Overwatch 2 and other notes

Hi everyone,

Tonight's stream of Overwatch 2 was a lot of fun, we started early and featured all three story missions which is limited to those who have the story mission pack along with the Underground mission that is available to everyone. We of course also got in a lot of quick play matches as well, and shockingly we didn't really see the Flashpoint mission too much tonight. Big thank you to BangBangBang, PandaSweet and Odeu for being apart of the fun this evenings.

I picked up one play of the game on stream as Ashe, in addition to playing as Junker Queen, Moira, Tracer, Bastion, Mei, D.va, Orissa and a handful of others. The new progression system means I may end up focusing on a few characters in particular to grind out levels for each character depending on role type.

For the raid we went over to twitch.tv/x9abenonymous9x where x9abenonymous9x was playing Midnight Club: Los Angeles 

Pre-recorded the second 'episode' of my new Headcanon series for my YouTube channel focusing on Mass Effect 3 and how the Illusive Man's entire arc as a character hides the fact that the players choice as Shepard matters. 

Speaking of Mass Effect I knocked out another major chunk of the latest commission request based on the party that takes place during the Citadel DLC.

I have to take a day trip out to Mount Laurel on Monday, and if all goes well (which I doubt) I'll have some exciting news. But more than likely it's going to be the waste of $60 in terms of transportation.

Our next stream is schedule for Monday night at 9:30 PM Eastern over on twitch.tv/fredcasden and will feature the start of Spirit of the North. In theory it should only take about 5 to 7 hours to finish, so if there is no work, we'll start early to try and do the game in one session. But if we do have work (which we hope), we'll split it over two nights

So on that note... good night everyone!

The Expanse, Ghostbusters and other notes!

 Hi Everyone,

Tonight's stream opened up with episode two of The Expanse: A TellTale Series, and we purposefully went to get every single achievement possible that was not related to the one character we threw out the airlock in episode one. I was really pleased with episode two, as it allowed for some great character moments and interactions, plus some really obvious choices being made. Khan is probably my favorite character in her clearly just being a crotchety old lady who is a total bad ass. Also liked Virgil's backstory as well, and the possibility of unifying the crew is the best way to do things.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series Achievements

• Stogie for Fogey: Give Khan a Gift
• Drug Gifter: Give the Twins some Medicine
• Spore Taste: Give Virgil the Mushroom Powder
• Thorston Mayer: Discover the truth about Virgil's past
• Martian Music: Listen to Maya's Music
• Celebrations are in Order: Complete Episode 2 of The Expanse
• Debris Spree: Complete Episode 2 with all Scavenge Items
• Data Master: Complete Episode 2 with all Data Logs

We also featured Ghostbusters Spirits Unleash, experiencing the newest map and seeing a lot of the Ghostypes, along with the fact that the ghostbuster equipment can be customized to look like the gear seen in the Real, Extreme and 2016 extended universes of the franchise. While we mostly played as Ghostbuster (complete with fishnet stockings lol), we did do one match as a ghost, which was quite fun.

For the raid we went over to twitch.tv/elegantlyslays where elegantlyslays was playing Friday The 13th The Game. They ran into some cheaters,  and with the game so close to shutting down I don't blame them for not wanting give screen time.

Got a 40th commission request for a Mass Effect story, this time revolving around the Party that takes place during the Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3. This might take a few days to write because of all the things I want to try and include for the client. 

Came across a great clip from Boston Legal where the Alan Shore character goes into just how stupid and exploitive the pharmaceutical is  to having a drug for every disease in comparison to the hypocrisy of religion towards its bigotry towards homosexuality. I mean both industrys (and yes religion is an industry) exploit people's fear of getting stick and fear of something different for blatant profit and do so with no shame.

In regards to the bit of yard work (well cutting branches) I mention last night, well I did that today as I was able to pick up some extra groceries thanks to the funds I earned writing short story commissions so far this month.

Our next stream is slated for 7 PM Eastern over on twitch.tv/fredcasden and we'll feature the three story missions of Overwatch 2 that were added this week before we get into Quick Play matches. I've already played the story missions off stream, but it's going to be nice to feature them on stream.

So with that, have a good night everyone!

The Last of Us Part II and other notes

 Hi everyone,

Work was cancelled today, but I was told we should have something on Monday which I really hope is the case. Didn't receive the paper work I was expecting for the job I applied for on Thursday, so I'll reach out to the recruiter who contacted me about the job I'm hoping I might get. 

Tonight's stream of The Last of Us Part II saw me covering all of Seattle Day 2 on Ellie's side of the story, which is mostly Ellie by herself hoping to find Tommy instead finding Jesse, and then going off to the Hospital to find Nora and getting the information on Abby's whereabouts. Because of Ellie's apparent single minded focus on revenge, it has lead to her getting some great character growth, particularly when the flashback of Ellie learning about what Joel did coming after her encounter with Nora. Again, Ellie is certainly shining brightly as she deal with the guilt caused by Joel's decision and the guilt of pushing him away because of it, and his fate.

Don't get me wrong, Joel deserves what he got, and I have no sympathy for him as a character, because his decision basically put a target on his back and lead to greater tragedies that could have been avoided if he wasn't selfish. 

That said, I'm looking forward to continuing this game on next Friday's stream

The Last of Us Part II Trophies

• Specialist: Learn all player upgrades in one branch

For the raid we went over to twitch.tv/zonesama where Zonesama was hosting a Just Chatting stream.

Finished writing the 39th entry in a series of Mass Effect related short story commission requests, and it wasn't the strongest entry, considering it revolved around the character of Maya Brooks. At this moment there are no commission requests in the queue, which means I might focus on an original story

Really have to break out the sheers and go our and cut some branches and stuff, maybe will do that on Sunday afternoon if it doesn't rain that day.

Figured out what I want the Friday videos for my YouTube channel to be, and it's going to make use of my brain as a fan fic writer and using my own head canon for various franchises to make topical discussions. The first video will focus on Trini from the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and will premier on August 25!

Our next stream on Saturday is scheduled for the usual 7 PM Eastern start over on twitch.tv/fredcasden and we're going to see if episode two of The Expanse is available to play, if not, then we may focus on something else, maybe continue the Claptrap DLC for Borderlands or actually start up a larger scale game. We'll see what I end up doing.

On that note, have a good night!

Borderlands, Overwatch, Xfinity and other notes

 Hi everyone,

Another day and another day where work got cancelled, but I was told we should get two assignments in next week. Doesn't help me this week however. Job hunt may have lead to something as I came across something on Indeed that could be promising. I'll give more details if things move forward. Did have a bit of a job interview and an application filled out today as well

Had major issues with Xfinity this morning where somehow 'Bridge' mode on my modem was activated causing major havoc and too took an hour long call to get through to someone who could tell me that it wasn't just me but that most people are not smart enough to access the gateway to see what events occurred. 

Tonight's stream was supposed to feature The Exanpse A Telltale Series Episode Two, but TellTale Games outdated approach to release a game in episodic releases lead to it not being avaliable on either Xbox on PlayStation consoles. Many people were pissed and rightfully so. If it's resolved by Saturdays, we'll feature it then.

So instead, we played Borderlands once again as we knocked out various quests in T-Bone Junction and started on the Claptrap DLC content. Nothing major, just covered a lot of ground and worked toward leveling up Lilith. It might be possible to hit level 50, but getting to level  69 is certainly a grind. We picked up no achievements, but hey, this was more for the content than anything else

For tonight's raid we went over to twitch.tv/kalenal to watch Kalenal play Final Fantasy XIV

Started work on a new short story commission today based on Mass Effect which ties in with the Citadel DLC content of Mass Effect 3.

I did play the new PVE content in Overwatch 2 before the stream, and the story and lore that was put in certainly made things real interesting and put more weight behind the various character interactions. We're certainly will feature the story content on Sunday's stream to lead things off!

Garbage was not picked up today, and is the second time in a month this has happened. Needless to say I logged my complaint with the Public Works department.

Out next stream is scheduled for 9:30 PM Eastern over on twitch.tv/fredcasden and will feature The Last of Us Part II. If there is no work, we'll started at 6:30 PM Eastern, but obviously we are hoping for work.

So on that note, have a good night and we'll see you tomorrow over on twitch.tv/fredcasden

Resident Evil 6, Broforce and other notes

Hi everyone,

Work was cancelled again today, but on the other hand I made a little bit of cash via commissions for story writing, and I knocked out another commission request today, for another in a long line of Mass Effect stories.

Went through more of mom's stuff to throw out... and... well I was total wreck, even if I just grab and throw stuff in a garbage bag, it's pretty much heart wrenching every single time I do it.

Tonight's stream didn't start until 9:30 PM Eastern, because I wanted to lead off with Iceman as we finished the Jake & Sherry campaign in  Resident Evil 6. We basically had the back half of Chapter 4 and all of Chapter 5 to do, which we knocked out in about 90 minutes. Overall I liked this campaign a lot more than the first two campaigns, as the story and game play was a lot more smooth. Next week we'll start on Ada's campaign to begin the final leg of Resident Evil 6.

In the second half of the stream, I messed around with Broforce which was just added to Game Pass, and I knocked out a few levels while unlocking a number of Bros. One of the charms of Broforce is all the references to 80s action heroes. We'll feature Broforce again next week following the Resident Evil 6 part of the Wednesday stream

Resident Evil 6 Achievements

• Still on the Run: Complete Chapter 4 in Jake's campaign.
• See You Around: Complete Chapter 5 in Jake's campaign.

Broforce Achievements

• You're Fired: Kill an enemy by launching them on a propane tank.

 For the raid we dropped in on x9abenonymous9x who was playing Resident Evil 7: Biohazard over at twitch.tv/x9abenonymous9x

Found out I got rejected from a few places I applied for... the job search goes on with the usual 1 step forward 20 steps back which is driving me nuts.

Our next stream over on twitch.tv/fredcasden is scheduled for 9:30 PM Eastern if we have work, and will feature The Expanse to lead things off. If we work is cancelled, we'll start at 6:30 PM. 

So on that note, have a good night!

Killer Instinct, Story Writing and other notes

 Hi everyone,

Second day in a row work was cancelled, but I did got to ask a question regarding the how the current political climate in the United States may have actually negatively effect the world of Market Research. I suspect Donald Trump has made it virtually impossible for any traditional questions to be asked regarding how people feel about various public figures, and I know some agencies who favor conservatives are afraid of pissing him off.

Still have been applying for everything I can come across, hopefully something will pan out.

Anyway, because of no work, we started the st ream early at 6:30 PM Eastern and rolled with Killer Instinct tonight, learning the basics of how to play and seeing what the game has to offer. I saw there was a story mode that means it would be worth checking out the lore of the game, but the Shadow Lords and its micro-transactions based system certainly raised an eyebrow. Surprised there was no traditional arcade ladder though.

That meant I ended up playing a lot of matches against other players, and something that became real apparent is that Killer Instinct has an awful match making system, throwing low tier new comers against top ranked players with no actual rhyme of reason. Yes Killer Instinct is something like 10 years old, so the pool of players is going to be modestly small, but I certainly could tell the world of difference between me losing a close fight against another player with the same skill level as myself, and getting my faced stomped in.

Was shocked at how many achievements there are in Killer Instinct as well, so in terms of just 'grinding things out', the game certainly has replay value to anyone willing to try and go through the torture of it. Seeing as how there's a big update coming to improve various aspects of the game, I suspect there will be a spark of player interest in it once again.

 Killer Instinct Achievements

• Enemy of My Enemy: You recruited an agent of UltraTech to your Shadow Lords team!
• Stylish Gargos: You have unlocked a color for Gargos!
• Friendly Rash: You have won an exhibition match vs a friend as Rash!
• Friendly Kim Wu: You have won an exhibition match vs a friend as Kim Wu!
• Stylish Kim Wu: You have unlocked a color for Kim Wu!
• Friendly Cinder: You have won an exhibition match vs a friend as Cinder!
• Criminal Flair: You hit your opponent 5 times with Special Attacks while in Cinder's Instinct Mode!
• Stylish Cinder: You have unlocked a color for Cinder!
• Ready to Body: You've played all 10 Qualifying Matches!
• Demonic Annihilation: You completed a combo that dealt 85% or more damage in any mode as Omen!
• Competitive Fulgore: You have won a ranked match as Fulgore!
• Friendly Spinal: You have won an exhibition match vs a friend as Spinal!
• Supreme Spinal: You have earned a Supreme Victory in an online match as Spinal!
• Competitive Spinal: You have won a ranked match as Spinal!
• Triple Trials!: You have completed 3 trials!
• White Belt: You have completed 5 Dojo lessons
• Survival Orchid: You have won a survival match as Orchid!
• Orchid's Jaguar: You hit an opponent with a Jaguar while in Instinct Mode with Orchid
• Stylish Orchid: You have unlocked a color for Orchid!
• Friendly Sabrewulf: You have won an exhibition match vs a friend as Sabrewulf!
• Stylish Sabrewulf: You have unlocked a color for Sabrewulf!
• Friendly Thunder: You have won an exhibition match vs a friend as Thunder!
• Stylish Jago: You have unlocked a color for Jago!
• Sabrewulf's Claws: You Have performed 10 points of chip damage while in Instinct Mode with Sabrewulf
• Competitive Sabrewulf: You have won a ranked match as Sabrewulf!
• Friendly Jago: You have won an exhibition match vs a friend as Jago!
• Competitive Jago: You have won a ranked match as Jago!
• Competitive Glacius: You have won a ranked match as Glacius!
• Thunder's Spirit Dash: You did a dash while in Instinct Mode with Thunder
• Competitive Thunder: You have won a ranked match as Thunder!
• Competitive Sadira: You have won a ranked match as Sadira!
• General Novice: You have reached 10 General Fight Challenges!

For the raid we dropped in on MissCammi316 during their stream of Phasmophobia over on twitch.tv/misscammi316

Knocked out two story commissions today, which when the funds come in makes up for no work today, the first story was based on AEW's The Outcasts, and the second was based on the video game Vanquish. Really wish I knew more about both to put in more details, but hey, between both stories over 6500 words were written.

Out next schedule stream over on twitch.tv/fredcasden  is for 9:30 PM eastner on Wednesday with Resident Evil 6 with Iceman. Regardless of if there is work or not, Wednesday's stream will not start early in order to make sure RE6 is properly featured. 

So on that note, have a great night everyone. 

Mortal Kombat X, Job Interview and other notes

Hi everyone,

So first up, we had a job interview for Cooper Hospital today, and it kind of went okay, but I fear I might have botched it when asked 'Why do I want to work there?' which is never a question I'm good at answering, especially now when a big reason is more personal than professional. I was told that they are only in phase one of the interview process and phase two is when they narrow down the field to five candidate to see who among them would be the best fit.

On the plus side I was given some information regarding several of my applications that positions have not been filled and was encouraged to contact Talent Acquisitions to let them know I'm still interested in those spots.

Did end up looking on LinkedIn to see if there were any postings being listed, and there appeared to be a couple of promising leads.

Sadly, work was cancelled tonight, I wonder how much the threat of a severe storm with nickle sized hail was a factor.

That meant tonight's stream started early, and we played the story mode of Mortal Kombat X, which does such a great job of setting up the future of the franchise that was then squandered in Mortal Kombat 11 and it's expanded story Aftermath. We had some trouble with a few fights because I totally forgot how to play the various characters that are featured in the story mode, in fact the Raiden vs Liu Kang fight in Chapter 10 took me three attempts to do.

We also did a living tower run as Cassie Cage, mostly to make sure we did a fatality at least once.

Mortal Kombat X Achievements

• It's a Gusher: Spill 1,000 pints of blood
• Moving Up: Reach personal level 10 in XP
• A New Beginning: Complete 50% of Story Mode
• There is a Ruler: Complete 100% of Story Mode

For the raid we dropped in on sweetlindir who was playing Baldur's Gate 3 over on twitch.tv/sweetlindir

Did a lot of writing on the commission request for an AEW story involving the Outcasts, putting down 2000 words already. Also picked up another commission request to write something basedon the game Vanquish, which I've never played.

Our next stream is scheduled for 9:30 PM Eastern over on twitch.tv/fredcasden and I have Mortal Kombat X slated for the night, we might try our hand at something else. We'll see what ends up being the case.

So on that note, have a good night folks!