Random video game news... renewed!

[LadyCrimson]

6 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

I wear whatever gives me the best buffs for the build Im playing. I dont care if its a dong sleeve or Bozo the Clown outfit.

Heehee.

This is why all modern day games that emphasize costumes etc. should have the transmog ability. That was one of the best things about the Hogwart's game, for me. I don't play many games that offer such, sadly.

[Gfted1]

Iirc, Diablo 4 has a transmog ability. Kinda cool but I never bothered with it.

[melkathi]

I enjoyed transmog in GuildWars 2 and Old Republic.

If you are going to try and get people's money by selling them a "look how you want" or generally spend hundreds of hours with that character, I believe it only makes sense to allow players to enjoy it.

[bugarup]

And some of us dye transmogs in Bozo the Clown colours. 

[kanisatha]

5 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

I wear whatever gives me the best buffs for the build Im playing. I dont care if its a dong sleeve or Bozo the Clown outfit.

Preach!!

[Sven_]

Henry's coming home baby. And it's Europe's that's keeping bigger budget RPGs interesting.
 

 

 

On that note, I've restarted The WItcher 3... and this is the first time it clicked. I had a beef with so much of the quests being railroady, the simple systems/combat, and all that. Additionally, Ciri isn't really properly introduced (never read the books), but still made the hook of the story, the damsel to hunt after. Never really worked much for me. This time I focused on the side content, adjusted the difficulty and skilled differently (which made combat more tactical) -- and even found a few alternative solutions to a quest here and there that wasn't spoilt by markers. (F'r instance, you can find the bandit hideout in Novigrad simply by listening to dialogues and following the clues, as opposed to doing what the quest log encourages you to do, step by step... so much more immersive!)

I'm in now truly though. Novigrad looks like I'd always pictured Riva in my head way back on my Pentium 75.
 

 

Edited November 7 by Sven_

[Mamoulian War]

8 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

Some people could wear a dirty potato sack and they are still gorgeous. But not many people want to play/roleplay a chr. wearing a potato sack, outside of temporary humor value. I think many think of attractive-wear as something that accentuates the form in an aesthetic way, vs. hiding it. The "problem", if it is one, is that this sometimes seems to translate into "how naked can we make it feel without being technically naked." Which for me is an aesthetically and artistically boring goal.

I'm more into the elegance and material flow, re: female game/fantasy clothing. Don't care if it's real-life practical re: combat, it's just aesthetics. Well, unless one is actually making a historically accurate game perhaps. So I will pick outfits/chrs. that appeal to me more in that regard, vs. what I think of as an "ugly" outfit.

For male figures - I dunno. I still like elegant or a bit more formal, like robes or more aristocratic styles or certain East Asian influences.

For the record, in real life, I would never want to wear any of the fantasy outfits, male or female. They look uncomfortable. T-shirts and sweatpants, that's me. I don't even like real-world dresses. I've had to wear more formal dresses for a few occasions here and there and I hated every second of it. Just me tho.   But I still like pretty on game characters. *shrug*

I play like 99% of time male characters, and I prefer lean and slim character model over the ultra-buffed stereotype, which we get like 99% of time from western devs. I always pick gear and cosmetics, which are to me aesthetically most pleasing, and do not break the immersion. JRPG fem-boys looks are better choice for male characters than the Mountain type characters (although it would be vice versa IRL ), and for female characters, I do not have an issue with any amount of skin shown, but I always prefer elegant dress over bikini swimsuit. For male characters, I like the most "business suits" even if it does not 100% fit the world :P. Unfortunatelly with the exception of Like a Dragon games, there is a very limited number of games, which offer this option of fashion to play with

[Amentep]

Old thread - 

 

[LadyCrimson]

21 hours ago, Mamoulian War said:

I play like 99% of time male characters, and I prefer lean and slim character model over the ultra-buffed stereotype, which we get like 99% of time from western devs.

Yeah, I'm pretty much the same. Which is why (in fantasy) I probably tend to pick wizards or assassins or necro's or whatever else (that and I'm more ranged/stealth type vs. melee). The WWF wrestler type dressed up as Conan/He-Man or bulky/weird glory-armor with a giant helmet does nothing for me aesthetically.

[Gfted1]

I always play male, undead preferably, glass cannon ranged dps.

[kanisatha]

I also always play male, and as much as possible a melee warrior type. But that's the thing about playing fantasy games. It's all about being able to do things you couldn't do IRL, such as slaughtering the bad guys. And for me it also includes my physical appearance. IRL I'm a scrawny academic of average height, and now that I'm old also bald. So of course I'm gonna' want to play as a tall buff hottie!!

[Hurlshort]

I typically make an avatar that reflects the way I look, right down to being bald. Of course, now that I'm much older, it can be a bit harder to find the settings that add some wrinkles and gray in the beard. It's also a bit awkward making an avatar that looks 46, and then starting the game as a young squire or whatever.

 

[Wormerine]

On 11/7/2024 at 8:11 PM, Sven_ said:

On that note, I've restarted The WItcher 3... and this is the first time it clicked. I had a beef with so much of the quests being railroady, the simple systems/combat, and all that.

Yeah, it takes time these days for me to get into those highly guided movies. I am so used to having agency (or being guided seemlesly) that when game so restrictive and so heavy handed it takes me out. Had this experience with Red Dead2 and Cyberpunk. There is enjoyment to be had once one switches the brain off and arrears it more like a movie with audience engagement.

[Sven_]

On 11/10/2024 at 8:28 PM, Wormerine said:

Yeah, it takes time these days for me to get into those highly guided movies. I am so used to having agency (or being guided seemlesly) that when game so restrictive and so heavy handed it takes me out. Had this experience with Red Dead2 and Cyberpunk. There is enjoyment to be had once one switches the brain off and arrears it more like a movie with audience engagement.

Is Cyberpunk the same? I thought it was kinda like Deus Ex-lite. It's curious. But coming from games like Drova, whenever you're guided this heavily, it feels mundane and mechanical too. Like your to-do list at work: "Next go here and finish that. After that move over here and do precisely this." It's a passive experience, sure. But it's still something entirelly different from just watching a movie unfold. Whereas with something that lets you actually explore on your own and does it well, you're actually getting lost in that world. And be allowed to flee the mundane, mechanical and laundry listing for a while. Like, have an adventure! Kinda like when you were a kid playing in the forest. [It seems Nintendo have still realized this some with Zelda as well].

Of course, despite companies being afraid of players getting lost, "BIGGER IS BETTER!" is still the mantra for the worlds they build. How about simply going smaller if you're scared chicken? A NO-GO for them. Neither Drova nor the original Gothic are particularly huge (really, it takes like four minutes on foot to get from one of the major factions to the other). But apparently BIGGER NUMBERS are still meant to wow. And thus for Starfield, even the skies of the entire galaxies aren't the limit anymore. And rather than breaking records in square miles, it's LIGHT YEARS now.  


Overall, I'm having fun now in Witcher 3, mind. And I'll play it to the end!

Edited Tuesday at 05:11 AM by Sven_

[Gorth]

On 11/11/2024 at 12:31 AM, kanisatha said:

I also always play male, and as much as possible a melee warrior type. But that's the thing about playing fantasy games. It's all about being able to do things you couldn't do IRL, such as slaughtering the bad guys. And for me it also includes my physical appearance. IRL I'm a scrawny academic of average height, and now that I'm old also bald. So of course I'm gonna' want to play as a tall buff hottie!!

For me it depends on the game. I often don’t feel a character represents “me” as much as being an actor in a play that I direct. Some games I’ll play buff macho types and some games I’ll play very feminine characters. Again, depends on the role they play in the piece. The games I have/had the most characters created in would be Star Wars the old republic. Sixty characters spread over four servers (ie averaging fifteen per server). The game being somewhat primitive (compared to Guild Wars 2) means no api for web access to your characters, so I always did book keeping in Excel. Turns out the gender split is 50/50. Ranging from half naked Conan type Jedi guardian to lithe deadly imperial agent girls who love vex sneaking, poisoning and backstabbing

As for the real me, I suspect I have a fondness for sneaky and stealthy characters because I am anything but in real life. @Azdeus has seen a picture of me and can probably confirm I’m not going to sneak up upon anyone

[Azdeus]

4 hours ago, Gorth said:

For me it depends on the game. I often don’t feel a character represents “me” as much as being an actor in a play that I direct. Some games I’ll play buff macho types and some games I’ll play very feminine characters. Again, depends on the role they play in the piece. The games I have/had the most characters created in would be Star Wars the old republic. Sixty characters spread over four servers (ie averaging fifteen per server). The game being somewhat primitive (compared to Guild Wars 2) means no api for web access to your characters, so I always did book keeping in Excel. Turns out the gender split is 50/50. Ranging from half naked Conan type Jedi guardian to lithe deadly imperial agent girls who love vex sneaking, poisoning and backstabbing

As for the real me, I suspect I have a fondness for sneaky and stealthy characters because I am anything but in real life. @Azdeus has seen a picture of me and can probably confirm I’m not going to sneak up upon anyone

I can definetly confirm that he's more buff macho type in body than very feminine or lithe

[Wormerine]

9 hours ago, Sven_ said:

Is Cyberpunk the same? I thought it was kinda like Deus Ex-lite. It's curious.

I mean how lite are we talking about? There is a bit more agency and build variety (so stuff like, will your rip open a door, or sneak in through the vent just around the corner). Side content is a bit more robust, and potentially allowing for more variety of approaches. Quest design isn't Deux Ex, though. Systems in Cyberpunk a more complex than in Witcher, but it is not a systemic game that allows for emergent solutions. And Cyberpunk is way too cinematic, to give players an objective, sandbox and let them loose. In the main quests you mainly follow objectives and watch cutscenes inbetween gameplay sections.

Edited Tuesday at 12:18 PM by Wormerine

[Bartimaeus]

I always play exactly what I am in real life, which is a paranoid schizophrenic goth girl that likes to sneak up behind people and either gnaw off their heads or repeatedly stab them in the back. Sometimes, you just have to stick with what you're best at.

[melkathi]

Most games don't allow for protagonists with gnawed off heads. That is why people in Bartimaeus' vicinity have trouble identifying with video game characters.

Edited Tuesday at 03:51 PM by melkathi

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I usually play multiple characters in a game because I like to see multiple paths and see what different playstyles are like. Also have a bad case of rerollitis.

Don't really identify with them or try a self-insert, because a 30-something weirdo with esoteric beliefs and a(n unhealthy) fixation on Lynchian media is probably not going to be possible. Except in BG3, in which both that and @Bartimaeus's true self are covered by The Dark Urge.

[melkathi]

Having multiple characters also means Bartimaeus has more targets to repeatedly stab, so more characters may escape.

[majestic]

I generally go with the Alucard aesthetic. So, like, the boy version of @Bartimaeus' goth girl.

Spoiler

I also totally never just click on random and go with whatever the game gives me. Nope!

 

[MrBrown]

41 minutes ago, majestic said:

  Reveal hidden contents

I also totally never just click on random and go with whatever the game gives me. Nope!

 

Games should have a "random but reasonable" button. I remember trying random in Outer Worlds, and everything that came out looked like a person who just went to a punk concert and then got beaten up.

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, majestic said:

I generally go with the Alucard aesthetic. So, like, the boy version of @Bartimaeus' goth girl.

  Hide contents

I also totally never just click on random and go with whatever the game gives me. Nope!

 

When a game doesn't have the options I like, I usually stick with whatever is the default so I don't have to make any choices. If none of my choices are good, then I might as well not make any.

46 minutes ago, MrBrown said:

Games should have a "random but reasonable" button. I remember trying random in Outer Worlds, and everything that came out looked like a person who just went to a punk concert and then got beaten up.

Meanwhile, Dark Souls:

[LadyCrimson]

To be honest/fair,I don't really care what my avatar is - I don't put tons of thought into it, outside of "why can't I make this dress BLUE, darnit". At this point I barely play any games where avatar/chr even matter. In my head all player-avatars are "me" - not in terms of any real-world "representation", but I mean that I am not a purposeful role-player - thus I suppose I pick avatars that represent what I idealistically might pick out of a real closet or be attracted to in real life. Including hair styles/deco, colors, or whatever.

I remember in Hogwart's, one of the youthful male avatar face options strongly reminded me of a childhood "boyfriend", which made me laugh, and I picked that one. That's about as deep as I go.