You know, I've made so many typos in that title above - wrong month,
wrong year - that starting one of these threads always fills me with
dread. Did I do it right this time? I check and re-check... and still
sometimes get it wrong. Well, here's hoping that not only did I type
"June 2022"... but that it actually /is/ June 2022. I mean, you never
know...

But there's another reason this thread makes me nervous: here I am,
asking everybody what they have played over the last month, while the
dark secret I now grudgingly admit to is... I didn't really play
anything myself. Oh, I mucked about with a few games, but only as a
dilettante, sticking with this game ten minutes or that one for
twenty.

I thought I might get all the way through "Inversion" - a rather
forgettable 2012 FPS with an unusual gravity mechanic and a marginally
entertaining mid-game plot-twist - but the gameplay wasn't enough to
make me keep at it for more than an hour or two.

I briefly gave "The Looker" - mentioned in a previous thread - a peek,
just to see what it was all about, but it's too intent on imitating
"The Witness" (a game I didn't really enjoy) to make me want to play
it to completion.

Then there's my usual go-to games, "EuroTruck Simulator 2" and
"American Truck Simulator"; those got the usual amount of gameplay,
but I've talked about them so often that I've haven't anything new to
say.

Plus, "Solitaire" on the phone; a wonderful time-waster if there ever
was one. Plus the usual browsing through the old DOS game collection,
rediscovering forgotten oddities. For example, "Total Eclipse", a 1989
fully 3D, smooth-scrolling first-person role-playing game that played
like a very primitive "Ultima Underworld". But none of them engaged me
for more than a few minutes so none of them make it onto my monthly
"play list."

So in the end, having flitted from one game to the next like the
world's pickiest butterfly, I ended up not having played any games at
all.

Well, it's a new month, so hopefully I'll do better in the coming 30
days. Meanwhile, all I have to say is this:

What Have You Been Playing... IN JUNE 2022?

Still slowly playing Black Mesa. Not at Xen levels yet!

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> You know, I've made so many typos in that title above - wrong month,
> wrong year - that starting one of these threads always fills me with
> dread. Did I do it right this time? I check and re-check... and still
> sometimes get it wrong. Well, here's hoping that not only did I type
> "June 2022"... but that it actually /is/ June 2022. I mean, you never
> know...

> But there's another reason this thread makes me nervous: here I am,
> asking everybody what they have played over the last month, while the
> dark secret I now grudgingly admit to is... I didn't really play
> anything myself. Oh, I mucked about with a few games, but only as a
> dilettante, sticking with this game ten minutes or that one for
> twenty.

> I thought I might get all the way through "Inversion" - a rather
> forgettable 2012 FPS with an unusual gravity mechanic and a marginally
> entertaining mid-game plot-twist - but the gameplay wasn't enough to
> make me keep at it for more than an hour or two.

> I briefly gave "The Looker" - mentioned in a previous thread - a peek,
> just to see what it was all about, but it's too intent on imitating
> "The Witness" (a game I didn't really enjoy) to make me want to play
> it to completion.

> Then there's my usual go-to games, "EuroTruck Simulator 2" and
> "American Truck Simulator"; those got the usual amount of gameplay,
> but I've talked about them so often that I've haven't anything new to
> say.

> Plus, "Solitaire" on the phone; a wonderful time-waster if there ever
> was one. Plus the usual browsing through the old DOS game collection,
> rediscovering forgotten oddities. For example, "Total Eclipse", a 1989
> fully 3D, smooth-scrolling first-person role-playing game that played
> like a very primitive "Ultima Underworld". But none of them engaged me
> for more than a few minutes so none of them make it onto my monthly
> "play list."

> So in the end, having flitted from one game to the next like the
> world's pickiest butterfly, I ended up not having played any games at
> all.

> Well, it's a new month, so hopefully I'll do better in the coming 30
> days. Meanwhile, all I have to say is this:

> What Have You Been Playing... IN JUNE 2022?
--
July and Canada Day, eh?
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://aqfl.net & http://antfarm.home.dhs.org.
/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

Am 01.07.22 um 21:49 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:
> You know, I've made so many typos in that title above - wrong month,
> wrong year - that starting one of these threads always fills me with
> dread. Did I do it right this time? I check and re-check... and still
> sometimes get it wrong. Well, here's hoping that not only did I type
> "June 2022"... but that it actually /is/ June 2022. I mean, you never
> know...
>
As I have already stated, my Steam Deck has been mutated to my almost
only gaming device. I was on a vacation with the family in June for 5
days and the deck was perfect for 12 hours train. In those 12 hours
and in the evenings I played Hades almost exclusively. The game is
highly addictive, I will not describe it, because most people in here
know it anyway. I could not get warm with the other games from that
Studio (which also got high praises) but I really love hades.
But after 20 hours or so I have given it up.. too time consuming too
addictive and having to beat every boss again and again at every run, is
basically a little bit off putting for me.

Outside of that mostly indie games, I picked up the first of the new
Leisure Suite Larries again. Funny point and click adventure game less
sex jokes than the old ones more lifestyle satire of our times (aka
making fun of Apple, Influencers, the Craft beer scene etc...), but
funny as hell.

I have started Outer Worlds, the latest Obsidian action rpg, not sure if
I will like it i have probably played too many games in this area
already. We will see for now the usual what you can expect you strand
somewhere then you will have to go into the first town and there you get
your first missions. We will see how it fares.

On Friday, July 1, 2022 at 12:49:50 PM UTC-7, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> You know, I've made so many typos in that title above - wrong month,
> wrong year - that starting one of these threads always fills me with
> dread. Did I do it right this time? I check and re-check... and still
> sometimes get it wrong. Well, here's hoping that not only did I type
> "June 2022"... but that it actually /is/ June 2022. I mean, you never
> know...
>
> But there's another reason this thread makes me nervous: here I am,
> asking everybody what they have played over the last month, while the
> dark secret I now grudgingly admit to is... I didn't really play
> anything myself. Oh, I mucked about with a few games, but only as a
> dilettante, sticking with this game ten minutes or that one for
> twenty.

Flipping games is still gaming, don't beat yourself up for the failure of
the games to engage you, there's a lot of dross. So. Much. Dross.

That's a lot of what I was doing I'll too, I'll leave most of that in
the flipped games thread I posted.

> What Have You Been Playing... IN JUNE 2022?

** Guardians of the Galaxy
*** Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017)
**** Cyberpunk 2077

** Guardians of the Galaxy. Biggest disappointment of the
year, perhaps decade for me was the full price Guardians of
the Galaxy. I mean it's an o.k. game I guess, it just feels
kind of lack luster all around, and it doesn't look great for \
the pretty high specs required. There's a lot of banter, and
while that works great in the movies, it's extremely
distracting when you're trying to do something else like fight
or find something, and it requires a keyboard response with
a popup in the middle of the screen while the action is not
paused. I mean I've been annoyed by things like that when
they happen in games and the action is paused, this is even
worse. The controls aren't great either, and managing your
team while fighting is a bit too frenetic. I had my
expectations a bit high too as I love GotG movies, and most
of what I've read has been pretty positive (except here,
which I should've known to trust over anything else.)

*** Star Wars Battefront 2 (2017)
I suspect I like this in large part because it's Star Wars, and
you get to play most of the famous Jedi and Sith. The
lightsaber dueling seems pretty good too. The gameplay
when it works is pretty good, the single player
story/campaign is really good, and short enough that those
that complain of long games will like it, and long enough
to be enough to satisfy me. The multiplayer co-op is
pretty good, but all the multiplayer is badly haunted by
connection problems, slow to infinite loads and even after
that putting you in matches that have as low as 3 seconds
left on the clock. Really this is what finally did it in for me,
it got to be I was stuck in loading or connecting more than
playing. For those that played or heard about it having
lots of microtranactions etc. There's nothing left of that,
there's actually nothing to spend in game or real money on,
you get it all. There's some equipment and levels in
multiplayer that are unlocked with play only.

**** Cyberpunk 2077
It feels sort of like a cross between Borderlands and GTA
single player only, and maybe a bit of MGS in the sneaking
and body disposal stuff, in a near future cyberpunk setting.
I'm not really into cyberpunk setting, so that doesn't
do anything for me. All the raves about how amazing
it looks don't hold up for me either, it's just o.k. A little
too cluttered, and somehow even the stuff that's supposed
to look dirty and a dump still don't really. I've got a
3060Ti and the game is still stressing that, benchmark
put it at 25 fps average before I did any optimizations,
and 45 after I took a little time. I'm sure I could get it
better, but it seems o.k. at that frame rate.

As far as all the bugs they had at release they seem to
be mostly gone so far. I've played up to 10th level, and
only come across one thing which is a log I'm supposed
to read but missed the prompt to do so, and can't seem
to get back to it, fortunately the game autosaves right
before that, so I was able to load back and read it
immediately. There's been a couple bugs where I
couldn't loot a corpse, they only had common items though
(you can see what the loot level is before looting.)

All the fights have been very samey. It's been pretty much
just use stealth and quickhacks to try to take a few out to
thin the herd, while saving after each, and try to take the
remaining mob out in a fire-fight when discovered, and reload
the last successful stealth kill when you inevitably lose to the
mob. I'm not really into stealth, and haven't speced any so the
stealth part is difficult for me. eventually I'll get lucky and kill
the remainder of the mob. I am playing on hard though,
so it's probable I could just do guns blazing if I lowered the
difficulty. As the DS series has show me, I seem to prefer
a challenge though and I'd likely get even more bored of it.

My first character I got up to 3rd too, combat definitely
plays differently depending on your character build, so
perhaps I just need a different build. I'm doing a full auto/
shotgun build dipping into quickhacks on my current one.
My first build was messed up as I started down both body
& reflex which both deal with different types of weapons
so conflict instead of being complimentary. You can respec
your perks, but not your stats, so it was start over.

The dialog choices don't seem to have much if any impact
so far.

I can't really recommend it, but it's at least good enough
to get me off of SWBf2, and is in a playable state now.
If you're interested in it, maybe wait another year or two,
hopefully video cards will both come down in price and
be able to handle it better, the game itself will be on a
deeper discount, and what remaining bugs will be fixed.
I'd say it's at about the price point it's worth now though,
on sale for $30.

- Justisaur

On Saturday, July 2, 2022 at 2:51:45 AM UTC-7, Werner P. wrote:
> Am 01.07.22 um 21:49 schrieb Spalls Hurgenson:
> > You know, I've made so many typos in that title above - wrong month,
> > wrong year - that starting one of these threads always fills me with
> > dread. Did I do it right this time? I check and re-check... and still
> > sometimes get it wrong. Well, here's hoping that not only did I type
> > "June 2022"... but that it actually /is/ June 2022. I mean, you never
> > know...
> >
> As I have already stated, my Steam Deck has been mutated to my almost
> only gaming device. I was on a vacation with the family in June for 5
> days and the deck was perfect for 12 hours train. In those 12 hours
> and in the evenings I played Hades almost exclusively. The game is
> highly addictive, I will not describe it, because most people in here
> know it anyway. I could not get warm with the other games from that
> Studio (which also got high praises) but I really love hades.
> But after 20 hours or so I have given it up.. too time consuming too
> addictive and having to beat every boss again and again at every run, is
> basically a little bit off putting for me.
>
>
> Outside of that mostly indie games, I picked up the first of the new
> Leisure Suite Larries again. Funny point and click adventure game less
> sex jokes than the old ones more lifestyle satire of our times (aka
> making fun of Apple, Influencers, the Craft beer scene etc...), but
> funny as hell.
>
> I have started Outer Worlds, the latest Obsidian action rpg, not sure if
> I will like it i have probably played too many games in this area
> already. We will see for now the usual what you can expect you strand
> somewhere then you will have to go into the first town and there you get
> your first missions. We will see how it fares.

On Saturday, July 2, 2022 at 2:51:45 AM UTC-7, Werner P. wrote:
> I played Hades almost exclusively. The game is
> highly addictive, I will not describe it, because most people in here
> know it anyway. I could not get warm with the other games from that
> Studio (which also got high praises) but I really love hades.
> But after 20 hours or so I have given it up.. too time consuming too
> addictive and having to beat every boss again and again at every run, is
> basically a little bit off putting for me.

I'd love a description. I'd trust you (and most here) over anything I
read elsewhere. It looks like it could be up my alley. I'm a bit wary as
$15 on sale for an indy rouge-like seems a bit high. I did play Transistor
by them a little, but it didn't hold my interest long.

> I have started Outer Worlds, the latest Obsidian action rpg, not sure if
> I will like it i have probably played too many games in this area
> already. We will see for now the usual what you can expect you strand
> somewhere then you will have to go into the first town and there you get
> your first missions. We will see how it fares.

Give it at least until you have some time to play with one of the NPCs
you can pick up in your party. They did a great job with them. The first
one you can get is probably the most interesting.

- Justisaur

>What Have You Been Playing... IN JUNE 2022?

Nothing, except frequently joining elden ring coop summons at the last
boss fight; I can't seem to let this game go. I started 13 Sentinels some
time ago, but petered out. Aimlessly drifting now (have watched a lot of
movies tho)

rms

Am 02.07.22 um 17:47 schrieb Justisaur:
> I'd love a description. I'd trust you (and most here) over anything I
> read elsewhere. It looks like it could be up my alley. I'm a bit wary as
> $15 on sale for an indy rouge-like seems a bit high. I did play Transistor
> by them a little, but it didn't hold my interest long.
Well Hades is really nice, it basically is a rogue like action RPG with
huge emphasize on the action with ever changing rooms. Given rogue like
for me means I have only played Nethack, it is quite different compared
to it.
From the game mechanics, you bascially lose some stats and items you
gain in one round and others are carried over, so the more often you run
through the better you become over time. Stats and abilities are raised
during the runs, and the experience you have gained can be exchanged
into permanent abilities after you have died, and you die a lot.

Also compared to many rogue likes they added a real story and
interactivity, aka, characters react to your last escape trial comment
on it, sometimes give you hints or help you.
Also the setting is really good, if you like greek mythology.

I have had 60 runs or so over the 4 days and basically was stalled at
the second boss, which I reached regularily but not every time.
In the end i was fascinated but at the 60s escape trial i needed a rest
from the game, it become too repetitive for my taste.

The action part is basically partially diablo, partially bullet hell.
Depending on your weapon you either are meelee or distance shooting, and
often this changes even in one round by the temporary abilities you get.

Combat is fast, very fast indeed, but manageable.
It is a really nice blend indeed and really addictive.
But having to go through all the bosses over and over again did it for
me in the end, but it was its money worth, definitely.

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:

> What Have You Been Playing... IN JUNE 2022?

I managed to finally finish Cyberpunk 2077. Underwhelming ending. I'm
also not really a fan of cyberpunk but somehow the world is
fascinating. The same goes for post-apocalyptic worlds, especially
Fallout.

I also went back for some Borderlands 3. I finished the game with my
soldier/mech character, I didn't actually remember I had almost
finished already. Two mini-bosses and the final fight only remained.

This run was a little funny, the mech made my run basically
munchkin. The mech got so powerful quickly, especially after I got the
railguns that I can now just hop into it and electrocute and corrode
everyone in sight easily, bosses included. Before the railguns the
minigun/rocket pods combo was pretty good too. I think only one boss was
a bit of problem. Satisfying but ultimately boring.

I continued to second playthrough right away since I want to check out
one more mech upgrade for better miniguns. Even in the second
playthrough I'm still really strong in the mech but now pretty
vulnerable and weak on foot.

A slow month for me as well with only one game of note, Astrologaster
which was a freebie with Amazon Prime.

It's kinda of weird premise set in 16th century London. The UI is done
like a pop-up book and the game loop is a character presents themself
for treatment and you then use the stars to guide you as to how to treat
them based on what they described as their symptoms. As the game
progresses you get repeat customers advancing their story and then links
to other customers stories. Now that doesn't sound enjoyable but what it
does well, and it's not often I say this, the humour actually works. If
you've ever watched the TV series Upstart Crow it's a bit like that.
It's all well voice acted and you get a musically introduction for each
customer.

One thing that is good is that although there is a 'win' objective of
getting enough letters of recommendation to become a real doctor you can
also play it as just making your customer's life a misery. Repairability
is ok with each playthough being five or six hours.

Oh and the character you played is based on real-life person, Simon Forman.

Overall it's nice to see another game that's trying something a bit
different and I'll probably buy it on Steam just to support the developer.

On 03/07/2022 11:15, Anssi Saari wrote:
> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> What Have You Been Playing... IN JUNE 2022?
>
> I managed to finally finish Cyberpunk 2077. Underwhelming ending. I'm
> also not really a fan of cyberpunk but somehow the world is
> fascinating. The same goes for post-apocalyptic worlds, especially
> Fallout.
>

Cyberpunk was one of few games I was really looking forward to as it had
a setting that I enjoy more than the standard high fantasy one and
developer who knows what they are doing and I put in the one of the good
guys category. Fortunately I didn't purchase it on release before
reading some reviews. Oh dear doesn't sound good but heh this wouldn't
be the first game to be released before it was really ready. I have
tracked it since then and although I understand and lot of the problems
have been ironed out it doesn't sound like a game experience I'd enjoy.

Mentioning Fallout, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Fallout
London as I've never played a game in a setting that I'm familiar with
in real-life. Whether that's going to be a positive or I'm going to
spend my time thinking well that's not how it is, I don't know.

On Sunday, July 3, 2022 at 3:42:05 AM UTC-7, JAB wrote:
> On 03/07/2022 11:15, Anssi Saari wrote:
> > Spalls Hurgenson <spallsh...@gmail.com> writes:
> >
> >> What Have You Been Playing... IN JUNE 2022?
> >
> > I managed to finally finish Cyberpunk 2077. Underwhelming ending. I'm
> > also not really a fan of cyberpunk but somehow the world is
> > fascinating. The same goes for post-apocalyptic worlds, especially
> > Fallout.
> >
> Cyberpunk was one of few games I was really looking forward to as it had
> a setting that I enjoy more than the standard high fantasy one and
> developer who knows what they are doing and I put in the one of the good
> guys category. Fortunately I didn't purchase it on release before
> reading some reviews. Oh dear doesn't sound good but heh this wouldn't
> be the first game to be released before it was really ready. I have
> tracked it since then and although I understand and lot of the problems
> have been ironed out it doesn't sound like a game experience I'd enjoy.

I've been playing Cyberpunk 2077 a bit more too, I didn't realize I was stuck
in the prelude still. I got out of the prelude yesterday and had a couple
"Holy Shit!" moments that hit me pretty hard in the feels which is very
unusual for me with games. I can't actually think of any that have. I
have to change my thought on it to must buy now, especially for those
of you who love your story in games.

I had been mostly doing the police assistance jobs which I think might
be like radiant quests in fallout, and pretty dull previously.

No spoilers, but there's a car related side mission that is also a must
play.

- Justisaur

Sniper Elite 5: Forgot this one. Here's what I wrote elsewhere: "Sniper
Elite 5 I've played 3 or so missions -- just finished the Island cathedral
mission -- and feel like bailing. The gameplay is shooting people in the
face or blowing them up, and already seems repetitive. No complaints on
mechanics or graphics, but the story is average, and the stakes are very low
on normal difficulty as any mistake is either immediately savescummable or
solved with a machinegun. Does it get better, or should I salute this title
and march off?" (I marched off)

rms

On Sun, 3 Jul 2022 11:42:01 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

>On 03/07/2022 11:15, Anssi Saari wrote:
>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> What Have You Been Playing... IN JUNE 2022?
>>
>> I managed to finally finish Cyberpunk 2077. Underwhelming ending. I'm
>> also not really a fan of cyberpunk but somehow the world is
>> fascinating. The same goes for post-apocalyptic worlds, especially
>> Fallout.
>>
>
>Cyberpunk was one of few games I was really looking forward to as it had
>a setting that I enjoy more than the standard high fantasy one and
>developer who knows what they are doing and I put in the one of the good
>guys category. Fortunately I didn't purchase it on release before
>reading some reviews. Oh dear doesn't sound good but heh this wouldn't
>be the first game to be released before it was really ready. I have
>tracked it since then and although I understand and lot of the problems
>have been ironed out it doesn't sound like a game experience I'd enjoy.
>
>Mentioning Fallout, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Fallout
>London as I've never played a game in a setting that I'm familiar with
>in real-life. Whether that's going to be a positive or I'm going to
>spend my time thinking well that's not how it is, I don't know.

*--

When is that supposed to be out?

-pw

PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> writes:

> On Sun, 3 Jul 2022 11:42:01 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

>>Mentioning Fallout, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Fallout
>>London as I've never played a game in a setting that I'm familiar with
>>in real-life. Whether that's going to be a positive or I'm going to
>>spend my time thinking well that's not how it is, I don't know.
>
>
> *--
>
> When is that supposed to be out?

Sometime in 2023, from the minimal Wikipedia page. Long wait but a lot
sooner than Fallout 5, if that ever happens.

On 04/07/2022 10:58, Anssi Saari wrote:
> PW <iamnotusingonewithAgent@notinuse.com> writes:
>
>> On Sun, 3 Jul 2022 11:42:01 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:
>
>>> Mentioning Fallout, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Fallout
>>> London as I've never played a game in a setting that I'm familiar with
>>> in real-life. Whether that's going to be a positive or I'm going to
>>> spend my time thinking well that's not how it is, I don't know.
>>
>>
>> *--
>>
>> When is that supposed to be out?
>
> Sometime in 2023, from the minimal Wikipedia page. Long wait but a lot
> sooner than Fallout 5, if that ever happens.

It certainly wouldn't surprise me if there's never a Fallout 5 at least
with the current owners of the IP.

On Monday, July 4, 2022 at 10:42:18 AM UTC-7, JAB wrote:
> On 04/07/2022 10:58, Anssi Saari wrote:
> > PW <iamnotusing...@notinuse.com> writes:
> >
> >> On Sun, 3 Jul 2022 11:42:01 +0100, JAB <no...@nochance.com> wrote:
> >
> >>> Mentioning Fallout, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Fallout
> >>> London as I've never played a game in a setting that I'm familiar with
> >>> in real-life. Whether that's going to be a positive or I'm going to
> >>> spend my time thinking well that's not how it is, I don't know.
> >>
> >>
> >> *--
> >>
> >> When is that supposed to be out?
> >
> > Sometime in 2023, from the minimal Wikipedia page. Long wait but a lot
> > sooner than Fallout 5, if that ever happens.
> It certainly wouldn't surprise me if there's never a Fallout 5 at least
> with the current owners of the IP.

Nope, nor Elder Scrolls 6(?,) GTA 6, etc. Once they get a taste of that sweet
MMO money it's all over.

- Justisaur

On 04/07/2022 18:53, Justisaur wrote:
> On Monday, July 4, 2022 at 10:42:18 AM UTC-7, JAB wrote:
>> On 04/07/2022 10:58, Anssi Saari wrote:
>>> PW <iamnotusing...@notinuse.com> writes:
>>>
>>>> On Sun, 3 Jul 2022 11:42:01 +0100, JAB <no...@nochance.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>> Mentioning Fallout, I'm looking forward to getting my hands on Fallout
>>>>> London as I've never played a game in a setting that I'm familiar with
>>>>> in real-life. Whether that's going to be a positive or I'm going to
>>>>> spend my time thinking well that's not how it is, I don't know.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> *--
>>>>
>>>> When is that supposed to be out?
>>>
>>> Sometime in 2023, from the minimal Wikipedia page. Long wait but a lot
>>> sooner than Fallout 5, if that ever happens.
>> It certainly wouldn't surprise me if there's never a Fallout 5 at least
>> with the current owners of the IP.
>
> Nope, nor Elder Scrolls 6(?,) GTA 6, etc. Once they get a taste of that sweet
> MMO money it's all over.
>

I expect Elder Scrolls: VI to come out sometime but I also see that it
will have included some sort of financial model in it.

Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>Nope, nor Elder Scrolls 6(?,) GTA 6, etc. Once they get a taste of that sweet
>MMO money it's all over.

Elder Scrolls 6 has already been officially announced, and it will be
Bethesda's next game after Starfield (which you'll note isn't an MMO).
Fallout 5 is promised to come out after that. Neither game is coming
out any time soon however.

https://www.ign.com/articles/todd-howard-bethesda-fallout-5-elder-scrolls-6-starfield

MMOs aren't really the big money makers they used to be. While I'm
sure the Elder Scrols Online is making decent money for Microsoft, it
not at all clear that it's been more profitable than Skyrim which had
sold over 30 million copies by 2017 while ESO only managed 18 million
by 2021. Currently during this big summer sale, two seperate editions
of Skyrim are outselling ESO, with ESO signficantly behind in the Global
Top Seller rankings.

Grand Theft Auto 6 is almost as certain to be coming out eventually.
While nothing officially has been announced, it's currently in
development. While Grand Theft Auto Online has been very lucrative, it is
ultimately just a game mode of Grand Theft Auto 5. Rockstar knows they
can't milk that cow forever and have to eventually release new content
in the form of a new GTA game to base a new (or extended) GTA Online on.

--
l/ // Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo] rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/ http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca:11068/
db //

On Tue, 5 Jul 2022 16:45:47 -0000 (UTC), rridge@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
(Ross Ridge) wrote:

>Justisaur <justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:
>>Nope, nor Elder Scrolls 6(?,) GTA 6, etc. Once they get a taste of that sweet
>>MMO money it's all over.
>
>Elder Scrolls 6 has already been officially announced, and it will be
>Bethesda's next game after Starfield (which you'll note isn't an MMO).
>Fallout 5 is promised to come out after that. Neither game is coming
>out any time soon however.
>
> https://www.ign.com/articles/todd-howard-bethesda-fallout-5-elder-scrolls-6-starfield
>
>MMOs aren't really the big money makers they used to be. While I'm
>sure the Elder Scrols Online is making decent money for Microsoft, it
>not at all clear that it's been more profitable than Skyrim which had
>sold over 30 million copies by 2017 while ESO only managed 18 million
>by 2021. Currently during this big summer sale, two seperate editions
>of Skyrim are outselling ESO, with ESO signficantly behind in the Global
>Top Seller rankings.

But while MMOs may not be the big money makers, games with 'live
services' definitely are (GTA5 being the biggest example). Elder
Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 probably won't be MMOs, but odds are much
higher that they will include significant post-purchase monetization
programs that will keep money flowing into Microsoft ne Bethesda's
coffers long after primary development has ceased, which would be a
significant departure for the franchises.

Although higher odds =/= a certainty. While it bothers me to say this,
Microsoft has been a remarkably good custodian of gaming recently, and
while it has tinkered with live service models (see, for instance,
Halo Infinite) it hasn't dedicated itself as thoroughly to exploring
those depths as other companies. The company still seems to see value
in single-purchase games, likely because it can /still/ make money off
those games longer after their prime by putting those products on its
subscription service. So I think it is equally possible that its
Bethesda-division games won't (overly) nickle-and-dime its players to
death.

JAB <noway@nochance.com> writes:

> It certainly wouldn't surprise me if there's never a Fallout 5 at
> least with the current owners of the IP.

Microsoft? Are they so greedy for gold farmers? I have to say I have no
idea what they're doing in games now that they own Bethesda and iD and
so many other studios. They haven't taken an axe to their smaller
acquisitions that concern me at least. They haven't even renamed Github
to Microsoft Github. They did do that to my fave Android keyboard
though.

Anyways, I have a little hope these games (i.e. Elder Scrolls 6 and
Fallout 5) might happen due to an interview of Todd Howard on IGN
recently where he said as much. Interview's at
https://www.ign.com/articles/todd-howard-bethesda-fallout-5-elder-scrolls-6-starfield

Basically what he said was that ES6 is in pre-production and would
follow Starfield which is slated for release in 2023. And Fallout 5
would be after that.

ES5 was released in 2011 and Fallout 4 in 2015. So if ES6 and FO5 are
four years apart, well, might not happen this decade. So yes, Fallout:
London is really needed. Can't have a decade without Fallout now can we?

On 7/5/2022 10:35 AM, Anssi Saari wrote:
> JAB <noway@nochance.com> writes:
>
>> It certainly wouldn't surprise me if there's never a Fallout 5 at
>> least with the current owners of the IP.
>
> Microsoft? Are they so greedy for gold farmers? I have to say I have no
> idea what they're doing in games now that they own Bethesda and iD and
> so many other studios. They haven't taken an axe to their smaller
> acquisitions that concern me at least. They haven't even renamed Github
> to Microsoft Github. They did do that to my fave Android keyboard
> though.
>
> Anyways, I have a little hope these games (i.e. Elder Scrolls 6 and
> Fallout 5) might happen due to an interview of Todd Howard on IGN
> recently where he said as much. Interview's at
> https://www.ign.com/articles/todd-howard-bethesda-fallout-5-elder-scrolls-6-starfield
>
> Basically what he said was that ES6 is in pre-production and would
> follow Starfield which is slated for release in 2023. And Fallout 5
> would be after that.
>
> ES5 was released in 2011 and Fallout 4 in 2015. So if ES6 and FO5 are
> four years apart, well, might not happen this decade. So yes, Fallout:
> London is really needed. Can't have a decade without Fallout now can we?

I'm not sure I can afford to replace the batteries in my Geiger Counter
that often.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.