August 2010

Always The Nomadic Gamer

stargrace August 18, 2010 5 Comments

There’s a reason I call myself the Nomadic Gamer. Chances are at any one time I’m subscribed to at least two games. Typically more. I bounce from game to game depending on my whims and I rarely stay settled in a game for longer then a month. I realize this is an incredibly frustrating method to play – especially for my dear friends who have had to put up with my play style for far longer then anyone should have to tolerate it. It’s also the way I’ve always played, ever since EQ2 came out (EQ1 being the only game I actually stuck with on its own). I blame this on a combination of things. The need to constantly be multi tasking, and the blunt fact that since playing video games (and writing about them) is my day time job, the more games I play the more insight I have and the more articles I can write and then (eventually) the more money I make.

Still, it’s not easy. Especially for those good friends who like to game WITH me. If you’re not used to this life style then I can see how it would be incredibly frustrating. I keep waiting for that single game that will pull me in and make me forget about all others, but it simply hasn’t happened. I want to apologize to those friends who are unable to understand why I play this way, or who are hurt by the fact that I may be there one week and not the next. I always return to a few ‘main’ games (EQ2, VG, WoW, EVE, EQ, W101, LotRO), but I hardly expect everyone I know to jump around from game to game with me. All I can ask is that they have some patience with me. There are other methods of contacting me if I don’t happen to be playing a particular game that month (you can find me on various forms of IM as well as twitter and email) and I’m never that out of reach.

I’ve tried to stop apologizing for my gaming habits. I’m pretty up front and anyone who has read this site (or my sister site, nomadicgamer.com) realizes that this is just how I happen to spend my time in game. It’s one of the things I love about knowing so many people who play video games – we don’t all play the same way. I’ve always cherished my friendships and been proud of the fact that they transcend any video game out there, that a true friendship won’t be lost based on the games I’m playing (or not playing) but lately it feels like perhaps that is not the case. Online friendships are fragile things, and it’s all to easy to go the rout of “out of sight out of mind”.

Anyhow, sorry for the ranting today but it was something I wanted to talk about. Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself.

Some Real Life Crafting and Adventures

stargrace August 15, 2010 2 Comments

Ah. The joys of having bags that are constantly filled with crafter supplies. This weekend I haven’t played a lot of Vanguard. Number one, I don’t want to burn out, and number two I’ve been involved in some pretty hefty real life crafting / adventuring lately which pulls me away (gasp) from the PC. If you thought this would be a post about Vanguard, well. You’ll just have to wait for tomorrow’s post instead.

I’ve been taking screen shots in games for as long as I can remember. I have literally thousands of screen shots stashed in various folders all over my computer. Since I can’t exactly hit a ‘print screen’ button in real life I’m typically dragging around my Olympus E410 with me which is an amazing camera that I got a few years ago as a Christmas present. I currently own three lens for it, including a 300mm zoom and a macro lens. Essentials for my ‘hobby’ as a photographer. This week there was not only the aurora borealis going on, but also a meteor shower. While I’ve always had a keen interest on all things sky (and sea) related, this heightened to an extreme that I could no longer ignore.

I decided after doing a lot of research that I want to get into astrophotography. I learned a few things. Number one: WOW is it an expensive hobby to get into. It’s also a LOT of fun, and a LOT of work. I wanted a telescope, and learned that in order to take semi decent pictures of the sky I would want one that has computerized tracking. That is so you can lock onto an object (or at least a section) in space and track it through the sky so that your camera doesn’t blur the image. In order to get good pictures of stars for example, you need to leave your cameras shutter open, allowing more light into it. If the sky is moving, the stars smudge. I’ll need a remote for my camera so that me holding down the shutter doesn’t blur things further. Also, I want a t-ring, these are camera specific, and allow you to attach your DSLR to a telescope using it as the actual lens of the camera. Sure, you can find items that will “hold” your camera up to the telescope, but these are not exactly ideal.

Telescopes are really expensive. Computerized ones even more. I found a Celestron NexStar 60 SLT Telescope for roughly $200 (Regular $500) and decided I was going to invest in it. The reviews are alright – apparently if I get really into this hobby I’m going to want to upgrade the lens, which is simple enough to do. This telescope is not the best out there by any means but the price was right and it does have computerized tracking. I should be able to get incredibly detailed shots of the moon, Saturn and it’s rings, Jupiter and other stuff. I won’t be seeing any nebula any time soon, but that doesn’t always have to be the case.

I am *incredibly* excited. Obviously, since I’m posting about it here on MmoQuests and I’ve done nothing but talk about telescopes for the last three days. Gaming is great, and the people I meet in games are fantastic, but when it comes right down to it it’s a combination of hobbies and interests that makes life so fantastic.

I hope everyone has had an amazing weekend! Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself – and I’ll see you in Telon.