The Elder Scrolls Online has been my go to for the weekend so far, it’s something I enjoy dropping in and out of sometimes.

I do remember reading about them making a 64-bit port when Apple switched. Sure would have been nice if they would have upgraded all the versions! Although it does sound like it’s not without faults as well. Isla Paradiso was always a bit glitchy for me, even on Windows. I saw someone mention the water pathing being a potential issue with it. I would get a lot of multi second freezes and things like that. The last two times I’ve used the map I managed to have a pretty decent experience though. It’s a really nice looking place.

I definitely agree on having a sequel actually bring something new to the table. I see a lot of games released that are basically reskinned versions of the previous game. Or as you mentioned in the case of The Sims 4, removing content from the base game to sell more expansion packs! I did get the base game and the seasons pack on a very deep discount, but it felt very empty and disappointing overall. Of course, maybe I’m not supposed to enjoy the game until I spend $1200 to buy all of the dlc! That plus the need to log into an Origin account makes it a no go for me. Even TS3 is still a little crazy to get everything, but even before they reduced the expansion prices it wasn’t near that bad. I also played the base game on it’s own for a few years before buying my first dlc, so there’s definitely a solid base.

Anyway, like you said, I really want a lot of competition for the series! I’m not planning to buy any future releases until something changes in their business model. We’ll see what happens though!

I’m pretty sure it never showed up again! This was also the only episode they pronounced kanar as kaynar instead of kuhnar. I’d have to look through the episode to be sure, but I think the Cardassian phasers were also a different color than the orange they were in later appearances.

It’s always interesting to see how they change things as they see what works. It does make me wonder what the original pronunciation of kanar was though. Did the actor read it wrong, or did they change it!

TNG 4x12 - The Wounded

Marc Alaimo playing a Cardassian besides Dukat!

The Sims 3 is my favorite of the series, and the one I still play, so that’s probably why I like the more realistic art style! It is a very badly optimized game though! However, even with 10 dlcs installed it’s actually surprisingly stable for me. I am running it on Linux though, so Proton may be helping with that a bit. I remember having more bugs when I was playing it on Windows. I also run very little custom content, so I’m guessing that helps as well!

I do agree that the style Paralives is going with is going to save them a lot of development time and money. It’ll also make it a lot easier to differentiate the games as well. I’m sure it’ll grow on me over time, gameplay is usually more important to me than graphics.

I would really like having free dlc, and I’m hoping it does work for them. However, I’m not as opposed as some to paying for dlc if it’s an actual expansion of a good base game and not a few random cosmetics. I highly doubt I would be still regularly playing The Sims 3 12-13 years from the day I bought it if they hadn’t released all of the expansions. The “dollar per hour” metric that I see many using has been exceeded many years ago!

I guess what I’m saying is that I almost prefer buying a $20 expansion for a game I already have rather than buy a whole new $40 game every year or so. It’s also possible to get them on sale, so I often had savings there too. It also gives me the option to not purchase or uninstall expansions that I don’t want for my current playthrough. It’s definitely not a wholehearted endorsement of the practice, but I do see some of the benefits of it if done right.

That being said, they’ve taken it way too far with TS4. Stuff packs, even most of the ones from TS3, should definitely be free updates! There also seems to be a large number of expansions that add very little, or are definitely things that should be in the base game.

Sorry for the small novel, it just kept getting longer! I don’t talk much, but I get too wordy when I’m typing!

I think you’re right, they did take on too much for a first release. I don’t really think many studios have the resources to go head to head, so they’re most likely going to need to find something they can do better than the Sims.

I’m also glad to see Paralives hasn’t shown signs of quitting, I’m hoping we’ll see a good release from them. It’s funny you mentioned the art style, as it’s actually the main thing I’ve seen so far that I’m not a fan of! I still plan on playing it if/when it releases though.

I am curious how the no paid dlc will work out for them long term. Hopefully they’ll get enough sales to follow Hello Games and be releasing free updates years down the road, but I could just as easily see them adding new features to a Paralives 2 a few years down the road. It is an indie studio though, so I have higher hopes for free updates and bug fixes than I would with some of the big ones.

Unfortunately I don’t know if anyone will ever catch up with the massive head start of EA/Maxis. Having an entire studio centered around it definitely helps iterate more quickly as well. It’s going to be very hard for any potential competitors to offer a fraction of the content, at least at first. Even though I may dislike how much content gets locked behind a dlc, it really builds out the game in a way that wouldn’t happen otherwise.

That being said, I think a company that got a solid and fun (and bug free!) foundation out the door could get a toe hold in the market. Especially if they offered easy options for scripting custom content, maps, etc.

It sounds like they’ve got a pretty small dev team, so I’m sure it’s going to take a while. Hopefully the wait will be worth it!

I’m somewhat torn on what I would prefer these games to do. On one hand I would like it to be like the Sims, but better. On the other I would like them to carve out their own niche and go from there. Either way they go there will be people that are disappointed. I’m personally not a huge fan of the artstyle of Paralives, but good gameplay is almost always the deciding factor for me. I’m certainly willing to give it a try, if for no other reason than supporting alternatives.

It’s lots of fun, I keep coming back to those games even years later.

I guess someone else could make a monthly or weekly thread until we see what happens. I generally don’t have a lot to say, so I just lurk most of the time. So it’s nice to have posts like that to have an excuse to contribute to the conversation!

I decided to start playing The Sims 3 again over the weekend, and I played Morrowind for a few hours as well. Not sure which one will win out for my attention for the next while, I guess we’ll see!

Yeah, I hadn’t heard a lot about it. When they pushed back the first launch I was disappointed, when the second launch was postponed I was starting to expect a cancellation. It appears they just had too big a scope for the first time in the genre.

Which of the alternatives do you like the best/have the highest hopes for?

After staring at my screen for 45 minutes trying to pick a game for the weekend, I decided to start up The Sims 3 again. Just like always, the addiction is back! It seems like at least once or twice a year I go really hard on it for about a week.

Endless Sky has sucked up large chunks of time from me over the years! Definitely recommend it if anyone hasn’t tried it yet. I’ve worked on several mods for it over the years, and that’s lots of fun as well.

I just finished Star Trek: Resurgence last evening, so I’m now trying to decide what to start next! I’m currently trying to pick from Battletech, Dune: Spice Wars, and Desperados III, or maybe even something else. I’m looking forward to the Steam summer sale, I’ve got a few more games I’ve been eyeing up for a while.

I’m pretty sure I’ve bought Astrox Imperium, but I’ve never tried it. I’ve got so many other games I still enjoy playing that it’s often hard to start a new one!

The idea of Eve was always very interesting to me, but I’ve never tried it. The whole aspect of the massive battles wasn’t what I was looking for, I was just interested in the mining and building end of it. I could never tell if I would be able to do that without getting blown up all the time, and never wanted to invest the time in trying it without knowing. I ended up doing something similar in RuneScape. I spent most of the few years I played crafting and selling products and sometimes going on quests.

Ah, got it! I agree on Dukat too, I just haven’t seen any other TV series with a villain that good.

Because it’s Into Darkness, or because it’s Star Trek?

Thanks for providing a great place to hang out and enjoy Lemmy! Thanks for the giveaway as well!

Lower Decks!