Mera'din

Similar shit with Andromeda too. That particular writer is really big on exposing that kind of stuff. Think he actually wrote a whole book about the situation at various AAA developers.

It's almost impossible to find anything on Steam anymore unless you know exactly what your looking for. Trying to browse new games is nearly impossible sometimes because there is so much shoveleare and asset flips being thrown up that everything gets buried. There were over 9000 (lol) games released on Steam in 2018 and it's been nearly that bad for the past few years. They don't even pretend to police what's going on at all. It's pretty much WHY their refund policy improved. And they know it too. They've actively invited bigger names in the gaming community to voice opinions on how to improve the state of things on the platform but only made minor changes without addressing the core problems. Having said that, you're right though. Nobody has the options they have right now and they have done a LOT of good in there with the lazy fuck fest. But competition is not a bad thing for something like this and I wish Epic and whoever else tries their hand at taking them on luck. Even if it only amounts to Steam improving it'll be for the better.

Missed the part about the game's lead designer dying in July 2017 as well. That probably rocked the boat harder than a lot of other things. Here's the blog post Nick referred to that acts (in part) as a response to the Kotaku article: http://blog.bioware.com/2019/04/02/anthem-game-development/ Jason Schreier (Kotaku article writer) has since responded to the blog post, specifically highlighting the part that says "We don’t see the value in tearing down one another, or one another’s work. We don’t believe articles that do that are making our industry and craft better."

I love Symmetra. Favorite strategy on King's Row attack right now for my friends and I is to teleport a Bastion onto the head of the statue at the first point and sow confusion. XD My main go to's right now are Brigitte and Moira for healing and Pharah and Mei for DPS but I'll pull Sym or Ashe depending on the situation.

They have it planned out to get it to the point that Steam is at, but they're just kind of failing at basic store features in general right now which is why I don't care for it. The paying for exclusives thing isn't going to be forever either and they've said as much. Seems like they mostly are trying to get a foothold. Yes, it's stupid and annoying but it's nothing new. It's a MUCH better platform for developers though (they only take a 12% cut vs Steams 30%) so I wouldn't be surprised if it starts to take off when they finally work through their roadmap of planned features.

That's fair. I play a lot of support personally but get pretty aggressive. I like him but I can't get a lot of value with him because I can't hit shit with his gun at the moment though I have the healing down pretty well. I like his kit a lot but I probably won't pick him up for now.

Wouldn't surprise me if it was. They have the money to throw around and Gearbox doesn't give a fuck. I honestly don't know why it matters all that much. It's still on PC regardless of how you buy it and Steam needs the damn competition so that maybe someday Valve can dislodge their head from their ass. My only complaint is Epic needs to ramp up their fucking launcher updates if they actually want to be that competition. Their roadmap is a fucking joke. How do you launch a storefront that doesn't have a fucking SHOPPING CART?? Never mind everything else.

He's easily one of the best balanced heroes they've ever released. You just don't care for him or what?

Fair enough. I get there needs to be some sort of balance between amount of loot and quality of loot for most of these games but they all seem to completely fuck it over and it takes a year or more to sort it out. The biggest issue is nobody seems to want to take what other people have done right and start from there. Like there's some weird, driving NEED to "Do it different" than everyone else but there aren't really many options. Borderlands definitely seems to have the best approach with "Here's 5 million different kinds of gun configurations. Figure out what the fuck you want to use yourself." Even that's not perfect, but it at least gives you options. XD

Same but with Interceptor. I need to get to the others eventually for their gear challenges and Colossus specifically for the two guns that only they use but I keep not doing it. XD

They've had some good people but they apparently must chase them all off. Was really impressed with Tabata's drive and motivation with XV considering he was picking up a shit storm left by another guy and made it not an utter disappointment and then chose to KEEP fixing and working on it after release (and not just paid stuff either a lot of things they added were free) but it sounds like he got forced out with whatever weird shakeup went down at SE. Don't think Nomura would go back to it either. There's almost nothing left of his story in there from everything I had read about what he was doing. Basically just the character designs and names with some scraps of random story otherwise. It's probably part of why the game feels so disjointed and barren in places and overdone in others. A didn't see an excessive amount of bitching though honestly. A good majority seemed if not happy with it, at least satisfied with it vs what they were expecting from all the troubles during development. The whole thing is unfortunate because they definitely seem to not be standing out like they used to both in terms of company image and personnel. Most of the interesting stuff you see out of SE these days is on the western and/or strictly publishing side of things with only a few exceptions. They're also pushing their mobile market a little too hard I think. They have so many damn gacha games I can't keep them all straight anymore. I think there's like 3 or 4 different FF ones alone. As far as Amano goes, I don't mind his work in a concept sense. Actually used to have a huge artbook with a bunch of his FF designs that was really cool (even included stuff for games after Nomura took over primary design duties). Definitely best suited for the logos, but it's cool to see his take on characters he didn't design as well for the contrast if nothing else.

And that's been most of them when they first come out. The Borderlands games seem to be the only ones that actually know what they're doing. Destiny started decent and then went downhill so fast nobody wanted to do anything to get loot because the stuff from the original raid outshined it, Destiny 2 was worse than Anthem is originally. Diablo 3 loot was fucking horrendous originally. Division loot was boring and generic. Can't speak for Division 2 but what I played of the demo was basically a continuation of D1 though maybe that changes at endgame. I never said there wasn't some interesting stuff, but high end drops are hard enough to come by that chasing perfect roles is almost impossible right now so it's not worth worrying about. There's enough in the game to focus on otherwise that I don't see the need to get bent out of shape about it. When I run out of things to keep me busy then maybe I'll worry about it. The key problem is that they games Legendary items (equivalent to Destiny's exotics without the restrictions of only having 1 gun and 1 other) aren't actually unique. Each gun type has 3 "styles" and they're the same for each rarity (common, uncommon, rare, epic, masterwork, legendary). At the Masterwork rarity, the guns (and other equipment), though still the same "style" get unique abilities, some of which are REALLY cool. But then the Legendary stuff is identical to the Masterwork version visually and function wise just with bigger numbers attached (though the unique ability isn't any stronger). If these were more like they are in something like Destiny where they were wholly unique and had set, really nice affixes on them then their rarity would actually be worthwhile. Drop rates right now treat them like they ARE Destiny exotics without the actual payoff unless you get REALLY lucky. Just focusing on other things though, I've got nearly a full set of Legendaries already with a bunch to spare (stuff for other Javelins or different gun options on top of what I have equipped). So I'm nearly as far along as people that are trying to find efficient ways and/or exploits to farm shit without any of the headache. IE: Best not to focus on it when you have other things to do in the game.

I wouldn't really say that. It was more "We can't keep hemorrhaging money on this anymore. Do what you can." It WAS their own fault though. I don't think Tetsuya Nomura had slept since KH2 came out with the way they were running him. He was lead designer on Vs XIII, KH3, and was also still in charge of creative direction for the side KH titles, not to mention any character design work he was doing. On top of that their in house engine was apparently fucking impossible to code for despite how pretty it was so that was working against them too (FFXV is still the only actual game that has used the Luminous Engine. KH3 switched to Unreal 4 part way through production. The Agni's Prophecy and Witch Chapter 0 tech demos are the only other things showcasing it still). Also, people hadn't paid for the canceled DLC. There was no pre-order for it or anything. It was a new "season" and none of it is/was part of the original DLC season pass thing. I don't think the Windows version comes with the Ardyn DLC either now that I think about it. Think it was everything up to the Royal Edition (so all the upgrades and new scenes, Comrades, and the 3 DLC episodes from the Season Pass). The story I read was that Luminous Productions wasn't making money and there was a lot of in-fighting and disagreements on where to take the company going on at Square and that was the catalyst for Tabata leaving so they canceled what was left to push the team onto a new title within the studio and probably only released Episode: Ardyn because it was basically already done and they weren't willing to scrap the work already done on it. This is probably also why we're getting a book for the other stuff because all the story planning was already done and they want to save as much from the project as they can. There were so many little things they could have improved with the time to do so. Even just integrating the DLC into the story would have been a great thing to implement but it wasn't meant to be I guess. I'm honestly interested in seeing what Hajime Tabata does next at this point. He took one of the biggest disasters in Final Fantasy history and managed to turn it into a passable experience that he intended to finish any way he could and didn't lose his mind. I feel like he could do something really great with a clean slate. On the other hand, I really still want to see what Nomura's story would have been like too and based on what we saw in KH3, that might still be a thing.

Dragon Scale metal is pretty hot. As an interceptor I really like a couple of the new components as well. Still trying to get a decent roll on a Bloodlust one because that thing is amazing. Really makes up for the nerf to our lightning on consecutive melee strikes one. Best thing to do right now though is not play it for the loot. I've just been focusing on challenges and stuff and get a pretty steady stream of upgrades just not worrying about it with only limited complaints.

This was kind of XV's biggest fault. Despite it's eternal development cycle, most of the game was actually made in the last year and a half or so so it was missing a LOT. They did what they could between adding stuff for free, the Royal Edition (XV's version of a Final Mix or "International" version with added stuff), and the DLC but it made everything a bit disjointed. I still loved it though. What we got was impressive all things considered and it went a long way to restoring my faith in the series. There was so much more we could have got from it to if the director hadn't left. We NEEDED the rest of the new DLC to complete the story it feels like. All the still remaining gaps would have been filled. Luna's would make her a real character and shown her views and motivations as well as go through why her work still wasn't done even in death. Aranea's would have filled in the fall of Nifilheim that got kind of shoved on us in the main game out of nowhere, and the one for Noctis sounds like it would have been another "alternate timeline" thing like what the alternate ending for Ignis' dlc was but more extensive (the description refers to him "parting ways with the Astrals" and working to attain an "ideal future for all his people"). I guess they're turning the Luna/Aranea one's into a book so that's something I guess? Even Comrades had it's place in the story to a degree and provided some insight on things while Noct was gone. Really hate they they tore it out of the game and made it a standalone, especially since it made it impossible to 100% the trophy list for now XV if you didn't do everything in it before that point. >_< I understand the issues the game has, but I honestly invested a lot more in it from having to connect the dots and figure out what it all meant vs having it handed to me. I know it basically amounted to poor development management and story telling to a point, but I loved it because of that. Even the secret dungeon has a sort of story to tell and I loved that. On another note, you may like Prompto's DLC as well. Gameplay is a little awkward but it fills in some of the Nifilheim stuff and features Aranea in it as well and shows what she was up to during part of the game where Prompto is missing. Can't fool me. Everyone knows Ultros is the best.

That was the point though. Nobody knew who he was. His existence was stricken from history because his brother was a giant backstabbing fuck. It wasn't just a temper tantrum. We learn from the anime thing that he didn't even want to be king. He just wanted to help people. But then his brother decided to go all Game of Thrones on his ass because presumably the crystal HAD intended to choose Ardyn but then pulled the rug out from under him in his time of need and rejected him, resulting in his fiance being stabbed trying to protect him. His brother then proceeds to gaslight the kingdom into thinking he was always the chosen one and Ardyn was a monster who attacked for no reason and was the cause of the starscourge and then they seal him away for THOUSANDS of years. I'd be pretty fucking salty too. Also, he didn't care if Noct knew why he was doing what he did. He just wanted him to suffer. No, it isn't justified, but Ardyn was fucking insane by that point. He spent his entire life trying to keep people safe from the starscourge only to have it start corrupting him, and it all get thrown back in his face by the gods he was supposed to chosen by and have it all erased from existence while he had to sit and stew on it for a couple millennia. It wasn't supposed to make sense to anyone else. That's why it was so effective. Nobody knew who he was, nobody knew why he was doing it. I think you just described a good chunk of the history of European wars of succession. That was supposed to be Noct's fate all along. It was the point of the game. It was his last moments of freedom. His father knew it. It's part of why he sent him away. He was the prophesied "Chosen King" who was meant to sacrifice himself for the good of the world. The game definitely has problems. There are holes in the story that we really needed filled. The DLC was helping with that quite a bit. I haven't replayed it yet, but my understanding is the "Royal Edition" DLC adds a bunch of cutscenes and some context to things throughout the game and the individual DLCs had a lot of interesting stuff in them. Also, if you hated the ending that much, I recommend the Ignis DLC. It has a complete rewritten/alternate ending that was really cool and is probably closer to what you wanted (including the point in the game where you think it should have ended more or less). Side note, I honestly miss these argument/discussions with you. Welcome back man. ??

No? Like, she never comes back to life. She's dead. Noct is dead. The end is them in the afterlife. >_> Ardyn was presented as the main villain a lot sooner in the game than some others. Orphan, Yu Yevon, Zeromus and Necron all kind of came out of fucking nowhere practically at the ass end of the game. I feel we could have done with a lot more visual representation of what he did to Nifelheim though. It was a threat and then it was just... gone. Destroying the world wasn't his goal either way. It was basically just a means to an end. His whole intention was to push Noct into accepting his destiny so he could face him at full strength ("You and your crystal against all that I have become"). Even more so (which was conjecture before, but basically confirmed with what the prologue for the DLC shows) he wanted to put Noct through a similar situation to what he went through. His betrothed dying in front of him, his friends and status being stripped away as he suffered torment after torment and then being sealed away. He got all of that. He was waiting for Noct's return. He wanted revenge for being betrayed by his brother and spurned by the Gods and the Crystal. He wanted an end to the line of Lucian kings and got exactly that. Either he would kill Noct and end the line or Noct would have to sacrifice himself to save the world and completely destroy Ardyn in an act of mutually assure destruction. When he's beat he doesn't rant and rave. He basically tells Noct he'll be waiting for him, indicating he's not actually gone and forcing Noct's hand to destroy him in "the beyond". Ultimate point is: You're looking at the wrong "end game" for him. He wasn't the atypical "Fuck the planet I'mma destroy all the things" villain like a lot of FF baddies. He had specific goals of revenge and had a couple thousand years to hatch a plan that offered a "no win" scenario to his target. Ifrit was the one who wanted all the people dead, not Ardyn. I call him one of the most successful because even his defeat still saw his goal achieved which is untrue of most of the others. Because he's the only FF villain to go out on a cheesy "can't lose" final encounter? Sephiroth and Yu Yevon would like to have a word with you. Maybe others. Don't recall off the top of my head and I should have been in bed 2 hours ago. X_x Definitely not. Especially since most of what he even accomplishes during the game is thanks to Jenova. Otherwise he'd just have been a pissed off narcissistic sociopath stuck in a rock. XD

Was that a grown up Tiny Tina that I saw?

I disagree 100%. He's easily one of the best. His motivations and actions were clear by the end and he actually won technically speaking. He got what he wanted. Most effective villain in the series since Kefka. The relative mysteries surrounding his origin (which is the purpose of this) made him interesting and kept a lot of speculation around the game after it came out without feeling like something was just plain missing from the game (unlike characters like Luna where it literally just felt like they removed chunks of story because they did. Thanks SJWs. >_> ).

Loved every bit of it. Music was on point the whole thing too. Watching it a 2nd time through with the wife now.

Damn. Beat me to it. Some pretty good stuff. Fixed the armor and shield bugs where extra armor and shields from Inscriptions wasn't always loading right so that's good. Only thing I see that people might bitch about is the Elysian Chests not having armor pieces in them (and honestly, they really should) but everything else is good stuff. My favorite inscription got a small nerf, but one of the new ones added should make up for it at least. XD Being able to use the forge anywhere in the fort and having no loading time on it is going to be wonderful. Now they just need to get caught up to what their trailers showed and let you board a Strider in Free play and some missions to gain access to the forge and what not and we'll be good. >_> Edit: So apparently increasing the loot threshold on bosses and chests kind of fucked some things. People are getting MORE loot but not better. Used to be a guaranteed masterwork item from GM1 and higher bosses and now it's not guaranteed so people are losing their minds. I personally have got 3 legendary drops already today from legendary contracts and the legendary mission on GM2 so I'm pretty happy. >_>

Found a good list of stuff that's been confirmed/talked about for the game. Really liking the sound of pretty much all of it. https://www.reddit.com/r/vtmb/comments/b5io9j/heres_a_list_of_details_that_are_currently_known/

There's a half assed sprint function (basically makes it a brisk walk instead of a slow plod) . Not sure what it is on PC but with a controller it's the same button you use to start flying out in the world. @Nick It does. You can convince the weird fort safety/janitor guy to leave the fort near the end and then the water fountain doesn't get fixed I know. There's a few people that will leave or not depending on what you say to them. Biggest difference I saw was with Raythe telling you she lost her Javelin to the Regulators. I told her I would go with her to meet with them about getting it back and my wife didn't and the whole thing played out quite a bit differently. There's a maintenance on Tuesday so hopefully that means the big patch with the new stuff and shitload of changes will be coming along side that.

Worst case scenario, depending on your clan and skill point choices, you can just make everyone in a fight kill each other. Still need some regular combat skills for boss fights and stuff, but they managed a pretty close representation of how you can do things in the TT game all things considered. Speaking of clans, it sounds like the new one might be missing a couple from the first game. Website only has 5 "sections" for clans (all listed "Coming Soon" or whatever) so there's a lot of speculation we won't be getting Nosferatu or Malkavian right away. They have said they will be adding more through DLC though so hopefully that will expand past 7 playable ones they used in the original. On the plus side, though there will be DLC "seasons" of paid content, all Clans added through DLC will be free. Really sad if that's true though. Malkavian is my jam. Apparently the first game is quite a bit different playing as one too. That's what the game picked for me from the questionnaire thing so I went with it and my wife was flipping out because of how differently people react to you and how different your choices are with them.