Top 3 Skins (2013-2014) - P250, Dual Berettas, Desert Eagle

In the first leg of this journey, I looked at the three starting pistols in CS:GO. This time, I'll be looking at the three pistols that are always available to players for purchase, regardless of team or loadout: the P250, the Dual Berettas, and the big money pistol, the Desert Eagle.

P250

It's taken me a little while, but I've gotten to the point where I buy a P250 anytime I'm not buying a high-end rifle. It's low-cost, good rate and ammo and accuracy, and solid armor penetration, which is vital in those middle rounds when everybody's got armor.

That said, while it's an amazingly useful gun, the P250 doesn't have a whole lot of exciting skins. Here are the best of the bunch, but like I said, not that exciting.

#3 - Supernova

The Supernova skin is one that I think actually looks better the less you look at it. At first glance, it's got a cool color scheme and sort of an interstellar vibe (hence the name). But when you really stare at it, to me, it doesn't hold up. The sharpness of a lot of it seems counter to the theme. It's still a fine-looking skin, just not as good as it maybe could have been.

#2 - Nuclear Threat

The Nuclear Threat is probably the P250 skin I would want to use on a regular basis. While it's not as "attractive" as my #1 option, it's a bit more flashy in a smooth kind of way. It's also very distinguishable from the base option, which I do kind of like. Plus, Nuke is one of my favorite maps.

#1 - Cartel

In a vacuum, Cartel is my favorite P250 skin. It's sharp, uses blacks and silvers and greys, and overall looks fairly realistic. As I said, I think I'd prefer to play with the Nuclear Threat. But the Cartel has all the aspects I like in a weapon skin.

Dual Berettas

I do not enjoy using the Dual Berettas. While I appreciate that they've got a lot of ammo, and the damage is okay, I just find that the accuracy isn't great and the accuracy "feel" is even worse. I remember in the original Counter-Strike I enjoyed the feeling of wielding two guns, but in here, with a better appreciation for how well (or poorly) I'm playing, it's less appealing.

It's basically the opposite of the P250 though, because there are several Beretta skins that I enjoy. None of them is a high-rarity skin, since the gun isn't widely used. But as someone who appreciates a level of subtlety, the Beretta skins are right in my wheelhouse.

#3 - Panther

The Panther skin is the essence of subtlety. Black guns with red highlights just to give it enough character to be unique, that's what I like. They look good in-game, too.

#2 - Black Limba

Black Limbas look a lot like the base Beretta skin, but with a bit more severity, a bit more of a "criminal underworld" hue. I like the base skin a lot, so I like these a lot, but I like these more. And if I'm being honest, I occasionally buy Berettas in casual games because using this skin makes me feel like an outlaw.

#1 - Retribution

As much as I like the other skins I've mentioned, Retribution is easily my favorite weapon skin for the Dualies. When I was a kid, I played with a lot of G.I.Joe toys, and for some reason this skin reminds me of that. In addition to being a slick-looking skin, nostalgia puts it way over the top.

Desert Eagle

The Desert Eagle is the glamor pistol option. It's the most expensive and most powerful, but with its small clip, it's a high-risk, high-reward option. I hardly ever buy it myself, but if I come across one dropped in a pistol round or some such, I'll give it a whirl. I'll also occasionally buy it when my primary is a P90, to give myself a better option at range.

The skins for the Desert Eagle are all up and down the range. But because it's that "glamor" option, they tend to be a little higher on the rarity spectrum, which means they're often quite attractive. Plenty of good options, but here are my favorites.

#3 - Crimson Web

I find myself swinging a lot with regards to how much I like the Crimson Web skin on the Desert Eagle. Sometimes it looks amazing, first-rate. Other times, it looks unassuming and unspectacular. The particular image of it above is more the latter, but it still looks alright. I'd like a little more of a "webby" look, and less of a "fractured earth" look, but it's still nice enough.

#2 - Conspiracy

Conspiracy is exactly my kind of gun skin. Dark colors, highlighted by metallic accents. If the color scheme wasn't so close to the Pittsburgh Penguins' team colors, this might be my #1 skin. Alas, screw the Pens.

#1 - Heirloom

The Heirloom skin shares a lot of features with the Pilot skin from the Baggage Collection, so I excluded the Pilot from the list. No point in telling you I also like this other skin that looks like the one I just mentioned. Anyways, the Heirloom honestly looks the way I would expect a fancy base Deagle skin would look. I absolutely love it, and I'm glad I have my own version to use, even if I almost never use it.

Grammar Points - It's vs. Its

Grammar Points is going to be kind of a quick-hitter series that looks to address some common writing questions/difficulties that even accomplished writers can encounter. This first one is a doozy, and you'll find it handled incorrectly even by the most learned folks.

It's  vs.  Its

What's interesting about this is that the two words have such distinct definitions that, as long as you know what you're talking about, it's easy to use the right one. See? I just did.

It's

The word "it's," as you can see, is a contraction. You're combining two words ("it" and "is") into a single contracted word. The value in using the contraction over the individual words is that you don't sound like Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation. So unless you want to get used to randomly tilting your head and wearing a ton of white makeup, you'll find yourself using this contraction regularly when describing an action that an object is taking, or a state that an object is in. Some examples:

Your face doesn't look as pretty when it's covered in makeup.

It's raining pretty hard out there.

Its

In contrast to the use of "it's," the use of "its" is solely to describe possession. The reason people get tripped up is that most of the time, when you type about someone owning something, you use an apostrophe followed by the letter "s." For example, "Joe's butt looks big in those pants."

(Joke's on you guys, my butt looks big in all pants).

By contrast, because of the way we use the "it's" contraction, the English language makes a special exception for the "apostrophe-s" rule. In order to demonstrate possession by something referred to as "it," we add the "s" but without the apostrophe. The rule actually exists to increase clarity in writing, which is kind of funny because of the confusion people have towards the words. But in truth, as long as you take the time to train yourself, you'll find that knowing the difference and being able to read and write the two words with confidence will help you immensely.

Once again, here are some examples:

A good deed is its own reward.

Your Corvette has lost its luster.

Tricks

Whenever possible, I'll provide you with a few tricks you can use when you're confused about word usage. This one isn't super easy, but it'll always get you the right answer, and that's at least as valuable. When you're unsure, try swapping in "it is" for the word you're using. If it works, you want to use "it's." If not, you're looking for "its."

If you run into a circumstance where you're just not sure, feel free to drop me a line in the comments. I'll take a look at it and let you know.

Good Point Editing

If you've been keeping up with GoodPointJoe's blog posts, you know that on New Year's Day, I gave kind of a soft reveal on the fact that I've been working on getting an editing side business going. This is the "hard reveal," and I'll give you a little more information on my process.

I've been doing editing for friends and family for years, and my time as a technical support staff member at Westat put me into a position where I was constantly writing and reviewing emails, memos, manuals, instructions, and other content. That "wordwork" was actually the most rewarding part of my job, so lately I've been seeking out independent opportunities to exercise that skill set.

The most prominent project I've been working on is assisting a friend of a friend in developing his website, ALTInsider.com. It's a site about how to make the most of your life working as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in Japan. I've worked with him for several hours, helping to clarify and refine his message, and I have a standing agreement to continue to offer reviews of new content that he produces.

I've also assisted other friends with smaller tasks, such as college homework assignments, blog posts, and professional letters. I enjoy the opportunity to help someone convey their intended message with the highest possible clarity and readability. Some have been free (usually family), some have been for a nominal fee.

But since I started doing this more regularly, I've been working on creating a framework for offering this kind of service to a broader audience. While continuing to take advantage of personal contacts, I'm hoping to find a way to offer my services to college students, small business owners, and other independent folks who could use a hand crafting their messages. If any of you reading this blog have a need of that kind of assistance, let me know! Friends and family always get a discount!

Since you guys are kind of behind the curtain, though, I'd love to hear any feedback on what I've got set up so far. The two key pages I have are my landing page and my request form. This is a situation where I actually want you to tell me everything that bothers you about either page. The landing page feels a little text-heavy, but I'm not sure what to cut, if anything. Your input is most welcome.

And as I said, your business is welcome here, too.

Top 3 Skins (2013-2014) - P2000, USP-S, Glock-18

When Counter-Strike:Global Offensive was originally released, I was mildly interested. I had played the original Half-Life mod and enjoyed it somewhat, but I wasn't really any good at it. It was more, I appreciated the concept, and how it would be fun if engaged in with teammates and opponents of equal skill. I had occasionally read updates on CS:GO, and noted that it included a matchmaking mechanism that would theoretically set you up to play in games with people of similar skill. Still, I didn't rush to grab the game.

Then I heard about their skin system, and how some items were worth a considerable amount of money on the Steam Market, and I was all-in.

Now, while I still have a large number of small investments, and a number of mildly valuable skins (mostly less than a dollar apiece), I've bought into the whole concept of skins, and I find myself comparing new skins to previous ones on a basis of "coolness" rather than simply on investment potential.

In that vein, I'd like to now present the first in a series (yes, another series, relax jerk) of posts sharing my favorite gun skins from the beginning of their implementation in CS:GO through the end of 2014. The final collection included here would be the Vanguard Collection; the Chroma Collection (which looks solid though unspectacular) would be included in some future review.

This post will focus on the three starting pistols: the P2000 and USP-S (counter-terrorist team), and the Glock-18 (terrorist team).

P2000

The P2000 is a solid option as a starting pistol. It's got a fairly large clip with good damage. It doesn't have much armor penetration, but neither do any of the other starting pistols. That's why you buy P250s, obviously.

The P2000 hasn't gotten many flashy skins thus far, but in truth, I appreciate subtlety as much as anybody when it comes to skins. So I still enjoy the P2000 options as much as most guns.

#3 - Fire Elemental

The Fire Elemental is from the most newly released weapon case (Operation Vanguard), and is probably the flashiest P2000 skin available. Part of my appreciation for the gun probably comes from my years of playing fantasy RPGs, and having fond recollections of fire elementals in a variety of circumstances. Still, it's a nice, bold skin.

#2 - Pulse

Pulse is the kind of skin I enjoy almost unequivocally. Dark colors, sharp edges, a kind of electronic vibe. It's also not a high level skin, so chances are I'll grab one for myself at some point. For now, though, I've got way too many of my #1 skin to justify spending more money on P2000 skins.

#1 - Amber Fade

The Amber Fade doesn't look that exceptional in the market, but in-game, it feels like you're the man with the golden gun. It's from the Dust 2 Collection, which many investors including myself believed would be discontinued this past autumn with the new operation. Instead, the collection was made more available, so my stock of Amber Fade P2000s became less valuable. It's bounced back a bit, but it'll probably be a while before I can get my money back on these guys. In the meantime, though, sweet skin.

USP-S

The USP-S was added after the game had been around for a little while (along with the M4A1-S) to give counter-terrorists a few additional gun options. It doesn't have as much ammo as the P2000, so it's better for more accurate players (read: not me). But it's already got several attractive skins, including one of my "wishlist" skins at #1.

It also sounds amazing when you take off the silencer. Functionally it's worse in every way, but the sound, wowie.

#3 - Stainless

Stainless is a simple, classy skin. It looks how a real-life version of the gun might look, which I enjoy. It's just got a nice clean look, definitely one of my favorites.

#2 - Business Class

The Baggage Collection is full of quirky skins, and Business Class is one of the best. The skin really makes you believe in the altered texture of the gun, thinking that if you were to touch it, it would feel leathery, or soft like suede. A definite win.

#1 - Orion

The USP-S | Orion can actually no longer be pulled from the Huntsman Case. The original submitter of the skin had apparently stolen artwork on another skin, and as such got all of their skins removed from the case (six skins all told). But art theft aside, the Orion is a beautiful gun skin. It's got the dark, sharp colors I love, and possibly some subconscious Orioles magic in there as well. Orion, Orioles...can't be coincidence, right?

Glock-18

The Glock is the default terrorist pistol, and by far my least favorite of the three. I feel like I have no control over the Glock, even though I've seen videos displaying how it can be pretty accurate even when running. It also, for my money, has some of the weaker skin options. There are a few solid ones, but none of these top three would make either of my other two lists. Still, there is a noteworthy skin at #2, one worth talking (and reading) about.

#3 - Blue Fissure

This is a skin that looks a fair amount better in-game, actually. The fissures aren't quite so pronounced, and it looks more textured, less broken. This is another skin I think I'd like to own at some point.

#2 - Fade

The Glock-18 | Fade is one of the most famous skins in all of CS:GO. It was a top-rarity skin in the first group of skins released into the game, and its desirability and rarity make it one of the most expensive non-StatTrak guns in the Steam market. Personally, I think the style is pretty good, but not as amazing as others do. Still, among a fairly weak class, the Fade is a strong Glock skin.

#1 - Reactor

Introducing one of my favorite collections, the Cache Collection. Almost every skin in this set is appealing to me, and it tops off with restricted-level skins for the two cheap assault rifles, the Galil and FAMAS. And anyone who knows me knows I love me some Galil. The Reactor is a fine skin as well, a bit more subtle than some of the other options. I like the black base with the nuclear-feeling orange on top. Quite a solid skin.

That'll do it for the first round of reviews. Tune in next time when I get to some of the other pistol options, including a couple of market movers.

Brian Giles Deserved Better

First things first, I don't think Brian Giles is a Hall of Famer. I don't think you'd find many people who think he is. He was a really good player for about ten years on a couple of obscure teams, and he was a fantasy STUD in the old Sandbox system that rewarded players for drawing walks. He wasn't an all-time great, which is the designation that someone should have if they're getting named to the Hall of Fame.

That said, Giles was way better than Hall voters apparently think he was.

Earlier this week, the 2015 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot results were revealed, and Brian Giles received a whopping zero votes. Among the players who received at least one vote:

• Tom Gordon, whose claim to fame is having led the league in saves once, and being a pretty good reliever sometimes;
• Troy Percival, a solid closer who pitched for the champion Angels in 2002; and
• Aaron Boone, a career .263 hitter who had that one big home run.

I would say that these guys don't sound like Giles' peers, but they're not even; they're all considered deserving of a vote by at least one Hall of Fame voter, and Giles was not.

I will grant certain factors. Giles' power peak only lasted about five years, and he played in an era with inflated power numbers across the board, so his career-high of 39 home runs doesn't play as well as it might in today's game. And he wasn't particularly fast either, notching only 109 steals over a career that spanned more than 1,800 games.

But Giles was a consistent force at the plate. In eight different seasons, his on-base percentage was .396 or higher; Giles ended two out of every five plate appearances with a positive result. His career on-base percentage is .3998, lower than only four players: Joey Votto, Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols, and Joe Mauer. Those are two likely Hall of Fame caliber players (Manny and Pujols), and two guys who should find themselves at least in the conversation if their next eight years go like their last eight years went. He consistently threatened .300, hitting at least .298 in seven different seasons.

He played in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and San Diego, so his media exposure was limited, as were his postseason opportunities. And the numbers suggest he was a below-average fielder. But in a world where you just know, you just know that Kevin Youkilis is going to get a couple of HoF votes, Giles deserved better than he got.

Awesome Games Done Quick - The Best of Twitch

GamesDoneQuick is an organization of video game speedrunners. Speedrunners are players who attempt to take advantage of every possible shortcut, tactic, or nuance of a game to complete it in as short a period as possible. They're basically the sprinters of the eSports world.

Every winter and summer for the past few years, they've put on a charity stream on Twitch, and they're in the middle of that right now. This stream highlights some of the more popular speedrunners in the community, but also extends an invitation to anyone in the speedrunning community to establish themselves as an elite player, make the trip out to wherever the event is (this time it's in Virginia), and join the stream as a participant or fan.

This event is remarkable for several reasons.

1. AGDQ is an event that features small-time streamers and relative nobodies. Unlike the championships of competitive games like Counter-Strike:Global Offensive or Dota 2, AGDQ doesn't have the same huge, single-game community to generate competitive interest. The very best speedrunners are appreciated mostly by other speedrunners, or fans of a particular game. That is, the best Contra speedrunners will attract mostly fans of Contra, and other people who speedrun Contra or similar games. Yet despite these smaller fan bases, AGDQ will regularly have around 100,000 concurrent viewers, and generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in charity. With virtually zero starpower, that's incredible.

2. Related to that factor, the stream succeeds despite changing games constantly. Most streams succeed because of consistency. They feature the same streamer streaming the same game for several hours, several times a week. This marathon stream, however, will include Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Streets of Rage 2, Pilotwings 64, and Halo 2. And it's a fair bet that a lot of the same people will be watching each of those speedruns. The nature of the speedrunning community is such that they enjoy all attempts to attack world records and display virtuosity. And somehow, random viewers hold similar priorities.

3. The stream generates an ass-load of money for charity. Look, everyone likes charity. We all like the idea of pitching in to help combat a disease, or clean water, or assist the less fortunate. But most of us, on a given day, do not contribute to charity. Then, along comes this stream, and people give donations of $50, $100, or $10,000 dollars (this legitimately happens). Lots of people try to generate money for charity while playing video games, and many of them use Twitch streams to do this. But success to this level is incredible.

4. The streams aren't really "competitive" streams. Rather, they're solo or cooperative streams against each game's innate artificial intelligence. Far and away the most watched game on Twitch is League of Legends. The rest of the top four are usually (in some order) CS:GO, Dota 2, and Hearthstone. Competitive games are what draw the most water on streams, but AGDQ has no trouble pulling amazing numbers despite staying in the realm of single-player or competitive games. This might be the most impressive factor here; nobody cares about time trials when it comes to track and field, or swimming, or stock car racing. It's all about the races. Granted, there are a few races on AGDQ as well, but people appreciate both kinds of content just the same.

Despite these factors going against them, AGDQ is able to regularly produce a wildly entertaining stream that generates massive revenue for a good cause. If you've got the time and the inclination, I strongly encourage you to check out the stream (link here again for ease of access). And marvel at the beauty that is a speedrunner's paradise.

The 2015 Winter Classic

Coming into this Washington Capitals season, I was optimistic about the team's chances to make some noise, but I didn't really plan on going to the Winter Classic. My family has season tickets, so we were awarded two tickets as part of the season ticket package, and afforded the opportunity to buy up to 4 more (double the number of our season tickets), but to me, it seemed foolish to spend that money. Ticket resale was high, so I figured, why not just resell the tickets and make a little cash?

Well, time passed and time passed, and none of us made the call on what to do with the tickets. My one brother was adamant about going, and the other was interested if not quite so demanding. We had three pairs of tickets available, and the decision on what to do with them went unmade for far too long. Finally about two weeks ago, we finalized our plans: my cousin and I would join my two brothers at the game, and we'd sell the final pair. We ended up getting back a little extra for the pair, though it wasn't the windfall I had originally hoped for. Still, positive is better than negative.

And so, the four of us went to the game.

I remember going to Disney World for the first time, and that being the most "magical" experience I can remember. But there was something even more special about this experience for me.

There's a great camaraderie at any sporting event, but the Winter Classic felt like it reached a whole different level. I felt excited while walking up to Nationals Stadium with hundreds of other fans, enthralled while stepping to the railing in center field and seeing the scene, and a combination of frustrated and pleased while trying to navigate through a sea of thousands of fans in the concourse. The singing of the national anthem was done by an armed forces chorus, punctuated by a flyover by a pair of fighter jets, and that was probably the height of the non-hockey events for me. Just a really cool presentation.

The seats we had were center ice, though they were fairly low, which made it difficult to see all of the action. The big screen in center field provided a good view of the game when things got too muddled, but it was fantastic to see things play out on the ice level when I was able.

And the game was amazing. Eric Fehr's early goal on a breakaway was reminiscent of his similar goal at the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. After Chicago tied the game at 2 in the second period, tensions were high throughout the stadium. Every penalty (and most of them were against the Capitals) created a chance for someone to break through, but the score remained tied through most of the third.

Late in the third, Matt Niskanen got called for a questionable boarding penalty, then a few minutes later, perhaps as a make-up call (which I hate, by the way), Jonathan Toews got called for something of a phantom hooking penalty. On the ensuing penalty, after Alex Ovechkin carried the puck into the zone...

...well, you really just have to watch it.


The crowd exploded after the goal, reminding me of playoff goals back when the Caps scored those kinds of goals. I also just love everything about how Ovechkin carried himself throughout the whole day. He was grinning almost every minute, and he pumped up his guys on every play.

The thing that struck me the most was that, for the first time since he got the letter sewn on his jersey, he really looked like a captain. Not a captain in the snarky, dickish way that some guys can be, but a guy who leads by playing his ass off and getting his teammates excited to compete for 60+ minutes. He may never get recognized as one of the great leaders in hockey, and maybe that's correct, but there's no doubt in my mind that Barry Trotz has helped Ovechkin to rediscover himself, and be a better version of himself.

I can't help it. I'm optimistic. This might be a really good year.

2015 - The Year of the Blog

Longtime blog-readers will know that 2014 was a pretty solid year for this blog. While it wasn't as prolific as some years, I feel like I provided some of my best content overall in 2014. Between some standard sports posts, a few new feature-style sports posts, and a variety of gaming-related articles, I generated something for everyone. Alright, well, not everyone, but anybody who would've come to the blog in the first place should have been able to find something fun to read.

Still, when it comes down to it, I had higher hopes for the blog than the totality of the year that I had. I wanted to expand the features to include not just baseball stories, but interesting tales from other sports as well. And just on sheer volume, there were extended periods during which I didn't provide any content, and I don't feel great about that.

But, rather than lament about opportunities lost, I'm going to set goals for the coming year. Most of these will be blog-related goals, but I'm going to throw a few other goals up there, just so you know what I've got brewing in my mind, and so that I feel a little more beholden to the goals, since "everyone" will know about them.

Here goes.

1. Publish a blog post at least once every week. There's really no reason I couldn't do this; there have been stretches on the blog when I've posted 2-3 times a week for over a month. Part of what hangs me up is that a lot of my blog ideas are larger posts; the CS:GO trade-up post took me over a month to compose and revise. So, this goal is going to have a couple of sub-goals:
   
   • Plan ahead. Have a couple of larger posts in the pot simmering at all times, and try to schedule posts in advance
   • Find smaller post options. Not everything has to be a six page epic about the adventures of Bret Saberhagen. Some of them, sure, just not all of them.
     
2. Post about the big three at least once a month. My big three topics are sports (baseball), sports (non-baseball), and gaming (board or video). This plan should help me get focused on my bigger posts, and also help give myself some direction for goal #1.
   
3. Get my editing landing page refined and ready to share. Most of you are probably unaware this has been going on in the background, but I've been spending some time trying to set myself up to offer editing services. I've been editing for a website for a few months, and editing for friends, family, and co-workers for years. I'm hoping to turn those skills into a small supplemental income. So as the main part of that, I've been working on a landing page to be able to link for potential customers. My goal is to have that up and running by the end of January.
   
4. Stream more (or at all). Longtime readers will know that a previous role of this blog was to support a regular Friday night Twitch stream by myself and two friends. We streamed mostly Magic, and we generated a small but robust following. Problems with Twitch, changes in our personal responsibilities, a general displeasure with Magic's recent sets, and MTGO's consistent bugs and other issues made us mostly give up the streaming game, but almost any time I've streamed solo, I've still enjoyed it. Whenever I set out to stream again I seem to get distracted from it, but hopefully establishing it as a goal will get me back on the horse. And of course, I'll continue to use this blog to support the stream, when necessary.
   
5. If possible, find ways to monetize the blog that also add value to it. I have an affiliate partnership with Amazon.com, and Amazon has thousands of ways to link to their goods and services. Right now I just have a single banner advertising Amazon Prime, but I'm thinking that with sufficient commitment, I may be able to post timely advertisements of great deals to both provide a useful deal-finding service to readers, and create a small amount of income for myself. I'm sure there are other ways to effectively monetize the blog, but those will take some further research.
   
6. Post something in the Steam Workshop. There are two possible avenues I could use here. The first is posting a CS:GO skin. I've tinkered with the workbench a little bit, and while I'm no expert, I'm definitely more comfortable with it than I was at the outset. I haven't made anything too exciting so far, but I've got some more content to work with, so we'll see if it goes anywhere.
   
   The second possibility is posting a collection on Tabletop Simulator, a recent gift I received (thanks Nick). I've collected a few items and boards from other workshop posts, and I'd like to assemble a kind of "catch-all" collection for a certain tabletop role-playing game I've played with a few friends. (Nerd alert! Just kidding, you knew I was a nerd when I started posting Magic decks.)

So those are my blog/internet goals for the coming year. I'm hoping to increase the amount of content I provide overall, as well as hopefully generating a little bit of revenue.

If you've got any suggestions or naysaying you'd like to offer, feel free to post a comment.

Happy new year!