Monthly Update: March 2015

"Lousy Smarch weather!"  I can't help but think of "Smarch" whenever I see the month of March. although I guess that could be somewhat appropriate with the East Coast buried under a few meters of snow and us the Pacific Northwest being burned alive with average temperatures of 55° F, which is warm for February for us.  But onto why we're really here!

In February, we saw the Humble Bundle people put up a massive Star Wars game bundle with 11 games, none of which have I ever played before.  Later in the month I'll actually go into what makes a Star Wars game fun for me to play versus some other science fiction so be prepared for that one later in the month as well as for people to rip me a new one for not being über Star Wars canon knowledgeable.

I've also gotten back into Dungeons & Dragons (As I mentioned last month) and I am presently really enjoying the game.  For our group, I'm DMing and we've managed to get in two sessions, about every other week, but as with every D&D group ever, scheduling is always an issue.  I know that I said I would do a write up last month, but I may actually get around to it this month after I complete my final schooling electronic paperwork assignments for the month.  And I still need to get back on that painting wagon again, but I'm hoping for some nice detail brushes to come into my possession soon.  

On a similar note, I uncovered a D&D story that I wrote back in 2002-03 and I am going back, rereading and converting everything to a 5th Edition model.  The nice part about this is that I am figuring out some story elements that I sort of flubbed on or just ignored to make the story work and it's a lot of fun to go back into this world/story that I concocted.  I'll tell you what, it's somewhat nice to know that my storytelling capabilities didn't completely suck 12 years ago.

I've also decided to put Dragon Quest VI on the back burner for a bit as I just seemed lost with the story.  I don't know if it was because of intermittent play or because I am genuinely not as interested in the story as I want to be, which might be a fault in itself; forcing myself to play something because I feel that I'm supposed to like it is probably not the best way to play a game.  So now I'm going back to Radiant Historia, which I started very briefly I don't know how long ago because I love the concept of the game and the short amount of time that I did put into the game, I recall loving what I was experiencing.

Ah, and I also started up Borderlands after finishing RAGE, which both need articles of their own, which may or may not happen (see paragraph #3).  I am afraid though that it will turn into another Skyrim, which I always seem to be learning something new about once every few weeks.

Lastly, Conklederp and I will be attending the RePLAY orchestral video game concert up here in Portland in a few days so as I may have said (see paragraph #3), there may be an article at the same time.

JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

This Thing Is Too Precious To Ever Sleepwalk Your Way Through This.

P.S.  And then there's the whole Elder Scrolls Online going free later in the month and becoming Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited.  And I thought I read somewhere that the game is not considered canon?  I may need to look into that.

It's Been A Hell Of A Week

Apologies for how I've been posting for the last week.  Last Friday I was unable to post because I didn't plan ahead, went to work on Thursday night, got home Friday morning, went to sleep, woke up at 2pm, packed for a trip down to California, sat in traffic for an hour when the commute usually takes 18-25 minutes, boarded a plane eventually arriving at my parents' house 8:45pm thoroughly exhausted.

Wednesdays MIDI-Week Single ended up not happening partly because of forgetting the aforementioned computer cable at the aforevisited parents' house and only receiving it on Wednesday afternoon shortly before going to sleep so that I would be awake enough to go to work Wednesday night, which is what I did again last night (Thursday-Friday).

And now I sit here at 7:30am wondering how to salvage what it is that I'm meandering on about so that I can go to sleep and wake up around 1pm to start my day.  So on that note, I'll see you on the other side, hopefully refreshed and full of zazz.

Not that you can tell, but it's now 2:35pm and I have semi-groggily awoken from my slumber where myself and another person were in combat with some sort of ice dragon that was reminiscent of dragging a butter knife along a wall of rocks.  It was not super effective.

But we're here to talk about gaming and I will do just that, but in more of an update form.  Again.

In the last week, I started playing Dota 2, all thanks to Chreekat and Vorlynx.  I'm presently still going through the tutorial, specifically the one where you play through the center lane 10 separate times with one of 20 characters.  I've gone through this one tutorial four times already and while it has become a little repetitive, the variation in the character design and their abilities is what's keeping the game interesting.  I have a feeling that this is a key feature of a MOBA.  I will be going back soon.

The Bioshock 2 DLC, Minerva's Den is also progressing nicely, although I have since forgotten how/why another early Big Daddy has come to life amidst the ruin of Rapture.  I think that was covered in the intro/beginning of the game, but it didn't seem all too important.  Also, why is it that only your character is able to use the Vita-Chamber?  And thanks to that article, it makes sense why every single enemy doesn't use the modern wonders of Vita-Chamber, from Ryan Industries.  I guess I must have glossed over that somewhat important plot point.

I also started Dragon Quest VI after deciding that I needed to step away from Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D on the 3DS.  I had reached a point with the game that it was not fun anymore and that I was only playing because I felt obligated to finish the game.  As I told Dr. Potts this weekend, the game play reminded me a bit like Super Meat Boy except with a limited number of lives. The charm to Super Meat Boy is that you have infinite lives and being able to pass a level is determined by the players stamina whereas in DKCR3D, you are reminded frequently of your dwindling life counter and dying is just as easy.  Dragon Quest VI  I feel is a much needed old school JRPG, of which I realized I hadn't played in, at least I think, a very long time.  Maybe not since I finished Dragon Quest V back in June 2012.

I'm going to call it a day and I will see y'all next week for a more concise and less free flowing post/article.  I just needed to get back on the wagon after missing last Friday and Wednesday.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
I Just Can't Figure It Out