Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

[Blackhawk]

Miners have effectively made this approach, building your own system and upgrading video card independently, obsolete.

For now. And it wasn't just the miners - it was the perfect storm of the miners and the chip shortage, with the whole thing drawn out by the supply line/factory production impacts from COVID. It may or may remain that way in a few years once the chip shortage has subsided and the world goes back to normal (either by COVID subsiding or the infrastructure being adjusted to account for it.)

For now, everything is out of reach. At my old savings rate, even a moderate prebuilt system would take six to eight years. And I can't even put back that $25/month anymore.

If my current system were to die, especially if it were my video card, I'd simply be priced out of the hobby. The closest I'd be able to come would be the PS4 when nobody else happens to be using the TV (or old games that would run on my laptop.) VR would be out of the question except for native Quest games.

[Skinypupy]

Grabbed Dragon Quest Builders 2 on a whim yesterday. A surprisingly fun game, combining JRPG with Minecraft and doing both extremely well.

I’ve always like the idea of Minecraft, but don’t have the creativity to play a completely unguided experience. DQB2 allows for lots of creative flexibility for those who want it, but also have quests and objectives for those of us who need that sort of thing. Very impressed so far.

[Daehawk]

Whats the differences in Pillars of Eternity Deadfire and Divinity Original Sin 2?

Yes Ive had my issues with both of the original games but this is a curiosity question as I dont really see a difference in them. Seem the same look and same game with a different story. I own Sin 2.

[TheMix]

I dont really see a difference in them. Seem the same look and same game with a different story.

I doubt that you've actually looked at them then. They are nothing alike. Different skills, different classes, different leveling scheme, different environmental behavior, different party interactions, different magic, different strategies...

I mean, I guess you could say they are party-based, fantasy role playing games. So, based on that, I can only assume that you think every game since Baldur's Gate is the same (or whatever game Baldur's Gate "copied" ).

[TheMix]

Here, first result searching DDG:
https://gamerant.com/pillars-of-eternit ... st-better/

Or second link here :
https://lmgtfy.app/?q=divinity+original ... y+deadfire

[Daehawk]

Whats DDG?

[Blackhawk]

I doubt that you've actually looked at them then. They are nothing alike. Different skills, different classes, different leveling scheme, different environmental behavior, different party interactions, different magic, different strategies...

Completely different atmosphere, setting, and style. It's like comparing No One Lives Forever with Doom.

[TheMix]

Whats DDG?

Duck Duck Go

[Daehawk]

Whats DDG?

Duck Duck Go

oh

[Anonymous Bosch]

Whats the differences in Pillars of Eternity Deadfire and Divinity Original Sin 2?

Yes Ive had my issues with both of the original games but this is a curiosity question as I dont really see a difference in them. Seem the same look and same game with a different story. I own Sin 2.

Divinity Original Sin 2 has a lighter overall theme/visual style and takes itself less seriously, with a greater emphasis upon challenging and immensely rewarding turn-based tactical squad-style RPG combat. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has a darker overall tone/visual style (while still having light-hearted moments), with a greater emphasis on a more engaging story that absolutely requires reading, e.g. events often occur in text form, with a picture of what is happening, akin to old school RPG adventure books. PoEII uses real-time with pause combat, also heavy on story and interspersed with text-based dialogue.

Reiterated below is the response I provided for you in the relevant Divinity: Original Sin 2 thread:

When I first started PC gaming in the mid 90s I liked turn based stuff. The turn based space games were my favorite. But as much as I wanted to I never could enjoy Xcom . Now days I pretty much hate tactical combat entirely. I love real time and I love real time with pause. But pure turn based no. Its why even though Im a huge Baldurs Gate fanboy I have zero interest in BG3. I do love RPGs though. And this ones story and looks seem great.

In that case, you're almost certain to end up frustrated and overwhelmed.

Turn-based tactical combat makes up a huge part of this game's appeal, and even playing on Story Mode difficulty will certainly not eliminate it. It'll make fighting easier… though significantly less satisfying and more boring without the challenges the combat system was originally designed to represent. So, if you were never able to enjoy XCOM, Divinity: Original Sin 2's additional depth and complexity = a surefire recipe for tedium and exasperation. I suspect the inventory system will likely also frustrate you to no end in terms of figuring out what to keep (for crafting or quests) and what is flavour text. You've mentioned elsewhere how reading irks you, so just trying to sort out your inventory is likely to cause much aggravation.

As hepcat put it:

To be honest, I’d say just avoid the game entirely as it sounds like it’s not really something you’ll end up enjoying.

In other words, considering your notably intransigent, stick-in-the-mud gaming proclivities, you're unlikely to derive much pleasure or enjoyment from either title, despite how outstanding they both are in their own ways.

[Daehawk]

Ya I remember that posting. Just wondering which is better to focus on if I do end up playing one. Dont want to split my attention and wonder if Im trying the right one when I do get to one.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Ya I remember that posting. Just wondering which is better to focus on if I do end up playing one. Dont want to split my attention and wonder if Im trying the right one when I do get to one.

As I explained, you'd have a miserable time with both of 'em. If you "never could enjoy Xcom" and "pretty much hate tactical combat entirely," Divinity Original Sin 2 will only frustrate you. If you hate stories & events that play akin to a Fighting Fantasy game book, dense lore, combat, and dialogue that all require reading, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will also only frustrate you.

[Daehawk]

Guess I should replay the old BG games.

[Daehawk]

Went through my old Humble keys and found some interesting looking stuff I never registered. Found a 3rd person shooter called Vanquish. Seems to be a Sega game. Has its quirks like a bit fun\ky to control and such and to quit the game you choose title screen then start then quit. But is fun so far. Tried it with a XBONE controller but that controller is WAY sensitive. Not like my old 360 controller. Everything Ive tried it with it way too touchy. Maybe its defective and thats why it came as a free item in a Woot box once.

[TheMix]

Guess I should replay the old BG games.

Until you can find joy in new experiences and stop being consumed by nostalgia, I think this is a sound decision. You will most likely only find the games frustrating because they won't conform to your expectations.

[Blackhawk]

Guess I should replay the old BG games.

Until you can find joy in new experiences and stop being consumed by nostalgia, I think this is a sound decision. You will most likely only find the games frustrating because they won't conform to your expectations.

I agree with this. You want your experience to be the late 90s/early 2000s. I can understand that - I have the same urge. Everyone does. But if you aren't going to fight it to try and find new happiness, you'd might as well embrace it. If so, be like nerdy Prince and game like it's 1999. Everything will run great, prices on games will be low, you won't have OS woes (unless you try to play some of the original disc releases), and you won't have any use for the latest hardware.

But if that doesn't make you happy either, consider that the problem may not be with the games or the industry.

[coopasonic]

You want your experience to be the late 90s/early 2000s. I can understand that - I have the same urge. Everyone does.

Never use absolutes.

I think my nostalgia library may be corrupted as there is little I am nostalgic for. Actually I am having a hard time thinking of a single thing that was better for me in my 20s than it is now. I mean, athletically I was more active and capable, and I do like to talk about some of those times, but I have no urge to go back to that time or recreate it in any way.

[Chraolic]

I think my nostalgia library may be corrupted as there is little I am nostalgic for. Actually I am having a hard time thinking of a single thing that was better for me in my 20s than it is now. I mean, athletically I was more active and capable, and I do like to talk about some of those times, but I have no urge to go back to that time or recreate it in any way.

Me neither. In so many ways, gaming has never been better than it is today. 20-year-old me would have (almost) killed to experience gaming on a 65-inch 4K TV or functional home VR. There were some fantastic games in the 90s, of course, but there are great games out there now too and those are new to me.

[Carpet_pissr]

For me it's just the time available. Back then, I had few games (compared to now), and seemingly unlimited time to play them (whether that was a GOOD use of time or not.... ). Now it's the opposite. ALL THE GAMEZ!! None of the time.

[Blackhawk]

Gaming wasn't better then. Gaming, in almost every way, is better now.

What's changed is me. Then, gaming was new. The tired mechanics and overdone tropes were fresh and original. The experiences were all new, and all exciting. I didn't find myself comparing the shiny new game to other games, and just took them at face value. Plus, I wasn't so jaded. I was more able and willing to lose myself in an experience instead of over-analyzing it the way I do now (I don't think I ever quite got past the review/manual/strategy guide writing mentality that made me look at games technically rather than just experiencing them.)

In the mid and late 90s I was an adult discovering the adult world for the first time. I wasn't as broke, I wasn't stuck in a rural roadbump, and I didn't have all of the aches and pains. I was much less aware of my mortality. I was in a job where I had both authority and respect, where I felt challenged in ways that I enjoyed. I wasn't as much of a realist, and tended to accept more absurd ideas and daydreams. Of course, I was also a perpetual ball of stress, depression, and anxiety that was always on the verge of a breakdown. I was miserable. But our minds shunt that stuff off and just remember the good times, and the best times were back then.

And being aware of that, I look for ways to bring to good off the 'then' to the now rather than dwelling on trying to get back to something that doesn't exist. It wasn't where I was or what I was doing, it is the person - now long gone - that I was when i was there doing it.

I feel the nostalgia, and I can absolutely recognize it in Daehawk. I just don't let myself dwell on it and become obsessed over trying to recapture something that can't be recaptured, because it was half in my own mind to begin with.

[Kasey Chang]

There is a bit of technological advances as well. Back then there's no memory to handle detailed maps, muchless full 3D maps. So we end up with square-based maps like Wizardry, Might and Magic, and so on, and turned-based combat. As computers and consoles got faster, RTS became possible instead of turn-based. And sims became possible instead of turn-based abstractions. As storage expanded, worlds for larger, more detailed, and no more squares or hexes, but actual coordinates on a map.

However, due to lack of tech back then, nostalgia made us remember more fondly the details that we filled in due to limited technology at the time.

IMHO, of course.

[Daehawk]

When I first started I finished every game I played before I started a new one. Ya that lasted almost a year before I gave that up.

Now days at 52 not even considering medical problems I think with death looming ever closer I tend to want to hurry things and rush things.

[Blackhawk]

You're only 52? Geeze, I thought you were old!

[Jaddison]

When I first started I finished every game I played before I started a new one. Ya that lasted almost a year before I gave that up.

Now days at 52 not even considering medical problems I think with death looming ever closer I tend to want to hurry things and rush things.

I'm 66, I guess that makes me the living dead......sweet.

[Sudy]

I'm 37 and there was something magical about the late 90s/early 2000s for me as well. Perhaps it was tied to the early mainstream internet. For the first time, playing and reading about games became a community exercise rather than existing in a vacuum of strategy guides (or printed, downloaded FAQs), game store visits, and predominantly in-school friendships. It's also when I first got a PC of my very own, and I quickly upgraded it into something that could play almost anything I wanted.

E.g. while in reality I probably didn't spend very much time with Fallout 2 (several weeks on and off, despite the weight it carries in my memories), I remember staying up past 05:00 on Christmas break, completely absorbed. I wasn't yet used to the narrative tricks of CRPGs that seem to have evolved surprisingly little since then. Very often I wish I could experience that again, but there's just nothing like it that's so fresh. Similarly, there's nothing that's ever competed with my first year with the SNES or PS1, and maybe the Wii (mostly due to Rock Band). Perhaps VR will create those kinds of memories once I get to experience it, but until then I'm awash in nostalgia worship and incremental advancement. Even New World, which I played for 700 or 900 hours before giving it up this year wasn't nearly as memorable as WoW (Anarchy Online and early WoW is another one for the list... for many it would be EQ).

What's the next big thing after VR, metaverse? But as far as individual gaming experiences in current genres go, it seems that if you want more than iteration, the development investment just isn't worthwhile, as least at the AAA level. (E.g. we could have near-conversational NPCs, but who has the time to write/record the dialogue?)

[JetFred]

You're only 52? Geeze, I thought you were old!

This was my thought...Daehawk is only 4 years older than me??!!

[Blackhawk]

What's the next big thing after VR, metaverse? But as far as individual gaming experiences in current genres go, it seems that if you want more than iteration, the development investment just isn't worthwhile, as least at the AAA level. (E.g. we could have near-conversational NPCs, but who has the time to write/record the dialogue?)

I've come to recognize that for me to have that kind of experience again - utterly fascinating and absorbing because of the freshness and uniqueness of the experience - I will likely have to experience something entirely new. As in, not a video game. That one is steady and reliable, but it is unlikely to offer that experience again. Likewise with RPGs (of the pen-and-paper variety.) I spent years trying to recapture the fascination of the first few years I spent with them, to no avail. At least until I realized that it was the novelty that was behind the feeling.

That's part of why I took a break from traditional RPGs and miniature painting a while back. I was stuck chasing the experience of novelty rather than enjoying them as they were. I realized that if I wanted that feeling again, I needed to expand my interests, not chase the past.

[Jaddison]

What's the next big thing after VR, metaverse? But as far as individual gaming experiences in current genres go, it seems that if you want more than iteration, the development investment just isn't worthwhile, as least at the AAA level. (E.g. we could have near-conversational NPCs, but who has the time to write/record the dialogue?)

I've come to recognize that for me to have that kind of experience again - utterly fascinating and absorbing because of the freshness and uniqueness of the experience - I will likely have to experience something entirely new. As in, not a video game. That one is steady and reliable, but it is unlikely to offer that experience again. Likewise with RPGs (of the pen-and-paper variety.) I spent years trying to recapture the fascination of the first few years I spent with them, to no avail. At least until I realized that it was the novelty that was behind the feeling.

That's part of why I took a break from traditional RPGs and miniature painting a while back. I was stuck chasing the experience of novelty rather than enjoying them as they were. I realized that if I wanted that feeling again, I needed to expand my interests, not chase the past.

My sense of wonder at playing Wizardry 1 on an Apple 2C in what must have been 1982 has rarely happened since......maybe the WoW launch and playing with some you all. Star Wars Galaxies might fit in there as well as the ability to just wander about and get lost in the back country of a planet was pretty darn cool. But those were also the days of the PC explosion and me be so happy to pay big money for a color monitor.....new chips hitting the market every 6 months and screwing around with boot disks, accessing the DOS UMB.....was fun but so much time to get a game to run right.

[Daehawk]

Ive had SWTOR bouncing around my head again. But Ive done it all....many many many times. Theres not anything new....maybe the last expansion Id have to look. But the one before that was small after playing the eternal empire stuff. I was just playing it basically months ago..which was probably early 2021...maybe it was 2020....it blends together after a while.

My last go I made a good guy sith warrior and a bad guy jedi knight. The good sith was more fun that the bad jedi but I stopped both at the eternal empire beginning. Just didn't have it in me for that addon yet again. Plus neither character was as fun as playing them the way they should be played. Evil as heck sith sorc is still my favorite. Must have 4 of them....I always end up feeling bad for someone i na quest and choosing the good option. If I ever go back Im going to try to play all evil all the time sith.

[Daehawk]

Again I find myself wanting a serious arcade build and own game. Not like Arcade Tycoon. Thats too toy looking and filled with aliens and crap. I own Arcadecraft and its the closest to what i want as its a more serious game. But I tire of clicking each machine to get the cash from it and to repair it and such.

I want to build the arcade building first or rent a space in a mall. I want to build Flynns from Tron. Or let me build a place like you can build a home in The Sims. Then I want to stock it with the games I want.....licensed would be best but Ill take anything......and arrange it how I want. I dont want to click them all the time. I want to design, own, and run it...not micromanage it. If something breaks I call a repairman or something.

I cant believe this has not been made. Or a serious mall design/build/lease sim. Not crap like Another Brick in the Mall...which I have had on my waitlist forever because its the closest crap out there.

[Isgrimnur]

[Anonymous Bosch]

Our bot may need a reboot…

Again I find myself wanting a serious arcade build and own game. Not like Arcade Tycoon. Thats too toy looking and filled with aliens and crap.

[Daehawk]

LOL

[Isgrimnur]

[Daehawk]

Does look 80s. But theres no patrons. Its just for you. I want to own design and run it for npcs to come spend money on. Imagine Zoo Tycoon or Rollercoaster Tycoon but in an arcade. Draw people in...make them happy......provide snacks and drink.

[Daehawk]

Have there been any really good single player Warhammer games since Dawn of War 2?

[Smoove_B]

I thought Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine was quite fun as a "beer and pretzels" or popcorn video game. Just an absolute blast to play as a Space Marine and blast through Orks. Not sure how it holds up now. I finished it on the Xbox360 and did repurchase for PC and played for a bit.

[Daehawk]

Hmmm I think I own that now that I see its name. If its the one Im thinking of I finished it but wasn't super memorable to me...as you can see lol./

EDIT: Yep...Anniversary Edition 2012. Finished it in 7 hours.

[Jag]

Have there been any really good single player Warhammer games since Dawn of War 2?

Total War Warhammer 2 is one of my most played games ever and I never really like the Total War system but WH2 was just incredible. TW:WH3 comes out next month and will be on Gamepass for PC.

[Daehawk]

Gamespass requires win 10.

But hell has frozen..or has plans to....as I am now ready to move to Win 10 soon'ish...too much requires it for me to stay as i want to in my comfort zone of Win 7.