due to an error in a Twitch server configuration change

I had to look up who David Cage was because after playing 15 minutes of Heavy Rain I erased all knowledge of him from my mind, because holy shit that game is fucking awful. “Let’s have the player do tedious stuff that doesn’t advance the plot and also give them the worst possible controls to do it with!”

Didn’t I just explain, in rather clear terms, that I didn’t consider Bioshock fun? It was a dull game with good art design. For a game to be engaging, it’s helpful, but not required, that it’s got a clear design ethos and purpose. Things that run counter to that purpose can make the game less engaging because it’s…

I mean, as someone who bailed on Bioshock, it has nothing to do with “fragility”, it has to do with the fact that when the game narrative and the game play don’t align it makes it hard to enjoy the game. Why should I play something that’s incredibly un-fun, and clearly can’t commit to its own ideas? Bioshock is a bad…

I mean, there are a good number of generic games ranging from high-crunch (GURPS) to low-crunch (Fate). Then you have game toolkit systems, like PbtA, which lay out a pattern that allows designers to make a setting-specific game, but with mechanics that are pretty generic.

I started doing RPGs in 1994, and I didn’t play my first D&D game until 2007. I still don’t really care for D&D, but it’s what I’ll play if folks are playing it. Personally, my preference is for games with more prosaic settings- I wrote a one-shot RPG that takes place entirely in a hotel over the course of a single…

Yeah, there’s no law against being an asshole, but when you’re a public asshole, people will treat you like you’re an asshole. Pretty basic math, right there.

I didn’t expect some kind of Monty Python references.

It’s the line between “I want to like you, but you’ve disappointed me,” and “I never cared about you in the first place.”

It’s the line between “I want to like you, but you’ve disappointed me,” and “I never cared about you in the first place.”

So, I think you could do a direct sequel to SR4 by simply leaning into the time travel element that they set up in the closing credits of SR4. At first, you get stranded in, say, the 1700s because the time machine broke. After the tutorial segment, you open up the open world and can bounce between the 1700s, the…

Soon, like X-Files’ agent Moulder

“I couldn’t see her reaction, so I didn’t know I was hurting her,” says man who employed a sneering, hurtful tone, and dismissed a perfectly valid question with a weak joke.

It’s at least also getting a PC release, according to it being on Steam, anyway:

“I didn’t realize we made someone feel bad because I couldn’t see her face,” doesn’t really hold water for me, because the entire smug, self-satisfied, smarmy tone that they had was clearly intended to make someone feel bad.

I’d argue that the code quality in an open product is probably better than the code quality in anything EA does.

Exploits and cheats would be the big money, especially for games that are competitive.

That was my first thought, too.

I mean, they want a lot more than that, too. It’s necessary for a competitive scene, for being able to hand out bans, etc. And yeah, they probably want to a/b test things too. And for sure, in modern gaming, having constant changes and updates is a big part of how you keep players hooked.

“Always needs an Internet connection” is bad. Terrible. But even setting that aside, the whole “publisher runs the servers” thing bugs the hell out of me. Now, I’m old enough that I’ve done FPS multiplayer via null modem cables and just like, regular modems, so maybe I’m biased. While having “official” servers seems…