For Day 15 of Blaugust, I’ve blogged about Blaugust over on Holosuite Media!
[Edit: If you’ve found this article by searching for how to get the Cat Ear Headphones, they have been confirmed as random drops from the new Elite Dungeon, the Manufactory. Check out one of my TSW Help links for more info!]
Bonus ferret!
While I was playing with a ferret at work today, other lucky Secret Worlders were tuning in to the 5th episode of The Streaming Ones devstream. I was sorry to miss it, as they were sharing some much appreciated news on Issue 12. Even though the TSW website has an announcement explaining which features will be released, the livestreams always show more details. I’ll be talking about it now that I’ve had a chance to watch, but definitely check it out in full at http://www.twitch.tv/funcomofficial/v/10912032! There’s a lot of information to digest, and I’m sure to miss something.
Tilty, the Lead Designer, and Andrew, the Lead Systems Designer, began the stream by showing us part of the new dungeon. Looks like there will be some new and interesting mechanics involving AEGIS shielding and a new type of giant AEGIS turret. Their play by play pointed out tasks that different members of the group will have to accomplish – it’s definitely a section better viewed than me trying to explain. 😛
While doing research for my day 11 post, “Mistaken Assumptions: Five Nights at Freddy’s,” I wandered down the rabbit hole of fan theories about the game. I was soon interested enough to spend more than one night researching them, analyzing which seemed most likely based on my crash course in the game’s lore. Why would I spend so much time on a series of games I still need to play? Continue Reading
This one isn’t going to be about games, and I’m ok with folks not reading. This is going to get into my life, some of my history with depression/anxiety, and why today I have things on my mind that preclude talking about gaming. Continue Reading
I try VERY hard not to judge games I’ve never played, and that goes double for games I haven’t personally looked into. It’s a good goal, and has saved me from many foot-in-mouth situations, but I’m not perfect. Sometimes I hear enough about a game to start forming opinions based on what others are saying, often without even realizing I’m doing so. Such was the case with Five Nights at Freddy’s and its sequels.
When the game was first being talked about, I somehow formed the idea that it was about college kids staying at a haunted house on a dare. I’m not even joking, and I’m not sure how that happened. I further gathered that it was a horror game based on jump scares for the “screamy” Let’s Players – two things that are not my cup of tea. (No insult meant to anyone, there.)
I knew I hadn’t played or even looked at the game, but underneath those logical thoughts were all kinds of assumptions.
Last night, random Youtube binging led me to catch up on what Jim Sterling has been up to. When I got to his Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 video, I paused to go back and see what he thought of the others. After watching his short first look plays on each game in the series, and being interested enough to look up the wiki, it was clear to me that most of my “obvious” assumptions about the games were incorrect.
(Errr, I mean other than completely missing the actual setup! A security guard there because of his job, and later a kid in his room at night, are both more interesting to me than college kids out on a dare. Also, Freddy’s is not so much a haunted house.) Continue Reading
While browsing the #Blaugust writing prompts, I came across this one from ggchestnut. It’s far too fun to pass up, and great for a night that I’m pretty well exhausted.
Have you taken any screenshots that were opportunities from a death? Have you ever died because you were taking a screenshot? Share the shot(s)!
While I’m sure this has happened to me more than a few times >_> tonight I’ll share the first few that come to mind. I won’t include times I went into anima form in The Secret World on purpose, either. ^^ Continue Reading
I missed a killer party today, thanks to work.
A player from The Secret World, Katarina1, wanted to do something cool for his third anniversary with the game. (We were just recently celebrating the game’s third anniversary, if that tells you something.) He didn’t just want to throw a party, either. He invited anyone and everyone to a party/prize giveaway/trivia match/survival game/screenshot contest/fireworks display event! Even though I missed it, it’s a great example of some of the reasons I love this community. Continue Reading
Extra Life
As of today, I’m officially on team OtterDown for Extra Life! We’ll be running our 24 hours over in The Secret World, with much romping and flailing. Do still check out my other team, Otterly Gaming, no drama here about the switch. If you don’t know what Extra Life is about, check out the Otterly Extra Life page here on the blog, or my post, “Extra Life 2015 – Why I Play.” That’s also where you can find links to my page and the team pages. There’s still plenty of time to get involved for anyone interested! Related to that…
Gryph on Twitch
Many of you probably don’t know I attempted streaming a couple years back. I super enjoyed it, as tiring as it is at times, but my good ol’ laptop just doesn’t like that kind of pressure. I nearly killed it during Extra Life 2013, which made me reluctant to try again.
Due to a very personal gift my family would like to give me, I may be getting an updated computer in the next couple months. It probably won’t be top end, but it’s bound to be better than a (5? 6? more?) year old laptop. Assuming all goes smoothly, I’ll be trying to get back into streaming. 🙂 I’ll certainly post if and when that happens, in the meantime my channel is http://www.twitch.tv/darkgryphon42.
Chrono Trigger #SGDQ
I haven’t been doing much gaming this week, between my dental issues and then feeling all medicated. I just barely managed a few rounds of Faerie Solitaire last night, if that says anything.
What I have been doing is trying to finish watching the Chrono Trigger run from Summer Games Done Quick. The video for the 100% speedrun lasts about five and a half hours, and is definitely worth a watch if you’re a fan of speedrunning, or even just a fan of the game. Chrono Trigger was one of my favorites growing up, it was a great choice for the final run of the event.
Want to join in on #Blaugust? There’s still time! Visit the Blaugust Initiative page, and then head over to the Nook to get signed up and see what everyone else is up to.
I love my job. That’s not sarcastic, either – whether I’m playing with kittens or cleaning out kennels, I love every moment. Still, 9 hours at a job that gets very physical is not a lot of fun while trying to beat an infected tooth. My body wanted a whole lot of rest today and is less than pleased I couldn’t oblige. Tired body, tired mind.
This is a good day to take advantage of one of the writing prompts that Belghast has so kindly offered us. I’m grabbing the same one Dallian used:
What is your preferred gaming platform? Are you a multi-platform gamer or do you stick to one platform all the time? What is it about that gaming platform that you like?
Still alive over here, so at least there’s that! I learned an important lesson about second opinions today, and am now on an increased dosage of antibiotics and what is effectively prescription-strength Aleve. With any luck I should start having some actual improvement on my dental drama. Thank for the good thoughts my way, it’s been a rough few days made better by the kind messages.
Beyond the Veil
I’m almost definitely going to end up missing it thanks to still feeling much like roadkill, but Beyond the Veil records its 150th show tonight! We’ve got a couple community guests on, and will be giving away awesome prizes. By the time this blog goes live, it’ll be pretty close to starting (7pm EST) but go check it out if you can over at http://www.twitch.tv/holosuitemedia. Otherwise, the remastered version, as usual, should be up shortly on www.beyondtsw.com.
Currency Exchange Rates for Issue 12
The day has finally arrived for us to learn the planned conversion rates for the Issue 12 currency revamp! The relevant post can be found on the forums in the General section. I’m still very excited about this revamp, as it hugely opens up the ways in which players can receive Black Bullion for upgrades. While you’ve never needed to be top geared to play the game, it’s always nice to have that goal to work towards.
I mentioned the revamp briefly in another blog post; but for those unfamiliar, it’s effectively taking currency that was previously only rewarded by Nightmare Dungeons and setting up countless other ways (PvP, Scenarios, missions, etc.) to earn it. This is a huge deal to those who may not want or be able to run dungeons, but would still like to work towards better gear.
If you missed the news about Issue 12, check out this article from Azagthor or check out the dev stream where it was announced. There’s a lot of new things planned with the intent of making sure the game is as truly “Play as you want” as possible.
Blaugust
One small bonus to being so miserable the last few days is I’ve shown myself I can still do short updates even when the conditions aren’t the best. I’m starting to enjoy these shorter updates more, though I’m hoping to have the energy to do a longer one soon. There’s so many topics I’d still like to talk about!
While it’s important to take care of yourself, posts like these are exactly what I hated missing by posting so infrequently. Current news (like the currency revamp numbers) isn’t so current if I wait until I can write a thousand words on the topic. Better to mention it right away, then come back to it later if I have more to say.
Want to join in on #Blaugust? There’s still time! Visit the Blaugust Initiative page, and then head over to the Nook to get signed up and see what everyone else is up to.
LFGryph 