StaceyPowers

yes, yes, exactly. This is half the problem with these controllers. Just plugging and uplugging is a risk. Thank you for this bit of technical information/perspective. This helps me understand better why backwards compatibility is such an issue with PlayStation.

@kingpotato just mentioned he would like to see a climbing skill incorporated into the next Elder Scrolls game, an idea that I like as well. The funny thing about Skyrim though is that you can climb up almost anything if you are determined enough. One of my favorite things to do when I am bored is see if I can get to remote high spots on the map that I likely was never meant to get to. There are some cool little secrets too—like a rooftop in Solitude that has a free health potion that respawns that is hard to climb to. At the same time, it is pretty unrealistic. I have to admit that while I get irritated at the fact that Fallout: New Vegas will not let you climb up things that you are not meant to get up and over, it is more believable. I like the idea of a climbing system where you start out more like you are in NV, and then as you keep climbing stuff, you are able to handle steeper slopes and move toward more Skyrim-like freedom. Another game where I love to climb is Unreal Tournament 2004. There too, you can get up to remote, unlikely places in the map, especially if you have quad jump activated. Not like it gives you a tactical advantage if you have bots playing against you—they are pretty much omniscient. But getting to the highest point gives me a feeling of deep satisfaction. Who here likes to climb in games? Which games are best for climbing? How could climbing be improved in your favorite games?

So I don't need PS+ if I keep the local saves?

Did anybody receive any games or hardware as a holiday gift, or give games or tech to anyone else? Or did you take advantage of any holiday deals to grab something cheap? I picked up a digital copy of Spec Ops: The Line for $5.99 at the PlayStation Store. So far, that’s it for me though.

We seem to be pretty harmonious in agreement on this thread that there really isn't anywhere to "go" with "innovation" right now in consoles. We basically can only get two things out of new consoles right now: new games, and quality of life improvements. We seem to be pretty harmonious in agreement on this thread that there really isn't anywhere to "go" with "innovation" right now in consoles. We basically can only get two things out of new consoles right now: new games, and quality of life improvements. So, what quality of life improvements do you want the most for whatever console you play? To me, what we’ve been hearing about sounds pretty good—no more load screens, faster and more effective loading of levels, etc. The biggest quality of life improvement I want though has nothing to do with the console—it has to do with the controller. DualShock 3 controllers have done nothing but die on me, and I can’t afford to replace them with anything but crappy aftermarket ones. I wish that the next controller will be a bit sturdier and less finicky, with a longer lifespan. That by itself would thrill me. Obviously I also want backwards compatibility that goes all the way back to the original PlayStation, but we all know how unlikely that is. @The Blackangel, @Crazycrab, @skyfire, @kingpotato

You know what the single most bizarre, unnatural thing is about running around Skyrim? There are zero bathrooms. I’ve never seen so much as a bed pan or an outhouse. I just thought I would point this out, because once you stop to notice it, you really get to wondering what Skyrim’s population does to empty its bowels, especially in town.

@Crazycrab, @Shagger and I were talking about the incident involving rights and royalties between CD Projekt Red and Andrzej Sapkowski. For those who don’t know, CD Projekt Red purchased the rights off Sapkowski for The Witcher for a meager amount (I think it was like 10 grand). Sapkowski accepted this sum with the belief that the game would do nothing. Obviously, The Witcher 3 is now one of the biggest games in existence. Sapkowski then went after them for more money, and they settled out of court. How does everyone feel about this issue? This is one which I easily can see both sides of. I don’t feel that CD Projekt Red was “wrong” or “unfair,” though I do think they were “lousy.” I.e. “all is fair in war and capitalism,” sure—I’ve got it—but they sure could’ve distinguished themselves by doing him a good turn. Unless I am wrong about their financial situation, it wouldn’t have hampered them to do it voluntarily. If I made hundreds of millions off of a game, I’d pay the person who made the stupid mistake of selling me the rights for 10 grand more without even stopping to think about it. But that’s just me, I guess :/

I understand that from a capitalist standpoint, the company did nothing "wrong." I just know that if I made the kind of money they did with a game like that, I'd think back to the guy I persuaded to part with the rights for 10 grand and throw him a larger slice of profit of my own volition. I have a hard time believing it'd have inconvenienced them in a major way to pay him more than they originally did. I'm glad they settled though, and on the plus side, I expect he has made a lot more money through the trickle down through people outside of Poland finally realizing he exists =D

I think we have already talked about improvements we want to see in Elder Scrolls VI in terms of gameplay mechanics. But what additions do you want to the activities you can do in the game? For example, here are some things I’d like to see added: A fishing system would be cool. We can hunt, so it would be great if we can also fish. I want to be able to convert cleared forts/houses to be my houses. So often, they are in just the right location, and sometimes there are buildings that are never inhabited again after you kill their occupants. So why can’t we claim these houses and turn them into homesteads for ourselves? I would love a crafting system that lets me make custom attire. It would be cool if different features from different outfits could be combined, or completely custom colors selected, etc. I would love something like a detailed character creation, but for clothing, weapons, etc. I want to be able to take my kids and spouse to do stuff, like shop in town or whatever. It would be cool to be able to open and run a shop, not just invest in a store at a super high perk level. I want to be able to move the beggars off the streets by building homes for them or paying rent for them. The arena in Oblivion is cool. Some kind of “sport” feature of this nature would be nice. Gambling could be fun. Maybe some simple dice or card games invented for the ES universe. You could go into the taverns and play (like you can with poker and such in Red Dead Redemption). Those are my ideas for now. What are some ideas for activities you would like to be able to do in the next Elder Scrolls game? @LadyDay, @kingpotato, @killamch89, @DylanC

I was reading this thread about developers talking about how the next generation of consoles isn't expected to be all that innovative, and merely improve upon performance/provide better quality-of-life for gamers. If the next generation of consoles were going to be “innovative,” however, I am curious what that would look like, and interested in what we as gamers want. I honestly have a hard time picturing what I’d be looking for, aside from some form of more immersive, comfortable VR experience. Beyond that, I am just not that imaginative. What types of innovations—not just changes in performance—do you want to see from future gen consoles, even if we’ll be waiting one or more generations past the PS5 and Xbox Series X to see those innovations? @kingpotato, @The Blackangel, @skyfire, @Shagger

When I upgrade my console, I’ll probably buy The Witcher 3, as I clearly am missing out on a game that will appeal to me. That being said, part of me will cringe about it, because I know that the studio underpaid for the rights (and yes, I know some people will debate me on this—regardless, it isn’t the point). The point is that usually, I protest practices I dislike by not purchasing products. But with video games, that is almost impossible. It seems like the vast majority of studios have one serious issue or another, whether it is crunch time, squabbles over rights, microtransactions, or so forth. So, my question is, what can we do as gamers to fight practices we don’t like in the industry without just giving up on the industry altogether? So far, all I really have come up with is to post on forums or write articles condemning crunch time or complaining about microtransactions. @LadyDay, @Shagger, @killamch89, @kingpotato, @The Blackangel, @DylanC, @Alyxx, @Executor Akamia, @Crazycrab

Here is a silly question for those who play Skyrim: How full does your inventory tend to be? Mine is usually within like 20 points of being full at all times, or it is full. Usually I play a one-handed warrior, so I generally have a cluster of favorite weapons chewing up my inventory space, to the point where I pretty much have to grab the standing stone ability that boosts your carry weight. That’s even with wearing light armor. Things are a lot better with my new destruction mage character, as my challenge to myself is “no physical weapons.” So that frees up a lot of carry weight. But the really big problem for me is my potion stash. And I fear this will only get worse with the new character. Even with fairly strict rules on what potions I will and will not pick up, I always seem to have about half my inventory weight full of them. That’s even if all I am carrying is like … health, invisibility, and the larger magicka potions. I go to the store and I try to destash … but I just can’t. Everything looks like it might be useful someday. So, I am a hopeless hoarder. Does anyone else hoard potions, or something else, in Skyrim? Any tips for kicking the habit? =D @kingpotato @killamch89 @LadyDay

Which is why I game late at night. It helps me sleep :)

So, I have never played an “episodic” video game before. I noticed that Episode 1 of Life is Strange was free the other day, so I grabbed it for PS3. My question is … If I play through the whole episode, and then I purchase the full edition of Life is Strange which includes all of the episodes combined, will the progress I made playing the individually-purchased Episode 1 transfer over, or will I be starting over from the beginning when I get the full game? Just want to be aware in advance before I start. I don’t mind repeating sections of a game, but I get irritated if it is unexpected.

@Shagger I think I picked Intelligence, Strength, and ... something else. I will have to update this thread the next time I am playing the game. And more of a warrior-summoner than a straight-up warrior. I heavily rely on conjuration. "Level Endurance as fast as possible" Why does it have to be fast? Is there a long-term consequence if it isn't? Or does it just make it easier earlier on?

There are a number of Skyrim bosses that fall into that category. They taunt you through a three-level dungeon with their irritating echoing voices, and then you get to them at last, and sometimes, they are almost absurdly easy to kill. So much build-up for an anticlimax =D

I think (?) everyone I wanted to nominate got nominated. And thank you for the nominations, @Crazycrab, @LadyDay, @The Blackangel, @Shagger

@Shagger and @Crazycrab, you both wrote amazingly detailed and thoughtful rants/responses on my discussion about Oblivion’s difficulty with regard to levelling. I am very appreciative of the time you took, and I feel I understand a little bit more now. I feel like I would understand the most by looking at the example of my own character. If either of you has some time at some point and is willing to help, could you please give me some advice on how I should be levelling? I am playing a redguard with a custom (probably terribly incorrect) class. I am playing with a single handed weapon, a shield, and conjuration. I wear light armor. What should I have picked as my major skills when I created my class and where should I be putting my points when I level?

For anyone who regularly dreams about video games, what are the weirdest/most elaborate gaming dreams you have had? Last night I dreamt I was the emperor in Elder Scrolls, and that everyone believed I was Talos re-incarnated. I was trying to figure out how to best exploit this belief to try and improve race relationships and decrease religious bigotry across the board before someone assassinated me. @LadyDay tagging you just cause I think you'd find my dream amusing.

@Crazycrab was very kindly helping me to figure out the lockpicking mini-game in Oblivion, which I just didn’t find intuitive. Naturally, struggling with the mini-game made me think about all the other mini-games I’ve encountered in Oblivion, Skyrim, BioShock and other games. On the whole, I think I find mini-games annoying for a couple of reasons. One is that many of them are reflex-based, and, well, I have horrible reflexes. The other reason is that they simply feel like a disruption to me of the main game play and like something I didn’t remember signing up for. Thankfully, they do tend to be optional in most games. I really dislike the mini-game with the pipes in BioShock, but you are only forced to solve one, after which you can just avoid them completely with those auto-hack tools. Though the BioShock 2 hacking mini-game I half-enjoyed, despite it being reflex-based, maybe because it illustrated such a clear, strange principle to me regarding mine. I discovered that if I tried to click just a moment too “early” according to my brain, my hand would get the message and do it just in time. Eventually, I got really good at timing my own reflex delay. By far my least-favorite mini-game ever so far is the persuade wheel in Oblivion. I kind of grasp the concept, but don’t seem to have the “plan ahead” skills to execute it. I gather from posts in various places online that if I did, it wouldn’t be that difficult. But as I don’t, I can’t stand it. Do you like or dislike mini-games? Which mini-games are your favorites? Which are your least favorites?

I am on Windows 7 and my greatest dread is that Quake 3 Arena might not run on Windows 10. Does anyone know if it does? Also, same question about UT 2004. @Alyxx As you seem most likely to know, and @The Blackangel as I think you know some things about Win 10 compatibility with older games.

@Alyxx was reassuring me that the armatures in Mass Effect shouldn't be overly challenging once I have the proper weapon mods. I was relieved, as I had been worrying they were genuinely overpowered. So, here is a question for you all. What are some enemies in video games that really are stupidly overpowered, so that even with an ideal approach, you still are stuck dealing with a ludicrously tedious situation trying to beat them?

This is quite honestly my worst addiction.

What achievement are you most proud of for 2019?

@Crazycrab First average lock picked successfully :) Great things are in my future =D Thanks again!