Quinn wrote on Feb 23, 2020, 12:02:

Cutter wrote on Feb 23, 2020, 11:46:
I just want a goddamned MMO set in Teh Forgotten Realms. Wandering around all over Faerun would be the effing bomb.

Neverwinter?

Quinn wrote on Aug 28, 2019, 02:46:

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Aug 27, 2019, 22:37:
Pretty good timing; I played only a few hours of the vanilla version when it first came out,

Same here. Why is that? Surely there's more wrong with the game than just some rebalances and UI fixes? Not sure what it is. Did it lack character? Was the story uninteresting? Anyway, I hope this DC version somehow gets me past my first few hours as well somehow.

The Pyro wrote on Mar 18, 2019, 16:46:
How are they able to cheat in the first place?

The three most common cheats in server-authoritative FPS games are:

1. Aimbots. These are modified client executables that aim for you. Sometimes they lock on to a particular target, and sometimes they just click the fire button at the right moment when your cursor passes over a target. Detecting these sorts of cheats is always a back-and-forth arms race because, at the end of the day, the server does not have a 100% foolproof method to validate the software you're running.

2. Wallhacks. These are a collection of cheats that allow you to see through walls and spot enemies hiding behind cover. These cheats can be problematic because cheaters don't always need to modify the original game; in some cases, external programs can snoop on network traffic and draw overlays on your screen. There are a variety of ways to accomplish wallhacks, from modifying specific shaders or game models, to actually editing the rendering code.

3. Speedhacks. Most server-authoritative games will, to some degree, trust the client's word when it comes to the exact positioning of your character - because when you don't trust the client, even small amounts of lag cause very unpleasant rubber-banding and displacement issues. Unfortunately, cheaters can abuse this trust by modifying the game client to allow them to move at higher-than-normal speeds.

NKD wrote on Mar 18, 2019, 15:13:

Paragon of Virtue wrote on Mar 18, 2019, 14:59:
I'm not in the loop, but HOW do these cheaters cheat?

Are they hacking the game? What's going on? How are they able to cheat in the first place? If it's a security issue, maybe Relic should lock down their code/servers better?

I'm genuinely curious. All these news bites about cheaters being banned, and not a lot of information on how/what the cheating entails. Someone clue an old man in! :-)

Sometimes it's just a code issue that can be resolved. Other times, there are performance costs to having server-side checks for certain things, usually relating to movement, aiming, shooting, etc. In other words, things that need to happen quickly and in real-time and still feel good even with a little bit of lag. So for these things the game trusts the client to an extent, which is an opening for a cheat program to alter things.

There's not much you can do about these things without ruining your gameplay. So it becomes an arms race based not on preventing the cheats from being functional, but detecting the cheats and banning the offenders. On the other side, cheat makers have to redo their stuff to try and avoid detection.

Creston wrote on Mar 18, 2019, 14:40:
It's still nowhere near a foolproof method of stopping a cheater as not trusting the client side data would be.

Tipsy McStagger wrote on Feb 27, 2019, 17:26:
So here's the truth:

I don't care to save 10$ on a video game. I use steam because it's easy and convenient for me to use. I understand I can buy from GOG and then put the key into steam for example but why would I even bother looking there.

I'm not the only middle aged man with cash and not enough time that does this I'm assuming.

heroin wrote on Nov 20, 2017, 06:08:
I couldn't give a fuck about Sid Meier, one-trick pony. Sure, the original Civ was fantastic, I remember being amazed by it when I was in 4th grade but Alpha Centauri was better than any Civ game - to this day - and he didn't even work on it.

My vote would go to the all around whacky guy, Richard Garriot. I mean without the Ultimas other great games we have come to know and love like Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Daggerfall/Elder Scrolls, WoW or even System Shock & Thief might never have seen the light of day.

Zoom wrote on Jun 2, 2015, 04:19:
Why not revive Eye of the Beholder series, these were better than Bards Tale IMHO.