No Man’s Cup of Tea

With No Man’s Sky releasing this last week we enter the marmite period of game launch (some hate it, some love it). Once again many people stumble with the “It’s not the game I ( was looking for/ expected it to be/ was lead to believe i would get)” then appear the demands on game makers to amend/change/fix those elements that someone doesn’t like.

nomansskyIt’s strange as asking for change can vary depending on the complexicities involved. For example returning a meal as it was served cold is within the realms of acceptable demands since you expect a certain level of quality. However shouting that you didn’t like the ending/cast/ art direction of a film isn’t going to achieve anything since it’s pretty much set in stone, maybe the director’s cut maybe extended or have alternative ends, but generally you achieve nothing.

It’s peculiar how games tend to face a very different treatment. That’s not saying devs shouldn’t fix faults or address issues, but demanding more of developers, post release seems unfair, especially when the production time on games can be equal or greater than many large film productions.

Clearing up confusion

It’s clear to see that many people who thought the game was going to be something different, were they misinformed or not paying attention?
This couldn’t have been clearer in the following tweet that was posted during launch week:

There are many questions:

  • Did players make an assumption?
  • Is the single player game a dying breed these days?
  • Was there an element of lost in translation?

I have not been following the games development, as in I knew NOTHING about the game until this week. My perception is that the game launch maybe buggy a little, just like any other title. The gameplay I had watched as been fun and those playing it haven’t complained about much besides those common issues.

I haven’t bought the game myself, but I’m sorely tempted to use my Humble discount to pick up the game for the 10% off and 10% to a charity of my choice but I have so many titles in my Steam backlog it’s becoming harder to justify new titles.

Blaugust cometh

Blaugust the time for blogging, for a fresh start and in y experience for discovering wonderful bloggers you haven’t encountered before.
If you have not heard of the event before you should visit Belghast who created the event and read up on this years shenanigans.

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The challenge this year isn’t against the looming 31 day deadline, it’s about agreeing and keeping to a schedule. Of course some folks are hoping to blog each day, while others, like myself, are aiming a little lower. This is in an effort to get myself back into the rhythm of emptying my mind online, I’ve opted to post 3 times a week. I hope this will give me a guide on if it’s a schedule I could continue going forward or if it’s too much.

Remembrance

Sadly in the last month one of my clan members passed away after a drawn out fight with illness. It’s at times like these that our friendships, discovered in the virtual realms of the internet, prove to be stronger than those in meatspace.

This could not be more evident for me as a work colleague passed away earlier this year and despite having conversed and interacted with them on many occasions, I wasn’t remotely impacted as much as I was by the loss of a clan mate.

I touched on virtual friendships this in a post I made 2 years ago the last time I took part in Blaugust : Are friends electric?. Much of that post still hold true.

Healthy Troll

Since I learnt to drive last year I’ve not been doing a massive ammount of walking that could be considered anywhere close to a healthy amount, so recently I started doing more activities in an attempt to balance things out a little. I’ve been trying to find a routine that is both practical but that also caters for my health requirements.

During the waking hours one of my calves is permanently housed in a compression stocking due to collapsed veins, a gift from a post op DVT that just keeps on giving. As a starting point this limits the type of exercise I am able to endure as it needs to be low impact and not hindered by my leg. Currently I exercise in the evenings as by 6pm my leg is already as swollen as it’s likely to become that day, so removing the stocking to get a shower isn’t as difficult as it would be in the morning for example.

This didn’t begin life as a massive health push, but I’m hoping that I can build up the usefulness/stamina of my injured leg so it’s less of a burden and allowing me to undertake more varied activities.