Hi everybody! (Hi Dr Nick)
I'd use a time of day there normally - but since I started this before midnight on Saturday and will be working on it for the next few days as I receive replies from our winners, who knows when it will actually be posted. Well, if you are reading this, I suppose you know. Awkward.
After an incredible run to the finish by two teams and one soloist, we've run the course allotted to us. In the end, it was
Straight up Gankers (
MADeyePadEYE,
Mephisto4thewin and
ROGUE 1992), who came out victorious on the team side and
RedmptionDenied who dominated the solo side. If you haven't had a chance to look at the ending scoreboards, here are links to the final periods of each. Quite impressive work! Also, kudos to
Mephisto4thewin for the ultra sexy 100K on the nose
Team:
GTASC 15 TeamSolo:
GTASC 15 IndividualLet's not forget the supreme effort by all our finalists for persevering through and making it to the end. Kudos all around!
... and now for a few words from the winners of Period 46 (the semi-final mayhem) and the winners and runners-up of Period 47 (Finals).
Slaughterhouse Three took it all the way home in Period 46. Here's their thoughts:
1) What pushed you to take 1st place this period?ChrisD0811 -
We knew it was the last week we could compete in, due to some scheduling issues during the final week. So we wanted to show our mettle and come out of our last week with a win. Plus it was fun to play the spoiler for the final week by making some other teams use their bonuses.InigoMontoya80 -
As a team we knew that the final week was not going to be a possibility to run. Myself as well as my teammates had some major life changing things on their agenda so we decided we would lay it all on the line in the semi-final. First place became more of drive to see if we could get some other contestants to burn some pre-loads and play spoiler to some degree. We had fun and it was a blast!!Sashamorning -
We were getting to the end, and things in real life were starting to interfere. We had a lot in the tank, but we weren't really sure how we'd do in the last week, so we decided to attack this week instead. We knew we wouldn't have to throw down as much as we'd planned for the last week (so we could actually use a few of those hours for sleep), but we knew we had plenty of drive to at least make this week competitive. And with only 5 teams out of 21 moving on, we knew that it'd be a fun week to try to win.2) Were there any games that you made an effort to attack?ChrisD0811 -
We had a plan and stuck to it. Plenty of kinect, and tons of high ratio stuff. Airmech, How to Survive, and Kinect games were key this week.InigoMontoya80 -
We had an attack plan with How to Survive. Fortunately I was able to lend the really good gear to my teammates so that it would be fairly quick for them. I worked on some quick games in the spare time I did have. Pneuma, Taychon Project and Game Room which I've had for some time and have wanted to play it but never had a reason.Sashamorning -
We've had our eyes on AirMech Arena and How To Survive for a while now. Both are games that have a deceptively high ratio. In addition, Xbox Fitness and Pool Nation FX have a lot of relatively quick TA, if you're willing to put two very difficult completions on your card, which doesn't really matter to me as much. Knight Squad was another, as well as the Jackboxes and some Kinect (Carnival Games, Deca). I know Montoya's been waiting to do Game Room for some time. I don't think he pushed to finish it yet since we didn't need it in the end.3) Did you plan to top the board?ChrisD0811 -
#1 was the plan from the get go.InigoMontoya80 -
Absolutely!! Sashamorning -
Yep, that was the plan from the beginning. We were going full steam ahead. In fact, my top 4 days ever and six of the top ten were this week. We made a serious push, and I think it was pretty impressive considering we really didn't preload anything.4) Do you see yourself in first place again? (AKA do you wanna win it?)ChrisD0811 -
Absolutely not. As stated above, this was our big hurrah.InigoMontoya80 -
Unfortunately no. Maybe next year or some other time but real life has beckoned for the slaughterhouse. As much as we would love to, we love our families more. Sashamorning -
Nope. No interest in competing for #1. Our three gaming widows would like to see us occasionally. I figure it's long past time, myself. I'm happy to make the top 5, and really happy to pull off the win this week.5) Does Ratio Decay concern you?ChrisD0811 -
Nothing that we played will see any serious decay. Now completion % on the other hand...InigoMontoya80 -
Completion percentage drop was more of a concern lmao. Ratio decay is something we rarely thought of during the entirety of the competition. Sashamorning -
Since we aren't pushing for this week, it doesn't matter. Also, oddly enough, the higher ratios that we got this week aren't exactly newer games, just games that haven't been played. I don't think there'll be too much decay, even if it's irrelevant at this point.6) Any words of wisdom for anyone attempting a run to the finals in the future?ChrisD0811 -
Plan on telling your loved ones that they might as well consider you dead during the final month of the conpetition. LolInigoMontoya80 -
Anyone attempting a run at the finals should make sure they have a good plan in place. Pre-loads are nice but not necessary. TIME is what you need. Kiss the wife/girlfriend, put the kiddos to bed, take a week off from work and prepare to game. An understanding family is essential. Sashamorning -
Say goodbye to your families, feed your pets, water your plants, tell your boss you're having surgery, call off dead. That way when you finish, you can make a miraculous recovery.
Also, look at higher ratio games that seem to be untouched. Those hidden gems are where the points are. We only had 770 achievements, less than anyone in the top 9, and a 2.745 ratio, tops for the week. We put our time where it counted.7) Is there anything you'd like to add?ChrisD0811 -
I want to thank Rich for creating the site we all love, Planting for putting this all together, and most of all my compadres who helped get us to #1 this week. Slaughterhouse for life!InigoMontoya80 -
Would like to thank planting42 for putting on a great competition, Rich for making this awesome website, and most importantly the Slaughterhouse!! ChrisD0811 and Sashamorning are the greatest friends and teammates I could ask for.Sashamorning -
Huge shout out to Montoya and Chris, two of my best friends anywhere, not just around these parts. They did a lot of the heavy lifting throughout the year, and they're just beasts. Also, I want to thank Planting for running this thing, Rich for building the incredible community, and the other 20 teams running this past week. This was high-powered and high stress...good times! 
Finally, to my wife: babe, the console's getting turned off. I'll be home soon. Vardulon was able to climb the TA score mountain and end Period 46 at the top. Here is what he has to offer:
1) What pushed you to take 1st place this period?Desperation to stay in competition until the last week! I was really hoping to make it to the end, and I was counting on Xbox Fitness to carry me through. Then I lost my Kinect bar during renovations two weeks ago, and I was forced to just throw a bunch of titles up on the board at the last minute. The competition was so close that I stopped playing attention to strategy went for it.2) Were there any games that you made an effort to attack?Both versions of Dishonored. I'd gotten close to the end of both a few months back, and I knew there would be a points bonanza if I went back and finished both.3) Did you plan to top the board?Nope, just trying to ensure I stayed in the top ten. Honestly, the scores were so close right in the last hour or two any of us could have ended up on top. 4) Do you see yourself in first place again? (AKA do you wanna win it?)I'd love to win, but I don't see it happening. I wasn't paying close enough attention during the first half of the competition, so I didn't do the kind of prep work that needs to be done to win the last week.5) Does Ratio Decay concern you?Not at all. As a rule I don't generally run through games the week they come out, so it hasn't been much of an issue. I learned my lesson early in the competition when I was almost knocked out because I received an advance copy of State of Decay and nearly finished it before it came out. 20K one week, nearly-run-ending crash the next.6) Any words of wisdom for anyone attempting a run to the finals in the future?There's only one strategy that makes sense to me - start planning for the end early. It's not a huge challenge to stay in for the first 40 weeks - focus on almost completing games so you'll have as many ready-to-pop high value achievements as possible for the last few weeks.7) Do you have anything you'd like to add?I want to congratulate everyone who made it to the last two weeks. I had no idea the competition would be this intense, and the final scores just blew me away.
Also I'd like to plug my website, vardulon.com, where you can read about old comic books and Criminal Minds, and tell people to buy my book - http://www.amazon.com/King-Ching-Chong-Chinamen-McCarthys-eb... On to the finals! Since there was an epic battle to the end, we have both the winners and runners up for your pleasure! First a word from this year winners -
Straight up Gankers1) Were there any particular games you made an effort to play?MADeyePadEYE -
I had a set structure of games I had been either holding onto (as I knew they were quick) or games that I had preloaded. A few good ones were So many me, escapists, pool nation FX and the only kinect game I played final week Xbox Fitness. Project Spark was also a must but I didnt use it to it's full potential. : (Mephisto4thewin -
During second to last week we did everything we could to save the sub 2 hour games. So final week was all about dropping preload firstly, doing quick games second then high TA/low time boosts third. We were hoping cut off for finals didn't get as high as it did, but that seemed to hurt other teams as well. Other than preload I spent alot of time on games I knew auto-popped on other systems. Massive score boosts for almost no final week time.ROGUE 1992 -
We all made a special effort to do Xbox fitness after seeing a couple of teams a few weeks ago and seeing that it was 4500ta for not much time invested. We also took downtime/preloading time with Destiny with the cross platform achievements and also Project Spark as it gave us a very good platform to work off.2) How vital would you say having an Xbox One is to winning the GTASC?MADeyePadEYE -
About 90% of my gaming was X1, due the high nature of the Ta that alot of the titles offer. I'd have to stay it would be quite hard to challenge without one if i'm honest; but with great planning anything is possible.Mephisto4thewin -
I would say having an x1 is absolutely pivotal. There are so many games on there now that under 4 hours and when you need to churn out points that's the quickest way. I don't know my stats exactly but I imagine 80% of my final two weeks points would've been from the x1.ROGUE 1992 -
Well you can make the point of how important is your left hand. Anything that gives you the ability to do games that take less than an hour for 1000 points is a strong requirement even with preload you eventually run out, so it adds a lot and I think the communication is much better on the Xbox one.3) Did you plan on unloading more than 200,000TA this period?MADeyePadEYE -
There was a mutter between us a few weeks back that 200k would be the very least we would need to be compettative, especialy as craze killer from I've got nothing had mentioned that was their aim in the forums. We new I've got nothing would be dropping bombs with the preload king that is Redmption and the back up of Oriole and Craze.Mephisto4thewin -
We had a game plan to exceed 200k and things fell in place to allow us to do that. I determined that I've got nothing could go over 200 so we needed to match that at the very least. I guessed before final week started that we could do 240 so I wasn't far off.ROGUE 1992 -
We knew we had to do at least 200k to beat I've Got Nothing as they would have had that as a minimum. I was worried most of the week as I had to work some of the week plus some of the preload didn't go off which stresses me out a touch 4) How would you describe the pressure you felt in the past few periods?MADeyePadEYE -
The pernultamut period was by far the most stressful in the whole comp, with such a massive cut in team numbers. I think all us gankers were on edge for that one. The final period wasn't particular stressful parsay, it was just balls to the walls scoring.Mephisto4thewin -
The pressure is hard to measure. Even when I went for a 3 hour sleep with 12 to go this week I didn't feel we had it. I've got nothing have a team of high quality gamers so the pressure was always there. We tried to stay that 30k ahead at all times as a buffer so that kept us on our toes. The pressure was relieved in the final hour and we had the chance to pick our final achievements and gave me a chance to land on my personal target :)ROGUE 1992 -
To be honest we didn't find it all that stressful these past few weeks other than a few moments like 2 weeks back on cutoff myself and Mephisto tried to pop the level 50 achievement in Xbox fitness but it didn't pop and then this week with wondering what I've Got Nothing had in the tank, I tried to make the team know for the entire week that we couldn't afford to take our foots off their throats as Redemption would have ran us down without a problem so I made sure to keep a 30-35k gap at all times with going less than that only a few times during the week.5) Do you plan to field a team next year to defend the crown?MADeyePadEYE -
If I'm honest I'd love to come back but I kinda told my wife i'd take a break next year, so Robert if you can sweet talk Peri I'm there. So it may be a year of preloading and come back even stronger in 2017 and break that 260,000TA team score record.Mephisto4thewin -
After doing this and leap frog I feel ill take a year off from contests. I may still enter but I won't be on a serious team. The thing people probably don't get but I'm sure redemption can attest too, is that planning to win something like this takes some serious time. Scoring was low early but that didn't mean our gaming time was any less. So we have been gaming intensely for about 6 months. Plus my family have put up with this for long enough, time to give something back.ROGUE 1992 -
If Redemption Denied and Mephisto and MadEye wanna carry me on their backs but in all honesty it comes down to the promise I made my missus that I wouldn't compete properly next year (saying that if I just happen to naturally have 75k preloaded and being in the last few weeks of the competition it would be foolish of me to not at least throw my hat in the ring)6) About how much time would you say you spent planning for the eventuality that you'd be in the finals?MADeyePadEYE -
We started this crazy quest 2 years ago when we were part of the team bregan d'aerthe with Shin Gatsurai. Massive shout out to Shin. So its been a two year plan really. We've been focused since day one.Mephisto4thewin -
This all started last year when myself, rogue and madeye all teamed up trying to win. We missed out that time while saving our modest preloads. So we just built off of that base. We always knew we were capable of final week but was never sure if we could win (no matter what rogue says to the contrary)ROGUE 1992 -
We started this journey 2 years ago when we played with Shin Gatsurai on a team called ?bregan d'aerthe. We were eliminated foolishly trying to go for a side prize and I took blame for that as it was my call to go for the prize, as for planning preload, I had about 10k preloaded from last year until about July this year when we started preloading properly where we got to the 60-70k mark.7) How vital would you say having good team communication and a plan are to placing well?MADeyePadEYE -
This is a total must have, if we didn't comunicate there would be no team. It's always hard communicating with people the otherside of the world but we always made time for each other and speaking daily on Facebook was key. Rogue's genrally randomness always makes things interesting to say the least, i honestly don't know if anyone else could put up with him the way we do.Mephisto4thewin -
Good communication is important especially around cut off and to bounce ideas around. Also a friendly person to chat too can help get you through those horrible games (beyond eyes, three fourths home) I'd much have preferred to play the escapists dlc or start elite dangerous but the team needed the points and the boys kept me focused.ROGUE 1992 -
Extremely. We spoke on party chat every time we were on together. We also spoke on Facebook in a group chat constantly to know where everyone was standing.8) Is there anything else you'd like to add?MADeyePadEYE -
First off, I have to start with my boys Robert and Daniel you two are BEASTS, without you two none of this would of been possible, thanks for the crazy ride. Rogue you wear your heart on your sleeve keep that up. Meph you sir are a true gent, can't wait for elite dangerous next year.
I want to thank my brother Jimzy26 for putting up with my constant boost this with me nags all year. DazTk , Razza69 (Once Midget always a Midget) and my two #forgottengladiators Montana97 and seamonkeypowder. See you boys for the potential endless bean dive year 3 reunion. Thanks to TA and planting for putting this great contest on, here's to many more successful years. To the rest of the competition, you make this community great.
Last but not least to my wife Peri and my wonderful 10 month daughter Roybn your my rocks.
Daddy's back.Mephisto4thewin -
I would firstly like to thank you planting for hosting and organising these contests each year. Cant be easy dealing with everything and having to make decisions some people wont like. Also to rich for having the contest hosting on site.
To my team mates for the amazing effort all year and last year too. Even with all the ups and downs we got it done. I cant heap enough praise on them for the sacrifices and effort they have put in.
To all the people who helped us boost or offered encouragement we all thankyou there are way too many to list. To the midgets team for their constant boosting help. To the other finalists big congrats. This is a tough comp, it goes from zero to hero in no time at all so well done to all of them. Also to the runners up. Unlucky redmption you put up a massive effort as we knew you could, still doesn't make it any less impressive. craze and oriole you guys went big too. You guys were unlucky normally 210k would easily get it done.
And to the onlookers, the forum keeps the comp interesting , so I welcome all the chats and banter. As long as we can keep it all civil. See you all there again real soon. Meph.ROGUE 1992 -
Firstly I'd like to thank you and the TrueAchievements team for running the competition, it's been an honour to compete, a lot of very good teams took part this year with many good gamers. I'd like to give a shoutout to the other finalists vicious and delicious , I've got nothing and wild kitty Japan, if also like to give a shoutout to EmeraldAxer and KorruptedKloud who were robbed of a chance in the final and I hope for their sake that they get a chance to go for the win one day. I'd also like to give a shout out to nikon82uk the person who drafted me into my first gtasc 4 years ago I think when I teamed up with such quality as illdizzog we made a very respectable 17th that year when we were representing the 360voice bimonthly DLAM competition. It's also where the rivalry between myself craze kiler and chunkeh munkeh (who was probably the first person that really got me into this sort of Comp after seeing the quality of gamer he was) began when they were representing the 40kiler chicken munkeh salsa formed from around the DLAM competitions.
I would like to thank former team mates oriole and craze kiler for putting such a good effort in on a losing side this year they can be proud of the performance they all put in.
Redemption denied who is a god no more needs to be said.
Princess Kazy who helped me with most of my coop stuff and was up till 3am before cut off boosting chivalry with me she's the reason I'm not allowed to compete next year.
To my team mates Mephisto and MadEye thank you for putting up with my erratic and somewhat stupid behaviour for nearly two years I don't think they could have if we weren't very good friends. I certainly made it hard at times as did the rest of the team but the difference between our team and a lot of others is the fact we have an ironclad to defence when it comes to the other members of the team for better or worse.
To shin for being our team mate last season I wish he could have been here this year but I would like to dedicate this title to him after he was robbed in the 2011 gtasc final.
To everyone that's support me in this Comp and through the years and to all the haters I have out there go FYourselves. Now a word from the runners up -
I've got nothing.1) Were there any particular games you made an effort to play?CRAZE KILER -
Yeah, my ace in the hole was not playing a Kinect on the X1. I was really hoping that Xbox Fitness was able to help out more then it did. Oriole2682 -
A mix of quick 1000s and easy stuff with a high/inflated ratio.RedmptionDenied -
Played about 115 games by a rough count. The big ones that stood out were Xbox Fitness, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Massive Chalice, How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition, Battle Islands, and The Escapists that were all big for TA.2) How vital would you say having an Xbox One is to winning the GTASC?CRAZE KILER -
You cant win without it, the GWG and F2P games are extremely over inflated. No Time to Explain was vital to a lot of teams. The demo pops an achievement making the game have an extremely high ratio.Oriole2682 -
I would say over 99% have access to an Xbox One and if a team is in the finals as it is, everyone definitely has an Xbox One. That being said, CRAZE KILER didn't own an Xbox One until halfway through this year. It is vital because it has a ton of cheap quick 1000's and lots of super inflated Games With Gold and Free to Play.RedmptionDenied -
Extremely. The over-inflated free to plays and GwG are very vital for surviving/scoring/pre-loading.3) Did you plan on unloading more than 200,000TA this period?CRAZE KILER -
As a team yes, we knew Red had about 125k ready to go. My job was to reach 40k for the final week. Oriole2682 -
Yes the original plan was to go Red 120K and both of us around 40K I didn't see us going much past 200K. We knew all three members of Gankers had a bunch of preloads from last year when they meant to make it to the finals but fell out on an eliminiation because of the usual scanner jams during cutoff. We didn't expect them to put up as much as they did though and thought 200K would be good for the win.RedmptionDenied -
That was the minimum goal for the team. Was shooting for at least 125 myself and knew the other guys would be good for about 80.4) How would you describe the pressure you felt in the past few periods?CRAZE KILER -
I felt a little pressure on the individual side three weeks ago. On the team side I felt a little last week, mainly because my work schedule sucked. For some reason my boss likes to have me work until 10Pm on Fridays and back at 7AM on Saturday. Its a helpless feeling knowing I wouldn't be there for the team. Oriole2682 -
I never really felt any pressure at all because the way the contest was structured where only the last three weeks showed any challenge to possibly stave off elimination.RedmptionDenied -
Honestly, not that much. The semi-finals were a bit crazier than I expected but with setting stuff up all year I knew I had more than enough to survive, just a question of how much to hold back. Plus both Craze and Oriole were trying to survive on the solo side as long as possible so they were consistent enough each week that I didn't have to worry about being the only one trying. Even getting blown out most the final week I wasn't really stressed about it. Was nice to finally unload everything I'd been working on all year and finally surpass 900k gamerscore.5) Do you plan to field a team next year?CRAZE KILER -
No, the contest runs smooth from your end but I had very little fun doing it. I had planned on scoring a bunch of points all year long but between prepping Seriously 3.0 for the first couple months of the year and the lack of competition the first 40 weeks things were boring. I tried pre-loading but it so much different then how I enjoy the hobby there is no sense in trying it again.Oriole2682 -
YesRedmptionDenied -
Not at this moment. Don't really expect anywhere near these numbers in the finals going forward but after doing everything I could all year to end in defeat yet again I have no real desire to do team comps. for the foreseeable future. 4 straight years of being a top 3 scorer in 7 different competitions and only one team win to show for it which involved a great deal of luck. Always seems to be one other truly complete team out there. I like competing clearly, and like scoring in bunches, but as close as I am to a million gamerscore I'll probably take at least one year off from all the pre-loading nonsense to focus on hitting that milestone and taking a break to play some proper games for awhile. :)6) About how much time would you say you spent planning for the eventuality that you'd be in the finals?CRAZE KILER -
The goal from day one was to win, since I was struggling with the pre-load method my goal was to accumulate all the easy/short games possible. When it comes down to prepping points, I started seriously back in October and had everything but matches played and one or two weapons before the contest started.Oriole2682 -
We knew all along that we would be one of the final five teams because scoring large amounts of points at any given time is a signature move of all three team members. CRAZE and I tried somewhat to follow Red and preload but we both obviously underprepared and should have had more preloaded but coming in second place in this situation with what we both scored over the final two weeks was still outstanding.RedmptionDenied -
As soon as I decided to join GTASC back in January I started pre-loading. It was really the solo side that I wanted to go all out for. As mentioned above, I've learned time and time again that there's only so much I can do in team comps. and it rarely pans out, so having something I have absolute control over really made me double down my efforts. Putting up 100k GS in 10 weeks during GSL last year to take mvp was nice and all, but that's like a 40 man competition that maybe a dozen people even try in. Winning about an 1800 person competition, even if most were just casuals, appealed to my competitive side quite a bit.
The past 3 years I've done competitions and the whole pre-loading thing I didn't really start prepping until May-July and would set up maybe 20-25k gamerscore in about 6 months. This was the only time I've prepped the entire year for the most part and ended up with about 40k Gs/140k TA in just over 100 games going into the semi-final week. A lot of the stuff I played wasn't even that great for pre-loading purposes. I still played a lot of good games I wanted to, just made it a point to sit on all the end game stuff. Later in the year I started focusing a bit more on the higher TA free games where a good deal of my TA in the final week came from.7) How vital would you say having good team communication and a plan are to placing well?CRAZE KILER -
It is very important, I don't know all of the ends and outs of what Gankers did but it was obvious they were all on the same page. They had a plan and really dominated the final week. Oriole2682 -
I would say it would be somewhat vital, all teams must communicate during bonus periods and elimination periods. We actually didn't communicate much at all outside of those situations and still did extremely well.RedmptionDenied -
It helps for sure, but I wouldn't really say it's vital. As long as you're on the same page with what you're trying to accomplish you can advance very far without much communication. I'm not a big talker, I just do what I do which is usually more than enough to make top 3 regardless of what my teammates do or don't do.8) Is there anything else you'd like to add?CRAZE KILER -
Just want to thank you for all your hard work. There is a lot of critics out there complaining about one thing or another, I hope they don't bring you down because there really does not need to be many changes to the format.
I want to congratulate Gankers for a job well done. I also thank my team for fighting all the way to the end, we may have lost but we gave it ever thing we had which is something to be proud of.Oriole2682 -
Congratulations to Straight Up Gankers on winning GTASC 2015! You came flying out of the gates with preloads and I assume that even if any other team was in the finals they still wouldn't have stood a chance against our score at the end. I am positive you are the only team that could've beat us so with our score I don't feel disappointed at all. Thanks to my teammates Redmptiondenied & CRAZE KILER. Thanks planting42 for hosting this contest every year. With everyone constantly calling for changes, I for one think the format is fantastic just the way it is.RedmptionDenied -
Once again, big props to the Gankers this year for going all out and showing what a truly complete team is capable of scoring if they put their minds to it and apply themselves to reaching their goals. Thanks again to planting for hosting it and the addition of the solo side which I'm clearly a big fan of as it gave me at least something to win for all my effort this year. RedmptionDenied was able to rock the Individual contest this year, here are a few additional thoughts regarding that contest he had to offer:
1) How competitive do you feel the Solo side was this year?
Much like the team side, it stepped up nicely during the final month, especially the semi-finals when it went around 36k for the cut-off which surpassed the 3rd to last weeks team cut-off of 34k. The final week not so much, but I don't really expect anyone to take these things as seriously as I do or invest anywhere near the amount of time or effort I put in. Mephisto and Rogue would have made it a bit more interesting if they have survived that long but they were clearly more focused on the team win which paid off.
2) What was your goal for the Solo side?
My goal wasn't just to win, but to single-handedly outscore the 4 person winning teams score of last year of about 110k or so. I knew about 6 months in that 100k was easily doable and thought 150k was within reach toward the end but the semi-finals picked up enough that I had to use about 20k or so I wasn't planning on so that wasn't quite within reach. Maybe if I blew another $100 on the easy indies I haven't bought yet but wouldn't have mattered on either side of the competition at that point so I'd rather just save the money and hope they all go on sale shortly during the Christmas sales.
3) Do you have any advice for those seeking to win in 2016?
Pre-loading is obviously key. Going to be plenty of weeks where you don't need much to survive and you could easily be stockpiling things for the final month. I've done competitions for 4 years and have pre-loaded in every one of them. I know a lot of people don't like it but it's just plain strategy and planning. To be honest, I don't even like doing it for the most part. I waste a lot of time trying to dance around certain achievements, not wanting to waste easy points early, or coming back to games months down the road, not knowing where I left off or what the controls are. Always a risk of corrupted saves or other problems keeping you from getting what you could have easily gotten just playing normally. For example, there were some tricks in Halo MCC that made a few things much easier, like quitting out of the spartan ops missions on legendary that still gave you progress, that since got patched.
But at the end of the day it's a competition and to win you're going to have to do a lot of things you'd rather not, just like practicing or training in real sports. Gotta have that competitive mindset and embrace the suck if you really want to win. If you just want to play casual and see how far you can make it, then more power to you, but I like joining competitions to actually compete. :)
Everything I prepped for the finals, I did this year. Started the year off with about 755k GS. After doing comps. for 3 years the only quick games I have left to play are what comes out each year. So saying that having a high GS puts you at a disadvantage simply isn't true. Again, if you don't want to prep and plan all year for the end that's fine, but anyone could do what I did. I work a full time job and have the fewest amount of quick games available to just about anyone in the contest and still manage to be a top scorer each year by planning and preparation. And not playing stuff like Destiny for 500 hours. :) Pre-loading isn't hard at all, it's more a mindset than anything else. And the achievement app on the One makes it that much easier to do. Take a lot of notes, backup your saves as much as you can, and you could easily put up over 100k TA in a week with enough time and effort beforehand.
4) Do you have plans to defend your crown in 2016?
Nope. As I mentioned on the team side, I'm just focused on getting to a million gamerscore for now. So no more pre-loading or competitions that might take away my focus from that.
5) Is there anything else you'd like to add?
No seriously, how is [popcorn] still not an emote?
Although the ending on the Individual side wasn't as competitive,
theshadow was engaged in a battle for 2nd place. Here's what he had to offer after securing that spot:
1) Were there any particular games you made an effort to play?No, I played almost anything that came my way. The more TA score, and the quicker, the better.2) How vital would you say having an Xbox One is to winning the GTASC?While the inflated TA ratios on the Xbox One helps (thanks TA app!), I would say having access to ALL platforms is the key to success. One week in September, I went on vacation. Without a Windows Phone, I would have definitely been eliminated.3) How vital do you think preparing achievements to unlock at whim is to winning the GTASC?It is 100% vital. The last hour before cutoff can be extremely hectic, especially in the later periods of the competition. If you don't have at least one massive TA score achievement ready to go, it can mean elimination. However, I felt it's not only about how much you stockpile, but when you use them. I saw many teams being eliminated because they were too conservative with their bonuses and preloaded achievements. Each of those are there for a reason, to survive and advance. Yes, putting up massive points in the final week is important, but you have to get there first.4) How would you describe the pressure you felt in the past few periods?The week of American Thanksgiving through the end were the most stressful times I have experienced in gaming. The percentage of teams being eliminated compared to teams remaining really ramped up the pressure and last minute scoring. Semi-final week was definitely the most stressful of them all. I know most of the other people who made the finals had that as their goal, to make it. But I had aspirations of winning, so it took a lot of work that Saturday to make it. I purposefully played most of the week in between positions 11 and 20 to not encourage the cutoff line higher than I wanted it to be, to save points for later. Hovering there also kept the gap manageable to surpass in a single day.5) Do you have plans to run again next year?First off, yes, I will be throwing my name in the hat for the individual only, not the team competition. However, I have big real life plans next year, and my desire to be a serious competitor has waned after this year. I do not plan on preloading or spending money on easy games I have no interest in, so you won't see me in the finals again next year, but I will certainly watch from a distance.6) About how much time would you say you spent planning for the eventuality that you'd be in the finals?Hundreds of hours. Between preloading achievements and deciding what games are best to play when, it took an exorbitant amount of time. I had created an entire spreadsheet with this information, and I didn't even get to use everything before the end. I had planned about 35,000 TA worth of preloaded achievements, and most of that was used in the final period. Sadly, I was outplanned. 
7) Is there anything else you'd like to add?First, congratulations to RedmptionDenied. I came into the final week thinking I'd have a serious chance to win, but he blew everyone out of the water. I had actually taken the entire week off of work to try and win, but went back to work on Wednesday because I didn't have the time nor money to catch up. I also want to shout out eViL mOnKeY 270 for actually making the finals interesting for me. After I decided to go back to work, I expected to just cruise to second place, but eViL mOnKeY 270 made the final week interesting and fun. It was nice to compete the way I had hoped going into the finals, it's just too bad it wasn't a fight for first. Finally, I want to thank my teammates, https://www.trueachievements.com/Rapid+Chillz.htm and MrCoolness3, and my good friend Sven0330. Each of them encouraged me throughout the competition to keep pushing, providing some much needed help along the way. I wouldn't have made the finals, let alone second place without their support. Let's take a look at the final period and contest end stats.
BADGES: (
GTASC 2015 Badges)
Overachiever:
263,870TA Straight up Gankers (42,467TA ahead of second place)
That was close!: N/A - No elimination
Achievement grinder:
2.4789 Ratio :
I've got nothing.That was easy:
1.3775 Ratio :
Wild Kitty JapanAchieveaholics:
2,990 Achievements :
Straight up GankersELIMINATIONS:None
PERIOD TOTALS:Achievements Earned:
5,250 - last period: 13,876
GamerScore Earned:
225,984 - last period: 568,333
TA Score Earned:
505,578 - last period: 1,122,298
Average Ratio:
1.956470 - last period: 2.132573
Bonuses Used:
1 - last period: 57
Bonuses Lost:
0 - last period: 3
CONTEST TOTALS:Achievements Earned:
1,903,966 GamerScore Earned:
46,741,187 TA Score Earned:
87,619,369 Average Ratio:
1.992671 Bonuses Used:
507 Bonuses Lost:
297 Bonuses Remaining:
0TOP 3 INDIVIDUALS: RedmptionDenied with
140,050TA :
48,830GS : with a total of
961 achievements.
Mephisto4thewin with
100,000TA :
51,573GS : with a total of
1,235 achievements.
ROGUE 1992 with
92,573TA :
44,986GS : with a total of
1,104 achievements.
TOP 3 GAMES BY TA SCORE: Xbox Fitness :
24,317TA from 2,980GS : with a total of 35 achievements.
Pool Nation FX :
22,320TA from 1,935GS : with a total of 54 achievements.
The Escapists :
16,657TA from 4,770GS : with a total of 63 achievements.
Honorable 360 mention: 5th place:
World Snooker Championship 2007 with
11,532GS earned.
TOP 3 GAMES BY GAMERSCORE: Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition : 7,739TA from
7,175GS : with a total of 71 achievements.
The Escapists : 16,657TA from
4,770GS : with a total of 63 achievements.
6180 the moon : 6,268TA from
4,700GS : with a total of 77 achievements.
Honorable 360 mention: 6th place:
MONOPOLY Deal (Xbox 360) with
3,975GS earned.
TOP 3 GAMES BY ACHIEVEMENTS: (Sorry, no Fallout 3 PC)
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham : 5,559TA from 3,360GS : with a total of
171 achievements.
World Snooker Championship 2007 : 11,532TA from 2,840GS : with a total of
118 achievements.
Rare Replay : 7,124TA from 2,060GS : with a total of
109 achievements.
Honorable Win8 mention: 4th place:
Project Spark (Windows) 102 achievements.TOP 3 ACHIEVEMENTS BY TA SCORE: Won a total of 6 times, this achievement added 600GS and
7,544TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of 5 times, this achievement added 500GS and
4,617TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of 5 times, this achievement added 500GS and
4,511TA to the leaderboard.
Honorable 360 mention: 7th place:
with
3,613TA.TOP 3 ACHIEVEMENTS BY GAMERSCORE: Won a total of 8 times, this achievement added
1,600GS and 1,795TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of 5 times, this achievement added
1,000GS and 1,474TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of 4 times, this achievement added
1,000GS and 1,127TA to the leaderboard.
TOP 3 ACHIEVEMENTS BY TIMES WON: Won a total of
8 times, this achievement added 1,600GS and 1,795TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of
8 times, this achievement added 800GS and 872TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of
7 times, this achievement added 875GS and 922TA to the leaderboard.
No other platform mentions in top 20.
BADGES: (
GTASC 2015 Badges)
Overachiever:
140,050TA RedmptionDenied (95,804TA ahead of second place)
That was close!: N/A
Achievement grinder:
2.8681 RedmptionDeniedThat was easy:
1.2468 Ratio :
eViL mOnKeY 270Achieveaholic:
961 Achievements :
RedmptionDeniedPERIOD TOTALS: Achievements Earned:
3,084 - last period: 14,336
GamerScore Earned:
141,078 - last period: 584,190
TA Score Earned:
297,687 - last period: 1,125,906
Average Ratio:
2.110088 - last period: 1.927294
Bonuses Used:
7 - last period: 83
Bonuses Lost:
1 - last period: 9
CONTEST TOTALS: Achievements Earned:
2,305,269GamerScore Earned:
55,895,524TA Score Earned:
105,597,963Contest Ratio:
1.891293Bonuses Used:
1,177 Bonuses Lost:
1,997 Bonuses Remaining:
0TOP 3 INDIVIDUALS: RedmptionDenied with
140,050TA :
48,830GS : with a total of
961 achievements.
theshadow with
44,246TA :
6,429GS : with a total of
624 achievements.
eViL mOnKeY 270 with
39,085TA :
28,942GS : with a total of
503 achievements.
TOP 3 GAMES BY TA SCORE: Xbox Fitness :
11,797TA from 1,530GS : with a total of 19 achievements.
Need for Speed :
6,324TA from 1,115GS : with a total of 19 achievements.
6180 the moon :
6,211TA from 4,660GS : with a total of 76 achievements.
Honorable 360 mention : 20th place :
Resident Evil Revelations 2 (Xbox 360) with
2,801TA.TOP 3 GAMES BY GAMERSCORE: 6180 the moon : 6,211TA from
4,660GS : with a total of 76 achievements.
Three Fourths Home: Extended Edition : 3,228TA from
3,000GS : with a total of 30 achievements.
Whispering Willows : 3,322TA from
2,920GS : with a total of 53 achievements.
Honorable 360 mention: 11th place:
MONOPOLY Plus (Xbox 360) with
2,000GS.TOP 3 GAMES BY ACHIEVEMENTS: 6180 the moon : 6,211TA from 4,660GS : with a total of
76 achievements.
Project Spark (Windows) : 1,570TA from 530GS : with a total of
54 achievements.
Whispering Willows : 3,322TA from 2,920GS : with a total of
53 achievements.
Honorable 360 mention: 7th place:
Goat Simulator: Mmore Goatz Edition (Xbox 360) with
47 achievements.TOP 3 ACHIEVEMENTS BY TA SCORE: Won a total of 2 times, this achievement added 160GS and
2,691TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of 3 times, this achievement added 600GS and
2,175TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of 1 time, this achievement added 100GS and
2,132TA to the leaderboard.
Honorable 360 mention: 4th place:
was won 2 times for 1,000GS adding
2,047TA to the leaderboard.
TOP 3 ACHIEVEMENTS BY GAMERSCORE: Won a total of 2 times, this achievement added
1,000GS and 2,047TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of 3 times, this achievement added
600GS and 2,175TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of 3 times, this achievement added
600GS and 1,498TA to the leaderboard.
Honorable blast from the past: 18th place:
was won once for
493TATOP 3 ACHIEVEMENTS BY TIMES WON: Won a total of
5 times, this achievement added 500GS and 744TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of
5 times, this achievement added 500GS and 692TA to the leaderboard.
Won a total of
5 times, this achievement added 250GS and 339TA to the leaderboard.
No other platform mentions in top 20.
No prizes were won during the final period.
That brings another season of the GTASC to a close. I'll be adding another post with contest-wide stats shortly. More number crunching!
Stay tuned shortly for registration information for 2016!