Well October 2016 was quite a month and what a month it was. Actually, maybe it wasn't but that was the first thing that popped into my head when I sat down to type out inner connecting words this morning.
Before I get into anything else, I wanted to mention that we here at Stage Select Start have entered the world of Instagram with out own aptly named Instagram account. A portion of what we will be posting there will be information about just posted articles, upcoming articles, games that we happen to find ourselves playing, or anything else that we deem worthy to stick up on the mobile Internet. So head on over to Instagram.com/stage_select_start or just search for "Stage Select Start" on your mobile device of choice, subscribe, comment, and the like (eh!?).
I spent a good portion of October playing SOMA, and by a good portion, I mean I only had played 12 hours. I have also put a total of 5 hours into Resident Evil: Revelations on two separate game files (soon to be a third file now) on the 3DS after encountering a possible game breaking/annoying bug; this will garner its own article next week. I also have been playing a bit of Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion, which is a free game over on Steam that reminds me a bit of the Windows Maze screensaver of old, but flashier, more doors, and actually fun to play. The last few weeks of October, Conklederp and I also played a lot of ESO due to The Witches Festival going on until November 8th (bonus XP, and new crafting motifs). Continuing with the Elder Scrolls, The Elder Scrolls V: Skryim Special Edition came out too and I've been revisiting that land a bit more, finally settling on a female Dunmer for the main purpose of exploring the Dark Brotherhood and Mages Guild quests as I never did those much during any of my previous playthroughs. Lastly in the video gaming front, after listening to a story on NPR about chessmasters refusing to play against computer opponents, I decided that I should get back into playing chess on a more regular basis so I booted up Chessmaster: The Art of Learning (a DS game) and after losing horribly to the lowest ranking and easiest player, I now recall why I hadn't played in a long time. I guess that means I just need to play more often then.
On the physical gaming front, our group was sadly unable to make our monthly meet up so Himo and Folly joined Conklederp (Dagnar) and myself for a four hour round of Mansions of Madness. What I find interesting (and somewhat infuriating on my part) is that I still feel that I am not as confident as the Keeper (like the Dungeon Master) as I would like to be and frequently finding myself looking to the rule book for clarification on rules (Does solving a puzzle count as an action? What exactly does 'stun' do? What actions can an Investigator perform in a room with a Monster?). Everyone had a fun time (even though they all ended up dead in the end by way of their time running out) in the end, which is really all that matters, but I would like my Keeper skills to be better while not frequently second guessing myself about card placement.
On the TV side of things, Conklederp and I are actively watching American Horror Story: Roanoke and just finished season three of Black Mirror. If you have only watched the previous season of ASH: Hotel, I would say that you should definitely watch the current season as the story is a lot more focused and is currently ranking as in my top three seasons of the show (after season two Asylum, and four Freak Show). And for Black Mirror, if you haven't watch it, is like a modern Twilight Zone but with a heavy focus on the impact of some technological aspect and its effects on our society. There are only six episodes for Black Mirror, but it's twice as long as previous seasons before Netflix picked it up from the BBC, and each episode is amazing. Conklederp and I had to force ourselves to only watch one episode a night, but then that allowed us to process each episode and talk about the message and just our personal thoughts.
I cannot finish out a Monthly Update post without talking (briefly) about Nintendo's announcement for their next handheld/console hybrid, the Switch. But I already spent an entire article talking about it, and the only updates are that Nintendo will hold a press conference on January 21st, 2017 where they will presumably release additional details and a list of launch titles. To note, I am still very much excited about that system coming out. And speaking of Nintendo's systems, the Classic Mini is supposed to be released in a week, although the lack of legit pre-order sites is a little disconcerting.
Looking ahead to November, I will be delving more into Resident Evil, possibly moving onto Kholat after finishing up SOMA. I had also thought about doing a modified NaNoWriMo, but instead of a novel, I would be writing a D&D quest, which is much more up my alley than writing a convincing collection of words on a digital page. That idea may still pan out, but since I didn't start on Day 1, that ship may have sailed off with a hull full of booty and rum.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Someone Tell Me What To Say
Before I get into anything else, I wanted to mention that we here at Stage Select Start have entered the world of Instagram with out own aptly named Instagram account. A portion of what we will be posting there will be information about just posted articles, upcoming articles, games that we happen to find ourselves playing, or anything else that we deem worthy to stick up on the mobile Internet. So head on over to Instagram.com/stage_select_start or just search for "Stage Select Start" on your mobile device of choice, subscribe, comment, and the like (eh!?).
I spent a good portion of October playing SOMA, and by a good portion, I mean I only had played 12 hours. I have also put a total of 5 hours into Resident Evil: Revelations on two separate game files (soon to be a third file now) on the 3DS after encountering a possible game breaking/annoying bug; this will garner its own article next week. I also have been playing a bit of Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion, which is a free game over on Steam that reminds me a bit of the Windows Maze screensaver of old, but flashier, more doors, and actually fun to play. The last few weeks of October, Conklederp and I also played a lot of ESO due to The Witches Festival going on until November 8th (bonus XP, and new crafting motifs). Continuing with the Elder Scrolls, The Elder Scrolls V: Skryim Special Edition came out too and I've been revisiting that land a bit more, finally settling on a female Dunmer for the main purpose of exploring the Dark Brotherhood and Mages Guild quests as I never did those much during any of my previous playthroughs. Lastly in the video gaming front, after listening to a story on NPR about chessmasters refusing to play against computer opponents, I decided that I should get back into playing chess on a more regular basis so I booted up Chessmaster: The Art of Learning (a DS game) and after losing horribly to the lowest ranking and easiest player, I now recall why I hadn't played in a long time. I guess that means I just need to play more often then.
On the physical gaming front, our group was sadly unable to make our monthly meet up so Himo and Folly joined Conklederp (Dagnar) and myself for a four hour round of Mansions of Madness. What I find interesting (and somewhat infuriating on my part) is that I still feel that I am not as confident as the Keeper (like the Dungeon Master) as I would like to be and frequently finding myself looking to the rule book for clarification on rules (Does solving a puzzle count as an action? What exactly does 'stun' do? What actions can an Investigator perform in a room with a Monster?). Everyone had a fun time (even though they all ended up dead in the end by way of their time running out) in the end, which is really all that matters, but I would like my Keeper skills to be better while not frequently second guessing myself about card placement.
On the TV side of things, Conklederp and I are actively watching American Horror Story: Roanoke and just finished season three of Black Mirror. If you have only watched the previous season of ASH: Hotel, I would say that you should definitely watch the current season as the story is a lot more focused and is currently ranking as in my top three seasons of the show (after season two Asylum, and four Freak Show). And for Black Mirror, if you haven't watch it, is like a modern Twilight Zone but with a heavy focus on the impact of some technological aspect and its effects on our society. There are only six episodes for Black Mirror, but it's twice as long as previous seasons before Netflix picked it up from the BBC, and each episode is amazing. Conklederp and I had to force ourselves to only watch one episode a night, but then that allowed us to process each episode and talk about the message and just our personal thoughts.
I cannot finish out a Monthly Update post without talking (briefly) about Nintendo's announcement for their next handheld/console hybrid, the Switch. But I already spent an entire article talking about it, and the only updates are that Nintendo will hold a press conference on January 21st, 2017 where they will presumably release additional details and a list of launch titles. To note, I am still very much excited about that system coming out. And speaking of Nintendo's systems, the Classic Mini is supposed to be released in a week, although the lack of legit pre-order sites is a little disconcerting.
Looking ahead to November, I will be delving more into Resident Evil, possibly moving onto Kholat after finishing up SOMA. I had also thought about doing a modified NaNoWriMo, but instead of a novel, I would be writing a D&D quest, which is much more up my alley than writing a convincing collection of words on a digital page. That idea may still pan out, but since I didn't start on Day 1, that ship may have sailed off with a hull full of booty and rum.
~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
Someone Tell Me What To Say
I'm glad to hear you're liking Roanoke. I just finished up season 4, and I think it's my favorite season so far. Just started season 5... not so sure.
ReplyDeletemore to follow.