I was at one of our properties today and noticed that one of the tenants had a pumpkin outside their porch door.

I saw that it had some holes in it, and I figured that it was intentionally carved into it, as a design. Then I realized that it was a terrible design, and had absolutely no resemblance to the classic jack-o-lantern that most people cut into their pumpkins.

After completing necessary business at the property, I got in my car to leave, when I discovered why there were random holes in the pumpkin.

Apparently the holes weren’t there as a result of a carving … they were there because a squirrel ate the pumpkin.

(The photo is a bit white and blurry because I took it from inside my car, which was parked far away from the pumpkin.)

Happy Halloween

I made a post yesterday talking about how I had never been invited to a Blizzard beta test, and how it is just my luck that I didn’t get invited to the Overwatch beta, even though it’s a near-necessity for me to do my job with Tempo Storm.

That was mainly intended as a comedy piece so you guys can share my misery at the fact that literally nothing related to pre-release test periods (alpha and beta invites) have gone my way.

Apparently, a lot of people aren’t really taking this as lightly as I am (even though my content production schedule is on the line, while everyone else only has their personal entertainment on the line).

I browsed reddit a bit and saw some links on Twitter that pointed me to some controversies around the invitation process for Overwatch.

Blizzard obviously states that Overwatch beta invites were sent randomly. We all know that, to a degree, that is true, and to a degree, that is false.

It is true because, technically, the invitations are random. The language is accurate, and this is the kind of stuff that lawyers would pick on when fighting a case.

Blizzard needs to test Overwatch on particular machines with particular Internet connections. When you signed up for inclusion in the beta program, you ran a test on your computer that let Blizzard collect in­for­mation about your machine.

After picking out the needed machine/Internet credentials that require testing, Blizzard then randomly selects from that pool.

On a different facet, Blizzard extends offers to large content creation companies whose employees require beta access to report on Overwatch. Once a list of their employees is made, Blizzard then “randomly” selects from that list (although, they might just randomly select 100% of the people on that list).

As you can see, language is pretty intricate, and there are a lot of ways you can twist it to have it work in your favor.

This preferential treatment is expected, and I don’t understand why it wasn’t completely obvious that Blizzard would be using a recruitment method like this one. They want to pick out the best beta testers, and it’s obvious that people who create content and report as a profession would most likely produce findings and reports that will help Blizzard.

And yes, the reason I’m so laid back about my personal Overwatch situation is that I’m confident I’ll be getting in, as a representative of Tempo Storm. But remember, I have a very low passion for FPS, so all my Overwatch-related gameplay will be driven by a passion for eSports and creating content, not just because I want to play the game for fun.

For the “regular” players who want to join in for fun, sure, it might seem a bit unfair, but that’s just how life is. Keep in mind that, in your field of expertise, you will probably gain some sort of preferential treatment as well, in situations relevant to your field, simply because you are knowledgeable about it.

That field, for me, is the online entertainment industry. So, there really isn’t anything to get upset about if you didn’t get invited to the Overwatch beta; look back at the things you take for granted that might prompt jealousy from others who don’t have it for their own.