So today's the last day of the year and I'm still questioning whether or not I'll survive the year. I just can't get rid of this nasty cough. Oh well. This cold/mono/whatever has really whipped my ass. I got sick the week of Thanksgiving and I've been sick ever since, to varying degrees. It's the cough and extreme tiredness/exhaustion that I'm having the hardest time with.
But the sun keeps coming up and life goes on. And tomorrow is a new year.
With a new year comes New Year Resolutions. I make them every year, but I don't always complete them. Some last almost the whole year. Some are forgotten or given up on before the end of January. Either way, I like setting goals. It's fun and gives me an idea of what I want to accomplish in the next 12 months.
For starters, I have a lot of games. 854 to be exact. And that doesn't count my PC games, just console games. I have a really good inventory system. I kind of have to with all those games. Of all those games 435 are Xbox, Xbox Arcade or Xbox One games. Of those 435 I don't have any achievements in 167 of them. That's 38.39% of games with no gamer score. So one of my New Year Achievements is to get at least one achievement in all the games I own. That's a lot of games to play. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get an achievement in all of them. I know, because I've tried in some of those games. Either way, I'm going to try.
Speaking of gamer score I think I want to get my gamer score at or above 40,000. I currently have 32,637 and I hope to get a couple more tonight before the new year rings in. That means I have to get 7,363 in 12 months. That's an average of 614 points a month. I think that's very doable. Especially if I'm going to be playing a lot of games. I know a lot of people don't care about achievements and gamer score, but I like to see what I've accomplished in the year besides just knowing I spent X amount of time playing video games. Besides some of those achievements might be hard to get.
I'd also like to complete (i.e. get to the end credits) of 12 games. That's one a month. Might be doable, but it will take some effort and planning to achieve. I'm not sure what those games might be, but I know that a couple of them should be Summoner (PS2), Jedi Outcast (Xbox), Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube) and Final Fantasy VII (PS) since those were the games that started this blog way back on March 2nd, 2007. That's a long time . . . 8 years exactly . . . and I still haven't finished those games. I have noticed that since I started my YouTube channel I've finished several games. That's promising.
The games that I'm the closest to finishing are:
Fable III
Final Fantasy XIII
Gears of War Ultimate Edition
Lost Odyssey
Psychonauts
Rayman Origins
Tomb Raider
Final Fantasy Tactics (PSP)
I think finishing these are doable. I wonder what other ones I can finish before the end of the year. Is there any games you'd like me to play and finish? I'm taking suggestions for my channel and for my New Year Resolutions. Just name something in the comments and I'll let you know if I've got it. If not, I might be able to pick it up. I did get a lot of games through Xbox's sale the last 2 weeks. Not that I needed more games. But they were cheap and I video games are so much fun.
Do you have any New Year Resolutions? If so, let me know in the comments. Maybe there will be something we can work on together.
Showing posts with label Lost Odyssey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lost Odyssey. Show all posts
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Wednesday, August 5, 2015
I finally achieved perfection!
Well, I finally did it. I perfected an Xbox 360 retail game. Now, I've perfected several Arcade titles, but those games don't usually require the time and effort commitment to getting all the achievements that a full retail game does. Retail games are also a lot more gamerscore than Arcade titles (at least they were). It's so much more fulfilling to see 1,000 in gamerscore next to a game instead of 200.
Now, technically I've "finished" several retail titles. Meaning I've finished the story and gotten to the end credits. But I've never perfected the achievements in a retail game before. Now, I did it in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. And it's the third time I've played the game.
The first time I played that game I completed it with my brother, dain bramage, in co-op on the Playstation 2. We completed all the Lego Star Wars games together on the PS2 and when we found out those games were out for the Xbox 360 we doubled up and got those games again for the achievements. We knew what we were in for since we had already played the game and thought it would be a piece of cake to play those games again and get that allusive 1,000 perfect gamerscore.
So, for a second time I started playing the game. This time we were working mostly on our own. We did get together to play the arcade mini-game so we could get that achievement. Other than that I've been playing the game alone. And I don't remember it being that hard to complete. Unfortunately some jackass(es) broke in to my house about 6 years ago and stole all my games . . . and more importantly my game saves and memory cards. They stole a lot of items, but they also stole hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of my life in game saves.
At the time I was robbed I only had 2 achievements left to earn. The one for collecting all Gold Bricks and the one for completing the game to 100%. The last achievement I had earned was to get all the Mini-kits, which I had earned about a month or so before I was robbed. I was that close to finishing the game. But once I got all my stuff back, I had to decide if I was going to start the game over for a third time just for those last 2 achievements. I had to make that decision for several games (Lost Odyssey being one I was about 4 hours away from finishing based on friend's estimates).
I didn't make that decision right away because just the thought of it overwhelmed me. All those game saves lost. Pieces of time ripped right out of my life with no hope of ever getting those moments back. Did I want to do it all over again? For every game? Was it worth it?
I've always wanted to perfect a game and I figured that Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga would probably be my best bet. So I restarted the game . . . for a third time. I would play the game when I was interested so there were times when I didn't pick up the game for months. When I finally get all my shit together to start recording gameplay and posting to YouTube I made a decision that I would use that medium to motivate me to finish the game and finally perfect it. It worked.
Even when I didn't want to play the game anymore I knew I had to make a video to post online. So I took out the game and played it. There are times in the videos that you can probably tell how frustrated I was getting with the game. A lot of that came from the fact that I was replaying it for the 3rd time and I thought it would be easier. It wasn't sometimes. And that made it more frustrating for me. But on Sunday night I finally finished the last missions and the game showed me 100% completion. Except the achievement didn't pop right away.
The same thing happened when I "earned" the achievement for getting all the Gold Bricks. The game showed I had all the Gold Bricks (160 of them) and it let me build the fountain, but didn't give me the achievement. I had to go in and complete a level before the achievement would pop. The 100% achievement did the same thing. Can I tell you how anti-climatic that is? You work really hard and play the game for over 60 hours (for a third time), finally earn the final achievement but the game doesn't give it to you unless you do something else instead. And you couldn't just jump in a level and jump out. No. You had to play and complete the level. Just give me my damn achievement! I earned it.
I played the extra level and finally got the achievement to pop. Woohoo!!! I did it. I perfected the game. Below is a breakout of the levels you have to play to complete the game. Since I didn't do very well in some of the levels I had to replay some of them multiple times. That hellish Into the Deathstar blue barrels flight mission was the worst. I think I played that level more than 20 times before I could get all the barrels in the time limit.
36 Story based levels (6 per movie)
36 Freeplay based levels (6 per movie)
36 blue barrel levels (6 per movie)
12 extra movie based levels (2 per movie)
36 "Super Story" based levels
6 extra game based levels (including revised levels, Lego City and New Town)
That's a total of 162 unique levels to play. You can't say the game doesn't offer up enough content. Even if it's the same 36 levels over and over and over and over again. But at least it's done. In the Lego Star Wars II game the only achievements I haven't earned are to play the vehicle missions without dying (and you can't have any extras turned on). I think I'll wait on working on those achievements until sometime later. I'm a little burned out on Lego Star Wars right now. (But if any of my friends would like to jump in to my game save and see if all my achievements will pop up for them in their game, let me know. It will cost you an hour of multiplayer game play in a game of your choosing [provided that I own that game]).
The closer I got to finishing the game the more I decided to set myself a goal and reward. I would finish the game by the end of July (actually finished it August 2nd) and reward myself with finally buying an Xbox One. I refused to buy and Xbox One until I had completed, or perfected, a game on the Xbox 360. Now that I've accomplished that, I can finally get my XBO. I get paid on Friday so look for me online this weekend on my new system. I earned it.
Now, technically I've "finished" several retail titles. Meaning I've finished the story and gotten to the end credits. But I've never perfected the achievements in a retail game before. Now, I did it in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. And it's the third time I've played the game.
The first time I played that game I completed it with my brother, dain bramage, in co-op on the Playstation 2. We completed all the Lego Star Wars games together on the PS2 and when we found out those games were out for the Xbox 360 we doubled up and got those games again for the achievements. We knew what we were in for since we had already played the game and thought it would be a piece of cake to play those games again and get that allusive 1,000 perfect gamerscore.
So, for a second time I started playing the game. This time we were working mostly on our own. We did get together to play the arcade mini-game so we could get that achievement. Other than that I've been playing the game alone. And I don't remember it being that hard to complete. Unfortunately some jackass(es) broke in to my house about 6 years ago and stole all my games . . . and more importantly my game saves and memory cards. They stole a lot of items, but they also stole hundreds (if not thousands) of hours of my life in game saves.
At the time I was robbed I only had 2 achievements left to earn. The one for collecting all Gold Bricks and the one for completing the game to 100%. The last achievement I had earned was to get all the Mini-kits, which I had earned about a month or so before I was robbed. I was that close to finishing the game. But once I got all my stuff back, I had to decide if I was going to start the game over for a third time just for those last 2 achievements. I had to make that decision for several games (Lost Odyssey being one I was about 4 hours away from finishing based on friend's estimates).
I didn't make that decision right away because just the thought of it overwhelmed me. All those game saves lost. Pieces of time ripped right out of my life with no hope of ever getting those moments back. Did I want to do it all over again? For every game? Was it worth it?
I've always wanted to perfect a game and I figured that Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga would probably be my best bet. So I restarted the game . . . for a third time. I would play the game when I was interested so there were times when I didn't pick up the game for months. When I finally get all my shit together to start recording gameplay and posting to YouTube I made a decision that I would use that medium to motivate me to finish the game and finally perfect it. It worked.
Even when I didn't want to play the game anymore I knew I had to make a video to post online. So I took out the game and played it. There are times in the videos that you can probably tell how frustrated I was getting with the game. A lot of that came from the fact that I was replaying it for the 3rd time and I thought it would be easier. It wasn't sometimes. And that made it more frustrating for me. But on Sunday night I finally finished the last missions and the game showed me 100% completion. Except the achievement didn't pop right away.
The same thing happened when I "earned" the achievement for getting all the Gold Bricks. The game showed I had all the Gold Bricks (160 of them) and it let me build the fountain, but didn't give me the achievement. I had to go in and complete a level before the achievement would pop. The 100% achievement did the same thing. Can I tell you how anti-climatic that is? You work really hard and play the game for over 60 hours (for a third time), finally earn the final achievement but the game doesn't give it to you unless you do something else instead. And you couldn't just jump in a level and jump out. No. You had to play and complete the level. Just give me my damn achievement! I earned it.
I played the extra level and finally got the achievement to pop. Woohoo!!! I did it. I perfected the game. Below is a breakout of the levels you have to play to complete the game. Since I didn't do very well in some of the levels I had to replay some of them multiple times. That hellish Into the Deathstar blue barrels flight mission was the worst. I think I played that level more than 20 times before I could get all the barrels in the time limit.
36 Story based levels (6 per movie)
36 Freeplay based levels (6 per movie)
36 blue barrel levels (6 per movie)
12 extra movie based levels (2 per movie)
36 "Super Story" based levels
6 extra game based levels (including revised levels, Lego City and New Town)
That's a total of 162 unique levels to play. You can't say the game doesn't offer up enough content. Even if it's the same 36 levels over and over and over and over again. But at least it's done. In the Lego Star Wars II game the only achievements I haven't earned are to play the vehicle missions without dying (and you can't have any extras turned on). I think I'll wait on working on those achievements until sometime later. I'm a little burned out on Lego Star Wars right now. (But if any of my friends would like to jump in to my game save and see if all my achievements will pop up for them in their game, let me know. It will cost you an hour of multiplayer game play in a game of your choosing [provided that I own that game]).
The closer I got to finishing the game the more I decided to set myself a goal and reward. I would finish the game by the end of July (actually finished it August 2nd) and reward myself with finally buying an Xbox One. I refused to buy and Xbox One until I had completed, or perfected, a game on the Xbox 360. Now that I've accomplished that, I can finally get my XBO. I get paid on Friday so look for me online this weekend on my new system. I earned it.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
I could use a break. Anyone have a KitKat bar?
I did not have a good weekend last week. And saying it was "not good" is an understatement. And things have only gotten worse since then.
I did a check of my outstanding achievements in Gears of War 3 and I found that there were 160 points that I could realistically get in that game before I would consider myself done. Getting the achievement for onyxing every medal is not what I call realistic for me. I'm just trying to keep it real. But executing Minh 10 times is doable. Getting 10 reflective kills is doable. Re-upping for a 2nd time is doable. And maxing out the command center levels is doable. Among others.
Or should I say WAS doable.
I've been working on leveling up my "Ready for the Heavies" medal to onyx and I only had 10 more ribbons to get to do so. I was working on getting those last 10 ribbons all week last week. Sometimes it was easy. Sometimes I was playing with a bunch of idiots. And sometimes my teammates were just too good.
On Saturday night I finally got the last ribbon needed to make the medal onyx. When the match was over I jumped in to my stats and checked out my newest Onyx medal. It looked so pretty. I sat and admired it for awhile before searching around for the next medal I'd focus on to try and get it onyx.
The next closest one was earning money in Horde and if I also spent money repairing the command center I could get that achievement as well. It seemed like a win-win situation. Unfortunately it was late and I really wasn't in the mood to play some Horde so I jumped into some Guardian matches (another medal close to leveling up - sadly not to onyx).
I played a few rounds. I was the leader a couple of times and even killed someone as the leader (working towards another medal). After a couple of matches I called it a night and jumped out of the game and logged off for the night.
On Sunday I didn't get to play until later in the evening. I put in Gears 3 ready to grind away at some Hordes and hopefully getting an onyx medal or an achievement before the night was over. But things didn't turn out that way as soon as I hit the start button.
My system froze a little bit as it was "downloading player profile". No big deal, right? It's done that to me many times before. Unfortunately this time it was different. As soon as it unfroze I started to get pop ups for unlocking this character, or unlocking this weapon skin, or unlocking something else. I thought that was very strange and maybe there was a medal or achievement that was glitched and was hoping it was finally unglitched and I actually earned something I should have a long time ago.
Wrong.
On the party screen it said my level was 1. That didn't worry me too much. A lot of times it has taken my screen a while to update with my current level. When I got into my stats menu I realized things were worse than that. Much worse.
My level on the stats screen said 11. That's right. A one followed by another one. I was level 67 and about a third of the way to level 68 on my second go around on levels. I had "prestiged" once and my level was a different color. But now the system was saying I was 157 levels less than what I was when I played the night before.
Oh, but it gets worse.
When I looked at my stats I showed that I haven't even played the game at all. No Horde. No Beast. No multiplayer. And no campaign. Everything was gone. Almost everything. I still had the characters and weapon skins unlocked . . . but only up to level 11. It was showing that I collected every collectible item in the campaign, even if it showed that I had never played the campaign.
All my ribbons were gone as well. I only had 2 ribbons I hadn't earned yet. One was for reviving 3 downed teammates as a kantas in beast mode. The other was for killing 3 headsnakes in Horde. The headsnakes were much more doable in my opinion. All those 130+ ribbons were gone. Grayed out. locked up as if never earned. Ever.
And then there was the medals. I immediately got the onyx medal for earning achievements in Gears 2 so at least that wasn't taken from me. All the other medals (except one) looked like dusty unused trinkets found in the back of your grandmother's closet. Unloved. And not looked at for years. The only other medal that had something (besides the Gears 2 medal) was the medal for playing in Gears of War 3 events. That medal was sitting at 29 out of 30. I remember sitting at that level for so long wondering if I would ever get that last event to play in before they finally had something going and I was finally able to get that medal to onyx. Finally.
Except this time I was stuck back and 29 out of 30. And I don't think there's anymore events to play in to make it onyx. I was dumbfounded. I didn't consider getting the achievement for getting all onyx medals as being realistic for me. Killing your nemesis X about of time, and getting "number 1" in arcade mode are probably out of my wheelhouse when it comes to game play. But not having another "event" to play when I only needed one to make that medal onyx was a blow I just couldn't take.
I logged off. I would have cried but I was so shocked and dumbfounded that I just couldn't get the tears to fall. Three years of my life wiped out from one night to the next. And no hope of getting it all back.
I talked with a friend who knows someone who this happened to. Fortunately for him it was still early enough in the game that he could recover and earned everything back. He had sent Epic an email explaining what happened and wanted to know if they could do anything about it. Unfortunately for him, and later for me, Epic said they know about the problem, don't know why it is happening and have no way to fix it when it does. Way to go Epic.
I was so traumatized that I couldn't even look at ANY gaming console Sunday night. I was baffled and befuddled. Angry and anxious. It was like being robbed all over again. But this time it wasn't dumbass people being shitheads that broke in and took things, it was a dumbass company who took things because their shit broke and they don't know how to fix it. This happened to me before in Gears of War 2. I lost 15 levels from one log in to the next. My friend lost about 10 when it happened to him. It was early enough in the game that I got over it but I remember being at level 89 when everyone else on my friends list was maxing out at 100 (we use to be all close together in ranks). Once they maxed out they didn't want to play the game any more. It was really hard to get those last 11 levels mostly on my own. When I finally got to level 100 and got my wings my friends said "well it's about time". If I'm having a hard enough time finding friends to play with me right now in Gears 3 what chance did I have to have them play longer with me to unlock the campaign again?
I went to bed Sunday night not even wanting to play my Xbox 360 every again. But at lunch on Monday I thought I would try a bunch of things to see if that might help. One of the things I tried was deleting my profile and redownloading it. That didn't help. I even tried having the game download my profile to the cloud instead of my hard drive. Still nothing worked.
I then decided I would play a level in the campaign and see if that might magically unlock things for me. I played the first level on normal and when done my screen went ballistic with unlocking stuff. I jumped out and checked my stats and it seems like I got credit for fully playing the campaign on casual and normal and also playing those difficulties in Arcade mode. Hmm....
I played the next level on hardcore and the same things happened. I then played the next level on insane and next thing I know I've got an onyx medal for playing the campaign on insane and playing arcade on insane. I was starting to think that things might not be all bad. At least I didn't have to play the entire campaign again.
I next tried Beast mode and while I unlocked beast on casual and normal I didn't unlock anything else for all those other Beast medals. Previously I had onyx medals for all of beast mode but now they were still grayed out and locked. You could see the counter going up for what I played but I didn't get credit for everything like I did with the campaign. The only good news was that I got credit for playing an "event" when I finished the Beast mode game and that medal turned onyx . . . again.
I then gave up on Gears 3. Partly because I had to go to work, but partly because I had to decide if I was going to put the time in to get everything back that I previous had. That would mean starting over from scratch in Horde . . . when I was almost done with it. That meant trying to get those ribbons that I had to have a friends help me plan out and get. If I played Gears every night faithfully how long would it take me to get back what I had? How long would I get bored of the game and could no longer stand it? How many other games would I not be playing because I'm having to recreate everything in Gears again? I just wanted those 160 points in my gamerscore then I could put Gears 3 aside until nostalgia stuck and I felt compelled to play it again.
On Tuesday I put Gears 3 away and tried playing Lost Odyssey. It turns out I'm in the last area before I get to put in disk 4. That means I'm close to being where I was before I was robbed. And close to finishing the game. Unfortunately I was having a hard time with my magic users coming up against physical attack enemies. Two hits and my characters is out. And since they all come after the same character when it's their turn I always had a character down (sometimes 2) at the end of every round. And the first character they always take out is my designated healer.
Enough with the Xbox 360 games. I just couldn't take it anymore. I disconnected my 360 and stashed it away. I figure my gaming time would be better served playing on another system. It turns out it wasn't. I couldn't get my PS2 to load three of the games I wanted to play. I finally found a game that it would load (Champions of Norrath) and started that.
It was very obvious from my saved file that the last time I played this game was when I replaced it after having it stolen. And then, I only played it long enough to see that it worked (character was level 3). Unfortunately, after trying to play and dying all the time, because I was out of health potions, I gave up on that game and walked away.
I'm not sure what I'll play now. What game or what system. I just can't catch a break. If I can't catch a break I think I'll just have a KitKat bar instead. With my luck I won't be able to open the wrapper.
I did a check of my outstanding achievements in Gears of War 3 and I found that there were 160 points that I could realistically get in that game before I would consider myself done. Getting the achievement for onyxing every medal is not what I call realistic for me. I'm just trying to keep it real. But executing Minh 10 times is doable. Getting 10 reflective kills is doable. Re-upping for a 2nd time is doable. And maxing out the command center levels is doable. Among others.
Or should I say WAS doable.
I've been working on leveling up my "Ready for the Heavies" medal to onyx and I only had 10 more ribbons to get to do so. I was working on getting those last 10 ribbons all week last week. Sometimes it was easy. Sometimes I was playing with a bunch of idiots. And sometimes my teammates were just too good.
On Saturday night I finally got the last ribbon needed to make the medal onyx. When the match was over I jumped in to my stats and checked out my newest Onyx medal. It looked so pretty. I sat and admired it for awhile before searching around for the next medal I'd focus on to try and get it onyx.
The next closest one was earning money in Horde and if I also spent money repairing the command center I could get that achievement as well. It seemed like a win-win situation. Unfortunately it was late and I really wasn't in the mood to play some Horde so I jumped into some Guardian matches (another medal close to leveling up - sadly not to onyx).
I played a few rounds. I was the leader a couple of times and even killed someone as the leader (working towards another medal). After a couple of matches I called it a night and jumped out of the game and logged off for the night.
On Sunday I didn't get to play until later in the evening. I put in Gears 3 ready to grind away at some Hordes and hopefully getting an onyx medal or an achievement before the night was over. But things didn't turn out that way as soon as I hit the start button.
My system froze a little bit as it was "downloading player profile". No big deal, right? It's done that to me many times before. Unfortunately this time it was different. As soon as it unfroze I started to get pop ups for unlocking this character, or unlocking this weapon skin, or unlocking something else. I thought that was very strange and maybe there was a medal or achievement that was glitched and was hoping it was finally unglitched and I actually earned something I should have a long time ago.
Wrong.
On the party screen it said my level was 1. That didn't worry me too much. A lot of times it has taken my screen a while to update with my current level. When I got into my stats menu I realized things were worse than that. Much worse.
My level on the stats screen said 11. That's right. A one followed by another one. I was level 67 and about a third of the way to level 68 on my second go around on levels. I had "prestiged" once and my level was a different color. But now the system was saying I was 157 levels less than what I was when I played the night before.
Oh, but it gets worse.
When I looked at my stats I showed that I haven't even played the game at all. No Horde. No Beast. No multiplayer. And no campaign. Everything was gone. Almost everything. I still had the characters and weapon skins unlocked . . . but only up to level 11. It was showing that I collected every collectible item in the campaign, even if it showed that I had never played the campaign.
All my ribbons were gone as well. I only had 2 ribbons I hadn't earned yet. One was for reviving 3 downed teammates as a kantas in beast mode. The other was for killing 3 headsnakes in Horde. The headsnakes were much more doable in my opinion. All those 130+ ribbons were gone. Grayed out. locked up as if never earned. Ever.
And then there was the medals. I immediately got the onyx medal for earning achievements in Gears 2 so at least that wasn't taken from me. All the other medals (except one) looked like dusty unused trinkets found in the back of your grandmother's closet. Unloved. And not looked at for years. The only other medal that had something (besides the Gears 2 medal) was the medal for playing in Gears of War 3 events. That medal was sitting at 29 out of 30. I remember sitting at that level for so long wondering if I would ever get that last event to play in before they finally had something going and I was finally able to get that medal to onyx. Finally.
Except this time I was stuck back and 29 out of 30. And I don't think there's anymore events to play in to make it onyx. I was dumbfounded. I didn't consider getting the achievement for getting all onyx medals as being realistic for me. Killing your nemesis X about of time, and getting "number 1" in arcade mode are probably out of my wheelhouse when it comes to game play. But not having another "event" to play when I only needed one to make that medal onyx was a blow I just couldn't take.
I logged off. I would have cried but I was so shocked and dumbfounded that I just couldn't get the tears to fall. Three years of my life wiped out from one night to the next. And no hope of getting it all back.
I talked with a friend who knows someone who this happened to. Fortunately for him it was still early enough in the game that he could recover and earned everything back. He had sent Epic an email explaining what happened and wanted to know if they could do anything about it. Unfortunately for him, and later for me, Epic said they know about the problem, don't know why it is happening and have no way to fix it when it does. Way to go Epic.
I was so traumatized that I couldn't even look at ANY gaming console Sunday night. I was baffled and befuddled. Angry and anxious. It was like being robbed all over again. But this time it wasn't dumbass people being shitheads that broke in and took things, it was a dumbass company who took things because their shit broke and they don't know how to fix it. This happened to me before in Gears of War 2. I lost 15 levels from one log in to the next. My friend lost about 10 when it happened to him. It was early enough in the game that I got over it but I remember being at level 89 when everyone else on my friends list was maxing out at 100 (we use to be all close together in ranks). Once they maxed out they didn't want to play the game any more. It was really hard to get those last 11 levels mostly on my own. When I finally got to level 100 and got my wings my friends said "well it's about time". If I'm having a hard enough time finding friends to play with me right now in Gears 3 what chance did I have to have them play longer with me to unlock the campaign again?
I went to bed Sunday night not even wanting to play my Xbox 360 every again. But at lunch on Monday I thought I would try a bunch of things to see if that might help. One of the things I tried was deleting my profile and redownloading it. That didn't help. I even tried having the game download my profile to the cloud instead of my hard drive. Still nothing worked.
I then decided I would play a level in the campaign and see if that might magically unlock things for me. I played the first level on normal and when done my screen went ballistic with unlocking stuff. I jumped out and checked my stats and it seems like I got credit for fully playing the campaign on casual and normal and also playing those difficulties in Arcade mode. Hmm....
I played the next level on hardcore and the same things happened. I then played the next level on insane and next thing I know I've got an onyx medal for playing the campaign on insane and playing arcade on insane. I was starting to think that things might not be all bad. At least I didn't have to play the entire campaign again.
I next tried Beast mode and while I unlocked beast on casual and normal I didn't unlock anything else for all those other Beast medals. Previously I had onyx medals for all of beast mode but now they were still grayed out and locked. You could see the counter going up for what I played but I didn't get credit for everything like I did with the campaign. The only good news was that I got credit for playing an "event" when I finished the Beast mode game and that medal turned onyx . . . again.
I then gave up on Gears 3. Partly because I had to go to work, but partly because I had to decide if I was going to put the time in to get everything back that I previous had. That would mean starting over from scratch in Horde . . . when I was almost done with it. That meant trying to get those ribbons that I had to have a friends help me plan out and get. If I played Gears every night faithfully how long would it take me to get back what I had? How long would I get bored of the game and could no longer stand it? How many other games would I not be playing because I'm having to recreate everything in Gears again? I just wanted those 160 points in my gamerscore then I could put Gears 3 aside until nostalgia stuck and I felt compelled to play it again.
On Tuesday I put Gears 3 away and tried playing Lost Odyssey. It turns out I'm in the last area before I get to put in disk 4. That means I'm close to being where I was before I was robbed. And close to finishing the game. Unfortunately I was having a hard time with my magic users coming up against physical attack enemies. Two hits and my characters is out. And since they all come after the same character when it's their turn I always had a character down (sometimes 2) at the end of every round. And the first character they always take out is my designated healer.
Enough with the Xbox 360 games. I just couldn't take it anymore. I disconnected my 360 and stashed it away. I figure my gaming time would be better served playing on another system. It turns out it wasn't. I couldn't get my PS2 to load three of the games I wanted to play. I finally found a game that it would load (Champions of Norrath) and started that.
It was very obvious from my saved file that the last time I played this game was when I replaced it after having it stolen. And then, I only played it long enough to see that it worked (character was level 3). Unfortunately, after trying to play and dying all the time, because I was out of health potions, I gave up on that game and walked away.
I'm not sure what I'll play now. What game or what system. I just can't catch a break. If I can't catch a break I think I'll just have a KitKat bar instead. With my luck I won't be able to open the wrapper.
Monday, February 7, 2011
12 Games in 12 Months
So my friends tease me and give me a hard time because I can't seem to finish games that I start . . . at least not in a reasonable time frame. And although I've decided not to set specific New Year Resolutions for myself (they always lead to disappointment) I couldn't get the idea of "12 games in 12 months" out of my head.
What that idea is, is for me to finish the story lines of 12 games within a 12 month period. That doesn't mean I get all the achievements for those games that have them, but that I actually get to the end credits of the story so I can now talk about it with my friends. By saying "12 games in 12 months" I'm also giving myself a whole year to work on all games. I'm not limiting myself to 1 game a month. If the end of February comes along and I'm not close to finishing a game I don't want to get down on myself.
I got this idea when I finally finished the story in Gears of War 2 in December. I was at the start of Chapter 5 when my stuff was stolen so I had to spend some time retracing my steps before I could get to things I hadn't seen yet. The good news was this allowed me to work on several achievements that I hadn't gotten before. The bad news was by the time I finished the game and wanted to talk about it my friends couldn't remember what exactly had happened when in the story any more.
I plan on finishing games over several consoles and hand-helds. I keep throwing around a list every week or so but I'll let fate and my current mood decide which games I'll work on at the moment.
One game that I know I want to finish is Puzzle Quest 2. I think I'm getting very close too. I hope so any way. I love playing this game but I get bored of the battles rather quickly. After I've won my third battle I just want to play something else. It doesn't help that 3 battles might only get me to the other side of the room and not very far in the story. I've played that game so much that I've dreamed of it at night and heard that little beep that indicates your turn everywhere. I can't wait to finish the game.
Some other games I'm considering are:
Eternal Sonata
Final Fantasy Tactics (for PSP)
Ratchet and Clank
Dark Cloud
Lost Odyssey
Obviously I'm going to need more games and those games listed might not even be ones I try to finish either. It's just a list of the games I'm interested in playing right now. I could throw in the story modes for some of those online shooters I'm always playing. I hear those stories are kind of short. I could throw in a long game like Fallout 3, Blue Dragon or Borderlands and work on it over the entire 12 months.
I guess that really is only 11 months now because I got this idea in January and decided to go for it then. Yes, I know I'm a little behind in posting about it. I just hope I'm not behind in finishing games and have 10 or so to finish once December rolls around. If you have any suggestions for those "must play" games that you think I should play, let me know. I make no promises but if I do finish them we'll have one more thing to talk about.
What that idea is, is for me to finish the story lines of 12 games within a 12 month period. That doesn't mean I get all the achievements for those games that have them, but that I actually get to the end credits of the story so I can now talk about it with my friends. By saying "12 games in 12 months" I'm also giving myself a whole year to work on all games. I'm not limiting myself to 1 game a month. If the end of February comes along and I'm not close to finishing a game I don't want to get down on myself.
I got this idea when I finally finished the story in Gears of War 2 in December. I was at the start of Chapter 5 when my stuff was stolen so I had to spend some time retracing my steps before I could get to things I hadn't seen yet. The good news was this allowed me to work on several achievements that I hadn't gotten before. The bad news was by the time I finished the game and wanted to talk about it my friends couldn't remember what exactly had happened when in the story any more.
I plan on finishing games over several consoles and hand-helds. I keep throwing around a list every week or so but I'll let fate and my current mood decide which games I'll work on at the moment.
One game that I know I want to finish is Puzzle Quest 2. I think I'm getting very close too. I hope so any way. I love playing this game but I get bored of the battles rather quickly. After I've won my third battle I just want to play something else. It doesn't help that 3 battles might only get me to the other side of the room and not very far in the story. I've played that game so much that I've dreamed of it at night and heard that little beep that indicates your turn everywhere. I can't wait to finish the game.
Some other games I'm considering are:
Eternal Sonata
Final Fantasy Tactics (for PSP)
Ratchet and Clank
Dark Cloud
Lost Odyssey
Obviously I'm going to need more games and those games listed might not even be ones I try to finish either. It's just a list of the games I'm interested in playing right now. I could throw in the story modes for some of those online shooters I'm always playing. I hear those stories are kind of short. I could throw in a long game like Fallout 3, Blue Dragon or Borderlands and work on it over the entire 12 months.
I guess that really is only 11 months now because I got this idea in January and decided to go for it then. Yes, I know I'm a little behind in posting about it. I just hope I'm not behind in finishing games and have 10 or so to finish once December rolls around. If you have any suggestions for those "must play" games that you think I should play, let me know. I make no promises but if I do finish them we'll have one more thing to talk about.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Grinding away
There is one key to success in RPG type games. I know. I play a lot of them. It's grinding. If you play RPG games you'll agree with me.
Grinding is where you run around in one area just to start battles and gain experience points, items, or leveling up your characters abilities. The stronger the character the easier the battles. At some point in the story you'll sometimes find yourself in an area where the enemies are much stronger than you so grinding becomes required to get through some areas of games.
The experienced RPG player knows this so they start grinding early. There's nothing like battling low level opponents early on in the game to get your character levels higher than where they should be right off the bat. If you go to a new area with level 10 enemies are you've already gotten your characters up to a level 15 it makes things so much easier.
Unfortunately the downside to grinding is that battles can get very tedious and monotonous. It becomes the same things over and over again. And pretty soon those few experience points you get out of every battle aren't going to do much to get your character to the next level.
The RPG that I've been playing recently is Blue Dragon. I love this game . . . or at least as far as I previously got in the game. But I didn't love it at first. I found the battles tough and costly for the first couple of areas. That was because I wasn't grinding. Once I decided to grind away a couple of level increases the battles got much easier and that was when I started to get into the story . . . and when my stuff got robbed.
I've been looking for something to play by myself since a lot of my friends have gone missing on Xbox Live (or at least sporadically missing). I've tried Mass Effect but my system seems to have problems with that game by freezing up and doing weird things. So I pulled out Blue Dragon again (only because of an alphabetical order of my games).
Because I know how the game plays and what I need to do I've been able to level up almost twice as high as where I was at before. I've learned several more Dragon skills than I knew before and the large amount of gold I've collected from those battles has let me equip my characters to the max for what is available this early in the game. I've played for about 5 and 1/2 hours and I bet 2 1/2 to 3 hours of that has been grinding. And it's starting to wear on me.
I love the game but there's just so many times you can battle cute little butterflies and jumping crickets before you say "enough is enough". I want to move on with the story. I want to know what happens next. When grinding gets too tedious and I get bored that seems to be when I put the game aside and play something else. But if I want to progress the story why do I put the game aside?
Because I'm usually grinding in a place that's as far away from where I need to go as I can possible get. In order to progress the story I've got to traverse a lot of ground which means getting into a lot of battles; which means boredom. I got so fed up with trying to get back to the story line in Lost Odyssey that I picked "flee" from the command options every time, even if I knew I could beat the enemy rather easily. It just wasn't worth the effort for me.
You can't grind in shooters, racers or platform games. RPGs seem to have an exclusive market on that particular gaming ritual. RPGs are also my first love of video games (platformers a close second, followed by hack-n-slash type games, but more on that in another post). Because I love RPGs I do send a lot of time grinding. Now Blue Dragon is a 3-disk game so I don't think it will be a game I finish this year (considering my gaming habits), but I hope to get farther a long in the game than where I was before. And for right now that means I still have a ways to go in the game to get there. Maybe things will go easier now that I've been grinding more at the beginning. Or maybe I'll pull out another game and start playing.
Sometimes you grind for fun. Sometimes the grinding grinds you down to nothing. Only time (and more grinding) will tell.
Grinding is where you run around in one area just to start battles and gain experience points, items, or leveling up your characters abilities. The stronger the character the easier the battles. At some point in the story you'll sometimes find yourself in an area where the enemies are much stronger than you so grinding becomes required to get through some areas of games.
The experienced RPG player knows this so they start grinding early. There's nothing like battling low level opponents early on in the game to get your character levels higher than where they should be right off the bat. If you go to a new area with level 10 enemies are you've already gotten your characters up to a level 15 it makes things so much easier.
Unfortunately the downside to grinding is that battles can get very tedious and monotonous. It becomes the same things over and over again. And pretty soon those few experience points you get out of every battle aren't going to do much to get your character to the next level.
The RPG that I've been playing recently is Blue Dragon. I love this game . . . or at least as far as I previously got in the game. But I didn't love it at first. I found the battles tough and costly for the first couple of areas. That was because I wasn't grinding. Once I decided to grind away a couple of level increases the battles got much easier and that was when I started to get into the story . . . and when my stuff got robbed.
I've been looking for something to play by myself since a lot of my friends have gone missing on Xbox Live (or at least sporadically missing). I've tried Mass Effect but my system seems to have problems with that game by freezing up and doing weird things. So I pulled out Blue Dragon again (only because of an alphabetical order of my games).
Because I know how the game plays and what I need to do I've been able to level up almost twice as high as where I was at before. I've learned several more Dragon skills than I knew before and the large amount of gold I've collected from those battles has let me equip my characters to the max for what is available this early in the game. I've played for about 5 and 1/2 hours and I bet 2 1/2 to 3 hours of that has been grinding. And it's starting to wear on me.
I love the game but there's just so many times you can battle cute little butterflies and jumping crickets before you say "enough is enough". I want to move on with the story. I want to know what happens next. When grinding gets too tedious and I get bored that seems to be when I put the game aside and play something else. But if I want to progress the story why do I put the game aside?
Because I'm usually grinding in a place that's as far away from where I need to go as I can possible get. In order to progress the story I've got to traverse a lot of ground which means getting into a lot of battles; which means boredom. I got so fed up with trying to get back to the story line in Lost Odyssey that I picked "flee" from the command options every time, even if I knew I could beat the enemy rather easily. It just wasn't worth the effort for me.
You can't grind in shooters, racers or platform games. RPGs seem to have an exclusive market on that particular gaming ritual. RPGs are also my first love of video games (platformers a close second, followed by hack-n-slash type games, but more on that in another post). Because I love RPGs I do send a lot of time grinding. Now Blue Dragon is a 3-disk game so I don't think it will be a game I finish this year (considering my gaming habits), but I hope to get farther a long in the game than where I was before. And for right now that means I still have a ways to go in the game to get there. Maybe things will go easier now that I've been grinding more at the beginning. Or maybe I'll pull out another game and start playing.
Sometimes you grind for fun. Sometimes the grinding grinds you down to nothing. Only time (and more grinding) will tell.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
New Year - New Gaming Goals?
I'm not specifically setting "New Years Resolutions" as I've mentioned before but this time of year has made me look at what some of my Gaming Goals are . . . I mean were. Since the burglary 5 out of my 10 Gaming Goals are now unobtainable. Isn't that nice.
Those goals were 1) finish Final Fantasy VII, 2) All achievements in both Lego Star Wars games, 3) Finish Lost Odyssey, 4) Finish Insane mode with Evil Ric on Gears of War (he sold his game back - how rude) and 5) play Final Fantasy X-2 along with metallicorphan (is he even playing it?). I can't do anything about working on those goals because I don't have the games or systems to play them on. And who knows when that problem will be fixed.
One of those goals on my list was achieved and replaced by a similar goal. I achieved a gamer score of 11,111 and replaced that goal with a new goal to achieve a gamer score of 12,345. Unfortunately I got to a point where I needed an achievement ending in either a 3 or an 8 to get my number just right. The only achievement I had available to me to do that was the "Dupliclone Dash" in Cloning Clyde. It is worth 18 points. The achievement is to finish levels 1-24 and 10 challenge levels under the goal time. Yeah right.
While I think that game is hilarious and fun to play there is no way I was going to be able to get that achievement without going over the goal of 12,345 while playing other games. I have problems with sheep. They're not meant to be ridden. And you're not meant to turn into one. Maybe, eventually, I'll figure out how to play those levels but I realized, with 48 more points to go, that getting my gamer score to exactly 12,345 wasn't going to happen. I put that in my rear view mirror and played on. You live and learn.
There was one goal on my list that I achieved thanks to Kralon. It was to get one of your bankrolls up to $100,000 in Texas Hold 'em. I was almost there a long time ago before they reset the leaderboards and thus your multiplayer bankrolls. I think I was somewhere around $80-90,000. So close and yet so far. When I got that goal I totally forgot it was on my list so I never got around to crossing it off and replacing it was something else.
Some goals are still currently obtainable. And those that are currently on "hiatus" I'm going to have to think long and hard about putting them back on the list when I get my insurance claim straightened out. Games like the two Lego Star Wars. In order for me to get all the achievements I'm going to have to go back and replay all story levels, free play levels, and most of the challenge levels (I was up to RotJ ewok level minus all flight levels). In addition to unlocking all characters, ships, extras and hints. And then I could finish the challenge levels I hadn't done the first time and those special extra levels for each movie and the Lego City and battle arenas. I was so close to finishing the game that I'm not sure I want to put all that time and effort into it again just to get to where I was before I lost my game save.
And then there was Lost Odyssey. If you ever hear me talking about "the one that got away" it will be this game. I've lamented in the past about how many times I've restarted games even when I didn't have to. Lost Odyssey would have been the first game (of any genre) that I started AND finished all in one play through. No restarting for this one. Until the burglary. I was on disk 4 when I lost the game. All areas were open to me and I think I only had one more door/magic seal for Tolten to touch to restore his royal heritage or whatever. After making it through the temple (with your party split in two) I was spending my time going back through older areas to finish side quests and find missing dreams. I had just over 100 hours in that game. Now it is all gone. Do I really want to play those 100 hours all over again just to get to where I left off? Is it worth it when there are so many other new games out there that I would love to try out? I just don't know any more.
I will keep my Gaming Goal to finish Final Fantasy VII. I kind of have to even though I don't have the game anymore. I have a pact with dain about that one (not that I think he's working on his game at the moment). But Evil no longer owns Gears of War and we were half way through the game on insane, do we really want to replay all those earlier levels just to get back to where we left off (even if he is willing to rent it one weekend to play with me)? And I haven't checked in with mettalicorphan on his progress in FF X-2. I just don't see the point any more.
And that's what I hate most about the burglary.
It's not the smashed door. That was fixed. Or the lost items. Those will be replaced . . . eventually. It's all those game saves I lost. All that time and effort for nothing. It wasn't wasted at the time, but now it seems like it was. I have glorious memories of finally beating a tough boss in a fight after trying 6 or 7 times. Or a touching moment in a game when something critical was reveal and a piece of the puzzle fell into place. Game save gone. Memory useless.
If I replay those battles or moments in the story it just won't be the same. I want to pick up where I left off not have to drudge through battles and cut scenes I've already seen or played. And I had so many games that I was in the middle of playing that there was never going to be enough time to play what I already had, let alone work on the games I owned that I hadn't yet played. Especially with great new games coming out.
Maybe when/if I ever get things settled with the insurance company I'll take a week off of work and do nothing but play video games. Will I be caught up then? Not a chance. And that's no even addressing the decision of which game do I start playing first. Right now I want to play them all. At the same time. I miss my games.
Until I know what is happening with my claim I don't think I'll be making any more new Gaming Goals, even to replace the ones I've already finished. But there is one I can keep working on no matter how many (or how few) systems and games I actually own and/or play. That is to post a new blog entry three times a week. I'll really work on that one going forward. Even if I don't have any games to talk about. After all it is "Life of a Gamer Girl" and there's more to life than video games.
Ha Ha!
Yeah, I didn't think so either.
Those goals were 1) finish Final Fantasy VII, 2) All achievements in both Lego Star Wars games, 3) Finish Lost Odyssey, 4) Finish Insane mode with Evil Ric on Gears of War (he sold his game back - how rude) and 5) play Final Fantasy X-2 along with metallicorphan (is he even playing it?). I can't do anything about working on those goals because I don't have the games or systems to play them on. And who knows when that problem will be fixed.
One of those goals on my list was achieved and replaced by a similar goal. I achieved a gamer score of 11,111 and replaced that goal with a new goal to achieve a gamer score of 12,345. Unfortunately I got to a point where I needed an achievement ending in either a 3 or an 8 to get my number just right. The only achievement I had available to me to do that was the "Dupliclone Dash" in Cloning Clyde. It is worth 18 points. The achievement is to finish levels 1-24 and 10 challenge levels under the goal time. Yeah right.
While I think that game is hilarious and fun to play there is no way I was going to be able to get that achievement without going over the goal of 12,345 while playing other games. I have problems with sheep. They're not meant to be ridden. And you're not meant to turn into one. Maybe, eventually, I'll figure out how to play those levels but I realized, with 48 more points to go, that getting my gamer score to exactly 12,345 wasn't going to happen. I put that in my rear view mirror and played on. You live and learn.
There was one goal on my list that I achieved thanks to Kralon. It was to get one of your bankrolls up to $100,000 in Texas Hold 'em. I was almost there a long time ago before they reset the leaderboards and thus your multiplayer bankrolls. I think I was somewhere around $80-90,000. So close and yet so far. When I got that goal I totally forgot it was on my list so I never got around to crossing it off and replacing it was something else.
Some goals are still currently obtainable. And those that are currently on "hiatus" I'm going to have to think long and hard about putting them back on the list when I get my insurance claim straightened out. Games like the two Lego Star Wars. In order for me to get all the achievements I'm going to have to go back and replay all story levels, free play levels, and most of the challenge levels (I was up to RotJ ewok level minus all flight levels). In addition to unlocking all characters, ships, extras and hints. And then I could finish the challenge levels I hadn't done the first time and those special extra levels for each movie and the Lego City and battle arenas. I was so close to finishing the game that I'm not sure I want to put all that time and effort into it again just to get to where I was before I lost my game save.
And then there was Lost Odyssey. If you ever hear me talking about "the one that got away" it will be this game. I've lamented in the past about how many times I've restarted games even when I didn't have to. Lost Odyssey would have been the first game (of any genre) that I started AND finished all in one play through. No restarting for this one. Until the burglary. I was on disk 4 when I lost the game. All areas were open to me and I think I only had one more door/magic seal for Tolten to touch to restore his royal heritage or whatever. After making it through the temple (with your party split in two) I was spending my time going back through older areas to finish side quests and find missing dreams. I had just over 100 hours in that game. Now it is all gone. Do I really want to play those 100 hours all over again just to get to where I left off? Is it worth it when there are so many other new games out there that I would love to try out? I just don't know any more.
I will keep my Gaming Goal to finish Final Fantasy VII. I kind of have to even though I don't have the game anymore. I have a pact with dain about that one (not that I think he's working on his game at the moment). But Evil no longer owns Gears of War and we were half way through the game on insane, do we really want to replay all those earlier levels just to get back to where we left off (even if he is willing to rent it one weekend to play with me)? And I haven't checked in with mettalicorphan on his progress in FF X-2. I just don't see the point any more.
And that's what I hate most about the burglary.
It's not the smashed door. That was fixed. Or the lost items. Those will be replaced . . . eventually. It's all those game saves I lost. All that time and effort for nothing. It wasn't wasted at the time, but now it seems like it was. I have glorious memories of finally beating a tough boss in a fight after trying 6 or 7 times. Or a touching moment in a game when something critical was reveal and a piece of the puzzle fell into place. Game save gone. Memory useless.
If I replay those battles or moments in the story it just won't be the same. I want to pick up where I left off not have to drudge through battles and cut scenes I've already seen or played. And I had so many games that I was in the middle of playing that there was never going to be enough time to play what I already had, let alone work on the games I owned that I hadn't yet played. Especially with great new games coming out.
Maybe when/if I ever get things settled with the insurance company I'll take a week off of work and do nothing but play video games. Will I be caught up then? Not a chance. And that's no even addressing the decision of which game do I start playing first. Right now I want to play them all. At the same time. I miss my games.
Until I know what is happening with my claim I don't think I'll be making any more new Gaming Goals, even to replace the ones I've already finished. But there is one I can keep working on no matter how many (or how few) systems and games I actually own and/or play. That is to post a new blog entry three times a week. I'll really work on that one going forward. Even if I don't have any games to talk about. After all it is "Life of a Gamer Girl" and there's more to life than video games.
Ha Ha!
Yeah, I didn't think so either.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Comic Planetary Alignment
Sometimes in life things line up to be very funny. I'm calling it Comic Planetary Alignment. Here's how it worked for me:
Wednesday afternoon (while at work):
I talked to me mom on the phone and decided that I hate my job and would like to do something else. Unfortunately I don't think my present job is really giving me the skill sets to find another job, not doing what I'm doing now.
Wednesday night (while on Xbox Live)
I finally got to play with some of the boys. My brother kai brought back the Call of Duty: World at War disk I left in the 360 that I recently got back from repair. I was testing it out before giving the console back to him and totally forgot I left the disk in the machine. That was last Saturday night. Since then it seemed like I was a pariah with everyone on my friend's list. Nobody wanted to play with me. At first I was sad, but then I took advantage of my quarantine and did some more work in Lost Odyssey and other single player games. Once I had the disk back I played with the guys and it was good to hear their voices again (and to know I no longer had that "leper-outcast-unclean" stigma just because I didn't have a particular game).
Thursday lunch (in the office cafe)
Someone left a newspaper out on the table I sat down at. Normally I read the newspaper online but I thought I'd riffle through it for kicks. I found the comics and couldn't remember when the last time I read ANY comic stripes was. When I got to Pearls Before Swine I laughed out loud. It took my job experience combined with Genghis Khan's voice to finally put me in a good mood (at least good enough to get through the day).
Here's the Comic Planetary Alignment courtesy of Pearls before Swine (click the image to see a larger view). And a link to the website so you can follow the whole story.
.bmp)
Wednesday afternoon (while at work):
I talked to me mom on the phone and decided that I hate my job and would like to do something else. Unfortunately I don't think my present job is really giving me the skill sets to find another job, not doing what I'm doing now.
Wednesday night (while on Xbox Live)
I finally got to play with some of the boys. My brother kai brought back the Call of Duty: World at War disk I left in the 360 that I recently got back from repair. I was testing it out before giving the console back to him and totally forgot I left the disk in the machine. That was last Saturday night. Since then it seemed like I was a pariah with everyone on my friend's list. Nobody wanted to play with me. At first I was sad, but then I took advantage of my quarantine and did some more work in Lost Odyssey and other single player games. Once I had the disk back I played with the guys and it was good to hear their voices again (and to know I no longer had that "leper-outcast-unclean" stigma just because I didn't have a particular game).
Thursday lunch (in the office cafe)
Someone left a newspaper out on the table I sat down at. Normally I read the newspaper online but I thought I'd riffle through it for kicks. I found the comics and couldn't remember when the last time I read ANY comic stripes was. When I got to Pearls Before Swine I laughed out loud. It took my job experience combined with Genghis Khan's voice to finally put me in a good mood (at least good enough to get through the day).
Here's the Comic Planetary Alignment courtesy of Pearls before Swine (click the image to see a larger view). And a link to the website so you can follow the whole story.
.bmp)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
40 points and counting
Speaking of Gamer Goals I'm close to crossing another one off my list.
One of my goals was to get my gamer score to 11,111 exactly. I was stuck at 10,981 for the longest time. That is only 130 points away so I thought I would put in Lost Odyssey and finish the game. You get 125 points for finishing each disk and I am working on the last one. That would mean I would only need 5 more points to reach my goal. Very doable. But after looking through the achievements for Lost Odyssey I decided against that.
There are a couple of achievements that I'm probably close to getting and it would be just my luck to finish the last disk and have several achievements pop up putting me over the magic number. So as mush as I want to play that game and finish it up I'm not going to put it in for awhile.
So that left me trying to find a way to maintain control over my score and get the points I need. That's when I started playing Battlefield: 1943. I've picked up several achievements in that game and now I'm only 40 points away from my goal. Those achievements are very easy to get and I'm sure I can control which ones I get and when I want them. Of course that might me I immediately jump out of a game when I get my 40 points just so I won't accidentally pick up another achievement.
Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if I finish this goal before the weekend is over (since I'm sure to get some Gears of War matches in as well). I'm sure I'll blog about it when it happens and everyone will have to check out "my sticks". Maybe my next gamer score goal should be 12,345. Do you have a gamer score goal? If so, tell me about it. Please!
One of my goals was to get my gamer score to 11,111 exactly. I was stuck at 10,981 for the longest time. That is only 130 points away so I thought I would put in Lost Odyssey and finish the game. You get 125 points for finishing each disk and I am working on the last one. That would mean I would only need 5 more points to reach my goal. Very doable. But after looking through the achievements for Lost Odyssey I decided against that.
There are a couple of achievements that I'm probably close to getting and it would be just my luck to finish the last disk and have several achievements pop up putting me over the magic number. So as mush as I want to play that game and finish it up I'm not going to put it in for awhile.
So that left me trying to find a way to maintain control over my score and get the points I need. That's when I started playing Battlefield: 1943. I've picked up several achievements in that game and now I'm only 40 points away from my goal. Those achievements are very easy to get and I'm sure I can control which ones I get and when I want them. Of course that might me I immediately jump out of a game when I get my 40 points just so I won't accidentally pick up another achievement.
Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if I finish this goal before the weekend is over (since I'm sure to get some Gears of War matches in as well). I'm sure I'll blog about it when it happens and everyone will have to check out "my sticks". Maybe my next gamer score goal should be 12,345. Do you have a gamer score goal? If so, tell me about it. Please!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Grrrrr
Grrrrr.
Grrrrr.
Grrrrr.
Stupid glitch.
Ugh! I just want to chuck my Fable 2 disk through my tv, use it as a pooper scooper then toss it into my pool. I got "the glitch" last night and I'm pissed.
There's a glitch that seems to happen in random places. There's a guy on one forum who had it happen to him in The Crucible. It happened to me in the Cemetery.
After going into the Cemetery I decided I didn't want to fight 100 Hollow Men right then. So, I tried to leave. Unfortunately the game wouldn't let me. It would dump me right outside of the Cemetery, but no matter what direction I headed it would put me right back into the Cemetery. I tried that three times before the game finally let me leave. It put me near the harbor and the problems really started.
The first thing I noticed was those little glowing orbs were pointing me to where the guy is to take you to Knothole Island. I knew that wasn't my active quest so I pulled up my menu and looked at it. Apparently the game reset my active quest to Knothole Island and when I tried to reset it the game wouldn't acknowledge the change.
Then I started to move. Or tried to at any rate. If I tried to move outside the glowing orb path my character seemed to get pulled back towards the orbs no matter what I did. And when I did follow the path my character moved in jerky movements. I've never had this happen before and even though I've installed the game on my hard drive I figured it was just running through a load sequence and it would get better soon.
It didn't.
When I got to the Knothole Island guy on the pier he had 5 enemies surrounding him and attacking him. I tried to come to his defence but I couldn't pull out my crossbow. Or my great axe. Or use any spells. At this point I was in the middle of them and they started hacking at me and I didn't have a way to defend myself.
So what's a girl to do? I used the quick travel menu option and picked a spot close to where I was. A couple hours of the game clock and one load screen later I was standing safely at the entrance to Bowerstone. Except I couldn't move.
I couldn't walk or run anywhere. I couldn't do any expressions. And I didn't have my dog with me. In fact I couldn't remember the last time I had seen my dog. The Cemetery, maybe? So I went back to the quick travel menu and picked another destination. Same thing. It didn't matter what place I picked, once I got there I couldn't move.
Now, I've read about this "immobile" glitch in the game from several forums. And I'm sure I read there's a way to fix it too. So I saved my game (big mistake) because I had done a lot of things prior to start of all my problems, but I hadn't saved for a long time. Before I decided to go online to find what to do to fix the problem I thought I'd see if exiting the game and reloading my save would fix things. It didn't.
So I ripped the game out of my system and promptly put it back in my game case. Then I got online to figure out how to solve my problem. Apparently this problem was suppose to have been fixed in an update to the game at the end of March. Since I had all the updates I should have been good. But obviously I wasn't. I did some more research and found out that the only way to "fix" the problem was to restart the game.
WTF?
Do you know how many hours I've invested in that game so far? My character was completely evil and completely corrupt (no small feat that). I had a 5 star ranking in both woodcutting AND blacksmithing. I completed the Hero of Strength quest, had not one, but two statues created in my honor and completed many other side quests of the game. So what if I couldn't figure out how to have sex and wake up with a baby? I think I've pretty much given up on that for the time being when for the last couple of days whenever I tried to use a bed I would get this message: "You can't rest here." It didn't matter what bed, in stranger's houses or either of my marital houses it just wouldn't let me do it. And now I find out I've got to start over? You've got to be kidding me?
There's a big difference between a glitch that allows a player to "hide" in a wall and shot at people passing by but not taking any damage from bullets themselves and a glitch that makes your game completely unplayable. That kind of glitch is totally unacceptable. The "guy in a wall" glitch can be dealt with and the game will go on. An "immobility" glitch stops the game cold and pisses off the gamer like you would not believe.
This glitch makes the trouble I had with a boss encounter in Lost Odyssey where the boss dealt only in magic and my party (forced on me) was weak in magic defence look like a walk in the park and then a joy ride. After that boss I put Lost Odyssey aside because I was angry and frustrated with how many attempts it took me to defeat him and picked up Fable II. Now maybe I'll put Fable II aside and go back to Lost Odyssey. Once I finish that game (I'm on disk 4) I can finally go back to Blue Dragon which is a game I've been dying to get to for awhile.
If Lionhead Studios want me to invest in Fable III when it comes out they need to do a better job at doing their job. That one lousy glitch might turn me off the game for a very long time. I might not even go back to finish the first Fable game (which I haven't done yet). It just makes me go grrrr!
Grrrrr.
Grrrrr.
Stupid glitch.
Ugh! I just want to chuck my Fable 2 disk through my tv, use it as a pooper scooper then toss it into my pool. I got "the glitch" last night and I'm pissed.
There's a glitch that seems to happen in random places. There's a guy on one forum who had it happen to him in The Crucible. It happened to me in the Cemetery.
After going into the Cemetery I decided I didn't want to fight 100 Hollow Men right then. So, I tried to leave. Unfortunately the game wouldn't let me. It would dump me right outside of the Cemetery, but no matter what direction I headed it would put me right back into the Cemetery. I tried that three times before the game finally let me leave. It put me near the harbor and the problems really started.
The first thing I noticed was those little glowing orbs were pointing me to where the guy is to take you to Knothole Island. I knew that wasn't my active quest so I pulled up my menu and looked at it. Apparently the game reset my active quest to Knothole Island and when I tried to reset it the game wouldn't acknowledge the change.
Then I started to move. Or tried to at any rate. If I tried to move outside the glowing orb path my character seemed to get pulled back towards the orbs no matter what I did. And when I did follow the path my character moved in jerky movements. I've never had this happen before and even though I've installed the game on my hard drive I figured it was just running through a load sequence and it would get better soon.
It didn't.
When I got to the Knothole Island guy on the pier he had 5 enemies surrounding him and attacking him. I tried to come to his defence but I couldn't pull out my crossbow. Or my great axe. Or use any spells. At this point I was in the middle of them and they started hacking at me and I didn't have a way to defend myself.
So what's a girl to do? I used the quick travel menu option and picked a spot close to where I was. A couple hours of the game clock and one load screen later I was standing safely at the entrance to Bowerstone. Except I couldn't move.
I couldn't walk or run anywhere. I couldn't do any expressions. And I didn't have my dog with me. In fact I couldn't remember the last time I had seen my dog. The Cemetery, maybe? So I went back to the quick travel menu and picked another destination. Same thing. It didn't matter what place I picked, once I got there I couldn't move.
Now, I've read about this "immobile" glitch in the game from several forums. And I'm sure I read there's a way to fix it too. So I saved my game (big mistake) because I had done a lot of things prior to start of all my problems, but I hadn't saved for a long time. Before I decided to go online to find what to do to fix the problem I thought I'd see if exiting the game and reloading my save would fix things. It didn't.
So I ripped the game out of my system and promptly put it back in my game case. Then I got online to figure out how to solve my problem. Apparently this problem was suppose to have been fixed in an update to the game at the end of March. Since I had all the updates I should have been good. But obviously I wasn't. I did some more research and found out that the only way to "fix" the problem was to restart the game.
WTF?
Do you know how many hours I've invested in that game so far? My character was completely evil and completely corrupt (no small feat that). I had a 5 star ranking in both woodcutting AND blacksmithing. I completed the Hero of Strength quest, had not one, but two statues created in my honor and completed many other side quests of the game. So what if I couldn't figure out how to have sex and wake up with a baby? I think I've pretty much given up on that for the time being when for the last couple of days whenever I tried to use a bed I would get this message: "You can't rest here." It didn't matter what bed, in stranger's houses or either of my marital houses it just wouldn't let me do it. And now I find out I've got to start over? You've got to be kidding me?
There's a big difference between a glitch that allows a player to "hide" in a wall and shot at people passing by but not taking any damage from bullets themselves and a glitch that makes your game completely unplayable. That kind of glitch is totally unacceptable. The "guy in a wall" glitch can be dealt with and the game will go on. An "immobility" glitch stops the game cold and pisses off the gamer like you would not believe.
This glitch makes the trouble I had with a boss encounter in Lost Odyssey where the boss dealt only in magic and my party (forced on me) was weak in magic defence look like a walk in the park and then a joy ride. After that boss I put Lost Odyssey aside because I was angry and frustrated with how many attempts it took me to defeat him and picked up Fable II. Now maybe I'll put Fable II aside and go back to Lost Odyssey. Once I finish that game (I'm on disk 4) I can finally go back to Blue Dragon which is a game I've been dying to get to for awhile.
If Lionhead Studios want me to invest in Fable III when it comes out they need to do a better job at doing their job. That one lousy glitch might turn me off the game for a very long time. I might not even go back to finish the first Fable game (which I haven't done yet). It just makes me go grrrr!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Poll Results - How stupid am I?
Okay, here's the results from my latest poll:
I know you were all reluctant to vote but you should be thankful I didn't put another option in that I was considering. It would have been "all of the above".
The reason I started this poll, which was all in good fun, was one of my Gaming Goals was to find my Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game. I got this game before I moved but I hadn't seen it since then. The way I keep all of my games is that I have a large binder with who knows how many pages that can hold 4 disks to a side, eight to a page. That case has been full for some time so as I bought new games they were left in the case piled up next to the TV. In my many attempts to pack boxes and consolidate items I took some games out of their cases and put them into other cases that could hold more. Like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Those games are multi-disk so I could put 3 or 4 disks in one case. Then I packed up.
Since I've moved I've unpacked all of my boxes that held video game equipment. I never even knew I was missing the game until I saw Pogue playing it the other day and I suddenly got the urge to play it myself. When I couldn't find the game I panicked. I'm not missing a video game! And a Star Wars one at that. I looked through my case very carefully (even saying the name of each game out loud just to make sure it wasn't the right game) and I still couldn't find it. I even unpacked and opened up each game case to see which ones might still have a disk in it. Several days went by before I tried one last act of desperation.
Next to my recliner in the family room I have a plastic tub that is partially filled with audio books that I haven't put on my book cases yet. I've been using the tub as a side table to hold my phone, remote and any beverages I might be consuming while playing. After searching everywhere else I thought I would just open it up just to make sure it's audio books only. Apparently it wasn't. I had about 6 or 7 game cases in there and guess what? One of them (Lost Odyssey) had not only my Star Wars disk but disk 2 of Lost Odyssey. I didn't even know I was missing that disk. I felt completely stupid in that the game was sitting right next to me every time I played a game or watched TV. And the fact that the tub is clear and I could have seen into it without even opening it up to know that there were game cases inside makes me feel even more stupid.
I know you all think I'm probably crazy. You're thinking "that's it?" That's what makes you think you're stupid? That's just one example of my stupidity. When I go to take my allergy medicine I walk all the way to the kitchen to get something to drink in order to take the meds when I realize I left the medicine back in my bathroom. The kitchen and my bathroom are about as far away from each other as you can get in my house. So I take a glass of milk or water all the way back to my bathroom to take my medicine only to have to walk all the way back to the kitchen in order to take care of my dirty glass. Stupid. Now, you're probably thinking, you're not stupid . . . just lazy. But there's more.
Today I brought 2 pairs of old glasses that I was going to put in the donation box we have here at work. The donation box is on the other side of the building right on the way to the cafe. I went over there once this morning for a meeting and once again this afternoon to get lunch. Did I bring the glasses with me to put in the donation box either time? Nope. See, stupid. I have lots of moments like that that just annoy the crap out of me. And the older I get the more prevalent these moments seem to get.
You combine those moments with how I've been feeling lately about things (game related and not) and I just feel stupid all the time. For instance I know someone from my writer's website that I'm a moderator on. He was able to get admitted into Orson Scott Card's week long writer's boot camp a couple of years ago. I was only able to get into the open 2 day course (which anyone could attend) because my story was not good enough to be accepted. He recently had his first novel published in January and it's already on it's third printing (which is huge for a first time novelist) and at last glance it was number 30 on the New York Time's Bestseller List (the book is titled Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet). I think there's a fine line between being really excited for someone and being total jealous of them. With Jamie I crossed that line recently and it's made me feel really stupid that he's doing all these great things with his life (things that I've always wanted to do, but haven't) and I haven't even finish a novel myself. Stupid.
Then, gaming related, I've felt really stupid because my game play has sucked even more so than usually for the last little while. It's hard sometimes to play with people that are raking up 10+ kills in a 5 game match when I'm over the moon just getting 2 kills or maybe just not dying 5 times. When I compare my numbers to theirs it's pathetic and as much as I like playing with them I wonder why, no matter what I do, I just can't seem to get any better. Stupid.
You know that fine line between being excited for someone and jealous of them? Well, I'm starting to teeter over that line occasionally with my friends and when I do teeter over I don't enjoy playing the game as much as I use to. No matter how much I like my friends.
Is this something that my friends are making me feel? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! This is something that, for some reason, I'm putting on myself. Every time I get reminded of the stupid things I do in life (or what I'm not doing) I become more aware of the stupid things I do in video games. Stupid things, like not knowing how to fix my computer = poor game play. Not knowing what type of new computer to get = stupid game play. Not dropping off old glasses = stupid game play. Not writing my New York Times Bestselling novel = stupid game play. Not killing anyone and/or dying instantly in games = stupid game play. I even feel stupid for bringing the matter up because I think it's effected some of my friends and maybe damaged some of my friendships. Stupid.
I want my friends to know that I am still happy and excited for you when you play really well in a match, but for now I'm still going to be hard on myself about how I play. That doesn't mean you should change how you play the game, or the over abundant excitement (i.e. yelling) that you might experience while playing the game with me. I told you in my comments to my Ugh! post that I don't take it personally, it's just a stupid things I'm going through right now. And despite how stupidly I play I hope you're still willing to play with me. Or at least send me an invite if you're desperate enough to get a full team. I might be stupid, but I still understand desperation for a full team (more on that in another post).
Besides, like popcorn and oatmeal, this too shall pass (however unpleasantly). But until then, stupid is as stupid does. So now you know how I voted and why.
How stupid do you think I am?
I'm surprised you know your own name = 1 vote
It's a good thing breathing is automatic = 4 votes
Stupid is as stupid does = 4 votes
You're not stupid . . . you're just dumb = 0 votes
I know you were all reluctant to vote but you should be thankful I didn't put another option in that I was considering. It would have been "all of the above".
The reason I started this poll, which was all in good fun, was one of my Gaming Goals was to find my Star Wars: The Force Unleashed game. I got this game before I moved but I hadn't seen it since then. The way I keep all of my games is that I have a large binder with who knows how many pages that can hold 4 disks to a side, eight to a page. That case has been full for some time so as I bought new games they were left in the case piled up next to the TV. In my many attempts to pack boxes and consolidate items I took some games out of their cases and put them into other cases that could hold more. Like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Those games are multi-disk so I could put 3 or 4 disks in one case. Then I packed up.
Since I've moved I've unpacked all of my boxes that held video game equipment. I never even knew I was missing the game until I saw Pogue playing it the other day and I suddenly got the urge to play it myself. When I couldn't find the game I panicked. I'm not missing a video game! And a Star Wars one at that. I looked through my case very carefully (even saying the name of each game out loud just to make sure it wasn't the right game) and I still couldn't find it. I even unpacked and opened up each game case to see which ones might still have a disk in it. Several days went by before I tried one last act of desperation.
Next to my recliner in the family room I have a plastic tub that is partially filled with audio books that I haven't put on my book cases yet. I've been using the tub as a side table to hold my phone, remote and any beverages I might be consuming while playing. After searching everywhere else I thought I would just open it up just to make sure it's audio books only. Apparently it wasn't. I had about 6 or 7 game cases in there and guess what? One of them (Lost Odyssey) had not only my Star Wars disk but disk 2 of Lost Odyssey. I didn't even know I was missing that disk. I felt completely stupid in that the game was sitting right next to me every time I played a game or watched TV. And the fact that the tub is clear and I could have seen into it without even opening it up to know that there were game cases inside makes me feel even more stupid.
I know you all think I'm probably crazy. You're thinking "that's it?" That's what makes you think you're stupid? That's just one example of my stupidity. When I go to take my allergy medicine I walk all the way to the kitchen to get something to drink in order to take the meds when I realize I left the medicine back in my bathroom. The kitchen and my bathroom are about as far away from each other as you can get in my house. So I take a glass of milk or water all the way back to my bathroom to take my medicine only to have to walk all the way back to the kitchen in order to take care of my dirty glass. Stupid. Now, you're probably thinking, you're not stupid . . . just lazy. But there's more.
Today I brought 2 pairs of old glasses that I was going to put in the donation box we have here at work. The donation box is on the other side of the building right on the way to the cafe. I went over there once this morning for a meeting and once again this afternoon to get lunch. Did I bring the glasses with me to put in the donation box either time? Nope. See, stupid. I have lots of moments like that that just annoy the crap out of me. And the older I get the more prevalent these moments seem to get.
You combine those moments with how I've been feeling lately about things (game related and not) and I just feel stupid all the time. For instance I know someone from my writer's website that I'm a moderator on. He was able to get admitted into Orson Scott Card's week long writer's boot camp a couple of years ago. I was only able to get into the open 2 day course (which anyone could attend) because my story was not good enough to be accepted. He recently had his first novel published in January and it's already on it's third printing (which is huge for a first time novelist) and at last glance it was number 30 on the New York Time's Bestseller List (the book is titled Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet). I think there's a fine line between being really excited for someone and being total jealous of them. With Jamie I crossed that line recently and it's made me feel really stupid that he's doing all these great things with his life (things that I've always wanted to do, but haven't) and I haven't even finish a novel myself. Stupid.
Then, gaming related, I've felt really stupid because my game play has sucked even more so than usually for the last little while. It's hard sometimes to play with people that are raking up 10+ kills in a 5 game match when I'm over the moon just getting 2 kills or maybe just not dying 5 times. When I compare my numbers to theirs it's pathetic and as much as I like playing with them I wonder why, no matter what I do, I just can't seem to get any better. Stupid.
You know that fine line between being excited for someone and jealous of them? Well, I'm starting to teeter over that line occasionally with my friends and when I do teeter over I don't enjoy playing the game as much as I use to. No matter how much I like my friends.
Is this something that my friends are making me feel? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! This is something that, for some reason, I'm putting on myself. Every time I get reminded of the stupid things I do in life (or what I'm not doing) I become more aware of the stupid things I do in video games. Stupid things, like not knowing how to fix my computer = poor game play. Not knowing what type of new computer to get = stupid game play. Not dropping off old glasses = stupid game play. Not writing my New York Times Bestselling novel = stupid game play. Not killing anyone and/or dying instantly in games = stupid game play. I even feel stupid for bringing the matter up because I think it's effected some of my friends and maybe damaged some of my friendships. Stupid.
I want my friends to know that I am still happy and excited for you when you play really well in a match, but for now I'm still going to be hard on myself about how I play. That doesn't mean you should change how you play the game, or the over abundant excitement (i.e. yelling) that you might experience while playing the game with me. I told you in my comments to my Ugh! post that I don't take it personally, it's just a stupid things I'm going through right now. And despite how stupidly I play I hope you're still willing to play with me. Or at least send me an invite if you're desperate enough to get a full team. I might be stupid, but I still understand desperation for a full team (more on that in another post).
Besides, like popcorn and oatmeal, this too shall pass (however unpleasantly). But until then, stupid is as stupid does. So now you know how I voted and why.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Gaming Goals
I've decided I'm going to set goals when it comes to my gaming, but I'm not going to call them New Year Resolutions. Why? Partly because I haven't been very good at setting them at the beginning of the year (and finishing them in the year as well). And partly because setting a resolution sounds like you're trying to make yourself do something that's painful or distasteful . . . like a diet. I've decided to call my goals "Gaming Goals" and I can set them any time I like. A "goal" sounds much more pleasant than a "resolution". And it means you're working towards something, not forcing yourself to do something. But maybe that's just me.
For now here are the Gaming Goals I've sent for myself. Their deadline is open-ended unless otherwise stated.
1. Finish Final Fantasy VII (I think this one has made the list for the last three years in a row) by June 15th
2. All achievements in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2), Lego Star Wars II (9), Catan (2), Puzzle Quest (3), and Spyglass Board Games (1)
3. $100,000 bankroll achievement in Texas Hold 'em
4. Get my gamerscore to 11,111 exactly
5. Post on my blog at least 3 times a week (feel free to rag on me about this one if I don't keep it up)
6. Finish Lost Odyssey story
7. Get that pesky achievement in Soltrio Solitaire for winning at all classic games (not including expansion packs) (I forget what the achievement is called)
8. Finish Insane mode with Evil Ric in Gears of War (the first one)
9. Finish that last @#$%! level in Feeding Frenzy
10. Find my Star Wars The Force Unleashed disk (I still have boxes to unpack)
So what do you think? What are your Gaming Goals?
For now here are the Gaming Goals I've sent for myself. Their deadline is open-ended unless otherwise stated.
1. Finish Final Fantasy VII (I think this one has made the list for the last three years in a row) by June 15th
2. All achievements in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2), Lego Star Wars II (9), Catan (2), Puzzle Quest (3), and Spyglass Board Games (1)
3. $100,000 bankroll achievement in Texas Hold 'em
4. Get my gamerscore to 11,111 exactly
5. Post on my blog at least 3 times a week (feel free to rag on me about this one if I don't keep it up)
6. Finish Lost Odyssey story
7. Get that pesky achievement in Soltrio Solitaire for winning at all classic games (not including expansion packs) (I forget what the achievement is called)
8. Finish Insane mode with Evil Ric in Gears of War (the first one)
9. Finish that last @#$%! level in Feeding Frenzy
10. Find my Star Wars The Force Unleashed disk (I still have boxes to unpack)
So what do you think? What are your Gaming Goals?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
RPG should stand for Really Pissed Gamer
My first foray into gaming came from Frogger and Mario Bros. I loved those platform games but once I figured out the timing that genre lost a little of it's lustre. My real love of gaming came with RPGs. I absolutely love them.
Anyone can go "fire ball, fire ball, jump, fire swing, jump, jump, jump". There's no great skill involved besides looking for patterns in the movements of enemies or obstacles. When you play an RPG there's a lot of skill in involved. Do you want to win the battle without taking any damage? You can try for it. Do you want to win a battle while greatly over matched? Go for it. There are so many different ways to play the game, and let's not forget about customizing your characters, that the game can be played multiple times, and although you have the same story (most games), it's a whole new experience each time.
Unfortunately, I'm not feeling the RPG love right now. I've been trying to play Lost Odyssey for the last couple of weeks and have only moved the story forward marginally, at best. I'm not running around exploring every corner of the map or village. I'm trying to move the plot forward. I just keep getting my ass kicked in battle. I'm left with magic users only when all I want are my muscle guys. Or my muscle guys are getting pounded by magic and spend more time healing or guarding than fighting. And if I've got the right characters they always seem to have the wrong equipment for the enemies I face.
I've played several RPGs and haven't had nearly this much trouble even in the hardest parts. I have the strategy guide but I'm trying very hard to get through this all on my own. I know, what's the point in getting the guide if I'm not going to use it? You can play an RPG by using the guide but usually you end up stopping every couple of steps to think do I turn left or right? Do I cast fire or earth against that boss? While following the guide will get you safely through the game and to the end credits it takes away some of the fun at having figured things out on your own. I still have fond memories of bosses that were tough to beat but that I did without any outside help. The rush of the achievement (minus the gamerscore points) was enough for me. I can also remember battling bosses while using the guide as a reference. The battles seemed shallow and the victories hollow.
Sometimes I wonder if I've played too many FPS to really get back into the mindset for an RPG game. Have I given in to the fact action, run and shoot approach to plot development instead of the slower what do I need to do to get from here to there? type of puzzle solving? And have instant action and known points of engagement replaced random battles? I don't know.
I really want to play Blue Dragon. I don't know why, but there's something about that game that is calling me right now. Unfortunately I told myself I wouldn't play another RPG until I have finished Lost Odyssey. At least not one in the fantasy genre. Maybe I should go back to Mass Effect or even further to Knights of the Old Republic. Maybe a Star Wars game (and a really good one at that) would get me out of this RPG funk. Maybe it's Lost Odyssey's lack of a small mini game like Sabaac (KotOR) or Tetra Master (FF9) or Blitzball (FF10). I miss those mini diversions. Nowadays they would make great Xbox Live Arcade titles, but unfortunately they weren't released or created that way. The Pub Games from Fable 2 are the exception.
Well, with whatever happens that lets me get my RPG mojo back I'll still be playing FPS. I'm just going to have to sprinkle in some more RPG time. Or maybe a platformer or two just to break up the monotony. If I don't, RPG really will stand for Really Pissed Gamer. Or maybe Radioactive Psycho Gamer. But only if I get bitten by a spider.
Anyone can go "fire ball, fire ball, jump, fire swing, jump, jump, jump". There's no great skill involved besides looking for patterns in the movements of enemies or obstacles. When you play an RPG there's a lot of skill in involved. Do you want to win the battle without taking any damage? You can try for it. Do you want to win a battle while greatly over matched? Go for it. There are so many different ways to play the game, and let's not forget about customizing your characters, that the game can be played multiple times, and although you have the same story (most games), it's a whole new experience each time.
Unfortunately, I'm not feeling the RPG love right now. I've been trying to play Lost Odyssey for the last couple of weeks and have only moved the story forward marginally, at best. I'm not running around exploring every corner of the map or village. I'm trying to move the plot forward. I just keep getting my ass kicked in battle. I'm left with magic users only when all I want are my muscle guys. Or my muscle guys are getting pounded by magic and spend more time healing or guarding than fighting. And if I've got the right characters they always seem to have the wrong equipment for the enemies I face.
I've played several RPGs and haven't had nearly this much trouble even in the hardest parts. I have the strategy guide but I'm trying very hard to get through this all on my own. I know, what's the point in getting the guide if I'm not going to use it? You can play an RPG by using the guide but usually you end up stopping every couple of steps to think do I turn left or right? Do I cast fire or earth against that boss? While following the guide will get you safely through the game and to the end credits it takes away some of the fun at having figured things out on your own. I still have fond memories of bosses that were tough to beat but that I did without any outside help. The rush of the achievement (minus the gamerscore points) was enough for me. I can also remember battling bosses while using the guide as a reference. The battles seemed shallow and the victories hollow.
Sometimes I wonder if I've played too many FPS to really get back into the mindset for an RPG game. Have I given in to the fact action, run and shoot approach to plot development instead of the slower what do I need to do to get from here to there? type of puzzle solving? And have instant action and known points of engagement replaced random battles? I don't know.
I really want to play Blue Dragon. I don't know why, but there's something about that game that is calling me right now. Unfortunately I told myself I wouldn't play another RPG until I have finished Lost Odyssey. At least not one in the fantasy genre. Maybe I should go back to Mass Effect or even further to Knights of the Old Republic. Maybe a Star Wars game (and a really good one at that) would get me out of this RPG funk. Maybe it's Lost Odyssey's lack of a small mini game like Sabaac (KotOR) or Tetra Master (FF9) or Blitzball (FF10). I miss those mini diversions. Nowadays they would make great Xbox Live Arcade titles, but unfortunately they weren't released or created that way. The Pub Games from Fable 2 are the exception.
Well, with whatever happens that lets me get my RPG mojo back I'll still be playing FPS. I'm just going to have to sprinkle in some more RPG time. Or maybe a platformer or two just to break up the monotony. If I don't, RPG really will stand for Really Pissed Gamer. Or maybe Radioactive Psycho Gamer. But only if I get bitten by a spider.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Pity the failure that I am
So I didn't make it. I was 234 points away from breaking the 10,000 point barrier with my gamer score. Yet another New Years Resolution I didn't achieve. And to think I was one boss battle from picking up 125 points in Lost Odyssey. So close, and yet so far.
I not only failed at getting the score but I failed at playing Lost Odyssey. I got into an area that I couldn't handle. The regular enemy encounters were killing me . . . literally. I fled like the little coward that I am. I love that game, but it got to a point where all I wanted to do was rip the disk from the drive and chuck it out the window. Maybe this weekend I'll take some time to focus on the game and strategies to help me survive instead of rushing through it to get points. Besides, if I finish the game then I can go back to Blue Dragon.
When my attempt to get gamer points from Lost Odyssey failed I started playing Gears of War on insane. I figured if I could get achievements for finishing chapters on insane I would also get the achievements for hardcore as well. Doubling up is always nice. It didn't work out that way so the clock turned over past midnight and I was at the same gamer score I had the night before.
Now if I had spent some time playing those games earlier in the week instead of playing Gears of War 2 with my friends I might have met my goal and finally cross one resolution off my list. But you see, I like playing with my friends. As crazy and emotional as they sometimes tend to get, they're a bunch of real stand up guys. So I blame my failure on them. Yeah, that's it. It's all their fault. If they would just act like jerks so I wouldn't want to play with them then maybe I'd actually achieve a goal I set for myself. I'd like to try and see them be a jerk . . . without laughing about it either.
There are a lot of other New Year Resolutions that I didn't achieve either. I still haven't finished Final Fantasy VII, Mario Sunshine, Summoner or Jedi Outcast like I've been trying to do as a challenge with my brother dain. I guess those should be on my resolution list this year as well. Oh well. I guess my resolution of world peace didn't quite work out either.
With all the house/moving stuff that's been my life the last couple of months I haven't given it any thought about what my 2009 resolutions should be. When I get a chance I'll review where I came up short with my 2008 ones and see what dreams/goals I want to complete this year. Does anyone have any Prozac they could share?
I not only failed at getting the score but I failed at playing Lost Odyssey. I got into an area that I couldn't handle. The regular enemy encounters were killing me . . . literally. I fled like the little coward that I am. I love that game, but it got to a point where all I wanted to do was rip the disk from the drive and chuck it out the window. Maybe this weekend I'll take some time to focus on the game and strategies to help me survive instead of rushing through it to get points. Besides, if I finish the game then I can go back to Blue Dragon.
When my attempt to get gamer points from Lost Odyssey failed I started playing Gears of War on insane. I figured if I could get achievements for finishing chapters on insane I would also get the achievements for hardcore as well. Doubling up is always nice. It didn't work out that way so the clock turned over past midnight and I was at the same gamer score I had the night before.
Now if I had spent some time playing those games earlier in the week instead of playing Gears of War 2 with my friends I might have met my goal and finally cross one resolution off my list. But you see, I like playing with my friends. As crazy and emotional as they sometimes tend to get, they're a bunch of real stand up guys. So I blame my failure on them. Yeah, that's it. It's all their fault. If they would just act like jerks so I wouldn't want to play with them then maybe I'd actually achieve a goal I set for myself. I'd like to try and see them be a jerk . . . without laughing about it either.
There are a lot of other New Year Resolutions that I didn't achieve either. I still haven't finished Final Fantasy VII, Mario Sunshine, Summoner or Jedi Outcast like I've been trying to do as a challenge with my brother dain. I guess those should be on my resolution list this year as well. Oh well. I guess my resolution of world peace didn't quite work out either.
With all the house/moving stuff that's been my life the last couple of months I haven't given it any thought about what my 2009 resolutions should be. When I get a chance I'll review where I came up short with my 2008 ones and see what dreams/goals I want to complete this year. Does anyone have any Prozac they could share?
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Poll Results - How long for a single player game?
Here's the results of the last poll:
How long should it take to finish a good single player game?
15-30 hours = 2 votes
30-50 hours = 5 votes
50-75 hours = 1 vote
100+ hours = 1 vote
0-15 and 75-100 hours = 0 votes
I can understand why no one votes for 0-15 hours. That's just way too short for any game. And if you look at the financial investment you can tell. At $60 a game and it only lasts 15 hours that means you spent $4 a hour to play it. That might not seem like much but I can remember when the minimum wage was less than $4. Now a days that's a breakfast at McDonald's for every hour of game play. Two hours of game play could probably get you into to see a matinee movie, which might also take two hours. But at least with a matinee all you have to do is sit there and be entertained. A game takes work.
I voted for the 100+ hours. You might think I'm crazy, but I have my reasons. I was mostly thinking of RPG style games. Those games usually have areas, side quests, and what-nots built in to them that require a little extra time exploring and wandering around. I certainly don't expect BioShock to take 100 hours to play. I think I did it in about 20 hours, but I'll have to go online tonight and check that out.
However long it took me, BioShock was a short game. The fact that there was nothing else to do besides the main quest didn't help. It's still a great game but it didn't completely satisfy my gaming needs. In other words I wanted more.
With traditional RPG games there's places all over that don't require you to visit them to advance the story. And just about everybody you talk to is going to either a) give you information about the main quest, b) give you the opportunity for a side quest, or c) annoy the crap out of you. In Lost Odyssey the other night I visited an area that opened up on the map but I didn't have to go to. I picked up a few cool items so it was very beneficial to do so. I didn't have to, but I'm a completist when I play RPG type games. I'll explore every option presented to me before moving on.
For some reason I don't expect a game like Gears of War or Call of Duty 4 to have extensive single player campaigns. It would be really nice if it did, but I don't expect it. Maybe because the developers know that the longevity to those games are through the multiplayer game play rather than the single player campaigns. Look at the Halo franchise. The first game was all about the story and game play. They throw in multiplayer stuff with the second one and not everybody who talks about that game focuses on that aspect only. You don't hear people raving over the single player stuff, now do you?
I remember in the good old original Playstation days games were made with really long (and sometimes very difficult) single player game play. Multiplayer game play took a back seat if it was included at all. Now a days with more casual gamers getting into the action and more interactive games on the market (Guitar Hero, anything for the Wii) more gamers are looking for more multiplayer action than single player campaigns. I guess this high profile move is taking the stereotypical gamer from their parent's basement to everyone's living rooms but I hope it doesn't do in single player campaigns and games entirely. Some days you've just got to immerse yourself and play alone in someone else's world. It beats listening to the news in our own world.
How long should it take to finish a good single player game?
15-30 hours = 2 votes
30-50 hours = 5 votes
50-75 hours = 1 vote
100+ hours = 1 vote
0-15 and 75-100 hours = 0 votes
I can understand why no one votes for 0-15 hours. That's just way too short for any game. And if you look at the financial investment you can tell. At $60 a game and it only lasts 15 hours that means you spent $4 a hour to play it. That might not seem like much but I can remember when the minimum wage was less than $4. Now a days that's a breakfast at McDonald's for every hour of game play. Two hours of game play could probably get you into to see a matinee movie, which might also take two hours. But at least with a matinee all you have to do is sit there and be entertained. A game takes work.
I voted for the 100+ hours. You might think I'm crazy, but I have my reasons. I was mostly thinking of RPG style games. Those games usually have areas, side quests, and what-nots built in to them that require a little extra time exploring and wandering around. I certainly don't expect BioShock to take 100 hours to play. I think I did it in about 20 hours, but I'll have to go online tonight and check that out.
However long it took me, BioShock was a short game. The fact that there was nothing else to do besides the main quest didn't help. It's still a great game but it didn't completely satisfy my gaming needs. In other words I wanted more.
With traditional RPG games there's places all over that don't require you to visit them to advance the story. And just about everybody you talk to is going to either a) give you information about the main quest, b) give you the opportunity for a side quest, or c) annoy the crap out of you. In Lost Odyssey the other night I visited an area that opened up on the map but I didn't have to go to. I picked up a few cool items so it was very beneficial to do so. I didn't have to, but I'm a completist when I play RPG type games. I'll explore every option presented to me before moving on.
For some reason I don't expect a game like Gears of War or Call of Duty 4 to have extensive single player campaigns. It would be really nice if it did, but I don't expect it. Maybe because the developers know that the longevity to those games are through the multiplayer game play rather than the single player campaigns. Look at the Halo franchise. The first game was all about the story and game play. They throw in multiplayer stuff with the second one and not everybody who talks about that game focuses on that aspect only. You don't hear people raving over the single player stuff, now do you?
I remember in the good old original Playstation days games were made with really long (and sometimes very difficult) single player game play. Multiplayer game play took a back seat if it was included at all. Now a days with more casual gamers getting into the action and more interactive games on the market (Guitar Hero, anything for the Wii) more gamers are looking for more multiplayer action than single player campaigns. I guess this high profile move is taking the stereotypical gamer from their parent's basement to everyone's living rooms but I hope it doesn't do in single player campaigns and games entirely. Some days you've just got to immerse yourself and play alone in someone else's world. It beats listening to the news in our own world.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
I'm tired of dying
Sometimes I just get tired of dying. It doesn't matter how much fun I'm having with friends if all I ever do is just die, I'm not going to like it. It gets frustrating not lasting more than 15-20 seconds into a match before my body separates into tiny pieces from someone's well placed shot. Sometimes a girl needs a fighting chance. After all isn't that what first person shooter games are set up to do?
When I get in this mood it's hard to find a game to play with friends when all they want to do is kill people. I don't blame them. Sometimes I can't wait to get into a game and blow someone's head off. But since their skill level is so much higher than mine sometimes it's a hopeless night of repeated deaths for me. And that's not any fun.
Now, if I told my friends I didn't want to die I'm sure they'd do everything they could to not kill me; maybe not even shoot me. And if I was the last person left on my team they'd probably all stand there and let me walk up to them and kill them. While on one hand this would eliminate my dying woes, on the other hand it's patronizing and I'm way too competitive to get a kill or a win that way. I want to earn it. I take great satisfaction sneaking up behind someone and tagging them (frag or smoke grenade, it doesn't matter). Yes, I know I should just play for the fun of it and I do . . . mostly. I just want to get in on the action every now and then.
I can usually put together one stellar match per night. My aim seems to be spot on. My instincts seem to be honed to perfection. But having any control of when or which map that happens on I have no idea when it will happen. And the following map? Those maps are always worse than terrible when it comes to my performance. That's just how I play and I've come to accept it.
What I can't accept is always dying all the time. I've played Gears of War for over a year and half now and I don't seem to have gotten much better than when I started. But when I went back to Star Wars Battlefront the other night I was at the top (or close to the top) of the leaderboards every round without even putting much effort into it. Yes, I've played Battlefront longer than Gears but I would think I would be seeing a return on my time and practice investment by now in that game.
So for now until the foreseeable future you'll probably see me playing single player games like Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon or any number of Arcade games. If I'm playing a multiplayer arcade feel free to join me. But my friends shouldn't worry about me being away from the shooter genre for long. All it takes is one bad day at the office for me to get an overwhelming need to go home and blow someone to bits. As long as I can do that it won't matter how many times I die.
When I get in this mood it's hard to find a game to play with friends when all they want to do is kill people. I don't blame them. Sometimes I can't wait to get into a game and blow someone's head off. But since their skill level is so much higher than mine sometimes it's a hopeless night of repeated deaths for me. And that's not any fun.
Now, if I told my friends I didn't want to die I'm sure they'd do everything they could to not kill me; maybe not even shoot me. And if I was the last person left on my team they'd probably all stand there and let me walk up to them and kill them. While on one hand this would eliminate my dying woes, on the other hand it's patronizing and I'm way too competitive to get a kill or a win that way. I want to earn it. I take great satisfaction sneaking up behind someone and tagging them (frag or smoke grenade, it doesn't matter). Yes, I know I should just play for the fun of it and I do . . . mostly. I just want to get in on the action every now and then.
I can usually put together one stellar match per night. My aim seems to be spot on. My instincts seem to be honed to perfection. But having any control of when or which map that happens on I have no idea when it will happen. And the following map? Those maps are always worse than terrible when it comes to my performance. That's just how I play and I've come to accept it.
What I can't accept is always dying all the time. I've played Gears of War for over a year and half now and I don't seem to have gotten much better than when I started. But when I went back to Star Wars Battlefront the other night I was at the top (or close to the top) of the leaderboards every round without even putting much effort into it. Yes, I've played Battlefront longer than Gears but I would think I would be seeing a return on my time and practice investment by now in that game.
So for now until the foreseeable future you'll probably see me playing single player games like Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon or any number of Arcade games. If I'm playing a multiplayer arcade feel free to join me. But my friends shouldn't worry about me being away from the shooter genre for long. All it takes is one bad day at the office for me to get an overwhelming need to go home and blow someone to bits. As long as I can do that it won't matter how many times I die.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
What I hate about RPGs
No, I'm not talking about Rocket Propelled Grenades (noob tubes in Call of Duty 4), which I do hate, but Role Playing Games. I really do love that type of game play but there's one thing that annoys me to no end.
I hate it when you do something in the game that advances the story but locks you out of a certain area at the same time. For instance, I was playing Lost Odyssey the other night I spent some time just exploring the Crimson Forest before venturing back to Numara. Once I got back into the city, before I did anything else, I walked up to the fountain area which triggered a cut scene about the smear campaign that my characters are now up against. I didn't know that activating that cut scene would prevent me from getting into the city itself. I've got crystal shards for a side quest that I've got to deliver. But I can't do that.
Of course I didn't know exactly what was going on until I pulled the strategy guide out and found where I was in the story. Then I knew. Unfortunately I don't have a previous save to go back to so I can complete my side quests BEFORE I trigger the cut scene.
I'm not much of a fan of having multiple save of a game while playing it. Yes, it would have helped in this situation, and many others I've encountered, but I think it just gets too messy. Some games store the most recent game at the top of the list, others at the bottom. Sometimes those game descriptions are hard to figure out where you are in the game play. There's nothing worse than loading a prior save and finding out you're further back than you wanted to be. Plus then you've got to go and pick up those things you've already picked up in another save file. I've used them before but they take up too much room on a memory card (PS2) and I've accidentally delete the wrong save file when I'm cleaning things up.
I did use multiple save files while playing BioShock. I saved every chance I could get. I did this for various reasons. I hated getting into a new area and finding out I had the wrong plasmids equipped to deal with things. Going back to a previous save (usually by a gene bank) allowed me to make the necessary adjustments and continue on. And even if I had the right equipment in a new area I might not be prepared to face a Big Daddy or a bunch of splicers that come on me unaware. It was nice to see what was coming, back out to an earlier save, and then jump into the action. Is this cheating? Perhaps. But it's better than being frustrated and putting the game away when you have difficulty.
But losing access to an area in an RPG game is frustrating. Especially if you're working on side quests. Now, all of a sudden, that area and those completed quests are no longer available until when? Who knows. It could be until the very end of the game or maybe never at all. Legend of Dragoon did this, Final Fantasy does this and every other RPG game I've played has this in there to some extent. When Numara opens up again for me will I remember to go back to that artist and deliver those crystal shards? I hope so but depending on how soon that happens probably not.
There are other things I might not like about RPGs, like few and far between save points in some games, but there's really not much that gets under my nerves. That's probably why that type of gaming is my favorite. I might play a lot of shooter games with friends, but my heart belongs to RPGs even if they lock me out of places I want to go. Hey, it could be worse. They could be leaving the toilet seat up.
I hate it when you do something in the game that advances the story but locks you out of a certain area at the same time. For instance, I was playing Lost Odyssey the other night I spent some time just exploring the Crimson Forest before venturing back to Numara. Once I got back into the city, before I did anything else, I walked up to the fountain area which triggered a cut scene about the smear campaign that my characters are now up against. I didn't know that activating that cut scene would prevent me from getting into the city itself. I've got crystal shards for a side quest that I've got to deliver. But I can't do that.
Of course I didn't know exactly what was going on until I pulled the strategy guide out and found where I was in the story. Then I knew. Unfortunately I don't have a previous save to go back to so I can complete my side quests BEFORE I trigger the cut scene.
I'm not much of a fan of having multiple save of a game while playing it. Yes, it would have helped in this situation, and many others I've encountered, but I think it just gets too messy. Some games store the most recent game at the top of the list, others at the bottom. Sometimes those game descriptions are hard to figure out where you are in the game play. There's nothing worse than loading a prior save and finding out you're further back than you wanted to be. Plus then you've got to go and pick up those things you've already picked up in another save file. I've used them before but they take up too much room on a memory card (PS2) and I've accidentally delete the wrong save file when I'm cleaning things up.
I did use multiple save files while playing BioShock. I saved every chance I could get. I did this for various reasons. I hated getting into a new area and finding out I had the wrong plasmids equipped to deal with things. Going back to a previous save (usually by a gene bank) allowed me to make the necessary adjustments and continue on. And even if I had the right equipment in a new area I might not be prepared to face a Big Daddy or a bunch of splicers that come on me unaware. It was nice to see what was coming, back out to an earlier save, and then jump into the action. Is this cheating? Perhaps. But it's better than being frustrated and putting the game away when you have difficulty.
But losing access to an area in an RPG game is frustrating. Especially if you're working on side quests. Now, all of a sudden, that area and those completed quests are no longer available until when? Who knows. It could be until the very end of the game or maybe never at all. Legend of Dragoon did this, Final Fantasy does this and every other RPG game I've played has this in there to some extent. When Numara opens up again for me will I remember to go back to that artist and deliver those crystal shards? I hope so but depending on how soon that happens probably not.
There are other things I might not like about RPGs, like few and far between save points in some games, but there's really not much that gets under my nerves. That's probably why that type of gaming is my favorite. I might play a lot of shooter games with friends, but my heart belongs to RPGs even if they lock me out of places I want to go. Hey, it could be worse. They could be leaving the toilet seat up.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
A Day of Gaming
Sunday's usually a "day of rest". And I'm here to let you know that Monday will be a Day of Gaming. Feel free to join me.
You see, at the first of the year I changed my work schedule around. I have to work an extra 52 minutes every day so I can get every other Monday off. I really can't stand the longer hours but having that day off to sit at home and play games without having to dip into my vacation time seemed worth it. Unfortunately so far this year I haven't really had the opportunity to take full advantage of playing video games on that day off.
We had weeks where we were back on the shorter schedule due to a holiday or a big work function. But the Mondays I did have off seemed to be commandeered by other things. I had errands to run, doctors appointments, family obligations. You name it and it was something I had to do on my extra day off. Well no more.
This Monday I have nothing planned except sleeping in and playing video games. It will be nice to sit and play BioShock or Lost Odyssey for an extended period of time without feeling guilty because I'm not responding to the game invites my friends keep sending. Don't get me wrong, I like knowing someone out there wants to play with me it's just sometimes I want to play something by myself. No offense.
Maybe I'll focus on Enchanted Arms and Lost Planet and make up my mind whether I'm going to keep them or trade them in for something else. I don't know what that something would be since I'm very content with the games and systems I have now. Oh sure, there's other games and systems I'd like to have but nothing so great that it says "if the world ended tomorrow you'll regret not owning me" type of thing.
So if you see me on in the middle of the day on Monday no, I haven't lost my job or quit (although that idea sounds attractive) or have gravely injured myself so I can't work. I'm just relaxing, playing around and having fun. Feel free to join me in the debauchery (maybe I should play Armed & Dangerous or Bard's Tale).
I hereby declare this Monday a Day of Gaming. Besides, if this Monday doesn't pan out I'm taking the next Monday off (vacation time) to make up for it. Maybe every Monday should be a Day of Gaming. And if we can make it a national holiday we'd never have to work another Monday again. Now that's a campaign promise I can vote for.
You see, at the first of the year I changed my work schedule around. I have to work an extra 52 minutes every day so I can get every other Monday off. I really can't stand the longer hours but having that day off to sit at home and play games without having to dip into my vacation time seemed worth it. Unfortunately so far this year I haven't really had the opportunity to take full advantage of playing video games on that day off.
We had weeks where we were back on the shorter schedule due to a holiday or a big work function. But the Mondays I did have off seemed to be commandeered by other things. I had errands to run, doctors appointments, family obligations. You name it and it was something I had to do on my extra day off. Well no more.
This Monday I have nothing planned except sleeping in and playing video games. It will be nice to sit and play BioShock or Lost Odyssey for an extended period of time without feeling guilty because I'm not responding to the game invites my friends keep sending. Don't get me wrong, I like knowing someone out there wants to play with me it's just sometimes I want to play something by myself. No offense.
Maybe I'll focus on Enchanted Arms and Lost Planet and make up my mind whether I'm going to keep them or trade them in for something else. I don't know what that something would be since I'm very content with the games and systems I have now. Oh sure, there's other games and systems I'd like to have but nothing so great that it says "if the world ended tomorrow you'll regret not owning me" type of thing.
So if you see me on in the middle of the day on Monday no, I haven't lost my job or quit (although that idea sounds attractive) or have gravely injured myself so I can't work. I'm just relaxing, playing around and having fun. Feel free to join me in the debauchery (maybe I should play Armed & Dangerous or Bard's Tale).
I hereby declare this Monday a Day of Gaming. Besides, if this Monday doesn't pan out I'm taking the next Monday off (vacation time) to make up for it. Maybe every Monday should be a Day of Gaming. And if we can make it a national holiday we'd never have to work another Monday again. Now that's a campaign promise I can vote for.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Budgetting my gamer score
So I finally finished disk one of Lost Odyssey. And I got 125 points for it too. If I had known how close I was to the end of that disk the last time I played, I would have continued on. It was nice to see something happy happen for a change in the game. As I watched the shower of flower petals fall all I kept thinking was I wanted to see Kaim smile at least once before the game was over. He didn't but it was close. I've played the game for just under 20 hours so it looks to be around 80-100 hours before I finish it. I heard the last disk was very short on game play so maybe the other disks will take longer.
Lost Odyssey is one game I have on my list to finish this year. Although I already have those 1,000 points in my plan towards my 10,000 point goal for the year it's nice to see my gamer score jump up in a large chunk. The 340 points I got from Scene it? help too. It's actually starting to look like 10,000 points are doable before the year's out. All of my planned calculations would come up 200-300 points short. I never figured in Scene it? because I didn't own it yet so things are moving long nicely.
The sooner I can finish Lost Odyssey and BioShock the sooner I can go back to Mass Effect. I don't like playing too many RPG type games as the same time. Sometimes it gets too hard to remember where you are in the story and where you need to go next if you haven't played the game in a while. If the story is in a different genre, like Lost Odyssey is fantasy and BioShock is science fiction, it makes things a little easier. I still have to finish Final Fantasy VII too. I reminded dain of that fact last weekend and he just kind of shrugged it off. Hello! He was the one who picked the games out and agreed to finishing them.
So if I can finish Lost Odyssey, BioShock, both Lego Star Wars games and pick up a couple more achievements in Scene it? all I've got left to do is pick up some achievements in some of my Arcade games. Anyone up for a little Gauntlet or Bomberman Live? Come on I've got this all planned out. I just need one or two achievements in a bunch of the Arcade games and I'll be passing 10,000 in gamer score before you're tired of eating turkey at Thanksgiving. I've budgeted my gamer score increases for the rest of the year so why can't I budget my bank account just as well?
Lost Odyssey is one game I have on my list to finish this year. Although I already have those 1,000 points in my plan towards my 10,000 point goal for the year it's nice to see my gamer score jump up in a large chunk. The 340 points I got from Scene it? help too. It's actually starting to look like 10,000 points are doable before the year's out. All of my planned calculations would come up 200-300 points short. I never figured in Scene it? because I didn't own it yet so things are moving long nicely.
The sooner I can finish Lost Odyssey and BioShock the sooner I can go back to Mass Effect. I don't like playing too many RPG type games as the same time. Sometimes it gets too hard to remember where you are in the story and where you need to go next if you haven't played the game in a while. If the story is in a different genre, like Lost Odyssey is fantasy and BioShock is science fiction, it makes things a little easier. I still have to finish Final Fantasy VII too. I reminded dain of that fact last weekend and he just kind of shrugged it off. Hello! He was the one who picked the games out and agreed to finishing them.
So if I can finish Lost Odyssey, BioShock, both Lego Star Wars games and pick up a couple more achievements in Scene it? all I've got left to do is pick up some achievements in some of my Arcade games. Anyone up for a little Gauntlet or Bomberman Live? Come on I've got this all planned out. I just need one or two achievements in a bunch of the Arcade games and I'll be passing 10,000 in gamer score before you're tired of eating turkey at Thanksgiving. I've budgeted my gamer score increases for the rest of the year so why can't I budget my bank account just as well?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
My game case looks like a photo album
Have you ever opened an old photo album and sat and stared at the pictures? Some things you probably remember but then you see a photo of something you don't remember at all; or a photo you forgot even existed. I experienced this the other day, not with a photo album but my game case.
When I buy a game I put the disks in a folder. Four places for a disk on each side of a page. When the case is full it's about 4 inches thick. Currently it's over flowing. I have no more open slots and only disk #1 from Lost Odyssey is in the case. A couple of years ago I never thought I'd be able to fill it. Now I've got to figure something else out. I'm going to have to replace the case soon because the straps on the spine are tearing and one of these days they're going to rip right through. But having all my games in one place is fantastic and it makes things so much easier to haul them around if I go somewhere else to play.
But while dain was fiddling with my and his systems trying to get his dashboard back I opened up my case and decided to organize it a bit. All the games are alphabetically by title (regardless of system) except my latest purchases Lost Odyssey and The Orange Box which were stuffed into the last two slots open. I started at the back and started pulling out the disks and stacking them up so I could place the newest ones into order.
There were a few times when I pulled a game out and thought "hmm, I own this?" or "have I every played this?" or "when did I get this one?" Some of them really surprised me. Some of them brought back a lot of good memories and made me want to put them in again and play them. Some of them seemed like I was seeing them for the first time. And some of them made me feel guilty. Guilty that I've owned it for so long but haven't played it hardly at all.
One of the biggest shocks to me was looking at my Playstation games. I remember when I'd flip through the case and all I could see was Playstation games. Even after I owned a Game Cube and Xbox it always seemed like my eyes went straight to the PS and PS2 games and glossed over all the others. I always thought I'd play Knights of the Old Republic someday (I finally did) or I should give Pikmin another shot(the first couple of tries were terrible, but I love the game now). Instead I'd put in SSX Tricky, Dark Stone, Legend of Dragoon, Bust-A-Move, Dark Cloud, Time Splitters or Xenosaga. Or any number of other games. I've only finished a couple of them because I had so many to choose from that there was always something else to play.
Now when I flip through the case it's the Xbox 360 games that my eyes are drawn to and I tend to gloss over everything else. I had to pull my Game Cube games out of there a year ago. Because those disks are smaller they'd fall out every time I moved the case. Those are now sitting in a Gladware bowl that's the perfect size for them. Those games don't get looked at at all. Their like the photos stored in a shoebox just waiting for you to put them in an album.
Now that I've looked through them and really seen them all I want to play them all. You know, take a couple of days off from work and do nothing but sit in front of the TV and play games. I want to relive those glory days of the older systems and games. I want to experience memories for the first time. I want to laugh and cry and scream at the screen just like you do with old photographs. And like an old photo album my game case is a reflection of who I am as a gamer. From embarrassing baby photos (A Bug's Life) to prom night pictures (Time Splitters). It's my gaming life right before me eyes. If you ever stop by I'll have to pull out my "photo album" and show you. You'll know more about me than you ever wanted to know in the first place. But isn't that what photo albums are for anyway?
When I buy a game I put the disks in a folder. Four places for a disk on each side of a page. When the case is full it's about 4 inches thick. Currently it's over flowing. I have no more open slots and only disk #1 from Lost Odyssey is in the case. A couple of years ago I never thought I'd be able to fill it. Now I've got to figure something else out. I'm going to have to replace the case soon because the straps on the spine are tearing and one of these days they're going to rip right through. But having all my games in one place is fantastic and it makes things so much easier to haul them around if I go somewhere else to play.
But while dain was fiddling with my and his systems trying to get his dashboard back I opened up my case and decided to organize it a bit. All the games are alphabetically by title (regardless of system) except my latest purchases Lost Odyssey and The Orange Box which were stuffed into the last two slots open. I started at the back and started pulling out the disks and stacking them up so I could place the newest ones into order.
There were a few times when I pulled a game out and thought "hmm, I own this?" or "have I every played this?" or "when did I get this one?" Some of them really surprised me. Some of them brought back a lot of good memories and made me want to put them in again and play them. Some of them seemed like I was seeing them for the first time. And some of them made me feel guilty. Guilty that I've owned it for so long but haven't played it hardly at all.
One of the biggest shocks to me was looking at my Playstation games. I remember when I'd flip through the case and all I could see was Playstation games. Even after I owned a Game Cube and Xbox it always seemed like my eyes went straight to the PS and PS2 games and glossed over all the others. I always thought I'd play Knights of the Old Republic someday (I finally did) or I should give Pikmin another shot(the first couple of tries were terrible, but I love the game now). Instead I'd put in SSX Tricky, Dark Stone, Legend of Dragoon, Bust-A-Move, Dark Cloud, Time Splitters or Xenosaga. Or any number of other games. I've only finished a couple of them because I had so many to choose from that there was always something else to play.
Now when I flip through the case it's the Xbox 360 games that my eyes are drawn to and I tend to gloss over everything else. I had to pull my Game Cube games out of there a year ago. Because those disks are smaller they'd fall out every time I moved the case. Those are now sitting in a Gladware bowl that's the perfect size for them. Those games don't get looked at at all. Their like the photos stored in a shoebox just waiting for you to put them in an album.
Now that I've looked through them and really seen them all I want to play them all. You know, take a couple of days off from work and do nothing but sit in front of the TV and play games. I want to relive those glory days of the older systems and games. I want to experience memories for the first time. I want to laugh and cry and scream at the screen just like you do with old photographs. And like an old photo album my game case is a reflection of who I am as a gamer. From embarrassing baby photos (A Bug's Life) to prom night pictures (Time Splitters). It's my gaming life right before me eyes. If you ever stop by I'll have to pull out my "photo album" and show you. You'll know more about me than you ever wanted to know in the first place. But isn't that what photo albums are for anyway?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Ah, the good old days
If you don't see me on my Xbox over the next couple of days don't panic. I'm still here. I'm just reliving some of the old days and playing on my PS2. Something I haven't done in a long time.
You see I've really been in an RPG kind of mood lately. I've got several RPGs for the Xbox but for most of them I'm having a hard time reading the font on the screen. I don't know what it is about RPGs on the Xbox but it seems the developers are using the smallest font possible for the stats and menus. I don't know how many times I had a character die in Lost Odyssey or Blue Dragon all because I couldn't read their HP stats to know they were in trouble. But as much as I loved those games my frustration level was much higher. Now, I can appreciate the developers not wanting to fill up the screen with text (except during the dreams in Lost Odyssey) but at least make it readable on a standard TV . . . and by people with bad eyes.
Instead of letting my frustration overwhelm my desire to play an RPG I decided Sunday night to reconnect my PS2 and get back into playing Final Fantasy VII. That is the one official New Year's Resolution that I haven't achieved yet this year. It had been so long since I played that game I wondered if I would remember even how to play.
The first thing I had to get use to was the controller. Something that previously seemed like an extension of my own hands felt awkward and clumsy when I first picked it up. It felt small and insubstantial compared to the Xbox 360 controller. It took awhile to get use to but old habits never seem to go away.
Another thing I noticed was that my PS2 makes more noise than my Xbox 360 does. And it takes longer to boot up. But on the other hand I didn't have to log in to start playing the game.
Once I got into the game it didn't take me long to figure out what to do and where I was in the story. And compared to the font sizes in the 360 games the font size in Final Fantasy VII was HUGE! I could read it even without my contacts or glasses. That's such a nice thing for my tired eyes. I could play for hours without having to strain just to see what's on the TV. There was no danger of my characters dying because I couldn't see their hit points (Cait Sith did die at one point but that's because the enemy did a suicide drop on Cait to end the battle so it's totally not my fault--and yes I play with Cait Sith in my part . . . sometimes).
It's nice to get back to the good old days of playing video games. I don't know how long this will last but maybe I can really book it through FF7 and try another couple of games before the urge to go back to my 360 overtakes me. Who knows, but with these feelings of nostalgia I might even go back to my N64 or Super Nintendo or give in to the longings to play Pikmin on my Game Cube. Ah, those were the good old days.
You see I've really been in an RPG kind of mood lately. I've got several RPGs for the Xbox but for most of them I'm having a hard time reading the font on the screen. I don't know what it is about RPGs on the Xbox but it seems the developers are using the smallest font possible for the stats and menus. I don't know how many times I had a character die in Lost Odyssey or Blue Dragon all because I couldn't read their HP stats to know they were in trouble. But as much as I loved those games my frustration level was much higher. Now, I can appreciate the developers not wanting to fill up the screen with text (except during the dreams in Lost Odyssey) but at least make it readable on a standard TV . . . and by people with bad eyes.
Instead of letting my frustration overwhelm my desire to play an RPG I decided Sunday night to reconnect my PS2 and get back into playing Final Fantasy VII. That is the one official New Year's Resolution that I haven't achieved yet this year. It had been so long since I played that game I wondered if I would remember even how to play.
The first thing I had to get use to was the controller. Something that previously seemed like an extension of my own hands felt awkward and clumsy when I first picked it up. It felt small and insubstantial compared to the Xbox 360 controller. It took awhile to get use to but old habits never seem to go away.
Another thing I noticed was that my PS2 makes more noise than my Xbox 360 does. And it takes longer to boot up. But on the other hand I didn't have to log in to start playing the game.
Once I got into the game it didn't take me long to figure out what to do and where I was in the story. And compared to the font sizes in the 360 games the font size in Final Fantasy VII was HUGE! I could read it even without my contacts or glasses. That's such a nice thing for my tired eyes. I could play for hours without having to strain just to see what's on the TV. There was no danger of my characters dying because I couldn't see their hit points (Cait Sith did die at one point but that's because the enemy did a suicide drop on Cait to end the battle so it's totally not my fault--and yes I play with Cait Sith in my part . . . sometimes).
It's nice to get back to the good old days of playing video games. I don't know how long this will last but maybe I can really book it through FF7 and try another couple of games before the urge to go back to my 360 overtakes me. Who knows, but with these feelings of nostalgia I might even go back to my N64 or Super Nintendo or give in to the longings to play Pikmin on my Game Cube. Ah, those were the good old days.
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