I'm a Server

So, today is 9/17, the day to log into brothers in arms for a free 50 points... I've also been working on getting the last of the flipping 0 point MP garbage... I picked up this game on the cheap to complete it, so I have a bit of an obsession with getting it done. Well, I had the opportunity to team up with Deez Apples and none other than Stallion83 to try to knock some of them out, and was able to get "The Draft." For whatever reason, a few of the achievements bugged out on them, so I couldn't help them get a few that should have worked for them.

When we realized it really is only the host who seems to get credit for completing games, the lost interest and we parted ways. I WILL FINISH THIS B**ch. So, I made a game as host, and eventually got enough to get it started. Now, I've reached critical mass, where I have a regular 10 or so players, even if people quit. Problem is, the everyone is playing, nobody is into boosting, so I'm getting 20 games the really slow way. The achievement for 5 DID unlock after 5 hosted games, so I'm hoping 20 will as well. I'm currently at 8 matches. I just play hard enough to convince people I'm trying, then I get killed and find something else to do until the next round starts.

This isn't how I wanted to spend my afternoon, but people are actually playing this today. Tomorrow, the may all vanish, leavig me up a creek to get this stupid achievement. I still have Darkest of Days to suffer through for the review, and I may be boosting some of Section 8 tonight. So, it's going to be a long night of gaming ahead for me.

FYI to silva and Tim. I worked on the Banner Winner bost for an hour earlier today, then blogger deleted it, so I have to start all over. It'll be a few more days, sadly.

REMINDER! 9/17 Brothers in Arms Boosting

This is a reminder that Brothers in Arms boosting will be on 9/17, starting at 8pm central time. You need to log in on this day for the 50 point dated achievement, so I figured since people will be popping it in, let's try to get some people for the 0-point MP achievements, to knock those out for the sake of true completion. (100% completion means every ACHIEVEMENT, not all the points. There is a major difference).

So far, I know Bishop is in. To unlock the achievements, a minimum of 4 people are required. Do I have 2 other takers?

Chasing War Hero

While I brought back the Rule of Four, I haven't been playing any of them that much, except for maybe Section 8, because I was reviewing it. These last few days, I've been working through Resident Evil 5 with my brother on Professional, so we can get the War Hero achievement. It's the last of the basic 1000 that I need for that game, then it will be time to boost the lame MP achievements. With both of us rolling with infinite Rocket launchers, magnums, and shotguns, plus the money to purchase all the first aid sprays we could ever need, Professional hasn't been that hard, except for a few checkpoints. You need to roll with the big guns because a single hit can send you from full health to dying, and there's little time for your teammate to come to the rescue. Bosses are a joke thanks to the rockets.

I don't know if this is in the Achievement Guide, but my bro showed me the best way to grind exchange points for characters, infinite ammo, etc. Simply play chapter 5-2 (the one that ends with the giant crab boss) on Professional over and over. Properly equipped, you should be able to S rank that chapter, and get 2500 exchange points, in 3-4 minutes. That'll come in handy since I still need almost 70000 exchange points for the last 2 MP characters I don't have yet.

It feels good to go back to the unfinished games and make some progress in them. For financial goals and my desire to shorten my back catalogue if possible, I'm probably going to be as cheap as possible from now until year's end on buying new games, though not so much that I forsake helping out the x360a review team. I won't be picking up Halo ODST until my brother does, since co-oping it with him is the main reason I'll be buying it anyway. Borderlands is a day 1 purchase, but there's nothing else of the top of my head that can't wait... even Modern Warfare 2 does not have to be purchased day 1 for me. The real killer aps, Bioshock 2, Aliens vs. Predator, Mass Effect 2... they don't come until 2010.

Once Darkest of Days arrives in the mail, all other games get shelved until that review is done. That should probably be here by Wednesday. That will be review # Twenty-something... I've lost count already. On October 3rd, I'll actually go back and count them all... I have that day's post planned already.

Case of the Missing GSL 6 Award

Color me baffled and irritated. I just noticed on my x360a profile today that my GSL 6 Champion award is gone. Not only that, but if you look at the awards listing, you'll see GSL 5 and 7 awards, but the GSL 6 Champ and MVP awards are gone. Why only this GSL's awards? When did they disappear, and why? In the grand scheme of things, it's not life shattering, but when you spend that much time in a competition, it would be nice to have the award you earned, there there was no doubt we won, no cheating. I sent PMs to Webb and jackanape about it, so hopefully they'll be good enough to look into restoring it, though I know they probably have larger priorities.

Silva, Ducky Dan, Derek, Buck, Daywalker, HAK, your awards are gone. We all lost 'em.

I just don't see how something like that happens by accident, but I don't know why anyone would want to delete our award. I just thought I'd put the word out there. The deletion has been noticed.

Let's see what comes of this...

In other news, I'm still working on the Section 8 review, and will be doing Darkest of Days next. It's back-to-back review feature from yours truly!

Rule of Four Resurrected

Wolfenstein review posted at last! See the link on the right. In other news...

While no idea I've come up with to hone in on more game completions has ever been 100% effective, the Rule of Four was by far the best of my ideas. With 3 days on, 3 days off scheduling in effect on Saturday, I'll have more time to game and have a social life when I'm not working. As I'm finally settling into some regularity after months of transition, I think its time to give the Rule of Four a second chance. The four selected games will be what I focus most of my attention on, but I'll naturally switch to something else as boosting or co-op opportunities arise, or I'm working on a more long-term side project.

Due to my love of shooters and RPGs, and that I want more completions in both genres, it's highly likely that at least one slot of the four will at all times be taken up by a representative of one of those genres. Here's a look at the current gaming lineup:

1. Lost Odyssey

I've been working on this one for quite a while, and I'm pretty much nearing (or at) the late/end game. I've taken out a couple of the side bosses, and I'm now in the process of grinding up most of the abilities for all the immortals, to get close to the skill achievements, and to make the remaining bosses a heck of a lot easier.

2. Section 8

The newest game I've received for review purposes, I came into this one with low expectations, and have been quite surprised. This is one of my favorite multiplayer games for the 360. Problem is, I'm not sure how well it has sold, and how large the community will be for it in a couple months. If the MP in this one dies off, that would be a real shame, as I've had a blast. (Like UT3, this could be a great game that nobody plays online...) Sadly, some of the achievements have glitched on me... They owe me 3 achievements for 45 points so far. The devs say they are aware of the problem and working on a fix... which will hopefully show up soon. I'll be starting on the draft for this game tomorrow.

3. Prince of Persia

Picked up a new copy for $20, but I have yet to play it since the purchase. I rented it once and got a little over 200 of the points. Will probablhy put this in when I need a break from Section 8 and Lost Odyssey.

4. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel

Mmmmm... hack and slash RPG.

Side projects:

1. Magic the Gathering
2. Gears 2 (really not to 100, methinks)
3. EDF 2017 (armor grinding, want to try to finish this for real in January, but can start prepping for it early)

We'll see how well it holds up when I start getting blitzed with more reviews, and want to start picking up new games. Not sure how long I can hold out on playing Batman... I want it so bad. Then there's Alpha Protocol, Borderlands... I'm going to stop myself now. Best to just focus on what I've got instead of thinking of what's coming down the pipe.

Big Post, Boosting Announcements

Rather than spread this across multiple posts to pad my post count, I thought I'd get it all down today, so buckle up. This is a multi-part post.

First, I've received the submissions for the banner contest, and will make the post for the entries on Thursday. I'd do it sooner, but I'm feeling lazy today.

Grind of War

It's another double XP weekend in Gears, and I'm STILL trying to restore the rank I had when everything got reset. I've spent a good amount of time boosting XP by replaying wave 1 of horde on Security on Hardcore. It's 500 XP per wave, then jump into the lasers on wave 2 and start over. With that method, I've gained over 170,000XP that way. I've gone from rank 29 to 38 so far, and I'll be playing some more Gears today. I won't get to 50 this weekend, but I've gotten quite a bit closer. Watching movies on my PC while grinding the XP helps pass the time.

Lost Odyssey Points

Progress towards the elusive completion in LO continues. I've finished all of the story I can before returning to Grand Staff, so I'm now running around completing all the late-game side quests. Persona has gone down, more treasures have been plundered. I've hunted down most of the invisible treasure chests. Not much else to report.

Operation Jedi Impossible?

I've wondered if Operation Jedi is possible while I continue to review for x360a. Of course, I could play review games on my trash tag, but I like getting points for my efforts. I also don't feel like paying another $50 a year for another Gold account I'd rarely use so I could review MP games on that tag. Since new games come at me to review faster than I can complete them, as long as I continue to write reviews, 75% completion may be a pipe dream for me.

Boosting Plans

Remember, remember, the 17th of September. That's the day you need to boot up Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway for that dumb annual achievement. Since you have to put the game in that day anyway, why not boost the 0-point achievements for the sake of completion while you're at it? Right now, I'm thinking 9pm Central time on 9/17 as the boosting time. Let me know if you want in.

If anyone wants to boost Resi 5 or Soulcalibur 4 on thursday night (this week) let me know.

Banner Deadline and Month in Review

REMINDER! The Banner contest's deadline is FRIDAY AT NOON. Remember, 1600 MSP is up for grabs. Click here for the rules.

So far, I have yet to receive a single entry! Come on you procrastinators! =P I know a few of you out there were planning on submitting something, so don't forget LOL.

August was a month where gaming was very much on the backburner. While finishing job training, starting in my store for real, and moving into my new apartment, I had too much going on to game very much. The only new game added to my card was Wolfenstein, the review for which I should be wrapping up pretty soon. I made some progress in Lost Odyssey, and played a little Gears and Splosion Man, but that's about it. Nothing too earth shattering.

In September, I finally switch to my 3 days on, 3 days off schedule, which will make it easier to both game more and have a social life while still making a living. I'll probably pick up Halo ODST, but I'm not that excited about it. It's more of a "because everyone else will be getting it" purchase. The plan is to spend this weekend playing a ton of Gears once I finally have Live access (double XP), and work on more Wolfenstein and Lost Odyssey.

Reviews Written:
Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta

Special Topics:
none... was too busy.

Completed Games:
Fallout 3 (1550) <--- It's finally complete!

Gamerscore Progression:
August start: 105,264
August end: 106,094
Change: 830... one of my slow months.

TrueAchievements has my completion percentage at 62.78%... still well away from anointing myself an Operation Jedi survivor.