Hell, I played Morrowind at 15 FPS back in the day. People have gotten picky.

Cutter wrote on May 18, 2020, 20:07:
2 hours isn't enough. A lot of games you need that much time to get setup and learn what the hell is going on. Never mind if the game isn't fully developed or a bugfest, how well it runs on your particular rig, etc. Give people a full day.

A lot of modern games can be completed in 10-15 hours. Giving people a refund after 24 hours of play is a bit much and would simply be allowing people to play many titles for free.

It'll be an upgrade over what's out there now, but of course it won't be as nice as that. Tech demos don't have things like AI and mechanics going on and eating up resources. Developers can't devote as much time to one level as they can a tech demo. Tech demos usually aren't subject to players doing completely off-the-rails things.

And yet, each generation is still an upgrade. And it isn't always obvious until you look back five years later and see what you used to think was the best of the best looking positively dated.

The character choice feels like a love letter to Warhammer Fantasy Battle 4th edition, right down to the Eltharion reveal pose.

various sizes and combinations of genitals

Combinations, eh?

I'll take one from column A, two from column B, and, ooh - whatever that is over there on the end!

The Half Elf wrote on Apr 30, 2020, 02:36:

JTW wrote on Apr 30, 2020, 00:38:
A somebody who has studied Nordic history, who has read both the Prose and Poetic Eddas, I have to say:

Vikings are becoming the new World War II. Oversaturation has burned me out on vikings.

I'd still like to see a game set in a mob type era. I'm not a history buff, but what is really left history wise?

The 1930s would have been awesome.

If they wanted the Viking era, set the thing in England toward the end of the Dark Ages. Have the Vikings as invaders/settlers rather than centering the game around them.

They've done Greece, give us Rome.

The American OR English Civil Wars.

The French Revolution.

Feudal Japan.

How about the 1960s/early 70s? Lots of fun politics going on with hippies and the Vietnam war that could make for interesting stuff for them to get mixed up on.

Mayans/Incas/Conquistadors.

A somebody who has studied Nordic history, who has read both the Prose and Poetic Eddas, I have to say:

Vikings are becoming the new World War II. Oversaturation has burned me out on vikings.

It has little to do with fake accounts getting free games, and everything to do with reducing costs involved in support for hijacked accounts and being a good target for account hijackers.

I wouldn't be surprised if they gave away a few really appealing games in the next few weeks as further encouragement.

It depends on how they handle the horror. If they're suggesting some sort of actual supernatural occurrence, blech. But I could see it being the player's character succumbing to the psychological stresses of the job and having those scenes be a nightmare in the midst of a disturbing case or something along those lines.

Making profits =/= not sucking.

Hopefully, but there is one huge difference between Divinity and this: They're answerable to Hasbro, which owns Wizards of the Coast, which owns D&D. More than once the holder of a license has vetoed modding. WotC is very community-friendly, but they also have a reputation for being stuck in the stone age where tech is concerned.

Xero wrote on Feb 29, 2020, 23:59:
I was at PAX East yesterday. It was funny to see some people with masks not evening utilizing them. They would have them pulled down around their neck as if they needed a break from it.

If you have a mask, I think it needs to be on 24/7 to be effective. At least while you are in the convention. If you think you can take breaks with it, you might as well join those without a mask. I dunno, I just thought it looked stupid. Sure, maybe there is that chance that you deflected the virus in that 1 moment you had the mask on vs not having it on, but cmon, by having it off at any moment gives you about the same chance as someone without it.

Well, I'm hoping all is well in the next 2 weeks... I had no masks as they were all sold out. Even 2 hours away from Boston...

The masks are like ze goggles. They do nothing.

Masks are for people who are infected to prevent spraying the crowd when you cough, speak, or sneeze. They're not for healthy people. The masks you see people wearing are designed for dust, which is vastly larger than viruses. Viruses go right through them. Furthermore, the masks that do make a difference (N95s) have to be professionally fitted to be of benefit, and require a mostly clean shave.

People see people on the news wearing masks so they assume that it is the right thing to do. It is not. Avoiding contact with people and washing your hands is far, far more effective than the stupid masks.

Beamer wrote on Feb 29, 2020, 18:54:

Individuals aged 10 years to 39 years had a case fatality rate of only 0.2%. The case fatality rate increased for individuals with confirmed cases in their 40s (0.4%), 50s (1.3%), 60s (3.6%), 70s (8%), and 80s (14.8%).

The flu is 0.1% across the board. Each of these rates is about 20x what the regular flu is. Which means that these are the same numbers we're telling you are a concern. 1 out of every 100 people over 50 that get this will die. That's why conferences are shutting down. How many people at GDC do you think are over 50? A few thousand.

But the biggest issue, unsurprisingly, is that this will kill 15% of people over 80. You guys seem to think that's cool. Others of us feel like we need to be prepared to find ways to bring that number down.

They're trying to foster a feel-good delusion. Quit trying to ruin their day with pesky facts!

We'll be fine! We're stockpiling elements of medical!

theyarecomingforyou wrote on Feb 29, 2020, 12:42:
I don't see the situation being any better in summer, so postponing the event seems rather silly. Better to instead make it a digital show as a one-off.

There's a possibility that it could turn out to be seasonal, and there is nothing that prevents them from canceling it later if it's still an issue. This is a smart move. The concerns right now are mostly precautionary. It may turn out the be a huge deal, it may not (although 'probably will' seems likely.) This way they are covered either way with the least risk.

Point 1: Only people with severe symptoms are likely to be diagnosed. People who just have the sniffles (or no symptoms) don't go to the doctor to begin with. The number of infected is likely several times the reported number. That also means that the death rate shows higher than it should.

Point 2: China is very likely concealing the real scope of this withing their country, and that is where a lot of the quoted data comes from. That suggests that the death rate could be higher.

Point 3: As stated, this is most dangerous for those with medical issues or above 50. Since the death rate is an overall average including young, healthy people, it could be significantly higher for at-risk groups.

(Takeaway from 1+2+3: The rate is still being determined, as there are lots of factors to consider right now, and while it is likely lower for the young, that means likely higher for others.)

Point 4: Preventing low-risk people from dying isn't why you quarantine something like this. Most people under 50 who have healthy immune systems aren't at risk of dying, no. So why bother? The problem is that they spread the disease to people who are at risk. They take it with them into hospitals, nursing homes, churches, home to parents and grandparents, and so forth, and that's when people start dying. You keep it away from the old people by keeping it away from the people that infect them.

Point 5: These procedures aren't intended to prevent a pandemic. They're intended to delay it. Delay it into a season that's less conducive to its spread, delay it while preparations and plans are made, delay it while it is studied and treatments are figured out.

Point 6: There is no point 7.

Point 7: See point 6.

I used to do that. I imported everything into Steam, then categorized and organized them all so I could find exactly what I wanted. Until about the third time Steam hiccupped and deleted the whole shebang. My entire game library across the various platforms if probably ~1000+ titles, so it was a crapload of lost work every time.

At which point I installed Playnite (which is free) and ran everything through there. It isn't a launcher, it's just a library consolidator, letting you see everything on all of the services in one place. A also set up an automated backup of the Playnite files every day, just in case.

Also, 'oversea?'

That was Caveman, and yes it was in WC 2.

Zug zug. The next best thing to snu-snu.

The PC market needed a bit of disruption.