John Titor: Terminal Deviation

I published on Paranormalis my first John Titor fanfiction. Nothing crazy, about 2 500 words, which is pretty short. 

It's mostly a rehearsal and proof of concept of my writing process. 

You're welcome to check it out here: 

John Titor: Terminal Deviation

Deepsix

Deepsix is a smaller story than The Engines of God, but no less engaging. The pacing flows naturally, the action is good, and the archaeology remains the real star. Every fragment of lost civilization we uncover feels genuinely exciting.

My only wish is that we learned a little more about the civilizations encountered along the way. But maybe that's just McDevitt keeping us hungry for more.

Clever storytelling, excellent read. Makes you wonder what's next for our heroes.

Highly recommended.

The Engines of God

I picked this one up at my local used book store. I'm glad I did, what an adventure, for only $4.00. The Engines of God scratches a very specific itch: ancient alien mysteries handled with actual care and patience. No cool stuff. Ruins, dead civilizations, and the creeping sense that something very bad happened to a lot of species a very long time ago. Gloomy!

The alien archaeology angle is where the book really shines. The monument builders and vanished races. Lots of mysteries. You're piecing things together alongside our heroes, and the enigma of OZ — this ancient, inexplicable structure — is exactly the kind of thing I find compelling. It's not explained right away. It just sits there, out of place, old and fascinating.

Pacing is solid. There's a survival sequence at some point that lasts a little too long — minor complaint, here. Nothing deal-breaking at all. The rest of the book keeps you excited and engaged.

If you like the idea of humanity stumbling through the ruins of civilizations that somehow didn't make it, this is worth your time. It's quiet sci-fi with a dark undertone.

Anyone else read this one?

At the Mountains of Madness

Man, I didn't stop to read a book in ages. I hope this will last. 

I'll be honest. I don't scare easily when reading a book. But Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness fascinated me and gave me chills. What a ride!

What makes it work so good is what it doesn't show you. The horror is always kind of out of frame. You get bits here and there, impressions, suggestions… and your brain fills in the rest. That's scarier than any detailed description could ever be, period.

The other thing that hit me was the sheer scale of the evil at hand, here. We're used to monsters our heroes can fight, villains they can outsmart. The ancient eldritch forces in this story don't care about us. They predate us by geological epochs... We're not even a footnote. That kind of cosmic indifference is deeply unsettling in so many ways I never thought of.

And excellent story. Streamlined, atmospheric, and quietly devastating. Highly recommend if you haven't read it.

WH40K Warpforge Shutdown Notice

 Yep, after only 2 years. That's greedy and lazy. 

Well, at least it was fun. It was a good card game, that's unfortunate to see it go down like this. 

Everguild announced that Warpforge will shut down permanently. In-game purchases were disabled immediately, and servers will go offline in about two months. Once servers close, the game becomes completely unplayable. There is no offline mode, no LAN option, no self-hosted server support, and no preservation plan.

What makes this worse:

• A major raid/event just concluded before the shutdown notice.
• Players were led to believe more content was coming.
• No long runway warning before monetization discontinued.
• Many players spent money on packs, cards, and battle passes expecting ongoing support.
• They didn't even make it official on most platform.

My point isn't about forcing infinite live support. It’s about the fact that a product people paid for will simply cease to function, with zero fallback option.

This is a clean example of a live-service game being destroyed rather than sunset responsibly. And a textbook example of a greedy studio that's a shame to the gaming industry. 

This game had some of the most predatory monetization we've ever seen. Yet, some asswipe up there at Everguild decided it didn't make enough money to ensure its survival? Yeah, right...

My 2026 Combat Master Wishlist

This feedback comes from someone who wants this game to succeed.

Combat Master has real potential, but it’s being undermined by basic feedback, presentation, and focus problems. These are fundamental issues, not minor tweaks… and addressing them would make an immediate difference.

Fix hit and kill sounds

Let’s start with the basics: feedback.

The hit marker “tick” and kill “beep” sound cheap, flat, and completely disconnected from what’s happening on screen. They break immersion instantly.

This is a shooter. When bullets land, it should feel like something happened.

Right now, hits sound like tapping a calculator. Kills sound like a phone notification—not the end of a firefight. That’s a problem.

BloodStrike gets this right. Its hit feedback is squishy, meaty, and immediate. You hear the damage. You feel the confirmation. It reinforces immersion instead of killing it.

Replace the current hit and kill sounds with proper SFX… sounds that communicate impact, lethality, and momentum. That alone would be a massive improvement.

Why I Miss Eternal Card Game in 2026

Looking back from 2026, Eternal Card Game is still pretty awesome, even though it's in maintenance mode, sadly... It sits in a sweet spot that most digital CCGs never quite get right nowadays. 

The economy is fair: you earn cards, build decks, and play every mode without the game constantly pushing your credit card. Progress feels generous and fast, and it’s clear the devs want people to play and experiment, not just pay. (I'm looking at you Warhammer 40k: Warpforge!)

The game also has a real personality of it's own. The world of Myria mixes fantasy with weird-west vibes: magic, gunslingers, strange factions, alternate dimensions. It all fits together quite well without feeling forced or odd. On top of that, the card pool is deep and interesting, with (back then) frequent sets, events, and formats like ranked and draft that keep brewing fun and unsolved.

The community and the client seal the deal. Players talk decks, help each other, and stick around, even years later. And the client just works. It's fast, clean, cross-play on PC, mobile, and console. 

In 2026, most card games are built around monetization and it sucks. Eternal feels like proof that fair design, style, and depth can coexist. That’s why I'm so bummed that it's in maintenance mode. 

Evernote, What Happened to You?

I remember when Evernote was my go-to productivity tool. I always had it open in a tab, ready to capture notes or compose a quick draft at a moment's notice. Those were the good times!

Last time I logged in a couple years ago, Evernote told me I couldn't sync more than ONE DEVICE. One device? That's not syncing—that's basically Notepad with extra steps.

Now, in 2026, I log back in to see if anything's improved and... BAM! Free accounts are limited to ONE NOTEBOOK and 50 NOTES. Are you kidding me?

Evernote went down the toilet harder than almost any product I've watched over the years. It's sad and kind of spectacular to witness. 

My 2026 BloodStrike Wishlist

 I’ve been an avid FPS player for over 25 years. Doom, Duke Nukem 3D… Half-Life, Counter-Strike… Then, over the last few years, I jumped into Battle Royale–style shooters like Call of Duty, PUBG, Valorant, and many more… including BloodStrike.

And yeah… I have a serious love/hate relationship with BloodStrike.

On one hand, the gunplay is absolutely fantastic. Weapons are punchy, responsive, and satisfying. On the other hand, the game is fucking sweaty. 

So I figured I’d put together a list of improvements that could make the game less exhausting, more readable, and way more enjoyable for casual players, without killing its identity.

Let’s get into it.

My WH40K: Warpforge Farewell Rant

Disclaimer: I genuinely had a great time with Warpforge. This is a post-mortem-rant kind of thing—why I’m walking away, and what I wish had been done differently. This is not written in anger alone. This isn’t a call to boycott.

I’ve played a lot of CCGs over the years and Warhammer 40K: Warpforge is one of my favorites. IMO, it used to be better than most other similar games on the market. But not so much nowadays, mostly because of intense corporate greed.

Warhammer 40K is dope, man. And it’s an excellent IP for a digital card game. At release, the game had interesting components and felt very streamlined. Simple yet effective mechanics. Starting the game at 2 power. Ephemeral cards acting as hero powers. Each turn you have something interesting to do, decisions to make. That was good.