#every MMO player's worst nightmare

[songweaver]

Not the lag!

[kulvefaggoth]

job balance issues are the sort of thing I tend to be oblivious to unless they're really egregious so I'm curious to know what the worst current balance issues are?

most of my issues tend to be along the lines of some jobs feel like they've had their rotations optimized and tidied up and some feel like a mess. I tend to be better at the former due to my own skill level which means I'm likely not getting the best performance out of a bunch of them and would be less likely to accurately discern the balance issues

Ok so this is a very complicated thing to talk about because "how well done is the current job balance" has completely different answers depending on where you are in the casual-hardcore scale.

If you're the type of player to whom extreme trials are the most difficult content you're willing to tackle then i'd say you'd find job balance to be really well done. There's some wonkyness in the rotations of some jobs like MCH and DRG that could definitely use a remake or a serious adjustment but i doubt it would actually affect your gameplay that much. Technically speaking the premise of "you can clear any content with any combination of jobs" is very much being upheld. We had the incident at the beginning of the current savage tier where the door boss for p8s had too much HP and some parties we're simply unable to pass the dps check even with perfect runs but since Yoshida explained they usually buff the HP of savage bosses by around 1% for release after internal testing because players tend to output more dps than the test team i'm gonna be nice and leave that aside.

However once you reach "i've been raiding for a few savage tiers now" status... that's when the brain worms get in. You'll never look at job balance again and think "this is good". Because when a big part of your enjoyment of the game comes from numbers and trying to perfect your rotation there's always Something™ fucking off. MNK has (or at least had last i checked) the highest dps potential in the game. It also is a fucking NIGHTMARE of a job. DRK gets more top parses than GNB despite GNB at lvl 90 having to care way more about it's resources. A top tier BLM almost can't compete with competent melee dps damage despite BLM being the big nuker job. Casters in general are weaker than melee due to what we call the "ranged tax" aka melee having more damage potential because they need to maintain physical contact with the boss BUT EVERY RAID BOSS NOW HAS A GIANT HITBOX and you barely have to disconnect from them if you have a little experience so why is this still a thing? So like i said talking about job balance is a complicated thing. FFXIV has kept itself balanced for the general player pretty well but the hardcore crowd keeps coming up on cracks in the wall. I think balancing a game only around savage/ultimate would be bad but i do wish the job team would do some serious revisions for 7.0 that i hope don't create more problems. But such are MMOs...

My point is GNB should do a trillion damage because it's my special little boy thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[eliluminado7]

had my first actual nightmare in years about this 2d multiplayer game making its rounds across my city and worldwide i think. like you couldnt download it they had to give you a physical copy in a CD. it was like, a very very basic mmo with the same plot as iron lung but there was no submarine. you had to swim all the way down to the benthic zone of like, Marianas trench and the game was divided in 230 levels which were all just pixelated JPG backgrounds you could freely access from the beginning and you didnt have to unlock them or anything. and a very peculiar thing about this game was that the groups and the list of people you had to distribute this game to were already decided; they had to tell you in person which server you belonged in. there was one server for each level, so 230 servers in total, but as i said individual players could go to whichever level they wanted and they could only interact with players of their own server.

in order to hide the true evil nature of this game and convince you to play it the person who gifted you a CD had to pretend they were giving you a perfectly normal copy of some random videogame. in my case it was given to me by a catholic priest who doesnt exist that i was supposedly friends with.

so the avatars/playable characters. they were all touhou characters. game had absolutely nothing to do with touhou but the avatars happened to be those; in the style of the sprites from touhoumon. from the more popular characters such as reimu, marisa, sakuya, youmu etc... to tokiko, label girl, jacket girl and rin satsuki; every single 2hu ever created was there, including minor secondary characters or even the pc-98 girls

i chose takane yamashiro as my avatar, Just Because. i thought this game would have had a more innocent atmosphere to it; i thought it would perhaps be some bootleg game where you had to fight against sea creatures or whatever.

As for the gameplay. i randomly began on level 13 which wasnt too deep yet; there were neither enemies nor players in that area and i was completely alone. there were some players in level 1 who presumably wanted to follow the levels in order. NPCs in that area were normal, tiny fish

so i kept on going down in order and the number of players kept on diminishing, as well as the "enemies". eventually shit began to get incredibly fucked and in level 22 i reached a rock or something. now, remember this was all a dream and everything seemed more terrifying than it actually was. upon interacting with that rock i was killed by a shadow force that grabbed my character from behind and i was shown an NES-like cutscene of the evil shadows and i had to shut the game down using task manager. upon restarting it i was prompted to choose a server again and i went back to the area where i left the previous game. i decided i had to leave that area and move on to level 211.

immediately upon entering that area a giant fucking amoeba monster appeared from out of nowhere and wrapped its gelatinous body around my character to her unavoidable death. playing on the background was a really loud high-pitched NES glitch noise in an otherwise silent game. a really crappy sequence was shown of the amoeba turning into a poorly drawn anime girl ripping off my avatars head. ik this sounds like a weird fetish thing but it was literally like that. in my dream i was appalled at the horrors i was witnessing on that screen and i wanted to be done with the game as soon as possible. so upon getting the game over screen i went straight to level 230. the game asked me if i was sure about that which hadnt happened before. i said yes

i was left in the background of the spongebob title screen which i suppose represented the benthic zone. nothing was happening. it was dead silent. but i was sure something godawful was about to happen. i didnt know what but i was sure it would be the worst thing imaginable. the game knew this too and wouldnt let me go back so i shut it down using task manager and then i tried to launch it again

i was greeted with the word "Fuck..." in the super mario 64 font and i was taken back to level 230 but this time i was completely alone. like it was in singleplayer mode. i desperately tried to kill the process with task manager but it took me several attempts until i could close it. from that point on i refused to touch the game again.

fast forward to a scene in a public bathroom (i tend to dream about public bathrooms and showers a lot for some reason) where i spotted the priest guy who was pissing and i inquired to him about the game and he told me the truth: it was cursed by an evil force and he wanted to exorcise it. he had to distribute the game to several people in order to rid himself of it. he didnt tell me what the curse was or how bad it was and if he did i dont remember anything.

fast forward to a communion scene. and i think this was the only instance of the curse i saw. the priest presented a slice of bread and a wine chalice to the assistants who began to chant "HUNGRY! HUNGRY! HUNGRY!" and he was confused as hell. the bread was gone and the wine in the chalice was replaced with actual blood. everyone jumped on the chalice and they began to brutally fight over it; ripping chunks of flesh off each other. The end

[timemachineyeah]

Please bear with me while I have unrealistic fantasies about future life sim video games. I realize these dreams might be your worst nightmare. It’s okay. The post can’t hurt you because I am not King Video Games.

It is the future. The game being made by EA right now (2022) that many are suspecting is The Sims 5 isn’t The Sims 5. It’s The Sims Online 2/Project Olympus 2, but this time they know far more about making an online life sim. It’s basically the best marriage of a life sim and a social mmo you can imagine. Lots of Sims players will still hate it, but that’s okay. It wasn’t made to succeed the mainline Sims games. It’s a new project. A spin-off. And a good video game.

At the same time EA announce the biggest update/refresh to The Sims 4 yet. A massive update so large it will basically transform it into a new game. SO large they’ve actually made it opt in, and created functionally a second legacy version of the game. Now we’re playing The Sims 4.5. It’s still not open world, but commercial lots in the same neighborhood as your home have opened up. The Sims’ personalities and AIs have been entirely overhauled. Way more features in manage worlds. Revamped CAS. More ability to share and sort on the gallery. Fixes for all the existing DLC. And official assistive tools for making and sharing CC and mods. And they announce plans to keep releasing DLC for The Sims 4 for a while yet.

Meanwhile the new life sim from Paradox Tectonic has come out, and it’s a better Sims game than any version of The Sims could fathom. Incredible freedom and customizable individual experience, open world, complex and engaging with absurdly deep gameplay. The game is a smash hit among Sims fans, hardcore gamers, and complete newcomers to gaming. It’s astonishingly well done. It fulfills almost every wish and a bunch of others players didn’t even know they were wishing for.

And Paralives, rather than suffering from this massive success, gets a huge boon. The Tectonic game’s appeal has brought new interest to the genre as a whole, bringing Paralives FAR more patrons, much in the way Stardew Valley renewed interest in farming sims. The Tectonic game fulfilled so many of the infinite roles a life sim could play, but no single life sim could be everything everyone wants. The game left gaps, and an audience still unsatisfied. These gaps create a clearer roadmap for Paralives, helping them finish their game with more polish and a compelling perspective.

And thus concludes my ideal scenario. 😌

[tinygamertris]

Cat’s Top and Bottom 5 Video Games of 2020

As with last year, I count only games that I played for the first time this year, regardless of the year they were released. All opinions are personal and all flames will be met with a hearty ‘fuck you’ and used to roast marshmallows.

5th Best: Outer Worlds

Goddamn this was a beautiful game. Bright and colourful, filled with character, dripping with sarcasm and incredibly insightful satire, Parvarti... There was almost nothing about this game that I didn’t love. It’s what Fallout could be again if only Bethesda had the balls, pretty much the diametric opposite of the bland yearly release FPSes like CoD, and every inch of it screams of a dev team filled with passion and creativity. The only reason it’s not higher on the list is because it was locked to first person when I played it and first person inevitably makes me sick sooner or later. 

5th Worst: Seer’s Isle

This game isn’t bad as such. It’s very pretty and intensely mystical, with a plot that could have been remarkable. It’s what it promises but doesn’t deliver that killed it for me. I was promised a game with interactivity, where every choice I made impacted the ending, where my actions would determine who lives or dies. NOPE. What I got was a game that only holds up for one playthrough, because the moment you try to make good on the supposed varying plot you discover that it’s going to be the same thing over and over again with only two endings. At least it’s short.

4th Best: Ghost of Tsushima

Another ridiculously pretty game! It’s typical that in a year when the new consoles were released (oh what a clusterfuck that was) that the most graphically impressive game was on the PS4. The gameplay loop is a delight, allowing you to customise your approach to many situations, and the ability to challenge enemies to a duel to start a fight is buttery smooth and viscerally enjoyable. It’s only let down by the predictability of the main plot, to the point where I only did story quests when I ran out of other things to do and wanted to open a new area. Absolutely worth your time and money regardless, it’s a game that will make you feel like a badass samurai from the comfort of your own room.

4th Worst: South Park - The Fractured But Whole

This is a game where its strength is also its weakness: It’s like playing an episode of South Park. Much like the show, when it’s good it’s absolutely on FIRE, and when it’s bad it’s the most profoundly uncomfortable cringe I’ve ever experienced. In the end, all this game did was remind me why I stopped watching the series years ago.

3rd Best: Monster Keeper

A very recent Switch release, Monster Keeper earned it’s place with its simple but lovely graphics, its delightful Metroidvania gameplay, and the almost Pokemon-like pleasure of fielding a team of badass monsters to kick the asses of other badass monsters. When I’m not playing 1 or 2 on this list, I’m playing this game. 

3rd Worst: The Last of Us 2

In almost any other year this would absolutely top my worst of list. This game takes everything that I thought was worthwhile about the first game (Joel and Ellie’s relationship, complicated morality, and fuck all else) and shoves it down the toilet and takes a great steaming dump on it. The fact that this game swept the game awards in a year with Ghost of Tsushima, Hades and the Final Fantasy VII Remake is disgusting and final proof that the awards are as corrupt as the industry they celebrate.

2nd Best: Elder Scrolls Online

I’ve never been much of an MMO player. I find the presence of other humans in my games to normally be a nightmare. But this long drawn out dumpster fire of a year got me watching a LOT of videos on YouTube, and when my favourite channels did a few challenges in the new Greymoor chapter, I decided to give it a go as a birthday present to myself. And good lord did it pay off! Elder Scrolls Online is bloody huge, bloody beautiful, allows you to choose the level of interaction you have with other people, and has some of the best NPCs I’ve ever met in any video game. Not to mention the wonderful friends I’ve made both inside and outside the game, who have made this year of lockdowns and crises worth living through. Love you guys.

2nd Worst: Deadly Premonition 2 - A Blessing In Disguise

Holy transphobia, Batman! Swery really made an idiot of himself with this game and his reaction to the backlash, and yet again in any other year it would absolutely top the list. Sadly, it’s 2020, and it gets worse.

Honorable Mentions: Best

Dragon Quest Builders 2 (For having the wonderful combination of Dragon Quest’s ridiculous sense of humour and Minecraft’s dedication to building cool shit), Animal Crossing: New Horizons (for being the pure and gentle escape that I needed during the first few weeks of total isolation), Portal Knights (Another game with Minecraft’s addictive building mechanics and delightfully ridiculous characters), Final Fantasy VII Remake (honestly it earns this through the Honeybee Inn scene alone).

Honorable Mentions: Worst

Astral Chain (apparently it gets good a couple of hours in but I can’t fucking get that far so screw it), Death Stranding (what did I even?), Sin Eaters (utterly incomprehensible to the point I couldn’t figure out how to get out of the first room).

Best Game of 2020: Hades

How could any other game top this list? Hades is truly the best game Supergiant has created yet, and considering how incredibly good their games are as a rule, that’s saying a LOT. The art is just *chef’s kiss* perfect, the characters are all filled with personality and voice acted with incredible talent and dedication, the gameplay is a delightfully chaotic rampage through the various levels of the Greek Underworld, Zagreus is possibly my favourite protagonist of all time, and every single aspect of this game is sheer delighful perfection. Thank you, Supergiant Games, for a truly transcendent gaming experience that will stay with me for years to come.

Worst Game of 2020: Cyberpunk 2077

This game should have had it all. It was made by darling publisher CD Projekt Red, it starred Keanu ‘Most Perfect Human Being’ Reeves, it had years and years of hard work behind it... And it somehow managed to be an absolute shit-show the likes of which I’ve never seen before in a lifetime of gaming. From the lighting that gave people migranes and actual seizures (thanks a lot you assholes it took me three days to recover from that migrane), to the disgusting crunch forced upon the dev team by shitty management, to the plague of bugs, to the returns controversy, to the patches not arriving until some time in January... Not even Fallout 76 failed this hard. This proves once and for all that when Jim Sterling speaks, the industry needs to FUCKING LISTEN.

[thessalian]

Thess vs MMOs

Over the years, I’ve played a number of MMORPGs. They’ve come. They’ve gone. Mostly they’ve gone. I thought I’d give myself a tiny bit of a retrospective here just to see if I actually miss them.

Final Fantasy XI: This one was my first. At the time, I wanted to try a MMO and had been weighing the relative merits and flaws of this, World of Warcraft and Everquest. In the end, I weighted it on art style and I just really preferred FFXI. That ... in retrospect, was probably a mistake. The levelling ‘system’ was frankly garbage in FFXI, at least in part because there were fairly few quests, even fewer of which you could solo. What it was, right, was ... you went out to a zone pretty far above your level, you put up your LFG flag, and you waited. Or you started a group of your own, whichever. Either way, you ended up in a six-man party, staking out a specific spot on one of the quasi-designated ‘farming’ maps, and you sent out your puller (usually a thief or a beastmaster; someone with range, anyway) to bring monsters to your ‘camp’ for you to gang up on. It was the only way to get a decent amount of XP in one go, particularly given that there were bonuses for chaining mobs. Which in and of itself was a problem when you had overzealous pullers dragging in a new monster before people had finished killing the first one, never giving the casters time to so much as breathe, never mind regen mana. Plus if a zone was overcamped, you ended up fighting over mobs, fighting over campsites, and in general just getting pissed off at other players. Every time a new class got added to the roster, groups ground to a screeching halt for some classes because everyone wanted the new class in their party and that left people still trying to level older classes entirely out in the cold. Endgame content was more or less out unless you had a dedicated guild. Basically, it was meant for the hardcore MMO player. I ... was not the hardcore MMO player. I did manage to level a fair bit in at least one class (White Mage, because healers always prosper, but even they started getting locked out when Scholar became a thing, despite them being neither fish nor fowl until the level 30s or so), but mostly ended up farming low-level stuff for crafting mats until I eventually got bored and stopped paying my damn sub. I don’t miss it. It was pants.

World of Warcraft: It was a good long while before I tried a MMO again, and the next one I went for was WoW, at least in part because I was starting to hear as how you could largely power through it on your own. So I had a good time with that for awhile, and actually started getting invested in at least one of my characters (Blood Elf Paladin who hated undead with the passion of a thousand burning suns because she lost family at the Wrathgate and then had a minor nervous breakdown when forced to serve on the Forsaken Front and basically told the Horde to go fuck itself and, after a brief stint of piracy in Booty Bay, stuck to doing things like repairing Deathwing’s bullshit). Then Mists of Pandaria came out and I just kind of lost interest. I don’t really miss it overmuch. Particularly since it was the first and worst experience of trying a dungeon that I’ve ever had - basically I was unaware when I started playing it that your DPS rating was everything and so I went in as a tank and trying to hold hate when everyone else (including the healer) is spamming damage like it’s going out of style is a nightmare and they eventually booted me out of the party in the middle of fucking Gnomergan because I wasn’t doing enough damage (THAT IS NOT MY JOB, YOU DIPSHITS; I AM HERE TO KEEP YOU FROM TAKING DAMAGE; NOT TO DO MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF IT MYSELF) and let me get eaten by respawns. I swore to myself, never again. ...I lied, by the way. Anyway, I miss it sometimes (well, I miss Missandei the Belf Paladin, really), but not enough to try to throw myself into it again.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: This is where ‘never again’ went wrong, though it took awhile. I had fun in this game for a good long while, actually. Had great fun on my smuggler, and discovered actual roleplaying in a MMO, which led to my trying new things and meeting new friends and generally having a pretty good time. I even started doing group content and dungeons (Ops, really, but hey) ... though I did kind of get locked into healer-mode no matter how much I wanted to DPS every now and then, because I was marginally more good-natured about healing than the other healer-classes in our guild. Then some personal stuff happened and, more to the point, the Zakuul thing started. I disliked being a bit player in my own story, I hated the plot, sticking us with a mechanics-heavy boss fight at the end that we had to solo and which was truly ruinous for some classes was a dick move, and I basically gave up. I don’t miss it. All the parts of it I liked (namely, some of the people I met) are still in my life, and that’s the important thing.

The Secret World: I liked this one, for all I had a year’s break from it because I missed a fairly key benefit to the game - namely being able to skip certain missions. Ironically, I did manage to get that mission completed in the end, but not after I dropped the game for nearly a year because it kept blowing me up (increased movement speed was the key to that fucking mining museum basement, it turns out). But once that was explained to me, I fell comprehensively in love with that fucking game. I ran around in it daily not because I wanted to get my money’s worth out of my subscription (which I didn’t have) but because I was having fun. I loved the story, I loved the setting, I loved not having levels, I loved the ability and skill wheels, I loved customisable builds (and exploited them mercilessly), I loved the dungeons, I loved the cosmetics ... I loved everything about this game. ...Then they turned it into an ARG with reticle targeting that pushed every single migraine button I have and I couldn’t play it anymore. I miss this one. I miss this one so fucking much you have no idea.

Final Fantasy XIV: Honestly, the only reason I got into this was because I needed a new MMO after fucking Secret World: Legends broke my heart, and it wasn’t FFXI ... though I could still play a tiny adorable bringer of destruction if I so chose. But of course, by this time, I was so heavily locked into Healbabe Mode that I just pretty much immediately went White Mage (though Astrologian was always my default once I got the class sufficiently levelled). I liked this one okay but the story left me cold a lot of the time. Loved the crafting, loved some of the dungeon challenge ... actively kind of hated the story. Especially that spot between Stormblood and Shadowbringers where I wanted Fabio von ShampooCommercial to just fucking stay dead already. I did not go through the absolute nightmare hell that was the Shinryu fight to have that fuck-knuckle turn back up again. I don’t miss it. Take your bargan basement Sepiroth and go screw, Squeenix.

Guild Wars 2: I’d actually had this for awhile but hadn’t done much with it. It was another Secret World situation - I went in, I got fed up, I got out, I got dragged back in by ... the same friend, actually (looking at you here, @true0neutral), and enjoyed it a lot more. It’s not as good as TSW was. I don’t love it as much. But it’s sufficiently enjoyable for something I’m not paying a sub for, I can get my Zen crafting on perfectly fine, and that’s all I’m really asking of a MMO at this point. I’d miss it if it vanished. That’s enough.

I did kind of poke at Elder Scrolls Online on one of their beta weekends, if memory serves, but that one was a hard nope from me. Wasn’t into it, found the combat clunky.

So that’s me and MMOs. I had one I truly, truly loved and it was taken away from me and now I have my GW2 popcorn while pining for my One True MMO. Woe.

[aion-rsa]

Does Cyberpunk 2077’s PlayStation Store Removal Make it The Worst Launch Ever?

https://ift.tt/3h8eYRS

Late last night, Sony revealed via the PlayStation website that they have decided to honor refund requests for those who purchased Cyberpunk 2077 via the PlayStation Store. More importantly, they have decided to remove Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store “until further notice.”

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red was quick to respond to this decision with one of their “yellow background tweets of doom” that have come to define the year in Cyberpunk 2077 updates. In it, the team noted they were aware of Sony’s decision and are still working to improve the game and get it back on the PlayStation Store as soon as possible.

Important Update for @PlayStation Users pic.twitter.com/fCB4z74M3z

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) December 18, 2020

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The word you want to use at times like this is “surprising.” Yet, nothing about this is surprising to anyone who has been following Cyberpunk 2077 since the game launched last week. Not only did Cyberpunk 2077‘s PS4 and Xbox One versions launch with a shocking amount of serious technical issues that surpassed even the most cynical expectations of the game’s performance, but CD Projekt Red previously encouraged players to pursue refunds for those versions of the game. At that time, though, no special refund policy had officially been implemented by Sony or Microsoft. Sony has obviously now done just that, while Microsoft just announced that they’re instituting an expanded refund policy for all Microsoft Store purchases of the game.

What we’re left with now are unanswered questions. While “When will Cyberpunk 2077 return to the PlayStation Store?” and “What happened to this game?” are near the top of that list, the one I keep coming back to most has to be “Is Cyberpunk 2077‘s debut the worst game launch ever?”

While the subject of anything being the “worst,” is inherently subjective, you can start having a productive conversation about Cyberpunk 2077‘s historical standing by taking a look at some of the other worst debuts in video game history while trying to be as objective as possible about how Cyberpunk 2077 compares.

For instance, there have been countless smaller games that launched either entirely broken or as barely disguised phishing attempts. Obviously, Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t quite at that level. There have also been games that were essentially doomed to fail for eternity due to a variety of bad decisions. The War Z‘s developers, for instance, starting banning players for criticizing their broken game full of empty promises. There’s also the strange case of the MMO ArcheAge which made it nearly impossible to access the game’s land ownership feature due to the fact that hackers had pretty bought all the land hours after the game launched. Cyberpunk 2077 has its problems, but at least there have been some PC players who have been able to get some kind of enjoyment out of it.

At the same time, Cyberpunk 2077 is clearly in worse shape than titles like World of Warcraft or GTA Online which just couldn’t support the number of people that tried to play them at launch. We’re far beyond a simple case of not anticipating demand.

No Man’s Sky is another game that’s being referenced quite a lot lately, but that comparison isn’t entirely accurate. No Man’s Sky was a much smaller game that ultimately fell victim to official and unofficial hype. It came from a largely unproven studio that really only made a name for itself during the game’s marketing period. It ultimately proved to be a lesson in expectation management rather than a technological nightmare that represented some of the worst elements of Triple-A gaming.

By comparison, Cyberpunk 2077 is a high-profile game from a respected developer that launched with a variety of technical problems and design shortcomings that resulted in drastic measures being taken in an attempt to salvage whatever hope the game has left. It’s when you compare the game to the other titles in that category that you start to appreciate its qualifications for the dubious title of “worst launch ever.”

While I’ve heard Cyberpunk 2077 be compared to two of its more immediate and recent peers (Anthem and Fallout 76), it’s important to remember that the hype for those games was muted somewhat by loud cries from those who felt that those developers and franchises shouldn’t go in those directions in the first place. The hype for Cyberpunk 2077 was rarely muted despite attempts to point out some of the red flags that had emerged.

Cyberpunk 2077 certainly shares disappointment DNA with Batman: Arkham Knight. They are, after all, two high-profile seemingly “can’t miss” games from established developers that launched on certain platforms in a nearly unplayable state and were eventually pulled from storefronts. At least that game’s problems were limited to PC, though, whereas even Cyberpunk 2077‘s ideal platforms suffer from notable issues.

What about Diablo 3 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection? Again, they were both seemingly can’t miss titles from major studios that launched with a variety of controversial design decisions and technical issues. In both cases, though, I feel like the heated discussions around both of those games would have been cooled somewhat if their online services had been more reliable.

When I really look at it, Cyberpunk 2077 reminds me more of games like Too Human, Daikatana, and Assassin’s Creed: Unity. All of those single-player focused titles were hyped to death, developed by notable names, attracted quite a bit of controversy, and launched in nearly unplayable states. Cyberpunk 2077 even shares some design concepts with Daikatana, and Assassin’s Creed: Unity forced Ubisoft to embrace desperate measures by giving away free games in an attempt to calm everyone down.

Yet, when you get right down to it, there are factors that separate Cyberpunk 2077 from its peers.

Read more

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How the Cyberpunk 2077 Soundtrack Found Its Dystopian Sound in a Soviet-Era Synthesizer

By Bernard Boo

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Cyberpunk 2077: Every Ending Explained

By Matthew Byrd

We’ve already talked about Cyberpunk 2077‘s controversial road to release, but it’s very much worth reminding everyone that CD Projekt Red’s reputation was already being chipped away at by those who had legitimate concerns about the company’s culture. While that reputation was defended by the studio’s passionate fanbase, even some of those supporters are starting to question whether CD Projekt Red’s customer-friendly image is a crumbling facade.

There’s also the issue of the game’s development. CD Projekt has delayed Cyberpunk 2077‘s release three times in 2020 as part of their attempt to optimize the game. After one of those delays, it was revealed that the company had instituted a “crunch” schedule. So not only is Cyberpunk 2077 a bug-ridden nightmare, but it’s a bug-ridden nightmare that’s long development cycle must now be measured in financial and human costs along with the concerns regarding inherent problems with the game’s direction.

Do you know what really separates Cyberpunk 2077 from its fellow disappointments, though? It’s the fact that the versions of the game that perform the worst are the ones that really needed to work the most.

While it seems that many (or even most) of the Cyberpunk 2077 pre-orders came from PC players, all reports indicate that the game was set to be a hit among console gamers as well. Some early projections suggested that the game could eventually sell over 30 million units, and CD Projekt Red had previously indicated that Cyberpunk 2077 recouped its budget shortly after the game’s launch. It was clear that a wide variety of gamers were looking forward to this game as a way to end what has been a truly miserable year on something of a high note.

Instead, CD Projekt Red turned in frankly embarrassing ports at a time when many console gamers are unable to find the next-gen consoles which can at least run the game somewhat respectfully. As an added twist, Cyberpunk 2077‘s PS4 version was so bad that it now prevents PS5 gamers from being able to download it digitally. It’s important to also remember that Cyberpunk 2077 began its life as a PS4/Xbox One game. That only furthered the assumption that the game would at least run respectfully on those platforms even if the next-gen and PC versions would obviously be the “optimal” ways to experience it.

In a year that saw many studios make hard decisions and further delay their projects in order to best serve the people making them and the people who would eventually play them, CD Projekt Red pulled off the bad development trifecta with delay frustrations, crunch scheduling, and an ultimately broken game most readily available on platforms utterly incapable of handling it. Suddenly, that massive Halo Infinite delay makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it?

Worst launch ever? At this point, it’s all semantics. What matters is that Cyberpunk 2077‘s removal from the PlayStation store puts it in rare company at a time when CD Projekt Red had every opportunity and every advantage needed to prevent exactly this kind of scenario from ever happening.

The post Does Cyberpunk 2077’s PlayStation Store Removal Make it The Worst Launch Ever? appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3awDLgS

[disneydreamlights]

... About the Union Leaders. You see, Lauriam's true colors would eventually be exposed, but unfortunately he's been using the Power Bangles to accumulate enough Guilt to build an army of Nightmares in Preparation for this moment. After the player defeats Nightmare Chirithy, and we get the "Let's meet again in another dream" spiel, the REAL Nightmare Chirithy shows up, all like "Told ya so". And then Ven's Chirithy show up, stating that Lauriam's captured the Union Leaders.

After you defeat his second form, both his own Chirithy (who's been his comedic lackey who'd get an F in all forms of Evil) and the player's Nightmare Chirithy (who's been helping Lauriam this entire time due to Lauriam resurrecting it) both show up, the former trying to convince Lauriam to let the Dandelions erase his memory like they did to the Player, and the Nightmare Chirithy trying to use the emotional trauma of the Keyblade War to grow stronger. Lauriam, however, has his own plans...So anyway, Nightmare Chirithy would welcome you to go to the Foretellers' Study (you'd be able to just fast-travel there in Gameplay using the Gateways) and learn the truth. You'd actually enter the Study outside of the Story Battle (which you'd probably be able to sweep at this level in all honesty). In there, you'd see Lauriam's bound the other Union Leaders with vines, at which point the lie you've been living starts to fall apart right in front of the Union Leaders.

Rather than fight you yourself (though he'd recognize you as being from his Union), Lauriam would summon a plant-themed Nightmare to fight you. After you defeat it, Lauriam would flee through a portal to the Keyblade Graveyard. Ephemer would tell you to stay away, but we've already established that Lauriam can kick all four of their collective butts and besides that Ephemer's got some splaining to do. So, in gameplay naturally, you walk through the portal to a dreadful place.

The Keyblade Graveyard's relationship with Daybreak Town would be the same of that of the Underworld with Olympus Coliseum, it would be considered a part of Daybreak Town despite having it's own music and enemies. In this case, you'd battle Nightmare Versions of the pets, and all the Raid Bosses that spawn would be Nightmares themselves, with "Untamable" as the battle theme. Anyway, in order to keep the subconscious trauma from crushing you, you'd be given story quests to fight the Nightmares.

Once you've beaten enough of those Story Quests, you'd get access to the "Seat of War" (the last room before the final bosses of Terra's, Aqua's, and Ven's stories in BBS) where a Story Battle portal would stand, waiting for you to challenge Lauriam. Lauriam's first form would be a simple one-on-one duel, with him being a Speed-Type enemy. Well, about as one on one as you can get since this is an MMO and he'd summon Nightmare versions of the players' pets to help him.

Anyway, after you defeat his first form, Ventus would arrive and attack him from behind, at which point Lauriam summons a second Keyblade. Remember, Strelitzia is currently the Ventus to Lauriam's Sora, meaning he can, in fact, duel wield. At this point Lauriam becomes a Magic-Type Enemy, and the players have Ventus providing support. Lauriam's gimmick is that he now gets two attacks per turn, as well as access to Strelitzia's illusion powers to compliment his flower power.

After you defeat his second form, both his own Chirithy (who's been his comedic lackey who'd get an F in all forms of Evil) and the player's Nightmare Chirithy (who's been helping Lauriam this entire time due to Lauriam resurrecting it) both show up, the former trying to convince Lauriam to let the Dandelions erase his memory like they did to the Player, and the Nightmare Chirithy trying to use the emotional trauma of the Keyblade War to grow stronger. Lauriam, however, has his own plans...

So yeah, Lauriam, who is not about to go down like this, grabs both of the present Chirithies, and sucks the darkness out of both of them. Both Dream Eaters vanish, and Lauriam morphs into a Nightmare himself. His third form would have Nightmare Chirithy's massive arms and claws sticking out of his shoulders, the Graceful Dahlia scythe would be in his human arms, his eyes would be red, Starlight and Divine rose float around him, and the Nightmare emblem would be on his face like a brand.

Nightmare Lauriam would be a Power-type enemy, and Ven would be wrapped in vines. Lauriam's first attack would be casting Doom. Every time he attacks you with his scythe (not his claws or his Keyblades) he'll deplete the Doom counter by one. It also wouldn't help that he'd have a number over his head that would count down with every hit he takes. When it reaches 0, he'd counter with his scythe attack, which can mercifully only hit one person at a time. He'd still have two attacks per turn.

When Nightmare Lauriam is defeated, Ventus would use the powers of Darkness to break out of the vines, then strike Lauriam hard enough to destroy his Nightmare form, with the remnants of Nightmare Chirithy's mind seeping into the Player. Ephemer would then arrive to banish Lauriam, who'd grab onto Ven and try to take him down with him. Ven would try to reason with Ephemer, who, sadly, would have seen Ven's dark side, and simply force him out as well in an attempt to purge the darkness.

The Final Boss of the expansion would be the Foreteller boss rush. Each Foreteller would have less health than the last, but the same max HP. For example, you'd deplete 1/5 of the first Foreteller's HP, and the next Foreteller would then start with 4/5 of their HP, the 3rd 3/5 and the last 2/5. While you're reliving the absolute lowest point of your life, Ventus and Lauriam would wake up in the real world, Lauriam fleeing, and Xehanort taking Ven under his wing.

The next expansion would open after a Timeskip, with Ephemer having become a light-obsessed dictator, who's basically bullied and guilt-tripped Skuld and Brain into remaining loyal. Meanwhile, there's also the issue of the Real Maleficent breaking into the Unchained State to find the Book of Prophecies. Either way, I don't think Ven would be very fond of the Union Leaders after they caused the worst years of his life, Vanitas being particularly hostile towards them even IF they reform.

Whoa, hell of a lot of stuff here MMO Anon, you got creative while I was out for the day. XD

Damn, I know he’s an ass but the poor Union Leaders must’ve been blindsided by Lauriam and his betrayal. And the idea of the Keyblade Graveyard being the Nightmare to the dream of Daybreak Town is honestly a really cool contrast and I’d kill to see something like that in KHUx itself just because it sounds really cool. owo

I actually personally think the battle against Lauriam would be one of the rare times MMO universe would lock you into a true one on one battle, especially if he’s basically the final boss of the Unchained X storyline, and especially if Ven joins in the battle.

The fact that his own Chirithy tries to heal him hurts me. Chirithy deserved better than to be absorbed by Lauriam for trying to protect him.

So that’s basically how Ven and Lauriam end up outside of the Unchained world. Ephemera has to get rid of Lauriam and he drags Ven because the two of them probably got along. Poor Ven. ;w;

The final boss rush actually sounds pretty intense too.

I’m actually most interested in where the post time lapse ideas could’ve gone. Perhaps Ephemera goes to leave to see if he saved Ven since they need the full five and he ends up earlier in time than Ven, resulting in him being the master that indoctrinated Eraqus into his overzealous beliefs for light in this AU. Granted I like my Ephemera being a cool guy and alive, something like this could also explain the origins of Eraqus’s behavior that led to the conflict between him and Terra, as well as the overzealous light beliefs no doubt having at least some effect on Xehanort as well that results in the split between the two of them.

[rajeevr550]

Dawn of Zombies MOD APK 2.51 (Free Craft/Unlocked)

Join online gamers in an epic adventure through the deserted lands. Survive the hardship using all your skills and abilities. Collect and make good uses of the scarce resources from the war-torn world. Build and upgrade your base to defend you from enemies’ attacks. Gather the other survivor and discover the secrets of the Territories. Find out all about this amazing game from the famous studio Royal Ark with our reviews.

Story

In this game, players will be playing as a lucky survival of a post-apocalyptic world in which mankind’s civilizations were razed to the ground after the countless wars and disasters. Now, there are only a few survivors scattered around looking for a way to make it in this devastated world. And worst, because of the wars, many nuclear facilities have been destroyed, allowing the dangerous radiations to cause all kinds of pain. People were mutated, left crazy, and became mindless monsters lurking around. Being on your own, players must protect themselves from the dangerous monsters as well as building your base and gather resources. Your mission is to survive the hardships and locating your lost friend, whose signals were last found in the Territories. Find him because he’s the only one who can help to restore your memories.

Features

Here you’ll find all the exciting features that the game has to offer: Build your own base from scratches

Dawn of Zombies In the world of Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War, dangers are in every corner. A single moment without focuses and you can probably lose your life. Which is why, it’s important to have a safe hideout, where you can protect yourself from the dangerous world. Start by building your base from all kinds of scrap materials. Construct a convenient underground base. Securely store resources to sustain your life and continue to build up your base up to the surface. Form up a formidable defense to fence you from monster attacks. Survive the scarce world With the resources slowly depleted, players will have to deal with all kinds of danger to get their hands onto the valuable resources. Sometimes, people can fight or even take each other’s lives for just a piece of bread. Make sure you’re not the one who’s down on the ground. In this dangerous world, your energy can quickly deplete due to hunger, thirst, radiation or diseases. Don’t let your character to be in the state of having low energy for too long or you won’t be able to make it back to your base. Make sure you bring enough food and drink for your quest as you can restore your energy with those. In addition, sleeping at your base would also refill your energy bar.

Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War

Embrace an exciting adventure

It’s time to join character in his adventure in this strange world. Explore the world of Dawn of Zombies. Follow the stories and encounter dozens of characters, each with their own stories. Take on varied quests and collect valuable rewards. Discover random notes that introduce you to heart-warming stories. Ride whenever you want And if you’re not a fan of walking, Dawn of Zombies will allow gamers to pick any kinds of vehicle to travel around. Ride on your bicycle or crush through the zombies using your monster cars. With the crafting and trading features, there is no limit in what you can get for your characters. Realistic gameplay with lifelike elements To enhance the overall experiences, Dawn of Zombies also features the realistic elements such light-day system, volumetric fog, and so on. Playing the game for long enough, and you’ll feel like you’re actually caught into this chaotic world.

Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War

Explore the large maps with lots of discoverable elements The world in Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War covers a large map with multiple locations for gamers to discover. Explore the Aberration zones and collect valuable artifacts. Venture through the dark forests, wastelands, and challenge the tough zombies, bandits, or wild animals in epic fights. In addition, you’ll have your chances to collect valuable prizes that appear randomly on the map. Check for awesome airdrops, hidden chests, and so on. And for some real actions, you would love to explore the thrilling dungeons. Encounter other groups of survivors Although the population was greatly diminished, there are still survivors in the world of Dawn of Zombies. Hence, players will have their chances to explore the lands and encounter other groups of survivors. Get involved in varied activities with the other groups and factions. Start by trade and communicate with different factions to collect valuable resources and technologies to build your facilities. Become a capable fighter and crafter as you gain reputations with other factions and characters. Unlock certain events and enjoy exciting gameplay. Craft all the items you need

Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War

And to help you survive the scarce and dangerous world, it’s always important for you to be equipped with capable weapons and gears. Explore all the crafting options as you learn to create over 60 types of weapons ranging from AK, M-16, to Makarov Pistol, and so on. In addition, as you progress in the game, you’ll have the chances to discover over 150 different blueprints for armors, vehicles, and more. With skills and materials, a man can create anything in this world. Moreover, you can also explore the customize options on your items using special workbench and artifacts. Exciting combat with varied approaches Engage yourself in exciting combats as you take on different opponents. And with certain opponents, you’ll have varied approaches. Fight them in stealth mode, using the bushes to sneak up and take down your enemies. Craft your own spy drone and scout on the enemies’ bases, then choose the right moment to attack. Or, if you prefer, you can choose to storm out with a machine gun and take down anything that stands in your way. Either of which, it’ll be incredibly fun and enjoyable. Complete epic events to earn your rewards In addition, as you enjoy your time in Dawn of Zombies, there will also be random events to explore. Complete exciting events which involve rescue and protect missions. Defend your allies from the zombies’ attacks and earn your deserved prizes.

Explore awesome online gameplay

Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War

And if you want to go online, there will be varied online gameplay available for you in Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War. Join your friends in multiplayer survival game mode build your base, collect the resources, and join forces to defeat the invading zombies. Travel to huge settlements where you can meet up with other survivals in Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War. Meet new people and trade valuable items. In addition, you can join or create your own clan. Upgrade your base and be ready for epic clan wars. The game also features epic MMO raids, in which gamers can join forces to take down epic bosses and earn incredible loots. Participate in rewarding co-op PvE quests and experience addictive gameplay with Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War. And last but not least, the game even allows online gamers to have their own pets and NPC allies, who can help you with your adventures.

Free to play

Despite all the exciting features, the creators of Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War still manage to surprise us with their pricing. Having said that, the game is currently free to play for any Android gamers to experience. Just access Google Play Store and get the game on your devices. Embark your journeys in the endless adventures of Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War.

Visual and sound quality Graphics

With realistic 3D graphics, Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War introduces gamers to a world with all the devastating elements. Well-polished and detailed-design monsters, infrastructures, and characters create a lifelike experience to any Android gamers.

Sound/Music

Powerful audio experiences with raw images of a war-torn world. You’ll feel like you’re truly caught in this living nightmare.

How To Install Dawn of Zombies APK with OBB data file

APK install it on your device. Extract the OBB file to /SDCARD/Android/obb/com.survival.last. Ensure that the OBB file (main.523.com.survival.last.obb) sits within the com.survival.last folder. Start the game again. Enjoy!

Download Dawn of Zombies Mod latest 2.51 Android APK

For any Android gamers who’re looking for a complete RPG experience on their mobile devices. Dawn of Zombies: Survival after the Last War is definitely the right game for you. Embark an enjoyable journey with epic actions, captivating stories, and provoking thoughts.

DOWNLOAD APK FILE [MOD]

DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY

[recentanimenews]

"Kino's Journey" and "Recovery of an MMO Junkie": Get Hooked on Late-Season Catch-Up!

  Just a few more weeks 'til the fall season wraps up. Winter is looking exciting with second seasons and adaptations, but there are still plenty of cool shows to catch up on before winter sets in!

  This week, we're looking at two fan-favorite shows that you may have heard of, but might be putting off giving a look. We peek at the first episode of the new Kino's Journey -the Beautiful World- and Recovery of an MMO Junkie to see what will grab you and keep you coming back for more -- and, this late in the season, binge-watching to catch up!

  Kino's Journey -the Beautiful World-

Returning from the mists of 2003 this season is Kino, the unflappable traveler making a seemingly neverending journey across a world divided into oddly themed countries. Not like Busch Gardens "oddly themed." More like "the country where everyone can read each other's minds and it's the worst," or "the country where everyone thinks the world is about to end based on a sad poem written by the country next door."

  The new series starts with just as big a punch, with Kino journeying into a country where killing others is not prohibited. A typical three-day, two-night stay (Kino's usual length of time) reveals a surprisingly friendly, non-violent side to the country. Until a fellow traveler comes in with the sole intention of getting his murder on.

  The Hook: The enduring truth of Kino's Journey across all media is that nothing is as it seems, and that everything is uniquely beautiful because of that. This first country is no different. Normally there would be nothing wrong with "spoiling" the end of a premiere episode -- but as each episode is largely a self-contained story, it's best if the viewers discover for themselves just what's so special about this particular trip.

  In the long haul, Kino is an endearing character: super swift with combat, stoic but kind, and the owner of a talking motorcycle named Hermes. All of Kino and Hermes's trips end with the two leaving for pastures new at the end, but having taken away some insight.

  Who Is It For: Despite its occasionally grim and violent overtones, Kino's Journey is a gentle, beautiful show. Even the action is slow-paced, though not in a bad way. If you're looking for something calm and insightful without being too "red pill," it's a strangely comforting watch in spite of (or because of) the ground it covers.

  Kino's Journey -the Beautiful World- airs Fridays at 8:30 am PT.

    Recovery of an MMO Junkie

Nowadays, we're pretty overloaded on MMO-related anime. Shows based on MMOs, shows taking place in MMOs, shows taking place in MMOs you can't leave because something about a dead girl or a mad scientist, etc. So looking into Recovery of an MMO Junkie can look like more of the same on the surface.

  But this is a whole other story. While the first episode consists largely of in-game moments, this gamer meet-cute is on a whole other level.

  Former businesswoman Moriko quits her corporate job and chooses the NEET life -- only to find that her favorite MMO has been discontinued. She lands on a new one, Fruits de Mer, and rolls herself a blue-haired bishonen knight named Hayashi. The going is tough, until a beautiful pink-haired healer named Lily teams up with Hayashi.

  Moriko is eneamored of the angelic Lily and her interactions with Hayashi, losing herself in the romance. Of course, there's always someone behind the other player.

  The Hook: IC romances are awkward because you never know the gender or sexuality of the person behind the character. And we aren't told straightaway, but OP/ED animations and a near-miss over a piece of friend chicken (and, let's face it, every piece of key art) makes it fairly clear that Lily's player has also swapped genders for the game world.

  Another, different sort of hook? This show isn't (at least at the moment) dark. It's a sort of Shop Around the Corner/You've Got Mail for the gamer set, with true conflict but a genuine eye to actual romance -- something rare in gaming-themed series.

  Who Is It For: Wake up, josei, we've got a show for you. The show is ridiculously adorable, with Hayashi fawning over his and Lily's matching gear and getting his butt handed to him just trying to keep up with his new healer sweetheart. Will offline love blossom, too? We can't wait to find out.

  Recovery of an MMO Junkie airs Fridays at 8 am PT.

  -----

  Kara Dennison is responsible for multiple webcomics, blogs and runs interviews for (Re)Generation Who and PotterVerse, and is half the creative team behind the OEL light novel series Owl's Flower. She blogs at karadennison.com and tweets @RubyCosmos. Her latest story can be found in My American Nightmare.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com