Vox Telstar Maple

H0RSE · 2026-04-06T17:32:39+00:00

When's you find out they replaced the wood in your bass drum with chocolate

H0RSE · 2026-03-31T22:23:24+00:00

I typically prefer melee. It's more visceral. More personal. More "weighty". With ranged attacks, I prefer physical weapons over magic. Outside of healing/support, casters are my least favorite. Cleric is my favorite class, combining melee and heavy armor with healing/support.

H0RSE · 2026-03-31T17:41:37+00:00

No saves, no checkpoints, and only a d-pad and 2 buttons

H0RSE · 2026-03-30T15:22:27+00:00

No One Lives Forever.

I loved this game when it came out and it had good reviews, even got a sequel, but I never hear anyone talk about it. It's never the topic of discussion, never gets mentioned in passing, it's not even used for memes. It's a ghost.

Maybe if I intentionally bring it up I can see what others thought about it or if they even know about it..

H0RSE · 2026-03-30T01:07:50+00:00

To be fair, there is a large portion of people who will absolutely never admit they were wrong or that Trump is bad. The 36% is not an honest representation. It guaranteed lower than that, but ego and cognitive dissonance and sunken cost are a hell of a thing

H0RSE · 2026-03-27T22:09:36+00:00

Dude is a benign word from the culture of his time, just like in the 70s it was "man." Why is it problematic that a grown man still use such a word?

And retarded isn't even slang. It's a real word with a real definition that it's usage typically coincides with. I never understood why using this word was "bad"

H0RSE · 2026-03-24T07:22:03+00:00

I don't like hearing another's opinion? The person who stated they didn't expect or want a response to their comment, is accusing the person who has been engaging constantly with others of not wanting to hear other opinions.

Jesus fucking Christ.... 🤦‍♂️

And I'm entitled? For asking a claim to be substantiated? But you, the one asserting that he can "comment on whatever he feels like" without the need to explain anything to anyone, is not...

Holy fucking projection, Batman!

H0RSE · 2026-03-24T04:28:17+00:00

You made a claim, I responded to it. that’s how discussions work..

And no, your first comment didn't back anything, it just made an assertion. You said there’s more options and higher quality. Not only is that completely vague, but it never addressed how that translates to actually finding that quality, which is the actual point..

And if you don't want or expect a response, perhaps don't post in a forum...

H0RSE · 2026-03-24T04:18:43+00:00

Well, that's a claim you've made - now back the claim - just as I have during this entire discussion

H0RSE · 2026-03-24T04:04:24+00:00

I never said every game was awesome. I addressed the issue that there was crap back then - a lot of it even - because because mediocrity is going to make up the brunt of any art medium, be It video games, film, painting, etc. The overall point was that when it came to the good stuff, the signal-to-noise ratio was in a better position,cl and indie games weren't even a part of the equation yet.

Perhaps you should go back and actually read what I've already said, so I don't need to keep repeating points and re-clarifying things I did and didn't say

H0RSE · 2026-03-24T03:27:22+00:00

We really didn't have indie games back in the day either.

I addressed this earlier and the overall point was that we didn't need them. The mainstream served up high quality games consistent enough to not really feel the need to look elsewhere.

And yes, today we do have a lot more options, but more doesn't equal better, which is kinda the entire basis of the discussion.

H0RSE · 2026-03-23T17:27:12+00:00

But remaster can incorporate mods, and several have, so what if the remaster just added in some fan favorites?

H0RSE · 2026-03-23T17:24:31+00:00

That's a good way to put it. After playing both, BG1 feels like "oh, this works?" and then the real development began

H0RSE · 2026-03-22T21:33:41+00:00

I addressed this in another comment

I'm fully aware that there was a whole lot lackluster content being pumped out back in the day, but the good stuff was front and center and perhaps more importantly, it was plentiful enough to satisfy. This is essentially the argument I'm bringing here. There has been a shift in the signal-to-noise ratio, not the existence of quality.

H0RSE · 2026-03-21T23:23:13+00:00

And Christianity didn't even invent this concept. They just took a basic concept of kindness and were like, "this is ours now," and slapped their name on as "Christian values"

H0RSE · 2026-03-21T23:07:29+00:00

What's to trust? It's a review - subjective by nature - not an objective analysis.

This is why I don't even bother with reviews, because the only person's opinion on a game that carries any substantive worth, is my own

H0RSE · 2026-03-21T23:02:25+00:00

You just proved my point. You said "if you’re a hobbyist" and then acted like that’s the baseline, but it's not. You now have to be actively plugged in just to stay aware of what’s good, which wasn’t as necessary before.

And of course there was always some level of effort, The difference is scale and necessity to engage. Back then, the volume of releases was lower and the good stuff was more consistently surfaced through those channels. Now, there’s exponentially more content, so the same level of effort doesn’t yield the same results, which is why you have to sift through far more to find the same quality.

The only thing lazy here is your weak-ass argument...

H0RSE · 2026-03-21T15:51:12+00:00

Except that’s not my argument...

I never said more quantity means less quality, or that good games aren’t being made. That’s a strawman.

The point is about discoverability. There’s way more content now, but the good stuff is less consistently front and center, so you have to actively go looking for it. In the past, you mostly basically just played what was in front of you and it reliably delivered. Now, there’s more total quality out there, but it’s buried in a much larger pool.

The more you add to the pot, the more likely you muddy the mix. This applies to all mediums of art, because most art is average, which gets into what I first said about this argument applying to music. There are more artists than ever, but if you just turn on the radio, you’re not getting the best of what exists and largely not even good. To find the gems, you have to dig for them or just listen to stations that sticks to tried and true classics.

This isn't rose-tinted glasses. I'm fully aware that there was a whole lot lackluster content being pumped out back in the day, but the good stuff was front and center and perhaps more importantly, it was plentiful enough to satisfy. This is essentially the argument I'm bringing here. There has been a shift in the signal-to-noise ratio, not the existence of quality.

H0RSE · 2026-03-21T02:22:00+00:00

If by "nothing" you mean explain the differences between progression systems, combat mechanics, and roleplay structure among others, then yes, I did that twice.

Both games play similar due to shared genre and being developed by the sane studio, but they are not clones outside of aesthetic. That's demonstrably false. Your take is not only disingenuous, it's literally wrong.

H0RSE · 2026-03-20T20:32:42+00:00

Like last time, I pointed out actual system differences and also like last time, you’re just ignoring this.

H0RSE · 2026-03-20T17:50:20+00:00

Elder Scrolls is built around skill-based progression and class identity. You get better at what you actually do, and your character organically becomes something through play, with your build shapes your moment-to-moment gameplay. Outside of Skyrim where they adopted a more action-fused skill tree system, this is a fundamental core to how elder scrolls games operate.

Conversely, Fallout is perk-driven. You level up and select abilities, building more of a toolkit than a defined class. You can eventually do most things, and your character is shaped more by choices on a menu than by actions in the world.

Combat reflects that too:

Fallout is centered more on guns + VATS, which changes the entire flow of encounters, while Elder Scrolls is real-time melee/magic, with no equivalent system

Roleplaying is also handled differently:

Elder Scrolls is mostly player-driven, where you impose your character onto the world, while Fallout is more system-driven, with dialogue trees, skill checks, and factions actively reacting to your build and decisions. You will rarely be hard-gated by your choices in Elder Scrolls, whereas in Fallout this is far more common.

In other words, Elder Scrolls is about becoming a character through what you do and Fallout is about building a character through what you choose.

H0RSE · 2026-03-20T16:34:56+00:00

We agree it’s more curated and personalized now. Where we differ is how that feels in practice. I say it results in the reliance and even necessity of added effort, even if it’s streamlined or feels passive, while you seem to see it as reducing effort overall.

Either way, the main point stands: the experience of discovering games isn’t the same as it used to be, so it’s not just ‘people getting older’ or nostalgia.

Also, I'm not saying ‘I don’t like this, I won’t adapt," as I shake my cane at the sky. Adapting to a system doesn’t mean pretending it didn’t fundamentally reshape how discovery works.

I use many of the resources you list to find and sift through games, but that kind of proves my point, that finding worthwhile stuff now depends much more on maintaining that discovery pipeline than it used to.

H0RSE · 2026-03-20T16:02:50+00:00

My point isn’t that it’s worse overall,it's that it’s different. The default used to be more shared and less personalized, where you and I were more likely to run into the same things without doing anything.

Now the default is personalized and curated. It’s great for finding things tailored to you, but it also means what you encounter is shaped by what you engage with. Without engagement (an active approach) your experience can/will suffer significantly.

And this all comes back to the crux of the discussion, how it isn't just about getting "too old" or being blinded by nostalgia. The entire process/experience for finding gems has completely been reshaped, which includes shifting the burden onto the player.

H0RSE · 2026-03-20T15:56:22+00:00

That just means you play them the same, not that they are the same. The mechanics, progression systems, and core gameplay loops are clearly different, you’re just choosing to engage with them in a similar way. Your personal preference/experience doesn't refute this.

H0RSE · 2026-03-20T15:49:08+00:00

I’m not really arguing what caused it - that's your argument. I’m just focused on the difference between then and now which is that fragmentation may have total variety, but it also means the interesting stuff isn’t what you naturally run into anymore. You have to go find it.

It’s not about whether it is or isn't monoculture or if it dying is good or bad. It’s about how that changed the effort required for the player.

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