What game are you playing?

[Majikn]

I'd think that something similar to a Wii Nunchuk but with more buttons on the inside, where your fingers are, would be perfect.

In a heartbeat, you'd be able to tap a key on the keyboard if absolutely necessary (if you run out of buttons).

[Chron]

WASD is superior to these ideas because of all the buttons on the keyboard in close proximity.

Even if you wanted fine-tuned movements without crouching, and I don't understand why anyone would unless the game required it, or had difficult balancing sections (like the original Half Life, which has a walk button).

I have never once in my life encountered a segment in a game where I wished I had a joystick instead of four directional keys.  The only reason why it works well on a console controller is because a joystick is incredibly insufficient for aiming, and you have to make up for the loss of fine-tuned mouse movements by slightly increasing your movement accuracy.  Even then it's still not as good as WASD + mouse.

At least to me.

[Johncarllos]

Ever try running to the front left while sprinting into a dive-to-prone and throwing a grenade?

WASD ties up too many fingers, and I'm used to it but it's frustrating while you run out of fingers.

[Majikn]

I'm not bothered by usability in any of these situations. I just don't want my hand tied to a keyboard for long periods of time. I've survived carpal tunnel this way and I'm pretty happy about it, but I started getting cramps playing Super Mario Bros. X, and I intend to play more PC games in the future (though I keep putting it off).

My conclusion: Keyboards are not for long-term gaming.

It'd be different without my illness, I suspect, which can and sometimes does affect the joints, so keep that in mind.
I don't know what it is about controllers, but I've had my hands to them for years and nothing bad ever happened.

[Johncarllos]

Less tendon movement. Thumb muscles are more located in the hand while finger muscles are in the forearm, connected by tendons. CTS is caused by those tendons getting wear and tear, which causes swelling, and pinches the median nerve running to your hand through the "carpal tunnel" which is normally narrow anyways. Pinching that nerve causes the pains, burning, and occasional numbness.

I have huge arms, and therefore wrists, so my carpal tunnel is bigger with the nerve being the same size which makes it harder to squeeze it. That's why I've never had carpal tunnel syndrome.

[MOX]

I just use a controller because I like having rumble in my games. (and because sitting further away from the screen makes aliasing less noticeable)

Also, I've tried the tandem 360 controller/mouse thing, great for moving and shooting, but not jumping or anything fancy like that.

You could always just map jump to the D-pad for that.

[Johncarllos]

That might work if I had 2 thumbs.

[Fatso]

Ever try running to the front left while sprinting into a dive-to-prone and throwing a grenade?

WASD ties up too many fingers, and I'm used to it but it's frustrating while you run out of fingers.

Honestly it's not that hard. People have been playing games PROFESSIONALLY on mouse and keyboard for ten to twelve years (I don't exactly know when the first professional Quake tournaments popped up). Mind you a lot of those players use EDSF rather than WSAD (it's less intuitive but gives you more keys around the movement group)

[Mikero]

It's getting to the point that I actually loathe Dragon Age: Origins while I'm playing it. (Yes, STILL. I don't think the game is actually adaptive, since it's common for my whole party to die in every battle.)

[Johncarllos]

The game is not good.

[NovaMan XP]

Dragon Age II is better though.

And the enemies in Origins don't scale to you, something I didn't know until I was at the final boss fighting an impossible battle.

[MOX]

Maybe it's just the PC verison, but I found Origins easy to play even on Hard. You have to pause the game and micromanage a lot. You can't really trust your team mates to do the right move all the time. I personally enjoy this kind of gameplay. (though can be clunky with a controller on the console)

When I played Origins all the enemies scaled to your level. But I always did sidequests and stuff so I could power up my party with new skills and equipment.

[Mikero]

Origins is made for PC and it seems like you can actually manage your party successfully during a battle in it. On the console it acts like you're able to tell them were to go, but tactics management is incredibly clunky for me and the whole interface is just... It's just not ergonomic. For instance, the tactics menu has no description of what any talents/spells actually DO, so you're forced to leave it and go to a separate menu to find out, and I don't find the explanations are much help anyway.

It's also just hard because I'm a rogue (newly assassin), which isn't a class that ENDURES battle amazingly well. At least not yet.

From what I've heard, the game is supposed to scale in a similar (but less sophisticated, I guess) way to Oblivion. I can power up my armor and such enough that it SHOULD be good, but I find the main problem is in how my teammates are completely retarded in combat.

[MOX]

I heard Origins was easier (enemy stats and number of enemies) on the console as opposed to the PC. And spells that cover an area don't hurt your party members in normal as opposed to PC's normal.
Shame about the interface though. I never played Origins on the console but from the DA II demo I played the interface seemed pretty streamlined.

I agree with the stupid party members issue. It's a problem even in Mass Effect, but at least its easier to manage since it's a shooter.

Rogues kill really fast especially if you place them behind enemies for repeated back stabs. It's normal for them to be fragile though. I use someone like Alistair to tank and provoke enemies while I try to flank enemies with my rogue.

If Origins becomes too frustrating, hopefully you can lower the difficulty or something in the menu.

[Mikero]

Less enemies, and more pick ups on console but there's something broken in the gameplay, at least from my perspective. It says friendly fire is a possibility, and I know Cone of Cold can freeze my whole party so I don't know if friendly fire is actually off on Normal.

In Mass Effect I can at least position each of them, and it seems to work fine for that. They can run into battle like morons sometimes but can at least use cover and effective abilities. Also, Shepherd is the strongest character at any given time in a sense, so it's not too bad.

I'm trying to build Alistair into a good tank. A lot of characters I'm fighting tend to try to take me out before the other party members whether Alistair has Threaten on or not, so they turn around at my when I'm getting good backstabs in. I think part of the problem is I'm wearing inappropriate (heavy) armor for my rogue, so I probably have too much fatigue.

I'm going to have to play around with it when I finish the Urn Of Sacred Ashes quest. I didn't really understand a lot of the stats at first (it's really had to read the text on my TV). I'm on the mountain top now but I can't beat the guys up there, I want to do it now so I can get a Drake scale, which won't be there later. I already have 9 so it would be great to get this one now.

[MOX]

You can't even position your teammates in origins on console? Thats lame. Maybe there's only no friendly fire for damage.

Oh my god, the stats confused me to no end. I actually had to check Gamefaqs for an explanation for the differences between dexterity and strength. Apparently dex is better for daggers, though Rogues get higher damage from cunning because of one of their skills or something. You should definitely equip light armor on your rogue because heavier armor provokes enemies more. Thats why you make your tank wear the heaviest armor you got.
But yeah even with Alistair using Threaten, the party member doing the most damage is going to have a greater chance of provoking enemies. You'll need to run away and wait for the cooldown on Threaten.

The Urn of Sacred Ashes quest was one of the harder ones in the game because of a boss you fight (who takes forever to kill). I would bring a bunch of healing items n stuff.

[Mikero]

Last time I played I decided to leave the whole place, go back to camp, and stock up on items and a bit of new gear so hopefully it'll be better now. I really need to upgrade stealth enough to where I can use it in combat. I'll definitely get some light armor on my dude, since he's wearing Heavy Chainmail right now.

And maybe I missed if you can move them around, but I don't seem to be able to.

I'm playing Earthbound so I can have fun in an RPG again.

Posted on: 24 April 2011, 19:46:25

Bam. Messed with a few settings and learned how to play a bit better and I'm actually having some fun with Dragon Age!

The story is still lacking for me, something is just not making me CARE too much and I'm thinking of dubiously switching my romance around if it's not too late--which usually isn't my style IN LIFE OR FICTION (/lesson) but at least I'm not losing hair and actually feel like playing.

I'm happy about it, because now I have the energy to do side quests, unfortunately I was too late to get any jobs out of Lothering.

[NovaMan XP]

Yeah... I missed out on Lelianna because by the time I realized I missed her Lothering went boom.

[Johncarllos]

I beat amnesia, Finally. Friggin Choir was so intimidating with an enemy literally around every corner.

[Majikn]

Yeah, lol about the romance.
When I was playing Mass Effect 2 I would go to all the characters just to enjoy the conversations, and all the girls were like "So I have feelings for you because we were flirting," even though just like the first game there was hardly any of that in the dialogue option or in the speech itself.
My memory might be a bit vague about this, I could be a bit off about the lack of flirting.

But anyway I denied all advances because I was like "You know what, I like Tali the most out of the bunch, (as a person, not as a horny snotface) but I'm LOYAL so it's not HAPPENING."
And then even though I told Jack I wasn't interested in her BAM, she comes at me all like "I WANT YOU FOR SEX."
And I was gonna say no but then I was like "This is a VIDEO GAME. WHO GIVES A #####."
And now Liara's picture on my desk is face down. I just can't bear to have her LOOKING AT ME.

I also figured the events in Game 3 would be lolworthy.

I'm playing Demon's Souls right now. Well not right now but you know. Let's just say, as a fourth dimensional object, part of me is playing Demon's Souls. I learned that from a video John posted on facebook and my application of the knowledge could still be entirely wrong. It's some semantics that someone's gonna call me on later and I don't feel like checking my phrasing right now or looking it up to make sure.
I'm not drunk, just tired.

I am quite impressed with Demon's Souls, though my playing and strategizing is tempered by reading a lot of the wiki. I've avoided reading direct walkthroughs and boss strategies, but more about items and upgrading weapons.
I think I will inevitably buy Dark Souls and try not to read any guides for the first playthrough of that game.

[NovaMan XP]

I had the same ##### happen to me with Jack, all I was doing was being nice and then all of a sudden she's telling me to break up Tali if I really want to get with her... when the hell did I say anything that gave that impression Jack? Seriously.

Guess I'm gonna sell some games so I can get L.A. Noire, Fable 3 and Dragon Age Origins are most likely gonna be the trade-ins.

[Johncarllos]

I really wanna play L.A. Noire, I wish it was for PC.

[MOX]

Half of Demon's Souls is reading the Wiki. I haven't progressed far because I messed up my character's build and its killing me inside.

If they do release L.A. Noire for the PC, it will probably run the same as the GTA4 port which sucked. The technology is really cool; the motion capture is being used in a smart way for the detective interrogations.

[Majikn]

I don't really think you need to worry about messing up your character build. It seems like all you need is a good shield to get you through the game, and you can get one that blocks 100% damage early on. I actually haven't died as much as I expected. A lot of it just has to do with being very cautious and alert, and studying every enemy you fight so that even if they kill you, they'll never kill you again.

Even the traps that catch you off guard (the traps are usually very obvious) give you plenty of time to react to save your life.

Anyway it also doesn't hurt to learn at least one spell, though spells seem to divide the difficulty unless you perhaps go FULL WIZARD.
But nobody ever goes full wizard.

Tower of Latria, part 2. OH MAN. The swamp area. Chills were going up and down my spine. Those things are the worst creation ever.
Surely you know what I mean if you've been there.

LA Noire sounds like it's selling entirely for its gimmick. All I hear are people intrigued by the technology involved... but I'm never immediately impressed by that stuff. It has to be properly executed.
That's not to say it won't be. I just don't expect much.

[ASR]

I'm more excited for the setting, style, and story of L.A. Noire than I am for the technology, but that certainly isn't hurting. And from what I hear, it's executed phenomenally. Probably will pick it up when I'm not super busy.

[Vinchenz Rock]

I started and beat Pikmin on my Wii in two days. I remember it being tons harder when I first played it...

Regardless, I loved it so much I went ahead and ordered Pikmin 2. I can't wait to play that one again too~

[Mikero]

Yeah, lol about the romance.
When I was playing Mass Effect 2 I would go to all the characters just to enjoy the conversations, and all the girls were like "So I have feelings for you because we were flirting," even though just like the first game there was hardly any of that in the dialogue option or in the speech itself.
My memory might be a bit vague about this, I could be a bit off about the lack of flirting.

But anyway I denied all advances because I was like "You know what, I like Tali the most out of the bunch, (as a person, not as a horny snotface) but I'm LOYAL so it's not HAPPENING."
And then even though I told Jack I wasn't interested in her BAM, she comes at me all like "I WANT YOU FOR SEX."
And I was gonna say no but then I was like "This is a VIDEO GAME. WHO GIVES A #####."
And now Liara's picture on my desk is face down. I just can't bear to have her LOOKING AT ME.

I also figured the events in Game 3 would be lolworthy.

I did the same except I just didn't get with any of the ME2 people ('cause I was with Liara in the first) but I also never really said I wasn't interested. If that picture of her is down it means you've f'ed up that relationship (we'll see how much that comes into effect in the next game).

In the Shadow Broker DLC you can continue a relationship with Liara, and all that relationship stuff carries over to ME3 supposedly (which will also offer actual same-sex relationships for the first time). So I just kept up with that ship since [I put too much thought into this stuff and] story-wise the only one in ME2 I thought would be interesting was Tali, because of her story about having a crush on you since the first game. Also, the Jack thing was kind of cool but just didn't fit with how I imagined my Shepard entirely, but it would've been cool. While I like the actress that voiced and was the model for Miranda, I found that character lacked just that-- And since I'm not actually attracted to these computer generated images her "looks" weren't a factor.

Romance in Dragon Age: Origins sucks compared to Mass Effect in a few ways including the fact that I don't find the Dragon Age world immersive enough to care, but the main way is simply because Mass Effect doesn't have the approval system that Dragon Age does. I find the approval thing only adds annoyance to the game, instead of... name a good thing that it could theoretically add.

[Majikn]

If that picture of her is down it means you've f'ed up that relationship (we'll see how much that comes into effect in the next game).

I did, and I did so on purpose, is what I meant to imply. I kind of gave in, simply thinking that the end result would be more interesting.

I suspect there will be a big fight or something and one of the characters (probably Liara) or maybe both will leave the party and/or die somehow and I don't think it will be much of a big deal given the mass amount of party members there actually are, plus I intend to do another complete playthrough... sometime.

And since I'm not actually attracted to these computer generated images her "looks" weren't a factor.

Of course. Nor do I really see myself as my character even though I named him after me. I was just thinking, "My Shepard is too 'perfect' anyway."

I don't really want to be a customer of EA at all so I might not even get Mass Effect 3, and I haven't gotten Dragon Age.

[MOX]

I don't really want to be a customer of EA at all so I might not even get Mass Effect 3

I'm not really sure what that means unless you're trying to say that ME2 was a disappointment for you. I personally don't care for how EA decides to sell games on the PC for $60 when they've always been $50 for the most part.

I thought ME2 had a lot of improvements over the first one especially with the more developed characters (not that they weren't fully developed in the first), though I found ME2's plot to be weaker. I just hope they put in some more RPG elements in ME3 and work on the dialogue system or at least the choices you have to make. I never found any decision to be difficult in ME1-2 unless I was purposely trying to play as an asshole. I mean I understand how much work is put into making the branching dialogue trees but ultimately they all seem to produce the same result. (with the exception of some parts of the game)

I bought The Witcher for $5 on Steam about 3 weeks ago and just started playing it. While the writing and production values aren't that great, the way it makes you handle choices is exactly what I would've liked to see in Mass Effect. While you don't get a plethora of dialogue options, each choice you make never seems to have a completely positive outcome; there's a consequence for everything.

I preordered and got The Witcher 2. For the first time I ended up buying a sequel without finishing the preceding game. Besides reading a lot about the features n stuff I decided to get it because it was $45 and DRM free thanks to Good Old Games. I'm in no rush to start playing it since I'm enjoying The Witcher 1 quite a bit.

[Majikn]

You just stated my exact opinion of Mass Effect 2.

The thing is, I would love to play Mass Effect 3, but... I don't want to be a customer of EA. Any other means of playing it sends the wrong message.

[NovaMan XP]

Playing L.A. Noire now, it's pretty good. Interrogating people was a pain in the ass at first (I kept #####ing up everything), but now I'm getting the hang of it. Controls feel a bit... clunky though. Other than that I really like it.

[White Shadow]

Regarding Mass Effect: I finished the first part last week. Questions:

Without spoiling anything, what information of my savegame will be passed on to ME2? Class? Level? Or is it just people talking about my paragon ways and how I did that blue chick?

[Majikn]

If anyone died they won't be in the next game. You get bonuses based on what your level was (extra experience points). You get money bonuses for mining a lot. Paragon/Renegade bonuses as well.

You can change anything from your class to your appearance, as the classes level differently and gain different abilities in this game, and they added new features to the face builder.

The big decision you make at the end game seems to reflect the atmosphere of the Citadel.

The main general plot (there isn't much of one) seems to be pretty much unaffected. It's possible that the compilation of decisions might have a more diverse effect on the third game.

[White Shadow]

That is pretty cool.

Also: Can you do it without deaths? I found it useful to get out of a tricky romance, but if it could be prevented I might actually do another play-through.

[NovaMan XP]

[Spoiler]
If you're talking about the Ashley/Kaidan thing, one of them has to die. Wrex's death can be prevented though.[/spoiler]

[White Shadow]

[Spoiler]
Killed Ashley. Wrex lives, but I consider him a rather pointless character.[/spoiler]

[Mikero]

Mass Effect 2 takes place mostly in the Terminus systems (i.e. the half of the galaxy you didn't go to in ME1) with few returns to Alliance space, so the decisions made in the first game only slightly effect the second. I underline "second" because there is no telling what Mass Effect 3 will incorporate, or how two decisions might effect each other and so one.

BioWare has stated that since Mass Effect 3 is the final chapter, the story can go pretty much in any direction. One of the strangleholds of Mass Effect 2's story is that it still had to lead somewhere kind of specific, which I think was a factor in the second game having a weaker story than the first.

[spoiler]Also I killed Ashley too. She is racialist. And got me out of "tricky romace" as you put it. I also saved Wrex.

Both of these only effect the second game for few scenes, but I can see it making an overall difference in the long run.[/spoiler]

[Johncarllos]

[spoiler]I boned Ashley in the first game, killed Kaiden (thought he was boring) and saved everyone else.

Bitched her out when I saw her in ME2.

Hooked up with Tali, sticking with her through ME3.

Also, I'm VERY displeased that ME2 starts AFTER the events of the ME2 DLC!
Like, if you didn't buy the ME2 DLC, (specifically The Arrival) you'll be lost as to why everyone is pissed at Shep.[/spoiler]

[Mikero]

John, put some spoiler tags up there. One for the ME1 stuff, and a second ME2 since WS hasn't played it yet.

Anyway the only ME2 DLC I really know about other than Zaeed bull are Kasumi and Lair Of The Shadow Broker, which were great. Kasumi stuff is during ME2 and LotSB was after so it it well for me.

[NovaMan XP]

They released the last ME2 DLC some time ago called "Arrival", which was a bit meh... it was alright, but nowhere near as good as Lair of the Shadow Broker. And apparently the intro to ME3 involves the events of Arrival... so if someone didn't get it and gets ME3 they might be confused...

[ASR]

I'm having a lot of fun with LA Noire. It's a really different type of game for Rockstar, despite having all the familiar aspects. I mentioned to Mike on Facebook that it reminds me a lot of the Pheonix Wright games, which is great. The facial expression technology is absolutely amazing and it's great recognizing actors throughout the game. If you watch Mad Men, you're gonna' really be in for some treats.

I'm not too far yet, but so far I feel I can recommend it.

[Mikero]

Yeah I didn't mention it but I think my new thing is gonna be to watch and episode of Game Of Thrones and then immediately play Dragon Age. So I'm wondering if this might work; Watch an episode of Boardwalk Empire and then immediately play L.A. Noire. Not the same timeframe really, and a completely different coast, but I think you see what I'm getting at. I just wish there was a demo for it on XBox so I could try it out. I might rent it, but I'm probably safe just buying it like I did for Red Dead Redemption.

Just a note: Rockstar only published the game, it was actually developed by Team Bondi or whatever.


Anyway I'll probably get the "Arrival" download for Mass Effect 2 before I play Mass Effect 3. I'm interested in the DLC that connects the two games.

[ASR]

Ha, I thought I was the only one who did the related TV-show/videogame thing. I switched back and forth from Deadwood to Red Dead Redemption back when that came out, and I was talking cowboy-style for weeks.

[Snare]

I beat amnesia, Finally. Friggin Choir was so intimidating with an enemy literally around every corner.

Me and my brother played through Amnesia together... So good!

[White Shadow]

ME2 has really drawn me in and I am only half way through. Most gameplay changes make the whole experience smoother and the graphics improvement and how it still runs very well at decent FPS on my 5 year old machine are impressive.

I imported my Infiltrator from the first game and was surprised; There's actually a lot of decisions carried over and some old faces too.

[spoiler]But Liara has become a huge bitch and I am honestly considering to replay the first game only to avoid romancing her and pick up Tali instead. Tali (and maybe Yeoman Kelly) seem to be the only crewmembers who care about Shepherd before he starts flirting (except for Garrus) and I don't want to get ##### from Liara in the third game about Tali. So I guess, I will do that and maybe try another class while I'm at it. Infiltrator is fun, but I keep forgetting my cloak or only use it as a damage boost, so I might aswell play a soldier. I'm also open for suggestions.[/spoiler]

[NovaMan XP]

My first time through I went and romanced Ashley (horribly regret that), and then the second time through I ended up avoiding her and Liara, then went for Tali in ME2.

As for what class to play, I suggest Adept or Vanguard... Biotics are pretty fun to use , though in ME2 they're not nearly as broken as the first, but still pretty fun.

[Mikero]

The tactical cloak is amazing if upgraded fully to the assassination cloak, for use with sniper rifles. I played Infiltrator as well (obviously). What I like most about it, other than it's amazing abilities, is that none of the other characters on your team are that class. So Shepard is rarely superfluous.

Also Lair Of The Shadowbroker cleaned up Liara's attitude for me. I mean she's not really being a bitch she's working on something big. She HAD been searching for Shepard for the two years in between ME and ME2.

I think her character's slight shifts were more detailed OUTSIDE the games, in comic minis and such.


I'm not interested in replaying any Mass Effect game at all until I'm finished the third one, THEN I might go back and start all over with a different commander, and maybe I'll go the Tali route that time.

[NovaMan XP]

Finally finished up L.A. Noire...

Massive Ending spoilers:
[spoiler]
... well, Cole dying was a bit... depressing, I guess. Wasn't expecting that to happen. Also Roy Earle is a #####ing dickhole.
[/spoiler]

[White Shadow]

I've spent the whole of yesterday bombing my ME1 New Game Plus to the end again. The game is much shorter if you stick to the main plot. Hit Level 60 on the way, which made for some more nifty imported goodies too.

Oh yes, and I caved and bought the Aegis DLC, because that bolt-action sniper rifle was really pissing me off and I didn't want to wait for the semi-automatic one from Thane's recruitment mission.

[Mikero]

There's a point in ME2 where you can get one of three upgrades to Shepard;

-Assault Rifle proficiency
-Shotgun proficiency
-Sniper Rifle proficiency

Depending on what glass you are, you might already have some (or all in the case of a soldier) of these, so instead you get to pick a weapon of that type.

As an Infiltrator I already had Sniper Rifle proficiency. However, I figured assault rifles would've been a game breaker, and I didn't care enough about shotguns for the way I played so I picked up one of (if not THE) best sniper rifles in the game.

WORTH IT, bitch.

The thing is basically supposed to have enough kickback to tear off a human arm, so only Shepard and Legion can use it, but it is strong as a brick ##### house. There is, of course, a sniper rifle with a better rate of fire but that's really moot when it still takes at least three shots from it to kill anything. Plus the Assassination Cloak bonuses added made it a must have.