Comments 223

Re: Xbox's Starfield Rockets to the Top of the PS5's Pre-Order Charts

evan23

@VenomUK Yeah, I think that is fair. The problem is there was an amplification of that negative feedback that was way beyond what is normal.

Now, how much of that was caused by PS5 fans that were upset about being left out? I have no idea. I am sure it played some part but I don't believe it was the entirety(or even the majority) of the problem.

Re: Xbox's Starfield Rockets to the Top of the PS5's Pre-Order Charts

evan23

I have said this in other threads but I still think this game gets way more hate than it deserves. Especially now with most of the bugs fixed and a slow but steady flow of QoL improvements over time.

I will definitely jump back into Starfield in April when the updates come. It isn't perfect and is by no means genre defining but it has been fun for me and I have got lots of enjoyment for my money.

Re: Starfield Finally Lands on PS5 in April with New DLC and Huge Updates

evan23

@Skyliner I was not aware of that. I just looked it up and the restrictions look pretty significant. Not allowing external assets is a pretty crazy restriction. I wonder if that will carry into Starfield? I imagine that would eliminate the vast majority of the mods available. Most of them bring new assets of some type.

Re: Starfield Finally Lands on PS5 in April with New DLC and Huge Updates

evan23

I have well over 300 hours into Starfield.

It is 100% not the game of the generation.

The overhyped expectations were definitely one of the reason for all the backlash.

Another reason though is that the game is a whole bunch of different things. It is a narrative RPG, space combat sim, space exploration/resource management game and has a rich ship building experience. Excluding the ship building, it isn't particularly amazing at any one of those things. What makes the game interesting is the combination of those things.

I have spent countless hours just building ships. Why? Because I enjoy it.

But not everyone will enjoy Starfield's combination of things.

If you view it purely as a narrative RPG, it is OK but not great. If you look at the exploration/resource management it will pale in comparison to other games that focus on only those elements. There are without any doubt better space combat sims out there.

Even though it is far from perfect, I enjoy that mix of elements and will probably head back to the world of Starfield once these new features launch and the modding community catches up.

Re: Starfield's PS5 Release Seems Practically Inevitable at This Point

evan23

I don't get all the hate for Starfield.

Is it a perfect game? No. It is a flawed game in some ways.

Is it for everyone? No.

But those things are true of many, many games and those games don't get anywhere near the amount of hate that Starfield gets,

Starfield is still fun for many people. I enjoyed my time with it even though it isn't perfect.

Re: Rumour: Starfield PS5 Release Date Locked in for April as Xbox RPG Targets Lower Price Point

evan23

This game gets way more hate than it deserves.

In part because it had some serious problems at launch and in part because people had expectations for it that it didn't fulfill.

I would describe this as a good game with some significant flaws.

I probably won't play again in the near future but I have played more than 300 hours so I more than got my money's worth.

There are some interesting systems in the game that can be fun in and of themselves. Who knows how many countless hours I have spent building ships or boarding ships and taking them over. Although base building isn't for me, I know people that love the base building aspects as well.

Re: Your PS Plus Essential Sub Netted You $1,500+ in PS5, PS4 Games This Year

evan23

This math is meaningless. Putting aside the fact that most of these games go on sale regularly, the value we get from these games is totally different. If I buy them, I get a perpetual license. PS Plus gives me the right to use them only so long as a I am subscriber.

On top of that, most people won't play every game since they are in all different genres.

Putting aside this nonsensical value calculation, I think PS Plus Essential and Extra are both good values if you play a meaningful amount of those games. For my needs, it is the only subscription service worth considering.

Re: PS5 Dominates UK on Black Friday, Sells More Than 60% of All Consoles

evan23

Considering PS offered huge console discounts across the BF period this doesn't seem all that surprising. Especially in the UK where the Switch 2 has not been selling well compared to the rest of the world.

That being said, with the level of discounts they were offering, I expect they outsold Switch 2 in most of the world.

Re: Sony Boss Says It's 'Learned a Lot' from PC Player Pushback

evan23

@LogicStrikesAgain

Still find it a minor inconvencience when all this can be circumvented by a 2 min sign up though. Sorry, dont have strong feelings about all these proprietary things at all. I once had to sign up for playing a Ubisoft game on Playstation. While a minor inconvenience, took me no less than 2 mins.

It isn't about the time it takes to sign up. On PC, it is something you need to deal with every time you launch the game.

Re: Sony Boss Says It's 'Learned a Lot' from PC Player Pushback

evan23

@LogicStrikesAgain Yes. The situation on PC is different. The issue for me is not that I need an account. I already have a PSN account. I don't care that much about that.

The issue on PC is that every time you run the game, you have to have that account validated. So once the servers that do that validation go offline, the game becomes unplayable. Again, for an online game, I think that is fair. But for an offline single player game, it destroys long-term game preservation. Also, I hope you weren't planning to play the game offline, like an on airplane.... Preservation is my primary concern.

For other people, there is also a privacy concern. They don't need/want Sony knowing when and how they play their offline games.

Re: Sony Boss Says It's 'Learned a Lot' from PC Player Pushback

evan23

@Athrum Even if you make a copy of the physical disc, in most cases it won't be very useful in the long run. What is on the disc for most modern is games is a prerelease copy of the code which is typically in a pretty poor state. There are exceptions but most console game discs do little for preservation.

PC is the only real legal preservation platform these days.

Re: Sony Boss Says It's 'Learned a Lot' from PC Player Pushback

evan23

@Athrum Consoles don't last forever. We are already starting to see availability issues on the used market with some of the older consoles. Also, you are assuming those consoles will even still function in the future without their online component. Since the physical drives themselves require online activation, trusting that you will still be able to read those discs in the future is flawed to begin with.

PC is only platform where you have real game preservation so it is critical we push back on these online requirements for offline single player games.

Re: Sony Boss Says It's 'Learned a Lot' from PC Player Pushback

evan23

@get2sammyb I think blowing this off as "a storm in a teacup" deeply minimizes the real issue here.

For offline single player games, forcing an online connection and login is a huge blow to long-term game preservation. That means those games become unplayable if those servers ever go away.

For online multiplayer games, it is what it is. There is a cost to maintaining that infrastructure so the expectation should be that those games won't stay around forever.

For offline single player games, that should never be the case. They are hamstringing the future of those games so they can harvest data from their userbase.

I still play games from 20-30 years ago on PC. If those games had online logins, many of them would no longer be playable.

Re: Poll: Did You Buy a PS5 Pro?

evan23

The lack of a physical drive is the primary reason I did not get one. From a preservation perspective, that is a real problem given the need for online activation.

Re: Talking Point: Is PS5 Pro Way Too Expensive?

evan23

I am hardcore enthusiast. I buy basically every console. I am the sucker that buys the console at release and the upgraded model every time. switch/oled, ps4/ps4 pro, xone/xonex. I bought at least 5 different 3DS handhelds.

I am squarely in the target demographic for this machine and I was prepared to buy it even though I don't use my PS5 enough to make it worth it.

However, I can't buy this and feel OK about it. A $200 price increase over the base model plus an extra $100 for the accessories. It just doesn't make sense to spend that much on a console unless $800 is an irrelevant amount of money for you.

At what point does it make more sense just to buy a gaming PC?

Even if the PC cost a bit more than $800, you wouldn't have to pay for online gaming and you would have access to a bigger library of games. If you wait for a sale, you can get a gaming PC that will outperform the PS5 Pro in the $900-$1000 range.

Re: Poll: What Was Your Favourite Game from State of Play?

evan23

Astrobot for me as well.

The only other game that even looked interesting was Infinity Nikki even though I am probably outside the target demographic for that game. Seems to have strangely high production values for that type of game. I am curious to see what it is actually like when it launches.