Read this.
Why I felt like posting this on Twitter, I dunno. Call it me reaching out to people rather than babbling within a bubble.
Regardless, it bears repeating this isn't Leave Luck to Heaven's end. However, it's become clear I need to prioritize what's best for me and my career, and the current developments in the works for Hey Poor Player will decide that. In the meantime, if you exist, dear reader, please bear some patience.
I can, however, promise a new review by this weekend.
Showing posts with label checking in. Show all posts
Showing posts with label checking in. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Friday, November 2, 2018
Regarding Leave Luck to Heaven's Late 2018/New Year's Schedule
Hey, all! Time for that talk I mentioned on Wednesday.
As you know, I've been drowned by manga reviews for Hey Poor Player over the past couple months, and that's thrown a monkey wrench into my output here. Given the thrill of reviewing another medium over the past year, this isn't as regretful as you'd think, but given a) this priority has led to numerous delays, and b) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's December 7th release set to suck up my attention, I've found myself no choice but to make accommodations for this inevitability.
This isn't even getting into other factors -- sadly, it seems chemotherapy's no longer effective for my grandmother's cancer treatment, and we're expecting the inevitable within two months' time -- so please understand the following decisions weren't solely based around work/leisure.
First and foremost, Hey Poor Player's manga reviews will remain my No. 1 priority. This blog's only a side project, after all, and work is work. To clarify, this deluge was mostly due to VIZ's own delays in shipping thanks to their summer convention priorities -- to illustrate this workload, enough volumes poured in that I eventually reserved those reviews a month after release (typically, their launch months were a set goal). While I'll certainly be better prepared in handling that period from now on, there still remains a hefty amount of manga to review for the year's remainder. In case these reviews are of no interest to you, please make do for now.
However, this doesn't mean there won't be any blog reviews for November and December. For 2018's last two months, I've decided the following two series will take precedence:
Furhtermore, we'll be having a Kingdom Hearts Worldly Weekend Blowout. My original plan of wrapping up my Kingdom Hearts retrospective by Kingdom Hearts III's January release will continue as originally outlined. Four remaining games -- Dream Drop Distance, HD 1.5 Remix, HD 2.5 Remix, and HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue -- will be reviewed by the year's end. Dream Drop Distance was also originally scheduled for October's end and should release very soon.
Other games may pop up here and there, but as everything above will take priority, you shouldn't expect more than two.
So what does this mean for next year? Some delays on my end, naturally, but to ensure a steady review flow for both Nintendo and Worldly Weekend games, I'll be taking advantage of my NES Classic, Nintendo Switch Online, HAMSTER's Arcade Archives restorations, and the Namco Museum available on PlayStation 3, and engage in retro arcade/8-bit reviews! When given the innate brevity/replayability of classics like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Balloon Fight, these reviews shouldn't take very to pen, thereby lending themselves to a convenient turnover rate!
However, an exact schedule hasn't been decided. It could be anywhere from a biweekly basis to a month, but regardless, I'd like for these reviews to maintain a frequent basis. Given the aforementioned brevity, they may also be shorter than average, but that's not exactly set in stone, either.
So, in summary: Smash Bros. and Kingdom Hearts for the rest of 2018, and Arcade/8-Bit classics beginning next year. When factoring in manga reviews and Sleeping with the Enemy, that's not a bad deal at all, eh? I'm looking forward to it!
Anyway, I'll see you all next week.
As you know, I've been drowned by manga reviews for Hey Poor Player over the past couple months, and that's thrown a monkey wrench into my output here. Given the thrill of reviewing another medium over the past year, this isn't as regretful as you'd think, but given a) this priority has led to numerous delays, and b) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's December 7th release set to suck up my attention, I've found myself no choice but to make accommodations for this inevitability.
This isn't even getting into other factors -- sadly, it seems chemotherapy's no longer effective for my grandmother's cancer treatment, and we're expecting the inevitable within two months' time -- so please understand the following decisions weren't solely based around work/leisure.
First and foremost, Hey Poor Player's manga reviews will remain my No. 1 priority. This blog's only a side project, after all, and work is work. To clarify, this deluge was mostly due to VIZ's own delays in shipping thanks to their summer convention priorities -- to illustrate this workload, enough volumes poured in that I eventually reserved those reviews a month after release (typically, their launch months were a set goal). While I'll certainly be better prepared in handling that period from now on, there still remains a hefty amount of manga to review for the year's remainder. In case these reviews are of no interest to you, please make do for now.
However, this doesn't mean there won't be any blog reviews for November and December. For 2018's last two months, I've decided the following two series will take precedence:
It was always my intention to review Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS by the time of Ultimate's launch, and that remains the case. As it happens, the 3DS version's review is very nearly complete and was thiiiis close to making it by October's end, but things didn't work out. You can expect it sometime next week, and the Wii U game by early December. My undying love for Smash Bros. naturally entails a meaty length for both, so get ready to dig in!
Furhtermore, we'll be having a Kingdom Hearts Worldly Weekend Blowout. My original plan of wrapping up my Kingdom Hearts retrospective by Kingdom Hearts III's January release will continue as originally outlined. Four remaining games -- Dream Drop Distance, HD 1.5 Remix, HD 2.5 Remix, and HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue -- will be reviewed by the year's end. Dream Drop Distance was also originally scheduled for October's end and should release very soon.
Other games may pop up here and there, but as everything above will take priority, you shouldn't expect more than two.
So what does this mean for next year? Some delays on my end, naturally, but to ensure a steady review flow for both Nintendo and Worldly Weekend games, I'll be taking advantage of my NES Classic, Nintendo Switch Online, HAMSTER's Arcade Archives restorations, and the Namco Museum available on PlayStation 3, and engage in retro arcade/8-bit reviews! When given the innate brevity/replayability of classics like Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Balloon Fight, these reviews shouldn't take very to pen, thereby lending themselves to a convenient turnover rate!
However, an exact schedule hasn't been decided. It could be anywhere from a biweekly basis to a month, but regardless, I'd like for these reviews to maintain a frequent basis. Given the aforementioned brevity, they may also be shorter than average, but that's not exactly set in stone, either.
So, in summary: Smash Bros. and Kingdom Hearts for the rest of 2018, and Arcade/8-Bit classics beginning next year. When factoring in manga reviews and Sleeping with the Enemy, that's not a bad deal at all, eh? I'm looking forward to it!
Anyway, I'll see you all next week.
Monday, February 5, 2018
Introducing a New Feature: Tier Lists!
Hello, all! If you'll look below this post, you'll see the first entry for a new feature I've been wanting to do for quite some time now! As it happens, I've always enjoyed ranking things, and I've always thought it would be fun if I presented gaming-related lists and whatnot to the world. We've seen this before in my Top 15 Mario Kart 8 Tracks list, but how about, say, a ranked list of Nintendo 64 games, or what's my personal pecking order for The Legend of Zelda?
To satisfy that craving, I now introduce Leave Luck to Heaven's very first Tier List, featuring a subject we're all intimately familiar with: Kirby! Now that all the mainline games have finally been reviewed, I thought I'd celebrate by finally presenting my personal rankings for the series. Naturally, it follows the blog's score system, so you shouldn't have a hard time following it. As mentioned within its respective post, these lists are also subject to change over time, but I'll let you know whenever that happens.
Regardless, more are to come, although my plan is to split between plentiful franchises (which will also include certain series featured within Worldly Weekend) and Nintendo consoles (which will exclusively focused on Nintendo-developed/published games). To clarify on "plentiful," while you'll be certainly be seeing lists based on Zelda, Mario and even Final Fantasy, you shouldn't expect one for Super Smash Bros., as there's only fives game and they'd only rank at Really Great at worst.
Furthermore, you won't have to wait until I've reviewed, say, every Mario or SNES game until their respective lists come out; I haven't fully planned this out yet, but I'm thinking I'd only wait until I've reviewed maybe half of their libraries and gradually fill them in afterwards. Consequently, they may feel incomplete, but I suppose it'd be fun to watch them evolve over time, eh?
Unfortunately, the introduction of Tier Lists comes at an expense: after putting more thought into it, I've realized it's probably very unlikely Biweekly Music Wednesday! will be returning. With everything I have to juggle including this blog, Hey Poor Player, and other personal endeavors, it frankly obstructed much of my output and I'd be unable to maintain it without making serious concessions to my lifestyle, which I simply can't afford for a blog column.
I know it's disappointing news; personally, I'll miss injecting a different sense of game-related discussion every couple of weeks, but I've come to recognize more infrequent projects like this will be more suitable for the blog moving forward. As I ask you to please understand this development, you can also expect to witness appropriate changes to its placement within The Archives alongside Tier Lists and a much-needed Game Journalism upgrade.
Anyway, expect this week to be a meaty one regarding reviews for both Leave Luck to Heaven and Hey Poor Player, so stay tuned!
To satisfy that craving, I now introduce Leave Luck to Heaven's very first Tier List, featuring a subject we're all intimately familiar with: Kirby! Now that all the mainline games have finally been reviewed, I thought I'd celebrate by finally presenting my personal rankings for the series. Naturally, it follows the blog's score system, so you shouldn't have a hard time following it. As mentioned within its respective post, these lists are also subject to change over time, but I'll let you know whenever that happens.
Regardless, more are to come, although my plan is to split between plentiful franchises (which will also include certain series featured within Worldly Weekend) and Nintendo consoles (which will exclusively focused on Nintendo-developed/published games). To clarify on "plentiful," while you'll be certainly be seeing lists based on Zelda, Mario and even Final Fantasy, you shouldn't expect one for Super Smash Bros., as there's only fives game and they'd only rank at Really Great at worst.
Furthermore, you won't have to wait until I've reviewed, say, every Mario or SNES game until their respective lists come out; I haven't fully planned this out yet, but I'm thinking I'd only wait until I've reviewed maybe half of their libraries and gradually fill them in afterwards. Consequently, they may feel incomplete, but I suppose it'd be fun to watch them evolve over time, eh?
Unfortunately, the introduction of Tier Lists comes at an expense: after putting more thought into it, I've realized it's probably very unlikely Biweekly Music Wednesday! will be returning. With everything I have to juggle including this blog, Hey Poor Player, and other personal endeavors, it frankly obstructed much of my output and I'd be unable to maintain it without making serious concessions to my lifestyle, which I simply can't afford for a blog column.
I know it's disappointing news; personally, I'll miss injecting a different sense of game-related discussion every couple of weeks, but I've come to recognize more infrequent projects like this will be more suitable for the blog moving forward. As I ask you to please understand this development, you can also expect to witness appropriate changes to its placement within The Archives alongside Tier Lists and a much-needed Game Journalism upgrade.
Anyway, expect this week to be a meaty one regarding reviews for both Leave Luck to Heaven and Hey Poor Player, so stay tuned!
Monday, January 1, 2018
Happy New Year!
For better or for worse, the turbulence of 2017 has paved the way for a very uncertain 2018. Such is the life of a left-wing American, but I suppose my blog isn't suitable for airing such grievances (let's just leave it at climate change and social media's reluctance to tackle discrimination/harassment -- hi, Twitter -- being objectively terrible things).
Anywho, with the year opening with two days off I wanted to wrap up another review, but a December cold decide to infect me again, so now that's uncertain. Regardless, I guess now would be a good time to say pretty much all those minor review updates I mentioned in November have been completed (check out my fear of Sonic the Hedgehog's drowning music!). You'll also notice most of my 2010-2013 reviews feature a disclaimer noting they're obsolete, although having recently filed a review schedule, I wouldn't expectment replacements for all of 'em until maybe next year.
Oh, and expect three Hey Poor Player reviews this month, too: a manga volume and two games. The former may be my first review copy, and one of the two games is an import! Can I successfully juggle all that with the blog? We'll have to find out.
Anywho, with the year opening with two days off I wanted to wrap up another review, but a December cold decide to infect me again, so now that's uncertain. Regardless, I guess now would be a good time to say pretty much all those minor review updates I mentioned in November have been completed (check out my fear of Sonic the Hedgehog's drowning music!). You'll also notice most of my 2010-2013 reviews feature a disclaimer noting they're obsolete, although having recently filed a review schedule, I wouldn't expectment replacements for all of 'em until maybe next year.
Oh, and expect three Hey Poor Player reviews this month, too: a manga volume and two games. The former may be my first review copy, and one of the two games is an import! Can I successfully juggle all that with the blog? We'll have to find out.
Friday, November 17, 2017
On Leave Luck to Heaven's Future, Twitter, and Hey Poor Player
Hello. Given the lack of reviews and whatnot for Leave Luck to Heaven, it's time I shared my upcoming plans for the blog, so you'd better sit down.
While much of the recent drama has come and past, the blog has fallen to the wayside as Hey Poor Player and my real-life job have taken priority. This has induced some heavy guilt upon me, although it's hardly a new feeling: for years now, I've struggled to maintain a consistent output, all the while deadlines were missed and numerous announced projects and plans never came to be. This isn't the first time I've had this discussion, either, so for readers who have been frustrated with my droughts and broken promises, all I can say is that I truly am sorry.
Over the past several months, I've done some deep introspection over my writing habits and came to realize my evolution with writing: you know how waaaay back when I first started, I felt it necessary to write numerous posts just for one game? As Leave Luck to Heaven started out as an experimental platform, I felt that direction was necessary to establish my unique, but I came to recognize a year later that was far too excessive and time-consuming. Since then, my singular reviews have gradually evolved not just beyond syntax and grammatical improvements: reviews are no longer book-sized, and I've since done away with embedding game music via YouTube.
Upon reflecting on all that, I've come to the conclusion that if I truly desire a consistent schedule, then I'll have to make concessions with my key writing habit -- that is to say, review sizes will now be firmly within 1500-2000 word territory. Having spent the past two months trying to get my next Nintendo review out, it's become evident I can no longer sustain this gargantuan model anymore. Hammering this point is how I have way too many games lined up for review, and I cannot afford to write 3000+ word essays for them all.
At the same time, though, I understand it's my wordy prose that's a huge appeal of Leave Luck to Heaven, and so I'd like to reiterate this is not to say extra-meaty reviews are gone for good. I may be willing to stretch to 2500+ words for certain games, but I'll probably only reserve that for games I deem especially worthy of such deep analysis (off the top of my head, only The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and most of the Super Smash Bros. games come to mind). I'd like to also mention that 2000 words won't be a strict limit; if a review just happens to surpass that with 2150 or so, then, well, that happens.
Regardless, a monthly four Nintendo/two Worldly Weekend review model is still my goal, and adjustments are already being made to accommodate this process: games will no longer be subject to 100% completion before reviewing, for instance, so as to quicken the process for review (bear in mind this was only applied for Nintendo games). Meanwhile, I must also announce Biweekly Music Wednesday! will be going on hiatus until I maintain an acceptable review output. While disappointing, that column has admittedly been interfering with said output, so I'll definitely bring it back once things are steady.
In the meantime, I'd also like to announce my final decision regarding Twitter. After much going back-and-forth on the matter, I've decided to remain on the platform. While not an easy decision, like the rest of social media Twitter is simply far too intertwined with interaction and my profession to simply chuck away, so barring any public statements condoning the racists/bigots on the platform, it looks like I'm here to stay. However, in exchange, I will certainly be active in voicing my displeasure with said bigotry, and I'd like to call upon you to do the same.
Finally, I'd like to announce an exciting development with Hey Poor Player: starting next month, I will be reviewing manga! Those who follow the site have noticed we've covered movies and Netflix shows and the like, and as a huge consumer of manga, I figured that wouldn't be a stranger to the lineup! Having read manga for thirteen years, it's only natural I'd want to discuss my second favorite medium. We're still working out the details, but I'm aiming for two reviews per month, and I'll be beginning with the first volumes for Astra Lost in Space and The Promised Neverland, both fantastic series I've been following on Viz's Shonen Jump subscription. I've already been studying manga reviews, so needless to say, I'm quite excited!
Anyway, that's all I have to share. My next review is finally wrapping up, so I may be seeing you shortly. "Till then!
While much of the recent drama has come and past, the blog has fallen to the wayside as Hey Poor Player and my real-life job have taken priority. This has induced some heavy guilt upon me, although it's hardly a new feeling: for years now, I've struggled to maintain a consistent output, all the while deadlines were missed and numerous announced projects and plans never came to be. This isn't the first time I've had this discussion, either, so for readers who have been frustrated with my droughts and broken promises, all I can say is that I truly am sorry.
Over the past several months, I've done some deep introspection over my writing habits and came to realize my evolution with writing: you know how waaaay back when I first started, I felt it necessary to write numerous posts just for one game? As Leave Luck to Heaven started out as an experimental platform, I felt that direction was necessary to establish my unique, but I came to recognize a year later that was far too excessive and time-consuming. Since then, my singular reviews have gradually evolved not just beyond syntax and grammatical improvements: reviews are no longer book-sized, and I've since done away with embedding game music via YouTube.
Upon reflecting on all that, I've come to the conclusion that if I truly desire a consistent schedule, then I'll have to make concessions with my key writing habit -- that is to say, review sizes will now be firmly within 1500-2000 word territory. Having spent the past two months trying to get my next Nintendo review out, it's become evident I can no longer sustain this gargantuan model anymore. Hammering this point is how I have way too many games lined up for review, and I cannot afford to write 3000+ word essays for them all.
At the same time, though, I understand it's my wordy prose that's a huge appeal of Leave Luck to Heaven, and so I'd like to reiterate this is not to say extra-meaty reviews are gone for good. I may be willing to stretch to 2500+ words for certain games, but I'll probably only reserve that for games I deem especially worthy of such deep analysis (off the top of my head, only The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and most of the Super Smash Bros. games come to mind). I'd like to also mention that 2000 words won't be a strict limit; if a review just happens to surpass that with 2150 or so, then, well, that happens.
Regardless, a monthly four Nintendo/two Worldly Weekend review model is still my goal, and adjustments are already being made to accommodate this process: games will no longer be subject to 100% completion before reviewing, for instance, so as to quicken the process for review (bear in mind this was only applied for Nintendo games). Meanwhile, I must also announce Biweekly Music Wednesday! will be going on hiatus until I maintain an acceptable review output. While disappointing, that column has admittedly been interfering with said output, so I'll definitely bring it back once things are steady.
In the meantime, I'd also like to announce my final decision regarding Twitter. After much going back-and-forth on the matter, I've decided to remain on the platform. While not an easy decision, like the rest of social media Twitter is simply far too intertwined with interaction and my profession to simply chuck away, so barring any public statements condoning the racists/bigots on the platform, it looks like I'm here to stay. However, in exchange, I will certainly be active in voicing my displeasure with said bigotry, and I'd like to call upon you to do the same.
Finally, I'd like to announce an exciting development with Hey Poor Player: starting next month, I will be reviewing manga! Those who follow the site have noticed we've covered movies and Netflix shows and the like, and as a huge consumer of manga, I figured that wouldn't be a stranger to the lineup! Having read manga for thirteen years, it's only natural I'd want to discuss my second favorite medium. We're still working out the details, but I'm aiming for two reviews per month, and I'll be beginning with the first volumes for Astra Lost in Space and The Promised Neverland, both fantastic series I've been following on Viz's Shonen Jump subscription. I've already been studying manga reviews, so needless to say, I'm quite excited!
Anyway, that's all I have to share. My next review is finally wrapping up, so I may be seeing you shortly. "Till then!
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Checking In + Review Updates
Look at me, I'm a mess! I said tomorrow and I ended up posting this four days later. Unfortunately, I had some bad allergies and been lacking stamina, so we'll chalk it up to that and move on.
As far as good news goes, my cousin's wife is now cancer-free and on the road to recovery, although we did have an unexpected bump when we had to put down my dog not even two days before her operation. We've been prepared since he'd been growing deaf all year, but it's not like you can predict a stroke, sadly. I've been going through some drama lately, haven't I?
As far as the blog goes, I'd like to announce that I'll be going back to certain reviews and making grammatical/spelling updates. Most changes (and there won't be many) will be minuscule alterations, although my Sonic the Hedgehog review will include something I can't believe I forgot to mention. This is why review notes are important!
Speaking of reviews, I've been making strides in my review schedules and balancing that with personal game time. I'd rather go into detail in case it falls through (again..), but if it goes well, I may share some insight on the process!
Anyway, I'll be seeing y'all soon.
As far as good news goes, my cousin's wife is now cancer-free and on the road to recovery, although we did have an unexpected bump when we had to put down my dog not even two days before her operation. We've been prepared since he'd been growing deaf all year, but it's not like you can predict a stroke, sadly. I've been going through some drama lately, haven't I?
As far as the blog goes, I'd like to announce that I'll be going back to certain reviews and making grammatical/spelling updates. Most changes (and there won't be many) will be minuscule alterations, although my Sonic the Hedgehog review will include something I can't believe I forgot to mention. This is why review notes are important!
Speaking of reviews, I've been making strides in my review schedules and balancing that with personal game time. I'd rather go into detail in case it falls through (again..), but if it goes well, I may share some insight on the process!
Anyway, I'll be seeing y'all soon.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Regarding This Month's Drought and My Social Media Presence
Hey, all. Things have been quite slow this October, and when also factoring in some recent Twitter comments of mine about leaving the platform, I figure I should clue y'all in on what's going on.
First and foremost, I desperately wish this drought could be explained by it being a really busy work month (although it certainly has been that), but I'm afraid that's not the case. Earlier this month, my cousin's wife was diagnosed with an especially rare form of the paraganglioma, a cancer that's already rare in itself. While we've since approached this situation with optimism -- this isn't the first time a close family member had a brush with cancer -- as I'm extremely close with the family in question, it's naturally still on my mind 24/7, and we won't know the cancer's severity until the operation on Halloween. As two (very) young children are involved, needless to say it's a scary time.
Not to mention...honestly, it's already been an overloaded month as it is. Never mind all the hours of work, I took an insane amount of workload for Hey Poor Player earlier this month (three feature articles in three straight days), and I've been working beyond my limits to raise awareness for the site and match my monthly post quota. Furthermore, my next review...well, I won't spoil it for those waiting, but it's been a long time coming and given the massive size involved, it's been a huge stress factor as well.
In short, things may stay Hey Poor Player-only for a little while until I get my scheduling/life in order. It's a huge bummer personally since I finally set a proper set-up in penning my reviews and whatnot, but the extra workload has prevented me from carrying it out. Regardless, I hope you understand.
There's also the issue of Twitter; for the uninitiated, I have expressed a desire to drop the platform entirely. Over the past year, I have felt immense guilt associating myself with a site that, thanks to piss-poor moderation, has allowed the likes of racists, Neo-Nazis, misogynists and harassers on their platform, and I could no longer in good conscience tolerate their presence. It's immensely useful tool for sharing my work, yes, but would I be any better than those who value ad revenue over their users' safety?
However, a certain...incident threw a monkey wrench in my plans. NeoGAF, a forum I frequented for four years, underwent chaotic anarchy following sexual assault allegations against the owner, and I, like many others, did not wish any more association with the site. The exodus was immensely disheartening for everyone involved, and Twitter was the only reliable tool we had to stay in touch with old friends. In many ways, there was truly nothing like NeoGAF, it being one of the final gaming bastions of progressive ideology and a zero-tolerance policy towards any any of the alt-right rhetoric that's plagued our medium for the past several years.
Thankfully, since then we've made a smooth transition towards spiritual successor ResetEra, and while I personally couldn't be happier with how that's turned out, I'm still a little shaken by what happened. NeoGAF was set to be my one and only social internet connection once I left Twitter, and with that suddenly ripped from the equation, I'd be left with nothing else. Again, ResetEra's shaping up to be a worthy replacement, but that whole incident forced me to reconsider all my internet-related plan, and so that's why I'll be giving Twitter one last shot to redeem itself while being more proactive in calling out the filth plaguing the platform. This may, however, change depending on any further scandals with the service, so please bear that in mind.
Anyway, that's about it. I'll probably be spending the next week sorting this all out. Reset assured, Leave Luck to Heaven has some big plans in the future.
In the meantime, it's time for me to Do the Odyssey. See ya soon!
First and foremost, I desperately wish this drought could be explained by it being a really busy work month (although it certainly has been that), but I'm afraid that's not the case. Earlier this month, my cousin's wife was diagnosed with an especially rare form of the paraganglioma, a cancer that's already rare in itself. While we've since approached this situation with optimism -- this isn't the first time a close family member had a brush with cancer -- as I'm extremely close with the family in question, it's naturally still on my mind 24/7, and we won't know the cancer's severity until the operation on Halloween. As two (very) young children are involved, needless to say it's a scary time.
Not to mention...honestly, it's already been an overloaded month as it is. Never mind all the hours of work, I took an insane amount of workload for Hey Poor Player earlier this month (three feature articles in three straight days), and I've been working beyond my limits to raise awareness for the site and match my monthly post quota. Furthermore, my next review...well, I won't spoil it for those waiting, but it's been a long time coming and given the massive size involved, it's been a huge stress factor as well.
In short, things may stay Hey Poor Player-only for a little while until I get my scheduling/life in order. It's a huge bummer personally since I finally set a proper set-up in penning my reviews and whatnot, but the extra workload has prevented me from carrying it out. Regardless, I hope you understand.
There's also the issue of Twitter; for the uninitiated, I have expressed a desire to drop the platform entirely. Over the past year, I have felt immense guilt associating myself with a site that, thanks to piss-poor moderation, has allowed the likes of racists, Neo-Nazis, misogynists and harassers on their platform, and I could no longer in good conscience tolerate their presence. It's immensely useful tool for sharing my work, yes, but would I be any better than those who value ad revenue over their users' safety?
However, a certain...incident threw a monkey wrench in my plans. NeoGAF, a forum I frequented for four years, underwent chaotic anarchy following sexual assault allegations against the owner, and I, like many others, did not wish any more association with the site. The exodus was immensely disheartening for everyone involved, and Twitter was the only reliable tool we had to stay in touch with old friends. In many ways, there was truly nothing like NeoGAF, it being one of the final gaming bastions of progressive ideology and a zero-tolerance policy towards any any of the alt-right rhetoric that's plagued our medium for the past several years.
Thankfully, since then we've made a smooth transition towards spiritual successor ResetEra, and while I personally couldn't be happier with how that's turned out, I'm still a little shaken by what happened. NeoGAF was set to be my one and only social internet connection once I left Twitter, and with that suddenly ripped from the equation, I'd be left with nothing else. Again, ResetEra's shaping up to be a worthy replacement, but that whole incident forced me to reconsider all my internet-related plan, and so that's why I'll be giving Twitter one last shot to redeem itself while being more proactive in calling out the filth plaguing the platform. This may, however, change depending on any further scandals with the service, so please bear that in mind.
Anyway, that's about it. I'll probably be spending the next week sorting this all out. Reset assured, Leave Luck to Heaven has some big plans in the future.
In the meantime, it's time for me to Do the Odyssey. See ya soon!
Thursday, May 18, 2017
Checking In + Apologies
And just like that, two and a half weeks blazed past me. I've actually been so busy with other matters that I hadn't noticed the blog was being neglected! For those awaiting my latest pieces, you have my deepest apologies.
So, what "other matters" were these? Well, I suppose there were three:
1. Since the past month, Hey Poor Player has been pushing itself quite heavily over social media and the like in an effort to grow and raise awareness. We've made it a goal to grow into a big site by the end of the year, so naturally we've been spending much planning and the like on that.
2. My current Front End Associate job at Weis Markets seems like it'll be sticking around this time, as opposed to the temp jobs I've been taking up last year. Aside from...let's say, "rough patches" in the beginning, it's going quite well. I'm not working every day of the week, but obviously with three or four days taken up, I have to juggle my time wisely.
3. I've been rushing to complete Fire Emblem Gaiden by the time its remake, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, hits shelves tomorrow; as it currently stands, it seems I'll barely make it tonight, although given my trip to New York City this weekend I probably won't be playing it until Sunday or Monday.
How is Gaiden? Well, it's status as the "black sheep" of the series is...well, probably true. I've been planning finally review Fire Emblem on here by the end of the year, but in the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing how the remake improves upon it.
So there's all that. Again, sorry for the wait! To make up for it, I'll have a write-up sharing my goodies from NYC after I get home, as well as Biweekly Music Wednesday! and a new review in the next week!
Oh, and by the way, remember when I said I've been renovating my gaming basement? Progress has been quite smoothly on all that, and it's all nearly in a presentable state! As stated before, I'd love to show it off, and I'm hoping to finally do that this summer. Look forward to it!
So, what "other matters" were these? Well, I suppose there were three:
1. Since the past month, Hey Poor Player has been pushing itself quite heavily over social media and the like in an effort to grow and raise awareness. We've made it a goal to grow into a big site by the end of the year, so naturally we've been spending much planning and the like on that.
2. My current Front End Associate job at Weis Markets seems like it'll be sticking around this time, as opposed to the temp jobs I've been taking up last year. Aside from...let's say, "rough patches" in the beginning, it's going quite well. I'm not working every day of the week, but obviously with three or four days taken up, I have to juggle my time wisely.
3. I've been rushing to complete Fire Emblem Gaiden by the time its remake, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, hits shelves tomorrow; as it currently stands, it seems I'll barely make it tonight, although given my trip to New York City this weekend I probably won't be playing it until Sunday or Monday.
How is Gaiden? Well, it's status as the "black sheep" of the series is...well, probably true. I've been planning finally review Fire Emblem on here by the end of the year, but in the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing how the remake improves upon it.
So there's all that. Again, sorry for the wait! To make up for it, I'll have a write-up sharing my goodies from NYC after I get home, as well as Biweekly Music Wednesday! and a new review in the next week!
Oh, and by the way, remember when I said I've been renovating my gaming basement? Progress has been quite smoothly on all that, and it's all nearly in a presentable state! As stated before, I'd love to show it off, and I'm hoping to finally do that this summer. Look forward to it!
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Spring Cleaning + Kirby Concert!
Hey all, sorry for the two-week absence; been juggling through several reviews/Hey Poor Player stuff as I've been perfecting the balance between my work/writing/reading/gaming schedules or what not. I'd like to think I've finally about to hit a sweet spot, but we'll see in the coming months.
In any case, I've finally been wrapping up the post tags for much of my earlier stuff. All that's left is for posts from the end of 2014 to mid-2015, and we should be good to go for that. I've also taken the liberty of updating my reviews with "score" tags, so you don't have to click all the way to the archives to discover my verdict.
Unfortunately, a lot of music videos and the like have been taken down over the past few years, I'm not sure when I'll have time to fix all that, but I am aware of the issue. Until then, please be patient.
(Funny story: in the process, one of my earlier E3 posts somehow got pushed up to being published today! Got fixed, but no idea how that happened!)
...so, how about that Kirby concert, eh? Truth be told, while most of the translation work was done by my friend at Source Gaming, I took the liberty of translating the above setlist as well as a couple other details. My Japanese skills are still growing, and I can't wait for them to become a reliable asset for Hey Poor Player!
And yes, I'm still biting at the bit for confirmation of a CD/DVD release! As mentioned in the article, the Fire Emblem and Zelda 20th anniversary shows got their own respective soundtracks, so I'm thinking it's likely Kirby will get its own!
In the meantime, a Japanese show-goer took the liberty of uploading the show setlist as according to the original versions of the songs. (To reiterate, these aren't the actual orchestrations) If you're like me and just can't wait until a CD release, I highly recommend checking it out.
Gotta say, that's an incredibly solid song list, although I'm saddened Rainbow Resort and Kirby's Epic Yarn didn't make the cut...
Anyway, I've been hard at work getting Leave Luck to Heaven active again by next week, so get ready for some serious review/Biweekly Music Wednesday time soon!
In any case, I've finally been wrapping up the post tags for much of my earlier stuff. All that's left is for posts from the end of 2014 to mid-2015, and we should be good to go for that. I've also taken the liberty of updating my reviews with "score" tags, so you don't have to click all the way to the archives to discover my verdict.
Unfortunately, a lot of music videos and the like have been taken down over the past few years, I'm not sure when I'll have time to fix all that, but I am aware of the issue. Until then, please be patient.
(Funny story: in the process, one of my earlier E3 posts somehow got pushed up to being published today! Got fixed, but no idea how that happened!)
...so, how about that Kirby concert, eh? Truth be told, while most of the translation work was done by my friend at Source Gaming, I took the liberty of translating the above setlist as well as a couple other details. My Japanese skills are still growing, and I can't wait for them to become a reliable asset for Hey Poor Player!
And yes, I'm still biting at the bit for confirmation of a CD/DVD release! As mentioned in the article, the Fire Emblem and Zelda 20th anniversary shows got their own respective soundtracks, so I'm thinking it's likely Kirby will get its own!
In the meantime, a Japanese show-goer took the liberty of uploading the show setlist as according to the original versions of the songs. (To reiterate, these aren't the actual orchestrations) If you're like me and just can't wait until a CD release, I highly recommend checking it out.
Gotta say, that's an incredibly solid song list, although I'm saddened Rainbow Resort and Kirby's Epic Yarn didn't make the cut...
Anyway, I've been hard at work getting Leave Luck to Heaven active again by next week, so get ready for some serious review/Biweekly Music Wednesday time soon!
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