Board 8 > ~*Ultimaterializer's Post-Contest Analysis!*~

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Division 7 Round 1: (6)BioShock Infinite vs (11)Terraria

(6)BioShock Infinite - 17005 [67.67%]
(11)Terraria - 8123 [32.33%]
Total Votes - 25128
Prediction Percentage - 75.41%

Some indie games looked okay this contest. Most did not. Terraria was one of the many that served only as early game fodder, and though getting doubled isn't the worst loss in the world it managed to make BioShock Infinite look much, much stronger than it actually is. Only Heavy Rain and Metal Gear Solid 5 fell off more with people throughout the decade, and the reasoning for this is obvious. BioShock 2 damn near killed that series off for good, and Infinite tried far too hard to recreate greatness. Greatness cannot be artificial. It simply ''is''.

On the off chance anyone reading this hasn't played it yet I won't spoil you, but there is a reason people don't like BioShock Infinite, and it performed as such this contest. Can you imagine if Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, Witcher 3, or Dark Souls was in this match instead of Infinite? The beating would have been legendary. But it is what it is, and we were treated to another run of the mill round one doubling.

One thing I can talk about that spoils nothing is the gratuitous violence in BioShock Infinite. I'm not one of those idiots who thinks violence in video games causes school shootings or anything -- I've played a whole lot of games with a whole lot of violence myself, and I'm not exactly ready to join the military -- the violence in a video game has to be ''in context''. The original BioShock was violent, but it made ''sense''. BioShock Infinite's is just stupid. You're walking along in a fair, and all of a sudden your character pulls out a buzz saw pistol and cuts a guy's head clean in half? Come on, do better. That stuff existing just for the sake of existing is pointless. I doubt I'm alone in that belief, either.

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PostContestUlti posted...

Not to be confused with Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is the ''actual'' "Xenoblade Chronicles 2". The Xenoblade Chronicles 2 pictured in this match is, technically, "Xenoblade Chronicles 3". You can thank Japan and their nonsensical methodology with how they name and order video games. I don't get it either.

Xenoblade 2 is set in the same story universe as the first game, and is a sort-of sequel to that game. They are also both linear, narrative and character focused JRPGs. X has nothing to do story wise with the other two games, and is an open-world game. The only connections it has with them is a similar battle system, and some easter eggs. So separating them makes sense.

PostContestUlti posted...

By the way, remember TheStupidRaptor trying to claim Xenosaga and Xenoblade weren't in the same series even though the literal director said that both franchises are in the same series?

Legally, they aren't the same series. Square Enix owns the trademark and associated copyrights to 'Xenogears'. Bandai Namco owns 'Xenosaga' lock, stock, and barrel. 'Xenoblade' is all that Nintendo owns, and the others would take exception to Monolith and Nintendo getting too close to, or building off of, their property in these new games, hence the lack of connections (KOS-MOS and T-elos in 2 are cameos, licensed from the owner.)


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Oh man, TheStupidRaptor. Quite possibly one of my favorite whiner trolls.

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Straight from Mr. Takahashi's own mouth:

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xenosaga-interview/1100-2823598/

GameSpot: Is Xenosaga a direct sequel or prequel to Square's Xenogears?

Tetsuya Takahashi: Though the development team is the same, they were previously working under Square for Xenogears, and now they have shifted to Monolith Software for Xenosaga. But with our relation between Square, I think it is difficult for us to say it is a direct sequel or prequel. It's probably more suitable to say that it follows the direction and style of Xenogears.

TLDR: Not in the same series, not unless you think Mighty No. 9 is in the same series as Mega Man. At most, it is a spiritual successor. He made a similar sort of statement about Xenoblade in relation to Xenosaga during the pree run ahead of that game's release, and I am looking for the quote to prove it. Will post here when I find it.

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Thought they initially said xenosaga was supposed to be 6 games and that xenogears was actually the 5th in the series.

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Division 7 Round 1: (7)Diablo III vs (10)Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward

(7)Diablo 3 - 17340 [69.01%]
(10)Zero Escape - 7788 [30.99%]
Total Votes - 25128
Prediction Percentage - 86.55%

Okay, ''now'' we can talk about Blizzard being the worst company in human history. I played nice when discussing Overwatch and Starcraft 2, but Diablo 3 is in no way a video game worth playing nice with. Remember this garbage?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I43GUnZN_s4

Yeah, remember Blizzard being such useless, greedy trash that they released Diablo 3 with always-online DRM and ''one server''? I remember. I was there. I bought a new computer to play that game and everything, and then I couldn't even log in because Blizzard thought one server would be enough. These people also refuse to add stash space to Diablo 2 or more deck slots to Hearthstone because they're worried about server capacity. It's unreal how much they lie.

And then it got so much worse, but to understand how we need to go back in time a little to discuss the last great game Blizzard made -- Diablo 2. The game is so good that mere ''rumors'' of a remaster have people up in arms. To that I say those folks are gullible idiots (Warcraft 3 Reforged ''just happened'', people), but whatever. Diablo 2 is still played extensively '''TO DIS DAY''', and the game has its own economy over on d2jsp called "forum gold". A huge underground economy happened, and you guys know how well Blizzard handles news of anyone else making money instead of them. Just look at the Warcraft 3 Reforged EULA.

Anyway, Diablo 3 finally got up and running, and much to everyone's horror the item drops basically did not exist. Anywhere you go, same complaint. And why was that? Because Blizzard was butthurt over d2jsp, so in Diablo 3 they turned item drops way down and launched the game with a Real Money Auction House. It's okay that items don't hardly drop in-game. Just open up the wallet and go buy them in the auction house! Blizzard tried claiming this was an improved way to sell items that you yourself picked up, but everyone and their mother knew that the sellers in the auction house were all Blizzard smurfs, because again, ''items were not dropping in-game''. It was impossible for anyone to have all of the good items being sold in the auction house.

It all added up to arguably the worst launch in the history of video games, and it never got any better for Diablo 3. People can talk all they want about the game getting better once content was added, I don't care. That game is laughable trash, from a laughable trash can of a company, and people are on my side now thanks to the whole debacle with China. Don't worry, we'll get to it.

How do I know people are on my side? No one knows or cares about whatever Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward is. Is it an indie title? Is it a book? Is it an adventure? Is it a visual novel? No one knows, no one cares. All I know is it led Diablo 3 for two minutes, which is a wonderful allegory for Diablo 3's launch. I don't care what Diablo 3 did in the rest of the poll after those first two minutes, because they told a better story than the final 1,438 minutes ever could. The Blizzard hate is real, and my side will win.

By the way, do you guys not have phones?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmkHAlhCvWg

Fuck off, Blizzard.

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Interestingly enough, i am probably going to start VLR in the next couple days, and this performance is what nudged me into starting the series. I don't even really have anything against Blizzard or Diablo 3, but I always enjoy a good story play out on my screen, and Diablo 3 taking the whole day to barely cover the 69% needed to cover spread betting after outright losing the board vote was some entertaining stuff.

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Virtue's Last Reward is a pretty good gameplay quasi-visual novel.

Playing/Reading 999 first will help though.

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Corrik7 posted...

Thought they initially said xenosaga was supposed to be 6 games and that xenogears was actually the 5th in the series.

Xenosaga was supposed to be six games, but Xenogears didn't factor into that release plan. Rather, the first game saw multiple delays, went well over budget, and then underperformed at retail. Namco got nervous, panicked, and forced Takahashi to step down from the project. They also ordered that the number of games be cut from six to three.

Also Ulti, I can't quite find the quote I was looking for on Xenoblade, but I can tell you that Nintendo chose the name, not Takahashi. The working title was Monado: Beginning of the World'.

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/events/100129/06.html (scroll to the bottom)

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I appreciate your research, but you're not getting me to agree with Stupid Raptor on anything bro. Does it really matter if KOS-MOS "belongs" in Xenoblade?

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NowItsAngeTime posted...

Virtue's Last Reward is a pretty good gameplay quasi-visual novel.

Playing/Reading 999 first will help though.

Yeah, I played 999 during the contest break. I always put it off because I got spoiled on the mastermind's identity and the presence of a certain disorder, but it still ended up being really good.

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Division 7 Round 1: (2)The Last of Us vs (15)Crusader Kings II

(2)The Last of Us - 20566 [81.85%]
(15)Crusader Kings 2 - 4560 [18.15%]
Total Votes - 25126
Prediction Percentage - 94.41%

Just how ''many'' fodderific games were in this bracket? My goodness, there are only so many ways to talk about all these round one blowouts. I understand seeded tournaments as well as anyone -- trust me on that, the NCAAs are my favorite sporting event and is half the reason I fell in love with these contests in the first place -- but this contest was legitimately seeded too well. Octopath Traveler and Mario Kart 8 were the only major seed upsets, and everything else was chalk. I'm sure Crusader Kings 2 is a fine game, but it had no shot here.

For those of us who picked The Last of Us to win this division by beating Dark Souls, this was a pretty good result. We thought that match was always going to be close (remember, the leak for Last of Us 2 didn't happen until the tail end of April and it totally threw us for a loop), so Last of Us had to go out there and put up a comparable performance to Dark Souls scoring an 83-17 blowout over Hotline Miami.

It did just that. 82-18 over Crusader Kings 2 is about as comparable as it gets to what Dark Souls did, so The Last of Us was right on track with what it needed to do. If only we knew what was coming. What an absolute disaster.

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I guess you could say that when it came to Dark Souls... The Last of Us choked.
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Hbthebattle posted...

I guess you could say that when it came to Dark Souls... The Last of Us choked.

I'm avoiding any and all spoiler discussion, but I will say TLOU 100% deserved what happened to it. What a fucking shitshow.

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PostContestUlti posted...

I appreciate your research, but you're not getting me to agree with Stupid Raptor on anything bro.

I mean, it's either that or be wrong. Doesn't matter if this guy is a butthead, if he said that Xenogears, the Xenosaga games, and the Xenoblade games are three separate series, he's right.

PostContestUlti posted...

Does it really matter if KOS-MOS "belongs" in Xenoblade?

I don't understand the question? She belongs in Xenoblade 2 as much as any other rare blade does. She has a Heart-to-Heart with her driver and other characters. KOS-MOS interacts with T-elos if she's in the party when completing the latter's Blade Quest. (As an aside, KOS-MOS in Xenoblade 2 has no connection to KOS-MOS in Xenosaga outside the name, the Japanese voice, and some design elements. She has no memories of events in those games, a different weapon, and wears different armor. In short: she's a different person. Her interactions with T-elos are amusing, but she's in the game purely because she has some small amount of notoriety in our world, and because Monolith worked on both and could presumedly swing the deal with Bandai Namco, not because the stories are connected, or because the game universes are one and the same, as they aren't.)

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Yakuza has definitely been my biggest surprise series in this console generation. I didn't think I would like it as much as I did when I picked up the remake of the first game, but it definitely made its mark. I now own the entire series and plan to start Yakuza 3 sometime this year.

And I think RGG's other game, Judgment, is even better than Yakuza, and that's even more like Phoenix Wright than the Yakuza series!

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Division 8 Round 1: (1)The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim vs (16)Subnautica

(1)Skyrim - 20647 [84%]
(16)Subnautica - 3933 [16%]
Total Votes - 24580
Prediction Percentage - 95.4%

Some indie games looked okay in this contest. Most did not. Subnautica was one of the ones that served as happy-to-be-here early round fodder. The name of the game in this match was not whether or not Skyrim would win; we all knew it was a guaranteed blowout. Skyrim was scoreboard-watching. It had to equal or outperform the likes of Witcher 3, Dark Souls, Persona 5, or any other hopeful game from the bottom half of the bracket. Skyrim's aspirations were to make the final, and anything less would have been a disappointment.

The stats topic gets made fun of a lot for wild projections based off of early match performance, but we're often right. Go look at the updater. See how Skyrim was below 70% at the beginning of this match? Go compare that board vote to Witcher 3 and Dark Souls. Skyrim was ''screwed''. I know Skyrim rose to 84%, but early board votes are often indicative of what's in store. No one on GameFAQs knows or cares what Subnautica is. Skyrim losing the board vote to it, or showing any weakness whatsoever, was unconscionable. I regretted my Skyrim > Witcher 3 pick immediately, and my gut instinct was not wrong. Most of us have that intuition for a reason. We knew Skyrim was screwed right from the jump. We knew Xenoblade was a threat to win its division right from the jump. Among other things. Get used to Skyrim losing board votes, because it's apparently the new Final Fantasy 7 -- that is, the internet decided it was cool to hate on Skyrim for literally no reason other than being popular. Yes I'm aware Bethesda is trash now, but how is that Skyrim's fault?

Final note before I move on. When looking into all the games this year, Subnautica reminded me of a long-standing hatred of mine -- people who record fake reaction videos for clicks. Streamers in general tend to be complete losers, but there aren't many things dumber than setting up a camera and recording yourself getting "freaked out" by something. We all know you're acting. Knock it off.

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I've heard that some indie games looked okay in this contest but most did not

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Panthera posted...

I've heard that some indie games looked okay in this contest but most did not

Planned gimmick for round one. I rewatched the Matrix trilogy recently and always loved "some things never change, Morpheus, but some things do". That and a lot of wiki readers skip around and don't read this in order.

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Division 8 Round 1: (8)Fate / Grand Order vs (9)Journey

(8)Fate / Grand Order - 8307 [33.6%]
(9)Journey - 16271 [66.2%]
Total Votes - 24578
Prediction Percentage - 62.83%

I had no idea what Grand Order was before this contest, but Gravy will periodically jokingly ask me to buy these little figurines from it for him. Normally I would consider it, but Grand Order making this contest was the first time I heard the term "gacha game". I legitimately had no clue what in the world that was before this contest, but thankfully we have Wikipedia.

''Gacha games are video games that implement the gacha (capsule-toy vending machine) mechanic. It is similar to loot box, in that it induces players to spend in-game currency to receive a random virtual item. Most of these games are free-to-play mobile games, where the gacha serves as an incentive to spend real-world money.

The gacha game model began to be widely used in the early 2010s, faring particularly well in Japan. Almost all of the highest-grossing mobile games in Japan use it, and it has become an integral part of Japanese mobile game culture. Outside Japan, the game mechanism is also gaining popularity and is included in various Chinese and Korean games.''

Oh, so Journey took out the trash. Good to know. Nice to see it get a win after getting fed to Final Fantasy 7 five years ago, too. A lot of people expected me to dislike Journey based on my hatred of Shadow of the Colossus, but I legitimately adore that game and everything it was trying to do. I still replay it now and again, since it's legitimately only like an hour long. Video games can, in fact, be artwork. I'll even go full pretentious and quote myself! From the FF7/Journey writeup:

''People will assume I hate Journey because of my opinion on Shadow of the Colossus, but no. Journey is actually an outstanding game. It deserved better than getting fed to FF7 in round 1, and it's everything Shadow of the Colossus wishes it could be -- simple, artistic, and extremely touching. The whole game is about 45 minutes long with no spoken dialogue at all, but has such an amazing message of friendship in it. Actually I suppose it could mean whatever you want, but I enjoy the friendship route.''

Play Journey if you haven't.

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Okay I'm going to sleep. See you all tomorrow!

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Wasn't Fate: GO the only game in the bracket without a MetaCritic rating?

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Yeah I think gacha games are dumb.

It's one thing to have optional DLC for an otherwise complete game.

But using gachas as a way to tempt people to spend money to play the game a lot faster or the 'possibility' you'll get the thing you want? No thanks.

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PostContestUlti posted...

but there aren't many things dumber than setting up a camera and recording yourself getting "freaked out" by something. We all know

That's why I prefer YouTubers who either analyze things in a thoughtful way or know how to crack good jokes (preferably both). Just screaming in a mic generally doesn't do it for me.

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I will say this, I think a Game of the Decade 2010s without at least one F2P game would have been incomplete, since they are a big facet of the industry.

I am also very happy it was just one, and that it swiftly exited the contest with almost no fanfare. Didn't even hit the bottom of the stats, so it doesn't even get that notoriety.

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Of course Ulti would prefer a simple indie game over something as comparatively "mixed" in what it's trying to do as Shadow of the Colossus.

About the Assassin's Creed thing, I've heard the opposite - that Black Flag is considered one of the best in the series and Odyssey is one of the most divisive.

And Yakuza 0 from what I've heard was the series' breakout hit outside Japan where the series has been Sega's biggest non-Sonic cash cow for a while.

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I did enjoy my one play through of Journey but I still enjoy Fate/grand order more, and that's why I nominated it for the contest, voted for it in its only match, and had it win the match in my guru bracket feeling that it was just a one point match and I could risk that.

No regrets there!

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UltimaterializerX posted...

I spend a lot of time in gaming circles on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. Thats as casual as it gets.

I have yet to hear a single good opinion about Black Flag.

Here's the first two results I get when googling for reddit opinions:
https://www.reddit.com/r/assassinscreed/comments/bavrii/heres_my_ranking_of_the_assassins_creed_games/
https://www.reddit.com/r/assassinscreed/comments/c9hte2/assassins_creed_ranked_from_best_to_worst/

Here's where a few gaming sites ranked it:
Game Informer - 4th
Polygon - 2nd
PC Gamer - 1st

Ranking from IGN board users:
https://www.ignboards.com/threads/rank-all-assassins-creed-titles-here.455053527/

Here's a random Twitter thread I found asking what's the best AC, Black Flag is mentioned multiple times:
https://twitter.com/USgamernet/status/1256359755037073408

It's okay to be wrong. This has nothing to do with GameFAQs' opinions.

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I said it before, I say it again. Black Flag is considered the best AC game by most.
As for Yakuza 0 yeah it is the best of them all and worth a try since it is the first chronologically too.

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i have never heard a single thing bad thing about black flag, hearing that it is commonly regarded as bad is super weird

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True that. I don't know where Ulti searched but I bet my ass they were all troll topics. The ONLY bad thing I can say about Black Flag is that it doesn't represent the passage of time well, I mean you will play and then the main character will say 10 years have passed and you will be, wait, when did that happen?

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Black Flag was the last good AC imho

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Division 8 Round 1: (5)Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn vs (12)Crypt of the NecroDancer

(5)Final Fantasy 14 - 17583 [71.53%]
(12)Crypt of the NecroDancer - 6997 [28.47%]
Total Votes - 24580
Prediction Percentage - 82.97%

The only game in this entire bracket I hate more than Final Fantasy 14 is Hearthstone. Don't worry, we'll get to the latter in a bit.

I mentioned this in the stats topic, which prompted Team Rocket Elite to ask for my bottom 10 games since I tend to call a lot of things the worst game ever made. Good idea, TRE! I thusly present Ulti's Shit List:

1 - Hearthstone - The worst game ever made by far.

2 - Warcraft 3 - The worst game ever made until Hearthstone came along.

3 - Devil May Cry 2 and DmC: Devil May Cry - Going Chris Berman on this one. I covered both of these in the DMC5 vs Tropical Freeze writeup.

4 - Lunar Dragon Song - It's a JRPG where you can't choose attacks, you have to choose between EXP and money, and there is an actual plot point called "The Curse of Lost Equilibrium". The main character is a postal worker who attacks enemies (which you can't choose) by doing gymnastics and kicking with sandals. When he loses his equilibrium, he can't stand on his head anymore and it causes a bunch of problems. I swear this entire paragraph is the truth.

5 - Mighty No. 9 - The main example for why Kickstarter is trash.

6 - Knights in the Nightmare - A strategy RPG that wants to be a bullet hell, and you can't choose the directions your characters face on the grid. It is so hilariously stupid, and might have the worst tutorial in all of gaming.

7 - Shadow of the Colossus - I've covered this one at length.

8 - Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks - They might as well be one giant game anyway. Covered at length in reviews, no need to rehash it.

9 - Every MMORPG ever made, and yes this includes Final Fantasy 14 and I don't care what the honks say to try defending it. I've lost so many friends over the years to this stupid gaming genre that I will never, ever play any of the games or defend them. These games can all go and choke. I hate them.

10 - Every Mario Kart game ever made, for popularizing the ever-moronic gameplay mechanic of punishing skilled players. Mario Kart didn't invent this mechanic, but they're certainly the most popular and egregious about it.

It will take a true standard of shittiness never before seen to crack that list. Trash like Dream Drop Distance, Super Princess Peach, the Dissidias. Resident Evils 0, 5, and 6, The World Ends With You, and plenty of other bad games are all garbage cans, but they have a saving grace here and there that prevent them from making the list. Games known for being bad (Superman 64, Crazy Bus, ET, Hydlide, et al) have an entertainment value due to their status.

"Ulti, you cannot honestly think Crazy Bus is a better game than Final Fantasy 14 or Shadow of the Colossus. Stop trolling."

I got more entertainment value from it than any game on my shit list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC0cvwnG0Ik

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzt_uoTVAcE

No one will ever convince me a single game on my shit list has entertainment value. You also have absolutely no idea how much I love the Warcraft 3 Reforged metacritic user score. It vindicated nearly 20 years of hatred and proved me right all along. All I ever need is a long enough time line.

So yeah, it sucks ass that Final Fantasy 14 got to score a free blowout against some indie rhythm garbage. Untitled Goose Game or Goat Simulator couldn't make the bracket for fear of an ironic rally, but Final Fantasy 14 gets to waste a slot. Amazing.

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The biggest soul/money stealer:
MMOs or Gachas

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Biggest. Money Pit. Ever.

our next contest

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MMO's are indeed life stealers. I loved my time with FFXI but I can recognize it was literally all I did for years.

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Whiskey_Nick posted...

MMO's are indeed life stealers. I loved my time with FFXI but I can recognize it was literally all I did for years.

Like I mean no offense to you at all, but imagine we were friends so close we were like brothers, then all of a sudden you ditched me for FF11. I've been through it way too often man.

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Surprised you didn't mention FF13 in that writeup and whether or not it had more reason to be in there instead given that game got two sequels. Speaking of which, I personally would've preferred FF13 in the bracket over a game that launched so badly the developers apologized for it and rereleased a new version a year or two later which began with the old world being destroyed or something along those lines. And I didn't exactly love FF13, myself.

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PostContestUlti posted...

Like I mean no offense to you at all, but imagine we were friends so close we were like brothers, then all of a sudden you ditched me for FF11. I've been through it way too often man.

My group of friends all started playing it together initially. But yes eventually most of them stopped and I made new in game friends.

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holy shit a Lunar Dragon Song reference

I am mostly glad I am not the only one who went 'Lunar? On DS? That has to be good!'

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I'm sad you lost friends like that Ulti! My best online friend persuaded me to try XIV and it was honestly one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. The core difference, and I think why that game deserves a try, is that the people who are making it really, really care. It's tempting to compare it to World of Warcraft, since it's often touted as the only game that has a shot at being an actual WoW killer, but it's really not the same thing at all.

I think one of the main ways to explain the difference is that the Creative Director and Producer of XIV has stated, repeatedly, that he sees the game as one people can play as much as they want, then drop for as long as they want, and come back to it and see no penalties, because games are about fun and not about an endless grind. WoW is made to keep you playing at all times, no matter what. XIV is different in that regard. It restored my faith that Final Fantasy could ever be good again in a way no announcements for 7 Remake could, and the fact the aforementioned director and producer is now tapped to headline FF16 fills me with excitement. If anyone can make another unambiguously great mainline FF, it's him. I really do recommend trying it when the main quest update launches in a couple months, as it will trim down the main barrier to entry, which is the kinda shoddy base game plot. Everything afterward is just amazing, and is everything you love about FFs. Promise. I never played another MMO for more than a couple days, but XIV earned a year's worth of subscriptions from me for all the amazing work it's done.

Surprised you didn't mention FF13 in that writeup and whether or not it had more reason to be in there instead given that game got two sequels. Speaking of which, I personally would've preferred FF13 in the bracket over a game that launched so badly the developers apologized for it and rereleased a new version a year or two later which began with the old world being destroyed or something along those lines. And I didn't exactly love FF13, myself.

No one cares about FF13. XIV has managed to create a villain that toppled Sephiroth for the title of most beloved antagonist amongst the fanbase. Absolutely no contest for which game deserved to be here.

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KanzarisKelshen posted...

I'm sad you lost friends like that Ulti! My best online friend persuaded me to try XIV and it was honestly one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. The core difference, and I think why that game deserves a try, is that the people who are making it really, really care. It's tempting to compare it to World of Warcraft, since it's often touted as the only game that has a shot at being an actual WoW killer, but it's really not the same thing at all. I think one of the main ways to explain the difference is that the Creative Director and Producer of the game has stated, repeatedly, that he sees the game as one people can play as much as they want, then drop for as long as they want, and come back to it and see no penalties. WoW is made to keep you playing at all times, no matter what. XIV is different in that regard. It restored my faith that Final Fantasy could ever be good again in a way no announcements for 7 Remake could, and the fact the aforementioned director and producer is now tapped to headline FF16 fills me with excitement. If anyone can make another unambiguously great mainline FF, it's him. I really do recommend trying it when the main quest update launches in a couple months, as it will trim down the main barrier to entry, which is the kinda shoddy base game plot. Everything afterward is just amazing, and is everything you love about FFs.

No one cares about FF13. XIV has managed to create a villain that toppled Sephiroth for the title of most beloved antagonist amongst the fanbase. Absolutely no contest for which game deserved to be here.

The game was so bad when it first came out that they blew the world up in-game and started over.

That is not the sign of developers who care. It is the sign of developers who are incompetent.

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paulg235 posted...

Surprised you didn't mention FF13 in that writeup and whether or not it had more reason to be in there instead given that game got two sequels. Speaking of which, I personally would've preferred FF13 in the bracket over a game that launched so badly the developers apologized for it and rereleased a new version a year or two later which began with the old world being destroyed or something along those lines. And I didn't exactly love FF13, myself.

Read the first post.

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paulg235 posted...

Surprised you didn't mention FF13 in that writeup and whether or not it had more reason to be in there instead given that game got two sequels. Speaking of which, I personally would've preferred FF13 in the bracket over a game that launched so badly the developers apologized for it and rereleased a new version a year or two later which began with the old world being destroyed or something along those lines. And I didn't exactly love FF13, myself.

FF14 has largely been able to overcome that botched launch and become the company's most successful game ever. I rarely hear the game's poor launch mentioned anymore.

It annoys me that Ulti goes on about these games like they're the WORST GAMES EVER or something when it's more like the games he likes the least but whatever, it's his topic and he can write whatever he wants. Still jarring when he gets so vocal about it but oh well I guess.

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PostContestUlti posted...

The game was so bad when it first came out that they blew the world up in-game and started over.

That is not the sign of developers who care. It is the sign of developers who are incompetent.

Correct. Fortunately, the developer who was an incompetent, useless hack got fired, and the guy who replaced him raised the dead. Like...to give you an idea, the old lead dev was the dude who made FF3 DS. That's really all that needs to be said about him. Naoki Yoshida, the current director, is not that man, and had no connection to 1.0 beyond being asked to save it.

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Division 8 Round 1: (4)Uncharted 4: A Thief's End vs (13)Mario Kart 8

(4)Uncharted 4 - 10114 [41.15%]
(13)Mario Kart 8 - 14467 [58.85%]
Total Votes - 24581
Prediction Percentage - 56.02%

People really need to stop nominating these Uncharted games and characters to such high seeds. Death, taxes, and Uncharted blowing a match as a high seed. Well.... sometimes. Nathan beat Pac-Man back in the day, and Uncharted 2 has had some success. But when he botches a high seed, he botches it ''badly''. In 2010, he was a 2 seed and lost to The Boss. Two years ago, he was a 4 seed and lost to Tails.

This year Uncharted was yet again a high seed, and everyone with sense knew how this match would go. It's a shame, too, because Uncharted is a good series and all things Mario Kart are garbage. There is no defense whatsoever for any gameplay mechanic that either renders player skill irrelevant or punishes it for existing. And that gets to be the nonsense to take advantage of Uncharted losing as a high seed yet again. Puke. Doesn't surprise me though, because Mario Kart 8 is possibly the most popular and well-respected game in that series. It is in no way affected by the Wii U curse, as this contest showed.

The true shame of Uncharted is that it's a victim of Misbehaving Canine going full SJW and alienating most of its player base. SJWs don't care about diversity, either, because they want everyone thinking like them. They act exactly like republicans did in the 1980s -- useless trash who censored and shut down everyone they didn't like, then acted all miffed when the country hated them for it. Trust me. I've lived through both. If you consider yourself an SJW, just know that you have the same exact mentality as people who thought AIDS was divine punishment for gays.

Did you guys know the original writer at Naughty Dog was a woman, and an exceptionally talented woman at that?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Hennig

Skip to "Works". There are no bad games on that list. Zero. Uncharted 2 especially has a lot of contest success, in large part because of her writing ability.

But no, let's fire her, redo Uncharted 4 from scratch, crunch our employees because we're total pieces of trash, and allow crazy people to write for us. Colin Cowherd has a saying I love -- "Don't let Twitter produce your show, because only 6% of the country actually uses it. Twitter doesn't matter". The companies who allow Twitter (or Tumblr, or ResetEra, or whatever other SJW trash rag you want to name) to produce their content all fall out of favor for a reason.

Ergo, Uncharted 4 can't win any contest matches anymore. It doesn't stop there, either. Uncharted 4 was only the beginning of this mess. Just wait until we get to what happened with The Last of Us.

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LinkMarioSamus posted...

It annoys me that Ulti goes on about these games like they're the WORST GAMES EVER or something when it's more like the games he likes the least but whatever, it's his topic and he can write whatever he wants. Still jarring when he gets so vocal about it but oh well I guess.

Do you have any idea how many friends I lost to World of Warcraft in the mid-2000s who are still obsessed with it?

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LinkMarioSamus posted...

It annoys me that Ulti goes on about these games like they're the WORST GAMES EVER or something when it's more like the games he likes the least but whatever, it's his topic and he can write whatever he wants. Still jarring when he gets so vocal about it but oh well I guess.

I mean that's true for everyone that claims a game to be the worst game ever. There are so many games that are released that almost no one has played that can barely run without crashing every few minutes.

Knowing Ulti for a long enough time I can tell you to not pay too much attention on what he dislikes as they can be quite hit or miss. On the flip side if he claims a game is good he's most likely right.

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That's fine, I have no problem with you hating the game for that (and I know you hardly think much of it anyway, but still), but then in that case it's pure hype backlash.

Heh heh it's a strange topic when SJWs are merely one of many things you rant about instead of one of the main things, but that's Ulti for us I guess. At least you don't rant about it at too much length. And I personally feel like the whole narrative of "Get Woke, Go Broke" is tremendously overstated to begin with.

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Just remember that Ulti is tsundere with games.

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