Conference Call

GWJ Conference Call Episode 413

Civilization: Beyond Earth, The Sims 4, Dawn of War II, Hatoful Boyfriend, Velocity 2X, Weekend Session Games, The Donation Drive Launches, Your Emails and More!

This week Sean Sands, Cory Banks, Rob Zacny and Graham Rowat talk about the launch of the donation drive and weekend session games!

To contact us, email [email protected]! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about or whatever else is on your mind. You can even send a 30 second audio question or comment (MP3 format please) if you're so inclined.

Chairman_Mao's Timestamps
00.05.31 Diablo 3
00.12.49 Civilization: Beyond Earth
00.20.54 Dawn of War II
00.26.51 Hatoful Boyfriend
00.32.08 Velocity 2X
00.34.56 The Sims 4
00.49.21 This week's topic: Session gaming!
01.11.27 Your questions!

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Show credits

Sponsors: 
Music credits: 

Intro/Outtro Music - Ian Dorsch, Willowtree Audioworks

Comments

Whenever I revisit an old classic game that I had played in its day, it seems blindingly obvious to me that that game's graphics and gameplay hold up perfectly to this day.

But then when I try out an old classic game that I have never touched before, it seems equally obvious to me that THAT game's graphics and gameplay are archaic and unplayable.

WAAAAAAAAGH! MEK GROBFLAKKER DEMANDS YOU LIS'N WHILE HE TELLS YOU WOT HE IS WEARIN'!

...NOTHING BUT GO FASTA STRIPES!

My return-to game is Star Trek: Birth of the Federation and any MegaMan games. Can enjoy them as much as the first time.

Those and REmake - RE3. Might be time for an autumn/Halloween replay!

Oh the Battle of Britain was definitely a David vs Goliath story alright
ya know, assuming one the pilots was named David

Thanks Rob! Silent Hunter III Metascore 90...how did I miss that? Must urge temptation to play it literally right now when I have a million things to do.

Session gaming: I cannot find 15-hour blocks of time now in my life, so my long "sessions" are now only a few hours, the rare opportunities I have of them. So that pretty much eliminates numbered Civilizations and any other grand strategy or 4X, which are just too obvious to need to be stated.

Best time sinks: Civilization Revolution, FTL, Rock Band; and if there are other players available: L4D, Super Monkey Ball, Super Bomberman.

4v1 won't catch on because you can't really play tournaments or competitively. L4D Versus works and allows for tournaments and ladders because you play both sides and definitively and efficiently know who wins. To do so with Evolve you would need to play between 2 and 8 matches (ABCD v. #1, ABCD v. #2, ABCD v. #3, ABCD v. #4, 1234 v. A, 1234 v. B, 1234 v. C, & 1234 v. D) or you would need two completely separate but parallel ladders, one for hunter teams and another for creatures.

Keithustus wrote:

Session gaming: I cannot find 15-hour blocks of time now in my life

15 hours?!

Even in my most "hardcore" of gaming times, I can't remember playing a game for more than 8 hours straight. Maybe I was Doing It Wrong™.

15 hours was a light day until I got done with college and started working. I think my longest was about 40-45 hours straight. Racking up hours on a multiplayer game at that rate makes Neo moments common.

I'm not sure who said it but I'm also shying away from games that demand too much of my time. I haven't gone in for Battlefield 4 and I don't think I'll be able to do Destiny. Fortunately, at the moment, I seem to have found myself a tranquil little back water in the gaming world where I can dip into several, reassuringly massive games while dedicating healthy amounts of time to real life.

I have Skyrim, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, Terraria and Saints Row 3 on a loose rotation depending on my mood that week. Ironically the game with the most potential for taking over my free time and have me playing into the wee small hours is Terraria.

I don't have time for session gaming anymore, but when I did it was all about the mechanics.

Games with mechanics and high scores to chase were my cups of tea. God Hand, Gungrave; Overdose: these were the games that kept me glued to a controller, sometimes beating the 8 hour campaign modes multiple times in one day.

The only other lost weekends I can remember came at the hands of GTA3 and GTA3: Vice City. In vice city in particular I would just jump into a car and cruise around listening to the radio.

I bought the soundtrack on CD for Vice City and had a couple of very surreal moments where I'd be listening to them while driving my car using my out-of-game character. I would sit at red lights and contemplate where, in this area, a hidden object might be.

All night time sinks for me over last 12 months - Simcity, Civ 5 but now it's Eve. It's all about Eve !
There are people I chat to that state that they have had 36 hr sessions...and I can believe it.
I will start playing at 6pm this Friday evening and log off at 02.00 Sunday morning. Aside from eating, bathing and the odd cat-nap, that's my weekend.
Wa-hoo !! Bring it.

I just wanted to comment about something near the end of this podcast. I can't distinguish voices very well so not sure who brought up what, but someone mentioned about how he wasn't sure if he was less social in games now because if it was him playing less social games or if games were just less social nowadays. (Or something like that.) It also sounded like there was some degree of guilt involved, as if he *should* be more social in games.

For me, games have always been something I enjoy as an isolated activity. Yes, I've played MMO's and some multiplayer from time to time, but my largest preference by far is for the deep single-player experience where I can lose myself in whatever is going on in the game and go at my own pace without feeling pressured or rushed by other people who don't want to do things like read lore text or wait while I sort through my inventory and whatnot.

In fact, games have become far *TOO* social nowadays in my view. It used to be that we could look forward to these deep singleplayer experiences, but far too many developers are now tacking on multiplayer and social networking features that end up making the singleplayer less. In fact, I vaguely remember EA stating that ALL their games were going to be required to have multiplayer from that point forward and it only made me cringe.

My point is though that I think it's just fine to play games by ourselves as a solitary experience and we don't need to do everything in our lives with other people, so no need to feel bad about it if we do find ourselves enjoying things on our own more often than not.

I think the only "danger" so to speak is if we isolate ourselves from people in *everything* that we do and neglect families and other responsibilities in the process. Outside of that though, virtual gaming hermits for the win!

On long gaming sessions, I have had quite a number of them, even now in my adult years, but I don't think I've *ever* (even as a teenager) been able to play a game for 15 or more hours straight no matter how involved I am with it. I absolutely have to take breaks to sleep, eat, necessities, or even just read something on the internet or do something else around the house for a few just to clear out the fuzziness in my head. I really don't know how people go for that long on any activity, and I'm not particularly sure that it's healthy, so that part would concern me if anything.

bekkilyn wrote:

In fact, games have become far *TOO* social nowadays in my view. It used to be that we could look forward to these deep singleplayer experiences, but far too many developers are now tacking on multiplayer and social networking features that end up making the singleplayer less. In fact, I vaguely remember EA stating that ALL their games were going to be required to have multiplayer from that point forward and it only made me cringe.

This.

To me games have always been something of a safe place where I can think and play without having to worry about social acumen, and my lack thereof. Social stuff is taxing for me. The only time I get to rest my brain is when I'm gaming or when I'm asleep. (Or when I'm on the toilet, but since getting an iphone there's a lot of overlap between that and gaming these days)

Keithustus wrote:

15 hours was a light day until I got done with college and started working. I think my longest was about 40-45 hours straight. Racking up hours on a multiplayer game at that rate makes Neo moments common.

My wife is out of town this weekend, and my other weekend plans got canceled. Me and Destiny are going to get to know one another.

<--- actor, experienced voice talent for 10 radio/audio dramas...

Just sayin' =)

edit- also Dawn of War 2 campaign totally rocks! I love the Diablo/RTS hybrid. Though I call it a small squad RTS. My biggest gripe is the extreme level load times. To me DoW2 is very reminiscent of IWD combat minus the ability to pause. (and minus some customization with more units in your squad as trade off)

Keithustus wrote:

Thanks Rob! Silent Hunter III Metascore 90...how did I miss that? Must urge temptation to play it literally right now when I have a million things to do.

I was so happy to hear Silent Hunter 3 mentioned on the podcast! I've described it to others as my "fits-like-a-glove" game. When I want something familiar and have an open Saturday morning you'll often find me piloting a sub into a convoy.

I don't think I've had a session game in a long time (probably Starcraft multiplayer with friends back in high school) but Persona 4 has its hooks in me really good right now. The game has really good pacing for the plot beats and there's enough long-term planning to be found which keeps me coming back each night for an hour or two when I can over the last month.

I'm pretty sure my 14.5 hour Freespace 2 binge when I was 15 still holds the record for longest uninterrupted session. How's that for a convergence of themes?

The longer my friend and I played, the worse we got and the harder the levels became, until we hit a wall in a plasma-fog level that we just couldn't beat. Prob. about 7am at that point. But that's still one of my favorite gaming memories. We were riffing off of each other's awesomeness, until I had this unbelievable level where you're in a bomber and tasked with taking down a fleet of huge ships before they can reach a warp gate, and I was like a leaf on the wind.

P.s., pardon me while I go cross-stitch "Monster-slaying knows no season" and hang it on my wall.

Hopefully surrounded by little cross-stitched monsters, some of which have been beheaded and are resting in cross-stitched pools of blood.

For the last few years, the common thread for my personal "session" games is that they're single player and open world.

I've thrown so much time into Skyrim, the AC series, Far Cry 3, and Saints 3 & 4 because of those short- and mid-term goals right there in convenient checklist format.

Pretty sure I have milked the DoW 2 trilogy for every drop of possible enjoyment. Steam says 257 hours but even that sounds conservative.

I can't believe no-one mentioned Dawn of War 3! More customization and larger armies anyone? The way nobody talks about it anymore you'd think Relic up and stopped working on it.

Anyone else psyched for Deathwing? You said "space marine was too good for a sequel", but I think Streunom is up for the task.

I think I've had more different session games this year than any year since college.

Dark Souls 2
Divinity
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Destiny
League of Legends, though this has been one of my staples for several years running now.

Yep, I don't think session games aren't on the decline at all. It's all about personal gaming tastes, as is the case 99% of the time.

Also, DoW2 was an awesome game. Ya'll be crazy.

Keithustus wrote:

15 hours was a light day until I got done with college and started working. I think my longest was about 40-45 hours straight. Racking up hours on a multiplayer game at that rate makes Neo moments common.

I can't even imagine a world in which I'd want to play a game or do anything else for that long at a stretch. Even thinking back to big gaming weekends in high school or college, I'd say that 8 hours was about my limit, and that's when I was trading off with friends, eating pizza, and joking around most of the time.