[X] My Assistant

I, undoubtedly along with many other people, agree that the mainstream of gaming is starting to fall to death and, with just a few exceptions, pretty much just survives on fanboys and zombie kids.
Have you ever tried exploring the world of indie and hobbyist games? Those games that are created by small teams that don't have too much pressure, and/or people who actually enjoy and put effort into developing original, enjoyable things? Because those are the ones that usually leave me way more satisfied and hooked.

More or less. Unless you use Origin, in which case.

You're terrible :<

EDIT: But if you wanted a serious answer, just because you and the feckless manchild up there or whoever else don't use Steam doesn't mean that PC gaming, and it's also lukewarm climate, wasn't addressed. If you'd like me to pare it down even further, the Japs don't know how to make a game interesting and Western devs don't know how to make a game not feel like a chore. On one front you can have archetypal characters doing nothing for sixty hours leading to some lackluster ending, on the other there's a grind for sixty hours leading to some lackluster ending. That doesn't make games fun. Games don't even look fun anymore, everything is either some gritty realistic scumbucket fuckworld or some horrible planet inhabited by spiky headed morons that don't have any personality. There are hundreds and hundreds of games released every year that look the same, sound the same, play the same, have the same characters and the same archetypes and the same everything. PC or console, it's a uninteresting bog of mediocrity.

I must be playing different PC games than you are then, because, while I agree with everything you said in terms of console gaming, I thoroughly enjoy exclusive PC games, old and new.

Also, you know what you could do to change all this? Buy only indie games that are genuinely entertaining and original. The PSN and Live (or whatever the xbox online service is called) has tons of indie games that will support independent developers who actually give a shit about their users. Last console game I bought was the HD Collection of MGS and before that it was... I can't remember, it was sometime last year. I've gotten sick of unfinished and buggy games with uninspired plots like you, but I also acknowledged the futility of my rants, so instead I now do what I should have started doing years ago, and that is boycotting all console games unless they are something I genuinely enjoy and that I know I will never regret.

I, undoubtedly along with many other people, agree that the mainstream of gaming is starting to fall to death and, with just a few exceptions, pretty much just survives on fanboys and zombie kids.
Have you ever tried exploring the world of indie and hobbyist games? Those games that are created by small teams that don't have too much pressure, and/or people who actually enjoy and put effort into developing original, enjoyable things? Because those are the ones that usually leave me way more satisfied and hooked.

One of the only things I've really dabbled in lately was a demo of Fez. And it was alright, I guess...

Other stuff included 4 other demos, two of which I knew absolutely nothing about, that I downloaded on my NetfliXbox: Bloodforge, which is basically God of War with more monotony, I don't even get how that's possible. Blades of Time, which is basically God of War with worse enemy AI, I don't even get how that's possible. Ninja Gaiden 3, which froze after I switched my weapon after playing for about two minutes, so that got deleted post haste, no reason to have dead weight on my hard drive. But Ninja Gaiden is basically God of War with ninja and unadulterated frustration. And Skullgirls which looks nice, but fighting games are a fucking joke and mostly shit in my opinion. Though it looks nice, but that's really the only thing it has going for it.

I don't pay attention to indie developers as much as I used to because I don't have time to sift through all that shit. I'm sort of excited for Diablo 3, but the open beta kind of left me cold, like... who gives a shit? I've been playing WoW since launch, nearly, and that's about the only thing I play anymore, besides poking and prodding at SWToR, but that game isn't fun. I like my character, and I enjoy how story driven it is, but the gameplay is just... boring. And it doesn't make me want to engage it.

I must be playing different PC games than you are then, because, while I agree with everything you said in terms of console gaming, I thoroughly enjoy exclusive PC games, old and new.

Also, you know what you could do to change all this? Buy only indie games that are genuinely entertaining and original. The PSN and Live (or whatever the xbox online service is called) has tons of indie games that will support independent developers who actually give a shit about their users. Last console game I bought was the HD Collection of MGS and before that it was... I can't remember, it was sometime last year. I've gotten sick of unfinished and buggy games with uninspired plots like you, but I also acknowledged the futility of my rants, so instead I now do what I should have started doing years ago, and that is boycotting all console games unless they are something I genuinely enjoy and that I know I will never regret.

I haven't bought a console game, notwithstanding Tales of the Abyss (which was a mistake), for the longest time. I can't even remember what it was previously. But the PC has the same problem. Everything that I'd be interested in is just a reskinned version of NWN, dumbed down or intentionally frustrating. And not difficult, which is understandable, but made so soulwrackingly aware of its own sheer difficulty that you can feel the developers smirk. And I don't care for that shit. Even the modern Fallouts, which I realized about 3/4 of the way through my first run of NV that I only liked for the setting, weren't great. Or, if I were to try new things, what fucking new things are there that isn't some craptarded first person shooter?

Don't kid yourself, the PC has the same issues.

This post has been edited by radixius: May 3 2012, 02:20

The Old Republic is something I really wanted to check out, but I knew it would be pointless since I was just waiting for Diablo III and didn't want to spend money on it monthly.

I actually have been looking into foreign developers lately and I love their games. Piranha Bytes, for their Gothic series as well as Risen and CD Projekt Red for their amazing work into the Witcher saga. I've been trying to dig around for other European developers with good games that don't get any attention in the U.S.

Maybe it's just us on this side of the pond that get stuck with shitty games. Capitalism being the driving factor and all.

But the PC has the same problem. Everything that I'd be interested in is just a reskinned version of NWN, dumbed down or intentionally frustrating. And not difficult, which is understandable, but made so soulwrackingly aware of its own sheer difficulty that you can feel the developers smirk. And I don't care for that shit. Even the modern Fallouts, which I realized about 3/4 of the way through my first run of NV that I only liked for the setting, weren't great. Or, if I were to try new things, what fucking new things are there that isn't some craptarded first person shooter?

Don't kid yourself, the PC has the same issues.

You know what's the funny thing about all that? I didn't even like NWN. I beat the first one and wondered if I really liked the D&D formula after all and decided not to follow the expansions and sequel. What I did like were the Dungeon Siege games, and so I was devastated when I heard they were going to make the third game a console port. I knew it was going to be a disaster and I was proven right. Against all common sense I decided to buy it and it was craptacular.

I know the PC has the same issues, but I think it suffers nowhere near the same impact as the consoles, since with consoles you're pretty much fucked and limited with the actual amount of games you can play. Like I said in my first part you can explore numerous other options in the foreign market and not just be limited to American developers and publishers (who will also port just the crappy games from Japan and the like).

This post has been edited by Pseudoshy: May 3 2012, 02:43

I was actually referring specifically to The Witcher with part of what I wrote.

The fact that The Witcher games are frustratingly difficult at times (just in the beginning really) does no harm to how awesome the rest of the game is, for both games. In fact, I would say that with both it gets a little too easy near the end, especially if you did a lot of questing and exploring. Even without the mods or official patches to address many of the difficulty issues it was still doable and thoroughly enjoyable. For me, anyways. And the fact that the developers went ahead and listened to the concerns of the players and made awesome expansions to both games for FREE, just shows how awesome they are.

Or did you mean that it was a copy of NWN? Because if that's the case than I have to laugh at you and then walk away from this discussion forever.

This post has been edited by Pseudoshy: May 3 2012, 02:51

The fact that The Witcher games are frustratingly difficult at times (just in the beginning really) does no harm to how awesome the rest of the game is, for both games. In fact, I would say that with both it gets a little too easy near the end, especially if you did a lot of questing and exploring. Even without the mods to address many of the difficulty issues it was still doable and thoroughly enjoyable. For me, anyways.

I enjoy experiencing a nice story. I don't like failing, then having to play through parts I've already played for the umpteenth time until I succeed. That isn't fun to me. It smacks of annoyance and doesn't make me want to keep playing. It's like the developer doesn't want me to succeed. They're not punishing you for being stupid, or for lacking even rudimentary skill, but rather that the game is difficult simply to be difficult. It's pretty much the same reason I despise bullet hell type games.

Mass Effect 1 and 2 were the perfect difficulty. There were some parts where, if you weren't paying attention or did stupid things, stuff could rough you up pretty seriously, but there wasn't any instant death stupidity that caused a game over or some situation where you were thrown into some hellish fray that your character isn't prepared for on purpose.

Kick my ass if I'm playing the game like an idiot, that's all well and good, but don't actively try and kill my character just to try and say your game is fucking harder than crazy.

Or did you mean that it was a copy of NWN? Because if that's the case than I have to laugh at you and then walk away from this discussion forever.

If anyone honestly thought that, then they're probably a stupid person.

Fuck video games, I'm gonna play Scrabble.

Fuck video games, I'm gonna play Scrabble.

Fuck Scrabble, I'm playing Risk.

I honestly only encountered two frustrating events in both games that made me want to punch a baby in the face. One was the last boss of Act I in The Witcher. That hell hound boss was rifuckingdiculous. Infinite mob spawns and the necessity to chug every damn potion accrued up to that point in the game right before the boss fight (not to mention needing to rewatch that scene where the villagers mob the witch and you have to decide whether to defend her or give her up to the fanatics). It literally took me hours of retrying, and I was getting pretty pissed because it was just the beginning of the game. The worst part is that you didn't have many opportunities to prepare with the few monsters and quests up to that point and with such a low level you couldn't realize specialize any way yet to suit your playing style. Fortunately, there were no harder boss battles for the rest of the game. Some were fairly tough but you could always explore some more, upgrade your gear, and level with many other things to do in order to prepare you if you failed miserably somewhere. The rest of the bosses were tough but also made it all feel worth it, as opposed to the dog that just made me want to throw puppies off high cliffs and shoot them when they hit the ground.

The moment in The Witcher II that got to me was the intro/prologue where you had to run from that dragon. It was that one moment where you're rushing towards the gates of the castle and he's flying overhead straight at you and breathes fire onto the whole surface. The way to survive that little part was to take cover under some parapets and you could only advance because heading back spelled certain doom for you and everyone else you were escorting. Dodging the fire wasn't too tough, it was hitting the front gate that was guarded by a squad of soldiers who were incredibly hard that had me reloading the game over and over. Eventually I figured out I didn't actually have to protect my company, as they couldn't die, so I stood in between all of them, who were ranged attackers, and just tried to deflect arrows and counter if any soldier got too close until the Sorceress finished burning everyone to a crisp. This one was less frustrating than the hell hound encounter, but I did curse at the developers for throwing in something so hard as one of your very first battles.

Now, if you were having problems AFTER the official patches that lowered difficulty, then I'd have to say you just sucked at the action portions of the game, because they truly were a lot easier on successive playthroughs after I installed patches.

Or maybe I just have much more patience for tediousness than the average gamer. I did sit there once for like eight hours trying to figure out a rubix cube until I solved it, and it was my first time ever playing with one.

Fuck Scrabble, I'm playing Risk.

Fuck Risk, I'm playing Monopoly. I call dibs on the race car!

I've never gotten to finish a monopoly game, usually others quit on me : (

I've never gotten to finish a monopoly game, usually others quit on me : (

LMFAO, same here. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Eh, Unlucky you guys. My family goes in on board games, especially Monopoly. Grandmother's favorite board game so we end up playing that 4-12 hours on some weekends.

Though to be fair our family either enjoys Monopoly or hates it to death. If I remember Monopoly is the most well known board game for starting fights and arguments. Then again I never minded Monopoly all that much since everyone plays like money sharks and drug dealers
"We here to talk bidness, these 2 railroads. $600, best deal you gonna see before it costs $800. Also, I see you got one of my greens. Hand over that property, I'd be willing to go down to $350 for the roads. This is a lifetime opportunity, best deal you're gonna get all night."
Scrabble, Scarabble is either good, or horrible because no one expands the board for crap and we get stuck in one corner of the board.

Eh, Unlucky you guys. My family goes in on board games, especially Monopoly. Grandmother's favorite board game so we end up playing that 4-12 hours on some weekends.

Though to be fair our family either enjoys Monopoly or hates it to death. If I remember Monopoly is the most well known board game for starting fights and arguments. Then again I never minded Monopoly all that much since everyone plays like money sharks and drug dealers
"We here to talk bidness, these 2 railroads. $600, best deal you gonna see before it costs $800. Also, I see you got one of my greens. Hand over that property, I'd be willing to go down to $350 for the roads. This is a lifetime opportunity, best deal you're gonna get all night."
Scrabble, Scarabble is either good, or horrible because no one expands the board for crap and we get stuck in one corner of the board.

Sounds like you guys have lots of fun.

I haven't got to play Scrabble yet, but if you get that into it could you just buy a second game and play on both boards?

Scrabble Duplicate is a decent alternative to prevent luck from kicking in but you have to get at least two copies.

Speaking of word games, Scrabble + Tetris is an interesting concept. Ramdam, fuck yeah.

I've never gotten to finish a monopoly game, usually others quit on me : (

I know the feeling, chap. That's why I don't like playing board games with people... people are usually such bad losers.
When remember I was a kid, I taught myself how to play connect four perfectly, using algorithms similar to a computer AI. Probably the worst mistake I've ever made; after a while, nobody wanted to play vs. me anymore cause they knew they were gonna lose anyway. >_>

About how hard it is to get Gil in Final Fantasy XIII, and how expensive it is to level up one skill. I mean, CP isn't super easy to get! Also, I think it's unfortunate that they decided to use "Chrystarium Points", especially given the definition commonly associated with CP.

Wow, Xenoblade is one of the best action RPGs I've ever seen.

Managed to get a friend to play Battle Fantasia with. I'm fairly certain she hates me for making her buy it so I had an online sparring partner. Fantasia online is deader than SF2:HF and Mark of the Wolves online matches.