Reflection 2018



This is the first of a pair of articles to conclude Awkward Mixture's 2018. This is also the third year of Awkward Mixture, and it's time to assess the successes and failures of the recent past.

In 2016, I started Awkward Mixture with the goal of producing three, one-thousand word articles each week about video games, short stories, and politics. In the first year, I wrote 107 articles. Last year I wrote 76 articles, and this year I hope to finish with 77 articles. Even though the original intention was to limit articles to a thousand words, a significant portion stretch to two-thousand words, especially in December. Even though the average over the last two years has been one and a half articles per week, the goal remains the same, if unattainable.

Despite the failure to write three articles a week, there were some big successes. February of 2018 garnered the most page views in the history of Awkward Mixture, and October wasn't bad either with the 3rd most views. Unfortunately, visitors to the site vanished after the peak, because my computer died at the beginning of March. Without new articles, very few people read anything. Just when visitors were returning, my computer failed again in September. Seventy-seven articles doesn't look quite so bad, when one considers they were written over ten months instead of twelve.

With that summary, let's review the articles.

Top Three of All Time:

Like the previous year, Building the Best Army in Mount and Blade Warband: Archers and Conclusion and Europa Universalis 3 versus 4: Sometimes Simpler, Occasionally More Complex, and Just As Fun are still drawing the most eyes every week. While older articles fail to attract new attention, these two always top the weekly views. The former has more views than the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place entries combined, while the later has earned more than three through seven. Distantly in third, is Building the Best Army in Mount and Blade Warband: Infantry and Cavalry, which obviously is in the same article series as the 1st place finisher.

Onward to 2018's top 10.

Readers Choice Awards: The Top Ten articles of 2018's Awkward Mixture, determined by page-views:
In 2016 and 2017, video games earned seven of the top ten spots. This year, they dropped one. Still they took the top five.

The most popular article of 2018 was the first video game article of the year, ATale of Three 4X-RTS Universes: Star Ruler 2 (A), published on January 9th. It was also the first of a five article series, reviewing three 4X-RTS space sagas. Even though it suffered from a lack of beauty, its visual appeal was in utility, and Star Ruler 2 offered the best gameplay of the three.

Less surprising was Awkward Mixture's number two, A4X-RTS Comparison: Sins of A Solar Empire, Star Ruler 2, and Stellaris. This article, included in the same series as the previous article, ended the series by comparing Star Ruler 2, Sins of A Solar Empire: Trinity, and Stellaris in a helpful spreadsheet. Readers, at least from my perspective, appear to love comparisons and data. That's a thought for the future.

Dota is the most common topic on this blog, as I play about five games a week, and follow the Pro Circuit System. That must be why, number three is Dota 2 Majors, Minors, and Standings: February 2018. The article was composed about halfway through the 2017/2018 season which ended in August. It's interesting returning to the article to see which teams appeared strong, and compare that the the final results of The International 2018.

Look, people really enjoyed The Tale of Three 4X-RTS series, because the fourth and fifth most popular articles were A Tale of Three 4X-RTS Universes: Star Ruler 2 (B) and A Tale of Three 4X-RTS Universes: Stellaris. Star Ruler 2 received two articles because I liked it so much, while Stellaris was a mild disappointment, considering how much I appreciate the Europa Universalis series.

In sixth place appears the first political article, A Campaign Without a Campaign. This was the third of five articles about North Korea. It questioned whether the Trump Administration was planning for war, without persuading the American people of its necessity, because the citizens of the United States didn't believe war was imminent or relevant. The article also questioned the intelligence of attacking North Korea, considering the devastating fallout from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Number seven of 2018, was the first short story, the fourth in a five part series. Released in tandem with the 4X-RTS series, it was similarly titled (A Tale of ….). In retrospect, this might have generated unwanted confusion, but it still remains, A Tale of Two Tragedies: The Plight. Of course, if you haven't read the series yet, I recommend reading from the beginning, A Tale of Two Tragedies: The Pact. In this story, two boys reaching adulthood, are commanded by conflicting gods to end their city's bloody conflict through more bloodshed. One protagonist is conflicted about this crime, while the other is eager to do his duty.

And we can't leave the last 4X-RTS game, A Tale of Three 4X-RTS Universes: Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity, off the list. In eighth place for the year, there is much to say about a game which I couldn't stomach for more than five hours.

A Tale of Two Tragedies, returns to claim the ninth spot, with A Tale of Two Tragedies: The Pit. This is the third part of the series.

Finally, the second political article, Thoughts: Corruption. There is little that worries me more about our political system, then that people would rather elect incredibly corrupt individuals than politicians from the other party. And this trend works for both parties. In the 2018 Midterm Elections, Senator Robert Menendez (D) of New Jersey, Duncan Hunter (R) of California's 50th District, and Chris Collins (R) of New York's 27th District all won reelection, though with narrower margins than their previous elections. Corruption isn't the only aspect of a politician that matters, but it should be considered a significant component. This article also highlights the return of the Thoughts article. The purpose of this category was to write an occasional 500 word article once a week to supplement the regular 1,000 to 2,000 word articles.

Political Opinions:
Last year in the Reflection, I highlighted political proposals I'd offered during the year. This year I didn't come up with any creative solutions, so I submit instead, a few opinions:

The United States is violating the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, because the treaty obliges all countries to reduce their stockpiles, but instead the USA's is undergoing a one trillion dollar modernization initiated by President Obama.

A related, and an ongoing series, President Obama continued many destructive policies of the Bush Administration, which allowed President Trump to enhance them.

No United States President deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, except maybe Jimmy Carter in 2002. No one directly responsible for the deaths of innocents abroad or at home can atone for their brutality with a single deal or some grand rhetoric.

Obvious: Globalism is good, discussions on Twitter are frustrating, and it is too easy to blame others.

Trump won the November Midterm election even if he lost a few House seats, by expanding the Republican's Senate margin, and retaining key governorships... Actually, it's more complicated than that. Maybe Democrats recorded a minor victory. Still, President Trump has a reasonable chance of reelection in 2020.

The big development for Awkward Mixture's political scene was the introduction of The Events. Debuting in June, I described the relevant events as examples of “corruption, insults, ineptitude, the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and certain astonishing actions and/or policy decisions enacted,” specifically relating “to the President, his family, his Cabinet, his spokespeople, his lawyers, and all other people he has chosen to work with both past and present.”

Even astonish actions, outside the norm of American Politics eventually become boring. Once they are initiated I feel compelled to record the continuing action until the end. Sometimes I might even agree with incredible deviations from the expected, even as the style and method of their execution remains disturbing. For example, withdrawing some forces from the Middle East is admirable as long as it is conducted properly.

The purpose of The Events, in case it has never been clearly stated, is to catalog the actions and words of President Trump (and his associates) so significant events can be remembered, and a clear line drawn from one to another.

I hope it has been helpful, but if there are any recommendations for The Events I'd gladly accept constructive criticism.

The Best Three Short Stories You Might Have Missed:
If everything else went well with the blog, (aside from the two months without a computer), Short Stories suffered. I haven't written one since the computer broke at the start of September. But worry not, I'm ready to go for the new year. While you're waiting, take a look at these:

Does anyone have an invasive plant in their yard? After purchasing my home, a friend informed me of the existence of Japanese Knotweed on my property. It is an outrageously aggressive plant. And this is how I felt about it, a sort of Things Fall Apart and The Road diary.

Sometimes I try to be too clever for my own good. If I'm being honest, its probably most of the time. I have a book which someone from college gave me, which I never read, and I never returned. But in a philosophy class we covered the outlines of some of Peter Singer's ideas, and I felt as if I were qualified enough to satirize it in Impractical Ethics.

I feel as if YouTube goes through cycles. Is anyone else being offered too many Kitchen Nightmare videos? In August, I watched too many Fool Penn and Teller clips, and The Walrus and The Magic Man is the result. I sort of fused it with my growing frustration that the United States has no political appetite for averting the disaster of climate change. Even if Democrats won the presidency, sixty Senate seats, and a majority in the House, there are too many of them owned by oil, gas, and other establishment branches of the economy, unwilling to sacrifice to save. In short, we need a solution akin to magic.

In Conclusion:

This concludes 2018's compilation of Final Three, Top Ten, Political Ideas, and Best Short Stories. If you had an article which particularly piqued your interest, I'd be glad to hear about it. Feel free to post in the comments. Next Monday is Awkward Mixture's 2018 Video Games in Review.

Thanks for reading,
Clayton Brostowin

Recent:

Relevant:

Comments