Penance has been done, as mentioned I sinned with Frozen Synapse and made a self-punishment giveaway for that first relapse:
http://www.gog.com/forum/general/frozen_synapse_giveaway_drmfree Got off the hook easily this time as the purchase included 2 codes so while I upheld my word it wasn't much of a punishment...
genkicolleen: That really is a shame :( In my grade school (or primary school, or whatever you want to call it,) everyone took shop, everyone took music, everyone took art, and everyone got taught some cooking, regardless of gender or preferences. The school system where I live now has pretty much none of these for the kids :( I'm not happy with the lack of emphasis this state puts on education, but one thing that I'm VERY happy with is the services provided for special needs kids, like mine. It varies from school to school, of course, but I feel incredibly lucky to have ended up in a school district where they take special education very seriously.
My homeroom teacher from grade 3-6 was sort of a totalitarian dictator meaning she placed virtually no emphasis on music and creative arts & crafts, instead she took the approach of drilling us in all the non-creative topics and gave us a ton of homework. Fortunately I played music and made art by myself and had parents that supported such interests but I think it would be nice if schools would let kids be more creative not only in their private time but in class, as well. The whole "tiger mom" approach our teacher took may be standard in East Asian culture and I agree that it's better to learn discipline at an early age but too much is too much. It's all a matter of balance and I find all this "work hard now so you'll be ready in the future" thing quite suboptimal because there is no guarantee that drilling kids makes them successful later on, only a guarantee it makes most of them more unhappy in the present. My fondest childhood memories aren't sitting at home doing tons of math homework, instead it's the more creative moments that formed cherished memories. In my opinion, drilling shouldn't happen before about age 14, before that I'd say it's ok to challenge and encourage kids but not to force too much on them against their natural interest. Must point out that I have no kids and I'm no teacher so this is only a layman's opinion.
genkicolleen: ...
My sister is awesome XD As for me, I've not yet found my own "calling" -- I go full throttle into something for a while, and then after a while I don't find it inspiring anymore. *shrugs*
Nothing is continuously or forever inspiring, it all comes down to a good balance between persistence and energy imho. Energy without persistence might be frustrating and cause people to drift but persistence without energy is a real deal breaker. Or to put it into monkey language, jumping from tree to tree (=calling to calling) isn't as tragic as falling off your tree and breaking your monkey tail due to not having enough coconut energy.
genkicolleen: You'd like the casual adventures, then, and Drawn is a good one, though there are three installments, and only the first is at Steam. The Painted Tower ends at a good stopping point, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if you didn't play #2 & #3. The thing about the "adventure-lites," as I call them, is that they're usually about 3 hours long; generally not worth the $6.99 price tag ($13.99 for the CE's, which don't have all that much bonus content!!) that the casual portals charge for them. You can get some good deals on them on the right days, so if you ever decide to delve into the casual games world, let me know and I'll help you get the very best price ;D I can also give you recommendations on the best ones to try. One of my favorites IS available at Steam, though -- Dreamscapes: The Sandman. I enjoyed the heck out of this one, so if you ever see a great deal on it, I highly recommend it checking it out!)
Dreamscapes does look awesome, not sure if the gameplay is for me but I wishlisted it nonetheless. Naturally, I'll have to pass on great recommendations for the near future (but thank you for the offer!) as I'm still addicted to growing my collection plus I'm entirely adventured out with more than two dozens adventure games in progress, crawling or halted. If a game is too casual I end up not being motivated enough and if a game is too obtuse or difficult, I end up getting stuck. Lost Horizon and Secret Files Tunguska feel very pleasant although anything more casual than Lost Horizon might not keep my attention enough. Unless it's super short like GOMO. Journey of a Roach was very nice because it has a select few smart puzzles so I count it as a proper adventure game even if it's rather simple.
Currently playing The Dream Machine and the first episode was way too easy and simplistic but the second one looks a lot more tricky to solve. It has an absolutely amazing atmosphere though, claymation just rules. Beats CGI any time of the day. We must get The Neverhood on here, for the n-th time!
Needs more votes Gnostic: I sinned again for the new Shadowrun Kickstarter........
But I do not regret it, If Larian, Obsidian, Inxile or even CD Project Red set up a kickstarter I would gladly sin again
I guess strategic investment in a specific project you really believe in is ok as long as you have the cash, it's very different from compulsive spontaneous purchasing of low or no priority games. Only a problem if you started funding stuff left and right without being able to afford it.
GoatBoy: I don't want to sin but... Grim Fandango!
As I said, all sins absolved on that purchase :) I can't buy it because I would due to my own sanctions have to instantly make a giveaway for it, this penalty system has so far successfully kept me from buying stuff - Frozen Synapse was an exception as the purchase already contained 2 codes, hence I couldn't withstand the temptation.
ET3D: My problem is that it's not only games. The other day I spent $12 on the One-Roll Engine bundle at Bundle of Holding. I don't play RPG's, I probably won't read it any time soon, but like the.kuribo said, he's buying games for research, and I have this dream of creating a superhero CRPG (which 99.99% won't happen, of course) and I can't resist buying superhero P&P RPG's for research. (Actually what I want to create is a superhero MMORPG, but I'm "realistic", so I have my steps planned.)
Than there's the comics bundle at Humble that I bought (at the $1 level) even though I'm unlikely to read it at any point.
So yeah, no games in the past week+, but that doesn't mean I'm not spending money on content I'm not going to consume.
Good luck on your game project, I think making any game yourself is more worthy than playing all of gamekind. I have one Million times more respect for every game developer (certain Twine engine users excluded) than I have for the best gamer in the world. Makers > consumers.
As for buying games for research, I can't help but think that's an excuse in most cases. Yes, you need to play games to know games to make games but it's easy to lose sight of when one need to abruptly stop researching and start creating.
One of my best friends justifies his porn collection as "it's reference for making art" so he doesn't need to hide it from his wife. He does actually make porny kind of art so it's not entirely an excuse.