If you’ve been following my journey online, then you are probably aware that I am engaged to this amazing human.
The Human, not our dog.
This is Albert Tran. My biggest supporter who is trying to make it in Esports Photography as a professional photographer!
Photography is his passion, he has spent years honing his art and technique, and provides something different with his use of bright colors, ability to capture audience and player emotion, and his lighting technique. *All photos by Albert Tran*
Right now, Albert is shooting on a Nikon D800, and it is beginning to show it’s age. In the world of technology and photography, staying on top of current market upgrades is highly important! The camera that he is looking to get is the Nikon Z 6II FX-Format Mirrorless Camera Body w/NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S with adapter so that he can continue to use his current lenses and focus on just upgrading to a new camera body.
Your support will show him that he deserves to pursue this as a career, that his talent isn’t a waste, and that you believe in him. There is only so much I can do, and with your help, I know we all can make his dreams come true!
Donation Goal: $2,500
For any donations over $200, I will personally reach out to you and work to schedule a shoot with you and him (based on his schedule and location preferences**, no weddings*, 30 minute-1 hour shoot max*).
Alt Title: Picking a degree to match your career field and what you really want to do.
I’m going, to be honest with you, most programs right now that are popping up with a “Bachelors in Esports” you should be wary of. If they do not come from an accredited university, there is a chance you’ll get scammed in the long term.
An example of this would be everyone who went to Devry University, The Art Institute, and the plethora of other diploma-mill colleges that were prominent from the 1990’s-2010’s. “A diploma mill (also known as a degree mill) is a company or organization that claims to be a higher education institution but provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee. The degrees can be fabricated (made-up), falsified (fake), or misrepresented (practically useless).” (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
So how can you pick a college or career in esports and what do you do? I made a quiz to help you at least work on a path that you can take towards your ideal career to start. Keep in mind, most people job hop every 1-2 years now, and may even change career paths every 7 years. So if something doesn’t work out now, just try again!
So! Let’s get into it. How can you break into the Esports and games industry?
A quiz to help you determine your path.
One: Do you want to be a professional player? A) Yes! Absolutely. B) Professional Streamer, please C) I’d rather do something else. D) No
Two: Do you play team games or solo games? A) Team Games B) Solo queue all the way. (Including fighting games) C) Neither. I like cozy, casual, simulation (insert non-competitive game style) D) Board/Card games
Three: How many hours are you spending gaming? A) 12+ hours a week B) 7-12 hours a week C) 2-6 hours a week D) 0 Hours
Four:What has your skill increase looked like over the past six months? A) I’ve noticed a steady improvement and increased skill ranking in tournaments/matches. B) I’m top level in my rank and working to improve every day. C) My skill has not improved and I’ve not grown in ranking. D) Not Applicable
Five: If you could do any of these jobs, which would you pick? A) Player/Streamer B) Programmer (coding) or UX/UI Design C) Content Creator/Media Relations D) Other
Okay, so add up your totals and see which one fits you best. Which category do you fall into?
Mostly A’s (or A/B): Professional Esports Player
or Streamer
Streaming and gaming huh? Well, you have to be dedicated, skilled, and personable. The good news is you don’t need a degree to pursue this, but you do need access to a powerful PC/stream setup (which is still more affordable than university).
Mostly B/C: UX/UI, Programming, Tournament Organizing, Research
You probably like really organized plans, data, research. There are also a ton of opportunities in this area as it’s a growing field. If you’re on this path, then you will want to look into coding programs or a degree in computer science, research (in a science field including social sciences), and/or connect with your local community.
Mostly C/D: Content Creator, Community Manager, People relations!
You most likely are drawn to the creative and people side of Esports and gaming. The great thing about this is you aren’t limited in your options or choices! Degree options can look like: marketing, public relations, communications, English majors, business majors, journalism majors. For freelance work focus on building a brand, and consistency.
So which avenue will you take?
Deciding a path can be scary, challenging, and difficult but I know that you can do it! Interested in learning more about each of these career options? Leave a comment below and let me know!
I Love, Love! And as I plan my own wedding, seeing that one of my all-time favorite games, The Sims 4, is dropping a wedding game pack is very exciting.
The Sims 4 My Wedding Stories Game Pack will release on February 17th, 2022. It will feature pre-wedding festivities, from an elopement at City Hall, to planning pre-wedding parties. There is even going to be an option to use Create-A-Sim to select a ring.
I’m most excited about the option of incorporating toasts, speeches, and choosing a Sim of Honor!
Courtesy of The Sims 4 EA Blog
They’ll be doing a live announcement on February 11th at 11AM PST, 8AM EST on their Twitch channel. You can find out more about this here. Let me know what you are most excited for?
Personally, I hope that they announce more dress and formal wear options, as well as some new furniture! It seems that food and dancing will be incorporated in the game pack too. Maybe even a customizable wedding ring?!
I really look forward to this pack and can’t wait to play it!
Feel free to download and utilize my own research for your needs!
The video presentation will be uploaded in January.
Diversity in Esports, and the FGC is vital for growth as a community and from a business standpoint.
Current data reflects that women make up less than 50% of all gamers (Statista), but have over 81% buying power on all purchases. (Top Media Advertising) By not making them a priority market for your event, tournament, or organization, you are ignoring a major demographic with money to spend.
Focusing on safe events for women and LGBTQ+ audiences would allow your event, or business to flourish and grow.
It’s important to hire marginalized voices and people because their input and stories would create a better connection and impact to reach these people and attract new potential gamers, players, and competitors.
2019 was a fantastic year for me-as far as gaming is concerned.
I played a ton of games, from puzzle type, to RPG’s and action-adventure. Now, these are just the games that were released this year that I happened to love the most, and not a list of all the games I’ve played or experienced.
Anyway
Here are my top 5 games of 2019:
1: Untitled Goose Game
Goose Game is a delight to play through. Despite it’s meme-like tenacity, the game it self has wonderful puzzles, an easy learning curve that is so user intuitive that you actually enjoy the game as you get to know the mechanics. Personally, being able to annoy your neighbors and steal their belonging’s is really what appealed to me. I played it for around 10-15 hours and managed to beat it rather quickly. Yet like a quality meal or good movie, I felt satisifed and that the game was perfect. I only hope that they begin to add more on to it and expand the goose universe.
2: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Fire Emblem Three Houses. Or where I want to wife every single gorgeous character. This game is more than just strategy and war-time mechanics, it has a quality storyline, and is a great dating sim. At first I wasn’t a fan of Dorothea, but time-skip Dorothea is super relatable and kind. This game really made me interested in the Fire Emblem series, and I love it’s replayability. Certainly worth a play through for anyone!
3: Pokemon Sword/Pokemon Shield
Pokemon Sword is an interesting game, but is the first Pokemon game in a long time to really catch my heart. The shiny Ponyta is on my list of things to catch as I currently work through the storyline, and meeting all of the BallGuy’s in the game is pretty neat. The only character I really dislike is the best friend/rival, and maybe that’s just due to my own personality, but he just seems to pop up at moments when my goal is on getting to the next location. Over all it’s a fantastic game, and a lot of fun.
4: The Sims 4 (plus expansions)
I’m not ashamed to say that The Sims 4 pulled me in this year and I became obsessed. I’ve clocked in over 500 hours playing through multiple stories, downloading custom content, mods, and adding expansions and game play. I’ve become attune to the sim language ‘sul sul’ and just love the creativity of the community. It’s honestly one of the nicest communities I’ve been apart of and reminded me why I enjoy gaming so much. This is probably one of the few games EA does right.
5: Resident Evil 2: Remake
Resident Evil is a game and series that have been apart of my life since I was a young child. I love horror genre games. While I have yet to beat this game, I do think the mechanics, art, and storyline are amazing and worth a full playthrough. So for nostalgia reasons, it does get a spot on my top 5 games of 2019.
Rina Lo 
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