The Casting Perspective

Last week my dear friend Timlah spoke of the amazing community we found and keep building with blogging and how the act itself helps us come closer to our goals, to build something greater. Recently I’ve found another outlet for my projects, another community to build, one that is sometimes pickier and even hostile compared to the blogosphere.

Of course, I’m talking about broadcasting and livestreams. As you may know, because I’ve mentioned it a few times, I’m now broadcasting Monday to Friday under my LawfulGeek tag, though still very much a part of The Mental Attic.

I had streamed in the past, on and off for about a year or so, but much like the site, I decided to make a bigger push this year, especially with Extra Life on the horizon. I’ve been slowly building up the viewership and follower-base hoping that’ll lead to more donations. But on the way, I’ve discovered how much I enjoy broadcasting and meeting new people in the audience. I’ve had nights where I couldn’t stop laughing when Timlah decided to act as a DJ for my channel and just put on the weirdest songs out there.

But if you’re going to stream, if you’re going to open yourself up to broadcasting, there are things to be aware of, things to consider before you make the leap—or after, if you follow my lead. Continue reading The Casting Perspective

The Blogging Perspective

Without having a reason to blog, many of us will simply sit around, always thinking that we can do better than those who write for a living. Well, if this isn’t motivation enough to begin blogging, then it’s time for you to consider all the other reasons why you should start up your own blog. The only way to drive this message home is by explaining my own reasons for beginning my ventures into the realm of writing. Continue reading The Blogging Perspective

The Levelling Perspective

It used to be that you could measure game time in an RPG with just how much you levelled up. To say in Final Fantasy VI that you reached level 60 before the end of the game, without much grinding involved, meant the game was at least a few dozen hours long. The random battle element combined with the linear nature of their stories and progress meant that that you would reach higher character levels naturally and without breaking off the story progression with unnecessary encounters. Continue reading The Levelling Perspective

The Mechanic Perspective

While writing Annoying Game Mechanics I always wonder about the nature of gameplay, what makes a Game what it is? What must it have to be a game? As interactive media, interaction is the most important. It’s what separates the genre from the others.

Having said so, perhaps the question is meaningful interaction, as in how much you affect the game’s outcome. Is that why some people don’t see certain games as being games, or call them barely-games? Continue reading The Mechanic Perspective

The Demo Perspective

When did Demos die on PC? When did it go out of fashion to show your prospective buyers how your game looks, let them play it for themselves before they buy the product? It used to be almost absolute that a game would have a sample releasing before the actual retail product, but nowadays only a handful of games have them and most are indie. More confusing still is how developers and publishers release demos on consoles but not for PC, even if the game is multiplatform. Continue reading The Demo Perspective

The Witcher Perspective – On Origins and Scale

The Witcher 3 released last month to enormous success, the culmination of everything CD Projekt Red had been working on for the past years, ever since they unleashed Geralt of Rivia on the world. Now, The Witcher is household name, but most people don’t know how big it is. For some it’s just a bit of fantasy, just another world. Some know of the novels they’re based on but don’t realise how big they are in their homeland. Continue reading The Witcher Perspective – On Origins and Scale