I’ve been hinting and casually mentioning it for a while, so it’s time to come clean: I got a full-time job.  For those of you who are curious, it’s a software engineering position at Getty Images!  Like, the stock photo company?

<sarcasm>

Yeah, I’m, like, kind of a big deal now.

</sarcasm>

At any rate, this new job has brought with it a few “complications” to my current schedule: namely, I must move to a new city, and I’ll be working 40-hour weeks.  The move is obviously a short-term concern; once I’m settled in, it won’t really affect my work, save for the fact that I’ll be getting more sunlight, have a different room for streaming, etc.

Of course, the job has potentially farther-reaching consequences, and unfortunately, I can’t pretend to know them all at this time: all I can really say is that I was working full-time hours last summer, and I still managed to keep a fairly consistent schedule on the side.  Then again, things are a bit more complicated now that I have a Patreon.  There’s an expectation for me to be delivering regular content; after all, it’s what people are paying me for.  At the same time, if I’m churning out substandard work…well, that doesn’t help anyone.

So, here’s the game plan:

• I’m not going to focus on written work this week.  Between the move over the weekend and cleaning my old place next week, I don’t have much confidence in my ability to play through a game and write a review for it.  Additionally, since the move is happening on Friday, I don’t want to schedule a stream for Saturday in the event that I’m not done setting up by then.
• To compensate for the above issues, I’ll be doing an extra-long, four-hour community stream on Sunday, April 8, starting at 14:00 MST (13:00 PST).  Go to my Steam library (it’s a big one, lemme tell ya), pick up to four games that you want to see me play, and leave a comment below with your selections.  You’ll have until Friday, April 6 at 23:59 MST to send in your picks.  Then, on Saturday, I’ll throw all those games into a randomizer (those are a thing, right?), and grab four titles.  Don’t worry, I’ll post a video to Twitter so you know I’m not cheating it.  Then, those’ll be the four games I stream on Sunday!  If there’s fewer than four choices…well, that just makes it easier to choose, right?  The time will be split roughly equally between the options.  Also, if the same game gets mentioned multiple times, that’ll earn it extra entries in the draw, so don’t worry if someone else takes one of your picks!
• I officially start my new job on Monday, April 16.  By this point, the plan is to be back on my regular schedule: new article on Tuesdays, and Saturday streams at 7 PM.  However, while I sincerely hope it won’t be a problem, there’s a chance this could all end up being too much to handle.  If this becomes the case, I will unfortunately have to take a break.  I’ll shut down/pause my Patreon so that nobody gets billed for work I’m not doing.  Then, I’ll take some time to revaluate things, and follow up with a plan for moving forward.  I have no intention to give up games journalism altogether, but I also recognize that burnout is a very real thing.  Once again, I’d rather make no money at all than make money from pumping out garbage that’s not worth reading.

I know that this leaves a lot of ambiguity.  However, it’s because I don’t know how this new job will affect things, and I want to prepare my legions of fans (I wish) for the worst.  To their credit, Getty Images has continually emphasized a focus on work-life balance, being adamant that they want employees to be able to have lives outside of work.  To say that makes me optimistic about the future is a huge understatement, I must say.  Nonetheless, I just want to keep everyone in the loop in the event that I need to take an extended leave from my writing schedule.

Anyway, that’s enough doom and gloom, so get into the comments and tell me what I should stream on Sunday!  Ultimately, this is just a new chapter in my life, and while it has its share of uncertainty, it’s also incredibly exciting.  I love everyone who’s been willing to stick with me and support my work, and I look forward to continuing writing, streaming, and being a sarcastic ass long into the future!  😊

Cheers,

Olivia