StaceyPowers

Are there any random or odd things you are good at in games? For example, I am good at getting to hard-to-reach or sometimes intended-to-be-inaccessible places on a map.

What are the weirdest and most fascinating esports you are aware of? I recently learned about the Microsoft Excel World Championship.

You know at the start of a new game, how it asks you to adjust the brightness so that something is “just barley visible”? What does that actually mean? I never know how visible it should be. If I take it really literally, everything is usually too dim.

Can you think of any classic, well-received games that a significant number of people dislike? My example is Myst. It’s a beloved classic, but there was and is a large slice of the gaming population that finds it tedious, boring, or too hard to bother with.

Did you miss out on any games because you were stuck on dial-up back when that was common? My friend reminded me the other day that is why we missed the early days of WoW.

So often I see threads on Reddit asking if gaming is a waste of time. Why do people

Does anybody else feel guilty attacking dragons in Dragon Age: Inquisition? Most of them are just minding their own business. Some are even sleeping. The gear isn’t worth it for me, lol.

I had an interesting moment in The Witcher 3, where I was in the bathhouse, and paused overly long next to one of the naked women. This game does seem to encourage you to ogle women (consider how many have their shirts half-open, lol). So, I was startled when the naked NPC said something like, “Are you staying then? It’s safer when you’re around.” The moment really caught me off guard, as it seemed like I’d been very gently called out for my objectifying behaviour. I walked away feeling a bit guilty, hahah. Anyone else experience any moments like this in a game?

I play all the Dragon Age games on casual mode. I can’t even manage to play them on normal, lol. I have no idea how anyone plays them on higher levels. Some boss fights on casual take me 40 minutes as it is.

Do you like when games let you hit a button to highlight the path on the screen in front of you?

So, I was in the hold in the Frostback Basin, and fast travelled to Skyhold. The music with the drums followed me, and now it’s stuck. Reloading a previous save gets rid of it, but then reloading the most recent save brings it right back. Anyone know how to make it stop? I’ve heard that going in and out of the war room might fix it (trying that later), at least temporarily, but that it may sometimes still come back.

Have you ever played any games where you hit a wall early in the main quest line and struggled to proceed? It could be because of difficulty, not understanding a game mechanic, or some other issue. How did you deal with it?

Is there a particular era of gaming that is your favorite? Not necessarily the one you believe is objectively “best”—just the one you subjectively appreciate the most.

If a game burns you out, how long do you typically stay away from it?

Do you ever get well into a section in a game where there are no manual saves, only to find you came in poorly equipped for a fight? If so, do you try over and over to beat it as you came, or do you go all the way back to your last manual save so you can re-equip or switch party members?

Sometimes games seem to leave quest-related details out of dialogue by mistake, and you have to find them in the quest notes. Though maybe I just pay poor attention? Has anyone else ever noticed this? I think I have encountered it in Elder Scrolls games and in The Witcher 3.

What is the largest number of times you can remember ever having to repeat a boss fight or another hard encounter in a game in order to progress? And was it due to difficulty, a bug, or not sure which? For me it was the cart sequence in A Plague Tale: Innocence. I must’ve tried 20+ times before I finally found a workaround. This one was caused by a gray area between difficulty and a kind of bug, as the targeting seemed messed up on the stairs on console.

How frequently do you clean your controller?

Some games display damage points on the screen when you fight (i.e. Dragon Age). But I never find this very informative; it just seems like visual noise to me. An enemy’s health bar is useful to see, but I don’t understand the point of the numbers. Does anyone find them useful?

In games where you play in third person, do you feel “far away” from the action? I do in some, but not in others; it seems to depend on where the camera is.

How much precision tactical control do you want during combat if you’re playing a single player game where you have a party fighting alongside you? Are there certain factors that change how important this is or isn’t for you?

Are there any linear game franchises you feel would absolutely not work with an open world format?

Which of the games that you own (or have in the past) are you the best at? Which are you the worst at?

I’ve seen a lot of discussions over the past couple months about Bioware not being great at marketing (i.e. putting out trailers with tones that are mismatched for their games). What companies do you think are the worst at video game marketing?

Have you seen any particularly unusual or striking cosplays that were really well-executed?