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Showing posts from November, 2019

Writing Again (and I'm done with themed anthologies)

Following a minor bout of cancer (featuring surgeries and 6 months of chemotherapy), I'm writing again! Having spent some time reviewing my writing career to date, I note with a degree of dismay that while I've had some material published, I'm not super happy with all of it. In the past I've pandered to the whims of the industry in order to get stories out. Well, I'm done with that. Now I'm writing what I want to write. No more < 5,000 word stories about "blue aliens on exoplanets", simply because a publisher somewhere decided that's what they wanted for their next anthology. I know it may seem a little hypocritical, given that I helped come up with the theme of A Hand of Knaves (and I stand by it), but I'm allowed to be hypocritical if the mood takes me. And the mood does take me.  From now on I'm writing whatever the hell I want. It might not get published, but it'll be mine and I think I'll be a lot happier with that.  Let...

The Outer Worlds - It's [insert favorite RPG, Movie, Book, TV show] - In Space!!

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The first thing I'm gonna say about this game is: I freaking love it. Everything that comes after should be seen through that lens. The second thing I'm going to say is that the writers/devs on the The Outer Worlds are sharp. You know the saying, "You can't please all of the people, all of the time"? Well, Obsidian Entertainment has shown that you really, really can. It's been said many-a-time that "This Game" is just Skyrim with guns, or "That Game" is just Fallout in Space etc... Well, The Outer Worlds is all that and it doesn't care what you think about plundering pop culture for kicks. There are numerous nods to other games, sure, but (and I want to emphasize this) not only games. There are references to TV shows, movies, music, books, table-top RPGs, the list goes on, and it's not confined to the SF/F genres. Conversations are 1 on 1. Very Reminiscent of Oblivion. And like early Elder Scrolls, the voice acting is ...