What games are you playing and why?

F2P games do that. The reason to play a sub game is to avoid all that F2P shit. If I'm getting subjected to F2P shit in a sub game, it's a rip-off.

I really can't justify to myself ever playing a game that exploitative.

 

If it will be then they should not have used the word “exclusive”. And once again, that's what it boils down to. They are adult men with access to a dictionary, they ought to be aware of the meaning of that word. And they ought to know that the word is controversial when it comes to games played only with other players.

Mind you, I am not complaining about that, really. For that to be the case, I would have to care about it, and I no longer do (and I can be really stubborn when something like that happens). It's just ... you know, the whole thing is just sad, really ... the developers probably wanted something completely different to happen and just got screwed by their marketing department guys most of whom likely never played any MMO games ever and thus know zilch about this particular case. And most players do, and will do, direct their ire at the developers.

True. But what their marketing guys did to the developers is, in itself, not ethic. They essentially made them into scapegoats for masses of players, and for the higher-ups who will blame the devs for the losses coming from this way of handling it, with their stupid decision to use the word “exclusive” even though they should be aware what it will do to a game where every bit counts and where nothing gets forgotten.

And ... well, considering how players feel about it, I'm not surprised they are trying to throw talk about ethics into it. It's not unethical for all I see there, but still, I can't say what they did was good, nor smart.

Oh well, not like I care anymore. Though stupidity of humans who know nothing but whose decisions matter can be really annoying sometimes ...

I would. I could. But I only play games of this sort when my friends play them and because my friends play them. And my friends' opinion about this is the same as mine, so we don't really have a reason to try playing it anymore. And I refuse to play with random people, for not only is there no fun because I don't have a loyal party but I also find the juvenile behaviour of many MMO games' players to be very aggravating. Maybe I'm too serious a person to play games of this sort in the first place, but my friends never had any problems with that.


Anyway, should we even be talking about that? I mean, we are talking about viewpoints and there's nothing political and all that, but I wouldn't want Daynab to go all “it's a nice thread, would be a shame if something happened to it” on us because of our continued discussion of something like that. I'm sure he does understand, but well ... I know there sometimes are situations where admins are conflicted on whether they should allow something because it's technically harmless or purge it because it has the potential to become very not harmless, and I do not want him to feel conflicted like that over this.


Edit: Silly auto-correct, why do you correct “ethic” to “epic”?

 

I have yet to be banned forever, so Daynab is forgiving by nature.

I for one consider this an aside from the main discussion in this thread. We will get back to that once we get this luggage out of the way.

 

I don't think the price of TESO is an issue in itself, it's the sub model that comes with it that I think has people annoyed. Unless you found a cheap pre-order before the pricing was confirmed, you're going to be paying above the average price for the game - I think its price is in-line with that of a PS4/XB1 title at the minute - and on top of that, you'll be charged a nominal sum a month to continue playing. The item shop thing doesn't quite bother me, because it can work to a game and player's benefit if done well. I think somewhere between LotRO, TSW and WoW's payments would be a good place - i.e. mostly cosmetics or special items - but I doubt it'd happen.

As for that extra race? I reckon it'll either be time-limited (e.g. first six months or something), or put up in the store after a certain period of time. Something like that cannot be limited to the first wave of adopters. It doesn't make sense, financially or otherwise.

But it's not really that different from recent MMO titles in its pricing. Guild Wars 2 has generally been an above-average price since it launched, WoW's expansions frequently come out at the same price as full-price games, and even LotRO has been charging roughly similar prices for its expansions (or at least varieties of them with some extra in-game stuff).

But hey. I kinda swore off MMOs. LotRO's boxes (I have two recent-ish retail editions of it) are sat on my desk, but I play it for a short while then never go back. Can't find the energy to play it, and I don't like how key the shop is to it. Plus it's kinda boring in its own way. Shame I'll probably never see Rohan, though.

 

I kinda miss MMOs, but I don't have the free time I used to, and the monetization usually puts me off, especially in F2Ps, though some are ok-ish. That said I've played a few of the recent ones, like planetside 2, warframe and defiance.

Planetside 2 has lots of issues and while organized platoons can be fun, the combat isn't, there's just way too much insta-gibs, prediction-kills(where an enemy's prediction software says you're somewhere you're not and he kills you even though you're out of line of sight), etc. It's a frustrating experience. It's also a very slow grind.

Warframe is probably the best of the three, because you do eventually make friends and the gameplay is actually fun, it's just very very repetitive, as the game is a giant grind, but it's a grind where you can feel you accomplished something on a regular basis, set your own goals, and leveling up a frame or weapon doesn't take all that long.

Defiance is a mixed bag, the combat is pretty decent, similar to borderlands, less the whacky weapons, you can zip around in vehicles, do mini-games, etc. It's just very lacking in the social aspects, and it does get rather repetitive. You also run out of story content pretty quickly.

I miss old-school MMO friendships. The last one to really give me the MMO experience was probably Fallen Earth(beta), but their monetization puts me off getting the retail game(F2P shenanigans and not-really-optional sub fee), and also I've done it all before.

 

Redshirt: It's listed as being a Positech game, which... kinda makes sense, it's like a slightly-thinner, sci-fi themed version of Kudos, which is basically social behaviour turned into a game. Seriously. It's kinda repetitive and a bit frustrating, but I quite like it from what I've played, and the sense of humour it has does definitely help it feel more enjoyable.

Tetrobot & Co.: I got this on release and played it for a bit, then got stuck, and then stopped playing. Picked it back up again tonight on a whim and I'm already a few levels further. I still hate block puzzles, but they're much more manageable in this game, and they're less like the vile, demonic, inhumane puzzles that formed the basis of Ittle Dew.

 

The Be Mine 11 bundle on Groupees has Redshirt so if anyone wants it, you can get it cheap right now.

 

That's where I got it from! Totally worth the $1 I paid.

I also tried out Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe from that bundle. Not sure I would have bought it anyway, and I need to play around with the sensitivity and stop being distracted by the jiggle physics on one of the players, but it's reasonably fun for what it is. The tutorial aspect is a little overbearing at first but thankfully it seems to end quickly. Definitely something to keep installed for moments with not a lot to do.

Edit: Also just installed the Steam version of Little Racers STREET, a top-down-ish racing game I got in a Groupees bundle last year (it was Greenlit and has just been added). Will be playing it later today, although I don't expect much to have changed. But hey trading cards amirite??????

 

On the TESO note:

 

Aren't they under NDA?

In any case I can't comment on my experience because I am. But I will comment based on what I knew BEFORE the beta, and that is that it was first announced, it WAS labeled an MMO, but with the caveat that they wanted it to feel more like a single-player game that you could play with friends. I assume that it was done this way in order to not completely alienate the existing TES fan-base.

Anyway, I can't say more than that.

But I will say that there have been some really (imho) wrong-headed attempts to convert Oblivion and Skyrim and probably other Bethesda RPGs into multiplayer experiences. The reason I think that this is wrong is that there are things that make a good MMO (like socializing), and other things that make a good single-player experience (like immersion). I don't think you can have one without damaging the other. But that's my opinion. Immersion happens in your head, socializing takes you out of your head.

 

Seem about as exciting as watching a corpse decay to me.

 

Indeed, does look like the idea that they're cash grabbing to recoup as much expenses as possible before it dies due to not being a good game is pretty accurate.

 

Fixed

 

Just found out that the guy who did the art (and development) for Dust: An Elysian Tail, is also contributing art to Defender's Quest 2. Was already looking forward to it, now even more so!

 

Indeed.

It just looks crap.

 

I am *still* enjoying Might and Magic X a lot.. been quite a while that a game grabbed me for this long.

Also just got Horizons, 4x space game. Looking good so far, but have only tried it out for about 45 minutes.

 

Company of Heroes 2.

Seriously.