December 2024 PCG Article Discussion Thread

[ZedClampet]

Adrenaline works pretty alright. I don't use it much on my main PC, but it comes in handy on my laptop for my eGPU and can give it a nice, mild overclock to pick up a few FPS.

As for being a good employee, it sounds nice in theory, but in my own experience, being a good employee just means more work for the same amount of money. I've never gotten a decent raise without agitating for it and the one that was given to me for being a "good employee" was so insulting (especially considering they were already underpaying me be several dollars an hour) it lead me to do what the kids these days call, "quiet quitting." Sears can go pound sand.

The key to getting paid what you are worth is changing jobs and lying about what you used to make.

As for being a "good employee", some people can't help it. Before retirement saved me, I spent over 30 years trying to be the best employee. Sometimes it paid off, sometimes it didn't. My daughter is working a 3rd job at Walmart, and she's doing multiple times the work of anyone else--per her estimate--but she keeps on keeping on anyway. They've piled a lot of extra work on her. But she gets this from both parents. My wife may be the world's most conscientious employee. But it paid off for her. And my daughter has already been talked to about possible promotions.

 

[BeardyHat]

The key to getting paid what you are worth is changing jobs and lying about what you used to make.

I'll take this into account when I start my hunt next year.

Also, overinflating my own skills, since I already have imposter syndrome anyway.

 

[ZedClampet]

I'll take this into account when I start my hunt next year.

Also, overinflating my own skills, since I already have imposter syndrome anyway.

When I got my first job in banking, my wife laughed when I told her what all I told them I could do, but the job didn't start for over a month, so I went to the bookstore, bought a bunch of books and studied up.

 

[ZedClampet]

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review

Dr. Jones stole my heart in MachineGames' best game to date.

www.pcgamer.com

@Colif here's a review. Didn't read it yet. Does say it's Machine Game's finest to date.

Edit: Metacritic PC and Xbox reviews both average 87 (about 100 reviews so far)

PC Gamer says, "Like if an immersive sim got caught in a teleporter accident with Uncharted. Some aspects of The Great Circle are weaker than others, but it joins Batman Arkham and Goldeneye in the god tier of licensed games."

Seems some things are great, some things are good, a couple of things are weak, but the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

All good to hear. I like Machine Games. Wouldn't want Microsoft to close them.

 

[ZedClampet]

Marvel Rivals players are complaining that nobody is playing healer, and the grizzled Overwatch vets knowingly nod in solidarity

Time is a flat circle, and healers are getting ignored in Marvel Rivals.

www.pcgamer.com

They should make a race out of it. Last person to pick a class has to pick a support character.

 

[Zloth]

Holy... I skipped reading PC Gamer's news articles for a couple of days. Or was it just one? Even going back 9 pages, I was only seeing "yesterday" for the time on them! 9 pages of articles in two days??

 

[Colif]

Only reviews I ever read are for headphones... I stopped reading game reviews years ago when I could just watch the actual gameplay on YouTube. For most part, that stops me even needing to buy the game, as either I watch a play through or see enough to know not to waste my money. Its only rarely I actually buy the game now. It is way cheaper and means I can buy things that last a lot longer - headphones

I wasn't going to buy this game anyway. I was just curious if it would offer free entertainment over coming weeks or not. Still can't tell.

 

[ZedClampet]

Holy... I skipped reading PC Gamer's news articles for a couple of days. Or was it just one? Even going back 9 pages, I was only seeing "yesterday" for the time on them! 9 pages of articles in two days??

These are probably last week's articles that didn't get published because of Black Friday.

 

[ZedClampet]

Only reviews I ever read are for headphones... I stopped reading game reviews years ago when I could just watch the actual gameplay on YouTube. For most part, that stops me even needing to buy the game, as either I watch a play through or see enough to know not to waste my money. Its only rarely I actually buy the game now. It is way cheaper and means I can buy things that last a lot longer - headphones

I wasn't going to buy this game anyway. I was just curious if it would offer free entertainment over coming weeks or not. Still can't tell.

Technically, you only need one set of headphones. Buying more would be like buying Indiana Jones on Steam, Epic and Microsoft Store, only a lot more expensive.

 

[Colif]

One day you might be correct. Once we have AI in headphones that can change their tuning to anything you want, there really won't be much need for newer ones. Then it comes down to comfort and materials, and paying more will always make it more comfortable to use.

But unless you know what sound signature you like, you can stop on one pair now but it might not be the best sound you can get.

As for reviews

Spoiler

 

[ZedClampet]

One day you might be correct. Once we have AI in headphones that can change their tuning to anything you want, there really won't be much need for newer ones. Then it comes down to comfort and materials, and paying more will always make it more comfortable to use.

But unless you know what sound signature you like, you can stop on one pair now but it might not be the best sound you can get.

As for reviews

Spoiler

Sorry, don't watch YouTube reviews.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure developer Deck Nine lays off staff for the second time this year

It was not revealed how extensive this round was.

www.pcgamer.com

More bad industry news. Looks like the sequel to Life is Strange sold a little over 100k copies on PC, which is a far cry from the 7 million plus copies the first one sold.

Did anyone else here play the first one?

 

[Colif]

not sure how we communicate, you don't watch videos and I don't read reviews.

I skipped the walking simulator craze so not me

 

[ZedClampet]

not sure how we communicate, you don't watch videos and I don't read reviews.

I skipped the walking simulator craze so not me

It's not a walking simulator. It's an interactive movie, like Telltale games, where you have to do QTEs, make story decisions, solve puzzles, etc. A walking simulator is where you just walk around and either listen to or read a story, like Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.

I actually like walking simulators okay if the story is good. Usually it's not, though.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

More bad industry news. Looks like the sequel to Life is Strange sold a little over 100k copies on PC, which is a far cry from the 7 million plus copies the first one sold.

Did anyone else here play the first one?

Heard good things, got it and started playing then realized it was a high school drama and bailed out.

I believe its really good but sometimes I just cant get over myself.

 

[ZedClampet]

Heard good things, got it and started playing then realized it was a high school drama and bailed out.

I believe its really good but sometimes I just cant get over myself.

I actually liked it until the last episode, which was sort of a let-down, but now I can't remember why it was a let-down. I think maybe it was just too wishy, washy and didn't give enough explanation for what had been going on.

 

[ZedClampet]

I skipped the walking simulator craze so not me

You definitely didn't skip the "walking simulator" craze. Journey is a walking simulator.

 

[Colif]

not with the white suit it isn't, that even makes the snow less annoying.

 

[ZedClampet]

not with the white suit it isn't, that even makes the snow less annoying.

Yep, definitely a walking simulator, no matter if you float or fly sometimes. There are plenty of walking simulators where you either fly or swim. ABZU is a good one in the water. The Pathless is very good, as well, with multiple modes of transportation. There is some incidental bow shooting in The Pathless, but it still qualifies.

 

[ZedClampet]

not with the white suit it isn't, that even makes the snow less annoying.

Critical Play: Walking Simulators, Journey – The Mechanics of Magic

mechanicsofmagic.com

"Journey was created by Thatgamecompany in 2012 and is considered an indie game. Like other games of the walking sim genre, in Journey, you are free to walk the avatar around the world, which changes when you complete various tasks. "

What Remains of Edith Finch is another fantastic walking simulator.

 

[Pifanjr]

I discovered Into the Breach was recently added to the collection of Netflix games, meaning I can play it for free on my phone.

Somehow it is now 1:22 AM, I should have been asleep 2 hours ago.

 

[Colif]

Journey was special because of how its multi player worked. You are right there really isn't anything to the game but just the random ways encounters could happen added to game. Playing it alone would often lead me to restart and hope next time I meet someone on stage 2 and we run through the rest of game until the light...
ABZU was boring because it wasn't multi player
Children of Sky is boring because it forces multi player

All made by same company. They got it right with Journey. Anonymous multi player. Not forced, you didn't have to play with others.

Somehow it is now 1:22 AM, I should have been asleep 2 hours ago.

Works out he is 10 hours ahead of Pfinan... I am ahead of everyone though unless we have people here from New Zealand.

 

[ZedClampet]

Journey was special because of how its multi player worked. You are right there really isn't anything to the game but just the random ways encounters could happen added to game. Playing it alone would often lead me to restart and hope next time I meet someone on stage 2 and we run through the rest of game until the light...
ABZU was boring because it wasn't multi player
Children of Sky is boring because it forces multi player

All made by same company. They got it right with Journey. Anonymous multi player. Not forced, you didn't have to play with others.



Works out he is 10 hours ahead of Pfinan... I am ahead of everyone though unless we have people here from New Zealand.

New Zealand isn't a real place. Although I occasionally watch videos by "Your New Zealand Family" which claims to be filmed in New Zealand, but I have a globe of the world and New Zealand is definitely not on it, so I don't believe in it.

ABZU wasn't boring. Journey was boring.

But this won't be boring:

Palantir and Anduril have teamed up to 'ensure the US government leads the world in artificial intelligence' and this is what happens when LOTR fans get to name companies

You shall not... parse?

www.pcgamer.com

Sad that we'll probably never have the zombie apocalypse we've all trained for? Never fear. The robot apocalypse is near.

 

[Pifanjr]

Palantir and Anduril have teamed up to 'ensure the US government leads the world in artificial intelligence' and this is what happens when LOTR fans get to name companies

You shall not... parse?

www.pcgamer.com

Sad that we'll probably never have the zombie apocalypse we've all trained for? Never fear. The robot apocalypse is near.

I don't think we'll even get a cool robot apocalypse. Just an ever more dystopian society where the rich get more powerful and the poor get treated like disposable labour.

 

[Pifanjr]

I discovered Into the Breach was recently added to the collection of Netflix games, meaning I can play it for free on my phone.

Somehow it is now 1:22 AM, I should have been asleep 2 hours ago.

It seems I am doomed to repeat my mistakes...

I've won two games on normal difficulty. It's easy enough to win most maps without losing any grid points or pilots (barring the occasional screwup), but winning while getting the achievements is a lot harder. I also haven't turned on any of the advanced stuff, so I'll try that on my next run.

 

[ZedClampet]

People Can Fly lays off more than 120 employees as it cuts back on in-development games: 'We need to tailor our plans to our financial capacity'

Christmas is just two weeks away but that's not stopping studio executives from putting people out of work.

www.pcgamer.com

More game industry layoffs. The article blames it on the people in charge, but I think that otherwise good developers are just getting swept up in the entire industry's downturn. Why all this is happening I could only guess at, and my guesses aren't worth much.