Sore Wrists and Carpal Tunnel - 31/12/14

Today I noticed more than usual the pain I have in my right hand. It's not usually too bad but today I noticed it a bit more than usual. I did a bit of research and realized that my hand felt somewhat numb, which could potentially become carpal tunnel syndrome. The carpal tunnel is just in the center of your wrist and it is caused by using your hand too much and not stretching at all. If your muscles in your arm become too strong and the muscles you use to open your hands aren't properly built up or stretched, your carpal tunnel can become blocked. Or at least that is what I've gathered from online research. I'm not a doctor after all.

Carpal Tunnel exercises (Madden PT on YouTube)

I think carpal tunnel is pretty damn scary so I've started doing exercises. I'm going to be spending 5-10 minutes minimum every day doing some stretches that I've found online. I want to be able to use my hands properly my whole life so I feel like this is necessary, though if it continues to get worse I am going to see a doctor. I'm treating this very seriously.

Day9 recommends stretches to do before playing Starcraft 2. (Day9 on YouTube)

I've also started using my left hand on the mouse instead of only using my right hand. I can't really see if it's helping just yet but I really hope it does. I've also considered the fact that maybe I use my computer too much. Console games / PC games using an Xbox controller are possibly an option so I might start looking for some. I might give Dark Souls 2 another playthrough. 

Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year for tomorrow! Now to go enjoy the final day of 2014!

Pokemon OR/AS - 30/12/14

Regrettably, I didn't play many games other than Runescape today. But I did watch a movie and play a few hours of Pokemon earlier and my Action Replay for the 3DS came today which allowed me to change a few of my Pokemon's natures into ones I want and also clone a Diancie for my friend. We had a few battles in which I pretty easily won, and it was fun due to my Pokemon being EV trained when his weren't. It got me thinking about what there is to do in a game like Pokemon once you've beaten the game.

Pikachu vs Zigzagoon (GameFreak's Pokemon, Omega Ruby)

Once you've clocked the game all there really is to do is raise Pokemon, hunt for shinies and battle Pokemon competitively. I mean, completing the Dex goes without saying but now that I have my Action Replay, the first two are out of the question and the third one can be done by just putting cloned legendaries in the GTS. Not really fun to do. And why spend 24 hours finding a shiny Pokemon when I could just generate one? It sounds sad when you put it like that but I have many other games to play and I never plan on becoming a competitive player so I'm okay with it. I'm all about the experience.

(GameFreak's Pokemon, Omega Ruby. Video by Shofu on YouTube)

I think ultimately the real fun comes out of battling competively and if that doesn't interest you you aren't going to have a great time post-game. That being said, it's still a 150-200 hour experience even if you don't want to battle competitively so I think GameFreak and Nintendo have done okay. In saying that, some people are a LOT of fun out of competitive Pokemon. See the video above.

Thanks for reading.

The Long Dark - 29/12/14

Today I gave The Long Dark a go for the first time. I purchased it about a month ago with the intention of playing it that day, but upon getting distracted I forgot all about it. So today I gave that a go and played it for about 30 minutes and I have to say, I am impressed. The game feels super official and polished for an early access game it looks like it has a LOT of potential.

7 seconds into my first game. (Hinderland's The Long Dark.)

After getting into the game I decide to turn my light off to further increase the immersion I'm potentially about to experience, I get back around 7 seconds later to this screen. I'm immediately intrigued. What the hell happened? I start a new game and load into the game and quickly look around to see if I'm about to die again. There's nothing around me except snow. I appear to be on the top of a small hill. Upon looking down the hill I notice a small village of houses then the beauty of the game strikes me. Stunning. Absolutely stunning.

7 seconds into my first game. (Hinderland's The Long Dark.)

After this, I check out each of the houses I can see and gather some supplies, the inventory looks very complicated and I'm not particularly sure what most of it does yet, but knowing that I will have to figure it out makes me feel even more immersed in the game. I venture out of the houses and pick a direction to walk. I walk for a few minutes and I see some birds circling above. When I explored the area beneath them I found corpses on the ground which each had some food and water in them. I find a railroad and I hear barking. I turn around and see a wolf heading towards me. Shit. 

The second map I just loaded into. (Hinderland's The Long Dark.)

I spring in the other direction but after running into a dead end I turn around and decide to "fight," whatever that might mean. The dog leaps on me instantly and a small event appears where I have to charge up my attack and then use it. I do it a few times and eventually scare the small wolf away, but I'm bleeding and I'm about to die. I stumble around for a few minutes with bandages but I do not have the medicine I require to fix the wound and after walking around a few more minutes, my character dies and I am left wanting more. So I went ahead and started a new game on another map that looks insanely different. I see a house out on some ice and I notice a wolf sneaking around behind it. Then I tab out to write this blog. This is gonna be fun.

The Hobbit and RS - 28/12/14

Today I went to see the new Hobbit film at the theaters. I was expecting it to be better than it was but that doesn't mean it wasn't great, because it was, I just thought the first and second film were better, which is a huge compliment to the other two.

I also intended to give "The Long Dark" a go tonight which I have been meaning to do for a while, but I ended up just playing Runescape for the remainder of my spare time today, a game I haven't played for years. The game doesn't have a particularly prestigious reputation in the games community and is often just considered a browser game, which in truth it is, but it's huge. The game is immensely big, I've been playing off and on since I was age 12 and the game has so much content delivered in such an appealing way that the game is hard to shake.

A game of Pest Control preparing to start (Jagex's Runescape)

Is this style of game good for the games industry? Is it good for me? Should I spend so much time on a single game rather than exploring many different games? I feel like the answer is dependent on the person. Someone like me needs something to their time into, and an MMO with a beautiful leveling system like Runescape is perfect for that, on the other hand I feel like I am wasting time when I could be learning about an entirely new game that will help nurture structure great ideas and help euthanize shitty ones in the future.

My character preparing to jump into the sky (Jagex's Runescape)

I think this game is good and bad for me at the same time. It is my crutch when I am needing of distraction, but it also distracts me from doing useful things and from playing new games. I think I need to limit the amount of time I spend playing this game, at least put aside a few hours every night for games that are not RS.

Thanks for reading.

The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead - 27/12/14

Today I completed The Wolf Among Us and started playing my "Lee is deaf" playthrough of The Walking Dead, Season 1. Spoiler warning for both.

The Wolf Among Us is probably one of my favourite games of all time after that playthrough. Cleverly written and all choices actually feel meaningful. Who do I side with, Snow or an old pal Colin? Do I kill Georgie out of mercy or vengeance, or walk away and leave him to die? Do I be nice to this character at the risk of annoying someone else? So many options.

Officer Bigby making a tough decision. (Telltale's The Wolf Among Us, Season 1.)

Sometimes I found that I couldn't even decide what to do so I just stayed silent. On top of this, the game had an amazing story that was well written and interesting all the way through. There was no moment in the game where I felt bored or like I was wasting time. I can see myself playing through this game again, at least once, if not more. I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a game they can feel emotionally attached to but be warned, the game pulls no punches. It is an emotional roller coaster to say the least. Oh, and the damn title screen music is awesome.

Now for The Walking Dead. I've played this game all the way through twice, once as "good" Lee, and once as "bad" Lee. The game is just so well made that you almost feel like you're missing out on half the story if you only play it once. I last played it around 2 years ago, though, so I've decided to play it through again, only this time, I am neither good nor bad, I am playing it as if Lee is a pacifistic monk with no opinion on anything. I will say that so far it's fucking hilarious. In the beginning of the game when Lee has to pick between Shawn and Duck, instead of picking he just stands there watching like a spectator. He doesn't even look scared, he just doesn't act.

Lee ignoring Carley. (Telltale's The Walking Dead, Season 1.)

The reactions you get for making Lee look like an absolute moron is, in my honest opinion, far more rewarding than siding with the people I liked in my first playthrough. I certainly intend to complete this playthrough and I'm gonna have a blast doing so.

Something else I will be doing this holidays is studying for 15-30 minutes every day, either by watching a tutorial or reading something about a program I need to know about. Common sense applies here. On top of this, I will be attempting to broaden my horizons as a gamer during these holidays, meaning I need to play at least an hour of a game every day. The catch is that I must play a game I haven't already played this holidays. Having 620 games on steam, this won't be much of an issue, but it will be challenging. The final new thing I've decided to do this holidays is spend 15-30 minutes just relaxing, meaning without games or any type of electronic stimulation. This could include reading a book or doing a crossword puzzle or just chilling with a coffee outside for a bit.

New games played so far this holidays:
The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead S1 and S2, How To Survive, RS, ArcheAge, Game of Thrones by Telltale, 7 Days To Die and Dragon Age Inquisition. So far this amounts to around 1 per day.

New game played today: Path of Exile - Whilst I have played this game before, I haven't played it in recent memory so I've decided to give it another go.

Thank you for reading the first of many blogs I intend to write. This is quite a long one I've decided to do this time, most times they won't be this long.