So, what're you playing?

[Rendakor]

AC Brotherhood.  Pretty slick, but the meta-game seems to be gradually taking over the game...

I find it amusing that this year I've played ME1/2 and AC2/BH - and both of them had to go and change a perfectly-good control scheme mid-story.   

What did they change substantially in AC2/Bro?

[Minvaren]

Shift used to backspace you through the menus, now it's backspace.  Locking on to things also seems more problematic, but that might be operator error.

Minor niggles, I know, but they break the flow when playing them back-to-back.  That said, the game's pretty solid thus far.

[Rendakor]

They make AC games for PC? 

[rk47]

I'm playing Witcher 2 and one minute I'm loving it and then I'm screaming obscenities at the monitor. God, how is it possible to make such an incredible RPG world, yet have the combat be so pants on head retarded?

And why is it retarded? Because you died many times? Because you expected to trade blows and survive? Or because they never took turns in surrounding you, killing you quickly with a bolt to your face within moments of the tutorial?

[Ingmar]

I would say it is retarded because half the time you push the block key, nothing fucking happens.

[rk47]

I would say it is retarded because half the time you push the block key, nothing fucking happens.

Because the vigor bar is empty? Oh wait, because nothing awesome happens.

[Mazakiel]

After not playing Magic for many years, I broke down and got the new Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 on Steam, and I'm hooked.  I've had a hell of a lot of fun with it, and have even been doing matches against random people online, something I usually don't bother with in other online type games. 

Two things I've noticed:  Ancient Depths seems really popular with people, and I'm just about the only person who doesn't quit as soon as the match turns against me.  It's pretty frustrating, so I try to go out of my way to play several matches against the people who stick it out to the end.  I feel pretty rusty, but the way the decks are set up helps to get back into things.  I just need to work on getting more decks fully unlocked. 

[Ingmar]

I would say it is retarded because half the time you push the block key, nothing fucking happens.

Because the vigor bar is empty? Oh wait, because nothing awesome happens.

No, I mean literally nothing happens. Vigor bar is full, Geralt just stands there sometimes, when he's not visibly moving or doing anything that should stop the block from working.

EDIT: And the combat is full of weird responsiveness issues like that, the same thing happens trying to cast or throw bombs sometimes etc. It feels like there are some dead seconds after an animation stops when you can't yet do a new move, which is extremely annoying.

[jakonovski]

I'm playing Witcher 2 and one minute I'm loving it and then I'm screaming obscenities at the monitor. God, how is it possible to make such an incredible RPG world, yet have the combat be so pants on head retarded?

And why is it retarded? Because you died many times? Because you expected to trade blows and survive? Or because they never took turns in surrounding you, killing you quickly with a bolt to your face within moments of the tutorial?

It's broken. Also, if I'm fighting one enemy, I can just spam light attack to stunlock him and kill him without any skill. If there's more than one, I can't block half the time, so I'm forced to rely on constantly dodging, which makes no sense. Why is putting your blade in front of an attack harder than adopting rolling as your primary means of locomotion? I also invariably hit for way less damage than any of the enemies. I'm pretty sure outdps'd me against that thing we fought. The only reason normal mode is even playable is dodge kiting.

Finally, the game has QTEs where you die if you fail to press one key.

[AcidCat]

It's broken. Also, if I'm fighting one enemy, I can just spam light attack to stunlock him and kill him without any skill. If there's more than one, I can't block half the time, so I'm forced to rely on constantly dodging, which makes no sense. Why is putting your blade in front of an attack harder than adopting rolling as your primary means of locomotion? I also invariably hit for way less damage than any of the enemies. I'm pretty sure outdps'd me against that thing we fought. The only reason normal mode is even playable is dodge kiting.

Finally, the game has QTEs where you die if you fail to press one key.

Disable difficult QTE's in the options. Headache solved.

Combat is hardly broken, it's just its own beast. Yes, you will need to roll a lot and have the Quen shield up constantly. Once you understand those two basic concepts, combat is fun, and if anything too easy, even on Hard difficulty. I know block feels wonky and yes does take vigor - but it's purely optional to use, I basically never used it, IMO it is always better to roll away than block.

[fuser]

Finished up everything on Forza 3, almost done with Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare single player which has been a hoot. About to start ME1/2 any advisable DLC to have purchased from the start?

[Ingmar]

Finished up everything on Forza 3, almost done with Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare single player which has been a hoot. About to start ME1/2 any advisable DLC to have purchased from the start?

ME1's DLC is forgettable, for ME2 I would at least recommend the two companion DLCs + Shadow Broker. The extra guns and armor packs are skippable, the one that adds the vehicle missions isn't bad but isn't necessary to anything, and The Arrival is kind of mediocre for the cost.

[ghost]

Just finished the Honest Hearts DLC in Fallout NV.  It was pretty vanilla and not nearly as good of a story as the Dead Money
It's pretty nice being able to hit higher levels though, so the  DLC is probably worth it.  Overall I haven't liked NV as much as  Fallout 3, but that's probably just because of:  A. the setting, Vegas bores me and B. it came out second. 

[rk47]

I'm playing Witcher 2 and one minute I'm loving it and then I'm screaming obscenities at the monitor. God, how is it possible to make such an incredible RPG world, yet have the combat be so pants on head retarded?

And why is it retarded? Because you died many times? Because you expected to trade blows and survive? Or because they never took turns in surrounding you, killing you quickly with a bolt to your face within moments of the tutorial?

It's broken. Also, if I'm fighting one enemy, I can just spam light attack to stunlock him and kill him without any skill. If there's more than one, I can't block half the time, so I'm forced to rely on constantly dodging, which makes no sense. Why is putting your blade in front of an attack harder than adopting rolling as your primary means of locomotion? I also invariably hit for way less damage than any of the enemies. I'm pretty sure outdps'd me against that thing we fought. The only reason normal mode is even playable is dodge kiting.

Finally, the game has QTEs where you die if you fail to press one key.

Can't defend the QTE, but if you want to brute force the fight, consider Quen.
If you want to be a little crafty, make use of Yrden to snare and Axii to mind control. Thin out the enemy ranks and limit the risk as you roll into their backs and stab them to death. Or plant traps. Or bombs. Or daggers. Whatever, the options are there. Even tutorial gives all signs, some bombs and traps to experiment with.

[PalmTrees]

Finished up Majin:Forsaken Kingdom. A decent game, finished in 20 hours or so. Not that hard, only needed to look up a solution on the net once (it was something simple if I had just looked more carefully on the map).

[Azazel]

Finished up everything on Forza 3, almost done with Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare single player which has been a hoot. About to start ME1/2 any advisable DLC to have purchased from the start?

ME1's DLC is forgettable, for ME2 I would at least recommend the two companion DLCs + Shadow Broker. The extra guns and armor packs are skippable, the one that adds the vehicle missions isn't bad but isn't necessary to anything, and The Arrival is kind of mediocre for the cost.

How many DLC packs does ME2 have, anyway?

[Xilren's Twin]

After not playing Magic for many years, I broke down and got the new Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 on Steam, and I'm hooked.  I've had a hell of a lot of fun with it, and have even been doing matches against random people online, something I usually don't bother with in other online type games.  Two things I've noticed:  Ancient Depths seems really popular with people, and I'm just about the only person who doesn't quit as soon as the match turns against me.  It's pretty frustrating, so I try to go out of my way to play several matches against the people who stick it out to the end.  I feel pretty rusty, but the way the decks are set up helps to get back into things.  I just need to work on getting more decks fully unlocked. 

My boys and I have fully unlocked all the decks (even the crappy green ones); it's worth it - huge improvements in each one.  Ancient depths is so popular for one reason - giant Eldrazi.  That and the very common "quit as soon as im losing" behavior points to this being played by a lot of younger folks so i guess thats a mission accomplished part from WotC.  Any one that stay through a match I will duel several times with several decks as a thank you.  I need to finish up the Archenemy campagin, then the Revenge one (original campaign but opponents now have fully unlocked decks) and complete the puzzles.  Some of the puzzles are great counter intuitive ones (like the blue one, where you have to counter one of your own spells to be able to win) and some showcase deck which probably be in the first additional expansions (like the black deck with grave titan).  Lotta content in here for $10 even if it is a severaly limited slice of real magic. I'd love to show my boys a mill deck, or even poison, but im guessing doing the AI on the included decks that dont have a ton of tricks is hard enough.

[jakonovski]

It's broken. Also, if I'm fighting one enemy, I can just spam light attack to stunlock him and kill him without any skill. If there's more than one, I can't block half the time, so I'm forced to rely on constantly dodging, which makes no sense. Why is putting your blade in front of an attack harder than adopting rolling as your primary means of locomotion? I also invariably hit for way less damage than any of the enemies. I'm pretty sure outdps'd me against that thing we fought. The only reason normal mode is even playable is dodge kiting.

Finally, the game has QTEs where you die if you fail to press one key.

Disable difficult QTE's in the options. Headache solved.

Combat is hardly broken, it's just its own beast. Yes, you will need to roll a lot and have the Quen shield up constantly. Once you understand those two basic concepts, combat is fun, and if anything too easy, even on Hard difficulty. I know block feels wonky and yes does take vigor - but it's purely optional to use, I basically never used it, IMO it is always better to roll away than block.

It's broken because it falls apart if you take out dodge spam. It is literally the one thing that allows you to use everything else.

[AcidCat]

You don't like the combat model's reliance on dodging attacks, sure. If you removed a key element that allows Geralt to avoid attacks, yes, combat would become very frustrating. Neither point means the combat is broken, it just means you don't like it. But whatever, I'm not going to argue semantics.

[Malakili]

and I'm just about the only person who doesn't quit as soon as the match turns against me.  It's pretty frustrating, so I try to go out of my way to play several matches against the people who stick it out to the end. 

That and the very common "quit as soon as im losing" behavior points to this being played by a lot of younger folks so i guess thats a mission accomplished part from WotC.  Any one that stay through a match I will duel several times with several decks as a thank you.

Is this really poor form?  I think it seems worse because its so hard to communicate with people, but I don't see anything inherently wrong with conceding a match you've lost.   Frankly, I wish it was easier to talk to my opponent, I'd happily say "gg" and offer to play another most of the time, but I also don't really care to stay in a game 3 more turns when in reality I've already lost.

[WayAbvPar]

After not playing Magic for many years, I broke down and got the new Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 on Steam, and I'm hooked.  I've had a hell of a lot of fun with it, and have even been doing matches against random people online, something I usually don't bother with in other online type games.  Two things I've noticed:  Ancient Depths seems really popular with people, and I'm just about the only person who doesn't quit as soon as the match turns against me.  It's pretty frustrating, so I try to go out of my way to play several matches against the people who stick it out to the end.  I feel pretty rusty, but the way the decks are set up helps to get back into things.  I just need to work on getting more decks fully unlocked. 

My boys and I have fully unlocked all the decks (even the crappy green ones); it's worth it - huge improvements in each one.  Ancient depths is so popular for one reason - giant Eldrazi.  That and the very common "quit as soon as im losing" behavior points to this being played by a lot of younger folks so i guess thats a mission accomplished part from WotC.  Any one that stay through a match I will duel several times with several decks as a thank you.  I need to finish up the Archenemy campagin, then the Revenge one (original campaign but opponents now have fully unlocked decks) and complete the puzzles.  Some of the puzzles are great counter intuitive ones (like the blue one, where you have to counter one of your own spells to be able to win) and some showcase deck which probably be in the first additional expansions (like the black deck with grave titan).  Lotta content in here for $10 even if it is a severaly limited slice of real magic. I'd love to show my boys a mill deck, or even poison, but im guessing doing the AI on the included decks that dont have a ton of tricks is hard enough.

I am down for some MP- if you see me playing on Steam give a shout!

[Mazakiel]

and I'm just about the only person who doesn't quit as soon as the match turns against me.  It's pretty frustrating, so I try to go out of my way to play several matches against the people who stick it out to the end. 

That and the very common "quit as soon as im losing" behavior points to this being played by a lot of younger folks so i guess thats a mission accomplished part from WotC.  Any one that stay through a match I will duel several times with several decks as a thank you.

Is this really poor form?  I think it seems worse because its so hard to communicate with people, but I don't see anything inherently wrong with conceding a match you've lost.   Frankly, I wish it was easier to talk to my opponent, I'd happily say "gg" and offer to play another most of the time, but I also don't really care to stay in a game 3 more turns when in reality I've already lost.

Well, all I have to go by is how it went when I was still playing print Magic way back when, this is my first exposure to online play.  But in all the circles I ran in back then, it was extremely poor form to not play through to the conclusion.  The equivalent of knocking over the board in Monopoly or Risk.  It could just be I managed to always end up with particular groups of people though. 

But that being said, while I do find it slightly rude, I still get the win and unlock cards if it's a deck I haven't finished yet, so it's not a huge deal.  Though the people who quit in turn two just because I countered something?  Still very annoying. 

The game's also giving me the itch to try print Magic again, so I guess mission accomplished on their part. 

But yeah, if anyone's interested, I'm always up for a MP game if I'm not busy. 

[Malakili]

Well, all I have to go by is how it went when I was still playing print Magic way back when, this is my first exposure to online play.  But in all the circles I ran in back then, it was extremely poor form to not play through to the conclusion.  The equivalent of knocking over the board in Monopoly or Risk.  It could just be I managed to always end up with particular groups of people though. 

See, to me its like tipping over your King in Chess, a totally reasonable thing to do when you've lost hope of winning. 

[Xilren's Twin]

See, to me its like tipping over your King in Chess, a totally reasonable thing to do when you've lost hope of winning. 

You can conceed in the game easily but thats npt what people are.doing. They are just quitting the game entirely as soon as it looks like they are losing. Comebacks in mtg are normal so i find this behavior annoying.

[Yegolev]

97% in Just Cause 2.

[Mazakiel]

See, to me its like tipping over your King in Chess, a totally reasonable thing to do when you've lost hope of winning. 

You can conceed in the game easily but thats npt what people are.doing. They are just quitting the game entirely as soon as it looks like they are losing. Comebacks in mtg are normal so i find this behavior annoying.

Exactly.  There's no 'Ok, let's have a rematch', they quit and disappear.  It's a game where one draw can change everything. 

[jakonovski]

Witcher 2 keeps crashing during a lengthy action sequence, making progress impossible. CD Projekt is hereby added to the category of "never buy their games less than year after release". What a turd of a game.

Maybe I'll start FFXIII or something.

[Rasix]

That's funny.

[jakonovski]

Yes, I was nearly overcome with hilarity.

[Rasix]

You're going from a "turd" to FFXIII? Do you hate yourself or something? Overall I liked the game, but I'd never play it again.  That's probably a more generous review than you'll get from anyone here.

edit: Seriously though: bad plot, cheesey voice acting, linear as hell, terrible level design, and just too f'ing long.  Not a great palate cleanser.

[jakonovski]

The mention of FFXIII was perhaps slightly ironic. Then again it's a game I can actually play, which is a big step up from what Witcher 2 decided to offer me.

[rk47]

Witcher 2 keeps crashing during a lengthy action sequence, making progress impossible. CD Projekt is hereby added to the category of "never buy their games less than year after release". What a turd of a game.

Maybe I'll start FFXIII or something.

Not sure why you're crashing a lot. I downloaded ATI hotfix and it fixed most of the issues, even though I'm under the recommended hardware specs.
But that's ok. I'm sure Bioware can fix up some great RPG before you had to resort to FF13 for any sort of fun. :)

[KallDrexx]

I finally finished Chrono Trigger for the first time (ending #2). According to the game it took me 37 hours and 24 minutes.  Best $20 evah

[Strazos]

Been digging the MtG game on Steam, playing matches with a friend of mine. Have all the decks, and working on unlocking all of them.

UI can be a little wonky and counter-intuitive, but overall still fun. Hit me up on Steam for some plays if you like.

[Mazakiel]

The two biggest failings of the MTG UI are in trying to look or target specific things in a stack of cards, and the way it has you go about using some of the special abilities, like with the captivating vampire and that giant squid that can tap stuff.  The first attempts to use each of those didn't work right at all.