Blog Archival

I'm archiving this blog so I can try focusing my writing on my interests. Namely: writing, fiction, gaming and history. The blog was supposed to be a place to talk nerdy without boring all of my Facebook friends. This blog became stagnant and lost the identity it originally had. If you go to the first post, you can see what I wanted it to be before it became more and more generic.

That isn't to say that there isn't some good stuff in this blog. There is! But, I think it is time to move on and create one that is cleaner to work with and stays true to the original identity. Not only that, but you'll notice inconsistent updates (sometimes months between updates!) and tag proliferation, broken links, and all sorts of blogging sins. It just is too bloated and wonky to work with to salvage.

I hope to have the new blog set up in time for NaNoWriMo 2018, but, we'll see!

Either or, it was a good run! Enjoy looking through the archives!

Final Fantasy 9: Complete

Cleared FF9.

Of the FF games, this is probably my favorite of the PS1 era ones that I've played (7, 8 and 9 -- 10 still not played).

A FF14 Project: As Someday It May Happen (I've Got a Little List).

If you're just here for an update on the road to many 70s... 34.5%. Lots of ways to go. This post is for a different project.

To truly understand and appreciate this project you'll need to at least be familiar with FF14. Familiarity with Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" would not be remiss.

This is a FF14 take on "As Someday It May Happen," or more commonly known as "I've Got a Little List." So, first. Lyrics. Second. Music.

Below, you'll find Draft 3 of the lyrics. I'm right now trying to find people with a better ear for music to see if I'm clipping syllables too tightly in places or if I could reword to make it easier to sing. I've got no talent for music or lyrics, so this is the Peer Review stage of this project. Hi Peers.

Protect Your Mecha: A Rival Wings Primer

Let's talk about the Mecha of Rival Wings.

NaNoWriMo Notes: 2017, Part 1

Going back and editing, tightening up the introduction. I'm doing a few things that I think fiction should do more often.

Paranoia in Table Top Role Playing.

In real life, if a group of people find a discarded doll in a forest, they'll, maybe comment that's weird. Maybe take a picture. Move on. But, if a high-level adventuring party finds a doll in the woods, things are not that simple.

Changing the RPG Maker Game Opening

I've been really, really quiet on the big RPG Maker game. Like, over two years without a post. So, here's why. I didn't like it. I needed to rethink it. If you see from the last post about the Review Effects tab and the one about Money, XP and Inventory, I realized my game had an identity crisis. Part of that started with the way the project developed (originally as just something fun I was doing on the side to learn RPG Maker.) But, that's caused structural problems, which you see in those two posts.

Now, only click through if you're fine with spoilers to a game I'll probably never make.

The Hildibrand quest chain is probably the best written of the quest chains in FF14. For spoilery example....

Alien Board Game Concept: Second Post

I am embracing my Ameritrash gaming roots for this game. There are six decks included. Here is the first post, for reference.

Board Game Rough Concept

Rough game notes for Alien-esque Game. The goal is to re-create the feeling of Aliens/The Thing.

Final Fantasy 9: Festival of the Hunt

As you may or may not know, I've never played FF9 before now. I just finished the Festival of the Hunt and walked a bit to pick up Quina. I'm not reading any strategy/spoilers as I go, but I figure that due to Dissidia and FFRK, most of the main plot beats I already am vaguely aware of. What I want to write about real quick is the Festival of the Hunt, and how FF9 pulled off this weird out of nowhere event in the plot so much better than 7 and 8 do when they stray from the main plot. So, spoilers ahead for 7, 8 and 9.

Design Problems With Legion/MMOs in General

Not even a few weeks into Legion's release, normals were no longer relevant content. At this point, if not at the same time, Heroics were no longer relevant content. As it is, for players who started on release day and pushed, regular Mythics are no longer relevant either. Which leads to players complaining they have nothing to do, and developers complaining that players blow through their content too quickly.

Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Great Game, Bad Ending

I know I'm a few years behind, but I just finished this game, and I feel like the ending... I don't want to say is terrible, but I just don't get it. From the title, you should be able to guess that there are spoilers for the ending of the game. So, don't click if you don't want to be spoiled.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper 5-Star Ability Advice

Fun fact: I play Final Fantasy Record Keeper. I wrote out this email to a friend, and realized, I should share it.

Boss Fight #2!

I'm kind of proud about how this fight works, so let me nerd out for a bit.

Boss Fight #2!

I Want to Like FF14, But...

I want to like FF14, but it has all sorts of little annoyances common to most JRPG/FF games. Multiple confirmation windows. Multiple loading screens between areas. But, the last quest chain is probably the worst example.

More Freethinking on the Mini-RPG Maker Games

I've done some more freethinking. Some of the games have a few more notes than others, but this should help get an idea of story/mechanics. This isn't exactly how I normally approach design, but I figure it is better organized this way than with my normal flowcharts/random doodles if I want other people to be able to follow it. The other problem is I then have to go in and prune out spoilers for the ones that are more plot heavy [namely, The Case of the Well Done Butler, First and Recursive Contact and The Dame, The Debt and The Devil are all very story heavy, and a bad spoiler could ruin the whole point of the game!]

Very Basic Mechanics for the Six Plots

You can see the six plots here. Below will be a very, very basic over view of the major mechanics I see for the games.

Possible Short RPG Maker Titles

Below you'll find six different short RPG Maker stories. I need to pick one so I can try making it in RPG Maker VX Ace and then re-make it in the new RPG Maker tool to see which I like better. I'm opening up the "which is coolest" to anyone who reads this, because I like them all for different reasons and cannot decide.

The Review Effects Tab

See below for some new screenshots and updates to Arthur's skills.