Finished Borderlands and Other Notes

Hi everyone,

Started the day knocking out the 2nd of three commission requests that came in this week, which was focused on Mass Effect and that ended up being over 3000 words, then started work on the 3rd commission requests which is a WWE story... not thrilled with that, but hey we had a variety of stories done. Will work on that story on Friday during the day.

Work was meh, one of the tougher assignments where w just leave voice mails more than actually speaking to people. I did have two possible ones, but they both didn't qualify because of demographics.

So for the stream, we went ahead and finished Borderlands, and I was sticking pretty damn close to all the quests and bounty boards tonight, and since I was over-leveled by a bit and had some fairly good gear, it was basically a cake walk, particularly the descent to the Vault to face the Destroyer. It is the 32nd game we've finished this year, which raises the question over what game will be next?

But before that , we do have 865 out of a possible 1750 Gamer Score, and I would like to get it to over 1000, so we may keep Borderlands around for Saturdays to do the bonus content.

Actually come to think of it, before I work on any commission stories, I'm going to record my Casual Review of Borderlands for my YouTube channel after breakfast.

Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition Achievements

• My Brother is an Italian Plumber: Killed an enemy plumber-style
• Discovered Trash Coast: Discovered Trash Coast
• Destroyed the Hive: Killed the Rakk Hive
• Ding! Sleepless: Earned level 40
• Wanted: Flynt: Killed Flynt
• Fully Loaded: Rescued enough Claptraps to earn 42 inventory slots
• Made in New Haven: Completed all missions in the Rust Commons
• Discovered Crimson Lance Enclave: Discovered Crimson Lance Enclave
• Discovered Eridian Promontory: Discovered Eridian Promontory
• Destroyed the Destroyer: Killed the Vault Boss

For the raid we went over to kaedmon who was playing The Elder Scrolls Online over on twitch.tv/kaedmon

Assuming there is work, our next stream over on twitch.tv/fredcasden is scheduled for 9:30 PM Eastern and will feature The Last of Us Part II. I really like what I experienced last week, so I'm interested in seeing how this double story goes.

So on that note, have a great night every one! 

Rock Band, Spider-Man and Pizza

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday was kind of a rough day on several fronts, feeling less than motivated to day anything at all. As I said, when I'm given extra time to think, I get so inside my own head that I just feel depressed. So instead of using what I had to make dinner, I ordered a Pizza from Francello's (a local Pizza joint located in Pennsauken). For those wondering it was a Philly Steak Pizza, and it was delicious.

Last night's stream of Spider-Man saw us started and complete The City That Never Sleeps Part 1, and by complete I mean unlock every single trophy for it. As a follow up story, it works with Miles wanting to learn, The Black Cat being a part of the adventure, the big reveal that her father was also in the city, plus setting up the loose ends that is Sable International's goons canonically still being in New York following the ending of the main game.

I do feel like I have an opportunity to get all of the Challenge Tokens I need to unlock the remaining three Spider-Suits, but now the concern is Base Tokens,which appears to be only possible in the main story portion of the game. I know I'm going to need 5 more tokens, so I need to figure out which challenges I can do of the remaining bases that I've cleared before.

Marvel's Spider-Man Trophies

• The Cat Came Back: Complete "The Maria" mission
• Disorganized Crime: Complete all Crimes in a district
• The Long Con: Complete the "Like a Fiddle" mission
• Here Kitty-Kitty: Complete the Black Cat chase
• Screwy: Get Spectacular or better in all Screwball Challenges
• Bye Felicia: Complete the "Follow the Money" mission
• Seduced by the City: 100% Complete CTNS: The Heist

We didn't do a raid last night, as I was not sure who would be a good person to drop in on, but I did hang out on BestiBunni's stream of Stellaris over on twitch.tv/bestibunni

Not completely sure what's on the agenda for tonight's stream as Striker said he may not be available, so we'll see

Did quite a bit of singing in Rock Band 4 Rivals, and knocked out quite a few achievements, using some very obvious exploits. Since I'm not going to bother getting any of the actual instruments, I shall treat Rock Band 4 as I did Twitch Sings, as a fun way to spend some times.

On a positive note, I earned enough points through Bing and Microsoft to earn a couple of gift cards, so that was a pleasant surprise for sure.

Was so cold yesterday between the rain and the surprisingly low temperature that I had to turn the heater back on. I was less than thrilled with having to do that.

Saw that Doctor Who: The Edge of Reality now has a non-VR version of on the Xbox side of things, so we'll be checking that out sometime soon. And with the DLC additions to Vampire Survivors we could revisit that on stream as well

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Disney Speedstorm is a Pay-To-Win Game

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream was supposed to featured Elder Scrolls Online, but Striker was unavailable, so instead we featured Disney Speedstorm, and I played a lot of ranked matches as Belle, getting up to the Silver League and Rank 6. I can certainly hang in most races against other players, averaging finishing in 5th place overall in most cases. Playing on stream certainly was interesting, as for the first time I did beat other players in a racing game, which was fucking awesome.

We did not unlock any achievements, because everything is grind base, as Disney and the Developers are both very optimistic over the shelf-life of this game. I'm not to keen on the Micro transactions style pay-to-win mechanics the game has, but that's part for the course. 

Case in point, once characters unlock a 2nd star they gain access to an extra race pick up for their special attacks. The only way to get characters to a 2nd star is to get shards, and most of the shards from what I can tell can only be earned from the loot boxes.

I'm certainly not going to sink any money into trying to rank up characters, as I'll probably continue to play it as a casual racing game, and get what ever little achievements I can earn along the way. We of course will feature Disney Speedstorm again on Thursday of this week.

For the raid we dropped in on x_lumineee during their s tream of Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/x_lumineee

The plan for tonight's stream is to play Overwatch 2, and as usual voice chat will be handle through the Discord / Xbox live 

With Embiid questionable for round two of the NBA playoffs, looks like it'll be another year where the Sixers are eliminated in the second round.

Yesterday overall was a meh day, as I stayed in bed for the majority of it... just didn't feel like doing anything until I had too. Just was in a real funk. Which means I didn't finished the short story commission I was working on... damn it.

I did put together part four of the series of videos of making a playlist based on vinyl albums I know, it is the longest of the four videos because I padded  the list by putting entire compilation albums on it

Also finally got the rug(s) down in the main part of the basement, plus got things now stored in the extra space underneath the basement stairs. Still need to figure 

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

We Finished Spider-Man, Next Up It's DLC

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday was another day without work, as they are still trying to fix the problems with the assignment we were all on. I'm covered, so at the moment I'm not worried, but I continue to look for new opportunities.

We finished Marvel's Spider-Man last night, and boy did I have trouble with the Doctor Octopus fight, mostly because I didn't see I could leap up off the roof to perch on some poles. Still, it was a very satisfying finished. We got every trophy in the base game with the exception of the one for getting all the suits, but hopefully with the game's DLC, I'll be able to unlock the ones I need that way, because I need base and challenge tokens. 

Of course, we'll be starting the DLC on next Friday's stream, and since there were three DLC releases, maybe we can do each one individually over the next three weeks. Maybe have some extended streams in order to get them all done perhaps? We'll see how it goes.

I of course, do want to talk about the Aunt May death scene, and with it only being three months since I lost my mom, that scene hit harder for me than for a lot of folks. I was fighting hard not to break down to start crying on stream, as I miss my mom every single day. Trust me when I say, there are days I feel so hopeless, and that scene unintentionally was a reminder of the empty feeling I have.

Marvel's Spider-Man Trophies

• Back in the Slammer: Take down each Prisoner Camp
• Superior Spider-Man: Unlock all Skills
• Mercenary Tactics: Take down each Sable Outpost
• I Heart Manhattan: 100% complete all districts
• Grounded: Defeat Electro and Vulture
• Sting and Smash: Defeat Scorpion and Rhino
• Staying Positive: Defeat Li
• End Game: Complete Act 3

There is a question of will I go straight to Spider-Man Miles Morales afte finishing all the DLC, and the answer is we'll probably put a game in between on Friday nights. I of course, reserve the right to change my mind on that!

For the raid we dropped in on TracyDoll during the stream of Friday the 13th The Game over at twitch.tv/tracydoll

The plan for tonight's stream is more adventures in Elder Scrolls Online with Striker, should be fun, depending on how long it takes us to get from point A to point B! 

Watched the first episode of the Higherlander TV series last night, it certainly was a great way of establishing the concept seen in the movies for a weekly program. Also was surprised at how far it was pushing the boundaries of what was allowed in syndication.

Got quite a bit of writing done on a commission request, with luck I'll finish it before tonight's stream.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Pizza, Elder Scrolls and Breakers

Good morning everyone,

Yesterday.... because I didn't want to dirty any dishes after washing them, I ordered from Papa Johns for what was basically lunch and dinner... needless to say I felt very stuffed by the time the stream started. I've gotten so use to eating small meals that when I have something heavy it really wears me down.

Last night's stream of Elder Scrolls Online was a lot of fun as Striker joined in and we continued our focus on the main story of High Isle involving the conspiracy to disrupt a peace conference. We each picked up the same companion character which helps makes the combat a lot easier, since it's a mage... which means two of it are unleashing some major magic on enemies.

Now I do wish the wikis for ESO were a bit more coherent in terms of listing main story quests and side quests to give me a better idea of the story pacing to make things flow a lot better.

For the raid we dropped in on tokushoutsu during the marathon of GoGoFive which was adapted to Power Rangers: Light SPeed Rescue. You can check out their channel at twitch.tv/tokushoutsu

It's Sunday, which means Overwatch 2 is on the agenda for tonight! As always voice chat will be handled through discord! 

Now in an attempt to blatantly extend my Xbox Achievement streak another day, I started messing around with the Breakers Collection, which contains two fighting games, Breakers (released in 1996) and Breakers Revenge (released in 1998), a pair of games released on Neo Geo hardware. Now Obviously I was expecting them to be difficult, so to get use to the in-game controls, I started on the easy setting just to see how responsive the controls are and to see if it's something I want to stream.

Needless to say my experience was fairly positive for the most part, and I was thinking I could end up knocking out a fair amount of arcade runs. Then I ran into the final boss Bai-Hu who I feel is personally one of the cheapest, input reading A.I. controlled opponents I have ever faced in any fighting game, and I'm saying this as someone who has been the arcade version Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the hardest difficulty as Sakura! It took me over two hours to beat Bai-Hu. 

If I'm going to stream this game, it would certainly under some unique settings to try and go for multiple achievements at once.

Breakers Collection Achievements

• Basic Moves: Won a Round without using a Super Special Move (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• The Pledge: Won a Round with a Special Move Finisher (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• I don't need it!: Won a Match without using a Super Special Move (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• The Turn: Won a Round with a Super Special Move Finisher (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• Take it easy: Finished Arcade Mode on EASY (Difficulty Level 1-3)
• Path of Tia: Finished Arcade Mode with Tia (Any Difficulty Setting)
• Can't Touch This!: Won a Round without taking any damage (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• Hammer Time!: Won a Match without taking any damage (Either Arcade or Versus) (Either Online or Offline)
• Freshman: Used Training Mode for the First Time
• Graduated: Used Training Mode with ALL CHARACTERS 
• Victory is Mine!: Won 10 Versus Matches (Either Online or Offline)
• Don't Remember...: Won 10 consecutive Versus Matches (Either Online or Offline)
• Not that Hard: Finished Arcade Mode on HARD (Difficulty Level 7-8)
• Path of Bai-Hu: Finished Arcade Mode with Bai-Hu (Any Difficulty Setting)
  

Oh and my achievement streak is up to 21 days.

Finished the 26th entry in the series of Mass Effect commissioned stories yesterday, and got some work done on a Star Trek story I'm working on as an exclusive for my SubscribeStar followers.

I've had no issues with my main shower drain since I cleared out the clog earlier in the week, just thought I'd share an update on that!.

The City of Camden Water Bill has been paid, I don't have to worry about that again until July!

Recorded part 2 of my building a playlist based on vinyl records I own, and it features a lot of Commander Cody and Carpenters. That video will go live on my YouTube channel first on the first Monday in May.

My YouTube channel is gradually getting more attention ever since I started doing the shorts. Helps that I finally know how to make those in the right aspect ratio!

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

 

Closing in on the end of Spider-Man

Good afternoon everyone

Work yesterday was an hour shorter than anticipated but was productive as I got two interviews done and set up several for next week. 

I did have a rough start to today, as I basically woke up several hours ago, but just laid in bed and kept thinking about how much I'm failing at trying to do things the way mom would've done them.

Last night's stream of Spider-Man finally saw us finish Act 2 of the story, because I did so much side-content all I had were the last side-missions before doing a series of main story quests. Was rather surprised on the twist that Doctor Octavious was the one who orchestrated the big break out of Rykers Island and The Raft, which turns the in-game world into Saints Row The Third when all hell breaks loose.

Potentially I could finish Spider-Man next week, based on how quickly I find and deal with all the remaining Sable and Prisoner Crimes and Camps (already completed them in three sectors already), and then there's there is basically a blitz of the main story and doing everything associated with it.

The entire quarantine situation that happens in Act 3 does remind me of Tom Clancy's The Division and of course the real world parallel with Covid. Wonder how many other games that came out before 2020 involved more mass quarantine plot-lines.

Now there is no chance in hell I'm going to Platinum Spider-Man, because getting all the costumes is going to be too much of a pain in the ass to deal with, and it's not worth it. I'll be glad to get every other achievement however.

Marvel's Spider-Man Trophies

• Tombstone Takedown: Defeat Tombstone
• Schooled: Complete all of the Corrupted Student missions
• A Bit of a Fixer-Upper: Complete all optional projects in the lab
• Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: Complete all Side Missions
• The Six Assemble: Complete Act 2
• Overdrive: Complete 10 Vehicle Takedowns

For the raid we dropped in on maximilian_dood during their stream when they were playing Mega Man Battle Network over at twitch.tv/maximilian_dood

The plan for tonight's stream is of course, Elder Scrolls Online, continuing our adventures with Striker! 

For the first time I watched Duck Soup, one of the legendary films starring the Marx Brothers... it is as good as I always heard it was.

Did a few runs of Hades following last night's stream, and managed to successfully get the Thorn of Thanatos achievement, using the spear and building around Poseidon and Zeus. So with this achievement unlocked, I have only two left to get!

Hades Achievements

• Thorn of Thanatos: Get 30% bonus damage with the Pierced Butterfly

Here are this week's Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star Stats

• Punches Thrown: 7560
  
• Estimated Calories Burned 2958.24 kcal
  
• Fitness Age: 18
  
• Achievements Unlocked: 66%

And so on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

The Plan Is To Move Stuff

 Good morning everyone,

Today my brother is coming over today and with luck we'll be getting a few things out of the dining room area of my home along with the deep freezer from the basement (finally),

With yesterday being a non-work day that I had scheduled myself to work, I took advantage and did another run of Hades (currently have a streak of 151 clears I think). I do feel like I could get 5 out of the 6 remaining achievements will little trouble, but the one called Thorn of Thanatos will give me the most trouble because it involves not taking damage in 15 room to build up a 30% damage boost. Sounds easy, until you realize that I tend to be super aggressive with my approach to playing this game

Hades Achievements

• Infernal Arms: Unlock all Weapon Aspects 
• Harsh Conditions: Fulfill the 'Harsh Conditions' Prophecy
• End to Torment: Fulfill the 'End to Torment' Prophecy
  

Last night's stream of Elder Scrolls Online saw me getting lost a lot, but thanks to Striker I was able to stay on track as we cleared out a lot of side quests and started up the main quest in High Isle, which will be our focus for the next time we play it next Saturday. If there is one complaint I do have about ESO its the placement of mountains to make each area seem bigger than it really is, because one thing I enjoyed about Fallout 76 is how I could get everywhere with little trouble.

Yes the soup you saw me eating was indeed very salty... I haven't had much salt on anything since my mom passed away, and it certainly was a jolt to the system. 

Last night's raid went to MissCammi316 who was playing Smite. They stream at twitch.tv/MissCammi316 

The plan for tonight is to continue Marvel's Spider-Man on the PlayStation 4, and I actually forgot if I'm opening with side-content or the next main story quest. Either way we'll be getting things done!

Phillies won their home-opener yesterday, much to my surprise. 

This week's Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star stats are as follows

• Punches Thrown: 7976
  
• Estimated Calories Burned: 2968.75
  
• Fitness Age: 18
• Achievements Unlocked: 63%
  

Watched Paul Rodriguez Live from San Quinton, which originally aired on HBO back in 1995. It's one of the many weird DVDs I have in my collection, which I got in either 2001 or 2002.

Did some work on the Mass Effect short story commission, I should have that done before tonight's stream. 

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

The Return of Alice: Madness Returns

 Good morning everyone,

Yes I forgot to post yesterday's blog until the afternoon... my bad.

Work yesterday was great, with three completed interviews... but on the flip side, no work today because of Good Friday. I swear if I got paid for every time work was put off because of a day that is not a federal holiday, I would be in good shape. Oh well...

Last night's stream saw me starting up Alice: Madness Returns, and I can't remember exactly when I played the PC before, but it was a few years ago, so going through the tutorial was great to remember how to play. I am impressed with how responsive the controls are, and for the most part I can zip around and avoid most damage I would take... but my bad game play skills and not remember how some enemies attack or defend. Take the tea pot enemies, I have to use the Pepper Grinder to stun them before diving in and using the Blade to break them... but remembering and re-learning the timing took a few attempts.

Now while there are only five chapters in the game... they are long chapters. In fact we only covered the entire first chapter and about half of the second chapter during the stream. Granted a big reason for the time it was taking for me to finish the first chapter was due to me trying to find all the collectables... and I'm rather perplexed on how I missed the ones I did. 

I also have to say I love the art style of Alice: Madness Returns, despite being released in 2011, it still holds up extremely well.

I was asked by Striker if I played the original American McGee's Alice which was released in 2000, and the answer is... nope. But I do know the Xbox 360 version of Alice: Madness Returns includes the original game, so maybe after I finish A:MR we'll play AM:A.

Alice: Madness Returns Achievements

• No Happy Returns: Back to Wonderland
• Snicker-snack!: Acquire the Vorpal Blade
• Ground Pork: Acquire the Pepper Grinder
• Strike a Deal: Upgrade a Weapon
• End of Innocence: Complete Vale of Tears
• Hatter's Demise: Complete Wonderland Chapter 1
• Strange Hobby: Acquire the Hobby Horse
• Weapon Schizo: Hobby Horse to Vorpal Blade to Hobby Horse Combo
• No quarter! No mercy!: Defeat 100 Ruin Enemies
• Dress-Ups: Equip a Different Domain Dress

For the raid we dropped in on SweetLindir who was playing some board games during their stream at twitch.tv/SweetLindir

The plan for tonight is not to play Spider-Man, but instead Elder Scrolls Online. The reason is because Striker will not be available on Saturday for the normal ESO night, so this week ESO is tonight, and Spider-Man will be tomorrow.

Watched a few movies last night Rocky Balboa, The Replacements & The Big Tease.... and also did some more writing on the Mass Effect short story commission, I figure it's about 60% complete at this point. And also did several runs of Hades, earning more achievements and knocking out various in-game objectives.

Hades Achievements

• War-God's Bloodlust: Fulfill the 'War-God's Bloodlust' Prophecy
• Rare Collectible: Equip a Chthonic Companion
• Musician and Muse: Fulfill the 'Musician and Muse' Prophecy
• Dark Reflections: Fulfill the 'Dark Reflections' Prophecy

Oh and I now have a 12 day streak of Xbox achievements, earring 83 over that time frame. It's not often I get a streak of more than a few days so that's pretty cool

On that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

We finished a main story in ESO!

Good morning everyone,

Well yesterday started with me calling my dad back after he called me late the previous night. Surprisingly civil conversation. Do know he's heading to Indiana next week, for what I do not know.

Did find an exterior plug which explains how my mom used the lawn trimmer, so I can easily deal with the grass without having to worry about leaving the front door open for an extension cord.

Last night's stream of Elder Scrolls Online saw Striker and I finish the main story quest, and it was pretty cool in terms of wrapping up the story with Lord Vivic. There are still a lot of side quests to cover in the Vvardenfell, and I'll like to get those done before we move into other areas of the game. Was pleased to see by completing a main story quest resulted in earning an achievement. 

Of course the next time we play it will be on Friday, flipping it with Spider-Man this week because Striker will be unavailable on Saturday

The Elder Scrolls Online Achievements

• Champion of Vivec: Restore Lord Vivec's lost power, save Vivec City, and be named Champion of Vivec.

 For the raid we dropped in on Felkimchi while they were playing Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/felkimchi

And since we have a new week, that means tonight we're playing Overwatch! What carnage shall happen tonight? We'll just have to wait and see.

Finished The Mass Effect story common request and got the go-ahead to continue on with the next chapter of it. Also began writing the next installment of my Star Trek: Yar series which be based on the season one episode The Naked Now.

One thing on the agenda for today is laundry. You may ask why because I never go anywhere. But thing is while I do have a large stash of t-shirts, other garment I do not have much of. Figure doing laundry once every two weeks is about average.

Ended up watching Born in East LA last night following the stream... and I'm surprise my DVD copy had an aspect ratio of 4:3... still a funny movie if some of its jokes don't age well.

Also did more grinding in Hades last night as well clearing out several achievements. At this point I have 32 of the games 49 achievements. Does surprise me that I got good enough with this game's gimmicks to bang out successful runs

Hades Achievements

• Had to Happen: Fulfill any 15 Prophecies
• Tools of the Architect: Choose 50 different Daedalus Hammer enchantments
• Hold the Onions: Clear an Erebus Gate without taking damage
• Weapon of Fate: Clear an escape attempt with a hidden Weapon Aspect
• Bad Call: Use an Olympian's Greater Call against them in a Trial

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Being Spider-Man Chasing Pigeons

Good afternoon everyone,

Work was really bleh yesterday, I didn't mind it too much, but man, trying to interview New Yorkers is like pulling teeth... a lot of pain with little reward. Still at least next week everyone should be on the same playing field.

As for last night's stream, well a big focus was spent on side content, dealing with all the Demon thug encounters across the map, then finishing the last of the Osborn science labs, and finally progressing the story to where Peter is evicted from his apartment and Martin Li makes his move as Mr. Negative as well as the Batman-like origin story for Miles Morales. Basically we finished Act 1 with huge chunks of the side-stuff already done which is really cool and of course shows off the approach I take in games like this. Do everything you can before advancing the plot means the odds of getting achievements is higher.

And that paid off as I picked up 10 achievements last night, with the most pain in the ass one being the one involving finding Howard's Pigeons. Now don't get me wrong, I like the web-swining aspect of Spider-Man just fine... however trying to chase pigeons was a real pain the ass since they can change elevation rather easily. Still, very few people bothered doing the quest it, only 13% of players finishing it.  At this point I have 51% of the base game trophies unlocked.

Marvel's Spider-Man Trophies

• Arachnophobia: Perform 75 Stealth Takedowns
• R&D: Complete all Research Stations
• Cat's Out of the Bag: Collect a Black Cat collectible
• Cat Prints: Track down Black Cat
• Pigeon Hunter: Catch all of Howard's Pigeons
• Demons Emerge: Complete Act 1
• With Great Power...: Pay respects at Ben Parker's grave
• Born to Ride: Ride the Subway 5 times
• Hero for Higher: Perch atop Avengers Tower
• Science FTW!: Craft 15 Upgrades

For the raid we dropped in on tokushoutsu during the marathon of  Kamen Rider Kuuga over at twitch.tv/tokushoutsu

The plan for tonight's stream is more Elder Scrolls Online as Striker and I will continue our misadventures.

Of course, Striker told me next week he'll be out of town to go see some the Anaheim Angels face the Toronto Blue Jays, so we're going to flip the nights Elder Scrolls Online and Spider-Man, with ESO on Friday and Spider-Man on Saturday.

Marvel's Avengers is coming to the end of its poorly thought out 'game as a service' life later this year and all of the premium content is being unlocked for free. So yeah I did re-install the game on my Xbox One just to log in and claim all the goodies. Which means I'll keep the big box collectors edition for the PS4 I got during the Square Enix permanently sealed. Also managed to get an achievement that apparently was glitched way back in 2020!

Marvel's Avengers Achievements

• Trying on Perfection: Earn a 100% rating on a mission without any team member being downed

Yes I did do the dishes after last night's stream.. haha

Also made one of those insta-pasta packets for tonight's dinner. Seemed like a nice alternative and it'll go well with pop corn shrimp. 

Did a fair bit of writing as it relates to the Mass Effect short story commission, I should be able to finish it before tonight's stream.

Got a new toilet brush, and it should be impossible for me to snap the handle on it (still not sure how i snapped the old one's handle in the first place)

Watched Strange Brew last night... such a hilarious movie, all I know about Canadian culture I learned from watching this movie... and old SCTV re-runs (I'm kidding)

This weeks Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star stats are as follows...

• Punches Thrown: 10681
• Estimated Calorie Burn: 4000.01 kcal
• Fitness Age: 18
• Achievements Unlocked" 60%
  

 And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Constantly Getting Loss Is apart of the ESO experience

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream of Elder Scrolls Online certainly was interesting. Of course were were joined by Striker and made some progress knockout a few side quests... but them my in ability to actually finding my way from point A to point B popped up... and somehow, I kept losing track of wherever Striker went, like there were no on-screen indicator of how to track him down. Then on top of that, we ran into a glitched quest... as if that has never happened before  in a Bethesda game I've played.

Still, did have my first group Dungeon experience, and there is clearly some long queue times, in fact nearly two hours waiting in the queue to get into a dungeon. Still it's very straight forward, and much like with Final Fantasy XIV, you will not see my ass tanking or playing a mage in ESO, because it's tough enough playing the role of a damage dealer!

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal while they were playing Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/kalenal

Of course it's Sunday night, which means Overwatch 2 is on tonight's agenda, with the super casual approach I'm taking since I've already knocked out the Season's Battle Pass

Heard an interesting fan theory that connects Mass Effect Andromeda's Vetra to Mass Effect's lead villain Saren, indication that she is his daughter. There are a lot of hoops to job through to make that work, but there are lot of tie-ins between ME:A and the rest of the franchise that works on so many levels.

Got a fair amount of writing done yesterday for the Dragon Ball short story commission, don't think it'll pass 2000 words in total though.

Made the mistake in saying I needed a HDMI switcher when what I need is an HDMI splitter, this way I can take the output signal that passes through my capture card  and direct to the monitor and TV.

Recorded the 3rd video of a series involving going through a bunch of 45s to see if I can find the music on them on Spotify. The video of that experience will be on YouTube around April 17th

Rearranged a large chunk of my basement as well, my bed is no longer viewable on camera, the stacks of DVD cases are off the one side. I'm really thinking of just getting a fairly sized rug to throw down on the floor. Everything is not where I want it to be yet as I still need to get the deep freezer out of here... but it is closer to how I wanted it to look for years.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

So much to do in Spider-Man

Good afternoon everyone,

I must have been exhausted yesterday, because I slept for nearly 12 hours today....

Work yesterday was... alright, got one complete interview, but the shift was ended much earlier than anyone would have thought. Five bucks says its because of the lack of people willing to work Friday afternoons. Really should consider working Mondays instead of Fridays.

Moved the flat-screen TV that was in the living room down to the basement, and how I figure is that once certain furniture is moved around, it'll be in a perfect spot for when doing any local co-op. I should get a second HDMI splitter for output from the Elgato this way I can switch between the TV and my main monitor. Will I get a Roku or a similar type device? At some point yeah, but it's a very low priority

Last night's stream of Spider-Man certainly saw a big example of my focus when it comes to open-world games, as I spent a large amount of time on the side activities, doing all of the King Pin's bases, finding all the landmarks and doing nearly all of the Science Labs... only to find out, a couple require specific skills unlocked! Boo! But we did kick Shocker's ass a couple of times, ran into Mary Jane and had a fun time seeing the plot slowly (very slowly) advance. 

I did look at the trophy list  and I can almost guarantee I'm not going for 100% completion, but I will do as much as I can that seems reasonable But near as I can tell, I'm going to end up doing a lot of the main story in next week's stream as I need to level up to unlock specific skills..

Marvel's Spider-Man Trophies

• Spider-Man About Town: Greet 10 citizens
• All the King's Men: Take down each Fisk Hideout
• Sightseeing: Photograph all Landmarks on the Map
• Neighborhood Watch: Complete all Faction Crimes in a district
• Sticky and Tricky: Chain 4 unique tricks before landing
• Snappy Dresser: Wear 5 new Spider-Suits
• Shock and Awe: Defeat Shocker

For the raid we dropped in on maximilian_dood who was playing the new Resident Evil 4 remake over at twitch.tv/maximilian_dood

The plan for tonight's stream is more Elder Scrolls Online, as Striker and I will continue out quests and adventures. Back up plans include things like Smite and other stuff.

This week's Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Stats are

• 51% of Achievements Unlocked
• Punches Thrown: 8803
• Estimated Calorie Burn: 3545.76
• Fitness Age: 19

Have to make sure I do the dishes today, used a lot more than usual this week because of all the fresh food I got to eat!

Also plan to do some writing on the Dragon Ball shorty story commission, already got the basic intro written, granted I had to do do a time skip to get things lined up to when Videl and Gohan are married.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Another Saturday In ESO

Good morning everyone,

God a small bit of writing done yesterday, a lot less than I planned because I got caught up with some things around the house, laundry, dishes and other stuff. Oh well.

Did have a hard time getting the stream started last night, as my Internet speeds were way down from what I'm now paying. It sorted itself out, but again it proves to me Comcast can really be a pain in my ass at the wrong times!

Last night's stream of Elder Scrolls Online was a lot of fun, as Striker and I got a lot of side quests done. Striker went ahead earlier in the day to find a lot of the fast travel points which cut down on travel time. The story in Vvardenfell is getting pretty good as it turns out the cause of the living god's depleting power is caused by a dude named Chode... not really his name, but I call him Chode. The in-game wanted level is certainly a hindrance, and I can imagine if you don't have a Soul Gem to revive where you die it gets even worse. I mean I get why it's such a thing, but the time it takes to deplete just acts as a real deterrent of going into the towns for quest progression

Anyway, I really did enjoy the side quest for the Scarlet Judge, and love that we were awarded with the attire of the in-game vigilante to wear as a costume.

For the raid we dropped in on Hawleigh who was doing a Food and Drink stream over at twitch.tv/hawleigh

It's Sunday which means tonight's stream will be featuring Overwatch 2! Voice chat will be in my Discord!

Expecting a visit from my Aunt Grace and Cousin Frances this afternoon, which will be really cool 

Something I forgot to get when I did a small bit of grocery shopping the other day was getting some moon pies... I mean come on, they go great with RC Cola! (Yes I prefer RC Cola to Coke and Pepsi)  

Really looking forward to getting some things out of the Basement, it'll really open up things up and I can make it look nicer on camera.

My NCAA tournament brackets are already invalid...  then again I just made picks at random, so I'm not surprised at all!

So I unlocked Advanced Combo #2 in Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star and talk about a nightmare and is probably the most difficult combination of motions I've seen in the Fitness Boxing games so far, because it involves Sways,Blocking Motions and Body Hooks. Doing it on Hard Difficulty and at a Fast pace was just brutal!

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Spider-Man for the PS4 Is Pretty Fun

Good morning everyone,

Work yesterday was another solid day, but they called shift early because not enough people want to work the final hour on a Friday afternoon. Still it was a productive day and I like that

Did some light grocery shopping to supplement some things, adding a couple to provide some variety to what I've been eating. 

Last night's stream of Marvel's Spider-Man was a lot of fun, we're playing it on Friendly difficulty, and I could take it or leave it with the combat, while trying to keep track with a lot of enemies. I do struggle with larger enemies, to the point the Kalenal pointed out that I should try not getting hit (good advice by the way). Still, I did enjoy a lot of the game mechanics when it came to web slinging and went about getting all of the Backpacks collected and fixing all of the towers. 

Basically I'm taking the same approach I had with Saints Row '22, in doing every new task first before advancing the main story. It's how I get the most out of open world games, plus it keeps me from having to think to much in regards to keeping various game gimmicks in mind.

I did run into one notable issue with Spider-Man, and that's the lack of foresight when it came to quips he says after finishing off a group of villains around the city. In fact I could swear I heard the same line three times in less than five minutes,

Marvel's Spider-Man Trophies

• Knocking Down Kingpin: Defeat Fisk
• Lost and Found: Collect 5 Backpacks
• Spider-Sensible: Perfect Dodge 10 attacks
• Amazing Coverage: All Surveillance Towers activated
• And Stay Down!: Complete a level 1 Combat Benchmark
• King of Swing: Complete a level 1 Traversal Benchmark
• Wing It: Traverse across the city rooftops
• Backpacker: Collect all Backpacks
• The Scientific Method: Craft your first Upgrade

For the raid we dropped in on maximilian_dood as their stream was getting started, they took a look at the King trailer for Tekken 8 and tried out a randomizer for Resident Evil 2 Remake. You can check them out at twitch.tv/maximilian_dood

The plan for tonight's stream is to play Elder Scrolls Online, if things fall through we got several alternatives that we can play instead

I will not be surprised if Square Enix ends up being bought out by Sony within the next two years. Not because Sony wants to keep it out of Microsoft's hands, but because Square Enix has been and is making some of the stupidest decisions possible

On Monday, my brother and I are going to try and get a few things out of the basement through the rear doors. For sure an exercise bike and the old couch that used to be featured on my streams is getting tossed. But I need to literally clear a path to get this huge TV out of here as well. Safe to say tonight's stream will look different as a result.

Here is this weeks stats for Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star

• Punches Thrown: 8224
• Estimated Calorie Burn: 3296 kcal
• Fitness Age: 18
• 41% of Achievements Unlocked
  

Didn't do any writing last night due to the moving of furniture and stuff , but I intend to work on the Daria commission request this afternoon.

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

A Saturday Of Variety

Good morning everyone,

Song of the Day: Good Lovin' by The Young Rascals 

To say that Daylight Savings Time has already screwed with me is an understatement... I hate the switching of clocks for some bullshit reason that was already disproven scientifically!

Last night's stream ended up having a bit of a variety with it, starting with Elder Scrolls Online. Managing to close out a couple of quests started a few weeks ago. Big thank you to LvStrkR for being apart of the fun on this, but sadly, they weren't feeling well. Hope they feel better soon.

So instead of continuing ESO, I switched over to Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, working on the 'campaign' a bit, maxed out Ulala, unlocked Shadow The Hedgehog and Ryse... and really struggled on some things that I thought would be easy. Did get one achievement during it

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed Achievements

• Sonic Drift: Did a 10 second Drift as Sonic

We closed out the night playing some Smite, getting in matches as Aphrodite, Artemis and Athena, winning 2 and losing 2. Certainly rain into a fair amount of trolls with people backing out of matches, leaving during the match or staying in the spawn.

Of course with it being Sunday, that means tonight's stream will be focused on Overwatch 2, voice chat will again be in the Discord!

Thank you to Kalenal for the raid following their stream of Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/kalenal

For the raid we dropped in on GGVexy who was playing Sun Haven over at twitch.tv/ggvexy

Something that pissed me off was people complaining about visual markers in games, sorry buttercup, but not all of us want to 'engaged' with a game on some deeper level. Visual markers are a great way to indicate where something might be hidden or where to go.

Spoke with my brother yesterday, and more than likely there will be a Saturday stream where I start a lot earlier than normal and end earlier because we'll be taking a trip up to North Jersey to visit some family up there, and it's a two hour drive there... and a two hour drive back.

Didn't do any writing yesterday, as Friday night's stream kicked my ass... that's what I get for seeing an opportunity to finish a game and going for it without realizing how long somethings might end up being!

And on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

ESO with a Detour Into the DCU

Good afternoon everyone,

Today's post will be shorter than normal because apparently my initial draft was not saved! In fact I had to save a copy of this in a txt file, because Blogger was just not saving anything, not even when I closed the browser!

Anyway last night's stream of The Elder Scrolls Online was a bit problematic because it soft locked on the Xbox One, which was just weird. There was no reason for it near as I could tell, so after some frustration I just switched to DC Universe Online, and we knocked out one mission in it. Hey, it's fine game to have as a back up MMO since it's free to play.

I did end up installing ESO on the Xbox Series console, and there were no problems with it. So I'm guessing whatever went on with ESO on the Xbox One was due to Bethesda's poor quality control. We got several quests done and I'm looking forward to see where the current series of plotlines go. That said, I do find navigating and just getting around in general to find places to be a chore, thank goodness LvStrkr is helping out in a big way!

Also, thank you to LvStrkr for gifting me the High Isle Collector's Edition Upgrade for Elder Scrolls Online, it was great to get a mount!

For the raid we dropped in on tokushoutsu during the marathon of  Chouriki Sentai Ohranger over at twitch.tv/tokushoutsu!

Watched the 1998 film Dark City yesterday afternoon, mostly because I had a bit of writer's block. It was a pretty damn good film, clearly a noir setting with some great sci-fi elements. Can't believe I never saw it before... despite clearly having it on VHS since at least 1999!

As far as the writing goes, with yet another WWE Short story to work on, I'm just going to resort to just continuing the story it's a sequel too, because quite honestly, I have no ideas for a solid set up.

Today's Fitness Boxing Fist of the North Star workout featured Beginner Combo #2, Straight COmbo #2 and Beginner Combo #1

Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star Achievements

• Rising Star Lv. 4 - Get a total of 48 starts during light workouts
• Champion Star Lv. 3 - Get a Total of 36 stars during regular workouts
• Good Score Lv. 1 - Score at least 70 points with Beginner Combo 32 (light)
• Flyweight Puncher Lv. 2 - Reach a total punch count of 7500 HITs

"Where do boats go when they're sick?" "To the boat doc."

Song of the Day: The Track of My Tears by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles

For tonight's stream, we'll be playing Overwatch 2. Since I'll be playing the console version, voice chat will be done via discord!

So on that note we'll see you later tonight over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Chapter 14 of FF7-Remake took the entire stream?!

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Final Fantasy VII Remake was interesting, as Chapter 14 took the entire stream. Now if I was just tearing through and doing only the main story, we could've done a few chapters probably, but I put in the time to do all the side quests in the area, which took a lot of time, including having too look up where to go in some instances.

That said, it really did reek of padding in some instances because only in Chapter 14 do you unlock a fast travel option, but by the time you do there is no point, or at least in my case, because I would try and do multiple side quests at the same time to get done. Still, at the very least, I have done every side quest, so I should be getting the trophy for doing them in the coming weeks assuming there is one more town to explore and to get a feel for.

For the raid we dropped in on dont_run_x while they were playing Tom Clancy's The Division 2 over at twitch.tv/dont_run_x

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) Trophies

• Crate Annihilator: Complete all Normal difficulty Whack-a-Box challenges.
• Picking Up the Pieces: Complete Chapter 14.

Didn't have work yesterday, so I took advantage to get a rough idea of how many LP vinyl records I have (roughly 200) while also searching for proper storage containers for them. The YouTube videos going through them to inventory what I have is going to be interesting because I have some stuff that goes back to the 1960s.

Finished the Daria short story commission last night, and that was a lot of fun to work on. Now I have a WWE (groan) short story commission to work on next

I have a sneaking feeling someone stole something from my front porch today, as I saw a notification for something being delivered, but by the time I woke up and checked, I saw the front gate wide open and nothing at my front door. 

Today's Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star workout featured Uppercut Combo #2, Straight Combo 32 and Straight Combo #1. It is possible to actually get 100 hits during a Boss Battle if you do well enough during your Special Technique portion. Also you don't have to do the daily workout to get the stamp, simply doing the daily missions contribute to building a streak as well.

Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star Achievements

• Stage Master: Exercise on all stages
• Rising Star Lv.3 - Get a total of 36 stars during (light) workouts
• Flyweight Puncher Lv. 1 - Reach a total punch count of 6000 HITS
• Shin's Stage Cleared Lv.2 - Complete Shin's stage (Regular)
  

"I got carded at a liquor store, and my Blockbuster card accidentally fell out. The cashier said never mind."

Song of the Day: Chain of Fools by Aretha Franklin

For tonight's stream, the plan is continue Elder Scrolls Online to get more of a feel for it.

So on that note, we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

 

 

Elder Scrolls Online A Learning Experience

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream of Elder Scrolls Online was an experience, the first being that my old Bethesda Account apparently would not link with my Xbox account, so I had to create a new one. Once we got into the game it was amazing how kind of pick up and play is with the tutorial... as one of my biggest concerns was trying to grasp how a PC MMO would work on console with a whole lot fewer buttons to work with... and it works fine.

Now I do feel it is a lot like Fallout 76 in many ways, with the limits on how much you can carry, but is par for the course I believe. As a replacement for Final Fantasy XIV, it works fine, and as long as I have someone to team up with, it'll be pretty entertaining as I'm kind of going for an ambush style of game play because that seemed the most simple. Oh... and I went with an Wood Elf that uses daggers as weapons... because, why the hell not? 

On a side note, I did feel navigating to be less intuitive than Fallout 76, as the compass shows so many icons on it that it was easy for me to get lost!

As for the audio lag I keep noticing, well... I keep searching for new fixes, and I thought I resolved it before the stream, but nope! Well, here's hoping the fix I found for tonight will work

For the raid we dropped in on TracyDoll who was playing Friday the 13th: The Game over at twitch.tv/tracydoll 

Nearly finished the WWE short story commission, I was hoping to finished it yesterday afternoon, but I ended up getting distracted with a few things around the house.

Did watch Episode 1 of Star Trek Picard's third season and I'm almost tempted to subscribe to see the rest of the season as it did catch my interest.... but... nah!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Intermediate Combo #1, Triple Combo #2 and Defensive Combo #1.

Found out that Fitness Boxing: Fist of the North Star comes out digitally on March 2nd... a shame it's not getting a physical release in the United States, guess having to import the Japanese version will have to do.... which is funny because that one has the tag line "You Are Already Thin". In fact I recorded a video explaining my history with the Fitness Boxing games while trying out the Demo

"What's the best thing about Switzerland?" "I don't know, but the flag is a big plus."

Song of the Day:"Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price

For tonight's stream, we're playing Overwatch 2, and of course I'll be using the console version, so any voice chat will be done via Discord. Though there may be a way to merge that with Xbox live. We'll might have to test that some day

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

It's the Weekend

Good afternoon everyone

Yesterday was kind of weird as when I was working I got a notification that my Facebook account was suspended, and apparently its because my Instagram account got hacked. Thankfully I was able to resolve it, but I did have to take 30 minutes out of work to get it fixed.  But work itself was solid, got an interview done which is always a good feeling

Last night's stream of Final Fantasy VII Remake opened up with a boss fight and was very action packed, as Chapters 10 through 13 had a ton of combat, including a section where playing as Barrett is the focus of. Of course, the fact that Jessie was killed off because of the whole Shinra dropping the plate on Sector 7 plot device, it does take the wind out of the sails for the game. Still she went out like a bad ass in my humble opinion.

Now from what I can tell there are five more chapters left, So depending on pacing we might be able to finish it on next Friday's stream. Depends on if we got a big area to explore and do side quests or note.

Eagle eye viewers would have noticed than when I came back from my break I seemed upset... I ended up thinking about mom, and every time I do it just hits me hard. 

For the raid we dropped in on DaemonsW0lf who was playing Hunt: Showdown over at twitch.tv/daemonsw0lf

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4) Trophies

• Sewer Survivor: Complete Chapter 10.
• Paranormal Investigator: Complete Chapter 11.
• The Collapse: Complete Chapter 12.
• Broken Dreams: Complete Chapter 13.

I do plan to do some writing this afternoon to try and knock out a WWE Short Story Commission, and I did get another request to do afterward based on Daria which I'm really excited to get to.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 workout featured Difficult Challenge Combo #1, Block Combo and Defensive Combo #2.

 "What did Baby Corn say to Mama Corn?" "Where's Pop Corn?"

Song of the Day: Opposites Attract by Paula Abdul

For tonight's stream, the plan is to try out Elder Scrolls Online, which was gifted to us by LvlStkr earlier this week as a possible replacement for Final Fantasy XIV. We'll see how long it takes me to get through the tutorial!

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

 

Relearning how to play Overwatch on Console Is An Experience

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Overwatch 2 was certainly an experience as playing four hours of it via console is way differently than playing on the computer, as I had to calibrate how fast the camera turned so that I could lock on the opposing players faster. Used a variety of characters, D.va, Reinhardt, Orissa, Mei, Junkrat, Ashe, Ana and Junker Queen. We had a wild mix of wins and losses over the course of the night. Big thanks to PandaSweet for being apart of the  fun as well!

Now off stream I'll still play Overwatch 2 on PC, since I did get use to some of the handicaps I now have to deal with thanks to a weaker graphics card to work with. So I'll still be using that to knock out quick dailies.

Did have an issue with Discord in getting it work correctly, as it was giving me no audio and there doubts about folks hearing me through it. It got sorted, but it'll be interesting if that becomes a regular problem or not whenever I want to use it for voice chat while teaming up with folks!

For the raid we dropped in on MissGammi316 who was also playing Overwatch 2 over at twitch.tv/missgammi316 

Big thanks to LvStrikR for gifting me Elder Scrolls Online on the XBox side... since Final Fantasy XIV is on the shelf for the foreseeable future, that could be our new weekly MMO. Actually that reminded me, I did play a lot of DC Universe Online for a time too.. so that could be a contender. In fact I loaded up DC Universe Online onto my Xbox One... and quickly learned whatever progression I did years ago on the Steam version does not progress over.

Overwatch 2 Achievements

• Centenary: Win 100 games in Quick or Competitive Play.
• Coup De Gracie: Use Junker Queen’s Jagged Blade and Carnage to pull and kill an enemy in Quick or Competitive 

DC Universe Online Achievements

• Platinum Pace: Earn a platinum medal in any race.

Started writing the next Mass Effect short story commission and got the opening set up done, and while it involves Shepard, he's not in the scene. 

My brother Leo and his family came over yesterday, with some important paper work for me to fill out, as well as bringing over the big portrait of mom that was at her funeral. It's currently in the living room. 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Weaving Combo #2, Straight Combo #1 and Triple Combo #1.

"What do you call someone with no body and no nose? Nobody knows."

Song of the Day: Do That To Me One More Time by Captain & Tennille

For tonight's stream we shall be starting up the story mode of WWE 2K22, and as promised, we'll feature a female created character. Wonder what creative options we'll have to work with at the start.

So on that note we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!