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mindbleach, w Microsoft's next-generation Xbox pitched as a "cloud hybrid" console

Mainframes are a dead end because local hardware is so cheap and powerful. This has been the case since… basically the invention of home computing. For all the promise of cheap dumb devices that roll with generational upgrades, Google can’t even keep Chromebooks up-to-date, and it’s not like old cell phones were actively supported by PS Now. It’s asking a subscription fee that people are already paying, but instead of them also buying and powering your hardware, you have to buy and power your hardware.

All so you can… what? Fuck developers out of even more of their money? You take a third of their revenue, straight off the top. The one feature every customer says they want is a buffet system, like streaming video, where they just play whatever. But Hollywood’s currently dead stopped over the clever business model of not paying people who make all their content. The games industry has been looong overdue for a similar unionization push, and nothing would hasten that like announcing these multi-year projects for gigantic publishers would be paid at some first party’s leisure. Like it’s not enough to have appropriate compensation and future employment dangled on the basis of sales figures pulled from the marketing department’s collective fantasy. Who’s gonna put up with a model where fraudulent accounting can claim every title “lost money?” At least the cartoonists indentured to toy departments can track a dollar figure for whether their wildly popular series is allowed to continue.

It’s absolutely going to cost more per-month.

It’s unfuckinglikely to cost less per-game.

How much cheaper does this have to be, up-front, before people say fuck that and build a PC? Or just go to mobile games, which are happy to suck out their brains and their wallets? The - I still can’t believe this is the actual name - Xbox Series S only costs $300. Like a Wii. It’s an impressive feat, and it underlines how much infrastructure can be brushed aside for a small investment by consumers. The kind that locks them into buying games from your pound-of-flesh storefront, and keeps that precious third of revenue away from Sony or Valve. Which you want, even if we super don’t.

Because whatever you’ve heard about the streaming market, I guarantee it has not praised consumers for brand loyalty.

librechad, w Nexus Mods Fine With Bigots Leaving Over Removed Starfield ‘Pronoun’ Mod

If the primary objective here is to engage in constructive dialogue, then name-calling and overgeneralization serve no purpose and only fuel the fire. The issue at hand has been conflated to be about political affiliations like Republican vs. Democrat, when that’s not the core point of discussion at all. We’re here to debate the merits and drawbacks of mod removal, not to stereotype one another based on our political leanings or otherwise.

I must point out, albeit reluctantly, that much of the stereotyping and overgeneralizing in this thread seems to be coming from those who are in favor of the mod’s removal. This does little to advance a constructive conversation and only serves to deepen divisions.

If we’re truly interested in finding common ground or at least understanding the other side of the argument, we need to stop dismissing each other’s viewpoints out of hand. Only through respectful and open discussion can we hope to reach a resolution that considers the full complexity of the issue.

gk99, (edited ) w Seeking Constructive Dialogue on Mod Removals: Stereotyping Doesn't Help

Calling people the things they literally are is not name-calling. For example, conservatives tried to overthrow our government, tried to overthrow our democracy, and have been sending elementary schools in my town bomb threats for weeks. It’s not name calling to say they’re terrorists.

Edit: To clarify, the bomb threats are because a librarian joked about having a “woke agenda.” These are the same types of people.

librechad,

Thanks for proving my point.

NewNewAccount,

Does it bother you when people mention their preferred pronouns? Even a little bit?

librechad, (edited )

Not at all. I believe that people should have freedom of choice for how they want to play their games. Everyone has a different escape from reality.

I understand that Nexus Mods have the right to choose what they want to host, that’s not the point. I believe that the moderators of the site need to choose what really crosses the line. The mod itself is harmless. Do you agree with hosting the Kill All Children mod for Skyrim still? If so, why?

Voroxpete,

If the reality you want to escape from is that “sometimes people use pronouns that are different from the ones I think they should use”, you’re an intolerant bigot.

If someone made a mod to remove black people from the game because “sometimes I want to escape from the reality that black people exist” it would be entirely justified to call that person a racist. This is no different.

librechad,

I’d like to clarify that my argument is centered around the role of platform moderation and how they determine what content crosses ethical or moral lines. While you’ve offered an extreme example with the hypothetical mod that removes black people, the comparison doesn’t precisely align with the mod under discussion.

I used the ‘Kill All Children’ mod for Skyrim as an example to point out inconsistencies in moderation decisions. The objective is to question where the line should be drawn and who gets to draw it, not to endorse intolerant or bigoted views.

Voroxpete,

No, I haven’t offered an extreme example. I’ve offered an identical example. Escaping from the reality that black people exist, and escaping from the reality that people can in fact just choose their own pronouns are not meaningfully different in any way. In both cases someone is trying to erase from their personal reality the existence of an entire group of people, in a way that is targeted on specific lines of bigotry.

If you’re not willing to acknowledge that simple fact then you’re not ready to have this conservation.

That’s why there is a meaningful difference between this and the kill all children mod. While tasteless and gross, there’s never been any meaningful indication that the people installing kill all children actually want to see children, as a class of people, erased from existence. They’re engaged in some extremely unpleasant roleplaying, but barring the rare exceptions that will exist in any sufficient sample size they’re not actively expressing views about the real world through this choice. OTOH the pronoun removal mod is very much about expressing a desire to, at best, refuse to acknowledge the existence of a group of people, and far more likely a desire that said group not exist at all. And if you don’t believe that desire exists in a not insignificant number of people then I beg you to look outside your window for once in your life.

We can draw a moral line between these two things by applying Popper’s paradox of tolerance; the only thing a tolerant society cannot tolerate is intolerance. There is a clear moral justification for the suppression of expression when it is an expression of intolerance. That is the moral principle that Nexus are applying here (whether they are conscious of it or not).

Not only can you be a defender of free speech and still support the suppression of intolerant speech; it is in fact absolutely necessary to do so. If tolerated, the intolerant will use their freedom of speech to destroy everyone else’s while pushing their intolerant ideals. It is therefore - paradoxically - impossible to support free speech while supporting the free speech of bigots. To be true champions of free speech we must be intolerant of the intolerant.

librechad, (edited )

In response to the point you’ve raised, the issue of platform moderation does involve a complex balance between allowing diversity of opinion and restricting what is considered harmful or intolerant. However, it’s crucial to note that not all forms of censorship or moderation are created equal.

Your argument posits that the ‘Kill All Children’ mod and the pronoun-removal mod are qualitatively different, based on the intent or impact behind them. The latter, you say, has real-world implications, as it aims to negate the existence of a specific group, while the former is seen as “extremely unpleasant role-playing” that isn’t necessarily a call for real-world action against children.

Yet, the stance seems to be rooted in the assumption that everyone who would use the pronoun-removal mod does so with malicious intent to deny the existence of non-binary or transgender people. While that might be true for some, it could also simply be a matter of personal preference for others, without carrying any ideological baggage.

The use of Popper’s paradox of tolerance in this discussion is intriguing but might oversimplify the complexities involved in moderating a digital platform. While intolerance shouldn’t be tolerated, determining what constitutes ‘intolerance’ is often subjective and open to interpretation. Therefore, it’s crucial for platform moderators to engage in transparent and reasoned decision-making processes when determining what is allowed and what is not.

Your last point suggests that it’s not just permissible but necessary to restrict the free speech of those considered intolerant to protect free speech for all. However, this approach can easily lead to a slippery slope where the definition of ‘intolerance’ becomes malleable, potentially leading to an erosion of the very free speech rights that the policy aims to protect.

The issue is not straightforward, and the boundaries of what should or shouldn’t be tolerated in an online community are often fluid. Thus, there remains a need for a nuanced conversation around these topics, which goes beyond labelling something as intolerant and calling for its suppression.

Voroxpete,

While that might be true for some, it could also simply be a matter of personal preference for others, without carrying any ideological baggage.

Give me one single scenario in which a person needs to remove the option to select your characters pronouns, without that decision carrying, as you put it, ideological baggage.

Just one. I’ll wait.

librechad,

A scenario that comes to mind is one where a player simply wants to streamline their game experience, eliminating any elements they perceive as non-essential to their gameplay. This wouldn’t necessarily imply ideological baggage; it could simply be an attempt to customize the game to better suit their individual preferences. However, I acknowledge that the topic is complex and there’s a lot to consider in the broader conversation about platform moderation.

Voroxpete,

The pronoun selector already prefills the “default” option. There is literally nothing to streamline by removing it. Try again.

librechad,

Fair point about the default option being prefilled. However, the idea of what ‘streamlining’ means can differ among individuals. Some might want to remove elements they find non-essential, even if those elements are prefilled. It’s about catering to one’s own idea of what the game should be. Why should the interpretation of ‘streamlining’ be limited to your understanding?

MrZee,

Oh, now I see. It was never about the pronouns, it’s just about streamlining the user experience. How could I have been so stupid, thinking that the only intent behind this mod was bigoty, when in reality it was innocent streamlining.

Dude, the dog whistle isn’t subtle. Could you stop?

librechad, (edited )

My aim is to discuss what types of content should be removed and why. The mod’s creator did include comments that violate guidelines, so its removal is justified on that basis. However, dismissing the topic as a ‘dog whistle’ doesn’t help us explore the larger questions around platform moderation and community standards.

MrZee,

If you wanted to discuss that, your first step would be to look for Nexusmods moderation policy and read it. Or if they don’t have one published to note that fact.

Then start a post discussing that moderation policy and asking how moderation should be done.

Instead you started your post by focusing on the removal of a particular bigoted mod, which of course makes it a needlessly charged discussion if you’re looking for purely rational discussion about how moderation decisions are made. Then you keep making these absurd arguments — like claiming this mod may have just been about streamlining. This looks like trolling. And it talks like trolling. You claim I’m missing the point. I don’t think I am. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… it’s probably a maga troll that’s “just asking questions”.

librechad, (edited )

While I acknowledge that the discussion started with the example of a specific mod, the intent was to use that as a jumping-off point for broader questions about moderation. However, I concede that the charged nature of that particular mod has perhaps overshadowed the broader discussion I was aiming for. I did review Nexus Mods guidelines, and the mod in question was rightly removed based on them. The idea was to prompt thought about how these policies are crafted and applied across a range of content. The mention of ‘streamlining’ was intended to explore the various motivations behind mod creation, not to justify this specific mod’s existence. I assure you, this is not an attempt at trolling but rather an effort to foster a meaningful conversation about platform governance.

stopthatgirl7, (edited ) w Seeking Constructive Dialogue on Mod Removals: Stereotyping Doesn't Help
!deleted7120 avatar

I feel like the person posting that in the first place was not really acting in good faith - with as highly politicized as the topic is, and with how much people genuinely care about it given the way people’s rights to just live have been so quickly taken away, posting that was basically lobbing a grenade to watch what happens. It couldn’t just be an innocuous post because by nature of what it was, it wasn’t innocuous, and there was no way to not know that. People were going to get angry and the comment section was, very predictably, both here and in the Starfield comm it was cross posted to, going to turn into a dumpster fire. It felt like, to me, that the OP had an ax to grind, and that came out in their replies to people who were upset. It was by nature an incendiary post, and got incendiary reactions.

librechad, (edited )

The recent exchange surrounding that post has raised serious concerns about the quality of discourse on this platform. Rather than engaging in reasoned debate to dissect the complexities of the issue, many participants seem to resort to inflammatory rhetoric. This unfortunate trend undermines the very purpose of a discussion forum and has led me to reconsider my continued participation here.

ugo,

It is meaningless to engage in bad faith discussions. Are you aware of the paradox of tolerance? Tolerating intolerance only serves the purposes of the intolerant, while the tolerant get pushed aside (which could mean anything from disenfranchisement to death)

Therefore, the tolerant must be intolerant towards intolerance.

There exists no good faith or tolerant argument in which removing pronouns makes sense, it is at its base a message of intolerance.

There are no complexities and no discussions to be had, you are either intolerant yourself, or naïve, if you think this is a topic that can be discussed.

librechad,

The intent of my original post was not to advocate for intolerance, but to question how moderation decisions are made, especially when there appears to be inconsistency. In doing so, I hoped to promote reasoned debate on that specific issue, not to engage in bad faith discussions.

While I understand that certain topics may be inherently fraught, the objective was to consider how platform moderation intersects with issues of free choice and community standards. That said, if the prevailing consensus is that some subjects are too divisive for productive discourse, then that too is a topic worth discussing.

CaptainEffort,

I’m kind of curious to here about Nexus’ inconsistency. As far as I can tell they’ve been pretty consistent if the mod gets their attention. There was a Spider-Man mod that removed a pride flag, and Nexus removed that too. That feels consistent to me.

ChiefSinner, w A quarter of Starfield players couldn’t even be bothered to finish the first mission

People do play games offline. Personally, I don’t care about achievements. They mean nothing to me, except knowing that the game developer is tracking my play through, which I hate.

Cethin,

People play offline and they also mod games (especially Bethesda games and especially this one). In order to get achievements in Starfield you either need to play (mostly) vanilla or install an extra mod to re-enable them. This is a dumb article and should be downvoted. There are many reasons why the claim is likely wrong.

goat, w Seeking Constructive Dialogue on Mod Removals: Stereotyping Doesn't Help

damn nexus really just said “fuck you enbies” :(

Voroxbob,

The pronoun mod took away pronoun choices. It was created by an obvious transphobe, and Nexus got rid of it because they have no patience for obvious transphobes.

Granixo, w Microsoft’s Phil Spencer says acquiring Nintendo would be ‘a career moment’
@Granixo@feddit.cl avatar

Please do it.

Ninendo is better at anyone’s hands but Nintendo’s.

GregorGizeh,

Ah yes, more monopolization please. That sure worked out great every time we tried it

Granixo,
@Granixo@feddit.cl avatar

At least it would be TRYING to have more reach to consumers.

Nintendo’s strategy of only appealing to kids and only sometimes caring about it’s actual, much larger fanbase isn’t really economically estrategic if you think about it.

GregorGizeh,

Seems to work reasonably well for them considering they have been in gaming much longer than Microsoft.

Granixo,
@Granixo@feddit.cl avatar

Because they sell their products at overpriced numbers and their current console is built on 8 year old hardware that even it’s chip makers said it was “outdated” back in 2015.

Summzashi,

And? It works great for them lol. What are you on about

mycodesucks,

Yeah, and it's sold more units than the PS5 and all iterations of the current XBox combined, at a profit on every unit. Nobody's out there holding a gun to people's heads to buy the Switch, but they sell FAR more than either of their competitors in both hardware AND software. It sounds to me like you're not actually angry at Nintendo, but angry at the majority of customers in the game industry that don't share your disdain for less powerful hardware.

Granixo,
@Granixo@feddit.cl avatar

I don’t have a dissdain for less powerful hardware, i have a disdain for mediocre hardware.

For me, the peak on 3D graphics was achieved on PS3, X360 and the Wii U.

Nintendo simply wanted easy cash and went on with (literally) inferior hardware to make the Switch.

And my main problem with Nintendo is that they refuse to allow easy access to some of their best games.

Why can’t they do a proper remake/remaster of Majora’s Mask for the current generation?

Why do they refuse to release Mother 3 outside of Japan?

When are we gonna get a new StarFox or F-Zero game?

I think it is clear WHY i have a problem with Nintendo.

mycodesucks, (edited )

Let's address these one at a time...

The hardware is weak, but the market has spoken and to them at least, it doesn't matter. If it DID matter, people wouldn't buy them. Why would Nintendo spend the extra money when consumers have already decided they're going to buy it in droves anyway? So they can spend more on manufacturing and make less profit? Yes, they wanted easy cash. What responsible company doesn't? It doesn't make any sense to spend a dime more on producing a product than what your customers demand. The limitations of the Switch are the fault of consumers who buy it, not Nintendo's. If Microsoft could sell the same number of units Nintendo can by making a game system that cost $50 to manufacture and ran on 386, you can be damn sure they would too. I completely understand your anger - I've had to spend the last 20 years watching flocks of people buy inferior, overpriced Apple products and rave about how great they are. But like Nintendo, Apple only does it because the consumers let them get away with it. Your complaint is misdirected when it should be targeted at the customer base. But good luck teaching happy people who don't know any better that the thing they like is bad. It's not a great use of your time.

All of your other problems are perfectly reasonable, but if you think Microsoft's plan if they buy Nintendo is to drop everything and start porting old titles or working on a new Starfox game, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. Like Disney buying Star Wars, get ready for annual, mediocre entries in your favorite series cranked out by a revolving door of existing teams to maximize output. After a couple years of half-baked Mario and Zelda games, they'll stop selling in the numbers Microsoft wants, and after the golden goose is dead, they'll dissolve any remaining Nintendo assets into their larger acquisitions structure, lay off a bunch, and put the name in the vault while they look for something else to cannibalize.

fibojoly,

So like the vast majority of PCs still run on 1060 instead of whatever the latest shit is? Sounds pretty reasonable, especially if you want mobile gaming.

Granixo,
@Granixo@feddit.cl avatar

I personally run on a GTX 750 Ti and a Core 2 Duo myself. 🧐

But i’ll admit that i’m a maniac who uses a dedicated sound card 🎵 and a gold rated 550W power supply for max performance.

Muffi,

Microsoft wouldn’t run Nintendo. They buy shit up and let it die a slow death… Poor old Skype, Minecraft and Nokia can testify among many other.

Granixo, (edited )
@Granixo@feddit.cl avatar

I can absolutely confirm Nokia.

I do know lots of people who do still use Skype though, and about Minecraft, you just need to go to Youtube to see that it’s still pretty active.

Chewbacca48, w Microsoft’s Phil Spencer says acquiring Nintendo would be ‘a career moment’

Lol, keep dreaming Microsoft :P

nanoUFO, w SBMM can predict how well you will do to a certain degree every game (HALO)
@nanoUFO@sh.itjust.works avatar

I just miss community servers

nickwitha_k, (edited ) w Bethesda: Thank you to more than 10 million Starfield explorers for creating the biggest launch in Bethesda history

Would be more, if it wasn’t an exclusive.

EDIT: To clarify, all of the console exclusivity is absolute bullshit and does nothing positive for those who enjoy games, nor does it serve any necessary purpose - it’s just a weapon for businesses to use against each other.

lustyargonian,

Definitely, though it can be said for every exclusive game.

nickwitha_k,

Agreed. Exclusives are complete bullshit, regardless of vendor.

Potatos_are_not_friends,

God of War. Spiderman. Horizon. Last of Us. Ghost of Tsushima. Bloodborne. Uncharted. Ratchet and Clank. Death Stranding. Grand Turismo. Persona.

nickwitha_k,

Add Final Fantasy. Would also have more if they weren’t exclusive.

kmkz_ninja,

Spite always creates a better system.

pory, (edited )
@pory@lemmy.world avatar

It’s not an exclusive, it’s just not on Playstation or Switch. When did people decide PC releases didn’t count?

nickwitha_k,

Generally, “exclusive” in this context is referring to exclusivity on a console involved in the (IMO completely unnecessary) console wars.

I do agree that PC is an important item there too but, the problems there are a bit different - for example shoddy ports (no justification for porting from x86/amd64 consoles to PC to be bad), excessive and intrusive DRM, and unreasonable delay or unwillingness to port.

CaptainEffort,

Windows is made by Microsoft. Would you feel better if people called Starfield a “Microsoft exclusive”?

pory,
@pory@lemmy.world avatar

Linux runs Starfield with no problems. If it’s on a computer and doesn’t use restrictive DRM to control how and under which circumstances you run the software, it’s not an exclusive. Microsoft doesn’t have exclusives anymore, which is a giant pro-consumer move that doesn’t get enough applause in the gaming community. That doesn’t mean they need to develop stuff for one specific DRM box owned by their biggest competitor to be “anti-exclusive”.

CaptainEffort,

Linux only runs it through a translation layer, Proton, it doesn’t run it natively.

Would you also not call Pokémon an exclusive just because technically it can run on a pc?

pory,
@pory@lemmy.world avatar

Pokémon is an exclusive because you have to pirate it / break the console’s DRM to play it on PC. Also, Proton and Wine are explicitly not emulators - that’s actually what WINE stands for (Wine Is Not an Emulator). Starfield is natively available for more than one platform and not only does the Proton compatibility layer handle it but it’s being sold on Valve’s store and the top played game on the completely Windows-free Deck. Games that are released on one console and PC aren’t exclusives. God of War just isn’t on xbox and Starfield just isn’t on Playstation.

Do you need to buy a console to play it legally? If no, it’s not a game exclusive to that console. I have a PC. I can’t play exclusives like Demons Souls Remake without buying Sony’s $500 DRM machine. I can play non-exclusives like Starfield without buying Microsoft’s $300 DRM machine.

CaptainEffort,

Pokémon is an exclusive because you have to pirate it / break the console’s DRM to play it on PC

Ummm… what? Lmao according to who? Can you find me a single definition of “exclusive” anywhere that bars games that were acquired through broken drm? That’s so bizarrely specific, it could only be made by someone deadset on not being wrong in an internet argument ffs.

Also, Proton and Wine are explicitly not emulators

I literally called it a translation layer above, please read. My point is that Starfield isn’t native to Linux, just as Pokemon isn’t native to Windows. Saying that somehow one retains its exclusivity status while the other doesn’t despite this is a little silly.

and the top played game on the completely Windows-free Deck

And Pokémon is widely run on Windows as well. Still an exclusive though.

Do you need to buy a console to play it legally? If no, it’s not a game exclusive to that console.

Again, according to who? This is a very specific definition that nobody has ever used until just now.

So like, if someone managed to rip a PS5 disc and play it through an emulator, it wouldn’t be an exclusive because they didn’t actually need to purchase a PS5? But if they acquired the game through dumping it off of a modded PS5, then it’s still an exclusive? This is so convoluted.

pory,
@pory@lemmy.world avatar

I said Pokémon is an exclusive because it’s not released on other platforms. Bloodborne would still be a PS4 exclusive if an emulator could run it.

CaptainEffort,

You said having to own the console is what makes it an exclusive. But I can get a game running on Windows without a console.

Starfield isn’t on Linux, just as Pokémon isn’t on Windows.

pory,
@pory@lemmy.world avatar

There’s no such thing as a “Linux PC” though. A PC is a PC. Your PC can run Starfield with proton, or it can run it by installing windows, or it can run it by putting it in a windows VM.

Even if a game can only run on Windows and Xbox (say one of those GAAS shits that has invasive anti cheat), that’s not an exclusive either. It runs on more than one platform. There’s a developer endorsed way to buy the product on more than one platform. Exclusive means one platform - you can’t buy and play the game unless you own one specific device.

CaptainEffort,

What matters is the OS.

Xbox can run Linux, and therefore Proton. Would you say that Spider-man is on Xbox because of that? Obviously not, that’d be exceedingly stupid.

hal_5700X, w Tales of Arise Producer Is Open to Bringing Older Tales Games to the West
@hal_5700X@lemmy.world avatar

Nice.

hydroel, w New Xbox controller with swappable battery spotted in huge Microsoft leak

Uh, I have bought the last 3 generations of Xbox controllers and the battery’s always been swappable. What’s new?

manapropos, w SBMM can predict how well you will do to a certain degree every game (HALO)

This kind of shit I why I stopped playing shooters. I tried the MW1 reboot and every match is a sweat fest

manapropos, w Bethesda: Thank you to more than 10 million Starfield explorers for creating the biggest launch in Bethesda history

Gamers keep getting dumber and dumber. I figured anyone with two brain cells to rub together would see this would be a shit game

aSingularFemboyHooter,

Why is it shit?

WeLoveCastingSpellz,
@WeLoveCastingSpellz@lemmy.fmhy.net avatar

Outdated engine, non existend optimization, mediocre writing, lacking ship travel, dead looking NPCs, general Bethesda bugginess, lack of DLSS support

ahornsirup,
@ahornsirup@artemis.camp avatar

The engine is what allows the game to have a thriving modding community already.

Pratai,

Imagine relying on free labor to fix your broken ass game, and then having people defend you when called out for making a boring game that relies on free labor for content.

conciselyverbose,

Imagine thinking that what is very probably the most hand-crafted content ever in a 3D game, with one of the broadest variety of choices for anything close to that scale, is a game lacking content.

BruceTwarzen,

The most handcrafted what now hahaha holy shit is that satire?

conciselyverbose, (edited )

It's not an opinion. If you ignore straight procedural generation with no human input like no man's sky, Starfield is very probably the biggest 3D game ever made. The fact that it's an absolutely massive game isn't debatable in any way.

Nobody who's played it is making the ridiculous claim that they ran out of content. It's fundamentally not possible for "relying on mods for content" to be in good faith.

james,

Uhh… Baldur’s Gate 3?

conciselyverbose, (edited )

BG3 is a top down CRPG. Having 3D assets and being a 3D game with full 3D movement aren't the same thing.

And whether it's more content is debatable. There's more pure story and production, with a lot of branching, but the overall amount of space (not counting Starfield's use of negative space because of the setting) is significantly smaller. And even in terms of total number of quest lines, Starfield has a lot. Which you can get more time out of is all about personal preference. There will be people with 1000 hours in both, easy.

CaptainEffort,

You can literally play BG3 as a third person turn based action game, with an over the shoulder camera. It’s entirely 3D.

conciselyverbose,

Turn based and action are mutually exclusive. It is not and does not resemble an action game.

The assets are 3D. You do not play in 3D. You do not cast a spell and have the physics of your interaction calculated in real time while 10 other characters are simultaneously acting and having their spells calculated based on the real time movements of all the other characters. You do not hit a jump button and have where you land determined by your speed and direction. The actual gameplay mechanics are all pure dice roll. There are no 3D physics in play.

CaptainEffort,

…what do you think 3D physics are?

conciselyverbose,

The absolute bare minimum:

Your jump must be decided by the vector of your movement when you hit the button. If it is not, there is literally nothing you can do to qualify.

Your actions must be aimed in real time and the outcome determined by the vector of your aim. Hitscan is shit, but it can qualify. If the action (not the vector of the shot) is decided by a dice roll, you unconditionally do not qualify.

There's plenty more. But BG3 is not and does not in any way mechanically resemble a 3D action RPG. It has no common traits. The camera perspective outside of combat isn't relevant.

CaptainEffort,

I think you’re simply misunderstanding what “3D” means. 3D does not mean real-time, dynamic, or anything else. It simply means 3D. BG3 is entirely in 3D. Every single asset is 3D hell the entire explorable world is 3D. So yes, it quite literally is a 3D game. With action. Making it a 3D action game.

Think of what the alternative would be. Is this a 2D action game? Obviously not.

If you’re looking for a 3D real-time action game then yeah, this isn’t that. But that’s not what anyone’s arguing.

Edit: Also… is your argument that a game like Morrowind isn’t in 3D? Just because hits are handled by dice rolls? That’s insane lol.

conciselyverbose,

No, it is not. You do not have a position in 3D space. You have a position on one of a small number of discrete 2D planes. BG3 is a 2D pure CRPG that happens to be decorated with 3D assets. Calling it a 3D game is the exact same unforgivable fraud as calling Metroid Dread one. It is not and does not in any way resemble it.

If you aren't strictly in real time for combat, you unconditionally cannot be or resemble an action game.

To be fully 3D, literally every part of the core gameplay physics must occur in real time. Hits cannot be determined by any other factor but the vector of the attack projected through 3D space into a character's hit box. The existence of a dice roll to determine a hit (not the vector) is an unconditional disqualifier in all contexts. There are no exceptions, and no room for them.

Everything about your description of BG3 is fully unhinged nonsense that should be offensive to any human being with any understanding of what games are. They aren't nitpicks. You're fundamentally destroying the core definition of very basic terms in a way that completely destroys all meaning. It would be less disgusting to be a flat earther.

CaptainEffort,

In BG3 you do have a position in 3D space, what’re you talking about? Have you ever even played the game? My money’s on no.

Metroid Dread is a side scroller in which only one dimension is ever viewable outside of cutscenes. BG3 is a full 3D world with full camera movement, to the point of being an over the shoulder third person game should you choose to play it that way. They’re apples and oranges.

If you aren’t strictly in real time for combat, you unconditionally cannot be or resemble an action game.

If this were true then the term “real-time action” wouldn’t exist, as the term would be redundant. Besides, how do you then define games that have a bit of both, like Chrono Trigger? The whole thing seems a bit silly to me.

Hits cannot be determined by any other factor but the vector of the attack projected through 3D space into a character’s hit box.

So again, by your definition a game like Morrowind wouldn’t be considered a 3D game. That’s completely unhinged lol, nobody would agree with that. Clearly your definition is a bit flawed.

You’re fundamentally destroying the core definition of very basic terms in a way that completely destroys all meaning. It would be less disgusting to be a flat earther.

…I think maybe you need to take a break and go outside or something.

Pratai,

ROFL.

glimpseintotheshit,

I’m glad you enjoy the game but compared to the level of detail and polish Read Dead 2 had five years ago Starfield feels straight up antiquated imo

conciselyverbose,

Red dead 2 is obscenely tiny by comparison.

Literally everything about game development is a trade off. It's not possible to make a game at 5% of Starfield's scale as polished as a rockstar game. The difference in scale is too massive.

The scope of Bethesda games is a huge part of the point. Nobody else makes anything similar to what they offer.

ahornsirup,
@ahornsirup@artemis.camp avatar

Imagine having that little understanding of how and why people enjoy modding their games.

conciselyverbose,

Or what an engine is lol.

UE5 is "the same engine" iterated on in the same way Bethesda's is, there are plenty of games using UE that don't run well, and it would take plenty of custom work to build to Bethesda's scale using it.

CaptainEffort, (edited )

The current iteration of Unreal is completely unrecognizable from its original rendition, meanwhile this new version of the Creation Engine literally retains bugs present back in the days of Gamebryo. You simply can’t compare the two. But, in Bethesda’s defense, this isn’t due to incompetence or anything. It’s due to resource allocation and incentive.

There’s a reason most devs have been moving towards Unreal and away from making their own engines, and it’s because making your own proprietary engine takes insane amounts of time and resources - time and resources that devs don’t get any return on mind you. For most, it doesn’t make sense to dedicate loads of time to polishing an engine, when that time could be better spent on your next game - a game that you actually do get a return on.

Unreal is completely different in this regard, as Epic actually does get a return on their investment into the engine, as the engine itself is their product. So they have every incentive to polish Unreal as much as possible. That’s why it’s so insanely polished and indistinguishable from its original rendition. Not because all engines magically improve over time and at the same rate.

I know Todd Howard said that engines are somehow meaningless, and then a bunch of Bethesda fans took that and ran with it as a way to defend any criticism of the Creation Engine, but unfortunately it’s just not that simple.

And to be clear, I want the Creation Engine to succeed. I’ve been modding Bethesda games since 2013 and am still active in the modding community! The engine is rough but makes all of it possible, and the community at this point knows it so well that it’d be devastating to suddenly lose it all. But Bethesda needs to sit down and really dedicate some time to overhauling it, and unfortunately, albeit understandably, I just don’t see that happening.

BruceTwarzen,

But but modders will fix the 80 dollar game for free so the next game can still be from 2008

theragu40, (edited )
  • I’m not sure why I should care whether the engine is outdated or not
  • I keep hearing this but it runs fine on my mid tier rig
  • Writing quality is subjective. It’s good enough for me so far
  • These feel like a Bethesda calling card at this point, they have a quirky charm to me
  • This is EASILY the least buggy Bethesda game I can recall
  • Why should this bother me? It’s running fine for me without it.

None of those add up to “shit game”, in my mind.

all-knight-party,
@all-knight-party@kbin.run avatar

Internet commenters keep getting dumber and dumber. I figured anyone with two brain cells to rub together would see that human beings can understand nuance and that not everyone likes or dislikes the same things and that the entire game is not 100% objectively bad.

dudewitbow,

People tend to think on black and white and not grayscale.

If you objectively compare the mechanics, writings and factions to fallout 4, Starfield is almost a direct upgrade from fallout 4 in several aspects. Gunplay, gun customization, rpg check choices that play more role in having a unique experience, factions that arent totally terribly written like it is in FO4, where almost all factions are unlikable or not interesting.

The people who are let down by starfield expected bethesda to not make a bethesda game in simple terms.

Do i think its GOTY material, hell no (im basically at the point of no return point in the game). Its a helluva lot better than FO4, but people treat the game like it killed their first child.

all-knight-party,
@all-knight-party@kbin.run avatar

Well, I wouldn't necessarily say the exploration is as good, I think the issues about not having maps and there being a lot of loading screens are valid, but those problems don't automatically make the game horrible, and while the optimization isn't awesome after the recent update and Nvidia driver it looks decent and runs at an almost always locked out 60 FPS on my RTX 3060 with the settings lowered, so if you want the better visuals you can get there, and if you wanna play with smooth frame rate you can make that work, too. Again, not that that excuses it, but it's not irredeemably bad.

I think it's important that people understand what works about the game and what doesn't, whether they come to an end result of liking it or not, I hate to see people shit on it wholesale, and I also hate to see people defend it wholesale as well. It's got problems, but it's got successes, too.

HolyDuckTurtle, (edited )
@HolyDuckTurtle@kbin.social avatar

I've actually been really enjoying it. It's a pleasant universe to just get absorbed in.

Sure, it's got a lot of very valid complaints (performance, UX etc.) but they matter less to me the more I get into it. Writing is not groundbreaking, but it gets pretty good. Since very good voice acting from otherwise random NPCs.

Also the first game I've played that lets me use non-binary pronouns as a third option, rather than just Gendered or not. Very cool and I hope to see more games do that.

I'd say the most disappointing thing is how straightforward almost every quest is. They don't do what Obsidian does in games like New Vegas and Outer Worlds where lots of quests have multiple resolutions, some hidden. In this game if it's not in the objective list it's usually not an option. It's the typical Bethesda experience of course, rather than Obsidian's, so it's still nice for what it is.

It's the closest I've personally felt to exploring and interacting with the worlds of Mass Effect 1 and Knights of the Old Republic in a long time. It's got that sense of wander about it for me.

buzziebee, (edited )

Yeah the straightforward quests are sometimes a little disappointing.

I.e. there’s a tiny side quest where you have to get some rich guys wedding ring back from his fiance. You go to the fiance and that say that they saw the rich guy cheating (having a conversation) with the waiter at their favorite restaurant, and that they shouldn’t have to give the ring back.

I went back to the rich guy to find out if this was true, and to insert myself firmly into their drama, but there was no new dialogue from the rich guy. I just had to pick a dialogue option to either take the ring or let the fiance keep it.

It would have been nice to be able to confirm my suspicions that they were just being friendly with the waiter, not cheating, and maybe get the two back together. But no it was go to person A, get quest, speak to person B, return with ring/update that they are keeping it.

There are some great quests, and lots of cool world building, but the RP portion is sometimes a bit lacking compared to (as you mentioned) New Vegas.

Shurimal,

The only game that scratches the space exploration itch Elite doesn't quite scratch (I mean, Elite is very good, but has it's shortcomings when it comes to on-foot stuff). Ship interiors, base building and having actual life on planets, not just some fungoida and bacterium patches, alone are a reason to be excited about Starfield. Also, jetpack combat.

Funny how Elder Scrolls veterans are enjoying the game for what it is while bitter Playstation diehards, wishful thinkers with gigabyte-sized dreams.txt and bandwagon-o'-hate jumpers are complaining about things that never were to be so loud you can clearly hear the "Reeeeeeeeeee...." from Alpha Centauri😏

Murvel,

Oh fuck right off, let people enjoy the game.

manapropos,

As if I’m putting a gun to anyone’s head preventing them from doing so

Murvel,

No, but still you feel the need to shit all over something people really like and insult them for it. So explain that. Does it make you feel good?

manapropos,

Yeah not gonna lie it’s pretty hilarious to see people coping and defending a deeply flawed game that they paid full price for

Murvel,

Yeah ok, that’s your opinion. It’s wrong, of course, but keep it to yourself ffs.

Infinity187,

Them down votes, though…

manapropos,

Lots of buyers remorse from bethesda paypigs

photonic_sorcerer, w Relogic: Makes a statement on Unity and donates 100k to Godot and FNA with a further 1k a month moving forward.
@photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Awesome! Good for the indie devs for sticking together.

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