Vindictus (마비노기 영웅전) is a Korean f2p MMO that I’ll never forget, because it’s the game that Daniel and I met in. If the game never existed, we wouldn’t happily be married today! It’s also the place where I met many amazing friends who are are still friends to this day (5 years later), even after playing different games. To one of my special friends, I decided to make his beloved snow white gnoll ‘Pancake’, which is also a favourite of another friend’s.
The Vindictus gnoll when I played about 3 years ago, had 3 varieties: white, black, and red. The pets were a little expensive for me back then, so I personally only had the Gnoll Chieftain version, which was red. It was a free gnoll that was given out during an event. If you play Vindictus long enough, you’ll find that they give out a lot of things for free over time like Warframe. Many won’t be useful, but nice to hoard.
If you’re looking into playing Vindictus, a little background and a bit of my thoughts on it: it is a f2p Korean MMO game that was adopted by Nexon, and brought to America. Because it is not originally an American game, new content from the Korean servers doesn’t typically reach America for 6-12 months. There are also variations in content due to wanting to differentiate the games from other servers. This is possibly to defer people from extensively waiting for Korean content. Also, since Nexon is in charge of the American servers, it’s expected that you’ll have to either grind a significant amount like we did to get what you want, or gamble quite a bit of real life currency on gachas. Back then, there were also very unforgiving gear upgrade systems in place where the gear you’ve worked so hard to farm for can easily blow up upon upgrade, ceasing to exist (freakin’ Ferghus and Brynn out there ruining lives). I have heard that they’ve improved the system, but the game truly isn’t one for the faint of heart when it comes to RNG.
Although there are many negative points about the game, there are also plenty of positives that were the main reasons that kept us grinding away for 2 years. The in game fashion was superb. Out of all the games I’ve played after Vindictus, nothing matches up to the flexibility of colours, styles, and mix & match options. I quit the game with a ton of different pure dyed outfits and rare collectibles because that’s how in depth and addicting the fashion was. Even my husband has an extensive greatsword collection which included the Flying Dragon and Aodhan’s Greatsword that we spent forever trying to find and obtain.
The combat was also very immersive. There were a few glitches and latency kinks, but that also occurs in many other online games, so it’s not really a big deal. Overall, if you’re into trying to perfectly and strategically time i-frame attacks, parry, fight giant monsters, and not just smash buttons, you’d love the combat just as much as I do. Before the attack limit release update, it allowed you to really test your understanding and skill in the game against other people because gear couldn’t carry you as far as skill could in raids. I really wish there was a game that had the same feel to the combat. Ignoring the negatives, the positives really did make the game an unforgettable experience.
The Making of the Plushie
Usually I’d make the pattern from scratch as I did with my Warframe plushies, but this time I felt the extra effort wasn’t needed because the Vindictus gnoll has a body very similar to a standard stuffed bear.
The free pattern I used as a base is by Kim Macfarlane.
I altered the pattern in a few ways:
- enlarged the head pieces slightly, about the width of the seam allowance
- removed the ears and made my own by cutting a small strip of felt with a jagged edge on both sides and folding it down
The hat and hammer were free-handed, as well as all of the gnoll’s accessories. I have to say, I’m quite proud because everything was sewn on except for the facial features, toe claws, hammer handle, and hammer spikes, which were hot-glued on.
I had also attached the limbs by attaching one end of a thread onto one inner limb and pushing the needle through the body to attach the other end of the thread to the opposite inner limb. That way, the limbs could be moved to put the Vindictus gnoll in either a sitting or standing position.
What game is a game you’ll remember forever?