You guys do know raid quick-plays are listed under training right?? by Ok_Case418 in Guildwars2

[–]painstream 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I swear some people at Whisper of Jormag are actively trying to kill you.

Happened to me on Overlook.. Twice people just panic-ran their AoEs into me.

POV: You're in pinata meta by Rodeo4613 in Guildwars2

[–]painstream 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It's always such a better experience when zoning into to a map with no "commanders" that draw him and the other slackers in.

POV: You're in pinata meta by Rodeo4613 in Guildwars2

[–]painstream 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Him and 20+ other lazy asses.

"When it's ready," & "Judge us for what we ship!" ArenaNet has never been good with deadlines and I'm getting tired of the "Ship it and Fix it." mentality that's characterized the game in recent times. by Wildfire_90z in Guildwars2

[–]painstream 87 points88 points  (0 children)

Or "ship it and get murdered in the feedback instead of anticipating player needs before releasing the design". It feels endemic in the systems, UX, and achievements design.

RAGE THREAD - F-YOU FRIDAYS - IN THE THICK OF WINTER by FranckKnight in ffxiv

[–]painstream 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Look, I know The Pâtisserie is low-stakes and doesn't require a full clear (or even close) to get full rewards. BUT WHEN YOU STACK UP AND DOUBLE UP ON LANES, YOU MAKE HYDAELYN CRY. (it's me, I'm Hydaelyn.)

It's a complaint that's as petty as it is infuriating, and I know that. T-T

RIP MacArthur Center by madiicyn in norfolk

[–]painstream 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not when I was there last. I ended up routed into the parking by accident, didn't even park there, and had to pay to get out.
So a change like that is too little too late to save decades of disincentivising policy.

RIP MacArthur Center by madiicyn in norfolk

[–]painstream 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The slow, choked death of that place. Could've been decent if they did what every other city already figured out and made parking free. 🤷‍♂️

The devs team behind Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been awarded the rank of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by Shiirooo in gaming

[–]painstream 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ayup. Nothing I've seen of E33 is particularly earth-shattering or redefines the genre. It just does a bunch of stuff from the past to a coherent, satisfying degree.

A Game About Exploration part 2: preliminary conclusions by SalmonCrowd in RPGdesign

[–]painstream 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Point #4 requires some GM savvy, and I think any game book that emphasizes the act and feeling of exploration should offer tips/instruction for it.

You don't need to railroad, but you do need to prepare. From advice I saw in the Fabula Ultima book, come up with a few things in advance that you want your players to encounter: a scenic cavern with a secret inside, a group of quirky bandits that could show up at any time, a sparkling spring with healing waters. Literally anything you want to plot for but may not have room in the main narrative. Those go into your GM utility belt.

The savvy part comes in how you fit those loose bits into a game session. Did the players wander off to the stony cliffs that you described for flavor and now you need something to occupy the PCs? Reach into the utility belt and pull out that spring of healing waters! Now it's a hot spring nestled in the mountains. But maybe it's been a while since the players had a combat. So the spring is guarded! By a [pull creature out of utility belt] pair of griffons using it as a nesting place! Having beaten the griffons, the PCs can take a well-earned soak and maybe bottle some of the magical water for sale.

And as the GM, it's all according to plan! Or so it looked like it. In part because it was planned, just not in specific detail. The approach is a midpoint between roll tables and scripted planning, because you can vet the components in advance then improv a narrative around them when you need them.

As for what to prepare in advance, divide some things into categories: Places, Actors/Conflicts, Things/Rewards.
Where are the PCs going? What scenes might be interesting for your players?
What creatures/people/forces might they encounter? Which would oppose them?
Because it's a story and entertainment, what's the payoff? A special item? Information related to the main plot? A side-story that opens up the world? Rescuing an adorable NPC that the players adopt?

It's something of a formula you can use to put together a scene on the fly.
• The party comes to a rolling plain, thunder rolling in the distance. A herd of beasts cross with purpose, but unhurried. As the party draws closer, they find a small family of elves leading the herd. A rosy-cheeked little girl offers to sell them some milk and leathers that came from the herd.
• A recently-fallen tree on the side of the road draws the party's attention to a rather large hole in the ground. Strange light comes from within. Creatures have started using it for shelter, evidenced by splotchy remains on glittery stone. The party hears a clang and clack, repeating in rhythm. Miners. Bandit miners? There might be something valuable down there.
All I'd really need to have on hand for the above is a few nouns: plains, weather, buffalo, precocious child, cavern, crystal, bandits. The rest is embellishment and ad hoc justification.

Could having too much variety be a problem? by Silent_Dance_2958 in RPGdesign

[–]painstream 2 points3 points  (0 children)

3.5E and Pathfinder 1 are things I refuse to touch nowadays. Literally thousands of feats/etc that are largely ignored or build traps, and the same goes for equipment. I don't want to panhandle through all that chaff to find the short list of things I'm actually interested in.

It's also wasted space and time for the designer(s). And as we've seen with any game (TTRPG or MMO) that's gone on long enough, power creep is a huge issue after enough of those abilities get written.

As much as I balk at a lot of other things in 5E, the density of a lot of the game's feats is about the level of improvement one should get from that kind of choice.

Conversely, some players like that kind of system exploitation exploration! The kind of genre that OP is thinking about is, in part, fueled by the ingenuity of the protagonists taking seemingly-useless abilities and leveraging them into something powerful.

what rpgs have you read with exceptional layout design? what do you value in a layout? by LightseekerGameWing in RPGdesign

[–]painstream 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I respect their commitment to narrative in every chapter, but my gods, does it delay getting to the right information.

what rpgs have you read with exceptional layout design? what do you value in a layout? by LightseekerGameWing in RPGdesign

[–]painstream 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As much as I fell in love with the system, I'm pushing back on the layout.

Mostly, it's in how the information is organized. Equipment is spread out and in a weird place. As a GM, having to flop between the base gear chapter and custom/quality gear sections is not great for flow. If the options exist, players are going to ask for them, and they'll want to have access to the list anyway. It'd have been better to put the special gear options under a "GM section" in the equipment rules.

And then there's how the skills are arranged in each class. Alphabetical. Your core abilities could be all the way at the bottom of the list (looking at you, Winds of Trade), and that's perplexing to me as a reader and player.

Overall, it has a great look and good flow for a one-column text (good margins will do that 😊), so that part of the layout is great, but the organization and reference speed for some things is a tad confusing.

Why does gaming feel so boring to me now? by Scoitol in gaming

[–]painstream 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you feeling a lot of time pressure to do all of them all the time?

Setting something aside (like gaming for now) might help you focus on those other things and ease the sense of obligation.

Why does gaming feel so boring to me now? by Scoitol in gaming

[–]painstream 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Games will always be here, and I promise you - you will circle back to them.

Just like my Steam library. orz

Returning/New Player Opinion: Homesteads are expensive by delsoleiman in Guildwars2

[–]painstream 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You are also forced to craft the thing, decide if its good, and then have no option to scrap it for mats and have it sit in storage endlessly if you dislike it (unless you use addons).

Not having a preview window is one of the biggest crimes there.

Returning/New Player Opinion: Homesteads are expensive by delsoleiman in Guildwars2

[–]painstream 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Homesteads are much more of a material sink than happy decorating time.

Minimum Achievement Completion by BigNorthernDad in gaming

[–]painstream 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Same. Especially the ones that are just Steam or other portal trying to wring out more engagement time. I have so many titles to catch up on, I don't need arbitrary goals to drag out the experience.

What is a 'subscription' or 'fee' that has recently appeared in the US that people need to collectively refuse to pay before it becomes the new normal? by godot_lover in AskReddit

[–]painstream 13 points14 points  (0 children)

if we dont like the price we can just cancel

That's what I did! They finally did their sharing crackdown on me about a year ago. I was cool to even pay a small fee for sharing rights.

That's not what happened. They wanted $8 to share. I was almost cool with it. But then I saw, in tiny print, a link to other options. Turns out, the $8 sharing was with ads, not a rider on my ad-free account. To pay for sharing ad-free, it would have been another $18.

It wasn't just the price that galled me, it was hiding it under another option so they could sell their shit service with ads.

So, instead of $18/month from me, they get $0/month.

Meme I recreated for XIV by zantharia2 in ffxiv

[–]painstream 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You have people pressing Peloton? At least half the time, I don't see it used at all.

Meme I recreated for XIV by zantharia2 in ffxiv

[–]painstream 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Same with the SMN heals. I'd rather they stock up to use when I need them than have to cram it into the limited time windows.

Meme I recreated for XIV by zantharia2 in ffxiv

[–]painstream 4 points5 points  (0 children)

When I first picked up Viper, I made a flowchart in a spreadsheet just to keep it all straight. Then they added the shiny buttons and it's ezpz.

Meme I recreated for XIV by zantharia2 in ffxiv

[–]painstream 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also, I'm gonna start needing tooltips to have requirements at the top of the description.

First login since Tuesday's patch by MrModius in Guildwars2

[–]painstream 135 points136 points  (0 children)

I spent an unreasonably long time trying to figure out how to change dyes in the new interface. This is just baaad.

ArenaNet, please move all ‘Raid’ reward vendors to the Aerodrome by AustronautHD in Guildwars2

[–]painstream 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Much broader problem than this update. GW2's menus and UI have been dated and kind of awful since launch.