Gaming Confessions & Blasphemy

McIrishJihad wrote:
ccesarano wrote:
Rykin wrote:
Mantid wrote:
ccesarano wrote:

Which means that must have been one of the last people I killed with a wrench.

I played through the first Bioshock useing little else but the wrench. I really only used my gun on Big Daddies and bosses. :?

I took a big daddy down with a wrench once just to see if I could. Can't remember if it was a Rosie or a Bouncer, but I really think there should have been an achievement tied to that. I think this was the first game I ever got 100% of the achievements in. Need to finish an app I was working on that will generate a timeline and neat data points for achievements.

Maybe I should team up with you, as I had friends nagging me to develop a website that would categorize all Xbox achievements and tie them to different attributes, and then basically develop a sort of D&D-ish class based on your play style and achievements nabbed.

I probably could have been making some level of cash a few years earlier if only I actually enjoyed programming.

I wonder if TrueAchievements has some kind of API that you could tap into for that...

TA has issues with the date they mark achievements unlocked as. I have looked into using them in the past. I wish I could get the data straight from Microsoft but they don't seem to be letting anyone else into that program. Scrapping stuff behind a Live Login is also very hard so my script requires you to download the pages for each game.

I think audio logs are a lot like the "aside" in theater. Does it make any sense at all that the hero will wait patiently while the villain steps to one side for a moment and loudly announces, "But little does he know that once I have his trust, I plan to frame him for murder and take his fiancee for my own!" and then act like he didn't hear that at all? Well, no. But it's a useful device to let the audience in on things they'd otherwise have no access to, so we accept it.

I have no real interest in tracking all my game stats and being in an e-peen contest with internet 'friends' I've never met

Things like Raptr and all the various aggregators don't do anything for me. I don't care how many times my character blinked, I don't care if I'm 83% of the way through a challenge I never remember starting, I don't care about comparing times or points against other players in a single-player game. It's neat that you can put together a website that does all that, and you can pull stats from all over the place, but there's a lot of neat things out there and I don't care for most of those either. Stop turning games into accounting.

Scratched wrote:

I have no real interest in tracking all my game stats and being in an e-peen contest with internet 'friends' I've never met

Things like Raptr and all the various aggregators don't do anything for me. I don't care how many times my character blinked, I don't care if I'm 83% of the way through a challenge I never remember starting, I don't care about comparing times or points against other players in a single-player game. It's neat that you can put together a website that does all that, and you can pull stats from all over the place, but there's a lot of neat things out there and I don't care for most of those either. Stop turning games into accounting.

But but ... at 83%, you're only 17% away from 100%!

Except for those games that go higher than 100%... I hate those games...

trueheart78 wrote:

Except for those games that go higher than 100%... I hate those games...

I love those games--it is like getting more game FOR FREE!

I like raptr for my own stat tracking purposes of knowing how much time I'm putting into my games. It helps keep things in check - sometimes. Good for pile control. In the last 2 years I dropped the number of games bought in 2011 and in 2012, finished more than I picked up. Then again, my gaming budget was very tiny.

I don't really care for FPS games any more. I haven't played the last 20 or so CODs. BioShock Infinite looks interesting but I don't really know if I'll play it. It seems the FPS mechanics prevent me from really enjoying a game. Last FPS I really enjoyed was Portal 2. I would love to play Dishonored if there could be a 3rd-person mod of some sort to make it more akin Assassin's Creed feel.

Hobbes2099 wrote:

I don't really care for FPS games any more. I haven't played the last 20 or so CODs. BioShock Infinite looks interesting but I don't really know if I'll play it. It seems the FPS mechanics prevent me from really enjoying a game. Last FPS I really enjoyed was Portal 2. I would love to play Dishonored if there could be a 3rd-person mod of some sort to make it more akin Assassin's Creed feel.

Holy f*ckballs. This coming from the man who made me addicted to TF2. Burn him!!!!

mrtomaytohead wrote:

I like raptr for my own stat tracking purposes of knowing how much time I'm putting into my games. It helps keep things in check - sometimes. Good for pile control. In the last 2 years I dropped the number of games bought in 2011 and in 2012, finished more than I picked up. Then again, my gaming budget was very tiny.

Yea I kind of wish Xbox Live did Steam like time tracking. Sure I can look at most of my save game files but what about the ones I deleted years ago?

Hobbes2099 wrote:

I don't really care for FPS games any more. I haven't played the last 20 or so CODs. BioShock Infinite looks interesting but I don't really know if I'll play it. It seems the FPS mechanics prevent me from really enjoying a game. Last FPS I really enjoyed was Portal 2. I would love to play Dishonored if there could be a 3rd-person mod of some sort to make it more akin Assassin's Creed feel.

My take on this is that there have been precious few FPSes recently that give your brain more to chew on than point and click, and maybe taking cover.

Rykin wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

I like raptr for my own stat tracking purposes of knowing how much time I'm putting into my games. It helps keep things in check - sometimes. Good for pile control. In the last 2 years I dropped the number of games bought in 2011 and in 2012, finished more than I picked up. Then again, my gaming budget was very tiny.

Yea I kind of wish Xbox Live did Steam like time tracking. Sure I can look at most of my save game files but what about the ones I deleted years ago?

I'm not sure how but you can get a monthly email showing how much time you log in each game.

Scratched wrote:
Hobbes2099 wrote:

I don't really care for FPS games any more. I haven't played the last 20 or so CODs. BioShock Infinite looks interesting but I don't really know if I'll play it. It seems the FPS mechanics prevent me from really enjoying a game. Last FPS I really enjoyed was Portal 2. I would love to play Dishonored if there could be a 3rd-person mod of some sort to make it more akin Assassin's Creed feel.

My take on this is that there have been precious few FPSes recently that give your brain more to chew on than point and click, and maybe taking cover.

Bad genre is bad.

(Also, it's quite a stretch to call Portal 2 a FPS. I mean, I guess you're technically shooting portals...)

Rykin wrote:

Yea I kind of wish Xbox Live did Steam like time tracking. Sure I can look at most of my save game files but what about the ones I deleted years ago?

Envy reignited. If only I could see my stats for L4D 1 & 2 like PC players can. I have long wondered whether I've hit that famed 10,000 hour mark that supposedly makes one an expert at something? (I know I am, but am I numerically?)

Scratched wrote:

My take on this is that there have been precious few FPSes recently that give your brain more to chew on than point and click, and maybe taking cover.

Cough...Left 4 Dead Versus

Keithustus wrote:
Scratched wrote:

My take on this is that there have been precious few FPSes recently that give your brain more to chew on than point and click, and maybe taking cover.

Cough...Left 4 Dead Versus

Released 3/4 years ago.

Scratched wrote:

Released 3/4 years ago.

Wow, only 8 months ago? I thought it was older than that!

Wouldn't that be 9 months if you read it as a fraction? Anyway for clarity I was referring to the 2009 release of L4D2 (3 years ago) or 2008 release of L4D (4 years ago).

Blind_Evil wrote:
Rykin wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

I like raptr for my own stat tracking purposes of knowing how much time I'm putting into my games. It helps keep things in check - sometimes. Good for pile control. In the last 2 years I dropped the number of games bought in 2011 and in 2012, finished more than I picked up. Then again, my gaming budget was very tiny.

Yea I kind of wish Xbox Live did Steam like time tracking. Sure I can look at most of my save game files but what about the ones I deleted years ago?

I'm not sure how but you can get a monthly email showing how much time you log in each game.

Actually the best game time tracking I've seen is on the Wii. It logs and keeps every play session, totals it for the day (playing past midnight messes it up), and then when you go into the Nintendo channel there's a place that shows how long you've played total PLUS how many times you've played. The times played thing always seems a bit off, but I could be wrong. Nintendo also shows stats for total hours played for all connected players for the game, total times played average times played, and average hours. Of course, it's skewed since it only shows those who enables sharing the data.

Strange that Kexx is playing Bioshock at the same time as me... and having exactly the same feelings about it. I too am finding it a bit plodding and I too am struggling with some of the controls. In particular, the 'weapon wheels' which are about us cumbersome and unintuitive as I've seen.

It's also not a particularly pretty looking game in terms of the textures, etc. Don't get me wrong. The art direction is great... but the execution is lacking for me.

What I find moderatley interesting is the fact that the other big shooter of the year was CoD 4: Modern Warfare. I've returned to that game several times, but I can't see my self returning to the rapture at all.

Oh... and killing the Little Sisters is a monstrous act...

Scratched wrote:
Keithustus wrote:
Scratched wrote:

My take on this is that there have been precious few FPSes recently that give your brain more to chew on than point and click, and maybe taking cover.

Cough...Left 4 Dead Versus

Released 3/4 years ago.

What's your point? My friends and I still play it almost every day we game, there have been tournaments and ladders, a specific competitive setting, and if you're on PC, a lot of extra content. It's not as if a better game has come along since then. Recent in gaming means <5 years old since we've been stuck in X360/PS3/Wii(U) so long.

Maybe, just maybe, Aliens: Colonial Marines will have a versus mode that is as good, but from the little of that I've read about and demo-ed it looks like it will just be some boring team deathmatch.

L33t people who hate CoD games. Your preference isn't actually an indictment against the game.

Dakuna wrote:

L33t people who hate CoD games. Your preference isn't actually an indictment against the game.

I like modern military shooters with tight gunplay and decent story/set pieces.

I don't like CoD/BF multiplayer - they're just not my bag.

gore wrote:
Scratched wrote:
Hobbes2099 wrote:

I don't really care for FPS games any more. I haven't played the last 20 or so CODs. BioShock Infinite looks interesting but I don't really know if I'll play it. It seems the FPS mechanics prevent me from really enjoying a game. Last FPS I really enjoyed was Portal 2. I would love to play Dishonored if there could be a 3rd-person mod of some sort to make it more akin Assassin's Creed feel.

My take on this is that there have been precious few FPSes recently that give your brain more to chew on than point and click, and maybe taking cover.

Bad genre is bad.

(Also, it's quite a stretch to call Portal 2 a FPS. I mean, I guess you're technically shooting portals...)

To polish this up a bit; there's hardly an FPS title that has caught my attention in the last few years, the few that have --Dishonored and BioShock Infinite-- the fact alone that they're FPS prevent me from really getting invested in the idea of playing them.

I might give TF2 a try in the near future; landing 3 rockets in a row in Kexx's head as he fails to poof them back is amusing.

But I would feel more inclined to playing a BioShock Infinite and Dishonored if they could be played as 3rd person games. The previous BioShock games are sitting atop my pile, with very low probabilities of ever getting installed, let alone played.

Hobbes2099 wrote:

To polish this up a bit; there's hardly an FPS title that has caught my attention in the last few years, the few that have --Dishonored and BioShock Infinite-- the fact alone that they're FPS prevent me from really getting invested in the idea of playing them.

I might give TF2 a try in the near future; landing 3 rockets in a row in Kexx's head as he fails to poof them back is amusing.

But I would feel more inclined to playing a BioShock Infinite and Dishonored if they could be played as 3rd person games. The previous BioShock games are sitting atop my pile, with very low probabilities of ever getting installed, let alone played.

What about the perspective makes you more willing or unwilling to play a shooter?

I like linear games.

If a story teller needs me to take a certain path, push a certain button, open a certain door in order to tell the story he wants to tell, I'm okay with that. No, I love that. As long as the mechanics are intriguing.

I don't need choice or a sandbox to enjoy a game. I can get just as much enjoyment out of a well told story.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

I like linear games.

If a story teller needs me to take a certain path, push a certain button, open a certain door in order to tell the story he wants to tell, I'm okay with that. No, I love that. As long as the mechanics are intriguing.

I don't need choice or a sandbox to enjoy a game. I can get just as much enjoyment out of a well told story.

Ämen!!

kexx wrote:
EverythingsTentative wrote:

I like linear games.

If a story teller needs me to take a certain path, push a certain button, open a certain door in order to tell the story he wants to tell, I'm okay with that. No, I love that. As long as the mechanics are intriguing.

I don't need choice or a sandbox to enjoy a game. I can get just as much enjoyment out of a well told story.

Ämen!!

Agreed. If that's blasphemy, then I'm a heathen.

My Gaming Confessions & Blasphemy blasphemy is that we've been recycling these conversations about Bioshock and how we actually like linearity about once every 12 pages.

kazooka wrote:

My Gaming Confessions & Blasphemy blasphemy is that we've been recycling these conversations about Bioshock and how we actually like linearity about once every 12 pages.

People like playing through the same general plot over and over as well.

There seems to be a lot of agreeing in general in this blasphemy thread. Which I admittedly have not read all of.