What video game are you playing?

[gkIrish]

I'm also thinking about grabbing the Definitive Edition of the first new-gen Tomb Raider game just to store it for a rainy day.

I saw it on sale for $10, so I looked at reviews, and apparently it was a really good game lol. I'd like to play it at some point and then pick up the new one whenever the price starts dropping.

I was a huge Tomb Raider fan when I was younger, but I was also a bit too young to figure out the harder puzzles later in the games. Still loved the first few levels of Tomb Raider II.

That Tomb Raider game was visually stunning and I had a lot of fun playing it. I love platforming games like that and Uncharted.

 

[wizards8507]

I approach these games two different ways. The first way usually involves playing on a challenging setting and just building the best character possible while trying to survive. The second is more RPG focused, building a character that's more limited but plays a role. For example, one of my Fallout characters is basically a Hulk. His Strength and Endurance are maxed, but as a result he's completely devoid of Charisma and Intelligence. Lacking Intelligence really limits the options available to your character, but part of the fun is finding alternative solutions to problems. If a situation requires wits, my character basically has to walk away or call on a companion to assist, such as when a terminal needs hacked. Likewise I have a Sniper character that is physically weak. I had to take part in a bar fight for a quest last night, but I found my lack of Strength and Endurance made it tough to survive, so I had to change strategies and take quick cheap shots when I could while using my Agility to evade the enemy. I made similar characters in Skyrim, like a Mage that refused to use melee weapons or wouldn't open a lock unless it was with a spell, or a brute that was incapable of using magic. I find the game much more enjoyable if I become these characters and try to react to situations as they would, rather than take the easiest solution that doesn't fit their persona.

That's one of the things that bothered me about Skyrim. I wanted to play a sword-and-board knight who didn't touch magic at all. Unfortunately, the dragon shouts were mandatory so I couldn't do a clean run.

 

[gkIrish]

I don't really get playing Skyrim without using any magic. The entire premise of the game is that it's a magical world and that you are the Dragon Reborn. Why even play the game if you aren't going to embrace the central theme?

 

[ulukinatme]

That's one of the things that bothered me about Skyrim. I wanted to play a sword-and-board knight who didn't touch magic at all. Unfortunately, the dragon shouts were mandatory so I couldn't do a clean run.

To be fair, dragon shouts aren't exactly magic, it's just the dragon tongue, but I get your point. I felt the same way with the brute I made in Skyrim, but you can honestly get through almost the entire game without using shouts for the most part. I know you need to use the fast running shout to get that horn, you need a shout to summon that dragon at the end, you need to use a shout to bring Alduin down, and you need to use one to clear the mist on your way up the mountain. Aside from that, I can't think of many instances where the shouting is absolutely required. You can completely avoid using it in combat at any rate.

 

[ulukinatme]

I don't really get playing Skyrim without using any magic. The entire premise of the game is that it's a magical world and that you are the Dragon Reborn. Why even play the game if you aren't going to embrace the central theme?

It's not necessarily about embracing the central theme, it's about dedicating yourself to a character and becoming that character for all intents and purposes. It's kind of an old school RPG theme. Imagine that your character was born into that world, but he has no affinity for magic or doesn't have the capacity for it. Obviously spells are available everywhere and to everyone, but maybe your character was born the son to a Blacksmith that abhorred magic and he passed that down to you. Your character lives and dies by his sword and shield. Sure, a healing spell would certainly be handy in a dungeon, but your character refuses to touch magic. Instead you have to use your cunning to outmaneuver your enemies, or hope you have a healing potion on hand to stave off death. It's kind of geeky, yes, but it forces you to think differently and approach the game in a completely different way. It adds an extra layer of challenge and makes it more entertaining imo.

 

[gkIrish]

It's not necessarily about embracing the central theme, it's about dedicating yourself to a character and becoming that character for all intents and purposes. It's kind of an old school RPG theme. Imagine that your character was born into that world, but he has no affinity for magic or doesn't have the capacity for it. Obviously spells are available everywhere and to everyone, but maybe your character was born the son to a Blacksmith that abhorred magic and he passed that down to you. Your character lives and dies by his sword and shield. Sure, a healing spell would certainly be handy in a dungeon, but your character refuses to touch magic. Instead you have to use your cunning to outmaneuver your enemies, or hope you have a healing potion on hand to stave off death. It's kind of geeky, yes, but it forces you to think differently and approach the game in a completely different way. It adds an extra layer of challenge and makes it more entertaining imo.

I get the concept and why you find it more entertaining but it seems silly to me to play Skyrim that way because your character is not a blacksmith or a someone like that. They are literally the Dragon Reborn. And you are fighting magical creatures. It also closes off an entire huge line of quests at the College of Winterfell because even if you can complete the quests without using magic you are essentially not being true to your character because your character would not village the college, let alone become a member.

 

[wizards8507]

I get the concept and why you find it more entertaining but it seems silly to me to play Skyrim that way because your character is not a blacksmith or a someone like that. They are literally the Dragon Reborn. And you are fighting magical creatures. It also closes off an entire huge line of quests at the College of Winterfell because even if you can complete the quests without using magic you are essentially not being true to your character because your character would not village the college, let alone become a member.

You could make the same argument about the Thieves' Guild or the Dark Brotherhood. My character isn't evil and wouldn't do assassinations, so I don't do the Dark Brotherhood quest lines.

 

[gkIrish]

You could make the same argument about the Thieves' Guild or the Dark Brotherhood. My character isn't evil and wouldn't do assassinations, so I don't do the Dark Brotherhood quest lines.

Good and evil is a very gray line in Skyrim in terms of all the organizations and stuff. The College is arguably evil too. It all depends who you talk to.

I avoid all these issues by doing all the quests lol.

 

[wizards8507]

Good and evil is a very gray line in Skyrim in terms of all the organizations and stuff. The College is arguably evil too. It all depends who you talk to.

I avoid all these issues by doing all the quests lol.

And I think that's one of Skyrim's major flaws. A knight-type character shouldn't be able to do thieves' guild quests that ought to require stealth and guile. Stomping around in heavy plate armor shouldn't be a viable option in a stealth-based quest.

This is one of the big reasons that I decided to buy Fallout. Ulk and Whiskey presented it as something where your character build really matters.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I get the concept and why you find it more entertaining but it seems silly to me to play Skyrim that way because your character is not a blacksmith or a someone like that. They are literally the Dragon Reborn. And you are fighting magical creatures. It also closes off an entire huge line of quests at the College of Winterfell because even if you can complete the quests without using magic you are essentially not being true to your character because your character would not village the college, let alone become a member.

I guess it depends on how many characters you intend to make. If you're only going to play through Skyrim once, then you're right, it doesn't make sense to foreclose such a large amount of game content.

But my most rewarding play-throughs were my "pure" Mage, Thief and Warrior. Placing some limitations on your character goes a long way toward improving immersion. And since I'd already experience all the content previously, I wasn't missing out on anything.

 

[ulukinatme]

I get the concept and why you find it more entertaining but it seems silly to me to play Skyrim that way because your character is not a blacksmith or a someone like that. They are literally the Dragon Reborn. And you are fighting magical creatures. It also closes off an entire huge line of quests at the College of Winterfell because even if you can complete the quests without using magic you are essentially not being true to your character because your character would not village the college, let alone become a member.

Good and evil is a very gray line in Skyrim in terms of all the organizations and stuff. The College is arguably evil too. It all depends who you talk to.

I avoid all these issues by doing all the quests lol.

I don't just do one play through though, I typically create multiple characters. The first time I play through an Elder Scrolls or Fallout game I typically make an all around good character and play through everything on a harder difficulty. I then often create a more limited character for RPG purposes to make things interesting and provide some extra challenge. I've done all the side quests in Skyrim at least once, so nothing has been missed. To be honest though, the College of Winterhold is a terrible quest line in comparison to the past Mages Guild stories that Bethesda has done, I was pretty disappointed with it. It was a one and done quest line for me, unless I was playing my pure Mage.

 

[wizards8507]

I guess it depends on how many characters you intend to make. If you're only going to play through Skyrim once, then you're right, it doesn't make sense to foreclose such a large amount of game content.

But my most rewarding play-throughs were my "pure" Mage, Thief and Warrior. Placing some limitations on your character goes a long way toward improving immersion. And since I'd already experience all the content previously, I wasn't missing out on anything.

Even then, a lot depends on your video game appetite. It took me about four years on-and-off to finish Oblivion and I put down Skyrim after 50 hours or so. I only plan on doing one Fallout 4 play-through because I simply don't have that much time for video games. I'll play it in a heavily RPG way and that'll include declining certain quests. I know I'll never see every inch of code the developers put on that disc, but I'm okay with that.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Even then, a lot depends on your video game appetite. It took me about four years on-and-off to finish Oblivion and I put down Skyrim after 50 hours or so. I only plan on doing one Fallout 4 play-through because I simply don't have that much time for video games. I'll play it in a heavily RPG way and that'll include declining certain quests. I know I'll never see every inch of code the developers put on that disc, but I'm okay with that.

As I argued (perhaps unconvincingly) earlier in this thread, I think Skyrim is more Action- than RPG-oriented because it places such a large emphasis on combat. The game feels remarkably different playing through as an Orc Warrior v. an Altmer Mage v. a Breton Thief (assuming you limit yourself to those archetypes).

Not so with Fallout. I never felt compelled to do multiple playthroughs of New Vegas like I did with Skyrim. I completed one ultra-thorough run in which I made all the decisions I wanted to, and that was it. Had no desire to do a Legion (bad guys) run, or a melee run.

 

[ulukinatme]

 

[wizards8507]

Speaking of that. I spend about 20 minutes last night trying to get a damn flamethrower to work and I couldn't figure out how for the life of me. At first I had it connected to a generator and that caused it to fire and it was spent. Then I tried connecting it to a pressure plate, but it wouldn't let me for some reason. I connected a wire from the generator to the plate, but then it wouldn't give me the option to build a wire coming off of the plate to the flamethrower.

 

[ulukinatme]

As I argued (perhaps unconvincingly) earlier in this thread, I think Skyrim is more Action- than RPG-oriented because it places such a large emphasis on combat. The game feels remarkably different playing through as an Orc Warrior v. an Altmer Mage v. a Breton Thief (assuming you limit yourself to those archetypes).

Not so with Fallout. I never felt compelled to do multiple playthroughs of New Vegas like I did with Skyrim. I completed one ultra-thorough run in which I made all the decisions I wanted to, and that was it. Had no desire to do a Legion (bad guys) run, or a melee run.

Damn, really, Whiskey? If there was ever a Fallout game that deserved multiple play throughs it's New Vegas. There's literally hundreds of possible endings depending how you finish certain quests and who you side with in any given play through. I honestly despised Caesar's Legion the first time I played through the game, but in a second play through I became part of the Legion using only Legion related weapons and armor. Despite not agreeing with their mentality, I actually had a lot of fun trying to sneak into NCR locations to complete quests and pass myself off as a peaceful civilian when I really had devious plans to overthrow them in the end. It's particularly fun going into NCR's Camp McCarran and interrogating the Legion spy...as a Legion spy

 

[Cogs]

Recently I've been paying Albion Online. Game is a lot of fun and relieves my stress from league of legends.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Damn, really, Whiskey? If there was ever a Fallout game that deserved multiple play throughs it's New Vegas. There's literally hundreds of possible endings depending how you finish certain quests and who you side with in any given play through. I honestly despised Caesar's Legion the first time I played through the game, but in a second play through I became part of the Legion using only Legion related weapons and armor. Despite not agreeing with their mentality, I actually had a lot of fun trying to sneak into NCR locations to complete quests and pass myself off as a peaceful civilian when I really had devious plans to overthrow them in the end. It's particularly fun going into NCR's Camp McCarran and interrogating the Legion spy...as a Legion spy

I completed every expansion and every companion's quest (with the "good" ending). Completed an NCR run, but saved at the crucial juncture so I could go back and experience the "Independent Vegas" ending. The only things I could do differently were: (1) play Legion v. NCR; (2) use melee weapons instead of guns; or (3) d!ck various people over instead of helping them. Saw no value in doing any of that.

 

[ulukinatme]

Speaking of that. I spend about 20 minutes last night trying to get a damn flamethrower to work and I couldn't figure out how for the life of me. At first I had it connected to a generator and that caused it to fire and it was spent. Then I tried connecting it to a pressure plate, but it wouldn't let me for some reason. I connected a wire from the generator to the plate, but then it wouldn't give me the option to build a wire coming off of the plate to the flamethrower.

I've only messed around with traps a little bit, but I think for the flamethrower I linked the flamethrower to a generator, which was linked to the pressure plate, which was linked back to the flamethrower in a circuit. I honestly haven't messed with traps much though because they seem to require you to repair them after one use, which isn't terribly effective from a resource standpoint. I prefer to spam turrets and guard towers instead, one Settler can man up to 3 Guard Towers for a +6 Defense bonus. The other thing is you probably want to see where a settlement is attacked from before you lay down traps, otherwise they may never get used. In Sanctuary I've had Gunners attack from the bridge area leading to Vault 111, but I've had Super Mutants and Raiders attack from the cul-de-sac in the east side of town. I also had Raiders attack from across the river to the south of Sanctuary, heading for one of my Power Armor suits because I left a Fusion Core inside. At the Castle I've only been attacked once, and it was a large Raider party that came up the road towards the front gate...it was a great place to lay my flamethrower trap, but my Caravans unfortunately path through the same area so I tore it down.

Keep in mind that you stand less of a chance of a settlement being attacked if your defense level is much higher than your Food + Water number for a given settlement. My weaker settlements tend to get attacked the most often it seems, especially if they're in hostile areas to the far south and east on the map. My Sanctuary has also been attacked when my Defense was 15 more than my Food and Water combined, but I've only had that happen once.

 

[wizards8507]

I've only messed around with traps a little bit, but I think for the flamethrower I linked the flamethrower to a generator, which was linked to the pressure plate, which was linked back to the flamethrower in a circuit. I honestly haven't messed with traps much though because they seem to require you to repair them after one use, which isn't terribly effective from a resource standpoint. I prefer to spam turrets and guard towers instead, one Settler can man up to 3 Guard Towers for a +6 Defense bonus. The other thing is you probably want to see where a settlement is attacked from before you lay down traps, otherwise they may never get used. In Sanctuary I've had Gunners attack from the bridge area leading to Vault 111, but I've had Super Mutants and Raiders attack from the cul-de-sac in the east side of town. I also had Raiders attack from across the river to the south of Sanctuary, heading for one of my Power Armor suits because I left a Fusion Core inside. At the Castle I've only been attacked once, and it was a large Raider party that came up the road towards the front gate...it was a great place to lay my flamethrower trap, but my Caravans unfortunately path through the same area so I tore it down.

Keep in mind that you stand less of a chance of a settlement being attacked if your defense level is much higher than your Food + Water number for a given settlement. My weaker settlements tend to get attacked the most often it seems, especially if they're in hostile areas to the far south and east on the map. My Sanctuary has also been attacked when my Defense was 15 more than my Food and Water combined, but I've only had that happen once.

I didn't realize that. I went the trap route because I only had a handful of settlers and didn't realize a single settler can man more than one tower.

 

[ulukinatme]

I completed every expansion and every companion's quest (with the "good" ending). Completed an NCR run, but saved at the crucial juncture so I could go back and experience the "Independent Vegas" ending. The only things I could do differently were: (1) play Legion v. NCR; (2) use melee weapons instead of guns; or (3) d!ck various people over instead of helping them. Saw no value in doing any of that.

You haven't lived till you've embraced your inner terrorist and blown up the Monorail! I will say the Legion play through, melee only, was particularly challenging given the NCR's penchant for Snipers and often decent armor. It was interesting seeing the story from their point of view though, and it was oddly satisfying to dispatch an entire NCR squadron with just a machete and a little stealth.

 

[wizards8507]

Ooh just realized that Battle of Jakku drops today for anyone who preordered.

 

[ulukinatme]

I didn't realize that. I went the trap route because I only had a handful of settlers and didn't realize a single settler can man more than one tower.

Yeah, my typical setup for a new settlement is to deploy 3 Guard Towers and assign just one Settler to man all 3. I then drop 2-3 basic Turrets, which nets you a total of 16 or 21 Defense. Most of my settlements just have 5-6 people, so I rarely have more than 6 Food or Water. In the beginning Oil/Circuits can be in short supply though, so I've also done setups where I've deployed 6 Guard Towers and I assign 2 Settlers to man all 6.

 

[IrishInFl]

Konami won’t let Hideo Kojima accept an award for Metal Gear Solid V | The Verge

 

[Buster Bluth]

Bought the One today with Star Wars and Fallout.

Had to make a new gamertag since my last one used an email from 12 years ago (AOLolol), so my new tag is TroutSandwiches. Add away.

When NCAA17 or so comes out yall are getting wrecked.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[greyhammer90]

Again my psn handle is greyhammer88. Only moore has added me so far.

 

[IrishLion]

When NCAA17 or so comes out yall are getting wrecked.

Challenge accepted.

 

[bkess8]

Challenge accepted.

+1

 

[IrishInFl]

Again my psn handle is greyhammer88. Only moore has added me so far.

I'll add you right now.

 

[IrishLion]

Soooo, I've put about 4.5 hours into Fallout 4 over the past couple of days, and I still haven't even left Sanctuary (well I left for a minute to go talk to some bros in a different settlement, saw a rock quarry, and decided to turn around and build up Sanctuary a bit before doing any more of the story). I've been exploring the abandoned houses and scrapping shit now that I've figured out how to use the workshop mode. However, I am having trouble assigning my people to work. I set up a scavenging station for food purposes, but when I try to issue a command to someone to operate the station, it doesn't tell me whether or not it's worked, and they don't follow me once I press "command" and "go to."

Also, I think I got way ahead of myself with some of my buildings. I built a water purifier that I had to put in the river, but I don't have enough wire to connect it to my current generator setup. Also, I built an operational radio tower (crystal decanter FTW!), but I only have one set of potatoes growing right now, and more people arriving every few minutes. Too many people, not enough food/clean water, and not enough material to build the things I need. I think I'm gonna have to move my radio tower and my first generator closer to the river, but I'm worried they will be attacked. Would raiders attack my purifier, generator, and radio tower?