Mostly solo RPG

I thought I might say methods that I like to use to play my games.  You may have already figured out that I have played on PC via Guild Wars, D & D, Path of Exile and a few others.  I have also taken to console as well via Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls, Fable and more.  Of course, I started on PC and then added console to the mix.  Recently, I have found that I need to limit my PC time.  I happen to have carpel tunnel in both hands so extended time on PC playing is out of the question now.  I can still play, just have to limit the time especially on games like POE which tend to use mouse clicks for character movement heavily.  So I play for a little bit and then move to playing console which uses different muscles.  As a result I have learned some different techniques for playing.  I still get stiff, but I last a lot longer.<G>

Learning a whole new set of movements to get my character moving was tricky and sometimes still is.  Maybe, it was the first game I used to learn on , Assassins Creed.  All that acrobatic work really put me through my paces.  I have dabbled in Prince of Persia also, but then I fell in love with Fable III, then Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning.  I was very sad to learn that the company went under after just two add ons.  It was Fable on steroids and lots of fun.  Needless to say, I have a  thing for RPG games that are like that.  Games like Diablo III, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls and such. 

When I first started gaming in bigger games than solitaire and bubblewrap, I was amazed at the depth and breadth of the creation of a whole worlds with story lines.  I was like suddenly being able to interact with all those fun SciFi/Fantasy books I had collected. Set one toe in and hooked, that I was.  I find it fascinating, how much detail, research goes into these games.  Yes the genre, does get a might bit repetitive, with story types, but  well, it still shows a lot of ideas on how things could work if....  Nice show of creativitiy.  Not surprisingly, I like to look at the detail and see how to the mechanics are put together, each game shows differences.  Why am I not surprised at this?   Well, at one time I was spending over 18 hours a day on my computer with hopes of finishing and then publishing a scifi/fantasy book of my own.  Of course like and changes in tech, deemed that I would lose my copy of the 10 chapters I had to old tech that I can no longer access.  Ok, .. not a great loss in my opinion.  So here, I am second work, how about looking at games and stories which a really complex, not like a simple 2-D straight story you might find in the walmart book isle.  I would liken these game stories a long the complexity of  popular scifi like Divergent, or even  Frank Herbert's Dune.  The sheer creative work, amazed me.  I found that not only were in game items well researched and formatted accordingly, but also well rendered.  Like any good story, you have a to have a good basis to found the story on.  Well, I could go on, but I will save more for next time.

Thanks for the comment CrypticCat.  I have found that teamwork is rather hectic in the US teams.  Many players have something to prove and it isn't self confidence.  Sadly it goes the same with the chat channel mess that happens.  I personally will be a good support player in a team that is already self confident and doesn't need to prove how machismo there is or coolness.  The best are the least hectic( i.e. more focused) and more relaxed about their skills.  They tend to plan, communicate and run with an eye on each other's health and situ.  They make adjustments according to the overall need, not personal ego.  That means a noob with a poor build and lacking skills can run with elite teams who are truly teams without messing them up.  At least that is my opinion and my experience with the team I ran with.  Having tried this with others, I have found it to be a rare experience, one which I will cherish.  In the meantime, I hone my strategies, plan my runs and try, try, again and again until I get it done.  That is when the game allows me to. 

Like I was saying last time, it still amazes me that so many people can take the amount of work and detail in these games for granted.  I am not just talking about the mechanics, and programming.Ok, I will admit that I have great respect for the work that goes into a good game.  Being a drawer hobbyist, avid scifi/fantasy reader and anime watcher, I can only barely touch on the surface of the skill and work needed to complete such games.  Of course, I realize that it takes teams of artists, and programmers months to do the work, but I also realize that the idea, nebulous as it may have been to begin with,  began in one person's head.  It boggles my mind to think of the evolution from idea to actual game.  tehe..... I love it.  Good artistry, in graphics and storyline always deserves applauds.

It seems simple to me to strategize, to analyze what is happening and why just bashing away didn't work.  Yet, I have seen others play and they make my strategy weak.  How shall I put it, ... I run in bashing away with what has worked, then analyze what went wrong when it doesn't work.   In Dragon Age Inquisition, there is this lovely perk where you can pause a battle and play forward stroke by stroke.  Not a feature I used often but I have invited another to play it and watched  it played that way.  It took longer, but the results were that the player walked away successful and with more health.  huh,...<G> I will admit to not being that patient.<G>  One dragon taken down in 20 minutes or two hours....hmmmmm..... I go for the 20, but acknowledge that there is a lot to learn from the  two hour route.  I also know that not all games have the perk of stroke by stroke combat pausing.  A lot of times it is heave ho, through it then think about it, then go at it again with a few differences to see if you got it right.

I just got reminded of an article I read about how gaming actually helps older people retain memory and mental skills.  We end up with better spatial awareness, better recall, and less rigid thought patterns.  Well at least that is my impression.  I like to think I am working my brain while I am gaming.  I have to think about responses, solve puzzles, and work my combat skills so that I am not using the auto-reload character feature when my toon dies.  I love that feature, but I hate it.  Sigh....At least I get reminded to learn and try harder, just hate failure.  hmph.... Well, Love the comments, look forward to more.  Need to think about what to say next time.  Drilling down to more detailed, ...what to nit at next.<G>  Have fun playing.

Ok, been a bit.   I decided to talk about my strategy as a caster.  It is actually really simple, do as much damage while not getting hurt, which means moving out of the way as soon as you can.  That is hopefully before you get hit.  This is not always an option due to the way some games have programmed caster skills.  In short if you can move while casting, do.  Some games like Elder Scrolls allow for slow movements while casting.  In Inquisition, some skills just can't move while other you can. Usually it is a toss up between moving and not being able to, which means cast - move - cast type of play and hope your timing is not off.

Another area which helps is getting the jump, or surprise on the enemy.  Being first to hit in battle helps, just like positional elevation also helps in some games.  It can be hard to tell if being above your enemy really helps, but it can if the game is programmed to allow for that as a small bonus.  There is also the experience level difference bonus too.  I am sure a lot of player love the occasional one - hit down win in a fight.  BAM and the enemy is down makes you feel pretty good unless it happens too often, then the game is too easy.  I have found it frustrating when the opposite happens.  BAM, I'm down really gets me especially when I seem to be out of range.  Sigh!  well, it is a learning process.

In Inquisition, I said that they had made it possible for a mage to also do close quarters melee with the Knight-Enchanter skills.  Of course, if you choose those it might be wise to equip heavy armor.  That is something which is becoming more common to have mages with heavy armor.  It used to be that was not possible, and in Guild Wars is still not.  It seems that Elder Scrolls tossed the idea of race/skill limited armor types.  I happen to like that.  I could if I wanted have a small slender elf thief dressed in heavy armor, which would increase up time during melee, but does to a small extent slow them down.  So I have a mage in heavy armor but I still try to avoid melee because Elder Scrolls only has a defense stance for mages for melee.  Not really a good situation for a mage.

For the experienced, I am sure that this is all old news.  Standard fighting procedure.Sadly, I find that speed of reflexes is still very high on the success rate.  Older peeps like me, just have to be more careful, because there is not much success for me in a speed run like there would be if I was a lot younger.  It does make me feel better when my strategies work.<G>  'Til next time, great play.

Hi there,  This time I decided to talk about something a bit different.  Still has to do with gaming and other things.  Namely, attitude differences about gaming and age groups to some extent.  Namely, that those of my age group may not see the value of gaming online or electronically since computers were only for the military or big corporations then and you needed to know assembly language to work on them.   There, I have dated myself.  So when I was growing up playing games meant either with others or board games.  The only time one might play and get paid was if you were some chess expert.  Parents always seemed to be telling us to go outside and play.  If we were lucky our folks had a TV we could sometimes watch.   So now as an adult, I seem to a rarity, where games are an important relaxation, and learning item.  Unlike, my peers, who seem to believe they are frivolous expenditures and wastes of valuable time.

So, how is it that I grew up in a generation that didn't know anything about computer games, game consoles and the value they can bring, yet I can bridge that gap of understanding.  I must have been born in the wrong era.  My siblings, make a big deal of yelling at me about shopping occasionally at GameStop.  To them it is a waste, they just don't see the value and fun that I do, in interactive games.  Yeah board games can be fun, but computer and consoles are my interactive learning and release from stress.

I also want to address the gap I have also bridged to teenage level with anime and manga interest. I wonder why I can relate, then I thought is it my artistic bent for design, storyline and machanics which I love in both that makes it possible for me to enjoy something that seems waaay younger than my level?  hmmmm,    I deicded to watch an episode about voice acting and I noted that the actor/ director said something that truly rang my bell.  How he paid such attention to the original Japanese version tones, design flow and expressions so that he could properly translate that into his dubbed versions.  Stunned I realized that I love this stuff so much that I look at this in the anime and in the games I play.  Well put together design flow, tonality and expressionisms, make for a story that draws the watcher/ reader/ player deeper in and excites them to enjoy the story more, leading to recommendations, repeats, and demand from the audience for more.

Knowing that most stories contain something of the author's mind set and need to express and idea, I have gone back into older anime, to find hero themes that are still in use today, trips with wars and heros is a common thread yet it seems that the audience doesn't tire of heros, battles and angst or romance.  I don't mind that a bit either.  Sadly, I hate being asked to steal, pickpocket or trepass( Elder Scolls, please find another option for picking doors, stealing and such for those of us romantics with high values<G>) A hero should not have to break the good behavior.

So to end up, perhaps I am just a rare breed who sees the artistic value behind games and anime that draws people less than half my age to them as fun and enjoyable.  It still bothers me that I can't seem to relate that to my siblings and others so that they understand I don't feel like it is a waste.  Gardening isn't a waste to many either, so why aim at this, it is just another sort of relaxing and enjoyable hobby.  "til next time enjoy playing.