What's in a Name? Reflections on my Irrational Mistrust of the Online Persona

Xbox Live, harsh but fair.

Usernames, gamertags, SteamIDs, whatever you want to call them, the online pseudonym has been around since Alexander Graham Berners-Lee first tied two soup cans together and invented the internet (I think that's how it went, anyway). I'm hardly a stranger to them, mainly because you just can't do much on the net without having one, especially with the ubiquitous connectivity of today's gaming platforms. For some reason, I've always felt uneasy about the idea of being referred to or known by an internet nickname, and I can't fail to notice that others online take a very different tack on this. I thought I'd write a semi-comprehensible post here to explain my username Luddism, self-critique a little bit and give my co-bloggers the opportunity to tell me what it's like on the other side of this fence I'm pretty sure I just made up.

05 Losing my Dragon-ginity

"Guuu-uuuys, wait uuup!"

With some trepidation, I walk down to the main gates of Whiterun, where Irileth is delivering a rousing speech to the assembled town guard.  And while it does a little to steady my nerves, I am very much aware that the largest enemy I’ve faced so far is an overfed arachnid.  I'm glad I bumped up my healing prowess.  The Whiterun guards march out boldly and I tag along behind on Allie, “protecting the rear of the column”.  

PES 14 BFVG Style; The Dream League of Dreams

Who will triumph in the Dream League of Dreams?

Do you love the Beautiful game? Do you enjoy playing said beautiful game on a gaming device? Have you ever wanted to endlessly sim a league with friends and see what happens?
If like me the answer to those questions was yes, yes, no then a few weeks ago I would have agreed with you. That was before myself and a few other members of BFVG found ourselves watching fellow BFVGer, Arjybarjy playing PES 14 while streaming it on Twitch. During our late night ramblings we stumble upon this great idea and from this the BFVGDLOD (Best Friends Video Games Dream League of Dreams) was born.



Its a simple idea, we each create a team including team names and kits (which I will come to later) then draft players to fill our respective rosters. Each week we would sim these games live on Twitch for our, and hopefully everyone else's enjoyment. Unfortunately there are not enough of us to have the league saved on PES (smallest league requires 14 teams) however I will be keeping all the results and updating the table. Then after each team has played each other twice a champion will be crowned. The winner* will be given the greatest trophy of all, the right to rub it in everyone else's face that he/she are the greatest and all others suck.

04 Whitewun and Weligious Wondewings

The weather is against me the next morning, as I leave the Sleeping Giant Inn after a much-needed rest and find that a blizzard has descended.  But the Jarl must (finally, after much distraction and dilly-dallying) be warned of the dragon menace!  Through the dense snowstorm, I spot four figures plodding on ahead of me: three Imperial soldiers escorting a captive Stormcloak rebel.  The loyalist asks that I help him overpower his guards.  Erm, no.  Instead, I zap a mangy wolf who snuck up behind me and sprint off down the road.

"WOOF WOOF" *ZZZZZAP* "WHINE WHINE"

Felix's Skyrim Playthrough: 04 Solitude

With the assistance of his new-found giant buddies, Schmetterling the Orc was now happily soaring through the air at a rate of 88 Orc-miles per Orc-second (roughly 15 Orc-knots).*

*Not known for their seafaring abilities, Orcs are on shaky ground when it comes to the unit of Orc-knots.

It might have been the altitude clouding his better judgement, but there was something about viewing Skyrim from such a great height, something about the fact that from this perspective, all humans looked like puny ants ripe for the crushing, that made Schmetty, for the first time in his life, feel at peace with the world.

In a state of euphoric serenity, Schmetty whispered to himself.

"Literally nothing could spoil this for me..."

THWACK!

CRUNCH!

03 The Douche and the Dungeon

As I leave Alvor’s forge, with pockets full of nothing but cold, hard coin from selling the contents of Rigel's treasure-room, I bump into a handsome chap called Sven strolling the main (only) street in Riverwood.  Now Pyppi’s no tramp, but she definitely likes what she sees, so we strike up a conversation.  Alas, he has feelings for another: Camilla, the sister of Lucan the trader.  And any lingering flames of attraction towards Sven are swiftly doused in icy water when he makes some rather snide comments regarding the elf Faendal – his rival for Camilla’s attention.  Exsqueeze me?  Never one to let a fellow Mer be subjected to racism, casual or otherwise, I promptly rat out snakey Sven to Camilla, who thanks me, and asks that I inform Faendal also.  He is overjoyed, rewards me with a little gold, and even offers to accompany me on my travels.  Why not?  Even a mighty mage such as Pyppi Långstøchin needs company on the long, lonesome road.  I accept his proposition, on a trial-basis for now.  If he proves his worth, and remembers who’s in charge, we’ll draw up a permanent contract. 

The Love Triangle

Podcast #3 - It's All About the Money (Money, Money)

In our third inaugural podcast we whinge about the frankly DISGUSTING business practices involving DLC, microtransactions, auction houses and other ghastly payment models. It ain't what like what it used to be oh no... back then we used t...

Felix's Skyrim Playthrough: 02 Schmetterling conquers Riverwood

Last time we saw Schmetterling, he was uncontrollably gnashing his way through a brigand encampment like a frenzied T-Rex at Butlins. Now, with the nourishing goodness of human flesh coursing through his Orcine veins, our hero set off to Riverwood with a spring in step and a song in his heart - that song being 'Smash the Humans and Eat Their Bones' in F sharp major (working title). His plan: meet the simpleton Hadvar, see what he has to say (as per their arrangement), then bugger the feck off back to the putrid hole-in-the-ground he calls home.

Between Good and Evil : Skyrim

Ever since James and Felix first played games together, one thing has been abundantly clear:  They play them very, very differently.  No more evident is this than in their RPG playthroughs.  Felix will go out of his way to maim, murder, and, in once instance, eviscerate an old lady because her violin music was "bumming him out".

02 We need to talk about Rigel

After a good night's sleep, I visit the Riverwood Trader to offload the assorted goodies I have collected so far on my eventful journey from Helgen.  The proprietor, Lucan, and his sister are having an argument, so I stand awkwardly in the corner, clearing my throat to let them know they have a customer.  It backfires, as Lucan asks if I would be able to lend a hand in retrieving his stolen Golden Claw.  I promise I will, but I’ve got tastier fish to fry at present.  And I’m not talking about the unrefrigerated salmon meat that I picked up from some fisherman’s rack and crammed into my pockets.

01 A Magical Beginning

Home Sweet Home

The game begins on what is basically Tamriel’s worst road trip, with a nervy horsethief, Rolaf aka Captain Exposition, and Ulfric Stormcloak – the leader of a nationalist rebel cause bent on kicking the meddling Empire out of Skyrim - bound and gagged.  We reach the Imperial outpost of Helgen, where the executioner’s block lies waiting for these criminal scum.  And myself, who was obviously just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The wagon (finally) rumbles to a stop in the courtyard and our names are called one-by-one.  Apparently I’m not on the guest-list.

Meet the Best Friends from Best Friends Video Games!

Arjybarjy (Arjun) plays games. Well... he collects games and plays them when the urge strikes (sometimes). He grew up playing a ludicrous amount of Tiger Woods PGA Tour '05. He enjoys silly games and has a spreadsheet of games that he needs to complete and challenges himself to complete more games than the year previous (ten more games!).
 

Hairwire (Jess), also plays videogames (you will notice this is an emerging theme), generally centred around fantasy RPGs and God simulators (because who doesn't love elves and dwarfs and megalomania?), but she also plays/sings/teaches music and is a closet feminist, masquerading as a gender egalitarian.  In honesty she's kind of confused about how she pigeonholes herself  - WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?

Gnatasha (Tash) tends to play games to unwind. Due to her deep-seated hatred of conflict, she mainly plays RPGs, strategy and puzzle games, as well as anything with a co-op element (because friendship). She is frequently consumed by pug-lust.

Fingers333 (Dean) is an average to below average gamer. He has little to no computing skills, is easily confused and lacks any understanding of subtlety. His opinions mean nothing and yet he continues to express them. He is however passionate about gaming, particularly when it comes to games that he feels he has missed out on. 

Theris108 (James) is a recovering achievement addict.  His lowest moment was when he bought Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for some easy Gamerscore.  However he has turned his life around and only collects 'cheevs recreationally.  He usually favours RPGs (in which he gets far too emotionally invested), and has fond memories of growing up with point-and-click adventures.

Kingofallcosmos (Gurdeep) was born with a Master System pad in one hand, a Sega Menacer in the other, while riding atop an Amiga 500. Dismissing both the disgusting imagery of an Amiga 500-aided birth, and the fact that the Sega Menacer was released several years after he was born, he has fond memories of Amiga classics such as Paradroid 90. Those memories fade to darkness when he remembers the game Nightbreed; a game so terrifying and disturbing he would leave the room as soon as the title screen loaded. He continues to enjoy games on all formats, counting the Bioshocks, the Mass Effects, the Half-Lifes, the Sonics, the Deus Exs and the Mirror's Edge among his favourites. He still hasn't got past the loading screen on Nightbreed.

SeaKing61 (Laurie) is our least gamey gamer. A fan of simulators and making open world games as boring and monotonous as possible, he suffers from a severe phobia of any game involving magic, fantasy or trading cards. SeaKing can be identified during podcasts and multiplayer games by his long, slow, boring drawl and will be blogging about various simulators and his undying love for Orangina.

Heliosrain (Richard) is proud to admit that he loves the incongruous combination of moba games like League of Legends, simulators (Eurotruck 2), fpSsssss (BF3), RPGs (Assassin's Creed, Skyrim etc.) with a particular penchant for 2D platformer style games, of which Terraria is a favourite. His general level of noobiness when playing most games is sometimes punctuatued by a blinding ray of mediocrity which occasionally leads people to think (wrongly) that he's good at them.

This_is_jazz (Felix) really, really likes Romans.

Yoglaiiiii (Yogs) is a paranoid & confused gamer who regularly has contradictory opinions but is not afraid to say them, especially in front of Arjybarjy. His main experience and upbringing in the world of gaming have been FPS’s & racing sims, but has now in the last few years branched out into other gaming genres such as RPG’s, MOBA's and Indy games. He plans to continue his adventure into the gaming world and hopes to experience the best it has to offer. His favourite games include Carmageddon, Quake 1 & 2, The Half-Life Series, BioShock and Guitar Hero 2.    

Alex Cole (brave enough to use his real name) loves playing video games, period.  He'll give pretty much any genre a chance but certainly has a predilection for challenging platformers (think Super Meat Boy or Rayman Origins), super deep RPG's (Elder Scrolls or old-school Final Fantasy) and driving games (whether full sim like Gran Turismo or more arcade-y like Motorstorm: Pacific Rift or Trackmania). A console gamer since childhood, he wants to broaden his gaming horizons and gaming knowledge further and further, doesn't matter if the game's old or new, universally loved or controversially divisive.  And it always helps if they have a cool world to explore. He can't get enough of that shit.