While my review writing pace has slowed down considerably over the last year, a new avenue to assist x360a has opened up for me. There's little glory to be had in the position (your average viewer will never see what I do), and it's not something I could easily toss on a resume when trying to get into the gaming industry, but I'm still happy to be doing it, and helping out the site.
I have been brought into the x360a Guide Team to assist, primarily as a guide editor. As I understand it, the job entails taking the best from any and all written guides for a game, tweaking or improving descriptions as needed, and preparing the guide to be posted to the main site. Unlike the guide authors, my name won't be splashed on top of the guide credits. The editing task is virtually invisible to the outside viewer.
Total disclosure: I JUST got access to the guide team yesterday, and haven't actually done anything for them yet. I'm just starting to learn the ropes and expectations. My actual contributions probably won't start until January, when my work schedule lets up a little. Not even sure if they really consider me "Guide Team" yet LOL. I probably have to actually do something to earn the title =)
The position is a good fit for me. I love working on guides, but have written relatively few for the site myself. I can only count The Maw and the Side Quest and Trading Card guides for Deadly Premonition to my credit (and the side quests was co-authored). I have the writing talent to do guides, but I don't like the competition that comes with being "first" and the attention they get during the writing process. Where a review is one-way (MY way), the guide writing process is collaborative, and trying to deal with 1,000 other people isn't my thing.
However, I love editing. Always have. I edited other people's papers in high school and college. I had to edit my own work constantly, considering how much writing goes into English and Sociology degrees. I've had to edit as a creative writer and a review writer. I have fun taking a set of works and making their message even better. Some of you may understand that, other probably won't. So I was excited to hear I could help on the guide team without actually having to write guides. This role suits my skill set just fine.
I'd like to thank the mods and admins of x360a for the opportunity to contribute, and I look forward to helping out... next year. I still have to survive the build up to Christmas, the day-after shenanigans, and then getting the store back in order. Fun!
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
A Winner Is Me
It's over... it's finally over! After a month long, epic quest, I have crossed the finish line of National Novel Writing Month, having written over 50,000 words in one month. Considering that not a single word was written on a day when I worked, I truly wrote 50,000 words in just 15 days! This is a monumental personal achievement for me.
I've always wanted to write a book, but I've sat around an not actually done anything with that dream. This year I decided to give NaNoWriMo a solid effort to kick myself into cranking out some words, no matter how bad. At least I would have something to go back to and expand upon and edit later.
The final leg of the journey was brutal. At 32,000 words, my writing sputtered, as I reached the limit of what I could write without any prior plotting or planning on where the story was going. I staggered on, writing segments of the story in a random order, just putting to the page any scene that popped into my mind. I padded my word count by writing some fake news stories that I hope to eventually use as chapter openers. I wrote one seen only in response to a dare from my friend Sandra, who also is doing NaNo this year.
Still, all my sputtering only got me to 42,000 words. 8,000 words short, I was dead in the water. At that point, I just let go. I stopped caring if what I wrote would be usable in the future or not. I even stopped caring about my plot. I forceably put the story in a setting I was comfortable with, and carried on writing by stream of consciousness (I turned a speculative fiction story into full-on alien abduction sci-fi with a snap of my imaginary fingers). I kept my main character, but just wrote the first thing that popped into my head, no matter how wierd or stupid it seemed. To my great surprise, those last 8,000 words were among the most fun to write, and actually aren't all that bad.
Once I passed 50,000, I submitted my manuscript to have the word count validated, and it said my story was actually almost 600 words shorter than it really was, so I had to go back and write some more. I took the easy way out, having my main character relay to a few newer characters everything that had happened in the novel so far. It was a cheap and easy way to boost my word count over the finish line I had honestly already passed.
While those last 8,000 words won't survive to the final novel, I'll be copy/pasting them into a different document and saving it, as there might be a story concept in there for the future. While my novel isn't actually complete, I'm going to take a break from it for a little bit, and focus my attention of fleshing out the rest of the story before coming back to it to complete it.
I couldn't have managed this accomplishment without the support of my friend Sandra. Thank you, thank you, thank you Sandra! Her encouragement, ideas, and inspiration kept me going every time I was about to crap out. I hope I've pulled my weight in returning the favor. I've just won. Sandra, you better be coming behind me =) Victory is sweet. Victory shared is even sweeter.
I plan to celebrate by cracking open a beer and spending the rest of tonight playing games, and I plan on having a massive game marathon tomorrow. New Vegas and Enslaved are begging me to play them. So far, Enslaved has been might impressive. I'm just two chapters in, so we'll see how the rest of the game goes.
I've always wanted to write a book, but I've sat around an not actually done anything with that dream. This year I decided to give NaNoWriMo a solid effort to kick myself into cranking out some words, no matter how bad. At least I would have something to go back to and expand upon and edit later.
The final leg of the journey was brutal. At 32,000 words, my writing sputtered, as I reached the limit of what I could write without any prior plotting or planning on where the story was going. I staggered on, writing segments of the story in a random order, just putting to the page any scene that popped into my mind. I padded my word count by writing some fake news stories that I hope to eventually use as chapter openers. I wrote one seen only in response to a dare from my friend Sandra, who also is doing NaNo this year.
Still, all my sputtering only got me to 42,000 words. 8,000 words short, I was dead in the water. At that point, I just let go. I stopped caring if what I wrote would be usable in the future or not. I even stopped caring about my plot. I forceably put the story in a setting I was comfortable with, and carried on writing by stream of consciousness (I turned a speculative fiction story into full-on alien abduction sci-fi with a snap of my imaginary fingers). I kept my main character, but just wrote the first thing that popped into my head, no matter how wierd or stupid it seemed. To my great surprise, those last 8,000 words were among the most fun to write, and actually aren't all that bad.
Once I passed 50,000, I submitted my manuscript to have the word count validated, and it said my story was actually almost 600 words shorter than it really was, so I had to go back and write some more. I took the easy way out, having my main character relay to a few newer characters everything that had happened in the novel so far. It was a cheap and easy way to boost my word count over the finish line I had honestly already passed.
While those last 8,000 words won't survive to the final novel, I'll be copy/pasting them into a different document and saving it, as there might be a story concept in there for the future. While my novel isn't actually complete, I'm going to take a break from it for a little bit, and focus my attention of fleshing out the rest of the story before coming back to it to complete it.
I couldn't have managed this accomplishment without the support of my friend Sandra. Thank you, thank you, thank you Sandra! Her encouragement, ideas, and inspiration kept me going every time I was about to crap out. I hope I've pulled my weight in returning the favor. I've just won. Sandra, you better be coming behind me =) Victory is sweet. Victory shared is even sweeter.
I plan to celebrate by cracking open a beer and spending the rest of tonight playing games, and I plan on having a massive game marathon tomorrow. New Vegas and Enslaved are begging me to play them. So far, Enslaved has been might impressive. I'm just two chapters in, so we'll see how the rest of the game goes.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Operation Overdrive
This weekend, I dance with the Devil. That devil is named Call of Duty: Black Ops. That Devil is named self-discipline. That devil is named NaNoWriMo.
I fell to the invisible hand of peer pressure and gave Bobby Kotick (and Treyarch... I guess) my money with the purchase of Black Ops. I really hope it lives up to the hype, and is a game I put a f**kton of hours into, because I really shouldn't be buying full retail games for quite a while.
And, of course, I purchase it while I'm 7,000 words behind the pace in National Novel Writing Month, and won't have added a word to the story in 2 days (I'm not writing tonight... I need to play Black mother-loving Ops.) These next three days are critical, as if I can't close or eliminate that gap, I'm going to be hurting very badly if I actually want to cross the 50,000 word count mark and win.
Thus, the next three days are Operation Overdrive. I'm going to blast off my word count or die trying. It's really quite simple. I wake up, sit at the computer, and don't leave or do anything else until I've written at least 1,600 words. At that point, I get a 2-hour break to do whatever I want, but after those 2 hours I have to stay chained to the laptop writing until another 1,600 words have materialized. This trend will continue until AT LEAST I catch up to pace, but may go on longer if I can stand to sustain it. I'm hoping this will generate at least 4,800 to 6,400 words per day, which would erase all the damage my days off have done (today is November 10th and I have actually only written on 5 days).
It will take a lot of self-control not to break down 800 words into a set and play some Black Ops, but I must keep my will strong. I will make my word war with my friend Sandra a battle that's actually interesting. Right now, she's DESTROYING me. I'll catch you yet, sly devil. I absolutely will =)
I fell to the invisible hand of peer pressure and gave Bobby Kotick (and Treyarch... I guess) my money with the purchase of Black Ops. I really hope it lives up to the hype, and is a game I put a f**kton of hours into, because I really shouldn't be buying full retail games for quite a while.
And, of course, I purchase it while I'm 7,000 words behind the pace in National Novel Writing Month, and won't have added a word to the story in 2 days (I'm not writing tonight... I need to play Black mother-loving Ops.) These next three days are critical, as if I can't close or eliminate that gap, I'm going to be hurting very badly if I actually want to cross the 50,000 word count mark and win.
Thus, the next three days are Operation Overdrive. I'm going to blast off my word count or die trying. It's really quite simple. I wake up, sit at the computer, and don't leave or do anything else until I've written at least 1,600 words. At that point, I get a 2-hour break to do whatever I want, but after those 2 hours I have to stay chained to the laptop writing until another 1,600 words have materialized. This trend will continue until AT LEAST I catch up to pace, but may go on longer if I can stand to sustain it. I'm hoping this will generate at least 4,800 to 6,400 words per day, which would erase all the damage my days off have done (today is November 10th and I have actually only written on 5 days).
It will take a lot of self-control not to break down 800 words into a set and play some Black Ops, but I must keep my will strong. I will make my word war with my friend Sandra a battle that's actually interesting. Right now, she's DESTROYING me. I'll catch you yet, sly devil. I absolutely will =)
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
6 Days Til National Novel Writing Month
I've made mention of this before, but as of yesterday I'm officially signed up for National Novel Writing Month, which takes place in November. The goal is to write a single work of fiction running AT LEAST 50,000 words, and work cannot begin before November 1st.
Why am I doing this? It's one of my life's dreams to be a published novelist, but I've done a poor job over the last year of actually writing anything. Can't really achieve that dream if I don't have a finished project to try to get published, can I? So, by participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) I'm forcing myself to crank out some words, and have a legitimate core for what I will later expand to a full novel (50,000 words in honestly only half the length of your average novel, but still a lot to write in 30 days).
Writing during NaNoWriMo is all about Quantity over Quality. Write, write, write, even if what you're writing is crap, keep going! It's about going with the flow and creating without letting your internal editor bog you down about making everything perfect. Once November is done, THEN I will go back and see how much of what I wrote can still be used in the real, full-length novel, and what will have to be cut.
For anyone interested in following my progress, I will have a word counter widget installed to this blog as soon as the event starts. Also, once it's all over, I'll be happy to email out the unedited original draft to anyone who provides me an email, so you can read what I worked so hard to create.
Here is me "official" short preview of what the story is about:
Nate Gillick's 2010 novel stars Calvin Johnson, a freelance writer who reluctantly picks up an iAssistant, the new wonder-gadget that has billions of potential uses, from phone to portable TV to translator to heart monitor. Surgically attached at the wrist to help monitor vital signs, the iAssistant even comes with adaptive AI, that learns from how it's used, to be the best possible servant and companion. But what happens when a modern marvel of all-in-one technology grows a mind of its own, and disagrees with its owner on how it should be used?
Why am I doing this? It's one of my life's dreams to be a published novelist, but I've done a poor job over the last year of actually writing anything. Can't really achieve that dream if I don't have a finished project to try to get published, can I? So, by participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) I'm forcing myself to crank out some words, and have a legitimate core for what I will later expand to a full novel (50,000 words in honestly only half the length of your average novel, but still a lot to write in 30 days).
Writing during NaNoWriMo is all about Quantity over Quality. Write, write, write, even if what you're writing is crap, keep going! It's about going with the flow and creating without letting your internal editor bog you down about making everything perfect. Once November is done, THEN I will go back and see how much of what I wrote can still be used in the real, full-length novel, and what will have to be cut.
For anyone interested in following my progress, I will have a word counter widget installed to this blog as soon as the event starts. Also, once it's all over, I'll be happy to email out the unedited original draft to anyone who provides me an email, so you can read what I worked so hard to create.
Here is me "official" short preview of what the story is about:
Nate Gillick's 2010 novel stars Calvin Johnson, a freelance writer who reluctantly picks up an iAssistant, the new wonder-gadget that has billions of potential uses, from phone to portable TV to translator to heart monitor. Surgically attached at the wrist to help monitor vital signs, the iAssistant even comes with adaptive AI, that learns from how it's used, to be the best possible servant and companion. But what happens when a modern marvel of all-in-one technology grows a mind of its own, and disagrees with its owner on how it should be used?
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Good Peer Pressure
Peer Pressure can be a great source of inspiration when properly applied. I have been seeking it out a lot lately as it applies to my own writing, and have been able to generate motivation to get my butt in gear writing my novel from a couple different sources.
First, I have enlisted my friends Tim and Sandra as my "Quality Assurance" agents. It is their job to keep pestering me to make sure I'm writing my self-imposed weekly quota of 3000 words. Knowing that there's two people who will harass me if I become lazy in a nice motivational tool, and they will provide useful feedback for me as the novel progresses.
Another great writing tool I recommend to anyone who wants to write is www.critiquecircle.com. It's a site where people can critique other people's stories and have their own reviewed by others. It also has handy tools like progress graphs and social monthly goals. I will be using those to also ensure I'm keeping up with the 3000 words a week I'm striving for (once I get good at this, I'm hoping to up that pace to 5000 to 8000 words a week). And, to make my success or failure even more public, I'm adding the tracking bar available on the site to this blog, for all of you to see. It will be updated weekly at least, as Sandra and I have an arrangement that my weekly work has to be sent out to her by midnight every Saturday. You'll see that bar has 120,000 as the goal, as that's the projected minimum length for the novel.
Hopefully these measures will keep me going strong. I want to knock this novel out of the park.
First, I have enlisted my friends Tim and Sandra as my "Quality Assurance" agents. It is their job to keep pestering me to make sure I'm writing my self-imposed weekly quota of 3000 words. Knowing that there's two people who will harass me if I become lazy in a nice motivational tool, and they will provide useful feedback for me as the novel progresses.
Another great writing tool I recommend to anyone who wants to write is www.critiquecircle.com. It's a site where people can critique other people's stories and have their own reviewed by others. It also has handy tools like progress graphs and social monthly goals. I will be using those to also ensure I'm keeping up with the 3000 words a week I'm striving for (once I get good at this, I'm hoping to up that pace to 5000 to 8000 words a week). And, to make my success or failure even more public, I'm adding the tracking bar available on the site to this blog, for all of you to see. It will be updated weekly at least, as Sandra and I have an arrangement that my weekly work has to be sent out to her by midnight every Saturday. You'll see that bar has 120,000 as the goal, as that's the projected minimum length for the novel.
Hopefully these measures will keep me going strong. I want to knock this novel out of the park.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Back from the Dead: Future Review Strategy
It has been one of the longest dry spells between posts in this blog's history... nearly two weeks. I need to get back on the horse. So, to rekindle the flame, I'm writing out a massive and rambling post that will be released in pieces over the next several days. I'm still experiencing the dumb glitch that is dating all my posts as if they came from November of 2009, and I have no idea how to fix it. So, so everyone knows, today is June 2nd of 2010.
One of the reasons I've found it tough to blog lately has been the Hand of Thrawn podcast. A lot of the things I would end up writing about or commenting on here, I instead discuss with the crew on our show. It's left me starving for content, and I don't want to say the same things here that I do on our show, and seem redundant. What form the happy medium between the podcast and this show will take, I do not yet know.
I also haven't reviewed anything in what seems like an eternity. There are several reasons for this. I was trying to review Record of Agarest War, but the length of the game and my inability to play it for lengthy stretches in one sitting has made it slip by, to the point that it's not worth the effort any more. Lately, the UK side of x360a has been snagging early review editions of games, with the effect that between Webb and Jackanape, the two of them have beasted out damn near every review over the last few months. I don't begrudge them for this; it makes sense for the person who is able to get the review done most efficiently to do it. I just wish communication was more open on what the UK side is getting and who is reviewing what is still needed... Looks like the new trend is going to be me picking up what junk falls through the cracks while the AAA games are all spoken for. Again, I get why things are the way they have been and have no beef with any site staff, I just feel a little left out.
So, to get me mojo back, I'm going to get more involved with Podcast reviews for the Hand of Thrawn Podcast over the coming weeks and months. While I will write reviews for x360a first whenever there is a chance, if someone else is reviewing the game, I will write a review for the podcast instead. We are still hammering out how reviews will be handled on the show, but they will all be backed up by a traditional text draft from yours truly. The first two candidates for review are likely to be Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption. They may be a while yet, but I promise to be more timely with reviews as the Podcast Review project gains momentum.
If I can throw yet another disclaimer out there, my reviews are strictly my own views on a game. If I should review a game someone else on x360a does, and take a different stance on it than they do, or score it differently, that does not mean I'm right and they're wrong, or visa versa. Take my reviews as they are, and not in the context of anything else.
There, is my butt covered from any off-base ideas and unnecessary drama? There isn't any.
I may rent a game or two this month if I find out there is need for a review, but otherwise, I'm planning on not purchasing any games in June, and focusing my gaming efforts instead on maxing out Alan Wake (which I have beaten once), Red Dead, and delving into my newly discovered love for Dragon Age Origins.
That's it for today. There shall be more tomorrow.
One of the reasons I've found it tough to blog lately has been the Hand of Thrawn podcast. A lot of the things I would end up writing about or commenting on here, I instead discuss with the crew on our show. It's left me starving for content, and I don't want to say the same things here that I do on our show, and seem redundant. What form the happy medium between the podcast and this show will take, I do not yet know.
I also haven't reviewed anything in what seems like an eternity. There are several reasons for this. I was trying to review Record of Agarest War, but the length of the game and my inability to play it for lengthy stretches in one sitting has made it slip by, to the point that it's not worth the effort any more. Lately, the UK side of x360a has been snagging early review editions of games, with the effect that between Webb and Jackanape, the two of them have beasted out damn near every review over the last few months. I don't begrudge them for this; it makes sense for the person who is able to get the review done most efficiently to do it. I just wish communication was more open on what the UK side is getting and who is reviewing what is still needed... Looks like the new trend is going to be me picking up what junk falls through the cracks while the AAA games are all spoken for. Again, I get why things are the way they have been and have no beef with any site staff, I just feel a little left out.
So, to get me mojo back, I'm going to get more involved with Podcast reviews for the Hand of Thrawn Podcast over the coming weeks and months. While I will write reviews for x360a first whenever there is a chance, if someone else is reviewing the game, I will write a review for the podcast instead. We are still hammering out how reviews will be handled on the show, but they will all be backed up by a traditional text draft from yours truly. The first two candidates for review are likely to be Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption. They may be a while yet, but I promise to be more timely with reviews as the Podcast Review project gains momentum.
If I can throw yet another disclaimer out there, my reviews are strictly my own views on a game. If I should review a game someone else on x360a does, and take a different stance on it than they do, or score it differently, that does not mean I'm right and they're wrong, or visa versa. Take my reviews as they are, and not in the context of anything else.
There, is my butt covered from any off-base ideas and unnecessary drama? There isn't any.
I may rent a game or two this month if I find out there is need for a review, but otherwise, I'm planning on not purchasing any games in June, and focusing my gaming efforts instead on maxing out Alan Wake (which I have beaten once), Red Dead, and delving into my newly discovered love for Dragon Age Origins.
That's it for today. There shall be more tomorrow.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Possibly PAX?
I'm trying not to get my hopes up lest cruel reality crushes my dreams, but early September could be the best opening to a month EVER lol. Here's the scoop: In mid-June, I'm going to hit my 1-year anniversary with Walmart, and have my first week of paid vacation. If no other assistant has already claimed the week of September 4-10 off (Walmart weeks run Saturday to Friday) or I can convince them to switch, that will be my week of vacation.
Should this almost-perfect scenario come to pass, I work Friday, drive straight to Minneapolis after work, and catch a late night flight to Seattle. Check in, crash for a few hours, then hit the ground running for Saturday and Sunday of the Penny Arcade Expo.
Now, if my partner Chris (who works when I have my days off) agrees to work that Friday shift for me in exchange for me working one of his shifts sometime, I would essentially have an 11-day vacation (Aug.31 through Sept. 10). In this ultimate scenario, I crash at my parent's house on Wednesday night, and catch a Thursday morning flight to Seattle. This would give me some time in the afternoon to get my bearings before meeting up with people for the Pre-PAX festivities, and I'd be on hand for all three days of the expo.
If I can do this, it would rock on so many levels (in no order):
1. The chance to meet in person some of the site staff I've been working with so long.
2. Rumor has it Bishop is going, so I'd have the opportunity to meet another member of the Hand of Thrawn... and FINALLY meet someone (in-person) with a higher gamerscore than mine.
3. Assuming I can go, I can get in as press, and I'll be writing as many articles as I possibly can for x360a (none of you have any idea what I'm capable of when I go into one of my Super Saiyan manic writing sprees). Plus, I'll have at least a week's worth of blog and podcast material out of it all.
4. Writing those articles would allow me to continue honing the skills I need to find paying work in the gaming industry, and covering PAX is as directly related a work experience as I could ask for.
5. The chance to meet and network with people in the industry, learn from them, and maybe even pass out a few resumes if opportunity knocks.
6. Memories that would last forever.
After the expo ends, I'd still have five days of vacation left work on churning out articles, and possibly spend some extra time in Seattle if I can afford to and found things I wanted to do there.
As you can see, being able to go to PAX would be an incredible experience for me. So, I'm fully read to beg, plead, bribe, and trade days so I work on holidays if I had to to make going to PAX a reality. Since I am slated to work September 3-5 (all three days of the Expo), getting vacation that week is my only shot.
Here's to hoping I can make the stars align when I go into work next. If not, I'll try not to be too crushed, and set my sights instead on E3 2011 or some other gaming conference, where I have enough lead time to make sure I can get that week off. Plus, I'll actually have a hell of a lot easier time getting off for PAX 2011, so all is not lost if I can't do it this time acround. I will let you all know when things are official one way or the other.
Should this almost-perfect scenario come to pass, I work Friday, drive straight to Minneapolis after work, and catch a late night flight to Seattle. Check in, crash for a few hours, then hit the ground running for Saturday and Sunday of the Penny Arcade Expo.
Now, if my partner Chris (who works when I have my days off) agrees to work that Friday shift for me in exchange for me working one of his shifts sometime, I would essentially have an 11-day vacation (Aug.31 through Sept. 10). In this ultimate scenario, I crash at my parent's house on Wednesday night, and catch a Thursday morning flight to Seattle. This would give me some time in the afternoon to get my bearings before meeting up with people for the Pre-PAX festivities, and I'd be on hand for all three days of the expo.
If I can do this, it would rock on so many levels (in no order):
1. The chance to meet in person some of the site staff I've been working with so long.
2. Rumor has it Bishop is going, so I'd have the opportunity to meet another member of the Hand of Thrawn... and FINALLY meet someone (in-person) with a higher gamerscore than mine.
3. Assuming I can go, I can get in as press, and I'll be writing as many articles as I possibly can for x360a (none of you have any idea what I'm capable of when I go into one of my Super Saiyan manic writing sprees). Plus, I'll have at least a week's worth of blog and podcast material out of it all.
4. Writing those articles would allow me to continue honing the skills I need to find paying work in the gaming industry, and covering PAX is as directly related a work experience as I could ask for.
5. The chance to meet and network with people in the industry, learn from them, and maybe even pass out a few resumes if opportunity knocks.
6. Memories that would last forever.
After the expo ends, I'd still have five days of vacation left work on churning out articles, and possibly spend some extra time in Seattle if I can afford to and found things I wanted to do there.
As you can see, being able to go to PAX would be an incredible experience for me. So, I'm fully read to beg, plead, bribe, and trade days so I work on holidays if I had to to make going to PAX a reality. Since I am slated to work September 3-5 (all three days of the Expo), getting vacation that week is my only shot.
Here's to hoping I can make the stars align when I go into work next. If not, I'll try not to be too crushed, and set my sights instead on E3 2011 or some other gaming conference, where I have enough lead time to make sure I can get that week off. Plus, I'll actually have a hell of a lot easier time getting off for PAX 2011, so all is not lost if I can't do it this time acround. I will let you all know when things are official one way or the other.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Plagarism is the Highest Form of Flattery
I'm absolutely livid about this, and yet at the same time, I find it incredibly hilarious. How do you know your writing is good? Someone else want to rip it off and try to pass it off as their own. I have now been the victim of plagarism three times over, by one complete moron.
Name and Shame time: The idiot in question is Xenoz I. I've conveniently linked to his profile here so you can send him whatever messages you deem appropriate.
What did he steal? From me, he took my Metro 2033, Modern Warfare 2, and Mass Effect 2 reviews. From Webb, he stole FFXIII and Just Cause 2. From jackanape, Bioshock 2. Those are just the ones I know about. Apparently, this dude posted up a LOT of reviews, so we probably had even more stolen than that. The site they appeared on is www.readyuplive.com. Their community manager send me a friend request on Live and we discussed the situation over a party chat.
I was able to confirm for him (Everyone send SourNotHardcore thank you letters LOL) that those were our reviews from x360a. It wasn't hard... THEY WERE DIRECT COPY/PASTE JOBS (epic, epic fail), down to the exact same pictures and captions. Though he actually changed my scores! Metro went from a 76/100 to an 8.5/10 LMFAO.
It's not hard to check for Copy/Paste plagarism. Copy just ONE sentence of any of my reviews into Google. If it links you to anywhere but X360a, someone jacked my review. With the amount of time I put into those, it's not like I'm going to forget my words.
The stolen content has already been taken down, and that moron has lost his rights to "write" reviews... and hopefully will get worse to boot. Apparently, he even claimed he was me. Oh no you didn't! Kudos to ReadyUpLive's staff for being proactive about looking into this and resolving the situation. I respect and appreciate that.
What's the silver lining in this? If my reviews sucked, nobody would want to steal them, so I must be decent, at least =)
Name and Shame time: The idiot in question is Xenoz I. I've conveniently linked to his profile here so you can send him whatever messages you deem appropriate.
What did he steal? From me, he took my Metro 2033, Modern Warfare 2, and Mass Effect 2 reviews. From Webb, he stole FFXIII and Just Cause 2. From jackanape, Bioshock 2. Those are just the ones I know about. Apparently, this dude posted up a LOT of reviews, so we probably had even more stolen than that. The site they appeared on is www.readyuplive.com. Their community manager send me a friend request on Live and we discussed the situation over a party chat.
I was able to confirm for him (Everyone send SourNotHardcore thank you letters LOL) that those were our reviews from x360a. It wasn't hard... THEY WERE DIRECT COPY/PASTE JOBS (epic, epic fail), down to the exact same pictures and captions. Though he actually changed my scores! Metro went from a 76/100 to an 8.5/10 LMFAO.
It's not hard to check for Copy/Paste plagarism. Copy just ONE sentence of any of my reviews into Google. If it links you to anywhere but X360a, someone jacked my review. With the amount of time I put into those, it's not like I'm going to forget my words.
The stolen content has already been taken down, and that moron has lost his rights to "write" reviews... and hopefully will get worse to boot. Apparently, he even claimed he was me. Oh no you didn't! Kudos to ReadyUpLive's staff for being proactive about looking into this and resolving the situation. I respect and appreciate that.
What's the silver lining in this? If my reviews sucked, nobody would want to steal them, so I must be decent, at least =)
Friday, January 8, 2010
Three Five Minute Drills (+ Ramblings)
I haven't touched my Xbox these last few days, but that won't stop the writing. Today, I thought I'd give you three five minute drills I've done this week. Now, I will say that I do edit them after they're done, but ONLY to fix typos. No content changes ever get made. When I'm trying to write as fast and furious as I can, I make quite a few typos, so I've gone back and edited them so that what you see below is actually readable. Gaming will pick up on Sunday/Monday, and again near the end of the month, when I have my brother over for a week, and then Mass Effect 2 comes out.
Heck, let me give you an outline of the next few posts I have on tap:
Saturday - OFF. I'l be out of state all day having fun with friends.
Sunday - Don't know what it'll be yet, but it's going to be a more serious post. Perhaps my first editorial in a while. I need to do those more often. May not be gaming related, but I'd do my darndest to make it interesting, whatever it is.
Monday- TWO POSTS! One will be gaming related. The other will be about blogging, and some of the interesting things that have been happening around here of late.
Alright folks, I'm off to watch some Stargate Atlantis on DVD and continue reading Stephen King's "Under the Dome," both of which feel far more appealing tonight that gaming, or God forbid, chasing achievements.
Enjoy some five minute fiction!
01/04/2010
Gordon had no idea what he was looking at. The substance was a purplish color, with the consistency of jelly, and pulsated faintly, as if it has a life of its own. It coated the walls of his lab, six inches thick in some places... and it hadn't been there the night before.
"Sarah?" Gordon called down the hall for his research partner. She'd probably done it. Always working late into the night to try to get in that one last experiment... it wasn't healthy, he thought. When in one of her manic late night binges, she's probably mixed a couple of the compounds and created the... stuff.
She came down the hall, the distinctive click of her heels marking her every step, and stopped at the entrance of the room. "Gordon, what did you do?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing." He took out a scalpel and poked it. The purple mass responded by swelling out from the wall where he had touched it and swallowed his scalpel. He could barely withdraw his hand from joining the feast. "We're going to need a quarantine team in here."
"I'm on it." Sarah said, and dashed as fast as a woman reasonably can be expected to on heels down the corridor toward their guards.
Gordon made his way carefully out of the lab and down the hall to he security room to check the video. Maybe viewing last night's tape would reveal what happened.
01/07/2010
"I don't think you should eat that." Sharon said.
"Fuck off Sharon, I'll eat what I want."
"How do you expect to reach your weight loss goals by eating more ice cream?"
"Sharon, I order you to shut up for the next five minutes." Kevin said. Wonder of wonders, the device on his wrist obeyed. Thank god for small favors.
Everyone assured him the iAssistant was the sexy new gadget you just had to have. Had to. It was, like, impossible to get laid anymore without one. Truth was, it was having the thing that made it impossible to get laid. Wasn't the adaptive AI supposed to tailor itself to each person's personality to be their perfect assistant? The thing was just a naggy little bitch... Kevin didn't need a wife, thank you oh so very much.
He dug his spoon into the Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream and took a heaping mouthful. He knew Sharon would try to make him run his ass off for it tomorrow, but it would be in vain. Sure, the iAssistant could measure all his bodily readings and tell him just how much of a fat ass he was being, but it couldn't actually fire up the reflexes to make him jog, could it. No, Kevin thought with a grin as he went for another spoonful. No it most surely could not.
01/08/2010
He couldn't see it, but he knew the thing was stalking him. Assessing him. Waiting for the opportunity. Truly, it probably had five or six chances by now, and hadn't taken them. It was mocking him. Staying close enough to make sure he knew it was around, but never revealing its position. Darren sprinted through the forest, knowing it was futile the whole time but refusing to give the fucking thing the satisfaction of just laying down and dying easy.
As he jumped over a log in the pale moonlight, he checked his ammo loadout. Two clips left. He could have two hundred, it wouldn't really matter. He didn't have any mags capable of piercing reaper armor. Intel said the last of the reapers had been wiped out. Intel, as usual, was shit.
A low rumble came from his left. Derren shifted his aim and fired two three shot burst into the dense forest. From his rear came a shrill screech. Darren gave that sound a grenade to ponder. From above, a hoot, as if from an owl, but it was no owl... and all that noise was from one goddamned reaper. The alien killing machines had the be the best ventriloquists the universe had ever seen. The thing probably wasn't even in ANY of those directions.
Heck, let me give you an outline of the next few posts I have on tap:
Saturday - OFF. I'l be out of state all day having fun with friends.
Sunday - Don't know what it'll be yet, but it's going to be a more serious post. Perhaps my first editorial in a while. I need to do those more often. May not be gaming related, but I'd do my darndest to make it interesting, whatever it is.
Monday- TWO POSTS! One will be gaming related. The other will be about blogging, and some of the interesting things that have been happening around here of late.
Alright folks, I'm off to watch some Stargate Atlantis on DVD and continue reading Stephen King's "Under the Dome," both of which feel far more appealing tonight that gaming, or God forbid, chasing achievements.
Enjoy some five minute fiction!
01/04/2010
Gordon had no idea what he was looking at. The substance was a purplish color, with the consistency of jelly, and pulsated faintly, as if it has a life of its own. It coated the walls of his lab, six inches thick in some places... and it hadn't been there the night before.
"Sarah?" Gordon called down the hall for his research partner. She'd probably done it. Always working late into the night to try to get in that one last experiment... it wasn't healthy, he thought. When in one of her manic late night binges, she's probably mixed a couple of the compounds and created the... stuff.
She came down the hall, the distinctive click of her heels marking her every step, and stopped at the entrance of the room. "Gordon, what did you do?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing." He took out a scalpel and poked it. The purple mass responded by swelling out from the wall where he had touched it and swallowed his scalpel. He could barely withdraw his hand from joining the feast. "We're going to need a quarantine team in here."
"I'm on it." Sarah said, and dashed as fast as a woman reasonably can be expected to on heels down the corridor toward their guards.
Gordon made his way carefully out of the lab and down the hall to he security room to check the video. Maybe viewing last night's tape would reveal what happened.
01/07/2010
"I don't think you should eat that." Sharon said.
"Fuck off Sharon, I'll eat what I want."
"How do you expect to reach your weight loss goals by eating more ice cream?"
"Sharon, I order you to shut up for the next five minutes." Kevin said. Wonder of wonders, the device on his wrist obeyed. Thank god for small favors.
Everyone assured him the iAssistant was the sexy new gadget you just had to have. Had to. It was, like, impossible to get laid anymore without one. Truth was, it was having the thing that made it impossible to get laid. Wasn't the adaptive AI supposed to tailor itself to each person's personality to be their perfect assistant? The thing was just a naggy little bitch... Kevin didn't need a wife, thank you oh so very much.
He dug his spoon into the Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream and took a heaping mouthful. He knew Sharon would try to make him run his ass off for it tomorrow, but it would be in vain. Sure, the iAssistant could measure all his bodily readings and tell him just how much of a fat ass he was being, but it couldn't actually fire up the reflexes to make him jog, could it. No, Kevin thought with a grin as he went for another spoonful. No it most surely could not.
01/08/2010
He couldn't see it, but he knew the thing was stalking him. Assessing him. Waiting for the opportunity. Truly, it probably had five or six chances by now, and hadn't taken them. It was mocking him. Staying close enough to make sure he knew it was around, but never revealing its position. Darren sprinted through the forest, knowing it was futile the whole time but refusing to give the fucking thing the satisfaction of just laying down and dying easy.
As he jumped over a log in the pale moonlight, he checked his ammo loadout. Two clips left. He could have two hundred, it wouldn't really matter. He didn't have any mags capable of piercing reaper armor. Intel said the last of the reapers had been wiped out. Intel, as usual, was shit.
A low rumble came from his left. Derren shifted his aim and fired two three shot burst into the dense forest. From his rear came a shrill screech. Darren gave that sound a grenade to ponder. From above, a hoot, as if from an owl, but it was no owl... and all that noise was from one goddamned reaper. The alien killing machines had the be the best ventriloquists the universe had ever seen. The thing probably wasn't even in ANY of those directions.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Bringing Back Epistolary Form
And now for a somewhat educational post entirely unrelated to gaming.
Originally, I was going to write a post about how to generate tons of ideas for your writing (of any kind), but realized I'd do a crap job of it at 10pm after a work day and have saved that post to be completed at a later date. Instead, I thought I'd trot out one tiny nugget of my English degree for you, since the idea fell into my head earlier this afternoon.
Your word for the day is epistolary. If any of you had ever heard of this word before reading this blog post, give yourself 20 points. If you've correctly used it in a sentence, give yourself another 50.
e⋅pis⋅to⋅lar⋅y –adjective
1. contained in or carried on by letters: an epistolary friendship.
2. of, pertaining to, or consisting of letters.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is the most famous example of an epistolary novel. The whole thing is written in the form of letters back and forth between the main characters. What makes things even more interesting (and more than a little meta) is that the characters go back and refer to their own letters, and read them, as events progress in the story. I think you have to read the book to get just how cool/freaky the effect of that is. Or you need to be an English geek. Not sure which.
So, the crazy idea that fell into my head this afternoon was that I want to write an entire novel in epistolary form. I'm not sure how publishable such a work would with today's publishers, but damn the technique provides some interesting opportunities. One, it would allow me to experiment with more first person voice, which I need, since virtually 100% of my fiction is written in 3rd person point of view. It would really allow the difference in thought process and voice between characters to shine out. The challenge, of course, is keeping the plot flowing along and not boring readers.
From a writing standpoint, this would be an incredibly easy experiment to integrate into the rest of the writing I'm doing. Since the novel would be told in the form of emails, blog posts, mock news articles, IM conversations, (gag) Twitter posts, etc. that stuff isn't terribly time consuming to write. Perhaps write one item a day and then move on to the core project I'm working on. Hell, these are even the sort of thing I can write after a work day (though I'd surely have to edit them again later).
So I know HOW I want to tell a story, but I'm still now 100% on what the story is I want to tell. My mind keeps drifting to the movie District 9 and how they used the clips of mock sociologists, scientists, news anchors, etc. to set the movie's universe. I'm actually planning on doing some research to fuel the angle I want to take with it. I'm thinking of an alien takeover of Earth as the starting point, and from that framework see how badly I can twist up and subvert social conventions. My other degree, after all, is Sociology... and we secretly love messing with people... sometimes =P
Perhaps as I go I'll post example sections of the project so you can see what it looks like. SInce it's so very experimental, it won't take priority over projects I'm been brainstorming for so long, but it will make an interesting diversion.
And there you are. If nothing else, you learned a new word today. =P
Originally, I was going to write a post about how to generate tons of ideas for your writing (of any kind), but realized I'd do a crap job of it at 10pm after a work day and have saved that post to be completed at a later date. Instead, I thought I'd trot out one tiny nugget of my English degree for you, since the idea fell into my head earlier this afternoon.
Your word for the day is epistolary. If any of you had ever heard of this word before reading this blog post, give yourself 20 points. If you've correctly used it in a sentence, give yourself another 50.
e⋅pis⋅to⋅lar⋅y –adjective
1. contained in or carried on by letters: an epistolary friendship.
2. of, pertaining to, or consisting of letters.
Bram Stoker's Dracula is the most famous example of an epistolary novel. The whole thing is written in the form of letters back and forth between the main characters. What makes things even more interesting (and more than a little meta) is that the characters go back and refer to their own letters, and read them, as events progress in the story. I think you have to read the book to get just how cool/freaky the effect of that is. Or you need to be an English geek. Not sure which.
So, the crazy idea that fell into my head this afternoon was that I want to write an entire novel in epistolary form. I'm not sure how publishable such a work would with today's publishers, but damn the technique provides some interesting opportunities. One, it would allow me to experiment with more first person voice, which I need, since virtually 100% of my fiction is written in 3rd person point of view. It would really allow the difference in thought process and voice between characters to shine out. The challenge, of course, is keeping the plot flowing along and not boring readers.
From a writing standpoint, this would be an incredibly easy experiment to integrate into the rest of the writing I'm doing. Since the novel would be told in the form of emails, blog posts, mock news articles, IM conversations, (gag) Twitter posts, etc. that stuff isn't terribly time consuming to write. Perhaps write one item a day and then move on to the core project I'm working on. Hell, these are even the sort of thing I can write after a work day (though I'd surely have to edit them again later).
So I know HOW I want to tell a story, but I'm still now 100% on what the story is I want to tell. My mind keeps drifting to the movie District 9 and how they used the clips of mock sociologists, scientists, news anchors, etc. to set the movie's universe. I'm actually planning on doing some research to fuel the angle I want to take with it. I'm thinking of an alien takeover of Earth as the starting point, and from that framework see how badly I can twist up and subvert social conventions. My other degree, after all, is Sociology... and we secretly love messing with people... sometimes =P
Perhaps as I go I'll post example sections of the project so you can see what it looks like. SInce it's so very experimental, it won't take priority over projects I'm been brainstorming for so long, but it will make an interesting diversion.
And there you are. If nothing else, you learned a new word today. =P
Monday, December 7, 2009
A Dangerous Phrase
"This review is going to be fun."
Watch out for those words. It's true I like gaming, and enjoy the review writing process. Seeing one's name in print before an audience the size of x360a is always satisfying. However, as a few of you have perhaps noticed, the phrase "this review is going to be fun" is reserved for a very special class of game.
If I'm picking out a specific review as 'fun' it's because it's that rare class of game where I get to see how creative I can be in fairly and articulately give it the justice it deserves by ripping it to pieces. Only the worst of the worst bring out the real biting side of my writing capabilities, and it's great fun from time to time. I cite Onechanbara, and parts of Darkest of Days and Warhammer Battlemarch as examples.
Rogue Warrior, prepare to weep. The wheels of my brain have been spinning for days on ways to write the literary equivalent of a SAW-movie trap for this game. I have more time yet as with my work schedule I'm not going to get too far into the draft tonight.
If anyone tells you Rogue Warrior is alright, ok, or decent, punch them in the mouth. It's a horrible lie. I'm going to stop there for fear of letting any zingers fly early.
This review is going to be FUN!
Watch out for those words. It's true I like gaming, and enjoy the review writing process. Seeing one's name in print before an audience the size of x360a is always satisfying. However, as a few of you have perhaps noticed, the phrase "this review is going to be fun" is reserved for a very special class of game.
If I'm picking out a specific review as 'fun' it's because it's that rare class of game where I get to see how creative I can be in fairly and articulately give it the justice it deserves by ripping it to pieces. Only the worst of the worst bring out the real biting side of my writing capabilities, and it's great fun from time to time. I cite Onechanbara, and parts of Darkest of Days and Warhammer Battlemarch as examples.
Rogue Warrior, prepare to weep. The wheels of my brain have been spinning for days on ways to write the literary equivalent of a SAW-movie trap for this game. I have more time yet as with my work schedule I'm not going to get too far into the draft tonight.
If anyone tells you Rogue Warrior is alright, ok, or decent, punch them in the mouth. It's a horrible lie. I'm going to stop there for fear of letting any zingers fly early.
This review is going to be FUN!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tough Critic or a Softie?
I was wondering the other day on how I rate with review scoring. Am I tough, do I lob out a lot of high scores (unnecessarily inflated scored)? In terms of the content of reviews, I feel I really cover the bases, and do a good job of picking out the pros and cons of a game. Nobody has ever called me out on doing a bad job in that department, so I feel good about that. Different people will evaluate the same pros and cons differently, so I wanted to figure out roughly what my review average is.
For this, I'm ignoring my DLC reviews, which are rated on a different system, and have all been for Fallout 3, so that's not a good sample.
Game - Score
Afro Samurai - 75
Crash: Mind over Mutant -65
Dead Space - 92
Disney's Bolt - 50
Fallout 3 -96
Gears 2 - 93
Ghostbusters - 87
Monsters Vs. Aliens - 65
Onechanbara - 40
Resident Evil 5 -92
Rise of the Argonauts - 69
Sacred 2 -71
The Force Unleashed - 75
Stoked - 76
XXX -XX (Unreleased review that is factored into the average)
Velvet Assassin - 70
Warhammer Battle March -59
Highest Score: 96 (Fallout 3) *Named x360a's GOTY, so it's certainly not inflated =P
Lowest: 40 (Onechanbara)
Universal Average: 73.82 (Decent on the x360a scale)
That seems like a pretty fair average to me. Thoughts?
Oh, and 100 detective points if you can figure out what my next review to be posted will be, AND what score it is receiving, from this data. (jackanape can't play LOL)
For this, I'm ignoring my DLC reviews, which are rated on a different system, and have all been for Fallout 3, so that's not a good sample.
Game - Score
Afro Samurai - 75
Crash: Mind over Mutant -65
Dead Space - 92
Disney's Bolt - 50
Fallout 3 -96
Gears 2 - 93
Ghostbusters - 87
Monsters Vs. Aliens - 65
Onechanbara - 40
Resident Evil 5 -92
Rise of the Argonauts - 69
Sacred 2 -71
The Force Unleashed - 75
Stoked - 76
XXX -XX (Unreleased review that is factored into the average)
Velvet Assassin - 70
Warhammer Battle March -59
Highest Score: 96 (Fallout 3) *Named x360a's GOTY, so it's certainly not inflated =P
Lowest: 40 (Onechanbara)
Universal Average: 73.82 (Decent on the x360a scale)
That seems like a pretty fair average to me. Thoughts?
Oh, and 100 detective points if you can figure out what my next review to be posted will be, AND what score it is receiving, from this data. (jackanape can't play LOL)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
An Awesome Day of Writing
I was originally going to write about 3 games I want sequels to, but I'm going to hold that topic for another day, because I'm getting tired of writing today. Instead, I want to talk about all that writing I did today.
First off, I put in the work on coding and adding images to the ROTA review, which has now been published on x360a, and is linked on the right side of my blog, so go read it, if you haven't already =) That was about an hour to 90 minutes of work.
I'm going to quote from an earlier post for a sec (in reference to DLC):
"The crystal ball also predicts that x360a will be making one slight new advancement to embrace this change in the industry. What could that advancement be? The crystal ball says you should be able to see for yourself within the next month."
I'll admit I cheated and added one thing in the predictions I already knew would happen. With all the DLC coming out, and it's expanding role in the future, I suggested we do reviews for DLC, and outlined a format on how we do it. With some added input from Pants and Webb, we had a format ready to go for DLC reviews, with Webb's review of the Knothole Island DLC for Fable 2 being the very first one written and released. Thanks are probably in order for the Graphics Team as well, as I'm assuming they made the snazzy new headers and footers for them. Great work everybody! I'll be reviewing Operation Anchorage from Fallout 3 as my first DLC review at the end of this month.
I also got this baby for the effort:
Award Name: Bright Idea
Award Description: User has submitted an idea that has been implemented
Issue reason: DLC Reviews
Issue time: 01-14-2009 04:31 PM
I'm barely beyond the Rise of the Argonauts review, and already I have my next review lined up. Within the next few days, I'll be receiving a pre-release copy of Skate 2, which I'm expected to tear through as fast as I can so we have the review up on the 19th. Yeah, I'll be buying some energy drinks and putting looooong hours into getting that one done fast. It'll be like a review-writing marathon. This will be the second time I've received a game pre-release (Dead Space being the first), but the first time I'll actually have the time to get the review done and posted pre-release. Pre-release reviews are a big deal, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to write another high-profile (and thus high-stress) review. I thrive under pressure =) I did Dead Space in about 3 days, so I know I can do Skate in 2 if I have to.
I also wrote a Road Map to 1000 for Warriors Orochi 2, which will hopefully be posted to the site. I know more about that game than I ever wanted to... and I LOVE Koei games...
During a stretch of the mid-afternoon, I was really bored (and needed a break between projects) so I got the random idea to see how many reviews people have written for the site. I've read a fair number of them during my time as a member of the site, and was curious about who was the most prolific review writer. So, I went down the line for every single review and wrote down the names of reviewers, and a tally of how many they wrote. Yes, I was that bored. Anyway, you might find this interesting.
Authors listed by gamertag, only top 11 contributors appearing:
1: jacakanpe- 38
2: The Pants Party- 29
3: Webb x360a- 26 + 1 DLC
4. graf1k and Bax x360a (tie) - 14
6. dz Bluntman- 9
7. ThrawnOmega- 8
8. EOU Findub, Otisfamily, rocket x360a, Creech - 6 each
The number 6 spot should be mine outright soon enough LOL, and I'm chasing number 4. I've read many of jackanape's reviews, but I couldn't believe he had a whopping 38 posted. That's some impressive stuff, my friend =) I'm not sure any of them can top the hilarity of My Horse and Me 2... OMG that review was funny.
So, I've done more than enough writing for today, and will call it quits here. Today's scheduled content will be moved back a few days, as I have achievement progress lined up for tomorrow.
First off, I put in the work on coding and adding images to the ROTA review, which has now been published on x360a, and is linked on the right side of my blog, so go read it, if you haven't already =) That was about an hour to 90 minutes of work.
I'm going to quote from an earlier post for a sec (in reference to DLC):
"The crystal ball also predicts that x360a will be making one slight new advancement to embrace this change in the industry. What could that advancement be? The crystal ball says you should be able to see for yourself within the next month."
I'll admit I cheated and added one thing in the predictions I already knew would happen. With all the DLC coming out, and it's expanding role in the future, I suggested we do reviews for DLC, and outlined a format on how we do it. With some added input from Pants and Webb, we had a format ready to go for DLC reviews, with Webb's review of the Knothole Island DLC for Fable 2 being the very first one written and released. Thanks are probably in order for the Graphics Team as well, as I'm assuming they made the snazzy new headers and footers for them. Great work everybody! I'll be reviewing Operation Anchorage from Fallout 3 as my first DLC review at the end of this month.
I also got this baby for the effort:
Award Name: Bright IdeaAward Description: User has submitted an idea that has been implemented
Issue reason: DLC Reviews
Issue time: 01-14-2009 04:31 PM
I'm barely beyond the Rise of the Argonauts review, and already I have my next review lined up. Within the next few days, I'll be receiving a pre-release copy of Skate 2, which I'm expected to tear through as fast as I can so we have the review up on the 19th. Yeah, I'll be buying some energy drinks and putting looooong hours into getting that one done fast. It'll be like a review-writing marathon. This will be the second time I've received a game pre-release (Dead Space being the first), but the first time I'll actually have the time to get the review done and posted pre-release. Pre-release reviews are a big deal, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to write another high-profile (and thus high-stress) review. I thrive under pressure =) I did Dead Space in about 3 days, so I know I can do Skate in 2 if I have to.
I also wrote a Road Map to 1000 for Warriors Orochi 2, which will hopefully be posted to the site. I know more about that game than I ever wanted to... and I LOVE Koei games...
During a stretch of the mid-afternoon, I was really bored (and needed a break between projects) so I got the random idea to see how many reviews people have written for the site. I've read a fair number of them during my time as a member of the site, and was curious about who was the most prolific review writer. So, I went down the line for every single review and wrote down the names of reviewers, and a tally of how many they wrote. Yes, I was that bored. Anyway, you might find this interesting.
Authors listed by gamertag, only top 11 contributors appearing:
1: jacakanpe- 38
2: The Pants Party- 29
3: Webb x360a- 26 + 1 DLC
4. graf1k and Bax x360a (tie) - 14
6. dz Bluntman- 9
7. ThrawnOmega- 8
8. EOU Findub, Otisfamily, rocket x360a, Creech - 6 each
The number 6 spot should be mine outright soon enough LOL, and I'm chasing number 4. I've read many of jackanape's reviews, but I couldn't believe he had a whopping 38 posted. That's some impressive stuff, my friend =) I'm not sure any of them can top the hilarity of My Horse and Me 2... OMG that review was funny.
So, I've done more than enough writing for today, and will call it quits here. Today's scheduled content will be moved back a few days, as I have achievement progress lined up for tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
How I Write Reviews
After spending most of my afternoon writing the Rise of the Argonauts review, I suppose it's fitting that today's post is about how I write reviews. Everyone writes and approaches reviews differently. For example, I know my method is quite different than jackanape's. Here's how I do it:
PART 1: PLAY PHASE
Naturally, I have to play a game before I can review it. I try not to read other reviews before doing my own, as those could bias my thinking. I play the games on their default settings, like most people would. When working on a game that I'm reviewing, I don't treat the game like something I'm simply trying to get all of the points out of until the draft is done. It's important to check out every feature and option in the game, even if I personally won't use them down the line.
As I play, I keep a pad of paper next to me, where I jot down extremely brief notes on my opinions as I play. These notes are rarely more than 3 words each, but serve as reminders of topics I want to cover in the review. For example, while playing Warhammer: Battle March, I had a list of notes that included entries like this:
-No resource management
-Bad controls
-Voice acting
-Fugly graphics
-Load times
-campaign
They don't have to be polite, or even make sense to anyone but me, since nobody else sees them. I'll play a game long enough to feel I have an understanding of everything the game has to offer, then start writing the review. This does not mean I complete games in their entirety before writing the review. For Warhammer, I didn't even finish a campaign before writing that review, but trust me, I'd seen enough. I also didn't finish Fallout 3, but I had 30+ hours invested by the time I started typing. All the other games I've completed first.
PART 2: WRITING PHASE
After playing a game enough, I take my random jumble of notes and beat them into an outline. I have a pretty set structure. If you haven't noticed by now, I write reviews in this pattern:
That's the general format for my reviews, and it's also the order I write the review in. I'm a very sequential person with writing; I have to start at the beginning and end at the end. Jackanape can write his reviews in any order he wants, and then just slap the paragraphs in the order he wants them, but I can't do that. I find my reviews flow better and my transitions come more naturally when I write from beginning to end.
I'd like to go on the record as saying I HATE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHS. Why? I find them incredibly hard to write, especially for games I don't know so much about. Is my intro too explanatory? Too boring? Too much about something other than the game I'm reviewing? Intro paragraphs are the only place where I deviate from my pattern of starting at the beginning. If an intro does not come to me naturally, I'll start a review with the story, write everything, then go back and hammer out an introduction at the very end. Intro paragraphs are the last things I wrote for Dead Space, Gears 2, Fallout 3, Argonauts... okay, more often than not, the intro comes last, but I would write it first if I could. I wrote two different intros for Gears, Fallout, and Dead Space, before settling on ones I liked. Trust me, the original introduction to Dead Space was BAD, and that baby had already been coded and was ready for publication. I pretty much had divine inspiration at the last minute and completely rewrote the intro for that one not long before Webb posted it... that one was too close, but it remains my favorite intro from any of my reviews.
When possible, I like to write the review drafts completely in one sitting. I've found that drafts can take anywhere from three to six hours for me to write (and make sure they meet my expectations), which makes for long afternoons, but it's nice to then be done with them. Generally I take the rest of the day off, and work on part 3 the following day.
PART 3: PRETTYING IT UP
Once the review is done, I go through it very carefully to make sure I have no spelling errors or grammar mistakes in my draft. Only after I've check it 2-3 times will I post it in the review team board for peer review (just ask my fellow members of the review team, they rarely find mistakes because I obsessively weed them out first =P). While the review is posted for peer review, I add the HTML coding that the review needs, as well as choose the images I want in the review, resize and attach them, and write captions for them. If anyone sees something confusing or incorrect in my review, I make the necessary changes, and then it's up on the main page for your reading enjoyment!
Rise of the Argonauts is currently on Part 3 of this process, and I'll be done working it up tomorrow, so you should be reading it within the next couple days.
I hope you've enjoyed this look at my review process, and a bit on how the x360a review process in general works. When you read anything I've written for x360a, you'll now have a better understanding of how that review came to be.
Happy gaming all =)
PART 1: PLAY PHASE
Naturally, I have to play a game before I can review it. I try not to read other reviews before doing my own, as those could bias my thinking. I play the games on their default settings, like most people would. When working on a game that I'm reviewing, I don't treat the game like something I'm simply trying to get all of the points out of until the draft is done. It's important to check out every feature and option in the game, even if I personally won't use them down the line.
As I play, I keep a pad of paper next to me, where I jot down extremely brief notes on my opinions as I play. These notes are rarely more than 3 words each, but serve as reminders of topics I want to cover in the review. For example, while playing Warhammer: Battle March, I had a list of notes that included entries like this:
-No resource management
-Bad controls
-Voice acting
-Fugly graphics
-Load times
-campaign
They don't have to be polite, or even make sense to anyone but me, since nobody else sees them. I'll play a game long enough to feel I have an understanding of everything the game has to offer, then start writing the review. This does not mean I complete games in their entirety before writing the review. For Warhammer, I didn't even finish a campaign before writing that review, but trust me, I'd seen enough. I also didn't finish Fallout 3, but I had 30+ hours invested by the time I started typing. All the other games I've completed first.
PART 2: WRITING PHASE
After playing a game enough, I take my random jumble of notes and beat them into an outline. I have a pretty set structure. If you haven't noticed by now, I write reviews in this pattern:
- Introduction
- Story
- Significant game mechanics
- Single Player
- Multiplayer
- Complaining about what stinks
- Graphics
- Audio
- Achievements
- Conclusion
That's the general format for my reviews, and it's also the order I write the review in. I'm a very sequential person with writing; I have to start at the beginning and end at the end. Jackanape can write his reviews in any order he wants, and then just slap the paragraphs in the order he wants them, but I can't do that. I find my reviews flow better and my transitions come more naturally when I write from beginning to end.
I'd like to go on the record as saying I HATE INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPHS. Why? I find them incredibly hard to write, especially for games I don't know so much about. Is my intro too explanatory? Too boring? Too much about something other than the game I'm reviewing? Intro paragraphs are the only place where I deviate from my pattern of starting at the beginning. If an intro does not come to me naturally, I'll start a review with the story, write everything, then go back and hammer out an introduction at the very end. Intro paragraphs are the last things I wrote for Dead Space, Gears 2, Fallout 3, Argonauts... okay, more often than not, the intro comes last, but I would write it first if I could. I wrote two different intros for Gears, Fallout, and Dead Space, before settling on ones I liked. Trust me, the original introduction to Dead Space was BAD, and that baby had already been coded and was ready for publication. I pretty much had divine inspiration at the last minute and completely rewrote the intro for that one not long before Webb posted it... that one was too close, but it remains my favorite intro from any of my reviews.
When possible, I like to write the review drafts completely in one sitting. I've found that drafts can take anywhere from three to six hours for me to write (and make sure they meet my expectations), which makes for long afternoons, but it's nice to then be done with them. Generally I take the rest of the day off, and work on part 3 the following day.
PART 3: PRETTYING IT UP
Once the review is done, I go through it very carefully to make sure I have no spelling errors or grammar mistakes in my draft. Only after I've check it 2-3 times will I post it in the review team board for peer review (just ask my fellow members of the review team, they rarely find mistakes because I obsessively weed them out first =P). While the review is posted for peer review, I add the HTML coding that the review needs, as well as choose the images I want in the review, resize and attach them, and write captions for them. If anyone sees something confusing or incorrect in my review, I make the necessary changes, and then it's up on the main page for your reading enjoyment!
Rise of the Argonauts is currently on Part 3 of this process, and I'll be done working it up tomorrow, so you should be reading it within the next couple days.
I hope you've enjoyed this look at my review process, and a bit on how the x360a review process in general works. When you read anything I've written for x360a, you'll now have a better understanding of how that review came to be.
Happy gaming all =)
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