Month: June 2022

Turn based combat is a simple, yet complex style of battle specifically in the JRPG genre. In these games you’ll explore an overworld, then you’ll find yourself in random encounter battles where your party will take turns choosing to attack, use magic, defend, or use an item; these are the basics of turn based gaming. These battles seem simple, but tend to be won based on strategy of how you use your attacks and magic. They also tend to make the player grind to gain levels, which I find enjoyable, but it’s a polarizing topic.

The combat system took form early on with games such as Final Fantasy or Earthbound Beginnings, then later started seeing some of it’s best games in Chrono Trigger, Suikoden 1 and 2, and Final Fantasy VI during the 16 bit era. Then along comes the…

The internet is an amplifier for extreme and negative emotions. Human beings have a negativity bias. Because people have that bias, we are more likely to click on something inflammatory. The title of this blog post is a good example.

Algorithms of the various social media sites have one purpose. Keep you on their site as long as possible. If negativity is what gets the job done, so be it.

Because a few prolific bloggers, YouTubers, and OSR designers are very vocal about their intense dislike of 5E, It may seem like everyone who considers themselves part of the OSR is anti-5E.

In the comments to my previous post, commenter Daniel mentioned that he runs his 5E games with an emergent story style and that well known 5E bloggers have given similar advice.

Daniel goes on to ask…

This is where I get confused. A lot of OSR talk I…

As July heads our way, I’m feeling the intensifying need to shake things up in my current rut of gaming. LOTRO remains a faithful staple, but I don’t want to place all of my time and focus on a single game. I’ve found that leads to burnout way faster than normal and then I’m left without any alternatives. So I’ve started an investigation to diversify this summer, to either take up a title I haven’t played or played much before, or I need to return to an old staple.

And you know what that means — it’s LIST-MAKING TIME of serious contenders! (hey i like my lists, shut up)

FFXIV

• Pros: I always love the idea of getting sucked into this involved community. Game is very healthy. I still have all of Shadowbringers and Endwalker to experience. Tab-targeting combat and ability to shift jobs.
• Cons: This game has proven notoriously…

With the latest update to Minecraft, which I posted about previously, I was reminded that it had been a couple of years and a few updates since I last really dove into the world of one meter blocks.  So I decided to see what The Wild update… and the other two since The Nether update… had brought to the game.

The Wild update arrives

I wasn’t really ready to commit to a rolling up a whole new world, but I didn’t want to play solo either.  So I went and played on the AOKayCraft server, which is run by one of what I consider the extended family of our corner of the blogesphere.

I have, in fact, see the giant recycling center and the hospitality center shown on the site.  I even claimed a room.

And running around there helped get me back into the mood for