StaceyPowers

What are some video game streamers and channels you enjoy that are not very well known?

These are great ideas, and more what I was looking for. "Urgency" may not have been the right word, but I don't know what is. I detest time limits in games, but the linear games that give me a sense of "urgency" do not have time limits or rush the gamer either. It's more just a sense that something important is going on, the stakes are high, and I desire to resolve a situation for the sake of the characters. Even with no time limits, things feel very present, focused, in the moment. That is what is often missing for me in open worlds.

I don’t play sports games, so I have always wondered something. If you buy new editions of sports games every year, what happens to the old ones? Are you just done with them? Or do you return to old editions now and again to relive past seasons or because some of them were especially good?

What are some quests or DLCs that you have heard other people complain are tedious or repetitious, but which you nonetheless enjoy?

What do you want to experience as an open world game? I want a game set in a highly researched/realistic prehistoric time where I can play as a dinosaur.

You know how sometimes developers release a game that is essentially unfinished until you get the DLC that wraps up the story? What are the most common reasons this happens? I am assuming developers/publishers do not plan for this situation.

I recently learned how to connect my DualSense with my laptop to play games. But there is absolutely no way to get the sensitivity and precision with the joysticks on the gamepad that I get out of a mouse, which makes shooters hard to play. Is this a limitation inherent to joysticks, or are PlayStation controllers just crappy with sensitivity and precision? Before you ask, I am not using the mouse for ergonomic/pain reasons.

What open world games have the best voice acting? I have been pretty impressed with some of the acting in The Outer Worlds, especially Ashly Burch (Parvati).

What are some games where you had to work at empathizing with/understanding the characters? It took me a while to empathize with a lot of the characters in The Outer Worlds (more the NPCs at large—shipmates were pretty easy) due to how indoctrinated they are.

Phew. For a moment there, I was wondering if "molding" was a word for "modding" and I was out of the loop.

I love open worlds, but I feel one of the things that is usually lost when playing them is a sense of “urgency”. Linear games keep us moving forward; there is often a rising sense of urgency built into the pacing. But open world games seem to lack this. Is there a way to embed that sense of dire importance/urgency into an open world format?

When you play a game with civilians running around everywhere (i.e. open worlds especially), do you go out of your way to try not to accidentally kill civilians, or do you just not care if they get friendly fired?

Do you ever have “what if I cannot beat this game” anxiety the first time you play a game? If so, does the loss of that anxiety after successfully beating the game make it more relaxing and fun on a replay for you?

Are there any series you used to loyally play, but have now abandoned? Why did you jump ship? Did you get burned out by it, or did you just get distracted and forget about it?

When you were new to gaming (or a particular type of game), were there any silly, weird things you did as a completionist because you just didn’t know any better? For instance, when I first started playing open world RPGs, I tried to loot everything. Every single item.

I do not think there is one “best” medium for storytelling, but that each has strengths and weaknesses. But what I think video games do better than other mediums is create fast empathy between the player and the character they play. What aspects of storytelling do you think games do best?

Sometimes in games, one visits an area, then something happens that changes that area a bit (i.e. destruction), and then the game brings you back there. It is the same, yet different. I seem to find these situations more disorienting than visiting brand new locations. It is like there are two conflicting maps in my head at all times. Does anyone else experience the same?

What games are the hardest to learn/get into as a newbie? I seem to have the most trouble with games that involve building, i.e. Minecraft or No Man’s Sky.

While watching the Dragon Age: Origins end slides again the other night, I realized how weird it is that there is not a slide for every companion—or even most of them! Only two companions got slides. What other games are missing key ending slides?

I was laughing last night when I realized a DA: Origins DLC I replayed forgot completely to conclude the stories of the temporary party members. What are some other games that drop major plot points and provide no resolution?

TLOU, since you'd likely end up infected.

Anyone know the pricing?

How do you feel about the default audio balancing in most games you have played? Either I have really outdated speakers, am really bad at hearing dialogue, or I think default balancing is really bad. I am not sure which is the case.

What real life cities do you want to be featured as open world settings in video games? Why those particular cities? What features would make them compelling to explore?

Is there a game that mot people swear is pretty easy, but which you personally find to be hard?