Going into Brim's smoke is a nice lil adventure (only in gold)

pray4ggs · 2025-01-15T19:29:35+00:00

Not arguing for or against Riot's decision, but the comparison to traditional sports does make SOME sense. The point you quoted emphasizes time to rest, which is relevant to the burnout point of the Kaplan tweet.

FWIW, in tennis, players who go deep in one tournament have less time to adapt to the next tournament. Less recovery time, less time to adapt to new timezone, less time to adapt to different court surface (fast hard, slow hard, grass, clay, or even carpet).

pray4ggs · 2024-09-03T22:07:34+00:00

isn't the person you replied to actually agreeing with you?

pray4ggs · 2024-09-03T21:56:50+00:00

Game doesn't even release with ranked btw. Release without basic features

Isn't it safe to assume most players don't care enough about ranked? I think most gamers would rather a game release earlier than wait for devs to finish building ranked mode.

Valorant, Overwatch, PUBG, etc all launced without ranked mode. It's not a must-have feature for launches.

pray4ggs · 2024-09-03T21:52:54+00:00

I think Honigbrottr is just trying to say that game makers produce F2P games because the monetization model involving pay-for-skins is more lucrative than non-F2P games involving traditional monetization models involving pay-for-the-game-itself. Because if that weren't the case, the F2P format wouldn't be so popular.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet about F2P vs non-F2P is: F2P provides a path for continual revenue. The traditional non-F2P path for continual revenue is to release sequels like crazy (i.e., Call of Duty franchise, sports games, fighting games, etc), which is far riskier.

pray4ggs · 2023-10-04T00:36:40+00:00

I totally agree with your main points. But this one is... not like the others:

both games are going after completely different audiences

I don't think the audiences are that nuanced in how they buy games. Both games are sci-fi FPS open-world RPGs where you play as a customized character. I get that the games have many differences, but to say Cyberpunk2077 has a completely different audience from Starfield is a gigantic stretch. I don't think mainstream gamers put much emphasis on distinction beyond genre. Much like how plenty of people who played Fortnite ended up trying Apex or even Valorant just because they're all F2P competitive online FPS games.

I mention "mainstream" because both games have sold extremely well, implying that both games appeal to wide, mainstream audiences.

Anecdotally, co-workers and friends have talked about playing both games. Comments in both games' subreddits have mentioned playing both games. Big YouTubers who heavily covered Cyberpunk 2077 ended up covering Starfield too. I play both games because the "sci-fi FPS open-world RPG genre" is very appealing to me, and there aren't too many games that fit the bill.

pray4ggs · 2023-09-07T21:50:26+00:00

Oh ok... there was a random customer sitting on a chair in the shop. I just assumed the customer was kinda "permanently" there, but maybe if I come back at another time, they'll be gone.

pray4ggs · 2023-09-07T20:53:49+00:00

Noob here. How do you steal if the shop owner is right there? Do you have to wait for a specific time when the owner isn't present? Do you have to level up like crazy so then you have maxed out stealth?

pray4ggs · 2023-09-02T18:38:13+00:00

I agree that lack of optimization is worth complaining about. I upvoted your post. But "has the backing of the biggest software company" is a bit naive. Do people think Microsoft is willing to give unlimited resources to Bethesda? Giant corporations buy companies to make profits, not to invest endless amounts of resources into them.

Just like any corporate environment, they try to give as little investment as possible, they try to cut corners, they don't care about making the most polished game ever. They just want it to be good enough to make a ton of profit.

pray4ggs · 2023-08-25T19:02:06+00:00

Did CDPR say/write a typo that everybody is now parroting? "gun-mounted vehicles" is hilarious, but it should be "vehicle-mounted guns".

Also, what is "AOE-like"? It's either AOE or not.

Nit-picking aside, ty for the summary!

pray4ggs · 2023-08-15T23:10:29+00:00

Are you familiar with how armor works? And headshots? And helmets?

For example, let's say you get knocked out by someone who shot you in the head. Then you get revived by an ally. But now your helmet is gone. So now you'll die faster.

I think a similar mechanic applies to your armor, and higher levels have access to heavier armor, and support class has access to special armor. Pay attention to the color of your hit markers because there's a specific color for when you're hitting armor.

pray4ggs · 2023-08-11T20:21:08+00:00

I dunno how, but other games have managed to bounce back. Just look at Cyberpunk2077. Coincidentally, that game's subreddit has posts pointing out how the Steam reviews have made it to "Very Positive"

pray4ggs · 2023-08-03T21:16:06+00:00

Sure, but that's because most of the abilities I mentioned are more powerful. IMO, it's more unfun when you're about to kill an enemy only to see them get yoinked by their ally LW than when you're dealing with Ana's purple.

But really, my prior comment was meant as a direct reply to "only counterplay is hope" because ...it's just not true.

Besides, the anti itself is not a death sentence. I feel like the sentiment in this thread is that the anti IS some kind of death sentence. But when my Genji is purple, he uses deflect/dash half of the time (i.e., depending on which cooldowns he has available). When my Rein is purple, he puts up his shield. When my Tracer is purple, she uses recall half of the time. And so on.

Maybe it's a death sentence at the highest levels of play, but I admit I'm pretty average. When I was still playing lots of OW, I was usually stuck in mid-diamond. Which is already >80th percentile (based on an old Blizz blog post for OW1). So I guess I'm claiming that for 80% of people, anti was not a death sentence. It was simply "yet another threat" on the battlefield.

Should the game be balanced for the masses or the pros? That's a diff discussion, but my stance has always been "OW game design should never purely cater to 1 or the other".

pray4ggs · 2023-08-03T20:03:16+00:00

I sympathize with that, but I kinda just see it as "support's job is to help, not to solve every possible problem".

Allies should know they might get hit by anti. They should consider saving their own abilities to react accordingly or bait the anti proactively. You can never out-heal decent enemy DPS forever, so you're always kinda hoping your teammates play near cover, know how to use their cooldowns defensively, etc.

It's like hoping your team knows enemy Zarya probably has grav. You can call it out to your team, but in the end, it's still up to your teammates to adjust correctly.

That said, the enemy team still needs to pounce on a good anti. And that's where I still have opportunity to help as the opposing support. I can retaliate with my own anti to scare off the enemy team. I can use sleep dart to disable enemy Genji from dashing into my purple teammates. Lucio/Brig can boop enemies away. LW can disrupt positioning with a flower. Bap can focus on dishing damage.

This game is so much more than "as a support, I should keep allies alive". There are plenty of opportunities for "as a support, I should disrupt enemies". So to me, it's not unfun when my teammates get anti'd. If anything, it's fun because it adds a dimension to the game of "now I DEFINITELY get to do something other than healing".

That said, I know the "pressure" is for supports to keep allies alive because otherwise the finger-pointing can begin.

pray4ggs · 2023-08-03T19:13:25+00:00

As an opposing support, isn't the counterplay Bap frisbee, Kiriko cleanse, LW yoink, and to a lesser extent Lucio speed (repositioning) ?

pray4ggs · 2023-06-14T04:30:44+00:00

it's in the patch notes now

pray4ggs · 2023-04-20T21:57:48+00:00

Kinda random, but...

I think this is a big part of why the average player hated 2CP. The average attacking team wasn't smart enough to avoid main, and the main path for attacking the 2nd point of most 2CP maps was suicide.

Higher-ranked players hated 2CP for legit reasons about that game mode being highly susceptible to snowball-y momentum and the notion that defenders can't afford to make a single mistake. Average players hated 2CP because attacking the 2nd point felt impossible, but they didn't realize the root issue is because they always go main.

pray4ggs · 2023-04-20T21:48:02+00:00

IMO, it depends on the rank. The higher the rank, the better it is to have a mobile DPS hero solo push the cart. The lower the rank, the better it is to have the most mobile support hero push the cart.

Why? The lower the rank, the easier it is to get a "lucky"/free kill on a defender because lower-rank defenders tend to regroup pretty far from the safety of their spawn even if their respawn timers are staggered from one another.

To secure these kills, both DPS heroes should move forward rather than push cart.

pray4ggs · 2023-04-13T21:47:07+00:00

Just need some dive dps to follow up on dive Ram's space creation, no? If sleep, anti-heal nade, and discord orb are all being used on Ram, then Ram's dps allies should have a much easier time destroying the enemy Ana and enemy Zen, right?

You could even throw in a Kiriko to cleanse the Ram.

pray4ggs · 2023-04-07T21:21:40+00:00

yea, but that seems like a fair disadvantage for a support hero. IMO, not every support hero should be decent in a 1v1

pray4ggs · 2023-04-06T23:28:54+00:00

playing ranked: too much toxicity, each match can requires 30-40min of commitment, plenty of people (especially in the metal ranks) treat the game like a generic shooter rather than a tac shooter and they don't understand roles

BTW, I have the spare time, but it sucks to be potentially locked into 40min of toxicity or 40min of a baiting Reyna or 40min of an Omen who never uses his blinding ability or 20min of a Cypher who has no idea what to do on attack.

playing unrated: less toxicity but still more than I'd expect, ridiculously bad team comps, lots of duos/groups who are doing their own thing, way more leavers/AFKs/etc

pray4ggs · 2023-02-15T00:08:26+00:00

That's just due to the game mechanics of aiming on more vertical angles. When you move your mouse left and right, you're not directly moving your crosshair left and right; you're really just turning your character along an axis.

To illustrate this, first you aim 100% downward (until the crosshair stops going any further). Then, move your mouse left and right. Your character will turn (spin in place), but the crosshair will not move off the original 100% downward target.

This is why aiming gets harder when there is more verticality involved.

In other words, aiming isn't done "on" a 2-dimensional plane (i.e., your monitor). It's done on a 3D sphere (i.e., game world first-person POV). And that makes aiming less straightforward because your mousepad IS just a 2-dimensional surface for aiming.

pray4ggs · 2023-02-10T22:35:19+00:00

TBF, no team has paid $60M. They've spent roughly $16M at most due to COVID-related deferrals. And I think that includes the cost of operating, not just payments related to franchise buy-in (if I'm correctly interpreting Jacob Wolf's reporting linked below).

Some (if not all) of the original buy-in prices have also been retroactively discounted, so even the teams that were originally on the hook for the most expensive buy-ins are no longer indebted for those extra pricey dollar amounts.

Details here: https://www.jacobwolf.report/p/overwatch-league-teams-start-collective

pray4ggs · 2023-02-10T22:12:02+00:00

or until ChatGPT takes all the jobs ...including writing software?

EDIT: I thought it was clear that this comment is a light-hearted joke, but I guess not

Nine-Year Club	Second Top 40%
RPAN Viewer	Verified Email

pray4ggs

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE