June 2024 Game Discussion Thread

[Frindis]

Is it just me or was that pretty underwhelming? I hope the Future, Xbox, and PCG showcases are better.

A couple that I was interested in. Going to try out the Entoria demo and nice to see Dark and Darker on Steam again, that game I liked. I don't particularly like skateboarding games, but that Skate game did look cool. Overall nothing mindblowing except for that Squad Buster video with all the celebrity cameos.

​

 

[Hveðrungr]

Roger Clark (currently hosting the Future Games Show) has an amazing voice. I could listen to him for hours.

 

[Colif]

Activision multi player games play you... you don't play them. They designed to extract money and keep you playing them longer with and actively act to keep everyone at the same level.

COD became a after school activity, somewhere for the kids to play and stay out of parents hair. That was fine for 20 years, but now since loot boxes showed a captive market of credit card owners, they are determined to make every game in a way such that it might also create as much profit per year.

People have been effectively trained to not try to get better as they can avoid lag that way...

The players that are good get bad lag and the actively makes their aim worse, whereas people that aren't good have a great time and get built in aim assist to hit the good players who are having a bad time... fairness. Equity... everyone is forced to be the same.

There is no chance anymore. Game results are almost predetermined before you start them. Game can change how it plays on fly to keep things fair. Games learn how you play and put you in positions you can't beat it.

You actually have more chance of winning in a casino... there are regulations there to force it.

Brian will say they always been after making money, and that is true, but it used to be by making good games. Not by keeping a captive market and teaming people who haven't spent any money up with people who have, and making it so they think only way to be as good is buy something.

I can already guess systems like this are in place in many other games. COD is just where it was found. Keeping people playing and spending is "normal" now and people have been educated into thinking its how its meant to be.

Many of these people complain when they play another game is released that doesn't use the "balancing" methods and actually expect people to be able to get better... that doesn't penalise you for being good. They want it to be the same as COD... or WoW.

They want their security blanket back...

 

[Brian Boru]

Brian will say…

…that he agrees with your thesis
Just because something is designed in a certain way doesn't make it desirable, merely explainable. 'If they can, they will'.

I haven't played any of these, but the obvious Q is: why not put players with others of similar ability? With thousands playing, it should be easy almost all the time—easier I would've thought than messing with peoples' internet connection or game mechanics.

 

[Colif]

why not put players with others of similar ability? With thousands playing, it should be easy almost all the time—easier I would've thought than messing with peoples' internet connection or game mechanics.

That is how it started. They had Skill Based Match Making where game worked to always have you with people of same skill levels. That was the beginning. That was to make it fun... later they added systems to make it profitable.

Now they have Engagement Based Match Making that works on top of that system to also put you with people that have spent money and who seem to be better at game based on their gear.

They don't care about retaining the good players. They don't spend any money. Giving them lag and making them lose more might make them go away... plenty of brand new 14 year olds who don't know any better. They don't own all your crap yet.

There are other systems in play to control how well you aim, how well you hit, how many times you are hit in a game, nothing left to chance.

Game also boosts your performance on any gun you recently purchased to make you think it was a good purchase.I don't expect boost lasts long. Just enough that you don't notice right away.

 

[Brian Boru]

They don't care about retaining the good players. They don't spend any money.

Hmm, seems a dubious strategy to me. Those are your prime potential evangelists who can spread your brand wider with far more credibility than your marketing can ever have. Iow far more valuable than money spenders in general.

Aren't these games generally competitive? So wouldn't most players want to progress thru the ranks for their own self esteem and bragging rights on SocMed? Start me in Layer H, and I'll want to get to G, and then to F, etc.

 

[Colif]

Aren't these games generally competitive? So wouldn't most players want to progress thru the ranks for their own self esteem and bragging rights on SocMed? Start me in Layer H, and I'll want to get to G, and then to F, etc.

i would expect that is how it should be.

Not all games are like this, I have no idea what Battlefield or any of the other shooters do. COD sounds like it became a day care centre. Rubber floors where no one gets hurt, we all the same... keep the captives happy so they keep buying pixels.

I don't play the games either. I am just commenting on what I see.

It can depend on what you conditioned to expect. If the games you play don't reward you any better for trying hard, then why try?

 

[Pifanjr]

My wife and I played a little bit of Baldur's Gate 3 again and did our first battle. Exactly as planned my cleric in heavy armor tanked all the hits without taking any damage.

I've also taken to casting Guidance whenever I suspect someone might have to do a skill check. My wife still managed to fail her first two checks by rolling a 3 and 4. I did the same checks and rolled a 19 and 15.

 

[ZedClampet]

Quick quiz: What will make you more money in the long-term? 1) Releasing 10 half-arsed games and not supporting them at all after launch. 2) Releasing good games when they are ready to be released and making sure player feedback and bugs are taken care of after launch?

There's a relatively new studio called Geekon that is going for the first option. They've recently released 3 games and have at least 4 more in the "coming soon" pipeline. They don't fix bugs. They don't bother to read the forums. They launch the game and immediately begin making a new, cheap, rushed game.

Some of their games have been good ideas. They could be building a following and expecting good things in the future. Instead, they are doing nothing but collecting the wrath of niche gamers and insuring that eventually they won't be able to sell any games at all. Such a stupid plan.

 

[Johnway]

So as i wind down playing chivalry 2 (the servers have been playing up and as people leave playing the game), i've gone back to my Single player games. namely Arcade tycoon. So far i've been blasting through the campaign and beating the various levels. How long before i get bored of the game remains to be seen, its far too repetitive as i have to build the arcade from scratch each time and i usually follow the same game plan. i have been taking screenshots of my arcades as a momento but honestly i'm not exactly fulfilled.

Onto other news Still playing shin megami tensei iv and we're on the finish line where my decisions are locked in. honestly, the Lawful and chaos options are bloody awful. yet i have no choice but to pick them. I had hoped to get the neutral (GOOD) ending, but i stuffed the alignment decisions in such a way that no matter which decision i take, its either going to fall into Lawful or Chaos. Which sucks.

 

[Hveðrungr]

Quick quiz: What will make you more money in the long-term? 1) Releasing 10 half-arsed games and not supporting them at all after launch. 2) Releasing good games when they are ready to be released and making sure player feedback and bugs are taken care of after launch?

Quick answer: Unfortunately, probably (1).

And maybe it's not so bad. Games weren't reliably “supported after launch” until what, the late-00s? Yes games were often janky and buggy then, but they were affordable and still playable.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I picked up Little Kitty Big City for my kid as a birthday present, its a cute, well made, forgiving little exploration game. Shes into it and I dont mind at all.

Otherwise Im back in Elden Ring trying to get a char up to the DLC beginning. Managed to hump it critical path through Leyndell without too much trouble. Having a good time playing it again, but Commander Niall at the Mountaintops, who you need to kill to access the DLC is one of the tougher battles in the game for me so I decided to make my way to Volcano Manor to grab a few more levels and spend some time togethaaa with Rykaard.

Using the Great Axe to crump stuff instead of a Great Sword for a small change, one day Ill try and non bonk melee build in a From game, one day.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Doom: The Dark Ages looks pretty sweet.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tk8lkmYGWQ


Hope they fiddle the difficulty down a touch and cut out some of the timed traversal stuff between fights from Eternal. Flying a dragon and piloting one of these though, I'm all there for.

 

[Hveðrungr]

The game that most piqued my interest from the Xbox showcase (other than the Starfield expansion of course) was Nobody Wants to Die. That went straight onto my wishlist. Perfect Dark looks interesting too.

I am a lot less interested in both Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle than I was before the showcase. DATVG looks to be cartoonish and actiony, and IJATGC looks to be mostly cutscenes.

 

[Frindis]

Starting in roughly 20 minutes:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaZCdMPqT44

 

[Hveðrungr]

A few games properly interested me from the PCG showcase:

• Toads of the Bayou, a turn-based tactics game
• Demonschool, a turn-based tactics game
• Steel Seed, a stealth action game

Anyone else download a demo or add something to their wishlist due to the showcase?

 

[Brian Boru]

my kid as a birthday present

Happy birthday to the cria!

Spoiler: Birthday party

 

[ZedClampet]

Racing games are the exception to the rule that humans are your toughest competition. People can't drive. It's a lot better in the full sims than in the simcade games.

 

[Colif]

Racing games are the exception to the rule that humans are your toughest competition.

It depends. If its a racing game with weapons, then suddenly those people who can't drive all see you as the biggest target. And can punish you.

I generally avoid racing games with weapons as I prefer to win by knowing the track, not by randomly beating someone who got blown up in front of me. More often than not I would be the target.
It is years since I played a game like that.

rubber banding is a problem with casual racers... no one allowed to get too far ahead.

 

[ZedClampet]

It depends. If its a racing game with weapons, then suddenly those people who can't drive all see you as the biggest target. And can punish you.

I generally avoid racing games with weapons as I prefer to win by knowing the track, not by randomly beating someone who got blown up in front of me. More often than not I would be the target.
It is years since I played a game like that.

rubber banding is a problem with casual racers... no one allowed to get too far ahead.

There was a racing game with weapons shown on the PC Gamer Show yesterday, but I can't find it now. That article has way too many games listed.

 

[Hveðrungr]

There was a racing game with weapons shown on the PC Gamer Show yesterday, but I can't find it now.

Did you mean Airframe Ultra?

 

[Colif]

flying motorcycle game with melee weapons... sounds more dangerous to the rider than anyone who might want to pass them...

Did you mean Airframe Ultra?

Is this a modern version of Road Rash? (they were fun for their time)

I would buy an updated version of that as at least the weapons aren't rockets like in other games. No mines... no blue shells.

 

[ZedClampet]

Did you mean Airframe Ultra?

Yeah, that's it.

***

Played some of my favorite colony sim, Kingdoms Reborn. Trying out the new Aztec faction. So far we've only advanced to the Middle Ages, but things have started moving pretty quickly.

 

[ZedClampet]

@Kaamos_Llama You mentioned Radio Commander the other day. It's on sale right now for $3.99

Radio Commander on Steam

Use the radio to give commands to the soldiers on the battlefield. Keep track of the situation based on their voice reports only. Lead US platoons to clash with Vietcong in a realistic, innovative approach to the RTS genre. Make hard choices in a narrative driven experience, and face the outcome.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@Kaamos_Llama You mentioned Radio Commander the other day. It's on sale right now for $3.99

Radio Commander on Steam

Use the radio to give commands to the soldiers on the battlefield. Keep track of the situation based on their voice reports only. Lead US platoons to clash with Vietcong in a realistic, innovative approach to the RTS genre. Make hard choices in a narrative driven experience, and face the outcome.

store.steampowered.com

Nice thanks, downloading now.

Ive been playing in Baba Is You today because I usually lack any patience when I'm stumped in puzzle games and I want to try to get into them. The early levels are mostly pretty easy but there been a couple where the game logic didnt seem to make sense just yet that took a minute. Clever little game.