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 On 12/29/2017 at 10:38 PM by KnightDriver See More From This User » |
Same as the other day but in different amounts. I played just a few hours of Minecraft, watched the cutscenes of Wolfenstein II as Mark played them, and played for a good long time in Mass Effect Andromeda.
I couldn't help playing a little Minecraft solo today because I thought of a RPG-life progression to apply to my playing. I'm going after the Ender Dragon ultimately, so I came up with five steps, like level titles in a RPG, to guide my play. Here are the steps:
Ranger
Blacksmith
Wizard
Alchemist
Knight
While starting as Ranger, I only allowed myself a wood axe and bow. I gathered wood, hunted for food and found a village where I tended the crops. I didn't allow myself tools for stone cutting, so I couldn't make a furnace to cook meat. So I made a monster batch of cookies. These give you very little health but I had so many of them, they sustained me.
The next step was Blacksmith. I allowed myself a pick axe and shovel to mine coal and iron. This was mining without clearing rooms or building mine shafts - more like spelunking or what a geologist does, really. I ended this step when I built the Anvil for repairing equipment. Then I saved and quit for the day.
Wizard will be next, when I return. I'll dig a deep mine and make, or find, lots of books. I'll end that step when I build the enchantment table and library.
The Alchemist step will be next, where I'll master potions. This will require a visit to the Nether and finding the Fortress. I end it with the building of the Brew Stand.
The final step will be the Knight. I'll require of myself enchanted diamond armor, diamond sword and a selection of potions. It'll end with the defeat of the Ender Dragon and another acheivement I don't have.
What I played the most was Mass Effect Andromeda. I stopped occasionally to watch Mark play and finish Wolfenstein II. What a story! It reminded me a little bit of a Tarantino or Rodriguez film but with more pathos. Some of the scenes were emotionally intense.
Back to Mass Effect Andromeda, I made my first planet habitable for the collective species of The Andromeda Initiative. Boy is this game full of side missions! I'm overwelmed by it all. It makes me a little crazy trying not to follow every side path. I want to experience the main missions for the story in my first playthrough, but I let myself get naturally side tracked here and there.
I love scanning things; reminded me of Metroid Prime. Also exploring. There's a huge amount of exploration to be done in MEA. Again, it overwelms me, but I try and keep focused on the central missions.
There are also a ton of customizations you can do: equipment, skills, R&D for new stuff, choosing to awake new people in the Nexus that will give you various boosts and rewards; so much! I just do a little at a time.
I'll probably be back at it on New Years Day because the library where I'm working at will be closed. Then who knows for the first week of 2018. I'm already trying to get back into a routine to get ready for school and career work in general.
I know what you mean by feeling overwhelmed. I honestly stopped playing Horizon for most of the year cause people kept saying it was at least 60 hours. Turns out they meant if you do everything in the game. Someone said the story was only 30 hours and I jumped back in, cause that's about what a Zelda tite is, give or take 10 hours.
Good luck in 2018! I really have to focus on getting back in shape and maybe looking for a new job after May myself.
Open world fatigue. I think it should be listed in the DSM.
Thanks. You too. I'm taking part in a LinkedIn workshop once a month this spring. I was there because I am tasked with taking photos by the library, but I decided to sit in on the whole workshop myself. It's pretty interesting. Also, it was suggested that being engaged with multiple social media sites was beneficial. That is showed to employers that you were savy with the latest technology. I'll try and use twitter more and maybe join instagram. What fun!
Good luck with your taking out of the Ender Dragon.
I really need to play the Mass Effect games.
And I really think you'd enjoy Yonder.
Minecraft's various updates have turned that Dragon into a real terror. Last time it threw both of us off that tiny island he lives on in less than a minute. I was ready to be swatted around some but I was into orbit at the first hit this time.
Mass Effect Andromeda is so gorgeous. I'm astonished at its underlying complexity and wealth of voice work. Cut scenes are hardly noticeable they are so well integrated into the gameplay.
Yonder sounds fun.
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