Quote from: The Butcher;798023But the fact of the matter remains that the "community" of people debating the finer points of WoW canon, or streaming WoW instance playthroughs, or doing WoW machinima parodies of music videos, are a tiny fraction of the people actually playing WoW, and their efforts, however passionate and heartwarming, do nothing for the casual player who wants to get into WoW.

Blizzard torpedoed the introductory experience for a new player by screwing up the questing continuity.  I've had a couple of neighbors tell me that they started WoW (post-Cataclysm) and they dropped it after a short while because "nothing made any sort of sense."

With Warlords and the L90 boost, Blizzard has abandoned the new player and is strictly going for the old player who no longer subscribes.

QuoteI'm not 100% sure you get to define what a game's "community" looks and feels like by cherry-picking its most creative and enthusiastic minority, especially when they are clearly not representative, in their openness and enthusiasm, of the average shithead that'll join your PUG and completely drain you of any enthusiasm for the game itself because he or she (and I quote) doesn't "have the fucking time to shepherd you nubz through this instance" because he's "a goal-driven farmer", or "can't believe a fucking mexican is tanking us thru this, this is a serious fight" or the ever-popular "druid tank? lol Im outta here".

Yeah, online gaming can suck anywhere, but WoW nowadays seems to be a particularly fertile breeding ground for this sort of idiocy. I don't get this shit on GW2 (yet).

I play a mix of male and female toons on several MMOs, and the only place I've been hit on in game has been WoW.  And I use the term "hit on" very loosely, in the same way that Goldshire on the Moon Guard server is "just a bar to hang out at".

So, Steam is suggesting me Valkyria Chronicles (gameplay looks meh, even though the "fantasy WWII" setting looks really interesting) and Castle Crashers 2 (looks fun). Anyone owns and plays these? Any comments?

But the game I really wanted right now would be one that played like Diablo 3 (smash foes, get loot, level up, co-op action CRPG) but (1) featured a greater variety of both playable characters and enemies, and (2) had a plot that didn't take itself so damn seriously. Sacred 3 looked like it might fit the bill, but the reviews on Steam are tearing it a new one (I've never played any of the franchise's games). Does anyone have anything in this vein to recommend?

Also, Space Hulk: Ascension is on pre-sale. Not my cuppa but I figured there'd be some interest here.

I have enjoyed playing Valkyria Chronicles on PS 3 3 years ago, so I will say it is a fine game (by the way, it is more fantaay WW I than WW II). If the price is 10 $, I will say it will be a good bargain.

Quote from: flyerfan1991;798094Blizzard torpedoed the introductory experience for a new player by screwing up the questing continuity.  I've had a couple of neighbors tell me that they started WoW (post-Cataclysm) and they dropped it after a short while because "nothing made any sort of sense."

With Warlords and the L90 boost, Blizzard has abandoned the new player and is strictly going for the old player who no longer subscribes.

I don't know how new their abandonment is, they've been sliding that way for a long time.

I recently went back to WoW after _5 years_ away. Which was cool, because I had LOADS of content and change to get through.

And it was incoherent as FUCK. The most incoherent was the buildup to fighting in the earth elemental zone and fighting giant rock creatures (which is an amazing zone)... and then off to Pandaria where I was collecting herbs and fighting cranes and wolves. Slightly BIGGER cranes and wolves, and they were higher level because, um, they were filled with chi or something.

WoW is a perfect example of why I think strongly level-based content is a seductive mistake. You end up with this conflict in making new content.


Imagine how much easier Blizzard could have made a coherent story if they had something like GW2's level-scaling content, where a new low level zone is totally worth doing as a max level character.
(Mind you, GW2 doesn't do this perfectly, and they still get sucked into the lure of doing primarily endgame stuff, but you get the idea)

Been losing at Five Nights at Freddy's.

Jesus Christ.

I've watched a lot of horror movies and played a fair number of horror games. This is one of the scariest fictional experiences I've ever had.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;798690Been losing at Five Nights at Freddy's.

Jesus Christ.

I've watched a lot of horror movies and played a fair number of horror games. This is one of the scariest fictional experiences I've ever had.

Seriously?

My interest is piqued. Please elaborate!

Quote from: The Butcher;798752Seriously?

My interest is piqued. Please elaborate!

Your in a seedy run down Chuck E. Cheese type place at night. You've got no place to run and nothing to defend yourself with. What you do have is a few steel doors, some shitty security cameras, a mysterious back story delivered in fragments, your worsening hallucinations, long stretches of extreme suspense... and free roaming animatronic abominations straight out of your childhood phobias who will suddenly rush in and mangle you if you don't keep an eye on them.



I'm a fucking wreck after every time I attempt it. I'm not sure what's worse, the tension, the atmosphere, or the soul-shattering jump scares.
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Holy crap. 0_o

But what is it that you, the player, actually do?

Holly Molly ! What is that ?

Quote from: The Butcher;798816Holy crap. 0_o

But what is it that you, the player, actually do?

You are a security guard. You have a limited amount of power to last you through the night (the company is cheap, game has a sense of humor). Every time you do something to try and hold back the animatronics, like track their positions with the security cameras, turn on lights, or shut doors, you burn power. You're trying to survive until 6 AM, when the robots' "daytime" programming takes over and gets them ready to entertain kids.

It's a fairly straightforward game in premise and execution (very old school come to think of it), you're basically juggling chainsaws in an increasing windstorm. Sometimes, after all the power's gone, you'll be sitting in your lightless office staring right into the glowing eyes of an animatronic about to lunge at you when the clock finally turns and saves you.

As each night goes by (your character's willingness to continue doing this job is one of the funnier mysteries they toy with), they add more tricks and surprises.

My one criticism is that by the time you reach the final nights it gets so frantic it can be a little unfair and more stressful than fun, and it's tough to appreciate the new details that start manifesting. The feeling of triumph when you survive is immense though.

Quote from: Will;798139I don't know how new their abandonment is, they've been sliding that way for a long time.

snip

I got into WoW after Burning Crusade, and before Lichking. The first 20 to 30 levels are great. Then the grind kicks in. Then it goes absurd. Lichking dropped and it was more of the same. As I said above somewhere, raid content never appealed so the draw of WoW was....? Closed the account.

In other news, I have played TibiaME for the last couple of nights (all about 30 minutes in total!). About as much MMO computer game as I can handle right now.

Quote from: The Butcher;798126But the game I really wanted right now would be one that played like Diablo 3 (smash foes, get loot, level up, co-op action CRPG) but (1) featured a greater variety of both playable characters and enemies, and (2) had a plot that didn't take itself so damn seriously. Sacred 3 looked like it might fit the bill, but the reviews on Steam are tearing it a new one (I've never played any of the franchise's games). Does anyone have anything in this vein to recommend?

Hell, I just want a proper (spiritual) successor to Diablo 2. I've heard Path of Exile praised by the hardcore D2 crowd, but that's not really my thing. Have also heard mostly good things about Torchlight 2, but I haven't had an opportunity to try it out yet. I just miss playing a necromancer and tossing around bone magic and curses everywhere.

Quote from: woodsmoke;799300Hell, I just want a proper (spiritual) successor to Diablo 2. I've heard Path of Exile praised by the hardcore D2 crowd, but that's not really my thing.

Why not? (I don't know jack about Path of Exile)

Quote from: woodsmoke;799300Have also heard mostly good things about Torchlight 2, but I haven't had an opportunity to try it out yet.

Looks too effin' silly to me.

Quote from: woodsmoke;799300I just miss playing a necromancer and tossing around bone magic and curses everywhere.

You and me, brother. You and me.

I'm more referring to the hardcore D2 crowd there than PoE. I just don't generally have that level of competitive drive in my gaming. I enjoy a challenge and I want to do well by the system, but ultimately I'm still playing to relax and have fun.

It's the same reason I never really got into Lollipop Chainsaw. After doing the tutorial, figuring out how the game works and beating the first level it generated a report card for me with a C-. Some folks would look at that as a challenge, the game is telling me I can do better, and that's a totally legitimate take. At the time, I just saw it as the game telling me how much I suck at my escapist hobby, which pretty well convinced me I didn't have any desire to continue playing.

I've no idea whether that's a fair representation of PoE's design, but the idea it was supposed to be somewhat unforgiving was talked up a lot by people who wanted to/enjoyed playing it around the time it was released, which naturally colored my perception.

Now that Warlords of Draenor is live, I'm digging it. I was there when the North American servers went live 15 minutes early, and I got my main through the introductory sequence before servers started shitting themselves and I just logged off instead of doing my Sisyphus impression.

In the days that passed as the usual--and yes, aside from the most massive DDOS attack waged upon a game yet, such that the Feds are asking questions, they are usual--problems that always hit got sorted out (Thursday launch; sorted by Sunday, with what is left being tweaks and minor hotfixes, which is fantastic for a launch like this.) I hung out with guildmates or streaming pals in a Ventrillo server, modded a chat room for a Twitch streamer, and finished the first draft of my third novel. Now that shit is stable, I swiftly resumed play and got my main character to 95; should be 100 right on Thanksgiving, and then I can start working on my alts while I gear up the main at get raid-ready.