What are you playing?

[Courier 6]

Going to Polis in the tunels

 

[Ruru]

Finished EP3 on LiS. Let's continue even tho I'm hella tired

 

[robot zombie]

Same here, I am a total explorer. Search everywhere, break all the things!

I wonder if that's as much of a thing with people who weren't there for the transition to game environments widely becoming interactable like that. What game doesn't have destruction like that now? In some ways, 3D was originally a step back. Plety of snes games had destruction as a mechanic. A lot of that went away with early 3D. I remember it being *such* a treat those rare times where you *could* spontaneously break inconsequential things. I think this is even part of what makes a game like Skyrim much more entertaining. Something about those satisfying little interactions, reachable by simple impulse.

But yeah, I do also feel like I have to comb everything. One thing I like about Elden Ring is that it is a whole-ass playthrough. I don't know if everyone appreciates what I mean. It reminds me of going into a big snes jrpg for the first time. I do think it's a little overextended on the back third, but at the same time it is really big with so much stuff and it really doesn't give you much to go by. Nothing novel for an open world, really. It's not innovating so much as it is going back to the old ways. But it has that mystery to it, that strangeness and clunk that has you always trying to figure it out. The world itself has that classic jrpg personality wherein you're thrown into it with little in the way of clues, and initial challenges/story setup kind of limit your branching out at first, but beyond that you can easily wander into all kinds of crazy stuff, go halfway across the map and just not even understand the quest you're meant to be on because you have sliced into one of those deep veins of interesting side-content.

Basically, unless you look stuff up, you don't always know where the game wants you to be. And to figure that out you have to explore. Elden Ring is much bigger than your average open world. It really is intimidatingly enormous. This game is for that deep escapism. It kind of demands larger chunks of time to really delve into. I love me a good long-run RPG with lots of content though. It's one of those games where you can finish it at beyond absurd-sounding levels like 150. You can go much higher than that, though. People sometimes intentionally stop leveling to hit a good meta for PvP. And it's not like the leveling goes super fast. It's just a lot of stuff that you can do and progress into. There's something about a game that can make you want for an epically-long playthrough. I generally do want that from open-worlds, but to me it always feels like it is winding down just as things are really culminating with your character and understanding of the world. With Elden Ring, you can experience many different power jumps to go along with the sudden difficulty jumps. And in the gameplay it is always tripping you up, asking you to learn more about the RPG mechanics, asking you to reconsider how you're using the moves you have available, making you wonder if you're simply not good enough with what you have yet. There's kinda no point in the game where it doesn't ask you to search what you have, what you can do, what could maybe get. It's very 'brain-on' in a way not many of this type of game tend to be.

With many OW formulas now, it would just be tedious to have such a ridiculously huge overworld... they don't have the gameplay quality and variety for the repetition that you trade-in for. That's the thing... all of these regions in Elden Ring use the same mechanics for different types of core activities. As you go on, you'll see more recycled enemies, but even they get stronger, learn new tricks. Each region does also introduce some new, nastier creatures and hide another boss or several you haven't dealt with yet. But still, you learn the language of it all and certain things become more predictable, enough to plan with some depth, at least. To a certain degree, a game does need to elicit that sense of familiarity - you want things that give the player a sense of control over their adventure... the ability to consistently make informed choices and not feel cheated but instead, bested when things don't pan out. It *could* get old with the wrong game. But because you can vary your gameplay so much with the RPG mechanics, and because the combat is not RPG combat but rather an action-based, skill-heavy system that has been refined in more linear, level-based games for years before. The combat has always had to be good for countless hours. Those games would be nothing without it.

You can really have fun and get creative with the builds, too. Unlike in those old jrpgs, you unlock the ability to respec for the cost of a rare item you can find at least a dozen of in the game just as you're passing the halfway point. Maybe even sooner, with skill for combat. You always want to be exploring just to get runes for leveling and possibly uncover another one of the several dozen unique weapons among the many types of slicing, piercing, striking, whipping, flipping, casting, and so on weapons that cater to all different kinds of stat balances. There are also at least as many unique abilities you can find that give weapons different specialty moves and buildup types (bleed, poison, rot, freeze, so on.) You can swap them on to make a weapon not speccing for one build work with another. Of course there are all manner of spell and incantations, with different classes in mind. You may even spec in just to use one or two particular spells that benefit an otherwise non-magic build. As you explore, you find stuff that makes you want to change your build. And you can easily do that. It's an underrated thing in a game so big.

A lot of it comes down to the handling of the map and overworld. The map has all sorts of clues drawn on it, and you have the ability to leave around a dozen kinds of markers anywhere you want, along with 'beacon' style, manual-placement-only waypoints. But it really is not very detailed. It marks out elevation, signs of structures, water, trees... but it's not always easy to judge any of it. You have to also look out at the areas to really get a feel for what the map is showing. So it's like your own personal treasure hunt. The world is well designed in terms of horizon appeal, without giving much of anything away. You just know you want to go 'that way.' The theming of the different regions is awesome, too. It's this big, varied world with lots of nooks and crannies and so much minutia in the world for you to unravel - like, stuff with no clear answers to just think about. The reason I say it is overextended is because of how some components get recycled more as you go further, but at the same time there still is plenty of variety within each region - I think they could've tiered and distributed the enemies and creatures differently across the map and it would've fixed the issue. Otherwise it is a great exploration experience. They just kind of leave you to it... and let you stick a fork in the light socket any time you want.

Yeah, that sucks. Most games are not like that...

I wouldn't call it "wrong", it's up to individual gamer to decide for themselves. For me, such a game mechanic isn't a dealbreaker and really doesn't annoy me unless it's excessive.

Ahhh, if only it was as simple as a fake pot hiding among the real ones. Elden Ring is so far above and beyond simple pranks like that. This game actively seeks to gank you. There are ganks it does that I can't even explain to you because you would need a pre-narrative of other types of ganks already established. It gets you. And then it gets you on how it gets you.

But no, these pots are distinct creatures, even fully conscious beings that walk around with stone legs and stone arms. You can even find a village of them. They are kind of adorable. There are big 8' tall ones and little tiny ankle-biter ones. Only one talks there, he's got a child's voice. There's a big one with a lot of vim involved in a major quest. He's super-likable, though not actually very strong. The rest, found grouped up out in dungeons and whatnot that just attack you.

The truth is, the hard part about dealing with them is how wrong it feels to kill them. You simultaneously realize that their existence is an awful thing while registering that you have done an awful thing... because they kind of go 'pop' and splatter everywhere like clay chum water balloons. You basically cracked an egg... you killed a warrior in infant form. But again, the other side of that viscerally grotesque and cowardly act is the fact that they are 'infant warriors' in the sense that they gather the remains of actual dead warriors and stuff them inside of themselves in order to absorb their vitality and abilities. They're almost always tucked away somewhere remote, found by awkward platforming. I presume the ones you find in dungeons are filled the corpses of those who lose to the dungeon. They're kept safely in storage the rest of the time. They only really fight back in defense. It's like they have a will of their own, they don't want to die and then they crack open like humpty dumpty.

I still would and have broke all the things.

As have I - it's the only reliable way to get living jar shards. There are also occasionally items hidden under regular pots/debris, as well as false floors leading to secret bosses/rewards.

 

[Chomiq]

On mission 5 in SE5, almost 2.5 h in and still haven't cleared it. But I did throw a pack of TNT on top of a car carrying Japanese delegation on an on-site visit to a secret Nazi project.

 

[The red spirit]

It's so fucking annoying to get bombarded with those low value "gifts" in Horizon 5, so I decided to protest with vandalizing those cars and trying to offload them in action house at high prices. Crazy thing some moron actually bought my vandalized Prelude for almost 200K. It's their money...the more power to them if they find these itashas entertaining.

 

[Ruru]

Let's continue LiS. I played through the half of EP4.

edit: Just finished EP4.

 

[Vayra86]

Back to Path of Exile... once again. Sometimes you get that itch to roll another one.

It's so fucking annoying to get bombarded with those low value "gifts" in Horizon 5, so I decided to protest with vandalizing those cars and trying to offload them in action house at high prices. Crazy thing some moron actually bought my vandalized Prelude for almost 200K. It's their money...the more power to them if they find these itashas entertaining.

View attachment 253740
View attachment 253741

'Yep its a supra'
'Your waifu is trash'
lmao

 

[The red spirit]

'Yep its a supra'
'Your waifu is trash'
lmao

"i farted"

 

[Assimilator]

Currently grinding out all the challenges, collectibles and weapons in Sniper Elite 4.

 

[Ruru]

Completed. I can't kill her so fuck that town every time.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Well, I entered the abandoned gold mine. Yuma herself drugged me, and carried me to a strange world - a combination of Kryat and Shangri-La. I fought the hunters, I grappled my way across the islands floating in the air, I entered the arena. Yuma cursed me and announced that I had met my doom, and that my ashes were to be cast out with the pig slop. I wandered aimlessly, trapped within the walls of the arena, aimlessly tripping over vast lamps and pots of gold emanating red smoke, and splashing among the blood-red water. Finally, a warrior appeared - Kalinag. The ghost of a long-dead legendary warrior returned to slay me. I dispatched him with his own bow, which I also seemed to have. His corpse vanished in a cloud of red, and I returned to my aimless wandering. Some minutes later, his ghost reappeared, whom I also cast an arrow into, and stabbed him in the back with a kukri. His corpse yet again disappeared, and I, Ajay Ghale, encircled my prison twice more. A magnificent white tiger, adorned with gold and precious stones, appeared in a blue cloud and behaved aggressively towards my person, until I returned him to his cloud with the bow of Kalinag. No more antagonists forthcoming, I became distracted with Youtube, attempting to discern the duration of this, when I was slain by persons or creatures unknown.

Far Cry 4 then crashed beyond all repair, and even the Ubisoft Connect client cannot open properly. I am baffled and confused.

 

[Ruru]

Far Cry 4 then crashed beyond all repair, and even the Ubisoft Connect client cannot open properly. I am baffled and confused.

View attachment 253793

Does rebooting help?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Well, I entered the abandoned gold mine. Yuma herself drugged me, and carried me to a strange world - a combination of Kryat and Shangri-La. I fought the hunters, I grappled my way across the islands floating in the air, I entered the arena. Yuma cursed me and announced that I had met my doom, and that my ashes were to be cast out with the pig slop. I wandered aimlessly, trapped within the walls of the arena, aimlessly tripping over vast lamps and pots of gold emanating red smoke, and splashing among the blood-red water. Finally, a warrior appeared - Kalinag. The ghost of a long-dead legendary warrior returned to slay me. I dispatched him with his own bow, which I also seemed to have. His corpse vanished in a cloud of red, and I returned to my aimless wandering. Some minutes later, his ghost reappeared, whom I also cast an arrow into, and stabbed him in the back with a kukri. His corpse yet again disappeared, and I, Ajay Ghale, encircled my prison twice more. A magnificent white tiger, adorned with gold and precious stones, appeared in a blue cloud and behaved aggressively towards my person, until I returned him to his cloud with the bow of Kalinag. No more antagonists forthcoming, I became distracted with Youtube, attempting to discern the duration of this, when I was slain by persons or creatures unknown.

Far Cry 4 then crashed beyond all repair, and even the Ubisoft Connect client cannot open properly. I am baffled and confused.

View attachment 253793

DRM sucks. This is why I actively avoid Ubi, EA and every other assinine "platform". GOG and a limited number of Steam/Epic titles and that's it.

 

[Ruru]

DRM sucks. This is why I actively avoid Ubi, EA and every other assinine "platform". GOG and a limited number of Steam/Epic titles and that's it.

Understand. One reason why I was a pirate when I was a teen.

But now as an adult I have money to once again pay for games. Like I've beeen doing for few thousand Euros already

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Does rebooting help?

No, rebooted and updated Windows to make sure. Guess I will have to uninstall and reinstall the client.

DRM sucks. This is why I actively avoid Ubi, EA and every other assinine "platform". GOG and a limited number of Steam/Epic titles and that's it.

Yes, but money talks $$... I got FC4 for free and AC Origins and Odyssey for a gift...

 

[Ruru]

No, rebooted and updated Windows to make sure. Guess I will have to uninstall and reinstall the client.


Yes, but money talks $$... I got FC4 for free and AC Origins and Odyssey for a gift...

hmh damn.

 

[The red spirit]

Understand. One reason why I was a pirate when I was a teen.

But now as an adult I have money to once again pay for games. Like I've beeen doing for few thousand Euros already

It's still blows to be treated like trash, when you pay, meanwhile pirates don't ever have to deal with Ubi EA or some other dipshit's nonsense ever. I mean, what's the point of paying of games, when bullshit like this happens? There's just simply no value in that. It's just insulting money grab, as well as waste of time.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

Well, a reinstall didn't work. I will try again but uninstall FC4 at the same time.

Nope, no good. I reckon it's an issue on their end. Although, I did run across a comment when I was "distracted by YouTube" about that battle crashing someone else's game, so who knows at this point.

Guess I go back to Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory

 

[Ruru]

It's still blows to be treated liek trash, when you pay, meanwhile pirates don't ever have to deal with Ubi EA or some other dipshit's nonsense ever. I mean, what's the point of paying of games, when bullshit like this happens? There's just simply no value in that. It's just insulting money grab, as well as waste of time.

I get your point. Still feel anxious that I need to spend 80EUR for FFVIIR as I want to buy it pfft..

 

[lexluthermiester]

It's still blows to be treated like trash, when you pay, meanwhile pirates don't ever have to deal with Ubi EA or some other dipshit's nonsense ever.

Gotta love the irony..

 

[Vayra86]

No, rebooted and updated Windows to make sure. Guess I will have to uninstall and reinstall the client.


Yes, but money talks $$... I got FC4 for free and AC Origins and Odyssey for a gift...

Yeah I got FC4 for free too, but not from Ubi. And rightly so, as you have just experienced. Realistically if they gave it away once, I see that as a free pass to get a pirated version that is actually stable. I mean, they don't ever sell those games with the disclaimer 'your experience might be ruined by our shitty services' do they?

And its not like they don't do maintenance on Ubi's services either. Uplay has been a shithole since forever, it looks better than Origin but stability is a stranger to both services really. And every update you wonder what they actually changed other than marketing/store content. The focus is clearly not on stuff you care about as a paying customer.

 

[Courier 6]

Metro 2033, dealing with the librarians now

 

[Tatty_Two]

Finished the Witcher 3, I gotta say it is in my top 10 games of all time. I defaulted to Yen as it was my first playthrough so will play again with Triss another time and also learn from my mistakes, moving on to the DLC now before starting Witcher 2 (for the first time, I seem to do everything backwards, did the same with Mass Effect .......... Andromeda, 3, 2, 1) )and going through the whole lot again, in the right order this time.

 

[Bomby569]

Metro 2033, dealing with the librarians now

i absolutely love the Metro games

Far Cry 4 then crashed beyond all repair, and even the Ubisoft Connect client cannot open properly. I am baffled and confused.

View attachment 253793

I play a lot of Ubi games, Anno 1800, FC6, AC Valhalla, Watchdogs London crap, i played them all and never have problems with the Ubi launcher, just some ocasional problem with the connection like you show but they don't last long, you just have to wait a bit when that happens. The worst is when you can't even see the games you own. Ubi service is not worst then any other even if they get a lost of hate.

 

[Count von Schwalbe]

i absolutely love the Metro games



I play a lot of Ubi games, Anno 1800, FC6, AC Valhalla, Watchdogs London crap, i played them all and never have problems with the Ubi launcher, just some ocasional problem with the connection like you show but they don't last long, you just have to wait a bit when that happens. The worst is when you can't even see the games you own. Ubi service is not worst then any other even if they get a lost of hate.

I wouldn't mind offline mode but I can't install any games from there - and I uninstalled all of my Ubisoft games to try and fix it.