October Joker 2024
Writing
Indiegames
For everyone, supporter and follower alike, my soft thoughts about Star Wars Outlaws is available on Ko-fi here! Signs of the Sojourner and In Stars and Time are on hold pending some mental health recovery (more in this in the sections below).
Boardgames
I enjoyed my time with Potion Explosion and The Walking Dead Dice Game , and finished photography for all of my pending board game reviews so hopefully those will be written and edited later this month.
Writing Challenge
After seeing the organization behind NaNoWriMo championing AI in writing I had to back out of my support for the event in November. I’ll still be doing a writing challenge to draft my memoir but will no longer be associating that work with them. That being said, preparations for the November challenge have been going well. I’ve decided how to depict the different events and anonymized people in my memoir in a way that still feels like a good story, so next will be developing the details and subheadings of that. Unlike a simple biography, memoirs need to have some kind of message or intent outside of recounting events.
Video
Streaming
Dave the Diver is on hold this month as we make our way through The Walking Dead Telltale Series, Season 2. I love the holiday season and especially enjoy the eerie vibes of October. We will also have a fundraiser on Indigenous Peoples’ Day and a fun new indie release to provide press coverage for.
Sadly it’s not all sunshine and rainbows with streaming as more return-to-office mandates have landed at my doorstep, forcing me to only have availability on Monday mornings. I’ll try to make it to weekend afternoon (Pacific time) streams more often than I used to but life is just getting in the way of this being a consistent offering.
Long Form
Sadly that mental health recovery and reassessment has resulted in me stepping back from being full steam ahead on my Youtube channel. More on this in later sections of the newsletter but overall I will be converting anything I had prepared for long form video into blog posts on ko-fi, including Thirsty Suitors.
Personal
Currently Playing
I got the official credits for Wylde Flowers in September and couldn’t be happier with finishing it! I don’t think there will be a game anytime soon that brought me the kind of life sim/farming joy that it gave me. I got to experience a happy and fulfilling marriage, thriving livestock and produce output, magical advantages, and overall feeling like a solid member of a community in Fairhaven.
After losing myself in this game and finishing Star Wars Outlaws, I decided to brave my first playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. I had never played the other games so I was hesitant about whether I would be able to persist through combat to enjoy the story. Yet again I am so glad I took the leap because I am having the best time as a high elf sorcerer making mistakes and exploring the world with my chosen party. For those who are interested I’ve pursued Lae’zel as my romance path so far, and it has been painful (in a good way).
IRL
This brings me to the mentions of mental health recovery and reassessment. I’ve been having a tough time lately being motivated and caring about things I used to be interested in or passionate about. This is especially true for content creation, which I have been doing in some form or another for 15 years. It’s a lot of work with very little pay, and while I was relying on my enjoyment as fuel for a long time I think I need to step away for a bit before I experience complete burnout.
I’m glad that I was able to catch the signs early before that set in, and focusing on things I enjoy without any kind of audience has been very helpful. Putting myself first and refusing to sacrifice anything and everything for others has been an interesting practice for me. I’m not quite in that “villain era” but I’m starting to think critically about how I spend my energy and who I spend my time on.
Some things that have captured my attention outside of gaming are my Japanese lessons and learning how to make sourdough bread from scratch. Feeding a starter is like having a pet, and I’m liking it a lot!
Picture of the Month
We were invited to spend some time at Lucasfilm for a work event celebrating the release of Star Wars Outlaws and I had the best time seeing all the history and artifacts at their office! Even the walls were neat.
Feel free to reply directly to this email to let me know your thoughts, or perhaps any content that you'd like to see or questions you might have. Otherwise, sending you all my windy thoughts for the month and I look forward to writing to you in November!