When I wrote the blog post about my goals for 2021, I had a bunch of expectations and made a bunch of promises. I was going to post one review a month on my Youtube channel. That didn’t happen. I was going to launch a podcast. That didn’t happen. I was going to release Machineborn. That didn’t happen. So, none of my promises were delivered upon. What happened?
First, I graduated and started my career. 2021 was the first year in a very long time where I became financially stable. I got that dream job as a therapist that I had hoped for, and I got it immediately after graduation. I had some good recommendations from a previous internship that paid off. Now I’m working full time, with a bit of a commute, and while I love it, it did affect how much time I could invest in content creation. Fewer hours to work lead to longer periods between updates. On the other hand, stable finances led to a beast of a computer, and I’ve made some recent investments too that I hope will increase the quality of the Youtube content I put out there. Since I work from home one day a week, I’ve also been incentivized to build an office – which could double as a studio for whatever creative endeavors that’ll come my way. I hope to get it done in 2022, but we’ll have to see if the finances allow it.
The podcast was one of the things that had to go, though. I still would like to make it one day, and I’ve been offered help and voices by some great RPG podcasters, but I can’t invest the time in it right now. I don’t think I’ll start it in 2022 either, but you never know. If I will get more opportunities to work from home or work in clinics closer to home, the time I would save from the commutes could do wonders for being able to manage a project like this.
Then there was Machineborn. Sure, I didn’t release Machineborn D20 – I’m not happy with how it plays and how it scales – but I did start Machineborn Fate and have written 360 pages for it so far in just a few months. It’s already in a playable state, it’s constantly revised, and it’s turned out to be much easier to manage and balance while maintaining the crunch and customization options. I went into Fate thinking it would be too simplistic for what I wanted to achieve, and it turns out that it allows for even more (and easier) customization than D20 did. You’re able to feel a thousand times more powerful as a machineborn in the new system.
I’m confident that Machineborn is in a better state than it’s even been in at the moment, and most of my free time goes into it. Will it see a 2022 release? Probably. Some content needs to be added still, but the game is done and playable. I don’t need to do many rules tweaks anymore – the playtesting is now mostly with regard to the customization options, like augmentations and gear. I still write on the game for many hours a week, so I haven’t lost productivity on this front.
I’m not going to make a bunch of promises about 2022. What I will say is that I have reviewed the way I structure my free time and come up with a schedule that I think will let me be as productive as I can be for both Youtube and Machineborn, while also prioritizing my health. I have set aside some time every day to write, and I now plan beforehand which project to work on during that time. I’m sure you’ll see more of me in 2022 than you did in 2021, and I’m confident that I’ll be able to put out some good content.
If you want to support me, you can do so over at patreon.com/ekorren
Ekorren 