Pastebin March 28th, 2018

Greetings!

 Sorry for the long absence from streaming and in general being in speedrunner’s Twitch chats. Needless to say, I’ve been quite busy since the beginning of the new year. I started off strong with my streaming, but quickly twiddled downward and eventually into not streaming since February 20th.

However, I know some of you do care about what I’m doing outside of Twitch, and I like to try to fill you guys in every so often if I can.

==Streaming==

Honestly, I keep changing my mind on what I want to do with this. At the beginning of the year, I wanted to get it going again and start streaming 3-4 days a week. However, that quickly got out of hand with other commitments and my job getting busy during that time frame. Hell, we’re still busy as of this past week, which is a shocker for us. Usually, once the weather warms up, we get slower.

However, even if business had been slower, I still think I would’ve at least slowed down to 2 days a week by this point, if not stopped altogether like I’ve been doing now. I feel my channel is known for speedruns, so streaming something else feels…weird. Plus, I wasn’t sure if my computer could handle playing other games along with streaming, as it does take quite a toll on your computer.

I did recently upgrade my RAM, which was the shortfall of my current rig, so I would like to give streaming a chance with some of the PC games I’ve been playing. I’ll try to do a test stream sometime in the evening either Sunday or Monday of next week, depending on how work goes.

Also, because it will be a computer game, be ready for weeb music. You have been warned!!

==Speedrunning==

Pretty much a blow up at this point. After getting my ‘PB’ in 102%, I wanted to learn DKC 101% so I could do a full trilogy 306% run in the future. As I started learning it, however, I found I had no interest in learning the game, which surprised me. For me, the learning aspect of the game is the best part. I love breaking down a game I’ve never played before in terms of a speedrunning aspect and push it to the limit.

But, I didn’t get that sensation this time. I got to the end of W2 and stopped at the end of February. This month, I’ve played my SNES maybe twice, with a total of maybe 30 minutes of practice of stuff I had already learned. I think, for the moment, I’m all speedrunned out. I don’t even enjoy watching it much anymore, minus a few streamers that I like for their stream and not necessarily the game they play.

As usual, I’m sure I’ll get that itch again and crave to come back. When I do, I will hit 101% hard and get it done. And finally, I’ll be able to do that 306% run that I’ve craved.

==Diablo 3 & PoE==

I’ve made it no secret that I enjoy playing ARPGs, mainly Diablo 3. I had played Path of Exile (PoE) in the past, with some fun aspects. However, I loved the fluid movement of Diablo and the idea of finding your own gear with no trading.

Diablo 3’s Season 13 started on February 23th, and I made a Demon Hunter for the 3rd season in a row. I wanted to really push the limits of the class this time, unlike the season previous where I got a decent time for my gear and then stopped. This season, despite my incredible luck from previous seasons, was the luckiest I’ve ever gotten. I got a PERFECT (and I mean that literally) weapon within the first week of the season, and quickly started gearing for that build.

On top of a few other pieces I got that were high end for that same build, I started pushing higher and higher Greater Rifts (GRs). My GR high last season was 100, and I knew I could blow past that easily. Each GR level is about 15% harder than that last, depending on mob density/type. Within 3 weeks, I had done a GR 103 with relative ease, and saw myself pushing towards at least 106.

However, as usual, once the season gets a few weeks in, most of my friends stop playing. I usually play for a week longer and then stop myself. But, with the incredible amount of gear I got, I wanted to push for a time I knew could end me at top 100 once the season ended.

That got boring quite quickly. Despite trying other builds (and getting extremely lucky drops for those as well), I found myself not wanting to play anymore. This is when Tgump recommended playing PoE for the season, as the League had just started on March 6th.

I thought about it, but passed at first. However, once everybody else started playing, I started as well. As usual, I hated the movement ‘lag’, and I hate having to buy items from other players to get yourself started in order to not feel completely useless at certain points (namely bosses). However, I find myself playing it at least 4 hours a day and I’m enjoying it…so far. Whether that will hold up, we’ll see.

If I do stream anything, it would be this. I will give the game one thing: it is VERY detailed. You really need to know your way around the talent trees and different gear/gem combinations.

==Writing & Studying Japanese==

Besides work, PoE, and the occassional Hearthstone (LUL), I am still writing and studying Japanese at a decent rate. More so the Japanese than the writing.

The Japanese has been coming at a decent clip. I’m finding myself able to understand words in some of the songs I listen to more and more every day, which is good. I also read things and go ‘Hey! I know that word!’ which I’m sure drives my friends on Discord crazy after hearing it several times every day. I really get too excited when I learn something new and I want to share it around.

However, the writing was at a standstill for most of the year. I had ideas, but was being lazy with other things to actually sit down and do it. So, at the end of this past week, I told myself to devote at least an hour everyday to writing, and even if it’s just a rehash of an old idea, to just do it. And boy, has that certainly helped.

I’ve really gotten back on track on this aspect, and I hope to keep it this way. The ideas are flowing off my fingers faster than I typed this Pastebin (about 30 mins, give or take a small break to fix a problem at work). I’m currently rehashing my 3rd book, and hope to have a more clear and concise idea for the overall plot going forward past this book. I had to redo a lot of ideas in January when I realized my universe was too small, which probably lead to my unwillingness to write in February and the better part of March.

==In Closure & TL;DR==

If you read all of this, thank you. I appreciate that you care enough to know what I’m doing with my life, and I hope this makes it clearer of my through process for certain things. I hope to stream more in the future, even if it isn’t speedrunning. I do miss talking to a chat.

TL;DR:

-Lost streaming interest. Might stream non-speedrun games soon.
-Speedrunning is a blowup. Might get the itch again soon.
-I am an ARPG-holic. Might stream PoE soon.
-Learning Japanese is going great. Writing is getting better, but not fully back yet.