I am counting down to Christmas with the Official Vault Dweller’s Advent Calendar from Bethesda. Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, eBay and other retailers.
At the end of the countdown, I’ll be giving away the calendar (with all items returned to the pockets) as well as some Fallout ornaments and a Nuka Cola stocking.
The Minutemen flag that appears in the video is a gift from Jesike Biking, and the brass Vault Boy ornament is a handmade gift from Steven Hughes.
The vault suit stocking was handmade by sewtodayvintage on Etsy and the Nuka World tickets are from HandmadeFallout on Etsy.
I made the Day Tripper, Nuka Quantum, Dandy Boy Apples, mutfruit, Sunset Sarsaparilla, and New Vegas snow globes.
Other items seen in the video are official Bethesda merchandise.
Music: “12 Days of Christmas” by Jingle Punks.
~ J.L. Hilton
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Sometimes I get comments, in chat when I’m livestreaming a video game or in the comment section of my YouTube videos, telling me I’m not playing a game right. Yet, I somehow manage to complete games on normal or harder difficulties, so I don’t see what I’m doing “wrong.”
While “I suck at this but I still enjoy it” is a valid way to play video games and to stream them, sometimes I don’t actually suck. I’m just playing differently than other players and there’s nothing wrong with that.
There are many different ways to play games, which should be obvious in games like SKYRIM or STARDEW VALLEY, but it’s also possible in a game like GOD OF WAR.
Yet I still have dudes rolling into my chatroom during a SKYRIM livestream to tell me I should go get some particular two-handed weapon that’s the “best” in the game… even though I’m playing a stealth archer with no perks in the Two-Handed skill, I’m doing just fine on the highest difficulty setting and I’ve already got the platinum trophy on PS3.
Even in a cozy low-stakes game like STARDEW VALLEY, which offers a range of content including farming, foraging, forestry, fishing, friendship, romance, dungeon delving, beekeeping and more, I’ve had people tell me I’m playing it “wrong.”
They insist I should be farming like crazy, making tons of money and constantly expanding like I’m some kind of capitalist empire, instead of doing what I actually enjoy, which is foraging, collecting, exploring and making friends. Isn’t the point of the game that I left the Joja company rat race to relax and focus on what really matters in life?
I have to wonder if this says something about their values and my values IRL.
Then there’s the 2018 GOD OF WAR, where I hung back and threw the Leviathan Axe a lot because I usually play an archer or sniper in other games, so I continued to use a lot of ranged combat in this one too.
I had no previous experience with the God of War franchise, so I didn’t understand the effective use of rage until I was about halfway through the game. Yet I still managed to complete the story on normal difficulty and had a great time doing it.
GOD OF WAR is one of my favorite video games of all time, even if I played it “wrong.”
I know a lot of people who won’t play certain games or don’t play video games at all, because they’re afraid of being bad at them, so I think it’s good to show my learning curves, not hide them.
And I think it’s important to show that there are many different ways to play a game. Anyone who thinks their way is the only “right” way to enjoy something is either immature or an asshole, or both.
~ J.L. Hilton
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I set out to become a famous artist but end up dead in the gutter in ARTIST LIFE SIMULATOR, developed by Interactive Fate and published by Placeholder Gameworks.
In ARTIST LIFE SIMULATOR, players live the life of artist in 19th century alternative history. Collect and combine feelings, memories, ideas and inspirations. Fight with depression, addiction or madness & other demons of the psyche. Paint masterpieces, sell them for riches (or scraps) and explore the city of Nova Oportunia.
WYTCHWOOD was my favorite video game of 2021. I loved it so much, I put together a swamp witch kit with replicas of several items found in the game.
Some of the items were purchased, such as the grimoire, red feather, black rose, gold coin, iron nail, protective talisman pentacle and empty jar. But I made the others myself, including the reedy twine, mending poultice, witch spice, gnome hat, soporific potion, dryad fruit, hagshroom, digestive tablets, key to my heart, wicked gemstone and pumpkinjack bone.
I sent a chest full of swamp witch goodies to the developers, Alien Trap Games, and received this letter, which I framed and hung in my studio.
A second chest was put together for my 2000 Subscriber Celebration, where I gave away prizes based on several of the video games I’d played on my channel.
I also made a Wytchwood charm bracelet, with goat, heart, mushroom, red rose, cauldron, pentacle, grimoire, key and witch eye charms.
~ J.L. Hilton
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The problems of the world may seem insurmountable but despair is not a dead end, it is a call to action, it is a ravine in need of a bridge. When things seem hopeless, do not wait for hope, create it. A cynic sits in darkness but a hero lights a candle.
~ J.L. Hilton
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After today’s livestream of THE OUTER WORLDS, I discovered that I’d earned the “Poor Sportsmanship” trophy for hitting 30 enemies in the nuts during tactical time dilation.
Sweet.
~ J.L. Hilton
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I’m doing one last giveaway before HALLOWEEN and this one is BIG! There’s candy, cards, stickers, cat toys & a $10 gift card to OldTimeCandy.com! One winner takes it all!
Just for fun here’s a little video of some over-the-top milk shakes we made for Halloween. I had the graveyard shake, my husband ate the zombie shake, and our kids ate the others. Which one is your favorite?
The vampire shake had strawberry ice cream, strawberry sauce, chocolate bat & jelly donut with puncture wounds. The ghost shake was made with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, donut, pretzel & cookie.
The candy corn shake had vanilla ice cream, orange soda, a skewer of gummy candy, an orange candy stick, a chocolate-covered pretzel, whipped cream and candy corn around the top of the glass.
The graveyard shake had a chocolate skull, “RIP” headstone cookie, gummy worms, hot fudge, crushed Oreo “dirt” & peanut butter chocolate ice cream.
The zombie shake had mint chocolate chip ice cream, gummy eye balls around the top of the glass, a sprinkle-covered marshmallow, and a popcorn ball “brain.”
~ J.L. Hilton
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