What are you playing?

Squidleybits

Squidleybits

I played Monster Hunter World for the first time in a while this weekend. The kids and I were curious about the new Elder Dragon, Lunastra.

I had heard that she’s meant to be soloable. I killed Tempered Deviljho many times on my own, so I thought that I should be good.

The quest with her and Teostra is harsh. Maybe I’m just out of practice, but wow. (I didn’t find the lead up quest with just Teostra bad at all though...). Even the repel quest was rough. I couldn’t do it with my lance. I had to swap to dual blades to do enough damage in the much shorter time limit.

I’ll definitely try it some more and work on a better Ice weapon. I never needed a specific weapon for Teostra, but maybe I’ll need to work on one for her. The quest for the multi coloured dye not only gives you the dye, but access to awesome charms so I can have Elderseal on that slot and use an ice weapon.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Shadows and I played PUBG for a while on Friday during my 12 hour stream. We started the first game by trying to fulfill our daily missions. They were:
  • Shadows - Heal self for 25
  • Shadows - Heal self for 100
  • Shadows - Ride in a vehicle for 10K.
  • Me - Revive a teammate 3 times
  • Me - Drink 4 energy drinks.
We decided the best way to accomplish this was to go far away from the drop area and beat the hell out of each other, then jump in a vehicle and drive around until dead. It worked. This is the result. It's worth it for the last 5 minutes if nothing else.

 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
I hadn't played Long Dark since december, so I started over and started streaming it again last week. I'm almost back up to the point I was before I stopped last time, where bears are starting to show up again.

Bears hurt so much. Rifle ammo is rarer than pure gold diamond-studded paperweights, and it takes TWO shots to down a bear (if they're both headshots)... and then, the bear has TWO HUNDRED and change pounds of meat that you pretty much just have to leave there to rot because your carrying capacity is 66 pounds (and that includes all your clothes, tools, weapons, etc, so I've basically never been under 55 pounds in my inventory). There's nothing you can do. It just all goes to waste. And that's the sort of ache that causes anguish when you remember all the times you've huddled in the lee of a rock next to a guttering campfire considering eating your shoes to stay alive through the night.
 
Dei

Dei

GasBandit said:
I hadn't played Long Dark since december, so I started over and started streaming it again last week. I'm almost back up to the point I was before I stopped last time, where bears are starting to show up again.

Bears hurt so much. Rifle ammo is rarer than pure gold diamond-studded paperweights, and it takes TWO shots to down a bear (if they're both headshots)... and then, the bear has TWO HUNDRED and change pounds of meat that you pretty much just have to leave there to rot because your carrying capacity is 66 pounds (and that includes all your clothes, tools, weapons, etc, so I've basically never been under 55 pounds in my inventory). There's nothing you can do. It just all goes to waste. And that's the sort of ache that causes anguish when you remember all the times you've huddled in the lee of a rock next to a guttering campfire considering eating your shoes to stay alive through the night.
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I'm having Oregon Trail flashbacks.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Dei said:
I'm having Oregon Trail flashbacks.
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It kinda is like Oregon Trail, I suppose, if you were all alone and didn't have a wagon and had to walk everywhere and it was constantly snowing so you risked hypothermia every moment you weren't near a fire and you were constantly being stalked by wolves and every few nights there's an aurora that turns the wolves and bears into super saiyans.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

GasBandit said:
It kinda is like Oregon Trail, I suppose, if you were all alone and didn't have a wagon and had to walk everywhere and it was constantly snowing so you risked hypothermia every moment you weren't near a fire and you were constantly being stalked by wolves and every few nights there's an aurora that turns the wolves and bears into super saiyans.
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If it's cold enough for you to risk hypothermia from sheer exposure, then it's cold enough for the meat to freeze long before it ever got rotted enough to make you sick. You should really have 200+ pounds of bear meat just kind of... frozen in the countryside. I mean, you'd still be limited in what you could carry and the wolves might take some of the kill, but it's not like it would be inedible after you unfroze it at a fire or something.

This game sounds bullshit.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
AshburnerX said:
If it's cold enough for you to risk hypothermia from sheer exposure, then it's cold enough for the meat to freeze long before it ever got rotted enough to make you sick. You should really have 200+ pounds of bear meat just kind of... frozen in the countryside. I mean, you'd still be limited in what you could carry and the wolves might take some of the kill, but it's not like it would be inedible after you unfroze it at a fire or something.

This game sounds bullshit.
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Oh, it doesn't rot, I should correct myself - the wolves get it. I already use outdoor storage to preserve meat, and it works. The problem is, when you kill a bear, it's generally at least a half-day's schlep away from where you could store the meat in a safe and useful capacity, and while you're gone toting the 10-20 pounds of meat you can carry, the local predators and scavengers get to the carcass and polish off the rest.

There are a lot of wolves. Way more than the local prey population would seem to support.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Dave said:
You can also kill rabbits if you can figure out how to hit them with rocks.
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Not so! I can build snares now, and they work pretty reliably.

But I have gotten better at chucking rocks.

But I also still wince at ever time I have to pick up the stunned bunny, its big black terrified eyes and its twitchy little nose begging me not to snap its neck with my bare hands.... I'm sorry, bunny, but you are made of meat and warm fur.
 
Dei

Dei

GasBandit said:
Not so! I can build snares now, and they work pretty reliably.

But I have gotten better at chucking rocks.

But I also still wince at ever time I have to pick up the stunned bunny, its big black terrified eyes and its twitchy little nose begging me not to snap its neck with my bare hands.... I'm sorry, bunny, but you are made of meat and warm fur.
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I take it your cat has never brought you baby bunnies as presents.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Dei said:
I take it your cat has never brought you baby bunnies as presents.
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Not this one. I keep his claws trimmed so he's not as deadly as he could be, and anything he chases that is above "insect" grade generally escapes. Cats I have owned in the past have brought me presents, but they were already dead.
 
Dei

Dei

My parents declawed their cat in the front (not the back, and this was 20 years ago) and he could kill everything that was living in my parents yard. He constantly brought home birds, rabbits, and moles that were half dead and dropped them on the back porch so my mom had to finish the job constantly.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Dei said:
My parents declawed their cat in the front (not the back, and this was 20 years ago) and he could kill everything that was living in my parents yard. He constantly brought home birds, rabbits, and moles that were half dead and dropped them on the back porch so my mom had to finish the job constantly.
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Well, he's not brought me anything yet. Perhaps the wildlife in Texas is a little more canny. Or maybe Nibbles' missing fang hampers him as well.
 
Frank

Frank

I tried to like the kingdom management part of Kingmaker, but it fucking sucks so bad. It rips away the joy of exploration the party had in the tabletop version and implements strict, strict, strict timelines of issues that you must solve or your kingdom faces dire consequences that can and will end your game.

Blech. Just dragged me kicking and screaming away from enjoying the game.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Frank said:
I tried to like the kingdom management part of Kingmaker, but it fucking sucks so bad. It rips away the joy of exploration the party had in the tabletop version and implements strict, strict, strict timelines of issues that you must solve or your kingdom faces dire consequences that can and will end your game.

Blech. Just dragged me kicking and screaming away from enjoying the game.
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And so you start another game and turn Kingdom management to "auto". And it's actually worse! Seriously, you think it's bad, try playing it when it's on auto.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
I tried a few rounds of Murderous Intent last night, in the process of getting my server for it to work right. I think it has excellent potential for a one-off "halforums gaming night," though I don't see it as becoming a regular staple (much like how The Ship worked out).

It's pretty much very similar to The Ship, but the gameplay is more streamlined. Every "attack" is an instant kill (provided your target IS your target), emphasis on blending in and not acting suspicious is much higher, and there are more game modes.

The "hunt" game mode plays out much like The Ship did, only the game is much better about getting you back in the mix once you've killed/been killed/etc, so there's less down time.

But the "elimination" game type I think is what would be most fun for us. Basically, up to 8 of us get plunked down in a crowded environment of a couple hundred NPCs, and it's a "last man standing" where we're only allowed to kill each other and no NPCs. It becomes VERY important to take advantage of the vignettes (designated areas where standing will make your character perform animations and blend in with the npcs), and half the game is watching carefully to try and decipher who is a player and who is an NPC. It could be a real laugh riot.

Apparently I've got my server working pretty well, and as long as there's enough of us, this could be a fun gaming night if we arrange it in advance and get 6 or 8 of us together to try it.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Null said:
If I wasn't stuck with a potato for a PC I'd love to join, but instead I'll just watch on Twitch.
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It doesn't seem to be particularly needy on client system resources. It does want a surprising amount of CPU from the server though, probably for doing pathing for 250+ NPCs constantly.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Welp, I FINALLY played The Last of Us.

Meh. It's exactly what I always thought it was: a generic post-apocalyptic zombie game with uninteresting characters and stealth mechanics that range from repetitive to frustrating.

Really don't understand the hype behind this.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

ThatNickGuy said:
Welp, I FINALLY played The Last of Us.

Meh. It's exactly what I always thought it was: a generic post-apocalyptic zombie game with uninteresting characters and stealth mechanics that range from repetitive to frustrating.

Really don't understand the hype behind this.
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Story gets way, WAY better as it goes along. Characters experience actual growth and the ending is... kind of amazing.

But yes, the combat is kind of the worst part of it all.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

AshburnerX said:
Story gets way, WAY better as it goes along. Characters experience actual growth and the ending is... kind of amazing.

But yes, the combat is kind of the worst part of it all.
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I got as far as my second group of clickers. Maybe third? They were all the same so I can't even remember.

It was just an exercise in frustration for me because the stealth mechanics and combat SUUUUUUUUCKS. I never have the patience for stealth sections, so my patience wore thin fast with this.

And honestly, nothing about the game was wowing me. The setting, while pretty, was your bog standard post-apocalyptic stuff. Nothing about the characters were interesting enough to keep going.

I'll probably trade the game back to EB Games tomorrow for credit.
 
Far

Far

The characters won't get interesting if you don't let them grow. The third clicker encounter is roughly 15-20% into the game and story.

And it's absolutely fine to not be feeling it and to put it down because of tha. Particularly since the combat and stealth do get in the way but it does merit the praise it got, specifically for the story. I won't say it's groundbreaking, and it is tropey at times, but it's a strangely beautiful story when seen through to its culmination. The last half of the game is really where it shines but the lead up makes it worth it.

There are lots of other things to enjoy and play and if you're not into it, that's not wrong.
 
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Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

ThatNickGuy said:
I got as far as my second group of clickers. Maybe third? They were all the same so I can't even remember.

It was just an exercise in frustration for me because the stealth mechanics and combat SUUUUUUUUCKS. I never have the patience for stealth sections, so my patience wore thin fast with this.

And honestly, nothing about the game was wowing me. The setting, while pretty, was your bog standard post-apocalyptic stuff. Nothing about the characters were interesting enough to keep going.

I'll probably trade the game back to EB Games tomorrow for credit.
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I found it to be a good story but a dull game.
 
Dei

Dei

I hated the gameplay of The Last of Us as well. I just YouTubed my way through the story. Maybe the second one will be better.
 
Frank

Frank

I'm on board with the not clicking with the gameplay of Last of Us. I just turned it to easy and coasted my way through.
 
ThatNickGuy

ThatNickGuy

Managed to get a little further. Met a new character playing the role of "paranoid dude with traps." So that's Zombie Trope #65.

I turned it down to Easy mode and decided to toss any attempts at stealth out the window, which made things at least more interesting for me.

That said? FUCK YOUR INSTANT KILLS, CLICKERS. Seriously, fuck you and fuck Naughty Dog for doing that.
 
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