Various video game stuff not deserving its own thread

[Havitner]

Kaiden Berryfield, junior writer: "Holy fuckballs! Guys! Guys! I did it! I finally found something!"
Lucas Keith, lead dev: "You don't mean..."
Kaiden: "Yes! A historical footnote on wikipedia about female warriors from the new culture we're adding to the game, going to battle with very mixed results!"
Lucas: "After three DLC, we finally have an excuse...!"
Chet Stevens, programmer: *sighs* "So I guess you want me to give the faction's infantry units a 50% chance to spawn as female, then?"
Lucas: "No. Add a new elite-tier unit type that's literally named 'Woman Warriors' that have much higher stats than normal male infantry."
Chet: "...seriously?"
Lucas: "You don't look very happy, Chet. Why is that?"
Chet: "...no, never mi-"
Kaiden, terrified of conflict: "Drinks are on me down at the barcade!"

Screenshot from 2025-10-11 20-01-53.png

[Stack of Turtles]

Wild to me when people on the far-right white-nationalist video game forum sound indistinguishable from a Democratic Socialists of America meeting

[Manny V]

Kaiden Berryfield, junior writer: "Holy fuckballs! Guys! Guys! I did it! I finally found something!"
Lucas Keith, lead dev: "You don't mean..."
Kaiden: "Yes! A historical footnote on wikipedia about female warriors from the new culture we're adding to the game, going to battle with very mixed results!"
Lucas: "After three DLC, we finally have an excuse...!"
Chet Stevens, programmer: *sighs* "So I guess you want me to give the faction's infantry units a 50% chance to spawn as female, then?"
Lucas: "No. Add a new elite-tier unit type that's literally named 'Woman Warriors' that have much higher stats than normal male infantry."
Chet: "...seriously?"
Lucas: "You don't look very happy, Chet. Why is that?"
Chet: "...no, never mi-"
Kaiden, terrified of conflict: "Drinks are on me down at the barcade!"

did you see the one for Aoe4, where they made a subfaction dedicated entirely to simping for Joan of Arc, so much that they not only named it after her but turned her into a ******* MOBA hero with OP stats and abilities

[Rand]

They went back on this, so you're going to buy it now, right?

No, it's still ****. As was the attempt to nickel and dime people using corrupt tactics by not selling them the full game on launch.
Also: are you high?
Two major clans were "omitted" from the game, then made using a "separate budget"? But they're available at launch when the rest of the game is?
You probably believe the Hollywood accountants when they say that Return of the Jedi or Forrest Gump or Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy "never made a profit". LMAO.

[Roguey]

No, it's still ****.

Oh so Rusty was right and it turns out this wasn't the issue preventing you from buying it.

Two major clans were "omitted" from the game, then made using a "separate budget"? But they're available at launch when the rest of the game is?
You probably believe the Hollywood accountants when they say that Return of the Jedi or Forrest Gump or Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy "never made a profit". LMAO.

I've been following the development of the game. It was supposed to be released earlier this year, but they delayed it for additional polish. The delay means it gets released alongside what was originally meant to be post-release DLC which has now been finished. Their DLC plans also changed. They originally announced there would be one additional clan (likely Lasombra) and one story DLC (playing as a Malkavian detective) but they altered their plans and folded the story DLC into the main game itself and added an additional clan to boost its value (which didn't work). So they had to scramble and come up with two small story DLCs to release later instead.

I guess I do have to post the chart after all.

[rusty_shackleford]

I guess I do have to post the chart after all.

I disagree with this image, games are made incrementally not in chunks. You have people testing level 1 while level 2 is being worked on, after feedback they must go back and make changes to level 1, etc.,

[gerey]

but they delayed it for additional polish

I doubt it was polish. More likely the whole thing was a half-finished mess and Paradox, very reluctantly, pushed the released date back further for them to unfuck it.

God knows why Paradox even bothers, the game is going to bomb financially, and they've already written it, the IP and cRPG development in general off, so it's not like they have anything to gain by giving the devs more time, unless the product was so broken they didn't dare release it without additional work.

[Roguey]

I disagree with this image, games are made incrementally not in chunks. You have people testing level 1 while level 2 is being worked on, after feedback they must go back and make changes to level 1, etc.,

I figure that's what the diagonal lines are meant to represent.

[rusty_shackleford]

I disagree with this image, games are made incrementally not in chunks. You have people testing level 1 while level 2 is being worked on, after feedback they must go back and make changes to level 1, etc.,

I should add that I've done a fair bit of volunteer QA for games that are on Steam right now, for studios that are owned by major publishers. I was testing levels that were being worked on months before release that were significantly different than what got released. It's an iterative process right up until it ships, and then continues after shipping now. I've discussed some of this publicly, but my name is attached to others so I haven't discussed it.

[DemoGraph]

they delayed it for additional polish

Translate: "they've mismanaged the original date".

they altered their plans and folded the story DLC into the main game itself and added an additional clan to boost its value (which didn't work). So they had to scramble and come up with two small story DLCs to release later instead.

Yep, ****** management.

(I don't even know what game is being discussed, but the chart caught my eye.)

[Havitner]

Oh so Rusty was right and it turns out this wasn't the issue preventing you from buying it.

Why couldn't there be multiple reasons?

[Rand]

No, it's still ****.

Oh so Rusty was right and it turns out this wasn't the issue preventing you from buying it.

Now I don't think you're high. I think you're actually stupid.
How do you fail to comprehend a simple statement using a simple example of what the statement is about SO BADLY?

It's not about THAT GAME, ******. It is a recent EXAMPLE of the behavior I am noting. FFS...

[Roguey]

Now I don't think you're high. I think you're actually stupid.
How do you fail to comprehend a simple statement using a simple example of what the statement is about SO BADLY?

It's not about THAT GAME, ******. It is a recent EXAMPLE of the behavior I am noting. FFS...

"I care when they're one of a few things. *lists an example he doesn't actually care about*"

Doesn't strike me as ideal. Maybe you should use relevant examples you actually care about?

[Rand]

Have you heard of the saying "Can't see the forest for all the trees in the way." Perhaps you should think on it.

[rusty_shackleford]

@krokodil preordered vtmb2 like 7 years ago

[Tweed]

I guess I do have to post the chart after all.

I disagree with this image, games are made incrementally not in chunks. You have people testing level 1 while level 2 is being worked on, after feedback they must go back and make changes to level 1, etc.,

And then you tighten up the graphics on level 3.

[rusty_shackleford]

Paradoxically, PC-first gaming probably puts a hit on experimental peripheral design. Very hard to get people to buy-in for a single game, you need the backing VR has to get anywhere.
contrast with Nintendo forcing two-screen DS, various gamepad features(six-axis, etc.,) that are widespread now, PCs are still just mouse+keyboard

[rusty_shackleford]

contrast with Nintendo forcing two-screen DS, various gamepad features(six-axis, etc.,) that are widespread now, PCs are still just mouse+keyboard

also PC gamers get really butthurt if you suggest peripherals specifically designed for games may be superior to something designed for writing documents 150 years ago

[DemoGraph]

Paradoxically, PC-first gaming probably puts a hit on experimental peripheral design. Very hard to get people to buy-in for a single game, you need the backing VR has to get anywhere.
contrast with Nintendo forcing two-screen DS, various gamepad features(six-axis, etc.,) that are widespread now, PCs are still just mouse+keyboard

It wasn't the issue with graphics cards (that weren't necessary before Doom) or hard drive upgrades for that 100+ GB WoW. And progamer mice are pretty different from office mice.

Minimap gives you a second screen where it's needed and SupCom engine had embedded support for singleplayee split screen.
You can easily run gamepad on PC.

I'd say that all those gimmicks (including goggles) are just that - gimmicks. They don't give as much of usability increase as Doom+graphics card combo.

[rusty_shackleford]

Paradoxically, PC-first gaming probably puts a hit on experimental peripheral design. Very hard to get people to buy-in for a single game, you need the backing VR has to get anywhere.
contrast with Nintendo forcing two-screen DS, various gamepad features(six-axis, etc.,) that are widespread now, PCs are still just mouse+keyboard

It wasn't the issue with graphics cards (that weren't necessary before Doom) or hard drive upgrades for that 100+ GB WoW. And progamer mice are pretty different from office mice.

Minimap gives you a second screen where it's needed and SupCom engine had embedded support for singleplayee split screen.
You can easily run gamepad on PC.

I'd say that all those gimmicks (including goggles) are just that - gimmicks. They don't give as much of usability increase as Doom+graphics card combo.

In 1993, you were far more likely to own a sound card than a graphics card if you were a gamer. I don't even know if consumer graphics cards[edit:as in, accelerator] existed in 1993, but if they did they were far more exclusive than even highend VR is now

[rusty_shackleford]

also, it's ironic that gamepads and various other game-related peripherals predate the mouse

For a period of time you were more likely to get a joystick with your PC than a mouse when you bought it

[Irenaeus]

[It wasn't the issue with graphics cards (that weren't necessary before Doom)

Try playing VGA games with an EGA graphics card.

► Show Spoiler

You can't.

[Oyster Sauce]

I don't think I really care at all about microtransactions, quite honestly.

Nobody actually cares about "microtransactions".
You can't convince me otherwise. You think you do, but you don't.

If you can sell me a product that's worth buying then guess what? That's fantastic, keep it up.

Complaining about DLC/microtransactions is reddit deflection for why video games are terrible. We know why they're terrible, look at the people making them.

Darktide is on sale for like $15 right now. That's a pretty good price, I think. I'd have fun with it. But there's a 0% chance that I'll buy it because I know how much is locked behind microtransactions and DLC.

[rusty_shackleford]

I don't think I really care at all about microtransactions, quite honestly.

Nobody actually cares about "microtransactions".
You can't convince me otherwise. You think you do, but you don't.

If you can sell me a product that's worth buying then guess what? That's fantastic, keep it up.

Complaining about DLC/microtransactions is reddit deflection for why video games are terrible. We know why they're terrible, look at the people making them.

Darktide is on sale for like $15 right now. That's a pretty good price, I think. I'd have fun with it. But there's a 0% chance that I'll buy it because I know how much is locked behind microtransactions and DLC.

I wouldn't buy it because it's gay and ******** tho

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Profit margins from the box purchase model have become too thin unless you are a really tight ship like Falcom, but you cannot pull that experience and business setup out of thin air. Most games will not be a black swan hit like Minecraft or BG3. Microtransactions are an inevitability for modern gaming. That's why VNs are dead and the surviving studios went to mobile.

[rusty_shackleford]

Profit margins from the box purchase model has become too thin unless you are a really tight ship like Falcom, but you cannot pull that experience and business setup out of thin air. Most games will not be a black swan hit like Minecraft or BG3. Microtransactions are an inevietability for modern gaming. That's why VNs are dead and the surviving deads went to mobile.

truke, average game is barely making anything now, market is flooded

Somehow I don't think the people who want to pay once for a game are willing to pay the price that will be asked…

[rusty_shackleford]

I now have traumatic memories from when I was 30 years younger and couldn't buy earthbound because it was 90 ******* dollars before the dollar was worth as much as a peso
things could have went a lot different for 450 - 30 year old rusty if earthbound was cheaper… could have been a lot gayer…

[Finarfin]

I don't think I really care at all about microtransactions, quite honestly.

Nobody actually cares about "microtransactions".
You can't convince me otherwise. You think you do, but you don't.

If you can sell me a product that's worth buying then guess what? That's fantastic, keep it up.

Complaining about DLC/microtransactions is reddit deflection for why video games are terrible. We know why they're terrible, look at the people making them.

Darktide is on sale for like $15 right now. That's a pretty good price, I think. I'd have fun with it. But there's a 0% chance that I'll buy it because I know how much is locked behind microtransactions and DLC.

The only DLC really is the Arbiter Class, and the shop with cosmetic stuff.

[Oyster Sauce]

Nobody actually cares about "microtransactions".
You can't convince me otherwise. You think you do, but you don't.

If you can sell me a product that's worth buying then guess what? That's fantastic, keep it up.

Complaining about DLC/microtransactions is reddit deflection for why video games are terrible. We know why they're terrible, look at the people making them.

Darktide is on sale for like $15 right now. That's a pretty good price, I think. I'd have fun with it. But there's a 0% chance that I'll buy it because I know how much is locked behind microtransactions and DLC.

The only DLC really is the Arbiter Class, and the shop with cosmetic stuff.

yeah so what I said

[Kalarion]

Have you heard of the saying "Can't see the forest for all the trees in the way." Perhaps you should think on it.

Roguey is the absolute slavish disciple of using nitnoy facts in order to lie through his teeth.

He is the living embodiment of Fake News. Never give credence to anything he says, ever. I suggest not even reading his posts. Just rate with laughter and move on.