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Showing posts from December, 2018

VOD of Consciousness Round-Up (2018 Season, Episodes 254-262)

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Hello! This week (+2 days, because 2018 is ending on a Monday) saw me cover most of the Wintersday event in Guild Wars 1. I had fun recording all of this, and am very glad to have it more spread-out than Halloween ended up being. This also marks the end of VOD of Consciousness round-ups, because today's episode was the last VOD of Consciousness episode. New years are times of change, and that's definitely happening here. VODoC had a good run, but, well, you all saw the announcement video, right? (If not, you should be able to find it previously posted here!) Thank you for watching, and please continue to join me with the new content I'm making! -- Sientir Direct video links: Guild Wars: Decorations - https://youtu.be/irf3aLXa8oA Guild Wars: Present...Defense? - https://youtu.be/Ut2D8m69Ljg Guild Wars: Merry Christmas! - https://youtu.be/a3u9_7wxtjY Guild Wars: Gift Retrieval - https://youtu.be/kG45G62nNXk Guild Wars: Dancing Moa and Skruuj - https://youtu.be/_M

VOD of Consciousness Round-Up won't be today

Hey everyone! I normally post VOD of Consciousness round-ups on Saturdays, but since the last two episodes of VOD of Consciousness will be releasing over the next two days, I'm going to have the round-up then, rather than today. It just doesn't make sense to me to have an additional round-up for only the two of them, especially since they're all part of the same Wintersday special! See ya then!

Announcement - Planned Changes for Gaming Content in 2019

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Hey all! This video goes over changes I have planned for the gaming content I produce. These changes will take effect in 2019.

What Does "Born Again" Mean? - Geekdom of God Ep. 26

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It's Christmas, which is when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. In my brain, this makes it an excellent time to talk about the origins of the phrase "born again." It has something to do with both being about birth, I think... Join my Discord Server: https://discord.gg/s6ajzsg Support me at https://www.patreon.com/Sientir

VOD of Consciousness Round-Up (2018 Season, Episodes 247-253)

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This week I focused on doing stuff on my Ranger, Anna Yggdrasill. I collected heroes and skills and began pursuing the Prophecies storyline. Recording these episodes made me really appreciate the structure of Prophecies when it comes to acquiring skills in a way that I'd forgotten over the years. It's definitely something I'm thinking about as a game designer. Direct video links: Guild Wars: Recruiting Heroes - https://youtu.be/xWyqrYL5B3I Guild Wars: Chasing Zenmai - https://youtu.be/-W-XkwGOjSY Guild Wars: D'Alessio Seaboard - https://youtu.be/kb0kNMcG12U Guild Wars: Skill Questing in Kryta - https://youtu.be/V8h3rSMMSQM Guild Wars: Deja Vu? - https://youtu.be/RkEU17v-D1Q Guild Wars: To the Temple of the Ages! - https://youtu.be/H-k6ern-pKE Guild Wars: Tablets of Janthir - https://youtu.be/A6vc1TuRgro

Confusion Over Jesus's Mission - Geekdom of God Ep. 25

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Have you ever wondered why Jesus's disciples went from being ready to die for Him to running away when Jesus was arrested? In this episode, I look into this and draw some lessons from it for our lives today. Join my Discord Server: https://discord.gg/s6ajzsg Support me at https://www.patreon.com/Sientir

VOD of Consciousness Round-Up (2018 Season, Episodes 240-246)

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This week was a lot less structured than many have been, since I didn't have specific goals in mind of what I wanted to accomplish due to the fact that I'd finished most of the story stuff. As such, there's a real hodge-podge of things: random Nightfall missions, skill capturing, a Bonus Mission Pack episode, etc. Direct video links: Guild Wars: Passing Through the Consulate Docks - https://youtu.be/nBiEwmeT70s Guild Wars: Exploring the Maishang Hills - https://youtu.be/rkroPlvHtqw Guild Wars: Elite Skills Wanted, Will Travel - https://youtu.be/dqmI7r74S1E Guild Wars: Venta Cemetery - https://youtu.be/Su3glYv1a4I Guild Wars: Divergent Paths - https://youtu.be/-l0NP9kj9iQ Guild Wars: Jade Sea Quests - https://youtu.be/7DXCcA7oCIA Guild Wars: Turai Ossa - https://youtu.be/7GH9xz0s55k

Morality Policing...

Sometimes I think social media was a mistake. Sometimes I think government was a mistake. I'm almost always certain that politics is an inescapable mistake. Anyway, we can't get away from government. The alternative is awful. There should be some amount of government. Of course, how much is a constant debate that I have lots of interest in, but not right now because that's not what this article/post/thing is about. The real issue at the heart of some current angst and frustration I am having is people with a different set of "morals" than I have being in positions of power, and using those positions to enforce their morals. And by different set, I usually mean a more restrictive set. Of course, there's a reason I put morals in quotes up there. This is because I tend to have different moral and social views on a lot of topics. Generally this is because I want there to be protections for people who have different moral views than I have. For example, I a

Relying On God - Geekdom of God Ep. 24

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In this episode, I talk about relying on God. It can be harder to do than it might sound at first blush! I primarily do this by examining the metaphorical concept of Jesus being in the driver seat of our lives. Join my Discord Server: https://discord.gg/s6ajzsg Support me at https://www.patreon.com/Sientir

Dreamlogic: Programmatic Creation of Data

So, ever since I implemented the Dark Souls weapon reinforcement system in RPG Maker MV for use in my RPG "Dreamlogic," where one of the eight worlds you visit is based off of Dark Souls, I've been faced with a serious challenge. Ya see, I can make all of the upgrade paths, but that turns out to be a mountain of work for normal weapons. This is because each upgrade has to be its own weapon in the database of weapons. So, for something like a boss weapon, this means I need to make six separate weapons (+0 through +5). This is annoying, but not too bad. It's mostly a lot of copy and paste with some number tweaks. But standard weapons are another beast entirely. Let me break down why: Each weapon that follows standard upgrading procedure has to have a weapon implemented for all possible upgrade paths. This turns out to be a LOT of weapons. Here, let me count them: 1 for the initial weapon. 5 for +1 to +5. 5 for +6 to +10. 5 for +11 to +15. 6 for Fire to Fire+5.

Wistful for Sunday Morning

I write this on a Sunday morning. I was trying to fall asleep, as I tend to do at 6 AM because my personal sleep schedule tends to go all wonky for a variety of factors I don't intend to get into now. Anyway, as I was saying, I was trying to fall asleep, when I was suddenly hit with a sort of wistfulness, a kind of mild sorrow. It is going to be another Sunday where I don't get up and go to church with my family. It's been this way for a few months now, ever since the end of July (or thereabouts) when (for numerous reasons I won't get into now) I stopped going to the church I'd been attending for a dozen years. I'm quite convinced it was the right change to make, and not one entirely of my own choosing, but that's neither here nor there. Over the past year or so I've gotten somewhat dissatisfied with the traditional Sunday morning service structure. Ya see, they basically consist of a few components: singing (called "praise" or "wors

VOD of Consciousness Round-Up (2018 Season, Episodes 233-239)

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This week was a productive one! I finished both Hearts of the North AND Young Heroes of Tyria. This leaves me needing to figure out what I'm going to do next, but I'm sure I can figure something out. Also, even if you don't watch all of these, I highly recommend the Future Plans episode (the first one). In it, I discuss my plans for VOD of Consciousness starting next year. I'll be making a more formal announcement video for it closer to the time, but this is a good chance to hear it early. Direct video links: Guild Wars: Future Plans - https://youtu.be/sZ7RMZ9JpxQ Guild Wars: Hunting for Keiren - https://youtu.be/9vnVVbu3COY Guild Wars: Salad Sourcing - https://youtu.be/iVWlWYSN1ZA Guild Wars: The Wedding - https://youtu.be/5WY8JKhbLfw Guild Wars: The Frost Gate...For Real This Time! - https://youtu.be/euXRH5ecLEo Guild Wars: The Gates of Kryta - https://youtu.be/sNOBrtG4AzQ Guild Wars: Young Heroes of Tyria - https://youtu.be/wRCxVA4_DhE

Quotations in 1 Corinthians - Geekdom of God Ep. 23

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In this episode of Geekdom of God, I take a long, hard look at a few odd sections of 1 Corinthians that deal with women. An overview of the latter two thirds of the book is involved! Here is the promised link to the Israel Study Center article:  https://israelstudycenter.com/paul-right-women/ Join my Discord Server: https://discord.gg/s6ajzsg Support me at https://www.patreon.com/Sientir

VOD of Consciousness Round-Up (2018 Season, Episodes 226-232)

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This week saw me conclude the War in Kryta (which was a lot shorter to play through than Winds of Change, but I think that's because it was more streamlined than the original release). I also began Hearts of the North, which takes place between the War in Kryta and Winds of Change. Direct video links: Guild Wars: Koril the Malignant - https://youtu.be/4aprxbLoV9Q Guild Wars: Mustering Our Defenses - https://youtu.be/Z23-8FMzxyo Guild Wars: Mantle On Our Heels - https://youtu.be/yK7Ys3TpaKw Guild Wars: Defending Lion's Arch - https://youtu.be/5rlQon2JEHw Guild Wars: War in Kryta Denouement - https://youtu.be/Fv-6I5xgE90 Guild Wars: Gwen Gets Promoted - https://youtu.be/oT-fCDZLWy0 Guild Wars: Keiran and Miku - https://youtu.be/DVnb9FFAVCY