Useless gaming news & chatter

[Soulflame]

OW2 was the PvE mode, which is no longer going to be released.

What we have is reworked OW, with a store.  OW 1.1, or 1.5 if you're feeling generous.  With a worse matchmaker.

I can't speak to the gameplay experience too much, as swinging from "games you can't lose" to "games you can't win" so that the matchmaker can enforce a 50/50 win/loss rate really impacted my ability to enjoy the game and the gameplay.

Not to mention that Push was a terrible fucking game mode.  Absolute garbage that's only somewhat forgivable because it replaced 2CP, which was easily worse.

Shame, really.

And yes, I no longer play OW.

[Setanta]

OW2 gameplay is mediocre at best. I used to enjoy it now and then when it was the original game, but I just don't know why it feels bad, so I don't play it. The monetisation hasn't helped. It's not 2K Games level of abusive relationship, but not for want of trying. TBH, I just don't play Blizzard games anymore. I look fondly at Starcraft/Starcraft 2, cry every time I look at the hot mess that they made of WC3, HoTS is dead, I have D2 Reforged that I've never actually played, D3 I'm tempted by, WoW/Classic is just not worth the monthly fee - if they went F2P along the lines of Guild Wars 2 I might be more interested for nostalgia's sake. I'm sure that D4 will be good, but I just can't work up the energy to buy it. I really do feel that Blizzard has lost it's way.

[Rendakor]

I generally agree with you Setanta, but D2R is excellent.

[Setanta]

I generally agree with you Setanta, but D2R is excellent.

I'm really not sure why I haven't played it. I loved the original version and played it to death. I have bought D2R on both PC and the Switch. I think it's just my general disappointment in Blizzard as a company that is holding me back.

I may dig it out and take it for a drive... except I have Zelda and a couple of other games demanding time... and the new season of Destint 2 begins tomorrow.

[Rendakor]

You can't blame disdain for Blizzard then want to play an Activision game.

[Falconeer]

The gameplay of Overwatch 2 is an improved Overwatch 1. That one was good, this one is better thanks to less Crowd Control, one less character per match, and the role queue enforcing 2 support, 2dps, 1 tank.
Everything else outside of gameplay has for the most part been a regression.

[Kail]

Wake up, wake up!  There's some Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 news!  Finally!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04O1AGH4Cvc

The news is that there will be some Vampire: the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 news in September

MESSAGE ENDS

[Setanta]

I hope they get it right. Didn't CCP have the rights to this at some point, and nearly broke EvE from neglect as a result?

[Phildo]

CCP owned White Wolf and was working on an MMO, I think?  Bloodlines 2 wasn't their project, though.

[Mosesandstick]

Have we got a place for sharing legitimately acquired keys? I've got a spare key for Yakuza: Like A Dragon from Humble Choice that I can PM to anyone who's basically not a bot.

[Rendakor]

Sometimes they get tossed in Discord, but I'll take it if you've still got it.

[Mosesandstick]

Great, it's all yours. Sent you a PM.

[Samwise]

Raph's back in the saddle!

Been following this for a bit now -- a lot of it sounds suspiciously like "fetuspults in space" but it's been 20 years now since I burned out on SW:G so I reckon I can give him another shot.   

The most recent blog post (What is Star's Reach About?) gives a bit more detail on what the focus of the game will be, and makes it sound like it might do some of the same stuff that Eco did with shared goals (I like the term "barn-raising").  The core problem I tend to see with systems like that is that facilitating cooperative gameplay with strangers on the internet is harder than any playtest group can prepare you for, but Raph knows that better than most so it'll be fun to see what shakes out.

[Riggswolfe]

Hmm...it could be interesting. I've wanted a semi-simulation MMO for a while now. I gave Raph some shit when he used to come here about SWG because some of the design choices irritated me but some of them were actually really good like the crafting system and housing and such. Freed of the IP and of Sony I'm cautiously optimistic about what he might be able to pull off.

[Khaldun]

Does it feel as if there are much fewer really great games, indie or AAA, coming out in the last few years? I find myself playing older games more and more. It might be that I'm just getting setting in my ways and stuck on nostalgia, but when I look at Steam, I don't see much that motivates me to buy and play. (I am liking Tactical Breach Wizards though.)

[Trippy]

I'm not really feeling that, in general, though I also play a variety of different genres. If you play only a handful of genres I can definitely see why you might feel that. This year has felt a little light to me (so far) mostly cause of a lack of PS5-exclusives I've wanted to play other than Stellar Blade. Space Marine 2 will be out soon though and that along with the Diablo 4 expansion will likely take up most of my gaming time for the rest of this year.

[Khaldun]

I mean, I guess I'm semi-erasing BG3 from my memory because it's so great that it feels like a unicorn that has nothing to do with any trends.

[Velorath]

Does it feel as if there are much fewer really great games, indie or AAA, coming out in the last few years? I find myself playing older games more and more. It might be that I'm just getting setting in my ways and stuck on nostalgia, but when I look at Steam, I don't see much that motivates me to buy and play. (I am liking Tactical Breach Wizards though.)

I don't know. Seems to be like there's a been a lot of great stuff, and it's been a range of things from small indie games like Balatro, Dredge, or Dave the Diver.  to AAA stuff like Diablo IV, FFVII: Rebirth, Alan Wake 2, etc...

There's been flawed but interesting games like Dragon's Dogma II. We got Elden Ring in 2022 and the DLC this year. We got an old school tactics RPG in Unicorn Overlord. BG3 as mentioned. The Cyberpunk DLC was great.

It's easy to just forget about great stuff you played over the last few years because the nature of consuming pretty much any media tends to have people always look ahead at the next thing rather than taking the time to appreciate stuff you've already finished. I'd say there's more great stuff out there than I have the time or money to play.

[Riggswolfe]

Does it feel as if there are much fewer really great games, indie or AAA, coming out in the last few years? I find myself playing older games more and more. It might be that I'm just getting setting in my ways and stuck on nostalgia, but when I look at Steam, I don't see much that motivates me to buy and play. (I am liking Tactical Breach Wizards though.)

No, not really. Some of my favorite games of the last decade have come out in the last year or so. For each disappointment (Starfield) there has been something amazing (BG3) and I'd even put Cyberpunk 2077 in the amazing category after all the work they put into fixing it. Alan Wake 2 as well. As others have mentioned there have been some great indie games as well.

And I'll go out on a limb and say I enjoyed Star Wars Outlaws even if it felt a little shallow. It somehow managed to be a better Starfield than Starfield with better exploration and space combat and on a nerdy level better character customization with the various outfits. I'm fully aware I'll probably be the only person on this board who enjoyed it and perhaps even plays it at all.

[Khaldun]

Might be that Starfield alone is making me feel sour, I dunno.

[HaemishM]

Starfield being a dud would certainly be a factor, I'm sure.

AAA gaming is fucking cooked, IMO. There are so few big titles I give even the remotest of a shit about. OTOH, I'm also into my 3rd playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077, which will probably end up at 80-100 hours (my others were each over 100 hours long). I absolutely never replay RPG/Story-heavy games, especially ones that consume this many hours. And yet, I'm happily doing it with this one. So my view of the quality of game experiences might be a little neon-colored lately.

[Riggswolfe]

Starfield being a dud would certainly be a factor, I'm sure.

AAA gaming is fucking cooked, IMO. There are so few big titles I give even the remotest of a shit about. OTOH, I'm also into my 3rd playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077, which will probably end up at 80-100 hours (my others were each over 100 hours long). I absolutely never replay RPG/Story-heavy games, especially ones that consume this many hours. And yet, I'm happily doing it with this one. So my view of the quality of game experiences might be a little neon-colored lately.

I've replayed Cyberpunk probably more than any other RPG as well. I think for me it's because the world is so immersive and the gameplay is so fun and I enjoy trying different builds and stuff.

[Khaldun]

BG3 and Cyberpunk have both been really replayable for me. I appreciate that.

[Riggswolfe]

BG3 and Cyberpunk have both been really replayable for me. I appreciate that.

Same. BG3 slightly less than Cyberpunk I think because the gameplay is slower paced and so on replays I sometimes get impatient at the same story beats happening over and over.

[Khaldun]

My second time I was stunned at how much I'd missed the first time because I wasn't looking at game sites, etc.

The third time that I just started, not so much, and yeah, slower.