BruceVC

Geez Louise but Ray Donovan is a really, really good series...season 3 is out for those unaware The phlegmatic and stoical nature of Ray I find highly entertaining

So being negative for the sake of being negative is ok. Got it. It would be great if people could just focus on the context of what's said without responding with useless rhetorical questions or strawman arguments. It will never cease to amaze me the kinds of responses one can expect when being critical of a beloved game series or a game many are looking forward to. There are a multitude of reasons I am skeptical and pessimistic about FO4. If you're at all familiar with my post history at the Bethesda forums (not expecting you to be), you'd know I've listed them and I'm not just "being negative for the sake of it." I've posted extensively on reasons I suspect FO4 will be very much akin to the quality of Skyrim based on what little we've seen from FO4 and based on Bethesda's track record in general. I would be more than happy to break down all my reasons in great detail and have even considered making a youtube video on the subject matter (something accessible to people across all forums). For the moment? Forgive me, I'm a bit "fatigued" about the subject matter, what with being banned and all for "flaming" while discussing the subject. For a very brief summary of some issues and fears I have with FO4 without going into great detail...? -Check the footage of the deathclaw fight. Check the damage taken by a singular swipe, check how much damage the deathclaw takes from a minigun. Entire fight seems more akin to a dragon fight in Skyrim rather than a deathclaw fight in New Vegas. Too much HP, not enough damage. Seems Bethesda is in their old habit of thinking more HP = harder, rather than actually giving enemies more damage. Very same fight also suggests damage resistance is still the major form of defense, and balancing a game when there's a 0-80% damage reduction gap across characters is definitely difficult. -Very same clip, deathclaw seems to perform a killcam move on the player. Dunno about you, but I loathed killcams. If we're getting those again....? Oh boy.... They were so lazily programmed in in Skyrim, and often resulted in enemies killing you twice as fast as normal, simply cause you'd get locked into one the moment they had the potential to oneshot you, with the game not even bothering to check if you dodged or resisted the damage in some way. -As stated, the game exhibits similarities to popular game franchises such as Mass Effect and Bioshock Infinite. I hardly think this was someone saying "let's use these systems because they're clearly superior," but rather an instance of "let's copy popular franchises cause that'll definitely attract new customers." You could write a book about all the ways the new dialog system seems less flexible or more tedious at the very least (thumbing through speech checks IF they even exist now) compared to the old one. -Voiced protagonist. Initially? I didn't really care, cause I'm usually interested in seeing what the intent behind the canon protagonist was in these kinds of games. Over time it dawned on me though that while I do do this out of habit with such games, I still roleplay several other characters after. I do feel voiced protagonist will limit this or encroach upon this for me, which is unfortunate. Why did they opt to have one...? They do claim it helps with their writing, but I for one can't recall a convincingly voiced character in Bethesda games (beyond those that get killed off almost immediately and are played by big name actors...) and wtf, there's still rocket engines on the USS Constition. No clue if this is them trying to pander to popular titles again or if they truly believe this means better writing, but I have my doubts it'll be worth it, given their track record with writing. On the contrary, I would think voice acting demands a good script, not that voice acting covers up for bad writing. Need we go over Skyrim's Thieves' guild as an example of how abysmal their writing is? -The scale and scope of perks and weapon mods. It's too much. In New Vegas I sometimes catch myself wishing for more weapons, but then realize I struggle to name new ones that don't suit a job that isn't already fulfilled by another weapon. The weapons in New Vegas pretty much covered every style, and only two weapon mods from the nexus come to mind as being balanced and a welcome addition (a laser sniper with DPH rather than DPS and a hunting shotgun that is more capable of competing with the riot shotgun). I cannot fathom 700 weapons being balanced or useful, and sure enough, examples like "plasma sniper," "plasma scattergun" and "night vision rocket launcher" make me question the quality or the usefulness of many of the mods. This worry is made worse by the fact that Skyrim as a reference material had soooooo much weapon customization that daedric artifacts and random loot were worthless and meaningless by comparison; crafted stuff was superior. And of course, there was a meta and very clear weaponry that was superior. I fear that of the 700 weapon possibilities, 17 will be used. -Skills merged to perks. Why? There's no reason or benefit for this. Skyrim essentially did this too. It's effect...? The skill perks were "required." You could skip the 20% cooler perks at the base of the skill trees....if you were a masochist. Skipping those was pure torture and made for tediously long battles. No, you took those 100% of the time, and all those meant was that the overall quality of perks dropped. Why? Because half the perks were actually "add 20 points to your skill" or the equivalent effect, so instead of getting 20 actual perks, we got 10 actual perks and 10 that were "increase your skill." Skills were forced on you for a reason: not increasing those was suicide. Having certain perks practically forced upon me just gets in the way of taking the actually enjoyable perks. -The SPECIAL-perk system. Two possibilities: either the 10 Luck perk (for example) is not worth taking and therefore 10 Luck is never viable, or it is worth taking - as are all other luck perks below it - and thus EVERY 10 Luck character takes EVERY Luck perk available to them. The result is that characters with similar SPECIAL scores will perform the same, and you have ~7 playthroughs in this game. This is more limiting than New Vegas' system, where for example I could get two identical SPECIAL characters, but still create quite a bit of diversity between them by perking different skills (for example explosives on one and unarmed/melee on the other) while also taking different traits. No, doing this in FO4 would either require a great deal of self-nerfing on one of the two characters, OR it would require that a lot of the higher level perks are terrible in design and not worth taking or no big loss if skipped, which is obviously imperfect design too in it's own way. -Lack of traits. Why? Absolutely no reason for this beyond a casualized hand-holding mentality of "don't allow the player to fail! Heaven forbid something include a downside!" This entire philosophy in general suggests to me we'll also see insta-heal stimpacks, illusion-of-challenge battles where HP is stressed (see above) and a lot of focus on selling to as many people as possible. I see this as evidence of their general design philosophy, and it seems to be geared towards money, not polished gameplay. -ADHD game design. This one is more a fear with less evidence for it, but was prevelant by the now infamous quote for Skyrim: "A mile wide, an inch deep." Skyrim tried to be a variety of games at once, probably highlighted best in Hearthfire when Skyrim decided it was the Sims. For this reason, I did feel a little put off when they showed off the minigames you could play on the pipboy. If I want donkey kong, I'll play donkey kong. It just feels gimmicky rather than useful, and I'd prefer if time on such gimmicks went towards the core gameplay. -Writing. USS Consititution has rocket engines. Why? RULE OF COOL, MANG. RULE OF COOL. -The timespan of development. Todd said Fallout 4 started development in 2009. This means the game overlapped with Skyrim and Bethesda's attitude of that time. This is made visible in gameplay by even minor details, such as "Raider Scum" and "Raider Psycho," suggesting different levels of leveled raiders, just like the system in Skyrim. I doubt that's the only similarity, because at least 2-3 years (depends on if you include DLCs of Skyrim) of Fallout 4 would be done during the time when Bethesda had the design philosophy that created Skyrim. Does any of that sound like being negative for the sake of it? No, I'm taking what little evidence we've received and drawing logical conclusions from there while using . I could be wrong of course, but that's a given. Should I be skeptical regardless? Yeah, probably, so I'll wait and see some game footage before I even consider a purchase. But **** me for being critical and not blindly praising a game I've not yet played as GAME OF THE YEAR ALL YEARS, amirite? Look I'll admit you are more passionate about this me, I can see you have spent time researching what has been released and giving an honest view of what you think is lacking And I respect that, and I'm not being sarcastic. I mean that. But there does seem to be a strange incongruity with your posts...you know so much about the game in the sense of what has been released yet you still say you don't really like the concept or many game design decisions ? I'm simplifying my question but why spend so much time on a subject if you don't care about it ? You know more than me about Fallout 4 yet I'm excited. I guess I don't understand why anyone would spend so much time in RL on a game that they don't even care for ?

http://fareedzakaria.com/2015/07/24/obamas-critics-are-the-real-gamblers-on-iran/ Fareed Zakaria is my favorite political commentator in the media at the moment. The guy is seriously accurate, erudite and reasonable He hosts the famous GPS (Global public square ) series on CNN and arranges some of the best think tanks and interviews you will ever see on international news channels Anyway read this link and see why he is supportive of the negotiations

I mentioned before I make a killer cheese sauce that I typically make every second week and I always have it with a large piece of Rump...say 0.8- 1 kg and potato wedges Half the steak I keep for sandwiches at work so I don't gorge myself and the steak I always marinade 24-48 hours in different ways, like using Worcestershire Sauce, so of course its absolutely delicious on its own but the hero of the meal is the cheese sauce And thats what I want to tell you guys who like cheese and know how to make a basic cheese sauce...mix different cheese in the sauce. Experiment..I cannot tell you how delicious and unctuous mixing cheeses tastes And you can really experiment because its almost impossible to mess it up...the worse you can really do is mix one strong cheese like Gorgonzola in with a cheese like Emmenthaler and you will just negate the weaker cheese...no crisis and waste of money as it will still taste great Tonight I mixed a Danish blue with a mature cheddar and it was heavenly

Well its an interesting economic conundrum..." can and should a government manipulate its own stock market to save a wholesale crash " In the West we know that were several examples during the 2008 financial crisis of government intervention to prevent the collapse of what were considered key industries..like AIG. But many companies and banks were allowed to fail like Washington Mutual and Lehman Brothers Also what the USA did was basically provide additional credit channels that companies like AIG have subsequently paid back.,.its nothing like this artificial stimulation of there stock markets that the Chinese are doing I remember an interesting statistic, I can find the link if required, that only 8 % of Chinese people own shares in there stock market yet 40 % of Americans own shares in the USA . So the Chinese have much less control over there stock market than most Western countries as there own citizens aren't the majority shareholders which makes it much easier for foreigners to sell shares and sometimes cause re real mass selling which then impacts the overall Chinese economy So maybe they believe they have no choice than to intervene in such a draconian way ?

http://freemarketcafe.com/2015/07/china-when-4-trillion-goes-to-stock-market-heaven/ http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/chinese-sharemarket-intervention-and-stabilisation-the-most-likely-scenario-20150728-gilthl.html https://tiananmenstremendousachievements.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/china-regards-intervention-with-its-stock-market-as-a-norm/ Just some interesting links to support my perspective

The most valid and real concern is the state of Chinese markets..,..while we were all lamenting the state of Greece last month the Chinese had 4 Trillion dollars wiped off there stock market And there solution was artificial and direct intervention to prevent a stock market crash, not only did the Chinese buy here own shares they forced the various state influenced Chinese investment firms to also buy billions of shares to prevent a free flow collapse of there stock market Obviously this is not how free markets behave as if people are confidant in a market they won't sell but the Chinese do have the capital and aptitude to intervene But this doesn't fix the underlying problem...a real lack of confidence in the Chinese markets for a variety of reasons and this leads to mass selling We dont want China to be negatively impacted because this will effect the whole world and emerging markets, like South Africa, always get hit the hardest when these types economic fluctuations occur...and I'm worried, very worried

But....but .....the voices in my head are always nice to me, please don't deny me the inkling of support my voices give me...imagine how lonely I would be Thanks for the link but I don't support anything luzarius says or posts, I try to be a reasonable person but I really am not prepared to engage with someone who is a bigot and pretends to be " interested in discussing real issues and concerns " yet just uses his posts to make covert attacks on the LGBT community

Sure, I hear you. I am not saying people must be positive for positive sake....I find that kind of blanket expectation a little annoying and counterproductive I am saying lets judge Fallout 4 on its own criteria and merit. And I'm sure there are real and valid concerns but you shouldn't compare this game to older Fallouts...because then you will definitely be disappointed Hope it makes sense what I am trying to say ?

You must buy the expansion.,...I have heard from a VERY reliable source that there may be Romance in the expansion...you don't need any other reason except for that

Bruce i like how you have so corrupted view of world So you are telling us that we know there are great games but we should overlook how much crappy 'RPG' element in F3 was and enjoy bellow medicore shooter it become because??? Its like saying: Yeah I have know really nice girl few year back and she was great, but today some older dude will do, you know you have to enjoy the difference..... Very good analogy about the girl ...rather see it as you use to date hot porn star who fulfilled your dreams Now you are dating a really nice girl who is not a porn star but you can still have lots of fun and have a meaningful relationship...but she is NOT a porn star And its unfair to compare her to the porn star....you see my point ?

Ehh I love all Bethesda's games for one reason or another, it's just good to have a moan about the things you keep wishing they'd do Yeah I know how much you love Bethesda games, you have clocked more hours on Skyrim than most ( how much time now? ) I admire your commitment to there games, my point is more to people who are already saying " Fallout 4 sounds like it is going to be terrible game " Somewhere between 800-1000 hours, similar for Oblivion and Fallout 3...too much Yeah there's some prejudging going on. I think if you hated their previous games you're probably gonna hate their new games. Yeah, I think I'm overly critical of Bethesda. Really trying to cut them some slack and be a bit more positive. ...it looks good! There, I said it. Don't you feel better You see I believe I do understand where most of the criticism comes from towards Bethesda. Its a common Internet perspective on gaming forums where you have people, like this one, that have been playing RPG for years and sometimes decades and there intention is not to really verbally attack a gaming company based on maliciousness and vitriol,its more based on frustration and the perception of how a gaming company has fallen from its original level of delivering entertainment. And we all remember the early days of gaming ( Wizardy, M&M, Morrowind, BG1 etc )as it profoundly effected all of us and in certain ways shaped who we have become around our Internet identity .,,,and of course thats important and needs to be accepted as something that is worth understanding and recognizing. And most of you have played Fallout 1 &2 which set almost a new bar in RPG complexity and real choices. They were truly immersive and unique games that can only be seen as...brilliant....genius...inspired...compelling ...and the most important thing, absolutely entertaining. So you would naturally compare the new games to the older ones ....and you will find them lacking if you try to compare them on a feature or complexity basis. So really its unfair to do that to your yourself ...you will set yourself for disappointment and the ironic thing is this an unintentional feeling by you probably thinking you are giving objective critique You need to see the new Fallout games on there own and just enjoy the open world, interesting narrative and cool people you meet. No comparison to older games goes a long way to helping a person see they are brilliant in there own way

Yep pretty much this. Actually it already started Geez...you guys seriously. Such drama queens Yes we now have to worry about the forces of oppression in RL as there are expectations on games being more progressive. Its like you guys think this is some sort of symbolic representation of society...guys its just gaming. As important as you may think this is it does not represent a new draconian and surreptitious system that is going to influence how our governments conduct themselves. So lets try to keep the hyperbole to a minimum plz In a world where all social interaction has moved into social media and effectively, the 'net; hosted by cloud services doing massive data-mining where every kind of demographic can be carefully measured with individual metrics, which in turn can be sold to government agencies, think-tanks and eventual political candidates for focus-group testing for the next election. Also remember that the intelligentia and powers that be have a vested interest in the freudian ideas that the masses have to be contained by catering to their base needs, both through commercial products and by lofty temporary and emotional outburts in politics, thus keeping the general populance docile (thankfully this process is still only reactive). So how can you still say this despite gaming is the biggest medium out there? So far, you are just giving more fuel to the people who believe in this: Your post does raise some interesting ideas, I recognize that. But I'm not sure what Doom has to do with your point about the overall negative impact of social media or rather how social media can be used a tool of manipulation, I agree it can. I have seen this in South Africa

Look at you, now I can't construct a sentence in plain English. Lets really try insult people in some really irrelevant and childish way. And when did I exactly say people can't comprehend English? If you are going to use the Barti example I was teasing him...as in not being serious. But I tell you what TN...just make blanket assumptions about me and my motives. Thats much easier than asking me I'm funny hey Barti....admit it I make you laugh

Oh I can't max the graphic settings, there are some advanced graphic setting options that make my card go over the 4GB memory But it still looks good

Dexter is amazing.,.,,,it had a cult following over here. I had assumed everyone in the USA had seen it but I forget all the cable offerings you have In South Africa our primary cable network buys all the best shows from across companies like AMC, Showcase and HBO so we end of watching not as many as you do but generally the best ones

Ehh I love all Bethesda's games for one reason or another, it's just good to have a moan about the things you keep wishing they'd do Yeah I know how much you love Bethesda games, you have clocked more hours on Skyrim than most ( how much time now? ) I admire your commitment to there games, my point is more to people who are already saying " Fallout 4 sounds like it is going to be terrible game "

I (The PC can beat the hell out of anyone, and buy back their reputation by giving away bottles of water; even to the victim.) This comment really made me laugh because its sounds so absurd yet its true But you can't judge Bethesda games on that type of accuracy in AI or be too critical. If you do you will find loads of those types of idiosyncratic parts of the game and general NPC behavior...and you right it is silly . But I rather focus on the positive of there games

100 %, yes I know what you saying. You aren't criticizing the entertainment factors of the new Fallout games, you do enjoy them You are saying you cannot compare them on various levels to the older Fallout games. You would love an older Fallout style game but you are realistic...its highly unlikely we will see this. But you are still excited about Fallout 4

Wow...okay the levels of positivity on this thread is overwhelming ...go Fallout 4 I'm super excited about this game, Bethesda has a great way of creating gaming worlds. They have these large sandbox environments where you can truly progress as you want in most cases yet they allow Mods to fix things that you don't like And I always use Mods..but I don't judge Bethesda for that. I don't believe the unfair criticism " Bethesda needs to use Modders to make there games either enjoyable or entertaining " No for many of the millions of fans who either use consoles or play the PC version of any Bethesda game, they just play the normal vanilla version of the game without Mods and they love the games. I have 3-4 good friends who only started gaming a few years ago and they love Bethesda games yet have never used Mods. Most people on these forums are more experienced gamers who have a much more discerning or critical expectation for games ....so Mods are a must in Bethesda game to improve the gaming experience And finally how can I not be extra excited about Fallout 4....you guys have seen Malc's post...12 companions to Romance !!! Here is the link for those who missed it http://www.pcgamer.com/fallout-4-companions/

Yes I thought you were joking but I hate to assume. Sometimes people make statements that I think can't be real...but they are But for the record I think you are misunderstanding the plight of African albinos. They don't get mistreated all the time, most of the time how they were previously treated gives them understandable sympathy and different preferential treatment in the job market as they are seen as a minority even within black South African culture So I am not saying albino Africans get used for body parts and cut up all the time ...that is rare but does happen. So my point about there " MORE " privilege has nothing to do with them getting cut up but just how African society sees them

Yep pretty much this. Actually it already started Geez...you guys seriously. Such drama queens Yes we now have to worry about the forces of oppression in RL as there are expectations on games being more progressive. Its like you guys think this is some sort of symbolic representation of society...guys its just gaming. As important as you may think this is it does not represent a new draconian and surreptitious system that is going to influence how our governments conduct themselves. So lets try to keep the hyperbole to a minimum plz

Um, are you really trying to have a serious discussion about how black Albinos are related to how I defined " white privilege " in this thread? Because the last few comments have just been jokes about the concept of what white privilege means....and that's fine as I have no issue with people making light of serious discussions. Sometimes that's the nature of internet debate So are you really asking if black albinos are part of white privilege ?

I would say more but not for the reasons you are joking about In Africa albinos have typically been a target historically by other Africans as they are seen as bewitched and there body parts are useful in "muti " ( African magic like Witch doctors ) This is obviously illegal and gets condemned but still happens in rural areas where people are still superstitious. So we should be extra sensitive when it comes to the treatment of albinos in the African context at least

I used to think I was white but now I'm apparently Hispanic. Is there a support group for people that have lost their white privilege? Well if its any consolation I think Hispanic people have some of the most beautiful women in the world