I was nominated by Alex Sigsworth, The Purple Prose Mage for my second Sunshine Blogger Award. We’re both taking part in Normal Happenings’ “The Games That Define Us” next month which you should all keep your eyes out for!
Last time I answered these questions, I did a post myself and then nominated my recent blogging partner WesleyWhale to answer my questions. This time, we’ve decided to answer them in a joint post as we plan to write some stuff together in the future. Let us know what you think!
1. How do you hope you’ll change as a gamer in the future?
Skylar-Mei: I’d like to branch out and experience certain games on a variety of different consoles. For the past 5 years I’ve been a PC gamer (which isn’t going to change) but I bought a PS4 last month and I’ve preordered a Nintendo Switch due in November. I feel like this will help expand my gaming knowledge and provide a wider choice of games.
WesleyWhale: I’d very much like to “git gud”. Recently I’ve enjoyed playing competitive multiplayer games, however, there is one thing that limits my enjoyment of these games. I’m not nearly as good at them as I would like to be.
2. What game kept you up at night?
Skylar-Mei: I remember about a year ago now I spent all night trying to complete one of Smite’s daily events to win 100 gems for 3 First Wins of the Day. I had been at work that day so I came home and got into playing alone. I won two games fairly easily but for the next 3 hours, I couldn’t win the final game I needed. I got so frustrated that I’d wasted hours of my time for zero gems and I was at work the next day. I went to bed very grumpy and disappointed. I remember finding an extra 100 gems in my account the next day due to Wesley here logging into my account and winning a game for me around 4am in the morning. ❤
WesleyWhale: I regret doing it… I’ll never get those hours of my life back. However, I don’t regret the countless hours I’ve lost to Halo 3. In my teens, I spent many weekends solo queuing for Rumble Pit into the early hours of the morning or dominating the Big team servers with my close friends.
3. Which solution to a video game level are you most proud of having devised?
WesleyWhale: Nothing immediately comes to mind for this question, but I used to play a lot of the Elder Scrolls Oblivion when I was younger and anyone familiar with that game will know that there are couple of skills you can level up by simply moving forwards. So, like the little brainbox I was, I wrapped a few rubber bands around a gamepad to keep my character working on leg day for hours while I was free to do something a little more engaging.
Skylar-Mei: That part in Life is Strange where you need to unlock Nathan’s phone… I guessed it would be his date of birth straight away as the game was so predictable. However, being English, I typed in the English version of the date and not the American way of doing it so I spent the next 10 minutes going through all the numbers only to realise I was right in the first place.
4. Have you ever pirated a game?
WesleyWhale: Yes, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. It’s unfortunate, but video game piracy has almost become essential for fans of niche or retro games. There are many titles that would have been entirely lost to time if it wasn’t for pirates keeping the games alive. With the gaming industry the way it is now, killing off games left right and centre, I can only imagine it getting much worse in the future.
Skylar-Mei: I agree. There’s only ever been a few, the only reason being because they weren’t available anywhere else. I have recently purchased these games as they’ve become available on sites such as GOG, but in cases where games aren’t rereleased, is it really okay to just let them be lost and forgotten?
WesleyWhale: Skylar raises a good point here. If you’re thinking about pirating a game that you believe is otherwise unobtainable, do always check if you can buy a legitimate copy from GOG.com. They tend to be really good for that sort of thing.
5. Have you ever lied about playing a game in order to impress someone else?
Skylar-Mei: I can’t say I’ve ever lied about playing a game that I’ve never experienced. However, I do say that I’ve played games such as Silent Hill 2 which I actually watched Wesley play. I wouldn’t say it was lying though. I had the whole experience, I just wasn’t the one holding the controller!
WesleyWhale: That’s right, I needed you to play Silent Hill with me to help with the puzzles! I have never lied about playing a game. I’ve pretty much played everything worth playing anyway so there’s no need to lie.
6. What game do you regret not playing?
WesleyWhale: If I really did regret playing a video game, I would be playing it right now. The only thing that would stop me would be if the game was literally unplayable. I am going to cheat a little bit on this question by picking a game that I have played but not nearly enough as I would’ve liked to. That game was Nosgoth, a game which I thoroughly enjoyed for the short time it was available to play before Square Enix pulled the plug.
Skylar-Mei: Nosgoth is really good choice, I would’ve liked to play more of it too. My pick isn’t a game exactly, but I think I’ll always regret not getting into Guild Wars 2 Raids when they first released. No one wants new raiders in their parties so I’ve never managed to find a group that will let me in. It sucks really, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re not part of an active guild in an MMO.
7. How does gaming give your life meaning?
Skylar-Mei: Gaming has certainly left an impression on me but I don’t think I’d go as far as saying “gaming gives my life meaning”. I use my PC every day, even if it is only for half an hour of gaming and it also led me to start this blog. Gaming has given myself and Wesley something fun to do together while we’re living apart too and I love that we share this common interest.
WesleyWhale: I really enjoy playing video games and I’ve played a lot of them. I do consider them to be a legitimate artform, but if I were to be a realist I don’t think I possibly could say “video games give my life meaning”.
8. In what way do you think other gamers would be most critical of you?
Skylar-Mei: I’ve never played anything older than PS1 era excluding a few select PC games. I’ve only been into gaming properly for the past 5 – 6 years, so my experience with old games is very minimal. I’m enjoying exploring the gaming universe on my own terms and I’m not just going to play a game because everyone else has experienced it.
WesleyWhale: I’m quite opinionated and I may give the impression off being a bit of a gaming snob. I’ve upset people, Skylar included, in the past because I have been critical about their taste in games.
Skylar-Mei: Cry cry, why you hate my games? I can certainly second you on that one. I’ve known you long enough now to brush it off but it can still be annoying when I like something and you can’t help but point out all of the negatives. I trust your opinions on games though and I think you have great taste.
9. Have you ever regretted investing so much time into a particular game?
WesleyWhale: Time spent gaming is time well spent no matter what you’re playing (even if you are playing trash)!
Skylar-Mei: Some games are just so bad that it makes them good! I do sometimes regret spending so much time on Smite. Although I really enjoy playing, I do often find myself saying “just one more game” which will then turn into 3 and eat up an hour of my time that I should have probably spent doing something else. It’s a bad habit I’m trying to break.
10. Has any game ever made you feel anxious?
WesleyWhale: On my first play through of Dark Souls, I quickly caught onto FromSoft’s sneaky little habit of hiding very deadly enemies around tight corners hidden from the player’s vision. To this day, whenever I see I tight corner in a video game, it triggers my PTSD and I get flashbacks of that one time in The Tomb of the Giants…
Skylar-Mei: Wesley and his brothers used to play a lot of DotA 2. They finally got me into joining them but because they had already been playing for years, the skill gap between us was massive. When we queued for games, I always used to get shouted at by other players because I didn’t really know what I was doing despite playing over 100 hours of bot matches beforehand. This discouraged me to play as I came across the issue regularly and it genuinely ruined my experience.
WesleyWhale: Even after we all made new Steam accounts to try to reduce the skill gap for Skylar’s benefit, we could only find games filled with the many smurfs that inhabit the DotA 2 servers. It was a shame.
11. What genre of game do you wish you were better at playing?
Skylar-Mei: I’d really love to be good at fighting games. When BBTAG was released I really got back into them after being a major Skullgirls fan previously. I wish I was better at learning and retaining controls as if I go a few weeks without playing, I pretty much end up back at square one.
WesleyWhale: I would like to get really good at playing Grand Strategy Games, but I don’t have time for that. I think I would really enjoy playing Crusader Kings but I’m not about to invest thousands of hours figuring out how to play a game with a learning curve steeper than the seven thousand steps to High Hrothgar.
Skylar-Mei: Are there actually 7,000 steps… Has anyone actually even counted them? *Googles* Of course, what was I thinking…
Questions:
1. If any gaming controller could work with any console, what would be your preferred gamepad?
2. Has there ever been a time where you gave up on a section in a game and never looked back?
3. What is your favourite name of an achievement/trophy?
4. What is your favourite video game soundtrack?
5. Which game has the best loot system?
6. What’s the most difficult game you’ve ever beaten?
7. Which game have you played the most and approximately have many hours have you spent on this game?
8. Was there ever a game that made you think “I really want to play more games like this”?
9. Hard copies or digital?
10. Since it’s nearly Hallowe’en, what’s you favourite horror game (or film if you haven’t played any)?
11. As we’re both fairly new to Twitter, who should we be following?
We Nominate… You!
Jamie Depledge, Best Nerd Life
Luke, Hundstrasse: Rambles about games
Justin, TWOTALL4UFOOL’s Gaming & More
I hope you all enjoyed reading our first joint blog, let us know what you think in the comments below. You can also follow us both, Skylar-Mei and WesleyWhale, on Twitter.
Please feel free to join in even if you haven’t been nominated and link your answers back to this post (or you can even play along in the comments section), the more the merrier! We look forward to reading everyone’s answers!
gamergal.exe 
Awww this is so cool!! Thanks for nominating me. 🙂 I’ll link back to this post soon. Thanks!!
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I accept the challenge! Can’t wait to do it!
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