One thing I have struggled with lately is finding good games to play. I bounce around from game to game trying to enjoy it but it just doesn’t scratch the itch like it used to. For example, one of my favorites was old school RuneScape, but it hasn’t really been giving me the same enjoyment that it used to. So then I would...
Honestly, by online gaming standards, I’ve found Dota pretty tame. Prehaps its just because I stick to more casual modes and have a high behaviour score, but I rarely see much more than a “GGEZ” at the end of a game, or players tipping mistakes. I think its been at least a month since the last time I saw someone hack, intentionally teamkill, or throw. Obviously, its still a competitve online game (toxicity isn’t rare), but the only other online game I can think of where I experienced less toxicity was Deep Rock Galactic.
Its possible I’ve just been lucky enough to avoid that part of the playerbase. Then again, my perception my also be skewed from spending so much time in Dead By Daylight, War Thunder, Minecraft and Counter Strike. At least in Dota, it takes some effort to kill more than a couple teammates.
In general, I agree, but I think you underestimate the benifits it provides. While ray-tracing doesn’t add much to more static or simple scenes, it can make a huge difference with more complex or dynamic scenes. Half Life 2 is honestly probably the ideal game to demonstrate this due to its heavy reliance on physics. Current lighting and reflection systems, for all their advancements and advantages, struggle to convincingly handle objects moving in the scene and interacting with each other. Add in a flickering torch or similar and things tend to go even further off the rails. This is why in a lot of games, interactive objects end up standing out in an otherwise well-rendered enviroment. Good raytracing fixes this and can go a really long way to creating a unified, but dynamic look to an enviroment. All that is just on the player’s side too, theres even more boons for developers.
That said, I still don’t plan to be playing many RTX or ray-traced games any time soon. As you said, its still a nightmare performance wise, and I personally start getting motion sick at the framerates it runs at. Once hardware catches up more seriously, I think it will be a really useful tool.
They usually are free to play with predatory monetization mechanics. That was especially back in 2016 when thanks to these games, the mobile gaming revenue outpaced PC and console gaming revenue.
Users who expect low prices - This partly because of the history of mobile games being smaller and/or ad-funded but also because the vast majority of people playing games on their phone are looking for a low barrier to entry, time waster, not specifically a game.
Lack of regulation or enforcement - other gambling heavy fields tend to be at least somewhat regulated, but mobile games are very light on regulation, and even lighter on enforcement. This allows them to falsely advertise their games and how they function (both in terms of misleading ads, and lying about chance based events and purchases in-game).
Monopolistic middlemen - On other platforms, theres more direct competition (IE, Sony and Microsoft’s generally more direct competition) or companies that prioritize long-term growth and stability (IE Steam or Itch.io). Apple and Google, on the other hand, largely compete on brand perception and hardware specs. These means that their app stores, where they make most of their money, have zero competitors. Seeing as they have no reason to make the stores better, they can instead promote whatever makes them the most money; that being exactly these manipulate, sketchy, virtual slot machines.
Quit World of Warcraft recently Because I couldn’t justify the subscription anymore. It’s been really hard to find a game to put time into and keep my attention. I tried OverWatch 2 but that game is hot fecal matter. Stardew Valley is fun for a little while, all my friends quit though And that’s who I played with. Team...
Dota does too but its fairly hidden and requires unanimous agreement. That said, Dota is far less snowbally, so unlike League or Deadlock, it rarely makes sense to forfet very early.
There is an Avatar TTRPG and it faces similar problems to making a new game based on the series, and handles it similarly to what you’re suggesting.
The TTRPG divides the setting into Eras, Kyoshi era with the nations still being established, Roku era with established nations, The Hundred Years War era taking place during the war but before Ang wakes, The Aang era, after the show and its sequel comics, and the Kora era taking place after TLoK and its comic trilogy. Notably, none take place during the events of the main series. This means that the can create new stories that better fit the medium and don’t break cannon, and at the same time, you can still interact with significant characters and tie your story into the cannon such as making a quest resulting from the reprocusions of, or a prerequisite for events in the main canon.
Edit: clearly none of us read the article:
It’ll put players in the role of an “all-new, never-before-seen Avatar” and take place thousands of years in the past.
At the same time, the goal of dark patterns to to make people spend more money. Given that revenue is very likely one of the key things Google wants (and thus promotes) out of apps, its also entirely expected that the apps people find are largely those who try and get the most money from users, which requires dark patterns.
Other than the mob vote changes, Im not really a fan. More regular, small updates feels like it makes it harder to make the large, sweeping changes many areas of the game need, as well as adding a lot of extra work for modders to keep things up to date.
It feels like new games are just more of the same, with no real meaning. However I recently started playing “Return of the Obra Dihn” and love open ended deduction in it. It feels like I’m actually figuring things out by myself without being handheld through it. Are there any other games that don’t coddle the player that...
I personally found the Inscryption scratched the same itch, albient in a different way. Its a very different game, being a sort-of narrative driven, Slay the Spire inspired card game. I won’t go into too much detail, given that spoilers, mechanical or narrative, take away a lot from the game, but I found that Inscryption did a great job of juggling a bunch of different mechanics to ensure I constantly had new tools to master, while also encouraging more lateral exploration through its plethora of secrets, and drip feeding story fragments to be peiced together as I progressed.
As a viewer or as a player? As a player, I’d be interested interested in joining for Dota, and maybe CS2. As a viewer, Dota, CS2, or maybe some of the classics that are easier to understand on a surface level like Age of Empires or Smash Melee. That said, it’d obviously depend on specifics; as much as I love any excuse to play more Dota, for example, I only have one consistent teammate and tend to rely on randoms for other lanes.
Theres a whole plethora of ranked, competitve Minecraft games, ranging from time trial type survival challenges, to parkour, to classics like Survival Games (battle royale) and Spleef. Alternatively, for something more casual, just use a whole variety of minigames.
Given the significant changes between trailer and gameplay, as well as the delays, I’m guessing the hero got reworked and simplified a lot during development. In his current state, he seems far too simple given the dev time. Still interested to see how he plays around though.
Considering that its already been effectively announced unofficially, and whats been leaked is in a very unfinished state, I expect they’ll wait until its more polished before putting any real marketing weight behind it. They may even be extra late, considering the rocky launch of CS2, with it still lacking much of the content from CS:GO.
Hello all! My buddy and I finally finished up Baldur’s Gate 3 this week and we are not left with a giant co-op game shaped whole in our hearts. It was such an incredible experience and it was truly even more fun running through it together. We are excited to hop into another game, but we have no idea what to play. We’ve...
PlateUp can be fun in 2 player co-op. If you’ve played Overcooked, its basically a clone of that, but turned into a roguelike. Its not the longest or deepest, but its still solid, and the price is very fair IMO, esspecially if you get it on sale.
As per title. Most computer games these days are made with such unnecessary padding that I want to murder the devs or myself by the end. See, for example, Hyrule Warriors, the 100% 1000 Hour Nightmare, the Review....
At least personally, its a lot of the shorter, gameplay-focused games that always leave me wanting more, or wanting to further improve, without having some unbeatable new-game++++++++ mode or anything overly RNG based.
A couple games I’ve 100%ed that still have significant bonus/optional content outside the main plotline include:
Inscription - Willingly played through the story twice and spent nearly as many hours on the bonus new-game+ mode. Super solid gameplay, that while well explored in the base game, leaves plenty of room to further experiment and perfect your strategy.
Just Cause 3 - while there is a ton of bonus content, its not overly hidden, and the core gameplay is solid enough that challenges feel fun and rewarding, while travelling around gathering collectables is satisfying in a chill, podcast-listening, but not unengaging way.
Hotline Miami - after completing the game, I wanted to go back and get a A+ on every level because the gameplay was fun and I felt I still had more room to grow. “The puzzle” wasn’t as fun, and I did use a guide, but I was just happy for any reason to play through the game again.
Wolfenstein the New Order - again, just a solid gameplay loop that made me want to keep playing, with bonus objectives that worked as an objective rather than a chore. Also, unlike later ID shooters, it doesn’t have the “beat the whole game without dying” achievement, which just feels too punishing over mistakes that may be minor or downright unfair.
The vehicle challenges were definately the weakest part, but on average, I still enjoyed them. In particular, a lot of the wingsuit courses and land races were fun, and actually took advantage of the game’s strongest elements.
I like both, but as others have said, the apm focus in RTS games really puts a cap on my enjoyment of the genre. In theory, I should love the genre, and I usually like the single player Campaigns or skirmishes against bots, but as soon as apm becomes a significant factor, I lose interest. Maybe I should learn some with a pause function, so I can see how I feel about those.
Honestly, even those are pretty overkill to make a competing storefront. All you’d have to do is to offer lower prices and/or take a smaller percentage while matching at least a fraction of Steam’s functionality (unlike Epic) or actively working to screw over customers (also unlike Epic). If a store sold games consistantly 5% cheaper than Steam, even without controller options, good support, a built-in forum, explicit Linux support, ect., I’m confident it would be reasonably successful. Just look at Humble and Fanatical. While they do (mostly) sell Steam keys, their prices are arguably what made them a success, not the features you get after redeaming the Steam keys.
Even beside that, the ideas you provided are all pretty minor. If you’re willing to throw more significant amounts of money at the platform, like many before have, you can go a lot further than that even. For example, seeing as Steam’s discovery algorithm is one of the bigger benifits Steam provides, you could one-up them by providing off-platform marketing for games launching on your platform. This would be a way to bring devlopers and players alike to use your platform without screwing over either. Similarly, you could take a page out of Epic’s book and do giveaways regularly. Alternatively, you could use a less generous system such as “buy anything and get x game free” or “every $10 spent gives you a chance to win x game bundle” to make it more sustainable, and/or allow you to market specific underperforming games. It isn’t that hard to come up with ideas that would allow a competitor to do well. You just have to do that rather than putting all your resources into trying to take games away from players, and harvest their data.
Are there any good casual/low-stress mobile games that aren’t filled with microtransactions? For example: easy puzzle games, match-3 games, low-difficulty adventure games, or clicker-style games....
I’d personally say its like a 7 or 8/10. Its probably the most mechanically varied and deep PvE focused survival game, but at the same time, it does really feel incomplete. Building lacks options, end-game content is often finicky or tideous, and performance issues can make the game near unplayable in enemy-dense regions.
I know in previous posts, you’ve talked about leaderboards and comparing stats to friends. For those who might be embarrassed by their stats or who would be anxious comparing stats, is ir possible to hide these menus and/or play the game without them? In particular, is it possible to play with other social features still enabled?
Honestly, I think the original. I know its inferior to most of the other games in most ways, but I’ve found a lot of the modern Zelda games feel pretty shallow and formulaec. Not to say they’re bad, but none of them really feel like they stand out to me either - they’re just good games. The original on the other hand, feels very different from a lot of the games since then. The world is kept a lot more foreign and hostile both in terms of aggressive enemies and in terms of tutorialization. Its makes the exploration so much more rewarding, and when you do find a new item, that much more special.
That said, worth noting that these launchers and complex storefronts aren’t really needed either, which is part of why I don’t have an issue with Steam. If you have a good game, you can just sell it on your own website like Minecraft, League of Legends, or Tarkov. Steam’s biggest (or at least most universal) utility for developers is just that it provides very cheap, very effective marketing.
I’ve intentionally held off on spoilers so far, but Im really hoping once finished, Sons of the Forest will be a nice step up from The Forest. The original was so great in so many ways, but also had so many massive incongruities - esspecially with the content so focused around violence and the enviroment that had absolutely nothing to do with the plot.
Arr matey! What be the finest pirate-themed games ye have plundered? Personally, I’ve sailed the treacherous seas of Sea of Thieves and danced with shadows in Shadows Gambit. But I be yearnin’ for more pirate adventures. What be yer recommendations, me hearties?...
Its not quite a pirate game, but if you’re willing to expand your seach to include a nautical mystery game aboard a trading ship in 1807, than Return of the Obra Dinn is worth a look.
Or Pheonix Point, where Epic bought an kickstarter game that was funded under the promise of releasing on Steam, GOG and potentially other stores and promptly made it exclusive - and this was in the early days when their launcher/store was in a much worse state too.
The same people are at the helm, and they’ve managaed to make a massive profit by making up a bunch of stuff, releasing a broken, unfinished game and fixing it over the course of nearly a decade. What’s to say they’re going to do differently this time. If anything, they’re more likely to get a pass releasing a broken game now since it will probably eventually be what was promised at launch.
Edit: and I also want to highlight the fact that by supporting Hello Games (at least until we’ve seen definitive proof that this isn’t a repeat) we’re very directly showing support for the practice of releasing broken games.
I’ll treat it the same as every other, if after a couple weeks once the hype has worn down the game actually fulfills the general schtick and seems to have learned and integrated its NMS lessons, then I’ll consider getting it.
I got NMS for ten bucks at the NEXT update and feel like I’ve gotten far more than my money’s worth. This title hasn’t proven anything yet, and I’ll wait for the truth before purchasing it like I do with every other game. It’s been this way since like 2013 when the industry started pumping out incomplete live service nonsense with seasons and battle passes.
Thats exactly my point. We don’t know anything about the game, and are supporting it by just assuming that its going to be a great game and exactly whats promised from a studio that had previously lied frequently leading up to its last release. Thats why you don’t feed into another ridiculous hype train, and don’t pre-order or make day-one purchases. If they’ve actually learned their lesson and reformed, make them prove it before buying the game. I’m not saying don’t buy the game, I’m saying don’t buy in to the hype.
Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is coming to Netflix on December 14 for Netflix members on the App Store, Google Play, and in the Netflix mobile app.
Not even just that. They approached games that has already promised not to be exclusives, including kickstarter games that had already been funded with that promise, as well as buying games and removing them from other stores.
They were paying to have the games removed from better stores so they wouldn’t have to compete. That is an example of anti-competitive practices, not just making a better product and charging more for it.
That feels awfully soon. I hope they can actually create enough new content for this, as Below Zero felt far too similar to the first. It felt more like a new game plus rather than a full-price sequal.
Guessing they accedently added the button early, for something they plan to do for the 25th anniversary in a few days, considering it didn’t work and was immediately removed again.
I’m not suprised. On one hand, there wasn’t exactly a lot of marketing around it. I didn’t even know it was announced until last week, and I follow gaming news and some VR news. On top of this, its an expensive, casual device - the sort of thing a kid will ask for after seeing someone else using it, not something people are lining up day-one to buy. At least something like the Valve Index, for all its disadvantages, very clearly targets enthusiasts who will go out of their way to seek out newer or better products. If Valve decided to release a Valve Index 2 (or for a more direct comparison, a Valve Index Pro) I’d be willing to bet their day-one numbers would look better, even if their overall market is much smaller.
Its a somewhat more story and gameplay focused than Cookie Clicker, but still pretty chill. I won’t say too much more, considering that it’d just spoil the fun of discovery.
What about Vampire Survivors, as well as numerous other games, using spinners or other slot-machine-like animations to represent RPG drops? Should all of these games be banned for the same reason? If anything, many of these better re-create the slot machine experience with their flashy effects and more substantial results.
These aren’t mobile games, they’re desktop games, and this isn’t anything new. These same themes and effects have been used for decades. As someone else points out, even the retro Mario games have you use spinners and slot machines. RNG is exciting and helps make a fun and engaging game. I mean, by that same logic, a game like Catan should be banned because one of its primary mechanics is just being rewarded for favorable dice rolls, as you would be when gambling on dice.
What are your favorite 1000+ hour games? angielski
One thing I have struggled with lately is finding good games to play. I bounce around from game to game trying to enjoy it but it just doesn’t scratch the itch like it used to. For example, one of my favorites was old school RuneScape, but it hasn’t really been giving me the same enjoyment that it used to. So then I would...
Half-Life 2 is currently 100% off for its 20th anniversary, plus a major update (store.steampowered.com) angielski
Bonus: it also seems that the episodes have been rolled into the base game. Full details of the anniversary update....
Half-Life 2 RTX | Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Tribute Video (www.youtube.com) angielski
Why are most mobile games trash? (fedia.io) angielski
They usually are free to play with predatory monetization mechanics. That was especially back in 2016 when thanks to these games, the mobile gaming revenue outpaced PC and console gaming revenue.
Deadlocked is one of the funnest games I've played in a while angielski
Quit World of Warcraft recently Because I couldn’t justify the subscription anymore. It’s been really hard to find a game to put time into and keep my attention. I tried OverWatch 2 but that game is hot fecal matter. Stardew Valley is fun for a little while, all my friends quit though And that’s who I played with. Team...
Avatar: The Last Airbender Is Getting a AAA RPG With Saber Interactive and Paramount Game Studios - EXCLUSIVE (www.ign.com) angielski
Better late than never?
DarkPattern.games - a website that rates mobile games for their "dark patterns" (www.darkpattern.games) angielski
The future of Minecraft’s development (www.minecraft.net) angielski
Any good games that break the mold angielski
It feels like new games are just more of the same, with no real meaning. However I recently started playing “Return of the Obra Dihn” and love open ended deduction in it. It feels like I’m actually figuring things out by myself without being handheld through it. Are there any other games that don’t coddle the player that...
What are some video games that you would show up to a local tournament for? angielski
Gearbox founder says Epic Games Store hopes were “misplaced or overly optimistic” (arstechnica.com) angielski
Dota 2 - Introducing The Ringmaster (and TI 2024 compendium) (www.dota2.com) angielski
Can anyone suggest some good co-op games for two people? angielski
Hello all! My buddy and I finally finished up Baldur’s Gate 3 this week and we are not left with a giant co-op game shaped whole in our hearts. It was such an incredible experience and it was truly even more fun running through it together. We are excited to hop into another game, but we have no idea what to play. We’ve...
What’s a game you can 100% without hating by the end? angielski
As per title. Most computer games these days are made with such unnecessary padding that I want to murder the devs or myself by the end. See, for example, Hyrule Warriors, the 100% 1000 Hour Nightmare, the Review....
Do you prefer RTS or Turn based tactics angielski
Personally, I’m more an RTS guy playing games such as command and conquer, AOE 3 (first aoe game I played) and supreme commander....
Steam Is Run By Fewer Than 80 Staff, Lawsuit Docs Reveal (insider-gaming.com) angielski
Are there any good casual/low-stress mobile games that aren't filled with microtransactions? angielski
Are there any good casual/low-stress mobile games that aren’t filled with microtransactions? For example: easy puzzle games, match-3 games, low-difficulty adventure games, or clicker-style games....
After 10 years in early access, 7 Days To Die finally has a release date for version 1.0 (www.rockpapershotgun.com) angielski
My RuneScape-inspired fitness RPG, WalkScape, has a new Closed Beta wave starting one June 1st! (i.postimg.cc) angielski
https://i.postimg.cc/8zW6cm7M/vasta-tavern.gif...
Legend of Zelda angielski
What is your favourite LOZ game? My fave is twilight princess as it was the first zelda game I played. Being it on the Wii....
Steam is a ticking time bomb (www.spacebar.news) angielski
Sons of the Forest 1.0 - Exclusive Trailer (www.youtube.com) angielski
Recommendations for Pirate Games? angielski
Arr matey! What be the finest pirate-themed games ye have plundered? Personally, I’ve sailed the treacherous seas of Sea of Thieves and danced with shadows in Shadows Gambit. But I be yearnin’ for more pirate adventures. What be yer recommendations, me hearties?...
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | Fully Ramblomatic (www.youtube.com) angielski
Steam keeps on winning (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
From the opinion piece:...
Light No Fire Announcement Trailer (www.youtube.com) angielski
'Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition' Arrives on Netflix December 14 for Mobile (about.netflix.com) angielski
Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is coming to Netflix on December 14 for Netflix members on the App Store, Google Play, and in the Netflix mobile app.
Court rules Gabe Newell must appear in person to testify in Steam anti-trust lawsuit (www.pcgamer.com) angielski
"The Next Subnautica" aims to deliver underwater survival spooks in early 2025 (www.rockpapershotgun.com) angielski
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Meta Quest 3 demand allegedly 5 million units below expected level (www.pcgamesn.com) angielski
Browser games you have burned a lot of time on? angielski
Personally I’ve played a hell of a lot of HexArena. Just a simple, low intensity game that runs well and is maintained :))...
Luck be a Landlord is now banned in 13 countries on the Google Play Store (blog.trampolinetales.com) angielski