Couchpotato's Random RPG News

Wasteland 3 Cult of the Holy Detonation Released - Steam

Wasteland 3: Cult of the Holy Detonation is now available for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation!

Cult of the Holy Detonation brings together years of experience developing Wasteland 3, allowing us to create some of our best environments, creatures, weapons, and designs, and put them all into the subterranean, mutant-infested government stronghold of Cheyenne Mountain. It's a blast.

The Desert Rangers will once again need to dive into a messy situation, sort out the major players and their motivations, and if necessary, take them to task. In true Wasteland fashion your decisions can have wide-reaching repercussions, and the decisions you've made up until this point can and will impact how the events within Cheyenne Mountain play out. This expansion also introduces objective-based combats, which are marquee events that require you to use your squad in new and unexpected ways. It's going to put even the most battle-hardened among you to the test. For an extra challenge, try it on Supreme Jerk, with difficult skill checks and permadeath turned on, while being level 16. We dare you.

We're excited to see players jump into this final piece of the Ranger story in Colorado and are eager to hear what you think.

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Matt Chat ATOM RPG

This episode features a 2-hour look at the game ATOM, a Fallout & Wasteland inspired game set in the post-apoc Soviet Union.

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Stoneshard Update - City of Gold Release Date

Let's start with the release date: as many of you might already know, the City of Gold update was moved to November due to a number of reasons. And today we're ready to announce its exact release date - November 18. This date is final, so make sure to set up a reminder!

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The Iron Oath Update #60 - New Environments

Hey everyone! We've been hard at work these past two months: finalizing quest content, polishing and bug fixing, and creating and implementing some new environments. We're still working long hours at the moment, so this month's update will be brief, but we did want to share a sneak peek at 4 new environments we've added to the game:

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Couchpotato said:

Wasteland 3 Cult of the Holy Detonation Released

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Well, they almost called it the Children of Atom, but I guess their lawyers saved them at the last minute

Holy Detonation ? Reminds me of a certain Monty Python movie ...

Alrik Fassbauer said:

Holy Detonation ? Reminds me of a certain Monty Python movie …

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"And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin. Then, shalt thou count to three. No more. No less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, nor either count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then, lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it."

Dragon's Dogma-inspired ARPG Arise of Awakener Announced

Arise of Awakener is a single-player, open-map action role-playing game set in a fantasy world based upon medieval Europe. In this world, players will ride dragons, command airships, and partake in engaging combat encounters against a collection of fantastical creatures as they take on the role of an adventurer and embark on a path of revenge and redemption.

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Without Judgement Retro ARPG Gameplay Teaser

Without Judgement is a third or first person open world immersive sim rpg. Set in the futuristic version Florida, you are going to be able to freely explore the many cities and settlements across the state. Experience engaging and dynamic quests and random encounters which can be solved in multiple ways in a crime filled neo-noire world.

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Starfield Boasts 150,000 Lines of Dialogue, and That Has Me Worried - EM

Did you know Starfield is going to have over 150,000 lines of dialogue? I did, and I honestly wish I didn’t, because it’s crushing my hopes that this upcoming sci-RPG will be anything other than Bethesda by the numbers.

In case you missed this Starfield claim from Todd Howard, it took place at the Tokyo Game Show, and while he was likely referring to Japanese-language dialogue, the English-language numbers will be comparable — so that’s over twice as many words as in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and a good chunk more than in Fallout 4.

However, while boasting about the quantity of dialogue an RPG or action RPG has is nothing new, it’s not a great look for Bethesda. Yes, Skyrim’s “arrow in the knee” line will live forever in memedom, but when it comes to Bethesda’s post-Morrowind first-party games, the bulk of its dialogue is serviceable at best.

Don’t believe me? Try thinking about Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Oblivion, Skyrim, and so on, preferably one of those you’ve not played in a while. Which memories fill you with joy? Shouting someone off a cliff? Shooting the Institute’s leader in the face just to show you’re nobody’s lapdog? Slaughtering your first dragon? Uncovering the horrific experiments Vault-Tec inflicted on the people they claimed to be saving?

Because chances are that few, if any of those memorable experiences hinged on dialogue. Murdering people in a mansion was fun, but my victims’ paranoia could just as well have been conveyed through their behavior. Yes, I got and still get a major kick out of Fallout 3 and Skyrim, and I’ve ploughed hours and hours and hours into them. But their dialogue is rarely what makes them worth my time.

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Don't worry, most of those 150k lines are surely generated by the new Radiant engine

Yes, Skyrim’s “arrow in the knee” line will live forever in memedom, but when it comes to Bethesda’s post-Morrowind first-party games, the bulk of its dialogue is serviceable at best.

Don’t believe me? Try thinking about Fallout 3, Fallout 4, Oblivion, Skyrim, and so on, preferably one of those you’ve not played in a while. Which memories fill you with joy? Shouting someone off a cliff? Shooting the Institute’s leader in the face just to show you’re nobody’s lapdog? Slaughtering your first dragon? Uncovering the horrific experiments Vault-Tec inflicted on the people they claimed to be saving?

Because chances are that few, if any of those memorable experiences hinged on dialogue. Murdering people in a mansion was fun, but my victims’ paranoia could just as well have been conveyed through their behavior. Yes, I got and still get a major kick out of Fallout 3 and Skyrim, and I’ve ploughed hours and hours and hours into them. But their dialogue is rarely what makes them worth my time.

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This doesn't make a lot of sense, to me. I mean, the dialog may only be serviceable, but it's probably a necessary part of what created those more enjoyable scenarios the writer describes. In a Beth game, I'd think that the amount of dialog is just a function of how much quest content there is.

I'm trying to recall dialog from any game ever and I almost come up blank.

There was an elevator shooter on the C-64: How nice! A visitor! Stay awhile. Stay Forever!!!!!

"I am Sheltem, Guardian of Terra. Twice now you have defeated my tests, thinking yourself worthy of invading my world. Walk carefully then through this third challenge, and take heed your final decision is truly what you desire - for the course of destiny cannot be turned once set in motion..."

The arrow to the knee, just because it's been covered by everything everywhere but also, “Do you get to the cloud district very often? Oh, what am I saying? Of course you don't.”

I think I just read too much in general for me to memorize lines from anything much. Mostly older stuff as my brain is aging and doesn't recall as well.

There is a lot of dialogue I have enjoyed but I don't think its reasonable for anyone to really remember dialogue outside of having a really, really good memory.

I remember general things like was the story good? Was the writing overall enjoyable to me? Did I find the character dialogue and story engaging and fun?

If I were to focus some time to start digging through memories of games, story, characters, and the like I am sure some dialogue would pop up. Like I can already hear in my head Alistair replying to Morrigan in DAO "Swooping is bad" or Morrigan saying through clenched teeth "Yes. I. Can. Cook." Followed with details about how she knows all kinds of poisons and deadly plants. Some of the dialogue between Alistair and Morrigan is the best in any game I have played.

I also have fond memories of many of the dialogues with MacCready in FO4 as he is my all time favorite companion in any game, next to Alistair and Minsc … and probably a couple others I am not remembering at the moment.

I liked the dialogue in much of FO4 but for all my love, and thousands of hours, playing Skyrim I felt Skyrim was really lacking in good dialogue and had crappy followers outside of Serana. I mean I like Eric and others but minimal dialogue and not much going on with any of the companions. That was a very weak point for me in Skyrim. It was way better in FO4 and I hope they continue in that direction with companions for future games.

I enjoyed dialogue/story for FNV, DAO, BG, Outer Worlds, Mass Effect Series, and probably a few others. I have always liked Bioware, when they actually existed, writing myself.

EDIT: I also love the story in WOTR and how epic it is. Enjoy the characters and dialogue a lot but don't think that counts as it is all very fresh in my mind right now. I have been trying to think of older games where I recall certain dialogue that I can still remember. The games I listed above are the main ones that seem to stand out so far in memory.

It's Bethesda their witting has always been mediocre. It's a shame Obsidian's Fallout NV has better dialogue and writing, and Witcher III puts all their games to shame.

I enjoyed playing Fallout 4 but the dialogue wheel and one button choices ruined immersion. Like usual you need a mod to revert it back to Fallout 3 and NV style.

See Beth's problem is every new game they release gets simplified more and more.

@Couchpotato;

Sorry, I don't remember where we were talking about Internet speeds, but this is related to that.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cn...speed-internet-is-so-expensive-in-the-us.html

What was that with the "arrow in the knee" ? I appear to have missed that ...

Alrik Fassbauer said:

What was that with the "arrow in the knee" ? I appear to have missed that ...

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If you've no idea what that term means, Alrik, you've literally succeeded in life. And from what I've read of your posts over the years, the game that that term derives from likely wouldn't be to your liking.

I somehow missed this article when it came out:

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-long-road-to-the-secret-ending-of-pathfinder-kingmaker/

It covers how the 'romance ending' was discovered in Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

Zloth said:

I somehow missed this article when it came out:

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-long-road-to-the-secret-ending-of-pathfinder-kingmaker/

It covers how the 'romance ending' was discovered in Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

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Yeah, I found that pretty interesting. It exemplifies how Owlcat likes to make some things hard simply for the sake of being hard.

Carnifex said:

If you've no idea what that term means, Alrik, you've literally succeeded in life. And from what I've read of your posts over the years, the game that that term derives from likely wouldn't be to your liking.

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Oh, I've seen that video now, and now I understand what it is about …

However, I vaguely remember a "german" (because "Germany" didn't exist at that point") king or otherwise ruler, of whom it is told that he had had an arrow in his head for some time.

Edit : Found him : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_IV,_Margrave_of_Brandenburg-Stendal

Carnifex said:

If you've no idea what that term means, Alrik, you've literally succeeded in life. And from what I've read of your posts over the years, the game that that term derives from likely wouldn't be to your liking.

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I must admit that I never played Skyrim, because it is too grim for my taste.

JDR13 said:

Yeah, I found that pretty interesting. It exemplifies how Owlcat likes to make some things hard simply for the sake of being hard.

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Unfortunately, I've played Adventure games having added riddles just for the sake of making it harder - or so it felt to me.
This kind of spoiled some fun I had when playing the otherwise nice "Monkey Island style" game "The Ghost Pirates Of Vooju Island". Or so it felt to me. (If you want to play a game with a very similar setting like MI, then I can recommend this game to you !)

JDR13 said:

Yeah, I found that pretty interesting. It exemplifies how Owlcat likes to make some things hard simply for the sake of being hard.

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From that article

"We expected the secret ending to be rather easy to reach when you know where to look for it," Alexander Komzolov told me. Rather easy, he says. I don't want to know what a harder version would have looked like.

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That reminds me of the RTS game called "Z", one of the few ones I really enjoyed (and played at all).; I even beat it !

Later, the developers admitted that it was too hard, because they had balanced the game around on what the developers knew and how they played it. And since they knew that game too well, they made it too hard.
And that impacted the sales figures.

To me, this, and seemingly what happened with Owlcat, is EXACTLY THAT cognitive bias I know from Wikipedia as the Curse of knowledge !

If you look at players' behaviour in forums, you can often very clearly see that this is to be found within min-maxing player groups, and within PvP player groups in MMOs as well ( I saw that ).

Thanks for keeping us updated with the news Couch. Love reading this thread.

Sword of the Stars: The Pit 2 Announced

"A deadly plague ravages your world. Your last hope: a legendary alien facility dug deep into the Feldspar Mountains a massive Pit, built by the ancient Suul'ka."

After the success of our Indie, Roguelike hit Sword of the Stars: The Pit in 2012, it's time to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2022! Sword of the Stars: The Pit 2 is an update of the fun, fast, and light-hearted turn-based original, taking the game from its 2D retro-roots and into a fully 3D game world.

While we begin by updating The Pit for the present, join us as we take The Pit series to a whole new world!

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We are Legion: Rome - Devlog #11 "Sanguis"

War, war never changes. There are those who are win and those who lose. There are songs about the deeds of OUR brave heroes and scary lullabies about THEIR vile and murderous villains. Unquestionable truths and those better not to be questioned. Somewhere in the middle, a river of blood is continuously flowing.

They were the bad guys after all. Right?

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Alder Forge - Demo Remaining Time

As you well know, the Steam Next Fest has ended just a few moments ago, but the Alder Forge Demo will remain available shortly afterwards because you deserve to be noticed and alerted about the exact time the Demo will be deactivated.

- Please be advised that The Demo will remain live until October 15th, 2021.

Thank you all for your interest in the World of the Alder Forge and for trying it out.

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Edge Of Eternity - The Original Soundtrack is now complete

The Official Original Soundtrack composed by Cédric Menendez and Yasunori Mitsuda, is now updated with 58 new tracks in .wav format! What better way to dream than with these melodies?

We hope you will like it. Cédric has been working over the last few months to provide you the best quality possible through the mastering process. Feel free to give your feedback about it!

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Dragon Age and Why It Sucks to Play Cult Favorite Games - Wired

If you’re ever feeling lonely, or like no one reads your tweets (much less responds to them), here’s a suggestion: Ask Twitter if you should play Dragon Age. Soon, you’ll have more friends with opinions than you could ever need or want. Some will swear by Dragon Age: Origins; others will pledge their fealty to Dragon Age: Inquisition. (Dragon Age II seems less well loved, but it still has a solid place in the hearts of many.) People you didn’t even know followed you, or that you’ve never interacted with, will all of a sudden become invested in who you’re romancing. This will solve the problem of your loneliness. But be warned, it will give you a new one: anxiety.

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Isometric RPGs are Eating Away all of My Gaming Time - Destructoid

I don’t have as much free time in my life now that the school year has started up again. Instead, I’m teaching kids about history or planning on how best to teach kids about history, or coaching kids on how to run faster. Teaching and coaching are time-consuming, ya know? But every once and a while, I do get some downtime to just sit in front of my computer and chill. As I sit down to relax on any given day and look at my recently played games list, it’s easy to notice a pattern: they are all isometric RPGs.

Between Path of Exile, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Diablo II: Resurrected, and Gamedec, there is something within this subgenre for just about anyone. I haven’t spent a ton of time on any single one of these (Path of Exile being an exception), but I did want to take some time and talk about each one a bit.

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The head of Arkane Lyon has Left After Almost 17 Years - VGC

Capron joined the developer as chief operating officer and production director in January 2005, before also being appointed studio head in April 2019. He stepped down last week, shortly after the launch of the studio’s latest game, the critically acclaimed Deathloop, and seven months after Arkane’s parent company ZeniMax Media was acquired by Microsoft.

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Bluepoint Games Rumored to Be Working on a Bloodborne Project ?- Gamerant

Colin Moriarty dropped a cryptic tease that Bluepoint Games may be working on a Bloodborne remake. He writes simply on Twitter, "I'm hearing through the grapevine Bluepoint Games may be on a journey to Yharnam." For those who might not have played the game, Yharnam is Bloodborne's setting, a gothic, decrepit metropolis, once swarming with people, now festering with beasts and the sick. After PlayStation's acquisition of Bluepoint, it confirmed its next title is a totally original one, but the latest rumors state that it is working on both a new title as well as another remake.

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