Welcome to this special edition of RPGamer's Currents Column!

To think that March is already here, I feel like the year just started. Pretty soon PAX East will be upon us, then E3, then BlizzCon, and so on until the cycle starts again. Before I get too far ahead of myself there are a few things I want to take care of in this issue before it's too late. First off, I want to take a quick look back at the New Year resolutions the RPGamer staff made last year and see if they stuck to their word. Secondly, I asked the staff for a new batch of goals and resolutions for 2011. While there are a lot of the typical, "play more games" kind of talk, there were a few particularly interesting and original responses.

And now, on to the NEWS!

Emanuel "Risingsuntzu" Merino:
"Often times I feel pressured to play the latest releases so I can talk about them and keep up with the rest of the staff and community. This year I'm going to take my time with the games I'm playing and not rush out to buy every new release."

Did You Accomplish Your Goal?:
No, I didn't even come close to meeting my goal. At this point, my backlog of games is so deep that it will take a year just to knock off the big name titles from 2009 and 2010.

Michael "Macstorm" Cunningham:
"My New Years resolution is to play more non-RPGs along with the flood of RPGs. I doubt it will happen, but it doesn't hurt to try."

Did You Accomplish Your Goal?:
I really didn't think I would meet this goal because I figured 2010 would be too flooded with RPGs I couldn't put down. That didn't happen. Only a handful of RPGs released during the year held my interest, so when Heavy Rain hit in February, I was all over it. That game sparked my interest in playing new releases such as Metroid: Other M and Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and titles I'd missed such as Portal, Shadow Complex, Indigo Prophecy.

Becky "Ocelot" Cunningham:
"OK. My gaming resolution this year is to learn to block! I'm generally a "the best defense is a good offense" kind of person, but sometimes you just need to put up that shield or cast that preventative spell. This year I'll spend more time trying to save my poor characters' skins."

Did You Accomplish Your Goal?:
I started out pretty well and worked on playing more defensively. But in some games, it was just no fun! Still, I'm better at it now and it works well with WoW: Cataclysm.

Phil "JCServant" Willis:
"I have 2 resolutions: I'm allowed to buy a certain $ of games based on how much weight I lose, and my other resolution is to not buy any platform or PC game at full price. These things go on sale in 6-8 months...sometimes as much as 80% off retail"

Did You Accomplish Your Goal?:
No to the weight loss. Yes to the buying games only when they are really cheap. I can't think of any console game I bought full price at all. Yeah for saving money!

Sarah "Noodle" McGarr:
"I want to finish Aion before my pass runs out! I also want to get to level 75 and finish Chains of Promathia in FFXI."

Did You Accomplish Your Goal?:
Actually, I only got to level 39 in Aion out of 50 so I didn't, and I'm level 77 now in FFXI. I haven't finished COP yet, but I'm near the end.

Glenn "7thCircle" Wilson:
"My resolution is to replay some last gen games this year, I've kept about 20 last gen games because I plan to replay them someday, but I've completely ignored them."

Did You Accomplish Your Goal?:
NOT AT ALL. I did pick at my PS2 backlog slightly, but I replayed 0 games, partly because I travelled for work more this year, and partly because I reviewed a couple of 1000 hour games and got hooked on SC2 for a few months.

Sam "Nyx" Marcello:
"I hope to buy less and finish more of what I own."

Did You Accomplish Your Goal?:
I finished way more games last year but not from my backlog! XD

Here is our new batch of resolutions for 2011. Feel free to add your own to the comments.

• Emanuel "Risingsuntzu" Merino:
  Often times, I feel pressured to play the latest releases so I can talk about them and keep up with the rest of the staff and community. This year I'm going to take my time with the games I'm playing and not rush out to buy every new release.


• Becky "Ocelot" Cunningham:
  This year, I'd like to find a way to use gaming to keep in touch with my parents. They're retired now and live across the continent from me. In the past, I've had fun playing Scrabble and comparing arcade game scores with my mom, but it'd be neat to find something we could all play together. I'll be out there looking for stuff that's simple, multiplayer, and fun!


• Glenn "7thCircle" Wilson:
  The only resolution I can think of is to finally play all of the games I've bought on GoG over the last couple of years, which is doable -- its only like 4 or 5 games.


• Sarah "Noodle" McGarr:
  I think my gaming resolution is to try more RPGs instead of just looking at them being pretty and not buying it. That and to get Abyssea for FFXI and work more at leveling and story lines. I guess, playing some more FFXIV.


• Michael "Macstorm" Cunningham:
  It's a secret to everybody.


• Sam "Nyx" Marcello:
  I have the same resolution this year. I want to defeat some of my backlog again.


• Paul "Keldarus" Engemann:
  My goal is to play and finish more games released in 2011 in 2011, but someone has to clear my 2008/9/10 backlogs first.


• Michael "Wheels" Apps:
  Finish a renegade play through of Mass Effect 1+2 before 3 comes out.


• Roy "Rosestorm" Burnet:
  I hereby resolve to complete more of the RPGs I buy, except for the atrocious ones.


• Jonathan "Quin" Yearworth:
  This year I'm going to find a WRPG that I like that isn't made by Bioware.


• Nathan "TwinBahamut" Schlothan:
  It would be nice to finally get around to playing a few more of the PS2 games I have played and own and never played enough of, like Growlanser. I also want to complete the Valkyria Chronicles DLC I bought sometime last year. Though, I may be too distracted by its sequel to do that anytime soon...


• Ken "CofLSilk" Staples:
  Finally complete the last 2 months of P3 and P4.

Once again, it was a lot of fun getting together all of the resolutions for the Staff Participation section. I can't wait to see how everyone fared when it comes time to revisit them in 2012. Now that you have heard what we all think, jump in to the comments and share your gaming ambitions for 2011 with us.

Until then, See you all next issue.

Emanuel Merino
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