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Creech's "Personal" Blog


Creech
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I find myself in the odd position of having things to say from two different personas, community manager and gamer with a personal life. This blog is from the perspective of me as a gamer and private individual.

 

If you wish to subscribe to this, please click on Thread Tools at the upper right, and then choose "Subscribe to this thread."

 

 

Table of Contents:

Yahtzee sleepytime

Obediently drinking bourbon

Finally a Ferrari

More Forza

Beer

Bomberman and 400,000 - Part I

Bomberman and 400,000 - Part II

Adverse Gaming Conditions

Music and Math (two posts)

400,000 on the nose with Bomberman! (link is external to this blog)

Next Steps

A little bit of Magic

Watching The Expanse

Gaming Update I

Transition Time

Lots of reading up in these hills

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I am currently participating in the Staff vs Subscriber Completion tournament. The genres for the last two weeks are definitely in my wheelhouse: Strategy and Card & Board. The problem...I already have most of the easy completions in both genres. If you look at our leaderboards, I am ranked number one in Strategy and number eight in Card & Board.

 

I managed to finish up Kingdoms & Lords (decent social based strategy and city builder simulation game) and Rock of Ages (a strategy action game that is kind of a combat oriented Marble Madness game, with a very Monty Pythonesque twist). That was all I had in easy reach as far as games I had already started, so I had to look for new purchases. There are definitely some easy games I don't have, such as Yahtzee on Windows Phone.

 

Being a team player and wanting to contribute to our success, I purchased Yahtzee and started playing it. The game has a campaign of sorts, which was pretty straightforward and basically just teaches you how to play the different variants included in the game. But then the grind starts...I have fallen asleep trying to grind through the 350 wins at least four times now, and I am not even to 100. It is utterly and mindlessly boring. Soooo boring.

 

I actually chose to watch some Kardashian reality show with my wife because at least it kept me awake. The show was ridiculous, but it was better than Yahtzee.

 

Hopefully I will be able to stay awake long enough to finish it.

 

Wish me luck!

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I actually chose to watch some Kardashian reality show with my wife because at least it kept me awake. The show was ridiculous, but it was better than Yahtzee.

 

Hopefully I will be able to stay awake long enough to finish it.

 

Wish me luck!

 

I feel your pain I made the mistake of downloading this game as well. While I haven't resorted to watching Kardashians I have fallen asleep of few times while grinding wins.

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Happy Saturday, blog readers!

 

I did manage to finish playing Yahtzee in time for it to count towards the staff's victory over the subscribers in round one of the tournament. I checked xbox.com and then promptly deleted that POS off of my phone. I strongly recommend playing Yahtzee as an aid for insomniacs, however. Clearly a huge medical advance has been made and even though your health insurance won't cover it, the cost is surprisingly inexpensive.

 

The genres for the next two weeks are Racing and Sports & Fitness. I guess that means going back to my Xbox One and playing Forza 5 for the fast completion, right?

 

Or alternately, I can do what I did last night....drink bourbon and fall asleep.

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I have a launch Xbox One that included Forza 5. I like racing games a bit, especially the simulation style such as Forza that require you to tweak the car in order to get a truly stellar race. I don't typically mind grinding type achievements either, having completed all three Seriously achievements, all the MP in Supreme Commander (twice!), and even completed the abomination known as Gin Rummy.

 

The career achievements in Forza 5 though...wow, they take a while. It is beautiful to get through, but the one thing that has consistently irritated me with the Forza series is how you start out racing a crap POS that nobody in their right mind would ever WANT to race. Like, say, a Yaris. If you can drop the $30,000 or so to tune up a sub-$10k street vehicle, buy a muscle car and actually have fun.

 

At any rate, I have maintained discipline throughout and have been getting gold on every single race in the lower, boring class races. Today I finally purchased a Ferrari and am finally in what I consider the more fun part of the game, racing supercars! Woot!

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The career achievements in Forza 5 though...wow, they take a while. It is beautiful to get through, but the one thing that has consistently irritated me with the Forza series is how you start out racing a crap POS that nobody in their right mind would ever WANT to race. Like, say, a Yaris. If you can drop the $30,000 or so to tune up a sub-$10k street vehicle, buy a muscle car and actually have fun.

 

At any rate, I have maintained discipline throughout and have been getting gold on every single race in the lower, boring class races. Today I finally purchased a Ferrari and am finally in what I consider the more fun part of the game, racing supercars! Woot!

 

Never knew you had any interest in sim racers. Probably why you tried out GRID 2 that one time lol. If you went on Forza Rewards online from the start, then you could've snagged a couple million credits so you're able to start racing with whatever car/championship you want! I think the career progression/achievements in Forza 5 are well done. Much more stable and less grindey than Forza 3 & 4 imo! They do still take awhile. After 150 gold events it's a slow ride up somewhat.

 

Have fun with you Ferrari! ..and take my duck away please. :dance:

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Never knew you had any interest in sim racers. Probably why you tried out GRID 2 that one time lol. If you went on Forza Rewards online from the start, then you could've snagged a couple million credits so you're able to start racing with whatever car/championship you want! I think the career progression/achievements in Forza 5 are well done. Much more stable and less grindey than Forza 3 & 4 imo! They do still take awhile. After 150 gold events it's a slow ride up somewhat.

 

Have fun with you Ferrari! ..and take my duck away please. :dance:

 

I got 6-8 million out of that, but since you have to get 400 gold, I know I would have had a hard time going back from a Ferrari to driving a Nissan Sentra, so I started at the first race and have been doing all of them in order. Forza 2 and 3 were MUCH less grindy than Forza 5, IMO. I haven't played Forza 4 yet, so I can't speak to that one.

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I got 6-8 million out of that, but since you have to get 400 gold, I know I would have had a hard time going back from a Ferrari to driving a Nissan Sentra, so I started at the first race and have been doing all of them in order. Forza 2 and 3 were MUCH less grindy than Forza 5, IMO. I haven't played Forza 4 yet, so I can't speak to that one.

 

Ok fair enough. I did that in Forza 3, completed the events list in order of car class so my experience would get better as I progressed. I'm pretty sure you can gain 400 gold medals 20-25hrs quicker than completing the Forza 3 event list. It's the affinity level achievements that will take most of your time on F5. I'm 190 gold medals into the Career and I have about 3 cars around level 20. You need to hit 8 cars to level 25! :(

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Ok fair enough. I did that in Forza 3, completed the events list in order of car class so my experience would get better as I progressed. I'm pretty sure you can gain 400 gold medals 20-25hrs quicker than completing the Forza 3 event list. It's the affinity level achievements that will take most of your time on F5. I'm 190 gold medals into the Career and I have about 3 cars around level 20. You need to hit 8 cars to level 25! :(

 

It has been 3+ years since I finished Forza 3, so I will take your word for it. :)

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The more I play Forza 5, the more I am enjoying it. Seriously, it is a very well done game. Long games don't bother me, and as much as I would have liked some more imagination in the achievements, let's talk about what they DID put in, other than the grinding ones.

 

Head Over Heels - Seriously, they have an achievement for flipping your car! Okay, that is pretty cool.

 

What a Rush - Okay, if you are a driving history buff, you already know what this one is about. The movie Rush that came out last year is based on this controversial season, and obviously ties into the achievement name. 1976 Scuderia Ferrari beaten by the 1976 McLaren Ford team. Racing history, pure and simple. The Ferrari driver almost dies, the McLaren team gets disqualified, gets that reversed on appeal, and then gets disqualified in another race. Eventually, McLaren wins the season by one point. ONE POINT! If you want extra history, the Wikipedia article is pretty decent, and the movie is astonishing. Seriously, watch the movie (and I say this as someone who doesn't watch movies as a rule).

 

Some Say... - Even if you don't watch Top Gear, you learn pretty quickly through the game that The Stig is someone special. All introductions start with "Some say xxx", which is how Top Gear has introduced The Stig since the sixth season of the relaunch. Played initially by Perry McCarthy, then the iconic Michael Schumacher, then Ben Collins, and now...who knows, maybe it is me.

 

Snake Bit - A Cobra beats a Ferrari...another moment in racing history. You know what, I am done. I LOVE the achievements for Forza 5.

 

Yes, they are long.

 

Yes, they will take some dedication.

 

But no, they do not lack imagination. They are inspired by racing history. Go play this game.

 

If you need help, earlier this week I spent four hours writing the longest road map in the history of this site, found here.

 

Who knows, maybe I will rewrite the guide as well.

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Creech, since the Broncos basically got their asses handed to them, you should Duck all Broncos fans on the site :p

 

I will stick with Foxxy Kyle. It isn't the fans' fault their team got beat.

 

Manning has a perma duckface now.

 

He did look pretty beat down on the sideline from the second quarter on. The first quarter I don't remember seeing him on the sideline, but from then on his face was just epic depression.

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I like my alcohol to taste like something when I drink it, so I tend to avoid fruity drinks and vodka and most beers. I am okay with the occasional porter, but I really prefer stouts. Thick, dark, something to chew on for an hour or so while gaming or spending time with friends. If you need a fork to drink it, so much the better.

 

My go-to beer is Dragonstooth, which is an Imperial oatmeal stout from Elysian Brewing:

http://www.elysianbrewing.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Website_BeerHeader_Dragonstooth.png

 

They have it on tap at the locale of the annual pre-PAX party the site holds, and I am forever indebted to Andrew for introducing me to it. The description on their website is pretty accurate:

Pours a deep, midnight black with a light tan head. Smells of coffee and dark chocolate and the mouthfeel is velvety smooth with flavors of roasted malts, oatmeal and warm bread. Dragonstooth is a very drinkable stout – satisfying but not heavy.

 

When I saw that they are making a barrel-aged edition, I got pretty excited:

 

http://www.elysianbrewing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Slideshow_DicksPicksBADT.png

 

A richer, fuller body? Yes, please! I am definitely down for as much of this as I can scoop up.

 

However, I happened to see a mention of this interesting tidbit in their newsletter:

 

http://www.elysianbrewing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Slideshow_ElysianSplitShot2014.png

 

My local liquor store will order just about anything for me, and they got in a case today. After a mild heart attack when the store accidentally charged me $130 for it (clerical error on how it was entered in their inventory), I got it home and chilled a few. I must say, this is a phenomenal beer. It almost doesn't taste like beer at all, it is very much an espresso flavor with a touch of sweetness.

TASTING NOTES

The combination of coffee and stout will definitely get your attention.

MALTS

Northwest pale, C-15 and C-45 dextrine malts, Franco-Belges kiln coffee malt, Black, Roasted and Chocolate malts and flaked oats

HOPS

Magnum hops add a touch of bitterness

SPECIAL

Milk sugar sweetens just a bit, and Stumptown coffee provides an invigorating richness

 

 

If you are in the Seattle area, you should be able to find or order it. Beyond that, well...move to Seattle. The beer will knock your socks off.

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Michigan is a legitimate contender in the craft brewing world. It's one of the only good things you can say about this damn place.

 

Also, this is the new beer thread. I mean, if you're going to troll someone, you may as well go straight to the top and troll the admin of the site right? ;)

Dude Creech is on cloud nine right now....His Seahawks are Superbowl champs.

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