Torch in Hand
Years ago, I decided I wanted to write a blog. I chose Blogspot as the host, since I figured it would allow me to focus on writing and not have to worry about the design or layout of the website outside of picking a theme. Blogspot has been around for a long time. It’s shocking that it has survived Google’s fickle nature. So many services offered by Google have been unceremoniously shut down over the years, including Reader, Buzz, and Google+ to name just a few. After using Blogspot for a little while, I ultimately decided to abandon it out of concern that it may not be around for much longer. Its editor also does not support Markdown, which is pretty lame.
The blog in question is called Torch in Hand. It began as a place for writing about tabletop role-playing games and related topics, then slowly morphed into a space for writing about many of my game-related hobbies.
Some highlights include:
- A look at Tenkatōitsu, a board wargame about three famous battles from Japanese history. In total, there are three parts: one, two, and three.
- A review of Subnautica.
- Some thoughts on visual novels.
- A retrospective on Siren, the classic PlayStation 2 horror game.
I definitely need to check and make sure I have backups of the posts from the blog. Who knows when Google will finally axe Blogspot. Not sure if I would ever port the posts to Stoic Club. It wouldn’t take too much effort since I wrote the original drafts in Markdown. Yet it also feels like a different project, separate from this one. As much as there is occasional overlap, I think I like having them separated.
Another reason for leaving Torch in Hand behind was my waning interest in tabletop role-playing games. I still enjoy reading and thinking about them, but it’s been too long since I last played one. My obsession has subsided, at least for now. Similarly, as much as I enjoyed the handful of board wargames that I have learned to play, I recognize that they tend to be pretty major time commitments, with a single turn frequently taking as long as an hour.
Here at Stoic Club, despite the tendency to focus on video games up to now, I feel a bit more willing to write about all of my hobbies.