[Steam] Thread XXXIII: The only winning move is not to play

[IthilanorStPete]

So, globe trading. I've got a bunch of 3's, 4's, a spare 5 and a spare 7. I need 1, 6, 8 and 9 if anyone feels like trading. I've also got a 50% off Crusader Kings II coupon I'll never use, that's good until Feb 1, if that looks appealing to anyone for trade reasons.

Might help if I let you good folks know how to contact me. My Name on steam is the same as here, JabberwockySupafly.

Does that CK2 coupon apply to DLC? If so, I'm interested.

[JabberwockySupafly]

Does that CK2 coupon apply to DLC? If so, I'm interested.

From what I can see it's only good for the base game and not the DLC. Sorry.

[Brother Oni]

Does that CK2 coupon apply to DLC? If so, I'm interested.

If it's the same one I just got then no, just the base game.
Edit: Ninja'ed

[IthilanorStPete]

From what I can see it's only good for the base game and not the DLC. Sorry.

Ah, well. Ok.

[Flickerdart]

I got three of the CKII coupons I don't need. Half off crusading for everyone!

[Krade]

Going over the cards I have I realize that I don't care enough to go through the trouble of getting what I need to craft the badge.

So I'll put all my cards up for grabs. First come first serve.

#1: 1 0
#2: 1 0
#3: 0
#4: 3 2
#5: 1 0
#6: 2
#7: 2
#8: 2
#9: 0
#10: 1 0

SteamID is krade2k20

[Rawhide]

Going over the cards I have I realize that I don't care enough to go through the trouble of getting what I need to craft the badge.

So I'll put all my cards up for grabs. First come first serve.

#1: 1
#2: 1
#3: 0
#4: 3
#5: 1
#6: 2
#7: 2
#8: 2
#9: 0
#10: 1

SteamID is krade2k20

I'll happily grab some you don't need, I have a few friends looking for cards. Especially need #2.

I got three of the CKII coupons I don't need. Half off crusading for everyone!

Does the 50% off stack with the current sale, making it 75% off?

Scratch that, even the generic 50% discount we just had has vanished. In fact, the generic discount has vanished on all games.

Ah well, I'll wait until it's back on 75% off, unless anyone has a spare copy floating around.

[Volatar]

Considering he would need 3400 accounts at the minimum to get all the cards to gain that (not counting the cards you get by crafting the badge, that would drop it by about 212 accounts), it still is mindjarring.

Not really. Some simple scripting could do it all quite easily.

[Triscuitable]

books are technically interactive. You turn the page to read the next part.

Tssk tssk, m'friend; books are firmware. Everyone knows that.

[Volatar]

Tssk tssk, m'friend; books are firmware. Everyone knows that.

I write in my firmware.

Take that.

[Triscuitable]

I write in my firmware.

Take that.

Second edition.

[Flickerdart]

Books are a time-based medium, not an interactive one, given that your only control is over the pacing of your use of the object.

[Brother Oni]

Tssk tssk, m'friend; books are firmware. Everyone knows that.

You really don't want to be using the word 'firm' anywhere near the book '50 Shades of Grey'...

Books are a time-based medium, not an interactive one, given that your only control is over the pacing of your use of the object.

What about the old 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books then? They're interactive with failure states so fulfil those requirements. About the only things that differentiates them from certain types of video games is the electronics and display and with the ebook/html versions, even that's gone.

[Triscuitable]

Books are a time-based medium, not an interactive one, given that your only control is over the pacing of your use of the object.

This means Street Fighter II Turbo is also a book.

You really don't want to be using the word 'firm' anywhere near the book '50 Shades of Grey'...

[Eldan]

I can choose to read the last page of a book first and spoil the mystery. Clearly, interactive.

[Roxxy]

So, do you think we'll get to keep our holiday cards a bit longer, what with this DDoS attack throwing a wrench in things? How much functionality do you guys have, anyway? Store is back up for me for now, but I'm still locked out of my inventory and can't update any games.

[Trixie]

I dint think so, Valve probably hardcoded expiry date according to that timer in front page

Pity, one of my friends didn't finished badge, and seeing he needs to work now, will probably lose his cards...

[Psyren]

My poor wallet! But man did I get some great deals! Magicka Collection, Tomb Raider Collection, both Witchers, Resident Evil Collection, some fun looking budgeting software that I will now put to use planning future Steam binges...

[Volatar]

some fun looking budgeting software that I will now put to use planning future Steam binges...

YNAB? tenchars

[Reverent-One]

Out of curiousity, did any spare trading cards disappear at the deadline, or are they simply no longer usable?

[Psyren]

YNAB? tenchars

Yeah, the video pretty much sold me on it. Well, that and the fact that it was 75% off.

[Infernally Clay]

Actually, the gameplay in Spec Ops and Beyond Two Souls fits them perfectly. Spec Ops: The Line is a perfectly mediocre third-person cover shooter, and is meant to be a deconstruction. It's supposed to be an experience. The idea that you can't have crappy gameplay in a deconstruction of a game genre is like saying you can't have crappy story in a deconstruction of a movie genre. The problem is whether you think of story-affecting choices, like the ones available in Beyond Two Souls or The Stanley Parable, as gameplay. Because you certainly couldn't achieve these in movies, yet it doesn't feel like you're playing a game. We really just need a new name for the medium (one that isn't just bland like "interactive experience").

Allow me to ask the opposite - you can't have good gameplay in a deconstruction? I don't see why people justify Spec Ops: The Line's awful gameplay as something that was necessary for the game's message to be delivered. It wouldn't have affected their message at all to make a decent game. I'm not asking for Uncharted, just for a serviceable game. I don't really care if the game is s'posed to deconstruct the shooter genre because it plays so badly that it's almost begging you to actually play the games it's meant to be deconstructing simply because they at least play well.

You mention films, saying that it's perfectly okay to have a deconstruction of a particular genre and yet do so with an awful script. Gamer, the Gerard Butler film, was meant to be a deconstruction of gaming itself, particularly highlighting how gleefully we kill people in shooters or how perverse simulators like Second Life can be... But guess what? It had an awful script, which ruined its message. All anyone remembers it for is the dancing villain at the end. The bad script ruined the message, just like the bad gameplay ruined the message that Spec Ops: The Line tried to convey. It's no real different to that DmC reboot - they tried to deconstruct social media and it might have worked if they didn't botch up the gameplay as well (okay, maybe not, even their attempt at deconstruction was awful ).

As for "story-affecting choices", it's all smoke and mirrors anyway. You think you control Jodie's choices, but you don't. You think the choices Lee makes matter, but they don't. You're being told a story any any choices you're given the chance to make are rarely more than cosmetic or inconsequential. The end is always the same. Did anything you do affect anything in Gone Home, either? 'Cause I don't believe it did.

[Flickerdart]

This means Street Fighter II Turbo is also a book.

If all bears are mammals, and all cats are mammals, it doesn't mean that all cats are bears.

[Hiro Protagonest]

As for "story-affecting choices", it's all smoke and mirrors anyway. You think you control Jodie's choices, but you don't. You think the choices Lee makes matter, but they don't. You're being told a story any any choices you're given the chance to make are rarely more than cosmetic or inconsequential. The end is always the same.

Um... Beyond Two Souls has many different ways for the story to play out. Especially the ending.

[Cikomyr]

Is someone else having problem with Steam?

[Brother Oni]

Is someone else having problem with Steam?

Yup. I believe somebody mentioned upthread that there's a DDOS going on.

[Roxxy]

Yup. I believe somebody mentioned upthread that there's a DDOS going on.

Link. Some chuckleheads started out with hitting Origin, and somebody else thought it would be funny to hit Steam and Battle.net. So far as I can tell, it's finally over.

[Forbiddenwar]

nope, looks like they moved to attack the store instead of the community now.

Does anyone know what the Star Trek Armada 3 mod for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion require? the mod forum is unhelpful and there seems to by a lot of very expensive dlc for it.

[Tavar]

5 dollars each isn't what I would call "very expensive"(especially when they're often discounted for sales).

That said, unless they say something, it's probably a safe bet to assume you just need the base game, maybe forbidden worlds. Stellar Phenomena is pretty new.
Checked on the ModDB page, under features. They say that there's support for Random Events, a something only implemented in Stellar Phenomena. It might not be needed, but I wouldn't count on that.

In a Similar vein, people with Sins should totally try out the Sins of the Prophets mod. It's a Halo-Total conversion, and so far is pretty fun, with the races playing very differently: humans have a great economy(TEC, but better) with pretty cheap ships, both in resources and supply(cap ships for under 40 supplies), which they need because their ships can be destroyed in one or two shots at the beginning, and their main guns, while extremely powerful, take a long time to reload. Their defenses are hilariously powerful, often able to one shot attackers. The Covenant don't get the great econ or defenses, but their ships are much more durable, and have better weapons overall. Then you have the non-playable flood, which are apparently a total nightmare to fight against if active, but I haven't dealt with them in that mode. Even if they're not active, you might encounter them, as isolated worlds. In that case, they will obtain ships by killing them, slowly building up forces if your attacks aren't careful.


There's also a version out for entrenchment.

[Forbiddenwar]

5 dollars each isn't what I would call "very expensive"(especially when they're often discounted for sales).

Ah, Thank-you. Sorry about getting the price wrong, with the store down all I could see was the $89.99 pack. I couldn't even see what it contained.

Mostly interested in playing a Borg. Flying a cube and obliterating whole fleets with a single ship sounds great!