(sparth, Post-Apo Scene)

Hey Internet.

This year I’ve constantly felt like I’ve gotten nothing done, and like I have way more work to do yet. One of those is true: I do still have a lot to do in the near future. But now that I’m able to look back at what I have done this year, I can say that I’m proud of my work.

So, what have I done? Well, you can scroll through everything here, but if you have limited time (and you know, who doesn’t?), I’ve laid out what I think is my best work from 2014 after the jump.

So, first and foremost, I’ve been incredibly lucky to be able to write for Garrett Martin and Maddy Myers over at Paste! I’ve been able to put out some reviews, some essays, and even some industry reporting. If you read one of my pieces on Paste this year, it should probably be “Real Human Beings: Shadow of Mordor, Watch Dogs, and the New NPC,” in which I think through violence, race, and dynamic narratives.

There are some clear connective tissues between that piece and two of my recent reviews: “Far Cry 4: Content Is King,” which also touches on the politics of virtual tourism, and “The Crew: Postcard America,” in which I develop the idea of the “new” power fantasy, which I argue is about attaining power more than having it.

I also was able to write a few pieces for Paste on the games industry itself this year. In “Working for the Love of the Game,” my pal Ian Williams and I critiqued the ideological deployment of “passion” in games industry hiring and culture, specifically taking Blizzard to task for a recent recruitment video.

Building off of a great piece by Maddy Myers, I also wrote up an interview I had with a few Twitch execs in “The Rise of Twitch.tv” I love livestreaming, but I’m a bit critical of some of Twitch’s practices, and I hope that criticism like mine pushes them to develop their service in the best way possible. (For a look at some of my more academic thoughts about live streaming, check out “Watching Us Play: Postures and Platforms of Live Streaming, which ran in an opinon piece of Surveillance and Society.)

My thoughts on games were not limited to Paste, though. I did a bit of traditional blogging too! I thought through permanance and EVE Online in "The Flickering of a Starship Graveyard” (which needs an update after a recent patch!)

In “Min-Maxing Criticism,” I contributed to a discussion started by Stephen Beirne about the relationship between late capitalism and “leveling up” in games. My takeaway? It’s complicated and requires more attention.

And I finally got to write about Koei’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms game series in “For the Weekend,” which appeared in a special issue of Zoya Street’s excellent Memory Insufficent zine focused on labour and history in games.

EDIT: Well, two big things have happened since posting this. First: A top ten list of my favorite games of 2014 went up over at Giant Bomb. Second, I was named Blogger of the Year by Critical Distance! Thank You. Seriously.

My blogging was not limited to games, either. Over the past few months, I shared some writing I did in the face of the injustices in Ferguson, MO and Staten Island, NY. First, “A short lecture on trauma, the stories we tell, and Ferguson” was the final lecture I gave my students this year–they responded well to it, I think, and I hope it can be helpful for those of us still processing the events of this year. Second, “Did We Put Enough Work In? On Black Masculinity, Disability, and Modes of Resistance” was written as a response to a talk about the rapper and actor Drake, and tries to address the killing of Eric Garner by Daniel Panteleo, keeping the questions of race and disability at the forefront.

Though games weren’t the only thing on my mind this year, I did release my first game ever this year! A(s)century is a cyberpunk game about… well… Go play it, then buy the incredible soundtrack by Scott Hallam, give artist Steve Kim a shoutout, and read what Andrew Vestal, Mark Filipowich, and Porpentine thought about it!

I also launched a podcast called Friends at the Table. It’s an “actual play” podcast, which is tabletop jargon for Let’s Play (sort of kind of.) I’m running a Dungeon World campaign, with a world designed specifically to challenge the archetypes and tropes of traditional Tolkien-esque fantasy settings. We’re just over a dozen episodes in now, so check us out!

EDIT: Oh! I was also a guest on a a bunch of podcasts this year! I joined the folks at IndieMegacast to talk about The Yawhg, Corrypt, Black Ice, and 80 Days. Joe convinced me to do a fantasy-football style draft of Sega Genesis games with some other great guests for On The Stick. And I was so warmly welcomed by Justice Points!

Finally, I’ve spent a lot of time this year live streaming games over at Twitch.tv/StreamFriends. Along with 14 other really rad folks, I’ve been streaming a whole mess of games. It’s hard to even know where to start but…

If you want to watch Polygon’s Phil Kollar, me, and a bunch of other great folks grumble our way through Beyond: Two Souls, well, you can do that.

If you want to watch a five hour long journey into absurdity and bad car physics, watch Janine Hawkins and I roadtrip through The Crew: Part 1 and Part 2.

If weird, prompted sci-fi story writing is more your speed, you should watch my friend Jack de Quidt and I play through Elegy for a Dead World.

Finally, if you want to hear me give a dramatic reading of super bourgie sock and hat ad copy, well, I… Well. Just… Just click here already.

So. 2015. What’s the plan?

Well, first: I love what Garrett and Maddy have been putting together over at Paste, and I’m thrilled that I’ve been able to be part of that. So look forward to (much) more of me on Paste in the coming year.

Second, more Friends at the Table. Maybe even a special episode where Jack and I show off the story game we’ve been working on this year? Maybe even a special livestream on StreamFriends?

Third, more StreamFriends. Stuff is popping off behind the scenes right now, and I’m hopeful that we can continue to produce good stuff and offer a safe space for folks to come, hang out, and have a good time. I’m committed to sharing joy.

Fourth, super important dissertation work. I’m really hitting do or die time now, so if I vanish from social media for long periods of time, this is why. I won’t lie: I’m putting this here to keep me honest.

Fifth: I don’t know! Right now I’m juggling job applications, more freelance writing opportunities, revamping bits of A(s)century for a stand-alone re-release, and a bunch of other stuff. Think I’d be a good fit for something you’re working on? Lemme know!

2014 has been terrible in many ways. It would be disingenuous and unhelpful to deny that. But I very much hope that I helped in some small way, and I hope I can do the same in 2015, whatever that year holds for us all.