Cyberpunk 2077–First Impressions

Okay – so! Let’s cut to the chase here. 1. I haven’t forgotten this blog, I’ve just been hella busy with the holidays and oh, yeah, the US trying to tear itself apart because of some dumb fucked-up complete waste of fucking space morons decided they no longer liked democracy and would much rather proceed to commit a laughable attempt at a coup that resulted in the death of five people for no fucking reason other than that whole group of people was collectively being dumber than a bag of fucking rocks.

Okay… woooosaaaah. Let’s just… take a moment to relax. Chill. Deep breath. Check out my V before we start. Vega Bakker Wells. Because, to him, a name isn't where you come from, it's who you belong to. 

Alright, now, let’s get to the point of this actual post. Previously, I had been playing Cyberpunk 2077 on ‘current gen’ console (xBox one) and while it was commendable, it honestly wasn’t built for it. It just wasn’t. In my opinion, it really shouldn’t have been released in 2020 at all. I get why they wanted a 20202 release date (Cyberpunk 2020 and Johnny being from 2020 etc). But it really needed to wait. Not because the game itself needed a lot more time, it really didn’t (I’ll explain later) – but because we, the people, needed more time so that more people had next gen consoles in their homes. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an xBox series S. I opted for the S over the X because $$ and because honestly, I don’t use disks anymore. Plus, I have a 4 TB external hard drive that works just fine so problem solved there.

That being said – I’m now playing on next gen. And it’s better. Way better. Like… it’s fine. I haven’t had a single glitch at all and I’m well past where I was on current gen. I’m past Jackie’s memorial and have done some questing after that. I’m sure I’ll run into some glitches down the line because, it’s a game, and games have glitches. It’s impossible to have none. I’ve even had Destiny 2 crash to home-screen on me before. It’s extremely rare, but it still happens. Anyway. My first impressions are thus…

1. The game is huge. It’s packed with so much stuff. There are revolving little quest things (assaults in progress) that just pop up all over the place. They’re apparently never-ending and are a great way to earn street cred (I had V up to 20 street cred before even starting the Heist job). The world is full of NPCs in the city, more densely populated at the city center and thinning out the further away from there you get. Which is a nice touch. All of the NPCs react and are hilarious if you even get near them with a vehicle. The children are even funnier because they’re just little people. No video game has really cracked the code on kids yet, not really. The city itself is just huge, enormous. Maybe not in foot print but in the amount of things happening around you all the time.

2. It’s overwhelming. And no, you don’t get used to it – or at least, I haven’t. There’s stuff happening all the time, all around you. It can be a little… much. Like – okay, when I was in Las Vegas, I heard slot machines so much that I started hearing them in my fucking sleep. It’s like that. Night City is so crowded, so incredibly Night City that it can be a little much. Getting out into the badlands is priority numero uno for my V.

3. I started out with the Corpo life path on my current gen play, but on this one – which I’ll be following through with – I went Nomad. Which is just so much fun. It’s the most interesting. The game incites so many ways for you to build up your own V in your head. Vega Bakker Wells, which is my guy, is complicated but kind of not. He’s kinda mean but kinda not. And after Jackie, he’s hurting. Bad. Right away, you get so many opportunities to build your own story in Night City, or outside of it. That’s the sign of a good world, a good story.

4. Johnny Silverhand is an asshole. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. He’s a fucking dick. But – eventually – he comes around. And you get where he’s coming from on a lot of things but others, he’s just an ass.

5. The combat isn’t as bad as people are saying. Maybe if you use the technical combat modes in games that are optional – then you might not like it. But it’s not that bad. It’s pretty standard. –shrug- People are just bitching.

6. There are some hilarious quests in the game, I’ve been on a few so far that were just too funny. [Flaming Crotch Guy]

7. The romance options? What the fucking fuck, CDPR? Seriously. I’m not even going to go into in depth here because I have quite a bit to say about it. But, we’ll just say, as I’m sure you know by now. That female V gets 2 options, Male V gets 2 options. One gay, one straight. Done. Fin. That’s it. In this world of “choices”, those are your choices.

8. The story is a good one but you can see some plot holes. It’s based on a table top game, so there are intentional holes in the story. So, CDPR couldn’t lean on the table top game for those plot holes, that should be filled by players – and you can tell where those holes are. I’m not dissing the writers at CDPR, but you can tell which is Cyberpunk and which is CDPR, if that makes sense. [Yes, I know V is CDPR].

9. Jackie tore me up, just like I knew he would. But, I wish we could have gone on more quests with him. Really get to know him a lot better. Maybe actually help him pick something out for Misty or something. That would have been nice.

10. As a Nomad V, I’d like to know what happened with their family, why’d they leave? What exactly happened. I don’t know if they explain it in the game and I’m not going to go look for it online.

11. The detail is amazing. The graphics are awesome. And current gen doesn’t hold a candle to what next gen can do with this game. It really doesn’t. Keep that in mind if you’re playing on current gen console. If you’re playing on PC, the higher level the equipment, obviously – the better the game performance will be.

Well, that’s about it for this one. I covered a few things and I’ll be posting about the whole romance option debacle next here, hopefully, in a few days.

A Lull, Glitches, and Twitch

I know it's been awhile since I've posted (aside from the one I just made) and it's not that I've forgotten this blog. Far from it. I've been in a major funk - no it's not "the rona". 

But! I'm getting super excited for Cyberpunk. It's pre-loaded on my tank (six year old xbox one) and it's ready to go! I cannot wait. It's going to be so awesome and honestly, one of the things I'm looking forward to the most... are the glitches. 

Glitches are... hilarious. They are. I haven't seen a glitch yet that wasn't drop-down funny. They make a game... I don't know how to explain it. Take Bioware games. The glitches are part of the games! Just like Bethesda. Not Fallout76, which is just... a nightmare. Ignore that game, pretend it doesn't exist because it shouldn't. No, I mean like Skyrim glitches that send giants careening into the sky never to be seen again. Those kinds of glitches! Bioware glitches that have characters just... sinking. It's too funny. I love it. 

Now, Twitch... I still haven't figured out how to get the mic settings right on console. When I download the few streams I have done, I can barely hear what I'm saying. I'll figure it out eventually but until then - I've taken a hiatus from there but I will stream again soon - I've ordered those little wind-shield foam things for the mic on my Rig because it can pick up the fan in the room and that just sucks. So - that'll be in towards the end of the week. I still have to figure out what I'm going to do with my YT channel. Honestly - I have no idea. I mean, I have some ideas but nothing concrete by any means. 

Well - that's about it for now. See y'all in Night City!

Cyberpunk 2077 Romance Options?

So – of the many things that have been going around the wire lately have been the information dropped during a post-show interview with one of CDPR’s quest designers after the last episode of Night City Wire. Patrick Mills didn’t want to let too much out about the romance options, apparently because some of them are intrinsically tied to the main quest line. I get that, however, he didn’t even give a number – he was asked how many there’d be. But – that’s kind of beside the point. The point is – when he was answering this anticipated question – he said that something he could tell us was that we have already seen all of the romance options for V. As in, literally. We’ve seen all of them – I’m assuming either in trailers, game place footage, or screenshots. Now, this little – seemingly innocent answer – has created an entire whirlwind of guesses going on. And I’ve been seeing a lot of people making a lot of guesses and some of them range from the pretty ordinary to the strange and unusual to the down-right creepy. So, I figured I’d weight in too.

Now, I haven’t read all of the lore available yet but I’m pretty up to date on the basic knowledge, for the most part – I say that because obviously I don’t know if I know all there is to know about these characters. So, keep that in mind.

First, I’ll talk about some of the more common suggestions that I’ve been seeing as possible romance options. Now, these are romance options – not “casual encounters” which are also very much a thing in the game. Fair warning : Certain spoilerish stuff ahead. If you don’t want to know anything about these characters, stop now. Anything I’m posting here, though, can be easily found on the Wiki or YT.

So – firstly, the obvious one has been Jackie. Jackie Wells. The 30 year old former Valentino is V’s first real point of contact and how well you know him from the start of the game, apparently, depends on which life path you choose. Oddly enough, if you choose the Corpo life path – you and he go way back? I would have thought it was if you chose the Street Kid life path but whatever. Now, while a lot of people have been throwing this one around due to Jackie’s little mating bird dance – I think he’s going to become sort of like a Varric character. Unobtainable. See, Jackie’s got himself a girlfriend already and we know he dies fairly early on. Which… sucks. Big time. Because I already know I’m going to adore him. –shimmy shimmy shake-

Next up – we have two some-what “confirmed” romance options. I say “confirmed” like that because they haven’t officially been confirmed but they kind of sort have? It’s weird. Anyway… you’ve got Judy Alvarez. She’s a Moxie at Lizzie’s Bar who helps you do some Brain Dancing and apparently, is who you go to for some extra special BD’s. –A wink, wink-. Anyway – she looks quite young but then again, with immortality kind of being a thing, who knows. Plus – V’s quite young (22). Now she’s rumored to only like women, which is fine by me. Plus, she’s got some kick ass tattoos. And maybe it’s just me… but she looks kind of sad.

 

Then there’s Meredith fucking Stout, the Senior Operations Manager for Militech. Okay, so I still get a slight twitch in my left eye whenever I encounter a female character in a position of authoritative power that is clearly corrupt that is also named Meredith. Pick a different name, my god. But I know a lot of people are apparently looking forward to this one – maybe it’s the whole I will set you ablaze right naowwww look in her eyes or it’s the heels and leather and yes may i have another! Who knows. But – it is what it is. Apparently though, if you don’t pick the Corpo life path – you can kiss that leather-covered ass goodbye because she’s only in it for the game.

I’ve also seen some people suggesting Oleg and Dexter DeShawn. Other than ew – there’s not a lot to go on here. Unless you’re into one word wonders and a Mr. T’esk vibe – that’s about all there is that’s going on there. Just my opinion though – some people may be into that. Of course, Dexter DeShawn is a Fixer, in case you didn’t know, he’s one of the first ones V meets and his bodygaurd / driver is Oleg. This dude. As far as I know, neither are affiliated with anyone other than Dexter DeShawn, as in… they’re both affiliated with… Dexter… De… oh nevermind.

 

Another one I’ve seen is Evelyn Parker. Now, I think this is just wishful thinking and probably more likely to be one of those casual encounters – she’s a character V meets during Dexter’s quest, in fact, it’s her Brain Dance that Judy gives us. Now, right off the bat, apparently, Evelyn is trying to get V to betray Dexter (hindsight 2020 and all that –ahem- anyway). So, she’s got some serious ambition and while we do meet her at Lizzie’s Bar, she actually works at the Doll House. Now, I’m not saying that a sex worker can’t have a relationship – but given her general ambitious / step on anyone to get to the top nature? I’m betting a relationship isn’t in her focus right now. She’s got big plans, after all.

 

And if all of those weren’t even remotely close to your thing – we’ve got the Voodoo Boys. Ah yes, Voodoo Boys. I can’t say that without perking an eyebrow and grinning. I love it. Anyway, both the Head of the gang and the second in command have been suggested as possible romances for V. And while one or neither may be a possibility (see what I did there) – I’m hoping for Placide personally, he’s just… –ahem- look, he’s got presence is what I’m saying here. At 35 and second in command of the Voodoo Boys, Placide is almost an instant enemy of V’s. Yeah, enemy. See the trope I’m hinting at here… see it? Yeah. Okay – apparently, Placide betrays V during a mission or something and knocks V unconscious… probably by hacking us or something and when we wake up, we’re understandably pissed, which leads to a confrontation and voila – tension! –jazz hands- Plus, the dude’s got one hell of an accent on him. –finger kisses- Magnifique.

And then there’s Brigitte. She’s the head of the Voodoo Boys. Otherwise known as Maman Brigitte (Mama Brigitte for those who’ve never set foot anywhere near anything remotely Creole before). She looks pretty damn good for being 41, but who knows her real age, again with immortality being a thing. She’s levvel headed but ruthless, and in the Net? You definitely don’t want to stumble across her there, she’ll fuck you up something fierce. She is the leader of a gang after all, she didn’t get there by baking fucking cookies. She’s a badass to the max and she knows it too. And while some have suggested her… I’m not sure I see this one happening, only because she’s too mature for V. Not too old – age doesn’t matter when it comes to maturity. In fact, I don’t see any of the actual gang leaders being romance options.

And now, one of the big one’s I’ve seen being thrown around is Johnny Silverhand. I lump him up with Jackie. People can dream all day long but I don’t think this is going to happen, for a few small but vitally important reasons. Kind of big spoilers here if you haven’t learned anything about him yet and want to keep him a total mystery – seriously don’t read this next part.

Seriously…

Okay, I’ve done all I could.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, Johnny’s dead. He’s… so very, very dead. Has been for a long ass time. Who we deal with is his consciousness – not the man himself, well… it’s kind of him but… kind of not? It’s weird. So there’s that. But also, on top of that, he’s seriously taken. There’s a whole tragic backstory to him and his girlfriend, Alt Cunningham, but I’m not going to go into it here. So… if there was any kind of relationship there… it’d literally be taking place inside V’s head. So… it’d be a fantasy? I don’t know. Not gonna happen though.

 

Then there’s one that I’ve seen, actually, very little mention of. Emmerick Bronson. He’s the bouncer at the Afterlife – the merc bar that V and Jackie and all the little wild crazy mercs hang out at. Now, he’s a bit of a conundrum. He’s a bouncer right… but he’s also, apparently, affiliated with the Animals gang. I’m not sure if he’s just starting out because he’s not… ya know… –takes in a lot of air like a puffer fish-. I mean, he’s built but no more than some of the other dudes who aren’t in the Animals. But, he’s affiliated with them so I don’t know what’s going on there. But – he’s one of the few dudes that one, V deals with all the time that isn’t butt fucking ugly or crazy ass old and he seems like one of those side characters that shouldn’t be featured as much as he’s been featured. He’s in the center of the Animals promo picture for cryin’ out loud. See? Right in the middle. 

So, for me personally? Just from what I’ve listed here? It’d be Emmerick and Placide. Because Jackie… –shimmy shimmy shake- is beyond our reach.

*Note: All the images are CDPR's and were lifted taken borrowed obtained from the Cyberpunk 2077 Wiki*

First Couple of Streams

So, I started a Twitch account. And I’ve streamed a grand total of three times. The first two were complete tests to see how the mic and stuff would work out. There was an original first one but I deleted it because apparently 1080p on the Twitch app streaming direct from xBox was not a good idea. It couldn’t keep up or something, it came out horrible. So – gone. The new first one has no mic audio because I’m apparently a dumbass and straight up didn’t have the mic turned on via xBox audio settings. The second one is better, there’s mic audio but the fan makes it sound like I’m heavy breathing into the mic the entire time. The third one, it was too late in the night so I just pu on there no mic/chat. I think I’ll do that every now and again for the middle of the night streams when I’m just going to grind out some things on there.

So far, the experience has been okay but honestly, I wish I could get rid of the streaming bar on the screen. The moment I know someone is watching (which I’ve had a few people so far come and go, which is weird) – my game gets off for a few seconds. You know how it is – you’re all fine until someone watches you then you start to suck.

Anyway, I just wanted to put a little post about it. So far, it’s okay. The mic audio seems to be a second or so behind the video though so some of my commentary doesn’t exactly line up – which I’m sure is a xBox Twitch app thing. It’d probably be better if I was using the PC to stream but c'est la vie.

I’ve added the new links to both the new YouTube channel – which so far has nothing on it because I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to put on there yet – and the new Twitch channel – to the menu bar. I’m also going to be messing around with the blog design soon, updating it and adding my new header though I really do enjoy this one. We’ll see what I do with it. 

Twitch, Streaming, YouTube and the Like

The other day, Hamish suggested that I start a Twitch channel? I’ll be perfectly honest, like most people who reach a certain age, I hopped off the new app train quite awhile ago. I mean… come on… Blogger. Yeah. Anyway, I did a little reading, a little watching and figured, it might be worth a go? And while I do have a few games on my laptop (MSi) – I do about 99.9-% of my gaming on my beloved xBox (which has started giving me disk reading issues – I’m hoping that just means I need to clean it… though it is about five years plus old now). Anyway – I do the bulk of my gaming on the xBox and while I know they have a Twitch app, allowing one to stream live using the xBox and you can even do announcing type voice over, you won’t see the chat box – at least that’s my understanding. I also know that these are live streams, they don’t hang around on your channel after you sign off. So – I’m thinking, if I do that then I’d need to start a YouTube channel. I have one but it’s a hodge-podge of a channel that has everything from fan-made music videos to my son’s first steps to bar concerts. So, a dedicated channel. I know that I can go into the settings on the Twitch account and have it save the streams, to which I can later download and then port over to YouTube or at the least, use it as content material if something interesting happened. Who knows – but it might be worth doing, especially with Beyond Light heading our way and Cyberpunk 2077. Plus, we might also be getting ourselves a remastered Mass Effect Trilogy (please, please, please, please). So, I think if I do that – then it would take some setting up. I might play around with it some this week and next week. Hmm. It’d be interesting – that’s for sure.

An Open Letter to Bungie - Updated

With the recent commencement of the 2020 Solstice of Heroes, Destiny 2 has, once again, brought one of its most glaring defects to the forefront, in my humble opinion. I’m not talking about the discord over last year’s fumble of silver in exchange for glow effects in armor that was quickly rendered useless. No, I’m talking about an issue that is more systemic in the game itself and has been since it’s initial launch. Perhaps it’s because Destiny itself is such a community centered game that this issue has gone seemingly unnoticed by many. However, I am sure that I’m not alone in my thinking when I say that Destiny 2 does a very poor job of straddling the line between a single player first person shooter game and a massively multiplayer online game. Allow me to elaborate, though I can only speak on my experience with Destiny 2. Though I have played Destiny 1 – it has been as a single player only while Destiny 2, I have had the pleasure of experiencing it with a fireteam a time or two.

Upon starting Destiny 2 – you begin the game alone. In fact, almost all of the story missions as well as the expansions – all of those initial “quests” are done alone. Even if you were previously in a fire team, you will be going through them alone once you initiate them. And, in my opinion, that’s a good thing. It removes the waiting that you might experience if you were required to have a fireteam for the entire game. Your inventory, your characters, and more recently – the choices you have made are all shaping your character. This is amazing and I adore it. By far, the best part of the entire game.  That’s not to say that the multiplayer aspect of it is some less – far from it. Joining up with other players in strikes, the crucible, and other events is one of the many high pointes of the game. It’s a lot of fun and while it can bring with it a certain set of challenges – that’s to be expected when you throw in a few unknown elements. You toss in clans and you have the opportunity to create something truly inspiring. And, from what I understand, nothing in Destiny is better than completing a raid. I say it that way because I’ve never done one. That’s the other side to this. There is this whole other side of the game that I will probably never experience, especially come November 10th when Leviathan will officially be locked in the vault for the foreseeable future. And, while I am bummed, it’s alright. I’ve been playing Destiny 2 since it launched, I pre-ordered it and everything. And I haven’t set foot in a raid with a fireteam. Haven’t been able to get one together. Because I don’t have any real friends that play the game and I am painfully shy. Not to mention the fact that I’m a mid-thirties woman. That tends to create a bit of a problem when trying to get a group together. But, it is what it is and I’m okay with that – since there really isn’t any other option. But that leads me to the main point of this letter. Forced participation.

For example – the Lore seal. I am literally two things away from completing it. I have been two things away for months. The two things? One ahamkara bone and one corrupted egg. Both locked behind boss walls in the Last Wish raid. I’ve gotten the others, accessible via the wish wall. But, since I haven’t been able to get a raid team together… there you have it. For a single player like me, the Lore seal is literally impossible to get, even though it is not a raid seal, which there is one of those. But this is not that. This is a game wide Lore seal. Additionally – this year’s Solstice of Heroes armor set, to achieve “Majestic” level on all the various pieces, will require a fireteam. Not one that is match made. No, one that I have to supply myself. Just like last year. Last year, I managed to get everything done that I could without a fireteam. I don’t have a dog in the fight of the argument over the glow effects because… I never got any. Never could. And this year looks like it will end up being the same. I pre-ordered Destiny 2. Later bought Destiny 1. I’ve pre-ordered every expansion, I’ve always held a season pass. And I’ve pre-ordered Beyond Light, Deluxe Edition. And while I’m paying for the full game… I’m only getting about three quarters the content.

Let me make one thing very clear – I have never even thought to complain about not being able to get raid gear, guns, armor, seals, or triumphs. Because they come raids. Raids require a full fireteam. I’ve never thought to complain about not being able to get the raid seal or the Dreaming City seal, which relies heavily on the Last Wish raid. Because… raids require a full fireteam.

But when an event comes out that claims to be “for all”… and it simply isn’t – it can be rather disheartening to even continue the event when you know you aren’t going to be able to complete it. I play a hunter main… and this year’s requirements for the Majestic set are:

• Helmet: Complete a Nightfall: The Ordeal Strike on Master difficulty. – This requires your own fireteam. I just finished a Nightfall tonight with a match made fireteam. People I’ve never played with before, wearing Tier 2 Solstice Armor – and we finished with a score of over 100k in the Ordeal Strange Terrain. So, I can clearly hold my own. A suitable substitute for this would be to do just that – Hero and 100k. Which isn’t easy by any means.
• Gauntlets: Complete a Nightmare Hunt on the Moon – This is something everyone can do.
• Chest: Complete the Pit of Heresy Dungeon on the Moon – Again, requires your own fireteam. Technically, you can solo this but it’s insanely hard, as in – only the best can do it. A suitable substitute would be some more EAZ runs – since the area’s apparently forgotten entirely for this step of the event. It can even be an insane number like 100.
• Boots: Win matches in Trials of Osiris. – This is again, something everyone can do – from what I understand.
• Cloak: Defeat the final boss in Altars of Sorrow on the Moon. – Another thing everyone can do.

So, for me – the things I’m going to struggle with completely are going to be the Helmet and the Chest. The Chest is going to be the hardest, but, I’ll try to find some people to play with. The thing is – the Solstice of Heroes even is supposed to be “for all”. But when you lock the final steps behind required fireteam activities – then it isn’t “for all”. It’s for “MMO” players. Which, Destiny is not completely made of.

Let me say that I adore Destiny, obviously. I think it’s a wonderful game, it’s beautiful and the stories are amazing. The lore is immersive and the worlds are stunning. Honestly, this is literally the only problem I have with the game, but, it’s a big one. The thing is though, it’s so easily fixable. I really do hope that you, Bungie, consider this option, this path, as you continue on your own – shaping Destiny into the aw-inspiring game that it can continue to be. I know that it was mentioned before that “choices” were going to become more a part of the game and for that, I cannot wait to see what will happen, what the future will hold. I really do believe that Destiny can comfortably have one foot in choice based, RPG first person shooter and in amazing MMO. Destiny can continue to be the game that other MMOs are compared to.

Signed, A Destiny Player. 

*Updated 8/17/2020

A correction to the above open letter that I felt necessary to post. The armor set for this year's solstice of heroes event doesn't have to be made "Magnificent" in order to get the glowy bits. However, if you want glowy bits that you don't pay for, either by silver or an insane amount of bright dust, you will have to go magnificent. Which, I wrongly refer to as Majestic most of the time above. I do so apologize for any confusion on that one. Also, it's probably worth noting that the glowy bits you purchase from Eververse are universal ornaments while the glowy bit you earn is not. So, there's that. 

Cyberpunk 2077–Life Paths and Character Plans

Okay, so, as you’ve probably already heard, since it’s been absolutely everywhere. There has been a major info dump concerning Cyberpunk 2077. I, for one, am super excited about it and absolutely cannot wait. Well, actually, I can. Because I have zero problem with CD Projekt Red NOT rushing the game. I’m okay with waiting but I’m excited about it, big time. I want to try and post on this a few times, because there is so much to go over. Seriously. So… so much.

The idea of having different life paths to choose from reminds me heavily of Mass Effect or Dragon Age. You get three to pick from; Corporate, Street Rat, or Nomad. Basically, Upper, Middle, and Lower – sort of. They’re all pretty self-explanatory and each one comes with their own in game advantages and disadvantages. For instance, if you’re a Nomad, then it’s going to be easier for you out in the Badlands (to some extent) as far as getting the people out there to trust you and stuff like that. But, when you have to go deal with Corpos (Corporate people) – it’s going to be harder for you than say, if you had started with a Corporate life path. And, visa versa. If you’re a Street Rat then you’re going to have an easier time dealing with the gangs though I’m not sure if you’re going to be affiliated or if you’re just going to have a basic, broad understanding of that world, probably that one. So on and so forth.

Now, I know a lot of y’all out there who are excited about this game have already started planning out your characters as much as you can with the information that you’ve been able to get your hands on. As have I. With every new game that has character customization that I play, my first playthrough, I always play as a female. Always. Typically a bi female, since that’s closest to me, and go from there. I’ll almost always end up with a distance player, sniper, sneaker, roguish type. I think for her… I’ll pick the Corporate lifepath – just because. Highborn female and all that. I think she’d be more of a in depth planner, one of those big thinker types. The kind of person who, if doing a “job” would try to think through every single angle before making a move, probably get a lot of those types of augmentations, those kinds of modifications.

Of course, I already have plans for at least one other character – a Nomad male who abhors any kind of body modification. Not sure how I’ll be able to play that one out but we’ll see. I know I’ll do the street rat playthrough, I’m just not sure how I’ll do that one yet and if this game is anything like the length of Witcher 3 base game, I won’t have to even remotely think about that one for awhile. Hell, even touching on my second playthrough is a ways out.

Anyway, if you haven’t checked it out yet – do. It’s a lot of really cool information without actually spoiling the game, which is one of the things I like most about CDPR, they are really good about not spoiling their game’s stories while still giving players enough pre-game information to keep us excited about it.

 

Girls in Gaming Series Intro

So, until I get way better at writing content for this, just be forewarned that a lot of these posts are going to kind of be all over the place.

Obviously, I'm female - and as such being a "gamer" or even called a gamer can be... tricky. Especially when confronted with mic-required content in games like Destiny. When most players are male, or at least most who are on the mic are - it can be a roll of the dice for a female player to actually speak during anything like that.

Typically, I avoid any mic-required content, that includes raids. Because I've yet to find an all female or at least female friendly clan that is actually active. Yes, here we are year whatever more than one on Destiny 2 and I have played both Destiny 1 and 2 and have never done a raid. Not because I don't want to but because I'm painfully shy.

Now, that's not to say that I have never spoken on the mic in game, I have and, while, a few times it's been fine there have been others where... okay so you, as a female, will speak and it's followed by a deafening silence. And you just know that the dudes are going "... is that a girl?..." and if a girl is lucky when that happens, it's just glossed over like nothing happened and they're treated fine. Or, more often than not, they pretty much will ignore her from there on out. And, yes, it does happen - she can be met with harassment to put it lightly.

Now, I'm a solo-player, I'll touch more on that in another post but for now, let's just say that unless it had mechanics that basically required a mic, I have done it. I've done Shattered Throne, I have every Ahamkara bone except the two that are past encounters in the Last Wish raid (I even go in there and loot that ONE chest every week, so I know the wish wall - I even have the freaking triumph associated with making like 15 wishes or something), I have every stupid egg except that ONE in the raid. I've got Whisper, I've got Bad Juju, etc. My hunter exotic collection is literally only missing what's in the raids.

Anyway - I digress, the point here is that I'm not, by any stretch of the imagination, a shitty player. I know my stuff and while I may not always have the highest kill count in strikes or crucible, I almost always have the highest assists and revives given. And I'm okay with that. It doesn't bother me.

What bothers me is that there is this whole chunk of content that I can't do solo and am forced to deal with other people, who will more than likely be men.

For example: I was playing Destiny 1 about a month ago (yes, I so go back and forth) and I was on my hunter Exo, Wyatt-3. Yeah, he's a dude but that's hardly an accurate representation of the player - there are a lot of dudes who have female characters and it's fine. Anyway, I was invited by a group in world to join in their play, I accepted because why not, right? Now, this is on me because I have done zero research into the Vault of Glass beyond knowing that you have to shoot the glowing squares. I was a part of their group for about 10 minutes before I just left, because, while I was setting up my mic (finding it and plugging it in because I generally won't play with it plugged in if I'm just using the headphones because it's late and the houses is asleep), anyway! While I was setting up my mic, I hear one that we're apparently doing a raid... okay... why not right? But also while I'm loading in I hear in the group chat or whatever the constant reference to "he" and "him" (referring to me). Now, that's not necessarily bad, by any means, but it usually is a small blinking red light in the corner of the psyche that the fact that the automatic assumption is that I'm a dude is there. But, I don't fault them for it, not really. I mean, my gamer tag is fairly ambiguous and I am playing a dude character. So, I get my mic set up, finally get to the doorway which I've been totally left behind at this point. I greet them "hey guys" and say something along the lines of "yeah, so I've never done this... where do I jump to?" (literally, totally the only one out of six that was standing in the beginning, trying to jump here and there, etc and completely dying every time). Then, there was that dead silence for a good thirty seconds before I hear, "Oh... so... you're a girl?" (insert not amused face here). When I say yeah, and am all like "I'd like to do this but I honestly have no idea how to even get to where you guys are." One of the guys started snickering, which could be easily chalked up to him being all "haha noob". (I'm level 40 thank you very much and have done all of the campaigns.) Then one of the guys starts trying to explain where to jump, in rather vague terms like "look over there on the wall, there's a ledge, that's where you need to go and then just kind of follow it around" (anyone who has stood at the start of that raid knows that you are quite literally surrounded by walls...) And so, I ask, "The vex wall or the cave wall?" Because I, once again, kept dying. The same guy sighs and starts to speak only to be interrupted by another one of them that goes "you'll have to be more specific dude, she is a girl." And the first sort-of helpful guy goes, in a tone not joking either, "this is true." Followed by me just going "wow... yeah, y'all have fun." And I left because why? There's no dealing with people like that.

This is by far not the only encounter like this that I've personally had. It's not all bad, the dudes that I ran Shattered Throne with were really cool. I've also run Shattered Throne with a couple of girls, which was fun and they were super helpful, meanwhile, I was pretty much the one leading those dudes around to collect the bones and stuff because they didn't know where to go, which I didn't mind at all. I had been the one with videos up and at the ready, so that was fine.

The point is... encounters like the one I described are the exact reason a lot of gamer girls won't talk in things like that, they'll just be in the chat like "oh, I don't have a mic" or "my mic's busted" when in reality, (while that might be true) they just don't want to deal with the very real and possible bullshit that comes along with basically revealing yourself as female in a gaming setting.

Now, this doesn't change the way I look at games like Destiny, it just reinforces the solo mentality. I've been playing D2 since it came out and I've completely nearly every seasonal challenge, I've done pretty damned good and I've done it all with zero clan help when I was in one.

I'd love to find an all girl clan that is active or at least a clan that's fine with female gamers. I've thought about starting my own but honestly, I have so many projects that I would constantly feel that I'm somehow neglecting it. I've applied to the 100 Girls in Destiny or Girls of Destiny clan or whatever but haven't heard anything back. I plan to go clan-shopping again because I seriously want to complete the Leviathan raid now that they're taking it off of the game in November. I'd like to do all of the raids, honestly.

So, to wrap it up - girls in gaming do have to deal with BS from other male players, it's real and it's a well known thing. And it's sad that the Destiny community does have these assholes in it, they're out there - among you, right now. If you're a dude and you're in a group where shit like what I described goes down, you should butt in and be all "uh... dude, no." And if you don't, well then, you're just part of the problem. 

First thing's First.

So, let's just get this out there straight out of the gate. Not only do I like gaming but I also do fan-art and fan-fiction. Yep, I'm one of those people. Now, I'm going not going to share the fan-fiction here but I make zero promises about the art, in fact, I'll probably put one at the end of this post.

Because I write and draw... I tend to have a lot of characters spread out over the various games I frequently play. And when I say a lot... I mean... a lot. 

Just for example, the game I play with the smallest number of OC's that I have is Destiny. And I have about... 7 guardians or so? Plus a few other non-guardian OC's. And each one has a story. (Don't worry, no stories here). The game with the most OC's is by far Dragon Age, but come on... that's three games to spread them out over. There's bound to be a lot. Probably over twenty all together and then some. Some more developed than others, some fly-by-night thoughts. I've written stories as short as a thousand words and some as long as 60,000 words (not even kidding). I've made videos of my characters and I have folders of art for them. That's the coolest thing, IMO, about games. They inspire art of all kinds, even if that art never leaves your own mind. 

So, because of that, I'm super open to a lot of ships and so on. Yes, ships. 

Anyway, clearly there are going to be some games that I am obsessed with like and some that I enjoy but honestly know very little lore about. Currently, my big attention game is Destiny. More 2 than 1 but still both. And of course, the news drop day before yesterday... yeah. But I'm not going to go into that in this post, otherwise it'll be forever long. But I am going to write about... oh yes... I will write about it. 

Anyway, I'll sign off here for now and leave you with my most recent piece of my hunter, John Henry. Yes, it's a long name but he's got a long history and yes... it is that John Henry.