Random Game Talk (are you really a gamer if you aren't playing BG3?)

[LeeEvans]

Just now, MikeT14 said:

I went ahead and preordered it, cause whatever. There's a lack of games out there for me right now. Need something new.

I'm in the same boat, thinking about doing the same. There are a couple of games I want in March though and I don't know if I need  couple of games in the space of a month, I don't play my xbox a ton. 

[Heimdallr]

I've been playing No Man's Sky again recently, and it is just incredible how much the game has changed since launch. It is pretty clear they either ran out of money and needed the sales to keep going, or Sony pressured them into releasing the game unfinished, but if it had released in its current state it would have been a GOTY candidate. 

[MikeT14]

29 minutes ago, Heimdallr said:

I've been playing No Man's Sky again recently, and it is just incredible how much the game has changed since launch. It is pretty clear they either ran out of money and needed the sales to keep going, or Sony pressured them into releasing the game unfinished, but if it had released in its current state it would have been a GOTY candidate. 

Ugh, that pisses me off. I was so disappointed in it. 

[KManX89]

I know this topic has been beaten to death, but the very first anti-loot box bills are finally making the rounds. Chris Lee, the Hawaii senator notorious for calling SW Battlefront II "a Star Wars-themed online casino designed to lure kids into spending money" introduced two bills in both the House and Senate, one that would prohibit the use of games with loot boxes to anyone under 21 and another that would force publishers to disclose the presence of loot boxes with the odds of receiving each item. Half of US states could soon follow suit, hurting the wallets of greedy publishers in the process.

Here's the really juicy part: publishers would literally be forced to put a label that reads "warning: contains in-game purchases and gambling-like mechanisms which may be harmful or addictive" on games with loot boxes if passed. And they say "loot boxes aren't gambling" (which is, of course, the opposite of true). 

We, of course have EA to thank for that, they tried to push the envelop for what companies like EA, Take Two, WB, etc. can get away with to the point where they may now be forced to regulate themselves. Bunglevision isn't so innocent, either with all their anti-consumer business practices they pulled in Destiny 2. The funny thing is, people keep buying their rip-off DLCs and they wonder why they won't change. Glad I voted with my wallet and didn't buy that half-baked game, it's basically Destiny 1.5 with loot boxes. 

Edited February 14, 2018 by KManX89

[MacReady]

1 hour ago, KManX89 said:

I know this topic has been beaten to death, but the very first anti-loot box bills are finally making the rounds.

I don't even play games with Loot boxes or whatever they're called.  Except for Madden, but I don't do any online stuff.  Still, this bothers me.  It's one of those things that should have been nipped in the bud the second it was introduced. 

[Cheesehawk]

4 hours ago, HorizontoZenith said:

I don't even play games with Loot boxes or whatever they're called.  Except for Madden, but I don't do any online stuff.  Still, this bothers me.  It's one of those things that should have been nipped in the bud the second it was introduced. 

What other games do you play that doesn't have them? They squeeze them in to damn near everything now.

[MacReady]

Just now, packerrfan74 said:

What other games do you play that doesn't have them? They squeeze them in to damn near everything now.

I don't play many games.  Just Madden, Nintendo games and RPGs.  I guess maybe I should say I never play online components of games. 

[sjfja_fkdldjs]

I just watched a video on the story telling Persona 5 and I love the game even more.

While I like RPGs and a good story, I'll be the first to tell you that I don't think video games are a great well to tell a story unless it is like a walking simulator. The gameplay gaps just make the pacing of most games weird. There have been games good enough to overcome its disadvantages, but thats it.

Games have an advantage of being interactive, but I feel that more helps the viewer/player feel immersed rather than creating a new feeling. Persona 5 and from what I've heard of Nier used the systems of a game to tell a story and I think that is the height of story telling in games.

No idea if other games have done something similar (I think Braid?) or if it is a sustainable concept at the mass level, but I do enjoy that they exist.

[KManX89]

^*Sale of games with loot boxes to anyone under 21, my bad.

But honestly, I hope it happens. These exploitative and outright harmful business practices NEED to be stopped, whatever it takes. I'm looking at you, EA and Bunglevision.

'Cuz after all...

Edited February 15, 2018 by KManX89

[Spartacus]

On 2/14/2018 at 5:14 PM, HighHopes said:

I just watched a video on the story telling Persona 5 and I love the game even more.

While I like RPGs and a good story, I'll be the first to tell you that I don't think video games are a great well to tell a story unless it is like a walking simulator. The gameplay gaps just make the pacing of most games weird. There have been games good enough to overcome its disadvantages, but thats it.

Games have an advantage of being interactive, but I feel that more helps the viewer/player feel immersed rather than creating a new feeling. Persona 5 and from what I've heard of Nier used the systems of a game to tell a story and I think that is the height of story telling in games.

No idea if other games have done something similar (I think Braid?) or if it is a sustainable concept at the mass level, but I do enjoy that they exist.

Persona has always done that but Persona is one of those games that you either love or you hate. It is a painfully slow builder even for a JRPG. I love it but its not going to be for everyone. Nier on the other had is near perfect. One of the best games I have played in the last 3 to 4 years. Its criminal how little respect and press that game gets. 

[Spartacus]

On 2/14/2018 at 8:51 PM, KManX89 said:

^*Sale of games with loot boxes to anyone under 21, my bad.

But honestly, I hope it happens. These exploitative and outright harmful business practices NEED to be stopped, whatever it takes. I'm looking at you, EA and Bunglevision.

'Cuz after all...

I am just fine with cosmetic only loot boxes in any game. Loot boxes are totally ok if:

1. Loot boxes can be bought by some in game currency even if it is slow progression. 

2. They don't affect the gameplay one bit. 

 

[sjfja_fkdldjs]

3 hours ago, Spartacus said:

I am just fine with cosmetic only loot boxes in any game. Loot boxes are totally ok if:

1. Loot boxes can be bought by some in game currency even if it is slow progression. 

2. They don't affect the gameplay one bit. 

2

No no no no no, I don't want lootboxes in ANY way. I hate them soooo much. Or atleast give me a way to buy specifically what I want for 5 times the price with in game money.

[KManX89]

11 hours ago, HighHopes said:

No no no no no, I don't want lootboxes in ANY way. I hate them soooo much. Or atleast give me a way to buy specifically what I want for 5 times the price with in game money.

This. 

Plus, could you imagine the look on EA's face when they're forced to put a sticker saying "warning: this game contains gambling" on their games?  And they wouldn't be wrong. Yes, it IS gambling, IDGAF what anyone says. Hawaii and Reps from a bunch of other states agree with me. 

Knowing EA, though, they'd probably try to get around it by putting loot boxes in future games after the fact. They already did this with BF II.

Edited February 17, 2018 by KManX89

[Malfatron]

On ‎2‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 3:59 PM, HorizontoZenith said:

On ‎2‎/‎14‎/‎2018 at 3:53 PM, packerrfan74 said:

What other games do you play that doesn't have them? They squeeze them in to damn near everything now.

I don't play many games.  Just Madden, Nintendo games and RPGs.  I guess maybe I should say I never play online components of games. 

They incorporate "pay to win" lootbox mechanisms in normal offline games now.

Like Shadow of War.

https://www.gamesradar.com/shadow-of-wars-true-ending-is-gated-behind-hours-of-endgame-grinding-so-players-are-sharing-it-for-all-to-see/

Quote

"Ever since Warner Bros. Interactive revealed that Middle-earth: Shadow of War would feature loot boxes, fans have been skeptical regarding their implementation. With the game finally in players' hands, accusations of the system functioning as a pay-to-win scheme are running rampant - particularly as it applies to the game's true ending."

 

[MacReady]

50 minutes ago, MathMan said:

They incorporate "pay to win" lootbox mechanisms in normal offline games now.

Like Shadow of War.

https://www.gamesradar.com/shadow-of-wars-true-ending-is-gated-behind-hours-of-endgame-grinding-so-players-are-sharing-it-for-all-to-see/

 

Dislike.  I got mad enough when Mass Effect 3 forced me to play online to get the best ending.  If there was ever an RPG, no matter how good, that had this kind of thing in it, I flat out would not buy it.  Ever.  It's not even like I couldn't afford it, it's just the principle of it.  If I buy the game, I expect to own the whole game.  It's why I wait for Game of the Year editions of games like Fallout 4.