I’m not adamant about planning my free time. I see the value in financial or professional planning. But the value in “free time,” to me, is that it’s “free” — unstructured. It’s a margin for enjoyment or trial or error.
That said, I also see the fun in jotting down some “gaming goals” for 2024. Planning my gaming consumption for a whole year would be casting too wide a net, though, and my gaming tastes can change within weeks. So in a very business professional manner, I thought I’d plan for quarter one 2024 instead (January through March). That gives me some margin for my tastes and interests to change.
Finish More of Starfield’s Faction Quests
I’ve had a great time with Starfield. But despite logging over one hundred hours across different playthroughs, I’ve technically only completed two of the game’s main questlines: The main plot (Constellation) and UC Vanguard.
Three more main questlines remain, though, and it’d be a shame to pass them over. The Ryujin Industries questline sounds especially titillating with its supposed abundance of corporate espionage and thievery.
Spend Some Time Leveling an MMO Character
I’ve been feeling the MMORPG itch lately but have yet to dedicate myself to any one game. Will it be the pastel high-fantasy world of Lord of the Rings Online? The super-charged, superheroic City of Heroes? Or perhaps World of Warcraft, which I’ve burnt out on many times over the last couple years?
I guess we’ll soon see!
Start Replaying Gears of War 1-3 on Xbox Series X
I’ve long-loved Gears of War and have maintained that it’s one of gaming’s most underrated franchises. No game does visceral, weighty cover-based shooting better than Gears.
But it’s been over ten years since I’ve touched classic Gears — that is, the original Gears of War 1-3. And now that I have an Xbox Series X, which offers enhanced backwards compatibility with Gears and beyond (higher frame rates, faster load times, etc.), there’s never been a better time to swat some Locust.
I will report back after quarter one 2024 to see how I measured up to these goals. Game on!
Byte-Sized Worlds 