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For a limited time, buy your horse genitalia mod for the low price of $100 (Gaming Thread)

Welp, Valve and Bethesda in their glorious fashion is rocking the boat on mods by having an option for modders to be able to charge for their work. Now, on the face of it, it doesn't sound all that bad as you would be hard pressed to see why someone like SureAI (frankly, SureAI should have money thrown at them to be a proper dev) shouldn't be getting paid for their total conversion mods for Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Morrowind as they make whole new worlds with Bethesda's creation toolset. But considering the standard method of the cottage industry is free mods with tip jar links, this is quite the disruptive bomb to be throwing at a community that has been plugging along for years keeping games that are having their lives extended by these mods. All on the basis of Valve and Bethesda wanting 75% of whatever these mods can make when sold. And of course if you're looking for one of the dumber things, Valve hand waved away the ethics problem of modders being able to charge for their mods which also use other people's mods to work (a lot of Elder Scroll and Fallout mods are iterative work of older mods). Of course this lead to the expected, the modder got upset of someone profiting off his work and had the other guy pull his mod off the Workshop (he also pulled it off the giant mod repository, Nexus Mods as well). Though with this turn of trying to grab money, Valve's continued aversion to mods like Beautiful People is a bit interesting as it's far and way one of the most downloaded mods for Skyrim.


Like every thing that Valve has done over the last 7 years or so, this whole ball of wax is unneeded and not thought out. Don't get me wrong, Bethesda is scummy in wanting half the cut of revenue but Valve's gee willikers attitude (while being a monolith in PC gaming) of throwing shit at the wall is basically on the verge of killing the strongest modding community in PC gaming which neither of the two companies really seem to have any respect for with this move

And for Gabe Newell (head of Valve/Steam) who has always claimed to not be a shuckster (which people revere as Lord GabeN in misguided delusion), he comes off as quite the shuckster in the AMA he ran to quell fears.

****************************************************

NEWS

• Oh and if you haven't already, make sure you download P.T. on the PS4 before the 29th as Konami is pulling it off the store. That's pretty much the last thing Konami has left to do to wipe Kojima from their memory.

• Does anyone care about Destiny anymore? If you do, that's cool but Bungie is going to get knuckle deep in you by charging $20 for a load of nothing content

Don't get me wrong, the first Gears of War actually kinda needs a "remaster" but I personally don't want more remasters. I just don't care.

Considering in how sales of Call of Duty is on the downswing, it makes sense in throwing a "beta" for Black Ops 3 out there to drum up support. Just kinda wish the trailers for Black Ops 3 did something for me. I've already played this game and it was called TitanFall

As masters of announcing games way before they should, Telltale and Marvel announced they signed a partnership for a game to be released in 2017. Still won't make them upgrade their engine or fix any of the legacy bugs.

Peak retardation of this gen's console wars. Why Microsoft was forced to apologize and they did is just ludicrous. Of course, Sony has the same vid but get nary a peep for doing the same thing is part and parcel for the industry.

Reactionary price cuts on your console will cut your revenue down. Though not having anything to play on your consoles (TitanFall last year), having flat numbers compared to last year is worrying.

While Spencer flounders, Sony revised their numbers upwards, even with a catastrophic mobile number (which is a harbinger to Sony's demise).

• Man I hope EA makes a good golf game. Though Hot Shots and Powershot Golf have been doing their best to keep the market from being a completely big pile of crap, a good "realistic" golf game would be nice.

• Look at that, we finally have something about the WAR licensed Total War games. Creative Assembly is angling to do a trilogy of the series. I'm not too well versed in the medieval Warhammer so I'm curious in how the story is going to work since they killed that part of the franchise. Is the games going to be flashbacks before The End Times or if this is the start of the reboot as Sigmar is still alive and has the ability to recreate the world in his eye.

****************************************************

NEW RELEASES

This week is pretty bare bones for releases. It's even worse if you're excluding re-releases.

Broken Age: Act 2 (PC, PS4, iOS, Android & Vita) - Well, this Kickstarter project is finally coming to a close with the release of the second half of the game. Personally didn't like the first half (too easy and the story and VO was grating) but it's nice to see this one finally wrapped up.


State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition (PC & XBO) - Oh look, another remaster. Flat out, the game is good but I'm so tired of remasters. Quit it videogame industry. If you want the best non-multiplayer zombie game, this is the best one though it's let down a bit with it's real time mechanic. You can't just pick up and play this as everything is based on a real world clock. Don't play it for a few days and you're kinda screwed. I'm not a big fan of the $30 price tag. Sure, it includes the expansion packs but eh.


Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim (PC) - The PC version of this seminal series is finally getting a western release. If you want an action rpg, I still stand by this being the ultimate ARPG series which IMO is better than the Zelda series. That being said, I can't in good conscious say this is one to start off with as it has a lot of call backs to the earlier games.

Omega Quintet (PS4) - Compile Heart's new game is an RPG staring a J-Pop idol group. It's a Compile Heart game so expect some fanservice wrapped up in bad gameplay decisions to create another one of their decidedly mediocre games. Some people actually like their games that isn't the Neptunia series but I am not one of them (though Monster Monpiece isn't bad if it wasn't for the lewd ass shit).

Twitter

Posted by: Gang of Gaming Morons! at 03:09 PM




Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Okay..., I didn't understand a word of that...

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 26, 2015 03:11 PM (F2IAQ)

2 Game on!

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 26, 2015 03:11 PM (F2IAQ)

3 Okay..., I didn't understand a word of that...

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 26, 2015 03:11 PM (F2IAQ)

makes two of us

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 03:14 PM (SyKbw)

4 death to valve! gaben has failed us for the last time!

Posted by: woot at April 26, 2015 03:18 PM (G3PDO)

5 I was shocked to see that Omega Quintet made Best Buy's sale ads. I don't know if that is a sign BB sees money in some of the titles that a couple years ago they wouldn't carry in stores or an indictment of the PS4's game releases that BB felt forced to plug any new release in to try to get gamers in.

I'm not going to get it in the store, but that is (mostly) because I grabbed the LE off Iffys website.

Posted by: Bete says it is going to burn, why bother putting it off? at April 26, 2015 03:18 PM (Lqb+9)

6 Total War Warhammer may be interesting...

But not sure how the engine will deal with Heroes... not to mention MAGIC...

Posted by: BB Wolf at April 26, 2015 03:19 PM (qh617)

7 "horse genitalia mod"

Never thought I'd see those three words together.

Posted by: Chris M at April 26, 2015 03:20 PM (6RZos)

8 I'm just going to copy what I wrote last night:

Skyrim/Steam update: The paid mods rollout has been a spectacular
disaster. Where the workshop used to have 5-10 new entries a day, this
weekend there've been over 30 every 12 hours that I've checked, with
most being protest mods against the idea of paid mods (about a dozen $1
mods that add a potato or something similarly useless, a similar number
insulting the CEO of Valve, a $99 mod putting genitals on the back end
of all the game's horses, and my favorite, a mod that lets you turn down
gold quest rewards saying 'I didn't do it for the money') and no
serious paid mods as far as I can tell have been added beyond that 17
that appeared with Thursday's announcement.

Oh, and a couple of
paid mods have already been pulled because they used content created by
other modders, a common practice no one much cared about when it was all
free, now, there are lawyers involved.

Modders responsible for
some of the biggest, both in terms of importance (the unofficial patches
which fix over 15000 bugs still in a game that's four years old) and
size (Falskaar which I don't use but apparently gives you another
continent to explore) have already publicly stated their disinterest in
the scheme. And the comment boards on steam are, well, the term
'inferno' comes to mind.

In case you missed it, Steam announced
Thursday that it was allowing modders for skyrim to charge for their
mods, which were previously universally free (and the main reason anyone
would buy a game that's 4 years old and still full of bugs). Now, I
believe in the right of an individual to own one's work as much as
anyone here, but there is an established culture of modders that see it
as a hobby and of mutual benefit to have it free (with donations options
that exist mainly where users have begged for them-in at least one case
I've seen, modders legally can't charge due to other contracts they are
under) which Valve is running into. Further the deal, as best as I can
determine is this:
You set a price for your mod. Eventually, steam
says modders will be able to set paid mods at 0 and let users set a
higher amount, but as of today the prices are take them or leave them.
You get 25% of whatever's pad, with Valve and Bethesda splitting the other 75%
You can't claim any of it until it accumulates to at least $100
Valve
isn't writing any checks here, even if you top $100, it goes straight
to your steam wallet so you can get more games from them.

This has been corrected, but it's worth noting this was the perception most of the weekend. Valve is sending out checks, as I understand it, for each $100 you accumulate

Users
who don't want to pay are upset. Modders by and large seem to be
insulted either by the prospect of a paywall, or the enormous cut Valve
and Bethesda are taking. And the CEO of Valve was on reddit earlier
trying to claim he didn't know anything about it. I'm told he went from
being a bit of a dock star there to now, you have to specifically search
for his comments as they've been so overwhelmingly downvoted.

Posted by: Methos at April 26, 2015 03:21 PM (ZbV+0)

9
Posted by: Bete says it is going to burn, why bother putting it off? at April 26, 2015 03:18 PM (Lqb+9)

wait wut, it's in the ad?

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 03:21 PM (SyKbw)

10 Anyone else feel like we are in a Sargasso Sea of game releases right now? It really seems like nothing big is coming in the near future.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 03:22 PM (iHjB5)

11
Posted by: Chris M at April 26, 2015 03:20 PM (6RZos)

hey Darth Cheney needs work after being VP so being a stand in for horse cock was a perfect business opportunity

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 03:23 PM (SyKbw)

12 Anyone else feel like we are in a Sargasso Sea of
game releases right now? It really seems like nothing big is coming in
the near future.



Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 03:22 PM (iHjB5)

Witcher 3 in a couple of weeks and Until Dawn is supposed to be out in a few months but yeah, it's been a shit show for releases outside missed Christmas stuff and Bloodborne

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 03:25 PM (SyKbw)

13 That horse is standing in front of the Whiterun stables.

Posted by: MikeinGa at April 26, 2015 03:26 PM (psVAq)

14 I will say that Ori and the Blind Forest has been GOTY so far. Not a lot of competition so far but that game is fantastic

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 03:26 PM (SyKbw)

15 Posted by: Bete says it is going to burn, why bother putting it off? at April 26, 2015 03:18 PM (Lqb+9)

wait wut, it's in the ad?
Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 03:21 PM (SyKbw)

At least online. Check page 20.

And noticeably not with a sale price either.

Posted by: Bete says it is going to burn, why bother putting it off? at April 26, 2015 03:28 PM (Lqb+9)

16 Steam could have monetized mods without it being a disaster, they just didn't.

The way to start that would have first been with donation buttons in the workshop, and Steam/dev get x%, probably best to start with 10% or 20%. They could have transitioned into pricing later and it would have been less of a shock.

This looked like a huge cash grab up front, and they won't be able to dispel that perception.

The other problem is a lot of mods are crap or don't work or don't work with other mods - charging sets you up with support demands, and nobody is prepared for that.

There are mods I would have paid for - or did, with donations.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 03:32 PM (bLnSU)

17 only mods I've "paid" for in donations have been the conversion mods by SureAI

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 03:34 PM (SyKbw)

18 Next will be a butt implants mod for your horses. For only $199.

Yeah this sounds like it will turn into a spectacular fail.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 26, 2015 03:36 PM (0Ef//)

19 Steam was a great idea. I give credit to Valve for it.

Half-Life and it's sequels were great games.

Portal 1 & 2 were great games that showed you did not have to have shooter mechanics to make a deep, satisfying game.

On the other hand, it seems like Valve has a very odd way of running itself. Does anyone doubt that after eleven years a company would not put out a sequel to one of the most beloved franchises in game history?

I can understand trying to build mystique and trying to make sure that you have a knock it out of the park story/gameplay. However, they run the risk now of the previous game coming out so long ago that no one will give a rat's ass.

It is strange. Are they waiting for VR to advance to the point where they can be one of the first games to use it successfully? That way they have an order of magnitude better graphics and wow factor that the second game had over the first?


Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 03:36 PM (iHjB5)

20 I want things that apparently most gamers don't want, so gaming is always a little annoying.

The DPS Monkeys seem to have won in Star Trek Online, the new "season" is focused on STFs (repetetive space combat sessions) geared for min/maxed ships and paid gear. I happen to find them incredibly tedious, so basically the new "season" is stuff I ain't interested in. There's not much in the way of new story, so it seems like the game is leaning away from several years of storytelling.

I went back to play Need For Speed World, the driving MMO. It's closing its doors soon, so though I never spent much time there I thought I'd check it out again. I love customizing different cars, but that process is too slow in the MMO version, and most of the players are 12-year-old dick wavers.

Allowing a "ramming" dynamic in that game was a big mistake, because that means that the only race type is "demolition derby."

Too bad, because it has good graphics. I just do the daily trasure hunt mission and anything easy to get money so I can try different cars. Eh, it will be gone soon.

I went back into Neverwinter recently, it still doesn't seem like there's much of interest to do. It seems like MMOs are going the MOBA route of less content and more repetition.

I think I mentioned I played the open weekend for ESO. It's tempting because there's a lot of territory I haven't seen. Maybe with a big enough discount on the game, and a free horse or something.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 03:38 PM (bLnSU)

21 I don't know that anyone outside Valve knows why they've been so slow. They spend a lot of time on the Steam PC, and on Steam (except for bugfixes, which have been very slow).

They may just not be spending that much time on dev work. Or they might have done a "Duke 3D millenium" or "Prey" where they started and stopped developing repeatedly, or switched engines midstream.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 03:40 PM (bLnSU)

22 I think I mentioned I played the open weekend for ESO. It's tempting because there's a lot of territory I haven't seen. Maybe with a big enough discount on the game, and a free horse or something.
--------

How about a free horse dong?

Posted by: Valve modder at April 26, 2015 03:40 PM (zt+N6)

23 Hey Merovign, so what quick and quirky stand aline mod can we develop in say two hours to peddle for a ridiculous price?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 26, 2015 03:41 PM (0Ef//)

24 23 Hey Merovign, so what quick and quirky stand aline mod can we develop in say two hours to peddle for a ridiculous price?
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 26, 2015 03:41 PM (0Ef//)


Jesus fish on horse butt cheeks? And then you can double your profits by releasing Darwin fish.

Posted by: Buzzion at April 26, 2015 03:43 PM (zt+N6)

25 if Valve and Bethesda wanted money, they would let mods like Beautiful People and some of the female armor mods to be on the workshop

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 03:45 PM (SyKbw)

26 The other problem is a lot of mods are crap or don't work or don't work
with other mods - charging sets you up with support demands, and nobody
is prepared for that.


It never ceases to amaze me how many follower mods have caveats that they don't include the art assets in the image they use to advertize their character, but that you'll need X enb, Y hair, and Z face mods to make it look like that.

You can get away with it when every mod is free and everyone's involved just for fun, but not if any significant number of mods are for purchase.

Posted by: Methos at April 26, 2015 03:45 PM (ZbV+0)

27 Posted by: Valve modder at April 26, 2015 03:40 PM (zt+N6)

There is a website I will not name where you can get one free.

Posted by: MikeinGa at April 26, 2015 03:47 PM (psVAq)

28 Anna: Skyrim: Total War! All the monsters, animals, and NPCs meet and fight outside Whiterun! Guaranteed to crash even high-end PCs!

Or something immersion-breaking like guns and monster trucks?

I actually have made a few basic mods, but nothing complicated. Mostly filling holes where others didn't bother (like making *some* wild animals less psycho) or fixing bugs early on (like extracting and modifying interface files because Bethsoft locked out a lot of keybinds).

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 03:47 PM (bLnSU)

29 Methos... good write up. I've played the shit out of Skyrim , Fallout III and NV and Euro truck, and Farm Sim with mods. Mostly Skyrim and the Fallouts though. Those games would have long been put away if not for the mods. Skyrim mods made it playable for me.. from the utilities that have been added, the UI, fixing numerous issues/patches... and of course all the playable stuff from additional story lines, weapons, armor, weather, etc.

It was inevitable I guess that some idiots would step in and screw it up. Just like the internet used to be the ultimate open-ended and free experience, then it gets the treatment... and now the beginnings of the attempts to ruin modding. I hope Valve backs off of this. We know this didn't come from the game developers b/c they benefit the most from their games being "improved".

This was some idiots inside Valve (IMO) that doesn't game, doesn't understand modding, and just saw a way to get moar money.. at the risk of crashing the whole thing. I hope this unravels and there is a way to put things back where they were... but my life experience tells me that's probably not going to happen.

Posted by: Yip at April 26, 2015 03:48 PM (84SRe)

30 Merovign, Long Swords +8 that glow blue or red or green.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 26, 2015 03:50 PM (0Ef//)

31 Is the horse mod in 4k? Because it is only worth it if it is 4k.

Posted by: wooga at April 26, 2015 03:52 PM (tuaBK)

32 Actually probably the best thing would be one of the attempts to remake Morrowind in the Skyrim engine. I never finished the original and every time I go back, even with graphics mods, the interface is just too primitive.

I have to see if there was ever a graphics mod for Ultima 9, because the *interface* was way ahead of its time, though the graphics were very primitive. It was cut back too much in development and there were some bugs, but conceptually it was way ahead of its time.

Second look at Ultima 7 in Skyrim engine? Imagine the legal wrangles!

Maybe we need a new "agnostic" game engine that is designed to have other game files translated into it - obviously it would be a fairly manual process, but arguably if you owned the original game and were able to "import" the files...

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 03:52 PM (bLnSU)

33 Lord British in Skyrim?

Did we just cross the streams Ray?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 26, 2015 03:54 PM (0Ef//)

34 wasn't Skyblivion supposed to come out like a year and a half ago?

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 03:54 PM (SyKbw)

35 23 Hey Merovign, so what quick and quirky stand aline mod can we develop in say two hours to peddle for a ridiculous price?

Walking dead mod, where all NPCs (named and unnamed) stick around eating each other until you headshot them. If that doesn't already exist, it should. Good way to rid the game of allshopkeepers.

Posted by: wooga at April 26, 2015 03:56 PM (tuaBK)

36 I want things that apparently most gamers don't want, so gaming is always a little annoying.

Same here. I loved the megamods for Civ 3 and 4, and was so disappointed with Civ for dummies, I didn't even try Civ For Dummies In Space.

I've latched on to Requiem for Skyrim, which has a lot of dismal reviews floating around both for what it is and the difficulty getting it to play nicely with other mods, but I got it working, and was like 'Holy snot, this is exactly what I wanted this game to be!'

Well, not exactly, as I used all of their ingame options to add carry weight, and I've mucked around with the community uncapper (it bothered me even in my buggy PS3 playthroughs that I got skills maxed out before finishing quests in two cities), so I'm not getting all the hardcore pain the Requiem modders intend, but it's enough that it's fixed the game for me, and I'm not bothering anyone.

But I went through a *lot* of mods just to find what I wanted, and many of those I don't use now work just fine, but just aren't worth having on my load order. I play with over 100 and have well over 200. If I had to pay for each of those as I tried them, I wouldn't be playing Skyrim any more.

Posted by: Methos at April 26, 2015 03:57 PM (ZbV+0)

37 Two biggest remaining flaws in Skyrim (that I can think of at the moment):

Arrows fire from the crotch. Basically arrows leave your character model at waist level, though visually they look like they're going to fire from eye level. This makes sneak-archers extremely annoying, because you can't perch above anything and crouch and shoot at it, the arrows will hit what you're standing on.

There was a mod that sort of fixed that by moving the camera height, but that stopped working after the last update.

The other is the "skill wraparound," some skills, if the score gets too high, "wrap around" and effectively start over.

So, if your stealth score is 90 and you have items and bonuses of 40, your score is 130 and you're super-sneaky. If your skill goes up by one, it is effectively 1 and blind rodents see you coming a mile away.

Those aren't the exact numbers but you get the idea.

No one seems to know how to fix that one.

Skyrim was a massively buggy game. I mean, here's your example of why complex systems are unreliable.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 03:57 PM (bLnSU)

38 After Enderal comes out, I can uninstall Skyrim.

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 04:02 PM (SyKbw)

39 I mostly just want to explore the gameworld. I was a big Adventure Gamer back in the day when that was more common, nowdays most adventure games seem to be "hidden object/puzzle" or "choose your own page" games. There are exceptions.

I would play a Skyrim-sized "Monkey Island" game with effectively no combat. I like combat in games sometimes, but its always repetitive, and I'm mainly there to find cool stuff and people and things.

I thought of trying to make an "adventure game" mission for Skyrim, kind of like classic Lucas Arts games. Lots of work.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 04:02 PM (bLnSU)

40 I'll be honest: I seriously doubt that I'll be picking up Skyrim now if every mod I would be interested in trying has been moved behind a paywall. I'm wondering if I should now get whatever mods I want for Morrowind and Oblivion before they get pulled, too.

Posted by: antisocial justice beatnik at April 26, 2015 04:04 PM (l3LvV)

41 I looked at Enderal. First thing I noticed is that, like everyone, they "cranked up the difficulty."

For me that just means more time wasted on combat, which is less interesting.

As I say, a lot of players just *love* the parts I find the most tedious, that I just want to get over with and get on with the exploration.

Tons of mods like to bind gameplay changes to content changes, because it offends some people if other people are allowed to enjoy a game. It's absolutely endemic on game forums, and MMOs are always eventually taken over by min/maxers.

One of my early conversations about Skyrim was with someone who said the game was just too easy, and then went on about tricks that made super-powerful items and skills.

I found your difficulty problem, and it ain't the game.

I also hate doing the same thing over and over, which is another reason that doesn't appeal to me.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 04:08 PM (bLnSU)

42 Remakes don't bother me at all. To me they are no different from Blu-ray releases of movies I watched ten years ago on DVD. The original talent keeps working on new stuff while the remaster serves as a training ground for new behind the scenes talent to hone their craft by working on something proven. It may actually be a better application of their developing skills than prematurely attempting something entirely new and coming up short.

If I really liked the original I may find it worth buying the remaster. If not, so what? There is still far more stuff out there than I will ever have time to fully play.

Consider the 1080p Super Mario 64 on PC recently quashed by Nintendo. If they released such an item on the Wii U (or the New 3DS) for $10 I might be really tempted.

A few years from now I look forward to a bunch of 4K optimized remakes hitting the market. Several of them are bound to be titles I never got around to playing the first or even second time they came around.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 26, 2015 04:08 PM (IdCqF)

43 I hope this unravels and there is a way to put things back where they
were... but my life experience tells me that's probably not going to
happen.


Yip, my hope is less on Valve coming to its senses than the modders rejecting the scheme. Most of the big modders I'm aware of have said their stuff is staying free for principle or practical reasons (I heard the SkyUI guys are considering their options but haven't seen a direct quote), and don't want any part of the argument that's currently happening. The guys who are participating seem to think they're going to get rich selling $.50 swords and $1.50 armor sets (which is a headscratcher for me in a game that's played in first-person by default).

Posted by: Methos at April 26, 2015 04:09 PM (ZbV+0)

44 Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 04:08 PM (bLnSU)

They always say they cranked the difficulty but it's not a huge increase and it's more of enemies not being tied to your character's level. Play their Nehrim (mod for Oblivion) to get an idea of what their stuff plays like

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 04:12 PM (SyKbw)

45 Posted by: Epobirs at April 26, 2015 04:08 PM (IdCqF)

Main problem to me is that they just flooded the market with them and for a lot of games that really don't need it. Putty Squad is not a game that needed a "remaster"

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 04:14 PM (SyKbw)

46 39
That is one of the things I loved about Fallout 3 (less with Fallout New Vegas), that you could explore the game and find things that did not affect or improve your character in any way, but added more flavor to the game:

-Like where you find where a family had taken shelter during the apocalypse and can read their journals.

- The spot which is really out of the way where a scientist was studying ghoul behavior in something very similar to Diane Fossey's work.

To me it was always the flavor bits in Bethesda's Fallout which made it better than their Elder Scrolls work.


Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 04:16 PM (iHjB5)

47 At least we're getting Fallout 4 this fall. Hope Bethesda took a hard look at what Obsidon did with New Vegas

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 04:19 PM (SyKbw)

48 47
Amen to that. New Vegas had the better story, but I liked the setting more with 3.

Have you actually heard an announcement? I know everyone is assuming they will announce, but is there anything concrete?

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 04:22 PM (iHjB5)

49 Oh yeah, Square will be having their own E3 press conference this year. Going to be interesting in what the announce (mobile games)

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 04:23 PM (SyKbw)

50 #45

Putty Squad need not be considered a remaster so much as just a couple of ports to PS4 and Vita. If you owned the IP, would you let it lie fallow instead of giving people a chance to keep giving you money? Especially those who'd never seen previous releases of the game? The only thing I'd change on Putty Squad is it didn't need a disc release but I suppose they were trying to cash in on being early on a new platform.

I am never ever going to play Madden but I don't complain about its renewed annual presence because I'm not under the illusion that the market exists to serve my desires exclusively. Nor do I resent new format releases of Disney movies I'd be happy to never see ever again. Every day a new contingent of viewers for those items is born. They drive the market and provide capital to finance new content for the likes of me.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 26, 2015 04:23 PM (IdCqF)

51 4 of the top 5 free mods for Skyrim this week are protest mods. A protest sign. And Immersive Paywall Mod. A mod to refuse reward money in game. And a mod to replace the menu and soundtrack.

Posted by: buzzion at April 26, 2015 04:23 PM (zt+N6)

52 Nothing concrete but if you're going to be throwing a E3 presser, you need something big and doing an hour just on Doom 4 is a waste

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 04:27 PM (SyKbw)

53 When I play Skyrim, the only mods I use besides SkyUI is the one where the merchants have increased gold and another that lets me melt down weapons into ingots. That's enough for me to avoid the majority of the goofiness and irritating limits. Never saw any other mod that I felt I "needed".

Posted by: Inspector Cussword at April 26, 2015 04:28 PM (+W8F+)

54 52
Let's hope you are right. I have a hankering for some Post-apocalyptic exploration with 40's music in the background. For some reason I have not been able to scratch the itch lately.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 04:31 PM (iHjB5)

55 53
I liked the graphics mods. I also liked the ones that darkened the nighttime. I actually really enjoyed the cold weather mods that made gear choices more fun (made fur and other warm armor much more attractive.)

A lot of the ones that added new weapon models were pretty good. A lot of the work was much more detailed and attractive than stock stuff. (this is also true for Fallout New Vegas.)

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 04:34 PM (iHjB5)

56 Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 04:02 PM (bLnSU)

I like the exploring part as well. It's probably why I prefer WoW to DDO. That makes it hard to play "little" games like Kindle apps though, especially since I hate puzzles.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 26, 2015 04:34 PM (GDulk)

57 There's lots of secondary story material in Skyrim, but for some reason most people seem to follow the main plot more in Skyrim than in Fallout. I largely ignore the main plot and wander. In addition to radiant quests, there are little location-related stories, mad mages, covens, some poor lady bathing in a pool that got et by a bear, just hundreds of little tidbits.

And I added more with mods, most of my mods are NPCs or quests or locations, I have about 130 mods installed now.

Probably only 30 or 40 in New Vegas because there are just less mods available, and most of them are equipment (some story and location).

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 04:35 PM (bLnSU)

58 though I wouldn't be surprised if they give a teaser for Prey 2 at Bethesda's presser

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 04:36 PM (SyKbw)

59 antisocial justice beatnik,

Chances are the mods.. the good mods will still be free. I'd argue, to get Skyrim now... get on Nexus and start downloading the mods. Download the UI stuff and other stuff that makes the mods work well, SKSE, etc.

I cannot imagine they'll be rolling back the clock somehow and charging you or rendering something you've already got unusable unless you pay... b/c that goes against the whole grain of the modding community.

I really like Requiem too btw.. it's added a lot to play. And to the open worlder/adventure stuff... THERE are several mods available that do just that.... they add lore... little villages to find and interact with, etc. There are some really talented modding folks.

If Bethesda was smart... heh heh... well.. nevermind. I too look forward to FO4... with mods to fix all the crap that won't work right

Posted by: Yip at April 26, 2015 04:36 PM (84SRe)

60 I grew to hate the music in New Vegas (the radio music anyway), and it desperately hard to get rid of (modding radio music is highly manual in that game vs. Fallout 3). When I tried it just kept playing the old music.

It's all very similar and you hear the same thing over and over and over and over.

I just shoot the radios.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 04:38 PM (bLnSU)

61 57
There were a few for New Vegas. Some bounties.

There is one I have never tried that is set in Boulder, Colorado. Another opens up the sewer system under Vegas and has a lot of side quests associated with it.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 04:39 PM (iHjB5)

62 60
There is also a few total replacement mods for the music for New Vegas. Conelrad was the name of one. It did old civil defense announcements from the 40's and 50's as well as other music from the period. Not too bad.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 04:41 PM (iHjB5)

63 I think I'm running a little over a hundred mods in Skyrim. I like the cold/wet mod and weather.. lighting... the added player houses esp the lodge near Whiterun with the hot tubs. I like interesting NPC's too... adds a lot more lines and weird stuff...

The last one I like a LOT are one that will add script to quests to give you a clue where you're going and who you have to talk to. It always bugged me I've have 10 or more quests avail to start but would get distracted and when I go to the list to follow one, the entry is so brief, I don't know where so and so is that started the quest or where I'm going b/c the name of the town was in the dialogue that I've long forgotten. heh

Also, in NV,, highly recommend Niner... good follower with missions.


Posted by: Yip at April 26, 2015 04:43 PM (84SRe)

64 There are a bunch of radio mods for NV. I have several.

Posted by: Yip at April 26, 2015 04:44 PM (84SRe)

65 63
That is kind of funny. I actually considered a mod that completely removed the quest marks on your maps and gave you written instructions instead.

I like the immersion mods. I did not get that one because I was kind of burned out on Skyrim by that point.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 04:45 PM (iHjB5)

66 All the radio mods I found for NV were the same kind of music, just different songs.

Absolutely precisely what I was not looking for.

I just wanted to replace the songs, but the mod I got to do that didn't work.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 04:47 PM (bLnSU)

67 66
Fallout was just straight 40's/50's pop. New Vegas had a weird country vibe that did grate at times.

I have always loved music from the 40's so what I did when the music got old was mute the in game music and just play the Sirius/xm 40's station.

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 04:50 PM (iHjB5)

68 see I liked the music in New Vegas over FO3

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 04:53 PM (SyKbw)

69 @65 Before I found the mod I mentioned, I had found one that adds a notepad to a hot key of your choice. So you could pull it up an jot some notes down. Pretty cool. I like the immersion stuff, but I find it WAaaay too easy to get side tracked and it's as if they wrote the game with the idea that a 14 year old kid was going to play it everyday on the playstation and never lose track of where they were..... as opposed to adults that have lives that play as time allows... and real life interferes with what the hell I was supposed to do or who was I going to talk to where based on one conversation that may have happened months ago. heh

Posted by: Yip at April 26, 2015 04:54 PM (84SRe)

70 I cannot imagine they'll be rolling back the clock somehow and charging
you or rendering something you've already got unusable unless you pay...
b/c that goes against the whole grain of the modding community.


I don't even worry that they'd do that intentionally. The problem is, you have to open steam to play Skyrim, even if running it through SKSE, and steam auto updates it if a patch is available. Which could break some mods. Now if the up to date versions of those mods are pay only, you could be in a position where you have to pay or a 200+ hour save becomes unplayable.

Posted by: Methos at April 26, 2015 04:55 PM (ZbV+0)

71 They kinda ruined NV with the b-side odd country music.

Posted by: Yip at April 26, 2015 04:57 PM (84SRe)

72 the added player houses esp the lodge near Whiterun with the hot tubs.

The one on the cliff across the waterfall? Yeah I had to get that . In Requiem you simply can't clear Bleak Falls Barrow early on (folks say they did it at level 15, but I waited until 30 and still needed a follower for the draugr horde before the dragon wall), which means you can't get Breezehome.

Posted by: Methos at April 26, 2015 05:01 PM (ZbV+0)

73 but for some reason most people seem to follow the main plot more in Skyrim than in Fallout.


In Skyrim you are the epic warrior trying to save the world. In Fallout you are the wasteland wanderer trying to survive. The atmosphere and setting of the game instill a certain type of playing style.

Posted by: buzzion at April 26, 2015 05:01 PM (zt+N6)

74 @70 Methos... yeah, I would not buy Skyrim from Steam. I bought mine on CD and run it via SKSE. Now it is in my Steam list and I assume if I wanted to, I could disassociate the two IF Steam did what you said. I had assumed that SKSE and Nexus Mod Mgr were all separate from Steam.

Posted by: Yip at April 26, 2015 05:01 PM (84SRe)

75 Bleak Falls Barrow.... yep... I watched a guy try on youtube and it became clear to me I needed better stuff , and the right kind of follower. That Requium is an well done add on for sure.

Posted by: Yip at April 26, 2015 05:04 PM (84SRe)

76 They're also going to be airing Heroes of the Storm college tournament grand finals on ESPN2 tonight. No idea how well that's going to do ratings-wise, but I'll probably tune in just to see how they handle e-sports on an ESPN.

Posted by: Dan Kojak at April 26, 2015 05:06 PM (zfjOq)

77 So cock rockets AND horse dong. Nice. Good thing I never bought any Bethesda after I yawned "Fallout 3" off my shelf.

Anyway, because I don't have many Bethesda games, and don't use Steam... I hadn't been following this. I do worry that its miasma is going to waft over to other mod-heavy communities like the Freespace 2 Open project. Or the Dungeon Siege community which gave us the Ultima 5 remake.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 26, 2015 05:09 PM (AVEe1)

78 Though it was fluff aimed at people who know DOTA, did okay with The International last year on ESPN3

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 05:10 PM (SyKbw)

79 78
I am surprised they have not skipped some numbers and just made an ESPN 8, just so they can use "Here on the Ocho!"

Posted by: Aetius451AD at April 26, 2015 05:20 PM (iHjB5)

80 Bleak Falls Barrow.... yep... I watched a guy try on youtube and it
became clear to me I needed better stuff , and the right kind of
follower. That Requium is an well done add on for sure.


Yeah, it's a lot harder, but it's harder for specific reasons. So if you're more efficient than I am in picking perks to counter some specific enemy type, you can overcome them sooner. I scoured the whole of the overworld for mudcrabs before I even tried hunting bandits and barely succeeded on them at first, now I'm farming forsworn mainly for leather to make armor. I'm level 50 now and feeling pretty good about anything I meet above ground, though I have the dragon spawns set to two weeks because I still don't really know what I'm going to do with them (In other playthroughs, I depended on the bow enchantment that does fire damage over time, but I haven't found it yet and I suspect it doesn't exist in Requiem).

Posted by: Methos at April 26, 2015 05:23 PM (ZbV+0)

81 Re: Warhammer

From what I've heard (I have a passing interest in the game and setting), the End Times stuff that they're doing right now won't be sticking. A new version of the rules is expected this summer, and current rumors are that Games Workshop is literally going to blow the setting up with new "bubble worlds" that will incorporate whichever races your group chooses to play with.

As for me, I like the game and setting in general, but prices have gotten absurdly expensive over the last several years. A box of ten 'common' troops, which are generally organized into multiple 20-40 strong units, can sell for $60. And might have gone up since the last time I checked.

Posted by: junior at April 26, 2015 05:26 PM (nlPsL)

82 7
"horse genitalia mod"

Never thought I'd see those three words together.


We live in an age of wonders.

Posted by: Anachronda at April 26, 2015 05:44 PM (o78gS)

83 Wow. So there's a discussion on steam regarding one on reddit where folks have tried to pull their mods from steam workshop in protest but have been told they can't because everything on the workshop is Bethesda's property under the workshop EULA.

Which is weird because prior to this weekend, I saw stuff disappear all the time and occasionally be reposted.

I don't know about the reddit thread, is apparently steam auto-deleted the link.

If true, this could turn ugly for everyone involved in a hurry.

Posted by: Methos at April 26, 2015 05:54 PM (ZbV+0)

84 http://tinyurl.com/oxh9m8u

I don't know if this is what he's talking about, but the guy who had to pull his fishing mod wanted to pull all his mods and was told he couldn't.

Anyway, I can't see how, if Valve pulls this on modders, how any in the future can be expected to put their mods at risk by putting them in the workshop. But then, people still make deposits in Greek banks, so what do I know.

Posted by: Methos at April 26, 2015 06:06 PM (ZbV+0)

85 Yeah, that was the example I used. This is the only place I've seen where he was told he couldn't pull his mod

Posted by: The Dude at April 26, 2015 06:15 PM (SyKbw)

86 Wow. So there's a discussion on steam regarding one on reddit where
folks have tried to pull their mods from steam workshop in protest but
have been told they can't because everything on the workshop is
Bethesda's property under the workshop EULA.

Which is weird because prior to this weekend, I saw stuff disappear all the time and occasionally be reposted.


It's the can of worms when people pay for mods ... can't let the mod owner just yank it away from the user who paid for a copy.

So I thought theoretically good could come from the system, but Valve's system design and getting community buy-in is faceplant level fail.

If they wanted to make it work, they probably had to curate the hell out of the paid mods, and be very very careful with licensing.

Posted by: ConserativeMonster, Rabid Puppy at April 26, 2015 06:34 PM (+2//H)

87 I care quite a bit about Destiny, actually. I got a PS4 for Xmas and it's the only game that's been in it since. I've sunk close to 100 hours into it, have a level 31 Titan who raids semi-regularly, and am working on getting a hunter up to 30 to farm strange coins. It's definitely one of those love-it-or-hate-it kind of games, but I've definitely gotten my $95 out of it even before House of Wolves drops.

Speaking of that, I have a feeling that It is going to pull a lot of lapsed players back in. No new raid, which kind of stinks, but they're actually addressing a lot of complaints about the economy, gear upgrade paths, and other niggling issues that have been around for a while. Also, if you've already paid for the expansion pass (which I have), this one is "free."

Posted by: MrUNIVAC at April 26, 2015 06:36 PM (CZA8/)

88 @32 I have to see if there was ever a graphics mod for Ultima 9, because the *interface* was way ahead of its time, though the graphics were very primitive. It was cut back too much in development and there were some bugs, but conceptually it was way ahead of its time.

Second look at Ultima 7 in Skyrim engine? Imagine the legal wrangles!
-----------------------

Someone did a TC using Ultima 5. I can't remember which game or engine was used, but they did a TC that turned Ultima 5 into a 3D first person game.

Posted by: junior at April 26, 2015 07:06 PM (2/wDX)

89 Shoot the radios?

Alchestbreach, is that you?

Posted by: Beelzabubba at April 26, 2015 07:14 PM (XMfyA)

90 junior , scroll up

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 26, 2015 07:24 PM (AVEe1)

91 I like watching Skyrim mod vids on YouTube but am burned out on the game, I'd replay Dragon Age Inquisition first. The problem with paying is I've downloaded many mods my PC couldn't handle like Lush Grass and I wouldn't want to pay for those I couldn't use. Valve and Bethesda keeping 75% is ridiculous. I'd rather mod sites do like Ace's site and every few months encourage donations to authors if you played their mods and benefited from them, I'd chip in for all the hours of enjoyment I got.

Replaying Deus Ex:HR waiting for Witcher 3.

Posted by: waelse1 at April 26, 2015 07:40 PM (FVt/M)

92 Eagerly awaiting the World of Warships open beta. I've watched lots of game play vids from the closed beta on YouTube, the game looks friggin' awesome.

Posted by: braineaterbob at April 26, 2015 07:50 PM (VXdlc)

93 I keep meaning to get back into skyrim. i even bought all the dlc months ago and still haven't played. probably should just restart completely to simplify, but idk. I've never used a mod though, or had any desire to do so, so that whole subject just elicits an enormous shrug from me

Posted by: tintex at April 26, 2015 08:15 PM (OQy+b)

94 DLCs are mods, tintex. Just from the official dev.

Junior, the U5 TC was for Dungeon Siege (2?) - I got the game for almost free on Steam but I haven't set the mod up to try it yet.

Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 08:27 PM (bLnSU)

95 Tintex... I had the same opinion UNTIL I tried it. I suggest Nexus Mods to get them if you choose to. A lot of the mods have been reviewed in a series of best of you tube vids where they talk about them. Search for wet cold mod and finding one of those reviews should bring up some others. At a min, the UI mods are outstanding and make the game interaction less frustrating. I highly recommend a fresh start. That's what I did about 2 years ago when I first started using mods and I enjoyed the game 10x.

Posted by: Yip at April 26, 2015 08:31 PM (84SRe)

96 I admit it, I am officially a geezer. I don't understand any of this post.

Posted by: Jim in Virginia at April 26, 2015 09:11 PM (3SXsL)

97 the added player houses esp the lodge near Whiterun with the hot tubs.

That house is too big and "free" which feels like cheating. I use it because you can tell followers (ultimate follower overhaul - lets you have multiple) to go hang out there.

Posted by: wooga at April 26, 2015 10:22 PM (tuaBK)

98 Posted by: Merovign, Dark Lord of the Sith at April 26, 2015 04:08 PM (bLnSU)

You should ry look into Frontiers. Its in early access at the moment, but it is like Skyrim with a strong and emphasized exploration element.

Posted by: NWConservative at April 26, 2015 11:45 PM (sDyhv)

99 http://___ur.com/a/bqcla?gallery

Review of the currently available paid mods. In short he thinks two of them are worth anything at all and one of those does something already available free.

Posted by: Methos at April 27, 2015 03:13 AM (ZbV+0)

100 That blank should be '___'

Not sure what happened there

Posted by: Methos at April 27, 2015 03:14 AM (ZbV+0)

101 It this type of damn foolishness that led me to quit gaming years ago. Pricey downloadable content that makes you feel like an idiot for having purchased the game itself at a whopping 60 - 70 dollars a whack. WTF did I buy the game for if I am going to have to pay for it three times over again to 'keep up' with it? It's like the everything is a Microsoft product in that on emust choose which crippled version to initially purchase and then upgrade later to FINALLY get what you paid for.

So I unplugged the consoles and picked up firearms.

Posted by: melodicmetal1 at April 27, 2015 10:45 AM (MV2jA)

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