Another night of Side Questing in FFXIV

Good morning everyone

Last night's stream of Final Fantasy XIV saw us close in on completing all of the Side Quests in areas related to Shadowbringers, and I was surprised at how many the Viis have in their village, which was something like 17. Yes they are not meant to be done in a binge session, but it becomes really noticeable when you're cross-crossing the entire area. I have one more area of side quests to do in the Shadowbringers expansion areas before moving on to the areas that were added in Endwalker... which will be tougher because the enemies in each area will target me because I will not have the level buffer to prevent it.

Also got my Carpentry Skill up to level 48, while getting knocking out the skill quests for levels 35, 40 and 45 done. Still a long ways from getting it to level 70 to unlock what I believe is a Tribal Quest route in one of the Shadowbringers areas involving the Dwarfs. 

Stream also had a very weird reset about 90 minutes in, for one millisecond something became unstable but I didn't notice until the chat pointed it out. We did get notificaiton of a Windows 10 Update download in the background as well... so I kind of suspect that may have been the cause. Not looking forward to seeing what this Update breaks this time in terms of my audio settings.

Twitch Clips

• Fate Completed
• Making me lie out here and wait...
• There is something here 
  

For the raid we dropped in on Kalenal over at twitch.tv/kalenal as they were also playing FInal Fantasy XIV!  

Work was alright yesterday, was able to back door my way into something to feel semi-productive

Did some off-stream Dragon Ball FighterZ achievement hunting picking up two in the process and there could of been three. The first achievement Casual Combatant basically involved waiting for online non-ranked matches, and banged out 10 last night. Just need to play another 10 for another achievement. With Hyperbolic Heavyweight, it was a 7 match arcade ladder... and I had S ranks in the first 5 matches and an A rank in the 6th... but then lost in the 7th match for a D rank, followed by a C rank in the rematch... which brought the overall score to an A.

Dragon Ball FighterZ Achievements

• Casual Combatant: World Match - Play 10 Casual Matches.
• Hyperbolic Heavyweight: Arcade - Complete the Hyperbolic Time Chamber Course.

Popped into Fallout 76 just to make sure I do the dailies for the Crater to star building that reputation. There is said to be a glitch of some sort with the ones turned into Roxy to help make that quick, but i'm not 100% sure if it was patched out or not. 

Have to remember to resume work on the short story commission based on Mia Yim's return to the WWE, I do have the opening done, just need to figure out the meat and potatoes for its action sequence.

Today's Fitness Boxing2 daily workout featured Uppercut Combo #2, Front-Back Step Combo and Defensive Combo #1 for 28 minutes.

I watched hockey before it was cool. They were basically swimming.

Song of the Day:Tequila by Dan + Shay

For tonight's stream the plan is to feature Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, we'll probably do every song on easy, including all the DLC tracks. Should be a fun night.

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

We Found The Buried Treasure In Fallout 76

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Fallout 76 saw a big focus on finishing the Wastelander's main story quest by doing the vault raid for the gold treasure. It wasn't too bad... outside of the sponge absorbing robots! I actually had to break out the power armor to make it through it, and used a ton of ammo along with different weapons to get it done. But it was worth it as now it put me in a good spot to really consider doing the daily Crater mission to try and get the reputation up to Allies in order to nab the Ammo Fabricator.

So tt this point, I really have one major story thing in game I want to do and that is to drop a nuke in-game. But as I said a few weeks ago, I'm going to need a lot of help for that because of the bunker.

Beyond that, we were joined by Iceman which was awesome, as we helped him with a couple of his quests in the Steel Reign story arc. Considering how he's helped me through both Division games since I added the Xbox One back in February of 2020 it is nice to return the favor!

Fallout 76 Achievements

• Go for the Gold: Complete "Buried Treasure"

Twitch Clips

• That's All I Needed To Hear
• It's Gonna Blow! 
• Good Thing I Wasn't Using A Fat Man
  

For the raid we dropped in on BestiBunni who was doing some video editing live on stream over at twitch.tv/bestibunni! 

Considering the uncertain future for Twitter under Elon Musk, I reinitiated my Tumblr as another place to promote my Twitch Channel.  

Work was meh yesterday... a few leads but nothing solid that I could capitalize on because of the assignment we're on. Really wish we would have the useful info that is at the end of each interview up front to try and make things easier.

The Republicans blatant use of gerrymandering is on full display as many districts that were firmly Democratic strong holds were redone to favor Republicans running for Congress

Did some late night Overwatch 2 playing  by joining SweetLindir in a few games during their stream last night over at twitch.tv/sweetlindir!

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Defensive COmbo #2, Intermediate COmbo #1 and Triple Combo #2 for 31 minutes. We're up to over 43 hours on Sophie for her Champion EX Achievement. Trying to get it on or by Thanksgiving.

What's the most terrifying word in nuclear physics? "Oops!"

Song of the Day: Cool Girl by Tove Lo

For tonight's stream we are back to Final Fantasy XIV, with a focus on side questing in the Shadowbringers areas!

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

The Enemy Warrior Arc Of Dragon Ball FighterZ Is Done!

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream of Dragon Ball FighterZ certainly lasted longer than expected when it came to getting through the Enemy Warrior arc of the story mode. Granted I've been going through every single fight to try and grind up Levels for Goku to get Link Level 40 as well as 1,000,000 Zeni... but it did occur to me what the biggest problem with the story mode is. 

You see, the story of Dragon Ball FighterZ basically should have been executed in a similar format as the Xenoverse games, which actually would justify the level grinding method and the number of fights against 'minion' version of the game's launch cast. In short Dragon Ball FighterZ suffers from the same problem Jump Force did... but multiplied by three for normal difficulty (or six if one includes the hard version of the 3 story arcs.

That said next Tuesday we'll start up the Android 21 version of the story which will feature Android 18 in the lead role. And from what I understand Goku doesn't become available until after clearing board 11 or 12, which means it'll be a frantic push to use him in all the remaining fights. I do figure it'll take two maybe three  weeks to clear the Android 21 arc, depending on the number of total fights.

On a side note, less than 4% of Xbox players completed the Enemy Warrior arc of Dragon Ball FighterZ with even fewer completing the Android 21 arc, so I'll be in good company when I accomplish that.

Dragon Ball FighterZ Achievements

• Ho ho ho... What an Unexpected Thrill: Story - Complete the Enemy Warrior Arc.

Twitch Clips

• Check Out MasakoX On YouTube For What If Freiza Turned Good!
• That's a Counter! 
• Enemy Warrior Arc Final Battle... Frieza Gets The Final Hit!
  

For the raid we dropped in on PowerThumbz who was playing Tom Clancy's The Division 2 over at twitch.tv/powerthumbz! 

Finished the NXT short story commission and quickly picked up one for another WWE one based on the sudden return of Mia Yim. Did get started on writing it to make sure to include one of a few requested plot elements.

I would like to know what part of me telling people what hours I am an am not available do they not understand. I am not cutting my daily workout short for no one.

Speaking of which Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Difficult Challenge COmbo #1, Biceps Shape Focus Combo and Difficult Challenge Combo #3 for 34 minutes.

Why didn't the astronaut come home to his wife? He needed his space.

Song of the Day: Best of You by Foo Fighters

For tonight's stream we are back to Fallout 76 with the initial focus being on the Raiders Vault Raid, and hopefully we can knock that out in easy fashion.

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

First Impression of Star Trek Prodigy: SuperNova

Good morning everyone,

Last night's stream we started playing Star Trek Prodigy: SuperNova, and my first impressions of it is this... it's a great couch co-op game. Clearly for a lot of its puzzles, it took inspiration from the Lego video games in terms of each of the playable characters (Dal and Gwyn) have their own unique abilities. Such as Dal has more ranged abilities and can lift heavy objects, while Gwyn can form a bridge and is more a brawler.. The puzzles are logic based, and if you're playing with someone  it certainly would make things a lot more fun in terms of figuring things out, but other wise you're just swapping between characters as you would in a Lego video game.

The game does a 'fair' job of getting the characters personalities across, but it's really clear that its aimed at people who already have seen the show up through the middle of the first season. It is great that Kate Mulgrew is voicing Janeway in more than just Star Trek Online, but I noticed something weird with the voice over work and audio mixing is a little weird, such as I could hear Dal's voice actor literal breathing into the microphone, or some dialog being mixed to sound quieter than it should've been. I'm going to assume either some audio takes were used because of a rushed development cycle

Which does lead into another, in that for a game that is cross-gen on the Xbox side, saying that its optimized for Xbox Series consoles is a bit of a stretch, because I did notices some actual frame rate issues at times. There was also an instant where the controls were not responding forcing for a reload of a check point, and much like the stuff with the audio, I'm chocking it up to a rushed development cycle.

So why am I saying that? Well too be honest, Star Trek Prodigy: SuperNova is clearly a budget title to some degree, while visually it's not a bad looking game, it is clearly aimed at those who have seen the shown, which is a young audience. and while someone who is 10 may not notices (or care) about the things I noticed, I personally would say nab it when it's on sale, and preferably with another person, because it will make the game play experience more enjoyable.

That said, I'm looking forward to continuing it next Monday! On a side note. Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova isn't listed over on Hover

Star Trek Prodigy: Supernova Achievements

• Restoring the Protostar: You finished Orisi Level 1: Destiny Mountain and returned to the Protostar
• Guess who's back: You rescued Jankom Pog!
• The Clock is Ticking: You finished Orisi Level 2: Caves of the Forgotten.
• A Helping Hand: A crewmember beamed in to help out during combat.
• One for the Crew: You completed a Crew Member Mission.
• Punny Lover: You found half of all Punnies.
• Back online: You finished Orisi Level 3: Heart of Sand and got Protostar systems back online.
• Three Watchers, Two Phasers: You hit 3 enemies with Dal's Dual Phasers simultaneously.
• Up your Arsenal: You unlocked a new weapon.
• Getting Better: You upgraded a weapon.
• I've Got You: You revived your teammate.
• First Contact?: You recovered the An'Wu access card and finished Mirios Level 1: Valley of the Ancients.
• Not Too Long: You rescued Rok-Tahk!
• Rok and Roll: You defeated the Giant Watcher and finished Orisi Level 4: An'Wu Station.

Twitch Clips

• Achievement: A Helping Hand
• What did Janeway do to make people mad? 
• First try... Success!
  

Big thanks to scotchboxvr for the raid following their stream of Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Final Unity over at twitch.tv/scotchboxvr! Now that is a game I haven't played in a few years, it's a great game, but it's space combat is awful!

For out raid we dropped in on BestiBunni who was playing Magic: The Gathering over on twitch.tv/bestibunni!  

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Block COmbo, Difficulty Challenge Combo #2 and Straight Combo #2 for 31 minutes.

Starting righting the NXT short story commission request based on a match result at the recent Halloween Havoc last month, I think the intro is solid enough to justify the post-match shenanigans. 

I used to be addicted to the hokey pokey but then I turned myself around.

Song of the Day:Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand

Today is election day... and anyone voting for someone associated with Donald Trump can go fuck themselves. 

For tonight's stream we are continuing Dragon Ball FighterZ, looking to finish up the villains story arc, getting Goku to close to level 40 (hopefully) and we might do the 3rd arcade route run as well.

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

Clocks Rolled Back... Can We Get Rid Of Daylight Savings Time?

Good afternoon everyone,

You know, I really hate Daylight Savings Time because it really screws with my sense of timing when it comes to streams and stuff, because I get so use to feeling a certain level of 'time to wrap things up' when it comes to the end of a stream without having to look at the clock. 

Anyway, we played Overwatch 2 last night, and it was an okay night overall, picked up two plays of the game as D.va and Junker Queen, but I now realize what I'm going to start doing in matches where I'm not seeing any results from the rest of the team... I'm going to start using Wrecking Ball. Now as Wrecking Ball, I am a literal one trick pony and if I don't get the grapples just right I'm a dead duck. Now why would do that? Simple, if I'm mitigated / blocking so match damage from the opposing team and my team isn't doing anything to back me up, then they don't deserve to have tank that can be in front.

Oddly enough I did have a couple of good moments as Soldier 76 just by running and gunning. Without a second tank to provide a shield for the opposing team, it does make things a little more easier for me using 76 to get some cheap pick-offs.

Twitch Clips

• Come Here Toki... SQUISH!
• I've got you in my sights! 
• Over Jumped
  

For the raid we dropped in on TracyDoll who was playing Resident Evil 4 over at twitch.tv/tracydoll!

Something random, but found a couple of videos on YouTube from the Scooby-Doo crossover with Kiss for 'I Was Made For Loving You' and 'Detroit Rock City', and oddly enough they are extremely well done. I was starting to wonder what lead to that... but then learned Kiss did a cameo appearance on an episode of What's New Scooby-Doo back in 2003.

Also it was unusually humid yesterday as well, and we're not expecting any rain until the weekend... just weird.

Something I didn't mention yesterday was the random power outage at like 2 AM, and the fact the PSE&G really does not update the outage tracker at all to hide the fact there is a problem. 

With today being November 7th, the question, why aren't I starting up a playing through one of the Mass Effect games... which would make for a great way to capitalize on the N7 Day celebration. But with with playing Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 earlier in the year, I want my next Mass Effect play through to be in 2023, with the focus being on the 360 Version of Mass Effect to nab several achievements.

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Hip Shape Focus Combo, Intermediate COmbo #2 and Sway Back Combo for 31 minutes.

How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh? Ten tickles.

Song of the Day: Blue Monday by New Order. 

Finished the recent WWE Short Story commission request based around Emma's return, and got a commission request for a NXT story based around the recent Halloween Havoc special. Will have to track down clips from it to get context of the characters.

For tonight's stream, we're starting up something new in the form of Star Trek Prodigy: SuperNova. Beyond a few clips I know nothing about the characters of Star Trek Prodigy, but since the game is aimed at a 'younger audience', I should have a fair time finishing it in two streams.

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

Not surprised the Phillies Lost

Good afternoon everyone,

Well let's talk about the Phillies, one could say they simply ran out of steam, but I'll just say it out right, the offense became homer happy after game four with so many guys swinging for the fences (Hoskins most notably) after Game 3. The Bullpen did all they could and then some to keep things tight to give them a chance to win, but offense failed in big situation. I said Game 5 was must win for the Phillies, and that is the game in which the series was truly lost. 

That said, last night's stream featured a wide variety of things, starting with MultiVersus, as we played as Black Adam in 2 v 2 matches to get a feel for the character. He's certainly a bruiser, but he also acts as a light-tank, as he has a shield bubble of sorts and has a side-special that is kind of similar to what some of the Assassin class characters have. The new arcade mode is pretty basic, there are three variants (East, Medium, Hard) with the big difference between the three being how many chances you get if you fail and how many fights you have to do. We did two arcade runs, all fights are 1 v 1 player versus A.I., you get one 'nemesis' fight (for Harley it's against Batman, for Wonder Woman it's Superman) and then fight a giant version of Reindog. All wins and actions perform in arcade mode does count towards achievements and battle pass progress.

Messed around with Fall Guys, and they had a Doctor Who tie in, so I nabbed a couple of its related goodies which lead to an achievement unlocking, and played a few shows. Came real close to being on winning in squad shows, just had some bad luck.

Got in some Smite, and we played 5 matches, winning a couple and losing in grand fashion. Managed to get the second achievement for Ares done, so that was a positive. Also had an epic match as Terra, just a reminder of how I can use her in Arena mode just to provide healing on the front line once she gets powered up.

Closed out the stream with with some Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium, mostly Score Challenge stuff on a few games. As a reminder to anyone who was watching, yes I do indeed main Sakura in Street Fighter Alpha 3. Still it's gonna be a long road to grind out the last four achievements in this collection of arcade games.

Fall Guys Achievements

• Fall Guy Fashionista: Unlock 50 cosmetic items from the store

SMITE Achievements

• Meltmaster: Unlock the SMITE Award Meltmaster

Twitch Clips

• Black Adams Launches Two Ricks
• Harley Quinn vs Reign Dog (Arcade Mode) 
• Wonder Woman vs Reign Dog (Arcade Mode)
• Coming in 2nd 
• Oh no!
• Whyyyy-eee! 
• As Cupid: Double Kill!
• Achievement: Meltmaster 
• Smash 'em For The Finish!
• Dark Force 
• Super Combo Finish!
• Just A Little Son Son 
  

For out raid last night, we dropped in on Kalenal who was playing Final Fantasy XIV over at twitch.tv/kalenal! 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 daily workout featured Advanced Combo #1, Uppercut Combo #1 and Beginner Combo #2 for 34 minutes

Started writing the latest commission request for a WWE short story based on Emma's return, I think I got it off to a good start.

It's the start of a new week, so lets recap what we did over the last seven days which was Overwatch 2, Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Fallout 76, Final Fantasy XIV, Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight, MultiVersus, Fall Guys, Smite and Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium!

 

What's the difference between a dirty bus stop and a lobster with breast implants? One is a crusty bus station and the other is a busty crustacean.

Song of the Day: First Day Out by Tee Grizzley

For tonight's stream, we're playing Overwatch 2, you know the deal, dailies, challenges and other things. So on that note, we'll see you later over on twitch.tv/fredcasden!

Persona 3: Dancing In Moonlight is 'harder' than Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight

Good afternoon everyone,

Last night's stream of Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight was interesting, because outside of the few characters that appeared in Person 4 Arena, I know nothing about how they should be interacting with one another, or the context of how they all met beyond some superficial details. Of course thankfully, Elizabeth is the 'host', which makes unlocking the social events just to see and hear what she says worth it.

But that said, the difficulty of P3:DIM is rather noticeable when compared to Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and it really comes down to one thing: the music. Persona 3's musical comes from that early 2000s period of really high tempo songs, hell the Beats Per Minute on P3:DIM's songs are a lot more intense than anything seen in P5:DIS. Then there are the note pattern differences, and because of the style of music, P3:DIM has a lot more notes being put in rapid succession on normal difficulty. It really gets screwy on Hard and All-Night Difficulty

Now that said, I do feel overall the music of P3:DIM is alright for what it is, but outside of Burn my Dread and A Way Of Life, nothing really stands out to me as something I would want to hear as part of a playlist. It's probably more of a reflection of the era in which the original version of Persona 3 was released in more than anything else.

Still, we'll work out way through Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight over the next couple of weeks on Fridays because we should be able to get all the trophies for it. Hell we knocked out 25% of them tonight just by being able to remember how their counterparts where unlocked in Persona 4: Dancing in Starlight.

Also, tonight I unlocked my 1,000ths PlayStation Trophy, which actually points how the long gap between when my original PS3 died and when I finally nabbed as PS4.

Persona 3: Dancing in Moonlight Trophies

• IRL Debut: Obtained a costume.
• Better Safe than Sorry: Played a tutorial.
• Welcome to the Club: Cleared a stage.
• An Exclusive Stylist: Changed costumes and played a stage with each of the members of SEES (excluding Koromaru and Shinjiro).
• Just Another Day: Watched a Social event.
• I Couldn't Help It...: Unlocked all ???s in Collection.
• Let's Do It Again!: Watched a replay.
• The Time for Challenge Has Come: Unlocked the highest difficulty level (ALL NIGHT).
• The Leader's Demeanor: Watched 20 Social events.
• If You Would Kindly Excuse Yourself: Failed a stage.
• Innate Ability: Cleared a stage on HARD or harder and earned a PERFECT rating on at least half of the Notes.
• Who Even Are You?: Started a stage with a different hairstyle, two accessories, colored contacts, and a colored wig.
• The Usurper of Rankings: Earned the highest possible grade on a stage (KING CRAZY).
• Going into Orgia Mode: Beat your own high score.
• The Difficulty of Communication: Cleared the stages where Fuuka and Ken dance together.

Twitch Clips

• A Way Of Life
• The waiting rooms are completely sound proof... 
• Burn My Dread
  

For the raid we dropped in on BestiBunni who was playing Crusader Kings over at twitch.tv/bestibunni! 

Today's Fitness Boxing 2 exercises were Weaving Combo #2, Hook Combo #1 and Waist Shape Focus Combo for 28 minutes

Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise States For Week of 10/30 to 11/05/22

• Punches Thrown:8664
• Estimated Calories Burned:3747.54 kcal
  
• Sophie's Champion Progress:80% (40 out of 50 hours)
  
• King EX Fight Progress: 97%
• Fitness Boxing 2 Consecutive Days: 694
  
• Fitness Boxing 1 & 2 Consecutive Days: 852

Work was okay yesterday, nothing special, just a day that existed.

Finished writing the latest commission request for a WWE short story that 'explains' the return of Candice LaRae back in September. It turned out fairly okay. The biggest problem with writing story set around wrestling is that I co-wrote so many for so long, it's kind of tough to find a plot setup that I haven't done. Did get a follow up commission request to do one that 'explains' Emma's sudden return.

Game six of the World Series is tonight, and the Phillies are down three games to two... can they even the series against the Astros at three games a piece to force a game seven? I don't think so... we'll keep track of the game, but unless the offense is going to suddenly right themselves and Wheeler pitches the game of his career, there will be no joy in the Delaware Valley. 

I used to hate facial hair but then it grew on me.

Song of the Day: Cry Me a River by Justin Timberlake

For tonight's stream, we're leading off with MultiVersus with the focus being on playing Black Adam, the latest character that was recently added to the game. We'll also feature other stuff as well, because that is what we do on Saturdays.

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