StaceyPowers

My friend recently was telling me how he ended up spending most of his time in Skyrim at one point protecting orcs from dragons as well as looking after Vigilance. I also tend to be obsessive about looking after NPCs, often to the point of ludicrous inconvenience. The worst for me is returning to my house and re-doing it repeatedly in Skyrim so that I can manage to prevent the giants or bandits or wolves from killing any of my chickens (I will never buy chickens for my future houses again). Does anybody else do this?

When you are playing open world games and are crossing the map on foot or horseback (not fast travelling), do you have a preferred time of day in-game to do it? I like all the details I can pick up in the daytime, but sometimes it is too bright for me (I have migraines), so night is better. But I miss so many details at night. So, usually I try to start a journey on foot right before sunrise or right before sunset. That way the light is beautiful and atmospheric and also not too bright or dim. What about you? What time of day (in game) do you prefer to travel in open world games?

So, I missed this a couple of months back. 2K is apparently getting into developing the next BioShock game. I feel both excited and nervous about this. It is hard picturing BioShock without Ken Levine (I’m assuming he won’t be involved), but he wasn’t there for BioShock 2, and that game was excellent IMO (and criminally underrated). It seemed to have plenty of his creative influence in it, and was a surprisingly close thematic match for BioShock Infinite after it. It is hard for me to know where to go after Infinite—that game felt so “ultimate” to me. But to be honest, Burial at Sea seemed like such a mixed bag philosophically, and almost seemed to undo some of the awesome stuff Infinite did regarding the redemption arcs of its characters. I think if I were making a BioShock game, I’d start there—not necessarily doing anything else with Booker or Elizabeth, but addressing some of the questions and loose ends philosophically that Burial at Sea left hanging. What about you? Are you excited for a future BioShock game? Nervous? Where would you go with it? @skyfire Tagging you because I know you're a big fan of the series and I'd like your thoughts.

Dragon Age. I have a hard time pulling myself out of the world of Thedas, even to go to bed. I always want to see what happens next in the story or an interaction with a character.

Precisely. Yet these are the people who somehow are treated as if they are indispensable.

I'll probably get the Collection eventually anyway when I upgrade to a system where I can play the remasters. Usually I am the sort of completionist you mention, but … puzzles. Some things frustrate me even more than the “but it isn’t finished” I have in the back of my head.

Quake II Arena is a mainstay for me with regard to this, particularly with the “blowing off steam” component. But I de-stress best with a chill open world game, i.e. Skyrim or Fallout.

Getting a game and finding it can't run would be incredibly frustrating. Almost as frustrating as trying to beat Dark Souls 2.

That does sound like it is ridiculously out of place. Are the timed missions avoidable, or are you forced to play them?

What has kept you from progressing (aside from it being a punishing game)?

That counts. I have some clothing items that in some way remind me of the video games I like. Who did you sneak up on IRL? I feel like there is a story here.

I have focus difficulties as a result of OCD and poor executive function. I can definitely affirm that gaming is helpful with my focus issues. It helps to “re-hijack” the attention that OCD likes to grab and reroute, which probably works so well because gaming is goal-oriented and also gives my OCD completionist activities to fixate on. Thanks for sharing what you’ve learned about video games and the brain. Do you have any personal stories to share about how gaming has helped you?

I know there is a way to set up hot keys on Elder Scrolls Oblivion, but when I click the button that is supposed to make it possible, it isn’t at all clear what to do next. It shows me a sort of radial wheel thingy, but I have yet to click a button that actually does anything. Does anyone know how to assign the hot keys? It is so annoying having to scroll around through the menu screens every single time I want to switch spells, especially since in this game one seems to have to heal oneself almost constantly.

Whenever I am not playing a game I love, I miss it, but there is no way to always be playing all of my games at once, and I know that the more games I acquire, the longer the gaps between playthroughs will be. The game I miss the most when I’m not playing it is BioShock Infinite. I finished my most recent playthrough a few months ago, and I already miss it. What about you? What games do you miss the most between playthroughs?

I have Martin Septim following me around in Oblivion, and I keep refusing to take him to his next destination, because he’s useful in combat. But he’s also a pain in some respects. If I friendly fire him, he turns aggressive and kills me. And if I accidentally steal something in front of him, he attacks me. So, it’d be nice to dump him off. But I have yet to encounter a single person in the game who I can keep as a follower. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

The third game does have a completely different ambiance than the first two. As a point of interest (you may already know this), originally, the atmosphere of Columbia was going to be very different. There are some art nouveau elements in the existing version of the city, but originally the whole city was going to have that nouveau flavour rather than the Beaux-Arts and neoclassical styles it mainly ended up featuring. It wasn’t going to be so bright and expansive either—more murky and dark. In the end, they decided that the planned lighting and atmosphere would be too similar to Rapture, so they ended up going in a different direction with it.

I get antsy to play everything in my rather small video game collection, and honestly get annoyed if I have to wait several months to get around to something. So by this point, I have played almost everything in my collection except for one game which I bought the other month. For those of you who have dozens of games in your collection, many of which are still untouched, which have you had the longest? How long have you had it? Months? Years? How long do you expect to go before you eventually get around to playing it? Do you still feel anxious about when you’ll manage to finally get around to it, or do you generally forget you even have it?

I know that a few of us on here aren’t into online games for one reason or another. In my case, I mostly just prefer solitude while I am gaming since it is how I de-stress and relax. I used to game online a lot though when I was younger. I think to get back into online gaming, I’d need one of two things. Either I’d need to stumble into a game with a really compelling, fleshed-out world and a tight-knit RP-based community, or I’d need to have a friend playing consistently with me in a game that might otherwise not be as social, but at least would be fun to explore. Like I am interested in Elder Scrolls Online mostly just so I can explore more of Tamriel, but doing it by myself while putting up with PK from others just sounds boring/annoying. Of course, everyone I know who plays ESO is on the wrong system and can’t cross-play with me. If you also don’t play games online right now, what situation would potentially get you to change your mind?

That's a great idea. Maybe cover some period of time that we missed, like Left Behind did.

I’ve been having trouble using the Mako tank in Mass Effect. I’ve been getting by okay, but it has been very much flying by the seat of my pants rather than actually figuring out what I am doing. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to get away with that. My first question about this vehicle concerns pressing the “x” button (I think). This lifts the vehicle off the ground, but to what purpose? I have tried it in conjunction with going over bumps, turning, etc. All it does is make me lose further control of the vehicle? It seems like a completely useless function, but I don't know why it would be there unless it has some viable purpose. My next question involves the guns. The larger gun that you can use to send the occasional slow blast does well, but I swear the other gun doesn’t even deal any damage, even when my aim appears good. I usually end up running over targets repeatedly to kill them, and I don’t think this is by design (though it is pretty funny, I have to admit). Is there is something I am not getting about how to fire correctly while in the vehicle? Finally, does this vehicle not auto-repair slowly with time the way character health does? Or am I just not waiting long enough for it to come back? It seems like all damage is permanent if you don’t apply Medi-Gel. I try driving away and getting out of the combat zone, but if the vehicle is on fire, for example, it remains on fire. So when I run out of the repair kits, I have to just start over. Any replies appreciated. @Alyxx You were helpful with combat tips, so I thought I'd see if you have any suggestions.

When I am playing a game where I only control one character, I usually distribute my points and pick my perks right away (unless saving perks for later, as in Skyrim). But when I am playing a game where I have multiple characters to level (i.e. Dragon Age or Mass Effect), I notice I will wait a long time before doing so. It simply is not efficient to level up immediately. It seems like there is someone leveling up every few minutes (okay, not that frequently, but still), and it just yanks me out of immersion to have to constantly sit in their screen to distribute their points. Plus, honestly, I am totally inefficient with leveling in general because it demands so much executive function. So, I usually wait until every member of my party is ready to level up, and then I handle them as a batch. It takes less time, and it means fewer interruptions in the story/gameplay. I’ll make an exception if there is a tough fight ahead and I need every strategic advantage I can get. Then I will level up anyone who is ready. How about you? Do you like leveling? Or do you find it tedious/annoying like I do? Do you level right away, or do you wait to level until you can batch process your party?

For years, I never liked using stealth techniques in games if I could avoid them. I wasn’t very good at them, for one thing. For another, I just preferred the action of running and gunning. It felt more focus, and stealth involved a lot of waiting and anxiety. What’s weird is I’m on my second playthrough of TLOU and I find myself taking a stealthier approach voluntarily this time. TLOU always pushed me in terms of getting me used to stealth, but the first time through, I did very little sneaking and choking of opponents. This time around, I find that is my go-to approach for most rooms if I can manage it. I sneak around and choke as many opponents silently as possible, and am completing sections in some cases without using any ammo which I wouldn’t have thought I could get through that way the first time. It still takes a lot of patience, but I guess I simply am more patient nowadays. Anxiety has been replaced by a sense of satisfaction at feeling I am in control of a situation and my opponents are not. Have you had any unexpected changes regarding how you feel about a particular combat style? Have you grown to love an approach you initially disliked, or vice versa?

Thank you @Crazycrab @Shagger @Executor Akamia

Thank you, @The Blackangel I second @killamch89 and @kingpotato and also nominate @DylanC, @Alyxx, @Executor Akamia, @Crazycrab, @LadyDay, @skyfire.

What is your favorite MMO, past or present?