Happy September, everybody! Fall is here, probably my favorite season. I am one of those people who gets ready for the holidays way too early.
Last month was pretty much eaten up by moving to a new apartment. In my complete naiveté (or just denial) I thought it would take just a day. That is now hilarious to me, because it was a whole weekend process plus lots of going back and forth the rest of the week. Or maybe the next two weeks. I’m losing track of time. The only video game I played much of all month was Mortal Kombat X, since it’s easy (and not too time-consuming) to pick it up and play a few battles when you need to take a break from packing!
Video Games: This month I’ve started playing Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, which is incredible so far. I had Human Revolution but found it challenging after just one main mission, and since Mankind Divided was coming out and getting all the hype — yeah, I kind of skipped Human Revolution. Maybe I’ll go back to it. (I say that with a ridiculous backlog of games already…)
The only trouble I have in Deus Ex is with stealth. I am just not a stealthy gamer. I love Dishonored but it’s not the easiest game for me to play — and frankly, I don’t always take the sneaky route. (That’s why it’s so fun to have supernatural powers in Dishonored!) Yet you’ll see me crouching and letting arrows fly all the time in Skyrim… I guess it just depends on how it’s done — and so far, Deus Ex is a little tricky for me.
What I do like is the idea of hacking in Deus Ex. I’m not sure about the minigame yet — still mastering it, and not sure if I love it — but at least the concept of hacking to aid stealth makes the idea of crawling along the ground and hiding for many drawn-out minutes at a time feel more exciting. And Adam Jensen is such a badass.
TV: Last month I watched Stranger Things. I liked it. But now that fall is here, it’s all about Halt and Catch Fire for me! The third season started last week, and if you haven’t seen it, I recommend picking it up at season two. =)
Running: With the move, I’ve been pretty bad about working out, but I have a 10K coming up and am excited to take the next week or two here to prepare for it. The new apartment has a great running loop that makes running outside way more fun than ever.
Video Posts: In other news, I’m experimenting a little with making some videos for Robo♥beat. I already posted a (super shy!) one last week, about D’Vorah in Mortal Kombat X.
There are a few reasons I’d like to make videos occasionally now. One is that I love going to other people’s sites and finding other kinds of content besides writing, like podcasts and videos. Another is that it would be fun to include gameplay footage when I’m talking about video games! Also, I’m a writer for a living, so I write all day… and then I come home and write some more on my novel and my blog. I love it, but it would be interesting to do something different. Maybe it’ll spice up the content on my site a little, but it should also give me a new challenge and get me out of my comfort zone! That said, I have no gear yet (nor any idea what I’m doing), so for now, it’s mostly just experimenting. =)
What are you guys up to this month? And what’s everybody playing these days?
— Ashley
Robo♥beat 
Hey, I enjoyed your video, by the way. I meant to tell you at the time. Hope you have a great September. I won’t be doing any gaming (except on my iPad) but I’m hoping to finish writing my October Game of Thrones posts. And I’ll be posting three years worth of Microstories in one mega post. (So look for that in a few days.)
Thanks! Oooh yeah, I’m excited to read more of your Game of Thrones posts. So you write them in advance? I’ve always wondered how other people set up their blog posts. Anyway, I love the Microstories so I’m looking forward to reading those too! :)
I only have short blocks of time with which to write, so I worry about missing my self-imposed deadlines if I don’t write them out well in advance. But when I get the mood to write about Batman or random movies or whatever, I can usually get them written and out with a short turnaround.
I’m glad you like the MicroStories!
Moving is Hell — you have my sympathies. I’ve just had the one year anniversary of my moving back to Toronto. Think I’ve just about recovered from the move…
I, too, welcome the coming of autumn. Still kind of hot here, but you can tell summer’s grip is loosening. Fall is so beautiful in Toronto; I can’t wait.
For what it’s worth, you didn’t come across as shy in your video to me. I’m impressed by your courage, really. I’ve had terrible stage fright since I was a small child, so you’d never see me posting videos of myself on my blog.
As for me, I’m still pretty sucked into WoW. The new expansion just launched a few days ago. My plan is to let my sub lapse around mid-month, but I’m having so much fun right now I can’t rule out extending it. Whenever I am done with WoW, I want to finally start on Knights of the Fallen Empire in SW:TOR. I’d also like to finish my second build in Landmark, and SC2’s co-op is getting some updates this month (probably), so I’ll have to somehow find some time for that.
Damn it, gaming industry, stop being so awesome all the time.
I’m also continuing to enjoy season two of Dark Matter, binge re-watching Star Trek: Enterprise, and finally getting around to reading that HG Wells book I got aways back (“The Sleeper Awakes”).
Oh, and if you’re curious about how I do my blogs, I used to write them the same day I posted them, but these days I usually write them in advance. Sometimes it’s just a day beforehand, but for more evergreen topics, the delay between writing and posting can be much bigger. That Humans review you commented on a few days ago? I wrote it in June.
Interesting! That makes sense for the evergreen content, I actually have one post coming up that was intended for 4th of July but since I missed posting it in time, I’m switching it to Labor Day! So occasionally I have to save a blog post for the right time, I guess.
I keep hearing about the WoW expansion, sounds like you’re liking it then?
I’m about halfway through the first season of Dark Matter, though I haven’t watched it in at least a week. Maybe tomorrow I’ll find some time! I need to catch up on your reviews as well.
Thanks for the sympathies on moving and the words about videos. Yeah, I am quite shy but glad I didn’t come across that way too much! Though I’ve kind of accepted that’s who I am and try not to be negative about shyness, or introversion anyway. It’s cool you can share so much through writing. I find it a great outlet to express myself when I might not as much through talking a bunch, etc. :)
I actually haven’t done much of the new expansion content yet. I’m waiting for the crowds to die down. I’ve just done a couple of artifact quests, though those have far exceeded my expectations. Mostly what I’ve been doing the last few days is leveling my shaman, which is the last class I don’t have ready for Legion. I’m astonished how much I’ve been enjoying playing through Pandaria again. The most fun I’ve had in the game in a long time. Wish I’d appreciated Pandaria more at the time — the environments are stunning, the story is fantastic, and the music is breathtaking. WoW has many flaws, but you can always count on the soundtrack being awesome. It has to be the best in the gaming industry.
Plus it’s nice to be playing my shaman again; I missed the old lug.
As for expressing myself, I love my talking about my passions, but nobody else seems to appreciate it, so I’ve learned to stay quiet most of the time. At least on my blog I can gush as much as I want and people don’t roll their eyes or try to change the subject. :P
For doing a super shy video of yourself, you did really well! :) I would say what I’m playing right now, but that would spoil the reveal for my next video game challenge for this month. Stay tuned for that! :) Really loved Stranger Things and I might come up with a post for that one once I figure out how I want to write it. Other than that, I’m definitely excited for the upcoming Luke Cage series! Looks really good from what I saw of the trailers and it’s nice to see more diverse super heroes on TV too.
Oh yeah, you watched Stranger Things too? I kept hearing about it so I finally caved and watched it, and I’m glad I did. I’m also looking forward to luke Cage! Is it coming out this month? Anyway, I can understand you wanting to keep your next video game a secret, I always enjoy keeping up with what you’re playing through your video game challenge posts! :)
Yeah, I wasn’t really interested in watching Stranger Things either until too many people kept saying how good it was. It’s a good thing we decided to watch it otherwise we would both be missing out! Luke Cage does come out later this month. I think September 30? Now that fall is here, there’s so many new releases to look forward to!