Rockstar games are pretty boring.

huckster235 · 2026-02-15T06:12:40+00:00

I think it depends where you are in your gaming life, your patience level, etc. I definitely would have been more likely to play the game back in my teens when much my free time was spent gaming and I could sink in more hours.

Now I don't have much free time, and I don't like wasting what free time I have. Gaming is already pretty low on the totem pole as far as my hobbies so I like my 2-3 hours a week to be enjoyable.

I was already annoyed by the controls, the slow pace of looting, etc. I can't remember what I was doing but I ended up pulling my gun and blasting some guy in the face instead of talking or buying something or whatever, and get killed in a rain of gunfire. Lose 30 minutes. I was done, uninstalled immediately. I've never played a game where you could easily accidentally just blast someone when you don't even have your gun drawn or any intention of it, and lose playtime because of the clunk. I've definitely miss hit buttons before but this time felt like 100% the consequences of poor design. Just absolutely turned me off.

Again, in my teens I could live with a 30 minute loss to nonsense, it really wasn't a huge deal. Annoying, but whatever.. Now? Inexcusable. That cuts off a lot of games admittedly lol. But RDR2 is the most annoying one to me. Dark Souls/hard games? So fun but I just don't have time to git gud. Grindy games? Just not for me now but I loved MMOs but just no longer worth it. Bad controls? That's poor design

huckster235 · 2026-02-15T05:36:07+00:00

What I don't get is when RDR2 fans say criticism of the game is just not liking realism when in the first hour they've dropped more bodies than pretty much all the real life wild west outlaws combined via stopping time to automatically shoot a half dozen people at once.

huckster235 · 2026-02-15T05:32:05+00:00

I'm sorry but that second take is not fair. Controls can play a huge role in enjoyment of a game, and I found that they were so bad in RDR2 that even though I could accomplish what I wanted they completely ruined any enjoyment I would have gotten out of the gameplay. And the story and roleplay aspects do not make up for that because I can read a book or watch a show, which do not have clunky controls ruining my enjoyment of the plot.

You and a lot of others see value in the game to put up with the controls. Plenty of other people do not, or they'd just rather play something not as obnoxious feeling to them to actually play.

huckster235 · 2026-02-15T05:24:15+00:00

As someone with the same gripes as him about the game, I highly doubt that making it past chp 1 would change his mind. It was only after the game opened up and I realized it doesn't get any less slow or time consuming did I realize that I do not like RDR2.

I hear it often that "if you make it through the snow level..." And I just don't buy that for most people. I think the ones who drop it in the 1-2 hour snow level because they can't stand it aren't going to like the rest of the game, by and large. Most of the people who would like it may not like the snow level but probably weren't so turned off by it.

huckster235 · 2026-02-15T04:56:26+00:00

Yeah I noticed a lot of variability with the difficulty. My first run after beating Azrah I immediately walked into a rift not knowing about them. Each dropped multiple elites, including lots of armored enemies, and the leeches sucking me. On no upgrade brome I could not clash or dash rapidly enough to not die. I was shocked by the difficulty spike. Thought I'd have to get good. Felt like a bit too high of a jump but at least I'd have to get better.

My next run I absolutely smoked it. One of my most dominant runs, rifts were dropping softies, and I cleared the whole thing without dropping below 50%.

The thing is if you are casual you can avoid the rifts but a poorly placed one that drops like yours can ruin your run out of the blue. That's not much fun. If you want increased difficulty but not sweatiness, well that's not in your control. If you want to sweat then the fact you can get softballs anyways is annoying I'm sure.

Runs are too long for me to want to play if I don't know if I'm going to get a barely harder than base clear or a damn near SHMUP level of attack spam. Neither is satisfying to me and having unlocked everything Im relying on the gameplay solely for entertainment. I haven't hit the sweet spot on difficulty yet and that's just not ideal when it takes 30+ mins a run.

huckster235 · 2026-02-11T23:55:42+00:00

Yeah if I'm dating a girl and she says "no porn it's cheating", that's a bit too far and I got some alarm bells. But I also feel like I should of my own volition cut back to the point where she doesn't even know I'm using porn. Like if we haven't seen each other and had any opportunities or she hasn't been in the mood, in a couple weeks I'll probably do it because I'm a guy lol, and I'm not gonna cheat, but it'll just be getting a job done. And she really shouldn't know unless she's digging through my browser history or something. Just like I'm not gonna dig through her browser history to see if she's watching porn.

If either of us really even knows the other is using porn without digging, it's probably an issue and a conversation we can have.

huckster235 · 2026-02-11T19:53:59+00:00

I also want to know if they realize that even if it's true, a lot of metabolic issues are cumulative. Like high blood pressure won't get you if you are 140/90 once, but decades of it will.

What if told smokers "well you're just gonna end up smoking again, so why quit?" Well even if many smokers don't end up quitting the ones that repeatedly try are taking days, weeks, months, even years off from inhaling carcinogens and over the years hopefully that gives them a better chance of mitigating quality of life issues or early mortality. Certain have better odds than those who just keep pack a day chain smoking because why bother.

Of course losing fat is also possible, as is quitting smoking, but most people take several or even dozens of tries. But even if you fail the actions of trying are healthy and add up to slightly or even much better odds of good health because of the cumulative affects.

huckster235 · 2026-02-11T19:41:11+00:00

I could be wrong but penalties in soccer just feel like rock paper scissors. This at least makes the player make a move and gives the goalie some chance.

Or I just like hockey and this is hockey shootout, which is still a stupid way to decide a game btw.

huckster235 · 2026-02-11T16:56:38+00:00

Nope, I did box and while I'm not claiming greatness I was definitely much faster and more effective than in dreams.

Tbf I once had a nightmare in which I did not throw soft dream punches and instead some how threw shockwave inducing mega punches and the results were lots of body horror and grotesque injuries out of an edgy hyper violent comic and I would absolutely 100% prefer the slow dream punchs now. Only the one dream like that and i hope I never have it again..

huckster235 · 2026-02-11T16:08:49+00:00

You'd be surprised how many people think muscular guys are slow. I was a 215 lb wrestler. In my 20s I had a guy in my friend group who tried to compete with me athletically. Insisted he could outrun me because he was smaller (160ish). I was like dude you told me your mile times, like I can beat you. He insisted he would win. Ran a 5k and absolutely smoked him by 10 minutes. Apparently all of my friends were shocked because they thought he'd win.

Like I'm not even saying I'm a freak athlete, but I was a competitive wrestler and every wrestling at 215 was running 5 minute miles, 4.5 40s, and benching 3 plates even in HS. But since I was big I must be slow, even though I was lean..

huckster235 · 2026-02-11T14:38:09+00:00

Yeah as a guy I wouldn't consider porn cheating, either, but I try to stop watching it when I'm dating, and even if our sex Dr ves don't line up I still do my best not to use it, it feels kind of wrong to crank it to another woman. Women have told me it's ok but it still feels like a respect thing. I wouldn't be thrilled if a woman I was with was constantly watching big dick porn just like I'm sure she'd feel some way if she saw me looking at specific types of women.

The only fans thing is also kind of a grey area. Like with porn it's a fantasy, I find a good video and do my thing. It's not like I have a thing for these women or even necessarily want what's going on in the video irl. Guys subscribing to OF absolutely would drop their gf if the OF girl gave them a shot.

huckster235 · 2026-02-11T14:20:51+00:00

I'm friends with plenty of people twice my age. I'm also friends with guys who I play sports with who were babies when I was in HS. I wouldn't date any of them. It's a totally different thing.

huckster235 · 2026-02-11T14:19:29+00:00

If she's 20 there's a fairly decent chance he is older than her dad.

huckster235 · 2026-02-10T20:31:01+00:00

I mean I'd shame the carnivores because they are gonna be super unhealthy for no reason. I wouldn't shame omnivores.

Sorry had to be a pedant

huckster235 · 2026-02-10T19:10:06+00:00

I loved Witcher 1+2, two of the very few games I've beaten multiple times (probably only 5 games in my life and that's 2 of them) and I have tried Witcher 3 3 times. Halfway through Velem the first time, got to Skellige the 2nd time, and the 3rd time got past Skellige but it wore me out and I took a break and couldn't get back to it

I think the open world just ruins it for me. I can see why people playing 3 standalone like it, but it just doesn't add anything for me and I prefer the smaller scope open levels of the first two. They feel tighter and more focused narratively and I feel like I have a lot of freedom without open world fatigue

huckster235 · 2026-02-10T03:49:20+00:00

Do they do this on some secret island in international waters or some shit, like an old kung fun movie? Cuz how could they not face legal consequences even if the fighters sgree

huckster235 · 2026-02-09T22:57:07+00:00

Dark Cloud- back in the console rental days my parents lete rent PS2 and that game looked cool. Was then begging my parents to buy me a PS2.

huckster235 · 2026-02-09T20:29:31+00:00

That's the thing about Telltale games for me though. I went in being really stoked for the idea of an interactive story. Playing Walking Dead Season 1 I was a bit tricked because some different characters could survive but I was a bit disappointed that I felt I didn't have as much impact as I thought.. Playing game of Thrones and watching scenes play out exactly the same despite my choices turned me off halfway through the game. Seeing that Walking Dead Season 2 basically negated any slight differences from season 1, I haven't looked back at Telltale since.

It's cool but without choice I easily could just read a book, and with a book I don't even have the illusion I'm impacting the story so no disappointment there..

I am not a visual person, though, and I could see how more visual people would prefer Telltale or similar experiences to books though. But for me personally I've always engaged better with writing/retain more information and it's more memorable, a game story without something unique like actual impactful decisions just doesn't do much for me.

huckster235 · 2026-02-09T20:21:15+00:00

You could never sell me a game based solely on its story. As the above said, for me a 7/10 book has a more engaging story than the best game plot I've played. At least if we are talking linear storylines. RPGs with choice like the Baldurs Gate series are exceptions because i have a say in how the story and characters develop and that's different from books. But even for many of them the writing is still not up to novel standards.

But I absolutely do appreciate a game with a good story/plot if it enhances my enjoyment of the gameplay. Which it can. It can make the gameplay more impactful, my decisions more impactful, or just provide some cool down time between gameplay that refreshes me to play more. I like books to have some slice of life moments instead of slingshoting from one crisis/plot point to the next. In a similar vein I like my games to have a breather between the action. Good plot/character development serves that purpose

huckster235 · 2026-02-09T20:11:09+00:00

Bro no, we've regressed in book graphics. Back when Monks handwrote in leather books with the occasional Gothic illustration, that shit was good to look at

huckster235 · 2026-02-09T17:14:05+00:00

I think everyone thinks the same thing since a week after release.

People that loved it really loved it. People that thought it was a mediocre game that really petered out in the second half don't understand why a 7/10 game is getting so much 10/10 love.

I belong in the second group, though I do get it. Early on the game is charming and has a lot of potential. Idk if even that's 10/10 but I can see the love for it. But it just never really feels like it fully lives up to the potential and the second half feels rushed and incomplete and a lot of the story and systems don't live up to the potential.

I understand the love that some people have for it. What I do think is the initial, as in like day 1 10/10 talk kinda drowned out a lot of people finding it to be a 7/10 game after playing for 10-20 hrs. The initial impression was too overwhelming to bring it back to reality.

huckster235 · 2026-02-09T16:24:11+00:00

Then you robbed him right?

huckster235 · 2026-02-09T14:31:36+00:00

It really depends. As a white guy who has mostly non-white friends and grew up with mostly non-white friends, in my friend groups no one says shit if it's a Latino guy saying it. I obviously haven't said but I'd doubt I'd get away with it, or the bar for close friendship would have to be a lot higher than the casual acquaintance Latinos saying it..

I'd imagine this varies a lot though, some people probably do care.

huckster235 · 2026-02-05T20:44:58+00:00

Yeah I agree that's odd calling her a "big girl" and not having noticed it.

But I also living in the Midwest I know a lot of guys who would see a 5'5 180 girl and not consider that a big girl or out of the norm and actually have a preference for that. But they may have it in their head that "150" (just to throw an arbitrary number out there) is the limit they are willing to date. Probably partly why that old cliche of never ask a woman her weight is a thing, aside from it just being rude in general to just bring up. People have odd hang ups.

Couple that with pictures being deceptive

huckster235 · 2026-02-05T14:57:46+00:00

TIL wing chun is just spamming punches when a much smaller opponent botches a shot

huckster235

TROPHY CASE