The FINAL End of the Year Report.

It's the final day of 2018.  Every year since starting this blog has seen me do an end of year report, in which I total all the games played, miniatures painted, talk about my favorite games, and try come up with some expectations for the next year.

This year (2018), sad to say, may be my final year as a gamer and gaming-blogger.  2018 was a bit of a rough year, with getting laid off, and relocating to a different state... and I don't think I've fully recovered even after all these months.  Look at my posts for 2018 vs 2017, and I think you can see a prime example of how the hobby has died.

So, with no Hobby taking place whatsoever, and no expectations for it to pick up.  I guess, this is goodbye...

Thanks for all the support throughout the years...
-WuhSawBe-

Real Talk: My path to Minimalism. [ LONG ]

Massive *eye roll* here

 
Google "Minimalism" and you are going to get a ton of definitions, a ton of pics of IKEA-like spaces, and a ton of cheesy one-liners like above.  BUT, after a major life shakeup, I examined my life, and decided to why not give it a try.  I'm going to throw everything out there, behind the semi-anonymity of the internetz, just to give everyone a glimpse of my path towards this new life choice, and how it has affected me.  Things are gonna get personal, and very real.  I'm writing all this off the cuff, so to speak, so expect a bit of rant as I just type out whatever comes to mind...

   I think the best place to start is with MY definition of what minimalism means to me.  To boil things down, it was an examination of all the consumer-driven aspects (i.e. my stuff) of my life, and how my "things" affected my overall happiness.  It's about getting rid of anything that doesn't add to my wellbeing or happiness, to the point where, I've surrounded myself with ONLY the things that make me happy.  The beauty of this lifestyle choice, is that there is no right or wrong answer.  No right way or wrong way to go about doing it.  What my concept of "minimalist living" is/looks like will not look like yours.  It's also affected by the fact that my family doesn't really share in my choice of minimalism, and that's fine too.  THEIR stuff doesn't really affect my happiness... though I admit, I get grumpy at the ENTIRE ROOM dedicated to my daughter's legos that she currently doesn't use, but that's a different story.  But again, my minimalist journey cannot, and will not look exactly like your own, or like those seen online.  It just CAN'T, as our stations in life are always completely unique.

Why I LIKE Fighting Games...

 
It wasn't long ago that I got bitten by the Street Fighter Nostalgic bug.  (brought on by Jasco Games' UFS card game)  I hadn't really touched a single Fighting Game since probably the 90's, where I was forced to hangout at the local bowling alley, because my parents were in a bowling league.  The only things saving me from immense BOREDOM was: cheese-fries, and 4 arcade cabinets... one of which was Street Fighter II.

  Now, I'm a very PASSIONATE person, mentally, I go from very high-highs, to very low-lows.  I can pick something up, and drop it just as quickly.  I've gone through this several times already in my short time within the Fighting Game Community. (FGC)  As such, I've been trying to examine exactly what it is I like about Fighting Games as a whole, as a genre.  I've already outlined the nostalgic part for me, but what else is there?

Changes Ahead - Moving, and Moving On.

Incase you can't tell by my lack of posting any kind of content on here, I think I've effectively moved away from the hobby.  I haven't gamed in close 6 months, and haven't purchased anything gaming related since even before then.

Along the way of a bunch of "real life stuff" happening, I realized just how truly, deeply, unhappy I was.  I was using the hobby as an escape from reality, but that reality, ended up up almost making things worse in a way.  I ended up discovering the Minimalist lifestyle, and it made sense to me to see, that I was trying to fill a hole in my heart with "stuff", and in the case, it was gaming.  We've all seen it, the person that keeps buying, buying, buying.... but why?  I realized that I WAS that person.  (Even if I always painted my all my models)  It was compulsive.

My 1st game of 2018... a 4-player 40k FFA!

My 2nd game of 40k 8th edition was a giant 4-player free for all, and while I'm normally not a fan of multiplayer matches, as having never played a GOOD one in all my years of gaming, I can happily say this was probably the first enjoyable one I've ever participated in!

4 players. 4 races.  Lots of carnage!  The forces were the Aeldari (me), Astra Militarum, Tyranids, and The Black Legion, all in a modified 1250 pt Carnage scenario.  Note: this isn't really a play-by-play, rather, more of a highlight of the overall match.

Proud GamerDad moment: My daughter finishes her 1st Space Marine!

Her 1st Space Marine!

If you haven't been following for long, my daughter has been a pretty consistent gaming buddy of mine for quite awhile now.  So, when I recently started painting 40k models, of course she decided he wants to do so as well!  Pouring over a bunch of the fluff, she settled on Black Templars, mostly due to her love of knights, and partially due to me talking into collecting Easy Build Primaris Marines.

2017 End Of Year Gamer Review...

Continuing the tradition of previous years, I like look back at the end/start of a year and sort of see "how I did" as a geek and a gamer.  Last year was a bit of a rough one, and while 2017 still had some rough patches, I think it ended on a high note.  If you like to read long lists, with a bit of ranting, this post is for you...

Strap in, it's a long one...