Numerion's Rants

Spears. What's so special about spears? Well, mostly the fact that it was one of (if not THE) most common weapons of the whole middleage. But do you see them in games? Sure they are pretty often in strategy games but for the most part, that's about it!  I mean, I get it, swords are cooler and spears don't have fancy moves. But most games have ridiculous and unreal moves with swords and it's alright, so why not make some with spears? Why not slash with spears in games? After all, you are not in danger of getting the weapon knocked out of your hands. Why not use the handle to parry attacks? Spin it like a glaive. Whatever! Just fucking do it. And yes, this was mostly inspired by the Vermintide 2 trailer where THERE IS A SPEAR BEING USED.

Whee, that came out 13 years ago. As far as "outdateness" goes, this is my record for now. People tend to have a love/hate relationship with Betrayal and I seem to know why. The game has a major problem that tends to show itself if you really like the game. After numerous plays of the game and about three years of playing it once or more in a while, I realized where the problem lies and how to solve it. Not for the game, but for the player playing it. From my point of view, Betrayal is meant to be experienced, not played. When you play a game, you analyze it, explore it, abuse its weak points and exit out stronger than if you 'just let the game go on'. Many games encourage it. Economy based games, games with an engine, games with opponents, hard coop games all force players to min-max to as far as they can go and reward them for it. Betrayal is not like that. Betrayal doesn't respond well if you try to powergame it. In fact, your enjoyment of the game comes ...

Context: Archer is a TV show that for several years now has been producing less and less "normal" content. At first it was about a spy agency for five seasons and people liked it, but then it started moving, for a lack of a better word, sideways. At first it was objectively hilarious, but the number of "loyal fans" has been dwindling over the seasons. Now there is a talk about new season and in line with the recent ones, it's again 'weird'. I would like to present a different perspective than "it's weird and I don't like it." Imagine you are producing content. You have generally two choices: Either you can constantly make similar content, drawing upon the hungry people who want more of the same, or you can explore new ideas and themes, usually losing your loyal fanbase in the process. Usually, you have to eventually stick to the first option. Find your calm little corner and create your content there, using the money you earn from it...

I actually have to admit that I didn't like the premise of pubg. I liked the idea of the island and hundred players but I didn't like the realism. My problem was the that the game was taking itself too seriously. I also disliked that there's too many bugs and issues with the game itself. I also have problems with the game design and on the whole it didn't seem too appealing to me . Now what Fortnite does differently is that it's not taking itself too seriously. What this enables is absolute madness. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'll re-iterate over the usual shotgun paradox. In "realistic" games, shotguns are a problem. If they were 'realistic', they would be too good. At low range they would equal to an instakill and at medium range they would be still bordering between 'useful at all times' and 'deadly'. As previously mentioned in the dota rant, you don't want to end with a 'too good' weapon, beca...

Dota is my doom and my void. I enjoy it. It consumes too much time and it causes me not being able to play other games as much as I would love, but I enjoy it. However, like other games, it has some problems. Unlike other games, the developers are actively trying to face these issues and mitigate them. Valve doesn't communicate much and doesn't make excuses. At times the community would prefer things differently, but at least this way, there are no obvious flaws with the system. Now, for those unaware, big patches in dota are...well...big. As in game changing. As in what worked yesterday won't work tomorrow at all. They don't come often, in fact, Valve lets the meta boil for a good while, before they decide to change it majorly. And boy did they do that. First off: removal of Poor man's shield and Iron Talon. To me, it was to be expected. It's very hard to balance a game element properly, if everybody is able (and eager) to use it constantly. Both of these...