Saturday, December 31, 2011

My phone is going to get me in trouble someday.

Well it’s the end of the year and as they say, “Out with the bad, in with the good.” It’s entertaining to see the parade of failed goals of the year ticker across the board. Of course, one of the biggest excuses has always been, “Life gets in the way,” and I always considered that an excuse, even if it is the truth. The same excuse for leaving purchased games played on the shelf and our hard drives, creating the backlog situation that plagues gamers of our caliber.

Usually I would back up a lot of my writing with references and supporting facts, but I’m at a serious disadvantage at the tools at my disposal in my current position. Despite my own life getting in the way, I still manage decent movement with my own gamerscore. If it wasn’t for the WP, then you wouldn’t be seeing anything from me at all. Thankfully I’ve gotten the opportunity to calculate what I’ve managed.

Since deploying near the end of September, these total numbers earned were:

September: 500gs, equaling 605 TA
October: 2885gs, equaling 4078 TA
November: 2470gs, equaling 3543 TA
December: 3140gs, equaling 4374 TA

A grand total of 8995 gamer score, 12600 TA score and roughly 36 games completed, almost purely by windows phone. (40 points are credited to Tinker.)

When you see the prices of DLC and games, don’t forget that there is more to the product than what sits before you. The names that show on the credits aren’t there simply for you to sit through to earn that achievement. They are on the other side, doing the things that most of us aren’t capable of doing, which is creating the content we are so quick to judge. We as gamers are given the right, and entitled to our own opinions on wither something is worth its cost; we are the market’s voice. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they take it personally if they ever read through the comments that unfortunately permeates the front page news. Just as we as consumers are entitled to use our voice, developers and publishers are just as entitled to set the price of the content we want to buy. Of course there is the business end of this industry, and there is one more reason why products are priced the way they are; after all, we as a collective whole have made the bed we’re sleeping in right now. Read about the process and maybe even give it a try, then ask yourself when everything is done and your own creation is up on the indie marketplace if the blood, sweat and time put into your creation isn’t worth more than 80ms points.

As for me, when you begin to see crimson traces smear across the cell phone screen, although it would make for a great story, it’s time to reconsider the priorities.

New Year’s Resolution: Come home with all ten fingers. (Insert any monophonic Fallout 3 BGM here.)

Don’t just wish for a good new year; be the change you wish to see in the world. Do it like you mean it, and then do it well. At least do it better than those who settle to bark rather than bite. If you’re as deep-rooted into the gaming culture to the point where you joined communities such as TrueAchievements, gaming is not something that gets in the way of life, it’s a part of it.

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