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Posted by Kim454 Comments on Gamers blog party: summer 2019 invitation Blog

Gamers blog party: summer 2019 invitation

Club Tropicana may have its free drinks, fun and sunshine but it’s missing one very important ingredient: you. It’s time for our latest blog party because there’s no better way to celebrate the start of the summer, as well as meet some new blogging friends and read their amazing posts.

The rules are simple:

🎉   Arrive at the party: don’t be shy and stand in the corner – say hello and introduce yourself in the comments below! Give an introduction to your blog to welcome new readers and let us know what you’re all about.

🎉   Present your gift: think about the posts you’ve written during the past three months and choose your favourite or one which was fun to write. Leave a link to it in your comment and explain why you’ve picked it.

🎉   Get the conversation going: following on from Rendermonkee’s suggestion, it’s fancy-dress time! Change your profile picture to your favourite video game character, and tell us who you’ve come as and why.

🎉   Mingle: grab yourself a drink, put on a party hat and get to know your fellow guests! Check back on the comments throughout the day to discover excellent sites and meet new bloggers.

🎉   Party all day: the comments below will be open for 24-hours until 06:00 GMT on Tuesday, 18 June 2019 so you’ve got plenty of time to meet and greet. Plus your posts will be shared on the Later Levels’ social media channels!

These blog party events are my way of giving something back to the amazing WordPress community and showing my appreciation for all of your support. I’ve had the opportunity to meet some lovely people and talented writers over the past two years; here’s a little thank you and a way of finding some awesome blogs you may not have come across already.

The record number of posts shared in a single event still stands at 29 so can we beat that this time around? Enjoy – and excuse me while I turn the music up!

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Kim View All

Video game lover, Later Levels blogger and SpecialEffect volunteer. Big fan of wannabe pirates and fine leather jackets.

454 thoughts on “Gamers blog party: summer 2019 invitation” Leave a comment ›

  1. I’m early! (Or rather late cause its 11pm for me right now)

    Hello! I’m Michelle of A Geek Girl’s Guide. I write about all sorts of geeky things, video games included. I also recently started a series on blogging called Guide to Blogging. Here’s the link to that https://ageekgirlsguide.com/project-type/guide-to-blogging/

    Since I’m doing this in the wordpress app on my phone I can’t easily change my photo. But to pick a character I would change it to it would probably be Gris. That game is just so beautiful.

    Anywho, it is bed time for me. I’ll talk to everyone when I am concious again.

    Liked by 16 people

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  2. Hey friendos!

    I write video game culture articles with an academic spin, honest Nintendo Switch game reviews, video game retail horror stories, and other misc. gaming content, some hopefully amusing!

    I have a bachelors degree in comparative cultural studies and did my graduation thesis on the relationships between video game culture, Esports, and mainstream culture.

    My favorite character is Amaterasu from Okami and I’d say my favorite article to write was my Girl Gamer’s Comeback Playbook which features some good slapbacks women can use when people say sexist things to them in games. It’s a humor piece but I’ve used these before myself. https://backlogcrusader.com/2019/05/06/the-gamer-girls-comeback-playbook/

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  4. Hey everyone! My name is Nana! I’ve been writing on a Weebly blog for 2 years now, mostly talking about Japanese games and anime, as well as looking at my own game development. Speaking of, I want to share the article I wrote on creativity and my new post yesterday on Oerba Yun Fang since I think these are some of my best offerings to this these topics:
    https://nanamarfo.weebly.com/blog/nm-gameworks-21-what-is-creativity
    https://nanamarfo.weebly.com/blog/all-in-the-characteroerba-yun-fang

    Changed proflie photo to Sora and time to enjoy!

    Liked by 13 people

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  6. I go by the alias Red Metal. I’ve been reviewing games for five years now on a site called Extra Life, though I’ve recently taken to reviewing films as well. I feel my style can be described as “tough, but fair”. Whether a work is massively hyped or a practical nonentity, you can expect me to give it a fair shot, though I don’t pull punches.

    I also occasionally write editorials about subjects I find interesting. One was a rebuttal to filmmaker Paul Schader, who incorrectly concluded that audiences are letting filmmakers down rather than the other way around. If it sounds ridiculously salty, that’s because it is. My rebuttal can be read here: https://extralifereviews.com/2019/04/13/a-rebuttal-to-paul-schrader/

    Here is one of my film reviews: https://extralifereviews.com/2019/04/06/us-2019/
    And this is the most recent game review I’ve written: https://extralifereviews.com/2019/06/16/monster-world-iv/

    Liked by 15 people

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  8. Well Hello There!

    The Warrior has arrived to the partay!

    If your not familiar with me I’m Bandicoot Warrior and I write blog posts and reviews on Games, Music, and Films and I even do Throwbacks on Thursdays.

    The post I’m going to show is My Fallout 76 Player Vending reason to showing this one is cause I enjoyed talking about this a lot and it was my most viewed post last month raking in 135 views :p
    https://bandicootwarrior.com/2019/05/07/player-vending/

    Fancy Dress? Well that’s easy I would come as the Lone Wanderer I’ve even got the Pipboy for it :p

    Well I’ll be here if you have any questions and enjoying the Partay with my Pringles!

    Liked by 13 people

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  9. Hey Everyone!

    I’m Aaron and I am pretty new on the blogging scene.

    I write about video games, books, Dungeons and Dragons and other things linked to those worlds.

    My fav article so far that I am sharing is a recent one I wrote on what sets Dark Souls apart as a video game, which can me accessed here: https://thisisartnotreallife.wordpress.com/2019/06/10/dark-souls-video-game-literary-classics-101/

    In terms of future stuff I have coming up I am working on a Dungeons and Dragons Podcast, as well as writing a murder mystery adventure which will be available on the DM’s guild website when it is finalised.

    I am on my way into work this morning so sorry if I am slow to reply, on mobile and in an office!

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    • Hey Aaron, hope work doesn’t keep you too busy this morning. 😉

      I see someone else is getting involved in Angie’s Video Game Literary Classics collaboration – nicely done. I’m absolutely terrible at Dark Souls but for someone strange reason I’ve always enjoyed playing. There’s something about that sense of perseverance which makes you want to keep going.

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      • I am not a good player but it is addictive. There is so much to explore and you can never truly ‘lose’ no matter how bad you are you can always keep trying; a theme I really enjoy in From Software games!

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        • The first time I played it was during a charity gaming marathon, at 6am in the morning when we still had two hours to go. When I picked up the controller I wondered what the hell I was doing – but I got totally sucked in and continued playing even after the marathon had finally ended. 😲

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                • Yeah, the mobile app isn’t that great unfortunately…

                  Loads of people across the UK organise all sorts of events for GameBlast. One year we did a chat-show thing, another year we did live challenges (there may or may not be a video of us doing an aerobics workout while wearing lycra somewhere on YouTube), and this year we kept it traditional with a 24-hour stream of video games. I’ll start the planning for next February very soon… I have an idea but it’s going to take a lot of coordination!

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      • If there’s one thing Dark Souls nails it’s that feeling of iteration: if you fail, you want to try again, because if you just do something that little bit differently, you might make a bit more progress.

        It’s actually a very, very old-school approach to game design that can be traced back to much earlier games like Castlevania. It’s not for everyone, for sure, but boy is it satisfying when you manage to successfully “click” with the formula.

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      • Awesome! An audience of 1 is better than an audience of none! Hopefully it will be an interesting one to listen to!

        I am also going to be publishing a small D&D adventure soon on the DM’s guild and will be posting some other miniture painting bits when I get around to it…D&D is quite a big passion of mine!

        Liked by 3 people

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  10. Good morning everyone! I’m Pete Davison. I used to be a member of the professional games press, and now I run my site MoeGamer.net as a means of continuing my well-received work on Japanese games and visual novels on USgamer. Back then, a lot of people liked that I gave a chance to games that many other large, commercial outlets wrote off, and that’s something I take pride in continuing to this day.

    I can generally “find the good” in most things, and I make a point of creating in-depth multi-part “Cover Game” features about titles that I feel are overlooked, underappreciated or otherwise worthy of particular recognition. A good example is the recent sci-fi visual novel Our World is Ended, which you can read all my articles on via this Hub Page: https://moegamer.net/all-games/our-world-is-ended/ — if I had to pick a favourite specific article from that series, it would probably be this one, on the subject of digitally preserving people: https://moegamer.net/2019/05/31/our-world-is-ended-who-wants-to-live-forever/

    For fancy dress, I’ve come as Nepgear. I’m participating in the “Characters That Define Us” collaboration over at Normal Happenings next year, in which I’ll be writing about her in detail so I won’t spoil too much here… but suffice to say I find a lot to relate to in this darling perpetually anxious but passionate girl who is fiercely loyal to her friends.

    Yoroshiku onegaishimasu and all that. Pleased to meet you all, and hope you’ll stop by sometime! 🙂

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    • Morning Pete, hope Monday is treating you well so far. Coincidentally, I’ve come as Murray from Monkey Island today and I’ll be writing about him as part of The Characters That Define Us too. I’m sure we’ll get a few more in here by the end of the day! ha ha

      I work in IT and there has been a lot of discussion about AI over the past year. The range of opinions on the subject is really interesting: some see it as a saviour who’s going to revolutionise what we do in the industry, while others are concerned about the direction we’re heading in. Some of the talks I’ve had the chance to see do end up making you think about whether digital copies of ourselves is going to be possible one day… it’s scary but kind of exciting at the same time.

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      • I AM MURRAY THE INVINCIBLE DEMONIC SKULL! Ahh, I remember when I was back at school, a friend and I found that we could say nothing more than “MMMMURRRAY” to each other and it would make us burst out into fits of laughter. Good times.

        Yeah, the digital preservation thing is a thoroughly fascinating topic to me. We already have the first steps there in terms of the lasting “digital footprint” that people leave behind after they’ve gone, But yes, the idea that you might one day be able to “back yourself up” is both interesting and scary!

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        • And now I’m laughing at the thought of you and your friend doing that! ha ha

          I’m not sure the world is ready to handle more than one Kim. Although, it would be great for getting more blog posts written…

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    • Morning Pete! It’s so good to see (read?) you here!
      I just happened to wonder if you had any Katawa Shoujo content on your site and did a quick search. I am so delighted that you do! I’ll have to dive into those posts today!
      I’m also super excited to read all about the character that defines you. So many awesome collabs here lately!

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      • The Katawa Shoujo pieces I did were some of the first articles I posted on MoeGamer! They were originally from my now dormant personal blog, but I liked them enough to launch the new site with them. Hope you enjoy!

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    • I love that you write about overlooked games. Finding the good in niche titles is important. There’s always someone their types are games are “meant for” even if they aren’t for everyone. Your editorials are fantastic!

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  11. Good morning y’all!

    Over on quietschisto.com I mainly write video game reviews, but I am in the process of branching out to write about game design in general and/or my personal opinions on design elements/tropes/games.

    My real name is Thomas, I’m 26 years old and live in Austria. When I’m not playing video games, I like to mix drinks and cook. I also lead a small martial arts group and am a hobby magician. Generally I like stuff that lets me see “behind the curtains”.

    So far, my favourite article is about my guilty pleasures in video games, mainly because it was fun rambling a bit, and see what other guilty pleasures different people have! (https://quietschisto.com/my-guilty-pleasures-in-video-games/)

    Today I’ve come as Mancomb Sheepgood from Monkey Island 2: LeChuch’s Revenge, because it’s one of my favourite game series, the second instalment is a worthy successor to The Secret of Monkey Island, and was still made by Ron Gilbert. (By the way, Kim, I love that you are Murray! 🙂

    Right now I am at work, so I do not have much time, but in the evening I will definitely come back and read the other comments and mingle a bit 🙂

    Have a great day,
    Quietschisto

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    • Wooo fellow Monkey Island fan! I can’t believe I’m not following you already – let’s sort that out right now.

      *high five*

      I usually end up playing as a sorcerer, but after getting roped into going back to ESO with some friends and listening to their suggestions for a character change, I’ve recently discovered the joy of being a tank. I can totally see myself adopting this for single player games now. 😉

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      • Ah, the mighty sorcerer. That’s definitely my second favourite playstyle. Especially when there’s a lot of “big” spells and not much in the way of limitations. When I play a sorcerer I like to feel like an almighty being, destroying everything in his path (MWAHAHAHAHAHA!). That, or some sort of “Anti-Mage”, although there are not many games out there that let me play that way.

        But mages in general rule!

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        • Fire spells for the win!

          *another high five*

          I’ve been surprised at just how much I’ve enjoyed playing with friends as a tank. It’s that feeling of being able to run headfirst into a battle and saying: “come on then, try and move me!” 😂

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          • LEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYYYYY…JJEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENKIIIIIIIIIIIIIINSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111ONE!

            You are absolutely right, Tanks pretty much are the ones that get to yell “Avengers…Assemble!” and it’s absolutely awesome.

            Also, the character design is just badass most of the time, with shields as big as houses, massive metal monsters and booming voices!

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            • I’m kind of short in real life and tend to make my characters quite representative, so my ESO wood elf is pretty small. It still tickles me to see her go running into the fight before the rest of the group… I have a feeling that’s never going to get old. 😂

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              • Haha, that reminds me of a story from last summer. I am short too (165 cm as a guy) and I went hiking/climbing with two of my friends (both around 190 cm). The two of them had just bought some new climbing equipment and were eager to test it, so naturally, they were hopelessly overequipped for the tour (and I – completely without gear – was a little underequipped). In order to not get hit in the face by all the loose stones and rubble (I had no helmet), I spearheaded our group.

                It really was a sight to behold: Up front a little guy, clinging on to the handrails for his dear life and leading two (relative) giants, who are literally equipped from head to toes, across the paths and landslides.

                10/10 would definitely almost die for a funny look again 🙂

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              • I cannot comment on the last comment any longer (probably in too deep?), so this one will do 🙂

                Since I have seen Chiodini’s Kitchen’s recreation of the Monkey Island grog (TM), I certainly do not fancy it any longer xD

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    • Welcome Thomas! I love seeing all these new blogging faces!
      As someone who went to school to become a game artist, I really appreciate that you watch the credits! It’s incredible knowing how many people have put in such hard work into our favorite games. I love catching the credits myself and seeing if I recognize any names. Also, I had to laugh at the mention of the toilets!

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  12. I’m just about to go away on holiday for the week, yay! But always time to stop by and say hello.
    I’m going to share not one article but all (well, the search term on our site) of our recent articles from the recent LoveIndies event we took part in – https://geeksleeprinserepeat.com/?s=%23loveindies
    I love Indie games and I love talking about them, so go and have a look at what we recommended.
    I’ll check everyone else out over the day!

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  13. Hello! I’m Naithin. I write over at Time to Loot, it’s a relatively new blog — about to hit 6 months in age. It’s not my first blog, but it is my first one in about 5-years! I kicked around the idea of making this blog 100% Anthem focused when I started it… But uh, let’s not dwell on that too much. The best thing I can say about it now is that it was my catalyst for returning to the blogging-fold. 😉

    Over the last little while of being back, the posts I’ve been most engaged by have looked at the theme of ‘Change’ as a gamer, with several introspective pieces. The one I’d like to share with you is titled ‘Missing Connections’ — and it’s about the sense of loss felt when remembering the friendships formed and lost within the scope of a single game. How back in the late 90s’ / early 00’s to some extent MMOs *were* our Social Media platforms. https://www.timetoloot.com/gaming/missing-connections/

    Er- as for my garb… Let’s just say despite appearances, Anthem definitely does not contain my favourite characters of all time. I have some commissioned art in the works which I am eagerly awaiting to replace it! But as to the question of my favourite character? … Hoo boy. I… I don’t really even know. How about GLaDOS? Not a playable character, but certainly memorable. 😀

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    • Hey there Naithin, hope you’re doing this week. If it was Anthem that got you back into blogging, then something good came out of the game after all. 😉

      Conversations I’ve had with my stepson recently make me think that the way of using video games as a social media platform is coming back around. He doesn’t enjoy Fortnite at all but he’s recently started to go online every weekend not to play, but to ‘hang out’ with his friends. It’s an interesting change to watch happen!

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      • Interesting! My eldest son who plays kinda does too, hangs out a lot in ‘the playground’.

        But in his case at least, this is with people he knows IRL, so has other channels of communication and even without the game the relationships would not materially change.

        So I think it’s still a bit different, at least in my son’s case. Wonder if similar with yours?

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        • Hmm… his situation is a little different, in that his IRL friends don’t live near to my husband and I. My stepson stays with us on the weekends but goes to school in an area that’s a 40-minute drive away during the week.

          Fortnite has therefore turned out to be a great way for him to interact with his friends throughout the weekends while being apart from them, and he finds it more ‘social’ than social media if that makes sense. Even when he has his best friend stay over with us, they’re usually online talking to the others!

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          • That does make sense. And actually, have been reflecting on it even since last comment — and I’m not sure I’m right about my son’s relationships not changing materially in the absence of Fortnite.

            For some of his friends, that’d be true no doubt. But there have been others he has bonded with initially about their shared experiences with Fortnite. Would those friendships still have occurred without Fortnite?

            Well, possibly not.

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            • Ethan would probably still be close with his best friend even without Fortnite, because they’re like two peas in a pod. But there are definitely others he’s been brought closer to through the game.

              I think it’s the same for me in certain respects. I’ve met so many people with a shared love of games through blogging, and am now lucky enough to call those some of them friends IRL.

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      • Seconded on what Kim said; sometimes you can draw inspiration from the strangest of places. So while Anthem may not have been everything everyone hoped it might be, I’m sure it got people talking — and it got you blogging. So at least something good came from it!

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        • Yup! Raising the hype levels enough to come out of a 5-year blogging hiatus ain’t no mean feat. In terms of any one single game, I still have the most posts on Anthem. I’m not even sure that’ll change any time before the blog’s first birthday. Hah.

          As much as I hold some disappointment over how Anthem turned out as a game, there are no regrets. 🙂

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    • Hi Naithin! So glad you re-joined the blogosphere!
      MMO’s being social media platforms back in the day is SPOT ON. I really do miss many of the friends I made playing RuneScape. I wonder how they’re all doing now… Anyway! Looking forward to more introspective pieces like this!

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    • Oh poor Anthem. So much potential, such poor execution. BioWare you know better! For shame.

      Welcome to the community! Glad to have you. I used to be huge into WoW back in the day so I identify strongly with your chosen article. Definitely a lot of networking potential in MMOs.

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  14. Good morning all. I thought I’d be early but you nutty lot are already here! I’m Khinjarsi, or Khin, one of the three at Upon Completion. I’m very good at disappearing for chunks of time and then coming back for a while before vanishing again.

    Ive brought along a gift that keeps giving, the intro post to a year long challenge happening: https://uponcompletion.wordpress.com/2019/01/02/new-year-new-challenge/

    As for fancy dress, I would have maybe done Yukiko Amagi or Margaret from Persona 4. As it happens, I thought it was a pyjama party.

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  15. *Stumbles backwards onto the party wearing a crudely fashioned Yoshi outfit*

    … I’ve been playing quite a bit of Yoshi’s crafted world recently…

    Hi! I’m Luke and I ramble away over at Hundstrasse.com. Mostly I write about stuff I’ve been playing, or just mulling over, or … Well kinda whatever happens to pop into my head when I sit down to blog.

    For this month’s blog party I present you with a top 5 made up of the same game 5 times; a personal blogging achievement I think! 😁
    https://hundstrasse.com/2019/05/10/virtual-collector-top-5-resident-evil-2-versions-id-like-to-own/

    *Hands Kim some twiglets and scuttles off to see if there’s any root beer*

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  16. Morning strangers! I think it’s been a while since I made it to one of these awesome parties. I should be working right now, but screw it! I’m going to drink virtual beer and talk about video games with you fine people! OK, so I will have to work as well, but I work from home, so I’ve got two computers in front of me, one for work and one for play, so lets do this.

    I’ve been a struggling writer for a couple of years, after a long break to start a family, move half way across the country, I returned earlier this year and pretended like I was never gone. I’ve been slightly absent for the last few weeks as I’m now job hunting. Apparently I wasn’t happy with being busy all the time already. I might have to move again in November ARGH. I will keep writing when I can though, because I enjoy it!

    Two of my favourite posts from recent times are:

    It’s OK to play video games on PC with a controller: https://nowisgames.com/2019/04/10/its-ok-to-play-video-games-on-pc-with-a-controller
    Epic’s personal vendetta against me (ok not really, but they’re somewhat annoying me): https://nowisgames.com/2019/05/21/an-epic-debate-dans-argument-now-its-personal

    Right I’ve got no time for fancy dress and my son is screaming himself to sleep in the next room so its difficult enough to write this, let alone do any work like I’m supposed to be doing! WHERE IS THE BEER.

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    • Wooo for collaborations! 😀
      Booo for Epic. 😒

      We’re going to have to come up with another collaboration idea very soon. Which corporation are we going to take on next?

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    • For anyone wondering its 2pm and I still haven’t really done any work haha. I’ll just be over here in the corner having a slightly drunk and deeply meaningful conversation about life and video games.

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      • Argh I know that feeling. It probably wasn’t the best idea to organise a blog party during the same week as hosting a big event at work… oh dear.

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          • Five arms.

            But seriously though, a good tweet scheduler helps! Previously blog parties have taught me not to plan to do anything else on the same day. Unfortunately, the timing for this thing at work just couldn’t be helped. 😉

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    • It’s totally okay to play on PC with a controller. I used to play Overwatch with one hand on a controller and the other on my mouse hahah.

      I write at work sometimes too. Use an email draft so it looks like work but shhh >_>

      Are you gonna get the kiddos involved with gaming?

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      • I think I’ll probably avoid it for a good while yet, then expose him to the Nintendo side, make it a family fun time thing to start with. I’m keen to make sure he does normal things like play with mud and climb trees, rather than get addicted to Fortnite by the time he’s 6!

        I’m totally controller now, Overwatch is the only game I still play with keyboard and mouse. Taking a nice long break from it so I can enjoy it again one day.

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    • If it makes you feel any better I’m reading through stuff on my second monitor at work during phone meetings. So you’re not alone in having your focus divided at work.

      Surprised by your switch to using controllers with FPS games on PC, but I’ve always argued that part of the power of the platform is you have options to do whatever you want. You can use just about any controller provided you can get it working, and there are a variety of mice with additional buttons for those who find that more comfortable than relying on the keyboard. Personally I switch back and forth depending on what I’m playing. FPS is always with a m + k, platformers I’m half and half, action games are usually controller only.

      BEER?! Where?!

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      • I decided my aim is terrible anyway, as I’ve aged my reactions aren’t that amazing now either. Last night I played 3 hours of the Division 2 slumped on a bean bag with my feet up. Keyboard and mouse might be superior for aiming but being a lazy bugger is superior to everything 😁

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    • *bangs up to the bar* I am HERE for your talk about Steam, clients, and marketplaces! I have no vendettas–that’s a lie; don’t ask about EA–but I am here to WITNESS, yo!

      That said, as much as Gearbox is distancing itself from this decision, considering they’ve had some shady business practices in the past that have kinda lined up w/ Epic’s current style, I kinda feel like it’s a team-up of Black Bart and Stinky Pete (don’t ask me why I went for knock-off Western villains–it’s too late; it’s happened). Would appreciate your perspective on GB as well 🙂

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      • *drunkenly clings on to the bar* look HERE. LISTEN! 👂 ok, right. Gearbox are not perfect, I know that. Neither are Valve. These companies are run by humans and not robots like Facebook. For every “bad” thing Gearbox has done, damn, there’s those Half-Life expansions, Borderlands… the good things they’ve done just outweigh the bad, for me personally. They will deliver Borderlands 3, I’m an old man now still waiting for Half-Life 3 damnit Gabe!!!

        Where’s the coffee?

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        • It’s either a liqueur or probably in a cafe ’round the corner. *slides you peanuts and a glass of water* And, look, I’m not saying you shouldn’t love Gearbox’s products; but, what I’m saying is that there are some bad hombres that like stirring up a certain flavor of trouble there that seems to match Epic’s tastes. Just might be an issue to keep an eye as it develops is all.

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  17. As always, I have to stumble into the party and leave my gift and then come back later after work. Hence why I’m still wearing my work clothes! If I remember to come back in costume later today, I will most likely be dressed as Link, the Hero of Time from Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask.

    Anyway, my name is Ian and I am the executive producer, creative director, head writer, lead artist, and social media manager for the gaming blog Adventure Rules, the Essential Companion of Heroicc Adventurers! *gasps* My blog covers video games and tabletops roleplaying games, but I’m also getting ready for a big community event in the coming months called the Blogger Blitz. It’s a blogging competition and I’m still looking for volunteers, so please come check that out if you decide to come visit!

    The post I wanted to bring for the party, though, is this collaboration between myself and Jett over at the website In Third Person. We did an article on the third-party developers that we would like to see work on a Nintendo project in the style of Mario + Rabbids, Cadence of Hyrule, or Starlink. I really love how the whole thing turned out and Jett in particular brought some incredible submissions to the table. You can read the post here:

    https://adventurerules.blog/2019/05/03/keys-to-the-kingdom-handing-nintendo-properties-to-other-developers/

    As always, thank you to Kim for hosting the party, and I’ll be sure to swing by later to check out everyone’s posts!

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  18. Hi everyone, I’ll consign myself to wallflower status after a brief attempt at an introduction and “Stalking” all the new blogs above.

    I’m Kieran and am fairly new to blogging, having previously only run a personal blog where I translated Mandarin poetry. Virtual Visions https://virtualvisions.home.blog/ is something of a new venture. I’d been writing reviews on Steam and though they’d been gaining good traction I found it limiting (8000 characters only) and I wasn’t able to post reviews for games I played elsewhere like GoG. Although the curator I worked with have just launched their own website, I decided to split off, since they still don’t offer remuneration (just free review copy, which is nice and all but I was often reviewing titles I’d purchased myself, which they then tried to lay claim to). So I politely left and set out to forge something new.

    I’m still experimenting with style and format, and tentatively working on some longer critical pieces. I was pointed this way by Angie of Backlog Crusader, who somehow found my blog and reached out to get me involved!
    So far I’ve been attempting to identify the themes of games and use that as a unifier between narrative and gameplay and how this blends into a concrete, entertaining experience. I’ve had mixed success!

    I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s different approaches and styles to exploring writing about media! And Thank you Kim for allowing this space to share!

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    • Hey Kieran, welcome to the community. 😀

      (And thanks to Angie for pointing people in this direction!)

      It was a pretty brave decision to branch off from Steam and head out on your own, but it sounds as though it’s working out for you which is great. Eventually you’ll find your flow and hit on a format which works for you – and there are so many great people here in the community to learn from! I’ve met some awesome people over the past few years who have taught me an awful lot.

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    • Welcome!

      Looking forward to seeing what bow you develop your blog and style!

      I am in the same boat of working out the kind of narrative voice and style that works best for blogging!

      Do you have any articles where you explain the links between narrative and gameplay you can share with us?

      I wrote a similar article recently on Dark Souls and would be interested onreading other people’s takes on games.

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      • Been tentatively working within the reviews themselves. So in SOMA I criticized the game for hindering its exploration which gives rise to further details elucidating its themes. It’s playing on two types of horror, the cheap scares vs the more cerebral horror and whilst its a brilliant experiment in game design it fell a bit short since the depth of its narrative comes from the more cerebral aspect. https://virtualvisions.home.blog/2019/06/06/soma-pc/

        The other game I criticized was Iris.Fall a superb little puzzle game (which sadly played poorly) and ended up in conflict with itself since it rewards curiosity through gameplay (satisfaction of solving the puzzles) but punishes you narratively (curiosity is bad stay at home safe) https://steamcommunity.com/id/deisophia/recommended/907470/

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    • Hey there Kieran! Welcome, welcome! So glad to have a new face here!
      I really enjoyed your SOMA review. I loved the game and think your review is spot on. I also love the way you set up your reviews. Very nice! Looking forward to reading more from you!

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    • Hey Sophia! Glad to see you here. Wallflowers are most welcome too!

      Steam reviews are indeed limiting. I was posting to Reddit and metacritic before moving to WordPress. Still do in fact! I just link the blog at the bottom now.

      I have no doubt that your site will take off once you get your ideas all sorted. Can’t wait to check them out!

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      • Thank you Angie for guiding me here!

        Actually I am linking the blog from the Steam reviews still since I write abbreviated versions there. I’ve had some movement across but not much. I also made a reddit account too, so am delving in there as well. To be honest, I stayed away from the web for a long while for fear of harassment (If you’re a woman stay AWAY FROM THE INTERNET cries Anita Sarkeesian, Brianna Wu etc) It’s not their actual message but it’s the one they are inadvertently sending out. But seeing my positive responses on Steam within the communities there and other women like Liana K (that do get nonsense sometimes but overall have wonderful communities) I figured I should stop being scared and venture forth!

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        • Yep. Harassment is insane. I’ve written on that topic many a time. But happily it seems to be waning in most gaming circles. I’d recommend the truegaming subreddit for editorial posts. Just make sure you post in text form as if you write it just for them.

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    • When I came home from work today, I thought to myself “Well, I should finish my article about SOMA already”, but instead I came here to read through all the comments. When I clicked on your site and instantly was greeted by the big fat SOMA logo it was almost like a virtual kick in my lazy butt 🙂

      But I am still here, telling you that I really liked the review. I look forward to reading more, but most of the games I have not played (yet…literally all of them are in my Steam library^^); and I usually only read reviews for games I already know, just to see what other people think about them. Is that weird?

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    • Your SOMA review is extremely well written. I’m surprised you’re still in the process of feeling out a style with that being the case. Is there particular aspects you’re dissatisfied with when it comes to your writing?

      Curious as I go through a new phase of trying to tweak my writing every couple of months.

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  19. I’m The Gaming Diaries and talk about games I’ve been playing, thoughts about the gaming industry/community and then any other geeky things that come into my life since it’s like a diary of my geeky/gaming life.

    So I’m going to share my first Fandom Friday post because it’s new and I had fun writing it. It has also reminded me that I really want to go to another con sometime soon. No plans sadly but I can dream.

    https://thegamingdiaries.wordpress.com/2019/06/14/fandom-friday-things-bought-at-cons/

    Though I have a new post up this morning on games I fancy from E3 if anyone heads over to my blog to check it out 😉

    Since I’m dressing up to continue a theme of what other people have done I’m coming as Aloy, just a version of her with not so cool hair.

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    • Hey Gaming Diaries! SO glad you’re sharing your Fandom Friday piece (I hope those get going again since Nerdy Girlie has dropped off from making any more). As for E3, I see you are also excited about Animal Crossing and Luigi’s Mansion! I am so excited for those!!!

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      • I don’t think I was ever not going to be excited for Animal Crossing haha! I have all the prompts from Nerdy Girlie and the various DLC from you and others that I have seen saved for ideas. I also have ideas for dual versions of some of the prompts with solely gaming related replies and then general fandom answers as well. Mainly because narrowing down options can be difficult haha.

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    • Right, that’s it: I think we’re going to have to get you down south one day to come to Comic Con or EGX with us. I’ll leave the Aloy cosplay up to you, though – there’s no way I’m creative enough to be able to make an outfit like that! 😀

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    • Oh my god this E3 was baller! So many good games this year. Nintendo really knocked it out of the park in particular IMO.

      Always interested in con experience posts. People watching at those is the best. 🙂

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      • So many games announced. I tried to think of the ones I didn’t know about before since there were so many announcements.

        This is just a look at these cool things I have found at cons because it’s been a while since I’ve been to one. I love going and seeing everything that’s happening, meeting people and the cosplays at cons are always amazing.

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  20. Hi everyone! I am Kelly from Why We Play Games, a gaming blog that explores why we play games.

    The post I would like to share is my recent analysis of Comstock from Bioshock Infinite:
    https://kellycwhyweplay.wordpress.com/2019/06/14/making-a-villain-bioshock-infinite/

    I changed my profile to Kassandra from Assassin Creed Odyssey because I loved how brave and fierce she was in the game! She is one of my favorite characters of all time!

    I’ll be dancing at the party so come on over and join me! 😊

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    • Hey Kelly, how’s it going? Hope Monday is treating you well.

      It’s always interesting to see who the first person to dance at a blog party is. Usually it’s Luke from Hundstrasse, but I guess he’s slacking this time around. 😂

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    • I loved Bioshock Infinite! Still got the collector’s edition with the statue squirreled away somewhere.

      I haven’t played ACO yet! Waiting for a nice sale. Kassandra looks amazing! 😀

      PS; The website linked to your username “no longer exists”. Might wanna update.

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    • ACO seems to have been such a good addition to the franchise, and it feels like it got buried among the release of other games. Any thoughts on Origins or the Layla Hassan? Would love if her introduction to the assassin order is Ubi’s build-up to a more unified set of games like the Ezio collection.

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      • Origin I finished before Odyssey and I really enjoyed it as well. I do like Odyssey better for it’s RPG elements.

        As for Layla Hassan, I do like her character and I’m curious to see how her story will evolve through future Assassins Creed entries

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  21. Hi I’m Fitzy, checking in on the action and happy to be back for another of Kim’s parties!

    I haven’t been posting much lately as I’ve got more immediate things to sort but I’ve been about. Lurking, skulking in the shadows, but a party always brings me out! My blog is Game Time and that’s where I post my gaming views and ramblings. Now and again I venture into other writing topics like my recent post: https://gametime.blog/2019/05/28/anime-time-3-anime-shows-i-watched-recently-mini-reviews/
    Had a lot of fun writing this and got a few non-gaming ideas floating in the ole noggin so keep an eye on my blog if interested. Other than that, I’ve got a few after E3 thoughts to share, specifically about BOTW 2. Which I’ll be getting on with soon.

    Today I’m wearing the face of Travis Touchdown! My favourite video game character changes a lot depending on my mood but he’s in my top 10 and today feels like a Travis day! Chaotic Monday!

    Fingers crossed the counter ticks over to 30 and hope everyone has a good time!

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      • Hi Megan! Good to see you too and thank you for the kind words. It really is an amazing anime, cute to the point that my cheeks were hurting from smiling at Takeo’s antics. I don’t do many romance anime shows (probably after Clannad After Story stomped on my heart) but I do greatly appreciate one’s with comedy injected in them. I can only think of My Love Story!! and Seto no Hanayome that I’ve seen, off the top of my head. So if you have any recommendations, throw them my way 🙂

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    • It would be so good if a blog party finally hit the 30 mark! I’ve got 17 lined up to share so far along with a few more I haven’t scheduled tweets for yet, so we’re well on our way…

      Non-gaming ideas, huh? Sounds interesting – I’ll keep my eyes peeled! 😀

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      • Hi Angie! NMH3 is one the highlights of E3 for me. So excited to play as Travis again. Seems to have mech suits and aliens(?) so it has already ramped up the zany-ness over NMH2.

        Also, representing Amaterasu at this party?! Great choice. Currently playing Okami for the first time. Gutted I never played it when it released so I’m happy its been re-released over the years. Love the style and colours of it so far.

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        • I’m so glad you like Okami. It’s such a beautiful experience. It was know as “the best game no one played” when it came out because their advertising was so minimal yet it got all these game of the year awards. My favorite part about it is how you think it’s over halfway through but then there MORE.

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          • Yeah I remember reading reviews about it in magazines when it released but whenever I went to Blockbusters to rent it, they never even had it to rent. Don’t even remember seeing it to buy in my local one.
            Oooh good to hear! I’ve only done the 1st dungeon, I think. Spider-queen thing near the village with Susano (which is a fantastic character). But so far, I’m enjoying this classic I missed.

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  22. *sneaks into the party, a bit late as usual, and sets my chocolate cupcakes among all of the other delicious party food*

    Hey y’all! I’m Megan from A Geeky Gal! I love when Kim puts on these parties! I can’t wait to meet all of these new bloggers and reconnect with some familiar names. 🙂 For my gift, I have brought my post about what I’m doing after taking a mental health break: https://ageekygal.com/2019/06/05/spoilers-what-i-did-on-my-break-whats-next/ I’m excited for this week because I have my first post in “mental health in gaming series” premiering! Stick around for that excitement!

    I changed my profile picture to Mileena from Mortal Kombat because she is one of my favorite fighters of all time. I have a real soft spot for “bad” characters.

    Looking forward to see who else come to join us!

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  24. Hi everyone!!

    My goodness this place is really swinging, I got some catching up to do!
    *adds liquor to lunchtime coffee*

    Right! My name is Pix and I have a gaming and anime blog called Shoot the Rookie. I’ve not been writing as much as I’d like lately due to stuff, but here is a post from my ‘My Favourite Series’ series (yes, I know, I need to come up with a better way of saying that). This is the most recent post in the series and is all about my favouritest of favourite things, Xenoblade Chronicles:

    https://shoottherookie.com/2019/04/26/my-favourite-series-part-3-xenoblade-chronicles/

    I thought initially of dressing as my character from upcoming Normal Happenings collaboration – The Characters That Define Us, but that proved difficult at short notice (although Matt, if you’re reading this, you should consider introducing that as an optional part of the project!). Instead I have come as a character I love cosplaying as – Joker from Persona 5!

    Looking forward to reading all the awesome posts shared here and making some new blogger buddies 🙂

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  25. Good day fellow bloggers.What a great idea for a post and really nice to see so many sites to follow and articles to read. Will keep me busy for a while! I’m Charles, I live in London, working in banking and have a degree in economics. I’m one of and the main contributor to the Around The Bonfire page. Covering the usual plethora of gaming and digital media with the odd look at film and television. Catapult between the serious and the casual topics, consistency of subject matter not a strength!

    Started writing in earnest just under a year ago having dabbled on and off over the years. Started with the intention to principally do gaming art book reviews but have expanded that in recent years to include my broader hobbies. My most ambitious project was a photography series around London doing a comparison piece to the Assassins Creed title syndicate. Here is one of the posts

    https://atbonfire.wordpress.com/2018/12/21/on-tour-with-assassins-creed-syndicate-the-tower-of-london-to-tower-bridge/

    The other three contributors chip in on the odd occasion but I’ve been principally running the page for the last 12 months, considering a possible redesign or name change to reflect my own perspective.

    Have interacted and said hi to a few people over the last few weeks/months but always nice to meet new people. One of my earliest motivations when I started writing again was the collaborative process as really intriguing to bounce ideas off each other.

    Anyway long ramble over

    *stands awkwardly behind plant pot*

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    • Aah I didn’t realise you were in London. Does this mean we might see you at EGX in October? 🙂

      Love your photographs, they’re perfect! Was it tough getting them just right?

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      • Yup, trying to work out the logistics of either taking a day off work and going on the Thursday as it’s quieter? Or the weekend for the atmosphere.

        Logistically was a bit tough, had to screen capture everything off the PS4, upload onto a laptop then my phone then stand looking like a magnet to thieves with my DSLR trying to match the angles and shots in London.

        Rather bleakly had planned on doing a follow up piece this autumn in Paris using Unity however that was somewhat curtailed after what happened to Notre dam so will probably do something with the new watch Dogs next year in modern day London

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        • We’ve got our tickets booked for Thursday and Friday. We were considering going on the Saturday, but thought that two days might be enough. 🙂

          Have you been to the Secret Nuclear Bunker in Kelvedon Hatch? FMV game The Bunker was filmed there, and it was kind of freaky to see it in real life!

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          • I’m probably leaning more to the weekdays as don’t have the greatest fondness towards large crowds and tend to avoid if possible.

            I saw you had posted about it about six months ago and definitely want to get over to explore. I love those old military bases, my uncle wrote a book about Orford Ness just up the coast in Suffolk area, such great history. Was curious in terms of head space how freely you could walk about? Am 6’4 so tend to just check these things before diving straight in 🙂

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            • It’s not as claustrophobic as you think it’s going to be! Some rooms are quite small in terms of size but I don’t recall any low ceilings, or feeling as though I was trapped in. It is kind of spooky though – you can almost feel the fear of people who were there in the past, if you know what I mean.

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  26. Hi all. Frostilyte checking in.

    I’ve been writing reviews for (mostly) indie games for almost 2 years now on my blog, and partly for a website called viewport. After almost a year working with viewport on improving my format, writing style, and grammar I split off to resume doing my own thing. It was then that I started trying to get more involved with the blogging community to continue improving my writing, plus a lot of you folks write great content.

    My blog is named Frostilyte’s blog (yep, really creative). As I said, I mostly review indie games as I want to shine a greater spotlight on smaller games that deliver great experiences.

    It was a long time want of mine to write about games outside of a review format, where the focus was on the mechanic(s) of a particular game and how they work within that context. The first and only piece I’ve done in this style is for a game called Return of the Obra Dinn:

    https://frostilyte.wordpress.com/2019/05/16/a-look-at-deduction-in-return-of-the-obra-dinn

    I’m really proud with how it turned out, as well as the overwhelmingly positive reception from those who read and commented on it.

    Currently repping Hat Kid from A Hat in Time. She’s adorable and manages to convey a lot of personality without ever actually speaking, which made her particularly endearing to me.

    I look forward to combing through the blogs posted here and discovering some new stuff to read. And a big thank you Kim for hosting this event. 🙂

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    • Hey there – hope you’re having a good afternoon! 🙂

      Return of the Obra Dinn has been on my Steam wishlist since it was released and I still haven’t gotten around to playing it yet. I’ve read so many good things about it and how creative it is – I’m really going to have to make the time for it one of these days.

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      • It really is a good one. Perhaps you’ll be temped to finally pick it up during the upcoming Steam summer sale.

        Took me a little under 10 hours to finish with my SO as we worked through the various problems. That’s the other great thing about it: the game is easy to play with others as you all take in information and figure out what it means. Plus having a sound board to bounce ideas off of never hurts for puzzle games.

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    • I have come across your article about “The Return of the Obra Dinn” on multiple occasions and I really want to read it. But I haven’t played the game yet, and I feel like games like this one get spoiled easier than a beat up avocado. Just you wait, when I finally get around to playing it, I’ll read the heck out of that article 🙂

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      • I tried to be light on spoilers with it. I go into detail about how to ID one of the 60 crew members. That’ll get your gears turning about some of the other ways the game will try to challenge your observation skills, but if you’re already sold on it absolutely go in blind.

        I regret not getting to Obra Dinn sooner. It is truly a fantastic game.

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        • Alright, you have convinced me. It will be the next game I play 🙂

          Oh, wait, I’m not sure if I already own it…

          No 😦

          Ah, what the hell…aaaaaaand bought it 🙂

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    • As much as I enjoyed Return of the Obra Dinn, I couldn’t come up w/ much to say about it in terms of lore spoilers for my own blog other than the short ‘n’ sweet: One curse for another. Your post is a great 101 on the game’s simple objective of deduction and how it beautifully weaves it into complexity!

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      • Thank you. 😀

        I went through several iterations of that post before I finally settled on the final one. It’s a hard game to talk about without getting into spoiling too much of the game as a lot of what makes it so enjoyable is uncovering its many mysteries yourself.

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  27. *A bright light flashes into being in the middle of the room, frightening the life out of the nearby guests. Out of the light stumbles a… man? He looks to be made of cubes and oblongs, like a 3D 8-bit character. He brushes himself down and readjusts his position. A faint voice seems to be coming through.*

    Hello, everyone. It’s me! I’m under here. I’ve come as Herobrine from Minecraft. He’s not my favourite character, but he’s the character I’m writing about for The Characters That Define Us collab at Normal Happenings. Speaking of which, here’s my entry for the previous collab, Tracking Shells: Our Mario Kart Memories, in which I wrote about Waluigi Stadiu from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: https://normalhappenings.com/2019/03/21/tracking-shells-our-mario-kart-memories/#alex

    Something I mention in that post is a weekly column I’m writing for the Well-Red Mage, Racing Game of the Week: https://thewellredmage.com/author/alexsigsworth/
    New columns are published Tuesdays, so the next one will be going up some hours after this party finally stops. I’ll likely finish that before I start mingling.

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  28. HALLOOO!

    I’m late, but stumbling in from the cold in the hopes that not all the cool kids will have left the party just yet..! I’m Chris, I’m a guy, and I sometimes (less frequently these days because ADULT LIFE, GOSH) write about games and all that.

    I think my post for sharing today has to be the epic Blogovision, a collaboration with the very awesome Pix from the blog Shoot the Rookie. She’s great, and it was all thoroughly fabulous. https://overthinkeryblog.com/2019/05/17/blogovision-2019-showtime/

    I’m totally in fancy-dress as my Sims character. That’s not cheating.

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  29. Hi all! Bit late here, but my name is Meghan, from (not so creatively named) Meghan Plays Games! I only started blogging recently, but I mostly do game reviews (all genres/types) and hopefully, in future, some more close analyses/in-depth games discussions. My favourite post that I’ve done recently was a part of Backlog Crusader’s community challenge, called “The Philosophy of Ocarina of Time”; it was really fun to write, and I love taking close looks at video games and what we can learn from their storytelling:

    https://meghanplaysgames.home.blog/2019/06/07/the-philosophy-of-ocarina-of-time/

    Of course, I had to show up as one of my favourite video game villains, Sander Cohen, of Bioshock. Who better to appreciate all these bloggers’ works of art?

    Thanks in advance to anyone who checks out my work, and to Kim for hosting this event – I can’t wait to find some great new blogs to follow 🙂

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    • Hey, all the best people arrive at blog parties fashionably late. 😉

      Nice choice of fancy-dress there! If you like BioShock Infinite too, take a look at the post by Kelly from Why We Play Games above – it’s a great analysis of Comstock. 🙂

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    • Hello! Sander Cohen, eh? I’ll be sure to keep my distance. I saw your last work of art!

      Also haven’t read your Ocarina post yet but that’s my night reading sorted! I remember you said you weren’t a fan of BOTW in comparison to Zelda games, how do you feel about the BOTW 2 announcement? Personally I’m happy to see a new Zelda but hoping for quite a few improvements to the BOTW formula. Classic Zelda dungeons/bosses being a big hope for me.

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      • Truthfully, not excited at all, which is sad. I was hoping they would take the next title somewhere completely new. I mentioned it in an E3 post I did, but I really hope they overhaul some of the mechanics from BOTW, i.e. the weapon durability system, and more unique/different bosses and dungeons. Agree that they need to return a bit to their old formula. If they made some changes and made Zelda a playable character (which may be a bit of a stretch), then I would be 100% more interested.

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        • Yup, I agree on all that you said. Usually a 3D Zelda game is huge to me but as soon as I saw that BOTW2 after the name Zelda, my attention dropped pretty sharply. I’ll probably still buy it but all that you mentioned needs to happen, plus more in my eyes, to make it a Zelda game I’m losing sleep over. It can be done. Classic Zelda formula + BOTW expanse and manoeuvrability but we’ll see what Nintendo decide. And I think if Nintendo were going to do a playable Zelda, now is the best chance, with this iteration. BOTW Zelda is less regal and more Link than previous games except WW Tetra. I’d be very excited to play as Zelda in a BOTW style environment, with her own set of environment manipulating magic similar to Link’s stasis, magnetism etc.
          Here’s to hoping for improvements!

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      • Thanks, I hope you find it interesting! Hooo boy thats a big question – sorry if this is vague, but I love thinking about environmental (visual) storytelling. Obviously the interactive element of games means the visual storytelling they’re capable of exceeds that of say, films, because you’re allowed to wander/explore wherever you want. Games like Dark Souls/Bloodborne where the narrative is moreso in the background means that the environment and visuals have to communicate a lot to the player – items you may need, which path to take, etc. A specific example might be how Sen’s Fortress acts as a sort of proving ground/trial to grant entry to the city of the gods, Anor Londo. Indie games like Journey/Abzu are great with this concept too! Overall I just like the idea of being able to communicate an element of the story without using words, or even something the players HAVE to notice – maybe its something you don’t even pick up on until playthrough 2 or 3? Sorry for the long answer, hope this sort of answers your question!

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        • That’s awesome! I really enjoy games that work that in as well. It was one of my favorite parts about the Portal games, with background clues contributing to the player’s understanding of what was happening or had happened.

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      • Honestly like a 2? I really think they need to make some changes to the gameplay in order to make me play it – I wasn’t a huge fan of BOTW to be honest. I had issues with the weapons system, repetitive dungeons/bosses, and narrative style. If they made some changes to these, then I would be wayy more excited for it! I don’t know about a Triforce-specific game, but I would be excited to play any kind of future Zelda game that is more similar to the older style!

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        • Triforce of Power = a Ganon game :)~ I’m not a big Zelda fan, but his characterization is persistently intriguing. Also, would absolutely read a post comparing the older games to BotW because I’m lost in the lore and the appeal about the same way I was w/ Final Fantasy prior to XV. Fan reviews of the FF franchise prior to the release of XV really helped me appreciate it more, and it seems like similar circumstances apply to Zelda.

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          • I always hope they go a bit more into villain backstory with each new Zelda, but they never seem to – BOTW 2 might break that cycle? Interesting idea for a post, while I’m not exactly an expert, I’d like to write something like that. Should probably get my BOTW review up first haha. I’ve never played an FF game to be honest, but considering they’re so popular, I’m sure their lore is well worth delving into!

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            • From a blog about random lore theories, you absolutely don’t need to be an expert on a game to have an interesting perspective that gets people thinking about it 😉

              As for FF, despite definitely knowing more about the franchise than I once did, I wouldn’t say I’ve remotely delved into the lore. But, I have picked up enough to understand why the franchise works the way it does and likely why XV didn’t experience the success Squeenix was hoping for–Namely, despite its claims, it still has a high entry threshold and remains a game more for veterans than newbies.

              Looking forward to the BotW review 🙂

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  30. Hello! I’m extremely excited about this blog party, thank you, lovely host! I’ve brought the concept of stargazer lilies as a thank you. They’re white lilies with beautiful, pink, star-shaped middles and golden stamen, and they smell like midnight dreams. Be careful not to touch the stamens with your clothing, their pollen stains!

    To everyone else, a lovely hello as well. I’m Carla of Pop Culture Literary. I don’t run a video game blog, but I love games and occasionally touch them on my blog. The majority of my blog’s content is dedicated to exploring the literary devices that make our pop culture media like video games so great!

    I didn’t change my outfit for this event because I don’t know that I have a favorite game character! That and I’d forget to change it back… BUT I am excited to see everyone else’s characters! I’m even MORE excited to see everyone’s posts. I see some familiar faces here, and am behind on keeping up with their posts, so I’m stoked to see what they’ve brought to the party, and I’m equally excited to read some posts from people I haven’t had the pleasure of discovering before!

    Last party, I promised to bring a video game blog post, and I am here to make good on that promise. The post I brought today (or this evening, as I believe the case to be for Later Levels!) takes a short look at symbolism in the Half-Life games. https://popcultureliterarytutor.wordpress.com/2019/06/15/symbolism-saturday-the-half-life-crowbar/

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    • Carla, I’m so sorry: it looks like a bunch of comments were marked by WordPress as spam yesterday for some reason so they got withheld! I’ve sorted that out now and added your post into the schedule of those to be shared – please accept my apologies. ❤

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  31. “And now you’re back/ from outer space…” Spoils of Lore, a blog about gaming and theories about lore in games, has been on hiatus; but, we’re jumping back in feet first. https://spoilsoflore.wordpress.com/2019/06/17/observation-spacetime/ Sci-fi adventure game Observation offers up a number of mysteries, and we tackle one of the more obscure ones that celebrates developer No Code’s love of subtlety and detail. Since it’s a party, think of us as the conspiracy theorist lazily spinning in circles on the alligator float in the middle of the pool. Ah! And, bonus points to whomever can decipher the SoL swimsuit~ That… That counts as “formal wear” when you’re occupying the pool, no?

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    • Observation!! I’ve been itching to play this since it was released and just haven’t had the time so far this month. I absolutely loved Stories Untold and the way it weaved its story through the gameplay, it was just so clever. My favourite game of 2017.

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    • Dude the idea to write about hidden lore awesome! Have you ever played Hyper Light Drifter? That one is notorious for hidden lore and environmental hints, as there is no dialogue in the game at all. The community is still working on deciphering some of it to this day.

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      • Thank you! Also, while I personally engage with lore and theories from various communities, I typically don’t write a post unless I feel a theory or concept hasn’t seen enough traction or consideration. “For the Groove of the Game” and “Overwatch Evolution” are good examples.

        That said, always love talking lore, suggestions, and other great lore posts (which the WP gaming community produces regularly as demonstrated by the Literary Classics collab); so, will definitely look into HLD and don’t be surprised if you see a post or reblog inspired by your own blog ;D

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  32. Hey everybody! I’ve got a lot of reading to do to catch up on this blog party! I’ve enjoyed taking part in some the past blog parties from Later Levels and just the whole community, in general, has been more than welcoming! My writing is much more sporadic than just about everybody here and I tend about something other than video games probably more frequently than others. It’s fun to write though and there are always plenty of drafts just waiting to be finished.

    If you can’t tell from my little profile bubble, that’s my guardian from Destiny throwing out some space peace to everyone. It seems, no matter its ups and downs, Destiny has always been a franchise that can keep my attention.

    Very much unlike the games in this post here…

    https://heardavewrite.com/2019/04/03/the-one-about-commitment-in-an-open-world/

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    • I hear you! I haven’t been able to bring myself to play an open-world game since Horizon Zero Dawn (although I’ve recently started to dabble in ESO again). The perfectionist in me gets so caught up in all the side-missions and little extras that by the time it comes to completing to main story quests, I’ve caught open-world-fatigue,

      How have you been getting on with your commitment issues since April? 🙂

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      • I loved HZD and completed that all the way through to a Platinum! It wasn’t as huge as some though…

        Like any good gamer, I’ve only added more to my backlog! And now, with the E3 introduction of GamePass Ultimate, heaven help me.

        One day, I promise, I will get back to those games that deserve the spotlight once more.

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        • Game Pass sounds dangerous! We do have an Xbox (although I tend to stick to my PC and PS4), and my other-half has been considering making the purchase since E3. I might not ever see him again…

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          • Yeah, I’m more of an Xbox main. I can’t remember the last time I fired up my PS4. The ultimate upgrade was a no-brainer for me, as I already had Xbox live for almost 2 years stacked, and it was just $1 to upgrade it to include GamePass, and GamePass for PC. So…that backlog may wait a little longer.

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            • It *is* a pretty sweet deal. As much as I don’t really play on our Xbox, I can see myself getting suckered in if the other-half does decide to get the Game Pass. I do like the idea of being able to try stuff I might not otherwise, without fear of parting with £50 – £60 and then not enjoying it.

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              • There are some pretty good games on Game Pass right now that I would have eventually purchases. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Hellblade: Sennua’s Sacrifice and Metro Exodus, just to name a few off the top of my head.

                I like how Microsoft is moving further away from the box being its main draw, and acting as more of a games provider. Smart move on their part.

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                • Do you think the Game Pass will change the way you game? I mean, if you know you have access to so many games and can switch between them easily, do you think you’ll be less likely to persevere with one you’re not enjoying immediately? 🤔

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    • Hi Dave! I’m surprised I haven’t seen your blog before! I’ve been pretty thorough in my searching and you slipped by somehow. Glad to meet you and looking forward to more of your content!

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      • Glad you found me now! I’m always happy to reach new readers.

        I’m pretty easy to miss honestly with how infrequently I post anything. I’ve got a few zingers coming up though so stay tuned!

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  33. Hey everyone I’m a bit late it’s what, 7.45pm ish here in the UK but I have had a busy day.

    I’m Brandon and I run the blog That Green Dude. I write mainly about video games and sometimes non gaming stuff. This month has been packed with my E3 coverage of the conferences all of which has gone swimmingly.

    I’ll be sharing a post from several weeks ago called Do You Miss Video Game Manuals? http://thatgreendude.com/2019/04/08/do-you-miss-video-game-instruction-manuals/

    I got a lot of cool responses to it and I thought a big blogger gathering such as this would be a great way to get more thoughts on video game instruction manuals.

    I can’t change my profile pic because I’m doing this on my phone but I would have to choose Kazuma Kiryu from the Yakuza series. He’s one of my favourite characters and is rather inspirational.

    I’ll be checking out the blogs here throughout the night.

    Oh and if all goes to plan, I *might* be able to start a podcast in the next month or so with a Frasier like twist to it.

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    • I’m listening… ha!

      I really do miss manuals. I still buy physical stuff except for PC games, but I did discover some games still provide a PDF manual. The temptation to get them printed is huge but when you do a one off, the cost is through the roof.

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      • I think manuals added a bit more value to the physical package. I understand why most have cut them but I loved reading them on the journey home and some have really cool artwork.

        Thanks for your response to my article 🙂

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      • As we go further and further into the digital and streaming ages, manuals will fade out completely in favour of digital/ pdf versions. We’re already seeing this happen now and very few games are including manuals with the physical package.

        Thank you for the response to my article.

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    • In answer to your question, YES! The thought of video game manuals brings back so many memories for me. They remind me of being taken out to spend my pocket money as a kid and then tearing open the box so I could read the manual in the back of the car before we got home.

      Looking forward to that podcast… do let me know the details once you have them and I’ll share them around! 🙂

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      • Thanks for the response to my article. 🙂 I used to read the manuals on the bus journey home. When it was time to play the game I didn’t need a tutorial as I already knew what to do because I read the manual.

        I’ll have more concrete details about the podcast around late July possibly.

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    • Cool idea for a topic. Never really felt to close to standard console manuals but have to admit to having a soft spot for the boxed PC releases especially the thick manuals in the Civilization games. Those were impressive to behold, I’ve brought novels that were slimmer with less content. Remember picking up Civ 4 from Virgin on Piccadilly Circus (showing my age) and half the box was the manual alone, fun times 🙂

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      • Some boxed PC games had some beefy manuals. I remember Fallout’s being quite big.

        Also major props for Civilization. Not much for that genre but the Civ games for some reason grab my attention.

        Thanks for your response to my article. 🙂

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  34. Still looking forward to that KACL style podcast!

    … Also, I’m hijacking your reason for not changing profile picture as I’m also on my phone and it’s got entirely nothing to do with me not quite knowing how to do it… 🙄

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  35. Second attempt! Hi y’all! I’m Megan from A Geeky Gal!

    My gift is my post about coming back from a month long mental health break: https://ageekygal.com/2019/06/05/spoilers-what-i-did-on-my-break-whats-next/
    Mental health is really important to me so stay tuned for a new series called “Mental Health in the Geek Community!”

    My profile picture is Mileena from Mortal Kombat because she is my favorite fighter!

    Also, I’m terribly sorry for not commenting on everyone else’s comments. I wrote several comments that didn’t go through for some reason, and now I just don’t have the time to go back and figure out what I said. 😦 Enjoy the party all!

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  36. What’s happening everyone, I’m a little late but my names Dale and I write for a site called Uncapt, which is run by me and my best mate Lloyd. We’re two complete idiots that try to string together some ideas about games when we can. At the moment we are still getting used to posting regularly and the whole blogging thing, so It will be nice to meet people in the scene! I don’t really know what I would pick for my favourite post right now, but here’s my latest post on the new Pokémon games and why you can’t catch them all anymore… which is sad news! https://uncaptreview.com/2019/06/17/you-cant-catch-them-all/ Hope you enjoy!
    As for cosplay? I suppose I’ll arrive as Handsome Jack (My favourite villain), minus the stapled face because that looks painful! I’ll be over at the bar having a pint or two with my diamond horse ‘Butt Stallion’!
    Also, thanks for setting this up, I have a lot of blogs to read now! Which is always a good thing, thanks everyone! 😀

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    • Dale, I’m really sorry: for some reason WordPress held back a bunch of comments yesterday as spam and withheld them! I’ve sorted this out now and have added your post into the schedule of those to be shared. Apologies for the delay. ❤

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      • Hi Kim, that’s no worries at all! I’m sorry if you got two comments, I did it once and thought I didn’t press send because I couldn’t see it! I got a lot of good blogs to read so it was a great event! Thank you!😁

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        • No worries – I removed one of the comments so there’s no duplicate. I now know I need to monitor the WordPress spam queue throughout the next blog party, just in case!

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  37. Good evening all!
    *places cakes on the table*
    Sorry I’m late, it has been a busy old day.
    Nice to see you all again and meet some new faces.

    Blog wise I’ve just been nattering about E3/EA Play really this month and celebrating my blogs second birthday.

    Looking forward to catching up on everyone’s blogs over the next few days 🙂

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