Pricewatch!

No games will ever give me the same thrill that games like Wizardry, Might and Magic, Bard's Tale, Ultima, and even some of the gold box era games delivered. Those days are long gone, never to return. Now games are just a couple of days or weeks worth of distraction.

Yeah, but that's mostly not because of the games but because of our experience we already gathered with games and the change of our playstyle and perception.
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Messages
4,691
I don't know, of course I could be a little jaded but I compare the thrill of playing video games with that of reading, and I can get more satisfaction from an average book than I come close to with an average game. Perhaps the comparison isn't fair, but it exists for me.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
18,799
Location
Holly Hill, FL.
You HAD to play old games a long time - especially in the summer when nothing at all got released by anyone. Even so, X3: Terran Conflict took me several hundred hours to finish. (And I never did get the personal HQ station!)
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
8,238
Location
Kansas City
I'll never understand that, using the internet to cheat at games, it reminds me of the morons I used to see in the mall that had just bought a video game and RIGHT ALONG AT THE SAME DAMN TIME THEY BOUGHT A CHEAT BOOK TO GO WITH IT. I mean, what the hell is the point, lol. Just let someone with more brainpower play the bloody thing for you and be done with it!
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
18,799
Location
Holly Hill, FL.
I'll never understand that, using the internet to cheat at games, it reminds me of the morons I used to see in the mall that had just bought a video game and RIGHT ALONG AT THE SAME DAMN TIME THEY BOUGHT A CHEAT BOOK TO GO WITH IT. I mean, what the hell is the point, lol. Just let someone with more brainpower play the bloody thing for you and be done with it!

Well, that pretty much depends on the perspective. You might enjoy some of the game's elements, but not all.
I mean I completely get what you mean. And I actually feel similarily if someone switches the difficulty level within a playthrough because some fight is too hard for him/her.
However I did also use used hint books excessively in the past. I basically had them all for free from some magazines and I wasn't even aware that this is spoiling the fun. So once I came back to single player games maybe 8 years ago I started to play without hints as much as possible. However I still check for stuff now and then. E.g. In Divinity OS 2 you move from continent to continent and once you leave one, you cannot come back to complete the quests. So I did what I could and checked if the rest was A: Broken B: If there was any solution besides of the apparent one which I didn't like.
Same with point and click adventures:
I play without hints. When I can't progress anymore I systematically try everything on everything (normally takes 30-90 Minutes). If that doesn't work as well, I am looking it up. There is also no gain by just putting a game away because you aren't able to continue it.
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Messages
4,691
I'll never understand that, using the internet to cheat at games, it reminds me of the morons I used to see in the mall that had just bought a video game and RIGHT ALONG AT THE SAME DAMN TIME THEY BOUGHT A CHEAT BOOK TO GO WITH IT. I mean, what the hell is the point, lol. Just let someone with more brainpower play the bloody thing for you and be done with it!

I guess I'm one of those morons.

Those cheat books did more than spoil quests. For one, they typically had a complete list of spells, weapons, plant descriptions, character and NPC descriptions, character classes and detailed maps. This information was kind of provided in some of the early RPGs but as time marched on the game manuals got smaller and smaller. And now, with Elex, a great RPG, the only manual/supplemental info is on line. Sheeeze, the game itself barely provides descriptions of a lot of important game elements. And Elex is not unique.

I seldom used those cheat books to spoil the game but they helped me get into the game far easier than what was provided with the floppy/disc/stream.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
1,762
Location
Los Angeles area
Well, I got stuck in Might And Magic 2, remember those riddles they had that had to be solved. The main riddle was broken up into numerous parts you had to collect. You also had to unscramble the clues.

Since it was a local call I called new world computing and talked to Jon. We talked about the game and the particular problem I was having. But the thing I will not forget was he said the days of games on the apple 2 is numbered and they are moving towards the pc. Might and Magic 3, I don't believe ever came out on the apple 2.

One day I was in the San Diego area and walked in on the developers of Neuromancer and they gave me a whole bunch of spoilers for the game. They even showed me some code for some new game (?) they were working on.

The thing about those small development teams was that they were really responsive to their customers (Sir Tech helped me a lot). But Atari was having none of that and they went forward with their 1-900 hint line, where you had to pay per minute for hints. And it soon became an industry standard, until the internet hit the scene.

once again, the Internet saves the world

okay now, I'm getting back on my rocking chair and as you kiddies leave stay on the path and STAY OFF MY LAWN.

I miss my cheat books, sniff sniff
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2006
Messages
1,762
Location
Los Angeles area
Cheat books? You guys mean strategy guides or straight up cheat codes?

My thing as a kid was I always wanted to "play the game the right way." Same as today in that regard. However, if the game was great and I played it a second time as a kid, I'd probably use the guide to see what I missed, try and get all the secrets and stuff I may have missed, etc.. But always at least one "real" run at trying to find everything on my own.

Then there was Game Genie as a kid which was just silly fun. Infinite lives, invincibility, etc., but that was more to just goof around with. I never found it fun to try and "beat" a game using cheats, but that's just me.

Nowadays I collect the strategy guides for RPGs just to own. I love me a good old fashioned paper strategy guide. :)
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
Yes it is grindy a bit, less than other AC games though.
And I'll steal JDR's words he uses to describe gems - it's criminally underrated.
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
You'd have to be really old to remember the toll call help line for Kings Quest and other 80s games.
 
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,871
Only today Assassins Creed Rogue is 5 bucks on Ubi store:
https://store.ubi.com/eu/assassin-s-creed--rogue/56c4947988a7e300458b45bc.html
Yup, cheaper than on shady sites.

You sure you don't want to spend that sum on a game I said couple of years ago is a masterpiece? Your choice.
No, it's not RPG. Yes, Uplay client is mandatory.
Note also that Moriendor hated this game. ;)

VCUBI30 is giving 30% off their store for next couple of days even on sale items. That makes Assassin's Creed Origins £35 and its cheaper than all legit retailers. Now this may be UK only code but many people have gotten it to work with VPN from other countries.
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2009
Messages
4,425
Location
UK
Just in case anybody missed it. Starcraft 2 went free to play yesterday for the entire human single player campaign, as well as multiplayer.

https://www.starcraft2.com/en-us/
 
Joined
Feb 19, 2009
Messages
2,257
Location
Calgary, Alberta
There is a new Bundle: Humble Care Package Bundle. The bundle has no tiers: for a fixed USD 30 you can get some really good games, like Stardew Valley, Darkest Dungeon, Shadowrun Returns, Sorcerer King: Rivals, among others.
 
Joined
Nov 15, 2013
Messages
3,753
Location
Brasil
You'd have to be really old to remember the toll call help line for Kings Quest and other 80s games.

Pretty sure I made a couple toll calls myself in the late 80s early 90s. Nintendo had a hotline for NES, etc..
 
Back
Top Bottom