Shagger

With that out of the way... I did pirate Hogwarts Legacy simply because I could not stomach the idea of any of my money, even the tiniest amount of it, ending up in the pocket of that vile bigot J.K Rowling. Another interesting one I downloaded was C&C Red Alert 2. I own the game, have for years, but struggled to get it to work on more modern PCs. I tried the official ports from EA and they have issues. I even tried a couple of abbandonware versions that I downloaded completely legally, but they version had issues as well. So, I turned to piracy, and incredibly that worked! I downloaded a version of the game with a strange Russian splash logo added to the intro sequence that I have to assume are the people who hacked and/or modded this version of the game. For the reasons stated in my previous post, I'm not going to name this splash logo. I didn't actually download the game from this Russian site, I honestly can't even remember where I got it from, but this is the only version of the game that run stable on modern hardware. The game didn't crash like the other versions did, there were no incompatibily problems and the game's menus, cut scenes and dialogue were all in the original English. It was, well, perfect. In conclusion, there are moral and technical ways pirating software and games can be justified. That matters little to publishers of course, but it's not just greed and poverty that drive people to pirate games and software. These publishers need to understand that.

Whilst discussing piracy as a subject matter is perfectly welcome on VGR, linking/naming host websites and sources or offering detailed descriptions/instructions on how to download pirated software or compromise anti-piracy measures is not. Because of this @killamch89, I have edited your opening post and thread title so it does not encourage replies that violate this policy.

There has to be a line drawn between realism and cumbersome, inconvenient game design. There's a reason no FPS has accurately simulated thumbling bullets as you load them into a revolver. The gory nature of the task is not why RPG's do not have you actually butcher and skin a wolf every time you claim materials or resources, like a pelt or meat. Games don't have stuff like that because it's an awkward and dull waste of time.

What about the people who loved the original on Playstation? This is ridiculous and it's a slap in the face to gamers. Exclusive IP's and exclusive games on a platform are fine with me, but not like this. And frankly, I find it amazing that anyone could sit down and typed that post out and not wince if the believe in a fair deal for people who buy video games.

It's just terminology. I'm a pipefitter to trade and it would be ludicrous for me to just expect someone from outside the trade to know what "flogging", "ferrules", "roots", "preps", "fillers" and "caps" are. The gaming terms have roots in common logic, so I don't think it's that hard to grasp, but I'll admit one or two I do find a little odd. "Nerfed", for example. I get it, it's lowering an item, weapon, enemy or characters offensive power, like stepping down from a real gun to a Nerf gun. It's just that I don't feel that Nerf guns have been around, or at least not been that popular, until comparatively recently. I looked into it and it turns out they go back as far as the late 1980's, but you know what I mean.

First off, nobody us accusing you of "deviating from the topic". It's YOUR topic! My issue is that it doesn't make sense to me for somebody to be so complimentary of what is (rightfully) the most hated business practice in gaming. Pay-to-Win is not transparent nor fair, it's the exact opposite. It's a deliberate, and I say again, deliberate method used by scummy developers/publishers to alter a game's balence in favour of players that pay money. You tell me, is it fair for a player to spend hours grinding in a game to not be as powerfull or as far forward as another player who may have literally only just started playing the same game because the second player paid money? I can also almost guarantee that when these developers/publishers do this they are never honest about it because they know how much players hate this practice. Yes, it is possible for games to be monetized in a way that's fair and reasonable, I'm not denying that. The problem here is you offer as an example something that is very obviously as far away from that as it can possibly get and you didn't realize? With all due respect, that's a little difficult to buy. You're not stupid @Lens, so I'll count this as a little bit of naivety and move on. I'm also going to move this topic to the mobile gaming sub forum, seems like a more appropriate place for it anyway.

I do t know what is going on, but I'm getting concerned at some of the recent topics popping up, especially on the Mobile Games sub-forum. Why are people being so happy-go-lucky describing some of the worst things in gaming. Take this, for example: That's Pay-to-Win! Literally the worst and most universally and justifiably hated example of in-app purchases there is! And you're describing it like free ice cream! So what is going on here?

I have to lock this. Sorry, but this is a ridiculous subject of conversation. We all like a bit of fun, but since I'm sure this topic isn't a joke to you, I'm not going to leave this thread open to devolve into a spiral of piss-takes and trolling. Not to mention that these types of games are a hive of shady intents from the people who make them, like achievement scams. @Button, I am open to hear a case for this thread, so send me a DM if you wish, but the lock remains for now.

There are a few things to consider and it's important to get these parameters before we get started 1. Performance Requirments/Specifications Asking precisely what you want this PC to be able to do may seem like an obvious question, but it's important to think this through. For example, if you want to run new games in 4K for the foreseable future, you'll need a more powerful and expensive machine that one that with lesser ambitions, like 1080p or 2K gaming. Do you want a multi-monitor set up? It's also important to consider if you want the computer to function as a multimedia system or as a utility for video editing, audio production, streaming, recording and so on. Have a good thing about what exactly you want. 2. Whare are you Planning to put it? I know it sounds stupid, but specifications and parts lists can vary greatly depending on where you plan to place your PC. for example, if you plan to use it as a living room PC you might not need monitors, but will likely need Bluetooth and WiFi compatibility, whilst a more traditional desktop might not. 3. Budget And don't just think about the actual PC itself either. You may need monitors, periferals, accessories, a desk, chair and so on. These cost money too and can be a significant chunk of your budget, but are very easy to forget. Obviously you want a PC that's suitable for your specific requirements and that's as future proof and capable as possible within your budget. 4. Aesthetics Do you have any aesthetic requirements? I know this sounds trivial, but one of the advantages of building a PC is that you can have components match to a colour scheme to suit one's personal tastes and/or match the room one plans to use it in. It's unlikely to alter the cost and can make a PC really feel like it's yours. Have a think about this and get back to this thread when you're ready.

Em... context please? This is just a black screen with some dude ranting I guess about being demonitised. I have no idea who he is, why he was demonitised and why relevance it has to us or anything for that matter.

Are you kidding? Touchscreen controls are complete ass. The are imprecise and offer no real feel nor feeback. With all due respect, have you actually played a game with a controller? You can't just expect a user interface designed for one purpose to just work for another. Take mouse and keyboard, for example. I am old enough to have played some early PC DOS games, so I can tell you for a fact that it took years of experimentation, trial and error for developers to get the best out of the mouse and keyboard set-up for games. Touchscreens have the same problem. They are not designed for gaming, they never were, and the industry is still figuring out how to make them work.

A game company that tries that shit with me can go eat a raw onion. Literally nothing about data tracking is for the player's benefit. They sell your personal I formation to governments, cooperations and even hackers and scammers. It's all the same to them.

Today I accomplished something I thought I never would. Something that's been tormenting me for over 20 years. I dodged more than 200 lightning strikes in a row on FFX: If you don't know anything about this, then I will go back 25 years in time and take up residence inside your head, all safe and warm never to know anything about it either. But if you NEED the context, here it is. There are a selection of ultimate weapons called Celestial Weapons, one for each character. Obtaining these weapons and charging them up to thier full potential require completing a variety of challenging side missions and mini games. Some of these challenges are fairly straight forward, but take a lot of time and grind. Others in theory should not take that long, but are so nightmarishly hard that the developers responsible have a place reserved in hell. This, what they call "The Lightning Dance" challenge, is one of the very worst. There is an area called "The Thunder Plains" whare lightning can strike the character. It does not harm the party or anything, it's just an indigenous feature of this region. Is possible to dodge these lightning strikes by hitting the right button when you see a "flash" on the screen. The thing is, the time between the "flash" and the lightning strike is right on the limit of a human being's reaction time. I'm not exaduating when I say it's barely possible to dodge just one of them. Yet for this challenge, you are expected to dodge 200 of them in a row. No saves, no leaving the area, no nothing. Get hit, and start all over again. For years this has tormented me, but I've got there with, if I may say so, a pretty impressive 309. Fantastic. Now I never need to do this again in my life ever. Next, and last, is trying to get a time of 0.00 seconds in the Chocobo Race. God help me...

To be fair, I've never known of a forum that would do account deletion. It's bad for forum security and post preservation. We don't do it on VGR either and there are people who have asked.

The Undertaker who gave over 30 years of his life and at least as much to his health to this business and retired with no build up nor fanfare without a live audience to witness it. John Cena, with around 20 years on the clock, gets to to participate half time for around a decade then announce a year long build up to his retirement. The legacy of a great pro-wrestler isn't the fanfare of thier end, it's how the next generation builds utop thier legacy. It's about what the next generation does better than themselves. In other words, fuck Cena. He was good, and I mean really good. Strong as a God with the charisma of a rockstar. I will never forget the Last Man Standing match he had with (The late) Umaga. Cena is amazing, but I just don't feel he was as selfless as he looked.

Seriously? I have prayed to all the Gods and have never been blessed with conformation of the existence of the "floor". Tell me, is it as wonderous as they claim? Like a seemedly endless jumble of varied coloured subtances that makes no sense together? Kind of like, I dunno, a mess?

Look, I'm not going to remove that video nor the references to his channel from your post, but for your sake I am very tempted to smdo so. The guy puts himself on YouTube and we all have the right to critique him and discuss his content. The thing is you keep agreeing with us that you're best off just not bothering with him anymore yet you keep going back. And now you're pointing us straight to him and his channel. Why? What are we supposed to do with this exactly? Watch his videos to see for ousecelves what his content is like to better understand the situation, or are you looking to "rally" VGR against him? I know you've not had a great experience with him, but in the end he's just a Youtuber to us and no more. Just ignore him. And the following should go without saying, but let's it clear anyway. If any VGR members want to check out "Michael Does Life" on YouTube feel free, but please don't harras him nor anybody at the behest of other VGR members.

C&C Red Alert 2 is a favourite on mine as well. Played it to death ever since it launched. Yeah, I'm old...

Why did you go back? I don't understand why after what you described you so much as watch his content again, never mind donate to him. It's like watching someone in an abusive reletionship. It is so often the case you see this pattern repeat itself again and again. As much as I, as the observer looking in from the outside, am trying to understand what it is you see in this, I just can't see why you keep giving second chances. Just stop, please? Let his online career die the slow death it deserves.

I actually reviewed a game called Ravenlok a while ago. Not a very good game to be honest, but my god it was pretty.

Welcome to VGR. Very happy to have you here.

The fans chanting crap like this horrid, but in a true statement of just how bad football/soccer fans can get, not surprising. For the players to do so is completly unacceptable. They are representing thier country as professional athletes, a major responcibility. Not only is it a mockery of that responcibility for them to partake in such actions, it is (or at least it should be) part of that responcibility to condemn such actions from anyone. To me, it would not be to harsh for Agentenia stripped of the Copa America Cup over this as well as fines and suspensions/bans for the players involved.

First and foremost, being on LGBTQ has no bearing on it. To boil it down to a very basic level, it starts with proving you can take care of yourself. Find a place to live, genrate an income or have the funds to study to or invest and so on. If you have grandparents or parents who were/are UK citizens it can make things a little easier. Eventully, on can apply for what they call Indefinate Leave to Remain (yes, it's a stupid name) that grants one the right to live in the UK on a permibat basis. Anyway, UK Government Website explains this in better detail.

Yeah, Nigel Farage is quite the character. There is little to nothing I see eye to with him in terms of his party and his politics, but I actually think the guy is good for British politics. A far right representative who knows how to, as you put it, "walk the line of accountability" can help let the legitimate concerns, and there are legitimate concerns, that area of politics bring forward be heard without resorting to the kind of instigation and extremism that we sadly see in America. That I think makes him the thorn is the side this new Labour government needs to not sit too comfortable, especially in the wake of this massive victory. Because when a government gets to comfortable, that's not good. I don't want a government, regardless of who's in charge, to be comfortable. I want them under pressure, and whether you like the guy or not, Nigel Farage is going to brilliant at applying that pressure.

With all due respect, what gives you or anyone the right to decide wether people will enjoy a game or not? That attitude is not saving anyone from anything, let's get that right. The only people those throwing a hissy hit over difficulty options are thinking are themselves. There are plenty of good reasons why somebody could play a game on a "no death" difficulty option without getting boared. Somebody might have a physical or mental handicap that would make the combat in the game impossible. Not to mention that that it makes absolute sense for people to play on easy difficulty options to just enjoy a game's story and exploration elements. You know, kind of why people play games from Boiware. The same reason play games like Life is Strange, Telltale games, Until Dawn and Detroit: Become human. There is not a damn thing wrong with that, there never was and there will be. Sorry, but my temperance for other points of view hit thier limit on this issue with difficulty. No force on Heaven nor Earth can convince me that it's anything above fucking stupid to complain about a difficulty option one is obviously not going to use. It is some insanely self-centred, gatekeeping, elitist bullshit. That what this really about. People looking to exclude the "unworthy" from even playing games. The same people make the same complaints about accessibility options in games as well for same reason. Regardless of why somebody might to play game that way, getting mad at a difficulty options is and always will ridiculous because it's exactly that, an OPTION! Nobody is forcing anyone to play games that way, so is it so difficult to just turn the difficulty up and leave everyone else the fuck alone? The only time such complaints have merit is if the game in question has no difficulty options because you're then at the mercy of the game's balence. You know, like Elden Ring. So it's 100% fair to complain about a game's difficulty when there no options, whether that person feels it's too hard or too easy. There are other more complex things that can be complained about that I would consider legitimate gripes as well. For example, I think magic is Skyrim is horrendously balanced. It's too strong for enemies and too weak for the player. The point is that difficulty is only a legitimate thing to complain about when it's forced. So this insanity around Dragonage? Not a legitimate complaint because it's an option. The criticism of Elden Ring? That is a legitimate complaint because it's forced. Wether you agree with it or not, everyone is entitled to feel how feel, it is legitimate because there are no options. Play games how you want and let others do the same. I don't understand why that's so hard.