Time to Loot Journal: July 2022
Tomorrow, Blaugust is here. I’m not ready! Really not ready! As a matter of course, I’m not really much of a planner. Discovery as I go is generally how I like to approach most situations. But this time, things feel different. Oxymoronic as it may sound, I at least usually plan to discover. Give it some loose thought, as it were.
I noted in last month’s journal having found some peace with my current life situation, albeit a rather fragile one. In the interests of not rocking the boat in the slightest, I’ve avoided almost all thought of what I might do this Blaugust. Or what I might not do. I realise I probably shouldn’t go after the full 31-post goal this month. I do. But… I still want to. If I don’t, it’d be the first year I didn’t go for it (and get it) since Time to Loot started.
But here we are. One day away. So now the question becomes somewhat more pressing. What will I do this Blaugust?
…
I’m… going to still shoot for 31 posts. But I’m going to allow myself shorter ones, like the good ol’ days. I’m also (and I usually do this anyway) give myself explicit permission upfront to abandon this path should the need arise.
As for what I’ll cover… No idea! We’ll find that out together!
Before that, a look back at what has come before.
Looking Back
One Year Ago
- What Will It Take? — That was the question I was left with after the Blizzard saga began to unfold. Specifically, what would it take to make me drop Blizzard products not just when it was convenient, and I didn’t want to play them anyway, but for good? Or at least until substantial changes were made?
So far, I’ve held to it. I haven’t played a Blizzard product since. But I can’t claim too much of a moral high ground; the only one I’ve really even wanted to was the Diablo 2 Remaster.
Still, it has been interesting watching those who swore off Blizzard at the time trickle back over the year since, including some of the bigger ex (or well, ex-ex) YouTubers/Streamers.
I can’t say I’m off Blizzard for life. I even posed the question again when the Microsoft buy-out was announced, whether enough change may occur as part of that to bring me back. This all before even really acknowledging the fact that some of the Blizzard impacted employees themselves asked for people not to take such a boycott action against Blizzard. *sigh* It’s not an easy situation with easy answers. I’d be lying, too, if I didn’t claim to hold a strong desire still to buy and play Diablo 4 when that time arises. I think for my own sanity, I need to come to a conclusion on this matter well before it does so that desire doesn’t override the thinking. - Extracting Value fr- SQUIRREL! — On a lighter note, I took a look at how my easily distracted nature appears in the realm of gaming. People who finish one game. Then another. Then another, and on…? Absolute aliens. Or wizards. Or space wizards, perhaps.
Two Years Ago
- I went on holiday! — Although not very far, as NZ was still in Global-Lockdown-Because-Tourists-Have-Cooties mode. We just went to Rotorua, a few hours drive from where we are. Still, it was a nice getaway, and we did some pretty awesome activities while there, including a tree-top adventure course.
Otherwise, not a great deal happened this month to report back on now!
Gaming Goals
I didn’t set any… And I’m not going to this time either.
Blaugust, I think, is going to keep me busy enough!
Games Played July 2022
| Rank | Game | Hours | % Gaming Time |
| 1 | No Man’s Sky | 36.9 | 51.5% |
| 2 | Outriders | 20.5 | 28.6% |
| 3 | Stardew Valley | 8.7 | 12.2% |
| 4 | Monster Hunter Rise | 3.2 | 4.5% |
| 5 | All Quiet Roads | 1.2 | 1.7% |
| 6 | Elden Ring | 1.1 | 1.5% |
Quite a bit more gaming! Pretty much a return to normalcy if this was the only metric we interrogated. I’ll take it! No Man’s Sky has come up pretty late in the month but between the patch and the expedition shot ahead to the top of the ‘Played’ list. Amusingly, to me, if it hadn’t — I think Stardew Valley would’ve had a lot more hours behind it.
Not to say that won’t be how the picture looks next month, though…
Books Read July 2022
I finally finished Salvation. I even put a review up for it.
It took me quite a long time to wade my way through it. Granted, I also read (but did not review) The Girl and the Moon (Book of Ice #3) in the middle of it… But probably it isn’t a good sign when you describe reading a book as ‘wading through’.
Ultimately though? I came away with a fairly positive impression. Positive enough that I’m looking forward to continuing the series. Heck, I probably would’ve done so immediately, except that I finished it in bed very early into a reading session but not early enough that I was keen to get up, locate my credit card, and buy the next one right away.
Instead, I picked up something else on my reading backlog. Joe Abercrombie’s The Great Leveller — a collection of three stories.
I’ve barely started, but it has already reminded me: I love Abercrombie’s work. After I read The First Law trilogy, I knew I was onto a winner and would have to just consume everything this man chose to put out.
Erm… I read that trilogy… Quite a long time ago. I couldn’t even tell you how long because it was a time I wasn’t using Goodreads. I still have them marked as ‘To Read’ there.
Reading more Abercrombie has been in the back of my mind ever since, but I just… never seemed to actually do it. Well, here I am, and I’m glad! Probably shouldn’t have left it so long, though!
The Blog
This month marks two points of note. I broke the ‘2 post’ barrier for the first time since March. I also posted sufficiently such that when this post is published, it will have moved last month’s journal off the ‘recent posts’ list on the sidebar.
I published 7 posts (including this one) over July. If I can do roughly 4.5x that many in August, I’ll hit my target!
