The time is soon! Actually it's past already. Last week. They're late...

I can't link to this one since it's in the client, but if you have it: check it out! It's three games... and they're free. Deadline's in two days.

It's on! First day with a free giveaway - Grim Fandango. Mystery game stars and deals all the way till Christmas. Background here.

Read on...

On the topic of saving games again! It's strange.

Even though I know I should save often I find myself trying to play for as long as possible without. Like it's a challenge. Like I want to see how long I can go resisting the impulse to save, and the longer I go the more satisfying it feels when I finally do.

Other people might go to casinos, and gamble away their material wealth on the dream of a brighter future... with even more material wealth, but this is how I gamble instead. With time. With the prospect of losing progress, instead of just saving it and retaining it.

There is no potential surplus. It's not like the longer I go without saving, the more I can earn. I can only lose more if I lose, and the bigger the wager of time the bigger the potential loss.

So why does it feels like a victory when I do?

At first thought it didn't seem so different from a regular gamble, since time is money, so whichever you choose to wager would have the same potential for loss. But here... there's no way to win! Why do it? Am I settling for less, when I could wager bigger things, outside games? Change my life?

That latter question's a different topic entirely, but I guess by not saving I am placing a bet on the time I save by skipping each save point, so the longer I go without saving the more time I might save, yet if I lose the wager then it's all the more time lost.

The chance of losing is on the one hand much more calculated than throwing chips at lady luck, but on the other hand the potential time you win doesn't seem worth the risk in the first place. And you can only calculate so much. Boss fights: can I beat the boss easily at my current level? System errors: how common are they? Battery death: there's little risk I won't see the blinking red light in time to reach a save point, even if a local power surge makes simply connecting the power supply undoable.

What are the odds? How much time can you save? How much of that time you might be saving do you instead spend thinking about when to save? And if you do save your game, how often should you do so if checkpoints are common, and you have the ability to save more than once at any major point of the adventure? At which point does saved time outweigh the risk?

The more I consider it... the more meaningless a gamble it seems.

Moral of the rant: save your games while you can if you can't save your game all that often, cause every game not saved is an unnecessary gamble.

I thought I'd caught up with that other game I spoke of more than well, after a pace like chasing Pell in a so grand line that I reveled! I had a great time! I excelled! I leveled! I was compelled to skip the shells with which you save... but unexpected system error... what the hell?!

It popped up on the screen, and the system shut itself, so at bed time again today I'll delve into this well, and instead of riding the swell I'll ride an echo of accomplished wealth. Like a shadow. Like it's stealth. Oh well...

Not saving's for the brave. And the lame. Really: save your game.