Update: Thero’s An Idiot.

I’ll always admit when I’ve done something stupid and last week I did something stupid. Some of you may remember I said I was going to write a recommended video game post and post it last week. Well, I wrote it… but I forgot to schedule it so it would go up last Thursday. To make matters worse, I didn’t realise this until late Sunday evening. So, I am an idiot. I want to apologise to you guys and the post will go up Tuesday.

What am I reading?

I finished The Crown Towerby Michael J. Sullivan and went straight onto the next book in the series, The Rose and the Thorn, which I have about 100 pages to go. I know I’ve said it once but I’m saying it again, if you love epic fantasy, I highly recommend The Riyria Revelations and The Riyria Chronicles. I would, like the author suggests, start with Riyria Revelations then move onto Riyria Chronicles because there are some moments in Chronicles that give a little nod to the first series. Still, both series have me hooked and probably will hook other fantasy fans.

What have I been playing?

Mad Max. OK, let’s move on. Well, if you want to me to go into details… I’ve now been playing the game for more than 100 hours. I’ve completed Act 3 of the story, collected all the car colours and hood ornaments; used every lookout post; completed one race in a legendary car in record breaking time; almost finished all construction projects and almost defeated every enemy base. I guess you could say I’m making some progress. I reckon with a few more hours I’ll have completed most side objective and collectables, then its just the rest of the story. Once that is completed, I’ll be reviewing the game on the Upon Completion blog. Then I’m going to play a much shorter game.

What am I blogging about?

Like I mentioned at the start of this post, on Tuesday there will be a Recommended Gaming post. On Friday, providing I’m continuing to be stupid, there will be a Recommended Reading post.

And that is pretty much it for last week. Not a lot really happened, mainly because I was working most of the week. I hope you guys have been enjoying the summer, as always I love hearing about what you’ve been reading/playing/watching, so let me know in the comments!

Update: Mechs & Madness.

Well, this week has been a little challenging! My brother is into collecting and making Gundam figures. In the past, I’ve enjoyed playing tabletop miniatures games like Warhammer,  so I thought why not give it a go. So, I bought a Gundam kit, one my brother suggested would be good for a beginner. Now, I thought tabletop miniatures were fiddly- Gundam kits are on whole different level. In the end it took me about three hours to complete and while it was a challenge, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks to my brother, it looks like I maybe making ore of these kits in the future.

 

What am I reading?

I finished Homeland and have almost finished  Sojourn, the third book in the Legend of Drizzt series. I have to say, out of the three books I’ve read in the series, Sojourn is the one I’ve enjoyed the most. The book focuses on Drizzt’s first few years on the surface, trying to survive in this new world, while dealing with the rejection he faces being a Drow. I’m going to take a break from this series for a little while, so I’ll be starting another Michael J. Sullivan book, The Crown Tower.

What am I playing?

A lot of Elder Scrolls Online. This time, I’m focusing more on on the PvE content, as I sort of neglected it, in the previous week. It does mean my Wood Elf is now level 30- I’m slowly making progress! I have also dabbled in Mad Max, I determined to finish this game, even if it kills me!

What am I blogging about?

This week, there’ll be the First Impressions post I was going to put up last week, but life got in the way. I’m also going to write another post, that’s a bot different. Anyone who has seen some of my posts will have seen my Recommended Reading posts; well, I going to try something new and recommend some video games I think people will enjoy playing. My first Recommended Gaming post will be out on Friday.

That’s the end of this update. What have you guys been reading/playing/watching? Let me know in the comments!

The Unique Blogger Award!

I know, two posts in one weekend, I’m spoiling you guys! Anyways, a few days ago, Luna at GamersUnitedGG Blog nominated me for the Unique Blogger Award. I want to apologise to Luna for taking so long in writing this post and I would love it if anyone reading this, could go and have a look at Luna’s blog, its pretty awesome!

So , onto the award rules, which are as follows:

• Share the link of the blogger who has shown love to you by nominating you.
• Answer the questions.
• In the spirit of sharing love and solidarity with our blogging family, nominate 8-13 people for the same award.
• Ask them 3 questions.

Here are Luna’s questions (and my answers):

1.What are your favourite topics to blog about?

Video games, books, anime, TV shows, pretty much anything I enjoy I like to share with other people. If one of my recommendations gives someone else a moment of escapism and enjoyment, then mission accomplished!

2. Name a guilt pleasure of yours?

This is a tough one! I suppose one guilty pleasure of mine is to watch TV shows from my childhood. These range from X-Men: The Animated Series, to the original Pokemon episodes, Thundercats to Power Rangers (please don’t talk to me about that film…). I guess its just that nostalgic feeling but sometimes I just want to watch something with a simple plot, with characters I know and love.

Another guilty pleasure is playing some of the really odd ‘gaming’ apps on my Amazon Kindle Fire. The Amazon App store is a strange place and some of the apps there are even stranger. Yet, I get some bizarre enjoyment out of playing them, even if it is for five minutes.

3. If you were a billionaire, what was your claim to fame?

This is hard! I want to say being sponsored to finish Mad Max. Actually, being sponsored to play and finish all the games in my Steam library. I think that’s a worthy claim to fame!

Onto the people I wish to nominate. I’m going to be honest, I don’t have eight people to nominate, especially since Luna would have been one of them, and she has already nominated another blogger I would have chosen. So here are the five bloggers I would like to nominate:

• Karandi at 100 Word Anime.
• Rocco B at In The Cubbyhole.
• Tessa at All About Anime.
• The Otaku Judge at The Otaku Judge.
• Reckless Reporter at Game Cosmos Press.

Now, here are my three questions for them:

1. Why did you decide to start blogging?
2. If you could talk to yourself from the past, what advice would you give?
3. If you could visit any fictional world/place, where would it be and why?

That’s the end of the award! I would like to thank Luna, once again, for nominating me and if you could spare a moment to visit her blog, and also the blogs I’ve linked to, that would be brilliant. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Update: A Bit of a Competitive Week.

Once a month, myself and some guys I work with get together and play Magic: The Gathering.  Let me tell you, this gets quite competitive. This time we also had two people join us who had never played Magic before. It was great watching slowly ‘get’ the game… and then beat the rest us. Yep, one of the newbies beat the more experienced players, which was satisfying to watch.

What am I reading?

I’ve been reading quite a lot. I finished Kings of the Wyld– the ending was just as epic as the rest of the novel. I’m glad of the promise at the end of the book, that there will be a book two. I also read the first Legend of Drizzt book, Homeland by R.A. Salavtore, which while it was slow in pacing at times turned into a pretty good read. I am now reading the second book, Exile, which seems to be just as engaging as the first book.

What am I playing?

A lot of Elder Scrolls Online. Unfortunately, despite my efforts, I am not getting the crown for the Midyear Madness event. Still, I gave it a good go and while I may not get the crown, I did take down some member of the Dagerfall Covenant and the Ebonheart Pact! I was surprised at how much fun I had in PvP, something I didn’t expect to enjoy as much as I had. This week though, I’ll be focusing on more single player games, Mad Max springs to mind…

What am I blogging about?

Its that time of the month, again, where I’ll be looking at my monthly bundle of games from Humble Bundle. My post on that will be up on Saturday. I may also have a First Impressions post on Thursday, it depends if I can get it done in time.

And that has been my week! I hope your week goes great and I’ll talk to you soon!

Update: Rescue Missions, Dungeon Crawling and a Little Bit of Madness.

Due to work,this week has been pretty quiet. Still, I’ve managed to watch 5 episodes of Critical Role,  a show on Geek & Sundry where a group of voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons. I guess after last week’s adventure, I seem to have caught the D&D bug!

What am I reading?

I’ve almost finished Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. It was been an amazing read so far and seems to have earnt the high ratings people have given it. Its sort of like a fantasy version of The Expendables films, as a group of retired mercenaries reunite to save their leaders daughter, after she gets trapped in a city besieged by monsters. It is funny, with humour similar to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. If you want to read a book that pokes fun at Dungeons & Dragons and dungeon crawling video games, then you may want to read this.

What have I been playing?

Well, I’m still still playing Mad Max, which isn’t a bad thing as I love the game, its just I keep saying I’m going to review it but I can’t until I have finished. Seriously, everytime I think I’m almost done, some new area or activity pops up. I’ve also been dabbling in a bit Gauntlet, which gave me warm nostalgic feelings. Finally, yes, I’ve been playing Elder Scrolls Online. I’ve actually stepped out of my comfort zone and have been playing PvP. This is mainly because of the Midyear Mayhem PvP event, that started last week and continues to the 31st- I’m gonna get that crown! Probably not, since I’m not great at PvP, but its still nice to take part.

What am I blogging about this week?

This week, I will have one post for this blog, a top five list, that will go up on Thursday. Its going to be about man’s best friends in video games. I’m not going to make any promises about a review on the Upon Completion blog, but if I do manage to write one, it will go up on Friday.

That’s been my week, I hope you guys had a great one and I’ll see you next week!

Update: Be Careful of Things Said In Jest…

Well, my week ended a bit unusually! It started off with me explaining to my mother what Pathfinders is and what an RPG is. I then jokingly so, I should teach her how to roleplay and she actually agreed! Saturday comes around and apparently my dad and my brother also want to take part. I had the 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons starter box, which I thought would be the best way to introduce them. It was the most unusual session of D&D I have ever been a Dungeon Master for. Mum was a fighter that didn’t really want to fight anyone, Dad was a cleric who forgot he had healing spells until the end of the encounter and my brother, who was the only one to have ever played D&D before, wanted to set everything in fire. Still, everyone enjoyed themselves, which is the most important. Just be careful of what you say to people!

What am I reading?

I finished The Magicians. The ending took me by complete surprise, in a good way, and has made me consider getting the next book in the series, The Magician King. However the next book, I am about to start, is called Kings of The Wild by Nicholas Eames. Based on the blurb, its about a group of retired mercenaries who reunite for one last job. I’ll let you know I get on with it next week.

What have I been playing?

I’ve been playing a couple of games this week. The first is Mad Max which I’m still trying to finish for the Upon Completion blog, there’s just so much content to get through! The second game is called Guild of Dungeoneering a card based, dungeon crawler. The game is easy to learn, but difficult to master. Finally, yes, I have also played some Elder Scrolls Online. Here is a screenshot of my character:

What am I blogging about this week?

I’ve got two posts this week. The first will be a First/Final impression of Netflix’s new series, Castlevania, that will be posted on Tuesday. On Thursday,  I will have a Recommended Reading post about an alternative for Game of Thrones. Its a bit fifty fifty whether I will have completed Mad Max and write the review this week, but if I do, it will be on the Upon Completion blog on Friday.

So it was a bit of a busy week for me. If you have any stories about playing Dungeons & Dragons, or any other RPG, I would love to read them. Hope you guys have a great week!

Update: Melting Like The Witch of the West!

This past week, we’ve been having a bit of a heat wave in the UK and I don’t like it. I’m someone who prefers the cold, so this last week has not been pleasant; still I’ve managed to take my mind off the weather with a few things.

What am I reading?

I finished Promise of Blood, which had a fantastic end that left enough plot threads for the next book in the trilogy, which I’ll be picking up soon. I’ve now started reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman. The best way I can describe The Magicians is its sort of a cross between The Chronicles of Narnia series and the Harry Potter series but aimed more for adults. I’m about half way through, but I’ll be honest I’m not enjoying it as much as Promise of Blood. I’m not sure why exactly, I think its because its a fantasy novel that’s trying to be very cynical of the genre. Still, I’l stick with it and see how it turns out.

What have I been playing?

I’ve only been playing two Bethesda games this week: The Elder Scrolls: Legends and The Elder Scrolls Online. The Elder Scrolls: Legends is a free to play card game based around the world of The Elder Scrolls. I’m mainly playing it to fill the Chronicle: Runescape Legends void in my heart, which doesn’t seem to be longer updated and has lost quite a few players. In The Elder Scrolls Online, I slowly (very slowly) getting my Wood Elf archer towards the more advanced content.In next week’s update, I’ll include a screenshot to show how my character has changed since the my post in the Video Game Challenge.

What am I blogging about this week?

On Wednesday, I’ve got a First Impressions post about a Netflix show, that I was way overdue watching. I wonder if you guys can guess what the show is? Over on the Upon Completion blog, I’ve only got a Sentence Summary post, as I’m still working on my Mad Max review. The Sentence Summary will be up on Upon Completion on Friday.

 

And that’s it for my week! I would love to know what you guys have been up to. In meantime, I’m off to pray for some rain, or to get a cold bucket of water. See you next week!