Community MetaSteam | January 2025 - Remember cloud, a great remake comes with great responsibility, kuppo.

[Le Pertti]

About the arrowhead chud being a chud, the first thing is he is replying to someone asking them not to add DEI into their games, replying to that is not good, then to essentially agree that adding diversity is bad for art. He doesnt say it doesnt add anything, but that it actually makes it worse.

There is no such thing as ‘enforcing adding diversity’.

How come cis white people add value by default but everyone else has to justify their existence in media.

Also, no one is forcing diversity, hell even if it was forced, why exactly would that be a bad thing?

 

[Panda Pedinte]

My haul this sale:

Firewatch, Last Signal, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader - Season Pass, Eastshade, On Your Tail, Balatro, The Hunter's Journals - Wight Chapel Dreams, The Hunter's Journals - Return to Wight Chapel, The Excavation of Hob's Barrow, Fields of Mistria.

Got giffted Desperados III and Save Room - Organization Puzzle.

Could one of you hip kids please help me translate this answer I got in a Youtube comment:

"arl thx"

I know the second part is "thanks", but the first mystifies me. I know of "irl", or "in real life", but that's not applicable in context.

The only other place I saw "arl" was in the Rocket League community, it means air roll left

 

[Le Pertti]

Share your thoughts! Community New Year, What can we do better?

 

[Shantom]

Could one of you hip kids please help me translate this answer I got in a Youtube comment:

"arl thx"

I know the second part is "thanks", but the first mystifies me. I know of "irl", or "in real life", but that's not applicable in context.

They mean alr for alright I'd guess

 

[Aaron D.]

I impulse-purchased CDDA on Steam just before the sale ended because if it's not in my Steam library I kinda forget it's there.

I'm glad I did, just like with Dwarf Fortress, but at the same time kinda feel like a moron as well, lol.

 

[fokkusu]

Didn't buy anything from sale

 

[Ascheroth]

downloaded Wuthering Waves, guess I'll see how long I play this one

Curious what you'll think about it. Personally I only lasted a couple days back during 1.0 cause the story was dogshit and the localisation a joke.
It's pretty though and does have more potentially complex combat though iirc.
I do wonder how their 2.0 is gonna go for them, from what little I saw the new location looked very good and the character designs are a step up. Not really interested in giving them another chance though, already play more then enough of these.

 

[Stevey]

Last minute impulse buy.

 

[ZKenir]

Curious what you'll think about it. Personally I only lasted a couple days back during 1.0 cause the story was dogshit and the localisation a joke.

gonna play through the night and see how it is, so far it's decently fun

It's pretty though and does have more potentially complex combat though iirc.

this is not a bonus in my book, I play these games to relax and have an easy time, I bounced off HARD from ZZZ tower mode at floor 30 because of no orange/red flashes that announce the moment to swap/dodge
I already noticed this because I can jump-attack, I was super happy there's no jump mechanics in ZZZ

 

[lashman]

Last minute impulse buy.

Total War: ROMASTERED

 

[Morten88]

Bought these this winter sale:
Anno 1800 (thought i had it on steam)
Stellaris
Back 4 blood
South park stick of truth
Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition
Divinity: Original Sin 2 Launch
Caves of qud (Really good game)

 

[PhaZZe]

bought nothing only a gift, im proud of myself (last game was Wolfenstein 2)

 

[Alextended]

He stated that if adding diversity to the game doesn't make the game better in some form, then you should not add diversity. I don't see how that is being a chud. Adding diversity for the sake of diversity is not a good thing. However, if it is well implemented and is supported by the game design, no problem.

Quick example for me personally: the Life is Strange games, especiallty the first one would not be good if they removed the diversity of the game, diversity was not only just part of that game's design, it was a very important part.

The problem is that somehow an all white, straight, non diverse cast is apparently a great default quality that warrants no mention and criticism until someone decides to add a diverse character which deserves all the bashing in the world and it's diversity that needs to be challenged and fought against out of the blue like that tweet rather than just bad games and bad writing in general which everybody's just fine to at worst skip until it happens to have a character that qualifies as such and it deserves to be called out and diversity deserves to be pointed out as the core issue behind all that game's problems etc. etc.

Gotta be pretty stupid and ignorant to not be able to have one or more diverse characters in your game at the same level of quality as all your other characters and think that even if it happens to be a game that doesn't have anything but a hint of a story because it's yet another copy paste of some known PVP formula or a shallow ARPG with non descript follower characters or whatever it's still only the diverse characters that need to prove their worth to be in the game in a way that all the other characters simply don't and it's a problem to add them anywhere without enough justification and a thorough and interesting award worthy explanation of their whole existence or whatever. You can add them anywhere and they won't be the game's problem unless done more badly somehow than all the other content in the game, which there's no reason to have that result anyway, or look to them to start pointing out problems.

I missed when every game became oscar worthy so diverse characters should also only be added on that level and it's somehow harder to attain for them.

 

[kio]

A bit late but Happy New Year everyone.

Can't really say I'm very hopeful for this year as a whole but let's try to find a little joy everyday in the small things around us. Stay safe, take care of the ones you love and never forget that anime is the undoing of humankind.

 

[Eila]

Could one of you hip kids please help me translate this answer I got in a Youtube comment:

"arl thx"

I know the second part is "thanks", but the first mystifies me. I know of "irl", or "in real life", but that's not applicable in context.

Maybe he tried to say alr(ight) thx.

 

[Durante]

No, I haven't played any Atelier before.

Then enjoy, and if you like it at least you can be pretty sure that you won't run out of games of that type to play in the next decade or two

FWIW, If you decide to look at more Atelier in the future, I think the biggest conceptual gameplay break in the franchise is when it goes from meaningful time limits to no time limits. The games before and after that change of course still have very substantial individual differences in things like the alchemy systems or combat, but I don't think that's as fundamental a difference for the whole game as the time limits are.

 

[tetel]

Happy new year everyone!

I honestly think Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a too difficulty puzzle game for me. Not ready for it. Tried to check something up and some answers for some puzzles are randomized too.

I don't think it's much harder than your average escape room game (as the puzzles are mostly of that sort), it's just the semi-open structure makes it rather hard to track what clues you have and what clues you don't and it's kinda easy to get lost. I'd recommend making at least some notes and just walking around everywhere.

Sale haul:

Spoiler

 

[nofuckinidea]

Happy new year Meta! Here's to an anime-free 2025!

 

[Mivey]

Those are the only games I got, because they were each at or near 5 bucks. Otherwise sat this one out.

 

[BaoIzumi]

Didn't buy anything from sale

Ditto

 

[Hektor]

 

[Cacher]

Then enjoy, and if you like it at least you can be pretty sure that you won't run out of games of that type to play in the next decade or two

FWIW, If you decide to look at more Atelier in the future, I think the biggest conceptual gameplay break in the franchise is when it goes from meaningful time limits to no time limits. The games before and after that change of course still have very substantial individual differences in things like the alchemy systems or combat, but I don't think that's as fundamental a difference for the whole game as the time limits are.

Thanks. I will probably play the Ryza games first. After putting more hours into it I think without a time limit suits my current mood, without it the gameplay is very chill and laid-back. On the other hand, I probably would enjoy having a time limit on things, too. There is no sleep requirement, and this breaks immersion to me.

 

[Bhodi Li]

 

[Le Pertti]

Such a nice problem to have, I am having trouble to decide which five games I want in my GOTY list! I have six games I feel needs to be there.XD

 

[Mivey]

Such a nice problem to have, I am having trouble to decide which five games I want in my GOTY list! I have six games I feel needs to be there.XD

Just checked the games I played this year that released in 2024. Was a surprisingly large number:

Spoiler

• Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy
• Outcast: A New Beginning
• Horizon: Forbidden West
• Eiyuden Chronicles
• Read Only Memories: NEURODIVER
• An English Haunting
• Tales of Kenzera™: ZAU
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak
• Alone in the Dark (2024)
• Felvidek
• Metaphor
• Space Marine II
• To the Moon Beach Episode
• Ace Attorney Investigations Collection
• Dragon Age The Veilguard
• Tomb Raider I-III Remastered
• Until Dawn
• Silent Hill 2 (2024)
• Follow the meaning
• Loco Motive
  
  
  

It's 21 games, when usually I have trouble filling even 10.

 

[Ge0force]

The PSN account requirement for Lost Soul Aside has disappeared on Steam:


I'm curious if Sony removed it temporary to avoid outrage, or if they are finally dropping the PSN requirement for singleplayer games.

 

[「Echo」]

Oh god we're having a Retard Era moment.

Also, no one is forcing diversity, hell even if it was forced, why exactly would that be a bad thing?

Because it takes away creative freedom/agency for the sake of ticking arbitrary boxes?

Nobody likes "forced" anything where it isn't necessary. It often results in underbaked and ingenuine nonsense, that just leads to even more problems. See: current politics. Lefties biggest complaint? How ingenuine """""allies""""" often feel/become/reveal themselves to be.

How many more "milkshake ducks" until people wake the fuck up?

If you are making a character/story and your first and most important intention is not simply to make it good but rather to tick a box? It will show and it will fall flat. This has been proven over and over and over, and all anyone wants to do is circle the drain and point fingers at sides.

The VAST majority of people/consumers will not actually care about any of this shit as long as the game is good. Anyone else is simply an annoyingly vocal minority. And that also goes for both "sides."

See: The amount of people who complained about CDP Red/Cyberpunk's depiction of trans, but still bought and played it anyway. Or Hogwarts massive success. Or NieR/Stellar Blade selling gangbusters despite """""problematic""""" depictions of Women.

Also bookmark this post for when Witcher 4 comes out and sells millions with tons of fanfare and positive reviews, despite the complaints against Ciri right now.

 

[Le Pertti]

Oh god we're having a Retard Era moment.



Because it takes away creative freedom/agency for the sake of ticking arbitrary boxes?

Nobody likes "forced" anything where it isn't necessary. It often results in underbaked and ingenuine nonsense, that just leads to even more problems. See: current politics. Lefties biggest complaint? How ingenuine """""allies""""" often feel/become/reveal themselves to be.

How many more "milkshake ducks" until people wake the fuck up?

If you are making a character/story and your first and most important intention is not simply to make it good but rather to tick a box? It will show and it will fall flat. This has been proven over and over and over, and all anyone wants to do is circle the drain and point fingers at sides.

The VAST majority of people/consumers will not actually care about any of this shit as long as the game is good. Anyone else is simply an annoyingly vocal minority. And that also goes for both "sides."

See: The amount of people who complained about CDP Red/Cyberpunk's depiction of trans, but still bought and played it anyway. Or Hogwarts massive success. Or NieR/Stellar Blade selling gangbusters despite """""problematic""""" depictions of Women.

Also bookmark this post for when Witcher 4 comes out and sells millions with tons of fanfare and positive reviews, despite the complaints against Ciri right now.

Oh I agree if it's an indie game dev, creative freedom is key. But mostly when it comes to bigger games they already have so many "forced" things that they have to do. My question was, if diversity was one of them, how exactly would that be bad? If they have competent writers its not a problem.

 

[fantomena]

I hope I don't jinx it and the game suddenly becomes bad, but Lorn's Lure is very fun.

 

[Knurek]

If they have competent writers its not a problem.

Non-indie games with competent writers? What universe do you live in?

 

[fantomena]

Imo, the majority of best stories in the past 6 years have come fron indies.

Like last year, I can't think of any aaa game that had a better story than 1000xResist.

 

[Cacher]

Non-indie games with competent writers? What universe do you live in?

Best universe?

 

[ZKenir]

Really tempted to get that firefly controller

in other news my adventure in the land of WuWa continues after unlocking the gacha.
Let’s see if this will last!

 

[xinek]

If you are making a character/story and your first and most important intention is not simply to make it good but rather to tick a box? It will show and it will fall flat. This has been proven over and over and over, and all anyone wants to do is circle the drain and point fingers at sides.

Although I enjoyed seeing Concord crash and burn, one of the things that was depressing about it was how righties zeroed in on the character diversity as the reason it failed. The character designs didn't help for sure, but "diversity" being blamed like this was pretty annoying. And one of the reasons is that it came across as so inauthentic. Ugh.

 

[Alextended]

Because it takes away creative freedom/agency for the sake of ticking arbitrary boxes?

That's like, every video game ever with few indie exceptions but it's only a problem (worth discussing & tweeting about lol) when the box is diversity and not just make money or show war is cool? And it can be a personal choice on the writer's part rather than anything forced by some evil agenda. It's not like they'd write an oscar worthy script but some invisible diversity hand forced them to include an x or y character and that made the whole thing shit. It'd just be shit in other ways folks would be happy to at worst skip (and at best talk about how it's cheesy and self aware and therefor cool) rather than start talking about how diversity is the evil in the industry that ruins everything good and holy. Don't think we have any testimonials from writers that have shown us amazing work talking about how they were forced to include x and that's why game y was shit but sure, let's reinforce this unknown with pretending we actually know it happened and was why all the "examples" you mention are bad, like it couldn't be a writer genuinely wanting to represent x when they get a chance to have a lead writer role alongside all the other things they like or are part of their life like every writer ever and just doing it badly, like the vast majority of media have a shit story.

We had ways to express against media like saying they were designed by committee, aiming for the mass market, chasing trends, or whatever, changing this to claim they were designed by an evil diversification agenda every time a badly done game happens to include such a character is hardly the way to go.

Like the whole Sweet Baby "scandal" when people probably still don't even understand the scope of what they're hired to do and simply decide that hey in the Spider-Man game which to me was arbitrarily inoffensive they must have not had a big role and only had a role in those parts I do find annoying and would have otherwise just skipped over and not think twice about like any other less than stellar bit in any other video game but in that other game that was trite they must have had a bigger role and that's why it was shit! It's unknown, arbitrary and stupid. Plus it was their choice to hire them to begin with rather than anyone forcing them to. Shit, every less than amazing character model or graphical feature in a game is now blamed on that evil diverse agenda, lol.

This isn't me proposing Sweet Baby is good or anything, I have no opinion on them because I don't know what they do, lol, for all I know it's some white ass team pretending they know other cultures and selling that supposed knowledge but actually not knowing shit and getting things all wrong, it's the lead writers that make something good or bad out of it in the end but they'd have additional issues if given wrong information, it's just a business with a given goal, maybe they're good at it, maybe they're bad at it, I've played good and bad games they were involved with to unknown extent and result. The next step is probably to attack any team making a game taking place in region x and actually taking trips there to experience and source it like they've been doing since the 90s, lol.

Dunno what Ciri or whatever has to do with anything, it's pretty clear she actually looks great and very conventionally beautiful and it's a very tiny minority even within the group of people that actually do get pissed off over a woman not looking like they want her to trying to make her an issue. Like just because she's not a sexy doll like Stellar Blade which would be completely out of the themes and style of the games in the first place. But yeah the game will probably be good (fingers crossed) and sell a lot. And Concord or Outlaw or whatever game was bad and didn't. And diversity or how they depict women wasn't their core issue. Concord was conceived to chase a trend, but it's only attacked for being diverse like that would have resulted in some genuinely amazing thing (or like Fortnite is some genuinely creative amazing thing and not just throwing money at concepts others prove work) and it's because of diversity it failed, lol. Yeah, no.

I guess I'm just retarded.

 

[sprinkles]

Didn't buy anything from sale

Same for me, first major sale since 2012ish with me buying nothing. Just not in mood for playing games right now I guess...

 

[fantomena]

The Sweet Baby thing is so stupid it's ridiculous. Also find it funny how people blame Neil for detroying the TLOU story in TLOU 2. He is one of the creators of the story, he decides what's gonna happen.

The Sweet Baby/DEI "scandals" consists of a bunch of egotistical, narcissitstic, racist, misogynistic man babies crying about not being able to masturbate to women on screen and not seeing another white dude on the screen. They see themselves at the centre of the universe and developers needs to cater to them. When they wanna cancel and harass devs (btw, ironic how they complain about "cancel culture" when it's exactly what they are trying to do ), they try to not allow devs create the games they wanna make.

Also, "DEI" is another way of saying the N-word without saying it.

 

[yuraya]

Also bookmark this post for when Witcher 4 comes out and sells millions with tons of fanfare and positive reviews, despite the complaints against Ciri right now.

The only reason people are hating on Witcher 4 is because Ciri looks like a mature 30 year old now instead of some kid teenager like in Witcher 3.

This stuff warrants a side eye more than anything.

And by the time Witcher 4 actually releases most of these haters would be into older women anyways. CDPR knows how to play the long game.

 

[Sobatronix]

The only reason people are hating on Witcher 4 is because Ciri looks like a mature 30 year old now instead of some kid teenager like in Witcher 3.

This stuff warrants a side eye more than anything.

And by the time Witcher 4 actually releases most of these haters would be into older women anyways. CDPR knows how to play the long game.

I think that is a fake outcry, Ciri looked young and beautiful in that trailer, people on the internet just like to bitch about everything.

 

[Hektor]

The only DEI i care talking about

 

[Gamall Wednesday Ida]

Maybe he tried to say alr(ight) thx.

Both you and Shantom have proposed that solution, and that makes sense to me. Thank you very much.

I must say, unless there is some new tariff on letters of which I'm unaware, that guy really pushed the spirit of concise communication a little too far.

 

[Bhodi Li]

Don't remember if I'd posted this before but hey a Diablo clone!

 

[edin]

I finally put up my top 10 games of 2024 list on RPG Site. Lots of honorable mentions as well.

 

[Le Pertti]

So my elite controller for xbox has sticky buttons, because I spilled a FEW DROPS of tea, no milk no sugar.T_T what's the best and easiest way to fix that? I occasionally add water and that fixes it for awhile but it seems it always goes back to being sticky.

 

[MonthOLDpickle]

Take it apart so you can just wash the buttons.

 

[MegaApple]

I finally put up my top 10 games of 2024 list on RPG Site. Lots of honorable mentions as well.

last year was one of the best years for games since 2017

Recognizing 2017 as one of the best years in gaming, make you my friend.

Great list!

 

[Le Pertti]

edin remember to vote here as well!

 

[dex3108]

I am enjoying SW Outlaws but man it is frustrating how much unused potential is there. And Ubisoft games would get way better scores these days if they could write good stories and compelling characters.

 

[Bhodi Li]

House of Necrosis by Warkus

A turn-based horror RPG with retro 32-bit 3D graphics

warrrkus.itch.io

Demo

 

[undu]

Same for me, first major sale since 2012ish with me buying nothing. Just not in mood for playing games right now I guess...

Why would that stop you from buying games? Are they meant to be played?