Nomadic Gamer

Blaugust2023

Gaming

Archaeology in Wurm Online

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The goal for this week in Wurm Online is pretty simple – I have 1400 archaeology fragments that need to be identified. Identification has two steps, the first step uses a stone chisel, and then you need a metal brush. I want to get all 1400 on the metal brush stage. I have 300/1400 done at the time of this post. It will take some time, each action in Wurm takes a bit, but I’m hoping by the end of the week I can complete the first step of the task – then next week I can complete the second step of the task (completing identification by using the metal brush) and then I can finally put all of the pieces together.

Right now I have 61.51 skill in archaeology, and 61.52 skill in restoration. I’m not using sleep bonus or buffs for this first step, but I will for the subsequent steps. I’m hoping this will inch me closer to 80, but we all know that Wurm Online is a pretty slow moving game on the best of days.

The fragments themselves came from an explorer who was mapping out the island I live on. They had no use for them as they don’t really do archaeology itself, so they scattered the bits all over the place and I would go around each day collecting them. Hopefully I get a few neat bits and bobs out of it in the end, even a statue or two completed would be nice.

As always, happy gaming – no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming Real Life

In a Subscription Model World, What Do you Prioritize?

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When it comes to video games I used to love the subscription model. It was a nice base price paid monthly, cancelled when I didn’t want it. Over time, it has evolved and changed into something I no longer recognize or enjoy. Now you’ll see games with a subscription that also offer some sort of pass you have to purchase separately, that also offer a shop to sell things for cash, that also offer any number of other features and bonuses that all add up. It’s rare that a subscription gives you access to everything.

What bothers me even more is that the entire world has turned to a subscription model method of doing things because you can easily nickel and dime this way. Amazon prime – comes with TV channels, but here in Canada you can add MORE channels for a bit more cost. Which (since we cancelled cable) we pay for. Then there’s Netflix, Disney+ and CRAVE (another Canadian streaming option). Then there’s my two young children, they have a subscription to Barbie worlds (which is an amazing app on their ipad, I’m not ragging on the cost of it or the fact that they have it, but it is yet another subscription for me to take mind of), and they used to have a subscription for Pepa Pig, too (they outgrew that one, thankfully).

There’s subscriptions for meals, subscriptions for boxes of goodies that show up at your door monthly, dog or cat supplies, wine, beef jerky, subscriptions for magazines, apps, and music. If you can think of it, there’s probably a subscription for it. When you think about these little bits of bite sized costs it’s easy to forget how much you’re actually spending each month – they add up! I highly suggest people keep a list some place where you can keep track of these little payments and see a grand total some place. It’s VERY easy to forget these costs, especially with automatic payments.

For me, prioritizing is a bit more simple. I pay for WoW (and all Blizzard related things) with gold, so that takes a huge chunk of my personal subscription fees away (two accounts, all expansions, etc). I play FFXIV, and I have the cheaper subscription option but I have 1 extra retainer, which is another fee. I try to keep my personal subscriptions to just 1 item, whether it’s a game, or Crunchyroll (used to watch anime), or a yarn box subscription.

In a world that has become SO subscription heavy, how do you decide what is “worth it” and how many subscriptions are you currently balancing? Let me know in comments!

Gaming

[Spoiler Free] Thoughts on Baldur’s Gate 3

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I have to admit, Baldur’s Gate 3 sort of took me by surprise. I played Divinity Original Sin with my husband, and I liked it but I didn’t love it. I’ve never played any of the Baldur’s Gate games before, but I do really enjoy TTRPG’s and everything they encompass. I picked up the game on a bit of a whim, and then waited until it released before actually playing – and I’m so glad I did.

This game is easily my top 5, and I’ve sunk more hours into it in a shorter time than a lot of other games I own. I’ve got two campaigns on the go, one with a group of 4 people and one that’s just a duo between myself and my husband. The moments have been hilarious, sad, and scary sometimes all at once. There’s so much creativity involved that you could play in so many different ways and have so many different outcomes. I absolutely love it.

I think by now I have over 18 hours invested into it, and I feel as though we’ve barely scratched the surface. In one campaign I play a human paladin, and in the second I’m a wood elf druid. I’ve talked to many cows, owlbears, squirrels, and dogs. I’ve done good things and some not so great things. I’ve pushed enemies off of ledges, and I’ve killed my own team mates (by accident, I swear). The story and narration is superb, and I actually care about what’s going on. I want to complete those little side quests that I typically ignore.

There has only been one case (so far) where I went back to a previous save, to be honest it was really late at night and I just wasn’t making good decisions, and then the dice decided to give me a really rough time on top of my very poor decisions. I don’t regret rolling it back, but on the same hand I also don’t want it to become the norm for my adventures. So far, I’ve held true to that.

I can’t say much without giving away spoilers, which I absolutely do not want to do, so I’ll just leave it at that. I love the game, I’m having a blast, and while combat at times has been difficult, I’ve never found it impossible. It does take a lot of creativity, and I’m glad that there are some less spontaneous members of my party so that we’re not all rushing into things all at once. I am definitely not the one who thinks things through first. As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

Games – What’s Going on in August

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Despite what the past week or so has shown, I DO tend to write about video games here, so let’s do a little update on that.

World of Warcraft – I’m “playing” but not really. I haven’t kept up with content or story, instead I do some pet battles and marketing bits. As much as I love World of Warcraft, and I do, the game is old and it shows. It’s comfortable, but there’s nothing innovative and I always get a little bored mid way through expansions. It happened with Shadowlands and I’m not exactly surprised that it’s happening in Dragonflight either. Don’t get me wrong, I think DF is an amazing expansion (compared to previous ones) and I’ve had a lot of fun, but it doesn’t seem to last.

Wurm Online / Wurm Unlimited – I’ve been cautious about playing much WO because I’m not exactly convinced that the ‘new’ CEO won’t completely change the game that I love and adore, so to scratch some of those WO itches I’ve been playing a bit of WU, where the Sklotopolis server is my home and I have a small deed there I’ve been working on. WO has done some great QoL changes over the years that I really wish WU would be able to pick up on, but the Sklotopolis server developers have done well given their restrictions. They can only do server side changes with the way things currently are.

FFXIV – My husband returned to this game sort of out of the blue, because two of his RL friends are playing. I decided why not, and my little bard is mid-way through Endwalker and level 86. Most of my time is still spent crafting and harvesting, but the game is lovely. I’d like to get more into housing (so far I only have an apartment) and I’m learning the markets. Having 40(60) sale slots has been an interesting restriction that I’ve been having fun working around/with.

Baldur’s Gate 3 – Like a lot of others, I picked it up just before release and then held off playing so that progression wouldn’t have to start over. I have a 4 person campaign with some friends, and a 2 person campaign with my husband. I’ve been having an absolute blast, and while I know there are some issues that hardcore D&D players take issue with, I’ve just been relaxing and enjoying the narrative. Combat did take some getting used to, but now that we’re no longer in the tutorial and we’ve been adventuring together for a bit, it’s much more fluid. I play a wood elf druid in my group campaign, and a human paladin with my husband. Probably one of my favourite games this year.

Cook Serve Delicious 3 – When I don’t want to be around people this is the game I head to. I enjoyed the previous two versions of the game, and the third one follows a pretty dark apocalyptical timeline that I wasn’t expecting, but still enjoy. I appreciate that they have a ‘chill’ mode, and it’s just been a great little game to escape to.

School (and thus homeschool) will be picking back up in September, and this time I’ll have my 7 year old son and my 5 year old daughter so spare time (and thus gaming time) will go down as I do lesson plans and all that other fun stuff. I’m also trying to dedicate a bit of free time to hobbies, so games that I can get into (and out of) quickly are usually the winners. Baldur’s Gate 3 is (right now) Tuesday / Friday nights for 2h, and everything else I just sort of rotate around. Hopefully I can continue to balance it all, but we shall see. Life doesn’t always listen to me when I ask things to go a certain way.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

DailyCreative

Hobbies – Round Four: Art

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It’s the fourth and final round of hobbies for the week, and I’m ending it with one of my most passionate ones but also a sorely neglected one (aren’t they all) – art. I used to do a lot of traditional art but stopped for about 20 years, and then when I picked it up again I found some days my body simply wouldn’t listen, so I now switch between digital art and traditional art.

Tools of the trade: For digital art I use an ipad and an apple pencil 1st generation. Software is Procreate, but I know everyone has their favourites. I use default brushes, and most of my pieces are nature related.

For traditional art I’ve been learning how to use watercolours, though I also have some gouache that I’m trying to learn. My favourite is probably just pen and ink. am fascinated by urban sketching, and my YouTube shows a lot of that. The thing is, art takes time and practice to get better at, and it’s been many years since I was any good at it. I don’t dedicate nearly the amount of time that I wish I did. Last year I was trying to complete one piece a week, and I ended just shy of that. This year I attempted the same, but I’ve only completed four pieces for the year. It’s a mixture of reasons, all of them excuses. I am happy to be back doing art though. It always holds a very special sacred place in my heart.

I try to keep my art supplies neat and tidy and all in one location, but it eventually spills out around the house over time. My computer desk is home to most of it, with a few bins underneath for sketch books. A plastic stand with drawers to the side of my desk holds paint, brushes, and other bits and bobs.

That makes four days of hobbies. Knitting (and fiber related arts), miniatures, cross stitch, and art. That doesn’t included other hobbies that I dabble in, including cooking, reading, photography, and whatever else happens to cross my path, honestly. I love trying different things and finding out what works (or doesn’t work) for me.

Tomorrow? Back to our regular scheduled video game posts!

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Nomadic Gamer