Agreed. My issue with Overwatch is that it's something that came from a story and character-driven MMO project and it was turned into a team shooter where story and character interactions can't really happen. (e.g. Why have "good guys" and "bad guys" if they can just all fight each other?) It has all of these wonderfully designed and presented characters and nothing to tie them to. I know next to nothing about these characters or their stories or their world... but I really want to. I was looking forward to (and waiting to buy until) the PVE part coming out hoping that it would deliver this to some extent. Without that, I don't care about anything in this game or its "world." Team shooters work best when the "characters" are just archetypes (soldier, engineer, sniper, medic, etc.) This is only partly the case in OW as it hilariously sticks to the MMO trinity of tank/heal/dps... but even that feels like an afterthought.

The other problem is that this just exacerbates the issue of it not really being a sequel. The addition of new elements like PVE/Story/whatever might have been able to justify it being presented as a true sequel. Without them, it just validates all the people who call it Overwatch 1.1 cause that's what it is.

It's not free to play per se. You have to buy the game. After that, you have the choice of playing without a monthly fee or paying with a monthly fee.
The without a fee option cripples you in regards to crafting, housing, bank space, and changing gear appearance.

This promo lets you play the "without a fee" option without shelling out for the base game for a couple weeks.

To be fair, if you buy the game and pay the monthly it's one of the best MMO's on the market... if you're into that.

They misspelled "inability to even start properly, much less be played at all."
They spelled it "Game direction". How odd.

My larger issue is that this isn't really an option. For me it's the controls. Aiming and firing a weapon with a controller is just terrible and frustrating. The PC version's controls are 1000% better. I'll wait for patches. *shrug*

For those curious about people on "lower spec" computers -

Ryzen 5-1600X
32 GB DDR4-2666
Gigabyte GeForce 1080

Tearing is terrible.
Crashes every 2-30 minutes, completely randomly (happens during play, when in menus, when on pause menu, etc.)
Generally I can expect about 3-4 crashes every two hours on average. They are all total game-killing crashes.

I've done everything I can think of and have found on forums/videos to improve the video. Generally it's tolerable. No idea of my framerate (I'll measure it next time I try to play)>
The largest issue is the consistent CTD.

I think it may be a VRAM issue. The 1080 has 8GB, and my friends with 2080's are not having (as many) issues. One is having about half as many crashes as I am, the other has had no issues.

It also completely crashes if you try to alt-tab. AUTHENTICITY CONFIRMED.

I'm not a backer of SC, nor a supporter so I don't think I qualify as a SC "white knight". Even still, this tirade of Smart's is just baffling. He's upset because it is "vaporware"? Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't SC only been in active development for about 2 years, maybe 3? and doesn't your average AAA level title take ... around 4-5? am I wrong?

If Smart thinks that a game of this magnitude can be done in 2 years, and any longer is "vaporware" maybe that explains why all of his projects have been colossal and legendary turds.

eRe4s3r wrote on Jan 14, 2014, 09:42:
Dunno what they got over ksp.... Managing space programs without actually designing anything seems kinda boring......

This basically looks like a re-make of the old DOS game "Buzz aldrin's Race into Space." While the games have the same general premise, they're two completely different types of games.

Kerbal is a construction/physics playground in which you either play with stuff to have fun or try to build effective vehicles & tools in order to obtain themed goals.

BARIS (and by extension SPM it appears) is a turn based strategy game in which you balance training, budget, schedule and so forth in order to meet stepped objectives with the ultimate goal to get to the moon.

I've played both BARIS and KSP and they're both super fun but in completely different ways. If SPM is anything like BARIS (the screenshots look a LOT like it) it's going to be the same story.

They can call me when the building space for an entire city isn't the size of a postage stamp.

Yeah, I had the same reaction. "Evil Genius Online? That sounds interest.... "a Facebook Game".... Well! time to go back to BluesNews and continue reading. Nothing to see here."

I'd like to congratulate all the people who have made Facebook games on their collected success in making the term "Facebook Game" basically "gamer repellent". Golf clap for you.

Oh, oh Microsoft. You're such a CHERUB. I mean it!
I mean... remember when you said you were totally supporting PC gaming and made GFWL? And you never just gave up on it or ignored that segment. Never! How could you, you sweet little candy corn.

And remember the Games explorer? Oh, Vista (and seven).. How you had the most robust and customizable game launcher in the entire world, and how you were supported and updated by Microsoft indefinitely!

And now, Microsoft one-ups themselves again by promising core first party games for the PC. OH BOY! I'm just COUNTING the days! 1...2...3... Oh, I'll just keep counting, you delicious company of caramel. I'll keep counting until the day I just keel over from sheer joy at your support of our little community. Microsoft, you're the best! (especially if your core first party games have GFWL and can be launched from the Games explorer! *swoon*)

Yikes. That Planned Obsolescence article. I've not seen so much cherry picking of data (and making broad assumptions) since...

... well, the last internet opinion article I read, I suppose. Okay. nevermind.

Lorcin wrote on Nov 6, 2013, 22:56:
So in order we had:
MOP: Kung fu panda inspired kid friendly shite

That's so cute.

But seriously, Really the main problem with MoP is that it caused people to burn out too quickly by introducing new grind. The other problem is that HOF sucks. Those are about the only real problems.

They REALLY gotta knock it out of the park this weekend in order to stabilize. I think at this point, they can't really "turn things around". Folks want the "next gen" MMO which no one has provided yet, but they're just worn out of WoW.

This comment was edited on Nov 7, 2013, 08:52.

entr0py wrote on Oct 15, 2013, 19:16:
Wow, I'll have to consider canceling my PS4 preorder now. It doesn't look like there will be anything worth while this year.

It's a prophecy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rIJmGj4g-s

NegaDeath wrote on Oct 16, 2013, 00:33:

UConnBBall wrote on Oct 15, 2013, 22:22:
BUT when have they earned this kind of trust? Everything from Stardock has been a mess for what 7 years!

In 7 years we got two great Galciv2 expansions and the entirety of the SOASE franchise. Good enough for me.

Edit: For anyone who has never played Galciv I encourage you to read these two gameplay diaries written by Tom Francis, the guy who also made the excellent Gunpoint. They give you a good insight to the game and are wonderfully hilarious to read.

If I had to guess, I'd say that he's referring to the general failure of Demigod and the whole Elemental debacle. Oh, and the whole Brad Wardell sexual harrassment / victim lawsuit data deletion thing. But they never released "Misogyny, Corporate espionage, mansplanation and Lawsuit Simulator 2000". It didn't test well.

To be fair, something folks need to keep in mind is that both Demigod and SOASE were only published by Stardock, not developed by them (I think. One was GpG and the other was Ironclad, right? Correct me if I'm wrong.) GalCiv 2 was the best 4x space game since MOO 2, and if it weren't for Wardell's douchebaggery keeping me from giving him my money I'd be all over GalCiv 3.

Overall, I'm just glad to see the genre evolving and regaining popularity.

Ozmodan wrote on Oct 16, 2013, 06:08:
You would think since android is 80% of the market they would be developing Panzer Corps for that OS instead of IOS? Oh yeah, the developers have the in love with apple syndrome.

I used to wonder about this sort of thing myself.
Rather than assume some sort of unrequited "love" of an OS, I decided to ask the question of a mobile game developer: "Why do companies generally code for iOS over Android?" In a nutshell:

There are many reasons why iOS is preferred and comes out first. These reasons include (but are not limited to) the ease of distribution and the insane fragmentation of screen size and OS versions in Android devices. Between dev and QA, it can take some companies more than a year longer to make an Android version than iOS. This is assuming that they want to make it compatible with as many devices as possible. If they only wanted to make it compatible with the Galaxy S series, they could do it pretty quick, but that would cause nerdrage and loss of business.

That's pretty much it.

When did Ironclad split from Stardock? Everything I Google on Sins shows that even the most recent release (Rebellion) is a Stardock/Ironclad collaboration.

The 1 reason why smartphones won't kill most of these businesses (especially MP3 players, GPS, and Digital cameras):

1. A minimum of $70 a month and multi-year contracts.

"Beta test" or not, the game is fun, and if I'm having fun and someone else isn't... their loss.

I have to say that I was rather taken aback at how similar the interface of http://www.gamesforwindows.com/en-US/

is to... http://www.gog.com/en/frontpage

especially that bar at the top. eh? EH?