First thing’s first.  I’m sorry I was gone so long. Here’s my mushy tale of how I came back around.

TL:DR – Went to Ubisoft Toronto. Had a conversation with one of the developers. Now I’m gonna do more stuff. You can go now.

Wow, so I took one hell of a hiatus, huh?

Technically, I’ve still been doing Rated J… I’m just about due for one and I might just record it after I’m done writing this.

Didn’t you hear me on Stays Krunchy in Milk #112? Oh you missed it? Well, that’s cool because, apparently there needed to be a sequel and they had me back for episode #115.  Now, anybody who knows me, knows… I’m OBSESSED with trilogies and the number 6.  So, I gotta go back for a 3rd time and call it a run or reach for six and achieve greatness.  They have no idea what a boon that was for me.  It introduced me to a brand new set of people…. TO RAGE AT ME!  I’m kidding and hopefully they don’t.

Let me tell you something. I had to figure things out and if you’ve been listening to Rated J… my previous living space turned into a den of thieves. You’ll hear all about being kicked out early despite paying last month’s rent upfront.  You’ll also hear about Freeloader Supremo threatening to kick my ass.

Allow me to digress for a sec. If you know anybody or are friends with somebody that constantly has a confused look on their face and they always think they are getting fucked in life, abandon your friendship with them. They are toxic.  Nothing is ever their fault and sooner or later… they will pin their bad karma on you.  Anyways… back to the lecture at hand.

So I went up to Ubisoft Toronto for a playtest session this week. All week. Whether or not I do this Jaded Gamer thing or write for Your Momma’s Basement, I’m a gamer at heart so I was genuinely excited for the chance to playtest for them again.  But… fate, it seems had other plans for me on Day 3.  But let’s not rush, now. This is amateur word porn right now. OK? This is written foreplay.

Now, I immediately forgot all the testers names because my brain… sucks. I arrive, Day 1, the waiting room is full up. I fill out my NDA, go to the bathroom and somebody immediately takes my seat. Dick. Whatever. I’m excited because I read my NDA. I know what is happening and I am eagerly anticipating the moment it all unfolds.  CUT TO: Lunch Day 1

Indie Guy, loves indie games. Shows me/tells me about quite a few indie games I’ve heard/never heard of. A lot of them sound awesome, some sound like they wouldn’t be for me. All in all this guy is cool. Tri-force girl is sunshine… all the time. She’s all smiles and energy.  She has a colorful tattoo of a Tri-force on her arm, she’s a she. Thus… Tri-force girl.  Cupcake.  Cupcake might have been my favorite person there just because I found her very interesting.  She was witty and had a certain sarcastic charm to her.  And I feel shitty for forgetting her name so fast.  But trust me, you’re in and out and it’s almost like a job. Most playtesters treat it like a job. Then there was Irish. He had an accent.  He knew games.  It was really cool. If I didn’t understand something, he’d always have the quick soundbite answer to bring me up to speed.  His knowledge seemed endless.  It was evident he loves reading about games just as much as playing them.  Then there was Whispers.  Small Asian woman who seemed like the brilliant types where video games are her passion and she can do a some sort of programming.  Whispers, Cupcake and Tri-Force girl should meet in some sort of future and build a game because I think they all went to school for different parts of game design.  Lastly there was Josh.  I don’t think that was his name.  But he seemed like he was my age.  He’d be me if I played on the PC.

There you have the main players in this tale.  And we can fast forward to Day 3.  Lunchtime.

We’re all doing our normal routine of tap dancing around trying not to inadvertently break our Non-Disclosure Agreements.  How hard is it not to break it? I spent ten minutes trying to explain it and broke it twice.  It’s hard. Anyways, I can’t remember why I was walking around but I hear… “The Jaded Gamerrr..” and… I froze.  The Community Manager recognized me from Twitter thanks to my awesome tag and … I dunno.. enthusiasm, I guess. It doesn’t matter.  The point was I had two options in the moment.  A) BE The Jaded Gamer.. Wakka-Wakka.. get a few laughs and that be that. Or B) Take 30 seconds and ask Community Manager Zack Cooper a question that would instantly rethink … everything.  What do you think I picked?  Well.. Truthfully… I picked A for about 5 seconds.
“Who’s The Jaded Gamer?” “He’s the Jaded Gamer.” “Why’s he the Jaded Gamer?” “Cuz everything about him is Jaded.”
ME: “I hate everything. You screwed up by adding me to this process”  But I never got the whole sentence out… somewhere between You screwed up and the word process I was already saying the sentence “I just want to take 30 seconds and ask you one thing.”  in Zack’s direction.  Now the question doesn’t matter because it was really specific but the answer is completely relevant here.

As he was talking… I almost fainted.  Your Momma’s Basement is and always was the answer. What I have been doing was the answer.  Just MORE. There are things I haven’t been doing that I will start and continue to do, such as maintaining a better presence on Twitter and the various Facebook pages.  I can’t expect you to share what I do if you’re not confident in it or that I’ll produce it in a timely fashion.  There will come a time when I’ll need to rally support but not now.  Let me win my way back into your good graces.

This weekend is all about making a schedule and sticking to it.  So there you have it.  I’m back and full of vigor.

A playtest session can completely change your outlook on life.

The Jaded Gamer
Twitter: @IamFN2K