What games are you currently playing?

[Ketaru]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Cid has a bit of a point.

I mean FF is also a traditionally single player experience, but the core of what FF is remains for XI (and to a degree XIV I guess. It still doesn't feel as "FF-y" as XI did to me) - crystals, summons, going off to save the world with allies blah blah blah it's all still there.

I sometimes think about how Final Fantasy-like and unFinal Fantasy-like XI and XIV are. The job system is there, of course. But when I think of it, how many numbered Final Fantasy games really is it? I, III, IV, V, and IX. It often feels, to me, like XI and XIV actually have more in common with the spin-offs: The 4 Heroes of Light, Bravely Default, Final Fantasy Dimensions, and the Tactics games.

Musically, XI also felt very different as a Final Fantasy game. Previous games often used short, affective, catchy melodies. XI had more subtle music that tended to meander. This is, of course, understandable given that they expected that players would have to listen to them often for extended periods of time. Nor did it have any of the (at times offensive) orchestral-rock driven battle music the series is known for. Personally, I never really felt the game was even connected to the Final Fantasy series until A Crystalline Prophecy where we finally get to hear the theme during the conclusion. Theme for reference.

One thing XIV does have over XI though is that it explicitly refers to your character as a Warrior of Light, chosen by the crystal to restore balance to the world. But again, that's something that actually tends to come up in the spin-offs and not the flagship series.

Thematically, XI and XIV have more in common with each other than the rest of the series, much as how the Ivalice games are thematically similar. That is, there are the 5 races that have obvious counterparts in the other. The various nations are in conflict with the beastmen. They take place not long after a period of war. And the cultures of their worlds celebrates adventurers as individuals that can make meaningful contributions to the world.

This was a tangent that probably doesn't add anything to the discussion. Just some thought I had about how XI and XIV fit into series.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Cid has a bit of a point.

I mean FF is also a traditionally single player experience, but the core of what FF is remains for XI (and to a degree XIV I guess. It still doesn't feel as "FF-y" as XI did to me) - crystals, summons, going off to save the world with allies blah blah blah it's all still there.


The big thing with Elder Scrolls games (and bethesda in general really) is the whole exploration/you make your own story thing. You can't just go off and explore 80%+ of the game right off the bat in ESO, its all scripted and you gotta follow the quests in order to get EXP to level up etc. (or so I'm told by friends who have the beta and this is why they don't like it).

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

It's an MMORPG. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad game, but when I show up to an Elder Scrolls game I have certain expectations of what will be provided and MMORPGs fail to meet those expectations pretty spectacularly.

You clearly enjoy it because you're into PvP and apparently it does a decent job of that. Good for you. It's still not an Elder Scrolls game.

[Firewind]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Ah the "this is why I'm writing off the newest FF game before it's out" one. You're saying it's not an Elder Scrolls game but are giving no definition as to what an Elder Scrolls game actually is, or the reason why you play an Elder Scrolls game.

I could use the same logic towards my large dislike of the Street Fighter series to dismiss them as a pile of shit with such a subjective and blanket statement as they do not tick the boxes as to why I would play a fighting game.

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

The main issue with the beta is that it's not a fucking Elder Scrolls game.

[Firewind]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

The main issue with the beta is that there's literally no content outside of the PvP if don't play on the Aldmeri Dominion. That faction seems to have all of the good zones and quests so levelling is actually not as painful as ritual suicide with a PS3 controller in those zones. The rest? Not so much.

The PvP is extremely fun though that has to be said. The levelling system is pretty interesting and the base classes are versatile enough for you to do literally everything with them. One of the best Dragon Knight builds I have seen for example goes full heavy armour and Arden Flame abilites while using Healing and Destruction staves. My favourite Mage build is going full Lightning, Heavy Armour and charge around with a two handed Warhammer. The crafting is also pretty interesting too and is one of the few games where it doesn't suck since crafted gear is actually extremely useful.

My main complaints about the game are being addressed in upcoming patches. That said, I really wish someone would fix the animations. It still feels like there's no power or weigh behind melee attacks and all the attack animations feel slow and clunky. I'm talking WoW clunky here. This is a game where having a melee weapon is very strongly advised regardless of if you are making a ranged build or not.

The game is basically a PvP game and is focused on that, and many of the people screeching "ERMHAGERD TESO WILL FLOP!!111111211231121212211" are bitter because of this fact.. If you don't like PvP then Tera does everything the game does and better, plus is Free To Play done right. Either than or just stick to Skyrim and hope someone releases a Co-Op mod for it. I'm pretty sure that TESO will keep enough subscribers to stay profitable. There's a lot of people out there after a good PvP game that TESO does provide. It's telling when the only game out there that even has PvP done right is SWTOR.

[Caspian]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Elder Scrolls Online confirmed for train wreck.

Was it something specific that confirmed it? or????

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

we needed confirmation?

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Elder Scrolls Online confirmed for train wreck.

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Ah, so it's still garbage then. I'll continue to not give a flying fuck since I have the games in that franchise that are actually worth my time.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Yeah that's still the one really, really shitty point lol :/

At least the game itself is actually worth playing now though. Seriously the new Paragon 2.0 takes Borderlands 2's Badass Rank system and just improves on it vastly.

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

No, not really. Some of the new affixes are really annoying and I'm not a fan of all the balance tweaks but overall it's a really solid patch, they've made D3 into the game it ought to have been at launch.

Oh, so they've patched out the online component completely then?

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Other than my ISP being a douche?

No, not really. Some of the new affixes are really annoying and I'm not a fan of all the balance tweaks but overall it's a really solid patch, they've made D3 into the game it ought to have been at launch.

Looking forward to RoS & rolling a Crusader. The updated attributes in particular has made choosing gear much easier.

[Firewind]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Playing Diablo 3 again, and actually enjoying it.

Game rage post in 3...2...1...

[Fliegar]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Spent 2 hours on Act 1 Torment (6) as a level 54 Wizard. Getting 1-shot by everything was hilarious, and you gain like 200-300k exp per zombie.