StaceyPowers

When I gamed on PC, I used to turn off a lot of video game soundtracks and just play my own music. But that was mainly for FPS games where I wanted music that helped me focus and play better and which fit better to me with the mood of running and gunning. But since gaming on console, I abandoned playing my own music, mostly just because I don’t know how to send music to my console and never bothered learning. But at the same time, I don’t really miss it since I’m playing different types of games and tend to like their soundtracks even with their repetition. Then again, I sometimes think if I started soundtracking on my own again, I’d wonder how I lived without it. When you game, do you listen to the soundtracks that came with your games most of the time, or do you usually play your own music selection instead?

I've heard some people argue that Infinite takes your choices away, when the first two games were about choice. But the third game was every bit as much about choice. It's just that Booker arguably had more of them than he wanted. And either way, the whole series was definitely about free will. Giving the gamer control of Booker's choices would've introduced arbitrariness to his existence and violated the character's will. The whole point of the story was to eliminate that arbitrariness, and in doing so, eliminate all possibility of Comstock.

The new music has been awesome! I wish it could follow me back to the main game :) Thanks!

Ahh. Someone should have warned you. Skyrim is probably the buggiest game ever made. Best advice is Save Often and Expect Bugs. Most of them are annoying or funny, but some of them are a real pain in the arse.

I have played all the DLCs in Fallout 3, and have played two of the DLCs in Fallout New Vegas. Right now I’m in the middle of Old World Blues, and then I will just have Lonesome Road left to complete. I have felt like DLCs are a treat in Fallout ever since the first one I played, maybe more so than in, say, Skyrim. Skyrim’s DLCs obviously add a lot of value, but I think I figured out what it is about Fallout DLCs that I like so much. I think it is how each of them is its own separate “production.” They take you to different locations, and there is a chance to experiment with the format of the gameplay without disrupting the main game (i.e. stealth in Dead Money, or what feels like a military shooter in Anchorage). This also provides a chance to tell a linear story with a start, middle and end, again without disrupting the freedom of the open world in the main part of the game. Even though I love open worlds, I love linear stories too. I like both the experimentation and the stories, and it seems like a smart way of doing more with an open world game without curbing into its overall freedom. My only regret is how much I wish I could bring some of the temporary companions back with me, and can’t. Are there any other open world games that handle DLCs in a similar way?

In terms of sheer bang for your buck, what do you consider to be the best investments you ever made in DLCs? I think for me, The Last of Us: Left Behind and BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea are the best DLCs I got for the money. I would say that both games are essentially incomplete without their DLCs. Even though they play through just fine without them, there is critical information in both without which the main games cannot be fully appreciated.

I’m partway into Old World Blues on Fallout NV for the first time. I love the dialogue, and that there is a whole new map area to explore, but I have to admit I am having a hard time with this DLC. I’m pretty useless without a companion and I forgot to bring ammo for my only decent gun. I’m level 90 or so on guns, but only like 35 for energy weapons, and almost nothing for melee. So far, I am bleeding supplies like crazy, burning through ammo, most of which doesn’t seem to be replaceable, and barely keeping pace with replacing stimpacks and foods. I am pretty sure I will make it through without running out of everything, but it will be tight. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to make the most of my supplies, other than “run away and fast travel,” which has been my top strategy? I finally figured out last night I can use the “wait” function to regenerate health with that halo thingy on my head. @DylanC I know this is one of your favorite Fallout DLCs. And you're always awesome with suggestions :)

Both them and Tenenbaum to me fell into the archetype of "indifferent scientist who grew a conscience." Arguably they are the voice of conscience in both games.

Thematically they are linked too, which Burial of Sea makes super obvious if you somehow missed it playing the main games =D

I love it. Deepest game in the universe? No. But super relaxing with a rich world to explore.

As I just learned from @kingpotato, there is going to be a TV show on HBO based on The Last of Us. As best I can tell, it will specifically follow Ellie and Joel’s story, rather than being something else set in the same universe. My question to everyone here is, what do you all think about this? My initial reaction to putting TLOU on a screen (other than a video game screen is) is that it seems superfluous. I can’t imagine any movie or TV show based on TLOU getting anywhere near the intensity of the video game. Any other medium just sounds like a downgrade. But I am reassured that Neil Druckmann will be an executive producer and that he will do some writing on the series. If I’m not mistaken, even he seemed skeptical about adapting the game as a movie in the past. Being as he’s enthused about this—and an amazing writer—that is enough to convince me that it may be worth it after all. As a writer, I’ve learned so much from him, and I think this is a way I could learn more. There also could be ways to use this to fill in gaps and give us something other than just an overview of events we have played through. For example, there is a huge chunk of missing time between the escape from Pittsburgh and arrival at Jackson. There is no way that it was just an easy straight shot across the country. Just as Left Behind filled in a couple of time gaps, this could too. And just as Left Behind gave us more background on Ellie’s past (which I think is 100% essential to a full understanding and appreciation of the main game), this series could also tell us a lot more about both characters’ pasts. Are you excited about the HBO show? What would you want to see from the show? How could it add to the story and stand on its own rather than just being superfluous next to the game?

I have been seriously missing the BioShock series, even though I finished my most recent playthrough of it maybe three or four months ago (it could be longer, but it probably isn’t). It’ll probably be a few more months though before I get around to starting at the beginning again. It made me curious how often everyone here tends to play their favorite games, and what the longest span of time is that you have gone between playthroughs of the game you love most?

Fink and Fontaine seemed most closely paralleled to me. Nobody quite seemed a fit with Daisy to me. Tenenbaum and Leuteces to me seemed parallel.

I actually felt like this is the farthest-fetched theory I came up with, but still viable. I’m surprised you think it is the most likely possibility. But I suppose just as there is the latent potential for Comstock in Booker, there is the latent potential for Booker in Comstock.

Hah, ignore my questions on the other thread about whether you finished. Obviously you did :) I'm glad you loved the game. I feel it's a masterpiece on so many levels I don't even know where to begin. I felt like the ending of Infinite was so victorious--like by cutting off that unwanted set of branches from the multiversal tree through sheer will, Booker became a FACT, a constant, without the Comstock variable. I actually believe in a multiverse and am sort of obsessed with trying to be a constant and to value the likely constants in my life across time and space--so I guess you could say for me the game was almost like a religious experience. Burial at Sea kind of bothered me because I felt like it erased the messages of hope and redemption of Infinite somewhat--Elizabeth seems doomed to repeat the mistakes of her lineage, even though they erased that lineage, etc. And ironically, I think that version of Comstock she murdered was actually on a redemption path toward becoming more like Booker. But I really like what you said here--that in a way, doing so was what erased her and created balance--indeed, her existence did seem to be an anomaly, and it kind of makes sense she'd wipe herself out in that fashion. Still, it would have been nice if our heroes hadn't been consumed by all that self-loathing in the end. For all their flaws, they were remarkable people. Comstock was a monster on an incredible scale--so the fact that Booker managed to beat him means that the good in him towered even higher than his demons, and the same was true for Elizabeth in Infinite. I guess I just wished she'd been able to see that in Burial at Sea. Still, her act in saving Sally did a wonderful job tying full circle to the thematic elements of the first two games and the protection of the innocents as what makes a life worth living--and what makes it worth sacrificing if necessary.

One of the biggest giveaways that he wasn’t working on BioShock 2 is the vending machines. There’s no “Welcome to the CIRCUS of VALUES!” I was amused to find out that is actually Ken Levine’s voice. So, since he wasn’t there in the second game, no vending machine voice. His voice is back for some of the vending machines in Infinite (i.e. “I appreciate a woman who appreciates QUALITY!”) Anyway, did you finish Infinite? What did you think? And are you playing Burial at Sea? I adored Infinite and could probably write a novel about why, and I loved the ending, as bittersweet and ambiguous as it was. Burial at Sea I have mixed feelings about. It’s definitely worth playing, but I have issues with it.

Have you played through the remasters yet? How are they compared to the originals? I’ve been wanting to hear some feedback, though I can’t imagine they aren’t worth it since they go on sale so often. $20 for the lot with even minor improvements seems like it’d probably be worthwhile to me.

Kind of funny you mention that you would have liked to see the multiverse brought into the Rapture games, but you’re not a big fan of Infinite if I recall. How would you have liked to see the concept used in BioShock 1 or 2? Actually, wasn’t there some kind of cult involved in the area where the trees are grown in Rapture? But I can’t recall what that was all about. I did consider Lamb’s entire organization to be a cult in BioShock 2. The handling of religious fervour’s potential for destruction somehow seemed more artfully handled to me in Infinite though. I think it was that Infinite did a better job capturing the “appeal” of the rotten ideology and showing me how it tempted its followers (I think a lot of gamers could see the seductive allure of Columbia’s outward beauty). I never figured out what the hell anyone saw in Lamb’s bs.

Nope. All I have to do is not listen to bands I don't enjoy. Rogue One. Depends what is out once I get my PS5, but I would assume it would be TLOU 2.

Fallout. Which would be just fine, cause only there does radiation fix broken bones.

This might make me weird, but I literally have never downloaded a single theme for my console. I don’t really think much about the menu screens—I just want to get to whatever I am playing or watching. Do you download console themes? Which are your favorites?

We’ve talked about games that we didn’t think we would like that we ended up getting into. I am pretty sure we also have probably talked about what criteria we use to pick a game to play, i.e. what we think will make us like a game. But what makes you suspect that you won’t enjoy a particular game when you watch a trailer, read a description, or read a review? In my case, I think what makes me shy away from a game are mentions of puzzles and/or a lack of discussion regarding story or characters (making me think that neither are relevant). Unless it is an open world game, in which case I don’t think I’ve ever suspected I wouldn’t enjoy one. I used to suspect I would dislike all third person perspective games, but I’ve since gotten used to them, so that is no longer a deterrent. What deters you from becoming interested in a game—sometimes perhaps to your own detriment?

Do you watch speedrun videos? And do you participate in speedruns yourself? If so, what is the appeal? I do think I see why speedruns are entertaining, just from a “check out what I managed to do” standpoint. In general though, I’ve never really got into it, and I actually get really annoyed if there is a section of a video game which is essentially designed as a speedrun, where you have to get through an area within X minutes or start over.

I just learned that Microsoft and Sony aren’t going to GDC 2020 because of fears of coronavirus (they are doing digital panels instead). It’s hard for me to imagine that the disruptions from the virus aren’t going to impact manufacturing for the next gen consoles. So far as I know, neither company has said it expects a delay in the release schedule, but I don’t know if that is realistic or not. What do you think? Do you think we will still get the PS5 and Xbox Series X during the holiday 2020 release window, or do you think either or both might be delayed?

So, I was doing Cass’ quest, and I picked the lawful approach where we turned in the evidence to the NCR rather than going and killing everyone. But then we got attacked in the street at random on the way home, and we ended up having to kill everyone anyway. My rep with the NCR dropped to “sneering punk,” and then some NCR assassin showed up and told me I had 3 in-game days to fix it or they’d send people to kill me. Does anyone know a way to actually raise rep from that level within 3 in-game days? I headed to Camp Forlorn Hope and did a bunch of quests, but even with that and taking Nelson, no improvement. I returned to Vegas and tried helping out the NCR and the Kings, no NCR fame. With all that traveling, time is up, so I’ve donned NCR armor and hope that will keep them off my back. But now I am wondering if it is even possible to fix the rep within the given timeframe? If so, what is the most efficient way to do it?