Geoffistopheles' Blog - Apr to Jun 14 (35 followers)
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May05
Doable After AllPermalink
So what do you do after a particularly good month? Apparently, the answer is to reprioritize existing plans.

My initial plan was Dark Souls, but my noted rage issues with frustrating games is clashing with the fact that I've got company this week. My wife's best friend is moving nearby, so she's crashing here while scouting apartments. I figure that of all times to play a game that focuses on dying a lot to learn a lot, this may not be the best time. Maybe I can get something going in the next week or so.

https://www.trueachievements.com/LeakyTinCowJudo.htm and I pushed each other to get the extra stamps for
Xbox FitnessBring It! Award from Tony HortonThe Bring It! Award from Tony Horton challenge in Xbox FitnessTony Horton challenges you to get five stars 12 times on his P90X® workouts!


Which is kind of an interesting study by itself. Neither of us would have jumped at the chance earlier, but throw in an extra 12 stamps and suddenly we're supporting each other into... getting the additional 65 or however many there were. Either way, as my time with Kinect is limited as well, I've been opting for Kinect Sports Rivals instead. And I've learned one strong thing here: I make a damn fine lookin' lady.

Kinect Sports RivalsCuriousThe Curious achievement in Kinect Sports Rivals worth 33 pointsScan yourself as the opposite gender to your original Champion in Kinect Sports Rivals.


To the point that I'm going to leave it like that for the time being. So far, I'm liking everything except Bowling and Target Shooting. Maybe I just haven't gotten the hang of bowling on this one, but target shooting is simply point at the targets. Joy. Soccer feels a bit improved, even if I let in a goal because I thought time ran out. Tennis is definitely improved, although approaching it like actual tennis has caused me to flub a few shots. Wake Racing and Rock Climbing are easily the stars of the show this time around.

Finally, the game I've actually been playing the last few days was actually decided by coin toss. I was in the mood for a sports game, but I didn't know which one. Most fitting for a coin toss would be a football game, but I don't own one anymore, so NHL 12 won that one. That was a game that I just couldn't bother to bring myself back to. First of all, I was understandably tired of sports achievements that were "Beat the records of the greatest people who ever played." 2,858 points doesn't sound particularly fun overall, and there's no expectations of it being fun, just grindy. Most of the achievements will follow suit there. 30 power play goals in two separate seasons, 8 points in a playoff game, win the cup, win a trophy... everything was easy, comparatively.

What stopped me was five goals in five ways. Even strength, power play, penalty kill, those are easy. Drawing the penalty shot and scoring on that, that's the kicker. And on top of that, keeping the game tied by scoring on yourself, then giving the puck away at the end so they'll pull their goalie for the empty net. It was the last skill-based achievement I had, and I wrote it off years ago.

NHL 12Magnificent MarioThe Magnificent Mario achievement in NHL 12 worth 269 pointsScore goals 5 different ways in a NHL Be A Pro game with a created Pro on Pro difficulty or higher


Maybe I should make it a goal to finish it up by the end of the bean dive now. I can't guarantee I'll keep enough attention or motivation, but at this point it's actually looking doable.

On top of all that, I'm closing in on Spinal's 150 Fight Titles in Killer Instinct, 26 more to go without having ever touched Ranked matches. Or rather, having never finished a Ranked match due to early ragequitters coloring my perceptions of the community. For once, it's feeling doable.

Maybe that's the theme of the month. "Doable After All."
Posted by Geoffistopheles on 05 May 14 at 16:07 | Last edited on 05 May 14 at 16:08 | There are 2 comments on this blog post - Please log in to comment on this blog.
May01
April RecapPermalink
DrCanadianNinja won 241 Achievements and 5 Challenges in 19 games, for a total of 11,348 TrueAchievement points (5,010 GamerScore).

What a month! First five digit month in almost three years! Had to fudge the numbers a bit; World Series of Poker: Full House Pro (Windows) doesn't have timestamps, but I'll be damned if I let it all go to waste. Finished strong with a big achievement from Xbox Fitness that is so far my favorite achievement of the year, simply because I have to physically work for it.

Milestones:
4/5 - 150,000 GamerScore
4/9 - 275 Games Played
4/11 - 8,000 Achievements Won
4/19 - 290,000 TrueAchievement Score

Games started:
4/5 - Saints Row IV
4/8 - Kinect Sports Rivals
4/9 - World Series of Poker: Full House Pro (Windows)
4/17 - Trials Fusion (Xbox One)

Saints Row IV has exceeded all expectations. I was expecting more condescending eyerolls that Saints Row The Third got, and yet this one knew it was stupid fun and put all effort into make it the most quality stupid fun. I'd recommend this one each time.

WSOP was a bit of a "why did I do that" game, but I've been having fun with it regardless. I just haven't wanted to play multiplayer much, even though that's the only way to get five million chips for the last achievement.

Trials Fusion was disappointing. The tricks were unnecessary, the challenges were forced padding, and with the Extreme tracks clearly in the hands of longtime series veterans, the fault system is feeling more like an antiquated lives system. If I get the Season Pass, it's going to be whenever it's on sale; not giving them more money for this disappointment than I have to.

Games completed:
4/24 - Lost Odyssey

Lost Odyssey didn't leave me as starstruck as I expected from friend's comments. Well put together, but given that I was sold on this supposedly all-encompassing story, I was a bit disappointed by the overhype. Still, it was completed, and the short stories in the form of dreams were pretty good - I just wish I hadn't read the best ones first.

Campaigns completed:
4/1 - Modern Warfare 2
4/13 - Borderlands 2
4/24 - Lost Odyssey

Modern Warfare 2 surprised me. After I struggled to find enough interest to get through the first game, I found myself glued to my seat to finish the second. Very well done, though given that there's multiplayer achievements after this one, I think I'll back off from the series now.

I have to hand it to Borderlands 2: Handsome Jack is one of the greatest villains I've ever seen, perhaps second only to Dolores Umbridge in hateability. Dameon Clarke absolutely nailed it, and it almost made the rest of the game a little more lackluster, knowing that he wouldn't be taunting you. Also, he totally should've been the voice of the New-U station so he could mock you every time you died.

Best games
Trials Fusion (Xbox One)
Halo 4
Xbox Fitness

Highest TA achievements: (one per game)
Trials FusionIs There Anything You Can't Do?The Is There Anything You Can't Do? achievement in Trials Fusion worth 1739 pointsCompleted every Track Challenge in the first 8 Events

Xbox FitnessEnthusiastThe Enthusiast achievement in Xbox Fitness worth 504 pointsReach the Tenth Stamp Card.

Lost OdysseyThe EndThe The End achievement in Lost Odyssey worth 248 pointsComplete Disc 4.


Highest ratio achievements: (one per game)
Xbox FitnessEnthusiastThe Enthusiast achievement in Xbox Fitness worth 504 pointsReach the Tenth Stamp Card.

Trials FusionIs There Anything You Can't Do?The Is There Anything You Can't Do? achievement in Trials Fusion worth 1739 pointsCompleted every Track Challenge in the first 8 Events

Lost OdysseyTreasure TroveThe Treasure Trove achievement in Lost Odyssey worth 91 pointsObtain all Treasure Box items in the field. The items you missed may be available at auction houses.


To-Do Completions

4/1 - The Road Less Traveled in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
4/1 - Desperado in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
4/1 - Soap on a Rope in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
4/1 - For the Record in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
4/6 - Jago's Endurance in Killer Instinct
4/8 - Sharing Is Caring in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
4/9 - Old-fashioned Jumper in Doodle Jump (WP)
4/11 - Orchid's Endurance in Killer Instinct
4/11 - A Cool Mil. in Xbox Fitness
4/13 - Defeated Ghost of Eastern Ruins in Lost Odyssey
4/13 - Spell Collector in Lost Odyssey
4/13 - Feels Like The First Time in Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360)
4/13 - Cool Story, Bro in Borderlands 2 (Xbox 360)
4/13 - 30 Seconds of Fun in Xbox Fitness
4/19 - Just a Scratch in Halo 4
4/22 - Reached Conference Area 20B in Lost Odyssey
4/24 - Skill Master Seth in Lost Odyssey
4/24 - The End in Lost Odyssey
4/27 - Hanging on the Combat Deck in Halo 4


19 of 200
Posted by Geoffistopheles on 01 May 14 at 04:46 | There are 7 comments on this blog post - Please log in to comment on this blog.
Apr23
Xbox One Stat Tracking, Trials Fusion, and CheatingPermalink
I always assumed Trials Fusion (Xbox One) would be one of those games I'd never complete. Perfectly reasonable at first glance; I haven't completed the previous games due to skill, why assume I can start now? Most of them are obtainable with copious amounts of patience and some skill, but there was one I saw and immediately noped away from the notion of completion.

Trials FusionIs There Anything You Can't Do?The Is There Anything You Can't Do? achievement in Trials Fusion worth 1739 pointsCompleted every Track Challenge in the first 8 Events


Challenges are tough. Most are doable, but they are tough. Once you look at the Extreme challenges, it's clear that only the most dedicated will ever finish this game, with challenges like "Complete Inferno IV with an invisible bike." Yep, sounds fun, alright.

However, a solution on that very achievement states that if you get as many challenges as you can, then kick your One offline, delete the local save, complete a bunch of challenges and resync your saves, the challenge totals get added together and the achievement can pop that way. Intriguing!

Naturally, there are detractors, and I can't blame them for thinking this is bullshit. The common argument is "You cheated, as you did not fulfill the requirements of the achievement."

Or did they? After all, who can say that the requirements are without looking at the code? Using the achievement flavor text? I have two examples, one of which has since been fixed.

Pocket God (WP)Shark Snap - GodThe Shark Snap - God achievement in Pocket God (WP) worth 102 pointsScore over 100 shark snaps.


Right there, the text says "Score over 100 shark snaps." Every solution states that the number is closer to 1,000. Is the game buggy, or was there a typo somewhere that added or removed a zero?

Killer InstinctCompetitive OrchidThe Competitive Orchid achievement in Killer Instinct worth 25 pointsWin a Ranked Match as Orchid


This one has since been fixed, but until recently, the text was "Win an exhibition match against a friend with Orchid." This one was easier to spot, as the text was the same as the Friendly achievements, whereas the rest of the Competitive achievements were labeled correctly. Did those people fail to meet requirements, or were the requirements different from what was listed?

This is an important question, because how you phrase the requirements has a lasting impact. For example, "Completed every Track Challenge in the first 8 Events" could also be phrased as "Completed 120 Track Challenges." Same requirement, different connotation. "In the first 8 Events" was added due to the DLC structure, but that could be added to any connotation. Similarly, Injustice: Gods Among Us has one for their STAR Labs.

Injustice: Gods Among UsWorld's FinestThe World's Finest achievement in Injustice: Gods Among Us worth 1541 pointsComplete All S.T.A.R. Lab Missions with 3 Stars


Complete all missions with three stars, that makes 720 stars. Does DLC count for that? Is it just the originals? I've found nothing about it stating one way or the other, so I would assume just the originals... but if these requirements are going to be taken as bulletproof, there can be no assumptions made about them.

Is that the real requirement, reaching 120 completed Track Challenges? I don't know, but given the bug, it certainly seems that way. At first, I thought to myself, what would I have done to fix the issue? Personally, I would have put it 120 boolean switches for each challenge. bChlX11 for Challenge - Extreme - Track 1 - Challenge 1. bChlX12, X13, X21, etc. When all switches have been flipped to True, the acheivement unlocks. That would prevent a resynced save counting the same challenge twice.

But perhaps it goes deeper than that. Is it RedLynx? Did they rephrase "120 Challenges" without making sure that each individual challenge was completed? What if they did exactly what I listed above? If that's the case, is it an issue with the Xbox One achievement stat tracking?

Presumably, stat tracking was also introduced as a way to get around game resets. I ran into this with Beautiful Katamari, where my progress got reset because I hadn't played the online in so long that I had to do it all over again. This puts the burden on Xbox Live instead. Which begs the question, can stats go down? If my above speculation is true, the answer is going to be "of course not, that would defeat the purpose. What good is an anti-reset measure that can get reset?"

And if that's the case, what's stopping someone from utilizing deleted and resynced saves like this? The answer: Nothing.

So as far as whether or not it's cheating, I'll call it not cheating with a dismissive wave. I'm much more interested in the follow-up questions. How is it happening? Why is it happening? Is it patchable? Preventable? Is this a trade-off for being able to see achievement progress?
Posted by Geoffistopheles on 23 April 14 at 16:29 | There are 2 comments on this blog post - Please log in to comment on this blog.
Apr22
"Please stop using the Retry button. You are depleting our biomass supply at an alarming rate."Permalink
  • Real Life

Been back from Atlanta for a while now, but it's in a way good to know that it's over and done with. Had to pitch an idea to corporate sharks about emerging tech that we should acquire. Missed one vital question that stayed the hand of any full support, but overall I'd say we did pretty well.

On the other hand, it was a bit more rushed last time. In February, for me it was all about networking, meeting new people, pushing my comfort zone. Now, any networking was done late at night, and I've never been good at being on my game late at night. Still, made a few extra friends.

Turns out that persistent cough was a strong case of notsureitis. Fit the general description of three ailments without quite being any of them, so heads have been thoroughly scratched and, until today, working from home to not infect others. So far, so good!

Buckle up, this one's a long one.


I found it a little entertaining to tell people that I wasn't terribly impressed by the game to hear them say, "Oh yeah, everyone I know who's played it has said that." Clearly, I need a few better friends.

I'm finally getting some desire to play the game again, and that's because I spent the last night with furrowed brows, poring over the world to find those elusive few items for Treasure Trove. I found them! Six items total, all of which on disc 1, five of which in Ipsilon Mountains. Now, I can understand why I missed the other one; it was part of a patrolling minigame to open up a hidden shop at Grand Staff Construction Base, and it was sitting there, guardless. That one I get. But Ipsilon Mountains was evil. The first item was a tree in the middle of a group of trees, so you better hope you found the right one to ram. The second was shoved into a corner, where the only reason you'd go looking in the corner was if you already knew the item was there. You could not see the tree until you could ram it. And the last three were rocks. Plain old rocks that blended into the surroundings which just needed to be run into to pick them up. Which would help if they didn't blend in and look like obstacles.

Going to do the Seeker of the Deep DLC when I get home tonight, level up, get my nifty new items, and if all goes well, Killalon will fall. If not tonight, hopefully tomorrow. After that is arena victories, the last skill item, get my skill master achievement, then beat the game. The end is in sight!


I don't like the inclusion of tricks. I'm not behind the whole FMX thing, even if the last one got me my 24th gold. I've gotten up to the Extreme tracks, and if I play some more, it'll be for challenges and squirrels. I'm planning on streaming my first attempts at the Extreme tracks, due to someone making a comment that they'd want to see that. Of course, that person is currently kicking the stuffing out of Trials Evolution, so there's that.

I'm rolling my eyes at the whole announcer story though. I'm playing Trials to challenge myself, to complete this platformer, to jump over explosives and balance on my tire to gun it to the next checkpoint. To hear philosophical commentary on whether you're the same person when you wake up in the morning... did they forget what game they were making? Still, having fun with it, as well as most of the Retry comments.


If it weren't for that P90X challenge, I doubt I'd be hitting it this hard, but I don't doubt my back would probably be feeling better. https://www.trueachievements.com/LeakyTinCowJudo.htm and I have been pushing each other to keep going, fight through the burn, not only get those five stars but nail those challenges as well. All I can say is that for myself, it's been incredibly effective. I've got 7 5-star ratings on Shoulders and Arms as of today, and I only have two challenges left that will be picked up as soon as I finish up all 12. Even better, that'll be my tenth Stamp Card, which means I'll have a new top contender for DarthFracas Big Game Trophy idea, currently sitting at 8.45.

I'm not sure what video to use after this, though. Maybe something with a lot of punching, then switch over to something with squats. Get towards that last achievement.


This month's stat roundup is going to be a gleeful event indeed, and a lot of that is a 1500 TA day because I randomly decided to join https://www.trueachievements.com/LeakyTinCowJudo.htm and https://www.trueachievements.com/T+Svectra+T.htm in the DLC achievements. Once again, I'm reminded that there are great, entertaining people I haven't met yet, so quit being a curmudgeon and figuring everyone sucks. Even if we have to schedule a session at some point to take over Big Team Battle for vehicle achievements, it was still a huge shot against the backlog that game presented. Maybe I'll get back to it before too long.


Despite the nagging voice in my head reminding myself that the launch for this game was a bug-ridden mess, I still ended up downloading it as something to play at night. After I learned a little trick about my computer, everything was fine and I haven't had problems since. It's essentially an upgrade to Full House Poker, which I still haven't finished, but that's okay. My plan is to do the All-Pro tournament, then look forward to leveling up and gaining chips online. No clue how I'll get to a million, let alone five million.


I thought the irony was all too fitting that after the Fulgore DLC came out, I essentially relegated him to boosting sessions and focused elsewhere. After the KP glitch, I stopped paying attention to the trials without realizing that I got them to line up rather well: Play three versus matches with Jago, win a Survival match with Jago. Play three versus matches with Sabrewulf, win a Survival match with Sabrewulf.

And from that, I decided to steamroll back through the original characters, play my versus matches, then get as far as I could with them on Beginner. It helped their fight titles, it helped the general titles, it helped the achievements, everything. So now the only character I have under 80 Fight Titles is Fulgore, and I still have to go back through Spinal in order to do it right. After that, the ranked matches and grinding truly begins.

  • Co-op Corner

Saints Row IV was started after a friend and I decided $20 was a good price, then $3.30 for the season pass. I'm liking it a lot more than expected, but I think it's largely because I didn't like SR3 all that much. I never played the first game, and as far as I can tell, they played it straight. SR2 was a parody of sandbox crime games that, in my eyes, was all but perfect and one of my favorite experiences on the 360. SR3 tried to take that same formula and turn it up to 11, but it came across to me as caring too much about how much they didn't care.

You heard it here first: SR3 was the hipster of the series.

This one, though, I think the design document must have looked like "This game is stupid fun. How can we make it as stupid fun as possible?" And through all that, they succeeded, albeit in a slightly familiar way. It was around the time I was playing a NyteBlade fanfiction training simulation that I realized that it was very similar to Borderlands, pulling all aspects of pop culture to mock.

Speaking of, we finally went through Borderlands 2, and I must say, Handsome Jack is quite possibly the second greatest upfront villain I've ever seen. (It's going to take a feat of extraordinary writing to top Dolores Umbridge.) Really, it was as much the character himself for being as hated as he was, but it was just as much Dameon Clarke delivering those lines almost with such callousness in the beginning that cemented it early on. What I thought was really well written was the fact that, especially right at the end, Jack always believed he was the hero. And if someone came in right at that point, they might see Jack more sympathetically.

Moving onto the Badass Crater of Badassitude, we quickly followed suit with Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage. It didn't take us too long, we kicked Piston's ass, we were declared the ultimate badass, and I enjoyed a healthy respect for the plot mocking itself approaching every major point.

  • Upcoming Plans

Not a whole lot has my attention on the game front, apart from Watch_Dogs on May 27th and The Golf Club with a nebulous release date. That means, once I finish up with Lost Odyssey and Trials Fusion, https://www.trueachievements.com/LeakyTinCowJudo.htm will be pleased to know that I intend to get some quality time going with Dark Souls . Whether I actually do it or not is another question, but that's where the word intend comes into play.

I also plan on streaming a bit more in the future. For example, I'm looking at streaming Trials Fusion over the weekend where I attempt Extreme tracks blind. Haven't seen them before, no Youtube, no pausing for guides, just me, the track, and anyone who wants to see me fail a particular jump for five minutes at a time.
Posted by Geoffistopheles on 22 April 14 at 19:51 | There are 8 comments on this blog post - Please log in to comment on this blog.
Apr08
Insert witty title here.Permalink
  • Real Life

I'd start with good news, but this persistent dry cough is getting on my nerves. Second doctor's appointment this week, mainly because the last doctor had me rolling my eyes. If someone presents with a cough, chances are you want to look down their throat. Unfortunately, it's also contagious, as my wife is showing the same symptoms. I'm hoping it's just a cough.

On top of that, there were layoffs at work. Long story short, I no longer have to refer to two separate bosses, but just the one. It's been interesting readjusting, but at the same time I know that if that didn't happen, I'd still have a boss that wanted me to come into the office, even while contagious.


With the Fulgore DLC being a few days away, I decided to jump back in, see if I couldn't earn a few more achievements and fight titles. While I was figuring out Spinal's game and a few easy combos to generate titles, I realized that I would put this game in the same category as Star Ocean: The Last Hope .

I realize that sounds like an insult, but surprisingly, it's not! They're both games where I really don't mind the grinding. It took me a bit to realize why, but it boils down to the type of repetition. Something like Dead Rising 3, where you need to grind out a total of 340,000 kills, that's difficult to slog through. But with Killer Instinct, it's less "get all the fight titles to 10" and more "get 150 total fight titles out of a possible 230." And the way it's set up, it's not only something that's coming to come with a lot of play, but you can grind multiple titles at once. I've got one combo with Spinal, for instance, that grinds a special move, combo hits, autos, manuals, and combo enders. If I get bored of that, I can spend a fight or five doing aerial attacks, or throws, or whatever. It breaks up the monotony because if you grind for an hour, unless you're going from rank 9 to 10, you can almost guarantee that you're going to be doing something different. It's a nice change of pace.


I'm really not seeing the be all end all best RPG on the 360, but I think that's more my tastes changing than the game's flaws. The dreams are still impeccably written, but I think that's just as much about changing to a novel storytelling format instead of a game format. Right now I'm bogged down in fetch quests and side quests galore, which, let's be fair, I was playing last night in a bid to put myself to sleep as fast as possible.

As good as the dreams are, they're only serving to undermine the actual game's story. A snake betrays his comrades in order to rule the world? Gee, where have I heard that before. The mortal characters don't really get much development, with the exception of maybe Jansen. I had high hopes for Sed, but he's really not getting much past "Seth's son." High expectations, not quite hitting the mark.

Now, with that said, I'll be jumping between that and Kinect Sports Rivals for the rest of the day.
Posted by Geoffistopheles on 08 April 14 at 21:16 | There are 2 comments on this blog post - Please log in to comment on this blog.
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