So, one of the many things I'd like to do with this blog is review many of the video games that I most enjoy. I've always been a very avid and dedicated Harvest Moon fan, and I love my mobile gaming, so naturally when a new 3DS Harvest Moon game was on its way, I made sure I'd have it as soon as it was available. If you'd like to skip the in-depth review, feel free to Ctrl+F your way down to "Final Verdict" for the short synopsis.
It's been out for a while now (released November 6th, 2012 in North America), but this one takes a long time to get into, and I find most Harvest Moon games to be best enjoyed in small bursts. Harvest Moon is a bit about monotony, and trying to play through in a marathon can get mind-numbing, no matter which entry in the series you're playing. With A New Beginning (abbreviated to ANB for ease), this is even more true, as this is one of the slowest paced Harvest Moon games I have ever played.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Free Time - Handling Job Elimination
I'm just now getting into a mindset to sit down and write today. It's been a long and emotional day, even if I only spent about two hours at the office.
Today, I was released from my job, as my position has been eliminated.
This is not a new experience for me. I was part of the "Blizzard 600," as some of us called it, so I'm simply grateful for the opportunity to expand my creativity and pursue greater horizons without having to make the difficult choice - leaving my job.
I have no plans to leave the gaming industry. Right now, I have the wondrous opportunity to apply to the jobs I want rather than immediately need, and I can look into pursuing independent ventures as well. The chance to weight the two against each other without willingly taking the dive on my own is really a blessing in disguise.
In the mean time, I know I'm not the only one out there who's lost their job, losing their job, or going to lose their job. Change is prevalent, and in the ever-volatile gaming industry, unfortunately it's quite frequent. This is my second experience, so I thought I'd share the mental and organizational process I go through when these things happen.
Today, I was released from my job, as my position has been eliminated.
This is not a new experience for me. I was part of the "Blizzard 600," as some of us called it, so I'm simply grateful for the opportunity to expand my creativity and pursue greater horizons without having to make the difficult choice - leaving my job.
I have no plans to leave the gaming industry. Right now, I have the wondrous opportunity to apply to the jobs I want rather than immediately need, and I can look into pursuing independent ventures as well. The chance to weight the two against each other without willingly taking the dive on my own is really a blessing in disguise.
In the mean time, I know I'm not the only one out there who's lost their job, losing their job, or going to lose their job. Change is prevalent, and in the ever-volatile gaming industry, unfortunately it's quite frequent. This is my second experience, so I thought I'd share the mental and organizational process I go through when these things happen.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Toeing the Line
Hello friends!
If you've popped in and seen this and used to read my blog back in 2010 or earlier... Holy crap man, you probably just forgot to unsubscribe when I stopped writing. I'm deeply sorry for being gone for so long, but there were a lot of reasons I couldn't blog.
If you've popped in and seen this and used to read my blog back in 2010 or earlier... Holy crap man, you probably just forgot to unsubscribe when I stopped writing. I'm deeply sorry for being gone for so long, but there were a lot of reasons I couldn't blog.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Happy Blizzcon Season!
I could say something about lack of updates due to work here, but seeing as that's been done, I'll just skip it.
However, I did want to make a blog post to let people know that I will be attending my 3rd Blizzcon this year. Sudden work related issues are going to prevent me from being at the convention Friday morning, but I'll be there later in the afternoon/evening and around the whole day on Saturday.
For those of you attending, you should check out these information hubs on the Blizzcon forums.
Blizzcon 2010 Unofficial FAQ
4th annual Blizzcon Survival Guide
Anything you could possibly want to ask is most likely already covered there. If not, feel free to post and ask!
In addition, I wanted to let everyone know that I will be utilizing my Twitter account while at Blizzcon. So if you want to track me down to say hello or have a question to ask while you were there, feel free to tweet at me! I can't guarantee an instant response, but I'll be watching it throughout the days. =D
That being said, I've got myself all prepped and ready for this year's con. I hope ya'll are ready too, and I hope to see as many of you as possible there!
However, I did want to make a blog post to let people know that I will be attending my 3rd Blizzcon this year. Sudden work related issues are going to prevent me from being at the convention Friday morning, but I'll be there later in the afternoon/evening and around the whole day on Saturday.
For those of you attending, you should check out these information hubs on the Blizzcon forums.
Blizzcon 2010 Unofficial FAQ
4th annual Blizzcon Survival Guide
Anything you could possibly want to ask is most likely already covered there. If not, feel free to post and ask!
In addition, I wanted to let everyone know that I will be utilizing my Twitter account while at Blizzcon. So if you want to track me down to say hello or have a question to ask while you were there, feel free to tweet at me! I can't guarantee an instant response, but I'll be watching it throughout the days. =D
That being said, I've got myself all prepped and ready for this year's con. I hope ya'll are ready too, and I hope to see as many of you as possible there!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Real ID
This has become a pretty big issue for me, and may impact the way I interact with the World of Warcraft community as a whole. So, here we go.
If you are unfamiliar with the topic, the long and short of it is this: The Real ID system, in-game, allows you to chat with your friends across all Blizzard platforms. The draw back is that you must give them your battle.net e-mail to friend them, and they will see your registered name from your account from that point forward. You can change your battle.net e-mail, you CANNOT change your name on your account once it's been set. As such, it's recommended this is only used by close and personal friends - in that regard, it's a great system.
Real ID is, as of today, now announced to be implemented on the official Blizzard Forums. While the change won't be retroactive (thank goodness), posts on the Cataclysm and Starcraft II forums, and presumably Diablo III forums when we get there, will all display your Real ID name - your real first and last names.
Why in the world would any company make this decision?
I like Real ID in-game. I think it's great, and an optional way to keep in touch with friends you know very closely and trust. I have my own little network in game of me and my coworkers. Anyone who tries to add me that I do not recognize, I don't accept, and everything is hunky-dory.
I post on the forums anonymously. The character I post with does not even exist anymore. I don't want people on the forums to know me as me, I want them to know me as Eseten. I've done a lot to keep my personal life and the persona I use to post and write my World of Warcraft blogs very separate from each other. I value that privacy.
Yes, I have a facebook. It is VERY DIFFICULT to find me on there - even searching my name won't yield any results much of the time, and trust me when I say I have a very unique name. Keeping a social network under control is the user's job, and even Facebook has options to keep your info private. They do a terrible job of letting you know those options are there, but they are and it can keep you safe. This is coming from someone who HAS been stalked via Facebook - it taught me a lesson, and I've never forgotten it.
I have been an active member of the forum community for quite some time. The time I have spent on the forums is very memorable to me, and means a lot to me. I have made many friends, a few enemies, and some playful adversaries (Hi Zarhym, lol). The forums were there when I had nothing else socially, when I first moved out here to this strange and terrifying land of Southern California. I dare say I survived my move because of them, and for that, they have my debt.
But if this change with making your real name show up on the forums goes through, that is the end of Eseten on the forums. I will never post again - I couldn't. I've taken great measures to ensure separation of those entities, and Eseten IS a different person. Eseten is a lot of things I can never really be, but get the chance to try. Eseten is very important to me, and got me through a lot.
But I may have to say goodbye to that forever. I may have to leave a community that I love, that I voluntarily participate and support, and that I had hoped one day to be a real breathing part of.
Not sure I've ever used "slap in the face" before, but what I feel right now... sure does sting like it.
If you want to voice your concerns on this issue, please, please take the time to post on the official forums. I, and I believe a lot of people, would like to see this changed.
Please help me continue to be the Eseten you know and love.
If you are unfamiliar with the topic, the long and short of it is this: The Real ID system, in-game, allows you to chat with your friends across all Blizzard platforms. The draw back is that you must give them your battle.net e-mail to friend them, and they will see your registered name from your account from that point forward. You can change your battle.net e-mail, you CANNOT change your name on your account once it's been set. As such, it's recommended this is only used by close and personal friends - in that regard, it's a great system.
Real ID is, as of today, now announced to be implemented on the official Blizzard Forums. While the change won't be retroactive (thank goodness), posts on the Cataclysm and Starcraft II forums, and presumably Diablo III forums when we get there, will all display your Real ID name - your real first and last names.
Why in the world would any company make this decision?
I like Real ID in-game. I think it's great, and an optional way to keep in touch with friends you know very closely and trust. I have my own little network in game of me and my coworkers. Anyone who tries to add me that I do not recognize, I don't accept, and everything is hunky-dory.
I post on the forums anonymously. The character I post with does not even exist anymore. I don't want people on the forums to know me as me, I want them to know me as Eseten. I've done a lot to keep my personal life and the persona I use to post and write my World of Warcraft blogs very separate from each other. I value that privacy.
Yes, I have a facebook. It is VERY DIFFICULT to find me on there - even searching my name won't yield any results much of the time, and trust me when I say I have a very unique name. Keeping a social network under control is the user's job, and even Facebook has options to keep your info private. They do a terrible job of letting you know those options are there, but they are and it can keep you safe. This is coming from someone who HAS been stalked via Facebook - it taught me a lesson, and I've never forgotten it.
I have been an active member of the forum community for quite some time. The time I have spent on the forums is very memorable to me, and means a lot to me. I have made many friends, a few enemies, and some playful adversaries (Hi Zarhym, lol). The forums were there when I had nothing else socially, when I first moved out here to this strange and terrifying land of Southern California. I dare say I survived my move because of them, and for that, they have my debt.
But if this change with making your real name show up on the forums goes through, that is the end of Eseten on the forums. I will never post again - I couldn't. I've taken great measures to ensure separation of those entities, and Eseten IS a different person. Eseten is a lot of things I can never really be, but get the chance to try. Eseten is very important to me, and got me through a lot.
But I may have to say goodbye to that forever. I may have to leave a community that I love, that I voluntarily participate and support, and that I had hoped one day to be a real breathing part of.
Not sure I've ever used "slap in the face" before, but what I feel right now... sure does sting like it.
If you want to voice your concerns on this issue, please, please take the time to post on the official forums. I, and I believe a lot of people, would like to see this changed.
Please help me continue to be the Eseten you know and love.
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