Bartholoman7's Blog - Apr to Jun 16 (2 followers)
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May10
Leap Frog Week One RecapPermalink
Tuesday, May 3
Goal: 1.00
Shovel Knight: Treasure TroveMaster AnglerBartholoman7The Master Angler achievement in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove worth 7 pointsSuccessfully fish 5 sparkling fishing spots.

TA Ratio: 1.50

A nice easy start to the contest, all I had to do was earn an achievement. So I earned one in the game I had just bought and that was that. Although I will say confusion began as I looked to the leaderboard and saw so many people earning achievements with ridiculously high ratios. I had assumed most people would take a bare minimum strategy so as not to exhaust such high ratios so early in the competition. But as it continued through the week I decided to just let them be and hopefully my strategy will beat out theirs.


Wednesday, May 4

Goal: 1.20
Shovel Knight: Treasure TroveReflect LordBartholoman7The Reflect Lord achievement in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove worth 0 pointsHit enemies with a reflected projectile 30 times.

TA Ratio: 2.15

Another day, another Shovel Knight achievement. While I earned this essentially from normal gameplay, this games achievements are frustrating. So many achievements worth 0 gs, and seemingly more that will be a pain to earn. But earned this and went on to play some Life is Strange.


Thursday, May 5
Goal: 1.40
Rare ReplaySnakedown CruiseBartholoman7The Snakedown Cruise achievement in Rare Replay worth 23 pointsSnake Rattle N Roll: play the game for the first time.

TA Ratio: 1.40

Today I didn’t have much time in the morning, so I went to the Leap Frog page and found an easy one to earn in Rare Replay. Unlocked within minutes and I was good for the day. After that I had a doctor’s appointment (My thumb has healed completely) and then work. Later in the evening I continued to play through the 2nd chapter of Life is Strange.


Friday, May 6
Goal: 1.60
Microsoft Solitaire Collection (UWP)On ParoleBartholoman7The On Parole achievement in Microsoft Solitaire Collection (UWP) worth 67 pointsIn FreeCell, win a game where you never had more than 2 cards in the cells at any given time

TA Ratio: 1.62

Another day without much time in the morning. So again, thanks to the Leap Frog page and my Windows 10 PC, I was safe for another day. Then that evening I began prepping in Minecraft with my girlfriend to defeat the Wither. Our overconfidence the first time we fought against the Wither led to the destruction of the first world we built together. This time was going to be different.


Saturday, May 7
Goal: 1.80
Minecraft: Xbox One EditionThe Beginning.Bartholoman7The The Beginning. achievement in Minecraft: Xbox One Edition worth 135 pointsKill the Wither

TA Ratio: 5.34

Finally the day of Reckoning approached. After a morning of continued preparation I was ready to fight the Wither. We built a team of four for the fight, my girlfriend (toodabloon), my two friends (dingwalrus and Vanceromance22), and myself. When the time came, we annihilated it and the achievement unlocked and dingwalrus and I were both good for another day.


Sunday, May 8
Goal: 2.00
Halo: The Master Chief CollectionBetcha can't stick it...Bartholoman7The Betcha can't stick it... achievement in Halo: The Master Chief Collection worth 39 pointsHalo 2: Stick a Plasma Grenade to a Stealth Elite on Outskirts.

TA Ratio: 3.41

Today was the first day that I had actually planned on earning an achievement. My planning system for the first month was to give myself 3 separate achievements for each day in case one proves to be too difficult or if the ratio for that achievement drops below the amount for the day I would try it on. So todays planned achievements were;
Rayman LegendsThis ain't a platform!Bartholoman7The This ain't a platform! achievement in Rayman Legends worth 22 pointsStand on top of an enemy with a shield until he attacks you

Halo: The Master Chief CollectionSkulltaker Halo 2: BlindBartholoman7The Skulltaker Halo 2: Blind achievement in Halo: The Master Chief Collection worth 13 pointsHalo 2: Find and claim the Blind Skull.

Rare ReplayThe Shoulder of OrionBartholoman7The The Shoulder of Orion achievement in Rare Replay worth 27 pointsComplete a Lunar Jetman snapshot.


I ended up earning all three but the highest ended up being an extra achievement I earned in Halo 2 in the Master Chief Collection. I don’t know if I’ll earn all 3 everyday but I will try when I can.


Monday, May 9

Goal: 2.20
Microsoft Solitaire Collection (UWP)Mummy’s BoyBartholoman7The Mummy’s Boy achievement in Microsoft Solitaire Collection (UWP) worth 45 pointsClear 10 Pyramid boards

TA Ratio: 2.37

Final day of the first week and another quick day earning a solitaire achievement. But the other two I had planned were;
Halo: The Master Chief CollectionBearly ContainedThe Bearly Contained achievement in Halo: The Master Chief Collection worth 15 pointsHalo CE: Activate Terminal 6 on 343 Guilty Spark.

Castle Crashers RemasteredMedic!The Medic! achievement in Castle Crashers Remastered worth 109 pointsIn a 4 player game, resuscitate each of your fallen comrades at least once.


I eventually earned the Halo one but I’ll have to wait until I can play with somebody to unlock the one from Castle Crashers Remastered (I only have 3 controllers). Either way it was a good first week and I’m excited to see what trials await next week and beyond.
Posted by Bartholoman7 on 10 May 16 at 21:21 | There is 1 comment on this blog post - Please log in to comment on this blog.
May07
UHH - The Revival of a Hunter - Part 4 (The End)Permalink
Week 4 – Vs. EYEHUNTER 42
Final Score: 15 to 16

The week that would prove to be my final week in the competition began with bad news. The day before week 4 began I crashed while I was skiing and hurt my thumb. At first I thought I had just jammed it, but Monday morning it still hurt to move. So I went to the doctor to get it checked out. Once the x-ray came back, it showed that I had broken a small bone in my left thumb and it was put into a splint. As a gamer this was devastating news, especially with how much I was enjoying the competition up till then.

That evening I found that I was still able to play but I wouldn’t be able to move too quickly or press the cn_LSc down. I began my list nonetheless, with a few in The Walking Dead. This week was the most disappointing list so far though as I had 6 games that I had to earn multiple achievements in. I had enjoyed the diversity I was given in the previous rounds. Of them were some grinds in the form of Elder Scrolls Online and for the third week Dark Souls.
The Elder Scrolls OnlineSecret AchievementThe Secret Achievement achievement in The Elder Scrolls Online worth 9 pointsContinue playing to unlock this secret achievement

Dark SoulsCovenant: Chaos ServantThe Covenant: Chaos Servant achievement in Dark Souls worth 47 pointsDiscover Chaos Servant covenant.


I continued through the days unlocking easy ones in Battleblock Theater and Doritos Crash Course and slightly more time consuming ones in Halo 3 and Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. I also got a chance to play another one of my favorite GWG games when I earned this for Super Time Force.
Super Time ForceShardistryThe Shardistry achievement in Super Time Force worth 643 pointsShatter or collect all Shards in the game


Thanks to the wonderful achievement guide on this site, I was able to unlock this one from Left 4 Dead over a couple of nights. As there was no way I would have even attempted to earn this one legit.
Left 4 DeadZombie GenocidestThe Zombie Genocidest achievement in Left 4 Dead worth 78 pointsKill 53,595 Infected.


Late in the week I began my grind to level 20 in ESO to get two achievements. A task that would have been practically undoable if weren’t a double XP week. But I worked towards it and learned in the process that I’m not a huge fan of MMO’s. I took breaks in between sessions to finish the Brotherhood of Steel play through of Fallout 4.
Fallout 4Ad VictoriamBartholoman7The Ad Victoriam achievement in Fallout 4 worth 67 pointsComplete "Ad Victoriam"


That Sunday was crunch time, I was down by 2. I went to my parent’s house and my brother and I got to work on Guitar Hero: World Tour. I had to 100% a song as a band so after a few failed attempts playing ‘No Sleep Til Brooklyn’ by the Beastie Boys. We switched the song to ‘What I’ve Done’ by Linkin’ Park and after two tries with him on drums, me on guitar and bass, and a fan doing vocals, the achievement popped.
Guitar Hero: World TourSolid Gold RockstarsThe Solid Gold Rockstars achievement in Guitar Hero: World Tour worth 230 points100% a song as a band (4 player band)


Shortly after I unlocked the Fallout 4 achievement and we were tied and I had the tiebreaker. But my leftover achievements weren’t pretty.
Dark SoulsRing the Bell (Undead Church)The Ring the Bell (Undead Church) achievement in Dark Souls worth 23 pointsRing Bell of Awakening at Undead Church.

Banjo-TooieAfter The StormThe After The Storm achievement in Banjo-Tooie worth 21 pointsAhhhh, a pretty rainbow. You did that, you old softy!

The Elder Scrolls OnlineSecret AchievementThe Secret Achievement achievement in The Elder Scrolls Online worth 9 pointsContinue playing to unlock this secret achievement

Dark SoulsCovenant: Chaos ServantThe Covenant: Chaos Servant achievement in Dark Souls worth 47 pointsDiscover Chaos Servant covenant.

Geometry Wars: Retro EvolvedScore 500,000The Score 500,000 achievement in Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved worth 42 pointsEarn 500,000 points


I played little bits of Banjo-Tooie but it was far too late in the day to play through the whole damn game. So then I tried a little bit of Geometry Wars and started to make progress. But I still couldn’t even get halfway towards the 500,000 I needed to unlock that achievement. My only choice at that point was to go back into ESO and attempt to get 5 more levels and play through that mission. But when I reached level 19 with only 15 minutes left in the contest I knew it was over because he had just unlocked another.

This contest meant more to me than I realized. I reinvigorated a spirit of hunting that I hadn’t had since my buddies and I first began to compete with each other and see who could get the highest Gamerscore. It brought me back to games that were gathering dust on my infinitely growing backlog. It also prompted me to want to start making new friends on this site that I visit nearly daily and I started with the people I competed against in those four weeks who helped push me to be my best each time.

So I want to thank them, TrueAchievements and everyone else that made this contest possible and I can’t wait to see how much fun all the future contests will be.

Keep Hunting,
Bartholoman7
Posted by Bartholoman7 on 07 May 16 at 02:26 | There are no comments on this blog - Please log in to comment on this blog.
Apr28
UHH - The Revival of a Hunter - Part 3Permalink
Week 3 - Vs. xLilCubbie25
Final Score: 15 to 10

This was another week that got off to a quick start, both of us made a good bulk of our progress in the first couple of days. I personally started with the Highest Ratio (definitely not the most difficult) achievement from Worms Battlegrounds, followed immediately with the lowest ratio from Tales from the Borderlands.

Some welcome surprises from this week included going back to playing Titanfall, I really enjoyed the game even though I never played it that much. Also achievements from both Middle Earth: Shadow of Morder and Destiny reminded me of how much I enjoyed playing those games. (Although Destiny was annoying because I had to log off and back on for the achievement to actually unlock)
Middle-earth: Shadow of MordorFire of JusticeBartholoman7The Fire of Justice achievement in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor worth 53 pointsComplete all Urfael Legend Missions.

DestinyFinders KeepersBartholoman7The Finders Keepers achievement in Destiny worth 27 pointsAssist in capturing 50 capture points in Control.


I earned my last unlock on Friday as I had to work that Saturday and I already had a good lead by that day. I spent a good amount of time keeping an eye on my opponent’s activity and in case she came close, I was prepared to unlock this one from Rock Band Country Track Pack.
Rock Band Country Track PackChuggin' AlongThe Chuggin' Along achievement in Rock Band Country Track Pack worth 43 pointsComplete Solo Tour on any difficulty with any instrument


And even beyond that I was willing to grind out one more at a max of 17 if needed.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black FlagMixing Up The MedicinesThe Mixing Up The Medicines achievement in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag worth 28 pointsComplete memory sequence 6.


Thankfully I didn’t need to get any more, and it proved very beneficial because Sunday ended up being a nearly devastating day for me as a gamer and would prove to make my final week in the competition a very difficult one.

Final Part next week.


Week 3 Stats

Total Achievements Earned: 39

Highest Ratio: 3.36
Worms BattlegroundsJuggernautThe Juggernaut achievement in Worms Battlegrounds worth 64 pointsAccumulate 300 or more health on a single worm.


Most Difficult to Earn:
Middle-earth: Shadow of MordorFire of JusticeThe Fire of Justice achievement in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor worth 53 pointsComplete all Urfael Legend Missions.

Not a super difficult week.

Most Time Consuming to Earn:
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7Dark Times AheadThe Dark Times Ahead achievement in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 worth 40 pointsUnlock every bad wizard (Single Player Only)
Posted by Bartholoman7 on 28 April 16 at 22:27 | There are no comments on this blog - Please log in to comment on this blog.
Apr20
UHH - The Revival of a Hunter - Part 2Permalink
Week 2 – Vs. Rhhe82
Final Score: 16 to 15

I woke up early Monday morning excited to see which games I would get to play this week. I ended up getting a few repeat games from week 1 (including one repeat achievement that I neglected to get the first time around). But of the repeats, I was happy to continue playing Mafia II and Assassin’s Creed IV. In each just delving a little further into the story.
The list was an interesting assortment of story and non-story based achievements that I immediately got to work on. I lucked out because I was already 75% of the way through my mission in Dragon Age: Inquisition to get this one along with a couple others that first morning.
Dragon Age: InquisitionWicked Eyes and Wicked HeartsBartholoman7The Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts achievement in Dragon Age: Inquisition worth 26 pointsProgress the story to unlock this achievement.

I continued through the week and began both Child of Light and Life is Strange, both excellent games in their own way that I can’t wait to complete. But I also had two achievements in this list that I wanted to avoid at all costs.
Mass Effect 3VeteranThe Veteran achievement in Mass Effect 3 worth 50 pointsKill 5,000 enemies.

BioShock InfiniteEavesdropperThe Eavesdropper achievement in BioShock Infinite worth 154 pointsIn the Main Campaign, collect every Voxophone.

The former was attainable but painfully time-consuming (I was already at 3900 kills but it was still boring to get), but the latter was impossible to do as it would require me to do an entire playthrough.
By the time the weekend came we were still neck and neck and I spent my morning playing through Darksiders II to earn the achievement that would ultimately be the difference between us.
Darksiders IISecret AchievementThe Secret Achievement achievement in Darksiders II worth 14 pointsContinue playing to unlock this secret achievement

But he spent that time unlocking the ME3 achievement and then next he unlocked this doozy from DuckTales Remastered.
DuckTales Remastered (Arcade)Tougher than the ToughiesThe Tougher than the Toughies achievement in DuckTales Remastered (Arcade) worth 144 pointsBeat game on Hard difficulty

Tied at 15 to 15, and he had the tiebreaker. I returned home Sunday night after seeing Coheed and Cambria put on an excellent concert in Denver and immediately got to work on DuckTales. All I had left was the final level which I already had down to a science up until the getaway scene at the end. The clock was ticking and at 12:59 I lost my last life. I was heartbroken. All my work down the toilet. Then I thought to check the website. Maybe I was wrong about the ending time. As soon as I saw the countdown timer say I still had 50 minutes left, I shot right back to my 360 to try again. On my first try after that I jumped on the getaway helicopter and the achievement unlocked. I could finally rest easy knowing I had made it past week 2.


Week Two Stats

Total Achievements Earned: 58

Highest Ratio: 2.70
DuckTales Remastered (Arcade)Tougher than the ToughiesThe Tougher than the Toughies achievement in DuckTales Remastered (Arcade) worth 144 pointsBeat game on Hard difficulty


Most Difficult to Earn:
DuckTales Remastered (Arcade)Tougher than the ToughiesThe Tougher than the Toughies achievement in DuckTales Remastered (Arcade) worth 144 pointsBeat game on Hard difficulty


Most Time Consuming to Earn:
Darksiders IISecret AchievementThe Secret Achievement achievement in Darksiders II worth 14 pointsContinue playing to unlock this secret achievement
Posted by Bartholoman7 on 20 April 16 at 23:54 | There is 1 comment on this blog post - Please log in to comment on this blog.
Apr13
UHH - The Revival of a Hunter - Part 1Permalink
Sunday night 1:45 AM (MST)
Almost to level 19 in The Elder Scrolls Online, and I’m finally ready to give up on earning my 16th achievement for the week.
The Elder Scrolls OnlineSecret AchievementThe Secret Achievement achievement in The Elder Scrolls Online worth 9 pointsContinue playing to unlock this secret achievement

Knowing full well that there was no way I could complete it anymore, I took one last look at TA before going to bed and my worst fear came to fruition. My opponent had just unlocked their 16th achievement. The tiebreaker was no longer mine.

Frantically, I looked at my list and there was only one that I could feasibly get.
Geometry Wars: Retro EvolvedScore 500,000The Score 500,000 achievement in Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved worth 42 pointsEarn 500,000 points

After two failed attempts I achieved under 100,000 points each time and I was out. No more UHH and I was bummed. Bummed because this was honestly the most fun I’ve had earning achievements since I first became an Achievement Hunter.

The most amazing thing about this competition to me is the fact that it helped me not only reach the furthest depths of my backlog, but it prompted me to begin entirely new games as well that would have otherwise joined my ever expanding backlog. I earned achievements that I never would have even attempted without the competition in great games like DuckTales Remastered, Left 4 Dead and Super Time Force. I played some games that I would prefer to never play again like Banjo-Kazooie Nuts & Bolts, Geometry Wars and Dark Souls. But ultimately, I feel like every game I played and achievement I unlocked in these short 4 weeks came with some of the greatest satisfaction I have gotten from playing videogames.

Week 1 – Vs. Loonielee
Final score: 17 to 16

Depending on your opinion I was either blessed or cursed throughout this competition with very difficult opponents. Blessed by the fact that they drove me to try my hardest every week, cursed because so many people made it through with arguably less effort than I put in. But that subject has already been beaten to death by many others on TA so I’ll move on.

I woke up early that first Monday morning and looked at my list and was pleasantly surprised by how doable it was. I assumed that they would have given me a lot more achievements that would be a grind but instead I was given several early and other simple achievements. I immediately got to work on my list knocking off several quick ones in Worms: Battlegrounds, Killer Instinct and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die.

I work from 2pm to 10:30pm (MST) so a good chunk of my time hunting was either morning or late night. But that meant little ultimately because I was playing against someone halfway across the globe. So the struggle continued through the week and the whole time I was worried about whether or not he was going to go for
Red Dead RedemptionLong Arm of MarstonThe Long Arm of Marston achievement in Red Dead Redemption worth 27 pointsKill 500 enemies with any rifle, repeater, or shotgun in any game mode.

Early in the week I had discovered that I no longer had a save file for Red Dead Redemption and after seeing how many people were reaching 20 so quickly I feared that I could lose 20 to 19 because of that game. But I persevered through the week keeping it neck and neck, earning all of the same achievements until Sunday I had earned the one achievement that made the difference in the week.
BioShock 2Grand DaddyThe Grand Daddy achievement in BioShock 2 worth 31 pointsDefeat 3 Big Daddies without dying during the fight.

A game I honestly didn't like at first but after going back I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to finally finish soon. On to Week Two


Week One Stats

Total Achievements Earned: 47

Highest Ratio: 2.80
Worms BattlegroundsFore!The Fore! achievement in Worms Battlegrounds worth 83 pointsKill 4 worms in a single turn.


Most Difficult To Earn:
Dust: An Elysian TailA Decent Start...The A Decent Start... achievement in Dust: An Elysian Tail worth 12 pointsSuccessfully complete a 200+ hit combo

I’m not good at maintaining combos in games like that.

Most Time Consuming to Earn:
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & PunishmentsOff the Rails!The Off the Rails! achievement in Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments worth 17 pointsFinish Train case.
Posted by Bartholoman7 on 13 April 16 at 04:07 | There are 4 comments on this blog post - Please log in to comment on this blog.
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