Today I Smiled: The New

Yesterday I talked about Neverwinter Online: Alliances. Truth be told I've been playing NWO less as of late due to some hectic weeks at work. On one particularly stressful day I broke my usual rule of "not buying any computer games for myself" and splurged because retail therapy is a thing. Yep I went into EB and spent $31 bucks for four bargain bin games: Assassin's Creed Rogue, Assassin's Creed Unity, Watch Dogs and Call of Juarez: the Cartel.

While that's not too bad if I say so myself, I also have been receiving a bunch of really, really old games from a neighbor who has outgrown them. More than half don't work but I don't mind. You know I'll be putting up reviews for the ones that do somewhere down the track. Also cool to learn that Ultima Online is still going strong elsewhere. ;)

All that ties in somewhat with Izlain's "How to be a cheap ass gamer" NBI post, which is a good read on it's own. Remember - there are tons of free to play games out there too!

"The New" is also a Week 1 event for the NBI 2016, for which you can join the Discord here. Given that it's already half way through June you can tell I'm quite out of sync with it this year.  Still, my best "New" moment recently has come from the Skyrim Mod "The Forgotten City" which I just played through in my adventure journal. It is so well made I can't recommend it enough. Speaking of which, adventures in Skyrim will continue tomorrow!

That must be the best quest hook ever.

Last but not least I thought I'd put up the links of the "new" folk from the NBI - give them a look see if you get the chance. Let me know if I missed any and I'll add you to the list!

A to Zeo
Cookie Cutter Monks
I'm Not Squishy
Just East of West
Pleasant Gamer (hey... I remember you from last year :P)
Shadowz Gaming Blog
Wild Core Chronicle

Newbie Blogger Initiative 2016!

It looks like The Newbie Blogger Initiative is returning this year, running for the whole month of June! If you are new to blogging, old to blogging, or just thinking about blogging, now is as good a time as any to get started! This "event", which you can participate in as little or as much as you like, is a good way to gain some exposure.

Here are some handy links for those interested:
Discord Invite Code
Newbie Blogger Forum
Newbie Blogger Twitter

From the sounds of things Discord will be the main platform for interaction this year, don't let that scare you off. It's pretty user friendly. :)

Due to my current schedule I'll probably only be on the sidelines this time around, but I'm definitely looking forward to discovering new/old blogs to add to my reading list. Also apologies if this post sounds like an echo, echo, echo, but that's kinda the point.

Today I Smiled: The Revenge of Blaugust!

Heads up everyone! Bel is running his Blaugust event again and once more I am participating. Seems I've been posting daily for a fair bit anyway. Hopefully this will also refill some of the "bleed" (aka blogs that I've been culling due to inactivity) which is currently on 15 this month (34 total since the last NBI). Be advised - I plan to be hitting my Nameless "Creative Writing Experiment" pretty hard during Blaugust. I know it's probably not everyone's cup of tea so just giving you advance warning that there might be large slabs of it coming up. I'll still try break it up with movie reviews though. :P

In other news, lumber jacking and getting wood from trees is pretty common in MMOs right? Well I had my first taste of it recently and it is definitely different in real life! While it definitely takes time (doesn't help that I'm a novice) it's also much louder than say... the sound file in Ultima Online. Way bloody louder. Also, vertical cuts are much easier than horizontal cuts which is great for branches but since trees generally stand upright I'm not getting any joy there.

Also doing the "wedge" cut is pretty tough! Doesn't help that my accuracy with the axe is not the best so I was ending up with deep "U" shaped things. Cutting half way into the target with the wedge cut is not enough. At least not with the things I'm trying to cut. It almost needs to be broken right through before things start to give. Next time I think I'm going to try a saw!

Today I Smiled: All Play and No Work

Making games is tough. Well, no it's pretty easy - but making a good game is tough as I'm discovering with my forays into board game design. Just to recap for you on my attempts:

Game 1: Messy, too many cards and off balance
Game 2: Bad Mechanics / Dumb
Game 3: Design getting complicated / non challenging
Game 4: Design way too complicated to get mystery function working
Game 5: Too much like Pandemic, didn't make sense theme wise
Game 6: Too much dice rolling
Game 7: Too boring.
Game 8: Too much like Mission: Red Planet
Game 9: Still needs testing, unconvinced of mechanics though
Game 10: Passable but pretty mundane

Not really putting a lot of time in there at the moment though, as currently it's just that extra hobby you do on the side. Gaming wise I've been playing a Tale in the Desert  (Tale 6, which is ending in a few months and is now F2P) recently, which is surprisingly interesting. I'll be doing a photo story of that too, later on. Blog wise "The Bleed" from the NBI has officially begun, and I am now down 19 links culled due to inactivity. I am quite curious to see how many will survive the year.

Anywho, I've also got a truck load of movie reviews in-bound, which I'm probably going to up the appearance of to every two days, but one that you should certainly watch now is Kung Fury. It is a hilarious action/comedy that only goes for 30 minutes which is less time than a single episode of most current series. Also if you happen to like hamsters, Hamsterzilla might be of interest to you. Lastly, if you want a video with me in it - here's a clip of one mission in Alien Swarm that my brother recorded. I'm the guy in yellow with the flamethrower. :P

NBI: Poetry Slam 2015 (and Seven Sins) Round-up!

The NBI for this year is just about finished and it sure attracted a number of blogs I've not previously followed, swelling my link numbers from 59 to 107! I also managed to get a few participants (because I'm not as awesome as orignal host Syl) for this "Gold" themed poetry slam, and would like to thank everyone that participated. Hope the NBI was a good experience for all and I'll be seeing you around in the blogosphere. :)

In the meantime, you should give all the entries a look:

Randark's Bioshock Haiku
Donnalbain by Braag Son of Balin (who it posted on the forums - scroll down)
Braxwolf's Ode to Gold
Murf's Bar with a Coin
Izlain's Shutdown Gold
Pixel Money

For those interested I also compiled a small results list from the final "seven gaming sins" talk-back challenge and had 19 people reply. Of them:

11 - Don't mind sexiness in game
14 - Have a large backlog of games
16 - Opt out of non-rewarding or non-enjoyable acts
10 - Help strangers
4 - Yell at people when angry
2 - Stalk people out of hatred
15 - Get envious
6 - Kick or avoid weak players

Make of that what you will and thank you to all those who responded!

NBI: Screenshot Safari! #NBI2015 #NBI2015Safari #Selfie #Flight

It's time for my final screenshot for the NBI Safari! This is me and my shadow wolf mount, flying through the area of Spinward Rise in Neverwinter Online.

Technically, I think it could fit in any of the available categories but I'm going to go with #Selfie. =)

Selfie - its me!
Heroes or Villains - I'm a hero!
Landscape - With an awesome view behind me!
Epic Achievement - I'm also flying... kinda (shh I'm actually falling)!
High Fantasy - I'm riding a wolf made out of shadows, jumping about on a floating a earth node (flying island)!
The Scariest Place - This fall is near certain death, if I don't time my evade right.

Yes, I'm so awesome I can "evade" falling damage. :P

Anywho while I'm talking about airborne silliness I've been hearing a lot of noise about WoW killing flying because it "skips content". It wouldn't skip content if they simply had flying enemies. In Mabinogi if you get hit in the air your mount is summoned, you take falling damage, then you have to deal with whatever cluster of mobs you just fell into and in that game two regular enemies can easily destroy you (depending on player skill).

Better still is Perfect World where elves have wings, humans ride giant, flying swords and a bunch of quests actually lead to magical floating fortresses guarded by all manner of flying foes. Given that a good portion of the game is in the air it has some pretty good aerial (and by extent, underwater) combat. Guess what I'm trying to say is flying wouldn't be skipping content if you just put content up there. Oh well, Blizzard should know what it's doing. It's been doing it a long time after all. Right?

NBI 2015: Poetry Slam - PIXEL MONEY!

Here is my entry to this year's NBI poetry slam (which you only have a few days left to join in)! The topic this year is "Gold" and I thought this piece rightly shows just what most MMO players (myself included) are actually doing, be it intentional or not. I apologize now for the adult language and non-standard rhyme format. :P

-PIXEL MONEY-

Shiny coins, gold and wealth,
in game its better than health,
cause all life is cheap and free:
You just want that pixel money!

You can buy armor and pots,
home decor, weapons, lots!
Show off your bling if thats your thing!
Make your pixel money sing!

It's also pretty easy to get:
find a mob that ain't a threat,
kill it dead, make your hand red,
you'll get that pixel money yet!

Yup - its not made by a bank,
and it always smells very rank
the truth hits you with each scoop:
you're collecting critter poop!

They have bags you say?
Does that brighten your day?
What about those rats, spiders and bats?
Tentacled aliens or giant gnats?

You've found gold in them too
But have never before gone "Eww",
Cause you want what they've got
and you want awhole lot!

GET THAT PIXEL MONEY!

Rob that critter for PIXEL MONEY!
Reach into that corpse for PIXEL MONEY!
Up to your elbows in PIXEL MONEY!
Fill your bags with PIXEL MONEY!
Test it with your teeth! PIXEL MONEY!
Shower your friends with PIXEL MONEY!
Tell everyone about your PIXEL MONEY!

Cause he who has the most wins!

PIXEL MONEY!

NBI Talkback #4: Seven Gaming Sins

I suppose as the silly person who thought up this questionnaire I should be one of the first bloggers to answer it, though it looks like Knifesedge has already got the ball rolling! :)

Lust - Do you enjoy games more if they have scantily clad and "interestingly proportioned" avatars? Do you like playing as one of these avatars?

While I always prefer to play as my main male character (the same guy in every game), I certainly enjoy the worlds more when they give players the option to run around as under dressed hookers. Key word there is option. If the onus is on the player on how to dress then you can't really blame the designer. The reason I enjoy it is simple: it lets people be however they want to be. I quite dislike the notion that mandates that x type of people can only wear x type of gear. It's all about individuality.

Gluttony - Do you have a game backlog of unfinished games but still buy new games regardless?

Nope. Since I very rarely (closer to never) purchase digital games for myself my backlog is quite under control. I simply get gifted enough games and know that there's a large multitude of free to play titles out there that can keep me entertained for a long time. I do still buy games for other people, but their backlogs aren't my problem. :P

Greed - Do you enjoy hand outs in game? Have you ever opted to NOT do an action in game activity because the rewards to yourself were lacking?

Oooh I'm definitely one greedy player. I like getting hand outs sure, who doesn't but the question should be Do I give hand outs? Maybe to friends, or allies or people I decide are "good natured". I don't consider those handouts though - that's more just sharing resources. I absolutely hate in-game beggars.

Real life beggars I can support on occasion, but people asking for pixel gold or pixel gear are simply lazy. Have I ever opted to NOT do an in game activity that isn't rewarding to me? YES. Especially when I'm playing solo! Like most gamers, I look for the path of least resistance, that is the shortest path with the most profit. Why? Because time is valuable, and must be managed efficiently to achieve a balance of fun and progression.

In a party, I don't mind doing non-rewarding activities as usually the party makes the experience more fun. :)

Sloth - Do you ever leech or AFK in a party? Do you discourage others from attempting things that you feel are difficult? Have you ever seen someone that needed help, but decided not to?

I never leech or AFK in a party, unless it really is a "down time" moment where everyone is resting. Leechers kinda fall into the lazy pixel beggar category above for me, so I definitely don't want to be one of them. Do I discourage others from attempting things that might be difficult? Hmm. Not really. I'm usually always up for certain death missions "just for the lulz", though I do mention that fact ("we'll probably be caned :D") before undertaking it.

As for helping people that need help it really depends: as I mentioned above I always decide not to help pixel-beggars. People that are getting slammed by monsters though (who I see are actually losing) often prompt me to jump into the fray - even if it just means I get killed too. I'm supposed to be a hero damnit, so of course I should be heroic (though slightly insane)! :P

Wrath - Ever get angry at other players and yell (or TYPE IN CAPS) at them? Have you ever been so angry to stalk a person around in game and / or in the forums?

Yelling at things: YES! I try not to yell at people though. Not directly. I do quite like to talk & threaten & sing to monsters, NPCs, and myself. This is quite funny when I do it on voice chat as people think I'm crazy.

I've not gone player stalking for many years. Really, the only time I stalked someone out of anger was on a free shard of UO after some PKs ambushed our guild. I suspected that one of the PKs was actually using a game master account to spy on our movements and equipment to know when to hit us, so having a game master account myself I tailed the bastard and sure enough matched his IP to one of the newly recruited GMs.

I also caught him doing it again to another group and got screenshot evidence of the whole matter. Turns out the "mortal" guy also had a hacked ring which made it very hard for him to die. It felt good bringing all of this to the higher ups who then came with me to confront said "corrupt" GM face to face, stripped him of his powers, killed him in a public spot, and banned his account (it's why I quite like that ban hammer GW2 video). Alas the "mortal" only got his cheating ring taken away as punishment. I still took it as a win.

Ohhh yeah, then on another free shard there was another "bad" GM who liked killing players by popping tough monsters on top of their head. I didn't have a game master account there but I simply used all the tricks I had learned from before, figured out who his mortal was and then found proof of him being a scum (setting up his own tournament so that he would win and rewarding "himself" with a legendary weapon). I also found proof that on the previous shard he played on before he was kicked out for cheating. Bad example for one of the eight seats of virtue huh? Got him banned and then one of our guild mates took his place on the council.

Good times, good times. Haven't needed to go through those lengths to cane someone for a long time now though. Maybe I'm just mellowing out in my old age

Envy - Ever felt jealous of players who seem to be able to complete content you can't? Do you ever suspect they are hacked or are simply unfair?

Yes and Yes. I am both thrilled and envious when I see those videos of one dude soloing a five man dungeon, but because of all those bad experiences (see Wrath, above) I always, ALWAYS think they are cheating in some way. Maybe not even in an "illegal" way. Perhaps they just pay to win or use out of game voice chat or use more people to their own ends or use ANY form of mod outside of the BASE GAME (for me any who use those ARE cheating - even if its just UI organization, no question about it). Even if it just is a matter of skill I always think they are hacked first. It's just been ingrained in my nature.

Pride - Are you one of those people that demands to party with other "elite" players? Do you kick players out of your team who you feel are under performing?

Nope and Nope. Hell, "elite" players probably wouldn't want to party with me anyway. I'd be on the receiving end of those "kick" votes. As I mentioned before, yes, I like being efficient -when I'm playing solo-. When others are around that's just a bonus for me (as long as they ain't leechers). I don't really care how well or how poorly they do, as long as we are all having fun. I try to remind myself that regardless of the team, the only one I can truly rely on is me so if everyone else dies it's not really their fault. -I- should be better!

Now this changes somewhat if the team actually starts caring about winning. Then I start getting annoyed when they do badly, because they aren't having fun. Which means I am not having fun. What's the point in doing an activity that you do not find fun? Hope it's rewarding? Pixel-rewards kinda suck in the grand scheme of things. Just saying.

Other on-going NBI activities:
Please join the NBI 2015: Poetry Slam!
Murf's Screenshot Safari

NBI: Screenshot Safari! #NBI2015 #NBI2015Safari #Landscape

I'm putting this screeny in the #Landscape category because I have a feeling most of the others will be awesome, sweeping shots of the horizon so you can see the sky and perhaps get a sun flare effect like in J3w3l's shot.

Well, I thought I'd be different and show the a top-down view of the landscape when you are going 100KM/H off a tall cliff into a deep valley where your objective to "KILL EM ALL!" awaits while riding a rocket powered bike from the future that cannot, in any way, actually fly.

*Turns on blaring rock music*

I tried to live up to the name of the game: Firefall!

The next two screenies are for Jeromai's Nostalgia Trip writing prompt of things in games that no longer exist...

First up we have this little garden and over sized statue in Neverwinter City. As of Elemental Evil, those are no longer there - replaced by the huge and more functional elemental tree of balance.

If you haven't tried get up on to rooftops, you should. It's fun!

And here is a collage from an old Ultima Online shard that let each player hold a large contigent of NPC mercenaries and pets. When my guild took control of Trinsic, we decided to build an army of them (over 200) as city guards - and yes, most of them died in defense of the city.

Dang, I miss my blue warhorse.

I don't think any other shard lets you do that any more. Indeed, the second iteration of that very shard prevented it.

NBI Talkback #3: What made you a Gamer?

I'm pretty sure I can attribute this to my brothers, who got me playing table top D&D (and memorizing the monster manual in case I run into any monsters in real) from a young age. They also encouraged me to watch them play through games like Shadowgate and Castle Wolfenstein. By the time I got a Nintendo family computer I think I already fit right into the "gamer" category. Battle City was one of my favorites, since it offered cooperative play.

Of course I also enjoyed making up games, just as most kids do I imagine. Games on paper, games in real life, games on the bus to school, during recess and lunch and definitely afterwards, etc. I imagine it helped that my best friend at the time was as crazy about games as I was. He was more successful with that background than I though.

Eventually I was introduced to Ultima Online and that started the whole MMO addiction for me. More recently I've rekindled my table top gaming love with board games, which isn't good because they can become way more expensive than the digital variety! Yeah, it's a strange sort of progression, but that's just how I am. Strange. :P

Today I Smiled: Live Action!

Been awhile since my last "Today I Smiled" entry and there sure are a lot of things for me to smile about. My Neverwinter Online: Vigilance Guide got featured as a "Bag of Tricks" entry on NWO-uncensored. I also quite like that the Wizards of the Coast release content on all mediums simultaneously which means that Elemental Evil is also hitting DDO and the table top game, meaning there are write ups for each of the evil cults.

The Newbie Blogger Initiative is also going full swing and this year I'm in charge of the Poetry Slam - looking forward to more entries coming in before the end of the month. Also happy to report I'm now up to 100 links from 59 when the event began. As a fan of the TV series Arrow and the Flash I'm also looking forward to Legends of Tomorrow, and am hoping the live action version of Shingeki no Kyoujin (Attack on Titan) does well. Kinda surprised to see a live action Parasyte there too!

If none of those interest you then perhaps this clip of Guildwars 2 killing, deleting and then banning a cheater will be enough to brighten your day, or if you want a more hands-on experience, try out the first two browser bragging games for this years NBI: the PvP blob consuming game called Agar and the colorful pixel gore of Critical Annihilation. :)

NBI Talkback: GamerGate and Unfinished Games

For completionists sake I'm answering the first two NBI Talkback questions today, because I like to think that I can be both early and late at the same time. :P


NBI Talkback #1: How did #GamerGate affect you?

While it changed Izzy for the better, let Mr Luvvaluvva find more gamers, made WolfDragon feel ashamed, scared Rambling Redshirt and Starshadow and made Belghast and Liore paranoid, I'm afraid I'm in the "it had no effect whatsoever" camp along with Randar, Isey, Partybusiness, Tyrannodorkus and Jeromai. Sure a lot of people posted stuff about it when it was in full swing, but having my entire feed of people talking about something I didn't quite understand? Basically I just ignored all of it as like Tobold says, it's just "feeding trolls".

Since it's actually an NBI topic this year I thought I'd actually try work out what its about though, and guess what?

I still have no clue because it's become so many things. Too many. Whatever identity it was supposed to have is now lost on me and I am pretty much back to not caring as, from my perspective, it just looks like internet arguing.


NBI Talkback #2: Early Access and Kickstarter - Do you support unfinished games?

While I don't pay for any computer games for myself (it's a self imposed rule) as I get plenty gifted to me and know that there are enough F2P titles out there to keep me entertained, I will never purchase an Early Access / Alpha / Beta / Kickstarter as a gift for any of my friends unless they have it on their wishlist.

I feel that ultimately it all comes down to a matter of personal preference and have no issues with Dev's selling said "products" or "ideas of products" if people are willing to pay for them.

The closest example I can think of is something like this: You can sell a car without wheels. Some people will pay you for that, as there are still many parts that are usable. However, just because of that I don't want to assume that all my friends want a car without wheels - no matter how shiny the paint job is or how new the model.

NBI: Join the 2015 Poetry Slam!

In keeping with tradition of the past NBIs, I'm inviting all the NBI participants from newbies to vets alike to participate in this year's official NBI Poetry Slam! Yes, our usual host, Syl of MMOGypsy is sadly unavailable this time around but hopefully seeing all your entries will encourage her swift return! :)

Rules:

-This Poetry Slam ends on May 30, 2015 as it gives me the last day of the NBI to post up a link to all your entries! Just like all previous Poetry Slams, there are only winners in this competition. ;)

-All entries can be as long or short as you like. Free verse, classic rhyme, limericks, haikus, screenshot poetry, song lyrics, abstract poetry, all are fair game. Unleash your creativity! Then put it up as a post in your blog and either post links of your contributions in the comments below or at the NBI 2015 Poetry Slam thread on the forums. While you only need one entry to participate, you are free to put up as many as you like, just be sure to link all of them.

-The topic for this year is: "Gold (or whatever gaming currency you like)!" How you get it, spend it, want it, hate it, throw it away, use it as decoration... anything. Real world currencies are also valid as long as it still pertains to it's use in-game, buying games, paying subscriptions, etc.

-Try avoid using the Spandau Ballet song. :P

I look forward to reading all your entries!

Other current NBI activities:

-Moderate Peril's offer for you (newbie NBIs) to guest post on his site is still available! Don't be shy!

-Gaming Event Setup Discussion! Have your say in both the forums and on Izzy's blog!

-Talkback Challenge #1: How did Gamergate Affect you?

-J3w3l's Gaming Grudge Match: This week is Agar.io.
Consume and be consumed by horribly named (PKs) cells in this competitive game!

-Murf's Screenshot Safari!

-Jeromai's Impromptu Writing Prompts (found at the bottom of the post)!

[Technique Demonstration for NBI Newbies: I won't be updating my blog for a few days so this post remains at the "top" to try get more exposure.]

Newbie Blogger Initiative 2015! #NBI2015 #NBI2015Safari #HeroesorVillains

It's that time of year again for people who are thinking of starting up a blog, are currently blogging, or have lapsed in blogging to hop in to / continue to ride / or get back in the saddle and join the Newbie Blogger Initiative 2015! Despite the name it's actually open for all ranges of blog experience as one of its main purposes is to create a community for game bloggers / vloggers / podcasters / and the like to interact and support each other.

Personally speaking, it's also a great way to get an injection of traffic on your site plus you get to find many other blogs (new and old) to link to for reading purposes. To that end I'm lifting my usually strict cut-off point in my blogroll this month to welcome all the new blood, wayward sheep, or new found veterans to reinforce my current count of 59 links. This also means you can also expect out of the blue oddities like hashtags in the title apparently.

If you want to get involved simply do any or all of the following (which I totally stole from Syp @ Bio Break):

• Stay in touch with the official NBI Twitter account!
• Read the latest announcements on the NBI forum.
• If you’re a new or lapsed blogger, then you’ll want to register on the newbie blogger check-in. We use this forum to keep track and promote blogs, so having your link on it is incredibly important.
• Sponsors (veterans) have a sign-in as well, and if so desired they can put themselves out there to be a direct mentor.

One of the neat things I've always liked about the NBI are the events that the sponsor bloggers come up with, and Murf has wasted no time in getting the ball rolling with his #NBI2015Safari, a simple screenshot contest. Since this post is technically interrupting my Neverwinter Online Vigilance Quest tutorial I thought I'd get in early in the "Heroes or Villains" category with a pic from that game - featuring the only enemy that actually requires 25 players to work in synchronized tandem within a time limit to achieve victory.

Tiamat!

Lastly, I just realized that Contains Moderate Peril is offering a chance for up to four newbie bloggers to guest post on his site! For people new to the whole blogging thing believe me that's pretty good - try not to let that opportunity slip by! (For other sponsor blogs, please advertise this too).

Quests Failed!

Blergh, I know I'm a few days early but I'm going to call this now. I knew there's a reason I don't like writing up New Year's Resolutions. I'm one of those people that obviously just doesn't get them done! So let's take a quick look at that list from the start of this year...

Lose 12 kgs. That's just 1 kg per month!
Fail! I lost just as much as I gained and am back where I started. >.<

Start writing out the guild history, one chapter per 2 months would be good.
*Watches the tumbleweed*

Complete 10 quests for NWO.
7/10.

Make a silly game of my own.
I actually did this! Twice in boardgame form. They weren't any good though.

Continue the Today I Smiled series with 2 per month.
Definitely didn't do 2 per month, but still posted 24+ during the year so I'll give this one a pass.

Finish composing another song.
Neglected. Which is annoying since I had half a new song already...

Score: 2 out of 6.

Retry next year? In theory it should be easier now that I have more XP right? For the most part yes, but we'll see if I'm in a mood to put up another list later! :P

Lastly I am sad to report that I am down to 50 links to other blogs. That might sound like a big number until I remind you that I was on around 150+ at one stage after the previous Newbie Blogger Initiative. Sticking to my rule of "must have new content within 4 weeks (eg. one post a month)" apparently was too much to ask for around two thirds of the population. Is this a sign that blogs are dying? No, probably not. Just that I'm either too harsh on my criteria or I'm simply linking the wrong people.

Today I Smiled: Bragtoberfest

Most of you probably know of the Bragtoberfest event that was going on this month thanks to Izlain and J3w3l. I don't really like the notion of "bragging" so I opted out this time but I figured I'd still give some (kinda late) support, especially as J3w3l keeps finding all these fun flash games just like she did in the previous NBI. Here are my results for Axon and Feed the King, both being fun little games. I doubt the scores are very good in comparison to everyone else though! :P

Axon brain building.

One hungry king!

Well, I suppose I have to brag about -something- but it's something not of my own. My wife plays Candy Crush you see. I started playing it with her but stopped at level 169. Now when I Neverwinter she crushes candies. When I Warframe, she crushes candies. Whenever I'm on the computer, she crushes candies. Sometimes when we watch TV, she crushes candies. Curious, I recently asked her what level she is up to.

BEHOLD... :O

This is without buying any in game powerups. O_O

Lastly here's a pretty cool music clip of "Me and my broken heart", performed by people driving about in a car. Have a good day everyone! :P

Flatlining Heartbeat: Wizardry Online

[My second Blaugust post!]

I didn't quite make it on at the appointed hour but I did manage to login early. There were no large "goodbye" parties (on the Bareaux Bareaux Server anyway) that I saw. No special events, no GM spawning stuff for one final hurrah. Just a rather quiet global chat where one or two people were giving their final goodbyes to their peers who I think, with lack of anything else to do, were still camping the Loitering Armor to up whatever final score or level they were keeping track of.

Myself, I decided to see how far I could run into the Azarm Trial grounds, a level 50 zone that people avoided for good reason. I do mean run in the literal sense too as everything there could one shot me, and dying meant evading the many reapers wandering the halls. Not that it really mattered though. After coming back from the shops I was greeted with this.

And that was the end of Wizardry Online.

Blaugust Bonus: Much like MMO developers keep an eye on player numbers, I've been keeping a rough count of how my blogroll on the right there is going. As I said near the beginning of the Newbie Bloggers Initiative, I would be constantly culling any blogs that failed to at least put up one post every four weeks. Now before I add the other Blaugust participants I don't yet have, I just wanted to ask if this is too aggressive? Why do I ask? During the NBI I had around 145 links over there as I added everyone and then some. I also had to shrink the list to only show the latest 25 (by default) since it was quite ludicrous to scroll down. As of this post only 77 remain. Is there a lot of silence out there or am I just not waiting long enough to listen?

NBI 2014 - Artists of May

With the beginning of June ends the May NBI Drawing event, and the NBI's "active" phase. There were only a few participants, possibly because of this:

Just a theory! :P

 

However the brave few that took up the task will be remembered forever... on this page!

Doone

 

Ikralla

 

Simcha

 

Jewel

 

Maligma

Braxwolf

Me :P

 

Lastly, Missy Mojo didn't actually participate (grumble grumble) but she did ask for an avatar - so I thought I'd whack it up here for my own record keeping. :)

Missy Mojo

Thank you again to everyone who took part. For even more NBI artistry be sure to check out the Big, Magical NBI Poetry Slam Round up at Syl's blog!

Just as a note, while the NBI might be going into hibernation that doesn't mean it's stopped completely. If you are starting up your own blog or site, or just want to get to know some other people with your same hobby then please stop by the forums. :)

NBI: Why don't we finish games anymore?

Because we over purchase.

This is one the other main talkback topic for this year's NBI and while I've already posted my personal top 10 reasons why I stop playing games I think the simpler reason of why most people have a back log is simply that line above. People who purchase games on a regular basis are more likely to leave the same said games unfinished as new shineys come in, and there is no shortage them in addition to betas, alphas, early access and kickstarting stuff to try.

It's really a lot like food. If you (the consumer) kept getting plates of various food at a rate of one dish an hour, eventually you will reach a point where you will not be finishing (and in some cases even tasting) what is served - no matter how delicious it is. If you are serious about finishing a bunch of games in your backlog then my advice would be to simply stop buying new ones until you're done. Go on a Game "Diet" if you will. It's harder than it sounds as Mr. Luvva Luvva has found out.

Personally, I don't buy any games for myself any more - nor do I play any non F2P titles and it's very hard for those to open my wallet (guess it helps that I'm poor?). The rest is just a matter of will. Ask yourself why exactly you are purchasing what you buy, and when you will get to use it? Getting a "deal" for 80% off sounds great, but if you never use the product you are still -20% out of pocket for no reason.

NBI 2014: Drawing Event!

Much like Syl's Poetry Slam this year's Newbie Blogger Initiative is calling all blogger artists (and those who don't think they are artists) to join in the silliness of the first ever (that I know of anyway) Drawing Event!

Here are the rules:
1 - Everyone has to draw their own avatar.
2 - (optional side quest) If you're really feeling creative, create a 2 panel comic strip.
3 - You have to wear the avatar you draw on the forum.
4 - Post a reply to this thread to show off your works!
5 - The Drawing Event closes on May 30th 2014 (end of this NBI).

While special XP prizes may or may not be given for participation (because Doone works in mysterious ways), I can at least guarantee that at the end all works will go up in a
gallery post on my blog that link back to your own (you can opt out though) - and hey, the more incoming links the better right?

One last note for those not feeling confident about their art skills: it doesn't matter what skill level you are or what tools you use. Just join in - the NBI is about community building after all!

I highly encourage everyone to participate and look forward to your contributions. ^_^