I learned a lot in 2018 but I think the most important thing I learned, once again, was to NEVER READ THE COMMENTS. I’m partially joking but that is one of many things that I reminded myself of countless times over the past year. Don’t read the comments, say what you have to say, watch what you want to watch, and like what you want to like. Don’t let the dregs of the online population get you down or critique your favorite things to death. Remember to enjoy your time doing things because you enjoy it, not because someone tells you that they think you should or shouldn’t. Form your own opinions and think critically for yourself.
I had a bad habit of reading too far into things that I like or consume, whether it be media, food, or even certain industries. I realize I over critique a lot of things to the point that I don’t ever experience them for myself, more or less I only experience things through this lens of critical analysis.
I am hopefully stopping this in the coming year. Don’t get me wrong i like to read and do some research on things but concentrating on others reviews or comments about a certain thing can be damaging.. You gotta think someone is more likely to comment on something if something was wrong or if they were unsatisfied.. Unless presented with an option someone who is satisfied or content will PROBABLY NOT go out of their way to make a post or review saying “I like it, I’m satisfied”. The comment sections and review sections are usually more or less for trolls or people who have negative things to say. While it is good to review certain things so you don’t make shit purchases, it’s easy enough to look at the overall numbers of people who gave it a good rating VS people who gave it a bad one.
Bad time to be a gamer..
Since 2016 I have felt that as a solid video game player I have been getting more and more screwed over. Lately it has been a trend in all gaming industries to do micro-transactions. However they rely on these MTs (micro-transactions) to generate revenue so they can add more content and development to the games. There has been severe push back on the topic of MTs, gamers in general don’t care for them.
Now they do this Games as a service model that effectively releases partially finished games at full price and then updates them regularly and adds content to the entire player base instead of just charging extra for the guarantee of full content packs. They rely on a strong player base to be buying those MTs which are usually customization’s that have no real game value, they don’t effect statistics or characters actions at all they are purely cosmetic.. Most gamers can agree that this is pretty harmless and one doesn’t have to purchase them in order to enjoy the game in any sense. However the release of sub par and unfinished games is a sad conundrum that I don’t see getting better as game companies get greedier and the prices to produce games gets ever higher.
I would almost prefer if they were real with their customers and say look Games just cost 80 dollars anymore.. Sorry it’s the price of production and whatever else but now it feels like they are charging full price and not delivering even half of what would be considered a full video game, even 5 years ago.
I am a customer who likes to support the game developers and artists, but when I am repeatedly suckered into paying full if not extra price only to have to deal with bugs, glitches, and price drops less than a month after release.. Countless times it has happened where less than 40 days after I pay 80 dollars for a game I see it online for only 30 or 40 dollars. That is ridiculous. It’s like they are punishing the players who pay the most amount of money. Needless to say I finally learned my lesson. I won’t be buying any more games on launch and especially paying extra for pre-order crap. It’s simply not worth my money and the games end up not even being fun to play for another 6 months to a year after they are released by that time they are a fraction of the price, yet more enjoyable.. How does that work.
I love video games and I will always play them and enjoy them but I’m learning that this is considered normal in the industry now and it probably won’t change just get more effective over the years.. I’ve always said if they do away with the physical media I will probably not play as many video games anymore.. I don’t like the always on model and streaming games idea. Let me have my collections and share them with my friends if I want to.
Looking forward to 2019.
All in all 2018 was a great year. I did a ton of business and made a lot of great connections. I have some ideas and things that I want to do in 2019 and one of them is go back to school. I plan to attend CNM again this coming summer and start my degree in communications. I want to be a writer or game journalist of some kind. Even if it doesn’t have anything to do with video games I want to do some kind of writing either creative or professional. I will pursue business but I will do that in my own capacity with Unity Sound Co and other ventures.
I am also practicing and want to learn proficiency in the Spanish language. I think it’s important to be able to speak the languages of your neighboring countries, for both business and security. Being an interpreter is a well paying job that I would actually get some enjoyment out of and the communication degree as a whole will let me practice what i do for fun anyways; reading, writing, and creating.
As for Unity Sound Co, I like where I am at with it. I can increase business the more I go out and network, and a steady stream of people organically hit me up on the regular for small events and shows. I need to put my foot down with my pricing this year. I helped a lot of people out, even last minute sometimes, and never got compensated. Only I can ensure I get good business. I also need to keep better track of my accounting. That just makes it a lot easier when I go to file my taxes and do end of the year paperwork.
I want to do a couple of party in the park styled events and this time I would like to have some more vendors and artists. Maybe invite a little bit of color into the spectrum. I’m not looking to make a lot for that part of my shows, more to let the artists have an opportunity to make some money.
Overall I am looking forward to 2019.. I’m through pre-ordering games.. I am done reading comment sections and critiques.. I’m ridding myself of toxic politics.. I am going back to school and running my business well and making it as good as I can. I know nobody cares haha.. feel free to comment and tell me what you are up to in the coming year.
As always thank you for reading!
