GWJ Conference Call Episode 559

Friday The 13th, Steam Sales, Anarcute, The Extension of Longevity, Your Emails and More!

Click here to download!

This week Sean, Amanda and Cory talk about the extension of longevity.

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.

  • Subscribe with iTunes
  • Subscribe with RSS
  • Subscribe with Yahoo!
Download the official apps
  • Download the GWJ Conference Call app for Android
  • Download the GWJ Conference Call app for Android

Comments

00:02:05 Steam Sales
00:06:59 Anarcute
00:11:57 Friday The 13th
00:24:13 Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
00:29:02 The Extension of Longevity
00:59:05 Your Emails

Great show this week! One thing I think you all forgot to mention was how the modding community adds a level of longevity to games that was practically unheard of in years past. Amanda touched on it slightly when talking about Skyrim mods, but there are several games (such as GTA4) that have survived a LONG time due to mods.

Thoughts from the class?

Chh chh chh ah ah ah.

Chad! IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C84guXZVYAAAz00.jpg)

thoughts on the community. It's not too bad -- but it still has a few sour apples and griefers. Better than most, and muting is pretty easy. Its good to party chat while you get your bearings, but after that its.... pretty tolerable.

Saints Row 3 is fantastic. My friend and I just this past week finished playing all the way through it in co-op mode. Super good. A++, would mayhem again.

That said, Portal 2 seems like it happened a million years ago.

Also, I set myself a calendar reminder for 6 years from now so I can refer back to this. Let's see if a 6-year calendar notification actually works for me.

And now this podcast makes me want to play Skyrim, as in, make Skyrim my game of the summer where I literally take a vacation inside Skyrim from nowish until late August.

Everybody, I love you, right? You know that? But for the love to all that is just and right, please stop converting floats to ints on your prices!

Shadow of Mordor is not $3, it's $3.99, which rounds to $4!

I'd let it go if it was once, but four times this show one of you said "Oh, this game is X dollars" when it's actually X dollars plus 99/100's of another dollar!

/petpeeve

Interesting talk on social fear in multiplayer games. One thing that keeps me away from online games isn't being called out for sucking in competitive games, it's ruining my own team's experience by sucking in team games. Especially when there appears to be some kind of metagame or etiquette I don't know.

About game longevity- I think one change that lets games age better now is that we finally figured out UI to a consistent and competent level. Some old games just fight you- compare original X-COM to spiffy new XCOM. Even if you use OpenXCOM to clean things up a bit, that game still isn't trying to be your friend. On the other hand, Skyrim may not have the latest and greatest graphical polish, but it's still easy to operate.

I'm also thinking that the fashion for longer narrative games has lasted longer than the taste for 'Nintendo-hard' 3-lives-and-out games, so anything on the recent side of that line is going to have at least something in common with new games.

Has Skyrim aged well because it was dated at launch?

/troll :p

Zudz wrote:

Saints Row 3 is fantastic. My friend and I just this past week finished playing all the way through it in co-op mode. Super good. A++, would mayhem again.
.

I think Saint Row 3 is probably going to age better than 4. I love both, but 3 was fresh. 4 was more of the same, dialled to 11.

Of all those games Sean listed I'd happily go back and experience most as they are right now. And not for nostalgia's sake. For their own. I have several sitting unplayed in my Steam and Origin libraries right now, thanks to sales, giveaways and bundles and I'm going back to a bunch. I'm playing 2010's Alan Wake and it still looks and feels great.

I'm also not going to get too upset by Sean's Witcher 2 hate speech.

qaraq wrote:

About game longevity- I think one change that lets games age better now is that we finally figured out UI to a consistent and competent level. Some old games just fight you- compare original X-COM to spiffy new XCOM. Even if you use OpenXCOM to clean things up a bit, that game still isn't trying to be your friend. On the other hand, Skyrim may not have the latest and greatest graphical polish, but it's still easy to operate.

I think this is key. The experience of playing a game is smoother than in the past, so you aren't fighting against the game as much. Makes for much a more pleasant time going to older stuff.

Nobody actually likes lobster. That's why everyone drowns it in garlic butter.

I certainly don't like lobster. Mantis prawns have a similar taste profile, but are much tastier, and more interesting to eat. Neater, too.

Morrowind is the best Elder Scrolls game.

LarryC wrote:

I certainly don't like lobster. Mantis prawns have a similar taste profile, but are much tastier, and more interesting to eat. Neater, too.

I don't eat anything that resembles an arachnid or a large silverfish in any way.

In college, when online multiplayer gaming was starting (with voice chat), I was getting a lot of social anxiety about being terrible in online games. I still care, but as I've gotten older I've realized that not everyone is like that, and if you look in the right places you can find like-minded gamers who are out there to try new things, experiment, and have fun without being ridiculed about skill level.

Isn't that what great groups like this site are for? I was surprised to hear people like Amanda say she still was having this problem when she has an actually site full of gamers who would play with her. I'll be the first to say I play judgement free and would love to play with Amanda, Cory, or anyone here!

Join us!

Want to be clear that my negative experiences have usually occurred when I do solo multiplayer.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

Everybody, I love you, right? You know that? But for the love to all that is just and right, please stop converting floats to ints on your prices!

Shadow of Mordor is not $3, it's $3.99, which rounds to $4!

I'd let it go if it was once, but four times this show one of you said "Oh, this game is X dollars" when it's actually X dollars plus 99/100's of another dollar!

/petpeeve

The problem is that our primitive brains have been programmed to round down since caveman days. It's a basic survival strategy.

Four Mammoths but one has a missing tusk? There are only three Mammoths.

Higgledy wrote:
doubtingthomas396 wrote:

Everybody, I love you, right? You know that? But for the love to all that is just and right, please stop converting floats to ints on your prices!

Shadow of Mordor is not $3, it's $3.99, which rounds to $4!

I'd let it go if it was once, but four times this show one of you said "Oh, this game is X dollars" when it's actually X dollars plus 99/100's of another dollar!

/petpeeve

The problem is that our primitive brains have been programmed to round down since caveman days. It's a basic survival strategy.

Four Mammoths but one has a missing tusk? There are only three Mammoths.

That doesn't sound like a winning evolutionary strategy. Seems like the hunters who thought that way would get squished by the fourth mammoth with the missing tusk.

Then again, the ubiquity of adjustable rate mortgages and car leasing plans means you'll get no argument from me that humans are, by and large, bad at math.

I'm currently playing LA Noire (2011) with my wife and it doesn't feel old at all. The facial animations, while not as amazing as in 2011, still look very good.

AND I regularly play Super Mario 3D Land (2011) with my kids and it feels great.

Has anyone set up a calendar reminder for June of 2023 to examine this podcast discussion?

I didn't think that Amanda would be able to impress me more with the synergy of our mutual love of similar games, and then she goes and mentions City of Heroes.
City of Titans is in Kickstarter !

It's been a hot second since I was a regular poster in these parts, but I think this comment will bump this thread.

I said I would make a calendar reminder, and by God, my calendar reminded me. With any luck, I'm now reminding all of you. Let's crack open this time capsule and see how these predictions of longevity did!