loomy wrote on Dec 5, 2016, 17:27:

descender wrote on Dec 5, 2016, 13:18:
In my myriad discussions with people about Westworld, I find that the people who find it boring or confusing generally didn't understand the underlying complexity of the questions the show was posing and took the entire thing at face value.

I figured out most of it early, and that was it. the show kept secrets, but was not subtle. I will not spoil anything by speaking further. maybe I'm just a prodigy guys

Osc8r wrote on Oct 20, 2016, 19:13:

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on Oct 19, 2016, 21:16:
Hrm, this game looks so gorgeous, and I got like $250 worth of Paragon Points with my video card, perhaps I should try it.

Anybody actually play this game, with an opinion based on actual game time?

It's graphics are amazing....

Sadly nothing else stands out. It feels like a MOBA designed specifically for console players and people who have never played a MOBA before.

But if you've got some free points to spend why not?
It's free, and i got a few weeks of playtime out of it.

Quboid wrote on Oct 4, 2016, 11:53:
I doubt most developers could give many refunds as the E.A. money would have been spent. Valve wouldn't be thrilled to make up the shortfall.

Perhaps a partial refund. You (the customer) gets the usual 14 days / 2 hours for a full refund, after that you can get 50% back until 14 days after the full release. If Valve refund their 30%, the developer is only on the hook for 20% of the E.A. retail price.

Under this system, maybe the 20% could go into a holding account, paid to the developer only 14 days after launch. This would ensure the money is there to be refunded and give the developer a reason to finish version 1.0 of a game, rather than make unobtainable promises.

Defining a release version isn't easy but there needs to be some point at which the developer says "this is our implementation of what we promised; we might patch it, we might expand it, but this, now, is what we are putting our reputation on as a product we think is worth your time and money".

Prez wrote on Sep 30, 2016, 12:15:
I'm not a big fan of Pitchford, but I am interested in Battleborn. Much more so than Overwatch because of Battleborn's coop and campaign. To me it's pretty foolish to not go F2P with the community dwindling as it is. Certainly a large price cut is in order at the very least.

Mordecai Walfish wrote on Sep 23, 2016, 06:21:

theglaze wrote on Sep 22, 2016, 19:49:

Mordecai Walfish wrote on Sep 22, 2016, 17:50:

theglaze wrote on Sep 22, 2016, 16:08:
now I have to pay almost as much to open a crate which awards like a slot machine

That's the thing though.. you don't "have" to pay for anything. Your fixation on cosmetic modifications to a car that will only be seen for a couple seconds at the end of a game by anyone, is simply a choice. Some people focus on the gameplay mechanics and simply playing better, others want to "pimp their ride". If the latter crowd is funding the release of free content for people who are just interested in playing the game, I think it's a successful model for everyone involved.

Of course, the game is still fun even if all the cars were the same. However, dont just disregard the cosmetic side of the game, and their encouragement to the player to consume, manage inventory, and trade-up

The new crate system is based on a gambling model, and it's not compatible with the Steam Marketplace. I can't pick the car decal I want for my $2 ride, I'll have to feed the slot machine $1.25 each time.

Psyonix has done some things right, such as no functional advantage to mods to the car and not segregating the community from modes and arenas.

But forcing its players to gamble to win the next tier of cosmetic items? I find that disappointing.

Good luck on the slots, everyone!

I don't agree with calling it gambling, which seems to be the catchword for this type of system since the CS:GO debacle.

It's like putting a quarter into one of those plastic bubble toy dispensers. Would you also consider that "gambling"? Are parents irresponsible for allowing their kids to take part in such a thing? Of course not. It's just a random reward/prize system. You may not get the one you wanted specifically, but it's up to you whether it's worth your time and money to try and do so. Gambling implies, to me, that you are wagering money to try and make more money from it. IMO not the same as this.

theglaze wrote on Sep 22, 2016, 19:49:

Mordecai Walfish wrote on Sep 22, 2016, 17:50:

theglaze wrote on Sep 22, 2016, 16:08:
now I have to pay almost as much to open a crate which awards like a slot machine

That's the thing though.. you don't "have" to pay for anything. Your fixation on cosmetic modifications to a car that will only be seen for a couple seconds at the end of a game by anyone, is simply a choice. Some people focus on the gameplay mechanics and simply playing better, others want to "pimp their ride". If the latter crowd is funding the release of free content for people who are just interested in playing the game, I think it's a successful model for everyone involved.

Of course, the game is still fun even if all the cars were the same. However, dont just disregard the cosmetic side of the game, and their encouragement to the player to consume, manage inventory, and trade-up

The new crate system is based on a gambling model, and it's not compatible with the Steam Marketplace. I can't pick the car decal I want for my $2 ride, I'll have to feed the slot machine $1.25 each time.

Psyonix has done some things right, such as no functional advantage to mods to the car and not segregating the community from modes and arenas.

But forcing its players to gamble to win the next tier of cosmetic items? I find that disappointing.

Good luck on the slots, everyone!

Ravor wrote on Sep 15, 2016, 20:48:
I kickstarted it and have access, but I don't want to ruin it by playing it in early access.

With that being said, if it's anything like Divinity Original Sin, then it'll be amazing. The first one was easily one of the best games I've played.

OldDirtyEwok wrote on Aug 16, 2016, 11:40:

Beamer wrote on Aug 16, 2016, 10:55:
I really struggle to distinguish between Battleborn, Paragon, Lawbreakers, and Overwatch.

While they're certainly different in tone, art style, gsameplay, and arguably genre (with this being a MOBA?), they still appear to be competing for the exact same customer.

In some ways it feels like the late 90s, when a fall preview edition of CGW or PCG would have 25 different FPS games in it. Times have changed, though. These are all multiplayer focused games, looking to take players for 60-600 hours, meaning they don't have time to play other games (unlike in the late 90s, where you could probably play 10-30 in that amount of time.)

That's pretty much how Counterstrike changed the industry, too. It took us from playing tons of games repeatedly to one game exclusively (other games took steps towards that, but we didn't really have the internet to support it.) In order for a game to survive like that, it needs a critical mass, and to this day I still think there's really only room for one game to hit critical mass, a few games to circle around limply, and everything else dying a swift and forgotten death.

Overwatch and Lawbreakers are first person shooters, Battleborn and Paragon are MOBAs. I've tried the last 2 and i didn't really them, I even think Paragon is terrible. Definitely not games for FPS fans so no, I don't think they are competing for the same customers but if they are it's a big mistake.

MattyC wrote on May 20, 2016, 07:51:

Grumpy Sod wrote on May 20, 2016, 07:30:

PHJF wrote on May 19, 2016, 19:40:
Wait, the English also use dumbass DST?

Yup, but to be confusing, we call our summer time BST (British Summer Time) while in the US you use the 'ST' suffix for Standard Time, right?

DST or daylight saving time. We don't trust you guys with any meaningful system of measure. Sumbag limey's exporting your imperial system of measure all over the world then saying, "WOAH, what are you doing using that junk?!?" and your entire currency system was clearly maintained by some sort of warlock until the 70s! /s

Really though it is just DST.

Jivaro wrote on May 12, 2016, 21:28:

Sepharo wrote on May 12, 2016, 20:41:

Ceribaen wrote on May 12, 2016, 20:34:
Just basically like Destiny pvp

Are you sure you were playing Overwatch?

Umm...Destiny? Really? I mean, they are both shooters....but the similarities end right there. Literally.

Was there another beta you were playing perhaps?

MoreLuckThanSkill wrote on May 12, 2016, 20:16:
Played it for a couple hours, felt a bit underwhelmed honestly. It felt quite polished and very responsive, but it still felt like a game I've already put like 400 hours into, couldn't be bothered to try to get pub 6 teams to try to play together at all.

Have fun though, those of you that enjoyed it. Pretty much my entire Blizzard friends' list bought it already, they will have millions of players easily.

Kxmode wrote on May 4, 2016, 14:38:

wasteoid wrote on May 4, 2016, 12:37:
First, free trial. Then, free to play (pay to win). Then, servers are shutdown.

Recent changes to the DMCA by the LOC gives people the legal ability to create tools in order to keep playing multiplayer games after the official servers shutdown. EA has no choice but to keep their servers running indefinitely.

sauron wrote on Mar 29, 2016, 17:18:

Verno wrote on Mar 29, 2016, 16:48:

ItBurn wrote on Mar 29, 2016, 16:26:

Fion wrote on Mar 29, 2016, 14:59:
I'd go for this if I didn't already own a steam controller.

How is it? Could it be as good as a mouse in a FPS if you got used to it?

No. It is better than analog sticks but not as good as a mouse and never will be. It's good at letting you play RTS, ARPG, FPS and etc more comfortably on the couch though. I really love mine but having to tinker with the config for every game to get it to your liking is something most people won't have the patience for. There are tons of community configs for games but you'll still end up tweaking a lot. Don't get it unless you don't mind that aspect of it.

I have one as well and agree completely. It's great for sitting on the couch and playing Pillars of Eternity, but I wouldn't have the patience to use it with The Witcher or a shooter.

I also have a Steam Link, which works really well even via wireless, but it kept randomly turning on my TV for some reason so I had to disconnect it. I had a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse synced to it, and it's possible my cat knocked the mouse and that turned the unit on. Either that or he was playing videogames while I was out at work.

In the end I just hooked up a gaming rig to the TV. Seems to work pretty well with the Bluetooth gear and Steam Controller. Although it's small form factor microATX with a GTX970 and I may have to switch it to a case with more fans, like a Thermaltake V1. Bit worried about thermal issues.

Julio wrote on Mar 2, 2016, 05:34:

Nucas wrote on Mar 2, 2016, 04:14:
i'm also curious how you implement hardware upgrades on a console without fragmentation. i guess just keep the potato quality graphics as baseline but let people play above 720 or something?

Given Microsoft and their wisdom, they'll probably ensure the PC is a walled garden and require PC specs to stay the same for seven years at a time instead.