I'm a former game dev and I can tell you, at least from my experience, there was no golden age where developers and customers were treated fairly. It's the primary reason why I left. Hell, I once interviewed at a place that showed off how the offices had beds in them, as if that was a selling point.
That said, I'd probably be someone who you'd consider "doesn't care about the bad things these companies did." I'm just too fuckin' old to be mad about shit all of the time. If I was only going to patronize folks and companies who matched my own set of ideals and ethics, I would be more than just gameless. I would be homeless and penniless as well.
What I do is simply detach products and services from those who provide them. I can buy a thing from a person I find distasteful. I don't have to invite them out for a drink and I certainly don't have to avoid taking them to task for their poor or unethical behavior. Moreover, ethics and behavior are saleable. If someone comes around who offers something comparable to something from someone I find distasteful, then I can go patronize the new person instead. I have jumped ship from many service and product providers for that very reason. If you want my business, then you better ensure you're either the only person who can provide what I want or ensure you're the person I want to buy from.
Mage Knight. This game threw me in to an unbridaled rage with how much I loathed it. I couldn't understand why it was rated so highly. So, I went to BGG to see just how so many people could like this awful game.
Turns out everyone plays it cooperatively. Not a soul plays nor recommends the competitive mode; the mode I was playing in.
Just to try the stave off an inquisition against multi-lingual support, the extreme filesize isn't because you're downloading different "language packs". The extreme filesize is because, for whatever reason, they decided to package up five entirely seperate copies of the game in five different languages. You are, in fact, downloading Fallout 3 in its entirety five times.
I couldn't get in to this game, myself. Granted, due to that, I've only played about an hour of it but this game felt much more like a Visual Novel than an RPG, to me. Stats seemed to have no bearing on anything other than what the narrative decided they have a bearing on. It was therefore, very difficult to figure out who my character was. Otherwise, you're just clicking on things and reading reams of text.
I get that they were trying to go for a more tabletop version of an RPG but without a DM, I find that near impossible to translate 1:1. I would have preferred a more Baldur's Gate approach to the game.
Not everything can be easily compressed to significantly smaller sizes. In fact, for any random arrangement of bytes, finding one that is compressable by any significant amount is rare.
The game didn’t sell well and many called it a Breath of the Wild rip-off, so this is understandable. However this means Ubisoft’s upcoming game lineup becoming less diverse, now it’s going to be even more Assassin’s Creed.
Well, understand that it doesn't really play like a Souls game at all. That said, I'd probably just wait for the new one if you're excited for it. If not, either AC4 or AC5 would probably be the way to go. The early games didn't map camera movement to the right stick; so, I would avoid those as a newcomer.
AC4 plays a lot more "super robot-y" than the other games. AC5 has much smaller mechs by scale which makes terrain and cover much more important tactical considerations.
Starcraft, Doom, Exceed, Sniper Elite, and Space Empires are all brilliant. Personally, I think Street Fighter: The Miniatures Game is pretty good as well (although perhaps not for the price)
"621…I’ll give you a reason to exist. Let’s get to work."ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON engages the enemy on August 25, 2023.Pre-order now on PlayStation, ...
Nor I. Honestly, I'd rather have a wealth of options I can play and never do rather than having a giant fuckin' chore list for something that is not supposed to be a chore.
I don't have to "get through my backlog" because it's not a backlog. It's an option set.
I wasn't much in to it. It plays very much like a co-op procedural. Each player just kinda does their own thing and occassionally shouts at the other players while the app applies constant pressure.
The meat of the game is just in doing your part within the imposed stressors of the game. For that sort of experience, I think Space Alert is vastly better (and not obsolete!)
I'm opposed to this acquisition but let's be clear: Activision doesn't have a "minor duty to shareholders". They have a fiduciary duty to shareholders.
is it something to do with the progression of games into popular culture and people born after, say, 1986 will not see it as unacceptable?
I think that's exactly it. Gen X was the first generation to experienced playing video games for their entire lives. Video games, as with all new things, tended to be poo-poo'ed by the older generation and as such, many Gen Xers elected not to get in to video gaming.
I think if you were of any younger generation, you would find responses on dates to be quite different.
Do you have that "One Game" that you seems to come back to every year like a clockwork? Replaying it either just for the sake of it, nostalgia, or even finishing it again?...
What are your favorite board games? Me and my friends love playing board games, but I get the feeling their tired of playing the same things. What do you guys usually play? My favorite board game of all time is HeroQuest. I never get tired of playing it. Also love Catan, Arkham Horror, Betrayal House on the Hill, Spyfall (great...
Dune (either the original AH edition or the 2019 GF9 edition)
Battletech
Descent (first edition)
Mage Wars Arena
Battlestar Galactica
Food Chain Magnate
Scythe
Blood Bowl
Twilight Imperium (fourth edition)
War of the Ring (second edition)
Millenium Blades
Exceed
BattleCON
Cosmic Encounter
Sidereal Confluence
Sekigahara
Triumph & Tragedy
Iron Ships & Wooden Men
Cloudspire
Forbidden Stars
Go
My group can get a game of 4th edition finished in four to five hours. We are seasoned players, though. Twilight Imperium is both a strategically and tactically rich 4X game, which is why it's one of my favorites.
That said, I am not opposed to long games. I recently played Fire in the Sky, which took me and my opponent 4 four-hour sessions to complete.
I look at it as no different than a campaign game such as Gloomhaven. Gloomhaven took my group two years to finish.
Rant: Frustration Related to Ethics of Games Companies
Hi, everybody! Sorry for the rant!...
Which super popular game were you utterly disappointed by?
Which game is it and what did you not like about it?
It is time!
Pirating games you own?
This might seem stupid, but hear me out....
Disco Elysium for $12 may be the best $12 you ever spend on games in your life (www.pcgamer.com)
It's just science.
Baldur's Gate 3 is a 122GB download and you can't preload any of it (www.pcgamer.com)
Larian has finally confirmed that preloading won't be available, apparently because of a limitation with Steam.
Sources: Ubisoft has cancelled its Immortals Fenyx Rising sequel (www.videogameschronicle.com)
The game didn’t sell well and many called it a Breath of the Wild rip-off, so this is understandable. However this means Ubisoft’s upcoming game lineup becoming less diverse, now it’s going to be even more Assassin’s Creed.
With Armored Core 6 on the way, I found a photo of my original AC build.
What are your thoughts about Video Game to Boardgame adaptations?
In recent years the trend to adapt video games into boardgames is just increasing....
ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON — Story Trailer (youtu.be)
"621…I’ll give you a reason to exist. Let’s get to work."ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON engages the enemy on August 25, 2023.Pre-order now on PlayStation, ...
A Misguided Guide To Finishing Your Gaming Backlog (youtu.be)
Found this video really interesting as I have a relatively large backlog myself. Fortunately not nearly as large as this one....
Remember when FFG insisted we wouldn't have to worry about our XCOM board game becoming obsoleted?
Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard (www.theverge.com)
Microsoft can now go ahead and close its giant deal.
Street Fighter 6 breaks franchise and all-time Evo records for 2023 (www.destructoid.com)
Street Fighter 6 is still early but it's already setting some big records at Evo 2023 for both the franchise and tournament series.
I love board games.
What's the age cut off for socially acceptable gaming
So, hear me out....
What's the "One Game" that you play at least once a year?
Do you have that "One Game" that you seems to come back to every year like a clockwork? Replaying it either just for the sake of it, nostalgia, or even finishing it again?...
Armada Megatron is awesome!
Your favorite board games?
What are your favorite board games? Me and my friends love playing board games, but I get the feeling their tired of playing the same things. What do you guys usually play? My favorite board game of all time is HeroQuest. I never get tired of playing it. Also love Catan, Arkham Horror, Betrayal House on the Hill, Spyfall (great...