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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   2808 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for September 1, 2023

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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There was a brief golden moment, in the original Deus Ex, where it looked like we might have been able to move to a more serious timeline. I remember being flabbergasted at my first death, in the first level: "He just shot me once! With just a pistol! How did I get killed by a single pistol shot to the head!?! ... Wait a minute. What kinds of games have I been playing, to make me believe I should be able to shrug off a bullet to the head?" That might have been on hard mode, but even so the principle surprised me. Of course, what's good for the PC is good for the NPCs, so only the armored enemies were bullet sponges.

But shortly into the game, even Deus Ex gave you some options for handwavy "use nanotech to make your skin more bulletproof" magic armor. Naturally, because in a long game "bullets all miss" would be even more implausible, "you can't let yourself get shot at ever" would be too hard, and "every now and then you die instantly" would be too frustrating. It's easy to sympathize with game designers who just skip the "too hard" and "too frustrating" options entirely; I just wish it wasn't so many of them.

Well, I play a lot of Tarkov, Squad and Arma, and in those games people usually die when you shoot them even once in the head.

(Sometimes characters might seem even tankier in Tarkov than many RPGs, but only because you're using piddling rounds against really good armor, and you'd have much the same result IRL. Good bullets can kill in 2 or 3 torso hits.)

I don't understand why this became such an RPG staple, and I hate every time it shows up. At least in some games, like Fallout 4 or Stalker you can mod the damage and end up with a much more enjoyable experience!

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