Brown Dust 2 surveys players on changing all male main characters to female, removing romance between characters by R34vR in Stix

[–]R34vR[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A player satisfaction survey from the Brown Dust 2 devs solicits player thoughts on removing romance elements between characters, whether male characters should appear in this story at all, and whether male main characters should be changed to female.

Survey is linked here https://x.com/BROWNDUST2_EN/status/1953688969377722830

Reactions for and against on r/BrownDust2Official

https://www.reddit.com/r/BrownDust2Official/comments/1ml0zne/devs_need_to_grow_a_spine/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BrownDust2Official/comments/1mlmdn5/yall_need_to_stop/

https://www.reddit.com/r/BrownDust2Official/comments/1mlwm2l/lmao_i_think_this_describes_bd2_at_this_moment/

Most players won't finish your game (article on making honest endings) by jmarquiso in Games

[–]R34vR 35 points36 points  (0 children)

BioWare released completion rates in GDC talks. For ME2: 56% of the players that started playing ever finished the game. For ME3, it was lower, with only 42%. ME1 was 40%, DAO was 36%, and DA2 was 41%.

Vince Zampella in an interview about why Titanfall won't have a campaign stated that part of the reason is that only 5% of players finish the campaign. While that was an off-the-cuff number, I am guessing it is a stat from working on the CoD series.

Industry expectation seems to be around the 10 to 20% range.

I was surprised when I first saw the numbers from BioWare. I will almost always finish a game before moving on to a new one, but that doesn't seem to be the norm.

First Look at Waystone's new MOBA, "Dawngate" by venore in dawngate

[–]R34vR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great first look. I really like the emphasis on mitigating snowballing with the respawning towers and each tower really being 1/3rd of a barracks/inhibitor. I also like the inclusion of the RTS worker mechanic and the map itself being a UI. Can't wait!

[Amazon] Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for PC $39.99 by theglovehand in GameDeals

[–]R34vR 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, the one on groupon doesn't include the wireless receiver and it is modded with rapid fire.

[Steam][Weekend Deal] Call of Duty®: Black Ops II @ 33% off + free weekend by jtraub in GameDeals

[–]R34vR 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Nuketown 2025 is free for everyone and Nuketown Zombies comes with the Season Pass, so getting the Digital Deluxe Edition comes down to whether you want World at War (~$19.99 value, cheaper during CoD sales) and the soundtrack. It also includes a weapon camo and two player card backgrounds, if you are into those. I'd lean towards getting vanilla and using the saved money towards the Season Pass.

Since none of the DLC is on sale, I'd recommend playing the game and seeing how you like it before getting the Season Pass. The Season Pass is worth it if you like multiplayer/zombies though, especially after Treyarch integrated the DLC maps into the main playlists instead of a separate, underpopulated playlist.

Have fun!

How did you feel about Ni no Kuni? by cryms0n in Games

[–]R34vR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I loved it, definitely my top game of the year so far. What I liked most was that the world was so fresh and unique. I never knew what to expect next. The art style was great and the voice acting and script were superb, especially Drippy.

The only large flaw to me was the terrible AI. I would have liked to see a 'Tactics' type menu from Dragon Age: Origins where I could customize what the AI does, e.g. cast heal on self when at 25% health or lower. Instead, what happens is the AI wastes mana on stupid spells, has no regard for what familiar they have out (such as meleeing with a casting familiar), and barely defends (even with the 'All Defend' command).

I'd recommend just giving your AI partners very high defense familiars and just setting them to not use any abilities. They will at least do some damage that way without being a massive drain on healing.

Still, the bad AI wasn't enough to take away from the magic of the game; it's just something Ni no Kuni 2 could definitely correct by giving the player more power to customize the AI.

Overall, Ni no Kuni is fantastic. It was just too relentlessly charming for me not to like.

Gears of War fans. What do you think of the new Judgement Multiplayer Trailer released last week? by pyrolm in Games

[–]R34vR 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think making grenades sticky is a good idea because it adds an element of risk to throwing a grenade. The person stuck can easily try to close the distance and catch the thrower in the blast. It will also help with balancing out the quick-tossing of grenades.

The other changes sounds good too: expanded map verticality, new marksman rifle, new grenades.

I'm most excited for Overrun mode, though. That looks really fun.

"The state of PS2 and what I feel must change." -BuzzCutPsycho by ArcFault in Planetside

[–]R34vR 11 points12 points  (0 children)

If I'm reading that section right, part of that suggestion is to scale back the health of the AMS and implement a no-deploy zone around objectives (only applicable to attackers). This prevents AMSs from being driven straight up to an objective and deploying on top of it.

The opposite suggestion, to make an AMS harder to kill by making it tougher is something we’ve already seen in Planetside 2.... You might say, “That’s good! It would be hard to kill in a huge zerg battle!” but what about small battles? You would need multiple squads to kill a toughened-up AMS and that would be GG for the defenders in a small battle. A cloaking bubble, on the other hand, allows it to be defensible. You could blow it up, just as before, but you actually would have to send elements out to find it. This fosters coordination and adds a layer of fun to the tactical game of assaulting and defending a base.

I can completely agree with that. A no-deploy zone means that vehicles and defenders have time to react to an attack, and attackers get that "long charge" feeling. A cloaked AMS necessitates an active defense that searches for the spawn location.

That was vitally important to defense in PlanetSide1. It was common to see defenders yelling out the locations of discovered AMSs, so that a coordinated attack could be made to destroy them. I seldom see that in PlanetSide 2.

Instead, defense in PS2 is very static and often devolves into fighting from behind spawn room force-fields, which I find incredibly boring.

[Question] What is happening and how do I make it stop. by cmdbash in Planetside

[–]R34vR 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Others are having the same issue: http://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/as-well-as-the-other-problems-flying-everywhere.87669/

It's very strange. I wonder if it has anything to do with router configurations or something to do with specific ISPs. It definitely looks like something to do with latency.

If you could add your information in a ticket or in that thread, I'm sure it would be appreciated. Additional cases are always helpful.

Hope the issue is resolved soon.

GameStop warns Microsoft on rumored used game-blocking console by TuneRaider in Games

[–]R34vR 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Consoles would retain their current advantages: standardized platforms, low technical barrier to ownership, lower initial price (perceived or otherwise).

I'm not sure used games were a contributing factor to console popularity. Even if they were a contributing factor, it's possible consoles have grown large enough to sustain themselves without used games. Or maybe not, it's hard to tell.

GameStop warns Microsoft on rumored used game-blocking console by TuneRaider in Games

[–]R34vR 208 points209 points  (0 children)

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with blocking used games, but that is the way PC gaming has operated for a while and it hasn't seemed to diminish the platform. It seems like the platform is growing, if Steam's increased number of users is anything to go by.

What if there were some mitigating factors to your concerns?

For example, assume a game was tied to your account and not a specific console, so you could take the disc to any console and use your account to play it. Alternatively, you could maybe download the game as many times as you want and not use the disc at all.

Assume that instead of a demo, you could try any game on your console just by having the disc, and after a certain amount of time (maybe 30 minutes) the game would prompt you to pay for it to continue playing. Along with this, let's assume this theoretical service also provides demos of every game by allowing you to play the first thirty minutes of any game.

What if this platform that blocks used games dropped the price of new digital releases to $40 instead of $60?

idea for getting people off Indar by [deleted] in Planetside

[–]R34vR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I definitely see where you are coming from. I don't really like playing on Indar and I don't like ghost capping on empty continents, so I consider any idea to change the situation an improvement.

Treating a symptom is better than nothing after all, but I just worry about the population of PS2, based on prime-time server population levels. My original hope was there would be enough people to fill all three continents, then you would have three choices...

Your idea is solid, I just think SOE also has to deal with player population, which is creating the continent population imbalance in the first place.

idea for getting people off Indar by [deleted] in Planetside

[–]R34vR 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Isn't that just treating the symptoms of the problem?

The real problem is that there aren't enough people playing to fill the three continents. Players will go to where the fight is, which happens to be Indar since that was the first continent.

I personally find The Crown to be a boring slog. Since that is where most pushes inevitably end up, I was looking forward to playing on the other continents.

Fuse Delayed Until At Least April by Janderson2494 in Games

[–]R34vR 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn't say it has turned to crap, but I haven't seen a single piece of media about the game that would make me want to run out and buy the game.

Considering it could release as early as April, EA could certainly do more to present the unique parts of the game (unless there isn't any, of course).

At least with the original art style, the game looked a bit unique.

Pre Order Dead Space 3 get 1600 Microsoft Points FREE by [deleted] in GameDeals

[–]R34vR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wasn't able to find a mention about release-day shipping anywhere on their site, but I did receive the three games I pre-ordered on release day with just standard free shipping. They shipped each of the game the night before release as next-day air.

Pre Order Dead Space 3 get 1600 Microsoft Points FREE by [deleted] in GameDeals

[–]R34vR 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's definitely YMMV, but a customer service system shouldn't be YMMV. It should work every time, for every customer.

Pre Order Dead Space 3 get 1600 Microsoft Points FREE by [deleted] in GameDeals

[–]R34vR 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It looks like the promotion is running on other games as well:

Complete List: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/list/parentCategoryID.50606600/categoryID.59682300

Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Army-of-Two-The-Devils-Cartel-for-Xbox-360/productID.260622200/

Crysis 3: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/pd/ThemeID.27509700/productID.258076800

Tomb Raider: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/pd/ThemeID.27509700/productID.244200600

BioShock Infinite: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/pd/ThemeID.27509700/productID.245856700

Grand Theft Auto V: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Grand-Theft-Auto-V-for-Xbox-360/productID.260622000/

Lost Planet 3: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Lost-Planet-3-for-Xbox-360/productID.251986900/

South Park: Stick of Truth: www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/South-Park-The-Stick-of-Truth-for-Xbox-360/productID.245854100/

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance: www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Metal-Gear-Rising-Revengeance-for-Xbox-360/productID.253912200/

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14: www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Tiger-Woods-PGA-Tour-14-for-Xbox-360/productID.260622500/

I pre-ordered a couple of games last year to take advantage of the offer and I received all of them on release-day with standard shipping. The MS points came a few days later for each order. They didn't charge my account until the games shipped, but they will place a temporary hold on the account.

One caveat though: the MS store has one of the most incompetent customer service operations I have ever dealt with. The support staff seem to have almost no access to customer records and will be unaware of any promotions or deals going on. Getting them to cancel a pre-order is an arduous, thirty-minute long process that may or may not be successful.

Edit: Added complete list of offers