If you’re reading this blog post, you’re probably not the kind of person who is going to watch YouTube videos, but just in case, here is a minor programming note regarding the Endgame Viable cross media empire. Generally speaking, I only upload game videos to YouTube when all three of these conditions are met: When I’m finished playing the game (so nobody spoils anything in comments), when I at least liked the game enough to finish it, and when I think the game might be interesting to watch (meaning that my particular playthrough might be different from everyone else’s in some way-in the way I played the game, or my reactions to it). (516 words.)

I’ve been mildly interested in setting up a system of gathering my tweets into digests and posting them on the blog periodically, maybe once a week. I just like the idea of keeping all of my writing in one convenient place, for myself if nothing else. It seems like something that should be very easy to do, but of course, it’s 2020, and all of the computing world has moved into walled garden silos where you’re forced to adopt somebody else’s stockholder-approved idea of an ideal workflow. (497 words.)

I’m not going to dwell on this very much, because everyone else seems to be enjoying it, but just for the record, I didn’t care for the New World beta very much. I was ready to give up on it after a half hour, but I recognize that MMOs tend to start slow. So I persevered for a little over two hours and by the end I felt it to be repetitive and unrewarding. (855 words.)

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? (502 words.)

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. (2272 words.)

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. (742 words.)

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? (756 words.)

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. (440 words.)

I’m rendering some videos so I have a moment here. Soon after ragequitting Remnant: From The Ashes because of the Shroud boss, I went back and figured out how to defeat that bastard. My recipe for success was: Replace the medium/short-range coach gun I was given at the start with a long-range hunter’s rifle. Upgrade the hunter’s rifle to +2. Install the Hot Shot weapon mod in the hunter’s rifle, which does stacks of fire damage over time. (420 words.)

Well that was quick. I got to the first boss fight (Shroud) and I’m ready to uninstall the game forever now. I chose “Hard” difficulty because I’m a Souls veteran. The combat has been taxing at times, but after some adjustments in tactics, easily overcome. Up until this one boss fight, when it became ludicrously impossible. Shroud has a million hit points. Shroud teleports away after every attack. Shroud lives in an arena that is choked with obstacles preventing you from moving around freely. (553 words.)

Yesterday’s Promptapalooza topic du jour came from Just Geeking By, a blog that is new to me. Check it out. What are some of the things that get you excited in life? One exciting thing for me is discovering an interesting new make-believe world through the medium of games, movies, television, or books, which segues neatly into Remnant: From The Ashes, which is free on the Epic Store right now. (329 words.)

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? (646 words.)

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. (366 words.)

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. (767 words.)

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. (446 words.)