RDR2 – Duchesses and Other Animals, Exotics
July 8, 2024 | Posted in Publishing, Video Games | By Anonymous
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What does it take to earn Best in the West and 100 percent completion at Red Dead Redemption 2? How long does it take to get 100 percent completion? Some estimates state 180+ hours of gameplay. Earning Best in the West Trophy can be extremely “grindy” and there’s no other quest as “grindy” as Duchesses and Other Animals, Exotics. I wrote here about the satchel grind for 100 percent completion and this one requirement for best in the west took nearly five hours of gameplay.
PreCollecting is Allowed
The quest becomes available in Chapter 4 after the mission The Gilded Cage where you attend a party at the Mayor of Saint Denis’ house. One can definitely pre collect the 65 plumes required to complete the quest and it appears one can pre collect the orchids as well. Pre Collecting, in reality, will not cut down on the grind time to complete the quest. And, it appeared to us the spawns on the Egrets, Herons, and Spoonbills occurred Less when we did not actually have the quest in our log.
15 Egret Plumes are the true barrier
The RNG of the spawn on snowy white egrets, little egrets, and reddish egrets is the barrier within the barrier to completing the quest. Completing Duchesses and Other Animals, Exotics, is One barrier within the barrier of 100 percent completion and the Best in the West trophy.
We had a philosophy of working on Hunting Requests in conjunction with Duchesses and Other Animals, Exotics starting our day at Fort Brennand south of Van Horn trading post and north of Saint Denis on what we called “Algernon’s Loop”.
The Strat seeming to work the best
Hitting the main spawn point for the egrets around noon, getting what we could, then fast traveling to Emerald Ranch, sleeping until noon the next day, then riding to the spawn points for the egrets all the while looking for orchids. We chose only to focus on the orchids required for each stage of the quest line, in this case, Lady of the Night Orchids. Five Snowy Egret plumes, five little egret plumes, and 5 reddish egret plumes were by the far the most difficult to collect.
Here we spend another 14 minutes
251 minutes spent on Part 1 of Duchesses and Other Animals, Exotics. However, we pre collected the 20 heron plumes and 30 spoonbill plumes for the follow up parts to the quest line.
Collecting Orchids is Easy Mode – Just takes Time
The second part of the quest, which is actually Part III of Duchesses and Other Animals, Exotics, requires 20 heron plumes, 7 Lady Slipper Orchids, and 10 Moccasin Orchids. Having pre collected the heron plumes in completing the first part of the quests, we just had to grab the two different kinds of Orchids.
Part 2, 20 Heron Plumes, Lady Slipper Orchids and Moccasin Orchids
One piece of advice we can give for those of you, even six years later, attempting to earn the Best in the West Trophy and 100 percent completion, is finish Duchesses and Other Animals, Exotics, in Chapter 4. There are really only seven lady slipper orchid spawns at this point in story mode all located in West Elizabeth.
Moccasin Orchid
We spent 76 minutes completing the second part of this quest line.
Part 3, Spoonbill Plumes, Three Kinds of Orchids
Having pre collected the 22 gator eggs while hunting egrets and herons in part one of the quest line, all we had to do was gather three Acura’s star orchids, seven cigar orchids, five ghost orchids, and three more gator eggs.
Part 4, 30 Spoonbill, 10 Rat Tail Orchids, 5 Spider Orchids, 5 Night Scented Orchids
Pre collecting the 30 spoonbill plumes was clutch.
Part 5, the Final Part
Though technically part six of the quest line, we viewed this as Part five as you begin collecting the items required for quest completion in what is technically part two of the chain. We needed five clamshell orchids, five queen’s orchids, ten sparrow egg orchids, and five dragon’s mouth orchids.
How long does it take to earn Best in the West Trophy?
The number one barrier, in our opinion, is this quest. Duchesses and Other Animals, Exotics, took us 445 minutes, roughly. Or, just shy of eight hours game time.
RDR2 and Best in the West Achievement
July 5, 2024 | Posted in Video Games | By Anonymous
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What does it take to earn 100 percent completion in the best open world video game to date? The list of achievements one has to complete earn Best in the West trophy and 100 percent completion is not as daunting as one might imagine. For example, you don’t have to find every single animal, bird, weapons, or equipment (things like talisman’s and trinkets).
For example, one must find 10 equipment items, 10 fish species, 10 horse breeds, 20 plant species, and 48 weapons to satisfy the Compendium portion of the Best in the West Trophy and being able to tell people you indeed earned this trophy. Is the trophy worth the time? In my (humble) opinion, the trophy being worth the time invested is going to be based on the individual. How important is it you personally to tell people I achieved 100% completion and earned Best in the West Trophy?
A player does not need to kill every legendary animal or do every side mission or every random encounter triggered by the blinking white dot (chance encounters) on your mini map. Completing ten stranger mission quest lines and completing 25 chance counters will qualify players for 100 percent completion.
What is the first step on the journey to Best in the West?
First, simply playing the game. And, there are still people out there on their first play through objectionable to Spoilers. Six years, and our content contains all kinds of spoilers. One needs to get to Chapter 2, complete Pouring Fourth Oil IV, leaving Marston in Valentine as the next mission. This is the first truly great, and fairly undebatable “best save point” in the game. What to work on first? Acquiring Fast Travel which is going to have you most likely on the Jack Hall Treasure Hunt.
Best in the West – The Satchel Grind
The first thing, after completing Pouring Forth Oil and beginning your “free roam” as Arthur, (this mission unlocks you as the player being able to mark a target with a red x during dead eye opposed to “painting” the target with multiple red x’s) … this is why Pouring Forth Oil IV is cited as one of the best save points in the entire game to free roam as Arthur … is go get the Buck Antler Trinket and shoot everything in sight knowing the 22 perfect pelts one must to collect in order to Receive Legend of the East Satchel.
How long does the satchel grind take? Another thing you’re doing on the satchel grind is unlocking each town for Fast Travel and discovering yet undiscovered portions of the map. And hunting literally every animal in sight. A note about Cougars, they find you, you do not find the cougar. In our most recent play through, we have killed at least 25 cougars.
We were attempting to document how long it took us to complete the Satchel Grind and earn the Legend of the East Satchel.
At this point, we’ve invested around 200 minutes in the satchel grind.
A note about Panthers
They are the rarest spawn in the game. Or one of them. And because a perfect panther pelt is required for Legend of the East Satchel, ONE requirement for Best in the West, and a perfect panther pelt unlocks the best crafted saddle from the trapper, the panther is a source of frustration. We didn’t dodge him very well in the above video, but we did capture this video of slaying a panther, although the encounter did not end with a perfect pelt.
Legend of the East Satchel – How Long does it take?
We spend roughly 280 minutes meeting this One Requirement for Best in the West Trophy. We also worked on Challenges. Rule #2, after obtaining the Buck Antler Trinket, always be working on challenges and your life is going to be easier once you commit yourself to 100 percent completion if you grind the legendary of the east satchel in Chapter 2.
RDR2 Legendary Fish – What Everyone Missed
June 15, 2024 | Posted in Video Games | By Anonymous
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Six years later, I figured out the true game mechanic to at least hook the legendary fish on the first cast. It doesn’t matter where you stand to hook the legendary fish, it doesn’t matter the time of the day, it doesn’t matter where you’re standing or what the weather is. The important part is to “let the game” know you are there to catch a legendary fish.
Explaining the Mechanic
You absolutely must see Arthur, or Marston, change the lure on your screen even if you already have the correct special lure attached to your fishing pole. Always use bread bait. In fact, one is not utilizing any bait, simply the lure. One must physically watch Arthur/Marston, sorry spoilers are not an issue six years later imho, place the correct special lure onto the fishing pole even if the lure is already attached.
Where to Stand
This only matters in cutting down on the amount of time it takes to reel in the legendary fish. Again, it doesn’t matter the time of day, it doesn’t matter the weather, and it doesn’t matter where you stand to actually hook the legendary fish the first time.
Zero Frustration Actually hooking the legendary fish
One can imagine the frustration of rowing from Saint Denis to Sisika Penitentiary thinking they have to row to a specific location during a specific time of day in specific weather all the while being shot at because you’re in a restricted area. None of this frustration had to occur. Simply make sure you see Arthur or Marston actually attach the correct special lure. And, to be safe, if one has to recast, have your character place the lure on again by switching to a different lure then switching back to the correct special lure.
Conclusion
Legendary Fishing, due to my discovery of the true mechanic, made 100% completion and Best in the West one of the easier achievements to complete. Make sure you see your character place the correct special lure onto the fishing pole every time you cast. Especially when arriving for the first time in the area to catch the legendary fish. Six years too late but I know you’re out there on their 9th play through trying for 100% completion and many of the guides from the old days are incorrect in places. I intend to fix a few of those.
Rose Morrison Obituary – Updated Feb 16, 2023
February 15, 2023 | Posted in Publishing | By Anonymous
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Rosalie A. “Rose” Morrison, age 72, of McComb, died at her residence at 2:50am on Tuesday, February 14, 2023. She was born on July 13, 1950, in Findlay, Ohio to the late Harold “Hash” and Marguerite “Hank” Rader Harshberger.
Rose was a 1968 graduate of McComb High School and owned a 7-11 Store in California before returning to Ohio spending the past 33 years as the Director of Loss Prevention for the Bon-Ton Corporation.
Rosie served on the Board of Blanchard Valley Residential Services Incorporated where she was instrumental in fiercely advocating and ensuring her son with autism, Scott Denton Morrison II, was treated as an equal member of society and lived the best life Scott could possible live. Rosie’s motherly love for her son with autism was the defining and single most influential aspect of her life.
Scott Denton Morrison II
He was your life’s work Rosie. There is understanding your wishes regarding just how influential being a mother to Scott truly was to you. Your love for Scotty Defined your soul. Scotty was born in 1976 and is now 46 years old. A world without you, as Scott’s mother, was truly unimaginable and yet, here we sit in the early morning hours forty eight hours after your passing existing in a world where Scott no longer has his mother with him yet Scotty is still surrounded by your love and the love of so many others who’ve spent the last 25 years caring for Scott’s day to day needs.
In 1995, Scott required the courts to declare him an incompetent adult (publisher wishes the legal system would use a different designation and different wording) and the courts further required the appointing of a Guardian, our best guess, this was required by Blanchard Valley Center. Rest easy Rosie, the people at The Center who’ve been caring for Scotty the past 25+ years Love Scotty. They love you. The number of people’s lives you touched over the past 25 years is immeasurable. We could get a good idea of just how many lives you touched advocating for your son with autism tomorrow between 11am and 2pm. Sheesh Rosie, how many people should we expect coming to pay their respects?
Advocating for Scotty was your life’s mission. Motherly love advocation is irreplaceable. No one is going to be able advocate for Scotty in the same manner because your motherly love is completely unique in the universe. However, your son Scott can now be advocated with big brotherly love.
Rosie’s eldest child never had to advocate for his little brother because Scott was being advocated by his mother. Your eldest child, Rosie, is old enough to remember Lokrantz in Southern California and Brady’s earliest memories of your advocation of Scott centered on one word: Inclusion. Scotty was no different than anyone else.
Rest easy Rosie. Blanchard Valley Residential Services Incorporated is the greatest provider in this history of providers. The outpouring of emotion over your passing from Scotty’s care giving organization has been absolutely Astounding. People are floored by just how many people’s lives you touched spending the last 25 years advocating for Scotty and how much they all love you and Scott. Rest easy Rosie. Peacefully.
Rose was also a Volunteer and Past President of the Hancock County Master Gardners and a member of the McComb VFW auxiliary.
She is survived by three sons: Scott Denton Morrison II of Findlay, Brady Morrison of Findlay, and Matthew Morrison of Grants Pass, Oregon, a daughter Hethyre (Patrick) Tesnow of Arcadia, a sister, Pat (Paul) Sudlow of McComb, four grandchildren including devoted Isabella Morrison and Bailey Benner as well as three great grandchildren. Grandchildren also included Kelsey Morrison and Joey Rider, both of Findlay.
Visitation will be held at Coldren-Crates Funeral Home, 205 West Sandusky Street, Findlay, Ohio on Friday, February 17, 2023 from 11am to 1pm. Funeral services will be held at the conclusion of the visitation at 1pm. Jeremy Herr has been entrusted by Rosie to officiate the funeral services.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Scott Morrison Special Needs Trust in her memory. The family would like to express their thanks to the Bridge Hospice for their compassionate care of Rosie.
The publisher wonders how much time will audience will spend listening about the photo selected for the courier and the obituary available from Colden Crates and masks and photoshopping.
Week 10 Westgate Super Contest Picks
November 13, 2022 | Posted in NFL | By Anonymous
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This post shares five predictions against the spread for Week 10 of the 2022 NFL Season in a Super Contest Format. Players are awarded one point for being correct, a half point for tying, and zero points for being incorrect.
2022 NFL Season Super Contest
Season to Date – 27-18
Cleveland +4 (at Miami)
Detroit +3 (at Chicago)
Tennessee -3 (at home v. Denver)
Jacksonville +9.5 (at Kansas City)
Las Vegas -4.5 (at home v. Indianapolis)
Week 9 Westgate Super Contest Picks
November 3, 2022 | Posted in NFL | By Anonymous
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This post shares five predictions against the spread for Week 9 of the 2022 NFL Season in a Super Contest format. Players are awarded one point for being correct, a half point for tying, and zero points for being incorrect.
2022 NFL Season Super Contest
Season to Date – 24-16
Houston +14 (at home v. Philadelphia)
Okay, this is a home NFL team being spotted two touchdowns. Sure, Houston was steam rolled by Derrick Henry last week but, Houston only gave up 17 points. Is Philadelphia going undefeated this season? We even threw a .1u at Houston +500 on the ML because my cat had a vision of the masses being Eliminated in Survivor.
Las Vegas -1.5 (at Jacksonville)
Buying Vegas at their lowest possible value after being shut out on the road last week. My cat says the data suggests teams on the Sunday after London are to perhaps be faded.
Carolina +7.5 (at Cincinnati)
Simply fading Cincinnati until Ja’Marr Chase returns.
Tennessee +13 (at Kansas City)
Fading Mahomes is a positive net return this season and this bet really hopes Ryan Tannehill plays. This seems like a classic Vrabel under dog game and we’ll probably, again, throw money at the ML.
Detroit +3.5 (at Green Bay)
Our favorite spread in a division game.
Week 8 Westgate Super Contest Picks
October 28, 2022 | Posted in NFL | By Anonymous
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This post shares five picks against the spread for Week 8 of the 2022 NFL Season in a super contest format. Players receive one point for being correct, a half point for tying, and zero points for being incorrect.
2022 Super Contest
Season to Date: 21-14
Denver +3.5 (v. Jacksonville in London)
Previously documenting my opinions on this number, +3.5 as a spread.
Las Vegas -2 (at New Orleans)
Two weeks in a row have chalked wins against the spread for Vegas so we’ll roll them a third week in a row
New York Jets +2.5 (at New England)
This is the worst spread for an underdog. Similar to Vegas, we’ve won two weeks in a row on the New York Jets so we’ll roll them a third week in what amounts to a terrible Super Contest pick even if the spread moves to +3.
Tennessee -2 (at Houston)
Road favorite in a division game is dangerous. Tennessee has covered four straight with us winning on the Titans twice so we’re gonna roll them again under a theory teams get on a roll covering spreads. After seven weeks of data, we aren’t as overtly concerned 68% of the bets are on Tennessee. We saw Baltimore win outright as a two point underdog Week 8 Thursday night game with 74% of the bets on Baltimore.
Cleveland +3.5 (at home v. Cincinnati)
A division game and my favorite spread besides +7.5. The news Ja’Marr Chase will miss four to six weeks and will miss the Week 8 Monday Night game has sent the spread to +3. Cincinnati has covered five straight and we missed the boat on the theory teams get on a roll covering the spread a bit losing on Cincinnati Week 6 after winning on the Bengals in Weeks 3-5. Cleveland covered last week … do the Browns get on a roll covering spreads and winning games outright to give the Super Bowl future at 28-1 legs?
Week 7 Westgate Super Contest Picks
October 23, 2022 | Posted in NFL | By Anonymous
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This post shares five picks against the spread for Week 7 of the 2022 NFL Season in a Super Contest format. Players receive one point for being correct, a half point for tying, and zero points for being incorrect.
2022 Super Contest
Season To Date – 19-11
Baltimore -6.5 (at home v. Cleveland)
This is a bet Lamar Jackson scores 45 fantasy points. Cleveland ranks in the bottom ten against the run giving up 131.5 yards per game improving against in their Week 6 shellacking at the hands of the New Englands Patriots where a rookie quarterback threw for 309 yards with two touchdowns and was only sacked twice. My cat, in essence, is buying Baltimore low after their loss in Week 6 to the New York football Giants seeing Baltimore blow a ten point fourth quarter lead with a horrible interception allowing the Giants to win.
Detroit +7 (at Dallas)
Somehow, my cat contends, the return of Dak Prescott, perhaps too early, creates the opportunity for Detroit to win outright in Dallas coming off a bye. Detroit is subject to recency bias after being shutout in New England 29-0 in Week 5. Prior, in the first four weeks of the season, Detroit was the top scoring offense in the NFL coupled with the worst defense and dealing with injuries to key play makers like D’Andre Swift and Amon-Ra St. Brown. St. Brown is off the injury report this week and Swift is listed as questionable.
Tennessee -2.5 (at home v. Indianapolis)
Las Vegas -7 (at home v. Houston)
New York Jets +3.5 (at Denver)
Nobody in West Gate is getting the Jets +3.5 as this line was purchased prior to the Jets winning outright in Green Bay 27-10 in Week 6. New York +3 was a possibility and we’ll call this a push if the Jets lose by a field goal for publication purposes yet enjoy cashing our ticket because this line currently sits at New York -1.5 creating five points of value in this spread.
Week 6 Westgate Super Contest Picks
October 13, 2022 | Posted in NFL | By Anonymous
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This post shares five picks against the spread for Week 6 of the 2022 NFL Season in a Super Contest format. Players receive one point for being correct, a half point for tying, and zero points for being incorrect.
2022 Super Contest
Season To Date – 17-8
Publisher’s Note: Justification for Cleveland (+3) was never written. It’s an advantage of making the contest picks early in the week for publication purposes. By kickoff last Sunday, the Browns were +1 or +1.5 depending on your book resulting in a loss against the spread opposed to the win at the opening line of -3
Pittsburgh +9 (at home v. Tampa Bay)
Tom Brady is always a public favorite and after the drubbing Pittsburgh took at the hands of the Buffalo Bills 38-3 featuring rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett making his first NFL start. Flash forward a week and the Steelers are a home NFL team getting nine points and this is a buy low opportunity. 65% of the money is on the Buccaneers and the spread has compressed to +8.5 indicating the involvement of sharp money.
New York Jets +7 (at Green Bay)
Does Green Bay seem like the kind of team beating anyone by more than a touchdown or does Green Bay seem like the kind of team losing to both New York teams in back to back weeks? I call this the Jets aren’t getting any respect line and my cat says while Green Bay’s defense is stout, the three touchdowns the Jets put up in Week 5 against the Miami Dolphins could be indicative of things to come. My cat decided to sugar the money line +275 because it is, perhaps, out with the old (Aaron Rodgers) and in with the new .. as in the New York teams owning Rodgers in back to back weeks.
New Orleans +2.5 (at home v Cincinnati)
This is a fade of the public with 81% of the money on the Bengals. We don’t know who is playing quarterback but this is an offense putting up 39 points last week and we do believe in Marshon Lattimore island. This is a difficult bet to make as we’ve been correct and won money on Cincinnati the past three weeks starting with “kitchen sink” week Cincinnati covered -4.5 as an 0-2 team. Now, the Bengals have covered three straight but the percentage of the public makes Cincinnati a square bet this week.
Jacksonville +2 (at Indianapolis)
Underdogs of less than three points are winning outright 56% of the time. Just four weeks ago, Jacksonville annihilated Indianapolis 24-0 when the Colts had Jonathan Taylor healthy. Now, Taylor missed last week and could miss this week as well. Jacksonville has lost two straight, including a surprising loss to the Texans 13-6 in Week 5. This doesn’t seem to bother the public as 63% of the money is on the Jaguars. A future bet was placed on the Jaguars to win the AFC South and if the future is going to come to fruition, an outright Jacksonville win and a sweep of the division favorite will help tremendously.
Carolina +11 (at Los Angeles Rams)
Do the Rams seem like a team beating anyone by 12 points? Baker Mayfield is injured again meaning PJ Walker will once take the helm for the Panthers on the road against the defending champs. My cat has more faith in Walker than Mayfield and this spread has already compressed to Carolina +10. We had to buy a half point to get the spread at 11 breaking a cardinal rule of not buying points.
Week 5 Westgate Super Contest Picks
October 5, 2022 | Posted in NFL | By Anonymous
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This post shares five picks against the spread for Week 5 of the 2022 NFL Season in a Super Contest format. A player receives one point for being correct, a half point for tying, and zero points for being incorrect.
2022 NFL Super Contest
Publisher’s Note: New Orleans vs. Minnesota (in London) closed at New Orleans +3.5. The published Super Contest pick in Week 4 was New Orleans +3, however, the Westgate Contest entry would have been +3.5 so we are counting this as a win opposed to a push.
Season to Date – 12-8
Indianapolis +3.5 (at Denver)
My cat normally does not like to use Thursday night as a Super Contest selection but sees value in this line for a few reasons. Indianapolis lost last week to Tennessee, Jonathan Taylor might not play, and stud line backer Darius Shaquille Leonard is out. However, Russell Wilson is also a bit banged up and the Broncos defense placed Randy Gregory on injured reserve plus running back Javonte Williams will miss the rest of the season. 15% of NFL games end with a three point differential. Prime time games are under the total (42 in this game) at a ridiculous rate the first four weeks of the NFL Season. A potentially close game and low scoring affair my cat will take three points and the hook.
Houston +7.5 (at Jacksonville)
My cat sees this as a division games with four weeks of film and has a philosophy division games are, potentially, one score games. Jacksonville remains over valued after shellacking the Chargers on the road 38-10 in Week 3 and hanging tough on the road against the Eagles, who have the look of the best team in the NFL, in Week 4 losing 29-21. 70% of the bets are on Jacksonville creating further value in the line and the line has moved to +7 making my cat feel slightly sharp. Houston has the look of a team 4-1 against the spread after five weeks.
New York Jets +3.5 (at home against Miami)
Miami will be without quarterback Tua and a ridiculous 80% of the bets are on Miami. The spread has already moved to Jets +3 leaving my cat, once again, feeling slightly sharp. Another division game with a philosophy division games with four weeks on film are potentially one score games with the book makers predicting a close game and we have the hook. All Teddy Bridgewater does is cover spreads and he is right handed but even Miami -3 is a total square bet at this point.
Las Vegas +7.5 (at Kansas City)
My cat sees this as another division game with division games perhaps being one score games. Fading Patrick Mahomes, because he’s such a heavy public favorite, has produced a 2-2 record against the spread and my cat is going to fade Mahomes again in Week 5 on Monday Night Football. Vegas was finally able to produce their first win of the 2022 NFL Season and their first win against the spread against Denver in Week 4. Josh Jacobs is returning to a bell cow back for the Raiders and this could finally be the week Davante Adams and Derek Carr get their connection going. A ridiculous 81% of the bets are on Kansas City creating further value in the line.