#BLAUGUST2023 ASYNCHRONOUS ENGAGEMENT GAMES

I don’t currently supervise, but I am encouraged to do things to support the team’s morale and build up our shared engagement. Recently, I saw a game called MonsDRAWsity for sale on Amazon and decided to grab it. The game includes a deck of cards, each depicting a unique monster, and some drawing tools. However, I bought it specifically as an “asynchronous engagement game”. In plain English: a game we play together but not simultaneously that is supposed to make work more fun.

#BLAUGUST2023 BLU MOONLIGHTING

With Marvel Snap done and a few days of not feeling particular well in the books, I’ve spent the last couple days focusing exclusively on the Blue Mage (BLU) in Final Fantasy XIV. If you aren’t familiar, BLU is a special job that isn’t really intended for current/standard content. Instead, it is more like its own mini-game or series of puzzles. It has really tapped into my innate need to see improvement: I had started a BLU a while ago, but this time I really focused on getting the abilities I need and learning to use them to start mastering the content.

#BLAUGUST2023 I CONCEDE, OR HOW TO LOSE A MARVEL SNAP FAN

I have over 200 hours played in Marvel Snap on Steam, but I primarily play on mobile. Since its release, I have played virtually every day. I reached top rank the last three months in a row. I have purchased every season pass since I started, and spent more money than I wish to count on bundles and variants. But today, I concede: I am uninstalling and moving on. The game isn’t less fun than when I started.

STARS, WISHES, AND PROJECT TEAMS

Stars & Wishes is a popular tool for Tabletop Roleplaying Games (like Dungeons & Dragons). At the conclusion of a game session, the facilitator calls for stars and wishes. Each participant is expected to name at least one star and one wish. A star is someone who did something interesting, performed exceptionally, or stood out in some other way. A wish is something the participant hopes to see in future game sessions.

Playing games takes time. Longer games take more time. Games, by design, want to be played and don’t care how long you spend doing it. How do make sure we put in enough time to make progress but not so much time that it is 4am and you have work in a few hours? Timeboxing Timeboxing is a basic time management technique often used in Agile project management. Essentially, you assign a maximum amount of time for a task, assign when you will do it, and you don’t break from that.

INITIAL PSVR2 IMPRESSIONS

Here are a few initial impressions about my Playstation VR2 (PSVR2) experience. For my background, I previously owned both the original PSVR and a Valve Index: Hardware The setup was easy (one cord and an easy setup process). The headset and controllers are lightweight. The headset wasn’t comfortable at first, but I needed to adjust to the closeness of the lens. On first impression, it is a better setup than the Valve Index and equally (if not more) effective.