Thinking Out Loud
Alright, so here’s something I probably won’t ever say again and may even deny if confronted with the fact I said this. (Yes, even if you link me this post.) But… As much as I enjoy (typically) the pantsing approach to all things not-work related, including this blog… There might… You know… Be at least a little value in having some idea of what is going on.
This rather shocking epiphany came about yesterday. You see, for Blaugust where I’m endeavouring to post every day, I prefer to write ahead. That is- write a post today that is publishing tomorrow. That way, if ‘Life'(tm) happens, there is a lot of extra time to at the very least keep up and not get behind as it were.
Having said that, writing today for today at least until the first weekend post-Blaugust start is fairly typical for me. It’s just a matter of holding on for those few days to a week until I can give myself that buffer.
Right now though? Erm, I… er, might sort of be writing today for yesterday. It got to 11:45pm or so, and I still hadn’t written yet. It was a late one home from work to start with, then kitten and family duties, then got on the computer and friends were ready to play- and I couldn’t very well say no to that.
I knew more or less where I wanted the post to go. It was this one. Same title even. Just everything before roughly here is different now from what I planned when I thought I would still be writing today-for-today.
Anyway… Plans. Or perhaps more accurately, at least having a clue.
Good thing to have, probably.
The thought that triggered this post before all that above was simply that I didn’t really have a good handle on what I was posting before, back when I was doing it much more regularly.
If one is to post more regularly again, and said one doesn’t want to generate… *gestures vaguely at post* …this every day, then some other ideas need to be present.
Few smacks of the ‘Random Post‘ button later, a series of out loud, “Oh yeah”‘s, and some ideas might’ve landed once more.
Coming Games of Interest
Alright, so, Remnant 2 is actually already out. But to me, it marks the beginning of the game flood of 2023. There is a lot coming out over the next few months. Baldur’s Gate 3 and Armored Core VI this month, through to Starfield and Cities Skylines 2 not long after that, and a few more besides.
I used to (albeit occasionally and irregularly) cover off what had me excited to be a gamer, and I think it’d be a fun thing to do again. It is easy to get bogged down in the woes of MTX, buggy launches or just a general feeling of malaise that sometimes comes around our hobby when a break is needed.
But man… What a time to be alive!
Past Examples
- Coming Games of Interest — 2022 Edition
- Coming Games of Interest — 2021 Edition
- Coming Games of Interest — 2020 Edition
- Coming Games of Interest — 2019 Edition
Just… Talking About Play Sessions
I perhaps didn’t do this as much as I might like. But as the heading suggests, it really is that simple. Just talk about the experience playing a game. Be that as a story, or an anecdote, or nothing more than loosely based on the experiences — I’ve tried a few different approaches over the years and they can be some of the most fun pieces to write, honestly.
Not sure off-hand yet what games I might try this with over the course of Blaugust, but… I’m sure there will be something. Possibly something off the Coming Games of Interest list. :)
Past Examples
I might not have done this as much as I’d like — but I certainly did it a fair bit! So this is just a small sampling.
- Cities: Skylines: Blogger city! Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
- Asheron’s Call: My posting for AC was less sequential/story telling in nature, and mixed story’s about play with thoughts on the experience. Something I quite enjoyed at the time, but perhaps carried on with a little too long for such a dated game of limited interest!
- Black Desert Online: I recall more posts in the gameplay ‘story’ form than this, but I suppose I did only jump in (albeit quite intensely) for a month or so.
Others?
There are other styles and post types I found that evoked the ‘Oh yeah!’ response to be sure. But if you recall the extended intro to this whole post — I’m running behind as it is, so should probably cut things off here!
But I didn’t touch on Impressions posts, or putting forward some thoughts on news or recent game announcements, or perhaps one of my favourite types of posts overall: Bouncing off the posts of others.
Frostilyte mentioned it in his Blaugust kick-off as well — but it’s very easy during this month of heightened activity, both from yourself and of everyone in our community, to become overwhelmed and somewhat more inwardly focused. Keeping up with absolutely every post from every person isn’t likely to be possible — but I’d still very much like to ensure I spend a good amount of time looking around at the work of others and seeing if it might trigger some thoughts of my own a little more extensive than what a comment (should) handle. :)
This was posted during Blaugust 2023, the annual blogging event hosted by Belghast. Blaugust is an event aiming to welcome new blogger blood into the fold and revitalise those who’ve been at it a little longer.
The Blaugust Discord is still available to join in, year-round!
