Blaugust
241 entries. 151,950 words.
2014-08
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Congrats Blauggers!.
2014-08-15.
I just wanted to drop in and say congratulations to everyone participating in Blaugust: Belghast’s challenge to post every day during August.
Clearly, I’m not participating, because I’m being a lazy bum this summer. Would that Blaugust had occurred in Blarch or Blay or Blune.
Even if I hadn’t taken a vacation, my daily schedule has been turned upside-down so much that I’m struggling to find the right way to write anymore.
- Blog
- Musings
2015-07
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Gearing Up For Blaugust.
2015-07-28.
This past weekend I spent some time gearing up for Blaugust next month. It’s a little daunting because July has been a very light gaming month for me and there’s no reason to think next month won’t be the same. I’ve been pre-occupied with a lot of work stuff. So what the heck am I going to write about?
One thing that I think will help me is giving myself permission to write shorter posts.
- Writing
2015-08
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Dark Souls – Capra Demon Defeated.
2015-08-01.
Blaugust Day 1
Twelve days after defeating the Bell Gargoyles, I finally defeated the next boss in Dark Souls-the Capra Demon.
Bosses in games aren’t usually worthy of a blog post all to themselves, but when you spend so much time crafting and practicing a strategy for defeating one, it’s a really big deal. Such is the case with the Capra Demon, the fourth boss I’ve encountered in my Dark Souls saga.
- RPG
- Single-Player
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Progression Report – July 2015.
2015-08-02.
Blaugust Day 2
July was a quiet gaming month for me. Work continues to be hectic, and I’ve also gotten it into my head that I might try to take a Microsoft exam so I spent a lot of time reading and studying.
It was around the end of July last year that I lost my job-not from anything I did, but from a contract changing hands to a different company.
- MMORPG
- Progression Report
- Status
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A Dream About Enemy Base Infiltration.
2015-08-03.
Blaugust Day 3
It’s Sunday morning as I write this. I had the strangest dream last night. That’s not unusual because, honestly, a lot of my dreams are strange. I think the scientific explanation of dreaming* involves your subconscious re-processing things you’ve experienced, but that doesn’t explain a lot of my dreams. Quite often I see things in my dreams that I have no memory of ever seeing, hearing, or experiencing before.
- Musings
- Stories
- Writing
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YouTube Gaming Or Something Like It.
2015-08-04.
I don’t stream a lot but I like YouTube Gaming so far. Twitch is okay, and Hitbox is okay, but I almost always see a lot of stuttering, lag, and painful dropouts, both when I stream and when I watch other streams. With YouTube Gaming I’m just going to go out on a limb here and guess that they’re going to have the best possible video streaming technology working behind the scenes.
- Pre-Release
- Reviews
- Streaming
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Dark Souls – Gaping Dragon Defeated.
2015-08-05.
In an unprecedented spurt of Dark Souls excellence, I defeated the Gaping Dragon in a single evening after just thirteen attempts! (I kept count this time.)
The sewers of The Depths. There is a vendor through those bars at the end of the room, because this is obviously where you'd expect to find a merchant.
It took some time to find the beast. My Knight wandered around the maze-like sewers of The Depths for days, falling through cleverly-hidden holes in the floor, stabbing rats of all sizes, dodging the cursed basilisks’ breath.
- RPG
- Single-Player
- Status
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The Wild Internet Frontier.
2015-08-06.
The hubbub surrounding John Smedley stepping down from Daybreak has gotten me thinking once again about The Internet and its place in society.
I’m sort of a Libertarian at heart so the very idea of The Internet has always appealed to me. A place where everyone is free to make their own way, without any pesky government regulations. A place that breaks down political and social borders and treats everyone like an equal human being.
- Musings
- Politics
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The Elite: Dangerous Expansion And Value.
2015-08-09.
Elite: Dangerous has an expansion coming out and you’ll never guess what happened after the announcement: People on Reddit got mad.
In a related story, the sun rose and set today.
I admit I’m just an average guy who doesn’t grasp all this new-fangled math the kids use, but I have never understood the “it’s not fair that if someone buys it today they’ll get a better price than someone who bought it before” logic when it comes to games.
- MMORPG
- Musings
- Responses
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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
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Dark Souls – Catching Up.
2015-08-20.
Don’t really having time to write up every boss fight in Dark Souls right now, but here is a quick summary of the bosses and mini-bosses Sir Thomas the Knight has gotten through.
Havel The Rock A mini-boss waiting at the bottom of the Watchtower right before the Taurus Demon. He hits really hard and takes a ton of damage, but is otherwise fairly straightforward. He drops Havel’s Ring, which boosts your carrying capacity (and typically increases your movement speed).
- RPG
- Single-Player
2015-09
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The Great Blaugust Flame-Out.
2015-09-01.
I flamed out of Blaugust, so I guess I can now break my own self-imposed Blaugust rule, which was not to write about Blaugust.
There was this one day that I hadn’t scheduled a post, and it was a long, terrible day at work, and when I got home I had to decide whether to try to find enough energy to write a post real quick or play a game instead, and of course that was a no-brainer so I didn’t get a post out that day.
- Community
- Responses
- Status
2018-07
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Blaugust Reborn Is Happening.
2018-07-10.
Belghast is rebooting Blaugust, so head on over there for all the details (and here for more details). All the cool kids are doing it. I probably won’t be able to participate formally, but I’m sure I’ll post something during the month and I’ll cheer everyone on from the sidelines.
This is a screenshot of a cryptic book from Secret World Legends, which is supposed to sort of vaguely remind one of the topic of blogging when one doesn't have any better images around.
- Community
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Flipping The Tables For Blaugust.
2018-07-29.
I’ve belatedly decided to officially participate in the Blaugust extravaganza. I wasn’t going to because frankly I didn’t think I’d be able to write 31 posts in August. (I still don’t think I will.) But late this past week I stumbled upon some information that I completely missed the first time: You don’t actually have to write 31 posts to participate. I figure that even in my crippled state I should be able to manage five or ten posts.
- Blog
- Writing
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Primary Care Doctors.
2018-07-30.
This afternoon I have an appointment with a new primary care doctor, one I’ve never seen before. I had no choice but to select a new one because I had to buy new insurance this year, and my old doctor wasn’t “in the network.” It took three months to get this appointment.
I don’t like doctors even on a good day. Especially “primary care” doctors. As far as I can tell, the main goal of this type of doctor is to shove you out the office door as fast as possible with the most generic of healthcare solutions that they can think of: “Here, take this generic prescription and come back in a couple weeks if your problem’s not better.
- Blog
- Musings
2018-08
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Blaugust Introduction – Blaugust 1.
2018-08-01.
This is my back yard and the raucous neighbors who frequently visit. Today is the first day of Blaugust. I thought I would start by introducing myself, something I probably should have done a long time ago.
Hi! I’m a middle-aged guy who lives alone in a somewhat rural-ish house with a dog and a cat. I’m “in my 40s,” though in truth I’m now a lot closer to 50 than I would care to admit.
- Blog
- Musings
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Gaming Goals Aren’t Fun For Me – Blaugust 2.
2018-08-02.
I’ve noticed over the years that a lot of bloggers post their gaming goals at the start of every month. I’ve always found this both fascinating and puzzling. I myself can’t think of a time when I’ve ever made long-term planning goals for any games I’m playing.
My goal-all the time, every month, every day, every time I log into any game-is to experience something fun or interesting or entertaining or challenging or surprising.
- MMORPG
- Musings
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Blog Post Topic Ideas.
2018-08-02.
I know bloggers are always in search of topics to write about, so I thought I would throw out some ideas here at the start of Blaugust. Then I noticed some others doing that. Then I noticed topic brainstorming is actually on the schedule for the first week. Reading comprehension, yay! Anyway a__lmost all of these are based on posts that are sitting in my Drafts folder unfinished right now.
- Blog
- Discussion
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The Cataract Report – Blaugust 3.
2018-08-03.
Not from today, but from 2010, the last time I saw an eye doctor before 2018. This morning I finally saw the cataract specialist. It’s been about five months since the optometrist told me I had a cataract. It looks like I never wrote a full post about that. No Blaugust back then. :)
The delay was mostly because of having to meet insurance requirements: To make a long story short, I have new insurance this year, and that insurance requires a referral from my primary care doctor, but I had to find a new primary care doctor because my old one was not in the new insurance network, all of which adds up to a lot of waiting for appointments.
- Blog
- Musings
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Those WoW Cinematics – Blaugust 4.
2018-08-04.
From Legion, Helheim Normally each Saturday I post a summary of interesting gaming news and events from my week. But this week, I haven’t seen any gaming stories of interest, and I’ve already posted a number of things about myself for Blaugust.
Instead, this morning I thought I would write about these wacky World of Warcraft cinematics all the kids are talking about. Specifically, Warbringer Jaina, Warbringer Sylvanas, and Old Soldier.
- MMORPG
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New Writing Process Didn’t Work – Blaugust 5.
2018-08-05.
This photo of boats is completely relevant to this post! I think I’ve collected enough observational data now to abandon my new writing process. At first it was new and invigorating, but after a week it’s kind of irritating and not any better or faster.
For posterity, here’s what I did: I turned on the webcam and recorded myself talking for about 7 or 8 minutes. I played back the video with VLC and set the playback speed slightly slower, and transcribed what I said into a Scrivener document.
- Blog
- Musings
- Writing
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I Wish EQ2 Would Explain More – Blaugust 6.
2018-08-06.
EverQuest II would probably rank second on my list of MMORPGs that I wish was easier for me to get into and play more (below Lord of the Rings Online). But they sure don’t make much of effort to accommodate new or returning players.
The longest I’ve ever played EverQuest II is leveling a Warden up into the 40s five years ago. Whenever I return to that character, it’s almost impossible to figure out how to play the game again, because EQ2 follows the “more-is-more” philosophy of giving out hotbar abilities every character level.
- MMORPG
- Musings
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Back Yard Bird-Watching – Blaugust 7.
2018-08-07.
The classic and ubiquitous American Robin from many years ago at a different house. My dad was an avid backyard bird-watcher. He would setup bird feeders and watch all the wildlife that showed up through binoculars from the living room. In the early days of video cameras, this was back in the 80s, I remember he’d setup one of those monstrous suitcase-sized VHS camcorders on a tripod to record birds at the feeders.
- Blog
- Musings
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The Hand Report – Blaugust 8.
2018-08-08.
This morning I went to another doctor’s appointment, the fourth one in the last nine days. This time I went to see a hand specialist, as I had been referred from my primary care doctor. I was amazed to be able to get an appointment to see him two days after calling.
It’s interesting to see the kind of people you find in waiting rooms. Based on my meager experience the last couple of weeks, doctor’s offices seems to be the social hotspot for people over 60.
- Blog
- Musings
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Nineties News Nostalgia on Netflix – Blaugust 9.
2018-08-09.
I just finished watching the American Crime Story: The People Versus O.J. Simpson series on Netflix. It’s pretty good. I’m not sure it deserved to win any Emmys, but I enjoyed it anyway, especially the second half of the series. I didn’t remember a lot of the twists and turns.
I didn’t see much of anything about the whole OJ Trial when it happened. I remember the basic framework of it: The Bronco, the trial, the gloves, the acquittal.
- Blog
- Media
- Musings
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More Netflix Documentaries – Blaugust 10.
2018-08-10.
You might have noticed I don’t post a lot about games here, and that’s mostly because I haven’t played much of anything in the last month. So the “here’s what I played last night” style of post is completely off the table for me so far in Blaugust. It makes it kind of hard to think of something to say. :)
I could tell you what I watched last night, which was a Netflix documentary called Evil Genius: The True Story of America’s Most Diabolical Bank Heist.
- Blog
- Media
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My Oldest Computer Files – Blaugust 11.
2018-08-11.
My dog likes to be involved with everything. They say everything’s been written before and there’s nothing new to write on a gaming blog. Well, okay, I say that, because I’m lazy and not very motivated. I keep looking at all the mountains of writing prompts floating around Blaugust, including the ones I wrote, and thinking, “Meh, I’m just not interested in writing about that today.”
Then, suddenly, a revelation! Wilhelm’s post on installing ZMud contained this passage:
- Blog
- Musings
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Diablo III for the First Time – Blaugust 12.
2018-08-12.
The quest for non-WASD games to play using only the right hand on the mouse inevitably leads to either strategy games or isometric action RPGs. I’ve been through a number of strategy games already and I just can’t get into them right now. In the past, I’ve turned to Path of Exile in this kind of situation (because it’s free), but this time I decided to try out the trial version of Diablo III for the very first time.
- Reviews
- Single-Player
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Developer Appreciation Overthinking – Blaugust 18.
2018-08-18.
The Blaugust theme of the week is Developer Appreciation, but I’ll be honest, I have no idea how to write on this topic. It’s one of those situations where I have to decide whether to write what I think everyone expects, or write what I actually think.
I’m sure the intention here is to simply state, “I think games are great and I don’t think developers should get death threats on Twitter!
- Blog
- Musings
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Sunday Browns and Disenchanted Disappointment – Blaugust 19.
2018-08-19.
Drustvar, the brown zone … for a few steps, until the lighting changes. Today is not just an “I can’t think of anything to write” day, it’s an “I actively don’t want to write because I hate the way I write” day. I was working on a post about comments last night but it’s not finished and I don’t want to post it until it is.
It’s been, what, two days since I reported on Battle for Azeroth, so surely there must be a clamoring for news there.
- Media
- MMORPG
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Drustvar Screenshots – Blaugust 20.
2018-08-20.
Screenshots! Because it’s that kind of a day.
A friendly, inviting architectural feature for the entrance to a building. Here we see the bow of a boat built in a house, and the incredibly rare Swift Stormsaber mount that I usually ride in WoW. This vaguely terrifying creature was called a "mountain doe." That doesn't look like any doe \*I've\* ever seen. Except maybe in my nightmares. Here we see the standard position of my Hunter's pet in most attempted screenshots.
- MMORPG
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Drustvar Complete, Mastodon – Blaugust 21.
2018-08-21.
So we meet again, blank page. Stop yelling at me, now-a-total-of-150-draft-posts-I-can’t-use, you know what you did.
Ever wonder why I embed the image in the post and also set it as the "featured image" in WordPress, so it shows up twice on the web site? For the RSS feed. I design my posts almost exclusively for RSS feed readers. World of Warcraft In Battle for Azeroth yesterday, I got to the end of the Drustvar zone, which actually isn’t the end because there are still some side quests and missing pieces for the zone completion achievement, but it’s the end of the main story for the zone, and of course I excitedly ran after the NPCs to go into the final dramatic confrontation to complete it … until I saw I was running into a Dungeon Portal.
- MMORPG
- Musings
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That Amazon New World Preview – Blaugust 22.
2018-08-22.
From the [new New World game site][1]. Cool for a game, but loads of historicity to pick apart there. :) We got our first “hands on” look at Amazon’s New World from Tech Advisor UK, and it doesn’t look pretty. (I mean, it looks pretty, sure, but I am referring to the gameplay.)
Here’s what I’ve previously written about New World:
Amazon’s New World Reveal Hopes and Predictions for New World Amazon’s New World, Part Two Week End - EQ Royale, New World I’ve had a rather cynical take, to put it mildly.
- MMORPG
- Musings
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Where Exactly Is This Battle? – Blaugust 24.
2018-08-24.
Stormsong Valley This is going to get me into trouble, but I’m already bored with Battle for Azeroth. I didn’t even play yesterday. It’s basically a continuation of Legion, and … well, I already played Legion. The story that got me interested in the first place is nowhere to be seen. There is no “battle for Azeroth” taking place in the Battle for Azeroth expansion, as far as I can tell, at least through level 115.
- MMORPG
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A Logical Dead End – Blaugust 26.
2018-08-26.
Island Expedition tutorial I just went ahead and cancelled my World of Warcraft subscription today. It was largely a formality. I can’t imagine a world (of Warcraft! Har!) where this expansion would have been so great that I’d have played for more than a month.
Incidentally, no other MMO makes it so easy to cancel its subscription, I’ve noticed. You just click the “Cancel” link and that’s it. No questions, no guilt trips, no nothing.
- MMORPG
- Musings
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Battle for Azeroth 119 Update – Blaugust 30.
2018-08-30.
This will be my last “spontaneous” Blaugust post this year. I started tomorrow’s “performance review” post a week ago, and then there will be my “what I played this month” post after that, which I started yesterday. I started today’s post … well, today.
So since it’s my last one, I better make it good!
Um. Okay. Here we go. Any second now, something interesting will come to me.
- MMORPG
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Blaugust Performance Self-Review – Blaugust 31.
2018-08-31.
Back in July I filled a directory with 70 photographs for potential use in Blaugust posts. Last chance to use them! This is Chingoteague. I'm not sure if this is sunrise or sunset but let's just say it's sunset to fit the theme of the post. It’s time to review my performance in Blaugust! Setting goals is only half the battle in self-improvement. The other half is evaluating your performance to see what worked, what didn’t work, and how you can improve for next time.
- Blog
- Musings
- Writing
2019-07
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Blaugust Is Next Month.
2019-07-16.
I’ve just been reliably informed that next month is August. In fact, it will be August in just over two weeks from the time of this writing. (Which was yesterday, as of the time of this posting.) That means Blaugust is back. Head over there to Tales from the Aggronaut for all the details.
Thanks to Belghast for making these awesome images available!
I have to be honest. The idea of writing a blog post every day for a month elicits a heavy sigh from me.
- Musings
- Streaming
- Videos
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Blaugust Game Schedule.
2019-07-18.
Here is the official list of games I will play for Blaugust, randomized with random.org using atmospheric noise or some such nonsense:
TimeShift The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Antichamber Majesty Gold HD Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 Dead Space 2 World in Conflict Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit NEO Scavenger Vortex: The Gateway KHOLAT Crysis Warhead Game of Thrones Apotheon Penumbra: Requiem The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Alan Wake’s American Nightmare A Story About My Uncle Darksiders II The Bureau: XCOM Declassified Crysis Wars The Age of Decadence Gothic 3 Forsaken Gods Enhanced Edition Crysis 2 Maximum Edition Max Payne 3 Tree of Savior (English Ver.
- Musings
- Steam
- Streaming
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Blaugust 2019 OPML File.
2019-07-24.
Theoretically you can click the following link to download the latest version of an OPML file of Blaugustians:
Blaugust 2019 OPML File
I tend to model my software development life around the Perl mantra: “The three principal virtues of a programmer are Laziness, Impatience, and Hubris.” Thus did I find myself hemming and hawing over the prospect of manually adding a whole bunch of blogs to my RSS feed reader for this Blaugust.
- Development
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ESO – Two Good Quests in Rivenspire.
2019-07-28.
I grouse about Elder Scrolls Online a lot, so I thought it would be fair to point out that I actually had an enjoyable play session yesterday for a couple of hours.
My “main” from the game’s launch in 2014 is a Nord Templar who is now somewhere around level 48 I think. This is the character I keep trying to play, and keep running into frustrations because the game consistently refuses to let me play the way I want to play this character.
- MMORPG
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Steam Backlog Bonanza – TimeShift.
2019-07-29.
It doesn’t seem like a game from 2007 would be that “old,” but it sure is. I tried out a shooter called TimeShift from my Steam backlog. I bought it in 2016 for $1.80.
Installing TimeShift was painless. In fact, since it’s so old, it took almost no time at all to install. The size of the game was measured in Megabytes-3000 of them, roughly.
The mechanics of the game are pretty standard for a shooter: You point at things and shoot them, with various weapons, which generally fall into the standard categories: Pistol, Assault Rifle, Shotgun, and variations thereof.
- Shooters
- Snap Judgment
- Streaming
- Videos
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Steam Backlog Bonanza – Lord of the Rings: War in the North.
2019-07-30.
Is Lord of the Rings still Lord of the Rings even when it’s not Lord of the Rings? That is the question I set out to answer when looking at Lord of the Rings: War in the North, from 2011. Actually, it was just the next game on my Steam backlog list. I paid $5 for it in a Steam sale some time back, and yesterday I looked at it for the first time.
- Reviews
- RPG
- Steam
- Streaming
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Steam Backlog Bonanza – Antichamber.
2019-07-31.
Yesterday I tried a game called Antichamber from my Steam backlog. I played for an hour and a half, an almost unprecedented marathon for me in a first look at a game. It’s an indie game that I (apparently, because of course I have no memory of this) got for $5 in 2013, and it took me six years to actually play it.
It's really, really hard to find a representative screenshot for this game.
- Snap Judgment
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
2019-08
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Steam Backlog Bonanza – Majesty Gold HD [Blaugust 1].
2019-08-01.
It’s possible that I’ve played Majesty before, according to Steam, but I don’t remember it at all. From the description it sounded like it would be in the same vein as Dwarf Fortress or RimWorld, both games I’ve enjoyed, but it was a little bit different. Yesterday was this game’s (possibly second?) chance to impress me, according to the schedule.
The map where you select the "quest" to embark upon.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
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Steam Backlog Bonanza – Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 [Blaugust 2].
2019-08-02.
I was looking forward to seeing this real-time strategy game from 2008 for the first time, and now that I have, I’m not even sure what to say about it. This might be the exact point in time when the games industry stopped and said, “Wait, I think we might have gone a little too far here.” Or should have said that, at least.
First, let’s talk about the game part of the game.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
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Steam Backlog Bonanza – Dead Space 2 [Blaugust 3].
2019-08-03.
I bought both Dead Space 1 and 2 in a Steam winter sale in 2011 for $5 each (that was back in the halcyon days when Steam sales were always 85%-off sales, not the trolly 10%-off sales they are today). I played seven hours of Dead Space 1 according to Steam. I didn’t hate it, but I obviously never finished it.
Yesterday on the Backlog Bonanza, it was finally time to take a look at the sequel, Dead Space 2.
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
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Hitman: Absolution – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 4].
2019-08-04.
Inside-Baseball Note Of Possible Worth To New Bloggers during Blaugust: I forgot you’re supposed to put the more important and unique search keywords at the beginning of a blog post’s title, and thus have I changed the format for my titles and introduced an inconsistency into my Blaugust posts. (At least, that was the last SEO advice I remember reading. It changes at least once a year.)
Yesterday, Hitman: Absolution came up on the Big Board for the last day of the first week of my Blaugust Steam Backlog Bonanza.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
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Brütal Legend – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 5].
2019-08-05.
For undoubtedly many of the same reasons as the rest of the United States, I wasn’t in a very good mood yesterday, so I called an audible and substituted Brütal Legend instead of the game I *planned* to play. I remember enjoying a demo of Brütal Legend on the PS3 years ago, so when I saw a PC version in a Steam sale for $5 in 2013 I had to get it.
- Music
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
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Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 6].
2019-08-06.
I bought 2010’s Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit for $8 in a Winter sale in 2014, and yesterday I installed and played it for the first time. I believe this was the ninth game in the Backlog Bonanza so far, with a depressingly huge list of games left to get through.
Every frame of every race looks exactly like this.
I’ve always liked racing games. They’re simpler games from a simpler time.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
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NEO Scavenger – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 7].
2019-08-07.
Yesterday I played NEO Scavenger for the 10th day of the Steam Backlog Death March I mean Bonanza. It was released in 2014, and I bought it in 2016 for $5. (Coincidentally it’s actually on sale today for less than that.)
Waking up from cryosleep.
I goofed with this one. I have, in fact, played it before. But for some reason, Steam didn’t think I had. I know I played it because I found a video I recorded of it in 2016.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Survival
- Videos
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Blog Post Formatting.
2019-08-07.
Lurking over in the Blaugust Discord today, I noticed a conversation about the details of precise formatting in blog posts. Someone was having some trouble trying to get the WordPress editor to format their post exactly the way they wanted it to be seen. It inspired me to throw out a bit of unsolicited blogging advice related to this topic.
First of all, I think we can all agree that the newest WordPress editor is terrible.
- Musings
- Writing
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Vortex: The Gateway – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 8].
2019-08-08.
Yesterday on the Steam Backlog Bonanza, I tried out a survival game from 2016 called Vortex: The Gateway which I got for $9 in a sale. (I think it’s probably a universal constant that all of the games in everyone’s backlog are games from a sale.)
Surviving on an alien planet that looks like a nice camping trip.
I only played for about 40 minutes because of a looming thunderstorm, but I tried the two different game modes.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
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Kholat – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 9].
2019-08-09.
Yesterday I played a game called Kholat for the 12th day of the Steam Backlog Bonanza, which I got in 2016 for about $9. For some reason, most of the literature puts it in all caps so it’s KHOLAT! Not just Kholat. KHOLAT!!! One of the main attractions is Sean Bean voicing some of the narration.
It’s a really interesting game, in a certain kind of way. It’s basically a walking simulator at its heart, but it’s a very intense walking simulator.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
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Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 10].
2019-08-10.
Back in 2013 I bought Shadow Warrior for $10, and it came with a free “mini-game” called Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior. That’s what came up on the schedule for yesterday’s stream, so I finally tried it out.
I had heard about Viscera Cleanup Detail before but I don’t own it. It’s a physics game where you take on the role of a janitor who “cleans up” after the heroic gamer has gone through and slaughtered all the bad guys, exploding them into gibs or whatever.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Quest For The One Blog, Part 1.
2019-08-11.
Blaugust has inspired me to write a lot more, and to think about my blog, so I thought I would start writing an open-ended series of posts about a very long-term, often-neglected project of mine: Migrating to a new blogging platform. The generic "this is a post about blogging" image.
Over the years, I’ve made a bunch of web sites. I’ve been with a bunch of different web hosts. I currently have four different web sites that I “maintain” (with varying degrees of updates, from none to frequent): A real-name site, a writing site, a music site, and a gaming site.
- Development
-
Game Of Thrones – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 11].
2019-08-11.
Game Of Thrones, the game from 2012, not to be confused with all of the other Game Of Thrones games, was next on my Steam Backlog Bonanza. I bought it in 2013 in a $10 bundle with … I don’t even know what else. I played it for the first time yesterday.
This is not a Nazgul, but in fact the character that you play at the beginning.
It’s actually surprising that this game has been sitting here for almost six years.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Quest for The One Blog, Part 2.
2019-08-11.
Previously, I mentioned that I planned to investigate the Pico and Grav blogging platforms first, since they are both PHP-based, database-less platforms that operate on Markdown flat files, which sounds like the perfect place to start for my mission goals.
Incidentally this is exactly the kind of post I wouldn't normally put on this blog.
First I’d like to mention that it’s really hard to find alternate blogging platforms. Any sort of Googling will get you information on: WordPress, Blogger, possibly SquareSpace, and maybe a mention about Medium.
- Development
-
Apotheon – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 12].
2019-08-12.
Yesterday for the 15th day of the Steam Backlog Bonanza I played a game called Apotheon, which I got in 2016 for $3.74. Hard to believe I’m into a third week of this. Anyway, I had been looking forward to this one because I knew it was a visually unusual game.
I don’t normally like side-scrollers. The last one I remember enjoying was Pitfall on an Atari 2600. Actually I can’t think of any other side-scrollers I’ve played on any platform since then.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Quest for The One Blog, Part 3.
2019-08-12.
Last time, I setup Pico and Grav on a Linux server. Now that I have a working installation of both Pico and Grav, it occurs to me: Now what?
I haven’t tested their capabilities extensively, but of the two platforms, I would say that Grav probably has more features and more support. It’s closer to what a WordPress user might expect to see in a blog. It has plugins and themes and an administration panel.
- Development
-
Penumba: Requiem – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 13].
2019-08-13.
The Steam Backlog Bonanza marches on with a look at Penumbra: Requiem (and Black Plague). Penumbra came out in 2009 but I couldn’t find any records of when I bought it, so it must have been a long time ago. I had played Black Plague for about a half hour before, but yesterday was the first time I looked at Requiem.
An obelisk puzzle in Penumbra: Requiem.
Penumbra: Requiem is actually an “expansion” for Black Plague.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Quest for The One Blog, Part 4.
2019-08-13.
Last time, I brainstormed about content archives without accomplishing much. This time, however, I am diving straight into the deep end and trying to create content in Pico and Grav.
Okay, that’s overselling it a little bit.
But I have now tinkered a little bit with Pico and Grav to see what it can do straight out of the box.
I imagine my writing workflow is going to look something like this (as it has, more-or-less, for the past month): Write a blog post in a plain text editor on some other computer, possibly my iPad with an Apple wireless keyboard, which is my favorite keyboard to write on.
- Development
-
Geometry Wars 3 – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 14].
2019-08-14.
Yesterday’s new game for the Steam Backlog Bonanza was Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved. I think it’s an extended edition of the “Dimensions” release. It’s a pure arcade action game, of the kind you might find in an old-fashioned upright arcade cabinet.
It's very difficult to get any sense of what the game is like from a still image.
I don’t know why I bought this game, but it was only $1.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Quest for The One Blog, Part 5.
2019-08-14.
Last time I looked at Pico and Grav. I was going to look at Kirby CMS this time, but I encountered two things that stopped me before I even downloaded it.
Kirby No-Go First, upon perusing the cookbooks, you have to setup the same kind of one-directory-per-blog-post structure in Kirby that I didn’t like in Grav. Just for the record, contrary to Kirby’s tagline, that is not “adapting to your content,” it is, in fact, “forcing a strict ruleset upon your content.
- Development
-
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 15].
2019-08-15.
For the halfway point of Blaugust, more-or-less, I played Alan Wake’s American Nightmare from my Steam backlog. I got it, along with Alan Wake, for $4 right before it was removed from Steam.
Is it live or is it Memorex?
The first game, Alan Wake, did not qualify for my Steam Backlog Bonanza because, according to Steam, I’ve played it for precisely one minute. I do not remember that minute. I’ve read numerous reports that Alan Wake was a great game, a must-buy game, particularly when it was about to be removed, but I haven’t played it, and apparently something about it made me recoil away from it.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Quest for The One Blog, Part 6.
2019-08-15.
This is a list of Blogging/CMS solutions I’ve looked into so far, which I gleaned from this site. These are just some of the different ways that people (by which I mean programmers) have desperately tried to break free of the WordPress Industrial Complex.
Automad. I didn’t care for the documentation, or lack thereof.
Baun. Installed, see below. Very promising directory structure of content similar to what I had envisioned. Baun is apparently a newer iteration of Pico.
- Development
-
A Story About My Uncle – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 16].
2019-08-16.
The big wheel of life turned and landed on a game from my Steam backlog called A Story About My Uncle*. I got it in a 2016 sale for $2 and tried it for the first time yesterday. (It turns out that 2016 was the final year that I indiscriminately bought games on Steam.)
It’s getting really hard to think of a different opening sentence and paragraph for each one of these things.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
WoW Classic Fever Heating Up.
2019-08-16.
Most of the blogging and Twittering MMO world is talking about World of Warcraft Classic, with all the recent hubbub about name reservations. My advanced Googling skills tell me that it launches on August 27th.
Not WoW Classic, but probably a quest that will be in WoW Classic.
I personally have never been interested in WoW Classic, have never yearned for the “good old days” of World of Warcraft, and have no idea why anyone would want such a thing.
- MMORPG
-
Darksiders II – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 17].
2019-08-17.
Death knocked at the door yesterday, and I answered with a game called Darksiders II. Get it? Because Death is the protagonist in Darksiders II? Anyway, it was the 20th day in a row of the Steam Backlog Bonanza, and one of the most expensive games in the list so far. I got Darksiders II for $10 in 2013, and it’s taken six years to install and play the game.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
On Deciding Not To Post.
2019-08-17.
I’m writing this on the morning of August 9th, so it’s the ninth day of Blaugust. I’ve streamed and posted a first impressions piece about a game from my Steam backlog every day for 12 days in a row now. It’s been grueling work, but I’ve whittled it down to a fairly streamlined process, so it “only” takes about 2 cumulative hours out of every day, or merely half the time of a part-time job.
- Musings
-
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 18].
2019-08-18.
I was minding my own business when aliens descended from the sky, firing lasers from their circular flying saucers. Everything around me exploded. Otherworldly creatures crept out of the smoke and fire, approaching me like simians on all fours. Anyway the next game on the Steam Backlog Bonanza is The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. I bought it in a 2013 Steam sale for $4.
Just an average green glowing energy field in a federal building.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 19].
2019-08-19.
I found myself wandering a wasteland of wrecked tanker ships when a radiation storm blocked out the sun. In other words, I played S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat yesterday for the 22nd day of the Steam Backlog Bonanza. It’s one of those Eastern European shooters from 2010. I couldn’t find any record of when or how much I paid for it, which suggests I probably bought it soon after 2010 and it’s been sitting in my Steam backlog unplayed for nearly nine years.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
The Age of Decadence – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 20].
2019-08-20.
For the 23rd day of the Steam Backlog Bonanza, I played an indie game called The Age of Decadence, which I got in the 2016 Winter sale for $7.50. I think I mentioned this before, but the Winter sale of 2016 was the last time that I splurged on Steam games just because they were on sale.
The outdoor isometric view, which is actually not seen very much.
I don’t remember why I bought this game.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods (Enhanced Edition) – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 21].
2019-08-21.
I was in a funk yesterday so it would have been a great day to discover a fun new game. Unfortunately, Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods (Enhanced Edition) was up next on the Steam Backlog Bonanza. I got it as part of a “Gothic Complete Pack” for $7.50.
Now I didn’t realize this until afterward, but Forsaken Gods is actually an expansion or addon to the base game of Gothic 3. Steam tells me I’ve played the base game of Gothic 3 for 12 minutes, so technically I can’t say that I haven’t played it.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Crysis 2 Maximum Edition – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 22].
2019-08-22.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing up my sleeve, there are no wires or electronic devices of any kind. That’s because I played Crysis 2 Maximum Edition yesterday for the 25th day of the Steam Backlog Bonanza. And I’ve been watching episodes of Penn & Teller’s Fool Us as well.
The mean streets of New York, sometime in the near-future.
I bought Crysis 2 for $10 back in 2013. I already had Crysis 1, but I only played it for about 4 hours.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
On ArcheAge Unchained.
2019-08-22.
I used to play ArcheAge. There was a time when I got a ridiculous amount of blog traffic on my ArcheAge posts, which to this day, I still can’t explain. (This post on PvE content after level 30 was a top performer for some reason.) I remember being very excited about ArcheAge. It was actually a great game.
Then I stopped playing. I was never particularly angry about it, I just didn’t agree with their decision to force people to subscribe to maintain a house and property.
- MMORPG
-
Max Payne 3 – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 23].
2019-08-23.
It was a dark and stormy night, and noir was in the air when I played Max Payne 3 for the 26th day of the Steam Backlog Bonanza. I got it in 2013, just a year after it’s release, for $4. In those days, the sales were sales. Now you’re lucky to get $4 off in a sale.
Anyway, I was looking forward to playing this particular game. I don’t precisely remember why I bought it-probably because it was a AAA title for $4, which was reason enough in 2013.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Tree of Savior – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 24].
2019-08-24.
Yesterday for the Steam Backlog Bonanza I tried out an MMORPG called Tree of Savior. It launched in 2016, but I’m not entirely sure how it got onto my list. It’s free-to-play on Steam, so I never actually “bought” it, so it’s technically not in my backlog. I might have placed it in there manually because I wanted to try it, but I don’t remember. I made the game list weeks ago.
- MMORPG
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Is Remnant: From The Ashes a Souls-Like?.
2019-08-24.
I started hearing some buzz about this new game called Remnant: From The Ashes.
Most of what I’m hearing is that it’s “too hard” and that it’s a “Souls-like.” This of course triggers the usual “games have to make everyone feel like a winner” backlash, which is mostly what drew my attention. I’m sure the PR folks behind Remnant will be ecstatic to hear that, because I probably never would have heard of this game otherwise.
- Musings
-
Titan Souls – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 25].
2019-08-25.
Speaking of Souls-like games, yesterday on the Steam Backlog Bonanza, I played a game that is frequently described as Souls-like: Titan Souls, from 2015. I got it in that infamous Winter 2016 sale, what turned out to be the last hurrah of Steam sales, for a whopping $3.74. I don’t remember why, except that I probably had a vague memory of seeing it described as a game that fans of Dark Souls would like.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Enclave – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 26].
2019-08-26.
Yesterday an odd game called Enclave appeared on the Steam Backlog Bonanza. I had never heard of it before. It’s an action-ish RPG which I bought in 2016 for $1.24.
This screenshot looks much better than the game does.
According to Steam, it was released in 2013. I quickly discovered, through simple observations, that the game did not look particularly advanced for a 2013 game. I’ve since learned that it was actually released in 2002, and re-released on Steam in 2013.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 27].
2019-08-27.
Yesterday I played the second Tolkien property game in my Steam Backlog Bonanza: Middle-earth: Shadows of Mordor. It came out in 2014, I bought it in 2016 for $7.50, one of the more expensive titles on this list.
First the good news: The story of this game starts out fantastic, one of the best I’ve seen. It began with yet another “this is the epic story of the entire history of Middle-earth” prologue and I started to roll my eyes.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
WoW Classic Obligatory Post.
2019-08-27.
Okay I’m going to try to be brief here because nobody likes a buzzkill.
World of Warcraft Classic launched Monday night here in the U.S. It was extremely smooth and free of major technical issues, as far as I’m concerned, which is an amazing accomplishment. Blizzard has gotten really good at launches. The “narrative” will be that it was a catastrophe, because that’s the only narrative that can be spun to draw a crowd, but it wasn’t.
- MMORPG
-
Quest for The One Blog, Part 7.
2019-08-27.
I stopped writing about my Quest for The One Blog for a very good reason: I gave up on it. What I want to do is essentially impossible unless I develop the blogging platform from scratch myself (or fork one of the open source projects). It’s within my skillset to do that, but I just don’t have the time or motivation or funds for it. (But hey, if anyone is interested in Kickstarting it, let me know!
- Development
-
Never Alone – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 28].
2019-08-28.
Yesterday for the Steam Backlog Bonanza, I played a game called Never Alone. It was released in 2014, but I couldn’t find any record of when I bought it or for how much. This is the most interesting game in the list so far.
I had been looking forward to this one, and dreading it at the same time. I knew it was a game that involved a story with an animal companion (a fox, in this case).
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
WoW Classic and Random Group Invites.
2019-08-28.
I took a screenshot last night in World of Warcraft Classic that really captures my nostalgic feelings for the old days.
I never ran down this particular road in Vanilla, but many like it.
I’m by myself, running down a long, empty road. That’s pretty much how I played World of Warcraft back in the day, and how I usually play MMORPGs today. I play on my own schedule, I never play the same time two days in a row, I start and stop on a whim, I log out suddenly when I get bored or think of something else I want to do in real life, often right in the middle of a field of mobs.
- MMORPG
-
Remember Me – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 29].
2019-08-29.
Two great games in a row! Yesterday I played a cyberpunk action game called Remember Me for the Steam Backlog Bonanza. I got it in the 2015 Winter sale for $6.
I really enjoyed it. I liked it so much I lost track of time, and played for nearly two hours. It’s an “action movie” kind of a game, by which I mean it has a whole lot of cut scenes and voice acting and storytelling in between the gameplay.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
Mount & Blade: Warband – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 30].
2019-08-30.
The game of the day was Mount & Blade: Warband for the Steam Backlog Bonanza. I got it in 2010 Winter sale, but I can’t find any record of how much I paid for it. I probably got it in a bundle with both Mount & Blade and Warband.
Fighting bandits from horseback.
Warband is an “old” game. You can always tell an “old” game because they are stretched out horizontally.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
-
BioShock 2 Remastered – Steam Backlog Bonanza [Blaugust 31].
2019-08-31.
Since my production pipeline is offset by a day, this should be my 31st and last “official” Blaugust post. However I’m still going to play at least one last game today on the 31st as well, which will get a blog post tomorrow.
Yesterday for the 34th day of the Steam Backlog Bonanza, I returned to Rapture with BioShock 2 Remastered. This is a game I’ve owned since 2010, but never played until now.
- Reviews
- Steam
- Streaming
- Videos
2019-09
-
Blaugust 2019 Wrapup, Part 1.
2019-09-02.
Congratulations everyone on the completion of another Blaugust! Belghast put together another fantastic event, and I do not envy him now having to compile the results. :)
This is the first of my posts where I evaluate my Blaugust performance as part of the Lessons Learned week. I don’t remember exactly what I wrote last year but I recall I wrote a lot, so this year I’m going to try to avoid that.
- Musings
-
Blaugust 2019 Wrapup, Part 2 – Streaming.
2019-09-03.
Writing a blog post every day is not new for me, although the exact process I used this year was new. But livestreaming every day for a month is definitely new to me.
I have livestreamed before, but most of my experiments were back in 2015 before Twitch Culture became, ahem, that thing it is now. I also never made any attempt to impose any discipline on myself.
I was curious how I would find the process of streaming every day.
- Musings
-
Blaugust 2019 Wrapup, Part 3 – Statistics.
2019-09-04.
The Blog Here I present the reason you should never pay attention to statistics when blogging. My views actually went down during Blaugust 2018, and went down even more during Blaugust 2019.
Views and Visitors
I also offer this chart as evidence that the “you have to blog every day to build an audience” advice is completely obsolete. Blogging every day is strictly for fun and/or personal growth. Building an audience is accomplished by networking, and is largely unrelated to the content you produce.
- Musings
- Streaming
- Videos
2020-03
-
Blapril and Mental Headspace.
2020-03-30.
First, just a quick note to say I feel like I’m “recovered” from whatever it was I had. I still have a minor cough now and then, but that’s something I’ve had for years anyway.
Secondly, I’ve been so distracted lately that I’m only just now realizing that Blapril is not just coming soon, but already here and started. So go do that if you haven’t signed up yet. It’s a great event.
- Musings
- Writing
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
-
Despondence Over Divisions In Writing.
2020-08-02.
Yesterday’s Promptapalooza topic, spearheaded by Dragonray, asked which popular media we didn’t like.
The first thing that sprang to my mind was a very touchy subject. I know it’s hard to imagine now, but in the not-too-distant past, there was a time when Harry Potter was universally loved. I, however, never particularly liked it. The movies were okay, but I didn’t even make it more than a chapter or two into the first book.
- Musings
- Writing
-
Worldview-Shaping Media.
2020-08-03.
Or: “I could actually use a bionic eye about now.”
I didn’t intend to write about every Promptapalooza topic this month, but I don’t have any games to play at the moment, and I’m trying out a new blogging idea called “writing and publishing posts.”
The prompt for August 2nd, which was actually the third prompt, [started with Mailvaltar][2], and asks What are some key sources of media (games/movies/etc) that have shaped your worldview?
- Media
- Musings
-
Isaias and Old Books.
2020-08-04.
As I’m typing this morning, the remnants of the eye of tropical storm Isaias, which I neither know how to spell nor say, is passing about a hundred miles to the east. Yesterday and last night in particular, it dumped a massive amount of rain on my house, and this morning I woke up early to the sound of some of that rain dripping inside my house.
I live in a house built in the 1950s, so it’s old and quirky.
- Musings
- Writing
-
Routines Or Nah.
2020-08-05.
Yesterday’s Promptapalooza prompt kicked off with Everwake, who wrote:
The wheel of Promptapalooza has turned it's terrible gaze to me. The eyes of Belghast's Blaugustosphere empire rest upon my humble blog. Will I seize the provided prompt? Will I provide a response that leaves the masses weeping with joy in the streets? Or will I scribe a dithering dump, to the eternal ridicule of my blog peers? - Everwake
Apologies for quoting so much, but it’s fantastic.
- Musings
-
Hanlon’s Razor.
2020-08-06.
Technically I’m starting this post on the night of the 5th, while a thunderstorm passes overhead and rain pours down again. This time, there’s a lot of lightning as well, so I’ve turned off most everything in the house. I haven’t had a working uninterruptible power supply in quite some years, and the only drawback I’ve experienced is that I don’t like leaving my most expensive electrical equipment plugged in while lightning strikes within a few miles.
- Musings
-
Catching Up On Prompts.
2020-08-09.
I’ve been having a lot of back pain over the last several days, so sitting down to write in the mornings, when I feel the most like writing blog posts, has been a massive chore. I’m trying to push through it to get this post done on Sunday so I don’t fall another day behind. I don’t think of myself as a chronic pain sufferer but over the last several years it’s becoming clear that my freedom of will is increasingly limited by the day-to-day status of my back, and I haven’t quite adjusted to it yet.
- Musings
- Writing
-
Abbreviated Creative Space.
2020-08-12.
Yesterday’s Promptapalooza prompt started with Krikket, and exhorted: Tell us about your physical creative space, and how it influences your content creation.
Except it wasn’t yesterday’s prompt, it was the day-before-yesterday’s prompt now, because I completely forgot to post this yesterday.
My first reaction to this prompt was pretty similar to Krikket’s: “Oh God I don’t want any part of that.”
I have major problems organizing my “physical space.” My creative (and living) space is almost entirely inside my head or on a screen of some kind.
- Musings
-
A Desert Sun Yellow Guitar Lost Along The Way.
2020-08-13.
Now there’s a title that’s sure to wreck some page layouts.
Thanks to forgetting about blogging for a day, I’m a day behind now, so I’ll be combining two prompts into one post. This works out well, because I don’t want to respond to one of them anyway.
The first prompt from two days ago started with SDWeasel over at Unidentified Signal Source: What is something you have lost along the way that you would love to have back?
- Music
- Musings
-
More Prompts and a Remnant Update.
2020-08-18.
I got distracted with Remnant: From The Ashes, so here are the Promptapalooza prompts I missed:
Tell us about a person/s or thing/s that has greatly influenced you. Most of the people on that list would be family or people I’ve known personally, but the first “famous” name that came to mind is Brian May, guitarist for Queen. I don’t play much like him, but his intellectual approach to musicianship has inspired me greatly.
- Musings
- RPG
-
Finishing Games, Or Trying To.
2020-08-23.
I meant to post this two days ago four days ago but I kept putting it off because I hated what I wrote and kept thinking that maybe if I just add a little more it will magically fix itself. So here we are. Not magically fixed at all. Then I put it off again because I didn’t feel like finding a picture.
The Promptapalooza prompt from what is now two days past was: Do you “finish” games/hobbies/projects and move on or do you come back to the same things again and again?
- Musings
- RPG
-
Remnant: From The Ashes Completed.
2020-08-25.
First, catching up on Promptapalooza prompts:
Tell us about some of your hobbies outside of the realm of your specific niche. Ugh. I feel like all my hobbies have fallen by the wayside. But music, writing, stuff like that.
Tell us about some of your favourite antagonists and explain why. Recently, Abby from The Last Of Us Part 2, though I would say it’s arguable whether she’s an antagonist or a protagonist.
- Musings
- RPG
-
The Next Year.
2020-08-28.
It’s my Promptapalooza time!
Yesterday, Sandrian at Aeternus Gaming talked about content creation.
Today, let us consider this topic: What are you looking forward to the most over the course of the next year?
Hoo boy. That’s a doozy. I’ve been dreading this day since I first saw this prompt.
Before you run screaming away from what is about to happen, let me direct you to tomorrow’s Promptapalooza writing prompt, which according to my notes will be hosted by Kanter at MMO One Night a Week.
- Musings
-
Yet More Prompts.
2020-08-30.
I thought about writing a little on New World and/or Crowfall but I’m having a lot of difficulty finding good things to say about those games and I don’t particularly want to ruin everyone’s hopes and dreams for the future of MMOs. So instead I’ll catch up on all the Promptapalooza prompts I missed.
With the pandemic, we are going through an unprecedented time. In what ways has this shared global event impacted your content creation?
- Musings
2021-07
-
Blogging Pep Talk.
2021-07-21.
Blaugust 2021 is coming soon! It’s fun! Do it! If you want. I’m not your mom.
- Writing
-
Old Post Prompts.
2021-07-22.
Here’s a list of some old posts that I’m going to mine for topic ideas this Blaugust, which may or may not turn into a fruitful strategy.
- Writing
2021-08
-
The First Day of Blaugust.
2021-08-01.
It’s the first day of Blaugust, and it’s a dreary one.
- Blog
-
FFXV - Leviathan.
2021-08-02.
Final Fantasy XV is on my mind this morning.
- Gaming
-
On Music Posts.
2021-08-03.
I have what I have to assume is an abnormal reaction to music posts.
- Blog
-
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
-
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
-
A Two-Fawn Morning.
2021-08-06.
We interrupt this blog post creation for an unscheduled visit from some deer.
- Blog
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Todo List - Quest for the One Blog, Part 12.
2021-08-07.
Mainly so that I can remember this, here’s a list of the outstanding problems with the blog that need to be resolved someday.
- Development
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Status - Quest for the One Blog, Part 13.
2021-08-08.
A quick summary of the current status of the Quest for The One Blog.
- Development
-
Final Fantasy Status Update.
2021-08-09.
It’s time for a brief Final Fantasy update.
- Gaming
-
Like Pulling Teeth.
2021-08-10.
I would say that getting me to talk or write about myself is like pulling teeth, but I’ve had five or six teeth pulled in my lifetime (or more, I honestly don’t remember), and a ton of root canals, and a ton of dental work in general, so pulling teeth is no big deal to me.
- Blog
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Writing For Clarity.
2021-08-11.
Magi mentioned a topic in the Blaugust discord: “How do you personally get your opinions or thoughts across in a post?”
- Writing
-
Bless Unleashed.
2021-08-12.
Bless Unleashed: I mean, it’s free.
- Gaming
-
What's Up With That?.
2021-08-13.
I have the day off today, and I have to talk for a moment about the What Up With That SNL sketches.
- Blog
-
FFXIV's Gandalf Moment.
2021-08-14.
The Stupid Face Boss in Final Fantasy XIII and The Gandalf Moment in Final Fantasy XIV.
- Gaming
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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
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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
-
Level Curves And Story Pacing.
2021-08-17.
I wish the arbitrary geometric leveling curve didn’t mess up story pacing.
- Gaming
-
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
-
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
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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
-
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
-
Sunday Screenshots - FFXIV.
2021-08-22.
I didn’t even rename the screenshot files this time.
- Gaming
-
Blogging Motivation: What's That?.
2021-08-23.
I think we’re supposed to be writing about how we bloggers stay motivated when blogging, but I think a much more relatable topic for the masses is how we definitely, positively don’t stay motivated.
- Writing
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
YouTube Data API.
2021-08-27.
YouTube’s API is a pain.
- Development
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Blaugust 2021 Lessons Learned.
2021-08-31.
Well kids, what did we learn this month?
- Writing
2022-07
-
Blaugust 2022.
2022-07-18.
Blaugust is back for another year. I don’t really need to explain it, just go do the thing.
- Blog
- Writing
-
Blaugust Plan 2022.
2022-07-31.
My Blaugust is going to be an experiment.
- Writing
2022-08
-
Forgiveness - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Day 1.
2022-08-01.
“168. Why is it hard for you to forgive yourself?”
- Writing
-
Wild Animals - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Day 2.
2022-08-02.
“241. What do you think about keeping ‘wild’ animals as pets? If so, when?”
- Writing
-
Dogs and Cats - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Day 3.
2022-08-03.
256. Do cats or dogs make better pets? Why?
- Writing
-
Creative Love - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Day 4.
2022-08-04.
In the dream I saw a woman floating in the sea. I asked her, “What would love look like if it had a creative dimension?”
- Writing
-
Art - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Day 5.
2022-08-05.
In the dream, I encountered a fellow standing by the road with a tadpole for a head. I asked him, “How do we know what is art and what isn’t?”
- Writing
-
Netflix - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Day 6.
2022-08-06.
In the dream I wandered into a vaccination facility. I stopped the first person I saw and whispered, “When is okay to give up on a bit?”
- Writing
-
Recent Blog Changes On AWS.
2022-08-07.
I’m already sick of my Blaugust project, so I’m writing something else. This is about Amazon Web Services and Nginx config files, mainstream topics everyone can enjoy.
- Development
-
Fate - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Part 7.
2022-08-08.
In the dream I saw a cicada scuttling across the parking lot. It looked wise, so I asked it, “Is there such a thing as fate?”
- Writing
-
Code Vein.
2022-08-09.
A stylish but ultimately very frustrating experience.
- Gaming
-
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
-
Unexpected Coyotes.
2022-08-11.
Here’s something I didn’t expect to be writing about today.
- Blog
-
Dwarf Fortress Again.
2022-08-12.
Okay, yes, fine, I downloaded Dwarf Fortress again.
- Gaming
-
Common Tasks in Movie Studio Platinum and DaVinci Resolve.
2022-08-13.
A reference for myself of common tasks I do in video editors.
- Blog
-
Sustaining Creativity Day After Day.
2022-08-14.
When I started Blaugust with a creative writing idea, I failed to account for how draining spontaneous creativity is day in and day out.
- Writing
-
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
-
More Real - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Part 8.
2022-08-16.
In the dream I saw a vengeful angel looking down upon me. I asked her, “What is more real, mind or matter?”
- Writing
-
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
-
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
-
Shingles Vaccine Completed.
2022-08-19.
It’s 8 PM and I’m exhausted, so it’s far too late for me to write a post tonight, except this one.
- Blog
-
Gaming Pet Peeves.
2022-08-20.
Just some random gaming pet peeves I wrote down once.
- Gaming
-
Intentions - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Part 9.
2022-08-21.
In the dream, I came upon a statue of a one-armed woman holding a child. I asked her, “How come we judge ourselves by the actions we take but not by our intentions?”
- Writing
-
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
-
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
-
Attractiveness - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Part 10.
2022-08-24.
In the dream I saw a black cat glaring at me from a distance. I cautiously asked it, “When it comes to people, what is it that makes them attractive to you?”
- Writing
-
Sick Beats and Computer Glasses.
2022-08-25.
Yuck. It’s one of those posts where I just write down stuff that happened today.
- Blog
-
Blog Changes This Month.
2022-08-26.
Blaugust inspired me to make some much-needed technical changes to the blog this month, which I will now try to recall for posterity.
- Development
-
Dwarf Fortress - Otinsthinthäd.
2022-08-27.
The tale of Otinstinthäd.
- Gaming
-
Fair - Blaugust Deep Dream Journal Part 11.
2022-08-28.
In the dream, I asked the woman, “Would there be some way we can make sure people are compensated fairly?”
- Writing
-
Blaugust Lessons Learned 2022.
2022-08-29.
It seems a bit early to write a lessons-learned post before Blaugust is even finished.
- Writing
-
Lost Ark and Chimeraland.
2022-08-30.
Brief comments on a couple of MMOs I played for a little while.
- Gaming
-
Blaugust Tallies.
2022-08-31.
It’s the last day of Blaugust, so I’ll now present my summary findings to the jury.
- Blog
2023-07
-
The Coming Blaugust - July 2023.
2023-07-15.
Blaugust 2023, a little Pathfinder, setting up an ActivityPub server, what I’ve been watching, and a little more.
- Blog
-
The Imminent Blaugust - July 2023.
2023-07-31.
Blaugust 2023, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, blog site updates and microblogging, a nutritional reset, and more, in the summer heat.
- Blog
2023-08
-
Monday Bits.
2023-08-01.
Blog development notes, my first writing on the Internet in the Wayback Machine, and a first look at Remnant 2. Six microblogging bits from Monday. #gaming #remnant2 #blog
- Microblog
-
Tuesday Bits.
2023-08-02.
Blogger archetypes, and a burrito bowl update. Four microblogging bits from Tuesday. #nutrition #blogging #blog
- Microblog
-
Wednesday Bits.
2023-08-03.
Introducing myself, and a git blunder at work. Four microblogging bits from Wednesday. #activitypub #development
- Microblog
-
State of the Site.
2023-08-03.
How my static blog works, summer 2023 edition, with nifty diagrams.
- Development
-
Thursday Bits.
2023-08-04.
New meals, and ChatGPT is the first computer thing I can’t explain. Seven microblogging bits from Thursday. #ai #blog #development #nutrition #pathfinderkingmaker #videos
- Microblog
-
Friday Bits.
2023-08-05.
Starting Baldur’s Gate 3. Three microblogging bits from Friday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Saturday Bits: Baldur's Gate 3 Edition.
2023-08-06.
First full day with Baldur’s Gate 3. Illusion of choice, and a Revivify tip. Four microblogging bits from Saturday.
- Microblog
-
Sunday Bits: More Baldur's Gate 3.
2023-08-07.
My whole weekend was consumed by Baldur’s Gate 3. Six microblogging bits from Sunday. #videos #baldursgate3 #homeowner
- Microblog
-
Baldur's Gate 3 Impressions (No Spoilers).
2023-08-07.
Early impressions of the buggy masterpiece Baldur’s Gate 3.
- Gaming
-
Monday Bits.
2023-08-08.
Video descriptions, fickle gamers, and a BG3 update. Three microblogging bits from Monday. #baldursgate3 #videos #gaming
- Microblog
-
Tuesday Bits.
2023-08-09.
Tales of Baldur’s Gate 3, Java versus Golang, phone news. Seven microblogging bits from Tuesday. #blog #development #baldursgate3 #pathfinderkingmaker
- Microblog
-
Wednesday Bit.
2023-08-10.
A Baldur’s Gate 3 progress page. One microblogging bit from Wednesday. #blog #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Thursday Bits.
2023-08-11.
Baldur’s Gate 3, sleep loss, and Palia semantics. Four microblogging bits from Thursday. #baldursgate3 #videos
- Microblog
-
Friday Bits.
2023-08-12.
Installing Palia and video script debugging. Two microblogging bits from Friday. #palia #videos
- Microblog
-
Saturday Bits.
2023-08-13.
Stray Gods and Baldur’s Gate 3. Four microblogging bits from Saturday. #nutrition #baldursgate3 #straygods
- Microblog
-
Sunday Bits.
2023-08-14.
Just Baldur’s Gate 3. One microblogging bit from Sunday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Monday Bits.
2023-08-15.
Surprising no one, it’s more about Baldur’s Gate 3. Three microblogging bits from Monday. #baldursgate3 #palia
- Microblog
-
Nothing But Baldur's Gate 3 - August 2023.
2023-08-15.
There’s nothing else in the world for me right now except Baldur’s Gate 3. (No spoilers, though.)
- Blog
-
Tuesday Bits.
2023-08-16.
Hey why not discuss Baldur’s Gate 3 again. Three microblogging bits from Tuesday. #blog #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Creator Appreciation 2023.
2023-08-16.
Some hastily-written thoughts about Creator Appreciation week for Blaugust.
- Blog
-
Wednesday Bits.
2023-08-17.
Shockingly, it’s not Baldur’s Gate 3! Sorry, no, I’m being told it is. It always is. Three microblogging bits from Wednesday. #homeowner #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
The True Story of Dror Ragzlin (Baldur's Gate 3 Spoilers).
2023-08-17.
What really happened in the Shattered Sanctum.
- Gaming
-
Thursday Bits.
2023-08-18.
Lost a found scrolls in Baldur’s Gate 3. Five microblogging bits from Thursday. #baldursgate3 #development
- Microblog
-
Friday Bits.
2023-08-19.
BG3, X, AI voices, headaches. A potpourri of topics. Five microblogging bits from Friday. #health #baldursgate3 #development #newsconsumer
- Microblog
-
Saturday Bits.
2023-08-20.
A full day of Baldur’s Gate 3 instead of real life. Five microblogging bits from Saturday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Sunday Bits.
2023-08-21.
In a surprising twist, it’s Baldur’s Gate 3. Five microblogging bits from Sunday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Monday Bits.
2023-08-22.
Baldur’s Gate 3 and writing down blog ideas. Five microblogging bits from Monday. #baldursgate3 #blogideas
- Microblog
-
Tuesday Bits.
2023-08-23.
Neck pain and the Underdark. Three microblogging bits from Tuesday. #health #baldursgate3 #blogideas
- Microblog
-
Unspoken Community Standards.
2023-08-23.
Some thoughts and observations about the perilous minefield of unspoken community standards, and editing your own words.
- Blog
-
Wednesday Bits.
2023-08-24.
Neck pain update and Baldur’s Gate 3. Four microblogging bits from Wednesday. #baldursgate3 #health
- Microblog
-
Thursday Bits.
2023-08-25.
Forgetting appointments and random strangers. Four microblogging bits from Thursday.
- Microblog
-
Friday Bits.
2023-08-26.
Last day of work before a week vacation. Two microblogging bits from Friday.
- Microblog
-
Saturday Bits.
2023-08-27.
Finally entering Act 2 in Baldur’s Gate 3. Five microblogging bits from Saturday."
- Microblog
-
Sunday Bits.
2023-08-28.
Grocery store angst and Baldur’s Gate 3. Five microblogging bits from Sunday.
- Microblog
-
Death Shepherds at Trielta Crags (Baldur's Gate 3 Spoilers).
2023-08-28.
An adrenaline-fueled thrill ride as exciting as any Dark Souls boss fight, in a turn-based RPG. (Revised and expanded.)
- Gaming
-
Monday Bits.
2023-08-29.
Writing a long post about Baldur’s Gate 3 on a vacation day. Five microblogging bits from Monday.
- Microblog
-
Tuesday Bits.
2023-08-30.
Pre-ordering Starfield and more Baldur’s Gate 3. Four microblogging bits from Tuesday.
- Microblog
-
Wednesday Bits.
2023-08-31.
Twitch is too confusing and what to do with my vacation days. Four microblogging bits from Wednesday.
- Microblog
-
Vacation - August 2023.
2023-08-31.
Blaugust retrospective, Baldur’s Gate 3, videos, vacation, and more. A fairly bland and uninspired effort.
- Blog
2023-09
-
Thursday Bits.
2023-09-01.
Baldur’s Gate 3, and Starfield unlocks. Five microblogging bits from Thursday.
- Microblog
-
Friday Bits.
2023-09-02.
Starfield first impression and lots of Baldur’s Gate 3. Five microblogging bits from Friday.
- Microblog
-
Saturday Bits.
2023-09-03.
Giving up on Tactician difficulty. Four microblogging bits from Saturday.
- Microblog
-
Monday Bits.
2023-09-05.
Three microblogging bits from Monday.
- Microblog
-
Tuesday Bits.
2023-09-06.
Three microblogging bits from Tuesday.
- Microblog
-
Wednesday Bits.
2023-09-07.
Two microblogging bits from Wednesday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Thursday Bits.
2023-09-08.
Three microblogging bits from Thursday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Friday Bits.
2023-09-09.
One microblogging bit from Friday.
- Microblog
-
Saturday Bits.
2023-09-10.
Two microblogging bits from Saturday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Sunday Bits.
2023-09-11.
Two microblogging bits from Sunday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Monday Bits.
2023-09-12.
One microblogging bit from Monday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Tuesday Bits.
2023-09-13.
Two microblogging bits from Tuesday. #baldursgate3 #weather
- Microblog
-
Wednesday Bits.
2023-09-14.
Three microblogging bits from Wednesday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Thursday Bits.
2023-09-15.
Four microblogging bits from Thursday. #baldursgate3 #movies
- Microblog
-
Autumn Approaches - September 2023.
2023-09-15.
A hastily-written scrawl about the last couple weeks.
- Blog
-
Friday Bits.
2023-09-16.
Three microblogging bits from Friday. #baldursgate3 #videos
- Microblog
-
Saturday Bits.
2023-09-17.
One microblogging bit from Saturday. #wheeloftime
- Microblog
-
Sunday Bits.
2023-09-18.
Two microblogging bits from Sunday. #baldursgate3 #wheeloftime
- Microblog
-
Monday Bits.
2023-09-19.
Two microblogging bits from Monday. #videos #health
- Microblog
-
Tuesday Bits.
2023-09-20.
Three microblogging bits from Tuesday. #gaming #videos
- Microblog
-
Wednesday Bits.
2023-09-21.
One microblogging bit from Wednesday. #baldursgate3 #taskmaster
- Microblog
-
Thursday Bits.
2023-09-22.
Two microblogging bits from Thursday. #wheeloftime #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Saturday Bits.
2023-09-24.
Six microblogging bits from Saturday. #weather #cats
- Microblog
-
Sunday Bits.
2023-09-25.
Three microblogging bits from Sunday. #baldursgate3 #videos #wheeloftime
- Microblog
-
Tuesday Bits.
2023-09-27.
Three microblogging bits from Tuesday. #baldursgate3
- Microblog
-
Stupid Title - September 2023.
2023-09-30.
Tiring of Baldur’s Gate 3, Wheel of Time, and more.
- Blog
2023-11
-
The Sudden Urge To Rebuild The Site.
2023-11-16.
Brainstorming from back in May about new blog site ideas.
- Development