New Years Shopping, Gaming, Developing, Resolutions

---

Gaming

In the last six weeks, I played a month of WoW and gained 10 levels. I almost reached Legion, but not quite. I played WoW for one month last year, and almost reached Warlords of Draenor. So I’m basically playing an expansion behind, when nothing you do really matters except leveling.

I’m glad I’m dodging that enormous endgame time sink, but I’m happy for people who collect chieves and pets. Sometimes I wish I had always kept up.

Instead, I played Hearthstone. I cleared the Kobolds dungeons with all classes on two accounts, earning the candle cardback. I love how the cardback is matte and waxy. It’s a detail that some might miss. It’s a pretty card.

I also started playing two accounts and two regions. So I can complete quests against myself. This means I get quests done in a tiny fraction of the time, and basically I get 4x as much gold and freebies towards a split collection.

I also get to play a lot more ranked games from 20-25, which are relaxing and fun.

---

Game Shopping

This weekend I ordered a Razr Naga Chroma from Amazon, on an enticing sale at $45. I hope the mechanical programmable buttons will speed up the thousand hours I’ll spend using Photoshop in 2018, more so than games.

The only game I purchased this season was the Kobolds pre-order for Hearthstone, and starter bundles for my expanded accounts.

I also bought two more snake lights from Ikea, so I can draw at my computer now with 4 lights. (See image.) The days are too short and cloudy to rely on sunlight, even in Arizona.

I also bought a new fairy compendium, “The Faerie Handbook“, which I expect will be inspirational. I’ve also been reading “The Witches Guide To Fairy Folk,” as research for my game project.

---

Gaming Stocks

The market is pausing. A seasonal expected rally fizzled a little bit. Reports last fall said record numbers of moms and pops pushed money into the stock market this year.

This is bearish, since it typically happens at market tops.

Materials stocks just jumped on talk of a spending bill in congress coming for ‘make america great again by fixing all the broken shit’, but we’ll have to see if the bill is big or successful. It doesn’t seem to offer much benefit for the super rich, unless it’s another big ripoff of public funds.

An explosion of world turmoil, thanks in significant part to Trump, is also very bearish. CNN reports that a rail station and multiple municipal projects in Israel will bear Trump’s name, adding more evidence to my anti-Christ theory.

This guy worships money, lies constantly – the list is endless. He is the picture of sin. The list of more heinous people to name places after in Israel is pretty short.

So for the last two months, I’ve been looking for a big market pullback in January. I’m watching to possibly add Blizzard (ATVI), Sony (SNE), Square (SQ), ANET, EQIX, WDC, RHT, ALB, JD, and V, depending on what seems to fit my portfolio.

I need exposure to financials and pretty much everything other than tech, especially after selling Dow chemical before they merged with DuPont, and missing the big run in Valero that I mentioned in a previous post. I also need something other than U.S. and China.

---

Game Project

Believe it or not, I’ve been working very hard on my game project. I’m getting close to having four modules completed. This is over 100 scenes and upwards of 200 dialog speakers.

I’ve needed tons of textures, so I’ve been out with my phone taking photos. I spent my New Year’s Eve painting a scene with a gnome professor in the science building, straightening out my expanding texture library, and watching Kripparian playing Hearthstone blindfolded on Twitch.

Currently most major game systems and coding are in my game, except for combat. Saving progress and shopping for things also need to be firmed up. I’m fairly happy with how my spells are working. (Keep it simple, stupid.)

I also want to support HTH as an alternative to solving problems (hand to hand, a game abbreviation fo unarmed or staff/kung fu combat, since humans are not allowed to carry or wield actual weapons in the lands of the Seelie, without special Court dispensation.)

I also want to add another review panel that records all game feedback. I show dice rolls and results, but I don’t break them down in detail.

Today and this week I am trying to finish a module dedicated to touring the school, hunting for clues to the inevitable mystery, meeting interesting professors and people, finding the door to the school dungeon, and learning about how to use the haunted library.

My worst weakness as a developer is boringness and lack of imagination. I’d like to binge watch all of the Harry Potter movies, which are being featured on Netflix. I need lots more immersion in faeries, wizards, and magical worlds.

---

New Year/s Resolutions

I only have one – to stay healthy. If I die of a heart attack or cancer, I can’t finish my game project. #sad

I can’t even make my first real dungeon! Yes, the Owl River school has a ‘dungeon’ of sorts, just like Hogwarts. The first dangerous area is actually a small port town environment.

One good thing to note – my constant contemplation of fairies, elves, and the Underworld is making me a more spiritual person. I have to think spiritually to weigh and consider how to represent everything related to other realms and luminous beings.

And honestly, the human life with its petty interests and concerns seems pretty bland and stupid.