The Freelancer’s Guide to Surviving Starcraft 2 Addiction

September 1st, 2010

One of the most popular Real Time Strategy PC Games of all time, Starcraft, recently got its long awaited sequel: Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty. The game has been selling like hotcakes, and is apparently breaking RTS games sales records. Many of us have been waiting with bated breath for this game to be released for 3 years now, and the fact that it is actually out is almost surreal!

You may find yourself drawn to the highly addictive game-play and intense multi-player action of Starcraft 2, much like a moth to the flame. Maybe you are drawing the ire of your significant other for playing, you know, a little too much. And possibly you have several freelance clients that are threatening to take your time away from the best game ever! Some may accuse you of suffering from SC2 addiction and they may suggest you need to seek professional help. I’m sure there is someone out there with these problems (not me), and maybe these tips will help you overcome in this difficult time:

1. Realize it’s not your fault: The first step is to understand that Blizzard is to blame for you wasting untold hours of time every day playing Starcraft 2. It’s not your fault this game delivers on every level, with amazing graphics, pulse-pounding game play – you’re just trying to climb the ladders and increase your ranking. Don’t blame yourself, it’s not like you can help it!

2. Adjust Your Priorities: If you find that playing Starcraft 2 constantly is causing problems in your relationships and career, then you need to take a long hard look at your priorities. Is there anything else more important than keeping the zerg from taking over the universe? OK, probably not, but you need to at least pretend you’re not constantly thinking about how you could have done that last game differently. We recommend giving up sleep. That way you can fulfill all your normal responsibilities during normal hours, and still perfect that build order in the wee hours of the night.

3. Remember it’s just a game: Your real life is happening all around you, and you can’t experience it while you’re staring at the computer screen, experiencing pure joy while you cloak your banshees and take out the enemy mineral line. You could be dealing with unhappy clients, screaming children or angry spouses. Suck it up and get back into the rat race – you are not a renegade terran commander with a heart of gold and abnormally large biceps … unfortunately.

4. Starcraft 2 doesn’t pay the bills: It’s crazy, but your dad was right – money doesn’t grow on trees. And you need it to pay off that dual monitor computer, crazy fast internet connection and surround sound system that captures every explosion with perfect clarity. Plus, pesky car payments, mortgages and food – it all costs money and playing Starcraft 2 all day isn’t going to bring in the cash. Unless you start competing professionally and win some tournaments, or your spouse can take on an extra job. Or three.

Hope that helps! I was going to do some more tips but a bunch of Stalkers just blinked into my base and I need to get my other expansion going…
**Note to clients: I am working hard on your project. Right now.

Project: Anniversary Invitation

August 10th, 2010

Barry & Kathie
It’s always nice to use your talents to help out the family. I avoid handy-man type work like the plague, but I can roll up my sleeves for just about any type of creative project. So, to celebrate Barry & Kathie’s 35th Wedding Anniversary, we planned a party, filmed interviews for a family video, and put together an invitation for all those invited. Yeah, we go all out!

The biggest problem for this particular project was time. The invitation and video work had to be done very quickly, and I had to fit it in around client work. The size and paper were already chosen, and the list was set – all that was needed was a decent design!

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What Are You Doing Online?

June 20th, 2010

Web Pro News has posted an article with a pretty amazing statistic. Apparently 22% of the time you spend online is spent on Social Media. The source for this number is Nielson and can be found here. I think that number will continue to rise. Are you spending more or less than 22% of your time on a social site such as Facebook or Twitter?

Rise and Rise Again…

June 11th, 2010

The long overdue integration of my blog (A Creative Year) into my main website (Jason Milburn Design) has been completed. To kick things off I thought I would do a post a little off the norm, but hopefully just as interesting. We’ll be back on our regularly scheduled program next time, with some recent project examples.

One of the books I’m currently reading is ‘George Washington: A Life’ by Willard Sterne Randall. One of the things that has struck me, and inspired me, is what George Washington did during his early years – the type of life he led and the chances he took.

I won’t bore you with details, or maybe you already know more than I do, but he was very ambitious and motivated to succeed, to make his mark. He took on dangerous, life-threatening tasks. Life was hard – there was the French threat to the West and from Canada, tumultuous relationships with Native Americans, and various tensions with the British (ultimately resulting in war, obviously). What stuck out to me – what the life of George Washington has reminded me of – is that with hard times, tough conditions, and the future up for grabs, it’s those times that make us great. Those are the times we have a chance to stand tall and really make a difference. We’ll either fail miserably or succeed beyond what we could imagine, but at least it won’t be a mind-numbing march to oblivion with nothing to show for it. Hard times demand action. They make or break us in ways that times of comfort do not.

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March 2010 Newsletter

March 30th, 2010

I sent out the new Jason Milburn Design E-Newsletter yesterday, you’ll find it posted below. New design for this blog is coming shortly, also a review of Photoshop World 2010, the Wacom Intuos4, and an article on Wordpress. Check back soon!

New Web Design Services – Wordpress:
As always, Jason Milburn Design strives to offer the latest and greatest in custom web design services. Content Management Systems (CMS) are becoming ever more popular, and there are several options when considering this technology for your website. One of the most popular platforms out there is Wordpress. It’s easy to use, has tons of support and best of all, is open-source, ie. FREE. Jason Milburn Design now offers custom website design utilizing the Wordpress platform!

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