The first few games I wrote about, I took a very formal approach. While these experiences are subjective as they reflect how I felt about each game, I wanted to try and take as much of a subjective approach as possible. I would break down and analyze the core mechanics of each game, discuss what I believed worked well and provide criticism to the aspects I enjoyed less. At a certain point, I began to reflect on my initial goal of this website and how I wanted it to be authentically me.
Don’t get me wrong, I can be critical, formal, and objectively break down these games to their core components. But looking back on my first post, it just felt… robotic? While being detailed, I felt that it lacked a soul. It lacked personality. And anyone who knows me in person can confirm that just isn’t me. I generally hold a very relaxed – often lighthearted – outlook on life, I like to make jokes and be personable.
As stated, I can absolutely be serious when I need to be. However, this is MY blog. Despite creating this whole thing as a university project, I still want to have fun with it – I still want it to be an authentic reflection of self. I treated the first few posts as academic assignments rather than authentic extensions of my personality. As such I’ve expanded the scope of my blog posts and begun approaching some articles with a new lens. A much goofier lens. Take into example my post on SLUDGE LIFE: The BIG MUD Sessions – this post is a complete 180 from the previous. Rather than critically breaking down the mechanics I decided to approach it from a storytelling perspective. There are still formal elements woven in, however, I am now addressing my audience as if I was speaking to them face to face. I’m being myself, joking about ciggies and referring to the NPCs as dudes.
I realize that I genuinely enjoy writing about my experiences playing video games and wish to maintain this blog long after this semester ends. As such, I want to cultivate an audience that choses to read my articles to get an insight into MY experiences and MY personality, not an audience searching for bland, generic game reviews.
So, I’ve updated my site’s description. It’s no longer purely about game reviews. It now about much more. The game reviews will still get posted, however, there will now be many more posts written in story format and treated as game journals. I will begin including formal essays and papers. The blog will now encompass my full personality, not just the serious, academic aspects of it.
