Diary of a Podcaster Part 17

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Cheap Desktop Mic

My personal podcast journey started back in 2010 when I effectively invited myself onto the Mordor or Bust podcast. The three of us who were involved in the production of that show were learning as we went along. I recently listened to an old episode and despite our enthusiasm, it is quite rough around the edges from a technical perspective. I think that the biggest mistake that I made at the time was not investing in a better quality microphone. I sound like I’m at the bottom of a well. It’s hardly surprising as I was using a very cheap analog desk microphone which I think only cost a few pounds from PC World. Roll on eleven years and I’ve been invited to be a guest on the Beyond Bossfights podcast. It’s nice to be back in the saddle again, so to speak. Up until now, I’ve been using my Razer gaming headset for any previous podcast recordings but I’ve decided to take the opportunity to overhaul my technical setup.

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Aveek Condenser USB Microphone

The last official Contains Moderate Peril podcast was recorded in January 2019. Both Brian and I used our gaming headsets and Zencastr to record the show. I did have at one point a USB microphone on a fancy armature but although it looked as cool as heck, it was totally impractical to use and got in the way when I wasn’t recording a podcast. Hence slumming it with gaming headsets was the path of least resistance. However, Braxwolf and DJ PimpDaddy (they do have normal names as well) record their show using fancy desktop microphones and also use webcams for the YouTube version of the show. This has been a bit of a culture shock for me as I tend not to post pictures of myself online. But life is predicated on change so I’ve rolled with it. I already bought an adequate webcam during the 2020 lockdown, so I only needed to upgrade my mic and find a convenient means of being able to hear the other participants.

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Anker Soundcore Life A1 Bluetooth Earbuds

In July I bought an Aveek Condenser USB Microphone. It’s essentially a Chinese clone of a more expensive brand but the customer feedback was good and the price was right. I’ve done some tests and the sound quality is perfectly adequate for the job in hand. It comes with a sturdy but simple desk stand. Rather than using headphones to monitor what everyone else is saying during the recording, I have recently purchased Anker Soundcore Life A1 Bluetooth Earbuds (why do products have such complex names these days?), so I don’t have cables trailing everywhere. I had to buy a TP-Link USB Bluetooth 5.0 Adaptor as well. I think in total these three items have cost about £100 or thereabouts. Bearing in mind that the primary goal is to be able to record clear voice audio I think I should be able to get the job done and to a reasonable standard. It’s certainly a far cry from the humble (IE shit) analog desktop microphone I was using a decade ago.

Blaugust 2021: Lessons Learned

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It is the final week of the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging event and the current theme and writing prompt is lessons learned. As a long term writer I do not have much to say on this matter. That’s not because I know everything and think there’s nothing new for me to come to grips with. You can always discover relevant and pertinent advice throughout your blogging journey. However, I do now have a fairly orderly writing regime and it serves my needs. The thing that most often derails this process are other demands upon my time. Overall, I think I have a positive approach to writing and it continues to bring me many benefits. With regard to lessons learned, I find it far more interesting to read others' thoughts on the matter. Especially those who are new to blogging or are trying to rekindle their passion for it. Krikket, Blockade85 and Aywren share some personal thoughts based upon their unique experiences.

Over the years, events such as Blaugust and the original Newbie Blogger Initiative have shown me that many people are writing as a means of self discovery, personal challenge or even self therapy. I understand this as I use writing as a way to order my thoughts and ponder the many of the issues that face us in life. I find that writing my thoughts, as opposed to face to face debate with others, is beneficial as it can be conducted without rancour. One has time to research a subject, reflect upon it and then form a considered opinion. However, I appreciate that others are blogging to do more than this. They are trying to conquer self doubt, work through a problem or test themselves. Blogging certainly does appear to be a valid form of cognitive behavioural therapy. It can have very restorative properties and be a source of support and community. I like to think that Blaugust contributes a little to these.

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With all this in mind, I think there is another aspect to blogging that needs to be mentioned. It is a very personal undertaking. Yes, you can write under a pseudonym if you prefer and many people do. You can control to a degree who gets to see your writing. But there is still an element of “baring one’s soul” to it all and I think that is quite brave in some respects. We live in an age where we all have a degree of unparalleled reach due to social media and the internet. Yet that comes with a degree of risk in so far as the moment you stick your head above the parapet, then people may well take pot shots at you. There’s no shortage of angry people online and hatred is sadly an all too common currency these days. Yet I read blogs where the authors talk about their personal struggles be it physical or mental health, or the realities of their day to day lives which can be challenging. That takes courage as far as I’m concerned.

Which is why I think Blaugust in its final week should be short on criticism and long on praise. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t quite hit the target you set yourself or that you haven’t quite yet achieved global domination from your volcano lair. At least you posted some blog posts and have a swivel chair. You’re a step further along the road and that’s much better than not doing anything. Maybe you’ve discovered if blogging is for you and what you will do next. Plus hopefully you’ve found some new blogs and added them to Feedly or whatever list you keep to stay abreast of what is happening. The Blaugust Discord server is active all year round and you can always find people to offer advice and talk to. Hopefully, upon mature reflection the lesson learned by all participants over the course of the previous 30 days is “I’m glad I did it”.

Yet More Cult Movie Soundtracks

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Tenebrae (1982) is probably Dario Argento’s most accessible “giallo” for mainstream audiences. Although violent, it is not as narratively complex as Deep Red (1975) or as bat shit crazy as Phenomena (1985). The story centres on popular American novelist Peter Neal (Anthony Fanciosa) who is in Rome to promote his latest book. Events take a turn for the worst when a series of murders appear to have been inspired by his work. The plot twists and turns, the director explores themes such as dualism along with sexual aberration and blood is copiously spattered across the white walled interiors of modernist buildings. It is slick, disturbing and has a pounding synth and rock score by former Goblin members, Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Pignatelli, and Massimo Morante.

Tenebrae Title Theme

Claudio Simonetti, Fabio Pignatelli, and Massimo Morante

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One Million Years B.C. (1966) is a delightful collaboration between Hammer Studios and stop motion animation legend Ray Harryhausen. It is the tale of how caveman Tumak (John Richardson) is banished from his native Rock tribe and after a long journey encounters the Shell tribe who live on the shores of the sea. It’s historically inaccurate, with dinosaurs, faux prehistoric languages and Raquel Welch in a fur bikini. It is also great fun and features a superbly percussive and quasi-biblical themed score by Italian composer Mario Nascimbene. Nascimbene was an innovator and often incorporated non-orchestral instruments and random noises, such as objects being banged together or clockwork mechanisms, into his music to underpin the stories it was telling. There is a portentous quality to his main opening theme as the earth is created and primitive man emerges.

Cosmic Sequence / Tumak Meets Luana / In The Domain Of The Shell People / Eruption of the Volcano

Mario Nascimbene

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Get Carter (1971) is a classic, iconic British gangster film featuring a smoldering performance by Michae Caine. The musical score was composed and performed by Roy Budd and the other members of his jazz trio, Jeff Clyne (double bass) and Chris Karan (percussion). The musicians recorded the soundtrack live, direct to picture, playing along with the film. Budd did not use overdubs, simultaneously playing a real harpsichord, a Wurlitzer electric piano and a grand piano. The opening theme tune, which plays out as Caine travels to Newcastle by train, is extremely evocative and enigmatic with its catchy baseline, pumping tabla and echoing keyboards. The music is innovative and a radical change from the established genre formula of the previous decade which often featured a full orchestral score.

Get Carter Theme

Roy Budd

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Witchfinder General (1968) is an bleak and harrowing exploration of man’s inhumanity to man, presented in a very dispassionate fashion. Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) is an opportunistic “witch-hunter”, who plays upon the superstitions of local villagers in remote East Anglia and takes advantage of the lawless times, brought about by the English Civil War. Price’s performance is extremely menacing and his usual camp demeanour is conspicuously absent. Director Michael Reeves paints a stark picture of the treatment of women in the 17th century. Yet despite the beatings, torture and rape, composer Paul Ferris crafts a charming and melancholic soundtrack. There is a gentle love theme that has subsequently been used in the low budget Vietnam War film How Sleep the Brave (1981) and even featured an advert for Vaseline Intensive Care hand lotion in the late seventies.

Peaceful Interlude

Paul Ferris

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Journey to the Far Side of the Sun AKA Doppelgänger (1969) is the only live action feature film that Thunderbirds creator, Gerry Anderson, produced. It is an intriguing, cerebral science fiction film in which a new planet is discovered in an identical orbit to that of earth but on the exact opposite side of the sun. A joint manned mission is hastily arranged by EUROSEC and NASA to send astronauts Colonel Glenn Ross (Roy Thinnes) and Dr John Kane (Ian Hendry) to investigate. Upon arrival the pair crash on the new planet in a remote and barren region. Ross subsequently awakes to find himself back on earth in a EUROSEC hospital. Exactly what happened and how is he back home? Journey to the Far Side of the Sun is like an expanded episode of the Twilight Zone and boasts great production design by Century 21 Studios under the direction of special effects genius Derek Meddings. The miniature work is outstanding. There is also a rousing score by longtime Anderson collaborator Barry Gray. Gray always expressed what was happening on screen quite clearly in his music, scoring in a very narrative fashion. The highlight of the film is a pre-credit sequence where scientist and spy Dr Hassler (Herbert Lom) removes a camera hidden in his glass eye and develops photographs of secret files. Gray’s flamboyant score featuring an Ondes Martenot works perfectly with the onscreen gadgetry and red light illumination of the dark room.

01 - Out Of Space, The Secret File, The Traitor In The Lab

Barry Gray

For further thoughts on cult movie music, please see previous posts Cult Movie Soundtracks and More Cult Movie Soundtracks.

Star Trek Online: The Agony of Choice

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Today I finally earned the requisite amount of campaign progress to be eligible for a free ship in the MMORPG Star Trek Online. It’s taken eight months or so to achieve this and I’ve played doggedly through the Voth Advance, Tholian Trouble and the Defense of Pahvo, multiple times to gain the maximum 3,500 campaign progress. Despite having plenty of time to decide which of the multiple reward options I would take, when actually confronted with a choice, I found it quite difficult to do so. Because there are a LOT of ships available in this game. So many in fact that making a choice becomes problematic. You find yourself not wanting to make a mistake so you end up down the rabbit hole of “researching ships”. Naturally, there are no definitive best ships in the game, although there are many that favour specific play styles and have certain benefits. Opinions vary and so you quickly find yourself just confused, cautious and even a little annoyed at being “ put in such a position”.

There are three choices on offer. You can claim a ship from the Zen store, or a ship from the Infinity Lockbox which includes all the cross faction ships and vessels that are usually only available for a short period of time or found on the exchange at extortionate prices. Alternatively you can claim a fistful of Lobi Crystal, which is an in-game currency that lets you buy not only unique ships but consoles, ship weapons, ground gear and personnel.  Lobi Crystals have the advantage of being bound to your account and so can be transferred between alts. If you claim a ship from either of the other two options associated with this promotional event, then they are bound to character. Essentially, these choices are better for players with fewers alts and may be one primary character. Luckily that is me in a nutshell. Although I have nine alts, one remains the focal point of my gaming and gets the best resources.

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So after much deliberation, I found myself back where I started and decided upon the choice I had made several months ago while working through the campaign. I chose the Tier 6 Atlas Prototype Dreadnought Cruiser from the TOS era. Although this is a really stylish looking ship with a nice 23rd century aesthetic, I really just wanted it for the Universal Console. The Dynamic Power Redistributor Module offers +11.2 Energy Damage Resistance Rating and +17.8% Directed Energy Damage as a passive boost. It then has a "clickable" skill that gives +40% Bonus Damage (Reapplied every 1 second for 20 seconds as long as health is above 80%), +100 Bonus Damage Resistance Rating for 20 seconds and +500% hull regen per minute for 20 seconds. All with a 2 minute recharge. This is all well and good but once the console was equipped on my current ship and the Dreadnought Cruiser sent to Dry Dock, it did seem to deflate the sense of victory for completing this event and mitigate all the hard work. Perhaps I should have chosen something shiny that I was actually going to fly. C’est la vie or STO in this case.

Blogging: Do or Do Not

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We are currently in the third week of the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging Event. The current theme and writing prompt is staying motivated. Several of my colleagues have already tackled the subject. Kaylriene, Krikket, Naithin and Wilhelm Arturus. There’s certainly a lot to say on the point and people deal with it in their own, unique way. But to cut to the chase I think Bhagpuss has hit the nail on the head and has touched upon the heart of the matter. “If you need to go looking for motivation then you're already in trouble”. Yes, that’s a very good point. Blogging or writing creatively is both enjoyable and rewarding. But it requires focus and effort. Hence for a lot of people the prospect of doing it to a schedule is daunting and effectively determines how they continue to blog. But that’s fine. There is nothing wrong with being an intermittent blogger. I follow numerous blogs of that kind. However, if you desire to write daily or on some other regular basis, then one of two things will happen. You will either do it or you will not.

Now I am sorry for going all “Yoda” on you all but I feel that this is an honest and realistic appraisal of the situation. Writing regularly requires discipline and there will be days when it does feel like a chore. You may feel uninspired and unfocused. However, if you still successfully manage to write something under such circumstances, then you do get a sense of immense satisfaction afterwards as you hit the publish button. As for the perennial discussion about writer’s block, I have argued in the past that there is always something to write about. More often than not it is a case of you just not wanting to write and you would rather go and do something else instead. Writer’s block does present itself as a convenient “get out of jail” card in such instances. But it also offers an opportunity to reflect upon your relationship with writing and how you want to progress.

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If you genuinely want to write on the days when it is difficult then you have to sit down and come up with the germ of an idea. Once you have something written down you can focus upon expanding upon it. To start with, try adding a few points relating to it. Next if you begin to flesh out these ideas into sentences, before you know it, you have the foundations for a post. That’s how you power through these periods when you find writing to be an uphill struggle. It requires focus and determination to take that first step. To sit down at your keyboard and write that first word or sentence and start the process. And I think we all know in advance, whether we’re actually going to do that or not. If you’re not then that is fine. You haven’t failed. You’ve been honest with yourself. In fact you have found the level of writing that you’re comfortable with, which is an invaluable lesson.

Blogging isn’t an “all or nothing proposition”. You write what you want, how you want, when you want. Put aside what you think people might expect from you and focus upon your own needs. If you reach a point where writing is actually causing you anxiety then you need to stop and take stock of the situation. During the course of our lives we try lots of things. Sometimes we find that we like something and it becomes a regular part of our lives. Other times we give a new activity a go but discover that it is not for us, or that we will do it only occasionally, or only on our own particular terms. All of which is fine. So overall, I believe that motivation is a bit of a Red Herring. There are certainly things that you can do that will assist with your writing, such as picking the best time to write and doing so in an optimal environment. But essentially, I think your motivation to write to the level and schedule that suits you, is either there or it isn’t. A subconscious choice that has already been made. Hence, do or do not. There is no try.

Star Trek Online: Max Level Boost

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In January this year, Star Trek Online ran the Klingon Recruitment Event to celebrate the streamlining and revision of all KDF content in the MMO. I created a Klingon Engineer and over the following weeks progressed to level cap. Let it suffice to say that the Klingon story arc is now greatly improved and has the sense of grandeur and melodrama that one expects. I then decided to buy the Legendary Klingon Defense Force Captain Bundle, mainly because I wanted a Tier 6 D7 Battlecruiser. I had tried to get by with an upgraded Tier 5 fleet version of this iconic ship but it was somewhat underpowered. So I purchased the bundle, unlocked the ship and went about the business of equipping it with the best gear I had at my disposal. The bundle also came with a Max Level Boost but as my existing Klingon character was already at level cap, I left this item unclaimed.

Roll on April and Cryptic decided to re-run The Delta Recruitment Event. This time round you could create Federation, Romulan Republic and Klingon Defense Force characters and receive perks and benefits while levelling. So I rolled new alts from each faction and really enjoyed playing through the entirety of both the Federation and Romulan storylines. I managed to get both of these alts to level cap but ran out of “enthusiasm” when it came to the Klingon character, as I had already done something similar with this faction only three months previously. So poor old Lieutenant Rigah was left in the Vlugta Asteroid Field to mine Dilithium and function solely as a resource management alt. Until yesterday when I remembered that I had an unused Max Level Boost. So I relocated this Gorn character to Genalda Space Station, unequipped all items and utilised the boost.

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The Good: The boost promptly takes you to the current level cap with minimal onscreen hassle. You don’t have to sit around waiting an eternity as confirmation messages fly across the screen (I’m looking at you LOTRO). Once the boost has completed its task you get a nice splash screen that summarises everything that you’ve been granted. This includes 36 x Inventory Slots, 12 x Bank Slots, 6 x Bridge Officer Slots and 2 x Starship Slots as well as 46 Skills Points and 15 Specialisation Points.

The Bad: The Ground Kit and Modules, along with the Space Weapons, Consoles and Ship Equipment are all decidedly lacklustre (as is the ground gear). They are all “very rare” quality, Mark XIV level and are of the kind you usually buy from a vendor. Frankly it would have been preferable if Cryptic had given you a larger quantity of Energy Credits (you get 1,000,000) and let you see what you could buy on The Exchange.

The Adequate: I was surprised to see that you get six bridge officers all pre-promoted to the rank of Commander, pre-equipped with Mk XIV Very Rare equipment and Very Rare-quality traits. This is actually quite useful, although you may wish to tinker with their individual builds before you’re content. The Projected Stasis Beam Universal Console is an acceptable “slot filler” until you find something more bespoke for your ship build. It’s a nice Star Trek TAS reference.

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Overall, this Max Level Boost has proven okay and a convenient means to an end. It came with a bundle and was not something I specifically sought out. I’m not sure if I’d buy this if it was sold separately. Knowing how Cryptic tends to price things, it may not offer sufficient value for money. But in this specific situation it has served its purpose. At level 65 I can now access Task Force Operations, Red Alerts and Patrols, providing me with an alternative to just progressing through the story mission arcs once again. The equipment supplied is sufficient to keep me going until I can acquire superior reputation crafted gear. The account unlocks from previous events is also a good source of additional weapons, consoles and devices. And once this character has been played for 20 hours (they’re at 13 at present) I can claim the Tier 6 Bird of Prey that was made available for all alts during the Klingon Recruitment Event.

The Problem with “Adaptable” Recipes

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It’s curious how some things that you think are simple and mundane, can turn into complex and time consuming problems. They go on to haunt you for years to come. In many ways such a scenario is a variation of the old idiom that “no good deed goes unpunished. So let me begin this story back in 2001 around Easter. A chance conversation arose about how people tend to buy cakes from the supermarket as opposed to making their own. This was just before baking shows became popular on TV. I subsequently referenced how my Mother used to make Bread Pudding back in the seventies. Needless to say, no sooner had I uttered those words, then I immediately desired the aforementioned dessert and it has been an albatross around my neck ever since. The problem isn’t that Bread Pudding is as rare as Tanzanite or rocking horse droppings. There are plenty of recipes available. Therein lies the rub. There are numerous regional and international variations. Too many in fact.

So for those who are not familiar with the aforementioned “delicacy”, Wikipedia describes it thus. “Bread Pudding is a bread-based dessert popular in many countries' cuisines, made with stale bread and milk or cream, generally containing eggs, a form of fat such as oil, butter or suet, and depending on whether the pudding is sweet or savory, a variety of other ingredients. Sweet bread puddings may use sugar, syrup, honey, dried fruit, nuts, as well as spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, or vanilla. The bread is soaked in the liquids, mixed with the other ingredients, and baked”. They go on to mention a savoury version but that’s just crazy talk and the spawn of Beelzebub. So now that everyone’s au fait with bread pudding, I have spent the last twenty years trying to find a recipe that is close to how my Mother used to make it. Obviously, I asked her back in 2001 but she had mislaid the recipe. Subsequently interrogations have yielded less data as she is now in her nineties.

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Now you may well be asking yourself, what exactly is the point I am trying to make here. Am I advocating that all family recipes should be committed to text and filed away for future reference. Well yes, but that is not my primary concern. I find that the sort of recipes that lend themselves to be “adapted” can be both a boon and a bane. Being able to easily expunge an ingredient that you don’t like and replace it with one that you do, without radically altering the dish, is a godsend. But some recipes have a tendency to be too flexible. Even nebulous. For example, Spaghetti Bolognese has many permutations. Chicken Tikka Masala is another. You could theoretically dine at a different Indian restaurant every day of the year, ordering the aforementioned dish and potentially have 365 meals of incredible diversity. Some may vary greatly from your expectations rendering them unpalatable. Conversely, a dish such as Beef Wellington is quite specific and doesn’t lend itself to radical augmentations.

Often one gains a liking for a particular meal either through dining together as a family or via a specific restaurant. Thus your perception and preferences for that meal are determined by the unique recipe of a family member or local chef. It can be confusing and sometimes even awkward, when you encounter somebody else’s version, especially if you don’t like their culinary interpretation. They might have removed the mushrooms or used shallots instead of regular onions. People can’t even agree as to the best way to make an omelette or even poach an egg. This is one of the reasons why fast food chains are so popular because they offer a homogeneous experience. A quarter pounder with cheese is virtually identical irrespective of whether you buy it from a McDonald’s in Kent or Aberdeenshire. It is comforting to know that you are going to have the same experience as last time, free from any “surprises”.

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And so we return to the subject of Bread Pudding. I am finally reconciled to the fact that I shall never be able to recreate this dessert exactly as I experienced it in my youth. My Mother’s recipe has gone and so is my Mother in-law’s which came a very close second. I have however, discovered several variations that I do find quite palatable and the local Baker’s does one that is quite passable. I have even gone so far as to experiment myself and feel that using brown sugar and nutmeg are essential. As for the wider issues regarding “adaptable” recipes, I do tend to ask a lot more questions before ordering a meal in a restaurant. Most of the time, staff are happy to discuss what makes their version of a classic dish “different”. This often proves invaluable. Like many other things in life it’s best not to assume anything. Certainly don’t think, “I’ll order the Shepherd’s Pie. They can’t get that wrong”, because you’ll be surprised how they can.

Thoughts on Blogging Part 15

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Blogging is dead: At the time of writing we are halfway through the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging event. Whenever the subject of personal blogging is raised, there are those who immediately declare that “blogging is dead”. According to Google, out of 1.7 billion websites that currently exist worldwide, 500 million or so of those are blogs of some kind. These generate over 2 million blog posts daily. So I wouldn’t say that blogging per se is done and dusted. However it certainly has evolved considerably over the last 15 years. At the start of the current century blogging was a novel activity providing the means of keeping a personal journal online. Inevitably, popularity and ubiquity led to commercialisation and a necessity to monetise. There was a period of time when clicks, traffic and advertising could generate popularity as well as an income. But other forms of social media offering greater immediacy eventually usurped this potential. Now blogging is seen as more of a niche market activity or corporate tool.

Blogging for pleasure: At present it is the microblogging site Tumblr that dominates the bloggersphere, hosting over 400 million blogs (WordPress hosts 60 million). However, this is not really a platform for in-depth, longform writing. Perhaps that is the main reason for blogging becoming less popular. Writing competently does require both skill and time. Modern social media platforms are the opposite, offering immediacy and brevity. Plus there is far more of a focus upon monetisation and building an audience these days. Hence many bloggers are choosing to write not so much about personal subjects but are pursuing material that is marketable, such as Lifestyle and Travel blogs. Product reviews are another popular subject. Yet despite the fact that there are many commercial prospects available, current data from Google indicates that only about 10% of all bloggers generate any income. Broadly speaking the primary motivation for personal blogging is passion, fandom and pleasure.

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Amending existing posts: I wrote a blog post back in May of this year about how the RPG The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was fast approaching ten years old. At that time there was a lot of speculation but no definitive answer as to whether the game developer Bethesda were going to do anything formal to celebrate this anniversary. This has now changed and a Skyrim Anniversary Edition has now been announced. So I updated the post with an additional paragraph and added a date reflecting the amendment. I think that this is a valid policy, providing value for your readers and also maintaining your credibility as a writer. I think it’s especially important if you are writing about a news story and the facts are constantly being updated and possibly corrected. Updating or appending a post is also a useful form of self-promotion.

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Changes in traffic sources: Squarespace has an integral analytical service which provides statistics and data for Contains Moderate Peril. I even have an app on my phone that I can check if I see fit. I also have the website linked to Google Analytics which generates and emails to me very useful monthly summary of website traffic. Over the last decade, due to the success of smartphones and tablets, there has been a major shift in how people browse the internet and consume content. Over 46% of those who visit Contains Moderate Peril, do so from a mobile device. Hence it is important as a blogger to ensure that the template you use for your blog is “responsive” and adapts and optimises your content for mobile platforms. There are various sites available that can test your template and provide a preview of what your blog looks like on a mobile device. I would recommend that that all new bloggers look into this to ensure that their site is responsive, so they do not unintentionally exclude potential readers.

The LOTROCommunity Forums to Close

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The LOTROCommunity Forums

One 1st June 2011, Turbine officially took back control of the European service of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. Prior to this it was operated by Codemasters Online Gaming. There were several unique distinctions between the two services. Codemasters were far more proactive in running community events and they also maintained a totally separate set of forums, catering to their European customers. When LOTRO was consolidated in the US under the auspices of Turbine, the European forums faced closure and the loss of all the valuable game related data that they held. However, a private, fan maintained forum was quickly established by MueR and the old Codemaster data was archived. Over the next ten years the LOTROCommunity, as it was known, grew in membership and overtime found itself to be an independent alternative to the official LOTRO forums run by Turbine and later Standing Stone Games. 

There was a point when there was a great deal of rivalry between the two communities. The official LOTRO forums were frequently moderated with a heavy hand and frankly any criticism, regardless of its validity, was quashed. The forums subsequently became dominated by a small cadre of bombastic LOTRO fanboys who hailed from the “if you’re not playing it the same as me, then you’re playing it wrong” school of thought. Hence the unofficial LOTROCommunity forums saw an influx of new members and became increasingly vocal in the way the MMO was run and how the official forums were moderated. Matters reached a head in mid 2013 when the Helm’s Deep expansion was being beta tested and it became clear that Mounted Combat, Epic Battles and the changes to the class "trait tree" system were far from good. Turbine circled the wagons and effectively stifled any relevant debate on these subjects and so the LOTROCommunity forums became a beacon of dissent and anger towards Turbine.

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The Official LOTRO Forums

Gamers are a passionate bunch. MMO players may be more so, due to the long term investment required. Hence there were times when members of the LOTROCommunity were inflammatory and went out of its way to pick fights not only with Turbine but with specific players on the official forums that they saw as “shills” and “lick spittles”. There were occasions when members of one forum would surreptitiously create an account on the rival platform and indulge in some untrammeled trolling. Yet despite the sniping and the unpleasantries perpetuated by a handful of members, the LOTROCommunity was often a source of invaluable news, analysis and game related data. There was also some important information leaked by beta testers breaking NDAs. Turbine has always had a propensity for being unduly tight-lipped yet the LOTROCommunity was always there to fill in the blanks. Plus for a lot of the time, I enjoyed actively posting and participating there. I took a break when it got too partisan but there was  always more good there than bad.

In recent years the LOTROCommunity has fallen into decline. Mainly because a lot of the core members simply stopped playing LOTRO and moved on to other games. There was a brief resurgence when Standing Stone Games extracted themselves from Turbine in December 2016. A further spike occurred during mid 2020 when the pandemic kept a lot of people at home and SSG made a lot of LOTRO content free. Overall it would appear that the LOTROCommunity has followed the lifecycle of LOTRO itself and has waxed and waned accordingly. There is now a core of dedicated players who keep the MMO ticking over but the general buzz around the game has declined. The official forums are now a lot quieter and the willingness for a flame war has long since diminished. Hence MueR has decided that its time to call it a day for the LOTROCommunity forums and it will close on 1st October 2021.

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The Archived Codemasters LOTRO Forums

I don’t know what will happen to the archived data from Codemasters that is still preserved there, nor do I know how long the forums themselves will stay online. But it does smack of the end of an era, although this may seem trivial to those who have not been active LOTRO players or immersed at any point in the games wider community. I can recollect a time when I would sit up late burning the midnight oil, trawling through threads on the LOTROCommunity forums, investing possibly a little too much time into heated debates. LOTRO was my first MMO and it has played a major part in my personal gaming experience. I’ve blogged frequently about the game and got into podcasting because of it as well. The LOTROCommunity forums have also contributed greatly to this overall experience. So thank you MueR for running the site for so long. Good luck with your future endeavours. It feels odd for an MMO to outlive its fan related forum but that’s the way it is. Nothing lasts forever.

Would You Rather? - The Gaming Edition

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Ah, there’s nothing like an internet questionnaire to help you out when you’re scratching your head, desperately trying to think of something to write about. I don’t consider Blaugust to be complete unless there’s at least one of these “question and answer” style blog posts doing the rounds. This one is courtesy of Krikket over at Nerd Girl Thoughts. Do go and have a look at their unique take on the various questions. Naithin has also tackled this line of enquiry and you can find his answers at Time to Loot. As ever I tend to deviate from the somewhat binary nature of the questions but that’s the whole point, isn’t it? To open up the scope of the discussion and potentially encourage others to join in. This is why I like these sorts of internet questionnaires and think they contribute much to Blaugust.

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Q: Would you rather play games only on console? OR Would you rather play games only on PC?

A: It very much depends upon the game. I recently bought a Nintendo Switch to be able to have access to games such as Mario Kart 8. Playing games of this variety with a controller is ideal. However, I find that playing some game franchises on a PC is preferable, such as Assassin’s Creed. Both platforms serve specific purposes and occupy a particular niche. As I’ve written previously, I made the change from console to PC gaming roundabout 1995, although for a few years I used both platforms equally. I do find console exclusive titles a little frustrating although from a business perspective I see the sense of them. This is why I was both surprised and pleased when Days Gone was unexpectedly ported from the PS5 to the PC. However, all things considered PC gaming is my platform of choice and the majority of the games that I own are for this format.

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Q: Would you rather play only singleplayer games? OR Would you rather only play multiplayer games?

A: I am predominantly disposed towards singleplayer games, as your enjoyment and progress are not in any way dependent on other people. However, I have spent many a happy hour in the company of friends in an MMORPG. Out of all the varieties of multiplayer games, that is the genre I enjoy the most. Mainly because your interaction is with established colleagues who are a known quantity and there is less scope for drama and  shenanigans. Although I will play games such as Call of Duty: Warzone, it is a lottery as to whether you’re going to have an enjoyable and productive time, due to the random grouping that occurs and the overall nature of pickup groups. I think that multiplayer games, where possible, should always have an AI bot option.

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Q: Would you rather play only games you already own? OR Would you rather play only games you would need to still acquire?

A: The grass is always greener, especially with regard to games you do not own and that everyone else is playing. I have numerous game libraries spanning multiple platforms filled with games that I haven’t yet played. And then there is the Epic Game Store which regularly gives away premium titles. Do I really need them? No. Do I still acquire them? Yes. I suppose what this ultimately highlights is the ephemeral nature of video games. A game is the talk of the internet one day and then six months later, very much yesterday’s news. However, if you’re content to play titles that others may consider “old hat”, then you’ll have plenty of good and reasonably priced games to play through.

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Q: Would you rather play only games that challenge you mentally? OR Would you rather play only games that challenge you physically?

A: I primarily play games for entertainment. That may include a degree of both mental and physical challenge. However, I tend to avoid games that are based exclusively upon either of these two options. I no longer play complex platformer games where rhythm and coordination are paramount as I find them frustrating. I don’t like games that are rife with puzzles or require you to manage numerous resources because to me that simply isn’t fun, it’s a job. I don’t mind a challenge in a game but I don’t actively seek those titles that are comparable to the labours of Hercules. I don’t seek or require personal validation through success in a video game. I have, however, fallen off my chair playing Mortal Kombat.

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Q: Would you rather play only long / endless games? OR Would you rather play only games that are less than 20 hours long?

A: Again both types of games have their virtues. I like MMOs as they do grow in content over time and their longevity offers the illusion of stability and routine, which is very comforting. However, I like games that can be completed in 20 or thirty hours. Some RPGs can outstay their welcome, narratively speaking. As ever with video games, what I play is very much dependent upon my frame of mind.

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Q: Would you rather play only games released in the last 10 years? OR Would you rather play only games released more than 10 years ago?

A: ’m not overly enamoured with the binary nature of this question, as I play both old and new games. Furthermore, there are numerous games from a decade ago that still hold up incredibly well. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Mass Effect 2 and L.A. Noire for example. However, from a logical perspective, sticking with newer games is by far the better option. Older games get reboots or remasters and there is always a continuous output of new material. Hence, this choice is the best of both worlds.

Sleep

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A cursory Google search on the subject of sleep will instantly regale you with a wealth of trivia on the subject. 12% of people dream entirely in black and white. Two thirds of a cat's life is spent asleep. A giraffe only needs 1.9 hours of sleep a day, whereas a brown bat needs 19.9 hours a day. Humans spend 1/3 of their life sleeping. The record for the longest period without sleep is 11 days. Trivia aside, sleep is an important function for both the mind and body. It has multiple restorative benefits and is essential to a person’s wellbeing. Furthermore, most people’s relationship with sleep changes over the course of their life. Often as children, we resent sleep. I still do to a degree. It does seem a waste of valuable time. Conversely, as we get older the virtue of a good night’s sleep becomes something to embrace and even enjoy. And by the time we reach our dotage sleep often becomes a leading factor in life, bordering on a default position. However, whatever your thoughts on sleep, the moment you have difficulties with it, you have a serious problem.

Until fairly recently, I’ve had increasingly poor-quality periods of sleep. There were multiple reasons for this, including me staying up too late, too much light coming into the bedroom and the fact that the bed was over a decade old. The mattress was far from comfortable. I would go to bed between 1:00 and 2:00 AM and then struggle to settle and sleep. Outside activity in the street, such as people leaving for work would further disturb me. I live in a bungalow and the bedrooms are in the front of the property. So back in January 2019, a new bed was bought during the sales. As both the bed frame and mattress from Hypnos were made to order, we had to wait a month before they were delivered. However, upon arrival, the new mattress and base had a transformative effect upon the quality of my sleep. Also the curtains in the bedroom were replaced with ones with a heavier blackout lining, which not only cut out ambient light but reduced noise.

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Hence over the last two years the quality of my sleep has improved greatly. I now own a Huawei Smartband which monitors a wealth of bodily metrics including sleep. I can’t vouch for the veracity of the number it assigns as a sleep rating but it shows a consistently high number within its own scale. I broadly take this to be a good sign. Certainly, until I caught COVID-19, my sleep patterns have proven stable and refreshing. Now I have a tendency to still awake feeling tired. However, this is more to do with my wider health which is currently being investigated and not in any way a reflection upon my sleep pattern. I have also started going to bed a little earlier, usually about midnight and aim for a solid 7 hours sleep. I find that making an early start at around 7:30 AM is good for my productivity. I certainly find writing first thing in the morning a lot easier than late at night.

Although the importance of a suitable bed for a good night’s sleep should not be understated, there are other factors that also should be considered. Light and noise levels, I’ve mentioned already. Ventilation and temperature are two others. Hydration is a consideration as well. Though you should not drink too much beforehand for obvious reasons. Going to bed when one is ready is another point to consider. Sometimes it is important to unwind and decompress before turning in, especially if you’ve been mentally engaged prior to this. A little light reading helps some or a phone game. All these factors can be controlled to a degree and you need to find what is right for you. However, there are some aspects that you cannot manage as well. The biggest being sharing a bed with another person. Differing sleep habits and patterns can be a major bone of contention but that is a completely separate blog post. For a good night’s sleep, focus upon what you can change and then do so. You won’t regret it.

Guild Wars 2: Once Bitten, Twice Shy

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When Guild Wars 2 launched in the summer of 2012, I was very enthusiastic about the game on the Contains Moderate Peril podcast. I had participated in the beta and was impressed by many of the game's mechanics and its overall accessibility. Although I did not expect the game to be the focal point of my gaming activities, I (and many others I suspect) felt that this casual MMO had a lot to offer and would become a firm favourite. And that was pretty much the case up until 2015 when the first expansion, Heat of Thorns, was released. I have written in the past about how this new content changed the nature of Guild Wars 2 and contradicted its existing laissez-faire approach to solo game play. I didn’t want content gated behind skills I didn’t enjoy earning, Nor did I want my access to zones subject to player unlocks and thus making my gaming activities dependent on others. Hence I parted company with the MMO and have not returned. 

Since then, there has been a second expansion, Path of Fire, which added mounts to the game as well as new content. I believe that this expansion was more equitable than the previous and friends and colleagues have assured me that I can return to the game and bypass the material I didn’t previously like. However, this still did not prove sufficient to tempt me back to the game in 2017 as I felt that Guild Wars 2 was simply one of those games that just wasn’t applicable to me any longer. All too often when I return to an MMO that I have previously left, I enjoy a few hours of excitement mainly due to all the things that have been added to the game in my absence. Then after a while, I find that all the things I didn’t like are still there, or that there is a massive progression gap to be overcome before I can join my friends at the endgame. I believe we as gamers, have an inherent blind spot where we substitute the reality of a situation with what we would “like” a game to be.

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There is now a third expansion for Guild Wars 2 on the horizon. Provocatively called End of Dragons. Despite my past experience and the fact that the MMO genre has evolved greatly since the launch of this game, I have a worrying urge to re-install the game and see what is “going on”. The rational part of my mind predicts that I’ll spend an evening downloading the game client, log in to my primary character in Divinity’s Reach and then spend some time riding around on my flying carpet. I’ll quickly establish that the game is not really that different than before and then promptly log out. I did exactly the same with The Secret World: Legends, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Neverwinter. But the irrational part of my mind is adamant that I’m missing out on “the best MMO around” and that “it’s way better than last time” and I really do need to check things out. I’m curious to see which point of view wins, although common sense urges that it should be the former.

Job Hierarchies and Thoughts on Employment

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I appreciate that this is a somewhat ponderous blog title but I’m trying to consolidate several  ideas and streams of thoughts into one post. So to begin with it is the third week of the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging event. Specifically it’s “Developer Appreciation Week”. At first glance a laudable undertaking. An opportunity to praise the developers of a game that’s close to your heart. However, given the current debacle with Blizzard Entertainment, I think there’s a conversation to be had about how fans virtual deification of specific developers of World of Warcraft and how treating them like rock stars, may well have had some bearing on their subsequent misdemeanours. I would in fact go further and say that the video game industry is another sector of work, like film, TV, music and sport that is perceived to be glamorous, aspirational and generally put on a pedestal. Fans lose sight of the fact that these companies have a lot of staff who don’t get any kudos and endure tough working conditions. Just like more conventional jobs.

There has always been a hierarchy of jobs in the public consciousness, although logically all forms of employment are essentially the same in principle. People providing a service in return for money. But life doesn’t exclusively operate within logical parameters. Hence vocational and professional jobs come with a lot of cultural baggage. Rightly or wrongly, the moment you declare to someone what you do for a living, they will instantly make assumptions and judgments about you. Often these will be erroneous or spurious but this sadly is the prevailing trend. Cleaners, carers, shop workers all do essential and invaluable work (as 2020 clearly highlighted). Yet such work is often frowned upon by certain parts of the population. Despite the fact that many who work in such sectors do so out of necessity and may well be overqualified. In fact there are stereotypes associated with jobs of all spectrum. Academia, working in the law and banking being seen as the prerogative of the rich. Estate agency (real estate) being seen as “barrow boys” and chancers. Oh and IT is exclusively populated by the socially dysfunctional.

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During the course of my lifetime, the job market has evolved and changed rapidly. Applying for jobs in the eighties was a very formal process. Hand written applications and questionnaires were used to filter candidates, prior to interview by panel. Vacancies were predominantly advertised in newspapers, recruitment agencies or the government run “Job Centres”. Qualifications gated many positions, even for the most entry level administrative roles. When I started working for the DWP in 1990 on the first rung of the ladder, you still needed to have 3 GCE “O” level exams with passing grades. Nowadays, the job market is far more fast paced and like so many things, now predominantly handled online. Having a customisable curriculum vitae (or resume), that can be tailored to specific applications is essential. Sadly, the new job market has little room for feedback. Most applications never garner any sort of response. Keyword searches eliminate those who are not relevant and such automated services do not generate a polite “sorry you weren’t successful” letter.

However, these major changes to the overall employment landscape has led to an increasing amount of job homogenisation. Especially here in the UK where traditional industries have been replaced with service ones. Hence we have seen an increase in employment dissatisfaction and the rise of so-called “bullshit jobs”. I am currently reading a book on the subject by American anthropologist David Graeber. He contends that “over half of societal work is pointless and becomes psychologically destructive when paired with a work ethic that associates work with self-worth”. Graeber describes five types of meaningless jobs, in which workers pretend their role is not as pointless or harmful as they know it to be: flunkies, goons, duct tapers, box tickers, and taskmasters. He argues that the association of labour with virtuous suffering is recent in human history, and proposes universal basic income as a potential solution. I certainly wouldn’t argue against these things having had such positions in my career.

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Hence we return to the jobs that are perceived as aspirational or a means to bypass the rat race, or at the very least, manage it on your own terms. Many young people look to social media as a means of escaping the fate of their parents. Because the social contract that has existed in most western societies in the post World War II era has been proven false. If you study, work hard and live within your means you’ll be able to raise a family, afford a home and the state will assist you in your autumn years. Young people know first hand that this is a lie. Many modern jobs have no formal working hours, no employee protection or rights and pay insufficient to keep an individual, let alone a family. Bullshit jobs are rife and work is a treadmill. Which is why the allure of being an “influencer” is so strong. And why a rock star game developer who gets to write really cool games and hangout at conventions and trade shows is infinitely preferable to toiling in a call centre and having to ask your 30 year old, sociopath boss if you can go to the bathroom.

There’s a good chance that I may have to return to the workplace when my caring duties end. Let it suffice to say that such a prospect does not fill me with glee. It is highly unlikely that I will seamlessly resume a career in IT and at comparable rates to what I was earning in 2016. Although the law is supposed to prevent discrimination, I’m certain my age will work against me as will no doubt my health. Furthermore, I’m not sure if my personality is cut out for the modern workplace which has become a much more complicated socio-political environment. Hence working from home and the gig economy is an obvious solution, although many creative forms of work have been devalued by internet culture. Writing for money is certainly not an immediate path to fortune and glory. People expect “all that” for free nowadays.

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Therefore, if you are one of the minority of people who are actively employed in a job you actually enjoy, then count yourself very fortunate. The rest of society either just tolerates their employment and employer or actively hates them. Condemned to carry out arbitrary and pointless tasks, for people who just see them as an asset or a resource. The modern day workplace is often an endless grind and in some examples a form of indentured slavery. Oh and with regard to Blaugust, rather than thinking about those high profile game developers, who love to preen themselves on stage at E3, spare a thought for all the other staff that do the nuts and bolts work and never get a name check. It would appear they get put upon, ripped off and abused, just as much as the guy who delivers your pizza or the lady who works the checkout at your local store.

LOTRO: Wildwood, Deeds and Virtues

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I recently logged into the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online with the intention of completing Update 30: Blood of Azog. I got as far as some of the wrapper quests which set up the main story and then I lost interest when I reflected upon the content ahead. I tire of some of the excessively dour regions one has to play through in LOTRO, although I realise they are fully lore appropriate. LOTRO is also one of those games where I frequently struggle to see what is going on if there is low lighting. In such instances I have to tinker with the video settings to try and improve things. So with all this in mind, I decided instead of participating in the Battle of Azanulbizar, I would go and visit the Wildwood region in Bree-land which was added to the game in April. Now you may ask why take a level cap Lore-master to a zone that has content at level 45? Well the answer is simple. There are deeds to be completed.

For those who are unfamiliar with the deed system in LOTRO, each region of the game, such as The Shire, Bree-land or Wildwood has a set of deeds available for completion. These range from visiting key locations, slaying specific amounts of foes and completing a fixed number of quests. Upon completing any deed you are awarded “virtue experience” which is tied to the virtue trait system. Virtues traits grant bonuses to your character's base stats. The player can slot five at a time, usually picking those they deem appropriate for their class. Therefore, the discerning player can choose one of their five virtues and then undertake specific deeds to level it to 75 which is the current cap. You then repeat the process until you’ve levelled all of your equipped traits. It’s not as if you’ll run out of deeds. The game is rife with them.

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It took 48 hours to play through the main content in Wildwood. As ever with LOTRO, it is the story driving the questlines that made the experience enjoyable. I like the fact that you can start the zone by either helping the Woodcutter's Brotherhood in Trestlebridge Gate or League of the Axe at Trader's Wharf in Evendim. The Wildwood itself is not difficult to traverse and is green and leafy, making it a pleasant environment to quest in. Too often the developers at Standing Stone Games go out of their way to make navigating a zone very esoteric. While undertaking the various quests in the area, I maintained a policy of “kill everything” and it didn’t take too long for the deeds to rack up. I didn’t even bother using a deed accelerator. Hence by the time I finished the region I was at maximum reputation with both factions and had increased two of my five virtue traits to level 75 (they were previously 72).

Playing content above level does have some advantages. Not having to worry about combat allows you time to focus on the story and enjoy the environment that you’re travelling in. LOTRO is a game where zones are often densely populated with mobs. To the point that you feel that it’s been done just to try and slow you down. However, LOTRO does something that other MMOS don’t. It has a peculiar mechanic in which if you’re several levels above the mobs, they ignore you. You can stand right next to them and they behave as if you’re not there. It makes taking screenshots a lot easier. It certainly made completing Wildwoods quicker. Overall, it has been a productive and entertaining endeavour. My virtue traits have increased plus I have bought two additional “return to” skills (Trestlebridge and Traders Wharf) from the faction quartermasters. I suppose it’s now time to move on to Update 30.

Star Trek Online: Then and Now

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I recently found my original post about the MMORPG Star Trek Online from February 2010. I pre-ordered the Steam Digital Deluxe Edition version of the game for £40 a month prior. I remember that I was very excited about the launch of this MMO and I wasn’t at the time au fait with its tumultuous development history. Myself and two friends started playing virtually immediately and I can remember struggling to find the game’s virtues. It was confusing, unfinished and unbalanced. My friends quickly got tired of the situation and returned to The Lord of the Rings Online. I stuck with STO for about a year before moving on. I briefly returned to the game in early 2013 but it was still unpolished. It wasn’t until the Delta Recruitment Event of 2015 that I found that the game had finally hit its stride. I’ve been playing regularly since then. Reading back over my original thoughts is quite a trip down memory lane.

Star Trek Online is a classic example of a product that was released before it was ready. The open beta which ran for several months, revealed multiple bugs and glitches. However, since the February 2nd launch date, the game still feels like it is unfinished and is being patched on a daily basis. This has made progression through the game very hard and where I have persevered, two of my online colleagues have already abandoned it. Discussion boards and forums are filled with comments that support this argument.

Here are just a few of the issues I feel are causing problems. The game does not have any semblance of a manual. There is an online guide but it simply does not tackle the game mechanics in any depth. So, after the standard tutorial you are pretty much on your own. If you’ve played other MMOs then you can draw on that experience to look for similarities, in which there are many. However, if you are a casual player then this game has a steep learning curve.

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Now Cryptic Studios have decided not to run region specific servers, so effectively all user traffic is centralised. There have been periods where users have to queue to log on. The game relies heavily on instances to handle the flow of traffic and travelling therefore becomes a sequence of loading screens. The single environment approach means the chat channel is extremely fast moving. It is currently spammed continuously by gold farmers. As a means of in game communication it is redundant.

Certain “episodes” require teamwork and the game uses an automatic system which theoretically groups players of a comparable level. This can be beneficial as you gain from the completion of tasks by other members of your team. However, on several occasions, I have found myself in a team on an away mission, pitched against opponents of a much higher level. There was no realistic chance of completing the task in hand except by quitting the team and hoping that the next random group would be more balanced.

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I could list a lot more, but do not wish to sound excessively negative, as STO, despite all its faults, has the potential to be a very good MMO. It looks very impressive and certainly catches the atmosphere of the franchise. Like so many games these days, the soundtrack is extremely good and embellishes the game, especially the space battles. The depth to which you can customise your character is also laudable. The storylines themselves are engaging and have the feel of a classic episode of the series.

Cryptic Studios have taken a gamble with this MMO. It has had a troubled development and if it were any other product, may have fallen at the first hurdle. But due to the good will of the fan base regarding this franchise, they have to be able to make mistakes without too many repercussions. To be fair, they are working hard to address issues and are listening to their user base as this recent statement from Cryptic shows. I shall be continuing with STO and it will be interesting to assess the status quo in the sixth month’s time.

28th February 2010.

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All things considered I believe this remains a fair assessment of STO at launch. It certainly was not the most auspicious of beginnings and as Cryptic were contractually bound to deliver a functional game by a specific date and had to rewrite most of the previous developers work. However, a great deal has changed over the last decade and the game has greatly improved. Today STO is a healthy MMO with a wealth of good content behind it. Many of the cast who appeared in the various TV shows over the years, have voiced their characters again in the game. The change is so profound it is hard to reconcile the two versions of the game. Sadly I do not have that many screenshots from this period. If you wish to see how the game was at launch then I would recommend the YouTube channel Hailing Frequency which did much to promote the game in the run up to February 2nd 2010. It shows clearly how rough around the edges STO was at the time and how far the game has come.

Fall Guys: Is it Just Me?

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Before I began writing this post, I tried to do some research regarding odds, percentages  and statistics associated with the game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. However, I soon discovered that this appears to be a contested field with conflicting data. Furthermore you have to navigate a lot of forum posts and subreddits which are filled with players bragging and talking shit. So I haven’t got any tangible data to present as such, yet I believe that my suppositions are as logical as they can be. Moving on, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, is a platform battle royale game developed by Mediatonic and published by Devolver Digital. It was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 on 4 August 2020. I began playing it a few days after launch and have continued to do so regularly over the last twelve months. 

The game consists of 60 players competing over 5 rounds. Each round 11 or so players are eliminated although this can vary depending on the type of game. Some rounds are races through obstacle courses, others are puzzle solving or memory tests. There are also team based events which are especially annoying because your success depends on other carbon based life forms. Another major factor that impacts upon your success is other players' behaviour. Bottlenecks frequently occur. If one player falls over then it can start a cascade. And then there is the grab facility. Yes, other players can grab you and actively attempt to impede you if they see fit. Hence the game often evokes a broad spectrum of emotions among players. One minute you can genuinely be in fits of laughter as a whole bunch of players tumble off a pivoting platform, the next you fail to qualify due to some asshole grabbing you just before the finish line.

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But these are the terms by which you play Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. It is a fun game but it can also be brutal with its unwavering mechanics. You can be diving for the finish just as the timer runs down and if you’re not over the line, then you’re out of the game, no ifs, no buts. Hence I tend to play in short bursts and if I feel myself getting vexed then I log out and do something else. Or alternatively, I just mess around with the cosmetic options which are an utter delight by the way. Judging by the comments I’ve read on Steam, many a game controller has been hurled across a room due to this game. I find that there are simply some rounds in the game that I just cannot do. Lily Leapers is a new round and requires the player to bounce on the lily pads to cross the course. I can get about a third of the way, then find I just cannot gain sufficient clearance to reach the next pad. I often just wait this particular round out and collect my points for participating at the end.

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Much has been written online about this game, analysing the various rounds and activities. To be fair it would appear that developers Mediatonic do listen to player feedback and adjust the game with each season. Yet I do feel that the game is in danger of at times being its own worst enemy. It is supposed to be light hearted fun and not a purely competitive game and “tryhard” magnet. Yet that seems to be the way it is going. Mario Kart does little things to “encourage” the player who’s always at the back. Perhaps Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout should do the same. I’ve been playing for a year and still haven’t won five rounds in a row. The nearest I’ve got so far is four. Which is why I’ve been trying to find some meaningful analysis of the game, so I can see if this is just me. Am I just a bad player? Is it a question of “git gud”? Or am I in a far larger group than I think and the odds are actually more likely that I lose rather than win? I’m curious as to the answer.

Looks Matter

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You’re strutting around in your favourite MMORPG, dressed to the nines in your finest outfit. You recently acquired The Tabard of Marginal Statistical Improvement after finally beating that particularly difficult raid boss. As you stroll into the auction house with the confident air of someone who knows they’re looking damn good, you keep an eye on the chat window anticipating comments and praise from other players. You stop in front of an NPC and stand their basking in presumed public adulation and revelling in your own self satisfaction. Suddenly another player appears on the periphery of your monitor and catches your attention. Oh calamity, their avatar looks virtually identical to your. Same fez, monocle and handlebar moustache. They’re also wearing The Tabard of Marginal Statistical Improvement, except theirs is in electric pink. Oh the humiliation. Oh the humanity. Oh Vienna. You log off in tears, your ego crushed, a victim of a game with insufficient character customisation and diversity.

Wolfy over at Through Wolfy’s Eyes wrote a very astute post yesterday about the significance of character customisation in the MMO genre. He makes some very good points and also offers some suggestions regarding improvements that could be made. This is exactly the sort of post that other bloggers can use to riff off, as the subject of character customisation is pretty important to the MMO genre. Hence I thought I would add my own thoughts on subjects having been an active MMO player since late 2007. Simply put, you cannot have enough character customisation options in this genre of game. Creating your own unique avatar is as essential to the players enjoyment of the game as the story and the gameplay. I will often spend an hour or more fine tuning my character, pondering a suitable name and even reflecting upon a backstory for them if the game supports such an option. Your character is the conduit through which you experience the game so from my perspective I want that avatar to be as much to my liking as possible.

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Gamers approach character creation in different ways. Some players strive to make a virtual game persona that is based upon themselves to provide a more personal gaming experience. Many strive just to make something unique, different or quirky that amuses them. A fun character who it will be enjoyable to customise further with cosmetics, as they progress through the game. Other gamers may well try and create some sort of  aspirational "imago". An avatar that they desire to be on some level. In some MMOs that are based on particular intellectual properties, gamers sometimes try to recreate their favourite character from the franchise. And sometimes, players just like to see how extreme and incongruous they can make their avatar. However, the success of all of these endeavours depends on how expansive the character customisation options are. Yet even in those titles where the scope is limited, never underestimate player ingenuity.

I believe that for some players, creating their avatar in a popular game is more significant than merely making a “fun character”. For some individuals, video games and especially the MMORPG genre provides a virtual environment in which they can be themselves. Something they feel they cannot do in their day to day life. Creating and customising their in-game character is a cathartic process allowing them to express their true nature and feel comfortable and free. This is why I feel that it is essential to have as many options as possible with character customisation and that these variables should not to be arbitrarily gated and segregated by traditional cultural notions. Gender, race, body size and such like should be equally accessible across all classes and factions. Possibly the only mollifying factor should be a game’s own internal lore but even that should not be a sacred cow.

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Perhaps at its most fundamental level, character creation in video games is just another example of human beings trying to make some sort of personal mark upon the world, as they journey through life. It’s a basic human instinct. Wherever you live, you try to arrange things in a way that suits you. Regardless of your budget you try to personalise your living space, be it through expensive décor or just putting up a poster and putting your plushies on the shelf. We do something comparable in the games we play. We create a character according to our personal whims and needs, then enter a virtual world and say “here I am”. It is a very personal statement while being at the same time somewhat ephemeral. Which is why many of us take so many screen captures of our in-game characters. The video game industry would do well to reflect upon the significance of this facet of gaming and do their utmost to develop it.

Another Boat Missed

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It would appear that due to the ongoing woes of Blizzard Entertainment, that the world and his wife are migrating from MMORPG World of Warcraft and relocating to the alternative game, Final Fantasy XIV. Other games are feeling the benefits of this ongoing exodus but it seems that FFXIV is by far picking up the most new players. I certainly think that the fact that several high profile streamers moved from WoW to FFXIV has contributed to this trend and the resulting surge in social media postings about the game has had a further impact. Furthermore, judging from what I have read about FFXIV and been told by my peers, the game has a lot going for it. There’s a wealth of content, solid mechanics and a favourable environment for group gameplay. And yet despite all these positive attributes I have looked at FFXIV and decided that this game is not for me.

There are three major aspects of a video game that have an impact upon my decision whether or not I buy and play them. Gameplay, intellectual property/story and aesthetics. Where FFXIV scores well with the first, yet I find the narrative impenetrable and the game’s visual style unappealing. I have spent some time looking through various sub reddits aimed at new players and the advice on offer doesn’t exactly mollify my concerns. Opinions over how complex the learning curve is vary greatly. Some players advocate a lot of “studying” before you start playing the game. Others talk about customisation of the UI being essential. All of which are red flags as far as I’m concerned. I genuinely like The Elder Scrolls Online but the fact that you need addons to be able to play the game without impediment is a borderline deal breaker. It sounds to me that FFXIV requires as much preparation and homework, which is hardly a positive advertisement.

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I don’t like the so-called Asian video game aesthetic, just as I don’t really care for the visual style of anime. It is purely a question of personal taste, the same way as someone may not like cubism in art or country music. The problem with my position is that not liking the look of a video game is a big deal, considering it is an essentially visual medium. Human beings are hardwired to interpret the world via their eyes (or else we would have evolved sonar), so I will not dismiss my dislike as trivial. Hence I shall not be joining my peers in playing FFXIV. Just like WoW, it would seem that FFXIV is another popular boat that I am going to miss. However, it can sometimes be quite an interesting position to stand outside of a popular phenomenon and simply spectate it, rather than be an active participant. Conversely, it can also be a little sad just to be a spectator. Such is the nature of gaming. You can’t like or play everything.

Blaugust 2021: Getting to Know You

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According to the Blaugust 2021 Festival of Blogging schedule it is “getting to know you week”. Although I have been knocking around the blogging community since 2007 it would be extremely arrogant of me to assume that people know who I am. Plus, as I am allegedly a mentor in the Blaugust event, it is both polite and proper to introduce myself to those who are new participants. I’ve never been especially keen on the whole standing up and introducing yourself thing that comes up from time to time in one’s social and working life but it is a necessary evil. Whenever I used to attend training courses for work, I’d always go first when it came to introductions, just so I could get it out of the way. So with all that in mind let’s tackle this now. Here are a few minor facts about me so that people can “get to know me”, so to speak.

Firstly, I use my real name, Roger Edwards, for my writing. I did initially start writing under my gaming handle but found it a somewhat bizarre form of social etiquette. Having conversations with Jubal the Questionable or Cardinal Spleen has always struck me as odd. So I just started posting under my own name which is fairly unremarkable. Plus I did at one point harbour aspirations to be a professional writer. Anyway, I do understand why people wish to compartmentalise their lives and certainly if you’re posting content on the internet, the anonymity helps keep the crazy people at bay.

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Captain Scarlet

I was born on 18th December 1967. One week before Christmas. From an early age I discovered that anyone who said anything along the lines of “I’ve bought you a joint birthday and Christmas present” was a cheapskate bastard. 1967 was an interesting year. Sandie Shaw won the Eurovision Song Contest with Puppet on a String, Captain Scarlet and The Prisoner were on TV and The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I live with she who is known colloquially as “Mrs P (short for Mrs Peril). This is the agreed method to reference her online. I have a son who is 29 and three grandchildren. Twin granddaughters who are 6 and a grandson who is 6 months old. I used to be a IT consultant for small businesses but gave up full time work in 2016 to look after my ageing and disabled parents. My Father passed away last September at the age of 91. My Mother is 90 and now the focus of care. I am currently 53. Mrs P’s age is not for public disclosure. She took early retirement from work. We have a bungalow in South East London in what can be described as a “leafy suburb”. Walter lives with us.

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Walter

As far as hobbies and interests, I like writing, reading, films, walking for pleasure and exercise. I’m not really interested in sport although I’m not hostile to it. It serves a purpose. I can swim, draw and paint competently. I used to sing and was in several choirs as a child. And then it all stopped and I can’t remember exactly why. I cannot play any musical instruments but I have a great passion for the craft of making music. I find it frustrating that I don’t know the correct terms when trying to write about music. I love words, logical arguments and critical thinking. I eschew ill conceived points of view, emotive debating and the overall infantilization of public discourse. It boils my piss that people will get up in arms about Geronimo the Alpaca but don’t seem disposed towards protesting against child poverty in the UK. Oh and binary, tribal politics is a constant source of irritation.

Here are a few more random facts. Mrs P and I don’t have pets due to health issues. In the past we’ve had dogs and cats. I am currently on a diet and need to shed about 18lbs. I’m trying to get down to 168lbs. I like good food and wine as well as good company. The latter is in short supply at present. I am not a practising Christian, although I grew up in the seventies when the UK was still very much culturally disposed towards that faith. Humour is extremely important to me and I consider it to be a kind of societal safety valve. I am not an extrovert although I can be social, even gregarious when I choose to be. I don’t like small talk and don’t tend to suffer fools gladly. Does anyone? However, politeness is hardwired into my social programming.

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I enjoy church architecture

Finally, here is an anecdote from my childhood for your consideration. Around the age of five or six, I was compelled to appear in a school play. You didn’t have a choice in such matters. If you expressed dissent you were beaten (Yay, the seventies). The play was Snow White and I was assigned the role of The Huntsman who lets Snow White go. Dressed in a green felt ersatz Robin Hood outfit, I delivered my lines with all the disinterest of a school careers advisor. I then remember the audience laughing in that patronising “oh isn’t he adorable” parental fashion. Apparently I turned and scowled at all the assembled adults in a manner that my Father subsequently described as saturnine.  The reason I mention this is because if I ever commit murder, I shall base my entire legal defence upon this traumatic experience. That and the fact I never got a model train set as a child.

Deciding the Scope of Your Blog

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One of the most helpful pieces of advice you can give someone who is just about to take up blogging for the first time is “write about what you know”. Expressing opinions and views on subjects that you’re familiar with or especially knowledgeable enables you to write with confidence. Stepping outside of your comfort zone is a more complicated proposition, unless you're writing to specifically document your learning experience. Which is why most of the people that I know who maintain a blog tend to write about the games they’re currently playing. Sometimes if someone is especially enamoured with a particular title, that single video game will be the sole focus of their blog. I did this in 2008 with Misadventures in LOTRO which catalogued my experiences playing the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. It was a fun starting point and being focused on a single subject, kept me engaged with my writing.

However, there is an obvious downside to putting all your eggs in one basket, especially with regard to video games. What happens when you tire of the very subject that is integral to your blog or you just want to write about something else? This can be particularly troubling if you have found a niche for yourself and have built an audience through your writing. Will they stay if you diversify your writing? One possible solution is to set up a separate blog but that requires a great deal of discipline as you now have double the work, effectively having to produce and promote content for two sites. When I found myself in this situation I decided to broaden my blog’s remit and cover a wider spectrum of games. However, I didn’t feel that my existing blog could accommodate subjects such as films, TV, books etc so I set up a second site. As time progressed and I became more confident with my writing, I saw the sense in posting all my material on a single site. I wish in some respects I’d done this initially but sometimes you have to learn through experience.

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You may wish to blog exclusively about Etruscan pottery

Therefore, my advice to anyone setting up a new blog is to keep the scope of your writing as broad as possible unless you have very specific goals associated with a single subject or are targeting a specific niche. At first glance a food blog or fitness blog may seem like subjects with clear lines of demarcation but that is actually not the case. A food blog can explore cooking, recipes, ingredients, world cuisine and much more. Writing about fitness allows the writer to discuss not only exercise but associated products, the social aspect of keeping yourself in shape and wider topics such as diet and general wellbeing. It’s the same if you blog about travel, sport, fashion and lifestyle. There is plenty of wiggle room in those subjects, affording the writer the opportunity to vary their content and hopefully prevent them from getting bored or burned out.

If you do maintain a “variety blog”, you can segregate content if you prefer, allowing your readers to focus on the material they like best. This is not an issue as many blog templates support such a magazine approach. Writing on a multitude of subjects is also beneficial for developing your overall writing skills. How you write about your experiences in a particular game is not the same as writing a book or film review. Running a varied blog means you can write think pieces, essays, reviews, streams of consciousness and other types of posts. All of which can help with refining your writing technique. The other benefit of writing about multiple subjects is that it adds depth to your writing persona and the way you as a writer are perceived. If you intend to write professionally, a blog with a spectrum of different content can be an important part of your portfolio.

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Contains Moderate Peril circa July/June 2015

Some bloggers will cogently argue that blogging about a very specific subject or occupying a clearly defined niche is a lot easier to monetise. It also makes search engine optimisation a lot easier. However, I suspect that neither of these two points are necessarily driving factors for the new blogger who is just starting out. Most bloggers just want to come up with a snappy title for their new blog and to try and find a writing schedule that they can manage and that they’re comfortable with. I therefore cautiously suggest that establishing a fairly broad remit of things to write about will certainly be helpful in discovering the latter. It should also help keep so-called “writers block” at bay. However, choice is not always a good thing and some bloggers prefer to have the focus of a single subject blog. As ever there is no “one size fits all” solution. Ultimately, it is up to you to decide what the scope of your blog is to be, so pick what works for you the best.