Lockdown, day… something? What even is a day in this purgatorial limbo of nothingness? A collection of hours (apparently) each as vague and insubstantial as another, melding and merging into a puddle of amorphous so-called ‘time’.
OK, things aren’t really that bad. To be honest, it’s not radically different to The Before Times now I’m fully set up for home working, for which there are pros and cons. The commute time of Walking Down The Stairs is a big plus, especially as it can be done in a dressing gown. It’s fairly peaceful most of the time, though on a warm day with the windows open the kids next door can be a bit noisy. Then again they seldom host VERY LOUD CONFERENCE CALLS without closing their office door, so, y’know, swings and roundabouts… The temptation to wander into the kitchen for a biscuit is strong, tempered slightly by the knowledge that the finite supplies of biscuits must be carefully preserved to avoid the Quest to the Shops. At least years of MMOing have prepared us for that arduous multi-step chain; first of all the queueing outside, like a server on launch day, then once you get in the hunt for ultra-rare crafting ingredients (a bag of flour), camping the respawn location while being particularly careful to remain outside the aggro radius of mobs (other shoppers). Online shopping has taken over from trying to get tickets to ComiCon/Glastonbury/other sought after concerts, staying up until midnight when delivery slots are released, more queueing again, having multiple browsers open and frantically alt-tabbing between them. We’ve managed to snag a few slots to get deliveries for elderly parents, which has been a relief; it’s not like there’s a danger of imminent starvation but it’s nice to have a fresh food alongside store cupboard staples and a few treats here and there.
To counteract those treats we’re going for walks much more frequently than The Before Times, we’re very fortunate to have some woods close by that allow for a good hour or so of socially distanced walking, and the weather has been rather pleasant for the most part. Beat Sabre on the Oculus Quest has also continued to be an excellent way of getting the heart pumping when confined to the house; I bought BoxVR, a boxing/fitness type of thing, back at the start of this whole business thinking I’d use that for a bit more of a structured workout, but the Quest version doesn’t support user-supplied music and the gameplay isn’t particularly engaging, especially with slightly flaky hit detection. Having tweaked Beat Sabre to allow for custom songs it’s far more fun furiously flailing to Radiohead, Salt n’ Pepper and System of a Down.
Extended confinement might seem like an ideal gaming opportunity, but days are just as full as they were before for the most part. Even when work wasn’t fully geared up for remote access it didn’t seem right to be plunging deeply into a game, so I tried to be at least vaguely productive during work hours. I had half a mind to try and get back into Red Dead Redemption 2 properly, but in the end things have been ticking along as they were before: bit of War Thunder here and there, and a fair bit of Destiny 2. The most recent event in the latter, the Guardian Games, is well encapsulated by Rock Paper Shotgun. To Do Lists on top of To Do Lists, it’s pretty much just a bunch of admin, but… I’m not entirely averse to a To Do List. It’s a wind-down at the end of a day, something I don’t have to think too deeply about. Games just aren’t really firing a passion any more for some reason. Still, even just for time-filling they’re a helpful way to REMAIN INDOORS and NOT THINK ABOUT THE EVENT. Stay safe out there, folks.
