Plans for November 2017

Daily Ramble 68: Plans for November

As usual, I think I’m pretty ambitious when planning out my months. I try to set goals that are reasonable but require somewhat of a stretch so that I feel like I’ve accomplished something once I’ve reached the goal. And I typically reach most of what I set myself to each month. With that in mind, I’m looking at games, comics, and books to target for November goals. I should throw in some TV or Anime watching but I don’t want to be too ambitious.

MMOS

My primary MMO shifted in October from Albion to Secret World Legends and I’m thinking I’ll stick there this month. 

So far, I’ve made it to level 14 and am still exploring Kingsmouth but I know there’s tons left to do and lots of places to explore. I’m thinking I’ll probably spend the month of November still bopping around on Solomon Island since I believe that in addition to finishing off Kingsmouth, I’ve got the Savage Coast and Blue Mountain to contend with before I advance out of New England. My time in The Secret World ended somewhere in the Savage Coast so once I get about halfway through that zone, it’ll all be new to me and I can’t wait. In addition to SWL, I just reloaded Guild Wars 2 onto my computer. There’s a group calling themselves the MMO Book Club that I just started following and they’re hanging out in GW2 for the 4th month in a row. I figure many of them are at max level and running end game content but I just started so we’ll see how far I get. One thing I always liked about GW2 is that you got bonuses just for exploring the map and I usually enjoy that type of thing so I think I’ll have fun in this game for at least a month.

Comics

November will be the month of Rebirth for me finally. I can’t hold off any further, I’ve read all the precursors and am as prepared as I can be to dive in, so that’ll be my focus this month. 

I’m also looking at moving forward in my Modern Marvel reading as I’m just getting to the beginnings of the Avengers vs. X-Men storyline. Both of those look to be pretty monumental but I’m also still slowly moving forward with Marvel 1963. I want to make it to Amazing Spider-Man in November and since I’m only a few issues away, I’m sure I’ll get there and push on. The main trouble I’ve had is that the stories are all separate – sometimes even multiple non-connected stories in one issue – so there is less of a sense of anticipation for the next issue. I’ll get through this though since I want to commit to reading at least 10 issues – half of my goal from October but I think this time, I’ll achieve it. Finally, my Graphic Novel Reading Group is spending the month of November with some batman classics – The Dark Knight Returns and Year One – so I’ll try to set aside time to learn more about the bat this month.

Non-MMOs

Destiny 2 has been a bunch of fun on the PS4, and I’m just starting it up on the PC so I’ll keep things rolling. 

I’m hoping to move quickly through the story as a Hunter so I have both versions completed and can think about end game content. I also have a strong desire to head back in time…all the way to February when Horizon: Zero Dawn came out. At the time, I really wanted to try this game out but had too many others to keep myself entertained with. This month I’m gonna fire it up since I figure it’ll be on quite a few end of year lists of top 2017 games.

MOBAs

SMITE is once again my MOBA of choice. 

I’ve weaned myself off League of Legends over the past few months and I feel so much better for it. SMITE may have a few AFKs here or there, but the level of toxicity is so much better than what I slogged through in League. Two months away from League and my only hint at missing it has been watching the World Championships. I’m pretty sure SMITE has some eSports championships coming soon so I’ll have to be on the lookout for them. I any case, I’m gonna stick with SMITE and this month I will get into some ranked play…after I watch some videos and read up on the strategy.

Books

Five was a big goal for October and I while I got through 5 books, I did veer off my path for one of them. I had planned on reading The Currents of Space by Asimov but instead got through The Mummy or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice, and after my disappointment with that novel, I’m really sad I didn’t stick to my plan. In any case, I’m gonna get through The Currents of Space this month along with a few more. My plan is to read American Gods by Neil Gaiman and The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis for two of my book clubs. But then I’m gonna step off to a personal favorite from way back when – Magician: Apprentice by Raymond Feist. The kindle version came out a couple of months ago and just recently, the audiobook – so I’m excited to revisit this world that I loved back in the 80s and 90s. Finally, since I’ve enjoyed my non-fiction reading lately I figure I’ll keep it up and venture to North Korea with Without You, There is No Us by Suki Kim. Five books might be a stretch this month with Thanksgiving and all, but I’ll give it a try again – I’ve only 3 to read in order to reach my yearly goal but I’m gonna break through that without any problems.