#which is surprising since it's a bethesda game

[sniperct]

acquired starfield and put about an hour into it so far, finished the first research outpost with the pirates then rescued a little outpost nearby

love the music, looks good and plays well on my PC

it still feels like fallout, but the combat and movement is a bit better. enemies feel spongey

spaceship flying kind of sucks and is very simplified but I wasn't expecting anything complicated or simmy, this isn't star citizen.

And I found a program to map my joystick and we'll see if that helps. I'm okay with arcadey flying in games but it's waaaay more fun with a flightstick. (I play war thunder in arcade battles with one, lots more fun than using a mouse and keyboard. One day I'll graduate to more realistic battles)

Anyway first impressions a solid 7/10, but we'll see how long I go before I get bored like I do with almost every one of bethesda's games. I'm intrigued by the story but they aren't known for solid main story telling

[moodcrab]

Fixing Skyrim's Daedric Quests

Introduction

Unlike my Oblivion character - a mere mortal who stumbled upon a shrine while lost in the wilderness, becomes somewhat obsessed with gaining the level requirement and collecting an offering, then undertakes the quest feeling like a dark god is testing their worthiness to be their champion - The Last Dragonborn has Daedric Princes falling over themselves to make them their champion straight out the gate. Level one? Who cares! No offering? No problem! Not my Summoning Day? We haven't cared about that since Morrowind! Literally told me to go fuck myself? Take the prize anyway Champ you've earned it!

Basically, much like factions, Skyrim shoves nearly all of the Daedric Quests in the player's face as soon as possible because they're widely considered to be the best and most rewarding by fans of the previous games. But the older games had them, to varying degrees, hidden away or locked behind mechanics, and Bethesda didn't want newer, more casual fans to miss them. In doing so the Princes and their cults lose that air of mystery and danger they once had.

On the other hand, it was nice to be doing something else entirely then have a surprise Daedric Quests blind side me, and it's not like the old Oblivion way was perfect. Find shrine, give offering, get quest for EVERY Prince? And just one quest and I'm the champion, dedicated my soul to your afterlife and all that jazz?

This series is going to try to maximise the good parts of Skyrim Daedric Quests, while bringing back some of the classic elements that it left out, starting with...

Part I - Namria

Quest A) A Taste of Death.

If you visit the Treasury House in Markarth you might overhear an argument between Brother Verulus and Thongvor Silver-Blood. This location change means you are unlikely to just run into this quest immediately as in vanilla, but also gives you a high chance of encountering it during The Forsworn Conspiracy, in which case it has the double benefit of acting as a kind of red herring in that quest and linking this quest with Markarth's corruption and secret society vibes.

Brother Verulus wants the city guard to stop their lockdown of the Halls of the Dead and to actually go in and deal with the draugr head on (in my alternative "Fixed" Skyrim the increased draugr population is connected with Alduin's return, who is raising his Dragon Priests to serve him, even within cities). Why doesn't he go pester the Jarl or the Captain about this, asks Thongvor, dismissively. Oh come on, don't act coy, we all know who really controls the guard in Markarth, why not let them do their job, replies Verulus. Thongvor counters that that would be a desecration of the Nordic dead, that guards putting them down like a pest would be dishonourable. What's more, perhaps if the glorious Nordic dead of the city weren't being tended to by a poncy Imperial Priest of Arkay instead of a proper old fashioned Orkey Shaman, maybe none of this would have happened. Verulus starts to lose his temper at this, and in anger implies that he knows that the draugr problem that plagues the other cities isn't the real issue here, that most of the ancient dead here are Reachfolk not Nord, and begins to demand a true explanation for being locked out but stops himself, he has said too much and leaves.

The quest begins by talking to Verulus who will ask you to investigate what's really going on in The Halls of the Dead. How you get in is up to you. If you're a sneaky type or a smooth talker you'll get in that way. You can also commit a crime to lure the guard away maybe. You could go find Thongvor who can be convinced to give you an alternative - take care of Verulus, but more on that later.

However you get into the Halls, on entering you start finding evidence of cannibalism, butchered bodies, cooking stations and so on. As you delve deeper you hear Eola, a Reachman Namira Devotee, goading and teasing you; "Not many would walk blindly into a crypt, smelling of steel and blood, but not fear... Don't you see what I am about down here in the dark? Is that disgust? Revulsion?... Or curiosity? Why don't you come deeper, and scratch that itch?" You can question her about who she is, what is her purpose here, why is Thongvor protecting her etc. but it will come down to convincing her to leave, killing her, or accepting her invitation to eat human flesh.

Now, IF you sided with Thongvor, the plan is to lie to Verulus to get him to follow you into the Halls of the Dead, this time you'll be confronted directly by Eola and Thongvor together. They intend to kill and eat you both and blame your deaths on Draugr. You can fight your way out and try to save Verulus, or you can prove yourself by killing Verulus yourself and tasting him by way of a test.

If you partake in cannibalism you will get a monologue from Eola about Namira, waxing poetic about the oldest god, The Black Fly, being the Daedric Prince of decay and squalor and all things ugly and repulsive... But also her significance to the Reachmen. To them she is the Spirit Queen who is the true god of death, not Arkay, the primal darkness that gives and takes life. You will gain the power to feast on a corps once a night or when underground, and unlock the second quest.

Quest B - A Guest for Dinner

The second quest will be even less obvious to the player and will hopefully take most people completely by surprise the first time it happens. The quest will only begin after the following criteria are met: You have used the lesser power to consume 10 or more corpses. You own a fully furnished player home. You spend the night there with either your spouse or a follower. When you sleep, a slow, loud, ominous knocking at the door awakens you.

At your door is a stranger in rags and a hideous face asking to come in. You can refuse or invite them to stay. Once inside they will take a seat at your table and ask what is being served for dinner. At this point your follower/spouse will be freaking out a little. You can offer food, like regular food, which will disappoint him and he'll leave. You can offer your spouse or follower as the meal and you'll have to attack them, the screen will darken for an gruesome audible muckbang. Or you can tell the Stranger he is on the menu, which will please him greatly and he will warn you against choking on him, depending on the disposition of your specific follower or spouse they will either join in or abandon you forever.

The Stranger, if he survives the night, will give you the Ring of Namira as thanks. If you ate him Eola, who incidentally will now double as a replacement spouse/follower, will arrive and give you the Ring. The Ring is a powerful reflect damage/magic ring, a unique enchantment in Skyrim.

[drunkenskunk]

Welcome to another Drunk Skunk™ rant!

So.

I've had some time to sit and stew on the Fallout show, and I think I've finally figured out exactly what I want to say. Because kids? I got Opinions™ about this fucking series. I sincerely wish I didn't have all these Opinions™, because that would almost certainly cause me significantly less stress.

But here we are.

The Fallout show annoys me, but not for the reasons you think.

Let's get the good out of the way first. And by "good" I mean "damning with faint praise."

The Fallout show, as a piece of entertainment and experienced in a vacuum with no prior knowledge or context of the rest of the series or any of the other video games, is... fine. It's an entertaining television show. It's not great, but it's not terrible. It's okay.

The best part of the show is, unquestionably, Walton Goggins. Which is probably the coldest take here, everyone agrees that he's fantastic in this. And it's true! Granted, he doesn't look nearly as gnarly as he should, as the makeup is really giving Ryan Reynolds Deadpool Hugo Weaving Red Skull vibes, but I can honestly give that a pass. He steals every single scene he's in. He has all the best lines. Plus, all the pre-war flashbacks with him are excellent. That first scene when the bombs drop is fucking harrowing.

SPEAKING OF THE BOMBS!

The big reveal that Vault Tec were the ones to kickstart the apocalypse. My initial gut reaction to that was... Not Great. I didn't like it. In fact, I kinda hated it. I thought it was an answer to a question that nobody asked, because nobody cared, because it was never supposed to matter who shot first. The original point was that the end of the world was the inevitable outcome after so many years of war, so many years of stockpiling nuclear weapons, and so many bad decisions from everyone in positions of power on all sides of the conflict.

But the more I think about Vault Tec being the ones to destroy the world... I dunno, the more I... kinda like it? In a fashion. Sort of. As you can see by the remaining length of this fucking rant, I have Complicated Feelings about this!

See, Fallout has never exactly been subtle with its themes, but the show drops all pretense, and openly embraces a staunchly (and honestly, extremely surprising) anti-capitalist narrative.

The Fallout show pulls a Garth Marenghi unironically, and it honestly... kinda works?

Vault Tec were the ones to drop the bombs because they wanted to recreate the world in their image of a capitalist "paradise" free of any and all government regulation. The inevitable end result of the "great game" of capitalism is the literal end of the world, and the capitalists will do everything they can to destroy any attempts to rebuild any civilization not explicitly under their direct control. Because that's what capitalists do: they pursue an ultimately self-destructive goal that is not, and never was, sustainable, and will destroy everything else in their pursuit of endless, infinite, exponential growth, forever. Nothing else matters except Make Number Line Go Up.

Side note: it is extremely funny to me that Bethesda - a hollow shell of greed and excess who have been releasing the same game with different wallpapers over and over again since Oblivion - and Amazon - which is fucking Amazon - bankrolled a show where the villains are greedy capitalists who explicitly destroyed the world because of fiduciary duty to the shareholders. Like... guys, you do realize you two are Vault Tec in this scenario, right?

Ah well. That's capitalist realism for ya.

Anyway, the more I think about it, the more sense it makes that Vault Tec were the ones to drop the bombs.

HOWEVER.

Maybe this is just me being a cynical, drunken asshole here, but... it feels like this was a decision that was made, not because it was the best way to take the narrative, but instead as a means of enforcing the Status Quo of Bethesda Fallout.

See, the thing I liked about the west coast Fallout games was that it showed a world ravaged by the apocalypse, but it also showed that world beginning to heal. 200 years after The End, and civilization was returning. It was a natural evolution of things, emphasizing the post part of "post-apocalypse." It showed us a world that really sucked a lot of the time... but also gave us a small sliver of hope that, no matter what nightmares existed after The End, things could - and would - get better, so long as we put in the work to make it better. It was a world that showed us that nothing was ever so broken that it couldn't be repaired. We just had to fucking EARN that happy ending.

Bethesda Fallout, on the other hand, is just Wacky Wasteland Adventure Time. They are not interested in showing a world evolving or changing or growing, they just want a blasted hellscape that looks like it was freshly nuked yesterday. Why? Because that's the surface-level Aesthetic of Fallout. That is what is recognizable. And Aesthetic is all they know how to do. That's the mother fucking Brand.

Doing something different would risk changing the Brand, and if that kind of change happens, then it's no longer easily marketable. So they just keep with what's familiar: freshly irradiated hellscapes, caps as currency, makeshift weapons, psychotic raiders with no purpose or goals beyond Fuck You, and more of the fucking Brotherhood of Steel. It's all the stuff we remember, so we can point at the screen and go "I recognize that!" instead of allowing the setting to evolve and creating something new.

And that's what annoys me the most. Because even though Vault Tec destroying the world in 2077 makes a certain amount of sense, it also feels like it only exists as a means of artificially enforcing the status quo of the setting. Which means that nothing will ever matter in Fallout ever again. It doesn't matter what happens, or what changes in the future, or who wins the next ideological conflict between the same factions that keep reappearing over and over again like radroaches. Because whenever something strays too far from the established setting, Vault Tec (or, more accurately, Bethesda) is just going to nuke it again, like what happened to Shady Sands.

And, y'know, Shady Sands getting nuked like that really does rankle. Not because I ever had any attachment to the NCR, but because destroying it in the way that they did just felt so fucking lazy. If they wanted to get rid of the NCR, there were easily half a dozen other things they could've done that would've made far more sense. The NCR was a fantastically corrupt government, making the same mistakes as the same governments that (up until the show) were responsible for destroying the world. California was running out of food and clean drinking water because of gross negligence and mismanagement, public unrest was high because of excessive taxation and the "stop tolls" of corrupt border guards shaking down people, and both the military and bureaucracy of the NCR was spread fucking paper-thin, due to their policies of violent imperialist expansionism trying to take far more territory than they could reasonably hold, far more quickly than they could ever manage.

And did any of that matter? No. Not at all. Pursuing any of those plot threads would've required the writers to actually come up with some new ideas. So, instead, it was destroyed because of a cryogenically frozen Vault Tec middle manager with family problems. It was such a fucking lazy solution to a problem that should never have existed in the first place. It felt like the Fallout equivalent of "Somehow, Palpatine has returned."

That's why this show annoys me so much. Because this show that exists without subtlety or subtext, is telling us, to our face:

Don't hope for a better future, because it will never come. The world of Fallout is a destroyed, irradiated hellscape, entirely devoid of hope, and it will never, ever change, ever again.

Because that's the Fallout Brand, and that's what fucking sells.

[openworldadventurer]

I'm really sorry if this is rude or something, it's really not intended to be, but do you have any proof of your work at Bethesda? I'm writing something for school about how casual a lot of the abuse/mismanagment in the games industry is and want to include some of the things you've talked about in the past, but I can't seem to find anything that actually validates your accounts. Even just an article from a credible source in which your mentioned or smth would be fine, genuinely.

Sorry again if this rude, thank you in advance if you decide to respons!

That's a perfectly reasonable thing to ask, so no offense taken.

But first things first: there are larger and more egregious abuses out there with much more proof than some tales from the trenches on Tumblr. I recommend Jason Schreier's Press Reset (not just because I was interviewed for it about two separate studio closures, Big Huge Games and 2K Marin), but there's no shortage of good reporting on a variety of abuses. (And as for "mismanagement", I wouldn't call any of the cut stuff from Skyrim a sign of mismanagement at all -- that's just what happens in any big open-world game. Every developer plans about twice as much stuff for a game as actually sees the final version -- there are always cuts when we see what we'll have the time and devpower to achieve.)

So please, don't quote "some guy on Tumblr said his name was struck from the game" for your school article -- it'll look like gossip reporting, and it won't even be very exciting. There's real horrors out there with solid sourcing that you can draw from, instead. As for my own credentials: I'm listed in the credits for Fallout 3 as "Fred Zeleny" (you can see me listed in this video of the credits at 2:51), and the various Fallout fan wikis have archives of my "Inside the Vault" internal blog interview I did while working on it.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm not listed in the credits for Skyrim, because they stripped my name along with a few other developers for going to work at different game studios before the project was done. I'm not sure what I can do to offer proof that I was there for that time period, short of sharing my design notebooks or pictures from the company parties, all of which might well be legally-actionable breaches of my NDA. I suppose I could point out which characters are named after friends of mine, but that wouldn't prove much if you don't know them. (Although it's a sweet story: they had just married at the time, and I added them as a little surprise wedding gift. Now their two kids play Skyrim on the Switch and are delighted to see their parents immortalized in Darkwater Crossing.) Now, that sort of professional erasure might not fly nowadays (particularly with a union there!), but that was 15 years ago. And sure, that was frustrating back when I was a young dev. But in the decade and a half since, it's never been a professional impediment, because everyone else in the industry knows that sort of pettiness was/is done all the time. And it doesn't hold a candle to some of the real abuses and horrors I've seen in the industry since leaving Bethesda.

So... yeah. I am who I say I am, but I really hope I haven't given the impression that Bethesda is a uniquely bad place in the game industry. If anything, it was fine in hindsight, albeit a little frustrating how things ended. But I tell tales of what almost happened in those games because those are the games people are familiar with, and because those tales are amusing rather than just horrifying.

Trust me, "here's a funny thing I almost did with Sheogorath!" or "the Bard's College quest was almost way more complex!" are much more enjoyable stories from game development than the real horrors I've seen. You probably wouldn't enjoy reading "that season I slept in the office multiple nights a week to meet deadlines and then the parent company failed to make payroll and laid us all off with no severance and we all cried and my coworker wrote a sad note to the movers who came to take everything away", or "the guy who made us completely retool our game to be more mainstream just stepped down after being arrested for a longstanding pattern of sexual harassment and abuse of employees." Trust me, those are real bummers. So it'd probably be better for your article if you focus on the sort of actual abuse and mismanagement I've shared links for here, rather than the minor stuff from my posts.

Gotta keep a proper perspective, y'know?

[unironicallytes]

Making this a separate post, I was about to talk about character adventures but you know what Todd, we're taking a detour.

So in addition to playing Morrowind, I went back to Skyrim too because I haven't played since 2012. And lo and behold, I still have the original version with my original mods! All of which are untouched by Todd's recent meddling!

I had initially wanted to upgrade, but then I saw all the recent surprise update stuff and went "actually that annoys me, so no!" (It's not the biggest deal to some people but mainly the breaking of prior mods annoys me and it's fine to disagree.)

Anyways all the original game versions are unlisted and cannot be found on Steam unless you have the direct links.

... Which I just so happen to have by virtue of still having the original versions installed. So here you go, if you're interested in going all the way back. The old versions are likely not as pretty or optimized and it's been very much a DIY experience. If people want my mod list I'll gladly post that next time I'm at my PC.

Skyrim

Hearthfire

Dawnguard

Dragonborne

Make sure to use the original Skyrim Nexus if you want to download old mods, there are different mod directories for Special Edition and the original game. If you do use Nexus, there is an option to donate to mod creators. Do that if you have the funds and want to support via that route instead of through Bethesda's Creation Club.

Happy adventuring!

[falmerbrook]

Problem with adapting it to film or tv especially so lies within which stories they would choose to tell. There are so many to choose from or even make new ones, but I am almost certain they would fumble in their choice or choose something extremely human-centric (probably bretons or imperials) to save on the cgi/practical effects. There are good human-centric stories in tes, of course, many of them, but choosing them specifically for the sake of saving money on assets instead of for the sake of telling the story is something that I see them doing.

Then again, they could always pull D&D movie which stays true to source material and has amazing practical effects. But. I don't quite trust it.

Yeah, my biggest worry with live action would be the high probability of the cast being 90% human, most elves being humans with pointy ears (not the worst, but it would be disappointing), and/or the non human characters being one offs (so they don’t need them for multiple scenes) that just show up to make the world feel weirder. A live action show would also have a greater risk for dumbed down or less fantastical locations or moments due to budget or effect constraints. Animation would be a much better medium (and I’m obviously a little biased for animation lol), but even then I’d worry about the mainstreaming of the world or story.

Honor Among Theives and Dune put a bit more faith in movies’ ability to adapt fantasy worlds and visuals well, which is why I said there would be a probability of an adaptation being good, but Bethesda doesn’t really have a good track record with avoiding mainstreaming the series (for better or worse) so I still wouldn’t be hopeful until I saw visuals though lol.

Honestly, I’m kinda surprised we never got a Skyrim adaptation given how huge it is and how big and successful video game adaptations are getting. It would be the most appealing to mainstream audiences (since it already was), and I bet some studio/producer has made an offer, so I wonder if they don’t want to adapt tes or if there was some other reason for that not happening.

[tanadrin]

okay, final thoughts on beating inquisition. good stuff first:

the game is of course very beautiful. it is realistic without being drab, full of color, and very good at atmospheric environments and dungeons. the incidental art--the character tarot cards in particular--also have a very distinct and delightful style.

the sound design is also terrific, and that's something i usually never notice. the music is great, too.

the characters are all great. special mentions to Ms.-Killing-For-Jesus-Or-Possibly-Just-For-Fun, Captain-Buzzkill-The-Lady-Cop, The Ancient Furry Who Is Also an Elven Fascist, Mr.-Gets-An-Erection-Every-Time-We-Fight-a-Dragon, and the Necromancer with Daddy Issues. all of them would be exhausting as hell in real life.

many of the mechanics, like recruiting agents, the war table, and the way skyhold changes over time do make you feel like you’re building up a big organization, and that’s quite fun. it’s a pity it mostly goes to waste when it comes to the actual plot.

the game develops the backstory to the setting in tantalizing ways. the plot in some ways feels like it’s obviously setting up a sequel, but it manages to do so without feeling incomplete. the bioware method of storytelling and incorporating player choice is fraught in a lot of ways, just because of the limits of what video game designers can reasonably do with those choices, but overall i think dragon age as a franchise and DA:I handle those limitations well.

the meh stuff:

not wholly bioware's fault, but the fact that the only mod manager for DA:I is extremely hit-or-miss seems to be down to the fact that an awkward rube goldberg machine of software must kick into gear for da:i to start. if you are going to force me to use your storefront rather than selling me a standalone piece of software, *it had better run flawlessly.* as it is, i cannot recommend buying any game that isn't available solely through steam. (DA:I wasn't available on Steam when I originally bought it; it seems to be again, but if it's like DA2, you still have to install EA Desktop and run it every time you play). unfortunately, mods are a must for reasons i covered elsewhere. they help sidestep some of the boring padding, like idle mechanics and bad map design. otherwise, though, i think moddability in an RPG like this is a strength: one reason Skyrim has had such a long afterlife is that Bethesda has made modding relatively easy, allowing people to customize and embellish their gameplay experience in countless ways (only some of which involve giving the Dragonborn a monster hog).

shallower ability trees and thus less interesting combat. give me more tools, not less!

took away attribute customization for no good reason. let me minmax, dammit!

in general, despite the crafting system (thbbbbt), the armor and weapon customization still feels pretty shallow. you just don’t have that many options for stats, and since i can’t minmax my underlying stat scores, the benefits are limited.

the stuff that i think really fails:

all those zones are a fuckin' slog, lemme tell u. it would be one thing if the zones' quests fed in an interesting way back into the main quest, or if the zones had unified and compelling stories, but it's honestly mostly fetch quests and random collectibles. DA:O was *really* good about having narratively unified side/sub-quests as part of the main quest; there were other small tasks you could accomplish while doing those, but they didn't require taking a break from the main action. They were woven into it.

doesn't help that the zones aren't differentiated enough, and there's too many of them. why do we need three desert zones, all next to each other? why not have fewer, larger zones?

and on top of all that, the main quest is actually kinda sort! it's 1) join up, 2) recruit the mages or templars, 3) close the breach, 4) go to a party in Orlais, 5) visit the Temple of Mythal for a surprise macguffin not foreshadowed at all elsewhere, 5) kill the final boss. The only reason the game is as long as it is is that next steps are usually gated behind large amounts of inquisition power, so rather than the story carrying you along as it did in DA:O and DA2, it's "do a ton of filler quests and then have a major story beat as a treat." That structure sucks ass! and the recruitment/inquisition-building work you do only shows up in the background of quest 5. it doesn't take you to open-world locations much, mostly to one-off specialized zones like halamshiral, the temple of mythal, or the breach.

despite gating main quests behind inquisition power, i did a ton of sidequests and was swimming in it by the end. i had like 200+ power. i couldn’t tell you what those side quests were about, really; they certainly weren’t memorable, and didn’t affect the main plot at all. i wish all the time poured into those side quests had gone into developing the main story.

even da:o had a way for the armies you recruited to matter in the final battle; your forces are explicitly absent in DA:I (but it’s ok because the villain shows up to the final confrontation alone anyway??), which means that, narratively, it feels like all the side stuff you do to build the inquisition is mostly pointless. the final showdown is a 4-on-1 slugfest, and not even an especially interesting fight. and this is related to the next point:

last quest is kinda random and makes no sense. we made a huge stink about closing the breach earlier; but surprise! it's open again! and suddenly we transition to a boss battle, with very little intro. it feels *very* rushed, like they had to cut out a bunch of stuff in the middle. (also why dos a guy who can lift mountains into the air need an army to conquer Orlais?? he could just turn Val Royeaux upsid-down if he wanted) visually, it looks like a lot of the assets meant it was gonna take place in the Fade or something, but they changed it up at the last minute. Where do those towers in the distance come from? There isn't anything like that around Haven or the Breach.

there are no decision points, no interesting mechanics, and no stakes other than “lol the breach is open again i guess kill this guy or the world ends.” compare the battle of denerim in DA:O, where you’re defending a whole city, or the last quest in DA2, which (though it starts with little buildup), has immediate fallout with your companions, and forces you to pick a side, with repercussions for the game’s ending.

also this feels like kind of a minor writing quibble in comparison, but corypheus seems to go from "self-aware and very much in control mustache-twirling villain" to "gibbering megalomaniac" in the last mission, and it's pretty jarring

we got a moment with each companion before the climax in da:o and da2, and we don't get that in da:i for some reason. i guess it's in part bc the game doesn't actually end like in previous installments--you can finish up side quests after if you want--but it really contributes to the rushed feeling.

all the language in the post-battle scene about "just getting started" feels very strange knowing they shut it all down in the trespasser DLC just two years later. i still think that's a terrible ending--they should let a dragon age protagonist rest on their laurels a bit for once!

seriously, why the FUCK do i not get a mabari in this one?!

despite all the things i like about inquisition, it’s just not as good a game as da2! or even da1! i don’t know if the team was bigger and the franchise so popular by 2014 that it was harder for a single creative vision to cohere, what development was like and what executive mandates were handed down from above, or what constraints the frostbite engine imposed. i worry that with the departure of david gaider and the game’s financial success, those problems might only get worse with dreadwolf as commercial demands trade off against creative consistency. as it stands though i’m hoping dreadwolf is much more structurally linear--the three act structure in da2 was actually kind of a godsend from a narrative perspective, since each act had to have its own contained arc, and you had room for time to pass between them, and i would very much welcome something like that showing up again in dreadwolf.

[natsubeatsrock]

Top 7 Things I Enjoyed in 2023: Number 2

For all the praise I gave Legends Arceus, I can't say it's my favorite game I played this year. It was my favorite Switch game. I would have figured this game would have been it. Though, I wasn't expecting the game to overtake it to come out. 

Then again, neither was anyone else. This game came out of nowhere to do war with Zelda, Mario, and Baldur's Gate for the best game of the year. And it's my pick for game of the year.

Number #2 - Hi-Fi Rush

I love this game. I don't even know how it hit so close to me. I've never been great at rhythm games and I don't stray too far from Pokemon when it comes to RPGs. However, the folks at Bethesda decided to produce a music-themed game about robots. And, boy oh boy does this work. 

No one saw this coming. It was a surprise release at the beginning of the year. It certainly wasn't the most hyped release by the company this year, considering Starfield also came out this year. The idea that a game like this would be popular only makes sense in a world where one of the most popular games involves mining.

But it more than made its mark on the public as the year went on. Almost the instant I heard about it, I figured that this would be exactly up my alley. I got to try it out at PAX East and fell in love as I played it throughout the year. 

I haven't played a game with as much charm and character as Hi-Fi Rush since Skullgirls, which was another one of my favorite games of the previous year. Fitting how that's about the only other game I play on PC, as a mainly Nintendo gamer.

The music of this game is amazing. I'm fine with all kinds of genres of music for games and personal listening. However, it's always fun to have a high-energy rock soundtrack, especially compared to all the Pokemon scores I've listened to this year. I've had its version of Radicals in my head ever since hearing it the first time.

Even outside of the individual tracks, the music dictates every action in the game. The amazing cell-shaded cutscenes, along with the normal game interactions are synced to the music. This extends to background elements. I can't think of any game with this level of coordination on a musical lever.

One of my favorite moments in the game is a boss fight where the rhythm-based parry system is the only interaction you can have with the boss. You're trying to convince her that you're not the bad guys and this is part of the reason she joins your side. It helps that she's also my favorite character in the game.

Up to about a month ago, this was the number one spot on my list. While anything could have been at the number one spot in a normal year, I thought it would be insane for anything to take that spot away from Hi-Fi Rush this late in the year.

What took the spot away?

[pip-n-flinx]

First, let me be clear, I’m not a subscriber to The Rules Lawyer on Youtube. With that out of the way, I have no idea about the rest of the content on this channel I’m posting this because the Paizo website is down and in addition to reading their full statement from 1/12/23 he also provides some context on who some of the people involved are.

Paizo, the company that publishes Pathfinder and Starfinder, has just thrown down the gauntlet with Wizards of the Coast over their leaked intentions to revoke the Open Gaming License. For those unfamiliar, the OGL (1.0a as it stands at time of posting) underpins a truly startling number of works. Mechanics and expressions like ‘Lich’ in its modern incarnation, Magic Missile, as well as all D&D rules largely labeled Systems Reference Document (SRD.) SRD rules underpin the 2003 Game-of-the-Year Knights of the Old Republic, Bethesda’s Fall Out to name a few games outside the Table Top banner that many picture when talking about D&D. Notably, the OGL as it has stood for two decades or so is actually more restrictive in some ways than Fair Usage doctrine might be. Notably, if you publish using their intellectual and creative rights as many authors have done, not only does you forfeit your story IP, but Wizards could take half of your publishing profits. Third party stories set in Faerun or Eberron, naming cities like Waterdeep or Greyhawk, published under the OGL are ultimately Wizards property, at least as I understand the original document. Publishers could use and adapt the rules for D&D, create their own classes or monsters, and write their own stories and settings referencing other OGL works without fear. The license stipulated that it would last in perpetuity, and that you could publish under any OGL document.

The legal loopholes that Wizards is trying to exploit now, are that perpetuity =/= irrevocable and that you can publish under any ‘authorized’ OGL, meaning that they can simply remove the authorization they granted the original OGL. Or, at the very least, that’s what Wizards has claimed.

For those curious, D&D Fourth Edition was not published under the OGL. Wizards of the Coast has been hard at work building their own Virtual Table Top or VTT to host their games online, which likely spun into D&D Beyond and later One D&D.

The concern is that not only will Wizards begin locking content behind paywalls in their app, but also that they can have complete control over what content appears in their VTT for players, cutting Third Party Publishers out entirely from the Wizards endorsed D&D experience.

I might make a post about this later, but fans of Critical Roll and Darrington Press may be surprised to find how much of Matt Mercer’s world was built on Pathfinder and not D&D IP. I don’t have an exhaustive list, but from the names of the gods to the continents and nations their are very thinly veiled pieces of Paizo IP in the Darrington Press printings of Critical Roll lore. The point being that the OGL had grown well beyond Wizards of the Coast, and largely protected smaller publishers as they helped grow the reach and player base for Wizards of the Coast. No one could deny - at least not in good faith - the importance of streams and online personalities in growing the D&D brand and the importance of table top games.

Understand while Paizo may be the second largest publisher of OGL tabletop content, this is still a David versus Goliath story. Wizards of the Coast is the most profitable arm of Hasbro, and Paizo pales in terms of sales numbers. That being said, I made the switch back in 2017 to first edition Pathfinder and haven’t looked back since.

Full disclosure, I have a friend who works in the accounting department at Paizo, so while I don’t directly have a monetary stake in this race I am biased. This wasn’t true when we made the leap to the new system in 2017 as a playgroup, but Will moved out to Seattle about a year later. I believe @theplaneswalk actual had made the switch before me, but a number of my old school friends and I are playing in a modified Pathfinder 1e campaign this Sunday.

[doom-nerdo-666]

The Cosplay Slayer skin may have been inspired by a fan cosplay from years ago, by TheScarletImpaler.

(Images taken from the r/Doom post, so credit to TheScarletImpaler)

Here's the Reddit post:

Hello Slayers!

Forgive me as I don't know how to really use Reddit, but I'll try posting here. I'm the inspiration for the latest skin, "Cosplay Slayer." Back in 2012, I made a mediocre cosplay of classic DOOM Guy out of a paintball mask and cardboard. When I saw the latest Eternal skin reveal, Cosplay Slayer, I was very surprised at the specific design of it. At first, I was a bit reluctant to go on about it, but after I dusted off my old helmet and compared to what I saw on screen, I knew that my cosplay from years ago was the main inspiration. Across social media, including the forums, everyone is seeing the inspiration, too, backing me up.

My helmet comparison The cosplay (if these don't work, the images are on a recent Twitter/Insta posts using the same handle)

I know it might be hard to believe, but here is my DeviantArt with pics of it and building it back from 2012:Old DA (if this doesn't work, my DA has the same handle, when you get to the gallery, just search "doom")

I'm posting because I feel like I should receive some sort of credit or recognition for it. I'm not asking much, just something official from Id or Bethesda that makes the connection. Like a quick cosplay spotlight article or social media post. No money or any other compensation. I, and many others, feel that its my unique interpretation of the classic DOOM Guy design, from a time when there was very little reference of it, and because of that, bringing it from 2D art to 3D art took a lot of personal interpretation and physical work that I did. It's also been a childhood dream to be in a video game, now that my work and likeness is in a game, DOOM nonetheless, the joy feels incomplete and hollow because I'm not being connected to it.

Thanks, Alucard

This post is dated from 02 Jul 2020 and 2 years later, he made this post:

Slayers, it has been two years since the Cosplay Slayer skin was released and I have requested to be credited for my unique design. I have been ignored since. I had some IRL stuff get in the way of my original campaign, but now I'm starting this up again. I call upon Bethesda and Id to do the right and honorable thing to credit me and my design.

I know it may sound outlandish and farfetched, but please take a look and you'll see...

To those who do not remember, or need a refresher, I made a DOOM cosplay back in 2012, which was an interpretation of the original DOOM Guy, in a time where barely any reference material existed. So, it ended up to be an unique design. That unique was used without my permission to create the Cosplay Slayer costume. The evidence proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. The original Reddit post is here https://www.reddit.com/r/Doom/comments/hk2umq/the_original_cosplay_slayer/

To help with this campaign, I've launched a petition to help. I humbly ask for signatures in hopes that Bethesda and Id will realize what they have done and correct the issue favorably. I also ask to pass around this petition around if you can. https://www.change.org/CreditTheCosplaySlayer

I still would like to resolve this without it turning messy, I'm not looking to screw Id or Bethesda for money, nor do I believe this should even become a legal situation - I only want to be credited for my work and my name to be in DOOM Eternal. However, I will do what I must in order to do what is right. If it takes a legal action to get recognized, I will do so.

In these past two years, I've seen countless posts by Bethesda and Id promote fan art and other cosplayers, crediting their efforts all over social media and blogs/articles. Yet I've been ignored completely. This will go on no longer. This cannot go on any longer.

Thank you, Alucard @ScarletImpaler (on Insta/TW)

The reason why i find this situation interesting is because it's another example of how something Doom related comes from the fanbase and ends up in the official series (Or alternatively, how people look at Doom).

I even made a post about things that came from Doom fans and how they impacted the series.

[thereasonsimbroke]

The recent release of #Amazon's #Fallout TV series has renewed interest in the Fallout franchise.

Millions of people have been revisiting previous Fallout games, including #Fallout76, which was once controversial. The show has been well-received, and many games are available on #GamePass, encouraging many new players to explore the online wasteland. They've been pleasantly surprised by the gameplay, and as a result, #Bethesda reported over one million players joining Fallout 76 in a single day.

Across forums and social media, newcomers express delight in discovering the game's enjoyable aspects, debunking prior misconceptions fueled by negative press. Veterans of the series have warmly embraced the influx of new players, creating a vibrant community atmosphere.

Fallout 76 has evolved significantly since its launch, boasting substantial updates, NPCs, factions, and expanded content, offering a fresh experience for both new and returning players.

[jcmarchi]

Bethesda Gives A Small Update On The Elder Scrolls 6

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/bethesda-gives-a-small-update-on-the-elder-scrolls-6/

Bethesda Gives A Small Update On The Elder Scrolls 6

If you’ve been paying attention to our Game Gauntlet, a bracket where our readers decide the best game of all time, you might have noticed one contender has been an unstoppable force – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It nuked Fallout 3, omnislashed Final Fantasy VII, felled Elden Ring (without using spirit ashes), and survived the hordes of The Last of Us. Skyrim was a groundbreaking open-world adventure when it was first released, and fans clearly have plenty of love for it in the 13 years since then and now, so it’s no surprise the gaming community has been clamoring for news about a sequel for years now. Luckily, we do have a minor update for fans who need something to tide them over just a little longer.

Thirty years ago, The Elder Scrolls series began with The Elder Scrolls: Arena, so Bethesda put together a little celebratory post touring through each game in the franchise. The post, which you can read in its entirety below, ends with a small section about the highly anticipated next entry.

The relevant section says, “Last but not least, yes, we are in development on the next chapter – The Elder Scrolls VI. Even now, returning to Tamriel and playing early builds has us filled with the same joy, excitement, and promise of adventure.”

There’s really not much to go on, but as Kotaku points out, this does confirm that the series will stay on the continent of Tamriel rather than venturing off to other areas in the fantasy world, along with the fact that the game is at least in a playable state. That said, there’s no telling how far off from release it still is; the last we heard was from Microsoft’s private documents that were leaked during its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which put the release date somewhere 2026 or later.

For more Bethesda, check out the news about The Elder Scrolls’ newest spin-off,  read our Starfield review, and see which Xbox games are coming to other platforms.

[44gamez]

6 Realistic Gaming Predictions for 2024

Predictions made from a whole business are virtually at all times fallacious and are a waste of time — however they’re very enjoyable should you don’t take them too significantly. That’s what that is. A enjoyable, consequence-free prognostication that, like Babe Ruth pointing on the stands from the batter’s field, can be full of daring and really particular called-shots, most of which gained’t come to cross.

2024: Life like Gaming Predictions

However you by no means know, particularly since I’ll be making gaming predictions that aren’t so fanciful; predictions that don’t really feel too far out of the realm of risk; and predictions that possibly actually have a sense of inevitability. There’s simply one thing very 2024 about predictions like… The Nintendo Change successor makes its debut

Picture: Nintendo The Nintendo Change will flip seven years previous this coming March. It’s already felt like an ageing console for not less than a number of of these years. Nintendo consoles are by no means technical powerhouses, however in an period when gaming tech feels prefer it has one other breakthrough each few months, the Change feels prefer it’s woefully behind the occasions. That each one modifications in 2024. That is the yr that Nintendo, as they typically do, decides to be the primary of the foremost console producers to announce all-new {hardware}, a successor to the Nintendo Change. A successor that places portability first however with a beefier set of chips and doodads that carry the Change 2 (or no matter they find yourself calling it) on par with hand-held PCs just like the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally, simply two of the hand-held consoles that discovered success within the current moveable gaming gold rush. The Change was a novel idea when it got here out. It’ll be fascinating to see how Nintendo reacts to a market that has imitated and iterated on its concepts. A a lot quieter yr for large sport releases

Picture: Bethesda Video games Studio 2023 was an onslaught of large sport releases. Some all of us assumed could be hits on some degree (Tears of the Kingdom) and others that took the gaming world without warning (Baldur’s Gate 3). Trying forward at 2024’s slate of video games, there aren’t as many big-name titles that may for positive dominate the cultural dialog, not less than not that I can see from again right here in 2023. That’s to not say the schedule is devoid of attention-grabbing video games. Each month has one thing for everybody, and 2024 feels just like the yr Silksong may lastly drop. However, utilizing the 2023 Recreation Awards nominees as an imperfect indicator of launch schedule power, 2024 doesn’t really feel like a yr when each sport nominated for Recreation of the Yr might have been the undisputed GOTY in every other yr. 2024 may have its huge releases. It’ll have surprises that take the gaming world by storm. However, I predict, most likely incorrectly, that 2024 can be a whole calendar yr that allows you to catch your breath somewhat, and possibly even present simply sufficient room to clear that 2023 backlog. Extra video games which might be each sport

Picture: Roblox Company Roblox created a mannequin that different main builders and publishers will certainly comply with. One of many largest already is. Epic Video games took observe of how Roblox constructed its wild success off the thought of being a hub for different video games…after which simply determined to do this. Why launch a complete sport with all of the advertising and marketing fanfare that comes with it when you may launch a smaller, less complicated, extra polished model of an concept as only one small half of a bigger suite of video games? You may play Fortnite in Fortnite, however now you may as well play a racing sport in Fortnite. And a Rockband-style rhythm sport. And a Minecraft-inspired survival sport. Fortnite isn’t only one sport anymore — it’s each sport, similar to how Roblox isn’t one sport, it’s a hub for each sort of sport. Simply because the reside service sport grew to become a pattern that each main writer needed to get their arms on, the Hub-style sport will really seize the business in 2024. Simply consider it: in 2024, we might see Activision toss a Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater-inspired mode into Name of Obligation. We might see Ubisoft use the Murderer’s Creed traversal mechanics to make a parkour racing sport or a online game model of these skilled tag clips you see floating across the web. Prepare to listen to the phrase “hub” far more than you ever thought attainable. Netflix will safe the publishing rights to a serious sport

Picture: PC Invasion Netflix’s foothold within the gaming business has been steadily rising yr by yr. Simply a few weeks earlier than this text was revealed, Netflix made it attainable to play the remasters of all three PlayStation 2-era Grand Theft Auto video games in your telephone as a part of your Netflix subscription. This was after a yr of snatching up a sequence of high-profile indie darlings to beef up their gaming choices, an inventory that now contains Immortality, Into the Breach, Loss of life’s Door, Lifeless Cells, Earlier than Your Eyes, Kentucky Route Zero, Oxenfree, Oxenfree 2, and several other others. Netflix took Microsoft’s threats of turning into the “Netflix of gaming” fairly significantly and mentioned, “No, truly, Netflix could be the Netflix of gaming.” This not solely gained’t cease in 2024 however I wouldn’t be stunned if a big-name sport from a big-name developer is introduced as a Netflix unique. The fabled Bloodborne remake will solely be playable in the identical app you utilize to look at Seinfeld. Perhaps you’ll unwind after a irritating Silksong boss combat with a few Nice British Baking Present episodes. Netflix desires to be taken significantly as a gaming outlet, so it’s solely a matter of time earlier than it pulls the set off on an enormous transfer that establishes its place within the higher echelons of gaming locations.  The acquisition wars will rage on

Picture: Microsoft I’m not going to say to know a factor about company economics. If rates of interest drop in 2024, and inflation subsides consequently (if that’s even the way it works), will sport builders/studios be much less keen to promote themselves to large companies, a la Microsoft’s takeover of Activision/Blizzard? Uh, possibly? I don’t know. All that stuff’s approach over my head. However one factor that gained’t be subsiding anytime quickly is Microsoft and Sony’s jockeying for place in no matter the way forward for gaming finally ends up wanting like. PlayStation is making an attempt to promote {hardware} whereas Xbox is making an attempt to promote a service in Recreation Cross. Each want glitzy unique video games to promote their wares to potential consumers. For those who thought it was nuts that Sony now owns Bungie which was once owned by Microsoft, and that Microsoft now owns the Warcraft and Name of Obligation individuals, then begin mentally getting ready your self for different main acquisition information in 2024. Each firms are waiting for the following console era, nevertheless that takes form, and are angling to be the corporate with one of the best video games that may solely be discovered on a PlayStation console or a platform with Recreation Cross on it. Extra and Greater video games from Roblox creators

Picture: Zeekerss I’ve already talked somewhat about Roblox’s potential affect on the way forward for the business, however there’s one other approach the gaming hub will change the business in 2024 and past. Let’s use Deadly Firm for instance. The scary co-op sport took everybody without warning when it grew to become a late-2023 hit. Individuals have been impressed that this enjoyable and wildly standard little sport that got here out of nowhere was made by only one particular person, an indie developer who calls themselves Zeekerss. Properly, should you had been part of the Roblox scene for the previous decade, you wouldn’t have been too stunned by Zeekerss success, as they'd been creating video games for Roblox (and itch.io) for practically a decade earlier than the large success of Deadly Firm. Roblox, for as a lot because it exploits the onerous work of its person base, stays a spot the place blossoming sport builders get of their fabled 10,000 hours of unseen expertise earlier than they’re able to hit it huge. It’s a coaching floor, and the fruits of its tutelage are solely simply beginning to blossom. I believe 2024 would be the yr when the kids of Roblox will escape throughout each style and platform within the gaming world. Source link Read the full article

[peterlorres21stcentury]

I WILL explore the stars with my Peter Lorre avatar if it's the last thing I do

I hope the good people at Bethesda Game Studios are happy that I dropped over a hundred smackers on a new external solid state drive, just so that I might have a shot at playing their newest game. I'm actually really surprised that it ran as well as it did on my laptop, while foolishly installed on the hard disk drive, which is apparently a big no-no that I thought I could ignore (spoiler: nope. I mean it did run, but the constant stutters and audio desync made it borderline unplayable).

And despite all that, I somehow played until level 5 anyway. Yes, I am that sad and determined to play Starfield. I have been playing these godforsaken Bethesda titles since 2011 and I don't believe I will stop now.

Hey, if worse comes to worse and it still doesn't work, I will still have a new 2TB storage drive, so that's something.

[atonalginger]

late night Starfield talk...

So I'm really enjoying the game. Sam Coe is bae. I honestly haven't traveled with any of the others for too long and I just like having Sam at my side. I have been doing basically anything but the story so I don't think I'm that far into it.

My build is all over the place. I keep thinking "you know you should invest more into combat or social skills" and then sticking in the science and tech tree because Fifi is a Xenobiologist and wants that sweet sweet research and stuff. Also If Cora is living onboard then I need to boost ship systems so her home is safe.

I've completed one faction questline and *chef's kiss*! Meaty and interesting. And my partner did a different faction quest that was also super meaty and interesting. its a nice change from what I'm used to with Skyrim. FO4 had decent faction lines but they were more baked into the central story.

I have run into Bethesda jank and yes its annoying but I'm also having such a nice time relaxing in the game exploring that I'm able to look past it. None of it has broken the game; I've had to reload twice for things I've also had happen in a dozen other titles by other companies so its fine.

One pic was me wanting to see how I'd look sitting and saw him looking respectfully and so I grabbed a picture. They were dating I believe at this point. Since then they've gone through the commitment ceremony which was cute and surprised me with how much was to it. Figured it'd be like Skyrim marriage. It is not.

The other was this xeno that came to our aid during a big shootout for a spoiler filled mission I won't go into. It was wild watching this big blue floating thing attack only the enemy npcs and not bother Sam, me, or our guest. Like it was a maybe five minute gunfight with several waves of enemies and bluey here was there from the jump just floating and was apparently really angry with them. But not with us. There isn't any animal charming in combat so this was a funny moment.

[first-impressions-gaming]

GAMING RECAP (MAY 1-7)

Hogwarts Legacy Sold 15 Million Copies

Warner Bros. Games today announced Hogwarts Legacy,the critically acclaimed, open-world, action role-playing game (RPG) is now available for PlayStation®4 and Xbox One. The game has sold more than 15 million units and $1 Billion in sales globally since its launch on PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on February 10, 2023.

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2K cancelled the Switch version of Marvel's Midnight Suns

2K has announced that the Nintendo Switch version of Marvel's Midnight Suns has been canceled.

"The Nintendo Switch version of Marvel's Midnight Suns will no longer be offered as part of updated plans," the games firm said in today's announcement.

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Lego 2K Drive’s ‘Drive Pass’ has been detailed, 4 Seasons in Year-1 content

The Drive Pass includes four ‘Seasons’ of content, which are to be released in June 2023, fall 2023, winter 2023 and spring 2024.

Each Season will have a Premium and Free version. The Drive Pass will also be included in the Awesome Edition and Awesome Rivals versions of the game.

According to 2K, each Season “will have new challenges and 100 levels to play through”.

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Apple Arcade adds 20 new games to its lineup

Apple’s mobile gaming subscription service Apple Arcade is getting a fresh batch of new games. Today, Apple revealed 20 new games coming to the subscription service.

One of the leaders of the pack is TMNT Splintered Fate, a co-op roguelike adventure starring the turtles. The crew is searching for Splinter, and will journey around New York City looking for clues while also picking up randomized power-ups.

Triband, the studio behind What the Golf? and What the Bat?, is also here with What the Car? It’s a fittingly quirky take on motor vehicles, the kind that Triband has been especially good at over its other games.

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Xbox confirms the details for its summer showcase and Starfield Direct

Microsoft is locking in all the details for its summer showcase plans. The publisher now has both a date and time set for its Xbox Games Showcase and the Starfield Direct that will follow after.

What’s it showing? Well, for the Xbox Games Showcase, Microsoft is making it sound like there will be some announcements. There will be “new surprises and first-looks” from its internal studios, as well as partners from around the world. The showcase will also discuss games coming to Xbox, PC, and to Game Pass.

As for the Starfield Direct, well, it’s going to be about Starfield. Bethesda’s big RPG is still a ways off, but getting closer every day. Xbox says there will be tons of new gameplay and developer interviews.

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Don't Nod announces release date of Harmony: The Fall of Reverie

Don't Nod, French developer behind Life is Strange, has announced the release date of its forthcoming narrative adventure Harmony: The Fall of Reverie.

The game is set for release on 8th June across PC and Switch, with a PlayStation 5 and Xbox release following on 22nd June.

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Games Industry interviewed Playstation Executives

For full interview