Video Games Randomness - Prioritize specific game threads!

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Sun Nov 13, 2022 2:10 pm

Hey, weird.

(I'll just leave this here at the top of a new page with no indication of what I was reacting to.)

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 10:51 am

And yet again I know I own a game, have played it, yet cant find what service its on.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 11:33 am

Playnite

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:35 pm

I abandoned Playnite for GoG Galaxy. Playnite started getting quirky and unstable.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Tue Nov 15, 2022 12:37 pm

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Nov 16, 2022 3:14 pm

On a lark, I started playing Candy Crush Saga Windows a few days ago. I hadn't touched it since I complete against Trent Steele on FB I don't even want to know how long ago. I haven't touched a match three game since I played MPG, again I don't know who long ago. Man are those things a time sink. I had totally forgotten. I want the light game precisely so I don't accidentally sit for two or three hours at a pop just playing video games. Fail.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Thu Nov 17, 2022 3:37 am

there are times when i think i could get back into Binding of Isaac again, and then i quickly come to my senses

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Nov 17, 2022 1:10 pm

Gaming Annoyance #1392: Reflective Reviews

You see this one for either remasters of older games, or for games that were released on a new platform after a significant delay. You sit down and read or watch a couple of reviews, and they both do the same thing: They tell you what's changed and what's improved. They don't say a word about the game itself. In other words, they're written entirely for people already familiar with the game from 15 years ago, and don't bother to bring people up to speed.

Yeah, great - they fixed the inventory and added shaders. What the hell is the game about?

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Thu Nov 17, 2022 2:29 pm

Or even what do changes mean in the game's context? Some changes can be minor or major depending on context of the game. Even minor changes can have relatively huge implications.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Nov 17, 2022 2:40 pm

Yeah. I've seen reviews that explicitly state that they're updates to an existing review to take into account newer versions/new releases/etc, and the viewer is told to watch the original review for the basics. That's fine. It's when it is presented as a self-contained review and isn't that it earns a spot in my List of Gaming Annoyances. Especially if it's a 20+ minute review that you have to invest considerable time into before you find out that it's missing vital information.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Thu Nov 17, 2022 7:42 pm

Or in a similar manner, when you google for something specific that leads you to a video walkthrough, leading you to having to spend time watching the entire video, only to have them barely spend time on it. Or oftentimes a video makes me more confused as they sometimes don't mention how to get something. I've often gotten frustrated at how much these videos are a hit and miss when trying to search out specifics, mostly due to how players will approach something or come across something in different ways.

Which leads me to another point, and I notice the bigger more mainstream sites are the most guilty of this, videos that claim to tell you something crucial, but then are so vague as to be completely useless.

To be fair, I think people have expectations when they're looking for something and everyone will expect something different, but in both cases, I find most videos already assume the player has already come across the obvious, but a key frustration in many of these is when something is not immediately obvious, but constantly skip over key facts.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Nov 17, 2022 7:49 pm

It was another numbered annoyance, but related is when you search for information and get page after page after page of results for guides that, when you visit them, are either copy-pasted stolen Steam guides, or are simply word-for-word recreations of the in-game documentation.

Naturally, all of them are heavy with advertising and search engine optimization, but nothing else. Like modern review sites, they are plagiarized or zero-effort sites designed only to pull in people and feed off of the advertising/affiliate links.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Thu Nov 17, 2022 8:54 pm

Yes, exactly! When I eventually hit on that kernel of info that I've been searching for, it's usually via a video from someone who went through the same thing and want others to avoid the the same problem.

Videos in general, and text-based walkthroughs also tend to have a tendency to have confusingly worded descriptions. I usually try to find something with a screenshot, but even then, sometimes it leaves me wondering what the heck I'm looking at and what I'm supposed to do. As a result, I sometimes end up with step-by-step instructions. Even then, I sometimes to use 2 different sources to find the information I need. The worst was in the 3rd Tomb Raider reboot with the light and mirror puzzle, which when doing it was locked to a certain camera angle that made all the steps confusing as the camera angle blocked you from being able to see what happened with certain mirrors.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 1:06 am

Writing walkthroughs is tough (and I used to get paid to do so.) You have to be careful not to write overly long linear sections that build upon earlier information. Instead, you need to have short, self-contained sections for it to be useful.

An example of the prior (and what way too many do) would be to start at the beginning of a level and describe the course: "Go through the door in front of you. Turn maft, then right through the arch. There will be some soldiers in the room ahead for you to deal with. Afterwards continue on straight, the go through the door."

It's accurate, yes. But the problem is that it only works if you start from the very beginning and follow the steps one by one. If you are stuck 3/4 of the way through the level, it's useless,as it is almost impossible to figure out where you are from all of the 'left, straight, door' instructions after you've been through a dozen doors already.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 1:35 am

Yep, I agree with you. It must be hard to put together some concise info that can be useful. But often the result is that they pretty much read the same way and often miss the same things that might seem obvious. I've come across parts in games where, not to sound daft, have left me scratching my head. Sometimes it's right in front of me and I don't see it, and I think sometimes that's down to how a game is designed and the language surrounding it. I've spent hours trying to do something only to realize how simple it really was, with the game doing a terrible job of pointing it out.

That's why a second set information via different walkthroughs is needed to attack the issues from different angles of experiences. I'm always hoping someone will have come across issues I'm facing. Of course, all this is much harder when dealing with open-world games.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 2:36 am

Sometimes it is, but sometimes the reason we don't notice the obvious is a design flaw.

I remember one game I played years ago. I played a massive level, and finished the final objective. But then nothing happened. Whatever was supposed to happen next, didn't. I eventually replayed the entire level, only to get stuck again at the same spot. I checked walkthroughs. They all got to the point where I was stuck, and then stopped. It was the end of the level. I spent hours on it, and was utterly frustrated.

I found a lot of other people with the same problem,and no one who had solved it. Then I found someone else with the problem who had found an answer. The solution offered? Go through the door.

Sure enough, I went back to the room where I had dealt with the boss (or whatever it was), opened the door, and the level ended.

The assumption would be that I was an idiot, missing something so obvious, but I wasn't. It was entirely the developer's fault.

How?

This was a number of levels into the game. And every level had a multitude of doors. And every single one of them was only decorative. None could be opened. The game had trained the player to ignore doors, so when people got to the one and only door in the game with a function, they ignored it. In a nutshell, the developer had established rules for how the world worked (doors don't do anything) , then ignored that rule. And that inconsistency caused a number of people to become stuck.

It's the developer who is responsible for communicating with the player, and if people are getting lost because of what you communicated to them is wrong, that's on the developer.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:03 pm

Oh yeah, I hate those! It's surprising how things like that will sometimes slip through the cracks. What may seem obvious to the designers might not be so obvious to the player, again due to design language. To use your door example, if you encounter a set of doors throughout the game and they all look the same and are closed, then the natural assumption would be that there's no door to go through. Sometimes it needs to be made obvious for a reason, such as making the door a slightly different shade than the rest. If the game has a minimap, sometimes you'll know there's a space behind a door.

I'be also had issues triggering custscenes for whatever reason, sometimes requiring a hidden objective. So you go to the location it tells you and... nothing.

About 4 months ago, I started playing Dragon's Dogma for the first time. Hilariously, during the first big battle that's part of the tutorial when you're fighting the hydra, it glitched out when it swallowed me and wouldn't spit me back out. I tried valiantly to fight it off, but I could tell it wasn't exactly going according to the script, but I was bewildered and slightly put off by this first encounter going so wrong, as I promptly died in the tutorial. Being that it was the tutorial, it hadn't yet saved into the game, so I had to redo the whole beginning, and this time it worked like it was supposed to. But I was nearly put off by this strange glitch that prevented me from doing anything so early on.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 5:31 pm

Thought Id take a new look at Red Dead Online for no particular reason. I tried every password known to me and nothing worked. Clicked their little reset password hotlink many many times and it thanked me many many times saying it sent the email....but nothing ever shows up..tried the other email..same.

Bothers me because I know Ill go back to GTA sometime or play the next one...but if I cant log into my social club account Im screwed. Rockstar should get their shit together and be better than this.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:05 pm

I wouldn't bother with RDO at this point. Rocktar has all but abandoned it. There hasn't been anything new to RDO in years, when GTA Online has received many big updates. It's sad because RDO was their latest big game, yet they rather keep updating a game from 2013 that is currently going on its 3rd gen update.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:09 pm

Well I really need into my account to access my stuff. Like stuff in GTA V too and upcoming stuff like GTA VI. The Rockstar launcher on my desktop even had someone elses email address in the login field...which is weird. I hope my account hasn't been stolen or hacked. If it has it seems theres no way to fix it with no phone number to support at Rockstar and their password reset email never actually arriving. Ive had this happen before with gmail...maybe it was them. Looking online Im not alone it a big issue with Rockstar...no one gets a pw reset email.

I could open a new accountwit hja different email like my yahoo one but who's to say it wouldn't happen yet again with the same outcome plus I paid for stuff like RDO on my account..its over there on that one.

All I seem to be able to do is keep guessing passwords..it hasn't locked me out yet. But even the one it auto fills in...which IS a valid pw of mine Ive used for years...doesn't work...or variants of it with or without cap letters or numbers and such. ARGH> Just email me ya flogs!! I might want to play some more GTA V even.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:14 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:09 pm If it has it seems theres no way to fix it with no phone number to support at Rockstar

Phone support for things like this went the way of the VHS. Go to their support site, open a ticket. And then wait.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:19 pm

I tried...couln't find tickets...just click the question you have bs.

This is the auto filled email thats in the name field even after uninstalling and redownloading and installing the launcher again......

andreiDOTbuleica@traianvuiaDOTro

I replaced the . with DOT. Maybe that jackoff changed my password. If he did and I cant get the email Im not sure how to fix it. Ill look more for ticket openings on their site and how to do it.

EDIT: Filled out and submitted a full ticket as a compromised account. Maybe that will get them to look at it somewhat.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:27 pm

Daehawk wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:19 pm I tried...couln't find tickets...just click the question you have bs.

That BS sucks, but if they didn't, they'd have to triple their support staff to answer extremely absurd FAQ-level issues all the time.

Here's what to do:

Go to the support site. Click the following:

Rockstar Support
Rockstar Launcher
Can't Login
PC
Compromised Account

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Nov 18, 2022 10:41 pm

See edit above. Says give them 24 hours.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 4:46 pm

It's entirely possible that those who hacked Rockstar awhile ago, ie the GTA 6 hack, came away with more than they've let on. Take-Two support also managed to get hacked a bit later and started sending malicious emails to those who had contacted them

I wonder if this is related:
https://rockstarintel.com/reports-sugge ... ecent-hack

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 5:34 pm

Well I guess anything Rockstar related is fubar.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 8:38 pm

I logged in to my Rockstar account for the first time in probably a couple of years with no trouble, but they did force a password reset as soon as I did that. I enabled 2FA when I set the new password.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Sat Nov 19, 2022 8:48 pm

I bought Scarlet Nexus (action JRPG) on sale for PS5 and I'm REALLY enjoying it so far. The combat is easy to learn and tons of fun, with the ability to alternate weapon attacks and psychically throw environmental objects at your foes to build massive combos.

I also like that it doesn't go overboard on the typical JRPG complexities (or if it does later on, it's certainly doing a great job easing me into it). The skill tree is straightforward, and there's a great, easy-to-access help system. And so far the characters have all been surprisingly un-annoying.

The only thing I've seen so far that may turn some off is that it's very linear. Goals and maps are very confined, so you will be proceeding from a clear Point A to Point B and fighting X pre-defined battles between those two points. I actually don't mind that in JRPGs, but I know it turns some players off.

I've read some people say that this is sort of a "prototype" TALES OF ARISE, and I agree that it's a much simpler version of that game's combat. However, I abolutely loved Tales of Arise so the comparison doesn't bother me. Honestly I never really got the hang of Tales' combat even though I learned enough to beat it. So far, SCARLET NEXUS's combat system seems much more approachable.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Sun Nov 20, 2022 1:45 am

It's 75% off on Steam right now.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sun Nov 20, 2022 6:46 pm

YellowKing wrote: ↑Sat Nov 19, 2022 8:48 pm I bought Scarlet Nexus (action JRPG) on sale for PS5 and I'm REALLY enjoying it so far. The combat is easy to learn and tons of fun, with the ability to alternate weapon attacks and psychically throw environmental objects at your foes to build massive combos.

I also like that it doesn't go overboard on the typical JRPG complexities (or if it does later on, it's certainly doing a great job easing me into it). The skill tree is straightforward, and there's a great, easy-to-access help system. And so far the characters have all been surprisingly un-annoying.

The only thing I've seen so far that may turn some off is that it's very linear. Goals and maps are very confined, so you will be proceeding from a clear Point A to Point B and fighting X pre-defined battles between those two points. I actually don't mind that in JRPGs, but I know it turns some players off.

I've read some people say that this is sort of a "prototype" TALES OF ARISE, and I agree that it's a much simpler version of that game's combat. However, I abolutely loved Tales of Arise so the comparison doesn't bother me. Honestly I never really got the hang of Tales' combat even though I learned enough to beat it. So far, SCARLET NEXUS's combat system seems much more approachable.

This one's been on my "maybe" list for a while now. I was hoping it was on sale right now for PS5, but alas...

Will definitely keep on the lookout for a sale though.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Nov 21, 2022 12:26 am

Through emails Rockstar let me reset my password and get my account back. Forgot I had max Payne 3 on there.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Mon Nov 21, 2022 12:41 am

Good to hear it worked out for you, Dae.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Tue Nov 22, 2022 5:05 pm

Steams Autumn sale has started. I have enough money in my Steam Wallet to nab Mafia 1 Definitive Edition for $13. Already have the other two and been wanting this a long time so I can replay Mafia 1 and 2. I finished 3 so recently I dont plan on going back.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Tue Nov 22, 2022 7:27 pm

Anyone actually pick up Settlement Survival and have some thoughts on it? With the Steam Autumn Sale in progress I find I have very few wishlist items that are not in Early Release or Pre-release. While the game is only 15% off it is garnering >80% positive reviews. I'm still on the fence.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:06 pm

Decided against Settlement Survival. It just doesn't do something so different than Banished and others to get my attention.

So, anyone playing No Plan B? Which by the way is a horrible game name to search for in the OO forum

. Anyone, it's still in Early Access, but looks pretty good. Any thoughts on this?

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:52 pm

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:06 pm Decided against Settlement Survival. It just doesn't do something so different than Banished and others to get my attention.

So, anyone playing No Plan B? Which by the way is a horrible game name to search for in the OO forum . Anyone, it's still in Early Access, but looks pretty good. Any thoughts on this?

By the way, there is also the No Plan B: Prologue which is apparently being kept up to date to match the pay version.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 5:54 pm

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:06 pm So, anyone playing No Plan B? Which by the way is a horrible game name to search for in the OO forum . Anyone, it's still in Early Access, but looks pretty good. Any thoughts on this?

https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3A ... +plan+b%22

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Sat Nov 26, 2022 7:19 pm

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 26, 2022 3:06 pm So, anyone playing No Plan B? Which by the way is a horrible game name to search for in the OO forum . Anyone, it's still in Early Access, but looks pretty good. Any thoughts on this?

I'd played the Prologue before but I tried it again and there have been a bunch of changes. I went ahead and picked up the game and put in a couple of hours on it. It's no Door Kickers 2 but it is rather fun in making up plans that will achieve the objective. Also a nice touch is that there are four squad types (FBI, SWAT, Robbers and Gangsters) and each have their own mission types. There are standalone missions for each, three campaigns (each) and randomly generated missions. There are also community missions although those apparently aren't specific to each type of squad.

I posted a question on Discord and the dev said that the game is about 85% complete heading towards a 1.0 full release. I like tactical games and this one is on the simpler side, but still requires planning and tweaking. If some other folks pick it up I'll start a thread on it.

Rumpy · Post by **Rumpy** » Wed Nov 30, 2022 4:23 pm

Is it just me or is NFS Heat boring? I can't remember the last time I've been this bored by a racing game. The whole design just feels so bland. I know Payback was heavily criticized, and for good reason, due to its randomized loot and microtransactions, but I feel that at least it had style and character.

In NFS Payback, you had different characters with different disciplines, which gave reason to the different types of racing, and they all shared an abandoned airfield as a base of operations. I found that setup fun, and the characters each had distinct personalities.

In NFS Heat, you play as one guy that you choose as your character who ends up joining a crew, whose base of operation is a garage next to a racetrack that somehow becomes the default even though there are many other ones scattered through the game. Somehow this one character is an expert in all these different race types, and there is far less diversity between race types. And speaking of the races, they feel rather uninspired. And I don't understand the design language which feels inconsistent. I've had races I had already done have the 'new" tag still on them. The night racing just feels like it doesn't have much purpose other than to grind rep. And speaking of grinding, there's just so much of it in order to level up just to be able to proceed to the next story race. But meanwhile there's practically nothing to do. It just ends up feeling like an unfinished game overall.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Wed Nov 30, 2022 4:47 pm

Rumpy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 30, 2022 4:23 pm Is it just me or is NFS Heat boring? I can't remember the last time I've been this bored by a racing game. The whole design just feels so bland. I know Payback was heavily criticized, and for good reason, due to its randomized loot and microtransactions, but I feel that at least it had style and character.

I kind of lost interest in the NFS franchise a number of years ago and don't even remember this one coming out. Shame too since it was 95% off two months ago... oh dear, we were getting hit by Hurricane Ian, I guess I was distracted

. Is it worth dealing with if it ever goes to 95% off again?