Nov '17 Gaming Goals Review

Last month I started back up with my gaming goals, in an effort to give myself some goals to get myself blogging again. So let's take a look at how I did with them, shall we?

She's sad that there was so little time to game as of late.

The Goals

I lacked time to game throughout November and December. Real life sort of ends up getting in the way at the end of the year. It's something I'll have to take into account for next year. Or try to remember to take into account. I always remember about it in hindsight!

World of Warcraft

There are a few achievements that I didn't even begin to touch, such as "Well Read" and "Turkey Lurkey". I worked on leveling my Death Knight towards "Quintessential Quintet", though only got her about six or seven levels. Same with leveling my dwarf towards "Double Agent". I did complete "Friend or Fowl?" because it was an easy two minute achievement.

I surprisingly ended up completing "Raiding with Leashes", mainly because I didn't need many pets to finish, and RNG was on my side. I haven't been so lucky with "Raiding with Leashes II", yet. I only grabbed myself a Menagerie Custodian, but I've been getting lots of Wolves and Custodians since, while trying to grab the Imp and Abyssal. No luck on any drops in SSC or TK.

Secret World Legends

I ended up rolling up my dragon for my new Let's Play YouTube videos, and I've been playing a bit of her, trying to build up some back log of videos. I've never played a Dragon before, and have been having some fun. So, I achieved and even surpassed my goal of just rolling her up.

I also rolled up a RP toon to try to get into RP for the first time in a very long time (in MMOs, anyway). Sadly, I haven't had much time to play her, but I'm hoping to rectify that a bit in the coming week so I can spend time gaming with folks, as well. I'm excited to get into her, though. I've a bit of a story concocted, but I need to spend a bit of time writing it up and putting it into the SWLRP mod.

Other

I ended up not touching my otomes at all, but I'm hoping to do a bit of that this coming week as well. I'll be laying out some new goals to just finish out the month of December, and then starting fresh in January with a longer, updated, list.

Nov '17 Gaming Goals

Starting Back Up

This post is a part of #IntPiPoMo 2017. You can find more information and sign up for participate here.

I used to do a thing where I put together gaming goals every month. And then I fell off the blogging and gaming bandwagon for a good while. These gaming goals help keep me from floundering around in gaming, and focus my limited free time so I just don't sit there and scroll through Facebook.

The Goals 

She's totally sure they'll all get done...

Without further ado, here's my gaming goals checklist.

World of Warcraft

• "Well Read" achievement 
• "Friend or Fowl?" achievement 
• Level a fourth 110 (towards "Quintessential Quintet" achievement) 
• "Double Agent" achievement
• "Raiding with Leashes" achievement (Giant Bone Spider, Stitched Pup, Viscidus Globule) 
• "Raiding with Leashes II" achievement (Netherspace Abyssal, Tideskipper, Coilfang Stalker, Lesser Voidcaller, Menagerie Custodian, Fiendish Imp, Tainted Waveling, Pocket Reaver, Phoenix Hawk Hatchling) 
• "Turkey Lurkey" achievement 

Secret World Legends 

• Roll up my Dragon for my new LP YouTube videos

Other 

Image by Chic-Pixel

Did I mention it's #VNNovember for the Community Game-Along challenge? That works out well, considering I want to try to get through the five million dating sims I've going at the same time (I'm currently playing Norn9, Sweet Fuse, Period Cube, Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya, Dream Daddy, Pub Encounter, and Seduce Me 2).

• Finish Mitarashi's route in Sweet Fuse 
• Start Urabe's route in Sweet Fuse 
• Finish Takigawa's Happy and Super Happy routes in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya

#IntPiPoMo Count: 13/50

#DatingSiMonth and Streaming

#DatingSiMonth

Image from Chic Pixel

Just like last year, January was #DatingSiMonth. This is a part of the Community Game-Along that Chic-Pixel has put on for the past four years! I sort of participated throughout the year last year, but got sidetracked by real life. This year, I'm hoping to be able to participate more. And starting up in January with Dating Sims always gets me in the mood to continue. Because, really, how can you go wrong with Dating Sims, right?

I ended up playing a combination of Sweet Fuse, Seduce Me 2, and Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya throughout the month. I totaled only six hours of Dating Sims, but compared to the amount of time I've spent gaming and how my time has been alloted, I don't think that's too shabby.

Seduce Me Stream

As a part of #DatingSiMonth, I decided to put together a stream on a whim, especially since I wanted to see if streaming was something I'd be interested in doing if I got enough Patreon support to reach my goal. I had a lot of fun doing it, but it's definitely something that's draining, and not something I could do consistently without some sort of motivation.

I played two hours worth of Matthew's route in Seduce Me 2: The Demon War. I plan to continue streaming this route, at least in February. I had initially decided February was going to be the first time I'd stream, but then put one together in January just because.

Initially I chose February for a plethora of reasons: Valentine's Day means it's fun to play Dating Sims (not that I ever need an excuse!), and mainly I needed a distraction around the 13th of February for some personal reasons. I figured if I was joking with friends and having fun being raunchy about pixelated men, it'd be a fantastic distraction!

So, if you're interested in watching me play more of Matthew's route, join me on my Twitch channel in February! No guarantees about future streams unless Patreon works out, but keep an eye on my twitter for last minute streams when I feel like it.

October Goals Review

This post is a part of #IntPiPoMo 2016. You can find more information and sign up to participate here.

I cut down on my gaming goals list fairly extensively for October.

Feyd, Ender, and Try helped me get attuned for Kara, too!

WildStar

• Purchase Service Tokens
• Re-rune DPS set
• Buy new unlocked tank gear
• Re-rune tank set
• Keep pimping Lifestyles of Nexus V for folks to sign up!
• Make plans for guild/alliance Shade's Eve Shindig (Never did.)
• Put up the last Yardcore I recorded ages ago

WoW

• Complete the Stormheim storylines
• Unlock Suramar world quests
• Get Archaeology to 100
• Get Fishing to 300
• Get Cooking to 600
• Get First Aid to 400
• Get Blacksmithing to 775
• Get Mining to 750

Other

• Finish Asagiri's route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Finish one of the routes in Sweet Fuse

Thoughts

Life has been hectic in ways that I didn't even plan for it to be, both emotionally and with work. I still got a decent amount of things finished, all things considered, though.

WildStar stuff that isn't related to the community-at-large, or Wildcast (which I suppose is the community-at-large) have taken a bit of a wayside to everything else. Not that it's a bad thing, but I do feel kind of bad about it. I've been doing a lot of stuff related to WildStar, just most of it outside of the game, which is a weird contrast.

I finally finished out Stormheim, which I think is my least favorite out of all the zones in the Broken Isles. Which stinks, even as a Warrior. I think that might be why it was my least favorite. That you've done all this Warrior stuff, and it doesn't seem to mesh with Stormheim well. I've been trying to work my way through more of Suramar, and have slowly gotten through it (I think I hate it more than Stormheim), so I've unlocked more quests, but I really need to just finish the stupid zone.

I got farther in professions than I thought I would. I'm stuck at 765 Blacksmithing, and all of my patterns are grey. So that stinks. Archaeology feels more grindy than I remember, granted, I never got it very high on Chestnut, so that's something to aim towards on Naught. Fishing is something I've been doing to kill time, plus I really want the Legendary fishing pole! First aid is getting there, slowly. I'm hoping as I get a higher level skill that my bandages will heal for more. I've hit a rut in mining, as well. Both of my Leystone and Felstone nodes are stuck at 1 star, despite lots of farming for the quest items. I really love professions, but WoW has really screwed the pooch with them, this expansion.

As for my otomes, I haven't really gotten much done in either of them with work. I usually play them on my lunch breaks, but October didn't leave me with many of those that weren't thirty minute "hurry up and eat" breaks.

October Gaming Goals

You better get your shit together, Nomi!

A quick list to keep me on track for the month, now that my schedule is changing some, and I find myself with (slightly) more free time.

WildStar

• Purchase Service Tokens
• Re-rune DPS set
• Buy new unlocked tank gear
• Re-rune tank set
• Keep pimping Lifestyles of Nexus V for folks to sign up!
• Make plans for guild/alliance Shade's Eve Shindig
• Put up the last Yardcore I recorded ages ago

WoW

• Complete the Stormheim storylines
• Unlock Suramar world quests
• Get Archaeology to 100
• Get Fishing to 300
• Get Cooking to 600
• Get First Aid to 400
• Get Blacksmithing to 775
• Get Mining to 750

Other

• Finish Asagiri's route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Finish one of the routes in Sweet Fuse

September Goals Review

We got to Cenarius! Also, unattempted photobomb by Ru.

My goals for September, I felt, were pretty manageable.

WildStar

• Purchase Service Tokens
• Re-rune DPS set
• Buy new unlocked tank gear
• Re-rune tank set
• Keep pimping Lifestyles of Nexus V for folks to sign up!
• Make plans for guild/alliance Shade's Eve Shindig
• Finish editing Wildcast Ep 97 by the Thursday after recording
• Put up the last Yardcore I recorded ages ago

WoW

• Complete the class order campaign on my main
• Complete the Stormheim storylines
• Unlock Suramar world quests
• Get Archaeology to 100
• Get Fishing to 200
• Get Cooking to 600
• Get First Aid to 400
• Get Blacksmithing to 775
• Get Mining to 650

Other

• Finish Asagiri's route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Finish one of the routes in Norn9

Thoughts

I tried, and got close!

Okay, so maybe some of my goals were a bit lofty with everything going on in real life.

I did get Protobucks in WildStar..,. but then I spent them on the Corgi and Fox Hoverboard combo-pack instead of Service Tokens. I mean, how can you pass up a baby Corgi named Leeloo?! Because I didn't get Service Tokens, I didn't re-rune my DPS set, so the new pieces are still sitting in my bag, waiting to be runed.

I didn't even purchase my tank set, let alone re-rune it, which is something I'm going to need to do soon, as we've hit the roster boss with school back in session, and I've been playing OT more to help out in GA.

My goal today is to finish the podcast and get it over to Avid. Woops! And I'll get to Yardcore when I get to Yardcore. I think I'll leave it as a running item until it's done.

I've been trying to catch up in WoW doing various things, but I've mainly been pulled into chain-running Mythics with guildies, so a lot of the goals I had have been sitting by the wayside. I've been trying to level fishing mainly to get the Artifact fishing pole for the water walking and the fish form to get around easier, since I don't (yet) have a water strider.

There's so much I want to do in WoW to catch up to where I need/want to be for raid, and then so much other stuff that I just want to finish, that it's almost a bit overwhelming. I do plan to run at least one Mythic+2 (maybe we'll try the +3?) today, but I'd really like to just work on professions in between the massive amount of chores, and working on Wildcast. And this coming week I'd really just like to go farm achievements in Pandaria for mounts. I might see if Feyd wants to come along for mount collecting, too, since he dragged me through a few places to try to get drops earlier this week.

As for my otomes... I've played a little bit more of Asagiri's route, and I'm enjoying it, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to get into Norn9. I think I just chose a bad combination of protag (there's three to choose from) and the love interest (the one I wanted is not unlocked, because I need to finish the other two associated with the protag first...). So I'm going to buy Sweet Fuse since it's been on my list to buy, it's fairly cheap, and Rissa has been trying to get me to play it since they found out I liked otomes and I have a Vita. Overall, though, not too bad with everything going on irl.

September Gaming Goals

I've kind of fallen off the gaming goals as I had originally intended them for many reasons. So I'm just going to continue them as a to do list for the remainder of the year as a way to keep myself focused on what I'd like to accomplish in the games I'm digging at the moment.

Ready to tackle goals in style!

Quick August Review

WildStar

• Finish the pre-quest for Redmoon Terror (I need that mount before it's gone!!)
• Finish re-runing all the new DPS gear that unlocked with the RMT changes (Tank can wait until September)
• Get the birthday presents for the folks I'm getting them for
• Finish Wildcast (I'll give myself until Wednesday for this one)

WoW

• Level mining on the Naught (hopefully hit 700, but we'll see how far I get...)
• Level cooking on the Naught (again, hopefully 700)
• Level first aid on the Naught (see above)
• Level fishing on the Naught (see above)
• Do a few invasions on the Nut for some gear for her
• Get paladin to 80 (Invasions!)
• Get hunter to 80 (Invasions!)
• Get rogue to 80 (Invasions!)
• Get mage to 40 (Invasions!)
• Get warlock to 40 (Invasions!)
• Run some achievement runs in Wrath and Cataclysm with Chaide (because once Legion hits that'll be total backburner for a long while!)

I did get quite a few levels and profession stuff done on my various WoW toons, but not enough to check off goals. I still feel fairly accomplished, though, especially with WildStar goals.

September Goals

WildStar

• Purchase Service Tokens
• Re-rune DPS set
• Buy new unlocked tank gear
• Re-rune tank set
• Keep pimping Lifestyles of Nexus V for folks to sign up!
• Make plans for guild/alliance Shade's Eve Shindig
• Finish editing Wildcast Ep 97 by the Thursday after recording
• Put up the last Yardcore I recorded ages ago

WoW

• Complete the class order campaign on my main
• Complete the Stormheim storylines
• Unlock Suramar world quests
• Get Archaeology to 100
• Get Fishing to 200
• Get Cooking to 600
• Get First Aid to 400
• Get Blacksmithing to 775
• Get Mining to 650

Other

• Finish Asagiri's route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Finish one of the routes in Norn9

Gaming Goals: May

I started these Gaming Goals posts back in June 2015 as a way to try to organize my gaming time around freelance obligations as well as my day-job and general life obligations. You can view the archive of goals and reviews here.

Richard expects me to do well this month.

I meant well in March, and then never made goals because real life got extremely overwhelming. May is kind of in-between overwhelming and lots of free-time at the moment. My weekends are fairly free (minus D&D), but my weeks are really busy. So I'm going to try to take it light on goals--especially because ThaydFest is a thing this month. The Secret World also might slow down some because one of our four-person-team is going to be gone most of May, and then Chaide is going to be gone most of June. But at least that gives me time to catch up on the videos.

Image by Chic-Pixel

The Community Game-Along this month is Metroidvania games. So I had planned at the start of the year to get in some Dust: An Elysian Tale. And I'm still going to try to do so, which might reduce some of my other goals. Too bad every month can't be dating simmonth!

WildStar

• Finish Celestion achievements (on Chestnut)
• Start Galeras achievements (including normal STL and normal Hycrest)
• Upload completed Yardcore 10
• Put on ThaydFest without stressing!

Final Fantasy XIV

• FSH 30
• BTN 22
• MIN 22
• CUL 10

The Secret World

• Finish and upload Let's Play 4
• Start Transylvania

Steam, etc.

• Finish one route in Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
• Play some Dust: An Elysian Tale
• Finish the introduction in Norn9: Var Commons

Gaming Goals Review: March & April

I started this back in June 2015, and have been keeping up with it this past month. I've kept reducing my goals due to real life, and I think I hit a stride heading into December, and have kept it up for the most part. Well, except maybe on the blogging end and the goals posts the past two months!

Comparison Time!

WildStar

• Finish Celestion achievements (on Chestnut)
• Get Bauxyte her key and at least one dungeon towards attunement
• Upload completed Yardcore 10
• Choose which toon will be next to 50

Final Fantasy XIV

• WAR 50 Completed!
• FSH 30
• BTN 30
• MIN 30
• Start working on crafting professions to clean out retainers (max of level 15) Started!

The Secret World

• Finish and upload Let's Play 4 and 5
• Finish Saiid's missions Completed!

Steam, etc.

• Finish Men of Yoshiwara Completed!
• Finish all of Impey's endings (including GCs and video) in Code Realize Completed!
• Start Victor's route in Code Realize Completed!
• Start Amnesia: Memories (suggestions on the card suit to pursue first are welcome!) Changed game.

I ended up completing quite a few goals, though mostly outside of MMOs. Real life was busy again. Actually, it doesn't ever seem to slow down, any. Granted, it should be a tad bit slower this month compared to the past few.

Comparison: February and March

• 1 hour less of WildStar... so comparable hours
• 1 hour less of Final Fantasy--again, comparable
• 1 hour less of The Secret World--I'm sensing a pattern here
• Added 2 hours of Men of Yoshiwara
• Added 23 hours of Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~
• No Blade & Soul (down 2 hours)
• No Black Desert Online (down 3 hours)
• Added 15 hours of Stardew Valley
• 77 total hours in Feburary
• 110 total hours in March
• Overall up 33 hours in March--I blame this on Stardew Valley and Code: Realize

Comparison: March and April

• 9 hours less of WildStar
• Added 2 hours of Final Fantasy
• Added 11 hours of The Secret World
• No Men of Yoshiwara (down 8 hours--completed in March)
• 17 hours less of Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~
• No Stardew Valley (down 15 hours)
• Added 3 hours of Atlas Reactor (beta)
• 110 total hours in March
• 77 total hours in April
• Overall down 33 hours in April--I know this is due to project deadlines at work and IRL events

Overall Thoughts

Chaide and I finished the base-game story!!!

So I didn't get very much done in WildStar. Partially was just real life, and partially was just I've been working on ThaydFest stuff non-stop. I'll probably adjust my goals there knowing that ThaydFest won't be over until end of May.

We finally got our main classes to level 50 in FFXIV, and we've been working past the 2.0 story very slowly. We're currently about halfway through the "A Realm Awoken" patch. We're currently stuck on the "Rock-solid Protection" quest, (1) because of time and (2) we can't figure out if we need normal or... hard mode? I think it's called hard mode. And needing normal makes no sense since it's a level 45 dungeon. So if you have thoughts, let me know. I almost got my gathering professions up, so I might continue those goals. My play time has decreased there overall, so I'm not sure adding a new class to level would be wise. Maybe I'll think about how much story we can feasibly get through this month and use that as a goal instead.

We're almost into Transylvania in The Secret World, but I just haven't had much time outside of work to work on the videos without also cutting into my gaming time, or time spent with Chaide in general.

My other gaming goals were fairly easy, honestly. I was a terrible person and left Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya minimized during raids and pulled it up whenever I was dead. Honestly, it's what keeps me so jovial during raids, because I hate dying. And Code: Realize was easy, because I play that for an hour every day at work during lunch. Plus, if I carry my Vita with me everywhere, so if I'm waiting in line or something, it's easy enough to pop out and play some. I'm at the point where I'm almost done with Lupin's route, and I'm sad to see the game end! But more thoughts on that another time. I decided that instead of playing Amnesia first, I'm going to be playing the new Men of Yoshiwara that just came out a few weeks ago. I got it day-of because it was on sale, but I was up in the air on which otome to try next, until Sushi told me about how one of the routes is right up my alley (I love the sweet romance/childhood friend routes), so now I have to try it first.

I also picked up Stardew Valley and Atlas Reactor these past two months. Stardew Valley is lots of fun, but it's something that I can only really handle in small doses. I just get bored with it after a few hours, and need to put it down. Plus I stink at the whole relationship building thing, and after a while I start to feel overwhelmed at all the things to do and that I want to do and... yeah.

Atlas Reactor is one that I was lucky enough to get a beta code, and I have lots to write about it, but I've not had much time to get in there and play around with it more to solidify the thoughts and guides I want to write. Overall, I love it because it's more thought- and strategy-based than MOBAs in general. Or at least from my limited MOBA experiences. I've tried HotS and LoL, but neither caught my fancy. I don't like the way it works, and it's super confusing, whereas I caught onto Atlas Reactor really quickly, and it almost feels like a team-based game of chess.

Thank you to the wonderful Ammo for the beautiful ThaydFest banner donation!

The month of May is going to be taken up mainly by ThaydFest, so I don't know that I'll have a lot of goals for May, but June will have countless hours to fill in, because Chaide is going to be teaching in Africa for two and a half weeks straight... so I'll have lots of time to game (and be sad) and put together Let's Plays.

Creative Blogger Award

Way back in February, the amazing Pizza Maid nominated me for the Creative Blogger Award. I had a draft post half written once I noticed it in early March (d'oh! I'm so bad at my feed reader sometimes!), but then forgot about it when work ramped up, and here we are!

Pizza is someone that I happened to meet thanks to the ever-present #BelEffect, and we kind of hit it off with our shared love of Sailor Moon. She has since introduced me to the rabbit hole that is the world of Otome, and here we are, chatting daily on Twitter about whatever floats our boat. She's a wonderful person, and if you enjoy RP, anime, otome, and Final Fantasy XIV, she's a great blogger to follow!!

So, what are the rules? I mean, all of these awards have rules, no?

• Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog. 
• Share 5 facts about yourself.
• Nominate 15 – 20 bloggers and add their links.
• Notify the bloggers you included. 
• Keep the rules in your post to make it easy for everyone to know what to do!

I dislike the "nominate double-digit people" thing, so I'm just going to casually nominate five folks at the end of this so this is more of a slow trickle effect rather than a waterfall. I really liked how Pizza answered the facts portion, and I hope to do some of the same, rather than just some random bullet points and calling it a day.

Fact 1: Repeat Recipient

I apparently got the creative blogger award last year, in April. At that time I was nominated by Murf. I find it extremely interesting how things find their way around the internet, and come full circle. I wonder if this nomination is still a go-around of the one I received last year, or when it first started, or if folks have just re-started it up because they could. Regardless, being nominated for these things is fun, and it helps to build community, and I love it.

Fact 2: Blog Move Imminent

So, surprise! This past February, marked six years of intermittent blogging. At some point, I dropped the blog for about a year or two (I can't find the list of posts per month since starting that I had made...), but picked it up back in earnest in February of 2015 thanks to the ever-present #BelEffect (no, seriously). I had planned to move the blog to a self-hosted WordPress back in February, but finances didn't quite line up the way I had intended. I was going to use it as a way to clean up my labels and categories and the like. I still plan on doing this, hopefully sometime next month when finances settle a little bit for a few months.

Fact 3: I Hate Moving

I do. Chaide got a new job at a better school, which is awesome, but means we'll have to move again this summer. I'm so over moving. I hate moving. Not only because of all the packing and unpacking (which sucks) but because it also triggers my anxiety a bunch--all those things that have to be done, and the timelines that need to be followed... Which normally I'm fine with, but the fact that I have to settle into a new place... again... never feels good. It takes me months to feel "at home" after moving, and I was just starting to adjust to the apartment we moved into last summer. Ah well. At least wherever we move to next will be home for at least two years so we can save for a house...

Fact 4: I Really Love Visual Novels and Otome

I'd always been intrigued by Visual Novels, especially after a friend gifted Chaide Analogue: A Hate Story a few years ago. But I'd always heard that they were "casual" and "not actually games" and the like. So I held off from them. It wasn't until I met Pizza and her friend Sushi, and played Hatoful Boyfriend thanks to Grace that I really decided it was a genre I wanted to explore more in-depth, and that the negative connotations associated with it were a load of crap. Granted, there are eroge and bishojo games that are still something I'm not too keen on pursuing--mainly because they usually lack story and are just fanservice. Maybe one day I'll explore them a bit more... but I'll need to get through a large backlog of VNs first!

Fact 5: The #BelEffect Helped Change My Life

Image from Tales of the Aggronaut

No, seriously. I'm not being facetious, or silly, or anything of the like. Things were going really crappily in WildStar at the time. I was the most depressed I had been in my life, and my anxiety was just as bad. I'd started therapy about six months prior, and it was starting to help, but shit hit the fan in my gaming world--which I was using as an escape from the shit going on in my real life. And I just couldn't handle it anymore. I was contemplating leaving a hobby that I greatly enjoyed, and friends that I cherished because I didn't know how to reconcile the two to relieve my anxiety and depression.

So I put out a call on Twitter, saying I needed a new home in FFXIV while I figured things out in WildStar. Bel answered that call, inviting me over to play on Cactuar with all of his friends, and I found myself in a circle of amazing people that he's befriended, and some that Chaide and I have had the pleasure of befriending and hanging out with while we casually game our way through life. Having them as a sounding board and support system has been amazing, and I appreciate them so very much

The Nominations

Folks don't need to feel pressured into doing this, but it's something fun to do if they like!

• Sandy of Aeternus Gaming
• Jaedia of Dragons & Whimsy
• Grace of Moonshine Mansion
• Aywren of Writing to Inspire Your Geek Life
• PKU Dude of Nomadic Gamers

Help Greenlight: Seduce Me 2

https://t.co/va9J947uMa
SEDUCE ME 2: THE DEMON WAR IS ON STEAMGREENLIGHT! pic.twitter.com/foqC5H74pr

— Michaela Laws (@VAMichaelaLaws) March 28, 2016

Seduce Me 2: The Demon War is an otome game looking for members of the gaming community to greenlight the game for release on Steam. The game itself had a successful Kickstarter and will be releasing in May 2016. You’re probably asking, “Why should I Greenlight this?”. There are a number of reasons, but first, let’s cover some background information. 

 Read more of this article here.

Gaming Goals: March

I started these Gaming Goals posts back in June 2015 as a way to try to organize my gaming time around freelance obligations as well as my day-job and general life obligations. You can view the backlog of goals and reviews here.

Going to sass my way through March (and Egypt)!

January had a nice balanced list of stuff, but real-life started hitting me harder than expected in February. Life is going to continue to do that through most of March, but I'm going to see if I can't keep many of the same goals and continue towards them.

The Community Game-Along theme this month is Monster Hunter-likes, but it doesn't really sound like a genre I'd be into. Coupled with most of the month being booked-up with things, I don't think I'll be participating this month.

WildStar

• Finish Celestion achievements (on Chestnut)
• Get Bauxyte her key and at least one dungeon towards attunement
• Upload completed Yardcore 10
• Choose which toon will be next to 50

Final Fantasy XIV

• WAR 50
• FSH 30
• BTN 30
• MIN 30
• Start working on crafting professions to clean out retainers (max of level 15)

The Secret World

• Finish and upload Let's Play 4 and 5
• Finish Saiid's missions

Steam, etc.

• Finish Men of Yoshiwara
• Finish all of Impey's endings (including GCs and video) in Code Realize
• Start Victor's route in Code Realize
• Start Amnesia: Memories (suggestions on the card suit to pursue first are welcome!)

Gaming Goals Review: February

I started this back in June 2015, and have been keeping up with it this past month. I've kept reducing my goals due to real life, and I think I hit a stride heading into December, and have kept it up for the most part.

For the sake of comparison

WildStar

• Finish Celestion achievements
• Get Bauxyte to level 40 Completed!
• Cycle through toons to burn rested EXP Completed!
• Upload completed Yardcore 10

Final Fantasy XIV

• WAR 50
• FSH 30
• BOT 30
• MIN 30
• Start working on crafting professions to clean out retainers

The Secret World

• Try to finish out Egypt
• Upload completed Let's Play 3 and 4

Blade & Soul

• Reach level 20
• Run at least one dungeon (preferably with friends)

Steam, etc.

• Finish Men of Yoshiwara
• Pick up Cat Goes Fishing and play some
• Get up to Chapter 5 in Code: Realize Completed!
• Play some more Torchlight

So it's not hard to see based on both the chart and the goals I obtained that real life pretty much kicked my butt this past month. Work has been super busy, and with a friends' wedding coming up in a few weeks, Chaide and I have both been slogged with obligations related to that (especially since Chaide is in the wedding).

For comparison between January and February...

• 29 less hours of WildStar
• 9 less hours of Final Fantasy
• 32 less hours of The Secret World
• 16 less hours of Men of Yoshiwara
• No Paladins (down 14 hours)
• No Animal Jam (down 15 hours)
• No Pirate 101 (down 12 hours)
• Added 10 hours of Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~
• Added 2 hours of Blade & Soul
• Added 3 hours of Black Desert Online
• 189 total hours in January
• 77 total hours in February
• Overall down 112 hours of game-time

I wish the Achievement Granted crap didn't show up on top... I wonder if I hide UI if the Level Up will go away?

I had started on the Celestion achievements, and am only a few short, but got distracted by swapping out to burn some rested EXP on the toons, and I took advantage of the Bonus XP Weekend (and a lot of flasks) to get Bauxyte to 50! I even did Crimson Badlands once, and am half-way to her key. I have some gear it's worth tossing non-set runes into for now, and I'd love to start getting her attuned for some variety.

We ended up hitting 49 in Final Fantasy, and I'm hoping we finally hit 50 in March. We shall see, though. My work from home days haven't been conducive to lunches where I plop in front of my personal computer (instead of the work ones) for an hour with Netflix running, food in hand, and farm-time. So again, hoping to carry over a lot of those goals. Especially the gathering ones, as I'll either need to purchase a new retainer (which was a plan at some point anyway, just not quite... now), or really get started on those crafting professions.

We didn't get out of Egypt in TSW, but we're getting close. I think we only have a few missions left in the first town, and then we can go see Saiid. I'm so excited! From what little I've seen of him (so far) I'm super-duper excited to see more of him. His attitude comes across in spades! As for the Let's Play... I did get the third one up, and the fourth one partially completed. I'm anxiously awaiting some down-time to be able to work more on those videos.

I barely got any Blade & Soul time in, so those will probably carry over as well. I'm none-too-thrilled so far with the game, and my friends are starting to fall off as well. So we'll see if I even get to it. I really would like to try to give it the good old "20 hours/20 levels" trial. 

I'm super close to finishing Men of Yoshiwara, and am hoping to finish it in March so I can move onto Amnesai: Memories for my PC otome. I never picked up Cat Goes Fishing, though I'm still hoping to one day, because it looks adorkable. I didn't get into Torchlight due to time.

I've been playing a bunch of Code Realize for multiple reasons. One, it's what I do at lunch time. When I tried watching stuff on Prime at work, people would constantly interrupt my lunch break, despite having a sign up saying I was at lunch. With my head buried in my Vita, people leave me alone. Also, with everything else that's going on, it's been a nice way to get in fifteen minutes here before an event, or ten minutes there before bedtime. I've been pursuing Impey as the first guy, mainly because I thought I liked him the least, but he's grown on me a lot. Granted, I like Lupin least of all so far, and don't know how I'll feel when I get to him as the "True Game Ending" (he's locked behind the four other guys).

Community Game-Along Game Choices, Part 1

Community Game-Along

Image by Chic Pixel

Not too long ago I mentioned stumbling upon the Community Game-Along challenge for 2016, which featured dating sim games for January. This has apparently been put on for a few years by Apricot Sushi, and I figured why not try it out? But looking at the list, some months are going to be much easier than others. And some I just might need some suggestions, so I hope folks have some! I wanted to lay out what I wanted to play, though, so it was easier to keep track of why I had specific games in my Steam library, for instance, or which games I should purchase based on the platforms I own. Speaking of which, the platforms we have in the house include:

• X-Box 360 (not my favorite system)
• PS4 (not my favorite system)
• Nintendo DSi
• Nintendo DS (original—able to play GBA games)
• PC
• PS Vita

I much prefer gaming on PC if at all possible, so if you guys have suggestions, ports/emus or such to PC are appreciated. And if it's on Steam, it's even better! My handhelds are my second favorite. I'm hoping to one day get on the 3DS train for some of the games that have caught my fancy.

January: Dating Sims

In January, I mainly played Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya (did you know there's a sequel in the works?!). I didn't end up finishing it, so my plans of continuing to Hatoful Boyfriend: Holiday Star were a moot point. I also won a copy of both Norn9 and Code Realize for the PSVita from Chic-Pixel thanks to Aksys Games! I didn't get my Vita until the start of February, though, so I didn't get to them for January. I did finally start Code Realize last week, and I have thoughts I can't wait to share in another post.

February: Fishing Games

This topic was suggested by Kimimi to Apricot. I'm not big on fishing simulators, which is ironic considering how much I enjoy fishing in MMOs. Seriously, it's my favorite thing to do in MMOs. If WildStar had it, I'd play it even more than I already do! I did search through Steam and find a game called Cat Goes Fishing, which looks like it'll be a lot of fun! I'll also be delving into FFXIV and leveling up my fishing throughout February as well. So next check, when I pick up Cat Goes Fishing, expect some thoughts.

March: Monster Hunter-likes

So I'm not quite sure what to play this month, Or what qualifies as a monster hunter-like game. I assume that Pokemon would count. So I can play some of Pokemon Pearl which Chaide got for me a while ago and I have yet to finish. Granted, I'm not sure what I'd classify as "fnishing" the game. Maybe just getting through all the story would be a nice close to the game. While I "gotta chatch 'em all", I know it's not realistic when none of my local friends have a DS.

April: Games with Yuzo Koshiro Scores

I didn't even know who this chap was until I went over to Wikipedia. He's composed and scored a lot of games. Like, huge numbers. Many of which I know, but have never really found an interest in. Most of which seem to be for the Nintendo consoles. He did the composition for Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and I've never played a Castlevania game, but have been told I'd probably enjoy them. So I think I'll try to pick that up for DS, even if I have to cave and get it used at a GameStop or something.

May: Metroidvania

I'd heard the term Metroidvania before, but I'd never really known what kind of game it described because I've never played Metroid, or Castlevania games before. Come to find out it's a type of platformer game. Now, I guess I could play a Castlevania or Metroid game, but apparently Ori and the Blind Forest is considered a Metroidvania, and I've seen a bit of gameplay of that and think it's pretty cute. Or I could play Dust: An Elysian Tale, which I already have in my Steam Library. Which is probably the better choice to get it finished with.

June: Media Tie-in Games

This topic was suggested by BadoorSNK to Apricot. I honestly have no idea where to go for this topic. I'm not sure if they mean games that are hot right now, or games that are about or include social media, or games that are making commentary on the media in general. I guess all of these could be valid options. So I guess any suggestions are welcome! And I know Apricot will have some suggestions when June starts, but that doesn't give me much time to find a game at that point.

I think going past June, at this point, will be a bit much, so stay tuned in a few months for Part 2, as well as my thoughts on the various games I pick up for this!

Gaming Goals: February

I started these Gaming Goals posts back in June 2015 as a way to try to organize my gaming time around freelance obligations as well as my day-job and general life obligations. You can view the backlog of goals and reviews here.

Love is in the air! And fortunes too, apparently.

I think January had a good length list with both some easy and not-so-easy goals to work toward. I'm going to try to continue that flow this month.

WildStar

• Finish Celestion achievements
• Get Bauxyte to level 40
• Cycle through toons to burn rested EXP
• Upload completed Yardcore 10

Final Fantasy XIV

• WAR 50
• FSH 30
• BOT 30
• MIN 30
• Start working on crafting professions to clean out retainers

The Secret World

• Try to finish out Egypt
• Upload completed Let's Play 3 and 4

Blade & Soul

• Reach level 20
• Run at least one dungeon (preferably with friends)

Steam, etc.

• Finish Men of Yoshiwara
• Pick up Cat Goes Fishing and play some
• Get up to Chapter 5 in Code: Realize
• Play some more Torchlight

Gaming Goals Review: January

I started this back in June 2015, and have been keeping up with it this past month. I've kept reducing my goals due to real life, and I think I hit a stride heading into December, and have kept it up for the most part.

Look! I made a pretty chart of my game time for the month!

WildStar

• Get my last AP (48 total) point! Completed!
• Rune out my DPS set with class runes (pants) Completed! (And put them in shoulders)
• Get my tanking set figured out on Chestnut Completed!
• Level up alts to burn up all the rested XP they have Completed!

FFXIV

Cactuar

• WAR 50
• PLD 40
• ARC 25
• CNJ 20

TSW

• Finish the bloody Blue Mountains already

Steam

• Finish Tokiwa's endings and date scenario (Men of Yoshiwara) Completed!
• Finish Kagura's endings and date scenario (Men of Yoshiwara) Completed!
• Play some more Shadowrun Returns and get the videos over to QueueTimes

Overall not bad! I completed all my WildStar goals, granted, they weren't overly difficult, per se. I mean, grinding out the dailies for the plat and the elder gems was a bit cringe worthy. So I think I've just accepted that I will be poor in that game because there are better things to do with my time than grind out plat.

I surprisingly didn't get much time in with Final Fantasy. A large portion of that is due to the fact that Chaide is more into The Secret World at the moment, and in a way I am, too. We're still chugging away at level 50 once a week, though, so sometime in February we'll hit it, I'm sure. My goals will definitely be changing based upon my game time, and prior obligations in February/March.

We finally made it out of the Blue Mountains in TSW! HURRAH! I've actually written a lot about The Secret World lately, and have been working my butt off at putting the videos together. I'm hoping to have the next one out soon(tm). The story is absolutely amazing, and we're loving Egypt! So far, it's one of our favorite zones.

Oh my...

On Steam, I've kind of been addicted to Otomes. I finished out the two routes I wanted to, and started on Iroha's route. I'm hoping to work on that more this month, and finally finish out the game. I've spent countless hours in Men of Yoshiwara in both December and January. As for Shadowrun Returns? I'm hoping to have some free time to get it in... soon(tm). I'd also really like to finish up Torchlight. Chaide is interested in trying to get in some Torchlight II together as a Let's Play. He enjoys being a part of those, when I do them. I think because he doesn't have to do the editing... I kid! Partially. I know he just likes spending time with me and sharing my interests, and creating Let's Play videos is one of them.

Anyway, expect a nice new list of goals for February SOON(TM)!

#DatingSimonth: Men of Yoshiwara

#DatingSimonth

Image from Chic Pixel

So apparently I missed the memo, but there's this really cool initiative going around for 2016 called Community Game Alongs. And this month, it happens to revolve around dating sims! How did I miss this?! Having just gotten into Otome, I've been devouring everything I could find, buying up any I could find on Steam with great deals, and generally building a collection so I always have one to play if I don't feel like playing on Mobile.

And looking at the rest of the schedule, I can see myself participating in quite a few more of them, especially after I buy myself a Vita in February sometime (and Chaide one in March). I'm kind of excited to have a way to tailor my game time outside of MMOs so I don't flounder. The problem with having so many Steam games (at least in my eyes--113 is a pittance compared to a bunch of other folks) is that I get overwhelmed with what to play and then just shut Steam off.

But back to the objective at hand--it is the month focusing on Dating Sims! So I'm going to take advantage of that, and play some more, and share my thoughts on them! Because why not? That's blog content gold!

Men of Yoshiwara

My first otome game (and visual novel) ever was Hatoful Boyfriend. Some would argue it isn't a true dating sim, and after playing some more dating sims, I'd definitely have to agree. Regardless, it's what got me interested in the genre, and with some amazing suggestions from the ladies on Cherry Blossom Heroines, I decided to pick up Men of Yoshiwara on Steam. It also helped that it was a great deal which left me more change to buy more otome! So far I've really been enjoying it, though some of the paths were definitely not my cup of tea, to say the least.

Hayabusa

For some reason I just decided he was a pretty character and I wanted to do his route first. I'm the most interested in Kagura and Iroha, but I wanted to save what I'm hoping is the best for last! I somehow ended up gravitating towards the "childhood friend" even though I don't think that's my type. Granted, I'm still discovering my type. I thought the story was super sweet, and it made me "aww" out loud a few times. I loved it. Probably my favorite so far of all the ones I've completed.

Kagerou

I know that the "child" type is one of my least favorites, so I figured I'd knock Kagerou out of the way next. Especially since he annoyed me to no end in Hayabusa's story. I thought he was whiny, self-centered, and in a way kind of scary like he was going to hurt me. And he definitely came across that way, along with entitled, when I first started his story. But as I continued his play through, he grew on me a lot, and he's definitely my second favorite of the routes I've played so far. The only thing that irked me a bit was the last bit of his story with the whole "trick" people play on the protagonist and Kagerou. It made me feel kind of put out.

Takao

I liked the "pretty boy" type in Hatoful Boyfriend, so I figured why not try it in Men of Yoshiwara. He was a little self-centered and a bit overzealous in the other stories, but I felt like giving him a shot. And oh my gosh. He was a big pile of NOPE! I played his entire route (both endings) because I wanted to know more about them, but definitely my least favorite. By. Far. And I'd go into details, but I think my twitter posts about it pretty much sum it up without spoiling it. Plus? He just seemed really abusive emotionally, and I wasn't a fan.

The only redeeming factor about his story? His dad is totally David Bowie. Honestly, I might go back and replay his story just for his father. Because RIP Bowie.

Tokiwa

Then I decided to play Tokiwa. And while I liked him better than Takao by far, he was, in a way, the story with the least "oomph" so far. I really have nothing to say about his story either way than he started to get annoying at the end, and I just wanted it to be over and done with. I was half tempted to fast forward since it was kind of boring.

Next, I'm going to be doing Kagura, and then ending with Iroha. Apparently there's a Mobile-only gentleman, but I'm hoping that one day he'll end up on Steam so I can try out his path.

Gaming Goals: January

I've been enjoying putting together this gaming goals thing I decided to try out in June. It's helped me focus my time and come up with blog posts. Life has remained at a constant busy-level thanks to work, so my goals are going to remain small for now.

I got this in the bag.

WildStar

• Get my last AP (48 total) point!
• Rune out my DPS set with class runes (pants)
• Get my tanking set figured out on Chestnut
• Level up alts to burn up all the rested XP they have

FFXIV

Cactuar

• WAR 50
• PLD 40
• ARC 25
• CNJ 20

TSW

• Finish the bloody Blue Mountains already

Steam

• Finish Tokiwa's endings and date scenario (Men of Yoshiwara)
• Finish Kagura's endings and date scenario (Men of Yoshiwara)
• Play some more Shadowrun Returns and get the videos over to QueueTimes

I think I'll be able to manage most of what's on the list. It's fairly condensed, so it should be fairly manageable. As usual, though, we'll see what's actually attainable.

#Listmas: Holiday Questionnaire Fun

So I'm getting back from vacation and into the swing of things. I figured I'd take it easy and do something simple to get me back into the swing of writing. I stumbled upon this cute little questionnaire over at A Life More Kawaii, and figured I'd fill it out as a way to exercise my brain and fingers.

Art by Momo-Deary

Favorite holiday movie?
White Christmas is away and by far my favorite holiday movie in existence. I've always loved the movies that my Grandmother would play for us as kids (1950s movies and the like), and White Christmas just stuck with me. Plus, it's Bing singing great songs.

What are 3 things on your wish list this year?
The Saga graphic novels collection, Sailor Moon Season 1 DVDs, and Sailor Moon graphic novels. Two of which I received from Chaide for Christmas, and one from my brother. I feel very lucky that they got me them. I may or may not have squeed a bunch over all of it.

Why yes, I do have a Sailor Moon addiction. Problem?

Does it snow where you live? 
Not usually. Living in the south pretty much guarantees it's a rare occurrence. But when we do get snow, it's Snowmageddon.

Which winter holiday do you celebrate?
I was born and raised Catholic, so I grew up celebrating Christmas. While I consider myself more spiritual now, than following any particular religion, we still celebrate Christmas. However, I really just enjoy the season and that it tends to bring out the best in people--which really is the true meaning of the Holidays.

Worst gift you’ve ever gotten?
For Christmas? Uh, I'm not sure. I don't think I've ever thought, "this is a terrible gift". I'm always thankful that people take their time to get me something, because it's definitely not a necessity.

Biggest pet peeve about the holiday season?
Aside from it "starting" before Thanksgiving? (Which is completely my biggest pet peeve in existence--let each holiday have its own time to shine without overlapping!) The fact that people get all righteous over the holidays. Not everyone is Christian, or Jewish, or Pagan. And while not everyone of these faiths gets uppity, the few that do are very vocal. Why can't we all just get along and be decent human beings to each other, which is the prime teaching in every single religion?

Favorite seasonal song?
I think it goes without saying that it's Bing's version of White Christmas.

Would you rather it be cold and cloudy, or be kind of warm out?
I prefer cold and cloudy. Because maybe we'll get some snow that way.

Hot chocolate or eggnog?
I used to adore eggnog when I was younger, but I think I've just grown out of it. I'd give it a try if it were that homemade stuff, though. Hot chocolate would have to be my answer--though it's a year-round thing.

Favorite thing to wear during the holiday season?
Leggings! Even though I'm plus size, I love to wear leggings. Though I usually wear them with dresses because who needs "winter dresses" when you can wear summer ones with leggings?!

Anybody you’re hoping to bump into under the mistletoe?
I think mistletoe is kinda dumb. Always have. Always avoided it, and still do.

Embarrassing holiday story?
I don't know of any embarrassing ones. Though I do remember in middle school one of the few times we had Christmas Eve at our house, my grandpa had a heart attack and had to be carted to the hospital in an ambulance...

Favorite holiday treat?
One of my grandmothers makes these "ginger cream" cookies that are to die for. But I can't share the recipe with you--it's a family secret. But seriously, they're this molasses cookie with spices and icing and they're soft and oh-so-tasty.

Latest you’ve stayed up on New Year’s Eve?
I've done the ball drop a couple times. Honestly, it's not my thing. I'd rather stay up and play video games. Which I think is the plan this year, too!

Favorite holiday character?
I honestly don't know that I have one. I can only really think of the Grinch and he's not a favorite or anything.

Do bird boyfriends count as holiday characters?

What are you doing for the holidays this year?
This year we flew up to visit my family for the holidays and spent some time with them, which was very nice. Though I think next time we might make it a bit shorter because the poor cats were so upset.

Favorite pie flavor?
I know it's a sin, but... pie really isn't my thing. So no thanks. I'll take some home-baked cookies!

Your favorite holiday tradition growing up?
My father's birthday is early December, so we'd always decorate the house for his birthday, and then put the tree up a week or two later.

White lights or colored lights?
Depends on which ornaments we're using to decorate the tree! And if we're not doing a tree and just lights, depends on the area and the general lighting/decoration situation.

What tops your tree?
Chaide and I don't do a tree at home (three cats...), but my parents have an angel topper that my mother made to top their tree.

Candy canes – Yum or Yuck?
I love minty things! Gum, candy canes, soft peppermint candies...

Favorite gift ever received?
Just being able to visit my family for the first time in 2.5 years was pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Favorite seasonal activity?
Does staying home and doing nothing but gaming count as a seasonal activity?

Favorite seasonal story?
I don't really know that I have one...

Which of the “12 Days of Christmas” would you most like to receive?
I'll take the ten lords a-leaping. Especially if they look like some sexy Otome boys. *fans self*

I can't wait to play this~