The General Gaming Thread!

[Cogwheel]

I was gonna say, a balanced Age of Wonders sounds horribly boring.

Or a less ludicrous version, come to that. My very first multiplayer game was won mostly by what is now known as "Morgan 'Cannon' Freeman". And then there's all the stories of Belendor, who is basically an eldritch horror as far as several of my friends are concerned.

Silly game. Silly but fun. Certainly wouldn't mind playing Wizard's Throne some time if anyone's up for it.

[Morty]

I guess I'm alone in wishing the game was balanced. Even balanced it would be pretty goofy.
I'd love to play some multiplayer but my copy of Wizard's Throne is Polish, which would likely cause trouble.

[Cogwheel]

I guess I'm alone in wishing the game was balanced. Even balanced it would be pretty goofy.
I'd love to play some multiplayer but my copy of Wizard's Throne is Polish, which would likely cause trouble.

Just a tad, yeah. And I lack Shadow Magic.

Also, I'm in no hurry for serious balancing, but I do admit that some things in that direction would be nice. Making halflings and goblins a bit more playable, for instance.

[Morty]

I think Shadow Magic takes steps towards that - Goblin Butchers get some serious beefing-up(+4 attack, +3 defense, +4 health) all goblin 1st level units get underground concealment at silver medal and there are some changes to halfling units as well - but don't hold me to that, for obvious reasons. I'll play some more, then judge.

[Triscuitable]

So Silverraptor and I tried to record a quick gameplay video of us playing Modern Warfare 3, while simultaneously recording a call on Skype between us.

The key word there is TRIED.

The video, in the end, was a 17.9GB video that was blurry, audio was out of sync, and the Skype call just intruded on everything.

And we couldn't get the MJPG merged with the MP3 we ended up with either.

Anyone with knowledge on a multiperson Let's Play, please, PLEASE HELP.

[Gourtox]

So I just finished Eternal Sonata. Um, wow. That ending... You know how, sometimes, games are so blatant with their messages, you get the impression the characters are just shouting the moral of the story into your face?

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They do that literally. The ending involves various members of the cast staring directly at the screen, reciting their horribly insipid platitudes (stuff like "Preserve the environment!" "Don't do drugs!" and "Do your best!"), occasionally even telling you, the player, to apply it to your own life. By the time the credits are halfway done, you've got the entire cast on screen, desperately exhorting you to go out and make the world a better place. It's not too late for you!

That may be the single campiest video game thing in any sort of media that I have ever witnessed.

I believe you have never been introduced to my good friend here.

[Mewtarthio]

I believe you have never been introduced to my good friend here.

Oh, so it's video evidence you want, then? Very well, allow me to introduce (spoilers, obviously): Eternal Sonata (X360) end credits.

[Gourtox]

Oh, so it's video evidence you want, then? Very well, allow me to introduce (spoilers, obviously): Eternal Sonata (X360) end credits.

Oh my. That is much worse than I imagined. It is like they took the endings of Captain Planet episodes and mashed them all together. They couldn't possibly believe that was good could they?

[Mx.Silver]

Oh, so it's video evidence you want, then? Very well, allow me to introduce (spoilers, obviously): Eternal Sonata (X360) end credits.

Why?! Why would you subject us to that? Why would anybody write that? Why did nobody, at any point of the game's development cycle, stop that from being made?

[Cogwheel]

Oh, so it's video evidence you want, then? Very well, allow me to introduce (spoilers, obviously): Eternal Sonata (X360) end credits.

I'm not going to complain about the fact that you linked this.


Instead I will object to all the people who apparently thought it was "deep", "meaningful" and "beautiful". And then I will apply a hatchet to my own face so I can erase the memories of that ending.

[Morty]

To all the Baldur's Gate fans reading this thread: I'm planning to, perhaps, create my own Fighter kit one day. My current plan is for it to be restricted to studded leather but get offensive and defensive spins like the Blade. Do you think it'd be balanced?
On another note, goddamn but the haunter crypts in Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic are a pain in the ass. They wouldn't be if only those damn undead didn't get up.

[Cespenar]

To all the Baldur's Gate fans reading this thread: I'm planning to, perhaps, create my own Fighter kit one day. My current plan is for it to be restricted to studded leather but get offensive and defensive spins like the Blade. Do you think it'd be balanced?

If that's the whole deal, it sounds pretty balanced to me.

[Morty]

I think that would be it, yes. I was thinking about restricting the kit's ability to specialize in ranged weapons, but I'm not sure just how much of a disadvantage it is, and thus what it ought to get in return.

[Cespenar]

Maybe you can give it the ability to place 3 dots in two weapon style in return for that. Or did fighters get that already?

[Mx.Silver]

Fighters can indeed already do that.

[Morty]

Yeah, all warrior-type classes can put 3 dots into two-weapon fighting. It's thieves who aren't Swashbucklers who can't. So it's not an option.

[Volatar]

I created a Tribes Ascend thread.

[Maxios]

So, after playing DA2 for a while, I've changed my original opinion from "Cool! This seems like a cool RPG with awesome combat!" to "Oh god, more of this button-mashy combat where it takes all four party members to just take down one bandit quickly!" .

[Dublock]

I don't remember it taking a long time to kill a bandit. Although I did play with a main character of a female rogue (I wanted something completely different from my Human mage from the first) that just murdered people :P

[Wookieetank]

So I just recently got around to playing Mass Effect 2, and so far in my first 7 hours of playing it, I'm not terribly impressed. Show up shoot everything in sight that isn't the character you're supposed to be recruiting, and then the dialog is all: Shepard, "I am a badass" Whoever else, "Why yes, you are a badass." etc., etc. I will admit that it is a beautiful game and has a very well done sci-fi feel to it. However, I'm not sure if I'm actually going to complete this game, cause so far I've been doing the same thing over and over for 7 hours... *hides from the wrath of the faithful*

[Dublock]

So I just recently got around to playing Mass Effect 2, and so far in my first 7 hours of playing it, I'm not terribly impressed. Show up shoot everything in sight that isn't the character you're supposed to be recruiting, and then the dialog is all: Shepard, "I am a badass" Whoever else, "Why yes, you are a badass." etc., etc. I will admit that it is a beautiful game and has a very well done sci-fi feel to it. However, I'm not sure if I'm actually going to complete this game, cause so far I've been doing the same thing over and over for 7 hours... *hides from the wrath of the faithful*

I'm bored and waiting for various things and instead of getting ahead in my classes I'll make them focus on me instead of you :P

I played ME2 a few times. Mostly I imported my toon from ME1 but did start fresh in ME2 just to see how it is. I did enjoy it for the most part.

Oh I am going on a rant about a few things and looking back I should put it in a spoiler *adds spoiler before posting*

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First off I hated what they did to the inventory and the upgrade system. I KNOW people prefer this over to ME1, but I loved getting all those pieces to mix and match that best fits each weapon that I used and occasionally my squad mates. I like the fact that I could look at a weapon and say to myself "Alright I shouldn't use this great heat sink on this rifle as it would make a bigger impact of the sniper cause the sniper would get its 3rd shot instead." In RPGs, I am the guy that when entering a new town my thought process is "What gear can I get?" I then sit down and determine what is the best bang for my buck and where its most useful. To me its almost a mini game, and they took that away and gave (without DC, cause I am a cheap person) for the most part generic guns that can be useless. The semi auto sniper comes to mind.

I hated the fact that Ashley was only pissed off, and you know, ask why you are with Ceribus. If my GF, who I cared for supported some extreme organization and I thought who died I'll at LEAST ask "what happen" or "Are you ok?" Although I do admit the letter she sends does make happier about it.

That goes for some other crew members as well. I was under the impression that the crew was close and other characters were like "Oh your back, sorry but things changed." When I started playing and each time I saw an old friend I was expecting more like "WTF, you ARE alive? What happen?! You OK? Wow a lot has happened...."

Sometimes the lack of conversations with your crew mates bother me. For example Garrus, we were old buddies and it felt like I had 2 or 3 conversations before his generic response kicked in. Also they could have seriously added more generic responses.

I need to get going :p

Although that said THANK YOU for removing the STUPID Miko missions.

[warty goblin]

So I just recently got around to playing Mass Effect 2, and so far in my first 7 hours of playing it, I'm not terribly impressed. Show up shoot everything in sight that isn't the character you're supposed to be recruiting, and then the dialog is all: Shepard, "I am a badass" Whoever else, "Why yes, you are a badass." etc., etc. I will admit that it is a beautiful game and has a very well done sci-fi feel to it. However, I'm not sure if I'm actually going to complete this game, cause so far I've been doing the same thing over and over for 7 hours... *hides from the wrath of the faithful*

That was pretty much exactly my take away, it felt like the only thing the game knew how to do was tell me "Shepard is badass." I found it...awkward after a while, like the game thought I was desperately insecure and needed constant reassurance of my in-game proxy's total coolness. Sort of like Duke Nukem Forever, except played completely straight.


In other gaming news, I picked up Cannon Fodder 3 off of GamersGate. After a bit of screwing about with compatibility settings I got it running, and found it quite fun. I never played the original(s), so I'm not sure how well it compares, but it's a groovy little top down shooter, wherein lots of things explode and the lethality is very, very high. You've got a squad of four little dudes, each of which can survive three hits, or zero explosions. In the likely event all your squad dies horribly, you restart at a checkpoint with a new squad.

But your team levels up over the course of a map, and if they die, you lose all that progress. So there's a real, but not insurmountable, penalty for failure. Also all the soldiers have names that show up on a big tombstone at the end of the level if they die, so you get to feel bad.

[Triscuitable]

So I just recently got around to playing Mass Effect 2, and so far in my first 7 hours of playing it, I'm not terribly impressed. Show up shoot everything in sight that isn't the character you're supposed to be recruiting, and then the dialog is all: Shepard, "I am a badass" Whoever else, "Why yes, you are a badass." etc., etc. I will admit that it is a beautiful game and has a very well done sci-fi feel to it. However, I'm not sure if I'm actually going to complete this game, cause so far I've been doing the same thing over and over for 7 hours... *hides from the wrath of the faithful*

I love action RPGs, and Mass Effect was no exception. However, my biggest issue with it is what is a growing trend in RPGs. There's a Black and White side to all moral choices, never a "Gray" area (Garrus comments on this). There are NO benefits to being one of the other, only cosmetic choices. Those interrupts that you get in dialog show up even if you never made a Renegade choice, and vice versa. It felt like "corridor shooting, bad cover system, I only like two squadmates, etc."

Also, the Citadel was converted from a confusing, sprawling city into a tiny-itty-bitty-widdle town. That's a SIN.

[Morty]

I love action RPGs, and Mass Effect was no exception. However, my biggest issue with it is what is a growing trend in RPGs. There's a Black and White side to all moral choices, never a "Gray" area (Garrus comments on this). There are NO benefits to being one of the other, only cosmetic choices. Those interrupts that you get in dialog show up even if you never made a Renegade choice, and vice versa. It felt like "corridor shooting, bad cover system, I only like two squadmates, etc."

A growing trend? It's been present in RPGs for pretty much as long as I can remember, except for those who give you no choices. My feelings about the Paragon/Renegade system is mild disappointment, because I thought it'd subvert it, but it only does it halfway at the best of times.

[Cespenar]

Yeah, Bioware loves black and white morality for some reason. Check The Witcher 2 if you'd like a more "shades of grey" type.

[warty goblin]

Yeah, Bioware loves black and white morality for some reason. Check The Witcher 2 if you'd like a more "shades of grey" type.

In the Witcher 2 it's more like choosing between jerkwad and scumbag, while both jerkwad and scumbag have legitimate reasons for hating each other.

[Worira]

While in Witcher 1 it's like choosing between kicking puppy one or puppy two, with the option to not kick either puppy mysteriously excluded.

[Morty]

Actually, you get to stay neutral in Witcher 1. Noone likes you very much if you do that, but noone hates you either. In both games there are no right choices and wrong choices. Which is really refreshing after the BioWare RPGs.

[Cespenar]

The harder choice in Witcher 1 was choosing between Trish and the other red haired gal. I mean, who cares about government vs. rebels or that kind of political stuff?

[Mewtarthio]

Actually, you get to stay neutral in Witcher 1. Noone likes you very much if you do that, but noone hates you either. In both games there are no right choices and wrong choices. Which is really refreshing after the BioWare RPGs.

Bioware's getting there. A lot of the moral choices in DA:O were pretty neutral, and most of the obvious "Good vs Evil" choices were set up so that "Evil" was more like "pragmatism to a sociopathic degree" rather than "petty kitten-strangling."