September 2022

Calendars? How about Character Selection, too

Syp recently posted about the awesome in-game calendar that World of Warcraft has, and he wondered why more games didn’t have that exact thing – I agree. It would make planning and looking at events SO MUCH EASIER especially in games like BDO where there are always a billion events at any one time.

Then I thought for a bit and came up with my own “why doesn’t every game have this feature” feature.

The BDO character selection screen. ESPECIALLY if your game has multiple servers. Why can I not see my characters in World of Warcraft until I log in to that server. My memory is horrible, I have no idea which of my characters is where (as noted by the screenshot below).

In BDO you can see a list of your characters, their level, even their inventory, and you can swap servers or swap to those characters. I would love to see this implemented in other games (EQ, looking at you). Even the EQ2 method where everyone is listed at the main UI along with the server under would be a better method, then I could at least visually see where my characters are and potentially what they were up to last. As it is now, I have to keep a spreadsheet on who I have where.

There are some great QoL ideas floating around out there and especially for games that may not have aged well, it would be great to see these old interfaces uplifted and renewed for gamers today.

An Update on Streaming

My return to streaming happened on June 27th, after over three years away (more like 6 years away, since the birth of my son). I have always wanted to stream, but I also have a lot of anxiety and health issues that prevent me from doing it smoothly. I decided to ease into it slowly, my streams are roughly an hour, and I only stream three days a week. They’re at (what I consider to be) an awkward time for others, but the best time for me (8pm EDT, mon/wed/fri). I stream a lot of World of Warcraft since that’s where I find myself playing these days, but on Wednesdays I stream alternative stuff depending on my mood. I’ve done fiber streams, RimWorld, and the latest Disney game.

It’s hard for me to measure growth, because every stream is different. Twitch uses an algorithm that I don’t quite agree with. Personally, I feel like the growth is there. I have a very dedicated small user base that returns each stream and supports me. They are honestly the reason I stream, they interact with me, ask questions, and are just a nice friendly bunch.

I’m streaming to help get past my crippling anxiety. Right now, I don’t use a cam, but eventually I’d like to muster up the confidence to stream with my cam on. I’m just not there yet. Of course I’d be lying if I didn’t mention the financial side of things, but that’s a smaller part. Since I homeschool and am stay at home parent, 99% of my day is filled with children and doing things for others. Streaming is for me. As much as it’s not supposed to, it makes me feel like I am doing something ‘more’.

I’m not sure why I’m making this rambling post except to say – I’m enjoying my time back. I’m pleased with the growth, and I can’t wait to see where I’m at in a year. I hope I can continue with it, I hope I continue to grow. If you’ve never caught my stream before, you can find me on twitch: twitch.com/stargrace – mon/wed/fri at 8pm EDT. Thank you everyone for the support. It is very appreciated.

Nomadic Gamer