Chp 608. TF2 Mayflower cosmetic updates

I really don't know what I was thinking. I woke up this morning, saw the new "Mayflower" update notification when I opened TF2, and I was like, "Heyyy, lemme unbox a couple of them, I might end up getting an Unusual or Strange item!"

Me. Trying my luck at unboxing rare items. What the hell was I thinking.

I buy my Strange cosmetics or weapons directly from the community market, because all my friends keep telling me the chances of unboxing a Strange or Unusual item is extremely rare, and that I will save much more if I buy them directly online. Yup, some of them are expensive, but at least the certainty of getting that item is 100%.

Anyway, like I said, it was a crazy morning. And I decided to try my luck.

As is the case with any TF2 unboxable items, the crate itself is quite cheap, it is the key that is bloody expensive. In Indian rupees, a key cost 172 bucks.

And here is a clever marketing strategy TF2 uses. If you buy 8 keys, the total amount is just not enough to avail of the free gift. You get a free gift on every purchase of Rs. 1379 or above. Buying 8 keys costs Rs. 1376, just 2 freaking bucks shy of the free gift. What a dick move by their marketing strategists :) And of course buying another key makes you overshoot that target by a large margin, so you have no other option but to buy the cheapest item possible in order to reach that target. 

In my case, I bought a bagpack expander since I require it anyway. And so with that, I was eligible for the free gift.

I took a long hard look at my shopping cart, then thought of the amount I already spent on my Life Insurance premium this month, along with my rising electricity bill because of the summer heat, and it made me really really wanted to cancel that transaction.

But then I thought of the chance of unboxing an unusual item. Yeah I can go one or two days without eating if I end up broke because of it, but it would be worth it if I unbox an Unusual item.

And so, yeah, I clicked the dreaded "Checkout" button…

I felt my wallet go lighter from the back of my bum, even though this was an online transaction.

And then I got the items…

Yeah, eight Mayflower cosmetic keys, along with a free gift and a bagpack expander. Now it was time to buy the Mayflower creates from the community market.

As we all know, TF2 always lies when it comes to community market costs. :P The "starting cost" mentioned in the game is never the same once you go to the actual community market.

In this case, TF2 said the "Mayflower cosmetic case" starts at Rs. 0.18

But once at the market, you can see it was selling at around Rs. 10 or more…

And my oh my, it was selling like hot cake. The price was fluctuating continuously as people kept buying it quickly. I too failed a couple of times because by the time I clicked on it, somebody had already bought that item before me, and then it took some time to find a seller with that exact same cost.

Eventually, I bought eight cases with a price ranging from Rs. 11 to Rs. 15.

And so it was time for the grand unveiling…

The first item I unboxed was "The Airdog" for Scout.

The next item was the "Squire's Sabaton" for again Scout…

Then came the "Courtly Cuirass" for Scout once again…

Fourth item was the "Scoped Spartan" for Sniper.

After that it was "The Surgical Survivalist" for Medic…

Next was "The Demo's Dustcatcher" for Demoman of course…

After that I got yet another "Courtly Cuirass"…

...followed by yet another "The Demo's Dustcatcher".

So all in all, out of the eight Mayflower cosmetic cases, I unboxed 4 Scout items, 2 Demoman items, 1 Medic item, and 1 Sniper item. Not to mention two of those were repetitions. And NONE of them were Unusual or Strange. I felt my heart tighten and blood pressure rise immediately. Damn… such a bummer.

Anyway, that's the LAST time I'll ever spend money on keys.

I am very disappointed, but at least they aren't so bad. For example, let's take a look at my scout… He looks kinda badass medieval with the "Courtly Cuirass" and "Squire's Sabaton", though "The Airdog" doesn't match at all. If only I had unboxed the "Herald's Helm" to complete the set…

As for my Medic, I think "The Surgical Survivalist" kinda matches pretty well with my existing "Dapper Medical Monarch" and "Berlin Brain Bowl" headgear.

And then here's my sniper wearing the "Scoped Spartan" cape. I really am not a fan of cape cosmetics because they prevent you from equipping secondary weapons like the "Razorback", "Cozy Camper" and "Darwin's Danger Shield".

Finally, my demoman. I think "The Demo's Dustcatcher" really matches well with my "K-9 Mane" and "Shin Shredders", don't you think too?

And so, that was me unboxing eight Mayflower cosmetic items. Even though I was disappointed, I saw a couple of recent YouTube videos where people did the same thing and unboxed almost the same stuff that I did. So yeah, in a way, knowing I am not alone in my misery kinda makes me feel not so sad anymore :D :P

Cheers then…

Chp 607. The Second One

I'm gonna say it out right here. Yesterday was May 2nd, and yesterday, most of us watched the 2nd episode of Game of Thrones, season 6.

This post may contain some spoilers, so do stop reading if you haven't watched the two new episodes of season 6 yet.

Two episodes into the new season of Game of Thrones, and frankly speaking, I'm still not feeling the excitement and rush. The zing. Sure we saw a couple of important characters die… S06E01 gave us the death of Prince Doran Martell, Captain Areo Hotah and Prince Trystane Martell. And S06E02 saw the death of Lord Roose Bolton, Lady Walda Bolton and King Balon Greyjoy. Those were the rulers of three different kingdoms who just died. And yet, their deaths were nowhere as much of a shocker as S01E09 was when Ned Stark was beheaded. Or the infamous "Red Wedding".

Instead, I think the only scene that shocked me in the first episode of season 6 was the revelation of Melisandre's true form, and from the second episode, it was the revival of Jon Snow. But by then, I wasn't exactly surprised. With so many rumors and conspiracy theories doing the rounds and the way that revival scene was played out, I was expecting him to come back to life anyway.

Rather than shocking me, I was actually filled with a couple of questions. Like for instance, in episode 1, how did Prince Trystane's cousins Obara and Nymeria came on board the ship to assassinate him, when they were clearly seen seeing Jamie Lannister off last season (assuming Trystane was in the ship with Jamie otherwise there was no way he could have known Myrcella had died)? In episode 2, during Bran Stark's flashback journey, I wonder how he was able to recognize his young dad and uncle Benjen Stark, including his aunt Lyanna, considering, you know, they didn't have any old photographs to let him know how they looked like as kids :P And Bran saying he recognized his aunt from her statue in the crypt was kinda lame because we all know that statue hardly resembled any proper face :P And what about Gendry, is he still rowing his boat? See, so many questions.

But of course my favorite scene from episode 2 was this, which made me laugh out so much!

(Varys looks disapprovingly at Tyrion drinking)

Tyrion (looks at Varys): "If I'd lost my cock, I'd drink all the time."

(then looks at Greyworm and apologetically said): "... meaning no offense. He makes dwarf jokes, I make eunuch jokes."

Varys: "I do NOT make dwarf jokes."

Tyrion: "You think them." (gives Varys the eye)

…..

Tyrion: Dragons do not do well in captivity.

Missandei: And how do you know this?

Tyrion: That's what I do. I drink and I know things.

….

(terrified Tyrion trying to free the dragons)

Tyrion (to the dragons): I am here… to help. Don't… eat… the help.

…..

(after removing the dragons' shackles)

Tyrion (to Varys): Next time I have an idea like that, punch me in the face.

…..

Lolz, you gotta love Tyrion. I'm sure things are going to get more exciting in the next few episodes, but until then, I must admit it had not been up to my expectations at all.

On the other hand, another TV show had just completed its second episode yesterday as well, and I totally love it so much. "Silicon Valley" season 3. And I think it is a very under-rated show. Or maybe I'm just saying that because it is something I can relate to because of my past experience in the Start-Up industry.

But the humor, the sarcasm, the witty replies and reactions, the nerd dialogues, I really must say this is one of the best TV shows in recent time.

The way the sales team "suddenly appeared" in the second episode, and how they tried to control engineering and production was utterly hilarious, and I'm sure many of us could relate to it. I experienced that in advertising (the eternal Creative Dept. versus Client Servicing Dept. war) every day, and I still experience that even today after working as a Game designer.

Hence if you haven't watched "Silicon Valley" yet, I really suggest you do. Don't assume that "Game of Thrones" is the only TV show currently worth watching :P You won't regret it (Another new show I would totally recommend is this new mini-series show called "The Night Manager". Just 6 episodes but it is bloody awesome. It's the best mini-series I've seen since "Narcos" last year).

And speaking of second, well, Spurs drew with Chelsea last night, so Arsenal still has a chance of finishing second this season! :D Meanwhile, because of that draw, Leicester City are now the new Premiere League champion this season! A big congratulation to them. I am really proud of their achievement.

Since Leicester City won because Spurs and Chelsea drew last night, technically, this means Leicester City had won the league at Old Trafford (where their last match was held)! Imagine that, being one of the "cheapest" squad and yet winning the title at the home of a team whose total squad value this season is 450 million pounds! Wow. If I was a ManUtd fan I would be so utterly utterly embarrassed. :P

Will get back to work now and catch y'all later. Until then, I'm gonna start using this phrase, "That's what I do. I drink and I know things" everywhere I go! Lolz. Cheers :)

Chp 606. All I want for my birthday…

So last week was my birthday. I turned 36.



When your birthday falls right in the middle of a crucial Sprint review week, well, it sucks… All the plans you have made before, simply just… poof… disappears. Or should I say, crash, boom, bang. :(

But things weren't all that bad…

My mom and niece were also in town, but as I mentioned earlier, since we were in the middle of an important sprint review where we had to showcase all the work we had done so far to our CEO and other stakeholders, I had to cancel my planned leave and birthday trip to Lavasa. I'm sure my mom and niece would have loved it :(

But I did manage to take a break from office during the day and rushed home in the afternoon to take my mom and niece out for a nice birthday lunch. Since time was of the essence, I took them to Arthur's Theme.







I also had to pay my insurance policy premium on that day as it was the last date! Lolz, talk about multi-tasking. So after I had lunch with my mom and niece, I made a brief detour on my way back to office to make my premium payment.

That was when I learnt it the hard way that one should NEVER fill up application forms or cheques on their birthday!

I was so accustomed to writing the year of my birth whenever I write the day and month of my birthday that I ended up writing 21.04.1980 everywhere instead of 21.04.2016.



I had to reapply for new forms and filled them up again (wasted another 30 minutes or so), including writing a new cheque! Aaargh.

Back in office, it was back to the grind. And then at 5 PM, our HR called all of us to the cafeteria, where we had the traditional birthday celebration. All my colleagues wished me a happy birthday, sang a birthday song while I cut the cake, after which we also had vada pav as snacks. 





And then once again, it was back to work inside. I was finally able to go home at around 11:30 in the night, where there was a nice dinner waiting for me at home. My mom and niece had already slept though, as it was very late by Mizoram's standard.

So yeah, that was basically how I spent my birthday. Nothing great or extraordinary, but still filled with a lot of pleasant memories. I always hide my birthday on Facebook and other sources, so I am really thankful to those who still wished me on my birthday. Thank you all so much once again.

Now that I'm 36, am I too old to desire a birthday present?

What is the one thing I wish I had for my birthday?

As a 36 years old gaming freak, the one thing I really wanted for my birthday, and which I had been eyeing for a really really long time, was this…



A "Catastrophic Companions" cosmetic item!

OMG, they are so adorable, and will make the perfect outfit to wear after bludgeoning somebody to death with a bat. It can be worn by all TF2 classes, and just look at how awesome they look in it! 



Those three cute kittens clinging on to the wearer! *sigh*

Unfortunately, yeah, as is a rule in any freemium games, you gotta pay for the good stuff.

The "Catastrophic Companions" cosmetic costs more than 4 grand INR. Dayymm…



Hence that is something I would loveeeee to receive as a birthday gift.

4 grand is too much for me to spend on cosmetics, that too with no "strange" properties attached to it, especially since I don't have any items worthy of a good trade.

The other day, my Mizo TF2 friend Than Moya managed to unbox a couple of cool "unusual" weapons. I've never tried unboxing my crates because keys are expensive. But after completing the recent "Tough Break" campaign, I had a lot of weapon and cosmetics cases lying in my backpack.



And so I decided, what the heck. Lemme go for it, I might unbox some unusual items too!

Since TF2 market offered a FREE ITEM for every Rs. 1379/- spent in a single purchase, I bought 6 Tough Break cosmetic keys, 2 Tough Break weapon keys and 1 backpack expander, for a total cost of Rs. 1445. That was the most I had spent on TF2 so far.









With that, I was ready to unbox -



I said a short prayer, and then with my fingers crossed, I started unboxing them one by one…

*drumroll*

And here are the items I unboxed…



















Well… it was disappointing that I didn't unbox any unusual items. But still, most of them were worth much more than the cost of the keys I bought, and I needed such cosmetics anyway, so overall I wasn't disappointed.

But I won't be making such a purchase again in a long time…

More than unusual items, right now, my greatest desire is the catastrophic companions cosmetic set. Because like I mentioned before, them kitties are so adorable. And another reason is that, I'm still pretty much an amateur in TF2, clocking just 500 hours of gameplay. I don't deserve to wear an unusual hat or wield an unusual weapon yet, especially since people with such items are automatically considered to be pros and expected to carry the team forward… something that I can definitely not do (yet).

So until then, cheers, and always feel free to contact me if you want to buy me the catastrophic companion cosmetic as a belated birthday gift! :D

Cheers!