Website Wednesday - 30 Day Special (One Month Of Oddballery)

Hello and welcome to Website Wednesday; the day of the week where I point out that I've been posting to this blog for 30 days concurrently, and then crack some terrible jokes while recapping some of the better posts of those days.

This may be the most technically advanced header image I've designed for this blog. I'm not sure, but I may have put more work into this one than any other... Maybe.... Not really... Nope. Shush. 

That feeling when you realize when you've been doing something for 30 days straight; that is somewhat rather scary. It's also quite fun in a way. If you have found yourself reading the risible ramblings of a certain Oddball called Greg, then you find this recap on what I've been up to entertaining, if only as I question why I would do the things I do.

I feel like I have the latest T-shirt design having been at this for 30 days. "I survived 30 days of blogging and all I got was this lousy T-shirt." It's been an interesting experience so far, and certainly demanded a very large change in lifestyle in order to accomplish. Like anything, I walked into blogging expecting it to be easy. (Naivety appears to be a trait I cannot shake apparently.) To be frank, I wasn't entirely wrong, but I was right for reasons other than what I expected.

Firstly, getting up early is an action with visible consequences on my physical and mental health. School made it feel easy, but getting up early enough to churn out a new post or two each day is comparable to punching yourself every day and enjoying it. Having finished High School last year, I spent 6 months this year doing very little productive, and that's a very hard habit to shake. (Unless you find sleeping in productive, in which case, I was a professional by the time I decided to get this blog working.)

Interestingly though, I have found that I have become a far happier person for having found something that is both productive and fun to do with my days; this is despite the difficulty of coming to terms with the fact that there is always work to be done, whether you like it or not. As a social person, it's been an experiment in planning and forethought to ensure that there was a new blog post each day, regardless of my access to my computer. Since I've not missed a day since I revamped this blog on the 18th of June, I would say that I've been highly successful in that regard. (Or, you know, at least not failed.)

In any case, listening to me talk about a small success isn't particularly interesting, even for me, so lets talk about what you're actually here for, the blog posts. Specifically, some special mentions for the 3 most successful posts of these 30 days, in order of view count.

1. Parkour and Muscle Damage. 

First and foremost is, ironically, also the first ever Storytime Sunday post I ever did; from the days before I had thought of making header images for each post. Believe it or not, that is something I've only been at for the past 10 or so days if I'm not mistaken. (To be fair, they add a fair 10 minutes to the production time of each blog post, but I think they are well worth it for the effect they have on making the images feel more related to the blog, and better introduce the topics. They're also great for Facebook previews.) 

In any case, Parkour and Muscle Damage holds the record of being the most viewed post on this blog, (for now), and details how I "cleverly" managed to injure myself by trying to be a parkour traceur without training. It doesn't matter how many times I tell that particular story, I still feel very stupid for it. Thankfully, having written a post for it, perhaps it'll stop some other keen individuals from accidentally injuring themselves, so it's worth it in the end.

2.  Crazy Cat People (And Crazy Cats Too)

When I consider the fact that the second most read post on this blog is about weird cats and the weird people that own them, (such as myself), I begin to wonder if the world is as sane as I think it is? (Or maybe I'm not as insane as I think? Possible. Probably not; but one of me feels comforted at least.) Crazy Cat People was, strangely enough, also the first blog post for which I created a... (wait for it)... unique header image for. I thought I was talking about the most popular things on this blog, not the first time I've done things. (If your mind is half as corrupt as mine, you may have laughed at that statement.) 

3. Learning Languages (Frugally)

Hey, guess I'm not the only cheap person around here. (Teehee) In the first post on this list that wasn't the first post to do anything special, Learning Languages was a fun little article I did about a very nifty website that allows the user to learn a couple languages for free with an online course. I started learning French with their service, and have successfully made myself look ignorant by trying to speak French to someone who can actually speak it. Thankfully she appreciated the attempt and didn't try to castrate me or any other similarly unfortunate punishment.

If anything, I think the fact that Learning Languages is the third most viewed post just shows that you, the readers, enjoy reading things as randomly as I like writing them. None of these posts bear any more relation to each other apart from the fact that I wrote them and tried to be funny while I wrote them, (Which I hope I succeeded at.)

Interestingly enough, these 3 posts in particular are the most visibly popular posts on my blog, with the rest having page view counts so similar, it was easy deciding to only mention these 3. Maybe I should just talk about freebies, cats and hurting myself from now on? (Not really, that would be boring as hell.)

In any case, it shall be interesting to see what happens over the course of the next 30 days of blogging. I've got some interesting new posts lined up and will be trying out some new things as time goes on. (That's a guarantee I suppose. Stagnation never was that entertaining.)

In any case, I'm writing this at 11:15 at night (*facedesk*) since I will be spending tomorrow with a friend. (The agony I go through to keep you entertained. Teehee) As such, I think I'm going to stop for today. If you wish to leave a comment, such as a suggestion for something interesting you'd like to see in the coming 30 days of blog posts, please leave it in the section below. Also, don't forget to share this with someone. I'm too tired to think of a good reason why, but I would appreciate it. And of course, if you would like to see some more of my crazy thoughts and writing or are interested to see what I have planned for the next month, consider liking my Facebook page and/or following me on Twitter with the associated button on the bar to the right. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you have/had and AWESOME day. I will see you tomorrow.

Later people *Goes to sleep*

Technology Tuesday - League of Legends (Anger. Frustration. Fun!)

Hello and welcome to Technology Tuesday; that day of the week where I tell you about the online phenomenon that is League of Legends, and then mention why you will probably love and hate it.

You probably won't see that specific message as often as the alternative. It's like Christmas whenever I do.

Do you like getting angry and frustrated? Probably not. You do probably enjoy the jubilation of overcoming a significant challenge, especially when done with friends. In which case, League of Legends may be something you could enjoy; if only in occasional spurts.

Last Saturday I did a post about a Blizzard card game called Hearthstone in which I spoke about what made the game fun and how it worked. Considering we live in a time where gaming is very much mainstream, I don't think I should have been surprised at how well received that post was. As such, I figured I'd talk about other games I enjoy playing more often. So without further ado:

This obviously doesn't belong to me. Logo is property of Riot Games.

Yes, League of Legends. You've probably heard of it. (If not, concepts such as "The Bro Army", "Twitch Streaming" and "The Internet" are likely somewhat alien to you. Only because it seems funny, I'm going to presume that, in that case, you are an extraterrestrial alien. Let me know what your planet is like in the comments below.) Assuming you have heard of it though, then you'll likely have heard of this game being the trendsetting online MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) that is responsible for making things like e-sports visa's and college scholarships for e-sports a thing.

So what makes this game fun? Well, as a League of Legends veteran who started playing about 3 years ago, I can say that I played LoL before it was cool. (One moment while I go hang myself for that statement.) As such, I've found that my reasons for playing the game have changed as time as gone by. Originally, I began playing League of Legends back in 2011 to see what it was all about, having seen some articles about it on the web back then. Between being called a noob and being told to uninstall the game, I found the game rather entertaining for the novelty, having been the first MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) style game I had ever played.

5 players on either side trying to destroy the enemy nexus. If nothing else, it's never a dull game.
(The urge to make a flappy bird joke with this picture was fairly huge.)

Shortly after that, I realized that there were two things that kept me playing a game that was as notorious for it's toxic community as EVE online is for it's amazing 1000 spaceship battles and scheming players. Those two things were the completionist in me wanting to hit level 30 in the persistent profile leveling which provides access to all mastery points and Ranked Games, and my friends who I had slowly recruited into playing with me over time. (To be technical, having been level 30 for a long time now, they're the only reason I still play in most cases.)

I'm not very good at this game.

League of Legends is, by definition, a competitive game, and it of course makes sense that they would have a ranking system in which players would compete on ladders for both solo and team games, to try and reach the Championship ranks. I can't speak much for them I've always been so terrible at this game that I remain unranked in the solo ladder and Bronze 5 in the 3v3 team ladder. (Or as it's known among my friends, Potato 5. Teehee) However, considering the massive success that is the the League of Legends World Championships, I would reckon that they're probably popular. But you know, I could be wrong. 8.5 million concurrent viewers isn't very much.

To be brief, gameplay largely consists of picking a champion with a unique set of abilities, and then fighting the enemy so that you can earn gold and experience, with which you improve the champion with improved skills and equipment, until one side destroys the enemies nexus. The challenge, largely comes from knowing what items to buy and how and when to use your champions abilities. (Something that can take a long time to learn, bearing in mind that I am really terrible at this game even after 3 years.)

So why do I not play more and try to get better at the game? Because, despite endless attempts by Riot Games to try and improve the community, you will always end up playing with the scum of the internet eventually. No other game has had me want to physically damage my computer like the way some of these people behave. So, in the interests of my sanity, (and the health of my computer/fists), I decided to keep my playing to a minimum, and to only do it with friends over a Skype call, as the often humorous conversations often improve the quality of the game. (If you think I'm overstating just how bad people can act in this game, I implore to you just watch this video and slowly lose your faith in humanity as a result. *facedesk*)

Final Verdict: League of Legends is actually a fairly fun game. Largely successful, it also stands as the paragon of the Free-To-Play business model that has become popular for many online games. For the level of service and polish of the game, the fact that you need never pay a single cent to play is a massive incentive, provided you are willing to put up with some of the most uncivilized people you could possibly find on the internet. I enjoyed League of Legends for several years and, to be fair, still usually have a fair deal of fun on the infrequent occasion that I decide to play. I'd suggest you give it a try, as long as you are ready to deal with some terrible people. Not to say they're always there, but I don't think it's possible for League of Legends to ever be truly rid of them either.

In any case, I hope that you have found this somewhat informal review of League of Legends informative, and perhaps maybe I'll see you on the fields of battle sometime. If we do, feel free to mention it down in the comments below, (Or just tell me to stop getting mad at a game. That's fine too.). If you've got some friends who aren't sure if they'd like to play League of Legends, consider sharing this with them so that they can get some insight into what it's like to be a "Summoner". Also, if you particularly liked this, or maybe just the way I write, don't forget to Like my Facebook page or Follow me on Twitter using the associated button on the sidebar to the right. Regardless of what you do, thank you very much for reading, and I hope you have/had an AWESOME day and I will see you tomorrow.

Till when next we meet, my friends.