OmarBradley

On 9/10/2018 at 12:13 AM, DeadSlash said:

FYI, to anyone who cares, I got Earthfall and it is a Left4Dead clone, with aliens instead of zombies and better graphics.

That sounds good actually. I'm not too into the zombie stuff, but aliens and graphics are points of interest.

On 9/6/2018 at 4:43 PM, OmarBradley said:

Battlefield V open beta. Spent about 2 hours playing conquest on the two available maps. A lot of fun, feels like Battlefield for sure, but with some new twists. I'm excited to keep playing and see how release goes.

Beta is over. I am still optimistic about this game, but there are some issues.

Although I've read about a slew of bugs, server crashings, and other oddities, I didn't really experience any of that. Maybe a few bugs here and there, but nothing gamebreaking and certainly no server crashes. Had a few FPS drops, but that could have been latency as I'm playing on WiFi.

My biggest issue by far is the "attrition system." Basically, you spawn with very low ammo (two mags total for your standard assault rifle) and your health takes a long time to recover if you've been hit. I don't have a problem with these concepts by themselves, but it doesn't work in regular mode IMO. These are elements from hardcore mode (which I generally prefer playing). In hardcore mode, where the TTK is quicker than regular mode, low ammo and no health recovery works very well.  But it worries me that hardcore elements are being brought into normal mode, as HC was not even part of BF1 on release and when it finally was rolled out, it was problematic and had to be patched several times. By the time it was finalized, I'd already lost interest in BF1. Very worried we won't see HC at all in BFV, and this weird mix of HC and standard will be the only option.

In the beta, so many of my deaths were due to me having to pull up the minimap, re-strategize, leave my position, and try to reach ammo across the street/river/hill/etc.. So I'm running around with a pistol, hoping an enemy with a primary weapon ammo doesn't spot me. Sometimes I'm luckily near a supply cache or sometimes a squad mate with ammo is nearby, but not always.

I'll admit, if you're playing with a properly balanced squad (class-wise) that coordinates together and does voice and plays the "right way," this issue is not as prominent. But if I had to guess, it's not a majority of the playerbase that plays like that. 

DICE is looking into increasing the spawned ammo count, so that's a good step in the right direction. 

The next issue is the progression/unlock system. It's just not good. It's simplified from previous BF games and it limits the player's creativity and options. And as of beta at least, you can't make any changes in game, you have to exit the server and go into "My Company" on the main menu. The BF3/4 systems were terrific. I don't remember what BF1's was like. 

I'll still probably get this on release, as the gameplay was very fun overall, despite my grievances. 

EDIT: Right, and the revive mechanic is my only other major area of disappointment. It's still a bit buggy and haphazard at times. But more significantly, you spend far too long dead. And it's annoying to hold down a mouse button to speed up the process - a toggle should be enough. You spend ~7 seconds (estimate) dead on the ground waiting for a revive, then another ~7 in the deploy menu before you can spawn. 15 seconds doesn't sound like a lot, but in a fast-paced shooter, it feels like a lot of time spent not in-game.

Oh my god. Shut the fuck up. Either commit to doing new music or fuck off. This regurgitated line of "yeah everyone wants to" that's been given for years by virtually everyone except Axl is just embarrassing at this point. 

Battlefield V open beta. Spent about 2 hours playing conquest on the two available maps. A lot of fun, feels like Battlefield for sure, but with some new twists. I'm excited to keep playing and see how release goes.

I might even.... pre.. pre...pre... preorder. 

I wouldn't do it for any other developer/publisher, but this is going to be too good and W3 preorder bonuses were cool. 

So much to unpack in this trailer. I've watched it twice all the way through, so far.

I am fine with first person, especially just coming from the Metro series, so I believe CDPR when they say total immersion is their goal.

The world looks great. Textures are fairly high fidelity given the vastness of the city (though, we don't know how much is completed yet). I just hope this isn't like W3 when they showed an incredible-looking demo and then toned down the graphics for release - though I believe that was due to XB1/PS4 specs. This time, CDPR says they're aiming for current gen consoles, so hopefully the development isn't hampered by the prospect of next gen consoles (still a big question with Starfield).

Random tangent: Though it kind of makes my head turn that they can produce CP's graphics on current gen consoles, but had to tone down W3 for the same exact hardware pretty much. I suppose CDPR's optimization abilities may be improved, but still... seems to me the W3 graphics downgrade was overkill. I also recall ordering a GTX 970 specifically for W3 and being surprised that the card was pretty overkill for the game. The 7970 I had in my system before would have run the W3 on mostly high settings without issue. Anyway, back to the trailer...

The activity/liveliness in the city looks great too - it looks like an actual city, despite some regurgitated character models (Witcher 3 had this too and wasn't a big issue IMO). Novigrad was a pretty believable city, but this ideally will take it to another level. 

Combat looks like a lot of fun. It looks like they took the best of popular combat systems and put them into one. Mass Effect/GoW style gunplay with Assassin's Creed/Mirror's Edge style melee. And Witcher 3 levels of blood/gore. Jesus Christ... my legs.

I'm also glad they are approaching this game with an adult tone, much like the Witcher. Though both Night City and "the Continent" are fictional, exploring adult themes give them a sense of reality that many stereotypical sci-fi/fantasy RPGs do poorly at expressing. Bethesda tries this a bit, but CDPR's attempts feel more effective (to me). Looking at this CP2077 gameplay, it makes other RPGs seem cartoony (not necessarily in a visual way, but think of FO4 or Divinity vs. this). 

Quick side note: Anthony Gilchrist tries to warn the player not to trust Meredith, as she hands you the chip. Cool little detail.

May edit this with more thoughts as I rewatch the trailer. Overall, I'm incredibly hyped for this.

4 hours ago, LightningBolt said:

Also started playing a Pokemon Crystal romhack called Pokemon Crystal Clear which is pretty awesome. Basically changes Crystal into an open world adventure version of Pokemon. You can start in either Kanto or Johto and do gyms in any order you want (the levels/evolutions of the gym leaders change depending on how many badges you've collected). They added a second harder version of the Elite 4 after you clear it once. There's also a lot of quality of life changes.

Sounds cool. I sort of forgot about Pokemon.

I've played everything through Ruby/Sapphire. Anything after worth playing? I haven't followed it.

Well, I think this looks amazing. Exactly like I expected and it did not disappoint. Can't wait to play, hoping for a 2019 release.

9 hours ago, AxlisOld said:

Maybe he had a bottom of the barrel SE or had it set up shitty. Every one that I've picked up has been great. Also, as it has come up several times from me in this thread, I'm disgusted by the fall from grace of Gibson.

I'm definitely not an extreme Gibson apologist. Much of what both USA and the Custom Shop have done in the past ten years (with some exceptions) have been disappointing compared to other eras of Gibson. Funny thing though, Gibson's never really had a 100% great era. '57-'60 was done in four years and was way before anyone was putting Gibson Les Paul posters in their bedrooms. The 70's were hit or miss, the 80's were a bit better, the 90's were a bit better than that, and the 2000's were pretty decent overall too. Gibson has never really been a consistent manufacturer, but when you do find the one or two that just feels/sounds perfect, it's enlightening.

Last time I went to GC (earlier this year I think), I played a recent R0 a recent R9 and a recent Traditional (II or IV or Pro, I can't keep up). The USA Traditional slayed the Historics. But my '01 68RI slays pretty much everything put against it. The more I play guitars (from differing manufacturers, not just Gibson), the more I realize there are great guitars, good guitars, okay guitars, and bad guitars. And little of what qualifies an instrument into one of those categories has to do solely with the name on the headstock. It's tough to talk about this in a scientific way since a lot of it is preference and build methods vary too. But this is the most consistent way of thinking about it, given my experiences at least.

7 hours ago, SoundOfAGun said:

Probably just an SE and not an SE Custom. The cheapest ones are made Indonesia and do not have good things said about them. The SE Custom range is from South Korea and built to a higher standard from what I understand.

I believe this was a Korean made one. But I should play a few next time I visit a shop just to see if the one I had was a dud. 

On 8/11/2018 at 2:47 AM, AxlisOld said:

I have an SE, and have played several more. They aren't as nice as the US PRS, HOWEVER (caps intentional) they seriously play about as well as almost any Gibson I've played. They are fantastic.

I borrowed a friend's SE for a few months. It was around $500 new I think. It was garbage tbh. Not anywhere near the quality of most USA-made Gibsons I've played. I know little about PRS, and especially little about the non-USA models, so perhaps there are higher tier SEs?

On 8/11/2018 at 8:16 PM, DeadSlash said:

I'm a big fan, very excited about the 3rd installment.  Metro is one of my favorite all-time franchises.

Finished 2033 last night. By half way through, I was completely into it. I've never really played anything horror/survival-like before (not that this is explicitly that, but those elements are definitely there). I found it to be incredibly immersive with the music and scripting of gameplay (something I usually am not fond of being an RPG guy), barely any HUD and I didn't use a crosshair. 

The game gave me Dishonored vibes, which is a very good thing. I got the canon Ranger ending, didn't even know there was another option until I read guides after finishing. Seems like to get the "good" ending you have to make things very difficult for your playthrough. I played on regular mode and there were two times I ran out of ammo, but was able to stealth/knife/grenade my way through. Can't imagine what the game would be like on the harder settings with less ammo, or playing for the "good" ending by not looting corpses, etc.

Will probably start Last Light today/tonight.

EDIT: Also found the story/writing a bit stereotypical and expected, but it was in a very enjoyable way and I never found myself rolling my eyes. Maybe it's those Russian accents... 

2 hours ago, DeadSlash said:

The Metro series is amazing, did you have the original and just upgraded to the redux, or is this your first time playing them?

First time. Exodus looks great, so figured I'd do these two in the meantime since they're short games. Put about 2 hours into 2033 today, I'm enjoying it.

On 8/8/2018 at 10:20 PM, DeadSlash said:

I was scoping this out too, but I'm really into No Mans Sky after the NEXT update, so I don't think I would play it.  Always good to wait a few days on PC releases, let them work out the major bugs first.

Well, turns out I won't be playing this. Apparently the anti-pirating software Capcom used requires processors with FMA3 compatabiliy - Intel introduced this with Haswell in 2013. My processor is a 2011 Sandy Bridge. So I literally won't be able to play the game. :/

Bought the Metro Redux package instead.

5 hours ago, RageKage said:

I’m not fernie and i was just assuming. I dont know if thats what they’re doing. I hope so. But maybe people should wait a while until they tear apart tb for this

If this were any other band, sure. But this is "GNR" and TB. They've been a joke for about 15 years. Time and time again they come up short, disappoint the fans, and seem to care about nothing other than maximizing profit. Very little care for art or music. GNR is a business, now more than ever.

Fernando's account has a last active day of 6/2, who knows if he's reading the forums under an alt or as guest? Either way, he isn't saying anything. From the little I've followed this ridiculous saga, it looks like Del made some ill-informed comments and then backtracked a bit - and that's it. Why would we expect anything else from a band/management that has time after time proven they are either unwilling or unable follow through? I don't know what goes on behind the scenes, and I bet TB works hard. But hard work alone does not always yield the best outcome. It would go a long way with the fans for someone from TB or GNR to pull back the curtain a bit.

And now there's the question of where a promotional poster's content was acquired. 

On 7/2/2018 at 9:08 AM, Oldest Goat said:

I didn't like The Witcher 2. Is 3 better? I hear it is amazing so I'm considering getting it since I'm getting a new gaming rig.

Much better, but also a bit different. I like them both a lot, but prefer 3 due to its scale and comprehensiveness. 

On 7/4/2018 at 11:30 PM, coolio GNR said:

For God's Sake, I hope they build a brand new engine from scratch.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ElderScrolls/comments/4os0fj/clearing_misconceptions_on_netimmerse_gamebryo/

Monster Hunter: World comes out for PC in two days. Been eyeing it.

Anyone playing?

The concept intrigued me, but I always felt like this was a less-serious Star Citizen, and with the notoriety it garnered on release, I sort of ignored the game.

Looking at it now with the NEXT update, I may actually get this. Looks fun.

On 6/19/2018 at 4:08 AM, Oldest Goat said:

I have reached the conclusion that I am just a fan of TES IV Oblivion and don't give a fuck about the rest, I hated Skyrim tbh and so my expectations for this are extremely low.

I put about 30 hours into Oblivion, but decided I was done after doing what felt like the same Oblivion plane tower thing 35 times. Slight exaggeration, but you know what I mean. I really liked everything else, though I still prefer Skyrim.

I think Skywind will be better than either, and I look forward to playing Skyblivion with those updated graphics,

8 minutes ago, AslatIE said:

Wait it's confirmed? I thought it was a trollmeme

I mean, everyone knew they are going to make it. It's their flagship series. But they did a short teaser at E3 confirming it's in preproduction.

I like the look of Ghost a lot more, but both look fun. I don't have a PS4 though. Exclusives are incredibly annoying.

On 6/9/2018 at 12:04 PM, OmarBradley said:

Anyone want an unopened copy of For Honor (XB1)? Bought it on sale as gift for someone, but without going into too much detail it didn't pan out. It's way past the return date and I only play PC. So whoever wants it, PM me your address (cont. US only, or you pay for international shipping).

We're likely ~5 years away from playing this. I'm more interested in Skywind - which hopefully comes out in the next 1-2 years.

Glad we got confirmation of Starfield, that's the biggest thing for me for this E3. Guess it will be a 2019 or more likely, a 2020 release. Not sure why they bothered with TES:VI, everyone knows it's coming so confirmation wasn't really needed. I still won't expect it until 2021/22 at the earliest. Todd said in an interview it's still in preproduction/concepting. Reddit has analyzed the teaser though and the current consensus is Hammerfell is the location.

Journalists and insiders got to see about an hour of CP2077 gameplay. Pretty much all glowing reviews and they've been able to recount many interesting details.

And I don't think anyone else here plays For Honor, but I was pleasantly surprised by what Ubisoft showed for that.

Not sure how to feel about AC. I like the direction they're going in and the game looks good, but I still feel sort of "meh" about the whole series. I think AC needs a several year break to re-examine itself, both story and mechanic wise. A new engine should be a priority, but it doesn't seem like they think so.

I'm pretty happy with this E3. Only complaint: no Star Wars games other than BFII DLC?! Disney is annoyingly ignoring this market. The SW world is so rich and the potential game stories are boundless.

2 hours ago, AxlRoseCDII said:

Microsoft’s was pretty good this year. Happy to see that they’re dedicating more to having great games on Xbox. I think they nailed it in terms of having a killer lineup- new Halo, new Forza, Gears of War, Crackdown. Crackdown 3 looks fucking awesome and I can’t wait. Forza Horizon 4 looks great even as a non racing fan. Cyberpunk 2077 looks pretty cool. Pretty shocked Kingdom Hearts 3 made the jump to Xbox. Battletoads reveal is exciting. Glad to see some Cuphead DLC.

All in all a pretty damn good presentation. I’d say it wasn’t mind blowing, but good. Lots of these games will be on PC or PS4. 

I was thrilled to see CP77. Would have liked some gameplay, but I won't complain too much. A lot of people are saying they were disappointed by the trailer's brightness and lack of grit. But I'll wait to form an opinion until I get into the city myself and play. I watched the second half of the presentation and thought it was pretty good overall.

Interesting that FO76 got a pretty big spot in the presentation though. Makes me think (hope) FO76 is possibly not the big reveal for Bethesda, or at least not the only one.

EDIT: Cool info in here regarding Cyberpunk - https://imgur.com/a/PQ2FOio

I'm liking what I'm seeing from EA so far. Battlefield looks fun and I like that they're continuing to innovate their mechanics. I would prefer a modern setting, but then I saw this announcement trailer. Only a bit of gameplay in there, but I think that's going to be pretty good.

Very excited for Anthem. A bit sad that there was nothing on Dragon Age, but that was expected.

Microsoft is coming up soon, but I'm eager for Bethesda's tonight. I really hope FO76 isn't the only big thing they're promoting. 

We know we're getting an AC game tomorrow; feel sort of meh about it given Origins.

That's all I'm looking for, but I'd like to be surprised too. Greedfall should show up for a bit, but I still don't know what to expect from it.

Anyone want an unopened copy of For Honor (XB1)? Bought it on sale as gift for someone, but without going into too much detail it didn't pan out. It's way past the return date and I only play PC. So whoever wants it, PM me your address (cont. US only, or you pay for international shipping).