What bothers me most about such decisions is that I am denied access to the official discussions (and sometimes even the tech support) of the product I paid for, unless I’m willing to accept the third-party platform’s terms of service. Discord is another common one. It’s a sure-fire way to lose me as a customer.
Honest question. Where do you draw the line and why? Because I do not believe that you can make full use of almost anything you paid for in this age without relying on / utilizing a third party.
Want to get tech support for a game? You might have to use Twitter/reddit/Discord
Want to have your hardware repaired? You’re very likely to have to use some post service unless there’s a repair shop you can drive to.
Want to get tech support via phone? You definitely have to use a phone carrier as third party middle-man.
Want to use the internet on your phone? Definitely need to use the infrastructure of some big corporation.
So I must ask, if you draw the line at “requires a third party service to receive support”, is it because of the third party in question specifically?
I do agree with your general point but there are some niche use cases, like how Paradox uses their forums for posting long-format updates and patch notes. That being said, the only use the paradox forums get at all is pretty much restricted to those long ass patch notes, and they could just as easily post them anywhere else
The outer wilds is mostly pretty chill and relaxing and one of the best games I’ve ever played. Don’t look up spoilers if you pick it. It’s a game about exploring and curiosity
Light hearted easy games that I would play would be things like:
Overcooked
Stardew Valley
Castle Crashers
Fall Guys
Crystal Crisis
My reasoning would be that they’re mostly (other than Stardew Valley) are quick and easy games. Not knowing what the other person is really into any more, it might be just an easy way to dip toes into the water.
Mobile games wise, while I don’t play many, I would recommend:
I don’t have much of an opinion on the bioware forums, but man - it’s crazy to think about this period as the collapse of web2. I mean, I’m aware of it, but somehow, giving it that title seems so real.
The online spaces I’ve spent most of my time in are collapsing, and all that’ll be left is the shambling, soulless husks of bankrupt cryptocurrencies. I guess we can just go ahead and skip straight to web4?
If they are dumb, they bring the forums back in form of Subreddits. If they are smart, they bring them back in the Fediverse. Using Twitter as a discussion platform is a dumb idea. The most likely thing that would probably happen is, they bring discussions to Discord…
Oh boy, the odds are not good. Too many shiny alternatives to fail and only one way to make it right.
Metroid Prime has to be pretty far up there. It was a bold step forward for an established franchise that could have gone wrong so many different ways, but holy cow they nailed it. The controls are probably the only weak part, but to be fair dual analog controls hadn’t really caught on yet. Every area of the map has character. So many of the boss fights are memorable, from Omega Pirate being fueled by raw Phazon and destroying its own soldiers, to Thardus whiting out the whole arena, to Meta Ridley wrecking the shit out of the Artifact Temple. The music is great, bringing back bangers from previous games, subtly remixing in other motifs from the past as well to give the game a familiar feeling, while adding beautiful new ambient music of it’s own. The plot progresses forward with only a limited amount of cut scenes and dialog. It combined two genres in an innovative new way that 20+ years later still hasn’t really been recreated yet.
And then once you’ve finished playing everything and finding every last thing as intended, there’s still more fun to be had in learning some of the more basic glitches to get items way earlier than intended. Giving the devs the middle finger by getting items the first time around without taking a long backtracking trip later to come back and get it. Speeding through areas and blasting through boss fights with equipment and weapons you’re not supposed to have yet. It contributed in large part to the birth of the modern speedrunning scene as people came up with more and more creative ways to get around formerly impassable obstacles.
20+ years old now, and it still holds up (as long as you play Primehack or Remastered to get more modern controls).
I know the scale is different but I’m surprised more AAA companies don’t take note. You don’t need to have to most polished game out the door but the fundamentals DO need to be there and you can iterate and make money.
gaming
Top
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.