Game Discussion Thread

[BadSkeelz]

Masters of Orion II. A good game, even if those Psionics are cheating, passive-aggressive assholes. Get to research every tech faster, pah... it felt so good when I suckered there 90 ship super-shielded fleet into a nebula, crashing the shields and then obliterating them with my own, much larger and much cheaper fleet.

[Is Friday]

I should play Masters of Orion 2. I've never gotten around to it. I'm a fan of Turn Based Strategy. RTS all-time favorite: Mechcommander.

[BadSkeelz]

I bought it for cheap on GoG last year for like $10. Will probably play a few games when I go home for the holiday (assuming my folks haven't wrecked my PC). Wonder if the multiplayer is still functional.

[Akaramu]

Masters of Orion II. A good game, even if those Psionics are cheating, passive-aggressive assholes. Get to research every tech faster, pah... it felt so good when I suckered there 90 ship super-shielded fleet into a nebula, crashing the shields and then obliterating them with my own, much larger and much cheaper fleet.

The psionics race isn't the one who researches every tech faster. The psilons do that, they research every single single of the 3 offered research options on every step and than can use those techs to trade with other races. But they have no psionic abilities. The ones you probably mean are the Elerians, whose mind control takes over planets without needing to send ground troops down.
 
Also love how you can design your own ships.

And I'll wreck BadSkeelz' PC if he doesn't log into Arm. The holidays are making me feel all alone in the Known.

[Kol]

Steam Sales are now online.

[BadSkeelz]

Masters of Orion II. A good game, even if those Psionics are cheating, passive-aggressive assholes. Get to research every tech faster, pah... it felt so good when I suckered there 90 ship super-shielded fleet into a nebula, crashing the shields and then obliterating them with my own, much larger and much cheaper fleet.

The psionics race isn't the one who researches every tech faster. The psilons do that, they research every single single of the 3 offered research options on every step and than can use those techs to trade with other races. But they have no psionic abilities. The ones you probably mean are the Elerians, whose mind control takes over planets without needing to send ground troops down.
 
Also love how you can design your own ships.

And I'll wreck BadSkeelz' PC if he doesn't log into Arm. The holidays are making me feel all alone in the Known.

I did in fact mean Psilons. The "research every tech in a category" is the most powerful racial stat in the game, IMO. I remember my games fighting them more than any others. Sometimes it got downright Lensman as we just started blowing up each others planets, seeing who could wipe out the other half of the galaxy first. Of course, if you arm your ships solely with neutron weapons like I typically do, it's possible to turn a Psilon fleet into a smorgasbord of easily caputrable, tech rich ships very quickly.

The Elerians actually have the poorest track record of all the races in my games. So bad in fact that I don't think I've ever even seen the "mindcontrol a planet" ability demonstrated. They're little more than a speed bump whenever I'm starting in their neighborhood.

[Malken]

Steam makes me realize that I have a ratio of 1 game played for every 10 games bought and, even worse, probably a ratio of 1 game finished for every 25 games bought  (and that's being highly generous)

[janeshephard]

Master of Orion 2 I think.

[Marc]

In addition to the Steam sale, Amazon is offering a bunch of sale items too.  Most seem to be steam codes!

Take a gander!

[Ami]

In addition to the Steam sale, Amazon is offering a bunch of sale items too.  Most seem to be steam codes!

Take a gander!

Only if you are from over in USA. 

[lordcooper]

In addition to the Steam sale, Amazon is offering a bunch of sale items too.  Most seem to be steam codes!

Take a gander!

Only if you are from over in USA. 

Just change your address to a US one.  I've ordered loads of digitally distributed games from the White House.

[Cutthroat]

I picked up the Crusader Kings II DLCs plus Counter-Strike: Global Offensive today on Steam. My Steam handle is cut__throat (2 underscores) if you want to play CS:GO with me, and maybe also CKII once I get the hang of it again.

[HavokBlue]

The battle.net account recovery bullshit continues!

I submitted yet another recovery request with my photo ID to get my account recovered last night. I got an email this morning asking me to either submit my photo ID via the ticket process or call the support line. Here's the problem...

1. To submit an actual support ticket, you have to log-in to your battle.net account... FOR SOME STUPID FUCKING REASON. There are even categories like "I can't log in!" which then require you to LOG THE FUCK IN TO SEND THE TICKET HOW DOES THAT EVEN MAKE SENSE.

2. I called the support number and navigated through the robot menus only to get an automated message telling me that Phone Support systems are currently experiencing difficulty and they will be unable to assist me. They recommend submitting a support ticket via Battle.net! Dear Blizzard: Eat a thousand dicks. I am so sick of this shit.

[Kol]

Steam makes me realize that I have a ratio of 1 game played for every 10 games bought and, even worse, probably a ratio of 1 game finished for every 25 games bought  (and that's being highly generous)

This baffles me...why do you buy them if you never play them? Do you think, Yhea, this looks awesome! *Click click* OOOHH...That looks awesome! *click click* Or do you buy games as recommended by friends?

[Dalmeth]

In other news it is my turn to GM next in my tabletop group and I'm basing the campaign around Dark Souls.  I'm currently torn between a post age of fire setting, game-period darkwraiths, or a more traditional campaign involving an escape from Seath's prison.  Any awesome suggestions would be appreciated

Here's a link to a few videos with thoughts on the Dark Souls story :

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4825DBA198EBE9B9

Enjoy!

[lordcooper]

Steam makes me realize that I have a ratio of 1 game played for every 10 games bought and, even worse, probably a ratio of 1 game finished for every 25 games bought  (and that's being highly generous)

This baffles me...why do you buy them if you never play them? Do you think, Yhea, this looks awesome! *Click click* OOOHH...That looks awesome! *click click* Or do you buy games as recommended by friends?

I'm in much the same situation as Malken.  I often buy stupid amounts of games when they're on sale because 'I'll play them one day, might as well grab them while they're cheap', I've also bought more than a few games I can't actually run, because some day I will have a better PC.  Then there are the indie games that I'll never ever get around to playing, but have a few brilliant ideas that make me want to give the devs money just for being able to realise them.  Very rarely I'll impulse buy something before realising I have very little interest in the game, or it isn't quite what I thought it was.

In other news it is my turn to GM next in my tabletop group and I'm basing the campaign around Dark Souls.  I'm currently torn between a post age of fire setting, game-period darkwraiths, or a more traditional campaign involving an escape from Seath's prison.  Any awesome suggestions would be appreciated

Here's a link to a few videos with thoughts on the Dark Souls story :

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4825DBA198EBE9B9

Enjoy!

These seem well made and really quite interesting.  Thanks for the link, I'm sure it'll help

[Malken]

Steam makes me realize that I have a ratio of 1 game played for every 10 games bought and, even worse, probably a ratio of 1 game finished for every 25 games bought  (and that's being highly generous)

This baffles me...why do you buy them if you never play them? Do you think, Yhea, this looks awesome! *Click click* OOOHH...That looks awesome! *click click* Or do you buy games as recommended by friends?

First of all, I don't have any friends, so no.

Second, money is not really a problem for me so I tend to buy pretty much anything that is on sale on Steam, because, one day, I -might- have the time to play it all, who knows!

All of my favorite games are older games, so it's not like I'm buying brand new games at 60$ a pop.. I bought Assassin's Creed 3 because I love American history but that's pretty much it in the brand new game category that I can think of.. I also bought Chivalry but that was sorta cheap.. I didn't play much of it, though. Same with Black Ops 2, I bought it brand new but that's the kind of game I like to play with my brother-in-law when they come visit.

I buy all of the humble bundles for the charity and they usually come with a lot of games.. I play a lot of games like once or twice then I get bored with them.. Unfortunately, I can't just give them away because they're all on Steam. Also, I wouldn't give them away anyway because I'm a selfish prick.

I guess it's probably the same reason why I still buy NES, SNES and Genesis games when I find them.. I just like games?

[janeshephard]

Other than Ireland what's an interesting place to start in CK2?

I'm not looking for overpowered or hopeless.

[lordcooper]

Other than Ireland what's an interesting place to start in CK2?

I'm not looking for overpowered or hopeless.

Spain is pretty much my default these days.  Lots of little Kingdoms and a fair number of both Catholic and Islamic (Sunni?) rulers can make it a real powder keg from the start.  If that goes well you can create the Empire of Hispania, then either start working your way down through Africa or launch a full scale invasion of France.  I generally go for the latter because after around half a decade spent consolidating your position and building up troops you should be in the perfect position to invade the HRE (if you wait until they break down into one of their frequent clusterfucks), while being just small enough for this to be an available option.  Unfortunately there is little point in continuing the game at this point, you've basically won it.

Another favourite for when I fancy a bigger challenge is Jerusalem, starting in 1099.  Make sure to use the Holy Orders as much as possible.

I also find it pretty fun to pick a random English Count or Duke and be a Good Guy Vassal.  Never attempt to gain independence or do anything to harm or weaken your liege.  Gaining power slowly through supporting your liege in their wars and marriage/politics gives the game a totally different feel.

E: Oh, and the Kingdom of Poland.  You're an unmarried King, in your twenties, and are called The Bold.  Your brother is sickly and you are his heir.  You begin with a few claimable territories, there are Pagans to the north, and there is a certain Duke who seems to revolt in every playthrough.  I'd recommend this one if you've been playing mostly in Ireland.  It's a nice jump up to the next level, without being too difficult/confusing.

[Kol]

Steam makes me realize that I have a ratio of 1 game played for every 10 games bought and, even worse, probably a ratio of 1 game finished for every 25 games bought  (and that's being highly generous)

This baffles me...why do you buy them if you never play them? Do you think, Yhea, this looks awesome! *Click click* OOOHH...That looks awesome! *click click* Or do you buy games as recommended by friends?

First of all, I don't have any friends, so no.

Second, money is not really a problem for me so I tend to buy pretty much anything that is on sale on Steam, because, one day, I -might- have the time to play it all, who knows!

All of my favorite games are older games, so it's not like I'm buying brand new games at 60$ a pop.. I bought Assassin's Creed 3 because I love American history but that's pretty much it in the brand new game category that I can think of.. I also bought Chivalry but that was sorta cheap.. I didn't play much of it, though. Same with Black Ops 2, I bought it brand new but that's the kind of game I like to play with my brother-in-law when they come visit.

I buy all of the humble bundles for the charity and they usually come with a lot of games.. I play a lot of games like once or twice then I get bored with them.. Unfortunately, I can't just give them away because they're all on Steam. Also, I wouldn't give them away anyway because I'm a selfish prick.

I guess it's probably the same reason why I still buy NES, SNES and Genesis games when I find them.. I just like games?

That's fair enough, sorry if it seemed like I was being trollish, I was just curious. I don't really buy new games all that much as money's always tight with me, so I always make sure I'll like a game before I buy it. If I had the money to, I'd probably end up with half the steam catalogue and never play them. I have 7 games on my steam account at the moment, 3 of which LC was awesome enough to gift me.

I buy myself a new game once a year, this year was Borderlands 2 for my x-box, and a buddy brought me the season ticket...I'm currently waiting for a response from Gearbox because I can't play it online at the moment as for some reason, the compatibility patch  won't patch my x-box, and I'm stuck on system link because of it.

I still have a lot of my old consoles too, the oldest of which is my STILL WORKING Commodore 64, sadly, my old man has it at the moment though. My dreamcast still gets a lot of regular use though, it's better playing the old games on the consoles they were designed for.

What's your favorite SNES game?

[Malken]

What's your favorite SNES game?

No, not trollish at all I just don't spend a lot on hookers and booze, I don't have any kids and gaming is probably what I spend most of my money on, so that's why it seems like I have a lot, but with many bundles and Steam games at less than 10$ each if you can wait for them, spending $50 every two weeks for a year makes it seem like you have a lot of games in the end..

My favorite SNES game is probably an unknown game to many, but it's called Inindo: Way of the Ninja

It's an RPG set in Japan where your goal is to kill Nobunaga who destroyed your village. You play a ninja, and most of the game is just your typical SNES rpg-like game, but there's a few twists to it, where you get to hire other PCs to join you, like Samurais, mystics, ronins, etc.. And you have this strategic map where at some point you need to hire ninjas and send them on missions to free up the states that surrounds where Nobunaga hides. Very advanced gameplay for its time.

It's a very hard rpg where you need to twink up your ninja character like mad before each miniboss, so you spend a lot of time training up in dungeons and get your levels up.

That game is from Koei, and, strangely enough, ROTK is also a Koei game Koei is probably my favorite game company, to be honest.. So any games from them, starting with the NES, are all on my list of favorites.

I also really like Actraiser, where you play a God and had to answer people's prayers and then protect them in a sidescrolling type of game, so you had strategy + action all in one.

[janeshephard]

I like the faction system now. There's time to send out your spymaster to deal with things, or find other ways to deal with the threat.

I always make sure all my heirs are married to a someone with high intrigue.

[Cind]

Downloading Sims 3.

I guess bandwidth is expensive enough to deter my parents from getting any, so I might be able to start playing it in about five days.

But I'm a huge fan and I've got several expansion packs and I'm excited to play god again.

[janeshephard]

Quick question about the faction system.

Some airhead earl wants to put the King of Scotland as the King of Ireland (me). I'm dealing with it...


but how do I do the same thing in another kingdom? Do I need a claim first?

[lordcooper]

Sorry, I'm yet to bother learning about the faction system.

Is Fable 3 any good?  I enjoyed 1 and 2, but vaguely remember hearing bad things about 3.  Might have just been the usual Molyneux hype backlash though.

E: The THQ Collection is a ridiculously good deal.  Over 20 AAA games for £20.