StaceyPowers

I literally never bothered with melee fighting in Fallout even after years of play until Old World Blues. I was forced to try it because of lack of ammo plus enemies that are in-your-face all the time—and I am shocked to realize it actually has a purpose, lol. Three hits and a nightstalker goes down, and I have almost no points in it. I just figured I’d make this post in case anyone else, like me, just ignored melee skills in Fallout because they thought, “Why would I do that when I have guns?” It is way more efficient for some types of enemies.

Am I missing something about this location in Old World Blues in Fallout New Vegas? Is there no door to walk in? Is there only the terminal to check out?

I noticed while I was doing some research the other day that I am finding more articles in major news outlets and psychology sites which talk about the benefits of playing video games. In the past, when I would look up video games and psychology, I’d usually find endless articles about video game addiction. But since COVID, I have been seeing articles talking about how multiplayer gaming helps us stay socially connected, and how gaming is helping people restore a sense of calm and control in a scary world. Has anyone else noticed this shift? I really hope that after COVID, psychologists continue to acknowledge—and maybe study—more of these positive effects of playing video games. I also hope (but do not expect) that this whole thing will help people without disabilities maybe get some insights into what it is like to be disabled. A lot of us who report positive psychological effects from playing games are disabled, and exist “partly quarantined” all of the time, simply because we can’t get out and do the things other people enjoy. I hope that during COVID, abled persons will learn more about what being homebound is like and why games can be extra-important for those of us who are disabled.

In another thread, @22_22 mentioned that while he has learned cool things from video games, he tends to use them as an escapism outlet rather than deliberating trying to learn things. This made me curious to what extent most of us here prefer games for escapism vs games to help us confront our RL problems? I would say I use games primarily for escapism, a way to try to get out of my own head and stop thinking about my life for a few hours at a time. But I like playing games that give me valuable insights or ideas that I can bring back to RL with me and which somehow improve life outside the game as well. Like, video games help me get out of my own head and escape, but when I deal with real life problems, sometimes I find myself asking, “What would Joel do? What would Ellie do? What would Leliana do? What would Booker do?” etc., and it helps.

Playing BioShock: Infinite and researching various historical and religious references in it has legit helped me form a better understanding of the religious and sociological factors that form the roots of America. In turn, that has helped me to understand current political polarization and how it has moved over time from a slow burn to a simmer (and perhaps soon a boil). Has anyone else found that playing a particular game has helped you understand current events either now, or at some point in the past?

I have everything I need to craft a rune I want in Dragon Age: Inquisition. I have a blank runestone and 9 arcane horror hearts (more than required, I think). But for some reason, the option to craft the rune remains unavailable. Does anyone know what is going wrong? I am on PS3, and I have Skyhold, Dagna, etc.

I've seen it on so many recommendation lists for strong narratives, thus why I picked it up :)

Who here longs for more advanced crafting systems in games like Elder Scrolls or Fallout that would allow you to fully customize the functionality and appearance of your items, more along the lines of the level of customization you get in a game like Second Life? I could really get into that—I just want it in my single player RPGs.

For games like Fallout or Skyrim which allow you (with the appropriate DLCs and quests completed) to alter the appearance of your character after creating them, how often do you do so? I never modify anything but the hair, but I do that pretty often.

I just started Spec-Ops: The Line, on the regular level of difficulty. Anyone have any useful advice for combat, etc?

I pretty much live on the internet and have since high school, so to me there isn’t much of a change in my day to day routine to be honest. I’m like, “What is this going out thing everyone misses so much?” =D

@Dead2009 I'd love to hear how this game is if you find time to follow up on this (and tag me, please). I just found out about this game the other week, and it sounds potentially amazing ^_^

For that matter, I am always trying to figure out if the remaining military was really as bad as they came across. We got a terrible initial impression of them at the start of the game because of Sarah, and obviously they couldn't do an ideal job managing the crisis afterward, but they did at least maintain the quarantine zones.

@kingpotato @TheSteelyardDweller I like both of your ideas. The sea would provide a very different ambiance than we are used to for the most part (though Point Lookout gave us a preview of what a coastal location is like).

@kingpotato @onewingedhoneybee Trade value isn't really what bothers me about holding onto my un-used games though. it's more knowing that someone else in my community might really appreciate getting a cheap deal on a game, and I'm just sitting on the discs wasting their usefulness.

I didn’t have any major issues taking care of dragons in the first couple of Dragon Age games (in fact, I don’t even remember any in DA II?). So far in Dragon Age: Inquisition, I have not successfully killed a single dragon, and I am starting to worry in case I have to kill one eventually for plot reasons. Does anyone have any tips for how I can kill these things?

What do you think are the most beautiful spots in Dragon Age games? In Origins, I really like Orzammar as well as Redcliffe—more than the version of it which shows up in Inquisition. In Inquisition, I love Crestwood, the Hinterlands (which remind me of Yosemite), and the desert areas I have been to thus far (the Western Approach and the Oasis).

Haven't gotten to that one yet. Just did mountain lion with a knife.

As a person with borderline traits, I can relate :) Interesting that both your reply and @Juneberry's have an overlap in that both of you picked games that in some way reflect a black and white world/opposites/splitting--maybe something easier to connect to and more reflective of our inner states than the ambiguous world outside. I can relate to that too. Ethics in video games are so simple: kill all the assholes =D

I am right about to wrap up my second complete playthrough of TLOU and Left Behind (I will probably be done with Left Behind again in a couple of days). Reflecting on the role of the Fireflies throughout the game as well as what relatively scant information we actually learn about them, I am trying to figure out if they actually made any positive and viable contribution to the world at any point. It seems to me they were largely a failing organization, and arguably, however idealistic, another group of thugs in their own way. What do you think?

I am probably in about the last third or fourth of Red Dead Redemption right now on my first playthrough, and I really enjoy the hunting and sharpshooting challenges. To me though, the ones that involve shooting hats off peoples’ heads seem to be near impossible without a gatling gun. What to you are the hardest challenges in RDR?

If you had to pick one videogame that somehow represents who you are as a person, which would it be and why? I would choose BioShock Infinite because I see life as a sea of variables in which I am always looking for and striving to be a constant. Booker and Elizabeth would sooner not exist as they were than allow themselves to vary from the constancy of what they deemed an ethical path, and I admire the hell out of that.

Thanks @Shagger and @The Blackangel. I nominate everyone already nominated :)

I wish I knew what to say about that. All I can do is express great rage at your so-called parents. Nobody should have to feel the need to negate their own existence. And I'd say that as far as parenting goes, producing a suicidal urge in your child perhaps defines ultimate failure.

Unfortunately this is the conclusion almost any child will draw automatically, not having developed the life experience or perspective to know better. And even when you get past it as an adult, the ghost of that belief tends to linger in the background, and has to be routinely put down.