Zaros

Zaros, 8 months ago

… and now I want to play Skyrim again. Damn it.

Zaros, 8 months ago

So far I love it! (lvl 75) It’s indeed varied, combat feels great and different enough to feel like a new combat style. I really like how there are seemingly more resources to manage instead of just adrenaline, as well as the flexibility that lack of some cooldowns offers. The city is beautiful and really feels like it’s coming back to life as I level and summon more souls.

I like the preparation phase of rituals. Preparing the glyphs and candles for the right ritual seems fitting. I was a little disappointed in the rituals themselves though. I was hoping to actually see a magical ritual. I guess I imagined the player using necrotic energy to weave a pattern, getting more complex as the ritual progresses. A sense of power building up during the ritual. Random skeletal things as disturbances could have been blockages in the flow of soul energy or other problems with the pattern instead.

But the only thing so far that has really disappointed me has been the quests and lore, the part I was most looking forward to. The quests are just wrapper. It feels a bit similar to Menaphos release, a beautiful city with awful quests that leave the place feeling hollow. Although, admittedly the quests aren’t as bad as the Menaphos ones. There was also a lore error (calling Dr Nabanik Azzanadra) in dialogue. The only redeeming factor of the quests/lore released with this skill (that I’ve completed so far) has been Rasial and the interactions the player has with him. Sadly those have been rather limited and brought down a bit by how the player character is portrayed, but he actually feels like an interesting character. I especially like the whole villain as a teacher thing.

Zaros, 9 months ago

Only time I’ve had to do it so far was due to dual booting Windows and it overriding boot thingies. Apart from that it has been running more or less flawlessly for a few years now.

Zaros, 9 months ago

and if possible, keep some backups in a separate physical location. House fires or break-ins aren’t all that uncommon.

Zaros, 9 months ago

I too am surrounded and often pursued by skeletons wearing flesh costumes.

Zaros, 9 months ago

Wait, what would similar reaction actually be? Would they send 100 000 women to Sweden?

Zaros, 10 months ago

I played it for about 60h, I think. Overall it was okay, but it had so many things I disliked, I couldn’t bring myself to play it for long. I’m curious whether it has improved a lot since then.

I enjoyed the story, voice acting, quests… but the rest not so much. The combat didn’t feel satisfying at all, my abilities did damage but it didn’t feel impactful. Mobs respawning so fast and having to kill the same mobs going back and forth in an area for a quest didn’t help much either. The overall feel of combat seemed clunky and unpolished especially with the weirdly timed animations, even though the first person view was surprisingly functional.

One thing I didn’t like about the story parts I did was how disconnected they felt from the environment. It often felt like the quests were sprinkled on the world instead of being actually included within it.

I suppose in general the feeling of disconnection was my main issue. Environment felt separate from characters which felt separate from animations which felt separate from combat. Characters who were fighting each other felt separate from each other too, two people flailing about instead of two people engaged in one fight.

The ‘optional’ subscription also left a bad taste in my mouth, as it didn’t feel like it was optional at all. I don’t mind subscriptions as long as they seem honest. This felt like they wanted to be able to say it’s optional while still practically making it mandatory.

Zaros, 10 months ago

That trailer was really well made too, I think. Both the animation/art and the audio of it were awesome. Opening with the First Necromancer playing the organ instantly brought to mind the skeletal hands playing music in Lumbridge church! I still remember stumbling upon that when I first started playing as a kid. Death’s voice was awesome too, I hope we’ll get to hear it narrating some cutscenes or such in-game.

I’ll need to hurry up with my questing to get caught up in story before this release, as it’s closer than I thought! (not that I’m complaining)

Zaros, 10 months ago

I stopped reading out of habit as soon as I got to the "award winning design" and "form factor". Such marketing buzzwords are usually a good sign telling me that part of the text has no valuable information and should be skipped.

I hadn't even noticed this habit and I have no idea when it started. I wonder what other subconscious reading optimizations I've made, and how they might impact the type of information I read without me realizing it...

Zaros, 10 months ago

I’m surprised the Steam client through Proton works at all. Last time I tried it, it was a horrible mess. Then again, I guess I shouldn’t be, seeing how well games generally run on Proton these days.

In the past I’ve had most luck with the AUR download and was able to fix the sound crackling completely by adding a single line into one of the launcher’s files… buuut that didn’t seem to work anymore for some reason so perhaps I should give the Proton version another try once I get back on my Linux machine. May I ask which Proton version you’re using?

Zaros, 10 months ago

I spent 16 years in this game... I played 'OSRS' when that was just RS and didn't really feel the need no go back in time once that was re-released. So my preferred game is RS3. I haven't played in over a year now, but I'll definitely return for the new skill (Necromancy)!

The best thing about the game is easily the story and quests and that's what kept me playing year after year. There's some voice acting, but most of it is text only, which I actually prefer since it allows them to do more. (one of the new-ish quests had like 20 000 words of dialogue!) I also have to mention the music, as it's insanely good. There seems to be 1349 original music tracks currently in the game!

I think the best moments for me have also been story related. Huge unexpected twists or revelations, or having my theories confirmed! That's perhaps one of the most enjoyable aspects of playing such a story-rich evolving game, coming up with crazy theories between releases on what could happen. Or I might spend an evening pondering on the worldviews of the different gods in the game. RS also does a great job at enabling this, providing clues, hidden updates and simply connecting the seemingly unconnected storylines seamlessly.

I think it's well described as a 'second monitor game' most of the time, mining some ore or digging dirt to find ancient secrets with archaeology while watching youtube or something. Although, quests and some pve content definitely requires full attention.

The game does show its age. The combat tends to feel unresponsive/clunky and the world is mostly flat. It's also very dense... there's very little empty space between points of interest. I do have to admit it's impressive how far they've managed to bring the game despite the limitations.

**A little tip for anyone considering getting into RS:**Create an Ironman account (selected in character creation). It cuts out the microtransaction lootboxes and whatnot that plague the game these days. It also makes a lot of older content relevant instead of taking shortcuts through player trading.

Zaros, 10 months ago

They are an endangered species indeed. Also, I shall escape the law by turning a corner. Law can't get through walls it seems.

Zaros, 10 months ago

I've been seeing some of that, but there are apparently also a ton of bots being created for who knows what reason and that's spooky. (it made the user count jump up in hundreds of thousands) Can't say I know much about that, but I'd imagine it'll cause some issues sooner than later...

Zaros, 10 months ago

In open world I’ve been having fun playing dagger-dagger condition daredevil. The amount of sustain I get combined with all the evades makes me basically unkillable in most environments. :D

Zaros, 10 months ago

That’s very true. Although, I would argue that a too strong build takes fun out of fights in open world. For me the fun is in using my abilities just at the right time to evade and survive ridiculous situations, adventuring in an environment that actually feels dangerous.

I do need to create and try out a proper power build at some point… Maybe on my Reaper once I manage to level my necro.

Zaros, 10 months ago

Base-60 is cool, but so is dozenal!

Zaros, 10 months ago

I was inspired by some new memes I saw to try and create some of my own. Maybe with enough practice they'll become funny!

Zaros, 10 months ago

Instructions unclear, I've now been stung by several pollinators.

Zaros, 10 months ago

Things that are simple are often not simple to use. Things that are simple to use are often complex. Although, hammers also exist so it's not exactly an universal rule...

Zaros, 10 months ago

I must say, 'green meat' doesn't sound particularly appetizing.

Zaros, 10 months ago

I greet you, child of Gimli and Legolas.

Zaros, 10 months ago

I went from Mint to Ubuntu to Manjaro to Arch. I just couldn't get my games working on Manjaro without something breaking. It did look nice though.

Zaros, 10 months ago

I started gw2 about 8 months ago and fell in love with it almost instantly. The art style is amazing, and makes almost any view look like a painting of sorts. But what really sold me the game was exploration.

I was mining my first ores in a cave in Caledon Forest and saw something weird in the corner. I climb up and find an opening, through which I enter a huge cavern filled with lava, golems, floating holographic platforms and all that. (first time seeing Asuran tech/buildings) I just stood in awe for a minute before doing the jumping puzzle. The area wasn't on map and it was glorious. The fact that the game manages to give me this feeling of discovery in every zone over and over again is astonishing (and somewhat addictive).

I do have to admit that the core game's story was underwhelming. But by the end of Living World Season 2 I was hooked already. Oh, and I couldn't play the game without action cam (activated in the settings).