#Nerdsunite: Confessions of a Videogame Journalist (Being a professional and conquering a fear)
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy John. We started talking on the twitter not too long ago, and then he reached out and asked if he could write for us regarding his journey through the nerdy realm. I was all DUDDEEE!! That's so raaaddd!! And now, here we are. Like right now, in real time, this is happening. Pretty cool huh? HIT IT JOHN!!! </editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @JohnSollitto
So! Things are picking up! Couple of new experiences in the last couple of weeks, even DURING that last update I wrote.
Because I’ve been invited to E3, again thanks to Jen <3, I’ve been getting emails and all sorts of press releases. It’s CRAZY. I mean, half of my emails are all just news and invitations and all sorts of stuff.
It’s a little overwhelming actually. Being so professional all of the sudden, being in charge of my team from the Game Creators Vault. My team actually had the best idea ever of working with some of the indie developers. I’m really happy my partners are really reliable and creative guys.
Speaking of things I’ve been receiving, I got this awesome update from Sony Online Entertainment! Not sure if you’re familiar with online games but there’s a big one out called the “DC Universe Online.” You get to create a superhero in the DC Universe and fight alongside Superman, Wonder Woman and even Batman.
The game recently went free-to-play so if you don’t want to pay per-month, you can play the game after you buy it! You’ll have to buy certain pieces of content though if you go free-to-play, like the new update coming out called The Last Laugh! They’ve got a bunch of voice actors coming back like Mark Hamill doing the Joker, Arleen Sorkin doing Harley Quinn and Adam Baldwin doing Superman! It’s pretty awesome. Lots of new missions and even a new tool to use! I played the game when I was at G4 and honestly it’s a well put together game, and now that it’s free-to-play it might be well worth a look!
On a personal level, I conquered a personal fear about two weeks ago. I didn’t write about it in my last blog partially because I didn’t really realize it until the weekend afterwards. I conquered the fear while working on an installation down in Seal Beach, California.
We were installing two large sandblasted wooden signs on the roof of a new restaurant/bar that’s literally across the street from the beach. Seriously, he’s a picture from the top of the building.
It was a really beautiful day that day. Now, the story of how I got on that roof is where the conquering comes in. So, this building was about thirty or so feet tall. The height of a normal restaurant/bar, it was single story too so not that high. Now, one of my big fears is heights. I can go up to high places. I’ve been to the top of the Empire State building and Eiffel Tower, but I can’t go to the upper deck of the Honda Center for a Ducks game because there isn’t a lot between you and falling to the lower decks aside from a small railing. I’m not a fan of high places that don’t have a lot of safety measures to keep me from falling to my death. Call me old fashioned.
So to get on the top of the place, I had to go to the back and find that ladder to the roof. Now, in the sign business you climb a lot of ladders and I’ve been pretty good about it, mainly because the roof access ladders are encased in a metal cage to ensure that you don’t fall down and kill yourself. But this building has recently come under new management and at the time we were installing, they hadn’t gotten their cage or ladder installed yet. They still had to get to the roof though, so they put a painters ladder underneath a extension ladder bolted to the building. This ladder was tied together with a bungie cord so that it wouldn’t extend while you were on it. So a regular ladder wedged underneath a jury-rigged ladder to the top of the roof. MacGyver would be proud.
The first time I went up this ladder I had to go rung by rung because I could literally feel the ladder giving way, trying to extend as I climbed up it. I was freaking out. My dad just kept saying, “Don’t look down, don’t lean back, and go slow okay?” I did exactly what he said but my hands were so sweaty I was afraid I would fall off just based off on sheer bodily functions.
But I did it. I was happy, I was soooooo glad to be on top of that building you had no idea. But…then I had to go down. That was even worse, because now I was looking down and now I was seeing how high off the ground I was. I could still feel the ladder budging and clattering on me and I could hardly take it.
I had to go up and down that ladder 7 times that day. By the 6th time? I was going up and down slowly and steadily without worry. It was a freaking miracle. We had to go back there this week and sure enough I had to go back up that ladder system, but this time I was eager to do it. To prove to myself that I wasn’t afraid. And I wasn’t.
I felt so happy to be rid of that fear. Sure, it’s not the Honda Center, but it’s a start and I’m looking forward to conquering the rest of it. Conquer your fears, nerds!