And you therefore spend even more
#general gaming
mossy flume
teal sonnet
buy this thing, receive a code in the email
dire gate
I'm not even sure why you are so angry about it
teal sonnet
easy
quiet swift
That implies then stocking 5 different versions of an item rather than 5x more of the same item
teal sonnet
I am not talking about
putting the code on the box
just receiving an email with the code
teal sonnet
I'm not even sure why you are so angry about it
because it is just one more way they manage to treat people who pay for this shit, like shit
quiet swift
buy this thing, receive a code in the email
You'd have to have customer service hand check the proof of purchase account by account, as usually this isn't done by computer checking it. Or it would get tricked easily
mossy flume
Then they would need to set up the infra to make that work in addition to all the storefronts and coordinate with the many storefronts to work out the codes
teal sonnet
that alredy exists
mossy flume
It's not as simple as just sending an email, there's a lot of backend that needs to be implemented for that
quiet swift
The 'solution' is simple, how feasible to actually implement that solution is much, much, MUCH fucking harder than you think it is
quiet swift
Fuck off, we're not protecting it
teal sonnet
The 'solution' is simple, how feasible to actually implement that solution is mu...
It already EXISTS
quiet swift
We're just telling you that your ideas are not as simple as you think it is
dire gate
The only possible problem with it is if they sell it at the same price with other collector's editions which includes the game
teal sonnet
IT IS
quiet swift
It exists and they spent a lot of money in whatever company that is to implement it - why spend the money to set this up or license it when they can just do something else?
quiet swift
Stuff we know a lot more about than you
(I work CS in a game company. This is directly part of stuff I see daily)
mossy flume
generating digital game codes is a weirdly complicated endeavor.
quiet swift
Plus there's the different formats? Like, XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX for one, ABCDE-ABCD-ABCDE for another, etc
mossy flume
The basic infra is there, but you have to set up the contracts with each vendor if you want to go that route for your game.
It's less work to do it this way while also providing more flexibility for the customer, it's as simple as that.
dire gate
The Diablo 4 Limited Collector's Box is priced at $96.66.
The price seems totally fine
mossy flume
Snrk
quiet swift
It's less work to do it this way while also providing more flexibility for the c...
Also makes them more money
mossy flume
Yeah
quiet swift
Minor detail, of course
mossy flume
There's a little less profit sharing involved.
mossy flume
It's true
quiet swift
They also have not abandoned CE editions at all. WOW is single platform and had the CE with code in it
mossy flume
Yep. I ordered the digital CE of D4 already on Battlenet.
quiet swift
Since this is multiplatform, this is actually the simpler solution for blizz
MA: since i live in EU and my billing is there, but i play on US servers... because blizz is not a bank and can't change currencies, I can't transfer my gold into "blizz balance" to buy the game like that
Which is very annoying 
mossy flume
The box is cheaper than Diablo 4 ultimate edition
Pretty nuts.
teal sonnet
why this game even has fucking tiers
mossy flume
teal sonnet
why fucking game has a battle pass
quiet swift
Are you actually going to make a point or just rage all the time?
teal sonnet
this whole things just makes me disgust
because this whole thing is fucking insanely dumb
mossy flume
If it's more like an expansion pass that would make more sense to me
teal sonnet
and people who buy this shit just make it worst
mossy flume
But they haven't detailed what the battle pass does yet as far as I'm aware
dire gate
idk, it still makes more sense than Nintendo selling Pokemon BDSP and Kirby Return to Dreamland Deluxe at $59.99
quiet swift
MA: they've talked about it and they do plan to make it more live servicey that actually brings content - not just cosmetics but a lot new dungeons, events, etc etc. Actual content
mossy flume
Huh...
dire gate
Did you know that Pokemon Scarlet/Violet are $59.99 each and the Double pack is $120.00?
quiet swift
MA: there was an august blog, lemme look
quiet swift
teal sonnet
I just see this as a way to milk players into spending even more money on a game
that they are already spending a lot of money on it
quiet swift
Yeaaah, welcome to the last 10 years of gaming?
teal sonnet
everything in this games feels like way to make more money instead of actually doing something with the game
quiet swift
Again, why are you acting like this is anything new
teal sonnet
god fucking dammit
mossy flume
Video games have only gotten more expensive to develop and players demand long term support of those games, so it's only natural that companies would work to make this make economic sense.
quiet swift
I'll say it now, I am not saying any of this is anything i agree with, I hate it. I just am tired of you raging at this game in particular, blaming it for everything when it's just the most recent example in a now long line of other games doing the exact same thing
mossy flume
There's also the frankly annoying raging at Nvidia and Nintendo and... basically everyone who dares to put out a product these days.
river veldt
Who is Nvidia
mossy flume
To be honest I'm getting really tired of your schtick.
I can understand the annoyance, but screaming about it all the time doesn't help
teal sonnet
nvidia release shit
nintendo they still being the same as aways
if you don't complain about
they will just keep abusing
simple as that
giving money to them is the real problem
mossy flume
Don't complain at us
quiet swift
Also for the love of god, stop abusing that enter key
teal sonnet
I am glad people are mad at nivida
mossy flume
You keep yelling at us as if we have something to do with it
river veldt
Why am I getting bapped for that
mossy flume
You constantly working to derail any conversation about any of these things in this server and constantly insulting those of us who buy these products is getting exceptionally tiring. Are we not allowed to enjoy things?
mossy flume
Why am I getting bapped for that
I thought you were joking?
Nvidia, the GPU manufacturer?
river veldt
Oh
quiet swift
...
quiet swift
And we know your opinion, you've stated it about 10489729834 times. We're sick of it
It's not like we even disagree with it
mossy flume
You also accusing us of defending them when we're simply trying to explain how it works in the grand scheme of things.
Indeed.
teal sonnet
well I will keep complaining
quiet swift
mossy flume
Well don't complain at us.
because we don't work for these companies and we're not in charge of economics.
quiet swift
because we don't work for these companies and we're not in charge of economics.
At least the first part
mossy flume
if you want to complain then send feedback to the companies.
Don't go insulting us. You're making yourself the personification of the "stop having fun!" meme.
mossy flume
<:ajlie:585560130800844800>
Well yeah but you're just customer service, you're not making executive decisions. =P
Presumably.
quiet swift
Indeed not
Anyway, regarding battle pass:
"Seasons will add all-new gameplay, quests, challenges, meta changes, and quality-of-life improvements. The Battle Pass recognizes players’ dedication, with greater rewards unlocking as you play more throughout the Season. There will be a single track of rewards with Free Tiers that are unlocked just by playing the game and leveling, and Premium Tiers which provide no in-game power or advantage over other players. The Free Tiers of the pass will provide gameplay boosts to all players—things which make the journey of leveling up a fresh seasonal character faster and more streamlined. In contrast, the Premium Tier rewards are focused on aesthetics, providing a huge value in the form of cosmetics and Premium Currency. Many of the rewards embody the seasonal theme, helping players show off their participation in that Season."
There's the paid and free track, and it's all just cosmetic stuff
And it's designed to pay for keeping the content coming, as a live service
mossy flume
I guess as long as it also serves single player that's fine with me
quiet swift
As far as I can tell, yeah
bleak lintel
Blizzard games tend to get long term support and this is how they are going to pay for it. There's still a lot of great games that release without battle passes and such.
Really you just have to look if you really need the stuff in a battle pass and not give into FOMO.
river veldt
random steppe
"Seasons will add all-new gameplay, quests, challenges, meta changes, and qualit...
Yeah, this instantly makes me much less interested.
Especially if it's like OW2 battlepass, grindy as hell and not very rewarding.
I don't trust blizzard to do it well
I kinda want the battle passes that don't expire TBH, I seen a couple of games do it and I like the idea much more.
quiet swift
https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo4/23816415/diablo-iv-quarterly-update-august-2022 as I linked above actually goes into a lot more detail. The problem with OW is that there IS power attached to the battle pass - the heroes, for example. This doesn't happen in Diablo 4. There's some xp boosts for leveling/leveling the pass, I think though
random steppe
Even if you end up paying to it, my biggest problem is the pressure
quiet swift
Yeah I think Halo infinite swapped to a persistent rewards for older battlepasses?
random steppe
Yeah no, the power is bad but it's not my biggest problem
It's the feeling that I have to log in to complete it within a certain time, be on the grind for the weekly, etc
That what completely kills it for me
quiet swift
Ahh
river veldt
Battle passes stress me the hecc out which is why I stopped playing Fortnite
bleak lintel
That's the FOMO part of it.
quiet swift
That remains to be seen, I think
bleak lintel
You kind of have to give up wanting to collect everything in a Blizzard game.
quiet swift
Actually, heck, there's already FOMO in 3 - the season stuff. All the game objectives you need to do in order to unlock those new wings or pets or whatever
random steppe
Warframe has the sort of battlepass but it's not paid, it's only one track and it's free.
I don't like it much but it's there for like 6 months, and you require like, 4-5 weeks to complete, and you can do it in one day if you are really dedicated since it fishes older challenges when you complete the recent ones.
That works for me a bit better because I can like, grind it for 2 or 3 weeks and be done with it, the idea of having to play the game every week for a long stretch of time just doesn't work for how I play games
bleak lintel
Yeah, D3 seasons is what I expect we'll see.
quiet swift
D4 will have a free track and a paid one, from what I see
random steppe
For the seasons in 3, I did it twice and it was fun, mostly because it was the 1st time I was able to put together the complete builds, then I stopped.
The "log in every day" aspect consistently is also why I have trouble really getting into POE
quiet swift
Fair
random steppe
That said, we'll see, many things I thought I'd never enjoy and stuff came out in the genre that did things to my taste and proved me wrong
quiet swift
In that particular genre? What was it, if i may ask?
bleak lintel
It's just going to be Diablo, you can kind of judge it based on your D3 habits. I only played a season every now and then when I felt like playing Diablo.
random steppe
I didn't mean in the Diablo style games, I never played that many to begin with so there wasn't much of a chance to surprise me
Mostly in other genre
Like, I had written off the whole survival genre before Subnautica
quiet swift
Ahh
To be fair, I still only like Subnautica, haven't found a survival game that feels as interesting
random steppe
Valheim is not as interesting, but I like it
bleak lintel
In Diablo every season is a reset, so there's not going to be progression tied into the passes.
random steppe
And that vampire one
That one I liked a lot
Fixed map
I wish more survival games didn't go for procedural generation
icy crescent
grave tide
Bill Clinton is the winner on TGA!
craggy vine
Man Fortnite looks insane now
knotty echo
Working on a little game I'm making
A simple test game
For something bigger I could make
light gate
Just don’t do movement = stopped if collided with an object.
You want to keep pushing the player out instead of stopping all movement.
Otherwise you will get that janky movement that MMF2 games get the rep of.
dapper cedar
Oooh memories in Clickteam
gaunt marten
At press time, a distraught Naka had reportedly declared bankruptcy after tripping and falling on a bed of pointy spikes.
gilded moth
What's a good third-party Joy-Con replacement that doesn't drift? Mine are really starting to fight me just trying to play games normally and I think it's about time I replace them.
gaunt marten
For the switch?
gilded moth
Yeah.
gaunt marten
Beats me
heck yeah
craggy vine
Working on a little game I'm making
The dance floor thing would probably be better as one whole texture
bleak lintel
What's a good third-party Joy-Con replacement that doesn't drift? Mine are reall...
You can't really escape drift because every modern controller is using the same joystick part.
If you're looking for an alternative, the pro controller sticks are larger and don't get worn down as fast.
As for your Joycons, Nintendo is still doing free replacements for drift, even out of warranty.
visual hill
https://kotaku.com/steam-pc-valve-reviews-placid-plastic-duck-simulator-18498818...
reminds me of Super Rub a Dub
proud warren
fresh bane
Feels kind of wild that I had to actually explain the appeal of survival horror game design to someone in a Silent Hill group on a thread
A guy in the same thread was right, sometimes it seems people just hate this genre and yet they want to make opinions about it or still hang around in survival horror circles
chilly mural
me
fresh bane
People act as if backtracking and exploration is a bad trait in survival horror
actually trying to tell me that Callisto Protocol's linear hallway experience is just so much better
I get it some people find it boring to explore and run around, it's fine, s'all cool, but don't tell me that it's wrong game design or that it should be another way just because you dislike it 
I blame this on RE4 /s
Curse you, RE4, you beautiful game
You changed the landscape of action games and survival horror games permanently, for better and for worse
slim thorn
...didn't RE4 have some backtracking and exploration too? (not Metroidvania levels of it like Signalis or SH1-3, but still)
river veldt
Yeah
fresh bane
Not nearly as much as RE3 even
RE4 is painfully linear especially in comparison to classic survival horror
Even the puzzles are immediate and not things you slowly solve
It's the turning point for the franchise so there's definitely some elements of previous installments still but a lot of it was gone by RE4 and it influenced all the games that came after like original RE games influenced other survival horror games
toxic seal
Been playing NFS Unbound. The positive accolades are well-deserved. Racing is legit challenging even on easy difficulty, controls are smooth and intuitive, but what is really making this game is the 10/10 no miss soundtrack
Every single track is straight fire
quiet swift
So I've mentioned this before ages ago, a friend is a solo dev for an indie game that he's been working on for the past few years. He's done everything himself except the music, but it looks like great fun, and he just announced a release date: https://vxtwitter.com/byobattleship/status/1602345868446744578
toxic seal
So much international hip-hop and rap, it's so cool hearing rap in so many languages
quiet swift
🕵️ And on topic of NFS Unbound, I have two codes for the top edition of it for Steam. Willing to trade it for something in the top 20 on my Steam Wishlist. (Best to wait for xmas sale for that) - i am good for this, have done many trades in here in the last several years
and, speaking of sales, GOG just started their winter sale, and have https://www.gog.com/en/game/ghost_of_a_tale as a giveaway if you sign up to their newsletter (can unsub straight after)
wind stump
You don't say?
dire gate
"The lecture fee is $500 in total, thank you."
green fulcrum
https://kotaku.com/steam-pc-valve-reviews-placid-plastic-duck-simulator-18498818...
Sometimes...we just need that little bit of escapism that boosts our morale and makes us happy. If that means watching rubber duckies fall from the sky into a pool and then float around, so be it. It sounds lovely and cute. :)
GOTY (along with Stray, in our hearts).
wind stump
Here to kill chaos your wallet.
thorny loom
dire gate
Tell us why, given money, we are meant to pay, helpless in our cries?
teal sonnet
https://www.gamesradar.com/final-fantasy-16-collectors-edition/ <:oof:6166209431...
those at least come with the game tho?
dire gate
idk if I'd prefer $300 CE with the game or $96 Box without the game.
quiet swift
even with the ultimate version of d4 it's 99+96. Mind you, that FF16 CE is the better of the two with the statue
And then you have the homeworld 3 CE... at 180$ 
quiet swift
I am the most tempted by that CE, yes
green fulcrum
I really need to get Majora's Mask on the 3DS.
fresh bane
kinda crazy that there's no zelda or nintendo thread yet on the games thing
green fulcrum
I only had Ocarina of Time
fresh bane
I wouldn't super recommend Majora on the 3DS
fresh bane
Lots of very dubious changes, very well documented dubious changes
Ocarina is definitely a 10 out of 10 though
green fulcrum
It's not like I played the original or have an N64.
fresh bane
There's some small things in Ocarina like some changes to the visuals and lighting that aren't quite good but overall Ocarina is a perfect replacement for 64 OOT
green fulcrum
So I wouldn't really know about the changes.
fresh bane
But for Majora's Mask there's a few things that to me make it so that I can't recommend it over the original
river veldt
I haven't played OoT or MM and yet I call myself a Zelda fan
mossy flume
I can recommend MM3D over the original if you're a younger generation gamer
But there are substantial differences
river veldt
Is it still really creepy
mossy flume
Mostly QoL changes
Yes, but arguably lightened up slightly
very slightly
Still creepy as fuck at its core
But the dungeons were simplified with a lot of new clues
green fulcrum
I still want to get it, and it's certainly cheaper to get the 3DS version than it is to get the N64.
mossy flume
And the boss fights were changed
river veldt
Is MM the creepiest game Nintendo has made do you think
mossy flume
It's definitely up there
No less than the top three
It works beautifully on an N64 emulator, mind
But yeah, the 3DS version can be recommended in a lot of cases
river veldt
I do have NSO+ so maybe I'll give it a shot
mossy flume
But if you want a pure experience, then you'll want the original N64 version
fresh bane
I'm eating right now but if you want I can sort of list the changes for you GT
If you're dead set on getting the 3ds version you might not care but if you are interested in knowing
mossy flume
OoT 3D didn't make any real changes (a few tiny tweaks, nothing that impacted the experience) but the MM3D remaster did actually change some gameplay.
I think the biggest thing is the boss fight changes
Those were actual changes from the original material
Everything else was just QoL tweaks
fresh bane
Yeah MM did a very weird change with Odolwa where the fight is no longer 'free'
you have to attack its weak points and only when the game tells you to attack
It also got rid of the Zora swimming from OG Majora's which is definitely the biggest wtf change of all
They tied the zora swimming to magic which drains and there's not a whole lot of magic refills to go around so you end up never using the zora swimming, which is the main appeal of the zora form
The ''fight'' with the giant skeleton you have to chase around is also super downgraded, before you actually had to try and chase it but now you can catch the dude in the first checkpoint
Overall the entire game got super watered down and standardized and is a lot easier to play, whether that's a plus or a negative in your book then that's for you to decide
There's also a lot of visual changes I dislike, the entire game is noticeably less dark and grimy looking, which... is weird, it worked for Ocarina, but not for Majora's
mossy flume
Oh right, forgot about those
fresh bane
also the Deku Link spin SUCKS
mossy flume
And yeah, it is much better lit
fresh bane
In OG Majora's the Deku Link spin carried momentum so you could actually FLY across the water
mossy flume
Which detracts from the theming.
fresh bane
in 3DS Majora's the momentum completely stops when you hit the water and you're limited to 3 small hops
It's actually bafflingly bad
fresh bane
they also added a save point instead of saving by using the song that sends you back in time which... kind of defeats the entire purpose of that mechanic...
it's a whole lot of that really
''X mechanic worked super well in the OG, 3DS kind of butchered it''
Oh god I just remembered they also butchered the entire sequence of lilly pads with Deku Link in that portion of the game too
in the original game the platforms were constantly moving but in the remake only the platform in which you are currently moves, not the ones you have to land on
It's a whole bunch of that kind of changes, changes that severely undermine and kind of insult your intelligence as a player 
making the game kind of boringly easy and not fun and being very hands-on with changes
Again whether or not this is good or bad, that's up to you, but for me? I will always recommend the original Majora's, not for nostalgia, no, it's just... a better game
3DS Ocarina is top tier though, definitely a great replacement even if it has its own issues
green fulcrum
I wouldn't say it "insults the player's intelligence".
Especially since I can't play the original.
And I am very hesitant to install an emulator.
fresh bane
I will always advocate for emulation in cases where you can't play the original, I understand some people want to actually buy the games and own them and all, but that will always be my default stance
I'm not gonna force anyone to, but my recommendation will always be emulation for sure
But if you reeeeally want to play it and own it and buy it officially, it's not gonna kill you or anything just gotta weigh the options and gotta see for yourself if the changes mean anything to you
A lot of people who couldn't play the original had fun with the 3DS remake for example
Couldn't as in, it was too difficult for them
green fulcrum
One of the reasons why I don't want to get an emulator is because there's so many, and I have no idea if I'm getting one that's legit or if I'm going to download a trojan or something.
mossy flume
My recommendation is just based on a player by player basis, it's preference IMO.
fresh bane
If you need help with emulators we can definitely help
mossy flume
Indeed, some of us are well versed
fresh bane
It's not gonna install a virus or crypto miner in your computer so don't worry about that 
I mean, unless you actively go into dubious sites
The only thing about emulation is that it can be complicated and overwhelming for people who either don't care for it or don't want to do it
Buuut... it's nothing huge really, just takes time to learn or someone to help
mossy flume
N64 emulation is simple these days
slim thorn
emulation, like torrents, is one of those things that seems intimidating until you actually ask someone for instructions, and then it's all working fine in an hour or two
mossy flume
It's just plug and play now
fresh bane
Speaking of this, Nerrel has a great HD pack for Majora's mask
And a neat tutorial on how to get it running
mossy flume
I can give you the ROMs even
fresh bane
Cool video, even if you just want to see the changes and don't care about actually doing it
slim thorn
hell I figured out how to configure motion control emulation in a few hours, and I didn't even ask any of you for help with that part 
mossy flume
Just DM me if you want help setting up a N64 emulator to play MM or whatever
fresh bane
The emulation community definitely has a lot of tools and is very active online so you bet there's lots of documentation on how to get stuff running
river veldt
emulation, like torrents, is one of those things that seems intimidating until y...
I find torrenting extremely intimidating, but it's easy you say?
mossy flume
It is incredibly easy.
mossy flume
Yeah.
slim thorn
I think you've seen me give the "how to torrent" lecture here a few times
mossy flume
Or setting up your client to just start downloading immediately.
fresh bane
The way torrenting works is that the file you're downloading is being ''seeded'' by multiple people, meaning that you're downloading it from all these people who also have that file
slim thorn
it literally takes minutes
fresh bane
the more have it and actively seed it the faster it goes
slim thorn
and the other person usually runs away screaming because I wrote more than three sentences back to back
river veldt
I'm bad at technology
fresh bane
Do not use utorrent though
slim thorn
but it's still easy lol
river veldt
What do I use
fresh bane
use qbittorrent
mossy flume
qBitTorrent
river veldt
If I google qbittorrent will the police break down my door and areest me
slim thorn
no
fresh bane
Yes they will, you will have to go into hiding and abandon your life as you avoid detection by the law
(no, they won't)
mossy flume
You'll get in more trouble for jaywalking.
river veldt
There are so many options here wtf
fresh bane
Just pick your OS
mossy flume
The rest are different GUI APIs
slim thorn
the UX person in me gets angry whenever I see one of these "download pages" that doesn't have a single extremely loud link for the obviously correct default for everyone who doesn't have strong installer preferences
because what Cap just said is how all normal people react to these pages
river veldt
"Do you want to allow this app from an unknown publisher to make changes to your device"
mossy flume
Yes
green fulcrum
I should really update my qbittorrent file. It's still v4.3.9 when v4.5.0 has been released.
mossy flume
It's a false positive
slim thorn
doesn't it ask that whenever you install literally anything?
mossy flume
qbittorrent is not a correctly signed app
Because that requires money
So Windows and macOS will question the installer every time
river veldt
Okey it's installed now what
mossy flume
Now you just need a torrent to download.
river veldt
I thought that was what I just downloaded
mossy flume
You downloaded a torrent CLIENT
fresh bane
No, you downloaded the thing that downloads the torrents
fresh bane
What do you want to download?
rancid herald
I feel like the problem with computer nerds is they forget most people don't think opening the commandline and typing 'wget' is an acceptable way of downloading something /s
slim thorn
the basic concept here is "peer-to-peer file sharing": instead of downloading the file from a single server that might go down or get taken down, your torrent client will be asking everyone else with a running torrent client to transfer pieces of the file to you
so the torrent lives on as long as anyone who ever downloaded it continues uploading (or "seeding") it
fresh bane
I don't know if I'm the one being called a computer nerd
if I am that would be hilarious because I am very much illiterate when it comes to computers
river veldt
Okey so where do I get torrents from
fresh bane
There's not one place to get torrents but definitely familiar sites that can be trusted more
mossy flume
From hell. 
fresh bane
But really you can get torrents from... anywhere
again, what do you want to download specifically?
a movie? a game?
mossy flume
They're all over the place, yeah.
slim thorn
yep, this is another of those "trusted sources" things
green fulcrum
Okey so where do I get torrents from
I can show you the site I usually go to when I want to get movies and shows safely.
fresh bane
Usually I just type whatever I want and then 'torrent' at the end and I go into the most trusted sites I can find
slim thorn
lately I tend to use thepiratebay.org and nyaa.si for shows and movies I can't get legally, but there's a zillion other sites depending on what you're after
green fulcrum
Awesome, I'll DM you the link when I find it then.
fresh bane
okay so look up BCS season 6 torrent
although I would personally watch it online
it's just so much more convenient
rose rose
You'll get in more trouble for jaywalking.
Hey, jaywalking is legal in this state now
Or will be in a couple of weeks anyway
rancid herald
idk why they call it jaywalking. Jays are really more of a hoppy hop sort of walk
imagine if people walked like jays while crossing the road
mossy flume
It's true
slim thorn
IIRC I looked this up once and apparently at the time "jay" was slang for silly person
rose rose
I just looked it up and that is indeed the case 
slim thorn
fresh bane
That's right, Jay
rancid herald
time to change the member role name, then
rose rose
And apparently it originally was “jay-drivers” and referred to people driving on the wrong side of the road
rancid herald
Of course, because everyone knows birds have no sense of lanes
fresh bane
I just noticed Cinna is in a cup
rancid herald
I put izzy in the cup so she can sip while herself being sipped
fresh bane
do not sip the pone 
thorny loom
OoT 3D didn't make any real changes (a few tiny tweaks, nothing that impacted th...
Oot3d did make it you didnt have to go to the menu every time you wanted to equip something to the button tabs
Which made the water temple ALOT more tolerable
mossy flume
Yeah, that was a fantastic QoL improvement
fresh bane
FUUUUUUCCCKKKK
NOOOOO
I was doing so well!!!!
god dammit
It's gonna take so long to ever get back to this point again
grave tide
fresh bane
the fucking game bugged on me and Vergil's clone is still active 
the idle pose is so cute though
they're both crossing their arms
grave tide
Bury the light deep within
Cast aside there's no coming home
We are burning chaos in the wind
Drifting in the ocean all along
fresh bane
I think the internet absolutely ruined that song for me as well as Metal Gear Rising's soundtrack
grave tide
I think the internet absolutely ruined that song for me as well as Metal Gear Ri...
Why
fresh bane
Complete global oversaturation
People started oversaturating the internet with so many of those memes it completely stopped being funny or charming or appealing at all
and now I can't listen to the MGR soundtrack or Vergil's theme without remembering the stupid meme that became 90% of what people posted in circles of these games and the sole reason why these games became known at all to those who didn't play it/a more mainstream audience
dire gate
Ironically one of MGR's theme is about memes
fresh bane
I can't remember any of the tracks being about memes
grave tide
Ironically one of MGR's theme is about memes
Character, not song
grave tide
He's not even *about* memes, he just mentions it
Monsoon fights only because war is a meme
As violence
fresh bane
I mean not entirely, he definitely believes strongly on memes but his belief came from the fact that he thinks war is an effective teaching tool
that's why he fights
he believes war teaches people how diseased human beings are and that's where his meme obsession stems from
gaunt marten
Is MM the creepiest game Nintendo has made do you think
I read that "is Mario Maker the creepiest game Nintendo had made?"
wind stump
is it the dark souls of comics?
gaunt marten
No
dense crypt
This comic was made by someone who doesnt play well as mages lmao
gaunt marten
Well of course they suck at playing mage. It's their first time playing one
dense crypt
Thats fine and all but if they just decide to rely on heavier gear which leads to switching back to strength stats, that's even more on them
gaunt marten
It's not on them. The game kind of encourages it
dense crypt
Well if they want to play a mage, they'd better learn how to instead of letting stats carry them that hard.
gaunt marten
Stop blaming people for their problems
dense crypt
Maybe until they git gud
gaunt marten
That's a bad mannered and awful way to treat someone
dense crypt
Its a video game
dense crypt
Unfortunately, soulslikes tend to require that.
gaunt marten
They do not and this attitude is toxic and unacceptable
dense crypt
Whatever
thorny loom
wind stump
Booting up Back 4 Blood and I'm surprised at how many accessability options there are
always good to see devs striving to include more people!
gaunt marten
Especially important in a multiplayer game
wind stump
Ah, I didn't boot B4B up, I never played it before
I was getting it mixed up with World War Z, lmao
heady bridge
They shouldn't have to get good to have fun
Depends on the subjective experience of what “fun” is. I enjoy a challenge so long as that challenge is fair and not artificial and some games make that a part of their make up, and while Dark Souls/Elden Ring don’t have lower difficulties there’s nothing stopping other Souls-likes from trying to make a more accessible take on the formula.
Note this is from someone who doesn’t like the Soulsborne genes personally but did enjoy F-Zero GX which has some pretty eye-watering difficulty especially in the Story Mode.
gaunt marten
Yes obviously it's okay to life difficult stuff
slim thorn
oh is it misreading things people say about Soulslikes time? 
the key thing is games need to be fun during the learning and failing parts, not just the success parts
heady bridge
the key thing is games need to be fun during the learning and failing parts, not...
the key thing is games need to be fun (snip)
That’s it, that is the most important thing in a video game period.
slim thorn
I've played through lots of supposedly hard games that I found fun all the way through, but dropped DS1 and Sekiro within 10-15 hours because they were just not fun overall (often even when I won)
why that was the case and whether it was "my fault" or "the game's fault" is a complex discussion that these days I prefer to avoid entirely, but the idea that you have to spend time getting good before any fun can happen is just tantamount to saying the game sucks lol
heady bridge
I feel with there being such a wide array of titles complaining about a tiny minority that are either too difficult (or too easy, looking at you Kirby) seems pointless, there will be plenty that fits your comfort for difficulty and hell some can be made completely adjustable in that regard, should all games be like that? Hard to say but really Soulsborne games seem to basically use its difficulty or the struggle of overcoming obstacles as a part of its DNA and marketing.
slim thorn
this phrasing implies that we went out of our way to bring up these specific games in order to complain about them
the reality is that people can't stop talking about Soulslikes, so to participate in the conversation at all, I can't avoid mentioning it
especially in my case because there's a lot of overlap with Metroidvanias which are basically my favorite genre
gaunt marten
You ever watch Banansaurus Rex, Ixrec?
slim thorn
(also because on paper I should love Soulslikes (in the gameplay sense); that they are not merely underwhelming but actively infuriating for me remains baffling)
nope
gaunt marten
He plays metroidvania games a lot, and I usually keep an eye on him because he finds a lot of obscure but good ones
heady bridge
I’ve not played it but didn’t Elden Ring also have a fair few technical problems too? I rarely hear that talked about mind, were a lot of those issues patched out?
slim thorn
gtk
I think I already have too much of a game backlog to add more sources at this point, but if that ever changes I'll keep it in mind
heady bridge
Uggh my backlog is insane and I have 3 (maybe even 4 if Ys X miraculously comes out) Falcom RPGs due out next year…
That’s not even talking about the big hitters like Tears of the Kingdom
gaunt marten
The essential thing to note here is Dark Souls has a way of adjusting difficulty. It's the equipment you choose to use that make it more or less difficult. It's approaching the problem from an angle that is not at all common to the action RPG genre of games at the time. That's part of what made it revolutionary — it managed to fuse the Zelda, action RPG, and metroidvania genres in a way that has not been done before into a homogenous whole.
One aspect that it took from Zelda is the puzzle boss design. Given perfect information, each boss has one solution that's a lot easier than anything else you can try. Sometimes used to lock the boss behind a gadget or item you find elsewhere.
In Dark Souls, each situation you run into has to have more than one solution. The classic Zelda way of handling it where you die repeatedly to the boss until you figure it out is no longer considered acceptable, so what happens instead is that you can beat any boss with any equipment set. It's just the difficulty that changes, and when you find the "correct" way to fight a boss, the difficulty is not any higher than a normal action RPG game like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta.
This mechanic departs from Zelda in that it's applicable to the whole game. There are builds you can make, like whip-only or magic-only builds that you can beat the game with, but the game will be a lot harder than before. You will need to get good, so to speak. This allows you to adjust the game difficulty in an invisible way from hard to near impossible if you like. A big variety of items and equipment you find everywhere allow you to experiment and find which combinations lower or raise difficulty.
This is how the game subtly guides players into strength builds like in the comic I posted earlier. Strength builds tend to have a lower skill floor to them, allowing inexperienced players to be more comfortable than they would if they did something like only use throwable items.
slim thorn
(my experience actually playing them was nothing like this 
, despite it clearly being factually true that people defeat these bosses in several different ways, hence the "remains baffling" comment)
gaunt marten
I have no idea how you play so I can't really make a guess about what went wrong
bleak lintel
"Getting good" usually refers to learning the boss patterns to avoid getting hit, it is similar to Monster Hunter in that regard.
Soul games have a lot of replayability because you can approach the game with different builds or different weapons. The somewhat non-linear aspect allows you to gather whichever items you need for your build.
gaunt marten
Yeah
heady bridge
Yeah, have a feeling the "git gud" meme is initially based on a lot more nuance that is lost when you see 12 year old kids spamming it on social media and the like...
gaunt marten
A bit part of the game is indeed observing each situation and trying to reproduce the correct behavior to get past it, so when someone says that they wanted to play a mage build but they couldn't, it's not helpful to tell them that they suck
grim stirrup
the correct response is "go and grab dark bead" /s 
gaunt marten
True and valid
Dark Beads are so fucking broken
But also they deal physical damage, not just magic
heady bridge
I'd imagine there are plenty of good guides and videos that explain the weapons and items and what they bring to the table and what might suit your playstyle best etc.
gaunt marten
Yep
grim stirrup
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HySGI-M-L8 
heres an enitre video based around countering dark bead
heady bridge
I mean for some of the games i have played lately (which date to the mid-2000s) a guide has been helpful not because I don't know what I'm doing but due to more archaic game design it's easy to miss content
grim stirrup
||also known as "being to low a level to being matched with someone who cfan have dark bead||
it depends on what missable content is in the context
DS has a lot of missable content, but you really dont need any of it
heady bridge
I love you Nihon Falcom but having whole side quests off the beaten path that you'd never think of going to when in the middle of a major story beat was just really dumb, thankfully they have got better about that over time but still...
slim thorn
there are so few games you can trust to not hide important things in missable ways and then punish you for missing them that basically every game requires at least one google at the end to double-check you're really done
heady bridge
I'd argue much older titles like the original Legend of Zelda a guide or at the very least a map is pretty much essential as I think I'd pull my hair out if I had to play that game without one.
slim thorn
even with Signalis recently, ||the fake ending nearly fooled me into missing the entire last third of the game, because apparently I managed to trick the game into reloading a save before it could put me on the next part of the story? 
||
untold vigil
I'm definitely bored of talking about soulslikes, and I actually like them
May I say, Ix
With utter sincerity
grim stirrup
and beside, thats not an old game thing only, one of the estus equivilents in elden ring is entirely missable and that thing is strong
untold vigil
on an unrelated note, has anyone actually played Calisto protocol
I was gonna pick it up but Signalis sorta filled that niche for a bit
(niche being survival horro)
slim thorn
when I asked the other day it seemed as though Ludmil and star were the only two people on the server who had
heady bridge
Not a horror guy myself so no, though I heard the launch on anything but the PS5 was pretty rough
gaunt marten
Wasn't the Calisto Protocol a legendarily bad game?
slim thorn
part of my point in asking was to get a more direct source on that allegation
though in the end I didn't really get any information I could act on
untold vigil
Yeah
heady bridge
I believe it's a decent-ish to good game (depending who you asked) marred by technical problems
untold vigil
I mean I just got done playing ixion for 38 straight hours and that also is getting a bad rep out the gate so
slim thorn
that's my vague impression as well
heady bridge
Sounds like Sonic Frontiers now I say that
untold vigil
I really don't want to trust the zeitgeist right now
heady bridge
and I liked Frontiers for the most part
slim thorn
the zeitgeist favors oversimplifications, and these are genres where we need pretty detailed takes to figure out if we'd like them
untold vigil
The Zeitgeist of late favors "wasn't exactly what I built it up in my mind to be, 0/10"
I wonder if they ever actually play games, since they seem to all put 1-2 hours into each one before yelling and quitting
I mean, maybe they have lives I guess but
They aren't acting like it
heady bridge
Calisto feels like a project made by a new team, even if the head made stuff like Dead Space and has other experienced staff, with all the new team pitfalls that seem to happen, hopefully it sells well enough that they get another swing at it, either with a sequel or another IP.
grim stirrup
i mean, theres a difference in zeitgeist between "this is a bad game" (its a survival horror puzzle game, and i wanted a shooter) and "this is a bad game" (it doesn't get a stable FPS on most consumer grade computers)
slim thorn
which is why we were asking if anyone had played it themselves
untold vigil
. . . Man
Okay, well
It's an unreal game so thats a problem right there
but, leaving my own biases at the door for a second, there also isn't a ton of middle ground between the "this looks like an indie game, 0/10" crowd and the "wtf, low FPS" crowd
Which are also mostly the same crowd not understanding how anything works
heady bridge
You playing on PC? I did hear the shader stutter was fixed in a recent patch at least though I find it baffling games on PC are being released at launch with such a problem to begin with, especially with it being a common and well-known issue by now
slim thorn
untold vigil
I haven't gotten it yet, I wanted to hear from a trustworthy source before I did
rose rose
I like how we just have an ever growing pile of game engines that gamers have declared Bad.
Unity? Bad. Unreal? Bad.
heady bridge
PhyreEngine is bad because only one game on PS5 uses it (and it's technically not even out yet 😛 )
A game engine is only as good or bad as the talent that uses it, and hey the Hedgehog Engine might be a poor fit for open world stuff like Frontiers with it's pop-in issues but hey... no shader stutter on PC...
untold vigil
I like unity
rose rose
Presumably one could discover for themselves whether it is actually unplayable by buying it and then refunding it if it is.
untold vigil
. . . I mean, i could, i guess
But I don't love the refund system in general
It also wasn't a thing for most of my life so I forget about it
gaunt marten
True. Pirating the game and trying it out is more fun than refunding
heady bridge
The issue there is most companies don't offer demos for their games anymore and well, I wonder if Square will in future after the disaster that was Balan and I have heard pretty poor things about the Forspoken demo as well from a few friends that tried it...
untold vigil
I also dislike Unreal from a developer standpoint, not just a "gamer" standpoint
gaunt marten
Because when you get a refund you have to return the fun back
gaunt marten
That's fair
heady bridge
I dunno, I had fun breaking broken games like Sonic 06 or Two Worlds but I wouldn't say they were worth my money
slim thorn
I also don't think most of us have all that much time to spend "trying out" games, especially in the genres where it takes several hours to get through the tutorial stuff and reach a conclusion
gaunt marten
Yeah, usually I reach a conclusion by reading reviews and watching a video or two
untold vigil
Yeah, it detracts from my time I spend playing other games 
slim thorn
there are just too many total games out there
untold vigil
Yeah
slim thorn
most of them never reach the point where we'd even look for a review
untold vigil
And watching a video is what I am currently doing
And I'm leaning pretty hard on no at this point
But! not for the reasons the zeitgeist was yelling about
slim thorn
you've pretty much sold me on RE1 at this point so it's arguably moot for me
rose rose
I also don't think most of us have all that much time to spend "trying out" game...
I can’t relate to this argument at all. If something looks sufficiently interesting I’ll just give it a shot.
slim thorn
the problem there is that "looks sufficiently interesting" covers about 100x more stuff than I could do in a lifetime
untold vigil
. . . Hmm
On a surface level, I agree. But
I feel like the whole "trailer, not final gameplay" thing has burnt us collectively a lot
rose rose
There is a distinction between “give it a shot” and “actually finish it”
untold vigil
I pretty much have to wait for "well what is it ACTUALLY"
rose rose
Am I enjoying it? Great!
No? Oh well, do something else.
untold vigil
That's normally what I do for less expensive titles
slim thorn
well sure, that's how it works after I've decided what games/shows/etc to put in my queue for the day
untold vigil
If only because it avoids this exact scenario, of me asking abotu the game and the discussion getting way off track when I state my preferences
slim thorn
we're talking about a game I have not yet chosen to spend any time on, and from the looks of it probably shouldn't
rose rose
I sure do not construct a daily queue of media to consume
slim thorn
I mean it's hardly that formal
anyway, I was curious enough about Callisto Protocol to spend a few minutes asking if anyone was familiar with it, but I'm not interested enough to spend a few hours playing the start of it myself (even ignoring the whole money and waiting for installation part, and the many games where "a few hours" isn't enough)
that is a middle ground that exists, that's all
untold vigil
(During the course of this discussion, I fired up Marks first episode of it, ftr)
Anyway play Signalis
Instead
fresh bane
I'm familiar with Callisto in which it's extremely mid and in my opinion not worth the time
untold vigil
untold vigil
A third of the price
fresh bane
You can buy 3 Signalis instead of buying Callisto
chilly mural
slim thorn
I mean it's hardly that formal
buuuuuuut today the queue is Extraordinary Attorney Woo followed by catching up on the 3-4 ongoing animes I'm following with a new episode, and then probably some work on Izzy's code, but if I do play a game later it'll be Hitman
fresh bane
I'm still angry that Signalis won no awards or wasn't even nominated
slim thorn
untold vigil
My mom was reccing Extraordinary Attorney Woo to me
slim thorn
there's a point, I haven't even tried Sifu or Bayo 3
untold vigil
Although Ix if you wanted to FE
slim thorn
your mom too?
untold vigil
I'm in the mood
slim thorn
yes if you have FE time that immediately takes priority
fresh bane
I haven't touched Sifu in a bit but i've started playing a little while ago and it's fantastic
slim thorn
(that's what makes it a "queue" and not a "schedule" 
)
fresh bane
As a character action enjoyer it hits all the right spots for me
slim thorn
sure
river veldt
Gamer moment
fresh bane
Sifu has an incredibly big modding scene
That already makes it worth a purchase
Only downside is it's only on Epic....
fresh bane
Yeah I have it pirated, I wish I hadn't honestly
I really wanted to support the game and the studio but man, Epic just... well it's Epic
wind stump
The hardest choices require the strongest of wills.
You can make it up later by buying a copy when it comes to Steam for a friend
Or yourself if you want
wind stump
What is Sifu about anyway?
dire gate
It's about sifu
fresh bane
A bunch of martial artists burst into your dojo and kill your master and father, they try to kill you but you have a special dope amulet that lets you come back to life, you train for years until you're finally ready and start to hunt them down one by one
wind stump
I thought it was some sort of engine to make martial art stuff
weak river
A bunch of martial artists burst into your dojo and kill your master and father,...
Does it let you use a sword that's longer than your leg
fresh bane
No it's an actual game, it's a beat-em-up type game but with a very in depth and fun action combat system, similar to God Hand in a way
Uhhhh you can use a variety of weapons but the only swords you can use are machetes
You can use a big staff though
weak river
Close enough. Nice.
fresh bane
You can throw bottles, debris, chairs, sticks
You can also catch things in the air that enemies throw at you
weak river
Can you throw the staff?
A staff is fundamentally just a really big stick, right?
heady bridge
river veldt
Is it bad
untold vigil
I wouldn't say that, it's fun
but I didn't like it
FE Warriors games are all fun but the story of three houses was important to me and this did not do it justice IMO
river veldt
Oh it's a Warriors game
bleak lintel
Get the first Hyrule Warriors game.
wind stump
What about the second?
bleak lintel
Second one is a downgrade in every category.
gaunt marten
Except in number
wind stump
It's not even a number
it's an Age of Calamity
chilly mural
heady bridge
I think the thing I found most odd with Three Hopes was the performance, overall I’d say it ran better than Age of Calamity did but it fluctuated wildly going from mid 20s when things got busy to 60fps depending on what you were doing, where you were and even which way you were facing. This got to a point where I found areas in camps where the fps was higher so I could use the menus there as it made them more tolerable to navigate in those higher fps areas…
wind stump
lmao
Gimpy + Ipecac is such a dum face
quiet swift
gaunt marten
Feeling brave today
Ipecac has been slowly moving into my "do not pick up" list
After it ended more runs than it saved
dense crypt
I love it personally, but idk if its synergy with host hat and pyromaniac was removed
gaunt marten
Yeah of course it's good when you have immunity to explosives
dense crypt
But even without it i like it, bombs are always good
And then you get items take make tears get near you all the time
gaunt marten
Yeah
river veldt
I hate Ipecac lol
light gate
white phoenix
I just replayed portal 2 in one go in about 4 hours, which made me realize how dumb I was the first two times I played it
I remember spending literal hours on some of the tests, and now I just sped through them 
grim stirrup
i mean knowing or not, you probably still had the solutions in your mind
white phoenix
There's no way I remember the solutions more than 5 or so years after last finishing it
rough sleet
quiet swift
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn_R2uqMVDM is still the best
(there's like part 4 or 5 now)
wind stump
Working as intended, I see.
arctic fern
thorny loom
random steppe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn_R2uqMVDM is still the best
It's double weird for me because I have been in all of those locations several times
quiet swift
random steppe
Ok so, finally finished Persona 5
Took fucking forever but man, what a game.
It's been so LONG since I delved that deep in a JRPG
white phoenix
I've been meaning to get it ever since it came out on pc, but its still at full price
Everything I've seen about it though said that its a proper masterpiece
random steppe
I wanted to play it for a while and it is on game pass so I figured that might as well
white phoenix
Maybe if its on the winter sale I'll get it finally, i have been waiting for it to be on pc for so long
uneven epoch
im also waitin on sale for it
random steppe
It is really good.
uneven epoch
i watched a 100% playthrough back when covid was just gettin into that first big swing, it helped take my mind off the anxiety a lot
i quite enjoyed the story
so im lookin forward to playin it myself
random steppe
A funny element of it, the story is great and all, cried a bit here and there, but the most tragic thing is ||that the game has a romance system, and you can romance multiple people if you want to, but like, that felt shitty so I stuck to one, and shooting down every girl that hinted or even worse, straight up confessed, was actually excruciating||
random steppe
||Girl : So, why did you do all that for me? It is perhaps because...
Me: BECAUSE WE ARE REALLY GUD FRIENDS LOL
Girl: Oh....
Me IRL: Fuck this game||
That said, I actually don't like Ryuji much, he is annoying at times.
Akechi tho had that good rivalship sexual tension going on
white phoenix
Did you play with eng dub or japanese dub?
river veldt
I have P5 but I got disctracted
white phoenix
Is one better than the other? I can't decide and I've gotten many mixed messages online...
river veldt
Gen did you romance your teacher
random steppe
Get out of my head Cap
river veldt
did you
random steppe
Listen, I am almost 40 IRL so romancing one of the 16 yo would have destroyed the little self respect I have left
river veldt
Lol fair
random steppe
And of the adults, the crazy fortune teller is just crazy, and the journalist is annoying
white phoenix
Wait, can you romance literally anyone
random steppe
The doctor was also a good option tho, but she calls a random student she found on the street her "Guinea pig"
river veldt
I didn't even know there was other adults you could romance
random steppe
Every lady, except one, that is among your confidants, you can romance
It's japanese and they still didn't invent gay technology tho
So no dudes
white phoenix
Damn
random steppe
Let's hope for P6
white phoenix
I guess joker just doesn't swing that way ig
gaunt marten
Potioncraft is finally out
I'm waiting for a good sale but it's looking great https://i.imgur.com/iv4FacL.png
astral steeple
spiral kraken
spiral kraken
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1583230/High_On_Life/
Hmmm.... is it funnier that the more recent seasons of R&M ?
visual hill
https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1603061869396209664?s=20&t=pKgqNf-OYSPEUaAAaj...
Unreal Tournament 3 X was also announced, but I'm still sad to see classic Unreal master servers shut down... the community is providing replacements already anyway
gaunt marten
Note: We have plans to bring back online features
mossy flume
https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1603061869396209664?s=20&t=pKgqNf-OYSPEUaAAaj...
TIL Unreal Tournament was on Steam
chilly mural
cheeki breeki
dense crypt
get out of here stalker
graceful bridge
Saw that! Looks neat
quiet swift
wintry canopy
I just woke up and sunbreak has a new event quest for layered armor 
from monster hunter frontier.
wintry canopy
The quest has been completed
gaunt marten
dull walrus
XD
wind stump
Can't wait!
heady bridge
Adventurer Adol, To the Far North Sea ――
The latest numbering work and the 35th anniversary of the series!
"Ys X -Nodix-" will be released on multiple platforms in 2023! #PS5 #PS4 #Switch
Getting a lot of Ys VIII vibes which makes me very excited as that game is an overlooked modern classic imo
wind stump
Man, never thought Catalyst in a deck with no Poison cards would be useful.
gaunt marten
Two poison potions and a catalyst+ is 465 total damage
You can beat any boss with just that combination and block cards
wind stump
Who needs that when you have this beautiful combo
Panache + Storm of Shivs + Tactitian + Reflex
wind stump
This deck is slightly good.
gaunt marten
Finisher is and catalyst are the reason I love playing the Silent
Sure, wraith form is the strongest card in the game but it's not as fun
wind stump
Dead Branch + Shivs = clown fiesta
gaunt marten
The game already has DLC
I'm going to recommend my favorite Bullet Heaven again
It's been getting one update a week, every single week
It changed significantly from the last time I mentioned it. The developer is really good about thoughtfully refining the game
wind stump
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2230760/Vampire_Survivors_Legacy_of_the_Moons...
zamn, that's some cheap DLC
gaunt marten
Cheap? It's more expensive than the base game
gaunt marten
Longest I've lasted against Heart anyway
Maybe not. They did raise the price of the game a whole ago
wind stump
damn caught the reply
gaunt marten
It says seven dollars for me
Anyway
The biggest thing you need to learn if you want to beat the heart is how to deal as much damage as possible while sacrificing just enough HP.
The goal here is to start scaling down your defense capabilities slowly and replace them with more damage, and to be efficient about it
river veldt
It's a GTA Online teaser 
teal sonnet
fuck
arctic fern
amazon still is trying to get into the gaming market?
arctic fern
apparently
rose rose
Being a publisher rather than a developer might work out better for them.
heady bridge
Amazon are also helping with that new Bandai Namco game too that was shown off at The Game Awards if I remember right
rose rose
I’m up for more Tomb Raider. As long as they don’t screw it up
Who owns Crystal Dynamics now?
Square Enix sold them, didn’t they?
heady bridge
Embracer
heady bridge
They also own Eidos Montreal now too
heady bridge
They feel like the new Infogrames to me, expanding and overreaching far too fast, I do wonder when they go bankrupt and not if.
Infogrames are better known as Atari nowadays
quiet swift
I wouldn't say that, they're a swedish group I believe that's well funded through other means. They're also not trying to muscle in on the big AAA blockbusters like COD or FIFA or stuff like that
A lot of focus is on indies. Filling out a niche that the big dogs aren't really filling
heady bridge
Well FIFA is up in the air now they have split from EA
quiet swift
Well yeah but that's a whole different ball game (ha). Just was an example for size
slim thorn
come to think of it, I never played any of the Tomb Raiders
quiet swift
Old or new?
heady bridge
The originals have aged like milk and yet I still have a soft spot for the Venice levels in Tomb Raider 2
slim thorn
either
quiet swift
Yeah, the old ones are... jank, to say the least
The newer ones are good stuff, I'd recommend them
heady bridge
Don't really like how Lara is characterised in the modern games though, even if they play much better than the older ones.
gaunt marten
Yeah she doesn't have huge triangular boobs
quiet swift
Matt: fair
gaunt marten
Her actual most defining characteristic
heady bridge
Well that too, allthough I believe Rise on PlayStation did have a skin to make her look like her older self
heady bridge
Her actual most defining characteristic
Locking butlers in fridges?
gaunt marten
That too!
random steppe
The old ones are very good games but yeah, ps1 3d graphics especially aren't exactly known to age well
And also, they are very janky feeling now
But they are still good if you can get past that, the enviorments are legit impressive for what they were working with hardware wise
And the "puzzles" aren't easy
So to speak
Failing playing them, Josh has a great video on Tomb Raider 1
quiet swift
free today
static bluff
Oh, looks like it might be daily right now?
quiet swift
Yep, for xmas period. The epic sale is starting too
(I think it's 25% off anything above 14.99?)
static bluff
Very exciting
quiet swift
ghost of a tale was free a few days ago on gog
gaunt marten
Aw, it doesn't have Hitman 3
heady bridge
Quick reminder that Tomb Raider was actually a Sega Saturn title first and the PSOne version was essentially a port, though it ran far better on Sony's machine and was pretty much a poster child for the format for the rest of its life. Sega wouldn't get a Tomb Raider game again until Last Revelation on the Dreamcast which was a port of the PC version via the machine's Windows CE libraries.
river veldt
free today
Is this game good?
quiet swift
river veldt
Wowsa
quiet swift
Tower defense, I believe?
chilly mural
🐒
thorny loom
Aw, it doesn't have Hitman 3
Unfortunately but hitman 3 usually goes on sale for $20 during major events
river veldt
I now own 2 games on Epic
dire gate
🎈🎯🐒
visual hill
regarding GTA Online, it got an update with raytraced reflections but the PC version is still missing on both RT shadows and reflections 
gaunt marten
Unfortunately but hitman 3 usually goes on sale for $20 during major events
I'd buy it for five
thorny loom
I now own 2 games on Epic
Unless you count unreal engine i only have fortntie on there
The rest sre just freee gsmes
visual hill
I have 203 according to legendary list
I've launched 2 of them so far (Unreal Tournament 4 and PC Building Simulator)
quiet swift
legendary list?
grim stirrup
btd6 is a fun game, it also has multiplayer
its got a few bits that feel like grody p2w but it never felt to bad to me
static bluff
Bloons is way too hardcore for me. I never end up having fun after a few levels.
grim stirrup
dw, just gotta pickup the 4 person squad for that hardcore gaming
gaunt marten
Are you not picking the lower difficulties?
Bloons does have a serious grind if you play the wrong version (They want microtransactions)
visual hill
legendary list?
Legendary is a command line client for Epic Games Store
quiet swift
dire gate
I can play coop btd6 with myself
thorny loom
"you could not live with your own failure, and where did that bring you? Back to me."
slim thorn
sorry, what failure did I miss?
thorny loom
sorry, what failure did I miss?
all these companies EA, Blizzard, Ubisoft trying to launch and maintain games on their own launchers. Only to eventually come back and put their new games back onto steam
making their launchers little more than another form of DRM
The only company that hasn't done that yet is Epic
slim thorn
ah
thorny loom
I just find it more amusing than anything
mossy flume
Steam is also a form of DRM, mind
thorny loom
Steam is also a form of DRM, mind
Ill add your DRM with my DRM and will make double stacked DRM sandwich
slim thorn
well, it provides optional forms of DRM, which many games have but not all
mossy flume
Ill add your DRM with my DRM and will make double stacked DRM sandwich
I mean, a lot of companies do that.
thorny loom
thats the joke xD
mossy flume
In addition to the Steam DRM, EA for example also adds their own on top of it
river veldt
I still don't understand what's wrong with DRM can someone explain
thorny loom
I still don't understand what's wrong with DRM can someone explain
If its done well nothing
mossy flume
It never ceases to baffle me how they think it's okay to have Steam but then Steam just launches another launcher
mossy flume
I still don't understand what's wrong with DRM can someone explain
Basically the only real potential problem with DRM is if it's set up in such a way that it breaks for legitimate users. Usually this is not the case.
light gate
GOG is literally the only Steam competitor worth even thinking, even if they have their own flaws.
slim thorn
because DRM is fundamentally about stopping you from being able to run or copy a program, it often ends up preventing more than just the piracy it's trying to target
thorny loom
Basically the only real potential problem with DRM is if it's set up in such a w...
The most common thing you see nowadays with this is on older CDbased games using Securom which wont let you play unless the disc is insered
and since most computers no longer use disc drives it renders a bunch of older games unplayable unless you patch it with a cracked EXE
slim thorn
yeah, the most straightforward problem examples are games that you bought legitimately but cannot play any more because the DRM just won't let you
mossy flume
The most common thing you see nowadays with this is on older CDbased games using...
Well yeah, but Securom is so thoroughly broken that this isn't really a problem
mossy flume
To be fair if it's old enough to have Securom, you probably have to patch it anyway to get it to run
light gate
It stopped people who actually owned the games from playing, mainly because if you run the latest windows... Securom no longer works.
There are still games compatible with the new windows.
thorny loom
yep
mossy flume
Indeed. Also the lack of support for old tech that the software uses.
thorny loom
Other times DRM can impact performance of games but thats usually not the case
mossy flume
A lot of the old Lego games can't run on modern Windows without compatibility hacks for example
Securom is not involved in that equation.
thorny loom
yeah thats more a Denuvo issue
and Denuvo can brick games if implemented wrongly as we saw with Sonic Mania
mossy flume
Oh? I didn't hear about that.
I knew about the performance overhead it imposes. Didn't know that Sonic Mania's DRM was broken.
But yeah, that's the sort of example I was referring to.
light gate
I've seen DRM hostile enough to computers.
mossy flume
99% of the time DRM doesn't matter because it doesn't cause any problems.
thorny loom
mossy flume
But when technology evolves or if servers shut down or if there's a bad implementation, then there's a problem.
thorny loom
originally you couldnt even play the game offline until they patched it
slim thorn
one example of a less simple case of DRM mattering is "always-online DRM", where by its nature it prevents you from playing when the internet is unavailable or glitchy, or perhaps if the company servers ever go down
thorny loom
mind you also it was cracked day one so pirates had none of these issues
mossy flume
one example of a less simple case of DRM mattering is "always-online DRM", where...
Currently the biggest problem with video game archival efforts today, incidentally.
thorny loom
yeah Denuvo has never stated its plan if something were to happen to its servers that forced them offline
which would brick hundreds of games
slim thorn
region-locked consoles/media players/discs are also essentially DRM, which was a real "problem" for me in that most of the video games I owned in the US couldn't be taken with me over here
and back when iTunes music had DRM on it, IIRC the rule was you could only use it on ~5 linked machines, so if you owned or replaced too many computers you could end up in a situation where none of your music files worked any more
mossy flume
The rule is still you can only use up to 5 authorized computers for iTunes/Apple Music.
mossy flume
And if you lose access to those computers, you can reset that authorization list once a year.
It sucks because on rare occasions, Windows updates will silently steal an authorization.
dense crypt
battlepasses, gross
river veldt
Oh right this came out
fresh bane
No hate to the VA but holy hell that just doesn't fit Zack even a little bit
river veldt
I gotta play it
fresh bane
Oh my goodness it's so bad
river veldt
No really??? :((((
fresh bane
I mean listen for yourself
It sounds very bad
The rest of the new VA cast I think is alright but Zack's is the standout, it doesn't fit Zack a little bit and it's just... bad VA work
dense crypt
me? gongaga!
river veldt
Yeah he's not that bad lol
fresh bane
It's extremely noticeable especially for people who already knew Zack and his VA from before like the original Crisis Core
The new one is so... nasal? and much younger sounding
the vibe is completely different it doesn't fit Zack very well
river veldt
didn't play the original
fresh bane
If I were to play this I would absolutely either play with the JP voices or wait for a mod to get the original voices
river veldt
It fits fine lol this is a very minor thing
fresh bane
It's really not, you'd think it is, but it's not
the main characters' voice is extremely important especially with how good of a job the original VA did
it sounds like a small thing on paper but I'm far from the only one who clearly has an issue with this
nearly every single comment is saying the same thing I have no clue why they didn't just bring the old VA again or simply get a VA that actually sounds like him
river veldt
¯_(ツ)_/¯
fresh bane
Spoilers of Crisis Core
Like it's not even about nostalgia or about preferring the old VA
the new VA is just.. it's bad, and you can tell whenever an emotional moment comes up
it's a shame because the rest of the cast is actually great
bleak lintel
His new VA doesn't seem to fit the character.
gaunt marten
Steam is also a form of DRM, mind
Steam offers DRM-free publishing as an option.
craggy vine
release it in australia!
random steppe
I don't think the VA doesn't fit, Zack is supposed to be relatively youthful, especially at the beginning, but yeah, the actual performance is not very good
This might very well be a Japanese VA situation if I ever play it
I don't especially need to since I played the original one at the time
fresh bane
I don't think it's about it being youthful or not, the voice doesn't fit Zack
The VA performance is also bad, yes, and it doesn't help at all
random steppe
From what I heard, I don't mind the voice in on itself
fresh bane
But even if it did a good job it wouldn't fit entirely