This is more for myself than any notion of “fan base” I may have of this blog, but I feel it necessary. I have not abandoned the blog. I have, however, become very busy. I’m spending a lot of time exercising and learning to cook better so that I may lose weight and become something resembling a healthy adult. In addition, I’ve been going out and spending a lot of time with real live people on weekends, which is when I might otherwise get a lot of gaming or writing done. Coupled with a full time job, this has left little time for me to write.

However, I’ve also hit a bit of a writer’s block. See, I’ve become a bit sick of cynicism, which is often enough what criticism becomes tied with. I think I became aware of it one day when I asked myself why I was reading Bad Ass Digest. In particular, the sort of conceited know-it-all cynicism that comes from being an Internet blogger and writer.

In fact, the particular article that hit me was focused on new Star Wars properties and toys. I had seen the video for this new series called Star Wars Detour with a friend of mine, and while I wasn’t amused, I didn’t find myself as insulted as the author. What really confused me was Devin Faraci’s reaction to the toys, however. Is the fusion of Star Wars and Pixar’s Cars franchise really a new low? Have we so quickly forgotten our past?

I suddenly felt as if everyone had become angry for no reason other than to be angry at something. Some company, somewhere, must be violating all that is good with the world of geekdom.

I’m honestly pretty sick of it. I like movies too much. Original ones like Brick, and ones based on properties like The Avengers. I simply enjoy movies that don’t suck. Same goes with video games.

Now, I still love to get all deep and analytical about games. That hasn’t changed at all. It’s just the matter of what to get analytical about. I want to write posts about Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises because I feel like I have something to say about them. Yet then there are games like Warhammer 40K: Space Marine which were adequately fun, but there’s not a lot to say. I could try and describe them, to get into what works and what doesn’t, but in the end it’s just a fun game. It doesn’t do anything extraordinarily good or bad worth noting.

That’s not a bad thing, though. That’s great, in fact! A game that does its job of entertaining is a good thing. That merely means I played a game that isn’t really worth discussing and need to take a while before updating the blog again.

So in addition to finding time to write, I must also find something I feel is worth writing about. I don’t want to just sit here and take a game to pieces because that’s the sort of thing people do with amateur critic blogs. I want to do it because I have things worth discussing. Write for fun and enjoyment, not out of obligation.

This brings me to what has taken up a lot of the time that writing has. The comic.

I probably won’t be posting any more progress journals, at least for a while. I’ve reached the point where I decided I should stop sharing so much of what I’m working on and instead save it for my final pitch. There are several reasons for this. The first is to keep what I can a surprise. The second, however, is because I’ve been a bit reckless in putting my work out there, and it is very easy to steal in its current state. So I won’t be sharing much more, and will likely be looking up information on copyright under Creative Commons.

Progress goes more slowly on the comic than I’d prefer, I confess. I cannot always find time to work on it, and as I’m still learning a new format a single page can take a lot longer than I’d prefer. I would love to also continue GameLandEtc. with my new tools, but my new comic gets priority for the time being.

As for Downloathable Content, I have not abandoned that either. I’ve just learned that my plan to record every Wednesday was a flawed one. In truth, I need to adjust my living situation before I try and do a regular podcast. I’d love to return to it in the future, and indeed plan on doing just that.

So there you go. That’s the reason for the lack of content. I fully intend to provide more, especially since Escapist Expo is right around the corner, but I cannot make promises. Rest assured, things are being worked on.

For those of you sticking around, thank you.