Alt-Tab Blogging

Sometimes I get so excited about an idea for this blog, I just can't wait to go ahead and start writing.  So I alt-tab out and start tap-tapping away.  As I play in windowed, full-screen mode, the transition time back and forth is minimal, making it simple for me to take a screenshot, then pop over to the blog window, write a thing or two, edit the picture, etc., then return to the game.  But there is a problem with this:  when I return to the game, sometimes a few keystrokes end up carrying over and being interpreted within an in-game context.

Often, when I return to the game, I find my character running in circles or spinning wildly, with the companion screen or the character screen or some other such screen showing.  Closing the windows is harmless, if only a little bothersome, but dealing with the movement is a little more tricky.

I've learned that pressing the key associated with the direction of movement, as if it is stuck and needs to be hit again to be unstuck, solves this problem.  For example, if Hikarinoko or Anachan is spinning clockwise, hitting the "D" key will take care of that.  If she is running forward into a wall, pressing "W" will end that motion.  It is annoying, but not annoying enough for me to stop blogging while alt-tabbed out.

And then came the time I went to Nar Shaddaa to pick up the RD-03B Coordination Jacket which Targeter so kindly recommended to my notice . . .

After I had completed the transaction and was on the shuttle back to the spaceport, I alt-tabbed out to put the finishing touches on a blog entry.  Because the shuttle ride was short, I was fairly sure some of my keystrokes would carry over into the game.  Not really a big deal; I simply wondered which ones they would be.

It wasn't a big deal, that is, until I actually returned to the game and found Hikarinoko going backward . . . off the edge of the platform by the shuttle point.

Yep, you can fall off the platforms of Nar Shaddaa, and you will die.

I am not sure there is anything I could have done to prevent her falling.  By the time I recognized she was moving backward, I had no time to place my hand on the keyboard and hit "S".  All I could do was laugh with mild chagrin.

In spite of this incident, I have no plans to quit alt-tab blogging, but I guess I ought to focus on being more mindful of her position when I head out to write . . .