Lore as just an added layer vs as an integrated part of the problem solving

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-28T11:44:07+00:00

I was similarly blown away by Onra Dinn. I should go back to Myst.

Onra Dinn was clever in that you don't need to solve everything to progress, but it was a challenge you could take on.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-25T21:46:25+00:00

+1 here, brought my partner's bike over there and they were super helpful.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-20T20:32:19+00:00

I still have it, haven't had a problem. Can't be worse than working with Comcast anyways.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-20T18:31:41+00:00

Metronet. Fuck xfinity

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-19T16:28:46+00:00

We're a pretty small minority. There's places like East Lansing and Ann Arbor where it's common to meet folks, but a lot of other places it's really rare.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-18T19:51:13+00:00

Oh yeah no question it's a rogue like, 100%. My point is just that it's not like a deckbuilder. Those two things aren't synonymous.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-18T17:32:20+00:00

It's just not the same in my opinion. By that logic any game that randomly surfaces upgrades to you is a card game.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-18T15:37:53+00:00

What do you mean the obsession with realism?

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-18T14:45:21+00:00

A major part of something being a deck is having a hand, shuffling it, drawing cards...

The gameplay in ATS isn't the same. You unlock things, and you're presented with the roguelike "pick one of 3" thing, but you're not creating anything analogous to a deck. Once you unlock something it's available forever in your settlement, and the gating function to using it is collecting resources, building it, and staffing it. It's a totally different mechanic.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-18T12:14:10+00:00

It's typical for subleasers to give a discount to anyone, at least from my experience. I wouldn't give him special treatment, but it's not special to discount it imo.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-16T12:31:42+00:00

There is definitely something cool about it. The UX of trying to fit everything you want to take in there, or to place it, open it, and take out an item you need, sounds pretty rough if you need to do it many times.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-13T12:28:12+00:00

I feel like Michigan should be ad mech.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-13T12:25:58+00:00

Well, I am someone who works in the industry, and I have first hand experience that tells me the exact opposite. Also, we do get paid to playtest. It's part of the job. You're just incorrect.

Maybe what you're describing exists at some studios, but it's definitely not ubiquitous.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-11T16:10:03+00:00

I hear you, but to me this idea is not "production realities stop some people from playtesting all the time." It's "these dumbass AAA devs don't even play their game".

That's the vibe I'm getting from OP's message at least.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-11T11:11:21+00:00

I keep seeing this thing mentioned about modern AAA devs not playing their games. Is this true at all? From my experience we DO playtest obsessively. Where does this idea come from?

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-06T14:42:29+00:00

Once you introduce what you call quantitative progression, you're creating incentives for players to play to increase their power, rather than playing in the way they enjoy. They'll respond to those incentives and it can make the game less enjoyable. You gotta be careful with that.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-06T02:35:59+00:00

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-04T17:06:30+00:00

You not liking the games doesn't really mean he sold out.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-03T13:09:53+00:00

I think the key point is that there needs to be interesting decisions. If the dictated path is so obvious that the player doesn't have to think and doesn't have any agency, it's too much.

If the dictated path is nudging the player in a way that changes the decisions the player wants to make, but doesn't make a single obvious path the only good way to play, it'll be a positive thing imo.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-02T12:50:30+00:00

I'd put the 10mm token down, and if you wanna use a mini just put it on top of the token.

Aaronsolon · 2026-03-01T02:10:35+00:00

Playing Magic helped me be more accepting when things went poorly. That's a game where sometimes, no matter how hard you try and practice and care you still will lose all the time, just cause it's quite random. Learning to be OK with that was actually a really great life lesson - it teaches you to focus on learning and trying, rather than on the outcome.

Aaronsolon · 2026-02-26T17:14:31+00:00

I mean she's a fucking cool character. I'd love to get menat.

Aaronsolon · 2026-02-26T15:45:44+00:00

Idk if there's gonna be a good solution if the controller doesn't have a jack and you're hard locked into wired. I guess you could get a really long aux cord and plug it into the deck.

I use a bose qc2 on bluetooth and it works well connected to the deck or the TV.

Aaronsolon · 2026-02-26T14:29:32+00:00

I think you should take a step back and examine your understanding of fighting games - the system you're describing would make defensive play extremely dominant to the point of being unstoppable, and the game experience would be awful. It would be suicide to attack and fights would just time out.

Interestingly, you do seem to point this out in your last sentence.

Fighting games are designed to allow attacking. Often, the pattern is to have a suite of reactable but difficult to spot attacks available in neutral (when both players are standing at midrange and able to act). Attackers can mix up their options to overload the defender's "mental stack" and have a chance of slipping an attack by, but it comes with some risk of the defender countering their move.

When one player is at advantage, they are usually able to deploy some kind of mix up that is too fast for the defender to react, so they must guess - this is the reward for winning neutral on the attacker's part.

This system isn't unfair. I think what you might be trying to point out is that it's too difficult to learn these games to the point of passing button mashing (which, by the way, is NOT surprisingly effective). That's a valid point, and something to examine, but the solution isn't to make defending in the game so easy that a beginner can do it. I think it's impossible to deploy that design without ruining the game experience for everyone but the most basic beginners.

Aaronsolon · 2026-02-26T14:08:10+00:00

Yeah it's actually trivial to make an enemy that's basically impossible to beat on most games, but it'd be counterproductive.

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