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PaperclipPerfector  17d ago (text post)   2909 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 14, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Genuine question - how do you tangibly improve on the Doom gameplay formula?

You build the levels yourself and you shoot up and loot levels of other people who aren't that good? That's a very tangible improvement and one of the reasons I sunk.. 7k hours into an PvP MMO FPS that was (also) about that.

I really want to play BG3 and

BG3 is, lore and writing wise kind of underwhelming. May I recommend WH40K: Rogue Trader? It's basically 'what if X-com had brain-meltingly complex builds and had an actual personality that wasn't bland corporate paint-by-the-numbers snoozefest. The graphics, especially the character graphics aren't nearly as nice, but that's not why we play tactical games, right?

You build the levels yourself and you shoot up and loot levels of other people who aren't that good?

Unless you're somehow incentivized to actually make the levels playable and maybe even grant the 'invader' some crumbs of loot, I think that invariably converges on sadistic kaizo shit. You can't count on players not abusing every abusable game mechanic, especially when you give them agency to fuck with other players; game designers are at least paid to do their jobs.

May I recommend WH40K: Rogue Trader?

I considered it, but I'm not big on WH40K and I already own BG3, might as well. I also DM a 5e campaign for some friends so practice/inspiration would come in handy for a relative newfag.

You can't count on players not abusing every abusable game mechanic, especially when you give them agency to fuck with other players; game designers are at least paid to do their jobs.

Hmm... the thing is, at least the game I was talking about, constructing your own 'levels' takes a serious amount of effort. So even though there are people who maximally abused mechanics, generally they didn't because they say picked the suboptimal spot to build their stuff, were too lazy, lacked the imagination, did not do enough research etc.

I considered it, but I'm not big on WH40K

Well, neither am I, but I'd say where BG3's writing quality ends, Rogue Trader starts. BG3 isn't bad, but the writing really, really struggles.

You build the levels yourself and you shoot up and loot levels of other people who aren't that good?

Doom builds the levels so that they're fun to fight in. What you're proposing seems like it would converge towards levels that are maximally unfun to fight in. Unless I'm misunderstanding your definition of "not that good", but if you mean the others are not that good at fun level design, why would you want to play their levels?

If they're really good, then fighting their bases is maximally unfun, kind of like engaging in a butt-kicking contest with a porcupine. Generally avoided unless it's really needed to teach them a lesson.

But if they aren't so good - you actually have fun, and if you're fast enough you can even sometimes steal some useful stuff off them. At the very least, you'll probably collect some nice kit in the process. (in that game, all the in-game items have to be made, so if you're fighting someone and kill them where you can loot their body, you get some neat stuff. When they respawn next time, they have to get more weapons & armor.)

What stops everyone from copying the maximally unfun design from the web? If I wanted invaders to stop taking my stuff I'd just do that rather than build something aesthetically pleasing yet very penetrable.

What stops everyone from copying the maximally unfun design from the web?

a) It'a not so simple

b) people are stupid

c) time, effort, laziness

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