My video game quest to help depression

The past week or so has been extremely depressing for me. With the corona virus here and everybody freaking out, it has made my depression come back tenfold. I haven’t left my house in a week, haven’t done grocery shopping, haven’t felt like writing blogs/articles for anybody. The only thing I’ve been doing is playing video games.

I decided to make it a personal mission to go back and play PVP games I was always too afraid to play because of toxic people. I started with CS:GO and my first game was a disaster. After spending hours in training, assuming I was good enough to finally take on some people, I had my first match. I got completely slaughtered. My training apparently didn’t pay off. I shut the game off after about 10 games and figured I would never play it again because I just wasn’t good.

The next day I thought back on where I was going wrong in CSGO. I realized my problem is that I was standing still while shooting. I needed to keep moving so I wasn’t an easy target. I decided to boot up CSGO and I even sent out a tweet beforehand saying that maybe I’d turn into a super saiyan this time around. That’s exactly what happened.

I got my first kill in a game and was like “okay, this is how you play”. Then I started to get much more kills and my confidence grew. I knew I still wasn’t that good compared to other people, but I was on to something. And then the unthinkable happened. In one game I ended up killing every single person on the other team. I couldn’t believe it. I was in such shock and excitement that I threw the controller out of my hand and stopped playing because I was in such disbelief.

The other team decided to all group together and take everyone out. I somehow snuck past them all and used the heaviest gun to kill them all off before they had time to realize where I was. I was literally right behind them. I wasn’t far, but they had no idea who was shooting them. I am finally playing CSGO often and am confident that I belong with the other players. Of course, I’m still in the low ranks and I’m sure once I start playing against top people I’ll get slaughtered. But, I’ll enjoy this for now

The next game I wanted to try was Fortnite. I tried Fortnite back when it was new and I sucked at it. I thought maybe it’s because I was on PS4 and if I played with PC this time around I’d have more control. Nope. Just like when I tried to play Apex Legends, I kept getting one hit ko’d by people across the map. This is because at this point everybody knows the maps and location of items. So if I don’t get to something within 10 seconds of landing I get insta killed.

I am taking a break from both Apex and Fortnite because I don’t feel like I have the patience to wait until I memorize the maps in my head. My experience with Apex was even worse. At least in my Fortnite game I could understand someone getting a good gun by the time I found something. In Apex, some dude legit shot me with a shotgun from all the way across the map. Explain to me how a short range weapons acts as a sniper rifle? Perhaps I will come back to them in a future date. Just like I did with CSGO.

The next game I want to play is League Of Legends. Perhaps the game I tried to avoid the most all of these years because everyone I’ve ever known says the people are toxic. I believe I did try LOL back in the day for just a single day and quit because I had at least 10 death threats in a single game. I am going to try coming back and learning everything. Back then I don’t think I tried to learn. I just hopped into a game and attacked everything.

The games I play in between are games I’m top rank in and have played for years. Rocket League is by far my favorite. I’ve been a champion on every platform. Lately I’ve been playing Legends Of Runeterra. I have become pretty good and am one of the top ranks Those are the two games I mainly play. So far this journey has been helping my depression.

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Is Broomstick League worth playing?

I was browsing through the games on Steam, trying to figure out which game I wanted to buy. I stumbled upon something called Broomstick League and my immediate thought was “What the fuck?”

It looked like the Harry Potter game of Quidditch. Now, I’ve never cared about Harry Potter. But this was just obvious right from the start. I decided to download it and my expectations were fairly low at the price of $15. I got it on sale.

I had a chance to play a few games before I went off to work and I had a lot more fun playing this game than I thought. People are comparing this to Rocket League and Harry Potter. Is this game better than Rocket League? Not yet. Is it worth playing? Absolutely. I am a hardcore Rocket League player. I’ve been champion on every single platform. I’ve played with the best of the best. If anybody knows Rocket League…It’s me!

Rocket League has been around a long time and has had an already established team to help build it. Broomstick League is from a much smaller developer and literally just came out. A great online game doesn’t just become great in a single day. Especially when it’s from a small developer that don’t have the money or resources to do certain things.

Broomstick League can go either way. It can be great over time with updates, more features, more mechanics. I can think of so many ways it can be improved. It can also go the opposite way. It can forever remain a smaller game and slowly die off because there isn’t enough for people to invest in this game. They’ll just see it as a Rocket League/Harry Potter ripoff. This game needs to stand out on its own. It’s off to a good start, but it’s only a start. It has a ton of potential.

What makes a game fun is one that is easy to understand and hard to master. A game that essentially anybody can play, but only few can become the best. Fortnite, Rocket League, Apex. Games like that. Anybody can have a fun time even if they’re not very good. Yet, they are still competitive for those who want to dominate everyone else. Broomstick League has that potential.

The object is easy. You fly around on a broom and can cast a few spells. The point of the game is to get the ball and score on the opposite team. You have a magnet spell that can pick up the ball if you are close enough and you carry it off wherever you wish to. You also have a spell that will allow you to charge into other players. Knocking the ball out of their hands.

You can play either 2v2 or 3v3. As of right now there is no ranked mode, but they did tell me it will definitely come. The major downsides to this game right now are the fact that there are way too many bots and few human players. If you’re playing 2v2 you often only have 1 other human player. I assume this is something that will be fixed over time once more players start to play this game. I have yet to try 3v3 because I’m not ready yet to have my head bashed in. One step at a time.

Personally I don’t like that when you finish a game it automatically brings you into another game unless you manually select to go back to the main menu. Especially if you decide to chat with other players after a game and suddenly you’re just in another match. Maybe I’m just nit-picky, but sometimes I want to just chill or maybe I have to go to the bathroom. I’m not always going to be thinking about how I have to select go back to main menu.

I also think they need to add way more spells. The game advertises itself as a game where you can cast spells, but there’s really no spells. Only thing you have is your wand that is used as a magnet for a few seconds to keep the ball. Most times the magnet doesn’t even work properly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve glided right beside the ball and it still didn’t pick up the ball. I often had to completely stop and allow the magnet to work. In high profile matches (especially when ranked mode comes) the last thing you want to do is just sit there and do nothing while the other team takes advantage. What makes something like a magnet work is that no matter how fast you travel, as long as you’re beside the ball it should be able to pick it up. That way you can just blast across the screen and have a better chance of scoring.

One of the things I really like about this game is that it’s way more PC friendly than Rocket League. Nobody in this world is playing Rocket League with a keyboard and mouse. If they are they’re not human. Or just not that good. I can actually play this game well. I’ve won most of the matches I played. Granted, everyone playing is also new so that’s not saying much. It’ll be interested when more people play and start to get good. We’ll see how well I do when there is actual competition.

Overall, I really like this game. Of course it has its flaws. I expect that from a new game with a small developer. It also does things really well. It has room to improve and I’m looking forward to what the future has for this game. Don’t write it off thinking it’s just a knockoff version of Harry Potter or Rocket League. Give it a try!

Short film ‘Blow Out’ shows us that balloons are terrifying!

As you guys know, I’m a huge fan of short films. I recently came across one that I had to tell you guys about. A short film called Blow Out has made me feel a roller coaster of emotions. I think it’s important for you guys to see it for yourself because it’s incredibly hard to describe this chaotic and bizarre film.

Blow Out classifies itself as a horror comedy. On the surface, it’s about balloons. This young woman, played by Michelle Alexander, is sitting in her room when she gets a knock on the door. It ends up being a balloon. That’s right. At first she has a dance party with this balloon and then it just becomes really creepy.

The music changes. The video gets warped and blurry. Even before the film continued and it was just 30 seconds into the movie I was creeped out. I didn’t know why. You would think something like a balloon would just make me burst out in laughter at the silliness. But, there was something strange going on. Kudos to the director.

This woman ends up puking in the bathroom at one point. After popping the balloon she gets another knock on her bathroom door. This time it’s a bunch of angry balloons. What!? Eventually the original balloon that she had popped earlier comes back for revenge and the movie ends.

Here is why an idea seemingly this simple is so good. When you don’t think much about it…It’s just a movie about balloons, right? Maybe not. I feel like there is something more sinister going on here when I really think about it.

What I really love about art is that everyone interprets it differently. Everyone sees something different. That to me is the beauty of what I see here. Is this really just a goofy little movie about balloons coming alive? Perhaps. Or perhaps there is a much darker hidden message.

There are so many thoughts in my head of what could possibly be going on in this movie. Let’s start with my first theory.

She is drunk. It’s quite possible that she is actually at some kind of party and is drunk. Perhaps the “balloons” are people. Maybe they’re just other people at the party minding their own business. Maybe they’re people at the party actually trying to cause harm to her. When the video gets all blurry and distorted that could possibly be a sign that she is drunk and is in danger or feels that she is in danger.

Reliving a past childhood trauma. Perhaps this is her distorted memory of a past trauma during a birthday party when she was a kid. For one reason or another, maybe something happened that day to make her afraid of that day again.

Mental Illness. it’s also quite possible that she is having some kind of episode from a mental illness. Perhaps schizophrenia.

There are many different things that could be going on here. I will link you to where you can watch the short film and see for yourself. Maybe you can come up with your own conclusion on what is going on.

Mystery Incorporated is coming

I was pleasantly surprised when Dayeanne Hutton, an actor who I’ve been following for years, tweeted out that she and other people were working on a new show called Mystery Incorporated. Which is based on the Scooby Doo universe that we’ve all grown to love all these years.

I was excited. Not just because I think Dayeanne is an amazing actress (and highly underrated), but THEIR idea of a more dark take on Scooby Doo is something that peaks my interest.

At the end of this article I will link their Indiegogo where you can help donate. I will also link you to their Youtube channel where you can check out how cool this idea looks. I don’t feel comfortable stealing content that isn’t mine. It’s only fair that you head over to their channel and see for yourself why this could end up being amazing.

What is Mystery Incorporated? It’s going to be inspired by shows like Riverdale and Supernatural. Which is where the darker turn comes into play. A live action Scooby Doo isn’t exactly a new idea. However, that movie was a kids family movie. Which makes sense because Scooby Doo was always a kids show.

When I think of this version of Scooby Doo, I imagine a Sabrina The Teenage Witch vibe. Where you have a hugely popular kids show that gets transformed into something much darker, which gains even more popularity. Trying to make monsters feel real isn’t exactly an easy task. Sabrina showed us that it actually can be done well. I was skeptical before that show was released, but they proved me wrong. We could have a similar situation here. A dark take on a kids show could be awesome if done right.

After watching their video on Youtube, and hearing the director talk about Mystery Incorporated, it’s clear that he had a vision for what he wanted. I wasn’t hearing ‘This would be kinda cool” or “That might be cool to do”. He knew exactly the story he wanted to bring to life. He knew what he wanted the characters to be like.

I don’t know Dante Yore’s previous work, but he seems like a very good director. His confidence made me feel even better. How is an audience supposed to believe in something if the people behind it aren’t fully believing in it?

The cast choice for this show is really good. Chris Villain seems like he could be a really funny Shaggy. Jessica Chancellor as Daphne seems great. Dayeanne really brings out the annoying side of Velma. I never really thought about how annoying Velma would be if she was an actual person. Now I know. Dade Elza is what I can imagine a real Fred to be like. He’s a handsome dude, pretty gutsy, and it’s only a matter of time before him and Daphne hook up on the show. I’m calling it now.

You can check out Mystery Incorporated down below. Help donate and support them.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mystery-incorporated#/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz2mIbY-nnbkIO7FLdIhWyA