What are you playing?

[CynicismKills]

Still plodding along through FFIX, and I've remembered my least favorite thing about the game.

Stealing.

They put some of the best gear in the game on bosses, and most of the time it's in the 1-in-100 slot to steal. That means you have to sit there Defending and healing while a Hasted Zidane Steal-spams every boss. It's a boring way to pad out an already long RPG. Of course, this also means that if you want Steiner's ultimate weapon, you're fucked, because to get it to have to make it to, if I remember right, nearly the end of the game in under 12 hours.

 

[bhamv3]

I fired up 2013's Mildly-interactive Quicktime Sequence Ryona Game, also known as Tomb Raider.

Will I actually get to explore much in this game? Because so far very little exploring has occurred. I've watched an opening cutscene, which was admittedly interesting, and then I traveled through a one-way cave, and then I traveled through a one-way forest, and then I fought off some wolves, and then I started exploring a DLC area, which bugged out in a way that made it impossible to complete. I've heard a lot about how great this game is, but so far it's not a lot of fun.

 

[Bubble181]

I've had it sitting in my library for a long time, and finally got around to firing up Age of Empires III (complete edition). Hmmm. We'll see. I was a b ig fan of I and II and somewhat of Mythology, I don't quite remember what was wrong with this one that I didn't get around to playing it yet.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

Alan Wake

I beat it earlier this week. Rather enjoyed it, overall. The mood and setting were fantastic. The story was okay. Gameplay was eh.

What I REALLY enjoyed was the DLC episodes that followed it. It all took place basically in Alan's own mind, so there were all kinds of mind-fuckery. One particular gameplay aspect I thought was a lot of fun was where you'd see hovering words. When you shone your flashlight on it, it transformed into whatever object the word described. But the two bonus episodes felt like a big, fucked up dream sequence. I kept thinking to myself, "This! This is what the game should've had more of." It reminded me of the messed up dream sequences in Max Payne. No surprise, since it's the same developer.

Cities: Skylines

I finally gave this a second chance yesterday and wound up playing it for hours. I'm hooked on the game, now. My first attempt was a really confusing layout because I didn't really know the best ways to lay down roads and such and REALLY didn't understand how the bus lines worked. The second time around, I had a better idea, but wound up losing a lot of money for a reason I can't remember now. The third time was going really well until basically a plague hit my city. I don't know what caused it, but hundreds of people were getting sick. I built two hospitals and I thought that would do it, but no. The Twitter thing kept saying something about the drinking water and I didn't understand what was going on. I had built the two different water flows properly (intake upstream, outtake further downstream), so I really don't know what suddenly went wrong.

 

[GasBandit]

Cities: Skylines

I finally gave this a second chance yesterday and wound up playing it for hours. I'm hooked on the game, now. My first attempt was a really confusing layout because I didn't really know the best ways to lay down roads and such and REALLY didn't understand how the bus lines worked. The second time around, I had a better idea, but wound up losing a lot of money for a reason I can't remember now. The third time was going really well until basically a plague hit my city. I don't know what caused it, but hundreds of people were getting sick. I built two hospitals and I thought that would do it, but no. The Twitter thing kept saying something about the drinking water and I didn't understand what was going on. I had built the two different water flows properly (intake upstream, outtake further downstream), so I really don't know what suddenly went wrong.

It could be a number of things... you might not have had enough sewer outflow, so it could have been backing up. You might have had some form of pollution in a residential area (which will constantly make people sick no matter how much medical care is available). Also, make sure that the flow of the river you are using is still flowing strong enough to keep the sewage away from the water intake, and make sure they're as far apart as you can get them - it's possible to have so much sewage pouring out that, if the input and output are sort of close together and the current is slow, the input might still be getting sewage in it.

Also, vis-a-vis the best way to lay down roads - it's only really a concern with low density zones. Once you get the high density zones, you can be as artistic and waste as much space as you want and it won't matter. It's pretty much only the low density areas that have to maximize space efficiency. Though, you will pretty much need the 6 lane roads exclusively in high density zoning areas. Don't even bother with smaller roads around Hi-D residential and commercial, although even mere 2 lane roads work fine for office zones, they generate almost no traffic.

 

[Dei]

Also, if you can manage to make a good truck route for commercial industrial and then ban trucks from residential areas, that can also help.

 

[Bubble181]

I have to say, while I enjoyed playing C:SK, it got a bit....boring? Fairly quickly. It's not at all hard to build a profitable big city. My first city I just built up without thinking too much, plopping down as much bus and subway lines as I could pretty much, and...well...I stopped at 100K people because it was just....Working? I dunno. In SimCity (not the latest one ), I had the feeling there were constantly new needs I had to pay attention to, things that came up and changed and whatever. Cities was just....Get traffic working, and everything else just works along with it. I dunno why.

 

[Zappit]

Bravely Second. About an hour in you find out a bit more about one of your teammates. Oh my God, Magnolia...

Spoiler

She's from the Moon, Moon people are French, and she hunts down massive demonic creatures called Ba'als. (pronounced "balls") She announces she's a "Ba'al Buster". That is literally her job title on the Moon.

I did not expect that AT ALL. I guess after the shitty ending of the first one, they decided to just go nuts, and it's fantastic.

 

[CynicismKills]

Bravely Second. About an hour in you find out a bit more about one of your teammates. Oh my God, Magnolia...

Spoiler

She's from the Moon, Moon people are French, and she hunts down massive demonic creatures called Ba'als. (pronounced "balls") She announces she's a "Ba'al Buster". That is literally her job title on the Moon.

I did not expect that AT ALL. I guess after the shitty ending of the first one, they decided to just go nuts, and it's fantastic.

Yeah, the Ba'al jokes start to grate after awhile.

 

[figmentPez]

Yeah, the Ba'al jokes start to chafe after awhile.

FTFY

 

[Null]

Fired up Borderlands 2 for the first time tonight, and asked GB to join me. Seems fun, so far. Think we only played for an hour or so before I had to go. But it was good to take a break from SWTOR... which I'm going back to right now.

 

[Frank]

Darks Souls Threes.



Vaati Vidya is the bomb.

 

[Hailey Knight]

I really want to play just a little Dark Souls 3 this morning before I get started on chores, but I'm afraid I'll just sit there and play and never get anything done.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Darks Souls Threes.



Vaati Vidya is the bomb.

"Does it make sorcery viable in PVP? No, it doesn't. Nothing will." I'm discovering this. My second playthrough is a sorcerer and unless I outsmart my opponent, I cannot win. This wouldn't be so disappointing if my first character hadn't been such a beast at PVP. I'm considering using a pale tongue to reroll back to a dex build. I could keep wearing the outfit I like; armor seems to make jack shit of difference compared to a long HP bar, which gets reduced in PVP anyway. PVP is only going to be this populous for a limited period of time, so I'd rather make the most of it.

That luck build though. <3 That sounds amazing.

 

[Null]

The Legacy system of SWTOR has its uses. One item you can get for a stronghold (your character's apartment, usually the first is on the capital world because that one's 5000 credits instead of 2,500,000 or so) is a "Legacy Cargo Hold" which is a storage box accessible by any of your alts who have a stronghold and install it (which is free). My level 50 alt had literally hundreds of gubbins of Desh and Silica, which are used for low level items. This alt is a Bounty Hunter, so his craft skill was Armormech, with scavenging and underworld trading for his other crew skills. My Republic Trooper character, level 16, just acquired her crafting, gathering, and mission skills: Armstech, scavenging, and investigation. I simply put all my BH's Desh and Silica into the Legacy Cargo Hold at his stronghold, logged out, logged in as my Republic Trooper at her stronghold, looked in the box, and saved myself probably a few thousand credits worth of scavenging missions. This allowed her to jump right into making Armstech components, rapidly bumping up the crew skill level, and allowing access to more schematics by spending the credits on them instead of having to buy materials. When I next log in, she should have made her first custom Assault Cannon (since you can have your companion do crafting or go on a mission for stuff and they'll keep working on it even while you're offline).

 

[Ravenpoe]

The Legacy system of SWTOR has its uses. One item you can get for a stronghold (your character's apartment, usually the first is on the capital world because that one's 5000 credits instead of 2,500,000 or so) is a "Legacy Cargo Hold" which is a storage box accessible by any of your alts who have a stronghold and install it (which is free). My level 50 alt had literally hundreds of gubbins of Desh and Silica, which are used for low level items. This alt is a Bounty Hunter, so his craft skill was Armormech, with scavenging and underworld trading for his other crew skills. My Republic Trooper character, level 16, just acquired her crafting, gathering, and mission skills: Armstech, scavenging, and investigation. I simply put all my BH's Desh and Silica into the Legacy Cargo Hold at his stronghold, logged out, logged in as my Republic Trooper at her stronghold, looked in the box, and saved myself probably a few thousand credits worth of scavenging missions. This allowed her to jump right into making Armstech components, rapidly bumping up the crew skill level, and allowing access to more schematics by spending the credits on them instead of having to buy materials. When I next log in, she should have made her first custom Assault Cannon (since you can have your companion do crafting or go on a mission for stuff and they'll keep working on it even while you're offline).

I was really into the legacy system, until they merged all the servers and took away my legacy name. Feels bad

 

[Dei]

I was really into the legacy system, until they merged all the servers and took away my legacy name. Feels bad

Yep that's when I stopped playing. I knew I wouldn't get to keep my names.

 

[GasBandit]

Fired up Borderlands 2 for the first time tonight, and asked GB to join me. Seems fun, so far. Think we only played for an hour or so before I had to go. But it was good to take a break from SWTOR... which I'm going back to right now.

Heh, we didn't even get out of the "learn how to play" first area. This game has tons and tons of content, and it keeps getting better the longer it goes, especially as you start spending points from leveling up. You just got the barest taste, having gotten to level 5 and gotten your turret.

 

[Dei]

Heh, we didn't even get out of the "learn how to play" first area. This game has tons and tons of content, and it keeps getting better the longer it goes, especially as you start spending points from leveling up. You just got the barest taste, having gotten to level 5 and gotten your turret.

I never even made it out of the starting area of either Borderlands because I always got bored. :/

 

[GasBandit]

I never even made it out of the starting area of either Borderlands because I always got bored. :/

Honestly, I probably would have as well, except I always played it co-op with other people, which also makes it harder and the loot drops better. I tried playing solo once and also got bored quickly.

 

[Null]

I was really into the legacy system, until they merged all the servers and took away my legacy name. Feels bad

Merged all the servers?

 

[Dei]

There used to be a LOT more servers.

 

[Null]

There used to be a LOT more servers.

Ah. I guess it probably doesn't have the player base anymore.

 

[Ravenpoe]

Ah. I guess it probably doesn't have the player base anymore.

You have to keep in mind that when the game first came out, EA predicted its playerbase to eclipse that of WoW.

 

[PatrThom]

I've had it sitting in my library for a long time, and finally got around to firing up Age of Empires III (complete edition). Hmmm. We'll see. I was a b ig fan of I and II and somewhat of Mythology, I don't quite remember what was wrong with this one that I didn't get around to playing it yet.

1) They nuked defense.
Unit strategy used to be all about how you managed the whole dynamic of units with "bonus v. X" and other units with "heightened defense v. Y." AoE3 removed the defensive buffs and just made everything into an offensive bonus.
2) Random maps suck.
Random maps in AoE 1&2 were amazing. In AoE3 they are not.
3) Too much reliance on trading posts and shipments/grinding for XP.
Hold the trading posts, get your shipments, win the game. Get no trading posts, play against someone with more unlocked XP stuff, lose.
All of that said, it IS still entertaining, I just don't find it as replayable as AoE2.

--Patrick

 

[WasabiPoptart]

My son's got me playing Roblox. It's a kids MMO with user designed content. Some of the games are fun.

 

[PatrThom]

Our son won't stop watching it and pestering us to get it for him.
He's too young.

--Patrick

 

[WasabiPoptart]

Our son won't stop watching it and pestering us to get it for him.
He's too young.

--Patrick

I like the XBox version for it more than the PC version because of the parental controls. I can't figure out how to turn off chat for it in the PC version.

 

[CynicismKills]

I like the XBox version for it more than the PC version because of the parental controls. I can't figure out how to turn off chat for it in the PC version.

Bind everything to the mouse and remove the keyboard.

 

[CynicismKills]

Up in the air on my opinion of Tales of Zestiria. I'm usually a sucker for Tales games and have only disliked one so far, but this one hasn't quite clicked yet. I like the combine system the MC gets to go all Super Saiyan with Seraph party members, but I don't like that your group make-up is limited (You have to have 2 humans in the party to have 2 Seraphs, which means you can't just use your favorite characters like any other game).

Only about 4 hours or so into the game so story-wise I can't say much. Combat is okay, similar to Graces F which is a plus.

As for the port, it's actually pretty nice. Runs fine, load times are basically non-existent, and looks pretty good (granted these games still release on PS3 so graphics aren't super high-end). It amazes me that this game ported so well when Symphonia's port is apparently just a big fat load of garbage.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Tonight was frustrating in Dark Souls 3, in a completely different way than usual and not really fun. I can't really complain about failed invasions, but I sat outside the Catacombs boss's door, offering to help, and the hosts just kept dying. Out of maybe 10 assists, only once did we make it to the end, because the hosts couldn't stay alive. I guess that's why these individuals needed help on one of the easier bosses in the game, but it was really disheartening to bring the boss to near death several times, only for the host to wander into a cloud of mercury and die. So I just moved along.

 

[jwhouk]

The Political Machine 2016 - for sale in the Steam Store.

Yep, bought it. Plan on playing it a bit later this week when I have time/am awake.

That isn't the oddest thing, though. Went to the store this AM to get something for a potluck tonight, saw - and I am NOT making this up - Political Trading Cards.

Their catchphrase: "Politics is the new Sport."

I just don't want to end up with the Scott Walker Koch Brothers Gold variant...

 

[Hailey Knight]

I made a new character in Dark Souls 3 just to exploit a current boss glitch with an NPC, so I could have a build centered around that boss's weapons because I liked them when I messed with them on a higher level character, only to discover I'd wasted the evening because even though From hadn't fixed the exploit, in the most recent patch they not only reduced the weapon's damage but altered its moveset to make it not as good.

So, waste of an evening there.

Dark Souls 3, what the hell? We've had three good weeks together up until now; why are you turning on me?

 

[CynicismKills]

Steam sales have bloated my RPG backlog and I'm having a hard time settling on one to finish first.

FFIX
Grandia II
Tales of Zestiria

Plus Bravely Second and FE: Fates that I still haven't gotten back to.

Mostly putting time in on Overwatch, but I like to wind down with a single-player or solo stuff. Tales has been pretty good for that lately, so I might stick to it.

 

[bhamv3]

Ok, so Prison Architect still has some temperature bugs to iron out...

Spoiler

In case the screenshot's not clear, that says the interior of my prison is 1726 degrees Celsius, or 3138 degrees Fahrenheit. For reference, the melting point of steel is around 2500 F. The exterior of my prison is a nippy 7 degrees C.