Staying motivated in New World (Gear Reset)

 Making an audible for Blaugust 2023's "stay motivated" week and swapping from my original plan to cover my Steam backlog.  Instead I am going to talk about New World and how I am staying motivated in the face of the pending gear reset.  The developers have yet to detail that gear reset, but we are getting drips of information in each update.  Knowing it is coming and lacking the details to go with it makes it very hard to stay motivated to play currently.  What exactly are we working for if it will be made irrelevant in a month's time?

 For me the answer to the "what keeps you motivated in New World?" question is simple: completing stuff.  New World has some vertical progression with it's expertise, gear score, and upgrade system but that is all behind me at this point.  There are many horizontal progression paths for me to work on now.

Ultimate Trophies

 This is the big one.  There are 9 ultimate trophies in the game to get and each one requires copies of each major trophy in that category (crafting, gathering, and combat) and a crafting component that costs an arm and a leg (45,000 gold + 100,000 faction tokens).  I now have 8 out of 9 of them and I ran out of arms/legs a while ago.

 What fascinates me is that I don't even craft but here I am knocking out the ultimate crafting trophies.  Just. To. Have. Them. In case I do want to craft.  The major trophies are fine but require you to teleport to all of your houses to change out trophies for each craft you want to do.  Ultimate trophies combine them together and thus remove the need to zoom around changing out trophies.  Soon I'll never have to ever think about changing trophies around in my house.  I will have all the ultimate trophies and be done!

 I need approx 30k gold and 80k faction tokens which I hope to finish out this week.

Crafting Gear Sets

 Crafting trophies are great but in order to hit end game gear score (590+) items in crafting you must also have the crafting gear sets.  The gear pieces drop from various named enemies all over the world or can be bought on the market.  I set a threshold of 3,000 gold.  If it was cheaper than that then I bought it; otherwise it was off to farm.

 I actually enjoy farming in New World.  I am aided by ample time to AFK back and forth to kill the named spawns.  I probably wouldn't do it if I had less play time.

Heartrunes

 Lastly on the horizontal progression is getting all the heartrunes in the game.  I actually only have a few and only a couple of them upgraded.  This will be where I change my effort over to once I am done with ultimate trophies.  These are also perfect "grind" objectives (except you have to complete an expedition 3x to get basic heartrunes to start with).  For example the brutal grasping vines required me to get 3,000 thorny vines from briars.  That was fun (not).  

 But I embrace the grind. Some folks Netflix and chill; I grind and chill.

 Other Stuff

 Then there is other stuff.  

With transmog now released there is a ton of skins to go out and collect.

I still love playing Outpost Rush and PvP Arenas and they give great rewards so there is always a new build to be looking towards.  I am eyeing up a heavy sword n shield/spear build along or a BB/IG medium build.

Then there is the company I hang out with; lots of returning players to help out.

Also at some point I really need to clean up my houses; so much furniture dumped everywhere.

My New World Transmog

 I finished out my first transmog set in New World today.  Here is my "wheelchair mage" (Heavy armor with Firestaff/Sword and Shield).  

• Helmet, legs, and boots are Fire Lord
• Chest and gloves are Expedition Captain (Arisen Commander skin name).  
• Sword is Falling Star
• Shield is Starfish defender
• Firestaff is Lodestar Lantern

Front with sword/shield out

Back with weapons stowed

Front with firestaff

My New World Day 1 Transmog (almost)

 This is my first (almost) transmog for New World.  And of course realizing now I don't have the gloves, pants, or helmet unlocked so off to The Depths to farm materia or wait for it to come back on mutation rotation.

Oddly enough the skin is from the Expedition Captain's set, but the skin name is under Arisen Commander

Steam Backlog: Bioshock, Bioshock 2, Bioshock Infinite

 For Blaugust 2023's "stay motivated" week I told myself I was going to play games in my Steam backlog, but then New World decided 8/21 was the day of days to drop transmog. So no backlog games played today, but since we were still in the Bs and next on the list was Bioshock it still qualifies as a game I can cover in my Steam Backlog series!

  Bioshock is one of my all time favorite games and those that know the game probably can guess why.  Even all these years later I hesitate to spoil it for anyone.  It's a must play!  Bioshock was more of an experience than it was a game, but that is not to say the gameplay wasn't great.  This game was an amazing marriage of story telling, game play, and that final satisfying twist.

 While Bioshock was more of an experience its successor, Bioshock 2, was more of a game.  The story featured some interesting choices and like the first game I'd rather not spoil them.  There was more game here as well but I am not sure it was for the better.  Some of the "more game" took away from the story aspects of the game but it was still a great game and story.  There was also a multiplayer mode.  Why?  I don't know. It was not needed and I didn't enjoy it.

 

 The most recent Bioshock entry is Bioshock Infinite and marked the series departure from the deep sea to the skies.  Like the first two the story elements of the game are best left unspoiled.  The underlying world that they are building is just fun and the expansion into floating cities in the sky was well done.  

 Bioshock was more experience.  Bioshock 2 was more game.  Bionshock Infinite was more of both game and experience.  Infinite is one of the few games where I feel like story telling and action combat are done well together.  And there is plenty of action in infinite with mechanics that on paper seem impossible, but the game somehow pulls it off.  

 Over all if I had to stack rank the games it would be:

• Bioshock Infinite
  
• Bioshock 1
  
• Bioshock 2

 Bioshock 1 is a must play, but if you've played it you know why you likely aren't going to play it much more than that first play through.  Bioshock Infinite however is fun to jump back into as there is so much fun to be had and different ways to traverse the game.  1,2, or Infinite - all of them are worth your time!

 This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts).

A sensible view on New World transmog tokens

 New World is launching it's transmog system tomorrow and with it there is an uproar in the community.  Tokens for transmog are approximately $2.50 USD each.  Additionally players can gain them via the season pass (free track and premium track).  The New World devs also included a 1% chance to loot them from elite chests up with the caveat of you can only loot one per week.  

 It is that 1 per week / 1% drop chance that has everyone up in arms.  I could write out more thoughts on it but I snagged this summary from Reddit that will stand as my response.  Anyone reading this that still thinks AGS is being unfair is just looking to argue for arguments sake.

Steam Backlog: The Binding of Isaac

 Another week is beginning for Blaugust 2023 and as I laid out in my planning post this week it is all about playing some games in my backlog!  So... consider this post as part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts) and come back all week for more!

 Dusting off where I left the backlog we were still in the Bs (and 2023 is almost over!).  The next game up was The Binding of Isaac.

 This is a weird one.  I don't remember why I got the game and I only vaguely remember playing it originally so I decided this was one I needed to download again to write a post about.  It didn't take me long though to remember why I didn't play it much.

 The first part that throws me off is the theme of the game.  Let's just say it's not for the feint of heart.  As I have no heart... well let's continue.  No, actually lets not.  I don't like the premise or theme of the game. If you don't want to think about a mother sacrificing her child then don't play this game.

 The second part that throws me off is... well.. I'm old(er) with slow(er) reflexes and poor(er) vision.  Binding is a game that is all about fast reflexes amid tons of things going on at once.  I did get the hang of it after a bit and can see the draw in the skill ceiling the game offers. 

 BUT combine a theme I don't enjoy with gameplay that is for a younger (better?) gamer and I could not force myself to an hour of play.  I gave up after twenty or so minutes.

MMOre creators

 Blaugust 2023 marches on and for a low key Saturday post to end Creator Appreciation Week I wanted to throw up a couple MMO creators I also follow on Youtube

• Lazy Peon - https://www.youtube.com/@TheLazyPeon
• Not a fan of everything as Peon spends a lot of time in games I'd never consider, but he revisits games year over year so I find his insight on change over time very useful.
  
• Force Gaming - https://www.youtube.com/@ForceGamingYT
• Covers a lot of gaming areas but has a love for MMOs.  Always great insights and reasonably reliable to have videos up on key game events in a timely fashion.
  
• Josh Strife Hayes - https://www.youtube.com/@JoshStrifeHayes
• Josh is like a college professor and makes viewers feel at home in his classroom.  Like Peon I am not a fan of everything but there are some masterpieces in his channel like his recent reflection on his own content fro three years ago: Why Modern MMO's Suck - Josh Strife Hayes Reacts (I'd recommend any MMO nerd like me to check it out)
  

Podcasts I Listen To

 For Blaugust 2023 Creator Appreciation Week I wanted to share the podcasts I am currently listening to and fair warning; I listen to A LOT of podcasts (2x speed baby!).

Tech and News

• This Week in Tech
• The Screensavers TV show defined the tech nerd that I am today.  Decades later I am still listening to Leo Laporte on This Week in Tech which is now an entire company with many tech-centric shows and podcasts.
  
• Up First by NPR
• My daily news podcast
  
• The Indicator
• From NPR; covers news through the lens of indicators like government jobs reports
  
• Planet Money
• From NPR; covers all sorts of topics in the news through an economic lens
  
• POD Save America
• A no-bullshit conversation about politics.
  

Misc

• Business Wars
• Nintendo vs Sony?  Google vs Apple?  Crypto Wars? Listen to how businesses fight/fought it out.  One of my favorites.
  
• Freakonomics Radio
• Born from the Freakonomics books. This podcast will change how you think about the world.
  
• Serial
• Broken into seasons; Season 1 is stellar.  2-5 are still worth a listen.
  
• Writing Excuses
• Authors, including Brandon Sanderson sometimes, talk shop about writing books; mostly Sci Fi and Fantasy.
  
• Fish Nerds
• Whether you are fly fishing in a stream getting those ankles wet or deep in the ocean casting nets; fish nerds, fish nerds.  It's a podcast.  Just for the halibut.  All things fish, fishing, and eating fish (and the catchiest intro song)!
  
• Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
• Dan Carlin doesn't post often but when he does it is an event. Get ready for 6+ hour episodes covering all sorts of historical eras.  His various series around WW2 are masterpieces.
  

Gardening Podcasts

• You Bet Your Garden
• Mike Mcgrath is old as the dirt in his garden and has been hosting the You Bet Your Garden radio show forever.  The call in radio show is available as a podcast.
  
• The Beet (formerly Epic Gardening)
• Almost daily short gardening episodes
  
• The joe gardener show
• Joe L from Growing a Greener World on PBS has a podcast; great for gardening topics
   

Green Bay Packers

• Bleeding Green and Gold
• Father/son recapping Packers games.
  
• Blue 58
• Weekly podcast that covers all things Packers; durinjg the season and offseason.
  

Gaming Podcasts

• Massively OP Podcast
• All things MMORPGs.
  
• New World to Go
• The only New World podcast still standing.  Wish they would get back to regular episodes though; I miss BDLG and Redbyrd!  
  
• The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast
• Tabletop games and just a great group of folks talking games.
  
• The Battlefield Show
• Keeps me current on BF 2042 and future BF games
  
• HBO's The Last of Us Podcast 
• I can't rant at the end of the world without first listening to the podcast to go with each episode of HBO's TV show "The Last of Us".  Gaming because its all based on a game.
  

Favorite "one time" Podcasts

• S-Town
• My all time favorite podcast series.  This is a roller coaster of a story and an emotional ride.
  
• Spellcaster
• At top of mind considering the crypto boom and bust; covers the story of Sam Bankman Fraud (SBF)
  
• Welcome to Dreamtown: Adelanto 
• Listing due to it being recently released and I really enjoyed it.  Story of a small town and mary J.
  
• HBO's Chernobyl Podcast
• HBO's Chernobyl mini series is an amazing show to watch.  The podcast is a perfect companion and I highly recommend it to anyone that watched the show.
  

Content Creator Drama: Linus Tech Tips

 I was going to write a long Blaugust 2023 post today about the Linus Tech Tips (Linus Media Group) drama, but I decided against it.  Sometimes "content creators" grow up to become companies and to no one's surprise (except maybe Linus') a company cannot operate like a "content creator".  So much respect lost for LTT in the past week and their apology video (not going to honor them with a link) was the straw that broke me (seriously; sponsor jokes!? WTF!).

 So... I did the one thing I had in my power to do that actually means anything in this situation. 

Fin.

Knightni and Me (video)

 Just dropping a link to Knightni's video where we steam rolled PvP arenas in New World.  Enjoy!