StaceyPowers

Great example, and it is super annoying when a franchise actually regresses in this regard. Enemies should not be unnaturally intelligent, but they should at least have competitive intelligence. That's so true. This is something I always laugh about when playing Skyrim. Combat is usually very mindless. "Turn in general direction of enemy. Start pushing buttons."

That's exactly what I meant. I think we're talking about the same thing. This is what I fear happening: -I am low on resources. -I decide to keep going. -The game autosaves on me. -I NEED a critical resource. -I have no manual saves, so I can't go back. I am stuck forever. If I am worried about that happening, that is precisely when I'll die on purpose or reload just so I can try again to get the resources before the game reaches the next checkpoint and screws me.

SPOILERS follow: On a replay of BioShock Infinite, I stumbled on something that confuses me. In the room on the zeppelin right before you go deal with Comstock, there is some artwork on the walls in panels that shows the journey Elizabeth and Booker have taken over the course of the game to reach that moment. I am not confused about why Comstock knows about those events—I know he was looking through tears at possible futures. My question is, why does he display beautiful artwork proudly of these events? Considering what’s about to happen to him, it’s utterly bizarre. All I can come up with is: 1-Maybe he thinks he will survive the encounter. 2-He’s tired, thinks he’ll win through Elizabeth, and doesn’t care if he survives the encounter. Or 3-He has a secret deathwish and welcomes his demise/failure. The last of those would be the most interesting possibility, though he really does seem to have put his all into killing Booker. Then again, a guy with major self-loathing issues and amazing mental compartmentalizing capabilities (consider his racism), I wouldn’t put it past . I mean, he’s literally created his own private hell in Columbia. Being as he wants to punish himself, maybe he also secretly wants to clear the debt. I thought this theory was outlandish until I just finished Burial at Sea Part 1, wherein there was at least one Comstock seeking redemption (and forgetfulness, yes--but via Sally, definitely self-improvement). Thoughts? @DylanC @skyfire

@killamch89 was mentioning that he feels like many games today don’t have enough meaningful and enjoyable content. For those of you who feel likewise, what types of content would you like to see incorporated more into today’s video games?

What are some examples?

Related to my thread where I asked what the appeal of RuneScape is, I noticed that there are a lot of RuneScape leveling services. This seems particularly odd to me—paying someone to grind for you in a game which appears to consist mainly of, well, grinding. But it did bring back memories of people who would pay someone to level them up in the MUDs I used to play. It made more sense to me there, because there was a LOT to do outside grinding, and it was usually seen as a chore to get out of the way so that you could get back to politics/commerce/PKing/socializing. But nobody really looked well upon it. In fact, in one game, if you died while away from the keyboard, you would gradually lose levels you had gained until you got back and typed in a word to return from the dead. If one managed to kill a character whose player had paid to level up while he or she was AFK, watching the levels drop for that person down to 0 was a thing to be very smug about. Does anyone here use leveling services? Have attitudes become more neutral/less negative toward them?

So, I have never played RuneScape before, but I was reading about it the other week. This game is HUGE, yet when I read descriptions of it, I can’t figure out what the appeal is. It sounds to essentially be nothing but grinding in a multiplayer environment. Is there something I am missing? If anyone here plays RuneScape, what drew you to it, and what keeps you playing?

Hahah, yeah. Mostly entertaining to me though, because it seems clear that GTA is a tongue-in-cheek satire, and thus a criticism on such real-life things, in an ironic way.

@Alyxx and @killamch89 and I were talking about POV in video games, and how some games conveniently let you switch back and forth between first and third person. I realize that this is a feature which I really wish that all video games had. I know that some games in third person couldn't get away with it without adding a lot more environment detail, and there may be other reasons it wouldn't make sense for other games. But for games where it would work, I wish it were a ubiquitous feature. Are there any features which you wish were added to all or most video games?

When I do something I regret in an RPG I almost never die and reload to fix it. I think I did it one time, but I can't remember what it was I found so unacceptable--oh wait. Yes I can. It was when I murdered Mr. House in New Vegas. Ironically, I wound up killing him anyway when I reloaded, because he didn't really give me a viable alternative even though I didn't want to do it. Usually when I make an RPG choice I regret, I live with the consequences, because I feel like it's a chance for me to learn from the mistake. Plus, I can look forward to doing it differently next time. Stuck in level geometry - do you mean like when you jump behind an object that there is no way to get back around again, so you're trapped? Oh man, I always worry about that in games that auto-save and don't allow me to create save points. Sometimes I'll also strategically die to go back to the last checkpoint, because I'm worried if I progress without the resources I'll be up a creek without a paddle.

Most satisfying word to spell in Scrabble?

What random question would you most like to be asked?

QUICK! You are looking at an imaginary inkblot. What do you see?

Jason Isaacs usually seems to be cast as a villain, perhaps because he was known so well as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter films. I thought his character Hap in The OA might be on a redemption path, but alas, we'll never know, since Netflix cancelled it.

I am so with you on that.

Yes,I so wish all games would let you choose POV you prefer!

Lol, I am always absurdly grateful I get to play those games in first person.

Perhaps it is a reminder of their humiliation at their own quality control issues. The only reason I can let them off the hook at all for their issues with their games is the sheer breadth of the worlds they create. The task is enormous. Even so, their glitches are just massively shameful. So did you ever get a working 4th disc?

It's a sequel to the Karate Kid series from the 80s that picks back up with the main characters (and original actors) when they are middle aged. It was the kind of thing that was either going to be awful or wonderful, and it is absolutely wonderful. Some of the best writing I've seen in a while.

It's so funny how differently people react to first vs third person POV. I'm just the opposite of your boyfriend. I have to force myself to deal with third person. FPS feels so much more comfortable and immersive for me.

One year older than I was a year ago today. Yes. It seems ludicrously unlikely that there is no life elsewhere in the universe.

Something else we have in common. Well, not UFO sightings (I've only got one, but I dont' have a clue what it was), but the interest in the paranormal :) What do you miss most about the 80s?

There is Cobra Kai. That's about it as far as I can tell. Cobra Kai is amazing. But I am majorly irritated at paying for YT Red/Premium anytime I feel like re-watching it. I'm in the same boat as you. I am finally catching up on current TV and recent TV with streaming subscriptions (after avoiding them for years), and that's definitely all I can budget in terms of subscriptions. Although, it sure is a lot less expensive than cable TV (which I have never paid for in my life).

what are your favorite mods?

If you have ever had the misfortune of encountering an actual game-breaking bug, what has been your response? Do you go online to troubleshoot the bug and see if there is any possible way to fix it and proceed as normal? Do you try playing again from a prior save point and hope it doesn’t happen twice? If the only option is to go back to the beginning and try again, do you bother? Or do you give up? Do you request a refund? I thought I’d hit a game-breaking bug in the BioShock Infinite DLC Burial at Sea the other night, but luckily going back to the previous checkpoint and replaying it, it didn’t happen again. I read there was another one further on which—worse—involved an auto-save, but I managed to avoid it altogether by foregoing backtracking to get some loot. One game which does have a game-breaking bug for me is Fallout New Vegas on PS3. As my save file grows, areas start getting glitchy, skipping frames and freezing to the point where game play literally just stops. I’ve been dealing with this by accepting that I’ll never have a “complete” playthrough with everything I want to do, and just doing lots of smaller mini-playthroughs where I focus on one thing or another. The glitching is nerve-wracking, but it’s just too awesome a game to not play. @kingpotato @killamch89 @Alyxx @The Blackangel @skyfire @Aerielle del Rosario @Executor Akamia @DylanC