Multiplayer games are absolutely off limits cheating wise for me. HOWEVER... using trainers and mods and things like Cheat Engine in single player games is not only ok, but I often treat it like it's a mini game. Can I give myself an extra 100k gold? Hmm fire up CE and let's see :)
The immense thrill I get from reducing some horrible grind from hours to minutes is just huge fun. I'm basically a sandbox guy. GTA5 cheats, for example, have led to more unexpected sandbox fun than I could ever have imagined over the years.
Not using cheats in single player grindfests is like having a first class ticket on a plane but choosing to travel economy. I think it's basically that I don't like being told to grind for the sake of it or for some "moral" reason.
I love a FUN grind though. I've spent days in games like My Time At Portia just fishing for example. It comes down to this: If a grind is fun, I'll happily do it but if it's just like I'm a mouse being toyed with by some cat then hello God mode lol
Oh yeah definitely :) Also I've noticed there's kind of a new feeling of satisfaction when a game does somehow make it through this assault course and I buy it finally. It feels like an achievement in itself.
Well ok but I did say it was long. Tbh, my checklist is almost a minigame itself now 🤣
So once I've found a game that looks interesting, I do the following:
Google video search for the game's title and filter to past week, then month, then year and that shows me how many people are actually talking about this game right now and who's doing the talking.
I look at the Steam reviews and initially filter to only show negative ones. I find it's a lot easier to see if the game's been review bombed that way. Also, a lot of negative reviews complain about features I find positive so that's helpful too "This game was way too easy! I finished it in 30 hours and I still had all my hair at the end, harumph!". I also check phrases like "Abandoned by the devs" or "Yet another asset flip" or "Beware! The EULA is a privacy nightmare".
I then switch to positive reviews and read the short ones. The dissertations are just way too much detail at this stage (or any stage really for me).
At some point early on I check the Steam update history. If the last update was years ago I factor that in. I also try to keep on top of relevant news like that time the entire staff of Annapurna Interactive quit, making a sequel to Stray unlikely.
Also, if it hasn't had that many recent updates I'll join the Discord and see how active that is. That's usually so revealing. Often in a positive way like with the G-Rebels devs.
Then I go through my top YT game reviewers like Raptor, Scarlett Seeker, Splattercat Gaming, Orbital Potato and Nookrium and see if they've talked about the game.
I look for the title on Allkeyshop to see if there's a cheaper EU unlockable Steam game key available.
I check for trainers in case I need an escape hatch if it turns out to be too grindy or tedious but still worth playing.
If all the searches have been positive so far I'll wishlist it around this point. If there's a demo I'll play it. If it looks amazing from the start I'll install the demo after looking at a couple of gameplay videos.
I also have a 21:9 monitor so I hop into the Steam discussion group for the game and look for confirmation that it's compatible.
If it's too expensive I'll check SteamDB and look at it's price history. My personal limit is <7 bucks for an old game and <18 for a relatively new one (unless something exceptional suddenly appears like Eriksholm).
I'll check if there any Steam sales coming and if the theme is likely to match the game I'm looking at.
I really do actually do all this by the way. It's the only way I've been able to get more sensible about the games I buy.
I used to buy Steam games without a care in the world. Now to spend even 5 bucks I make myself go through a quality control checklist so vast it would impress a space shuttle commander. There's just been too many abandoned games, terrible sequels, fake reviews, unnecessary game launchers and disappointing Steam sales. That's not to say there isn't still an excellent bunch of games on there, but they're all hidden deep in the forest and I have to go sniff em out like a basset hound.
Absolutely. Also, I'd love to make it a rule that you can't start a review with:
"I really wanted to like this game but..."
Aww... Did you pumpkin? Are you SO disappointed that you don't get to like a thing you wanted to like? That must be so rough for you.
Anyone using that opener is immediately suspicious to me.
You've just reminded me actually, there was a game I loved playing the demo for called "Truck World: Australia - First Haul" I saw back in June that got hugely review bombed (maybe by ETS2 fans?). "Worse than a mobile game" and "It's way too red" were two I remember 🤣
I believe how it works is people buy the game, write the negative review and then refund it. Review bombing is not only definitely a thing but Steam have gone to great lengths to combat it, which would be odd if it was imaginary.
Oh ok 🙂 It was Seafarer: The Ship Sim. A day after they launched they got a load of negative reviews that took them down to a "Mostly Negative" rating. That's improved since then, presumably once more genuine reviews came in.
Played the demo of Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream a while back so might buy it now it's 20% off. Not surprised it got "Overwhelmingly Positive". Bloody excellent game.