Today's Notes 12/25/20

Good evening everyone,

And Merry Christmas, now yes I am very late with today's notes, hell I didn't eat anything until after 5 PM EST, as I woke up after 1 PM EST and family came over (and boy the smiles on my nieces' faces when they saw their presents was awesome).

Anyway, last night's Star Trek Online stream saw us going through the Spectres story arc, one of three major piece of Star Trek Online's story that was removed from the main story because of sheer stupidity on behalf of the developers. When a game like Star Trek Online has such little content that isn't focused around grinding, the last thing they should've done was REMOVE THINGS THAT WERE IMPORTANT TO THE FUCKING STORY! Seriously, the fact that I'm wanting to continue the Glory For The Empire series means that I had a reason to go into things that should've already been done months ago, as the Spectres story arc is supposed to take place before dealing with Nimbus III.... (roughly level 10-20 give or take), but since it, along with Lost Dominion and Cold War are level lock, players don't get to experience those missions until much later on. Lost Dominion and Cold War are even more important, as one explains the relationship Weyoun has with the player and the other explains why everyone knows about the Preserver archive during the Iconian war. 

Ah well, I did do Fitness Boxing today, and had a solid workout. Felt my timing was just a bit off with jabs out of the Orthodox stance as well as with right uppercuts from the Southpaw stance. The routine was focused on stamina at a regular tempo so it was certainly more combat, without a sense of warming up and cooling down. Also today marked two weeks of Fitness Boxing 2.

Not sure exactly what I'm doing for tonight's stream over on twitch.tv/fredcasden, but I'll be coming up with something! Anyway, short post today, but we'll see ya later! 

Today's Notes 12/24/20

Good afternoon everybody,

It's Christmas Eve, or as the folks in Animal Crossing New Horizons call it 'Toy Day', a great day to exchange gifts a day early to Christmas, particularly if you are going to multiple places to visit family. Now be sure to be safe when traveling, Covid-19 is still a thing and with all the latest news about it mutating already, its best to error on the side of cautions!

Speaking of errors, why is it that when Donald Trump actually wants to do something that will help out people other than himself, the Republicans fuck things up? The fact that the stimulus package that Congress agreed too with $600 wasn't much but hell it would've help some! But Trump of course said the smart thing (one of the few times he actually done so) and pointed out it should be $2000, and while the Democrats straight up agreed, the Republicans basically shot it down with no justification. Just remember folks, the United States is the only country in the world during the Pandemic where its leaders basically have said 'fuck the people'

Last night's stream for my birthday was EPIC, huge thank yous to SuperHappyPuppy, Kalenal, PandaSweet, MarvelMaven, Iceman, DaemonsW0lf and so many others who made last night feel special. It was a long night, going 7 hours, and we did a ton of duets, nearly 50! I'm trying to think of when was the last time I did a 7 hour Twitch Sings stream and it had to be last year at some point. Again thank you so much for last night folks! Also next Thursday, December 31st will be my last Twitch Sings stream, and I talked to DaemonsW0lf, we're going to do a party, those in my discord will get first opportunities to join on the fun!

I picked up the Nintendo Switch version of Overwatch, and I was quick to notice that much like the Xbox One version, it's more of a slug fest on the objectives than compared to the PC version (which is what I mainly play for this game). The fact that I was able to basically get a play of the game right off the bat using McCree on the Switch basically showed me that there isn't much three-dimensional thinking on the console versions. Which is great from a PC player's perspective to just school some folks. Plus it helps that I've used McCree a ton lately on the PC version. And speaking of which I need to start working on getting 9 wins on the PC version to get the Anna Gingerbread skin.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 session was kept simple staying on the regular settings. My timing was a bit off with Right Uppercuts from the Orthodox stance, while from the Southpaw side, Right Hooks, Left Weaves and Right Uppercuts were a touch problematic. We also reached the 20,000 punches throw barrier, which means I'm 1/10th of the way of catching up to my total in the original Fitness Boxing. And since I'm still continuing doing dailies with the first game, that streak is up to 171 days. 

Tonight's stream will of course feature Star Trek Online, as we'll continue the Glory for the Empire series with the focus being on one of the three 'forgotten' story arcs, either Lost Dominion, Spectres, or Cold War. I'm still very much annoyed that these series of missions were turn into 'side content' when they all add to the overall story of Star Trek Online in explaining why certain things are said to the players in more recent episodes. Add onto the fact that another bunch of missions from the Federation side were scrapped, including the ones focused on Miral Paris is just a reminder of how stupid the people are at Cryptic studios. Look it's one thing to have universal content across all the faction, but the fact is there is too much parallel at the expense of making things feel unique. I would say that's just my opinion, but it's a fact.

Anyway we'll see ya later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

 

Today's Notes 12/23/20 - Happy Birthday to Me

 Good afternoon everyone,

Well it's December 23... which mean's I'm now a year older, certainly not wiser... but I think for many of us, 2020 has been a year many would like to forget. But time keeps moving forward, and well we all do what we can. Jokingly, as I am reminded year after year, I am virtually impossible to shop for because anything most things folks would get me as gifts I pretty much get myself. But I do appreciate all the birthday greetings I've gotten on Twitter, Discord and Facebook.

Last night's stream of ESPN Baseball 2K4 started early and ran about five and half hours, as my 2004 Philadelphia Phillis swept the Montreal Expos and Flordia Marlins in two three-game sets at home. One thing that bugged the hell out of me was why was Nick Johnson on the Expos roster. The A.I. didn't do a trade between the Expos and Yankees, the team I often associated Johnson with... and it turns out in December of 2003, the Yankees did traded him to Montreal with two other players for Claudio Vargas. But here's the thing, for as closely as I followed baseball in that time frame, for the life of me I don't remember Johnson ever playing for the Expos and later the Nationals. 

Today's Fitness Boxing session was solid, as we did the longer heavy workout which meant we did have a Hell Mode set to get through. Timing was a bit off today with Jabs, Center Ducks and Leave Weaves from the Orthodox stance and Jabs and straights from the Southpaw stance.  Since Fitness Boxing 2 has in-game achievements, we've already unlocked 30% of them... a lot of them does involve using other trainers.... so eventually I'll switch from using Lin... just not any time soon mind you. 

Loaded up Animal Crossing New Horizons, and so I experienced the 'Birthday' celebration, with Audie, Skye and Agnes being the ones throwing me a surprise birthday party which is pretty cool. It's little touches that, and the Halloween event from October that certainly keeps players wanting to continue playing it after getting the end credits to roll. Now of course December 24 is the in-game 'Toy Day' event, so good thing my inventory is filled with gifts for my Island residents lol.

Speaking of gifts, the great thing about having so many friends who are gamers is that they have Steam wish lists that makes it easy to shop for them, of course not everyone uses Steam or has a wish-list and I have to get a little creative. 

And that will wrap up today's notes, we'll see you later today for Twitch Sings over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Today's Notes 12/22/20

Good afternoon everybody,

I can safely say I didn't get to bed to about 5 AM because I went to work on putting together this year's music video featuring all 48 games finished this year. During the course of which I realized I forgot to list Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, so instead of 49 games, the total stays at 48 as we'll drop Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days since again it was more of a movie. I actually made two versions, one of which I'll show on New Years Eve since it using the audio track from my self-duet of 19th Nervous Breakdown, while the YouTube version using the Colonel Bogey March from YouTube's audio library... so both are different lengths but basically the same.

Last night we sat down and finally played The Shivah, and imagine my surprise to see not one but two direct references to the Blackwell Legacy series, with Roseangela Blackwell sending and e-mail to Rabbi Zelig and we see her in the bar towards the ends of the game, talking to someone who isn't there... which firmly places The Shivah after the events of The Blackwell Legacy, which also tells me Roseangel and Joey were investigating the death of Ethan Goldberg. You know I might make this game the topic of this weeks commentary on Friday... but oh besides all the Blackwell stuff, The Shivah is a good little game, it does have multiple endings so there some replay value. Because my family on my father's side is Jewish, it safe to say I got most of the Rabbi jokes... even if I am more of goy than anything else these days.

Today's Fitness Boxing session was solid, kept it at regular settings so I didn't go through a No Mercy mode during today's routine. Did struggle a little with my timing for Left Uppercuts and Right Ducks from the orthodox stance and also with right hooks from the southpaw stance, but hey, it's a good thing I see those execution sections to get an idea of where my weaknesses are to try and do better next time!.

We also played some Super Smash Bros. Ultimate last night, and actually won three online matches as Min Min from the ARMS game. Which considering that was a game made to show off motion controls for the Nintendo Switch, makes me thing I should try to track down a copy of that game to try it. Now that I think about it I think most of my Online Wins in Smash.... which is a total of 25, involve Min Min lol. 

Tonight we'll probably start way before 9:30 PM with ESPN Baseball 2K4 and probably do two three-game series of our Philadelphia Phillies 2004 campaign. I will try not to brutalize the AI too much, but if I do I'll increase the difficulty to keep myself in check.

And on that note, that wraps everything up! See ya later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Today's Notes 12/21/20

Good afternoon everybody,

Hopefully you're all having a good day so far. Ordered myself a new blanket yesterday and it arrived today, which is good because this winter is a hell of a lot colder than the last few years.

Last night's stream of Overwatch was a lot of fun, as the changes made to the queue system in terms of letting folks queue up as flex (tank-damage-support) really speeds up wait times for getting into a match in Quick Play, as I spent a good portion of the stream playing as damage heroes. Big thanks to PandaSweet for joining in on the fun, we finished on a good stretch winning eight of the final ten matches we played last night!

We did do a bonus stream this morning of Ftiness Boxing 2, and outside of my background screen being out of position, it was pretty solid on all fronts, though I pissed some punches that I knew I threw... then again I accidentally threw the wrong type of punch twice. Still it was good solid effort, which featured a nice variety of movements across the board. 

Beyond Fitness Boxing, we dropped in on my Island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, where it was Blanche's birthday. Did saw something weird where it appeared two of my island residents (Pietro and Hopper) apparently had a heated argument... didn't think I'd see something like that. Also Sherb apparently had a really.... really weird sixth birthday where a clown entered his house and never left. Talk about strange!

We did also did a little Super Mario Bros 35 to close out the bonus stream and came in first place. It was a a quick run of this limited-time battle royal, but coming in first place is very rare, but the last few times I've played I have came in the top 10 more often than not, and with luck I can get into the top five, so I was probably due to win out right. Still it was a nice way to close out the stream.

Tonight, we'll be playing The Shivah, which is from the same people behind the Blackwell series of games. As mentioned before, it technically takes place in the same continuity as some of its characters appear in the same games. This should be interesting since Hanukkah just ended a few days ago, and good portion of The Shivah revolves around a rabbi. 

Did get a question of what's going to happen with my rabbit puppet, dubbed Philly because of his jersey, since he was a big part of Twitch Sings which is closing on January 1st. I'm really not sure, we might make a coin redeem where I use the secondary camera to have him pop in at the times where he provides some inane commentary ripping on me or something. Who knows. I'll figure something out involving him.

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

Today's Notes 12/20/20

Good afternoon everybody,

So last night after the stream I loaded up Super Smash Brothers Ultimate and tried out the Sephiroth Challenge, to not only unlock the villain from the most overrated video game of all time (Final Fantasy VII), but to see just how rusty I am at that game. Not that I was any good as Smash to begin with, but I think on a normal setting I could handle most things the A.I. could throw at me,  which is why I beat the challenge on Normal difficulty and yes I did it as Cloud. I can safely say the Sephiroth's stage takes way to damn long to transition through and thus the only way to really appreciate it in a match is to se the time length to its longest possible setting and hope for a match that takes longer than 90 seconds.

As I look back to one year ago with the split between me and Dare to Stream and I can safely say, that while my Twitch viewership totals may be down in comparison, I was able to meet and interact with far more people. The funny thing is, I've seen invites to join other 'stream teams' and they all have that same bullshit rule of only host and / or raid within the team which does nothing more than prop up the leadership's channels. Hell lets say the big channel of a team draws in say 20 viewers at the very start, but because they are starting right about when other members of the team are ending, they know because of the rules they are setting they are getting a boost in their start totals of say 2 or 3 viewers from a raid plus any lurkers still on the smaller channel's page who opted out of the raid.. It makes the leadership's stats look good in comparison. As I said, my viewership totals may be down in comparison to a year ago, but at least I not feeding into a machine to prop up someone else.

Now with that off my hairy chest (ha ha), last night's Twitch Sings stream was a lot of fun, with it being one of the final ones I'll be able to do. Perhaps the real highlight of it wast the duet of Gaston I did when I went beyond ham and straight on to bacon with my performance. In comparison to others I can safely say I'm not very animated so just cutting loose like that was a lot of fun. Of course we did a bunch of duets and solos last night... hell thought we may have lost one because Twitch Sings started to act really goofy.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 session was fairly solid from start to finish, even though I feel and the game actually pointed out that I struggled a lot with Right Hooks and Left Weaves from the Southpaw stance, which was a bit odd, considering I've been pretty damn consistent with Southpaw Right Hooks all week, since they normally thrown in the form of a jab-straight-jab-right hook combo, and today's combos were a little more different. Ah well, tomorrow is a new today.

Today being Sunday means that we'll be playing Overwatch this evening, I already have the Junkrat greenish elf skin unlocked from getting nine wins off stream since Tuesday. Still we'll see if we can help other folks get the skin if they don't already have it.

Also I've already finished (or beaten) 47 games this years, and since I want to start working on some end of the year video projects, I want to add one more game to the list to have an even 48. The game that will take that spot is called The Shivah, which was developed and published by the same folks behind The Blackwell series. Technically The Shiva sorta of takes place in the same universe as some characters came from it, so this is kind of like a prequel. I'll be playing this Monday night/

And with that said, we'll see ya later tonight over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Best of the Week December 13, 2020

Here are the best moments from my twitch channel (twitch.tv/fredcasden) for the week of December 13, 2020, which included Overwatch, Fitness Boxing 2, Animal Crossing New Horizons, Super Mario 35, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, ESPN Baseball 2K4, Star Trek Online, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Twitch Sings!