February 2025 PCG Article Discussion

[Colif]

The federal gov in the US doesn't have VAT taxes because it doesn't have a sales tax. A few individual states charge extra tax on tobacco, but that's about it. The situation as it stands in the US right now would make any attempt to bring on extra taxes disastrous. None of those politicians would ever be elected again.

But apparently most people don't care about tariffs, which basically have the same result.

I have my doubts that these tariffs will actually go into effect, though, because it could cause huge inflation. We have almost no chip production right now in the US, and just about everything has chips in it.

Trump just says crazy stuff to start conversations. I don't think he's really serious about a 2000 percent tariff. I'm guessing he wants a conversation with China.

Tariffs are a bargaining chip. I don't think it will negatively effect the population, a lot of it is scare tactics to make you think it will effect you. Bad news sells better than good.

I don't think we should be discussing politics, no one agrees. Its the best game not to play

 

[Pifanjr]

No, I am, too! This one has me confused. The first game was pretty fun (and plenty pretty) but hardly top notch. It's strange to me that it would have such good sales figures. This was a game that made it difficult to save the game and had a fairly complex melee combat system - it wasn't what I would expect most gamers to want.

Souls-likes also have complex melee combat and no ability to save whenever you want and those seem to be doing very well too

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

You don't need to spend a lot on a gpu. A 4050 is better than a 1060 and a 1060 is still a really good gpu at 1080p which I prefer as many games I play are only 1080p anyway. I rather not fuss with ever other game just to add a little better resolution that to me is not needed on a 28 inch monitor. When you scale up to a 65 inch tv and run 4k They actually are quit similar.

Besides, just think about any high end unbelievable graphics game that has ever been released and look at them today and you realize it was not all that great really. All these unbelievable eye candy games of today are going to be sub par in 10 years, so don't trick your self into some eye candy hype gold. It's not, and you'll see it's not, when you compare it too what ever is great eye candy in 2030 and you'll think how on earth did I think it was that great?

I'll be interested in seeing what the 5050s do, but there is also intells battle mage cards which are like 250-300 and are also really solid little cards. Raytracing is way over rated anyway..

I see it, especially if youre not looking to play the latest multiplatform AAA games you can get away with a lot less GPU. Its just that current budget CPUs are much closer to the top end for gaming than new budget GPUs are.

There isnt a desktop 4050, and probably wont be a 5050 but for 200 you can get a new Radeon RX 6600 which is about a 3060, 250 an Intel B580 or 300 an RTX 4060, probably a bit up and down from there depending on sales or exact model. Any one of those would probably be above minimums for AAA games for a few years.

 

[ZedClampet]

Steam now warns you if that early access game you're eyeing up has been abandoned by its devs

But there might be some kinks to work out.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[ZedClampet]

No, I am, too! This one has me confused. The first game was pretty fun (and plenty pretty) but hardly top notch. It's strange to me that it would have such good sales figures. This was a game that made it difficult to save the game and had a fairly complex melee combat system - it wasn't what I would expect most gamers to want.

Just a guess, but they did a bunch of video development diaries all through-out the development of the first one and had significant hype around it by the time it launched, but it still took about 6 months to hit 1 million sales. Plus, I think people liked the marketing that you weren't "the chosen one". Also, there aren't a lot of big RPG's like that: in first person, open world, etc. Seems it's also not unusual for the first sequel to be a big hit sales-wise. Happened with Sons of the Forest and a couple others like Dying Light 2, although Dying Light 2 didn't maintain that initial burst of sales very long. For some reason people didn't like it as much, though I loved it.

 

[ZedClampet]

Tariffs are a bargaining chip. I don't think it will negatively effect the population, a lot of it is scare tactics to make you think it will effect you. Bad news sells better than good.

I don't think we should be discussing politics, no one agrees. Its the best game not to play

I don't think discussing the impending 2000 percent increase in PC equipment in the US due to tariffs should be off-limits. No one even mentioned anything partisan.

 

[JCgames]

There isnt a desktop 4050, and probably wont be a 5050 but for 200 you can get a new Radeon RX 6600 which is about a 3060, 250 an Intel B580 or 300 an RTX 4060, probably a bit up and down from there depending on sales or exact model. Any one of those would probably be above minimums for AAA games for a few years.

Yes, any of those would work for a good long while.

I could swear I saw 4050s on something but maybe it was a lap top. Was 3050 the last desk top 50? I know there was a decent 1050 and i think 1650. Personally I wouldn't get a 50 series outside of a comp that someone just wants a minor vid upgrade on a prebuilt, but there are certainly sales and second hand that can get you a nice card new/used


I think for a budget system of today I would just save a bit more and get a 40/5060, or I'd scour for a used or deep sale on something older then save for something good down the road and spread out the cost of the build. Unless there was a cheap amd card I could get for like 125. I have a 360 someone gave me for 25 and it's not too bad as a 6 ywar ago budget card, not sure if the 560 is still holding out I know that series could be found cheap

Right now I'm pushing a 1060 and it's still holding strong, and I can still over clock my cpu (turbo tweak) andget a few more fps in outlaws and dragon age 4. I wonder if it's going to hold out till the 60 series drops? That would be pretty awesome!

 

[BeardyHat]

No, I am, too! This one has me confused. The first game was pretty fun (and plenty pretty) but hardly top notch. It's strange to me that it would have such good sales figures. This was a game that made it difficult to save the game and had a fairly complex melee combat system - it wasn't what I would expect most gamers to want.

I feel like hype is a big thing here. Not sure what it is compared to 2017, but every new game seems to be hyped to hell, bought up, barely played and then forgotten. Look at the big releases last year, I have several friends who bought into the hype of stuff like Black Myth Wukong, Dragons Dogma 2, etc, played it for less than 10 hours and then moved on.

Personally, I am quite hyped for it, but I adore the first game and intend to play the hell out of this one, when I can finally afford it.

I see it, especially if youre not looking to play the latest multiplatform AAA games you can get away with a lot less GPU. Its just that current budget CPUs are much closer to the top end for gaming than new budget GPUs are.

There isnt a desktop 4050, and probably wont be a 5050 but for 200 you can get a new Radeon RX 6600 which is about a 3060, 250 an Intel B580 or 300 an RTX 4060, probably a bit up and down from there depending on sales or exact model. Any one of those would probably be above minimums for AAA games for a few years.

Used GPUs are where it's at. I bought my 6650XT late last year for $190. Been looking at 3070s recently too and many can be had for less than $300.

But none of my machines are top spec and even the one attached to a 4k TV only plays stuff at 1080p usually.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Used GPUs are where it's at. I night my 6650XT late last year for $190. Been looking at 3070s recently too and many can be had for less than $300.

But none of my machines are top spec and even the one attached to a 4k TV only plays stuff at 1080p usually.

Used is fine if you have a bit of knowledge already and can accept a bit of risk, but I'm always a bit wary of recommending used to random people. If someone is looking at a lower end model then theres a good chance they cant afford to just get another one if its a dud or blows up after a short while. GPUs usually have a 3 year warranty which doesnt inspire huge confidence, and a lot of people abuse them even if they only do it without realizing it.

 

[Pifanjr]

Steam now warns you if that early access game you're eyeing up has been abandoned by its devs

But there might be some kinks to work out.

www.pcgamer.com

I happened to stumble upon a Steam game in early access with the warning that it hadn't been updated in 20 months. I hadn't seen that before, but then I tend to ignore early access games most of the time, so I didn't realise it was this new.

 

[BeardyHat]

Used is fine if you have a bit of knowledge already and can accept a bit of risk, but I'm always a bit wary of recommending used to random people. If someone is looking at a lower end model then theres a good chance they cant afford to just get another one if its a dud or blows up after a short while. GPUs usually have a 3 year warranty which doesnt inspire huge confidence, and a lot of people abuse them even if they only do it without realizing it.

Yeah, fair enough. I guess I'm not generally scared of used stuff because I usually have good experiences and even when I don't, I'm well versed in how to fix the issue.

 

[JCgames]

I only buy new,. The best advice on saving is spread out gpu and main system. I know some people alway talk about bottlenecks, but seeing there is such a variety in power even in the current generation I find it a total non issue. you are talking maybe a percent or 2. Besides, push harder with the cpu and the gpu goes a bit further, and today's gpus building a budget system the cpu that the card pairs well is actually a few years from now

So let's sat you get a 5060, and it's a bit slower on a 12400 now. But in 3 years build that new box and your better that a 14900 you know? (No clue what chip that will be, but you get the idea)

Also to me a bigger issue is power. Top end stuff has way more draw, wich means more AC too keep your place cool and a much higher electric bill. But man that heat from a clocked up high end cpu/gpu plus power supply is huge. Even a 500 watt and a mid range conp pumps out heat when it's summer. I don't wanna know what some 1200 watt 4k system pushes, but it's more than I want to deal with.

 

[Zloth]

Souls-likes also have complex melee combat and no ability to save whenever you want and those seem to be doing very well too

KC: D2 is a Souls-Like, you heard it here first! <grinning, ducking, rolling out of the way>

I feel like hype is a big thing here. Not sure what it is compared to 2017, but every new game seems to be hyped to hell, bought up, barely played and then forgotten. Look at the big releases last year, I have several friends who bought into the hype of stuff like Black Myth Wukong, Dragons Dogma 2, etc, played it for less than 10 hours and then moved on.

Yeah, that's another worry I have about the gaming industry. I keep playing all these great games and, 10 hours in, I'm already getting unmissable achievements that only half the players have gotten. But people have been doing it for decades now - as long as they don't change, I guess it keeps working. <shrug>

But none of my machines are top spec and even the one attached to a 4k TV only plays stuff at 1080p usually.

Now see, if you had a CRT 4K television, that would be just fine - it could do any resolution you liked from 4K on down to 320x200! Of course, it would weigh more than you and draw... a tad more power...

 

[JCgames]

I feel like hype is a big thing here. Not sure what it is compared to 2017, but every new game seems to be hyped to hell, bought up, barely played and then forgotten. Look at the big releases last year, I have several friends who bought into the hype of stuff like Black Myth Wukong, Dragons Dogma 2, etc, played it for less than 10 hours and then moved

Last year I saw all of 4 games that interested me, 2 indy games, broken roads and capes though both didn't really scream must have.

The other 2, outlaws, I really enjoy starwars but i havent found one i liked since galaxies, the jedi games bored me, but outlaws seamed to have a good vibe, and I'll grab dragon age eventually becausei liked the previous games. Its to bad this one seamed to revolve around varric agian. He's was OK as a narrator in da2, but I hated having to take him in the deep roads and atleast in da3 you could dump him early. So that was a big part of me waiting.

The only thing I picked up last year was a vn which was a few years old and a few point and clicks with a few of them about 15 years old. The newest bigger game I grabbed was lamplighters for 10 bucks, its decent, but the have an over abundance of ambushes which i do not enjoy at all. i also grabbed wasteland 3 as I really enjoyed 2, this one I hear is a bit shorter and an even better narrative. I guess I'll see eventually. I'm playing a point and click first.

 

[March's Ghost]

Its to bad this one seamed to revolve around varric agian.

It assuredly does not revolve around Varric. He's barely in the game at all after the opening sequence.

 

[Zloth]

It assuredly does not revolve around Varric. He's barely in the game at all after the opening sequence.

That's a pity - Varric rocks.

 

[Johnway]

Sony enforcers execute a legal visceral attack on the BloodbornePSX demake, continuing its mission to eradicate all traces of FromSoft's beloved RPG on PC

Prey slaughtered.

www.pcgamer.com

For sony's sake i hope that they are working on a bloodborne port to the pc as this is them being dicks to dedicated fans. How is a demake hurting your bottom line selling bloodborne on the PC right now? or on the ps4 for that matter?

 

[JCgames]

It assuredly does not revolve around Varric. He's barely in the game at all after the opening sequence.

Well that's good to know, the other part that didn't sound as good was its no longer a tactical game it's solo with auto followers, unless I interpreted that wrong. I also know Solas plays a big part and i thought he was blase too. Well outside of sera fun banter with him knocking him down a peg she had some great lines with him.

Still all that makes it a 15-20 dollar game for me. That way if I don't like I can deal. Bg3 had more than enough stuff to give me pause too so ill be waiting a few years for that too. I got more than enough to play so its really no big deal anyway.

 

[March's Ghost]

was its no longer a tactical game it's solo with auto followers

That much is true. You can still manually use followers special abilities for combos, and command which enemy they attack, but that's it. It is important for you to initiate the combos and pick your companions abilities, but really no more than that. Combat is very fast paced.

I also know Solas plays a big part

Nope, he has just a little more game time than Varric. That's pretty much why they changed the title from Dreadwolf.

Honestly, it's worth more than 20 bucks just for the quality of the performance and the visual design of the world alone.

 

[Pifanjr]

Blizzard co-founder and Diablo designer thinks new ARPGs have 'cheapened' the genre with fast leveling, throwaway loot and enemies

David Brevik argues the fun of these games "isn't getting to the end, it's the journey."

www.pcgamer.com

One thing that's weird to me is how most games where the endgame is the "real" game still bother forcing people to play the rest of the game. If players enjoy running the same 6 dungeons over and over again for a month or three, then do it again with 6 different dungeons, why bother making a whole bunch of other content? Why force players to play through that content every time they make a new character?

Steam makes its ban on games that rely on in-game ads even more explicit, so no 'watch this to continue playing' stuff will be making its way to our PCs

New page, old policy.

www.pcgamer.com

Valve having a near monopoly is sometimes worrying to me, but I can't say it isn't nice having a benevolent overlord.

 

[ZedClampet]

Blizzard co-founder and Diablo designer thinks new ARPGs have 'cheapened' the genre with fast leveling, throwaway loot and enemies

David Brevik argues the fun of these games "isn't getting to the end, it's the journey."

www.pcgamer.com

One thing that's weird to me is how most games where the endgame is the "real" game still bother forcing people to play the rest of the game. If players enjoy running the same 6 dungeons over and over again for a month or three, then do it again with 6 different dungeons, why bother making a whole bunch of other content? Why force players to play through that content every time they make a new character?

Steam makes its ban on games that rely on in-game ads even more explicit, so no 'watch this to continue playing' stuff will be making its way to our PCs

New page, old policy.

www.pcgamer.com

Valve having a near monopoly is sometimes worrying to me, but I can't say it isn't nice having a benevolent overlord.

sorry didn't check this thread before making my valve ads post...

 

[ZedClampet]

A 2023 study concluded CAPTCHAs are 'a tracking cookie farm for profit masquerading as a security service' that made us spend 819 million hours clicking on traffic lights to generate nearly $1 trillion for Google

Is that good?

www.pcgamer.com

Turns out Captchas aren't for preventing bots because bots are now faster at solving Captchas than humans. Captchas are actually for collecting user data and stuff for training AI.

 

[March's Ghost]

Turns out Captchas aren't for preventing bots because bots are now faster at solving Captchas than humans. Captchas are actually for collecting user data and stuff for training AI.

Captchas aren't meant to be unsolvable to bots. Captchas measure HOW you solve them and they can, quite accurately, determine a bot based on how it solves it compared to a human. Of course it's a battle of escalation of newer bots vs newer Captchas.

 

[Pifanjr]

Avowed review

Humble and a little old-fashioned, but Obsidian's decades of RPG experience still shine through.

www.pcgamer.com

This review makes it sound like a fantasy Mass Effect. I immediately put it on my wishlist, though I have no idea when I'll actually get around to play it.

 

[JCgames]

Avowed review

Humble and a little old-fashioned, but Obsidian's decades of RPG experience still shine through.

www.pcgamer.com

This review makes it sound like a fantasy Mass Effect. I immediately put it on my wishlist, though I have no idea when I'll actually get around to play it.

And another first person game. Im really hating this rpg trend.

I'd of loved the Indiana jones game and that shipped first only. So many games are going in that direction.