Off Topic Discussion Megathread

[Rinhi]

People are probably reporting them for some reason, then the mods, I'd presume, don't deem what's reported as ToS breaking enough to warrant further action besides a deletion sweep.

and yet posts that outright insult someone else stay up, despite getting reported? I don't buy it

[Larirawiel]

SSAO is a huge performance killer. If you have problems with framerate then disable it.




Cheers

[Kolsykol]

Damn Microsoft and Sony going on a buyout spree.
Anyone else kinda uncomfortable with the platform holders just buying studios out all the time?

I am a tad worried about Square Enix being bought, or other studios like Capcom.
I just don't trust these big corporations to not tamper with what the devs do, even if they say that they won't I honestly don't believe them.

Even just games being published by them, Lost Ark is being published by Amazon and they've made a whole lot of dumb decisions and changed things arbitrarily that was met with huge amounts of negativity.
I just don't have faith in them that they won't change more and that they won't swing their leverage around.
It just makes me feel very uneasy when it comes to spending money on the game.

Genshin Impact is a game I really enjoy for the characters and their designs too and recently the CCP have begun targeting them and forcing them to censor the game and it's only the beginning which will affect the game globally and future content.
Stuff like this just makes me so frustrated and pessimistic there's just something that really grinds my gears with artists having their art whether it's character design, game design, music, writing etc tampered with by outside forces against their will.
Often times people dismiss the issue because they personally don't care which is rly short-sighted imo.

It feels like with time we're just moving closer and closer to a bunch of companies owning everything and more and more control being slowly exerted over what artists do by people who don't care about it and just want to make money.
And there doesn't seem to be much will at large to do anything about it.
People forget how hard the fight for violence in games was back in the day, and there's a lot more third party forces around throwing their weight around today.
I'd really hate to see games become as sterile and formulaic as big blockbuster movies are but it feels like we're headed in that direction, it's a product first and art second.
And that's not even getting into Google and Apple which hoooooooooly hell, they're some of the most archaic, overzealous and completely random when it comes to this ( still remember Artstation getting banned by them too lol... They shouldn't have as much control as they have they're a true monopoly ).

But yeah even if Microsoft and Sony isn't doing something bad today doesn't mean that they won't tomorrow.
They have a long history of doing and undoing extremely shitty practices particularly when on top.
The more they own the more likely it becomes.

[VirusOnline]

It feels like with time we're just moving closer and closer to a bunch of companies owning everything and more and more control being slowly exerted over what artists do by people who don't care about it and just want to make money.
And there doesn't seem to be much will at large to do anything about it.

Next thing you know, they'll be influencing laws and ... and indirectly owning countries through sheer economic force and ... and throwing money around to quiet those shite practices !
Uh something something, the shite practices will continue until consumers stop paying.
;___;

This reminds me of Hitman. I won't forgive Square Enix for literally throwing away the IOI team. Despite SE cutting off them off, IOI had a huge stroke of luck when Warner Bros took them on and allowed them creative liberty with Hitman 1 and 2. Beautiful games.
IOI is now their own developer and publisher for Hitman 3 and the future 007 project and I hope they are never bought out and if they are this is the type of team that deserves creative liberty. Happy stories are far and few between unfortunately.


If I'm honest, I don't see Microsoft or Sony buying out SE.

Sony is largely proprietary and benefits greatly from that. SEs cash cow is an MMO and the lifespan of FFXIV can't be more than a decade. Sony would be taking on the commitment of a cross platform game and many other PC titles.

Microsoft taking Activision-Blizzard was a solid move imo. It was collapsing from the top - but perhaps the foundation is still solid ? And even if not, Microsoft has the power to throw it out and remake it all. Will they let creative liberty reign or are they only interested in the AAA profits that this new acqusition has given them in the form of in game cash shops ? Compare Microsoft to Square Enix though - hmm - in the west SE franchises are quite niche. It wouldn't make sense considering the market and audience. Though, that's not to say it could never not happen.


Sigh, it's a whole other beast when you've got billions and economic power to throw around, creative liberties be damned.

[RicaRuin]

I want Nintendo to buy Camelot and force them to do a nice Golden Sun Remake.

[Vyrerus]

A proper Golden Sun and Golden Sun II remake would be lit. I think my nostalgia goggles are pretty hard to beat away from their GBA graphics/art style. Hnnnngh.

[Kolsykol]

If I'm honest, I don't see Microsoft or Sony buying out SE.

Yeah I don't think it's going to happen either, possibly they might sell their Western branch.
I am a tad worried about Sony buying Arc System Works tho especially after they bought EVO, Capcom would be a really attractive option too.
Since they own EVO they probably want their own fighting game studios ( Capcom also got Resident Evil, Monster Hunter and Devil May Cry ).

I really wish Japanese and Korean studios would become better at self-publishing.
There's so many cases where they outsource it and the localizers just end up screwing it up.
It often just feels like there's no fun allowed and like they act like your overzealous mom or something lol.

And in the case of publishers and localizers dealing with games they had no hand in creating to begin with they shouldn't be publishing or localizing it if they feel the need to '' change '' it.
Clearly they're not the right fit then and have no actual respect for the devs.

[SturmChurro]

Been playing through KOTOR again on the side (haven't played it in YEARS) while doing Gold Saucer and stuff (checking back in every 20 min), going to play through 2 as well. Makes me want to start playing SWTOR again after like six years now. Mostly just to do the story stuff again, it's been so long it'd be pretty fresh. I would like to get through it all again one more time before it does eventually get shut down. A lot of nostalgia there, it pretty much being my first mmorpg.

Also, completed that late Halloween event like really last minute. I do kind of like how the decor's ghosts seem to come out at night. My internet was cutting out a lot this morning too, so I was probably lucky to even get it done. We have a winter storm coming through, so that might be part of it. Gonna be pretty cold here pretty soon, and supposedly a good amount of snow.

[Garet]

Anyone know if New World is worth playing nowadays? I have some time until 6.1 drops to play it if it is worth it now.

[Denji]

Anyone know if New World is worth playing nowadays? I have some time until 6.1 drops to play it if it is worth it now.

i forget it ever existed but as far as i can tell from a glance, a massive chunk of the updates over the last 3-4 months have been almost entirely cash-shop cosmetics and just about every reply to each tweet is someone complaining they can't do end-game content because there just isn't enough people playing.