StaceyPowers

I am not huge into streaming, but for those who are, why do you like to watch? Is it to learn and improve your own skills? To listen to the gamer’s commentary and jokes? To just enjoy watching the game play unfold?

Do you read in-game texts which contribute to world-building in a game? What I mean is like the books in Skyrim, the codex entries in Dragon Age, etc. I have to admit I find the Skyrim texts dry and confusing for the most part, and the font is hard on my eyes, so I only read the ones which are on specific topics of interest. I find the codex entries in Dragon Age a bit more readable, and have read a lot more of them as a result. I do love the ways that these types of texts enhance context in a game. Occasionally a book in Skyrim has put an entirely new perspective on an in-game situation for me. What about you?

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Are there any games you’ve played which you weren’t really into in the beginning, but later along you found yourself hooked on? Or maybe series which started out weak, but ended up improving with subsequent titles?

Lol. That reminds me of the time a tiny speck appeared in the sky and then crashed to earth as a mammoth, dead on impact.

I did this thread for Fallout, now let’s do it for Skyrim. What are some silly things you do when you’re bored? For me: Climb up buildings or mountainsides and try to jump down on rooftops. Drop objects in town squares and watch fights ensue. Murder everyone in Markarth. Repeatedly. Murder everyone at the Thalmor Embassy. Repeatedly.

I shall look forward to those then! I've been putting off Point Lookout till I level up a little more. That was why I ended up loving it. And I enjoyed the stealth thing. It's not my strong suit, but I liked the challenge.

So far I've only played Fallout 3 and NV. They're both great, but NV is definitely my favorite. I like the skill/perk distribution, and the well-developed followers. They also seem to be more effective in combat, though it could just be that Boone and I are perfect complements with our dual sniping. Which Fallout games do you like best, and why?

@DylanC and I were talking about how Bethesda games are so glitchy that it's almost a nostalgic part of the Bethesda experience. What are some of the worst (or funniest, or strangest) glitches you've experienced in Bethesda games? For me: -Strange geometric shadows from Dogmeat that take up the WHOLE SCREEN in Fallout 3. -I killed some character in Skyrim, and MONTHS later, the corpse of said character floated in an upright position up the road to me in a completely different part of the map, cut off at the waist. Creepy. -Awful stuttering/freezing in New Vegas. Not at all amusing. Some locations I can’t even enter. Please share some of your Bethesda glitch moments!

Lol, and don't forget about the atrocious physics =D All part of the charm.

Console manufacturers use exclusives as a means to try and sway users into buying their consoles, but obviously they are just one of many factors which influence purchase decisions. Who here ended up choosing a certain console largely for the exclusives? I ended up with a PS3 by coincidence, but The Last Of Us would have been enough to make me buy it if I'd had options.

The only Fallout games I have are Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Between them, I’ve played only a few of the DLCs—the Anchorage one in Fallout 3, Mothership Zeta in Fallout 3, and I’m just wrapping up Dead Money in NV (assuming I ever escape this blasted vault). So far, Dead Money is by far my favorite. I actually got attached to some of the characters, and I liked the break from standard run-and-gun play to stealth/survival. I liked Anchorage too, but Mothership Zeta felt extremely repetitious to me. Which Fallout DLCs are your favourites and least favourites?

If my game didn't crash every half hour or so, I'd almost feel cheated of the authentic Bethesda experience.

This is kind of a broad question, and a really subjective one. Which games have you played which to you felt the most atmospheric?

What is the worst experience you've ever had an MMO? I could type a novel on this topic, but I won't. I'll just say, for me it was an old MUD with horrible microtransactions which essentially allowed one very wealthy player to "buy" domination over the whole game.

Now and again in Fallout 3 and NV, I get this awful error where I enter or leave a zone, and suddenly there are these large geometric obstructions which appear and block everything from view--like weird blocky "shadows" attached to Dogmeat, or (most recently), a weird blocky orange "shadow" from the sky in Dead Money. Unless I have a save prior to the glitch, there seems to be no way to fix it, and it makes the games unplayable. Anyone know any way to stop this?

Are you all excited about PlayStation Classic? I think it's super cool, but at the same time, it just reminds me of how hypocritical Sony is on the whole backwards compatibility issue. They claim that users don't care about old games, and use that as an excuse not to support it, but then they come out with this product, which proves that they know better. Thoughts?

I haven’t yet had a chance to try virtual reality, but I am really excited to do so whenever I am able. But I read a lot of reviews from folks who feel that VR is something of a “gimmick”—something that is cooler in theory than in reality, and too clunky to really “stick” from a consumer perspective. What do y’all think? Will interest in VR continue, or is it just a fleeting trend?

I still haven't had a chance to try VR, but I read a lot about it. I notice that while VR is a great idea in theory, a lot of gaming experiences just don't "translate" into virtual reality all that well--at least according to reviews. It made me wonder what some of the best VR experiences are which are currently available?

Video game companies are notorious for really screwing up with microtransactions/freemium pricing models. I’ve played some games that were truly terrible in this regard, where rich players were able to purchase a huge advantage over everyone else. It made me curious if anyone has really gotten this model right yet. What games have the least offensive microtransaction systems and manage to maintain fair and balanced play without bleeding everyone dry?

We've been seeing more and more asymmetrical games over the past few years. I'm curious what everybody thinks about this trend. I have yet to get into it--I usually feel like asymmetrical games are not well balanced, but I'm curious if anyone here has any titles they recommend.

I love Skyrim, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, but I want to broaden my horizons. Anyone have any open world games to suggest? Preferably on PS3, but other platforms as well.

And they have SO many bugs.

You might be aware that there have been rumors on and off of a Last of Us movie for years now. Neil Druckmann has actually said that he doesn't really want it to go forward anymore, because (as Digital Spy reported), ""But, for me, and I know for Naughty Dog and for a lot of our fans, Nolan North is Nathan Drake, Ashley Johnson is Ellie, Troy Baker is Joel. And it would be very disorienting to see someone else in that role." Agree or disagree? Would you like to see a Last of Us movie? I think in some ways to me it'd feel superfluous--it'd be hard to get more involved with a passive film presentation than a game--but it's a different medium, and I could still see it working in some way.

What time of day do you play video games? I play late at night in the hour or two before I go to bed. It helps me let go of my worries and relaxes me so I can fall asleep.