StaceyPowers

As someone who is a bit executive function-challenged, one of the things that gets me killed repeatedly in video games is when I switch from game A to game B, and I keep pressing the controls for game A in game B. Anyway, which games do you all feel have the most intuitive controls? And which annoy you by totally reversing things on you? Personally, I like the defaults for Skyrim and Fallout with the triangle for jump, the X for use, the square for drop, etc. I've noticed similar controls in other games. But now and again I pick up a game where things are completely switched around, and it drives me crazy. On that note, I love how The Last of Us continually reminds you of what buttons to push, but does so in a subtle, unobtrusive way.

What games have combat systems which irritate you? This could be for any reason--maybe they are overly simplistic, ridiculously convoluted, or just downright unintuitive.

I game with someone who routinely becomes frustrated with the occasionally maze-like nature of dungeons in Skyrim, and will frequently give up on them and their associated quests entirely. I can’t say I find most of Skyrim’s dungeons problematic, but I did detest Shroud Hearth Barrow for trapping me inside with an obnoxious puzzle. I also find Fallout’s vaults quite tedious in terms of layout—there is no orderly path through them. That being said, the only one that drove me utterly insane is the irradiated vault connected to the Hard Luck Blues quest, which I still haven’t finished.

Excellent analysis. I agree with pretty much everything you said here. Good point too about the Nords being likely to swim out on their own to drown. You may be right.

Those who play Skyrim, where do you weigh in on the Forsworn situation in the Reach? Setting aside the annoying fact that the Forsworn are programmed to attack you even after you help them, I can easily get behind their cause, especially given the information you can find in a couple of the books in-game regarding their history and how they administrated the region before they lost power. I wish there were a quest to help them take back the Reach.

For Skyrim players here, I was just curious which of you sided with the Empire versus the Stormcloaks? Obviously you may have played through with both sides, but which do you think actually was best for Skyrim in terms of politics/dealing with the Aldmeri threat? I went with the Empire since they seem like the lesser of two evils versus the Aldmeri Dominion, and all that is holding them off. I figured Ulfric’s war for independence weakens Skyrim either way. Plus, the Empire’s religious oppression is messed up, but at least it was done as a grudging last resort. By contrast I felt the Stormcloaks were enthusiastically racist, and I couldn’t get behind that.

When selecting followers in video games, what do you look for? For me, a good follower: -Uses tactics and weapons which complement mine -Has a reasonable amount of dialogue programmed in -Has an interesting story/quest-line -Isn’t irritating (totally subjective of course) -Won’t mess up my agenda with their own -Nice to look at is a plus -Doesn’t throw me off cliffs for kicks (looking at you, Barbas)

Ah, I forget that sometimes. My weekends fall on strange days, so for me it is mid-week =D

Is there a game you have played which fell flat (either with you or with critics and gamers overall) which had the potential to be amazing? What would need to be changed with that game to make it great?

What's something that has made you happy this week?

Bioshock Infinite and Dragon Age (in general, but especially the Awakening expansion I just finished).

I just realized I’m not sure if we have a thread for this. Anyone have any cool videos to share of badass kills you’ve gotten in FPS games or other awesome moments?

What DLC gave you the worst bang for your buck? It doesn’t necessarily need to be the most expensive one you ever paid for … just the one which was the biggest waste of money and time.

When you are struggling with a puzzle or some other aspect of a game, how long/hard do you work at it before you finally throw in the towel and look up the answer online? What makes you finally go “enough is enough”?

I don’t entirely hate when games use a system of auto-saves and checkpoints (preventing you from saving any time you wish), but they do annoy me in some respects. For example, it really irritates me when a game usually saves every 5-10 minutes or so, but sometimes won’t save for closer to 30 or 40 minutes, with the end result that it is way past my bedtime when I can finally quit for the night. What are your auto-save pet peeves?

That is really awful. My worst experience was playing an MMO which was freemium. Unfortunately, the things you could purchase in-game actually lent a real advantage, so similarly, unless you had loads of cash to spend on the MMO, you were left way behind. So real-life class differences determined power stratification in the game world.

What do you consider to be the greatest FPS game ever made? Why does it get your vote?

What is the worst experience you ever have had gaming with microtransactions?

I was curious if anyone here has ever made a big jump from Xbox to PS or vice versa, or from console to PC or vice versa. If so, how did it go? What made you switch? Are you happier now, or do you want to go back to what you used to use?

When you play an MMO, do you interact a lot with other players (i.e. actually chatting, roleplaying, etc.), or do you pretty much mind your own business?

Anyone here have PS VR, Oculus Rift, etc? How often do you use it? What are your favorite and least favorite games in VR?

What level of challenge do you want when you play a video game? How do you decide on the difficulty setting you’ll use? I know some people prefer their games to be virtually effortless, and others who want them to be as punishing as possible. For me, I like there to be just enough of a challenge that it pushes me to find ways to innovate my strategies or improve my aim, but not so much that it is just relentlessly hard.

Compassionate, pragmatic rule-breaker. Home Improvement. Typed this sentence.

I do that too :)

Has anyone here attended any big gaming conventions? What was it like?