A time to work, a time to play

No time for gaming, lately, but I hope to return to a regular posting schedule some time this week. I’ve started a new job with shorter hours, and (my next big time investment) Superstruct launches on October 6.

I’ve been spending a lot of time preparing my back story and materials I’ll need as a Community Leader-type (not sure of my official title), although I’m not going to introduce it until the official game start – but lots of people have dug in deeply already. There are a handful of blogs listed here, many with some extremely in-depth content – check out this entry from Ark_Keeper, which talks about gaming ten years from now:

. . .Speaking of WoS, my guild decided to join up with many of the other guilds in supporting the ReDs relief. We’re trying to raise money in game for medicine, respirator systems, and other supplies for ReDs victims. We’re also trying to get Blizzard to match our donations, or give a percentage of the daily auction traffic to ReDs relief. With the strength of the WoS dollar, it would be a huge step to help all of those struggling to breath while we play games in comfort.

- and there are already over a thousand members of the Facebook group. It’s a little overwhelming to fathom, honestly, but that’s exactly why I’m taking time to plot out my story and blog content for the six week gaming period.

Another quick note – I’ll be using this blog to discuss the meta aspects of playing the game, helping the community, building superstructs and telling stories. But all of my “in-game” action – things taking place in 2019, commentary and links to other stories – will be at http://laura2019.wordpress.com.

The game hasn’t even started it’s already making me deal with incredibly detailed examinations of both my current life, and what I imagine and hope my life will be like ten years down the road. This is going to be an intense six weeks.

DS Spotting – England

While traveling I saw two Nintendo DS systems in the wild.

Stats:
- one pink, one white
- both wielded by young girls
- both used on public transport (train)
- I couldn’t see what game one was playing, but the other appeared to be set in a village – Harvest Moon, maybe?

The hunt continues.

Back to life, back to reality…

Well, I’ve somehow managed to survive the several weeks’ worth of madness I mentioned in this earlier post, and though I feel a little worse for the wear* I’m really relieved to be able to turn my attention to new things.

I’m currently lying on the sofa with no energy to even pick up the Wii remote, however, so I will conclude this entry for now, with the promise to return tomorrow with more details on my recent Superstruct and gaming activities.

* in order, I was/had/am: sick from hurricane dust, allergies from mold that appeared mysteriously in my house, sleep-deprived, burnt out, jetlagged in one direction, sleep deprived, dehyrated, jetlagged in the other direction, woken up at 6 AM by a cat poking me in the back so I would pet her.

Gearing up for Superstruct

Over the past few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about what I’ll be doing for Superstruct, and it feels like everywhere I look there’s material to use and sources of inspiration. However, my activity so far has been resigned to merely researching and reading – so I am very inspired by the person in Birmingham, England who took the initiative to send a 2019 weather sample-collecting package to the Institute for the Future headquarters, as part of a continued project from 2008. I signed up for a kit myself and am looking forward to writing about it on my in-character/in-game/in-future blog. (Still need to figure out exactly how to refer to it, though.)

The Superstruct story doesn’t start until Sept 22 and the game itself begins on Oct 6, but now is a great time to start the motor running. Join us on the new Facebook group, where we’re discussing our futurefood entries and what we’re doing to prepare for the game, and to receive announcements and news throughout the game period.

And while you’re at it, there’s also this great article from Discover Magazine (Digg the story using this link):

“We want to ask questions where we have no idea of the range of outcomes,” McGonigal says. In Superstruct, the players will be presenting their ideas on how to cope with the crisis of 2019, and McGonigal hopes they’ll come up with solutions and outcomes that she never imagined. “That’s why the tagline for the game is ‘Invent the Future,’” she says. “Because the future doesn’t just happen, somebody makes it.”

Argh

Super Mario Galaxy is the only game that could make me want to throttle a penguin.

I can has powerup pls?

Wearing a heart container necklace made by my friend Rach, as I could use the extra life today.

Visit her etsy shop for more pixelly jewelry – there are no hearts in stock but she would probably make one for you if you ask very nicely.

These days

Argh. In what should be the restful downtime between games, I find my every waking moment is occupied with work, chores or preparation for my travel later this month. I have a couple of posts to write and I’ve even outlined them, but I’m so frazzled that it’s hard to wrap my head around them whenever I sit down with the blank post window. But I will oil the hamster wheels and power through til Friday.

What I am looking forward to:

Secret game thing which I’ll edit in later (Sept 5)

Spore (Sept 7)

travel to London (Sept 12)

game project-related thing (Sept 13)

travel to Boston (Sept 21)

Samba de Amigo (Sept 23)

Superstruct (late Sept)

And that’s not even counting television fall season premieres.