StaceyPowers

I'm the last person to know how to answer that, since I'm in total agreement with you 100%. I wish that we didn't live in such a culture of obsolescence.

Sweet. I've got Oblivion waiting for me in my pile of recent acquisitions, but haven't gotten around to starting it yet. I'm excited though. I love walking to the south border in Skyrim and knowing that where the road cuts off on the other side, in Oblivion I'll be able to walk on that same road in Cyrodil.

@DylanC Oops, that failed to occur to me. Well, I'm glad you won last time, and it's the thought that counts. You continue to be awesome!

When I start playing a video game, the experience is usually really impersonal for me for a long period of time (sometimes indefinitely). The game interests me and I enjoy it, but it doesn’t affect me in any particular way. But then sometimes, there is a magical moment where the game suddenly feels real to me, and I care about it emotionally, and I feel invested in the characters and outcomes. Usually, I’ve noticed that these factors play into getting emotionally invested in a game for me: -Black and white issues which bother me personally (i.e. bigotry) -Decision-making in morally gray areas -Issues of free will -Tense game play -Followers with interesting stories and goals -Being able to make an improvement in the game world or take responsibility for something (i.e. build a house, improve a city) What gets you emotionally involved in a game?

Have there ever been any times when a character in a video game made a decision which made you really angry, whether it was the character you were playing or a supporting character? Was it ever bad enough to ruin a game for you?

Are there any classic games you can think of which you actually think would not be as powerful if they were made today, either for reasons relating to technological changes or cultural factors?

I am now very close to being finished with my first playthrough of Bioshock 1. I played Infinite first, and haven’t played Bioshock 2 yet. I’ve heard multiple people who played 1 and 2 first and later played Infinite say that to them, Infinite wasn’t really a “Bioshock” game, despite featuring plasmids (as vigors) and familiar sounds/experiences. I’m confused as to why they say this. I know the game is in a different setting, but to me, the parallels and ties between the games go much deeper than gameplay. Both make commentaries on political systems taken to extremes, and both examine issues of free will and free choice. So what is the complaint about?

Oooh, that is pretty awesome. @LadyDay Check this out, free Morrowind for PC.

If you could have one minor/non-lifechanging superpower (i.e. always being able to pick a ripe avocado in the supermarket), what would it be, and why?

I am nominating @xXInfectedXx, @LadyDay, @The Blackangel, @DylanC and @kingpotato. All have provided great contributions in terms of discussion and community spirit.

@LadyDay Wondering if you would like to chime in on this topic :) I know a lot of people hate the Forsworn, but they're like my main interest in Skyrim, so I wanted to know what you make of them.

I avoid checking them unless I am extremely stuck and have no clue how to progress. I do sometimes also consult them if I'm leaving an area/level that i can't return to in order to make sure I didn't miss anything cool.

@DylanC Underwater shark cage sounds amazing!

Currently I have a logitech wireless mouse which was $25, and a wired $10 mouse as a spare. As @The Blackangel says, they have a tendency to die quickly. Mine usually seem to kick the bucket within 1-2 years.

As you all know, I'm stuck on my old system, and thus haven't played anything that realized in 2019. But I'm okay with it, as I save money on games and get to catch up on everything that has interested me for years.

I'm on the same page with you. I usually like to try and find my own way through a game as best I can, but now and again, there's something that's massively detracting from my enjoyment of the game. Usually I either am looking in the wrong place (i.e. can't find those stupid animals or chains to pull in Skyrim), or I don't understand the parameters of the puzzle in order to solve it. When that happens, I will check YouTube.

I see what you did there =D

@Sn9 I can't believed I missed this. From one gamer with ASD to another, awesome review :) Multitasking in games gets my heart racing too, lol. I expect it is a bigger challenge for us than for some of our NT counterparts, so the pressure is higher when we have to juggle tasks or do a lot in menus rapidly. For me, TLOU fell into this category. I died a lot simply from pushing the wrong button =D Gaming has helped with some of my empathy deficits as well. I've learned some things about socializing from playing Dragon Age games. So many times I thought a dialogue option would do one thing, and it would do the total opposite.

I've heard a lot of people say the second game is weaker. I'm soon to finish my first playthrough on Bioshock 1, so I'll be playing 2 soon. I'm still looking forward to it, regardless. It's hard to say no to more time in Rapture.

What do you mean by more interactive?

What are the most irritating escort missions you can remember playing in any games?

No doubt my RL cat which likes to climb all over me while I am playing agrees.

Now that I’m almost done with my first playthrough of Bioshock 1, I definitely have to mention this one as well. SPOILERS BELOW*** You don’t appear to make many choices in this game. It’s a shooter, and you’re pretty much just following instructions from a guy over the radio. Why? Well … huh. When you think about it, you’re really not sure. It doesn’t seem particularly logical, even if he does seem sympathetic. But you figure, “Well, it’s a shooter, and I’m used to stories in shooters being a bit bare-bones.” So you shrug it off, despite the narrative complexity of your environment. Later, you find out that doing what this guy says all this time was illogical, and the only reason you were doing it was because your character was under the influence of mind control. This is revealed in a cutscene where you have zero control over anything—the genius of it being that in a way, your ability to operate the gamepad controls before was essentially the “illusion” that convinced you that you had free choice. It’s interesting that both Bioshock 1 and Infinite deal with issues of powerlessness. But in Bioshock 1, Jack has too few choices, and in Infinite, Booker has (or had, in his backstory) too many. Both end up restricting their expression of will.

There are a lot of threads online about the most overrated video games (and other "overrated" things), because I think people love to find fault online. So how about some of the most underrated video games you have played? Which games do you think were overlooked, and what made them great?

Exactly. A lot of ex-cons have a difficult or impossible time re-integrating into society, both because of the bad habits that they ingrained in prison and because of the lack of support for them after getting out.