About

Why Mana Obscura?

I’ve played a lot of games. Most of the time, these are your hack and slash high fantasy style game. You know, the ones with Orcs and Goblins, Elves and Dwarves. And if it’s not high fantasy, it’s some kind of mysterious Sci-Fi shooter with laser pistols and super powers. You’ve probably seen these games on the shelves of your local videogame store. May have even played a few, if you’re into them.

Ever find you end up picking the same kind of role in the game, no matter which game you play, or which platform or console it’s on?

That’s what happens to me. I might start out with good intentions, but to a rule I always find myself coming back to the same type of class.

Spellcasters.

I don’t know if it’s the love of the concept, of playing the role of a being with fantastic powers to warp the world around him. It might be a love of seeing big numbers when dealing damage against enemies. It could even be the comfort of knowing that in order to get to you, your enemies have got to get through several well armed warriors, rogues and so on. Heck, it could be all of the above.

This blog is about my journeys through the various games I encounter, and will focus on whatever I happen to be playing at the time. It will probably change as games go in and out of fashion, or as I replay old games with new approaches. Yes, it has a heavy World of Warcraft influence. I’ve been playing the game for five years now, so it’s pretty much expected.

Who’s behind Mana Obscura

The person that’s mostly to blame for this corner of the interwebs is Gazimoff. I’m an old-school gamer, having been there right at the start when keyboards were made out of rubber and games were listings in a book that you had to type in. Since then I’ve passed through various iterations of console and PC gaming to land where I am now, some thirty years later. I’m interested in all sorts of games from classical RPGs and fantasy MMOs through to driving sims and first-person shooters.

I’m an engineer and tinker at heart, and I like nothing more than to pull back the covers and see how something works, making little tweaks and changes here and there. I’m also not averse to looking at how things work in concert to produce a result. The cause-effect nature of game design is something that fascinates me.

In Real-Life, I’m a former code monkey who now designs services to run over large-scale communications networks. Or something.

If you’d like to get hold of me, please check out the Contact page for a range of options.