Random thought(s) of the moment

[Justin]

or at least having Dogi blowing out the side of the building. Google needs to be more creative.

[Mutagene]

Mar 25, 2010 8:31:48 GMT -5 Varion said:

Absolutely not, I love them. For one thing, I love getting 100% on games I've enjoyed.

For another, extra worthwhile content means better value for money. I spent about £65 importing Tales of Vesperia, which seems like a lot but platinuming it took 170 hours.

= 40p an hour!

That's not bad at all.

This is pretty much exactly how I feel. There are few things I love more than high replay value and numerous extras in a game. Extras aren't entirely necessary for me to pour hours into a good game, either--I ran through Resident Evil 4 28 times simply because I enjoyed the game so much. Well, and I did want to unlock all the goodies and get all the OP weapons.

Although, I don't think length alone counts toward value for money; it has to be exciting, and above all fun, the whole way through. I think my first playthrough of Bayonetta alone made the game more than worth the $55 I paid for it. That was 15 hours of amazing.

[Varion]

Well yeah, if a game sucks no amount of extra content is going to make it worthwhile.

In general though it's a balance of intensity of awesome plus length of awesome.

I'm sure someone can turn that into an equation.

[Justin]

The art of Photography died today:

[Mutagene]

I saw that yesterday. It's pretty lol. Though I do wonder how awful the finished products will look.

[sushi]

Dude, April Fools is next week.

[Incog Neato]

Yeah ... this seems ... unrealistic. ^^;

[Raison D'etritus]

I agree about post-game bonus crap. Even in the Elder Scrolls games, whose main appeal aren't usually the central story, I find myself bored with the expansion packs because the content is never as epic as the main quest.
This is especially true in games where the central story IS the main draw. Once you've successfully averted global destruction a bonus dungeon, or whatever else I might be able to access, just feels like a waste of time and delay to another game, with a whole new story to complete.


And Smithee, for your personal problems I offer advice in the form of this mantra (and this from someone who understands too many of your problems firsthand than anybody can happily admit to):
"2 more years."
Seriously, a countdown was the only way I got through the first half of my life; keep your eyes on the end of that tunnel and you'll be fine. And whenever you DO get your own place and escape all the madness, the feeling of liberty and sheer unhampered freedom will be more intoxicating than people who had semi-easy (i.e. normal) school years can ever possibly comprehend.

[Lenalia]

Sidequests I don't mind, though I don't always do them -- depends on how fun and interesting they are. I'm not going to slog through a boring sidequest when I could be more fun while I'm playing the game, but if it's interesting and adds to the game world, sure.

As for content at the end of the game, I feel like the final boss should be the final challenge you face -- and after I beat it, I'm generally done. I like playable epilogues (it always seemed odd for the game to be on complete autopilot after the final boss), but I'll usually pass on bonus dungeons that unlock after the main game. It just seems strange and out of place -- the valiant heroes conquer evil and save the day... and then raid an extra dungeon because they can. Even (as is usually the case) that it unlocks after you beat the game but plot-wise you're back before the final boss, why not just have it unlock around the same time as the final dungeon?

Dragon Quest VIII is the only game I can think of off the top of my head where the post-game content was really worth it, since playing through the extra area changes the ending significantly... but the fact that you beat the game, causing the portal to the bonus area to appear, and then you go through it and then beat the game again... it's not the biggest plot hole in the world (if it can even be qualified as one), but it's one of those little things that just bugs me.

Bonus dungeons that were added as part of a port, I usually won't touch with a ten-foot pole. Not only are they not part of the original game, but they're usually not by the original designers, either -- even if it's separated off like that, it's butchery, like if another director took a movie and added in more action scenes of their own.

I think Wyrdwad pretty much summed up my opinion on the Content-Aware Fill video... Photoshop is a tool, and editing things like that is often what it's used for -- this is just the culmination of that, for better or for worse.

[Ascended Mermaid]

Completing the epilogue in Ecco 2: The Tides of Time was entirely worth it, as was the epilogue of Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete. I wouldn't completely dismiss epilogue chapters, seeing as they're still a major part of the stories. That's like stopping a book before you reach the *true* conclusion, or stopping Moulin Rouge once the curtains close.

[Mutagene]

I think post-game content is perfectly fine if the game is actually fun. I wouldn't subject myself to more of the same if the same was boring beyond comprehension, but if I genuinely enjoyed the style of the main game, enough to actually want to beat it, I'd hop on the extra content without hesitation.

This is partly because I like fun games, partly because I have a limited supply of money and must squeeze as much out of my games as I can stand to, partly because I'm an OCD completionist, and partly because I think it's good game design.

[Mutagene]

It depends on what kind of content it is, I guess... I do think bonus dungeons should be open during the main story, but wouldn't stuff like boss rush and arena play feel out of place in it?

[Incog Neato]

Mar 26, 2010 0:22:04 GMT -5 Wyrdwad said:

Wouldn't it be better, though, to put all that content DURING the game, so that it would benefit you in the final boss battle, rather than AFTER the game, where it's pretty much meaningless? I mean, it's the same content, so it's not like I'm advocating making the game shorter... I'm just advocating putting it in a logical place. It's actually pretty BAD game design, IMHO, to give the player meaningless goals. If you're going to put challenges in your game, make them WORTH something - something OTHER than bragging rights.

Exacto mundo! It's the whole fact that I can't make use of any of the item/weapon/stat goodies DURING the game that ticks me off. And the fact that some of the require excessive grinding BEYOND the story for the sole purpose of getting 100% is just plain eeeeew.

[Ascended Mermaid]

I am SUCH a nerd.

[Incog Neato]

Mar 26, 2010 15:37:04 GMT -5 Ascended Mermaid said:

I am SUCH a nerd. :o

So cute. TT~!

[Ascended Mermaid]

I think Lyll and Link look very cute together! She was definitely my favorite character in Legacy of the Wizard.

[Incog Neato]

Whee. Went from Mission 5 to Mission 21 without doing any in between.

I'm just moving on in FFXIII. I simply want to get this game over with.

I was going to say that maybe I'll pop in FFXII into the PS2 to wash the bad taste out of my mouth but I don't think I can stand the large cities in that game anymore. ^^; (I used to keep getting lost in Rabanastre or however you spell it.)

Does anyone want to buy it off me when I'm done? If not, I suppose I can just trade it in or something ... :V

Edit: You know, I've been avoiding the Dragon Quest series like a plague for the longest time since I hate the way slimes look and I do not like Toriyama's artwork. (Oddly enough, I played Chrono Trigger SNES from start till finish 3 times though.)

I do believe it's time for me to put that aside and try out a DQ game in full! (I did play a little bit of Dragon Warrior on the NES though.)

[Ascended Mermaid]

I find it ridiculous. Absolutely, truly, positively, FUCKING RIDICULOUS.

...I mean, the clean people have okcupid, but us trailer trash damaged goods people? We have pay sites! Seriously, I think I've paid a hefty enough price having this fucking disease... I don't want to spend more cash!

Besides, there aren't any matches within the state. You know what that tells me? That nobody in Maine gives a shit what diseases they spread. We'd all be better off if this state and its population simply "went away".

[Ascended Mermaid]

But I don't want a clean chick, (unless I'd like to go insane over my guilty conscience) and that's all I've ever ended up with. I mean, there was one chick with the same problem, but unlike me, she didn't give a shit. She went after any men, all men, she didn't care if she was or wasn't infecting anybody. But I care plenty.

[Ascended Mermaid]

I gave up an engagement (and everything else that came with it; the family, the girl, love) in March 2010 over my STD that I've been dealing with since Dec 2006, I'm as stubborn as they get. She was okay with it, but I wasn't. On and off, on and off; it's okay, no it's not, it's okay, no it's not.

If that pattern continued, and I allowed it to "be okay" and infected her, and THEN went to "no it's not", I'd probably be worse off from the guilt. I've already infected one person three years ago -- something I'll never forgive myself for. I don't need to infect another.