#Mk. 2 Myriad Visual System

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I Can Assure You, They Will Never Get Me Onto One of Those Dreadful Starships

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:54:25

[ahiddenpath]

Vidja Games

So I checked out Game Informer’s list of the top 300 greatest video games, and they are objectively wrong, lol (I can’t imagine the fights that went into making this list??)!

I’m no critic, and I’m not interested in attempting to objectively rate games, but here are my (subjective) faves in rough order-ish, if you’re interested!  They are arranged by franchise for my sanity below the cut.

The Elder Scrolls (TES)

My all time favorite video game series is TES, although I wasn’t able to stomach playing I and II.  In order, my favorites are: Morrowind, then Oblivion, then Skyrim.

Morrowind is unfriendly to casual gamers, and even experienced folks need to learn the lay of the enormous world, how to fast travel, and even how to level and plan characters to best effect.  The learning curve is enormous, and if you decide to play a different type of character later on, you’re stuck!  You might even have to start over, since you level your character by increasing the major and minor skills you chose upfront.

But I have never experienced such an open, imaginative world.  The later installments felt both smaller and less varied.  In Morrowind, you’ll find everything from sprawling floating cities to houses built into enormous mushrooms, with ashlands, swamps, and mountainous terrains in between, complete with hell-on-earth smack-dab in the middle of everything.

Oblivion is more user-friendly than Morrowind, and it has some of the most engaging quests in the series.  What it loses in environmental diversity and sheer exploration potential, it almost- almost- compensates for in fun quests (there’s much less ‘fetch me some swamp muck’ involved), easier transportation, and the wonderful world of Shivering Isles, an expansion.

Skyrim is the most accessible of the three by far, and it’s forgiving in that it allows players to change their play style on the fly with little repercussions.  It also has the best combat.  Sadly, the repetitive environments make it far less compelling to explore than its predecessors, which is a huge part of TES’s charm for me.  I also found the enemies repetitive.  The more fanciful enemies are almost absent, and the few that exist are tied to specific daedric quest lines.  Do you know how hard it is to recharge enchanted items when you only encounter a handful of daedra?  Wolves and trolls just don’t fill them back up well.

Also, while the accessibility widens the target audience considerably, it cuts into the customization options previously available to more experienced gamers.  That was a huge disappointment for me, personally.

To be clear, though, I still adore Skyrim.

Personal anecdote:  My Morrowind strategy book was so worn that it fell apart, so I punched holes in the pages and kept it in a binder.  I took out the fast travel map and the local map of whatever area I was combing to find a dungeon door tucked into a cave hidden behind ivy or whatever.  I still have it; it’s a sentimental treasure.

The Sims

The more open-ended a game is, the more I like it, and The Sims is king of that arena!  For me, 3 is by far the best installment.  2 introduced the idea of having types of Sims with personal goals to meet to create direction for the player, but ultimately, it felt like I was stuck with the same five Sims over and over again.  The wishes and moodlet system of 3, along with the five slots for personality traits, gave me so much more power to create Sims that felt like actual characters.

I... don’t even want to know how much of my life I’ve put into The Sims...

My ranking:  3>1>2>4

It should be noted that I didn’t mind 1′s lack of direction, since my imagination alone is way more than enough to pull me forward in a sandbox game.  In comparison, 2 felt restrictive by creating five character types, limiting me to that in a way I couldn’t ignore.

Personal anecdote:  I received the original Sims for Christmas when I was in middle school.  I accidentally played from bed time until 4 AM, which is the closest I’ve ever come to pulling an all-nighter.

Sonic the Hedgehog

WHERE DO I EVEN START WITH THE BLUE BLUR.

Sonic was an enormous part of my childhood, guys.  I played all the games.  I watched both cartoons (the one with Sally and the Freedom Fighters and the one where it’s just Sonic/Tails/Eggman/some robots), I learned to read with the comic books.  I have a vivid memory of my brother taunting me by refusing to let me see his comics “because I couldn’t read”...  So I spite-learned using the comics when he wasn’t paying attention.

I don’t think I can pick a favorite!  As a kid, I played Sonic 3 the most; I was a huge Knuckles fan, so that might have played a role (also the original Sonic was too difficult for me at the time, although I certainly tried).  But I also loooooved Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2.  And Sonic Generations was so much fun!

Mario Bros

Lord, I was playing Mario games before I could read, I don’t...  Mario has always been around for me, okay?  It’s a huge part of my story, and the franchise is so iconic that there’s little for me to say.  There are way too many amazing games in this franchise for me to name, but personal faves include: Super Mario RPG, Super Mario World, and Yoshi’s Island.

The Legend of Zelda

This is another franchise where I don’t know what to say...  It’s too iconic for me to offer much.  Zelda games are known for their exploration and adventure, even from the beginning.  Ocarina of Time was a big part of my childhood, but I also adore the newest installment, Breath of the Wild.  And I know this may be silly, but I love Hyrule Warriors!  I can’t wait to play it on the Switch with all the DLC.

And the music???  Guys?????  THE MUSIC?!?!?!    

Bioshock 

Amazing atmosphere, fun game play, and one of the best stories in gaming history add up to an unforgettable experience.  Also a fore-runner to the idea of playing dialogue and recordings while the player explores, a trend that caught on in a huuuge way.

Persona

It’s hard to describe Persona games...  They basically combine Jungian psychology with various mythologies, sprinkle in some horror (or glob it on in the case of 3), throw in an RPG, and add a heaping serving of everyday high school life.  The games tackle a wide range of ideas and game play, creating a unique experience that has drawn a devoted following.

I’ll make this quick:

3:  Best story and atmosphere, worst/most needlessly frustrating game play, very prickly cast lol

4:  Best characters and character development

5:  Best game play (exquisitely polished game play, really), best overall style, worst story and character development

My ranking is 4>3>5.  It should probably be noted that story and character are king for me, so while 5 was incredibly polished mechanics wise, the comparatively weak story and characters sunk it to the bottom of the list for me.  It was one of those games where I understood where they were going hours ahead of time, and then they would explain “the twist” to the player for half an hour over and over and over.  Frankly, it was... kind of insulting, and soured the experience for me.

Also, Mona, I swear to god, how am I supposed to pass school if you don’t let me study or do my homework because you think I need to sleep at 5 PM every day ahhhhh!  XD

Harvest Moon

Oh god, here’s another franchise I don’t want to delve into in terms of hours I’ve spent playing O_O

I can’t even explain why I like these games...  In HM, you are a farmer, and your job is usually to prove to the villagers that you’re a valuable member of society so that they won’t evict you from your own inherited property.  (I’m curious about their deeds and legal policies, lol.  How do you write that clause up?).

These games combine farming with socialization and light dating sim elements, and time management is the name of the game.  They pull in players by tapping into the universal desire to create order and advancement.

My favorite installment is Friends of Mineral Town.  I also adored Harvest Moon 64, but the controls are sadly too dated for me to replay it.

Pokemon

I’m sure I’ve missed at least one, but I’ve played almost every mainstream release of Pokemon since Red and Blue came out.  It must be doing something right, lol!

I’m a huge sucker for games where you choose monsters to raise.  It’s so fun to assemble a team based on your tastes and raise them just so!

My favorite release is the remake of Gold and Silver.

Monster Rancher 2

OH MY LORD I played this game to the point where I’m shocked the disc still works.  In Monster Rancher 2, you find monsters by placing discs into your Play Station, which each encode a monster.  In order to access the strongest monsters, you must raise your rank as a trainer by winning official tournaments.

I wish I could explain why I latched on to this particular game so hard, but...  I think it had something to do with the massive variety of monsters, the difficulty of the tournaments (I never did hit S rank, and not for lack of trying!), and the myriad of odd ways to unlock special monsters.

Mario Kart

Seriously, who doesn’t like smiting friends and family on the race track?  MK is a fun, family-friendly way to deliver a beat down...  As long as you contain your desire to cuss like a sailor, anyway.

It’s so hard to pick a favorite here!  It’s hard to top the original for the challenge...  But Double Dash and Infinity are contenders, too.

Danganronpa

Danganronpa games are visual novels that mix survival, horror, and crime-solving into a dark, bizarre, unique experience.  I’ve written a ton about this series lately, so I won’t delve into it here, but you can check out the danganronpa tag on my blog for more.

Kingdom Hearts

These games are so charming and fun to play!  I’ve never completed one on my own- linear games are rough for me- but I’ve seen my husband play them all, even the (many) extra installments.  KH2 is probably my favorite, although Birth by Sleep was amazing, too.

Final Fantasy

I’ll admit that I don’t really enjoy playing Japanese RPGs; linear gameplay doesn’t appeal to me much in general.  But the FF franchise is famous for its sweeping narratives, imaginative environments, and breath-taking music, and I enjoy them for that.  I’ve watched my husband play X-XV, and I briefly joined him in playing XI and XIV.  My favorite is probably X...  Although I have an enormous crush on Ignis from XV.  

My favorite FF game to play is Theaterhythm: Curtain Call.

Mass Effect

How do I say this...  I don’t think I’ve ever played a game that better simulated becoming an entire universe’s hero and moral center.  In Mass Effect, you shape the world and the political climate in unprecedented ways.  By the end of 3, every player is so deeply invested in their Shepard and the world s/he created.  In that sense, it’s en epic experience without peer.

Destiny

I love playing Destiny with my husband and our friend!  I’m a titan, Tony is a hunter, and our buddy is a warlock, and together, we are... three guardians, lol!  

Okay, so the vanilla Destiny release needed some help, but it became a great game with the expansions.  I’m still waiting for that breath of rejuvenation for 2, but I treasure the time we spend together kicking ass as a team.

Left 4 Dead

This game redefined what co-op meant to me.  I always thought of it as Halo, basically competing on the same team against other players.  And yeah, you do that in L4D...  But the cooperation angle that this game brought to the table was more or less unprecedented.

In L4D, if your team of ragtag survivors doesn’t work together, it’s unlikely that anyone will survive.  I spent a lot of free time in college playing this with my friends spread out over different schools.  I had so, so much fun with it.

Although 2 had more varied game play, which was great, I enjoyed the original more, mostly because the online game play wasn’t as loaded in favor of the zombie team.  Objectively speaking, though, the sequel was the more robust game.

Personal anecdote:  L4D is where I learned about dealing with males online.  With Halo, which I also played at the time, I only enjoyed it enough to play it with people I knew.  I loved L4D so much that I would log in to play even when my friends weren’t available, which meant that I was teamed with random players.

I have a very feminine voice, which apparently means that I am meant to be treated like crap online.  Even though it’s a co-op game, and communication is important, I spent most of my sessions with the headset turned off.

Borderlands

THIS GAME, I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH IT!  The crass humor, the expanse of wastelands, the gun-slinging insanity, the incredible couch co-op!  What’s not to love?

Sadly, the sequel was a downgrade from the original, but the first game was an amazing ride.  I’ve been considering replaying it with Tony with all of the DLC.

Metal Gear

I’ve never played these myself, but I watched my husband play the first three.  They’re so cinematic and goofy and over-the-top and awesome!  I love breaking out my Solid Snake gravel voice, too.  My favorite is... probably 3?  It’s hard to pick between 2 and 3, though... 

Disgaea

Hmm...  How to describe these games...  They’re tactics games, I guess?  And there’s a lot of story, too...  Game play wise, the later installments perfect what the earlier ones started, but you can’t beat the story and characters of the original.  Laharl is still one of my all-time favorite male video game characters.  He’s... such a brat?  I love him???

Honorable mentions in no order (ie, I’m tired of writing descriptions, sorry to the rest of these games):

Halo, Dragon Age, Fallout 3, Ratchet & Clank, Resident Evil, Portal, Soul Calibur, Tetris Attack, Uncharted, Ms. Pacman,  the Batman Arkham games

EDIT:  I forgot Nier: Automata and Super Smash Bros!  FOR SHAME!

[minnievirizarry]

9 Skills Every Social Media Manager Must Have

As most social media managers know, their job is constantly in flux. It sometimes feels like you’re switching between multiple hats in one day: from marketing to customer service to sales. Some companies have multiple social media managers while others outsource the work. Whatever your case, we will identify baseline social media skills in this article.

These skills are a combination of “hard” and “soft” skills, though the descriptions don’t necessarily mean one is more difficult than the other. Both types of social media skills and attributes take time and effort to develop. Hard skills like programming and copywriting are technical in nature. Whereas soft skills like being empathetic and organized may be more difficult to analyze but just as useful in work.

In fact, some companies favor hiring on soft skills because the technical can always be trained.

These nine traits are a mix of skills that can be trained and are essential to the success of any social media manager. They can be a good base for what to look for when hiring a new social media manager.

1. Community Management

One of the core tenants of what social media was built on is being inherently “social.” This means that establishing and building a digital relationship is still a treasured attribute.

Community management is being able to navigate the online sphere of promoting your brand while engaging with your customers. It can mean slowly converting an observer into a customer by patiently answering questions. It can also be showing off what your customers are talking about when they post on social media.

2. Creative in Nature

Since a large part of social media involves visuals in some form or another, having an eye for creativity is helpful. This can mean being a decent photographer, videographer or graphic designer. At the very least, you should be able to distinguish between a great and poor design.

On par with being creative is also having a sense of humor and ability to improvise in any given situation.

We looked into the origin of the term 'body slam'.https://t.co/PRcdR8VKDU

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) May 26, 2017

Resources

Since being creative is very generalized and can be a developed skill, there are many ways to improve on what you already know.

Improvisation classes: Taking improv classes can help in managing customer service on the fly. If your company’s voice allows for it, you can inject a bit of humor into your replies.

Online classes: Lynda and Skillshare, along with a myriad of other services, offer online classes on everything from writing to mobile photography.

Canva: Canva has basic design classes for non-designers that you can take online to improve on your graphic design skills.

3. Organized & Efficient

We’ve all been lost in the social media cycle. You find a funny video on Facebook and then 30 minutes later, you realize that you’ve spent a bunch of time clicking around and getting no work done.

A good social media manager needs to be task- and goal-oriented to accomplish all the items on the checklist. Are you individually scheduling posts throughout the day or are you setting aside time to schedule in batches?

Sprout Social’s publishing calendar and post approvals help you take out repetitive actions in your workflow. Along with features like collision detection and message tagging, teams of all sizes can work smoothly within the Smart Inbox.

4. Adaptive

Because the news and social media landscapes move so quickly, being adaptive is an important trait for a social media manager. It’s not enough to be able to schedule posts. You should also be able to willing to try out new features and change up your posts to fit with what’s being discussed in the timeline.

The Twitter Trends sidebar and Facebook Trending sidebar are both useful areas to keep an eye on when looking for new content. Conversely, it’s also a good idea to check a hashtag or news story before interjecting into it.

In the Q2 2017 Sprout Social Index, we reported that 34% of consumers found brands talking about timely events to be annoying.

Resources

Know Your Meme: This site can be helpful in keeping up with daily development of new memes.

Google Alerts: Enter keyword alerts for a variety of reason: keep up on company mentions on the internet, industry news and world news.

5. Copywriting

In addition to a basic eye for design, writing is an essential skill for a social media manager. You won’t be writing full-length articles but you should know how to write short copy that can grab your audience’s attention.

The ideal length of a Facebook post is 40–80 characters. Is your copywriting adjusted for each network you’re on?

Social media is conversation-driven so you don’t want to hire someone who is only familiar with writing marketing copy. Sometimes the best ad is the one that doesn’t market at all.

What will they say about you? Maybe they'll say you showed them what was possible. #believeinmore #nike

A post shared by nike (@nike) on Mar 8, 2017 at 7:00am PST

Resources

Grammarly: This standalone site or browser plugin can help check your spelling and grammar on the go. You don’t want an impactful Tweet to be marred by a simple grammatical error.

Hemingway Editor: This website and app can help your writing be more concise and readable. While this is geared more for long-form writing, it can also be used for creating impactful social media posts.

6. Sales & Customer Service

If your sales and marketing funnel includes social media like it should, you’ll find that sales leads inevitably fall into your inbox. Make the sales lead transfer as seamless as possible by asking for the information upfront instead of making them email you.

In addition, if you offer a product or service, you’ll find yourself troubleshooting at some point.

When 34.5% of customers prefer social media as their customer care option, you need to be able to navigate the waters. Being able to provide empathetic care in a short, digital format is different from in-person customer service. The social media manager should be able to clearly articulate a solution for the customer while making the customer feel heard.

We're experiencing some operational challenges around our system, John, but we truly appreciate your patience during the wait. ^SF

— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) June 5, 2017

Thanks for the shout out, Matt! We can't wait to welcome you onboard. ^MK

— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) June 5, 2017

7. Strategic

It may sometimes feel like you’re posting Tweets out into the ether. But if you have a documented social media strategy, you’ll be able to better navigate which posts are in line with your goals.

Being strategic in your posting includes noting the best times to post, balancing marketing campaigns and keeping an eye on what everyone else is talking about. You don’t want to be the boutique who is talking about a dress special when it’ll get lost in a stream of sport game updates.

ALL our flavors will be available tomorrow for #NationalDonutDay until we run out. Including the rainbow, rock candy, and galaxy. Those will sell out first! And don't forget… ⭐️ We'll be releasing 100 "Not So Mini" Gold Donuts for $25!! 😱 We'll be releasing 10 gold donuts every hour from 8am-5pm. DM us if you want to reserve one! CUT OFF TIME TO RESERVE IS THURS 6/1 AT 4 PM! ⭐️ We'll also be picking TWO random winners on Instagram to win the regular sized gold donut valued at $100. Follow and tag @birdiesdtla #birdiesdtla on National Donut Day! (📸: @eatupcali) . #eaterla #eater #dinela #eeeeeats #infatuationla #friedchicken #foodbloggers #lafoodie #laeats #dailyfoodfeed #eatfamous #foodbeast #foodgawker #forkyeah #buzzfeast #huffposttaste #yahoofood #f52grams #food52 #thefeedfeed #foodiechats #foodielife #foodiesofinstagram #cheatmeal #eatingfortheinsta #downtownla

A post shared by Birdies (@birdiesdtla) on Jun 1, 2017 at 10:10am PDT

8. Decisive

In a role that may be speaking directly to a customer, you want to have some decision-making power resting in your social media manager’s hands. If there’s a customer complaint about a meal that went wrong, give the manager the option to provide a gift certificate.

Consumers expect that brands respond to messages in less than four hours. However, brands only respond to 11% of these messages and in about 10 hours.

You certainly don’t want a customer to wait around in anger while you’re asking for supervisor approval. If this is common scenario, we would recommend documenting this in your social media strategy. This will help everyone know how to offer the solution.

We can get you set. Email me at andy@miir.com.

— MiiR (@miir) May 18, 2017

9. Analytical & SEO Driven

We recommend taking a look at your monthly analytics reports to make sure you’re on the right track. It will also help you see what type of posts have been performing well.

Paired with content marketing, search engine optimization skills can be handy in writing the best copy for your brand.

In Review

These nine skills are the ones that will make up the most effective social media manager. If you have the resources, these can be divided up and specialized. For example, you may want to have a graphic designer or in-house photographer if you have a lot of posts that could benefit from them.

Want to know what other pieces should be a part of your social team? We partnered with HubSpot to create a free guide on how to build a social media dream team from scratch, including some of the key positions you should fill. Download it here.

This post 9 Skills Every Social Media Manager Must Have originally appeared on Sprout Social.

from SM Tips By Minnie https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-skills/

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What Do You Mean, "Naked"?

STAR WARS EPISODE I: The Phantom Menace 00:39:34