Blaugust Progress

Blaugust

Today being the 19th, I am roughly 60% done with Blaugust. I haven’t missed a day yet and (knock on wood) I don’t think I will.

Confidence aside, I definitely have had some of the same struggles that Welshtroll, Rowan, and Missy’s Mojo have already talked about. Several nights were a real struggle for me to come up with something to write about. I got through it and then was lucky to have four days of builtin topics because of GenCon. Despite the difficulties, I’ve been enjoying Blaugust quite a bit and fully intend to do it next year. I hope to keep up a much more regular schedule outside of Blaugust although I’m definitely taking weekends off.

Aside from blogging everyday, the best change that Blaugust has helped me make is breaking my habit of saving drafts and then going back a day or more later to edit them. Or often go back a month later and delete them because they weren’t topical any more. This is something I’ve been trying to shake for a few years now, and Blaugust has finally pushed me to do it.

Jasyla’s Gaming Questionaire, Part One

I got this link to a gaming questionnaire on Jasyla’s blog, Cannot Be Tamed, today over the Blaugust hash tag and thought it would be good material while I work on my impressions for Shadowrun: Crossfire.

1. When did you stat playing video games?

I was young, somewhere between six and ten.

2. What is the first game you remember playing?

The first video game I played was Pong. It was a large brown rectangular box that hooked up to the TV and the controllers were on coiled cords.

3. PC or Console?

I definitely prefer PC over console. I’ll play a console if the game I want isn’t available on PC but I generally prefer mouse and keyboard over anything else, and PC games generally allow for more customization and modding.

4. XBox, PlayStation, or Wii?

I had an original Xbox as well as a PS2, but in the last gen I skipped the PS3 because there just weren’t any games for it I wanted to play that weren’t on the Xbox 360 which I bought when Mass Effect was released. I haven’t played a Nintendo console since the original NES.

5. What’s the best game you’ve ever played?

This is tough, I’m not even sure what criteria I’d use to determine best. Hours played? Most replayed? Most memorable? I guess I cheat a little bit and say Mass Effect, meaning the series as a whole. I’m generally pretty bad about finishing games, so to have finished three Mass Effect games says a lot about how much I enjoyed them.

6. What’s the worst game you’ve ever played?

Spore is pretty high on the list. I was so excited for that game and equally disappointed by how basic and limited it turned out to be. I’d have to say that the top spot goes to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, three years later and I’m still bitter about the boss battles.

7. Name a game that was popular/critically adored that you just didn’t like.

There are lots of great games in genres that I just don’t enjoy, like JRPGs, so take you pick from any of the Final Fantasy games. I know a few of them are considered classics, but they just don’t do it for me.

8. Name a game that was poorly received that you really like.

The recent installment of the Batman Arkham series, Batman: Arkham Origins, I was quite enjoying until I got distracted by other games. Mechanically it was very close to the previous two games, but I really like the storyline and writing.

9. What are you favourite game genres?

MMOs, RPGs, strategy games, space sims, adventure games, and Minecraft (pretty much a genre of it’s own).

10. Who is your favourite game protagonist?

A lot of my favourite games don’t have a protagonist, at least not a predefined one. I am very attached to several of my MMO characters, for example the Silver Hunter from Champions. My main character in Star Trek Online is also very dear to me as are two of the original bridge officers he recruited which I still use on my Away Team.

And that’s it for now, I’ll save 11-21 for tomorrow.

Day 19 of Blaugust