StaceyPowers

If you could be friends with any video game character in real life, who would it be and why? Note: not necessarily your favorite video game character, but rather someone you think would actually make a good friend. For me, I think I would pick Mjoll from Skyrim. She is genuinely honorably and loyal. I know many gamers find Aerin irritating, but I love that she makes her friendship with him a permanent priority. After that, I’d pick Leliana from DA. I like that she enjoys cunning, but she has a conscience and can be trusted. She’s also open-minded and not afraid to be seen as strange.

I’ve read repeatedly that you can hit a clicker on the back of the head with a brick in The Last of Us, and this will stun it. But every time I have tried, I’ve just gotten killed. Anyone know if this works or what I’m doing wrong?

Fallout New Vegas sometimes “stutters.” I’ve found that even when the game is running smoothly, every few moments when I walk, it will sometimes freeze for half a second. This is not a major problem, but sometimes when I enter a certain area, the “stuttering” will result in extreme choppiness, and often the screen will stick repeatedly for minutes at a time, if it doesn’t just freeze upright. It makes it literally unplayable in spots. Does anyone know what causes this or how to fix it? I’m on PS3.

Which video games do you think have the best dialogue, in terms of being compelling, natural, consistent and entertaining? I have been really impressed by the dialogue in both The Last of Us and Dragon Age: Origins.

Does anyone here write game-related fan fiction? I don’t, but I have a friend who really gets into it. If anyone here does, I’d love to see a link out to your work.

Obviously we all weigh a number of considerations into our game purchases, but if you had to pick one most important factor, what would it be? For me, I think I would say it is depth. It can be depth of characters, depth of world development, or depth of story, but it needs to be there in one respect or another.

On a related note to Cute but nasty monsters from video games , are there any enemies in video games you just can't bring yourself to kill at all, whether owing to their cuteness or some other unrelated factor? For me, it's the Forsworn in Skyrim. I sided with them in the Cidna Mine quest, and I really was hoping the Reach would be theirs again. So it really irritates me that the game continues to have almost all of them be hostile despite that decision. Since I want them to take back the Reach, all I can bring myself to do when attacked is to flee at top speed so I won't be forced to kill them.

I once got to help build an area for a text-based game (like those discussed in thisthread). It was on a volunteer basis, but it was fun and interesting, and I loved that I got to make a permanent contribution to something that I cared a lot about. Has anyone here ever worked on a game of any type, paid or otherwise?

It's actually very immersive. After a while, you kind of forget you're reading and typing. It's hard to beat the graphics engine of the imagination. You can think of the mulitplayer ones (MUDs) as kind of over-glorified chat rooms where the "rooms" are virtual locations with descriptions, all interconnecting into whole lands. You can hang out and talk, create new buildings or landscapes, engage in combat, attempt to take over the world, whatever.

Do you prefer one-handed or two-handed weapons in video games? I know people who like two-handed weapons, but I usually can’t wrap my mind around it. I really like having a free hand to use another weapon or cast a spell. Plus, big two-handed weapons are so … slow. It is hard to time my hits. By the time I've swung the blade, the target has moved.

Do you prefer to wear light or heavy armor in video games? I like light armor. I tend to think the best defense is a good offense. I also don’t like running/moving more slowly because of bulky armor. Plus, I have a hard enough time keeping my inventory weight under control.

What is the very first game you can ever remember playing? For me, I know it had to have been something on the original Nintendo, most likely Tetris.

When you download content for a game, do you like that content to be interwoven closely with the main game/story, or kept separate? I like how the Skyrim DLCs are seamlessly integrated into the world to a large degree--it feels very natural. But in some respects, I actually prefer the Fallout DLCs I've played, and how they take you to a totally different location and let you play in a different way. It feels almost like going on vacation, and you come home loaded with souvenirs.

I am really into open world gaming, but I feel like some things could definitely be improved. For example: -More relevant "follow up" quests following completion of specific quest lines (i.e. after fixing the Thieves guild in Skyrim, why can't there be some kind of extended quest line involving the guild's new golden age?). -More three-dimensional followers with solid backstories (Fallout NV does this right; Skyrim gets it pretty wrong). -More continuity in terms of consequences of one's actions across the map. I'd love to see a kind of hybrid format between Dragon Age and Skyrim. I love the openness of Skyrim, but it'd be cool if it had the depth and evolution of Dragon Age in response to one's choices. What do you think could improve in open world game formats?

Here's an example of what I mean: Completely text-based =D

What game features the most impressive graphics you have ever seen to date?

In most online RPGs I’ve played or heard about, RP is very much on a casual “if you want to” basis, not strictly enforced. And most players are pretty casual about it, if they bother at all. On a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is RP strictly enforced and 1 is like “not at all,” I usually prefer environments which are around a 7-9. Do you all like to RP? If so, do you get into it a lot, or prefer to spend most of your time in MMOs partly or totally OOC? Or do you just prefer to avoid interaction and spend time on your own?

Have you ever played a game which was genuinely bizarre, like in a "what did I just play" kind of way? What game, and what made it weird?

Did you ever play a video game with a mind-bending plot twist? If so, what was it? Spoilers okay.

I've actually never rage-quit during a gaming session. If anything, I tend to get all the more obsessive about beating something when it's driving me crazy (to the point where if I have to step away, I just keep trying to beat it in my head, even in my sleep). That being said, do you rage-quit? If so, what was your most frustrating/dramatic rage-quit ever?

It's where entire games are text-based inputs/outputs. Like you read a description of a room, then you type "northwest" to walk "northwest" to another room, and so forth.

Have you ever learned any real-world skills from playing games? I’ve learned a couple. -Playing MMOs taught me a lot of people skills. -I learned how to type ridiculously fast playing MUDs when I was younger. Both of the above have helped me with school first, and later work. What about the rest of you?

Anyone have any amazing screen grabs to share from any video games?

When I was growing up, I was huge into video games, but went through a time where I didn't have the time/money after graduating to play much. But now that I have a PS3, I game even more than I did when I was young. Just curious how the habits of adult gamers here have evolved over your lifetimes. Do you game more or less than you used to?

Anyone here enjoy text-based games? Like MUDs, old Infocom single-player games, etc.