1April 2025
Good News
Found my old mobile phone which I had believed lost since September 2024. Found it accidentally whilst cleaning out the studio some more yesterday. Wife just glared at me when informing her delightedly and she rightly called me an idiot. I'm just relieved it hadn't been lost out in public as it contained secret plans to overthrow legitimate governments and install actual puppets as leaders and run puppet shows 24-7. Phew, what a relief!
Still haven't found the photo collage though that I took at Gallipoli back in '88. Lost the negatives long ago and the prints are the only photographic view of the beach looking in from the water's edge. Would make a great painting.
Found loads of other stuff I'd forgotten about though besides my old mobile phone too. The studio is turning out to be a real treasure trove.
World of Warships
Got the Oregon and ran it just to earn the rewards associated with it. Not a permanent port ship however. The Metz, Vyazma, and the Oregon will be permanently removed from your port after Update 14.7. But the aim of the experiment was to test a new ship mode that will no doubt be introduced later in the year.
Next dockyard event rewards with the German Tier IX Hipper-class cruiser Blucher. Reviews from most YT streamers is that it's not that good. Halfway reward is a new ship, a Tier VII Commonwealth cruiser Gambia. It served first in the British navy before being transferred to the NZ navy and finished out the war. Usual early start packs - two-pack and six-pack. Total cost is around ten thousand dubs. But you can just grind for free although it will take longer. However, the last few progressions will cost more doubloons than if you purchased the starter packs early on. Given that Blucher is not rated great anyway (being nerfed so many claim), I'm not bothered as it will be another addition to my port fleet. More interested in the Gambia from its Kiwi historical connection.
There are also some new ships coming with the next Update. New Italian ship (steel) and another split in the US destroyer tech tree line (future Updates).
The problem of the new signup notification still persists from time to time. But as Flambass pointed recently, why are they insisting players signup again with new accounts simply to link them into the one overarching account. He's fine as he's going great guns over at Lesta.
Tried following the steps to link my Steam and Weegee account initially (several times) but the new signup notification still rears its ugly head and cause some strife ingame as I get connected, often at the most intense moments.
Steam community isn't exactly forthcoming with useful information regarding linking apart from stating that you need to manually link them together. How though? Steam automatically updates; no need to interfere. And what am I meant to manually update?
The community says once linked you can change it ingame in your profile. The notification disruption popping up periodically however means I'm still not linked, and will continue to experience this situation until resolved. Not in a rush however as I am adapting to the "new" situation. I still get to play without too many bootings.
And the new events are no longer enticing costing too much and most are just clones of existing ships anyway with tweaks here and there. CVs are still OP as heck and becoming more prominent as capital ships. And submarines define the secret mentality of the creators with their fantastic creations existing and redefining naval battles (online at least) to the extent that surface ships are just one big turkey shoot.
Yes, 2025 is fast becoming the year of indifference and disgruntlement.
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3 April 2025
World of Warships
New events began today - Battle Pass (split into two sub events - second one is the Daruma crates), the Blucher Dockyard, Star Kitakaze (AUD 140.11) and Edinburgh (AUD 90.58). New steel ship Barbiano (or whatever it's called).
Partook of the Dockyard event and got the Gambia after straight up paying for the 8 phases, as advertised. Figured the value was worth it given I will be getting two new ships (grinding for the Blucher though). Both ships interest me because they are historical, not imaginary like some of the more recent additions to the game.
Experimental ships new mission also began today which explained why I was seeing so many Metz whilst grinding in my Nelson. These new missions reward with coal and apply to all three experimentals which I now have in my port - Metz, Vyazma, and Oregon.
Still need to play the Soviet sub S-1 to gain the last mission reward. And then convert the accumulated tokens into credits.
Odd thing most noticeable is that there have been no signup notifications or connection issues. The days before I was getting notifications daily, and thereby disconnections happening. But today, no sight of them. Everything was hunky dory; and I was on all afternoon and most of tonight. Expecting it to return to normal eventually after the initial enthusiasm of the new Update has died down and Weegee see no more moneys from me.
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5 April 2025
New family member
Drove over an hour to pick up a new family member - a fourteen week old Shi Tzu Maltese cross male puppy.
Meet Miles aka Milo, newest companion to Sally and Sam and Oliver and Albert. So tiny. A fluff ball. He will be loved of course.
Judge Dredd - Mega Cities
Watched an interesting YT video regarding the Mega City timeline. The background story was most interesting - a President who secret rigged the Presidential election so he could get voted in on a sentiment of popular policies, who thus triggered the country's global expansionism by seizing another sovereign's land natural resources, and triggered a nuclear WW3, who's diehard supporters fought the Judges attempting to restore law and order. My reaction was one of pleasant surprise because it somehow sounded so familiar for some reason. Lol.
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6 April 2025
World of Warships
Almost quit WOWS today.
Same problem as before and ongoing - being kicked off the game constantly.
Suspect the problem now rests with WOWS despite the Community feedback (mostly apologists) stating otherwise. And the apologists are running the propoganda that it's your fault for not complying. But why place more hurdles when there are hurdles enough?
One recent post today however got me most interested. It is the claim that the game itself is unstable and causing the issues. And my own investigations - game files corrupt?, internet connection poor?, equipment failure? - have been checked off as non-causes.
Yet the finger pointing always keeps returning, and with rising suspicion that it's the game itself that is causing the problems I'm currently experiencing. Every other game in my Steam account works fine with no issues and problems whatsoever.
A "please explain" situation unlikely to be resolved any time soon.
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8 April 2025
Medieval Balkans
Finished Chapter 5 while in hospital. New realisation is that there is a great many engagements not recorded, or the records were lost or doctored to favour one side (usually victor) is exciting. Those records/accounts that do survive are filled with holes that can only be speculated upon. Which is interesting because it's now possible to simply define the combatants and let them at it whether it be a single battle or a campaign. And there are many many conflicts that ran rampant during the early part of the fourteenth century throughout Byzantium, Serbia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria. Not to forget the various Grecian states - Moria, Epirus, Thessalay, Macedonia, Thrace, and others - as well as the independent cities like Durazzo, Dubrovnik, Belograd, Thessaloniki and so on.
So let's take the example of the Battle of Kephissos (Halmyros) in March 1311 when the Catalans surprised and defeated the Latin forces of the Duchy of Athens. To the victors went the spoils - the duchy itself and the many widows of the fallen defeated knights.
This would make an interesting game. It's well known and can be played. But more interesting (to me at least) are those engagements for whom no record exists such as the Hungarian campaign fighting againsts disloyal vassals with the assistance of Bosnian troops in 1340. There's hardly any published information to digest by Western readers in English.
Or there is an account of a battle fought in 1302 between Kotroman, a ruler of Bosnian territory and the Subici, a powerful Slavic family seeking to extend their territory at the expense of Kotroman. The outcome of these fought engagements are not known or there are no records (reliable or otherwise) but the subsequent outcomes are known. Excellent fodder for a skirmish or speculated engagement.
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10 April 2025
Self evaluation and solo wargaming
Saw a YT video by a tabletop gamer tonight. Topic for the video was the banning of club members for whatever reason contrary to the spirit of tabletop gaming. It made me consider my own performance tabletop-wise.
Truth be told, I'm not a good sport sometimes. In the past, I've played others where I threw a hissy fit or got upset simply because I was outplayed. Or turned petulant because of some perceived/imagined slight on the gaming table (usually concerning rules and my own lack of knowledge regarding rules).
In the past, I was fortunate enough to hook up with a local gaming club that was mostly into Warhammer Fantasy. Stayed with it for a few years where it underwent personnel changes in the running of the club. But I soon left as the club's direction eventually began moving one way that was not compatible with my own interests.
I am not overly competitive although I can get antsy when I'm unsure of a situation. I can even become belligerent if I think I'm being cheated by someone...at least, until it's resolved, or I am made aware of the uncertainty and its explanation.
Yet I recall being dumped for no reason after meeting up with a local gaming group (aka garage gamers) some months ago. One moment, I was being made welcomed into the club, receiving regular email notifications, even turning up to two of their nightly games; the next, I was dropped like a stone, a persona non gratis.
I thought it was because I did not want to participate in a proposed club activity. But I got no explanation nor sought any (didn't bother). Silence since. Moreover, I had committed to a new army for a planned end of the year project only to find out they were starting an entirely new venture (the one I nixxed on) leaving me stranded with a new army that you never really wanted in the first place.
That sort of situation dealing with other gamers does affect your self-confidence. And erodes any trust fostered. The safety in playing solo is that you are dependent on no one else but yourself. You can choose in whatever direction you want to take, and there is no rush or deadline to meet.
The tradeoff is the loneliness and isolation. Unless your drive and motivation is great enough to overcome the down side of playing solo, and you're able to focus more on the positives, then playing solo can, and does, become a very rewarding experience.
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11 April 2025
Grandson
Photos from grandson's visit to USC with his cousin. Relos are happy to host Kato at their home in Utah over the summer break. Should be an experience and a half.
Boys (above) standing next to some of the Heismann trophies on display. Heismann, in case you don't know, is the epitome of college football. Sort of like the John Eales medal (rugby) or rugby league's Dally M. USC Heismann winners include Marcus Allen (RB), O J Simpson (RB), Matt Leinart (QB), Reggie Bush (RB), and others.
The boys got to sit in on the O line training room over the weekend. Hopefully, the work ethic will impress Kato and further instill both self-discipline and focus.
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12 April 2025
YT streaming and finishing games
Watching such popular YouTubers like Jingles and Flambass made me realise that at times watching them play games can often save both time and money in evaluating the game's value or worth. And spare you bothering with the game in the first place.
Which is why I am not following Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 as closely as I should. Why? Because I actually want to purchase and play the game. So I've skipped the beginning apart from the time the two (knight and our main protagonist) end up in the village and get into a fight and end up in the stocks before separating and going their own ways.
Spoilers ruin the experience, so I've learned.
I recall being keen to try Pacific Drive when it came out last year but after watching several streamers play through, I ended up not bothering. Or I would get enthused enough to buy the game, start it, but then quickly lost interest and moved on. Cyberpunk 2077, Black Myth Wukong, Warhammer 40,000 Space Marines 2, Project Zomboid, are among those that suffered this fate. Even Counter-Strike 2 no longer holds any appeal.
Games like Strange Horticulture, Cloud Climber, Chants of Sennaar, The Planet Crafter, Little Kitty Big City, Dredge, Dave the Diver, Stardew Valley get more love and playtime instead. More often to completion.
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