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DragonBloodthirsty

This user comes and goes, and is often busy with life.

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How do you know if a game was "worth playing"?

I know the standards I use to judge when a game is worth it's cost in time and money (I focus more on money because I'm a broke grad student), but I wanted to get opinions from the rest of the community on this one.  I enjoy writing reviews, but I've been stumped by finding a respectable measure of "worth playing".

I've been trying to figure this one out, and the standard I've used was $5/hr.  If a game entertains me for a day (2-3 hours), but was only $5 or less, then it was alright.  That's still favorably comparable to a movie.  What are the standards that the rest of you guys use?  Do you even consider the cost of a game when you're looking at it?  It's usually pretty clear to me that it's not worth $50 or more for me to buy a game that I play for an hour and then hate, but I'm trying to figure out where to draw the line on cost.

The other big issue I run into is "the value of playing time".  I know a game like WoW (or any other MMO) can have hours upon hours of content,  but much of it requires a tedious grind to get to.  Grinding is fun for about the first 1,000 hours you do it, across every game, your entire life.  I don't count any time spent grinding that I didn't enjoy as valuable gameplay (so if I have to grind for 10 hours before I really get to play, then those hours don't count as real content when I'm judging the game).  How do other people measure the useful hours in a game ("useful hours in a game" is such an oxymoron).

21 Comments

Grad School

Hey guys,

Been doing the grad-school thing.  That means all work and pretending I never play (I make time for sanity keeping).  Lots of homework and my classes have been rough, but I think I'll pull through.

I'm taking only 9 hours (3 classes).  One is Linear Algebra, which I took to be an easy class for my first semester.  So far, it's been eating into my time, but the only "hard" thing about it is an anal-retentive professor who wants more information than I give him.  I said to myself "I'm an engineer, and if it's completely obvious exactly what I did then I'm not going to worry about it".  I'll lose a few points, but not stress over minor details that are irrelevant to my major.

My second class is Acoustics.  Everyone thinks I'm learning guitar when they hear that, and I'm left wondering what guitar has to do with rocket science.  Acoustics is a class that focuses on the mathematical description of sound.  We talk a little bit about music and stuff, but we stick to the math.  We did have a pretty cool YouTube video of a Reubens tube that I'll share:

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HpovwbPGEoo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

My last class is "Design of Electro-Mechanical Systems".  We had our first mid-term exam recently, and I told the professor when it was over "If you're going to give tests like that, you should do it before the drop date".  The class had been doing basic run-of-the-mill examples that used a single fundamental principle to work, so I thought I might be ready for the test.  I got to the test, and there were six devices that we'd never seen or discussed before on there where the question was "Figure out how this works, describe it mathematically, and then calculate the value of something using it".  The last two questions were real beasts -- one involved the use of Faraday's law (which I was a little fuzzy on regarding alternating current, since we didn't really talk about it in class much), and the other was a magnetic braking system that I was only really familiar with because I was looking at applying that technology to a drop tower (in other words, ouch, because I ).  I think I did terrible, even compared to the other students in the class, but in consolation nobody finished the test at all before time was called and I did answer a handful of questions.  I need to go back and study super-hard.

Overall, the experience has been pretty good, but I spend all my time vacillating between "OMG SO HARD I'M GOING TO DIE" and "What was so bad about this grad school thing again?"

For gaming, I've only been playing a few quick cheap games I find on sale on Steam.  I was accepted into the closed Darkspore Beta, but can't tell you much more than that.  I picked up Greed Corp., and it's been kinda fun.  I only paid something like $2.50 or $5, so I feel like I got my money out of it (I still load it up once every few weeks).  Played the Dragon Age 2 demo, and I liked it, but I'll have to put off buying it until I have the money for it.  I was surprised my computer could run the game at all, because it's getting a wee bit old.  My money mostly goes entirely toward grad-school related expenses, which is mostly rent and food.

Heard about a few internship opportunities which I need to follow up on "soon".  I had the flu recently and have been playing "Don't fail" in my classes.

7 Comments

High End Or Bust

Seriously,

What is up with game makers thinking they need to have a game that can only be run using the latest and greatest machines in existence?  My computer isn't exactly top notch, but it's not really a slouch either.  Computers are expensive.  If you have a game that can only be played on computers that were built using parts that were released in the past 6 months because you decided it was more important to have genuine waterfall dynamics than it was to have a game playable on a wide field of existing computers, you're limiting your audience too much.

I've lately been finding myself playing almost exclusively Indi PC games, not because they're the best (although they can be pretty fun), but just because they don't require a PC capable of super-computing.  I don't know what it is about these crazy people who don't get that "the highest end graphics" shouldn't be a ridiculous barrier to entry.  If your game requires a $5,000 PC to run it, then it might as well cost $5,050 instead of $50, because reasonable people don't upgrade that often.

1 Comments

Three more days

Three more days before I move into my apartment for graduate school.  It feels like a world away, even though I was just there.  I'm very excited about the coming time and look forward to doing my best.

I'll make a vlog right after I move in (and hopefully really post it this time).  My aim is to keep it short, so I don't bore myself (or anyone else).

I'm also moving light, because moving is expensive.  I'll be taking as much as I can with me, but I don't know how much that will really be.  Here's hoping it'll be at least everything I need.

1 Comments

Vlogging Skills

Seriously, I made a video for my "introduction" and it was so bad I didn't post it, lol.  I need more practice doing these things.  I can say that the stuff I've seen looks so much sharper and better since trying to make one myself.

I did get a video editing program, but I'm still working on figuring out how to use it.

Also, I've got a bunch of different little hobbies that I enjoy messing with.  I saw on the NASA channel how somebody used to make gliders out of old egg cartons, and thought it sounded fun.  I did really enjoy the project I had in class where we built a glider out of balsa wood, and I've been trying to find an excuse to make another one for a while.  I sometimes get hung up on finding cheap crap to make one out of (but I'm sure I'll find some way to work that out), but I'm sure I'll have fun when/if I finally get around to it.

Still packing for grad school.  I move out on the 4th-ish.  Whether I go then or the next day (or the day after that) will probably depend on weather.  I've signed up for classes (I think).  Come to think of it, I should go check my campus email...

1 Comments

Graduate Vlog?

I was considering making a "graduate Vlog", to record my graduate academics while I'm a student at NC State.  Aside from somehow incriminating myself, it sounds like a fun thing to do.  I mean, the next-worst thing that could happen is just being painfully boring so that nobody watches it.  Also, writing about what a dull and boring person I am on here makes it less likely that I'll be completely dull and boring in video.  At least I can pretend it does, and that's what I'm going for.

I'm just concerned that perhaps grad school isn't all that exciting.  I also bitch a lot.  In fact, that's most of what I do (it's my favorite pass time).  So aside from being locked up for 10+ years due to non-proliferation of arms violations and/or being dull, I'm sure vlogging is for me!  Maybe it'll help me with my speaking skills.  Maybe I'll just be entertained.

1 Comments

Grad School in the works

So I got into graduate school for Aerospace at NC State.  It seems like I'll be doing alright there.  Now it's just dealing with my family for about 25-35 more days until I can get there.  If I can manage not to be driven insane by them, I'll be alright.

Looking forward to getting back.

1 Comments

Bargains!

It's bargain season, and I'm happy about that.  Online shopping for digital-direct games is everything I like about saving money with none of the trouble I hear goes into visiting a physical location.  I'm seeing "World of Goo" for $2.50 and seriously considering buying it.  (I actually just did, along with Cogs as part of some super-pack for $5, when it sells individually for $10).

I think it's a good time to talk about why I play games.  I play because it's generally a good value.  Compared to seeing a movie, the enjoyment I get out of an equally priced game ($5-$20, depending on location) is usually better.  Even the $5 Star Trek: D-A-C got me at least as much enjoyment as I generally get from seeing a movie.  A good game has a large solution space;  puzzles don't have that, which is why they tend to not carry the same value that games do (although I do enjoy them too).  If I can play StarCraft for several hundred hours and have fun doing it for the same price as a movie, then I've made out like a bandit.

Of course, that raises the question of "What about bad games?".  There certainly are bad games, and I've played a fair number of them.  Maybe part of the problem is that I so strongly dislike passive entertainment that I can't properly appreciate movies.  I'm not inclined to think that is the case, although a movie has to be pretty darned good for me to enjoy it.  Games are "the same thing over and over", as I've been told, but movies tend to be that way too once you understand them (which isn't all that hard).

Maybe what I'm enjoying is just bargain hunting.  Who doesn't like that?  I think it goes deeper than that, though.  I really think it's the value-to-cost ratio being as large as it is that's the biggest selling point for me.  Even an "expensive" game is usually a pretty good deal.  The only thing I think comes close is a used bookstore.  For half a dollar, you can have an evening or two of fun reading a book.  Building a personal library is also fun, although if the point is to have the books rather than read them you're more a collector rather than a reader.  Don't mistake what I'm saying: collecting objects of value like that is not a bad thing.  It just isn't aimed at having fun or anything.

1 Comments

Quit mixing things that don't mix.

There's been a big problem recently with people mixing genres that don't mix.  Let's take the most common offender:  RPG and Strategy.

The rational seems to be "Similar people like these games, and often a single person likes both kinds of games, so putting the two together seems like a good idea."  The problem you run into is that the fundamental principles of each genre are competing with each other.  The fun of an RPG comes from accumulating more and more crap over time.  An RPG where you don't gain anything isn't really an RPG anymore.  Strategy titles want players to start as evenly as possible, so that some measure of player skill (multi-tasking, micromanagement, etc.) will let one player overcome the other.  If what makes the difference is "how long have you been playing", then you have a strategy RPG, but it's not very fun and tends to eat itself because whoever has been playing longer almost always wins (barring terrible, unwinnable matchups that are equally unsatisfying).

Sometimes it's some particular gameplay element driving me nuts.  I remembered a game named Savage that I played a demo for.  One of the problems was that you earned points for getting kills, which you then used to get better equipment when you respawn.  The problem with that was that you end up with somebody running around with bows and arrows shooting at each other, and one side tends to rack up a bunch of kills.  The game is effectively over at that point, because even if you (with nothing but bows) manage to kill your adversary, they come back with kick-assed flamethrowers or electric guns that tear you apart because you can't afford them when you respawn (to be able to afford those required multiple kills).  So you end up with the first skirmish deciding the match (at least at the time when I played it, which was early).

The "good" combinations of Strategy and RPG have been so-so.  Warcraft 3 is one of the better meshes of this water-and-oil combination.  For the single player experience, it leans on the RPG side more, with persistent characters that gain levels as you move further into the story.  For multiplayer, everyone starts with a level 1 hero and levels up from there.  The problem is that, especially on the competitive end, you run into the problems of RPGs, specifically that sometimes they can become a terrible grind.  In a normal RPG, you grind and grind but then it's done and you don't have to go back to level 1 unless you volunteer to.  Competitively, you have to grind repeatedly, every game, and that gets old.

Another "Strategy/RPG" title that put the two together successfully was Disgaea.  The trick here was to completely eliminate any real competition between the two.  It's more RPG than strategy.  The "strategy" part of this game is just lifting a basic combat interface from successful strategy titles and putting it into an RPG game -- because you never play against another person, you don't mind that you win or lose based on a combination of how long and how well you play it.  I'm not saying it's bad -- it's brilliant to take something from one genre and fit it into another.  But ultimately, Disgaea is more an RPG than a strategy title, and has very few elements of strategy in it, and I want it recognized for what it is.

I'm not saying that crossing the streams is always bad.  Hellgate: London had a lot of potential (which I don't think it reached), just using the FPS interface for an RPG.  There are other titles that worked well that I don't remember off the top of my head.  I just want a little more thought put into the decision making before blindly churning out another "Thing A + Thing B" game.  I'm tired of "strategy/RPG" and everything else crossed with RPG.  As a general rule, it seems like the RPG elements either dominate the game, or drag it down, with no happy medium.

I feel sure I'm missing some other mix-and-match that doesn't ever really work out for fundamental reasons.

28 Comments

Fun stuff and buckle down

Haven't heard from State in a while;  I'm guessing that my application is held up by "missing paperwork".  I'll sort it out next week (I hope).  Fortunately for me, I'm applying to grad school, and I don't think those classes fill up.  The assistant I've been trying to contact hasn't been responding, so I think I'm gonna go straight to the big man next.  This can't continue.

I'm looking forward to the trip I'm planning to take this weekend.  It's to the Renn Faire, which is a fun place to go, and I'm going with some friends of mine that I know from forever ago.  I'm hoping to have a good time -- I'm pretty sure I will, but you never know what's going to happen with these two.

In gaming, I've been hitting up the Guild Wars quests lately, and trying to finish out my Hall of Monuments.  There's 50 unlockable bonuses that I can earn, and filling it out is pretty much the big thing to do.  I'm going to "work" on that some too, although for now I need to pack for my trip.  I've been taking advantage of the Halloween quests to make plat hand over fist.  I used some of the plat earned to buy a Luxon armor set (which is funny because I'm Kurzick).  It's about time I did it;  I wanted that set back during the Factions preview, and I finally got it now (four years later?  Or is it five?).

1 Comments