Gaming

119 entries. 114,615 words.

2013-12

  • Which Fingers for WASD. 2013-12-09. I’ve always wondered something. Most of the world uses WASD for their keyboard controls, right? I’m assuming so because that’s how every game is pre-configured. I, however, use ESDF for my keyboard controls, so I have to change the defaults on every single game I play. I am not bitter about that. Mostly. I chose ESDF when I re-did my Quake keyboard binds way back in the day because it seemed like the natural choice, because my ring finger, middle finger, and index finger naturally rested on SDF anyway.
    • Gaming
    • Discussion
    227 words

2014-03

  • Un-Learning Invert Mouse. 2014-03-18. I decided to learn to play without the Invert Mouse option. I’ve considered doing this for a long time, but the final straw was wanting to continue checking out ArcheAge without getting a headache. But you know if you’ve ever tried to change this setting that you need to turn it off for every game at the same time. It’s not something you can turn off in one game but leave on in another game.
    • Gaming
    358 words

2014-08

  • ‘Cannot Be Tamed’ Gaming Answers. 2014-08-24. Okay, okay, here’s my answers to the Cannot Be Tamed Gaming Questionnaire. I found many of these questions pretty silly. I feel like writing my own questionnaire with hard-hitting, insightful questions like, “If you were a ferret, what kind of video game controller would you use?” **1. When did you start playing video games? **2. What is the first game you remember playing? Somewhere around 1980-ish. I don’t remember if I had an Atari 2600 or a TRS-80 Color Computer first, though.
    • Gaming
    • Responses
    1,107 words
  • Identifying As A Gamer, Erratum. 2014-08-25. I’m not entirely sure what happened, but somehow WordPress posted two different versions of my last post. The RSS feed and the front page shows one version, but the post page itself shows a newer version. I think maybe ScribeFire did something to it. Anyway, I added a paragraph to my answer for question 20 at the last minute and this is what it was supposed to say: 20. Do you identify as a gamer?
    • Gaming
    • Opinion
    • Responses
    281 words

2015-08

  • Game Developers Aren’t Slaves. 2015-08-11. A while back I saw this pro-GamerGate post and had a flashback to my days in the political blogosphere. I’ll save you the time of reading it: It’s a long, very well-worded piece of propaganda disguised as anti-propaganda. (You know you’re reading propaganda when you come across the word “indoctrination.”) The part that really made my jaw drop was this: Never forget that you [developers] are here to please the gamers, they are not here to please you, validate your beliefs or prop up your ego.
    • Gaming
    • Opinion
    • Responses
    465 words

2016-01

  • ARK – Another Chance In The New Year. 2016-01-04. With the start of the new year, I decided to give ARK: Survival Evolved another chance. So many people rave about this game, in streams, podcasts, and blogs. I had a lot of bad feelings to overcome, but I figured it was possible that I was the one who was wrong about it. So on January 1st, I fired up a single player game, determined to play until I “got it.
    • Gaming
    • Reviews
    • Survival
    807 words

2017-08

  • E3 2017 Thoughts. 2017-08-10. You can always count on my blog to bring you the latest, greatest news and commentary… so here’s another forgotten post from my Drafts folder. It is was E3 time again, and for a change, I actually watched some of the presentations, something I have never done before. I watched part of a Sony event on Saturday [June 10th], part of a Microsoft event on Sunday, and part of an Ubisoft event on Monday.
    • Gaming
    536 words

2020-08

  • August and Promptapalooza Arrives. 2020-08-01. The Blaugust Promptapalooza is starting, and I’m in it! I’ll be perfectly honest: I’ve been so completely out of it lately that I’m still not completely sure I understand the exact details of what I’m supposed to do. I think I’m going to be writing a post about a super secret topic on August 28th. As of this writing, I have no idea what to say about the super secret topic, so that should be fun.
    • Gaming
    • Musings
    611 words

2021-02

  • Tyranny. 2021-02-20.

    Somehow March is almost upon us, and I still haven’t written about Tyranny, the other free game I got from the Epic Store oh so long ago now. It was the next in a burst of isometric CRPG games that I played around Christmas time, which started with Wasteland 2 and then Pillars of Eternity.

    • Gaming
    • RPG
    361 words

2021-03

  • Valheim and Outriders. 2021-03-06.

    I don’t get the Valheim craze and I wasn’t wowed by Outriders either. There, I said it.

    • Gaming
    556 words
  • Halcyon 6, Sunless Sea, and Surviving Mars. 2021-03-13.

    This past week I found myself trying three free games I got from the Epic Game Store.

    • Gaming
    378 words
  • Stadia Pro Free Trial. 2021-03-29.

    I got a two-month free trial of Stadia Pro and have been trying it out.

    • Gaming
    729 words

2021-04

  • Pillars of Eternity Video Adventures. 2021-04-04.

    Video adventures uploaded in the last week or so.

    • Gaming
    716 words
  • The End of Pillars of Eternity. 2021-04-11.

    At last, the Pillars of Eternity series comes to an end.

    • Gaming
    320 words
  • The Random Game Era Begins. 2021-04-18.

    Before and after I started a new job in March, my gaming time and interest plummeted to nothing, so I commenced a period of short gaming sessions of mainly free games and demos which continues to this very day.

    • Gaming
    319 words
  • Those D&D Shows. 2021-04-18.

    Some Twitter activity prompted me to think about how and why I follow some D&D shows.

    • Gaming
    • TTRPG
    2,005 words
  • Free Stadia Game Phase. 2021-04-25.

    And now we move into videos of games I’ve played during a Free Two-Month Stadia Pro Trial phase (which I got from someone at my new job). There are a whole lot of free games to click on and play with a Stadia subscription, but the down side is that 99% of them are games you’ve never heard of before.

    • Gaming
    618 words

2021-05

  • Finding a Headset. 2021-05-01.

    Finding a microphone that can also be used for content creation (aka. makin’ vidyas) in a noisy room is challenging.

    • Gaming
    2,142 words
  • Another Week of Stadia Games. 2021-05-02.

    Another week of playing strange games for free with a free trial of Stadia Pro. It’s really a fantastic system for trying out new games quickly. The technology is very cool. The sticking point is who pays for it, and how much this luxurious convenience is worth to a consumer.

    • Gaming
    684 words
  • Scripted Twitch Streaming. 2021-05-06.

    How to stream a local video file to Twitch with ffmpeg.

    • Gaming
    1,489 words
  • Amazon Luna Also Streams Games. 2021-05-09.

    Since I was experimenting with Stadia, it seemed fitting to try out Amazon Luna for comparison. It was only a seven day free trial, though. Also, it was noticeably worse quality than Stadia. Also, you have to pay for an early access subscription. Also, it had far less good games available for free. In summary, not a lot of pros with Amazon Luna.

    • Gaming
    570 words
  • Firewatch Week. 2021-05-16.

    Firewatch and other games I’m currently playing: ie. The Surge, Hellpoint, and Greedfall.

    • Gaming
    535 words
  • FFXIV and Technical Debt. 2021-05-18.

    I blurted out some tweets yesterday morning about Final Fantasy XIV which I think need some further clarification.

    • Gaming
    • MMORPG
    830 words
  • What Used To Be Controversial. 2021-05-23.

    The end of my streak of miscellaneous one-off videos.

    • Gaming
    321 words
  • Building a New Gaming PC (2021 Edition). 2021-05-29.

    Or: “Battle for Your Oats.”

    • Gaming
    3,181 words

2021-06

  • The Surge Begins. 2021-06-01.

    The 42-part adventure in The Surge begins, a game that was fun except for the boss fights, and the last zone, which was an ordeal to finish.

    • Gaming
    • Soulslike
    476 words
  • The Surge - Central Production B. 2021-06-09.

    The continuing adventures of Warren rending his way through his first day on the job at CREO.

    • Gaming
    • Soulslike
    698 words
  • PC Build Surprises (2021 Edition). 2021-06-15.

    I put together my new PC build over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. There’re always some surprises when you build a PC: Things that don’t go according to plan. Here’s some of mine.

    • Gaming
    1,566 words
  • The Surge - Resolve Biolabs. 2021-06-16.

    The continuing adventures of Warren hacking and slashing his way through the Resolve Biolabs to reach his ultimate goal of … who knows? Warren doesn’t really have any motivation. Just an unquenchable thirst for hacking up robots and zombies. (Though he might have a secret backstory.)

    • Gaming
    • Soulslike
    663 words
  • The Surge - Research and Development. 2021-06-28.

    The continuing adventures of Warren on his first day on the job at CREO. We’ve now reached the point in the story where I no longer remember what happened, didn’t write anything down, and don’t have enough time to re-watch the videos to figure it out. Soooooo. Yeah. Vague, one-sentence summaries!

    • Gaming
    • Soulslike
    562 words

2021-07

  • The Surge - The End. 2021-07-08.

    It’s the last stretch for The Surge, as Warren finishes out his first day on the job. I hated the last zone in The Surge (the Nucleus) so much I almost uninstalled the game with only a couple hours left to play, but I powered through it because I’d gone too far to throw away so many videos. :)

    • Gaming
    • Soulslike
    1,134 words
  • Categorizing Boss Fights. 2021-07-11.

    I was thinking about why some boss fights are fun challenges and other boss fights drive me absolutely crazy with needless frustration.

    • Gaming
    • Soulslike
    1,000 words
  • Another FFXIV Free Login. 2021-07-12.

    There’s a lot of buzz about Final Fantasy XIV’s Endwalker expansion, and now I see it’s that time again when Square Enix is letting lapsed Final Fantasy XIV accounts login free for a couple of weeks.

    • Gaming
    • MMORPG
    697 words
  • What's Wrong With Nioh. 2021-07-14.

    I simply have no choice but to rant about Nioh for some number of paragraphs.

    • Gaming
    • Soulslike
    • MMORPG
    1,777 words
  • FFXIV - The Unending Journey. 2021-07-15.

    I played Final Fantasy XIV last night. Sort of.

    • Gaming
    • MMORPG
    763 words
  • FFXIV - Shadowbringers. 2021-07-18.

    I didn’t really intend to play Shadowbringers. I thought I was done with Final Fantasy XIV forever, actually. But a few things combined to get me back in this game.

    • Gaming
    • MMORPG
    602 words
  • Final Fantasy XV. 2021-07-27.

    I did a weird thing: I bought Final Fantasy XV on Steam. It’s … not bad? Maybe?

    • Gaming
    1,101 words
  • FFXIV - Shadowbringers Update. 2021-07-28.

    We now bring you a brief Shadowbringers update.

    • Gaming
    • MMORPG
    1,609 words

2021-08

  • FFXIV - What's Still Holding It Back?. 2021-08-01.

    Final Fantasy XIV is enjoying a massive surge in popularity this summer, but there are still a few things preventing it from reigning supreme in the MMORPG space.

    • Gaming
    • MMORPG
    393 words
  • FFXV - Leviathan. 2021-08-02.

    Final Fantasy XV is on my mind this morning.

    • Gaming
    463 words
  • Final Fantasy XIII. 2021-08-04.

    I’m going to play Final Fantasy XIII next. That’s a 13. Those roman numerals are confusing.

    • Gaming
    529 words
  • Final Fantasy XIII Screenshots. 2021-08-05.

    I have roughly 15 minutes to think of, write, edit, illustrate, and publish a blog post this morning.

    • Gaming
    509 words
  • Final Fantasy Status Update. 2021-08-09.

    It’s time for a brief Final Fantasy update.

    • Gaming
    515 words
  • Bless Unleashed. 2021-08-12.

    Bless Unleashed: I mean, it’s free.

    • Gaming
    599 words
  • FFXIV's Gandalf Moment. 2021-08-14.

    The Stupid Face Boss in Final Fantasy XIII and The Gandalf Moment in Final Fantasy XIV.

    • Gaming
    1,013 words
  • Pantheon Of Best Shadowbringers Moments So Far. 2021-08-15.

    Yesterday I flippantly remarked, “Not exactly a deep meditation on the human condition,” about the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers story so far. But there was a conversation that my mind keeps returning to: A conversation between the Crystal Exarch and Lord Vauthry.

    • Gaming
    968 words
  • FFXIV - How To Abandon A Main Scenario Quest, Kind Of. 2021-08-16.

    I ran into a problem with Final Fantasy XIV and I thought I’d share the solution I came up with, because you certainly won’t find it anywhere on Reddit.

    • Gaming
    1,162 words
  • Level Curves And Story Pacing. 2021-08-17.

    I wish the arbitrary geometric leveling curve didn’t mess up story pacing.

    • Gaming
    832 words
  • MMORPG Character Switcharoos. 2021-08-18.

    Sometimes MMORPGs make you play a different character for narrative purposes and I don’t like it very much.

    • Gaming
    701 words
  • FFXIV - Oracle of Light. 2021-08-19.

    I spent last night in Final Fantasy XIV standing at the Neverending Storybook (not the actual name) refreshing my memory on story events from the very end of A Realm Reborn and the post-Heavensward stuff with The Word Of The Mother and the Warriors of Darkness.

    • Gaming
    972 words
  • Friday Screenshots - FFXIV. 2021-08-20.

    I was going to pull out one of seemingly hundreds of half-written posts to finish them, but then I realized I hate all of them! And now it’s evening. So here’s some screenshots. It’s from that game I’ve been playing. You know the one I mean.

    • Gaming
    92 words
  • Saturday Screenshots - FFXIV. 2021-08-21.

    Hey, writing blog posts every day isn’t that fun sometimes. Here’s some screenshots. From that same game again. Because they’re the only screenshots I took yesterday.

    • Gaming
    151 words
  • Sunday Screenshots - FFXIV. 2021-08-22.

    I didn’t even rename the screenshot files this time.

    • Gaming
    95 words
  • FFXIV Needs A Limit Break. 2021-08-24.

    I’m waking up to this news that Final Fantasy XIV has closed off all the North American Aether servers to new players indefinitely because they can’t handle the strain anymore.

    • Gaming
    340 words
  • Best MMO Technology. 2021-08-25.

    Yesterday I mentioned how much I worried that Final Fantasy XIV was staggering into their new expansion on duct tape and bailing wire, so I thought today I’d mention the MMORPGs that appear to have a much more solid technology base that I don’t have to worry about.

    • Gaming
    417 words
  • Shadowbringers Done, Part 1. 2021-08-26.

    I finished the first ending of Shadowbringers. The one before the long series of post-expansion patches.

    • Gaming
    469 words
  • Nuts To The Post-Shadowbringers Blues. 2021-08-28.

    I started into the post-Shadowbringers Main Scenario Quest last night and got a whole two quests in before the game slammed a massive brick wall down in front of me.

    • Gaming
    1,048 words
  • The Endgame Grind Decision Point. 2021-08-29.

    Should I dive headlong into the vortex of Final Fantasy XIV endgame possibilities or should I detox and play something else?

    • Gaming
    534 words
  • FFXIV - New Game Plus. 2021-08-30.

    I recently learned about New Game+ in Final Fantasy XIV, some time earlier in Blaugust, in the Blaugust Discord. I didn’t think it would work very well, but it actually does.

    • Gaming
    942 words

2021-09

2021-10

2021-11

  • Solasta: Crown of the Magister. 2021-11-14.

    I stumbled upon a new (to me) tactical RPG based on the D&D rules.

    • Gaming
    1,071 words
  • Disco Elysium. 2021-11-26.

    Disco Elysium is one of those award-winning games I bought mainly because it was on sale and I heard it was award-winning.

    • Gaming
    731 words

2021-12

  • FFXIV - Shadowbringers 5.4, Futures Rewritten. 2021-12-01.

    Notes on the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Patch 5.4 Content, Futures Rewritten, which I finished well over two months ago at the time of this publication.

    • Gaming
    774 words
  • FFXIV - Shadowbringers 5.5/5, Death Unto Dawn. 2021-12-09.

    Notes on the Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers Patch 5.5 and 5.55 Content, Death Unto Dawn, which I finished more than two months ago at the time of this publication.

    • Gaming
    919 words

2022-01

  • Observing The NFT Wars. 2022-01-05.

    The first post of the year is about … sigh … NFTs.

    • Gaming
    954 words
  • Microsoft and Activision/Blizzard. 2022-01-19.

    I have to write a post about this don’t I. It would be like not mentioning 9/11.

    • Gaming
    448 words
  • Elden Ring: Prepare Ye the Way. 2022-01-26.

    Some thoughts on Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, and the upcoming Elden Ring.

    • Gaming
    755 words
  • On Defining Indie Games. 2022-01-28.

    Over on the Blaugust Discord, there’s been a flurry of discussion about a new #JustOnePercent challenge of playing indie games, and it occurred to me to wonder what exactly is an indie game?

    • Gaming
    1,072 words
  • Demon's Souls (PS5). 2022-01-31.

    I didn’t set out to get a Playstation 5 to play Demon’s Souls, it just kind of happened.

    • Gaming
    736 words

2022-02

2022-03

2022-06

2022-07

2022-08

  • Code Vein. 2022-08-09.

    A stylish but ultimately very frustrating experience.

    • Gaming
    396 words
  • FFXV - Story Summary. 2022-08-10.

    Herein I will attempt to summarize the main story of Final Fantasy XV, so that I remember how insane it was, years from now.

    • Gaming
    1,039 words
  • Dwarf Fortress Again. 2022-08-12.

    Okay, yes, fine, I downloaded Dwarf Fortress again.

    • Gaming
    639 words
  • Those New MMOs. 2022-08-15.

    I heard talk about a couple of new MMOs, Tower of Fantasy, and one other one which disappeared so fast I can’t even remember the name of it.

    • Gaming
    • MMORPG
    255 words
  • Dwarf Fortress - Limulitred. 2022-08-17.

    A brief recounting of the dwarf fortress of Limulitred, “Goldbuff,” in the world of The Eternal Everseeing Dimensions. Updated with illustrations by DALL-E.

    • Gaming
    453 words
  • Kruggsmash Dwarf Fortress Videos. 2022-08-18.

    It’s creator appreciation week here in Blaugust, and by coincidence, I just happen to have one to mention.

    • Gaming
    291 words
  • Gaming Pet Peeves. 2022-08-20.

    Just some random gaming pet peeves I wrote down once.

    • Gaming
    310 words
  • Who's At Fault For Unfinished Games?. 2022-08-22.

    I happened to see a few lines in a recent post from Naithin that inspired this soapbox sermon.

    • Gaming
    380 words
  • Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. 2022-08-23.

    I mentioned Kruggsmash a while back. In one of his videos, he plays a game called Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead.

    • Gaming
    372 words
  • Dwarf Fortress - Otinsthinthäd. 2022-08-27.

    The tale of Otinstinthäd.

    • Gaming
    770 words
  • Lost Ark and Chimeraland. 2022-08-30.

    Brief comments on a couple of MMOs I played for a little while.

    • Gaming
    398 words

2022-09

  • Cataclysm DDA Video Production. 2022-09-26.

    Not playing many games because I’m too busy making game videos.

    • Gaming
    614 words
  • Wrath Classic Launch. 2022-09-27.

    There’s a bit (ha!) of buzz going around about World of Warcraft’s Wrath of the Lich King Classic launch today.

    • Gaming
    • MMORPG
    352 words

2022-10

  • PC Gaming Wasteland. 2022-10-16.

    Browsing my Steam library yet again this morning looking for something–anything–that might be fun to play on this Sunday where I have a lot of free time.

    • Gaming
    309 words

2023-02

  • A Busy Month - February, 2023. 2023-02-13.

    It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Also I need a better title for these kitchen sink posts.

    • Blog
    • Gaming
    1,671 words
  • Video Essay - Making Game Videos. 2023-02-21.

    I’ve been uploading game videos to my YouTube channel for about eight years now, and as my first foray into video essays, I decided to make a video about how I do it.

    • Gaming
    2,722 words

2023-04

  • Humble Sir Brante. 2023-04-04.

    It’s an average choose-your-own-adventure game.

    • Gaming
    393 words

2023-05

  • Bendy and the Dark Revival. 2023-05-13.

    As luck would have it, May’s Humble Choice includes Bendy and the Dark Revival, which is a game that I picked up on Steam a few months ago.

    • Gaming
    778 words

2023-08

2023-09