What are you playing now?

[Serrano]

FTL doesn't seem very balanced. I take my time, gather resources, never have problems with any of the enemies I face... then I get to the final area and I get murdalized by scouts.

 

What gives?

 

It's a roguelike so luck is intended to be a big factor and the game is weighted towards being difficult/neigh impossible. The idea is to create replayability, tension, a greater sense of accomplishment when you win and a much bigger sense of reward when something good happens.  

 

In this  case that involves what ways you can equip your ship.  If you're always getting murderized by the scouts then you need a rough idea of what changes you need to make to your ship to survive them and also beat the last boss and then spend every playthrough working towards that. I know that's obvious and probably sounds snarky but that is the core element of the genre of game you're playing and it's supposed to be that frustraiting. It's why I don't play FTL much .  

Edited December 3, 2013 by Serrano

[Deraldin]

FTL doesn't seem very balanced. I take my time, gather resources, never have problems with any of the enemies I face... then I get to the final area and I get murdalized by scouts.

 

What gives?

Ignore the scouts in the last section as much as you can. Do what you can to minimize the damage you take while your jump drive charges up and then get the hell out of there. There is no point in fighting the enemies other than the boss in the last sector as you don't gain anything from the encounter other than 1 fuel.

[Mamoulian War]

I've seen Dark Souls dirt cheap a bajillion times over the past year or so.  The reason I don't have Dark Souls is GFWL, and, to a lesser extent, how crappy a PC port it is.  The crappy port I could get past since the modders have, for the most part, rescued it.  GFWL is a deal breaker.  I know it's a great game, I know I'm missing out, but I will never buy it as long as it's attached to GFWL.  I will never install that piece of malware on my system ever again. Not for any game ever.  I guess I'll just have to wait for Dark Souls 2.

 

GFWL got patched out of DS and changed for Steamworks... for me the same ****, but it might be better deal for you...

 

EDIT: at least I think so...

Edited December 3, 2013 by Mamoulian War

[Keyrock]

 

I've seen Dark Souls dirt cheap a bajillion times over the past year or so.  The reason I don't have Dark Souls is GFWL, and, to a lesser extent, how crappy a PC port it is.  The crappy port I could get past since the modders have, for the most part, rescued it.  GFWL is a deal breaker.  I know it's a great game, I know I'm missing out, but I will never buy it as long as it's attached to GFWL.  I will never install that piece of malware on my system ever again. Not for any game ever.  I guess I'll just have to wait for Dark Souls 2.

 

GFWL got patched out of DS and changed for Steamworks... for me the same ****, but it might be better deal for you...

 

To the best of my knowledge, no it hasn't, it's still saddled with GFWL.

[Mamoulian War]

Really no clue...

[Guest Slinky]

Finding I am terrible at Raptor

Raptor: Call of the Shadows? You just need to know the right weapons, micro-missile -> auto-track minigun -> laser turret -> twin laser. Don't buy anything else than those and shields, rest of the stuff you get for free by playing.

 

I also have a habit of replaying the bravo episode a second time to collect money.

[Deraldin]

 

 

I've seen Dark Souls dirt cheap a bajillion times over the past year or so.  The reason I don't have Dark Souls is GFWL, and, to a lesser extent, how crappy a PC port it is.  The crappy port I could get past since the modders have, for the most part, rescued it.  GFWL is a deal breaker.  I know it's a great game, I know I'm missing out, but I will never buy it as long as it's attached to GFWL.  I will never install that piece of malware on my system ever again. Not for any game ever.  I guess I'll just have to wait for Dark Souls 2.

 

GFWL got patched out of DS and changed for Steamworks... for me the same ****, but it might be better deal for you...

 

To the best of my knowledge, no it hasn't, it's still saddled with GFWL.

 

Yup. It still has GFWL. When the shutdown next year was announced there were rumours and a photoshop'd (I think) facebook post saying the From Software was going to patch in Steamworks as a replacement, but I don't believe there has been any official word on any removal of GFWL.

 

 

Finding I am terrible at Raptor

Raptor: Call of the Shadows? You just need to know the right weapons, micro-missile -> auto-track minigun -> laser turret -> twin laser. Don't buy anything else than those and shields, rest of the stuff you get for free by playing.

 

I also have a habit of replaying the bravo episode a second time to collect money.

 

Auto-track minigun murders everything in the first sector. I usually head straight for it. If you get all the other freebie weapons in the levels you get afford to buy the minigun by the start of the 4th level. Once I get that I go back and grab the micro-missile and the plasma cannon (?) that are always equipped to give me a bit more firepower against anything dead ahead of me. Then you can sit back and relax somewhat until the laser turret like you said.

[Tale]

Virtue's Last Reward and my power supply should be arriving today. I don't know which to play with first.

[Blarghagh]

 

FTL doesn't seem very balanced. I take my time, gather resources, never have problems with any of the enemies I face... then I get to the final area and I get murdalized by scouts.

 

What gives?

 

It's a roguelike so luck is intended to be a big factor and the game is weighted towards being difficult/neigh impossible. The idea is to create replayability, tension, a greater sense of accomplishment when you win and a much bigger sense of reward when something good happens.  

 

In this  case that involves what ways you can equip your ship.  If you're always getting murderized by the scouts then you need a rough idea of what changes you need to make to your ship to survive them and also beat the last boss and then spend every playthrough working towards that. I know that's obvious and probably sounds snarky but that is the core element of the genre of game you're playing and it's supposed to be that frustraiting. It's why I don't play FTL much .  

 

 

No no, I get it, I have experience with roguelikes. But consistently, over six playthroughs, I have gone through the game without trouble and getting fully upgraded. For example, on my last ship, I had good weapons, good drone systems, stealth, full shields, upgraded engines, enough crew to have expendables and more than enough resources. In the second to last area, I could pretty much kill any enemy I came across in one or two volleys. Then in the end game, the first enemy I encounter gets me or turns me into a limping wreck. I find it hard to believe that six times I have had luck throughout the entire game and bad luck in the end. Just seems like the difficulty curve is terribly balanced. It makes trying again seem kinda pointless.

 

 

FTL doesn't seem very balanced. I take my time, gather resources, never have problems with any of the enemies I face... then I get to the final area and I get murdalized by scouts.

 

What gives?

Ignore the scouts in the last section as much as you can. Do what you can to minimize the damage you take while your jump drive charges up and then get the hell out of there. There is no point in fighting the enemies other than the boss in the last sector as you don't gain anything from the encounter other than 1 fuel.

 

 

Hrm, I hadn't considered running. Thanks for the tip! Although I don't think the crew of The Flu Shot would have agreed, they were brave!

[Raithe]

So I've been hearing lots of mixed reviews over how well the pc port of AC4 handles. Any actual hands on experience from people of the boards?

[entrerix]

i've been playing AC4 on pc and have noticed zero issues other than typical assassins creed bugs, this is my first time playing an AC game on pc, i played all the other games on ps3/xbox360

 

i havent tried AC4 on console, so i cant directly compare, but I don't think I've encountered any of the usual "sloppy port" problems that same games have.

 

that said, do yourself a favor and play on pc with a gamepad, keyboard and mouse for an AC game is just ugh...

[Majek]

Finding I am terrible at Raptor, shifting along to Re-Volt and Uplink. Well at least while I am at work. Funny bug in Re-Volt where the language selection does not indicate the currently selected language, so it took some trial and error to figure out how to get English picked, heh.

re-volt will eat you alive. :D

[Hurlshort]

The most important thing to get in FTL is that radar thingamajig that tells you what is at all the jump points.  That being said, I've died on the final boss every time I've made it to the end, so what do I know?

[Fighter]

 

You mean shallow and bland writing like the Thieves' Guild questline, right? Not to mention the terrible narrative and game design with a single railroaded linear "BUT THOU MUST!!" structure, with no roleplaying allowed and vital decisions made for the player by NPCs (aka bad writers/designers) without the PC's input.

 

At least with the Dark Brotherhood you were allowed the option to righteously deliver a heaping plate of well-deserved retribution as a hero of justice, but everyone involved with the TG is permanently immortal so as to preserve the shining example of bad design and writing in Skyrim.

 

 

I personally don't give a crap about choice. I just don't. I perfectly happy to play along with linear. As far as quality of writing, like I said better than the main quest. Not very good still, nothing in Skyrim is.

[Enoch]

 

Yup! May I add, refrain from crafting, and add a mod that sorts your invo. You won't regret it.

 

Why should I avoid crafting? Does it make you too powerful...also when you say "invo" what exactly do you mean?

 

 

I found the crafting in Skyrim pretty consistently enjoyable, in that it was an incentive for exploration and a reason to really engage with the landscape.  There's excitement in seeing a new type of plant and wondering what you can make with it, or delving into a silver mine or Dwemer ruin to get the raw material you need for your forge. 

 

The personal balance-preserving rule I would impose on crafting is this:  Craft all you want, but never ever buy any crafting supplies.  Use only what you can harvest, loot, or steal yourself. 

 

(Also-- and this probably goes without saying-- don't look up alchemy recipies on the internet.  Discover reagent properties via experimentation, reading the in-game books and recipes you sometimes find, and/or by investing Feats in the Alchemy tree.)

 

Hunting elk for hides and processing them into Bracers for skill development and cash value is rewarding and usually quite consistent with the role-playing of your character.  Plus, it's unlikely that you'll get any game-breaking loot "too early" with just this method-- it'll help, but not overly so.  On the other hand, buying hides, clicking on a few things to upgrade them, and selling them back to the merchant is incredibly lame, gamey, and un-fun.  Parallel statements for Alchemy (find, taste, and experiment) and Enchanting (although purchasing some soul gems might be necessary to level this one up sufficiently, buy only the empty ones and go fill them yourself) are equally true. 

Edited December 3, 2013 by Enoch

[mkreku]

I'm 8 hours into Skyrim now and not a single bug so far. I have no idea why you guys call this game buggy. To me it looks very polished.

 

The game is much smoother and prettier than I had imagined. I have no idea how they make it look so good, yet run so flawlessly (I don't think I ever go under 60 fps).

 

I've killed my first dragon, but I failed to report back to the jarl yet. Too much to see and do everywhere! Oh, and the game sure as hell isn't too easy for me. I've been wandering around exploring and some of the enemies have kicked my butt. Brutally. Not at all like Oblivion.

 

Having fun so far and it's been much better than expected.

[entrerix]

skyrim was/is top shelf entertainment, i think i've played it over 200 hundred hours since release

[Raithe]

Wait until you start recognising the same voice speaking for a dozen characters...

[Serrano]

 

 

FTL doesn't seem very balanced. I take my time, gather resources, never have problems with any of the enemies I face... then I get to the final area and I get murdalized by scouts.

 

What gives?

 

It's a roguelike so luck is intended to be a big factor and the game is weighted towards being difficult/neigh impossible. The idea is to create replayability, tension, a greater sense of accomplishment when you win and a much bigger sense of reward when something good happens.  

 

In this  case that involves what ways you can equip your ship.  If you're always getting murderized by the scouts then you need a rough idea of what changes you need to make to your ship to survive them and also beat the last boss and then spend every playthrough working towards that. I know that's obvious and probably sounds snarky but that is the core element of the genre of game you're playing and it's supposed to be that frustraiting. It's why I don't play FTL much .  

 

 

No no, I get it, I have experience with roguelikes. But consistently, over six playthroughs, I have gone through the game without trouble and getting fully upgraded. For example, on my last ship, I had good weapons, good drone systems, stealth, full shields, upgraded engines, enough crew to have expendables and more than enough resources. In the second to last area, I could pretty much kill any enemy I came across in one or two volleys. Then in the end game, the first enemy I encounter gets me or turns me into a limping wreck. I find it hard to believe that six times I have had luck throughout the entire game and bad luck in the end. Just seems like the difficulty curve is terribly balanced. It makes trying again seem kinda pointless.

 

Sorry for making assumptions. I did find this, it won't help against the scouts (although Deraldin's advice probably will do the trick) but it has a lot of very detailed information on the final boss, full of spoilers though. 

[Humanoid]

I got the quest that supposedly initiates the Dark Brotherhood questline, but never got any further until literally dozens of (real life) hours later, at which point I had more or less had my fill of the game. See the thing is, other than for hardcore RPing reasons, the game doesn't really ever give you a reason to sleep....

 

The Thieves' Guild quest ....well, I found writing in the denouement so offensively stupid that I just tabbed to quit the conversation (a word of praise for Bethesda, all games need this function) and left. Well, I was going to murder everyone and leave, but *surprise*, plot armour.

[Hurlshort]

 

 

 

FTL doesn't seem very balanced. I take my time, gather resources, never have problems with any of the enemies I face... then I get to the final area and I get murdalized by scouts.

 

What gives?

 

It's a roguelike so luck is intended to be a big factor and the game is weighted towards being difficult/neigh impossible. The idea is to create replayability, tension, a greater sense of accomplishment when you win and a much bigger sense of reward when something good happens.  

 

In this  case that involves what ways you can equip your ship.  If you're always getting murderized by the scouts then you need a rough idea of what changes you need to make to your ship to survive them and also beat the last boss and then spend every playthrough working towards that. I know that's obvious and probably sounds snarky but that is the core element of the genre of game you're playing and it's supposed to be that frustraiting. It's why I don't play FTL much .  

 

 

No no, I get it, I have experience with roguelikes. But consistently, over six playthroughs, I have gone through the game without trouble and getting fully upgraded. For example, on my last ship, I had good weapons, good drone systems, stealth, full shields, upgraded engines, enough crew to have expendables and more than enough resources. In the second to last area, I could pretty much kill any enemy I came across in one or two volleys. Then in the end game, the first enemy I encounter gets me or turns me into a limping wreck. I find it hard to believe that six times I have had luck throughout the entire game and bad luck in the end. Just seems like the difficulty curve is terribly balanced. It makes trying again seem kinda pointless.

 

Sorry for making assumptions. I did find this, it won't help against the scouts (although Deraldin's advice probably will do the trick) but it has a lot of very detailed information on the final boss, full of spoilers though. 

 

 

Holy moly, I'm never going to defeat the end boss.  I've never even made it past the 1st stage!

[Orogun01]

I'm 8 hours into Skyrim now and not a single bug so far. I have no idea why you guys call this game buggy. To me it looks very polished.

 

The game is much smoother and prettier than I had imagined. I have no idea how they make it look so good, yet run so flawlessly (I don't think I ever go under 60 fps).

 

I've killed my first dragon, but I failed to report back to the jarl yet. Too much to see and do everywhere! Oh, and the game sure as hell isn't too easy for me. I've been wandering around exploring and some of the enemies have kicked my butt. Brutally. Not at all like Oblivion.

 

Having fun so far and it's been much better than expected.

I guess they've worked out most bugs by now, but the bad dungeon design is irreparable. 

[Keyrock]

I'm 8 hours into Skyrim now and not a single bug so far. I have no idea why you guys call this game buggy. To me it looks very polished.

 

The game is over 2 years old, I would sure hope they have most of the bugs ironed out by now.

[Humanoid]

I still get that Cheyenne's eyes floating out the side bug in New Vegas....

[ManifestedISO]

I'm 8 hours into Skyrim now and not a single bug so far. I have no idea why you guys call this game buggy. To me it looks very polished.

 

It was a long, long period inbetween versions 1.1 and 1.9. Even on the Xbox, there were several quest-breakers and numerous odd glitches. PS3 players had it worst of all, though. Still, I banged out 600 hours on console, and am playing right now on PC. I have 60 hours so far, and no broken quests or bugs yet. The mod with prettier female faces is a nice touch ...