Thoughts and Ramblings of Dan Burridge

Hello world, it has been a long time since I did anything in relation to this domain (dburridge.com). It's probably been even longer since I last wrote a blog post. In recent months I have been reinvigorated by writing for now two D&D campaigns. The second of the two campaigns started today as of writing and publishing this blog entry. One campaign is an online one and the second campaign is an in person one. I love playing tabletop games in person, it really adds a layer of interaction you don't get with online play, although I am lucky to have an awesome group for my online campaign, which helps a lot. What can you expect from this blog? Honestly, not too sure at the moment. I hope I can make use of it a lot more than I have ever bothered with previous iterations of my blog. My blog entries will be a mixture of nerdy things from my latest computer upgrade all the way to my passion for fantasy, writing, and all things D&D. Until next time. - Dan :)

Recently, I have been putting a lot of thought into what I want to achieve in 2024. I have been working hard these last few weeks writing for my fantasy world of Aetros and planning a new campaign set in that world that I will be running soon for some friends. I have never finished a campaign as a Games Master before, and I want this new campaign to be different. But what else do I want from 2024? I have already begun trialling ideas, such as releasing a homebrew PDF on my Ko-Fi, the Skeleton Race, written in response to my changing game systems from 5th Edition D&D to Pathfinder 2nd Edition and then back to 5th Edition D&D. Aside from the first homebrew release, I want to do more. Extraordinary items, weapons, armour, one-shots, campaign settings I want to do it all! Alongside writing, I want to make art to accompany my written homebrew. I have never been comfortable with art and consider my ability to draw sub-par at best. So my goal for 2024, as we reach the end of January, ...

I started playing Videogames from a young age, and I was lucky to have many of consoles of the time. Through trading in my old goods to buy the latest and greatest - something I regret to an extent today as I now have to spend even more money rebuilding my collection from the 90s and early 2000s. So without further ado, here are 4 Games That I Grew Up Playing. My First Love - Final Fantasy VII I fell in love with the Final Fantasy series when the first game came out in 1997. “But Burridge, Final Fantasy VII is the 7th main series game”. Yes, echoey voice, you are right. However, we did not get a Final Fantasy game in the PAL region until Final Fantasy VII’s release in 1997. We did get Final Fantasy Adventure and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, originally titled Mystic Quest and Mystic Quest Legend respectively in the UK. I was introduced to Final Fantasy VII by my brother after he purchased it at release in 1997. After he'd finished it or got bored of it I got to have a play, and I fel...

Even though this game is titled "Final Fantasy XVI", it is not the 16th game in the overall franchise. There has yet to be a game like Final Fantasy XVI in the history of the series. Final Fantasy XVI is a departure from previous entries in nearly every aspect. It has the excellent music that Final Fantasy is always known for, mixed with action combat and a dark and gritty storyline. This Final Fantasy is also a series first for being rated 18+. For this review, I will keep my comments centred on the first couple of hours that can be played via the demo while sometimes dipping into later content from the entire game. The game's initial hours are cutscene-heavy, which can be a turn-off to some players as they'd prefer to get into the action instead of watching a movie. Final Fantasy XVI does also struggle with having a middle ground for action. It's either 0% or 100% action, with no in-between. One moment you are buying potions and enjoying the peace; the next, you...

Oldschool Runescape (originally just Runescape) is a game I grew up with. I spent many a lunchtime at secondary school playing with friends. I even went over to a friend’s house often to play it with him and his brother. The shenanigans we used to get up to. Ranging from simple things like levelling skills together or running away from people in the Wilderness were always just a fun time and one that will stick with me for as long as I live. I would phone in to gain membership due to lack of bank cards at the time. So what did I love about Oldschool Runescape? What made me play it day in and day out for years? That’s what I am going to dive into with this blog post. What is Runescape? Runescape is an MMORPG that is developed and run by Jagex, a UK-based company. In 2001 it was released in beta form. This version would later become known as Runescape: Classic. What we now know as Oldschool Runescape, or Runescape 2 was released in beta form in 2003. This version would be the most played...

Please keep in mind that this blog post is My Initial Thoughts On Pokémon Scarlet/Violet. Yesterday, the 18th of November 2022, I started playing the latest Pokémon game to grace our consoles. That being Pokémon Scarlet/Violet. So everything I write about the game is from my experience playing the Scarlet version and from playing for around 3 hours. Beginning Upon beginning into the game, it greets me with a familiar introduction to it, with someone explaining the world of Pokémon and the region that will be my playground. From the initial view of the Paldea region, it’s vast, especially if compared to older entries within the series. Enter my character, sitting at his desk reading a magazine. The room layout is identical to older games, with a TV, some books, a bed and a console of the game’s generation. Going downstairs, I meet my character’s Mom. I learned I am a local school student after transferring to the region. However, I am told I must wait at home until some items come that ...

If someone told me — even last year — that in 2022 Microsoft was going to be buying Activision Blizzard or that Boris Johnson’s days as Prime Minister might, finally be over (wishful thinking) I would have probably have passed it off as wild speculation. However, here we are in a world where at the very least the former is happening for definite. I will not pretend to understand anything about Business, or politics for that matter, but I know that Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard for $69 (nice) billion is huge! I am interested to see how things change with the company as we lead up to next year when the deal is reported to close. I am sure Tom and Myself will be discussing this on episode 18 of our Podcast! NFTs have become a huge thing at the moment, and not only do I not understand why but I also really don’t like them. The damage they do to our environment being one of the big reasons for my dislike of them. The hexagonal avatars that Twitter introduced have made it easy to get ...