Well, I've only played Deus Ex but basically the scenario in the game wouldn't have happened if the nano-tech wasn't available to merely a single corporation in the entire world. Something which is unlikely to happen in the real world.
Yes, there was a lot of disappointment about the short story-mode, but that didn't last long.
Most of the community ended up playing online or skirmishes, anyway. There were even sites that collected creatureminds. And we know.
B&W2 will have more islands, but as with any game; you can play it as fast or as slow as you want. Most of the people who complained that Fable was too short didn't even do any of the side quests. Same goes for B&W2.
Either way, take it or leave it. The previews so far are pretty positive about the games, time will learn what the gamers think of it.
I think that you're right. It's not as if they're trying to patent smileys themselves, which is what half of the slashdot community here seems to be thinking.
New Frontiers balanced this out a bit. The problem with the Old Frontiers is that all the action focused on a single point; EMain. And then it just came down to hard numbers, so Hibernia always lost. You can hardly blame a developer for that, the same thing happends with WoW. You can't force people to join a side they don't want to join.
New Frontiers, now, that is a different story. Usually Albion still zergs the fuck out of everything and everyone, but mids and hibs stand a lot more chance because of all the tactical advantages. Bridges, towers, if there are hibs near, they own it. I recently renewed my account again, expecting the game to be dead and boring (I just got sick of all the arti's and wtfpwn gamers, so I left 8 months ago), but it was so much fun. The last couple of weeks the hibs had captured a coastal keep + towers, so they kept teleporting in our frontier. There were skirmishes and major battles almost 18h a day (yeah, we usually don't play at 3H). I've seen a lot of fair 1vs1 fights, 1 group vs 1 group fight, I've seen 2 groups steamroll over 1 group (hey, shit happends), but I've also seen 1 group ambush a zerg of 2.5 groups and handing their asses. (tactical advantage!)
So, yeah, at least on Prydwen/EU, Hibernia seems to have recovered.
Parent wrote:
For god sakes, they had people running around in our "non-PvP" area because they'd killed their way into it.
Yeah right. That must've been in the beta days. You can't enter an enemy realm now, and in the old frontiers you would get a message stating that you need to leave that area.
About class balance; DAoC sure does a better job, whereas with WoW everyone is overpowered by default, and now they're just constantly hitting classes with the Nerfbat until nothing is left.
In DAOC you can't always win and will die every now and then, that's just a given fact. Exactly the same goes for the opposing factions. Apparently a lot of people can't stand losing. Some people end up bitching about the game on online-discussion boards, some people take a break and start playing again. Some people do both.
*pokes*. I'm not trying to start a flamewar here. These are just my observations and how they relate to the parent's question.
Most console(Xbox/PS/etc) carry mostly instant-fun (almost arcade-like) games. Most of those games have a short *wow!* effect. You usually play those games for a couple or days or even hours before doing anything else. Of course there are some exceptions, but, it's what most people generally expect from a console; that you can sit down and just have fun for an hour or so, sometimes with your friends.
PC-games are more of the long-lasting kind of fun. The fun is spread out over a couple of weeks, sometimes even months. Cities need to grow, characters need to be leveled, progress needs to be made.
At least, that's how it used to be (think of all those old PC games you played for ages!).
Something has changed.. Gameplay has become less important, and Graphics and all those other 'goodies' such as real-time physics simulation have become more and more important, why? Who knows! It probably sells better in the first few months.
Also, more and more and more games are being developed in a "multi-platform" way; ie, they make the same game for PC/Xbox/PS2. So what? That's only good! More joy for everyone! Well, is it? Take a look at the game Deus Ex, that's one excellent game. Now, its successor, Deus Ex: Invisible War was a multi-platform game and it all went wrong. Why? Because while Deus-Ex was a typical long-term-fun PC-Game, the sequel was a typical instant-fun short-term game; that's what its design elements reflected. Now, this is an extreme case, but I believe that more and more games are becoming the 'instant-fun short-term' kind of games for various reasons; multi-platform, better sales, more focus on graphics.
It's a shame really, but there's still hope. I'm pretty sure that this is just the zeitgeist of gaming, and it probably acts a bit like a sinus-wave, y'know? In a couple of years there might be more long-term fun-games than the instant-fun ones, it'll reach the top and then it makes way for short-term instant-fun arcade-like games, once again.
One studio that holds my interests in particularly is Lionhead Studios. Black & White II seems like a typical PC-game, and hopefully its not as bug-riddled as its predecessor. Also, they also seem to try and change the definitions of gaming, or at least experiment in its boundaries, take a look at The Room (Scroll down to "Gameplay Moves Forward into the 21st Century" and click the Register button, register or fill in any dummy info and watch the video, skip through to the "The Room" part).
So there's hope, but right now, I'd say yes; old games are definatly more satisfying. But right now, you got to know where to look and what to look for. May I recommend Psychonauts? An excellent multi-platform adventure game for all ages?
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I've only played Deus Ex but basically the scenario in the game wouldn't have happened if the nano-tech wasn't available to merely a single corporation in the entire world. Something which is unlikely to happen in the real world.
Or is it?....
Mirrordot does:0 3bdb23b35ee9949/index.html
http://www.mirrordot.com/stories/1670335f166dd15f
It makes my fur tingle!
Yes, there was a lot of disappointment about the short story-mode, but that didn't last long.
Most of the community ended up playing online or skirmishes, anyway. There were even sites that collected creatureminds. And we know.
B&W2 will have more islands, but as with any game; you can play it as fast or as slow as you want. Most of the people who complained that Fable was too short didn't even do any of the side quests. Same goes for B&W2.
Either way, take it or leave it. The previews so far are pretty positive about the games, time will learn what the gamers think of it.
I wonder if it has a trench..
I think that you're right. It's not as if they're trying to patent smileys themselves, which is what half of the slashdot community here seems to be thinking.
Windows Vista, that doesn't sound quite right. I think they're running out of names.
New Frontiers balanced this out a bit. The problem with the Old Frontiers is that all the action focused on a single point; EMain. And then it just came down to hard numbers, so Hibernia always lost. You can hardly blame a developer for that, the same thing happends with WoW. You can't force people to join a side they don't want to join.
New Frontiers, now, that is a different story. Usually Albion still zergs the fuck out of everything and everyone, but mids and hibs stand a lot more chance because of all the tactical advantages. Bridges, towers, if there are hibs near, they own it. I recently renewed my account again, expecting the game to be dead and boring (I just got sick of all the arti's and wtfpwn gamers, so I left 8 months ago), but it was so much fun. The last couple of weeks the hibs had captured a coastal keep + towers, so they kept teleporting in our frontier. There were skirmishes and major battles almost 18h a day (yeah, we usually don't play at 3H). I've seen a lot of fair 1vs1 fights, 1 group vs 1 group fight, I've seen 2 groups steamroll over 1 group (hey, shit happends), but I've also seen 1 group ambush a zerg of 2.5 groups and handing their asses. (tactical advantage!)
So, yeah, at least on Prydwen/EU, Hibernia seems to have recovered.
Parent wrote:Yeah right. That must've been in the beta days. You can't enter an enemy realm now, and in the old frontiers you would get a message stating that you need to leave that area.
About class balance; DAoC sure does a better job, whereas with WoW everyone is overpowered by default, and now they're just constantly hitting classes with the Nerfbat until nothing is left.
In DAOC you can't always win and will die every now and then, that's just a given fact. Exactly the same goes for the opposing factions. Apparently a lot of people can't stand losing. Some people end up bitching about the game on online-discussion boards, some people take a break and start playing again. Some people do both.
If I recall correct, Deus Ex was about breast augmentations.
Dang, you just put the rest of Silicon Valley out of business, bastard.
We're talking about Silicon Valley here, isn't that where most of the automation is coming from in the first place?
I for one welcome our new self-automating IT-overlords.
*pokes*. I'm not trying to start a flamewar here. These are just my observations and how they relate to the parent's question.
Most console(Xbox/PS/etc) carry mostly instant-fun (almost arcade-like) games. Most of those games have a short *wow!* effect. You usually play those games for a couple or days or even hours before doing anything else. Of course there are some exceptions, but, it's what most people generally expect from a console; that you can sit down and just have fun for an hour or so, sometimes with your friends.
PC-games are more of the long-lasting kind of fun. The fun is spread out over a couple of weeks, sometimes even months. Cities need to grow, characters need to be leveled, progress needs to be made.
At least, that's how it used to be (think of all those old PC games you played for ages!).
Something has changed.. Gameplay has become less important, and Graphics and all those other 'goodies' such as real-time physics simulation have become more and more important, why? Who knows! It probably sells better in the first few months.
Also, more and more and more games are being developed in a "multi-platform" way; ie, they make the same game for PC/Xbox/PS2. So what? That's only good! More joy for everyone! Well, is it? Take a look at the game Deus Ex , that's one excellent game. Now, its successor, Deus Ex: Invisible War was a multi-platform game and it all went wrong. Why? Because while Deus-Ex was a typical long-term-fun PC-Game, the sequel was a typical instant-fun short-term game; that's what its design elements reflected. Now, this is an extreme case, but I believe that more and more games are becoming the 'instant-fun short-term' kind of games for various reasons; multi-platform, better sales, more focus on graphics.
It's a shame really, but there's still hope. I'm pretty sure that this is just the zeitgeist of gaming, and it probably acts a bit like a sinus-wave, y'know? In a couple of years there might be more long-term fun-games than the instant-fun ones, it'll reach the top and then it makes way for short-term instant-fun arcade-like games, once again.
One studio that holds my interests in particularly is Lionhead Studios . Black & White II seems like a typical PC-game, and hopefully its not as bug-riddled as its predecessor. Also, they also seem to try and change the definitions of gaming, or at least experiment in its boundaries, take a look at The Room (Scroll down to "Gameplay Moves Forward into the 21st Century" and click the Register button, register or fill in any dummy info and watch the video, skip through to the "The Room" part).
So there's hope, but right now, I'd say yes; old games are definatly more satisfying. But right now, you got to know where to look and what to look for. May I recommend Psychonauts? An excellent multi-platform adventure game for all ages?
Take the user's brains out and everybody wins.
In 10 years, I bet the first readout will read;
"I think you ought to know that I'm feeling very depressed"
Echelon IV, here we come!
Looks like Microsoft is looking to take over the market.
...no computer program in the world can accurately tell you exactly what the pattern of bubbles will be during the boiling...
Well, maybe we can't tell the exact pattern of the bubbles, but, we can at least sort them! Go go gadget bubblesort!