RMWeb Gamer's Lounge.

[Reorte]

Doesn't appeal but then again I've never been interested in the whole "store your stuff remotely" (except perhaps for backup purposes, and nothing automatically there). I'm pretty old-fashioned.

[MJI]

16 hours ago, Classsix T said:

Oops!

 

https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/google-stadia-shipments-may-not-arrive-on-launch-day-even-for-founders-edition-pre-orders/

 

It's not a Kotaku link, so shutyerface. 

 

We've not mentioned Stadia much (if at all) in t'Lounge. What's your take friends?

I'm of the opinion it's attempting the possibility of cloud server data offloading, which on the face of it sounds pretty cool, especially given our recent discourse of file sizes etc. But given the grief I alone have had lately securing a stable Internet (in a G7 country), I fear the vagaries of data delivery will mean poor initial take-up for all but those with a rock solid connection to the Web.

 

We have discussed elimination of physical media previously, PC playing Loungers stating most if not all of their games are downloaded. But once done, the data is yours, right, you can play offline? 

 

So Stadia is Netflix, but games? 

Pay an initial cost for controller and dongle and a subscription fee...ok gotcha. 

 

No internet, tough. 

Like only a fraction of the games available, tough. 

Exclusives, meh.

 

There's also some scoffing in some quarters at what Google is promising as server lag avoiding pre-emptive gameplay. Basically the server will calculate any controller input you might possibly make and deliver the subsequent outcome to your screen. At 60fps.

Okey dokey. I'd be interested in how that pans out.

 

I don't doubt the idea is sound, but like so many great ideas before it, wonder if the world is currently prepared for it. 

 

C6T. 

 

 

I think it will bomb.

 

Why would a PC "master race" gamer want one?

Why would someone with PS XBox or Nintendo want one?

I see no market.

[Classsix T]

I suppose the leading sales point with Stadia is the fact you don't need to ching for gaming hardware beyond the controller and dongle. However with the initial cost of those then ongoing subs and occasional pay to play games, you have to wonder how long it will take before you lose any sense of vfm. 

 

Then of course friend gamer is;

a) totally reliant on Google offering a credible library of games 

 

b) delivery

 

Wrt point a), I've enjoyed a few offerings from Amazon Video, but boy, there's an awful lot of junk on there. 

Plus, subbing to Amazon and Netflix hasn't stopped me picking up quid apiece dvd and bluray films to watch at my leisure. 

 

So yeh, like you, I'm sceptical but maybe they're aiming it at the more casual gamer? A notoriously fickle bunch and swift to move on to the next big thing though... 

 

C6T. 

 

 

 

 

 

[SHMD]

I'm still playing Fortnite and can thoroughly recommend the new "Chapter 2" version - although the 19Gb download is a bit of an ouch.

 

It was a good idea to get rid of the old map as it had too many problems, (for example, no interaction with the sea, very "samey" everywhere, etc), and adding "bots" is brilliant. They have helped me "train" to become a killer instead of just being a runner.

 

I averaged (just about) one win per season (in solo mode) in the first 10 seasons. With "Chapter 2" I got 5 wins in the first two days.

 

 

Kev.

[Classsix T]

Harrumph! Asda didn't have The Outer Worlds for sale... 

 

You could build a castle out of all the CoD:MW boxes though! 

 

C6T. 

[Reorte]

Huh, Outer Worlds stuck with stupid exclusive deals so leaving it with platforms even more obnoxious than Steam.  May get it but I'm still in an "I'll wait" mood at the moment. To be honest any "platform" that requires running some other piece of software just to run the one you've paid for (beyond the operating system) is pretty vile.

[Edge]

Made the massive mistake of grabbing WWE 2K20 on PC. 
 

it’s unplayable, and I’m going to have to wait for it to be patched before trying with it any more.

 

oh well, time to fire up total war...

[Classsix T]

5 minutes ago, Edge said:

Made the massive mistake of grabbing WWE 2K20 on PC. 
 

it’s unplayable, and I’m going to have to wait for it to be patched before trying with it any more.

 

oh well, time to fire up total war...

Dude, having seen some of the gameplay online, that's a broken game before it left the testers. 

 

Wrestling ain't my thing but Christ, it's an appalling release, like they didn't even care. 

 

C6T. 

[Classsix T]

50 minutes ago, Reorte said:

Huh, Outer Worlds stuck with stupid exclusive deals so leaving it with platforms even more obnoxious than Steam.  May get it but I'm still in an "I'll wait" mood at the moment. To be honest any "platform" that requires running some other piece of software just to run the one you've paid for (beyond the operating system) is pretty vile.

Woh, friend, I don't believe I've known you so vexed. Which worries me. Seriously. 

You're no doubt acutely aware of how the PC market works now and that Epic Store is a thing? Like it or not? 

 

I'm not over the moon that apparently TOW dev Obsidian is owned by Microsoft, having vowed I'll never to give Mr. Gates any of my money, but I suppose I haven't a choice. 

 

C6T. 

[Reorte]

Me being vexed and grumpy is actually pretty much my normal state.

 

I know how the PC market works and it stinks quite frankly, that's the big downside of PC gaming.

[Classsix T]

Of course, I'm in the unenviable position of being brand loyal to a mahoosive global corporation that is lovely and fluffy and helps old ladies across the road...

 

https://www.kotaku.co.uk/2019/10/10/report-sonys-european-arm-hit-by-layoffs

 

...cough! C6T. 

[Ian J.]

I've pretty much given up on Gears 5, except for finishing the campaign (which I'm slowly working through in co-op with a friend). It just isn't worth playing, even if it was working properly. The Horde and Escape sections need a better way of players controlling what kind of match they're playing, who they're playing with, and how best to play. Too many just end up with players dropping out right at the beginning or shortly after, there's no interest in playing through (particularly in Horde), and far too much 'lone wolf' when teamwork is required to make it to the end. The developers haven't helped with that, as they made (in Horde) the power collection require 'lone wolf' activity to get the maximum value.

[Reorte]

Spent all day yesterday downloading The Outer Worlds (decided to go ahead anyway), and now it's a rare bright sunny day where I should be outside...

[MJI]

On 25/10/2019 at 20:16, Classsix T said:

Woh, friend, I don't believe I've known you so vexed. Which worries me. Seriously. 

You're no doubt acutely aware of how the PC market works now and that Epic Store is a thing? Like it or not? 

 

I'm not over the moon that apparently TOW dev Obsidian is owned by Microsoft, having vowed I'll never to give Mr. Gates any of my money, but I suppose I haven't a choice. 

 

C6T. 

 

Owned by Microsoft, available on Sony. But then there is a Sony owned game exclusive to XBox.

 

It seems that Microsoft have given up trying to beat Playstation and now just want to compete nicely. I think both are more concerned about such things as Stadia. Working together is not surprising, people forget that Sony is an excellent hardware company.

 

Sony have the right idea with software, own the studios, this was a lesson learnt from the Betamax era. So far this method won the BluRay HD-DVD battle, the PS Xbox battles normally go Sonys way, all due to software.

[Reorte]

Well, despite my above grumbles at least you can pay for The Outer Worlds elsewhere (I went through Obsidian's website, although I don't know how the payment processes) and although that just gives you a code for the Epic launcher you only need it for the download (pity you can't just download directly, but hey ho), it'll run just fine without it.

[Classsix T]

Mass Effect Andromeda's higher difficulty rating is really starting to show its teeth now. 

I've spent a large chunk of the weekend tackling one of the big b*****d Remnant Architects and latterly repelling an assault by waves of Roekaar troops. Challenging! 

 

C6T. 

[Classsix T]

As it happens, can I ask those that play Mass Effect how you prefer to organise your arsenal of weapons? 

 

Leaving aside combat preferences and the weight penalties for purposes of power recharging, as a noob, I'd usually go for a pistol or preferably an SMG that'd spit out as many slugs as possible and allocate it Disruptor ammo to take out shields. 

A medium rated assault rifle. 

Biggest effing sniper rifle available. 

 

These days I'm preferring my combat a bit more up-close and personal. As such the sniper rifles chosen are more likely to be better described as ranged automatic rifles and less important than having a honking geet shotgun to hand. 

Pistol and assault rifles will chop and change, but one of them out of necessity, will still be able to take care of those pesky shielded baddies. 

 

Something I didn't see in my first play of Andromeda though was there's an Angaran pistol with more punch than any of the sniper or shotguns I've used previously. As such I'm using up my under used Andromeda research points to get that sucker up to level 10!

I'm not usually keen on much of the Andromeda and Remnant gear on offer through the research centres beyond the augmentations, purely from an aesthetic pov, the Kett gear looks nasty...yes I'll pick a gun or armour on design, mock away! 

 

C6T. 

Edited October 28, 2019 by Classsix T

[Reorte]

It depends a great deal on your character. I usually favour infiltrator builds with a strong sniper rifle - Javelin in ME3, Isharay in Andromeda. That would be a lousy choice for a power class though because of the weight penalty. I usually just concentrate on the one weapon. On the multiplayer side (I've not played enough single player Andromeda to have variety there) I find it usually works similar to ME3 - a decent pistol for a biotic, perhaps one of the lighter assault rifles. Vanguards seem to favour shotguns, or the Talon (in ME3 at any rate, can't even remember if it's in Andromeda), which is really a one-handed shotgun anyway. Mixed classes, or perhaps engineers, I usually seem to end up with an assault rifle, how heavy depending on how much I have the gun - power balance for the character. Most of the SMGs I find pretty useless.

 

Up close characters in general I usually satisfy myself with a stonking great shotgun and hope like hell I can figure something else out for the enemies where that's rather too dangerous.

[Classsix T]

Yeah, perhaps because I'd initially come to the ME canon directly from Deus Ex, I'd favoured the "stand-off" approach to combat with sniper rifles and cloaking.

It's so DULL though! Stood on a tactically superior vantage point, I started to feel sorry for the respective Krogan in the landing party that I'd already picked all the bad guys off! Possibly doesn't do your XP any favours either. 

 

Last play of Shepard and this with Ryder, I thought let's rumble! Much more fun, easy to ignore exactly where your shields and health are at though, especially as I've nudged it up a difficulty level which makes it much more critical to mission success. 

 

C6T. 

[Classsix T]

...and let's face it, whatever tools you have at your disposal, at whatever level, a Banshee is gonna make your game a lot less pleasant, instantly. Literally physically and mentally exhausting encounters.

Architects? Pfft! 

 

I saw a Reddit thread asking how to deal with Banshees coming at you, the answer;

"Walk backwards shooting whilst shouting f**k, f**k, f**k!" 

 

Absolutely! C6T. 

[Reorte]

53 minutes ago, Classsix T said:

...and let's face it, whatever tools you have at your disposal, at whatever level, a Banshee is gonna make your game a lot less pleasant, instantly. Literally physically and mentally exhausting encounters.

Architects? Pfft! 

 

I saw a Reddit thread asking how to deal with Banshees coming at you, the answer;

"Walk backwards shooting whilst shouting f**k, f**k, f**k!" 

 

Absolutely! C6T. 

Javelin shots to the head usually do it! Armour piercing helps, although the barriers are tedious. But if I'm doing a rather cheesy Platinum solo run the easy approach for banshees is Acolyte to strip the shields and a flamer (geth trooper).

 

I've usually found sniping in ME pretty rewarding personally (managed two Phantoms in one shot once, which was very nice - Javelin headshot with phasic ammo will take them out in one shot on Gold). I suppose it all depends on just what works for you, the sniper approach I find satisfying. I mostly use the cloak for the cloaked damage benefit (cloak - shoot one straight after the other, which minimises cooldown), letting it run down I save for multiplayer objective waves and escaping moments of panic.

 

That said there's a lot of fun to be had with Vanguards or nutcase krogan melee builds.

[Classsix T]

Well obviously, the great thing about ME is choice. And patently, that's why fans of it love it. The fact you or I can play the game differently and garner enjoyment is testament to the core experience.

 

C6T. 

[Classsix T]

On 28/10/2019 at 10:19, Reorte said:

Well, despite my above grumbles at least you can pay for The Outer Worlds elsewhere (I went through Obsidian's website, although I don't know how the payment processes) and although that just gives you a code for the Epic launcher you only need it for the download (pity you can't just download directly, but hey ho), it'll run just fine without it.

Will you score RDR2 later given your disappointment it wasn't initially given a PC release?

Available initially I'm told via Epic (boo!, apparently) or Rockstar's own launcher or latterly Steam if you can wait another excruciating three weeks (on top of the 52 you already have).

 

That said, if you started downloading at Epic launch, it might be finished installing when Steam releases it, arf! 

 

Sorry mate, couldn't resist the temptation! C6T. 

[Classsix T]

Another jorno' moaning on Kotaku that CoD:MW took four and a half hours to download including patches and updates etc. 

"Watching the progress bar", Jesus, who does that!? 

 

C6T. 

[Reorte]

3 hours ago, Classsix T said:

Another jorno' moaning on Kotaku that CoD:MW took four and a half hours to download including patches and updates etc. 

"Watching the progress bar", Jesus, who does that!?

 

Just kick it off and get on with something else. Whilst I've got sympathy for the size for the sake of size argument I don't have much for impatience.