What are you Playing Now? - Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about rock-n-roll

[Hurlshort]

I have had some good campaigns in Stellaris, but the updates can really change the experience. Last time I tried to play it I had a ton of issues with the claim system.

[MrBrown]

36 minutes ago, Hurlshort said:

I have had some good campaigns in Stellaris, but the updates can really change the experience. Last time I tried to play it I had a ton of issues with the claim system.

They tend to fix the biggest bugs relatively quickly, so a month after an update/expansion it's usually safe to play.

The massive amounts of DLC has made it full of moving parts though and unbalanced, though. So it can be quite random, and the learning curve is high.

[Malcador]

4 hours ago, Chilloutman said:

WDYM?

Guess it's just the claims system, kicked an empire's teeth in but was grinding along but had to stop. I guess my people were exhausted by decisive victory.

AI empire had such awful planet layout, spending a lot of time going through it. At least they added espionage, even if it's not as fun as SE IV.  Also the game seems to encourage not expanding much, so maybe 3.5 X

Game chugs in late game but that's Paradox for loop I guess

 

  

24 minutes ago, MrBrown said:

The massive amounts of DLC has made it full of moving parts though and unbalanced, though. So it can be quite random, and the learning curve is high.

No kidding, see a lot things blocked out because I am missing X DLC.

Edited Wednesday at 08:01 PM by Malcador

[melkathi]

20 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

No, he is Unready.

Best adventure game ever.

And it is on GOG.

Eric the Unready

If you haven't played it, why are we even friends?

[Chilloutman]

20 hours ago, Malcador said:

Guess it's just the claims system, kicked an empire's teeth in but was grinding along but had to stop. I guess my people were exhausted by decisive victory.

AI empire had such awful planet layout, spending a lot of time going through it. At least they added espionage, even if it's not as fun as SE IV.  Also the game seems to encourage not expanding much, so maybe 3.5 X

Game chugs in late game but that's Paradox for loop I guess

 

  

No kidding, see a lot things blocked out because I am missing X DLC.

I think it depends on your empire civic, as hive mind or some such your dont have to deal with claims

[Malcador]

15 minutes ago, Chilloutman said:

I think it depends on your empire civic, as hive mind or some such your dont have to deal with claims

Yah seems so.  Oddity in last war, had a claim I owned fully and status quo didn't give me it.  Probably missed something but will reload it and check.

Shelving Stellaris for now, will fire up SEIV.  I still remember my friend saying he was baffled by the UI, it's not that bad

 

 

 

[MrBrown]

Hive minds have to use claim like everyone else, it's only the genocidals that don't. Fanatic Purifiers, Determined Exterminators, Devouring Swarm or Terravore. And Driven Assimilators I think. But everyone will hate you.

Other ways to get a total war casus belli (meaning a war where stuff flips on conquering and not at the end of the war and you don't use claim): build a Colossus, become the Galactic Nemesis.

Also you always get total war against genocidals, regardless of your civics (with a few exceptions).

 

In practice, what I (and many others) do is just not go conquering that much until you either get a total war casus belli, or you get huge amounts of influence from vassals.

Edited Thursday at 05:43 PM by MrBrown

[Serrano]

Apparently only 10% of people got the steam achievement for reactivating the White Forge, which I guess means only around 10% of players completed The White March: Part 1. That's shocking if true and more than a little sad, Obsidian did a great job with the expansions and it's such a shame if most players never even got to see those areas. Josh Sawyer did an interview with a site called TheGamer just yesterday and was saying they found two thirds of people don't finish games they start. Considering a lot of the best content in games tends to be towards the end where you're encountering all the enemy types, have all the abilities and gear and are reaching the climaxes of all the story threads, I wonder what it must feel like to spend years working on these things and know most people aren't even getting to the best (and presumably the parts that took the most effort to make) parts of the game.

https://www.thegamer.com/fallout-new-vegas-josh-sawyer-finishing-games-not-important-skyrim/

[Wormerine]

It’s not an interview - just writing around some bullet points from Josh’s video, which they thankfully posted in “the article”.

 

[Sven_]

The ever so anxious "waiting and singing after a preorder"  game. (Not that I would ever much preorder, but...)
 

A helmet and breast plate
Hans Capon still gleaming
Seven years of wait
Never stopped me dreaming

He's coming home, he's coming home
He's coming - Henry's coming home




 

Edited Friday at 08:05 AM by Sven_

[LadyCrimson]

Played enough 7 days to decide my pc issues are, yes, fixed. Also enough 7 days to remind me again that the entire reason I keep playing it, is it makes hours pass without me noticing (never look at a clock, say), while doing absolutely "nothing" gamewise. eg, I looted 1000 trash bags, fixed up a house, dug a 3 mile tunnel, jogged on 40 miles of road, killed 200 deer for meat I don't actually need, filled up 8 storage chests with resources I don't really need. Apparently that's the aspect of a game that I covet the most, these days - doesn't matter the genre really, only that it does that to my brain. Most games now, even if I like them, I can't play for more than 1-2 hrs without shifting in my seat, looking at a clock several times, and quitting.

Same thing as checking your watch constantly in a movie, basically, vs. not looking at your watch even once.

 

[BruceVC]

Im about 50 hours into W1 and Im in Chapter 5 and going to the Manor House in the swamp

I decided to remove the  FCR mod  because of combat bugs and I was able to do that without corrupting my old save games and then my new saves dont include FCR

There are several main things I love about W1 and they include
 

• the entire Alchemy mechanics works for me, I like how you need to find out about monsters and herbs before you can get the ingredients and I like how the crafting works for potions, bombs and oils. It makes finding and buying recipes worthwhile
• There are 4 main types of quests. The ones with the obvious map locations and you can go there easily, quests where you have to explore to solve ( blue eyed girl quest ), the ones where you cant complete until you progress in the chapter and do certain things and then the quests that span chapters you can only progress and solve them as time goes on like the Berengar quest
• the narrative choices are completely thought provoking and you feel like you end up shaping and influencing the world and outcomes

Its often spoken in the beginning  about the whole Abigail vs Village moral conundrum but that was just one type of choice you need to make and W1 creates many other similar choices that include ( SPOILER ALERT )
 

• who to side with, the Order or the Scoia'tael : I decided the Order, I dont think terrorism works or is sustainable
• Vincent as the Werewolf : I didnt kill him because this is another example of a good monster that helps you
• Queen of the Night : A really paradox but I sided with the Vampiresses and again its because there are good Vampires in the Witcher world like Geralts friend Regis and the Queen wasnt an evil Vampire which I would have killed. Sadly the Vampiresses all died in the final battle
• Adda as a Striga : I saved her because this makes sense for a better relationship with Foltest and her second curse was triggered by De Wett so it didnt make sense to kill her

And then there are lots of smaller quest choices you need to make like the Blacksmith and the Succubus which are more light hearted and not as significant

I decided to support Triss around Alvin and I admitted my love for her, I like Triss

But in summary the narrative choices are some of the best and varied in any RPG I have played and Witcher 1 really delivers on this

[Malcador]

13 missions done in DoW 3. The Eldar mission where you fix the Wraithlord was annoying, thought I could nip the enemy attacks in the bud by pushing out and taking out their gates, but nope they seem to respawn.