What are you playing? [SPOILER TAGS PLEASE]

[Brandon]

Replaying Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.

Great game, even if the story sucks and the combat needed more meat to it. I think I understand how Silent Hill fans feel now... their favourite series hit it's prime ages ago, and the newer games are good, really! They're just... not the same.

Actually I thought Silent hill downpour was a good spiritual successor to Silent hill.

Although I still don't get why everyone says that 2 was the best one. I didn't so much find it scary as I thought it was a good mind fuck (which is coincidentally the same way I feel about downpour)

[Sabby]

Just got Captain America: Super Soldier. As far as Arkham Asylum imitators go, it's pretty damn good. Lost track of the amount of times I'm cringed and laughed at the same time xD

[Inkidu]

I guess I've got plenty of time to play TFtD and Apocalypse now.

[Brandon]

Tribes: Ascend. Yep even more of it, I really love this game.

Ive also come to a realization. The people that claim repairing/destroying the enemy generator has no effect on higher level play have never slammed face first into a doombringer's forcefield. Strategically placed forcefields prevent flag carriers from taking the obviously good routes for flag running, meaning you can force them into bad lanes of escape and pick them off with the chain gun and Sabre launcher

I gotta say its nice to finally find a class that can be played at a higher strategic level

[Sabby]

Andy keeps showing me footage of that game... I'm sure there's some strategy to it, if you have the right players, but almost every video I've seen just looks like Unreal Tournament with the speed and gravity hacked, and then the commentator goes on to spout about how original and innovative it is! Not like those OTHER shooters...

So, twitchy, loose and pompous. Hey! It really IS a PC exclusive! =D

Finally got Dark Souls. So far... it's not as hard as people have told me :/

[Brandon]

Andy keeps showing me footage of that game... I'm sure there's some strategy to it, if you have the right players, but almost every video I've seen just looks like Unreal Tournament with the speed and gravity hacked, and then the commentator goes on to spout about how original and innovative it is! Not like those OTHER shooters...

So, twitchy, loose and pompous. Hey! It really IS a PC exclusive! =D

Finally got Dark Souls. So far... it's not as hard as people have told me :/

Well Ill argue that its not all that original at all considering the original tribes came out when I was in high school but it stays true to the formula of fast paced skill based shooting. While I would  not call the game original I would call it different then most FPS games of today. Most FPS of today are just slow by design. Dont get me wrong I love battlefield 3 but its just nice to have a game that's different. Variety is the spice of life as they say

Anyway, going back to what I was talking about with it being skill based. I think theres only 2 weapons in the game that are hit scan, meaning if your crosshairs are over someone and you pull the trigger you hit them. Everything else is projectile based, meaning you have to lead your target. It is not easy to shoot someone in the game, especially if youre both going at 200+ mph. In fact its so hard to hit someone with spinfusors while they are in the air there's actually an extra award for doing it called blue plate special

Like most multiplayer games its best played with friends or people you work well with. I have a full team, along with 4 alternates so I usually end up having a good time. I think the most fun Ive had is just experimenting with the classes to find new strategies

Also, you're right. Dark souls isnt so much hard as it is unforgiving

[Sabby]

So... it's Unreal with Noclip.

[Brandon]

The only unreal I played was tournament on the PS2 so maybe my info is out of date but having played that and tribes for a long time I dont think theres much they have in common besides being FPS. Besides I remember just about all the unreal weapons being hit scan

[Wolfy]

So, you guys know that Upcoming MMO Tera?

I have 3 Beta codes for it that they sent me in my email...is anyone interested? o3o

[Bayushi]

Wolfy, I'd gladly take one! :-)

The only unreal I played was tournament on the PS2 so maybe my info is out of date but having played that and tribes for a long time I dont think theres much they have in common besides being FPS. Besides I remember just about all the unreal weapons being hit scan

All console FPS are hit scan. Thumb sticks are not terribly accurate, particularly not like a mouse.

[Brandon]

All console FPS are hit scan. Thumb sticks are not terribly accurate, particularly not like a mouse.

Actually thats not true anymore. Battlefield bad compnay 2 and Battlefield 3 adopted bullet drop and distance mechanics meaning you have to lead your target or aim above them to get the shot. Its not the same velocity mechanics in tribes but its not pure hit scan either

[Tiberius]

Right now i'm playing WoW, and I also occasionally play Civilization, just got III and IV again, I think personally they're better then V don't like V all that much maybe its just that there aren't any expacs yet I played III and IV when the xpacs came out so its probably that making the experience different.

Mostly I like playing RTS though, just wish a new one came out that was actually good. The latest ones have been pretty crap, C&C4 and EE3 were flops. Total flops, everything had been gutted basically, but its not exactly surprising as they were made by different companies

[Hemingway]

Finally got Dark Souls. So far... it's not as hard as people have told me :/

Oh, it gets better. Or worse. Depends on your perspective.

[Inkidu]

Actually thats not true anymore. Battlefield bad compnay 2 and Battlefield 3 adopted bullet drop and distance mechanics meaning you have to lead your target or aim above them to get the shot. Its not the same velocity mechanics in tribes but its not pure hit scan either

Also, Dead Rising 1 and 2 also had bullet timing. A zombie down range could very well walk out of the way of your shot.

[Oniya]

I just unlocked 'Beyond Corruption' in Gemcraft 0!

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Of course, now I've been possessed by the Forsaken One, but it's all good - and maybe I can clear out those last few badges and amulets.

[Brandon]

Most of my tribes team was gone last night but we had 3 others on. Not enough to really do any competitive CTF so I suggested we all play something else. We ended up playing dungeon defenders all night. It was great!

[Sabby]

Well, I was enjoying Dark Souls... until I started to find out the only real tactics were either exploits, discovered by chance, or read on the Wiki.

If I need to inch towards a group to trigger one of them and lure them out, even if all could realistically see me, I am exploiting the programming, and thus killing my immersion. Really feel like I'm accomplishing something there...

Then there's little gems like this...

The area below the nose is also vulnerable to physical attack. If you use an upward swing (e.g., 2H R1 from great-axe), the boar will take full damage

Haha! Oh, right. Yeah. I'm going to deduce that on my own, and feel intelligent for it! An enemy with an invisible weak spot, on a part of it you instantly die from, only touching with one weapon, used in one way, with a margin of error comparable to a molecule. And I did it all by myself, because I'm a great gamer, and this is a hardcore experience that challenges me on so many levels! Such an empowering experience.

Well, it's not. The game doesn't explain any of it's own rules, it's laggy as hell, the controls are sluggish and unresponsive, and the worst of all, it's just... not... challenging. This isn't challenge! This is Halo on Legendary mode, it's trial and error, which is never fun or rewarding. I think people are just sick of easy games holding their hands and so really have to cling to anything labelled as HARDCORE.

Eh, will go back to it eventually, but that fucking armored pig just drove it home for me. Might be kinder to the game the second time around with a different class, it could just be that I'm a Knight, but just going on what I've played, this games design is fucking atrocious.

[Inkidu]

Finally! Someone else who gets the whole Dark Souls thing! Besides, gamers never really get sick of hand-holdy gameplay, they just say they do. You take out the explanations in any form and watch out for the vitriol. 

I loved it because it felt like it had weight, but when you realize that it's just extremely punishing trial and error gameplay it loses all its uniqueness. I mean, trial and error is never nonexistent. It's what drives people to test the game rules and learn, but when it comes down to trial and error by memory and not experimentation, that's a bad game in my book.

For the record, Sabby, the Boar can either be plunge attacked once for a insta-kill or, using an exploit in its inability to figure out columns, stabbed in the asshole repeatedly until it dies. Yes, you read that correctly.

If that part made you give up wait until the freaking Capra demon. That boss just dispels all pretenses of tactics. It's either get raped off the start and die over and over again, use a plunge attack exploit (not tactic like the Taurus demon) or wash-rinse-repeat kill it.

If you think the game is lagging now though wait until BlightTown. That place basically breaks the game.

[Hemingway]

I beg to differ. I got the Capra Demon on the first try ( or possibly second, but I'm reasonably sure it was the first ), by use of a very successful improvised tactic. And, hah, trust me ... Capra Demon has nothing on a boss you fight later on. He's a walk in the park by comparison.

Finally! Someone else who gets the whole Dark Souls thing! Besides, gamers never really get sick of hand-holdy gameplay, they just say they do. You take out the explanations in any form and watch out for the vitriol.

Hah, that sounds like a pretty scathing indictment of gamers. Not that I disagree.

A lot of what happens in Dark Souls is hard to figure out, at least if you're doing it all by yourself. Reinventing the wheel, so to speak. But that's sort of the point. The whole game, with the clues you can leave for other players, is sort of a community effort. Someone figures out that Havel is exceptionally vulnerable to block counters, say, and make a hint to that effect ( I actually didn't do him that way. I couldn't get my timing right. In the end, I went for sidestepping and blocking, and actually had a good enough shield and enough endurance to pull it off ). You read it, and benefit!

I also think that if you feel bad about "exploiting" the terrain or things like that, you're ... not approaching it the right way. If you try to fight fair, you will die, horribly, time after time. Luring enemies into fires may seem cheap, but if the option is there, you shouldn't feel bad for using it.

[Inkidu]

So it's another game that panders to people with high-speed internet connections... joy...

[Wolfy]

So it's another game that panders to people with high-speed internet connections... joy...

Now Inki.

Just because you have Dial-up, why should the rest of us in the modern age suffer? :/

*pats on the head* Poor Inki....

[Inkidu]

Now Inki.

Just because you have Dial-up, why should the rest of us in the modern age suffer? :/

*pats on the head* Poor Inki....

You know, if it were just me, that would be one thing, but it's not.

[Wolfy]

You know, if it were just me, that would be one thing, but it's not.

I know Inki, I know.

Still. :/ I mean, I wish we could get High speed internet everywhere so everyone could get off that stupid dial up. >_>

[Inkidu]

I know Inki, I know.

Still. :/ I mean, I wish we could get High speed internet everywhere so everyone could get off that stupid dial up. >_>

I don't actually even have dial up. I've got some kind of 4G wireless card that lets me get on to XBL and all that (for the occasional download) it's just not good enough to facilitate online play.

So I mean even if you've got good internet it doesn't mean it's good enough.

Also it has a 10gig a month allowance and XBL gaming would eat that up.

[Sabby]

Wow, going from Dark Souls to Kameo is kind of odd... it's a shame this game is so fucking easy, as it has some great atmosphere and music. I seriously just watched a bad ass boss fight prime itself and then get beaten in one move. And it wasn't even my effort either, it just sort of... handed me the weapon and said 'do this'.