Dead on Arrival #1

First times are never perfect.

So a week ago, my main hard drive died. Sad times for me- both because the Nvme was only two years old and because it's a pain to re-download these massive games and figure out software or program settings. I know I should keep profile info saved, but oh well. It's weird, though; I'm pretty pleased that it happened. Don't get me wrong; I lost some articles I wrote that morning - pretty infuriating.

But otherwise, I like starting fresh. It feels like I can be more intentional on this second pass. Get into better habits with the games I install/uninstall. Toss profiles for my Elgato gear into the cloud. Guess it's the silver lining.

Let's jump into the first DoA newsletter!

🏕️ Hashtag Survival Catchup

🗄️ Nightingale and Sunkenland were added to the upcoming game directory. A little more excited for Sunkenland: I'm still unsure precisely what form of 'survival' Nightingale will be; if it skews more like Smalland, I won't be into it.

🗄️ Far Lands was added to the game index. Becca, Dee, and I put solid work into this directory this week! The filter & tag system is shaping up well- primarily when you use the subgenre list we developed. It feels like a precise, targeted way of getting to a game recommendation, with far less bullshit than Steam's filter system. So check it out and let me know your thoughts in the comment section or Discord.

🖥️ The only article I pumped out this week was this homage to LOCHBY gear. If you like writing, notebooks, or EDC (everyday carry) gear, you'll want to read it. Dee and I would love to work on season 2 of the podcast if we can get our schedules to sync. Well, now that's a bit more delayed because I have to try and replicate whatever audio settings I used before that successfully muffled my keyboard, and the window AC perched three feet behind me. However, I plan on getting season 1 onto YouTube, so that's something to look forward to! I also massively reorganized the Steam curator page. Working on getting all of the games reviewed there listed under the subgenre system we developed.

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❣️Noteworthy Game Stuff

Last week- I was impressed by this April Dev Diary posted by Hinterland that detailed a pivot they made after community feedback. 7D2D seems to be creeping closer to Alpha 21, and there's so much shit coming; you'll need to watch this YouTube video. While some developers are shielding themselves from annoyance & spam by using platforms like Lurkit and KeyMailer to connect with creators, I've noticed an uptick in early-access survival developers handling Closed Alpha invites through their Discords as opposed to tethering it to a reward tier on Kickstarter. So it pays to find the official Discords for games on your wishlist and hang out!