New and Notable: Guild Spotlight

Illustration by JessicaChase

Previously, the Guild Spotlight posts here have been based on a theme, but 2019 means time to change things up! Habitica has a vibrant community, and new Guilds arise all the time, so this year, we’re going to highlight some of the newer or smaller Guilds which may not get as much traffic as Guilds that are higher up the list. All of these Guilds have had recent activity and have a minimum number of members; they’re probably a bit quieter than more established Guilds, but they have tons of potential. Spot something that sounds right up your alley? You know what to do!

Competition Colosseum: If you’re looking to mix a little PvP into your Habitican experience, the Competition Colosseum is one of the places you can go. The chat is friendly and active, but the competition is fierce. There will be Challenges sponsored by the owner of the Guild at times, but it’s also possible to issue your own Challenges. In the words of the Guild’s own blurb: “Colosseum challenges are designed to be 1) actual challenges of real life tasks 2) a method for attaining gems 3) a gamified challenge experience 4) a competition.” Sound appealing?

The Bloggers: Running your own blog and looking for tips, tricks, or just commiseration about how many views your magnum opus has had? This is the Guild for you! It can be a lot more fun doing things in company, and blogging can be a pretty solitary activity, so don’t forget to take the time to be social.

Short Story Readers: Need a little downtime, but don’t have the time for a novel? This Guild has you covered, with challenges for reading specific stories and space to chat about any short story that you want to share. Guild members have just been reading Daphne du Maurier’s ‘The Birds’, in case you want to jump in with your thoughts on a creepy classic!

So if any of these Guilds sound like your kind of thing, go ahead and join! You can introduce yourself, or just start sharing your own tips and tricks on the Guild topics. If none of the Guilds on offer appeals to you, just wait until next month and there’ll be a new batch of notable Guilds to help you spice up your Habitican experience…

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Group Plans

Illustration by stefalupagus

It’s Wiki Wednesday! Once a month we highlight a helpful post from the Wiki with tips about productivity, wellness, and optimizing your use of Habitica!

One thing that comes up a lot around Habitica is, “How can I share my tasks with other people?” This month’s highlighted Wiki article is all about one of the features that lets you do just that: Group Plans! We’ll let the Wiki Wizards take it from here:

Group plans are a way of supporting Habitica while providing a more group-centered experience by allowing members to share tasks. Groups who may wish to use a group plan include families, health and wellness organizations, employee teams, or anyone with overlapping tasks.

Need to bone up on how to create one? Want to check out the benefits you get (like that Jackalope Mount)? Need to check how to add or remove members? Just need more info about what a Group Plan is? The Wiki covers it all here!

Staff Spotlight: Tressley AKA Apollo

Tressley, how did you get involved with Habitica?

I had been an early HabitRPG user, but hadn’t been using it very often and was never much of a contributor. In late 2015, I picked up Habitica and became a regular, somewhat active user (all thanks to Parties.) I saw a post in the Tavern about Habitica looking for a UI designer, so I fired my portfolio off to Vicky. A few weeks later, I had a video chat with her and Leslie and they brought me on to help contribute to the web redesign.

What’s your proudest contribution to Habitica?

This is actually a tough one. I’ve always been proud of the faceted icon style we introduced for HP, EXP, Mana, and classes. Those were one of my first contributions and approved designs.

What are your secret superpowers?

When I was younger, a kid at my lunch table had a bag of Andy Capp’s Hot Fries and everyone was talking about how hot they were. Now, Andy Capp’s Hot Fries are my absolute favorite, so I took this opportunity as my time to shine. I was going to wow the whole lunch table. I bet the kid that I could eat his whole bag of hot fries without a single drink. Sure enough, he handed the bag over and that’s exactly what I did. I guess it’s not a superpower, but I did get a whole bag of hot fries.

What are your secret weaknesses?

It’s not even a secret, I will tell you; the smell of canned tunafish.

What are your favorite Habitican pets/mounts?

The Veteran Wolf has been by my side for as long as I can remember. I tend to not have a mount equipped, but it’d have to be the White Tiger. It reminds me of White Blaze from Ronin Warriors.

What some things you’re tracking in Habitica?

I’d have to say the number one thing I use Habitica for is keeping track of my pomodoros throughout the day. I also use it to keep track of how much water I’ve had.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I’ve been playing drums for close to 15 years, but had to take a break while I lived in various apartments in the city. I now have a home with a basement, so if I’m not behind the computer, I’m behind my drums.

What are your top Habitica tips and tricks?

Roll a rogue, cast Backstab. 🙂 In all seriousness, join a party or start your own! For me, the extra accountability helped me stay on top of Habitica. Plus, you can crush quests and get geared.

Where do you like to hang out in Habitica?

I’d say I’ve always been a lurker, but I like to bounce into the Tavern to see what the community is chatting about.

Turning Over a New Leaf: Use Case Spotlight

Illustration by Aries Faries

It’s a new year in the Gregorian calendar, and that means it’s prime time for making resolutions. This month we asked users in the Use Case Spotlights Guild exactly how they use Habitica to establish new habits and routines, especially for the kind of things that people set as their New Year Resolutions. Without further ado, let’s turn over to what they suggested!

StefanieFreige kicked it off with some wise words (redacted for length, but worth reading in full if you check out the Guild!):

f I want to establish a new habit for myself like “workout” or “get my work done without procrastinating”, I find it helpful to be both playful, precise and flexible.

Flexible: I want to be more organized with like my laundry. So I set a daily. I worked with this for some days – then I realized this does not fit. So I made this a habit – it is less discouraging to rather have a habit checked off 3x/week instead of fail at a daily often.

[…]

precise: be organized with laundry is not exact enough. What is the issue? The place around the machine was a mess. So I found the decluttering devils, had a challenge to organize the space. Each time I walk by, now I ensure that everything goes into the right boxes (no daily needed, that just 1 min).

[…]

playful: I often look at my list and change everything. Different order, headers, combine tasks, make sub-tasks, new/delete tasks – whatever. My life changes, I change (hopefully) – so my habits/dailies/to-dos should. I always look for new approaches to things.

Shewhopaints has some thoughts on their own focus on using Habits, including the suggestion that Habits can become Dailies:

I focus on health and decluttering in my habits section. These habits include trying to avoid using the elevator / lift, using the bus where I could walk and taking vitamins / magnesium. I only a few days ago added “back exercises”. Some habits have transformed into dailies.

Meanwhile, Mavro Asteri is using Habitica’s challenges to get a boost:

I’ve joined a several challenges that I think will help, like the Plank-a-day, vegan challenge, no sugar challenge. I’ve also broken my weight loss goal down into weekly, then monthly goals. Using Habits to remind myself to take a moment & focus, choose the healthier option, etc. Using the Dailies to cultivate healthier eating & exercise & the To Dos for the monthly goal of 11 pounds loss a month. The challenges are really helping me hone my focus & not get off track.

It’s especially worth checking out the Official New Year’s Resolution Guild and the associated Challenges, if you’re into making resolutions and finding ways to stick to them. Habitica’s official New Year’s Resolution Challenge series will run through the whole of 2019, and we hope it will help to guide you and keep you focused!

If you want to check out what other users have said about how they use Habitica to make and keep resolutions, and maybe even have your say, check out the Use Case Spotlights Guild. The theme for next month’s blog post will be announced soon, and if you contribute to the discussion around that, you might be featured next month!

New and Notable: Guild Spotlight

Illustration by Gully

In prior months, the Guild Spotlight has been based on a theme, but it’s a new year in the Gregorian calendar, so we thought it was time to change things up! Habitica has a vibrant community, and new Guilds arise all the time. This year, we’re going to highlight some of the newer or smaller Guilds which may not get as much traffic as Guilds that are higher up the list. All of these Guilds have had recent activity and have a minimum number of members; they’re probably a bit quieter than more established Guilds, but they have tons of potential. Spot something that sounds right up your alley? You know what to do!

Migraine Warriors: If you’re pursued by the dread monster Migraine, this Guild is a great place to connect with fellow sufferers, gets tips and tricks for beating it, and share your own strategies. With 80 members and some useful challenges available already, there’s no doubt of a warm welcome.

Pom Throwing Arena: If pomodoros are your kind of productivity method, you might like to join in this off-shoot Guild: the chat mostly consists of flying tomatoes, so you’d better duck as you go in, but it’s an amazing way to get things done in good company, and have a bit of fun pulling other folks into your productivity. Don’t forget to check out their challenges to help you get started!

Ancestors, Heritage and Genealogy: If family history is your hobby, this Guild is a great place to link up with like-minded people, pick their brains for their best resources, and share your stories! It can be a bit quiet in this Guild (sshh! people are researching!), but this is your opportunity to jump in, share your enthusiasm, and kick start things.

So if any of these Guilds appeals, go ahead and join, introduce yourself, and start sharing your own tips, tricks and tomatoes! If none of these Guilds appeals, just wait until next month and there’ll be a new batch of notable Guilds for your delectation and delight.

Orb of Rebirth

Illustration by Beffymaroo

It’s Wiki Wednesday! Once a month we highlight a helpful post from the Wiki with tips about productivity, wellness, and optimizing your use of Habitica!

January is a month of new beginnings for many people, so this featured Wiki article is about one of the ways you can start fresh on Habitica: the Orb of Rebirth! It’s a partial reset option, offering the opportunity to start your Habitican journey again from level 1, so you can choose a different class and develop your avatar in different ways. It’s a great way to vary the way you use the game aspects of Habitica, but it’s also good for marking the moment when you decide to make a fresh start! As the Wiki page says:

An Orb of Rebirth resets the player’s character back to level one while maintaining tasks, quests, and achievements. It is similar to the “New Game+” option that appears in some video games. Note that the effects are instant and irreversible, so consider it wisely before rebirthing.

The Orb of Rebirth becomes available in the Market when the player has reached level 50. The Orb costs 6 gems, but a player at or above level 100 can obtain the Orb for free.

Check out the full article to get the full scoop and see all the effects of the Orb of Rebirth. Maybe it’s exactly what you need to help you turn over new leaves in 2019!

Habitica Cookie Exchange!

In honor of the holiday season, the Habitica Team is here to share our favorite cookie recipes!

First, a cookie collaboration from Alys and shanaqui!

Start with this shortbread recipe: https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/the-very-best-shortbread

Of the recipe, shanaqui says: “I always loved shortbread as a kid but never had it made for me… and then my wife got a Mary Berry book, masses of semolina to use, and a new oven. We *might* have eaten most of the first batch before the oven even cooled. No regrets!”

If you’d like to make them into adorable snails rather than cutouts or rectangles, Alys recommends you slightly reduce the liquid in the above recipe.

To make the snail bodies, roll dough into 6cm long shapes, thinner at one end, and flatten slightly. Place them at least 2cm apart on a lightly greased oven tray.

Make the heads by rolling dough into balls and placing the balls on the thick ends of the bodies. Create the faces with cachous for eyes and mouths and thin strips of liquorice for antennae.

Cook as described in the recipe but cooking time will probably need to be less than the recipe says because the shapes are small.

After cooking, melt white cooking chocolate and drizzle over the snails’ backs with a piping bag or a spoon. Use more melted chocolate to attach shell-shaped chocolates to the backs.

 

Fox Town offers a delicious (and gluten- and dairy-free!) Ricciarelli (Almond Cookie) recipe!

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150C)

Mix 230 g almond flour (a generous 2 cups) with 130 g confectioner’s (powdered) sugar (a scant 1 1/2 cups unsifted), 1/2 t baking soda, 1/2 t salt

In a small bowl mix one egg, 2T honey, and 1/2 t vanilla extract;
add into dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Dough will be firm and a bit sticky.

roll into 1” balls, roll balls in more confectioners sugar, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake 18 minutes.

Beffymaroo is here with a childhood favorite: a Spritz recipe, presented to you as an 80’s flashback (courtesy of the classic Wisconsin Electric Cookie Book):

These cookies are traditionally made with a cookie press- an item that often ends up at thrift stores, so that’s a great place to pick one up inexpensively.

Piyo goes for a cookie that’s great any time of the year: Cookies and Cream cookies!

https://kirbiecravings.com/soft-cookies-and-cream-cookies-2/g

And, for another fantastic anytime cookie, check out her favorite chocolate chip recipe: https://kyleekitchen.blogspot.com/2015/08/tips-and-tricks-for-perfect-chocolate.html

And last but not least, Redphoenix gives us a neat and simple recipe for salt dough!

It’s not quite an edible cookie dough (because I’m still trying to find my go-to cookie recipe!) [editor’s note: Beffymaroo definitely tried to eat this dough as a child anyway] but I have been on a bit of a kick to decorate for the holidays without spending money on chintzy, poor-quality decorations. Hence, salt dough, which is classic, easy, and extremely cost-effective.

Mix 1 cup flour and half a cup of salt. Add most of a half cup of water (not all of it—you may want to reserve some until you have a sense of how much moisture your dough needs. Mud textures are fun but uncooperative in holding to a particular shape).

Roll out the dough. I prefer somewhere around half a centimeter or a quarter of an inch in thickness. Cut out with cookie cutters, or a glass or jar if you haven’t got cookie cutters and you’re ok with round ones. If you have a straw handy, it’s useful for making a nice clean hole if you’re planning to string up ornaments later.

Bake at 200F (93C), but play around with this temperature setting, as every oven is different. Let cool and dry, which may take anywhere from a day to several days. Once it’s dry, you can do things like decorate it with markers, apply a layer of ModPodge (which will seal it and also add gloss), or if you’re lazy and/or a minimalist like me, string it with a pretty ribbon and hang it up.

What’s your favorite cookie recipe? Let us know in the comments, or on our Twitter, tumblr, Facebook, or Instagram!

 

Use Case Spotlight: Professionalization and “Adulting” Skills

Illustration by OuttaMyMind

This month, our Use Case Spotlight focuses on professionalization and “adulting” skills — all those things that we managed to avoid as kids and now unfortunately have to remember on a regular basis, for example, like paying the bills! Fortunately, there are plenty of examples from users on just how to user Habitica to help with that…

First of all, goaskmissalice explains that she views Habitica like a personal assistant:

ALL of my “run my business” tasks are in Habitica and I pretend that my Avatar is my personal assistant, here to remind me about things that are complicated, multi-step or involve deadlines. Sometimes I will drag myself through some tedious task simply because I am about to defeat a bossfight. It reminds me to reorder supplies, warns me when our advertising campaign needs to be renewed and helps me keep track of things that might have otherwise fallen through the cracks. My employees know to take it seriously when I tell them I AM PUTTING THIS ON MY HABITICA.

They better take it seriously! Nobody wants to disappoint Melior, right?

Mavro_Asteri shares how they plan their day on Habitica:

It’s a great tool for teams, but I also use for work: I’ll go through my morning emails, mark actionable items back as “Unread” then make my work To Do list for that day based on those unread emails. As more requests are made during the day, I’ll add to the To Do list. If everything isn’t done in that day, I’ll copy the incomplete tasks to the Next day’s list, then complete the current To Do for the evening.

chikadee talks about how they use Guilds and Challenges for extra motivation, and how they use Habits and To-Dos in managing their time:

I use YNAB (although I’m lapsing) so there is a YNAB challenge in the Financial Discipline guild that I use to remind me to budget regularly and when to do budget check ups. I use todo challenges or the planning challenges in the Planner Addicts guild to remind me about sifting through my work e-mails and such. I also use habits for being on time to appointments and work. Positive habits if I’m on time or 15 mins early and negative if I’m late, really late, or have to cancel something last minute. I kind of use To Dos as a brain dump sometimes for things I need to go shopping for or to do. There’s a deep dark red to do right now to change my headlight!

Finally, Rieye has some thoughts on how to keep things balanced:

Self-care tasks like meditating and singing and drinking water are at the very top of the list so that every time I look at Habitica I see those first.

When everything gets frustrating, I have a “Extra Adulting” habit that I can click to remind myself that it’s not about me, it’s just stuff that has to get done, and at least I get points 🙂

There are other suggestions in the guild that are well worth reading, so don’t forget to check out the Use Case Spotlights Guild. You can even add your own strategies, and if you share something for next topic when we announce it, you could be featured in next month’s post!

And of course, there’s also a Guild Spotlight to help you look for further ideas on how to take care of yourself.

Professionalization and “Adulting” Skills: Guild Spotlight

Illustration by OuttaMyMind

A lot of us struggle with the everyday tasks of adult life like paying bills, and with adjusting to the routines of professional life. Fortunately, there are some Guilds out there on Habitica dedicating to figuring this sort of thing out!

Life Basics: Sometimes, the simplest things are actually pretty hard. The Life Basics Guild is about getting the foundations right: the users there know all about executive dysfunction, fatigue, depression, and all those issues that can get between you and “proper adulting”. If you’re looking for support with fixing the fundamentals, this Guild is perfect.

Financial Discipline: Need to look ahead, save money, figure out why there’s never anything left at the end of the month? This Guild is all about getting control of your finances and staying organised. There are challenges running as well as plenty of users ready to share their tips and experiences!

Time Management: This Guild is a one-stop-shop for all kinds of tips and tricks on managing your time. The members know all about pomodoros and bulletjournals, the Eisenhower matrix and more. Check out the description and post in the chat to get all kinds of support!

Don’t forget to check out the Use Case Spotlight on the same topic for advice from users just like you!

Habitican Shared Task Lists

Illustration by Vampitch

It’s Wiki Wednesday! Once a month we highlight a helpful post from the Wiki with tips about productivity, wellness, and optimizing your use of Habitica!

It can be really useful to know how other people use Habitica, especially when you’re just starting out. How do people distinguish between Dailies and Habits? What do you need to do every day? The Shared Task Lists page can help with those burning questions, for newbies and veterans alike.

Each Habitican develops their own unique way of setting up their tasks in Habitica, but there is always curiosity about what others have on their lists. This page allows Habiticans to share some of their tasks with others. Since the Habitica community is global and has users from all ages and backgrounds, seeing shared tasks can be very enlightening and educational for all. Feel free to add your own tasks to this page!

Shopping around for the right new Dailies to make your task list complete? Check out the full article here!