Strategy Guide Resolutions 2016

Happy 2016 everyone! It’s hard to believe that 2015 has already come to an end, and with the end of 2015 brings on the new year of gaming for 2016. In addition, a new year of strategy guides!

As long as strategy guides are still in print, and we hope that they continue to do so, we will still be here to review them and love on them. I started this site in 2009 on Blogspot, which I’m not sure is even around. Back then, even though I bought the domain, I wasn’t sure if I would like writing about guides enough to continue maintaining a full website, so I used a free Blogger.com address, strategyguidelove.blogspot.com. Oh yeah those were the days. I was using Blogger on my personal website as well, so the format was pretty easy to use and rather familiar to me. When Blogger decided that users could no longer use the CMS on self-hosted blogs, only on Blogger’s hosting, I picked up both sites and bolted for WordPress. Thanks to Blogger overhauling everything, I couldn’t even use their own plugin to transfer the site from Blogger to WordPress, and I lost nearly 2 years of content. I copied and pasted the reviews to WordPress and plugged in the original publication dates, and then I wiped the entire site from existence after Blogger tried to approach me about stealing their content. Gee, why don’t I use Blogger anymore?

So here we are, almost six years later (it will be six years this September). I never thought I’d be writing about strategy guides for as long as I have, and it honestly wouldn’t matter if I only had 1 reader. I seriously enjoy talking about and writing about strategy guides.

As I look into 2016, what do I resolve to do to continue to make this the best strategy guide site that doesn’t have strategy guides on the web? Well first, I’m going to look and laugh at my resolutions for 2015. Seriously, what was I thinking?

• Will not start on any 2015 games or any new games from backlog until 2014 games and guides are finished.
• Finish 2015 games and guide reviews in 2015.
• I’m going to resolve to finish The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD.

OMG…laughing so hard at all of these. I think I kept the first one for a month before reality set in with work and my own inability to say no to shiny new toys. I came close to the second one, but I’m sure you’ve noticed that neither the guides for Just Cause 3 and Xenoblade Chronicles X are finished. I’m very close with JC3, but very close is not the same as finished. Damn open world games.

And the last one? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I never started WW. Not. Once. I need to stop swearing to finish Zelda games, because it rarely happens. As much as I love these games, I seem to hit a wall with them, whether it’s boredom or frustration. I shouldn’t include them in resolutions ever, unless I want to laugh at myself every January 1st.

What do I resolve for strategy guides in 2016? As much as I want to resolve to finish my 2015 guides before 2016 games, that just won’t happen. The next chapter in Assassin’s Creed Chronicles releases in just two weeks, and I will play that as soon as I get my hands on it. So instead, I propose the following three resolutions (I gave up on resolving 10 things, because really, changing 10 things about yourself never works):

One open world game at a time. I constantly try to play three or four open world games at once which always yields the same result: nothing is finished. Once Just Cause 3 is finished, it will be on to Xenoblade Chronicles X. And then Dragon Age Inquisition. In theory. The first two games are far more important for strategy guide reasons.

Finish all 2016 guides in 2016. Yeah, I said something similar last year, but it’s still a worthy goal. I came really close, if you don’t count the other open world games I never got around to because I’m a horrible person…

Don’t buy every new shiny game because it sounds exciting. I actually did well with this one in 2015, and I want to continue it in 2016. There are two games I nearly bought because of the hype: Star Wars Battlefront and Batman: Arkham Knight. I resisted both thanks to being a bit broke at the time, but I’m so glad I did, because as much as fun as many had with these, deep down I always knew I wouldn’t gel with them. It’s so easy to get on board the hype train for things, whether you like them or not. I need to do better at resisting, especially with my guilt complex.

May you all have a successful and happy 2016!