Author Archives: CarneyVorous

Sunday Stats

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*Since my family first got an NES, I’ve had a controller in my hands. Exploring new worlds, meeting new characters and experiencing stories… in some ways, I’ve just connected better with the world through games. However, it’s also very important to me to be present in my life, to improve myself, to go out and MEET the people I’ve connected with online and to expand my knowledge. I spend hours in games; how do I level myself up?

In this weekly series, I’ll chronicle how I’ve improved my “stats” with completely arbitrary scoring.*

+2 Intelligence – How did I make myself a little smarter? What did I learn?
Since I’m planning a wedding in New Orleans, the baker asked me if I was going to do cake pulls. Cake pulls? So I learned all about this Victorian era tradition (that is somehow limited to the NOLA area) of having little charms on ribbons placed inside the wedding cake for special lady guests. Each charm has its own meaning or fortune. How adorable is that? As one obsessed with rituals and bestowing meaning/intention upon every aspect of what I do, naturally I will be doing this! Except I’m putting my own little personal twist on it. Ugh. I can’t wait to say and show you everything, but I want to keep it all a surprise as much as I can.

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Cake pull example

+2 Charisma – How was I less awkward or more beautiful?
I went to Sephora for some new eyeliner and scents. As I was standing in the checkout line, I noticed a sampler pack of the EXACT items I was holding. So not only did I find the most perfect new eyeliner, but I get to try out the new scents I was after for $37 LESS than buying them all separately!

-2 Strength – New workouts, breakthroughs, challenges.
I had a hard time getting back into my routine after the holiday weekend 😳 but I’m ready to kick it into high gear this week.

+1 Defense – Where did I consciously avoid or deflect negative energy?
My tarot practice had taken a backseat over the last month or so but I’ve started up a new Saturday ritual to keep me learning and getting stronger.

+3 Luck – Something good that happened this week.
We scored our wedding bands at an incredible deal! More than half off my diamond band! 💍

-2 Wealth – How did I save towards my goals?
All these little details are really adding up. I’m still under my budget for the wedding, but it’s creeping up fast. And I booked an engagement photographer. WORTH IT, but I’m starting to feel a bit queasy when I look at my credit card statement.

How did YOU level up this week?

Which Octopath to Travel – Tressa

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We’re almost at the end of our journey through the 8 protagonists of Octopath Traveler! Let’s walk with my penultimate character.

Tressa

Tressa is a merchant from the bustling seaport town of Rippletide. Despite exotic ships and goods pouring through her home and her parents’ shop, she hasn’t gained an ounce of culture. As she journeys out into the world to test her limited skills and fill the pages of her travel journal, she remains naive and irritatingly optimistic.

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I’m just going to say it: Tressa is really annoying. She has a high-pitched, whiny voice and I’m pretty sure she’s 12 years old. She’s not particularly strong in battle, but her wind abilities come in handy from time to time. Sometimes when you enter another area of the map, she will find a few thousand coins, but that’s the biggest perk she offers. Her Purchase action is a more ethical version of Therion’s Steal ability, but rarely as lucrative.

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Choose Tressa if you:
live for a bargain
have never traveled outside of your hometown
enjoy shopping
crave adventure in the great wide somewhere more than you can tell

Which character will YOU choose?

Monster Hunter Etiquette

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Monster Hunter has finally come to Nintendo Switch! Before you head out in pursuit of glory, consider the following:

Don’t attack the monster while a team member has mounted it. The mounted player can bring the beast down and allow the full team to RAGE on that bitch. So wait for the monster to fall to maximize your impact.

Eat before you hunt! Eating a hearty meal boosts your stats and adds some useful abilities for the hunt ahead. Sit down to a meal with your team before you rally for a quest.

Watch your health/sharpness and retreat to heal/sharpen as needed. Your whole team only gets three KOs before you fail the quest. Sometimes fatigue can sneak up on you so run to another area for a quick potion or sharpening session. You’ll be back in the battle in no time!

Don’t spam the chat. It’s distracting. Communicate with purpose (or use discord).

Take care of your palico buddies. Don’t forget to upgrade their armor and weapons too. Send them for training and the occasional catnap.

What are your best Monster Hunter tips?

Sunday Stats

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Sunday Stats(1).jpg

*Since my family first got an NES, I’ve had a controller in my hands. Exploring new worlds, meeting new characters and experiencing stories… in some ways, I’ve just connected better with the world through games. However, it’s also very important to me to be present in my life, to improve myself, to go out and MEET the people I’ve connected with online and to expand my knowledge. I spend hours in games; how do I level myself up?

In this weekly series, I’ll chronicle how I’ve improved my “stats” with completely arbitrary scoring.*

-2 Intelligence – How did I make myself a little smarter? What did I learn?
Did YOU know that the Statue of Liberty is NOT on Ellis Island?? My whole life I thought it was the same island and assumed immigrants were processed into the country in the base of the Statue of Liberty. WRONG! I took a tour of Ellis Island on Saturday and learned all about what it was really like to come over from Europe in the early 1900s.

+2 Charisma – How was I less awkward or more beautiful?
Monday after work, I treated myself to a mani/pedi with a coworker. Of course, I went for BARBIE PINK! If I’m going to do something girlie, I’m going ALL. IN. 💅🏻

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+2 Strength – New workouts, breakthroughs, challenges.
I got a lot of non-traditional work outs in this week, including climbing to the crown of the Statue of Liberty! What a hike and WHAT a view!

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+3 Defense – Where did I consciously avoid or deflect negative energy?
I hosted a goal-setting session with a notoriously challenging client this week. In fact, he had “fired” my team from one of his other projects while I was in my old, super stressful role. Facing him again spiked my anxiety in the worst way. But I knew my work was good. My bosses knew my work was solid. And before I kicked off my presentation, I said aloud “You guys are really going to like what we have to show you today.” Then, I presented more gracefully than I ever have. And guess what? He was SO excited about the work and the outcome. 🤜🏼💥

+3 Luck – Something good that happened this week.
I got to spend time with one of my best friends in the world. We met 21 years ago in advanced Spanish class and even though we’re far apart now, when we DO get to spend time together it’s just like the old days.

-5 Wealth – How did I save towards my goals?
Wedding stuff and visitors and stress spending…No Spend August was a huge failure. But I had a lot of awesome adventures, events and memories made.

How did YOU level up this week?

Which Octopath to Travel – Ophelia

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If you haven’t gotten sucked into Octopath Traveler yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? With 8 characters to choose from, it can be overwhelming. After all, your main character is the only one you can’t switch out over the course of the journey. Let’s jump into someone else’s shoes.

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Sweet, innocent Ophelia was abandoned on the doorstep of the Church of the Order of the Flame and taken in by the Archbishop. She was raised as his own alongside his daughter, Lianna, who is preparing for a ritual and pilgrimage known as the Kindling.

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But whoops. Archbishop falls deathly ill and Ophelia starts her sister’s ritual by procuring the spark of the Sacred Flame… so now she has to finish it. So she travels to towns with churches to share the spark and reinvigorate the Sacred Flames on their altars. She spreads peace and calm everywhere she goes.

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In battle, she’s surprisingly not weak for a healer, especially if you equip her with a secondary job like Warrior. Her battle cry (“OH, Sacred Light!”) sounds a bit like she’s mid-orgasm, but Her Guide ability is a more pure version of Primrose’s Allure. Ophelia can guide townspeople to complete side quests and summon them in battle to fight alongside her.

Choose Ophelia if you:
enjoy Catholic Guilt
have religious hang ups
steal your siblings’ glory
like playing with fire

Who will YOU choose?

Animal Crossing Switchlist

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Inspired by Glux’s Animal Crossing Switch wishlist, I wanted to share my own thoughts and desires.

I first came to Animal Crossing in Wild World for Nintendo DS. I played constantly through grad school and beyond, becoming an active member of the Animal Crossing Community and hosting WiFi parties. After skipping the Wii, the promise of New Leaf ensured I preordered a first gen 3DS. I upgraded to the 3DS XL when the ACNL edition came out.

Now, Pocket Camp is keeping me mildly entertained on mobile, but I’m craving so much more. While I keep waiting and hoping for an Animal Crossing Switch announcement, I’m dreaming up things I’d love to see in a new game.

Let me have more friends over! Nintendo is clearly capable of allowing more than 4 players to connect at once. So why can’t I have up to 8 players in my town?

My Camper. Let me connect my mobile account and bring my camper into a full version of the game. It would be super cool if there was a multiplayer RV park where 8 or so friends could meet to explore each others’ campers, play minigames, and maybe even race RVs.

Better communication system. For the love of Nook don’t make me type out messages to visitors. How about putting that Nintendo Online Service/ app to use and letting me actually TALK to my visitors.

Goals. I love the goals mechanic in ACPC, and there’s tons of opportunity to apply that to a full Switch version. Show me on the map which villagers need something. Give me a daily fish/fruit/bug quota. Reward me to visiting friends/traveling. Help me earn more bells to pay off my inevitable loan(s).

New museum wing(s) for unique collections. I think there are typically new fossils/bugs/fish added to each game, but PLEASE let me hang my villager portraits in the museum! It will give me more incentive to work for those portraits if I have somewhere I can display them all! Also, a Fashion wing would be really cool. I like to collect certain outfits, but not necessarily wear them so space to showcase them would be great. Plus this would give me a reason to visit my friends’ museums to see what their unique collections are like!

Keep the market box. I’d love to be able to sell some of my items to other players, including furniture and clothes! This would be a great workaround to players agreeing to bring a bunch of bells to your town and swap for an item only to take the items and disconnect or leave without paying.

MORE events! I always look forward to holidays in Animal Crossing and I appreciate when they align to real life events, but I’d love original events and moments. We have SO many ridiculous “national ______ days” in the real world, there have to be more creative ways to party in the next Animal Crossing.

New shops. We have Brewster’s coffee shop, how about a full restaurant where we can go with friends or villagers? It would be great to meet some new NPC animals! While we’re at it, can we keep OK! Motors and the cutie penguin brothers?

What would you want to see in the next Animal Crossing game?

 

Sunday Stats

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Sunday Stats(1) 10.55.59 AM

*Since my family first got an NES, I’ve had a controller in my hands. Exploring new worlds, meeting new characters and experiencing stories… in some ways, I’ve just connected better with the world through games. However, it’s also very important to me to be present in my life, to improve myself, to go out and MEET the people I’ve connected with online and to expand my knowledge. I spend hours in games; how do I level myself up?

In this weekly series, I’ll chronicle how I’ve improved my “stats” with completely arbitrary scoring.*

+2 Intelligence – How did I make myself a little smarter? What did I learn?
At work, I’ve been super focused on creating a workshop for an internal client. I’m super proud of it. Feeling super smart.

-2 Charisma – How was I less awkward or more beautiful?
I broke a nail at the gym… So now all my nails are back to looking like stumpy little things. On the bright side, it was getting hard to type with those long nails.

+2 Strength – New workouts, breakthroughs, challenges.
I’ve had a lot more energy and much less appetite since my weeks of regular gym time have become consistent.

-3 Defense – Where did I consciously avoid or deflect negative energy?
Not a good mental health week. I’ve been questioning and doubting everything. Getting married means I’m giving up on any chance of finding someone else who might be better for me. It means I have to deal with this person and all of his flaws forever…

+3 Luck – Something good that happened this week.
No one will appreciate this more than me or understand what a big deal it is, but I FINALLY got a 2nd monitor at work. No more writing decks on a tiny screen! It’s nice to have a complete workstation.

+5 Wealth – How did I save towards my goals?
I realized that the news of my raise came less than a month after I created my money manifesting wallet! That’s no coincidence.

How did YOU level up this week?