than a flower pattern, it may be enough just to use a circle or other simple geometric shape. I just thought it may look good to break up the large field of orange, but what you have now is trully excellent work, and we could easilly use it as-is.  I was just hoping to see an option, if you have time available.  Thanks for the great work on this.  --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 23:18, 8 August 2006 (CDT)

Draft 2


I gave the Dervish icon a two-tone effect. I really don't like it :P but let me know which you prefer.

I actually do like the flower cut-out on the Paragon icon. I think it looks coolio. Again, your opinions would be great :)  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 06:53, 11 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Amazing. Personaly I prefer the Paragon with the cutout and the single colour Dervish.-- JP 07:02, 11 August 2006 (CDT)


 * You have exquisite taste JP :D hehe.  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 07:10, 11 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Great work, Biro! I prefer the dual color dervish icon, and the paragon icon with the cutout. We should stay close to the ingame original.
 * While we're at "staying close to the ingame original": Why on earth was it decided to use the feather icon for ranger instead of the ingame paw icon?? I know this was in the very early days of GuildWiki, and I wouldn't dare to question something that is established for such long time, but it has really puzzled ever since I started contributing. --[[Image:TurningL sml.gif|Tetris L]] 07:17, 11 August 2006 (CDT)


 * The reason for that Tetris is because when Guild Wars started there were no profession icons in the game. The prophecies icons are based on icons from the European manual, the only reference material available when I first made them. Subsequently ANet added the profession icons that you can see in the Priest of Balthazar menus today, and I think quite lowly of them. I agree that there should be consistency with our icons and the game's icons, but the official icons aren't even consistent with each other in their design. Summary: I hate them.


 * If, in the early days of the wiki, before any profession icons existed in the game, someone had come to the wiki offering the same icons that ANet were later to introduce I would have argued against their usage because they don't look very professional.


 * Incidentally, I think a paw would make a good icon for Pet Attacks as opposed to rangers.  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 07:48, 11 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I very much like the Paragon with the cutout. But for the Dervish, I actually prefer the icon created by someone else  that is already in-use (sorry Lord Biro).  You do excellent work, that I could never hope to replicate - but in the case of the dervish I think that at the smaller size the less extreme curves of the current one makes it easier to distinguish the shape of the icon, and the two curve don't blend together as much. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 09:16, 11 August 2006 (CDT)
 * Note: this is only at the smaller size I prefer the current icon. At larger sizes where more detail is visible, your two color icon is superior in quality (see current image: [[Image:Dervish-icon.png]]). --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 09:22, 11 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I can not believe people prefer my dervish icon to LordBirdo's icon... I like LordBiro's style as it is consistant with the wiki's other icons. we need a change of the Ranger icon to the paw print though, the feather is not right. --Jamie [[Image:Jamie.jpg|24px|(Talk Page)]] 09:27, 11 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I don't recall seeing the biggest Ranger icon before. From the smaller ones I always assumed it was a leaf!--JP 09:33, 11 August 2006 (CDT)


 * At the smaller size, the distinct curves of the current dervish icon keep it from visually blending into one large curve shape. At the larger size where more detail is visible and the curves no longer visually blur together, I prefer Lord Biro's.
 * As for the ranger icon, I prefer the leaf. As was said above, the paw is great for beast mastery, but there's more to a ranger than just that.  Incidentally, if we were to want to get the wiki icons to match the in-game ones more closely, we would need to redo the Mesmer, Elementalist and Assassin icons as well as they are visually very different from the in-game versions due to shape or color, etc.  But on all of those, I prefer the wiki icon over the in-game icon.  Well, I like both the in-game and the wiki icon for the Mesmer - but for the other icons, ours are visually clearer and more internally consistent in style. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 09:45, 11 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Back from Estonia. :) The second version of the Paragon icon is great and a lot better than the first one. The second dervish icon is better too imho, but it's not that important to me which one we use. Both the old and the new dervish icons look a bit weird in small size. The gap between the two parts shouldn't be so blurred but clear. I hope you can fix it. Great job again! --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] (talk) 15:40, 12 August 2006 (CDT)
 * wandering the wiki and ran accross a reference to this again and saw the new draft, sooo pretty. someday you'll have to teach me that "summon greater icon" spell. 2 notes: shouldn't the paragon center bit be convex instead of concave? the dervish seperation isn't a large deal in my opinion, but that could be corrected by matching the inside curve of the lower arc with the outside curve of the upper arc, giving a consistant spacing. --Honorable Sarah [[image:Honorable_Icon.gif]] 12:56, 13 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Thanks for all the feedback :)


 * As I've said so many times before I don't think we should aim to be too close to the Guild Wars icons, because they are rubbish. I would argue very strongly against changing the ranger icon to a paw symbol at this point.


 * Regarding the Nightfall icons, I can see your point about the blurriness of the Dervish icon at the small size. I will try to re-assess the shape as Sarah has suggested, making the inside of the larger curve match up with the outside of the smaller curve.


 * I'm still don't like the two-coloured Dervish icon, I've asked some of my friends off-wiki and they agree that it looks out of place.


 * Sarah, I'm not sure what you mean when you say that you think the inside of the Paragon icon should be convex instead of concave? Do you mean that, instead of being a gap there should be a change in texture? Or do you mean there should be a change in the shape of the icon?


 * P.S. I did some research on Summon Greater Icon for you!  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 02:58, 15 August 2006 (CDT)
 * so minor, but what i ment was that the paragon in game has a protruding sigil on top of the winged sheild, and your draft has a white dimple or hole. maybe reverse the shading on the center bit so it seems to be on arching twords the viewer, on top of the yellow. again, totally minor and not worth spending any extra time on. --Honorable Sarah [[image:Honorable_Icon.gif]] 09:10, 15 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Imho LordBiros version is superior to the ingame image. ;) --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] (talk) 09:23, 15 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Because you do great work I'll give you some feedback, it's the least I can do. I like the feather that becomes a leaf at lower res, much better than the paw. I also agree that the Dervish icon would look a bit nicer with a bigger gap (and didn't curve in so much). The holy Paragon is great but I'm still not sure about the Dervish two tone or not thing, but I'm sure one will grow on me! ;) Oh and it goes without saying that LordBiro's icons are better than the in-game ones. --Xasxas256 09:26, 15 August 2006 (CDT)

Thanks for all the kind words :) I really appreciate the feedback!!  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 10:15, 15 August 2006 (CDT)

Draft Sarah


Is this what you imagined Sarah?  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 10:15, 15 August 2006 (CDT)
 * yes, but white. --Honorable Sarah [[image:Honorable_Icon.gif]] 10:25, 15 August 2006 (CDT)



Easily remedied! Something like this? I'm not sure if I like it.  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 10:30, 15 August 2006 (CDT)


 * ya that was exactly what i was thinking about. see it seems to stick out of the page like the white sigil is sitting on top of the paragon wing sheild? better/worse? i should go buy illustrator or something, i feel bad making biro do my bidding. --Honorable Sarah [[image:Honorable_Icon.gif]] 10:45, 15 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Hehe, I use inkscape, it's awesome. I'm going to have to think about the white bit, I don't know how I feel about it. I think I prefer having just 1 shape and just 1 colour per icon.  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 11:17, 15 August 2006 (CDT)

The lower set looks too noisy when scaled down. Go for the upper set. Good job on all of the icons, but I do think the current Dervish-icon has a better shape, your version is too rounded compared to the in-game icon. Your choice of colours is fine, the Paragon-icon just isn't going to work very well in white. I might reconsider that later on, especially because I suspect all Paragon-bosses will have a white aura, but we'll burn that bridge when we cross it. --Black Ark 10:42, 15 August 2006 (CDT)


 * If the Paragon bosses do have a white aura then I'll definitely consider changing the colour of the logo to white. Orange is probably a poor choice of colour anyway!  &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 11:17, 15 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I think that the orange is fine. And the Draft2 Paragong version is better than the Sarah version. --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] (talk) 11:23, 15 August 2006 (CDT)

Draft 3


Ok, I've decided that draft 2 of the Paragon icon is fine, but as many of you have pointed out, the gap between the two parts of the Dervish icon was not discernable at the small size, so I've tried to address this by following Sarah's advice of matching the inside curve of the larger arc with the outside curve of the smaller arc.

Let me know what you think :) <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif"> &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 13:16, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Umm, draft 3 isn't really the solution that I was looking for. I hoped you would just bend the curve of the large part in draft 2 a bit further away from the small one. The top of the two parts shouldn't be on the same level imho. --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] (talk) 13:23, 16 August 2006 (CDT)
 * what he said. --Honorable Sarah [[image:Honorable_Icon.gif]] 13:51, 16 August 2006 (CDT)

Still completely circular. Maybe I'm being anal - after all, the Ranger-leaf looks fine even though the in-game icon is a paw-print - but if you're going for a Dervish-look I'd make the crescents less rounded. I'm undecided about the colours, get back to you later on that one. --Black Ark 14:16, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I've decided that I will only be offering a single coloured Dervish icon. I really feel that using two colours makes the Dervish icon stand out from the other icons, and that's not what I want. Sorry if that dissapoints anyone!


 * I really prefer the draft 3 dervish icon to the other versions. I played about with altering the curve of the draft 1 & 2 shape and it looked dumb, so I started from scratch and came up with draft 3. I'd rather leave the choices as either draft 1 or draft 3. Is it such a problem to have both of the arcs aligned at the top? I think it looks quite neat :) <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif"> &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 15:01, 16 August 2006 (CDT)
 * can i write in a vote for draft 2? the color difference makes the spacing a non-issue, and the extended lower arc doesn't look dervish-enough. --Honorable Sarah [[image:Honorable_Icon.gif]] 15:07, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Hmmm :( But it looks so silly! Every other profession is happy to be just 1 colour, but Dervish is like "Look at me, I'm special". It makes me sick.


 * I'd really rather not use draft 2, but if there are a number of people asking for it then I would cave under the pressure. :P <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif"> &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 15:13, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I'm forced to keep my vote with the existing icon or draft 2 as they avoid the blur issue and I've become mostly indifferent to the color question; but draft v1 blurs together too much, and v3 just looks odd having the arcs aligned. (note: after looking closer, it may be the shadow that's causing some of the bluring - perhaps just removing the shadow from the smaller version of v1 would solve it?) --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 15:14, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Removing the shadow from the small draft 1 icon might be a good idea. From the current drafts I like draft 3 the most. --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] (talk) 15:27, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I'd rather not remove the shadow from draft 1 all together. Even touching up the shadow by hand there is some bluriness. I could remove the shadow from all the small icons, I would be happier doing that, but I quite like the shadow. <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif"> &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 15:30, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I didn't quite understand. Why not remove th shadow from the draft 1 small version only? --[[Image:Gem-icon-sm.png]] (talk) 15:39, 16 August 2006 (CDT)

GuildWiki Policy
I've messed with Policy. I don't know if you still bother with this sort of thing, but I'm warning all the admins so as to get everyone on board. :) &mdash;Tanaric 18:45, 5 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Hey Tanaric, I do like to keep up with policy changes so thanks for letting me know! <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif"> &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 05:53, 6 August 2006 (CDT)

Banning Question
Hey LordBiro why'd you ban me. I didnt do anything to unappease the gods. Grenth&#39;s Sword 22:56, 8 August 2006 (CDT)
 * In the logs, Lord Biro hasn't done a ban recently. Did you post on this page on the same connection on which you received the warning?  If so, then the fact that you can post now suggests that the ban message is likely a result of a known bug.  A false ban message is sometimes presented.  It most often impacts users who are not logged in (using an IP address) at the time that the error was generated.  :It could also be that you're using a dynamic IP address, and the random one to which you were assigned by your ISP just happenned to be a blocked one from some other user being banned. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 23:07, 8 August 2006 (CDT)

When i tried to make a change to one of my builds, it said id been blocked. then i posted that message on Lordbiro's page, and it allowed me to. Then i tried to make the edit to my build again, but that time it said i was blocked. yet you say Lord Biro hasnt blocked anyone lately. Rarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Lol i tried to post the above message ^ on my user page, but it aid i was blocked. i logged on and didnt know i got a warning. i logged in then tried to make a build change, and the rest is above. Grenth&#39;s Sword
 * If you know your IP address, you can try sending me an email at spam.home@comcast.net and I can verify its ban status; but if you're able to post intermittently, it sounds like the bug to me. When you get the error, you can try going back to the prior screen then try posting again. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 23:24, 8 August 2006 (CDT)


 * Hey Grenth's Sword, as Barek said I haven't carried out a ban for some time now, and even then I very rarely carry out bans other than for mass vandalism. I can't suggest any more than Barek has suggested. If you'd like my email address to discuss this off-wiki then just ask :) <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif"> &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 03:36, 9 August 2006 (CDT)

Rit icon
i just ran into an interesting problem with the formatting of Unique items list (Factions), the Rt icon is too short and it's throwing off the table layout. since you're draft2 icons are undoubtedly going to be the next version, could you center the icons on a standard sized transparency to prevent this style of formatting wierdness? --Honorable Sarah 12:11, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I've updated the icon. The only problem I foresee now is that, even if I pad every icon so that it meets 36x36, the Paragon icon is very wide and at the size in draft 2 it would be 46 pixels wide, including the shadow. I can trim a few pixels off that, but probably not 10. What do you think? <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif"> &lt;LordBiro&gt;/&lt;Talk&gt; 12:56, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I think we should be able to standardize the profession icon size. I don't see any reason to limit ourselves to having that standard be 36x36, we could set our own standard to whatever size works; using a 36 height with a 46 width for all icons should work just as well, shouldn't it? --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 13:20, 16 August 2006 (CDT)
 * i don't think a square box matters so much, as long as it is the same box so they can be inserted uniformly. it's ANet's fault, stupid wrong-aspect-ness-ritualist-icon. --Honorable Sarah [[image:Honorable_Icon.gif]] 13:45, 16 August 2006 (CDT)


 * I think the problem with the paragon icon is that the current draft is too fat (I've already told you how much I love your work, I'm allowed a little criticism too, right? ;)). Methinks the (hexagon?) base shape is too wide and it wouldn't hurt to snip a good portion of it, bringing the total shape more towards a bird and less towards a Lego with wings. With my limited GIMP-skills, I've made something that slightly resembles what I mean, for reference: [[image:para36x36.png]]. All I did was cut out the center 5 pixels, crop and resize to 36x36. -- [[Image:Bishop_icon2.png]] Bishop [ rap|con ] 15:33, 16 August 2006 (CDT)