Catan: unbroken (?)

Okay, there's an Xbox Arcade game that I love to play.  Unfortunately it's very laggy when you try to play it online.  The game is Settler's of Catan.  Or just Catan.

There are 2 achievements that are ranked match based.  One is to get 500 match points in ranked matches and the other is to get 1,000 points in ranked matches.  The only problem is that whatever points you have earned only count if at least 2 humans finish the game.  But the game is so buggy that just getting 2 humans to make it through 2 turns is almost impossible.  When someone drops out an AI takes their spots.  But if you don't finish the game with another human your points earned wont' count.

Not only has the online game been laggy but I've had DRM registration issues with the game.  Every now and then the game would revert back to the trial version and say I haven't downloaded the full version.  Even if I redownload the full game the next time I would play it would revert back to the trail version again.  It's a fun game but I wasn't sure if it was all worth it.


I had almost given up on this game and was about to delete it from my system and move on (space is an issue for me right now) when I decided to give it one more change last night.  I got in the game and had an update to do.  No problem.  It's been a long time since I've played this game so I can understand.  I did the update but the system wouldn't log me back on to Xbox Live.  Because I wasn't logged in the system reverted back to the trial version again.  After 2 attempts for the game to finally recognize that I was a logged in player I could finally get the option to play online.

I went searching for a ranked match and waiting around for awhile.  I was afraid that I won't find one because nobody was playing this game anymore.  To alleviate my boredom I switched over and watched some TV while it was still searching for players.  A while later I switched back and found 2 people in the lobby waiting.  Wow!  Just one more player and we could have a game.  But could we finish it.

It didn't take long before the 4th player jumped in and we got started.  The first turn was a little scary because the player wasn't doing anything which is a big indicator that the match is about to drop.  But we got through it and was able to place our initial pieces and start the match.

Everything time things slowed down I was afraid someone would drop out.  But we made it all the way to the end.  AND I WON!!!!!!!!  I didn't think I could but I got lucky at the end.  But more exciting than that was that all 4 players stayed in the game to the end.  So those points count.

I'm hoping that this wasn't a fluke and that the game has been patched so matches and players don't drop.  I'm going to try playing a couple more matched tonight and we'll see how that goes.  If all goes well I'll be keeping this game around for awhile even if I need the space on my hard drive for other things.

Right now I have 19 wins (you need at least 10 match points to win but you can win with more) and 53 losses.  If you figure 10pts per win that's 190 points.  And 4 points per loss (hopefully that's how many I had before matches went south) that's  212 points.  190 + 212 = 402 points approximately.  That means I'm getting close to one of the last achievements I need.  Does anyone want to join me in a game of Catan?

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?

Quest complete . . . or is it?

I finally completed Puzzle Quest. Yeah me! It took me long enough too.

Puzzle Quest was a game I downloaded the demo, played, but didn't really get the point of mixing a puzzle game with an RPG game. When I saw dain playing it, back when we still had a close race with our gamerscores, I just couldn't let him get the jump on me and score 200 points that I couldn't answer to. So I redownloaded the demo and gave it another shot. I liked it enough so I bought it. Then I played it and got hooked.

And that's the problem. Every now and then I get hooked on an Xbox Live Arcade game and I become obsessive about finishing it (i.e. getting all the achievements). It all started with Jewel Quest.

I became obsessed with finishing that game. And once I finished it I liked it so much that I wanted to play it again but without losing any lives on any of the levels. Unfortunately whenever I access my hard drive directly (to move my profile or game saves to a memory card) the game deletes the game save (even if I haven't touched it) so I have to start all over again. I like the game just not that much.

Then I became obsessed with Backgammon. Getting that 10 game winning streak consumed me for days because I was only willing to play one game a night so I would remain sharp. And finding someone to play online with was a chore. After Backgammon it was Carcassonne. Then Catan (I'm still having problems getting dropped from that game). Then Uno (I don't think I'd ever get to 40 wins if it hadn't have been for my friends). And lastly it's been Puzzle Quest.

Now that Puzzle Quest is over (although I'll still play from time to time as I unwind and relax) I need to find another Arcade game to obsess about. I've thought about Boogie Bunnies because I really like it but I think I might want a change of pace. Something a little different.

I've worked somewhat steadily on Luxor 2 and Zuma but only because I can't figure out which one I like best. I've tried to get back into Small Arms and I think I've got some friends that would help me with the online play stuff but I'm just too terrible at that game to ever have the hope of finishing anytime soon. Then there's old favorites like Root Beer Tapper, any of the Pac Man games or Gauntlet. I've played those games many times before so I know what I'm doing.

Or I could start obsessing about card games like Hearts, Spades or Lost Cities. Or stick with Band of Bugs since I miss playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and the games are similar. Or there are the racing type games like Mad Tracks or Novadrome. Now Novadrome is one game I'd like to see all my friends play online some time. Or I could finish up Feeding Frenzy, but I think I might want to do that only because my brother kaiakapero has more achievements in that game than I do (and because his four year old probably got those achievements).

And then there are what I like to call the "open maze shooting games" like Crystal Quest, Robotron and Geometry Wars. They're an "open maze" because there are no walls but there are bad guys (or mines) that you have to steer around. And they're shooters because you get to . . . well . . . shoot things in them.

I just don't know what I'm in the mood for. I need something I can turn to when I'm feeling anti-social or just need to unwind after a long day at work or an online match with my friends (Gears can be brutal when team kill in on). Or sometimes I like to have something to play when no one else is online. It gets kind of lonely then and it's nice to have a trusted game to turn to in the loneliness. I could just finish Crystal Quest and then I would have finished the "Quest trifecta" of Jewel Quest, Puzzle Quest and Crystal Quest. Then I suppose I could move on to the "Pac Man trifecta" (Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man and Pac Man CE). I'll take any suggestions you might want to offer. But that doesn't mean I have to follow them, just so you know. My Puzzle Quest-ing days might be over but the "quest" for completing another Xbox Live Arcade game has just begun.

Good news . . . and better news.

I've got good news. I finally beat 3 AI opponents on hard in Catan. I thought I had done it the game before I actually got the achievement, but I realized once again I accidentally hit the button to switch the difficulty back to easy. Oh well. I played one more game and finally did it. Now if I could just get credit for playing a ranked match of Catan I'd be happy. I don't care about the wins I just want to start accumulating victory points.

And on to better news. I was in Game Stop over the weekend and noticed pre-order displays for Assassin's Creed. I'm sure you could pre-order the game long before now but after my experience with my pre-order for Final Fantasy XII I've decided to wait to put in my pre-orders until as close to the date the game is actually coming out. I'll never pre-order something more than a year out again. I can't take the anticipation.

So what if the displays were out, right? Well that means the game will be coming out soon. November. I've read some previews that have made me a little nervous to see if the developers can actually pull this game off. Right now though, I'm still excited. My brother has had his eye on Mass Effect (November release) for some time, but for me it's been Assassin's Creed. I couldn't tell you specifically why, but maybe because I'm a sucker for a mysterious guy in a cowl.

The Gods of Catan don't like me

I figured the best way to get all the achievements in an Arcade game was to stop trying to play them all and just focus on one or two. Currently I'm focusing on Texas Hold 'Em and Catan. And I'm not having much luck in either one of them. My Texas Hold 'Em bankroll got wiped out awhile back so now I have to start from scratch. And Catan has been even tougher on me.

For the life of me I simply can not beat 3 AIs on hard. It seems I'll never get that achievement. I've been close . . . but no cigar. I've tried focusing on upgrading my settlements to cities as soon as possible. I've tried getting the longest road as soon as possible. The largest army. The most settlements. I just can't seem to pull it off in the end. I've even tried just buying development cards the whole game. That was a bust.

I tried varying my placements at the beginning of the game. I've tried monopolizing a particular resource. And trying to get a little bit of everything. I've tried uses my cards as soon as possible. And tried to hold on to them as long as possible. When I do that someone always rolls a 7 and I lose almost everything I have. I've even tried swapping out the AIs I play against. I still can't find a way to win the game on hard.

To get my achievement for Builder of Catan (for the longest road 10x) I had to go back and play a few games on easy. On hard someone always stole those points from me just in time win the game. And if you're trying to get the Knight of Catan (largest army 10x) achievement make sure Elizabeth isn't in your party. I've learned that the hard way. I guess I'll have to play some easy games again to finish out that achievement.

And playing a ranked game is impossible. I've joined 4 ranked games, but I've never gotten credit for any of them. My ranked matches show as zero wins/zero losses. Every time I get into a ranked game someone either drops out or lags out leaving 3 human players behind. I don't know if those games would still count because a little while later I'll look up and see all AI gamer pictures staring back at me. Everyone's gone.

At first I thought everyone else dropped out so I kept playing the game. I'd get the credit right? Wrong. After the second time this happened I looked at my recent player's list and found that at least 2 of the other players would be playing a match and have exactly the same victory points as they had in the game with me. Does that mean everyone is lagging out? Why can't I stay in a nice 4 human ranked match? I've played a couple of player matches and haven't had a problem.

I just think the Gods of Catan don't like me.

What do you play when you're not in the mood?

I had a very strange day yesterday. I wanted to play video games . . . but I wasn't in the mood for anything.

I tried a racing game (Burnout Revenge). Nothing. I tried some arcade games (Pac Man CE, Texas Hold 'Em, Hearts, Catan) but I wasn't really in the mood for any of them. (Although I did finally come in first place in a $4,000 buy in tournament after being short stacked for awhile. I always finish in the money but I've never come in first.)

I got a couple of invites to play Rainbow 6: Vegas and although I wasn't in the mood I thought it wouldn't hurt. Boy was I wrong. I sucked. The other team was creeping up behind me and taping me on the shoulder before blowing my head off. If I thought I was in a good snipping position I'd find a guy right next to me . . . but on the other team. I died. I died again. And then . . . I died some more. Even when I somehow made it to their spawn point I couldn't kill them when they spawned before they'd get a single shot to blow my brains out.

I've had bad days in games before. It's usually been 'cause I wasn't in the mood to play that particular type of game. Or my eyes were just to tired to focus and concentration on the screen. But a whole night were there was nothing I wanted to play?

I even switched systems. I pulled out the PS2 and loaded a few games trying to find what matched my mood. Metal Gear Solid? Nope. Abe's Exoddus? Not tonight. Half-Life? Not quite right. Gradius? No. God of War. Now that one was a little closer to what I had in mind. Unfortunately by then I was too tired and just shut everything down. A game like that deserves my undivided attention and right then that wasn't going to happen.

I flipped channels on the TV for awhile. Read a book for a while as well. But nothing seemed to satisfy the mood I was in. Hopefully this mood will pass cause I can't imagine what I'd do if I didn't want to play video games.