Back. Again.
Wow, where to start. Over the past several years I’ve struggled with a permanent home for my blogging. That struggle revolves around the idea of paying for a website. It’s not that I can’t afford to pay for it. In that regard I’m fortunate to be in a position to pay for my indulgences. My husband just rolls his eyes when I announce that I’m returning to a free blogging platform. He knows damn well that I won’t be happy with the functionality and constraints associated with the free ones.
Wordpress.com is the most popular but over the years they’ve decreased the number of themes available on a free plan, plugins are now part of a higher tier subscription and the storage restrictions don’t work for me. I’m a photographer and a gamer. When I’m not capturing moments in my life with my DSLRs, I’m capturing screenshots in games. While I know my blog is mainly for my enjoyment and maybe three people who happen to surf into my space, I am a spoiled wench and apparently can’t live without unlimited storage. My blog posts usually have at least two photos but most are image heavy.
Image courtesy of Unsplash and Squarespace
I found myself at the blogging crossroad yet again. Fortunately, this is one of only two areas in my life when indecisiveness creeps in. The other is when we’re deciding where to eat. But we’ll discuss that another day. Free WP was where I maintain my blog Cedar and Magnolia. It’s a personal blog made up of all the things I ramble about and love, gaming included. I was okay with being there until I bought Hogwart’s Legacy and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. The opportunity to create amazing images from both of these games as well as other games I play is incredible.
Right now those galleries are empty even though I have captured quite a few screenshots from Midnight Suns. They’re empty because as I write this I’m waiting for UPS to deliver my new gaming computer. Initially we were going to just upgrade the GPU on my current rig because I’m still using a GTX 970. It continued to work fine for games like The Elder Scrolls Online and even Destiny 2 but then Hogwart’s Legacy released and my PC said "NOPE! Not happening mama!” In fact the computer wouldn’t boot up the next day and I went into panic mode.
My current computer is a year old. It was built by Artesian. If you’re a gamer with a Twitch or Twitter account then you’ll recognize that name. If you don’t know the story then the easiest way for me to fill you in is through a video created by one of our favorite YouTube channels when it comes to PC components, builds etc. Gamers Nexus.
For just over a year I’ve been waiting for the shoe to drop with this rig even though I purchased it without a GPU. The one supplied in the build wasn’t up to my standards (I’m an nVidia gal) and the prices to upgrade were ridiculous. Remember, GPU’s were a tad bit more expensive last year at this time. Prices have come down, slightly, in 14 months. But since I wasn’t pursuing newer games at the time we figured we’d ride with the GTX 970 until we caught an upgrade on sale.
Back to the Hogwart’s Legacy and the death of the pc. There has never been a time in all my years of gaming when I had to check specs on a game to see if my computer was compatible. It never dawned on me. Be gentle, I am 61 now and have the benefit of being surrounded by a gamer husband, 3 gamer sons and all of their computer tech savvy friends who are also gamers. It’s a gamer world up in here and I love it.
The computer wouldn’t boot up and we couldn’t even get into BIOS. The mobo was telling us the problem could be the CPU, memory, an SSD, or a power supply. A decade ago I would have tossed it on the work table and ripped it apart piece by piece in order to diagnose the problem. These days I just want to hit the power button and get my game on. My husband saw my frustration and told me to just order a new computer, which I did. This time I chose NZXT which came highly recommended from the nerdverse in which I live a.k.a. my oldest son’s Discord community of co-workers and friends.
It’s not the “mother of all computers” but it’s perfect for me and what I play. I no longer raid for 4+ hours nightly in games like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV. It will absolutely handle my current rotation of games without batting an eye. Even though the Hogwart’s Legacy site states that at minimum a GTX 960 is required, I can tell you the graphics looked like total shite with my GTX 970. Again,. I’m a bit bourgeois when it comes to graphics quality when gaming, watching TV and listening to music. I grew up with a Dad who bought the best when it came to stereos and TVs it rubbed off on me.
Image courtesy Unsplash via Squarespace
It’s my only “Princess” type quality/flaw. Some gals spend oodles on handbags and shoes. Me? Games, TVs, cameras and coffee. But I also have to add the blog to that list now because I’m dropping a whopping $23 a month to toss my thoughts, images, gaming, baking, crafting adventures out into cyberspace.
My posts over on Cedar and Magnolia will remain there. Importing, while easy, takes work because I have to find all the images in each post and upload them again. Pfft. They can stay over there and I’ll just pick up here.
Welcome to my eclectic life and blog. Hopefully you find something to amuse or inspire you.
Peace,
Nim
