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[The Red Wizard]

Just a question to everyone who's pre-ordering Dark Souls 2 : how do you justify it? I get that DS was fantastic, but after it got Durante'd. The port itself was really freaking bad. Everyone just hoping they learned their lesson and this time it's considerably better?

It doesn't cost me anything to pre-order it and Amazon UK had the Collector's Edition of Dark Souls 2 for £64 which seemed like a good price. It's since gone out of stock so I'm glad that I pre-ordered it when I did.

As for why I'm keeping the pre-order, for now it doesn't seem like DS2 will be as bad of a port as DS1. Furthermore, I have faith that any problems will be rectified by the time I'm ready to play DS2 (i.e. when it's finished downloading). I know it's not ideal to rely on modders like Durante to fix games, but DS1 was so amazing for me that I'd like to experience DS2 even if I have to use mods.

To put my Dark Souls experience into context, I clocked about 100 hours of playtime on DS1 in my first playthough. I'd have played it again had I not made a rule not to replay games immediately after completing them so that I can play other titles from my backlock. DS1 only cost me £5 so I've more than got my money's worth out of that and so I feel that I can justify buying DS2 on release because even if I only enjoy it half as much as DS1, it'll be worth it.

 

[ashecitism]

The Black Mesa team will be discussing the development of their Half-Life remake in the next issue of Game Informer:



I wonder if anything interesting could come out from that?

If you're thinking of some new, announced, super secret Valve stuff, then I doubt it.

 

[Dolor]

Trading cards are disappointing in the fact that I like making a little money back off the games I've bought, so I'm all for getting free things to sell on the marketplace.

I'm pretty bummed if the game doesn't have Steam Achievements or Steam Cloud. Don't really care about Steam Trading Cards or Workshop all that much.

Trading cards, I could take or leave. I don't use the emoticons, I rarely spend any time looking at my profile background, and I've only leveled up for showcases and to increase my friend limit-- they're just money and hassle.

I think one problem with the trading cards is that they don't produce anything of much value right now. I like collecting badges quite a bit and even I can admit that I don't care much about the auxillary items they produce (although there are several backgrounds I like using).

My guess is that over time crafting the game badges will produce more interesting items akin to what they did with the Holiday sale badges. Reading between the lines, it seems like some games coming out might be instituting this type of thing. There's no confirmation, but it sure sounds like Defense Grid 2 is going to have more Steam marketplace integration. An easy way to do that would be to have badge crafting drop items usable in the game. Just my conjecture at this point though.

 

[HoosTrax]

Hopefully, with Civ V Complete being released today, there's a sale on BNW as well. Want to finally sit down and devote some time to that game, with all of the gameplay mechanics it should have had from the beginning.

 

[Interfectum]

I think one problem with the trading cards is that they don't produce anything of much value right now. I like collecting badges quite a bit and even I can admit that I don't care much about the auxillary items they produce (although there are several backgrounds I like using).

My guess is that over time crafting the game badges will produce more interesting items akin to what they did with the Holiday sale badges. Reading between the lines, it seems like some games coming out might be instituting this type of thing. There's no confirmation, but it sure sounds like Defense Grid 2 is going to have more Steam marketplace integration. An easy way to do that would be to have badge crafting drop items usable in the game. Just my conjecture at this point though.

I would like more interesting ways of acquiring trading cards besides getting half by simply playing and half by trading/marketplace. The entire mechanic just doesn't excite me.

 

[C00kie M0nster]

The Black Mesa team will be discussing the development of their Half-Life remake in the next issue of Game Informer:



I wonder if anything interesting could come out from that?

I'm very interested to see what they added to the pre-Xen portion of the campaign. I heard rumblings they incorporated those two fan-favorite mods (On a Rail and Surface Tension Uncut) among other things. I'm pretty excited for their Steam release.

 

[Cth]

It must be Time Travel Tuesday cause it's a good day for retro games..

I bought the Blink Bundle because I always wanted to play I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (I had it in my hands back in 1995, but opted to give Command and Conquer a try)

Also picked it up for Archon, a game I used to play all the time back in my c64 days.

Does anyone have any strong opinions on InFlux? That was the only game in the 2nd level of the bundle I was considering as it reminded me of Marble Blast Ultra (apparently it's been removed from XBLA?)

Any word on the final game that gets unlocked? Also, can you buy into the 2nd level by adding to your first purchase?

 

[Dr Dogg]

Hopefully, with Civ V Complete being released today, there's a sale on BNW as well. Want to finally sit down and devote some time to that game, with all of the gameplay mechanics it should have had from the beginning.

Complete? Huh granted it's not like something I hadn't seen coming but I'm guessing that's it for added support then? Well unless Firaxis want to look like utter hypocrites and have an uncomplete Complete Edition. I suppose it makes sense as Civ VI has to be in the works by now.

 

[Grief.exe]

This was just added to the Steam Store

Agarest:Generations of War Premium Edition Upgrade

http://store.steampowered.com/app/260960/

• 40 page hi-res digital artbook showing scenes and characters from the game
• 6 hi-resolution official wallpapers
• The official Agarest Soundtrack

 

[HoosTrax]

Well unless Firaxis want to look like utter hypocrites and have an uncomplete Complete Edition.

It was exasperating enough with the "GOTY" and "Gold" editions, not to mention the massive clusterf**k that is the DLC situation and which editions contain what.

 

[corrosivefrost]

It must be Time Travel Tuesday cause it's a good day for retro games..

I bought the Blink Bundle because I always wanted to play I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (I had it in my hands back in 1995, but opted to give Command and Conquer a try)

Also picked it up for Archon, a game I used to play all the time back in my c64 days.

Does anyone have any strong opinions on InFlux? That was the only game in the 2nd level of the bundle I was considering as it reminded me of Marble Blast Ultra (apparently it's been removed from XBLA?)

Any word on the final game that gets unlocked? Also, can you buy into the 2nd level by adding to your first purchase?

You too, huh?
The other games I really remember from that time period were Mail Order Monsters (EA) and two shadowgate-like adventure games staring Spiderman and the Hulk.

 

[Caerith]

Complete? Huh granted it's not like something I hadn't seen coming but I'm guessing that's it for added support then? Well unless Firaxis want to look like utter hypocrites and have an uncomplete Complete Edition. I suppose it makes sense as Civ VI has to be in the works by now.

Civ VI or Y-COM, which will we see first? I'm not sure how much more they could add to Civ V-- even the last two DLC packs were just map scrambles, not even new civs.

 

[def sim]

So, Agarest is the daily deal then. Not my kind of game, I think?

 

[Mavromatis]

This was just added to the Steam Store

Agarest:Generations of War Premium Edition Upgrade

http://store.steampowered.com/app/260960/

• 40 page hi-res digital artbook showing scenes and characters from the game
• 6 hi-resolution official wallpapers
• The official Agarest Soundtrack

It is also a daily deal.

 

[Cth]

You too, huh?
The other games I really remember from that time period were Mail Order Monsters (EA) and two shadowgate-like adventure games staring Spiderman and the Hulk.

MoM, Racing Destructino Set, Wasteland, Bards Tale series, Questprobe, etc..

Yup

 

[ussjtrunks]

My Agarest Generations of War cards just sold for 70c + each €3.50 card monies

 

[Dr Dogg]

It was exasperating enough with the "GOTY" and "Gold" editions, not to mention the massive clusterf**k that is the DLC situation and which editions contain what.

Well it's finally complete due to someone making a new Civilization...

Arstotzka!

Workshop support and proper tools has made mods so more accessible for Civ now.

Civ VI or Y-COM, which will we see first? I'm not sure how much more they could add to Civ V-- even the last two DLC packs were just map scrambles, not even new civs.

While I liked the traditional expansions (mainly because they added back in features that both 3 and 4 had from the start) the dlc Civs, scenarios and map packs felt like cash grabs. Civ Fanatics has mods of a better quality than the official dlc packs.

Still I wouldn't say no to XCOM: Enemy Reunkowning but Civ usually has a 5 year life cycle so 2015 seams like a safe bet.

 

[InfiniteNine]

This was just added to the Steam Store

Agarest:Generations of War Premium Edition Upgrade

http://store.steampowered.com/app/260960/

• 40 page hi-res digital artbook showing scenes and characters from the game
• 6 hi-resolution official wallpapers
• The official Agarest Soundtrack

They should just put Agarest Zero up already since that game is actually decent.

 

[Blue Ninja]

My list is growing shorter, one game at a time.

 

[Chronoja]

It is also a daily deal.

Does the Collector's edition include all that dlc? It's sort of confusing. £9.49 for the collectors edition on sale for 50% off, standard is £14.99 no discount, a ton of "freelc" listed

 

[Anteater]

Enslaved is cool, I'm kind of liking it. Wish the textures aren't so low res though because everything else looks great, it kind of reminds me of Rage where the game looks gorgeous until you turn around and look at the nearest wall/object.

I also have a thing for the journey to the west story so the premise for the plot is a bit interesting to me.

 

[Nabs]

My list is growing shorter, one game at a time.

Time for some Dark Souls.

 

[Krusenstern]

My list is growing shorter, one game at a time.

Don't play Dark Souls next or you will throw your backlog into the bin. It's that good.

 

[PixelHorror]

My list is growing shorter, one game at a time.

Amateur, you have a really short list.

* Cries in the corner while holding backlog *

 

[wilflare]

woke up to a Steam Streaming Beta Invite.. now to see if it works on my macbook

 

[Grief.exe]

My list is growing shorter, one game at a time.

You could honestly throw some of those games out to make your list even shorter, unless you are focusing on finishing literally every single game.

Battlefield 3's campaign was garbage, no need to play that one.

I haven't played Hydrophobia or War in the North, but they are probably skippable. Or check them out for a couple hours then put them down, I believe Hydrophobia is quite short.

I found that Just Cause 2 wasn't worth my time, though some will disagree. Check out some of the campaign and the multiplayer mod, but I wouldn't go too much past that. The mission design is quite repetitive, and it wears out its welcome quite quickly.

 

[kulapik]

D'oh. Looks like my spares will be collecting dust for at least a year. Whatever happened to Valve disallowing the skirting of Greenlight by soliciting a publisher?

Can't you refund them?

 

[jshackles]

Does the Collector's edition include all that dlc? It's sort of confusing. £9.49 for the collectors edition on sale for 50% off, standard is £14.99 no discount, a ton of "freelc" listed

It looks like the only the Collector's Edition includes is the hi-res digital art book and wallpapers, and the game's 25 track soundtrack.

The "free" DLC everyone gets, regardless of version. The rest of the DLC isn't included in the Collector's Edition.

 

[Turfster]

Daily Agarest Generations of War 50% off
Midweek

• Wargame Air Land Battle 70% off
• Don't Starve 60% off

 

[jaundicejuice]

Think I'm going to pre-order Thief. New trailer and difficulty options kinda sold me on the game.

 

[TouchMyBox]

So Steam Music is sorta neat, but I don't think any games have been updated yet to acknowledge it, so it's not too useful at the moment.

 

[Tizoc]

When will DD Neon be up for purchase =/?

 

[Blue Ninja]

You could honestly throw some of those games out to make your list even shorter, unless you are focusing on finishing literally every single game.

Battlefield 3's campaign was garbage, no need to play that one.

I haven't played Hydrophobia or War in the North, but they are probably skippable. Or check them out for a couple hours then put them down, I believe Hydrophobia is quite short.

I found that Just Cause 2 wasn't worth my time, though some will disagree. Check out some of the campaign and the multiplayer mod, but I wouldn't go too much past that. The mission design is quite repetitive, and it wears out its welcome quite quickly.

My list is actually a bit bigger, there's a few games on there I haven't installed yet. I've also got a boatload of stuff from bundles I'll probably never play.

War In The North looked reasonably interesting, which is why I moved it up in my list. I've already played a bit of Just Cause 2, though I enjoy blowing up stuff more than I do actually completing missions.

Have been having doubts about BF3, but I'll probably play it eventually anyways, just to see how bad it is.

 

[Dolor]

I would like more interesting ways of acquiring trading cards besides getting half by simply playing and half by trading/marketplace. The entire mechanic just doesn't excite me.

I think the way you acquire them (playing the game) is specifically to address the issue that a lot of indie devs have where they sell their game through the humble bundle or whatever, and it just ends up in everyone's backlog with no positive word of mouth or recommendations because no one has played it. Getting trading cards for playing I think was meant as an incentive to want to play the game now rather than wait.

Daily Agarest Generations of War 50% off
Midweek

• 
  [*] Wargame Air Land Battle 70% off
• Don't Starve 60% off

I've only played Wargame a bit, but it looks to be a very good RTS game.

 

[Dr Dogg]

My list is growing shorter, one game at a time.

That's about the length of my finished list while my backlog is in the 600+ count on Steam alone. I'm going to die with a backlog still to complete, I'm resigned to the fact now.

 

[corrosivefrost]

It looks like the only the Collector's Edition includes is the hi-res digital art book and wallpapers, and the game's 25 track soundtrack.

The "free" DLC everyone gets, regardless of version. The rest of the DLC isn't included in the Collector's Edition.

Unrelated: Any way for ES to add a link under the existing categories in the Steam "menu" bar?

If so, can we add a "Wishlist" link under <USER> with all the rest?

 

[Chronoja]

It looks like the only the Collector's Edition includes is the hi-res digital art book and wallpapers, and the game's 25 track soundtrack.

The "free" DLC everyone gets, regardless of version. The rest of the DLC isn't included in the Collector's Edition.

The 50% discount eventually applied to the regular version so it's now at £7.49. It just didn't make sense to me that the version with more content was selling for less money.

 

[Frustrated_Grunt]

That's about the length of my finished list while my backlog is in the 600+ count on Steam alone. I'm going to die with a backlog still to complete, I'm resigned to the fact now.

I think of it this way. It's better to have a surplus then a drought.

 

[The Red Wizard]

My list is actually a bit bigger, there's a few games on there I haven't installed yet. I've also got a boatload of stuff from bundles I'll probably never play.

War In The North looked reasonably interesting, which is why I moved it up in my list. I've already played a bit of Just Cause 2, though I enjoy blowing up stuff more than I do actually completing missions.

Have been having doubts about BF3, but I'll probably play it eventually anyways, just to see how bad it is.

I only enjoyed War in the North with a friend. I tried playing it on my own but it wasn't as fun.

 

[wilflare]

streaming isn't working on my mac :/

 

[Lain]

This was just added to the Steam Store

Agarest:Generations of War Premium Edition Upgrade

http://store.steampowered.com/app/260960/

• 40 page hi-res digital artbook showing scenes and characters from the game
• 6 hi-resolution official wallpapers
• The official Agarest Soundtrack

For 2.49€ I grabbed it.

 

[The_Super_Inframan]

Realms of Arcania remake 75% off @DailyRoyale

Just for collectors - the game is beyond shite!

the original trilogy where great games back in the day! i still have the CD versions from the mid 90s somewhere...

so sad that the remake seems to be completely terrible.

i have no clue how they hold up, but if the complete trilogy is on sale for a few bucks in the future i will definitively get them (and i hope they add the great CD audio tracks to the steam versions)

http://r2---sn-4g57knzs.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?mv=m&ratebypass=yes&sver=3&id=34e962447ee04bcc&source=youtube&sparams=id%2Cip%2Cipbits%2Citag%2Cratebypass%2Csource%2Cupn%2Cexpire&expire=1391560682&key=yt5&fexp=943902%2C927610%2C945008%2C942701%2C916623%2C936910%2C936913&ms=au&ipbits=0&itag=43&mt=1391538478&ip=91.37.26.139&upn=ASFwCgXJA50&cpn=JMl7CjLrfQGfZxof&signature=05D6020FA8A673404D4001C66E3F114EA049A8B8.D2EDF45DEC560AFCEB767EF7F68E3ACA2FFB38F8&ptk=youtube_none&pltype=contentugc

http://r8---sn-4g57knzl.googlevideo.com/videoplayback?fexp=943902%2C927610%2C945008%2C942701%2C916623%2C936910%2C936913&ms=au&mv=m&mt=1391538548&sparams=id%2Cip%2Cipbits%2Citag%2Cratebypass%2Csource%2Cupn%2Cexpire&id=3d6be838a79b157e&upn=0kIPSNoIbB0&sver=3&expire=1391562897&source=youtube&ipbits=0&ratebypass=yes&itag=43&key=yt5&ip=91.37.26.139&cpn=CetuKB1WXTXJvgZi&signature=67DBBD15F2682BB2AA4B6348E3263A574105EDD8.0918932BEC3FF188C1697D4598F9C096B1CB0E77&ptk=youtube_none&pltype=contentugc

 

[TheFightingFish]

Don't play Dark Souls next or you will throw your backlog into the bin. It's that good.

You know I have a confession to make here. I played Dark Souls a little while after it came out, and totally, completely loved it. But after some time had past I started to see it hyped up in so many forum posts that I started to think things like "yeah, it was great, but is it really that great?" or "but it was so long, and some of the user unfriendliness really wasn't needed" or "sure I'll play Dark Souls II, but I'll wait until it's cheap." Then I just recently picked up a PS3 and tried out Demon's Souls for the first time. And it all came flooding back to me, and my resounding answer is "yeah, it is that great." Such an incredible series. I can't think of the last time I payed over $20 for a game, but my resolve is really wavering on Dark Souls II, I might just have to day one it.

 

[corrosivefrost]

That's about the length of my finished list while my backlog is in the 600+ count on Steam alone. I'm going to die with a backlog still to complete, I'm resigned to the fact now.

Yeah, pretty much. I think the rate at which I complete games versus the rate at which I acquire them is going to put me there too. My kids will have to pick up where I leave off (if I ever have them... :lol) sort of like a real life Rogue Legacy.

I think of it this way. It's better to have a surplus then a drought.

Nicely put, sir.

streaming isn't working on my mac :/

Sounds about right.

You know I have a confession to make here. I played Dark Souls a little while after it came out, and totally, completely loved it. But after some time had past I started to see it hyped up in so many forum posts that I started to think things like "yeah, it was great, but is it really that great?" or "but it was so long, and some of the user unfriendliness really wasn't needed" or "sure I'll play Dark Souls II, but I'll wait until it's cheap." Then I just recently picked up a PS3 and tried out Demon's Souls for the first time. And it all came flooding back to me, and my resounding answer is "yeah, it is that great." Such an incredible series. I can't think of the last time I payed over $20 for a game, but my resolve is really wavering on Dark Souls II, I might just have to day one it.

My only issues with the games was some of the technical issues when the framerate goes to shit. Otherwise, yes. They ARE that great.
One of the best new IPs in years.

 

[Sinatar]

Realms of Arcania remake 75% off @DailyRoyale

Just for collectors - the game is beyond shite!

Well the developers have been *very* active in patching it, I think it'll eventually get to where it needs to be. The original Northlands trilogy was fantastic.

 

[Milamber]

This was just added to the Steam Store

Agarest:Generations of War Premium Edition Upgrade

http://store.steampowered.com/app/260960/

• 40 page hi-res digital artbook showing scenes and characters from the game
• 6 hi-resolution official wallpapers
• The official Agarest Soundtrack

 

[Ezalc]

Man Agarest looks fun, no steam wallet funds from cards though. It'll have to wait I guess.

 

[Dr Dogg]

I think of it this way. It's better to have a surplus then a drought.

Oh definitely. Now all I need to do is actually summon up the motivation to actually finish what I start. Could be a while.

Yeah, pretty much. I think the rate at which I complete games versus the rate at which I acquire them is going to put me there too. My kids will have to pick up where I leave off (if I ever have them... :lol) sort of like a real life Rogue Legacy.

Hahaha genius. My trait of Non Commital will more than likely be passed down through the ages.

 

[jshackles]

Unrelated: Any way for ES to add a link under the existing categories in the Steam "menu" bar?

If so, can we add a "Wishlist" link under <USER> with all the rest?

Yes, Enhanced Steam already adds a few links ("Forums" under Community, "Reviews" under user, etc). I suppose wishlist would be a good one to add, since it's nearly impossible to get to from the community site.

 

[Intheflorsh]

Bridge Constructor is actually a pretty OK game.

50% off ($5.00) on the Humble Store, alongside a lot of other games.