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TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#451: Dec 16th 2019 at 11:28:38 AM

Yes, that would be the easiest route to take. In lieu of actual DLC hooks, simply picking a part of the solar system and introducing a brand new DLC area with its own self-contained DLC storyline independent of the rest of the game seems like the obvious way to go.

BACK IN MAH DAY (old man hat), we called this an "Expansion Pack". It's what pre-DLC optional bonus content for an extra cost used to be like before AAA developers ruined the concept for profit.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Dec 16th 2019 at 12:31:54 PM

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blkwhtrbbt The Dragon of the Eastern Sea from Doesn't take orders from Vladimir Putin Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Dragon of the Eastern Sea
#452: Dec 16th 2019 at 11:35:08 AM

I'm pretty sure expansion packs were sold at one point too, weren't they?

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
TamH70 Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
#453: Dec 17th 2019 at 2:11:51 AM

[up]Yep. I've got two or three I could point to - ones for Diablo II, Warcraft III and Starcraft.

GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#454: Dec 17th 2019 at 2:29:43 AM

The main difference between the two IIRC is that since expansions needed to be packaged, sold and distributed physically, they'd basically sell that extra content in much larger chunks to make it work the cost and effort. With digital distribution, you can sell far smaller chunks of content without that downside. I mean, it was always done for profit. They can just do it harder now.

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
blkwhtrbbt The Dragon of the Eastern Sea from Doesn't take orders from Vladimir Putin Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Dragon of the Eastern Sea
#455: Dec 17th 2019 at 10:48:34 AM

Far cry Blood Dragon was always referred to as a standalone expansion. I think E Ps are still a thing even if mostly digital

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#456: Jan 30th 2020 at 7:11:36 AM

Coming to Nintendo Switch on March 6th; physical box will have a download code.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#457: Jan 30th 2020 at 3:04:55 PM

While I'm very happy this game is coming to Switch, the decision to sell a physical box with nothing in it will always continue to baffle the hell out of me. They do realize that those giftcard style things exist right? And probably cost less to produce than a plastic box that stores nothing?

InkDagger Since: Jul, 2014
#458: Jan 31st 2020 at 10:22:56 PM

At the same time, I love meeting voice actors and getting the copies of my games signed.

As everything moves to digital... I have nothing to put on my shelves and nothing for them to sign... :/

blkwhtrbbt The Dragon of the Eastern Sea from Doesn't take orders from Vladimir Putin Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Dragon of the Eastern Sea
#459: Feb 4th 2020 at 6:58:49 PM

Make fan art

Signed fan art is kick ass

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
InkDagger Since: Jul, 2014
#460: Feb 4th 2020 at 10:56:05 PM

I don't have the wall space for that. Having cases on my shelves as a collection felt nice to display without too much of a space issue. Big posters are a lot for apartment living. Felt kind of uncomfortable for me to get someone else's fan art signed too. Idk. The fan artist's sig should be there, right?

Plus, I collect signed books too. Having similar for video games or movies always felt natural.

Bisected8 A casual tief of punk from Her Hackette Cave (Primordial Chaos) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
A casual tief of punk
#461: Feb 5th 2020 at 8:50:42 AM

AAA games usually have a tie-in art book?

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blkwhtrbbt The Dragon of the Eastern Sea from Doesn't take orders from Vladimir Putin Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Dragon of the Eastern Sea
#462: Feb 5th 2020 at 9:23:22 AM

Outer Worlds isn't really AAA is it?

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
Bisected8 A casual tief of punk from Her Hackette Cave (Primordial Chaos) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
A casual tief of punk
#463: Feb 5th 2020 at 9:29:16 AM

True, but I wouldn't call it indie (too high budget), and its niche audience is significant enough that I'd assume it has some sort of tie-in book?

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Protagonist506 from Oregon Since: Dec, 2013 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#465: Feb 5th 2020 at 9:57:02 AM

AAA, most RP Gs, and really anything with art they want to show off. I don't know that Outer Worlds has one so far, though. Too bad, because it does have great art.

Maybe a print or poster of one of the in-game posters or some concept art? Not seeing anything official, though. Edit: Nvm, you already said you don't have the wall space.

Edited by Unsung on Feb 5th 2020 at 9:57:22 AM

blkwhtrbbt The Dragon of the Eastern Sea from Doesn't take orders from Vladimir Putin Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Dragon of the Eastern Sea
#466: Feb 5th 2020 at 2:40:30 PM

The music cd maybe

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
InkDagger Since: Jul, 2014
blkwhtrbbt The Dragon of the Eastern Sea from Doesn't take orders from Vladimir Putin Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
The Dragon of the Eastern Sea
#468: Feb 6th 2020 at 7:30:04 AM

Well, for sure they release cd-format albums on digital stores, but historically those accompanied actual cd releases. The album cover art is usually what's printed on the cover.

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#469: Feb 6th 2020 at 7:36:11 AM

If nothing else grabs you, you could always just print out some concept art on card stock or a t-shirt and take that, for lack of official merchandise.

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#470: Feb 6th 2020 at 11:45:21 PM

Outer Worlds Switch port delayed due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus; physical box will have a cart; team is okay, but office is closed for now.

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#471: Mar 3rd 2020 at 11:18:23 AM

Got this on sale a while back, playing all the way through it.

It's alright. I don't like it as much as I did Fallout 4, but it's still really groovy. It's a great, vibrant world - a wonderfully grim but peppy world as rife with Black Comedy as you'd expect from these creators - though I generally wanted more engagement out of it and more say in my character's engagement of it.

The gameplay is alright, though there were lots of things that felt rather... I guess throwaway was the right word? The game is often blunt and simple but pretends to be multifaceted, and at times that makes it repetitive.

The companions are absolutely the best part, and the minor characters are pretty fun and well characterized too. The only game like this I've played where I've loved the whole crew so much is Dragon Age Inquisition, and I don't think I've ever played a game where nearly every NPC you talk to is a delight to engage with. Loads of great, fun characterization.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#472: Mar 3rd 2020 at 11:24:18 AM

The NPCs are a load of fun, although I found them a little uneven. Some are more nuanced than others (Parvati is my little baby: I love her so much), but they are all based on blatant archetypes if you look even a little bit beneath the surface. This is not to say they are bad, but it's pretty easy to pick them out from the stock characters list.

I mean, a priest and a diffident female engineer aboard a renegade freighter... Firefly called: they want their cast back.

This game is a labor of love. It doesn't have the AAA resources to flesh out every nook and cranny of its world and story, so it has to squeeze the maximum it can get out of what it has, and it does that admirably.

My biggest problem (admittedly) when playing games like this is that I'm always trying to metagame: rather than reacting to the characters and situations as if I am roleplaying as the protagonist, I react from the point of view of which responses and actions will lead to my desired overall outcome (Good run, Evil run, get in with Faction X, etc.), and so I can be a bit cynical about the characterization and emotional elements. That's all on me. TOW charmed me, but not quite enough to look past the obvious mechanics underneath the hood.

Edited by Fighteer on Mar 3rd 2020 at 2:30:00 PM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Unsung it's a living from a tenement of clay Since: Jun, 2016
it's a living
#473: Mar 3rd 2020 at 11:53:12 AM

I think the non-companion NP Cs are all a bit one-note, other than maybe Sanjar, maybe Anton Crane, and of course Welles himself. There's an in-universe reason for that, of course, but not quite exaggerated enough, committed enough, that you get that burst of cognitive dissonance when you scratch the surface and realize they're human after all. They're over-the-top without being surprising. Borderlands and Fallout: New Vegas are the obvious comparisons here, but what it actually reminded me of was Alpha Protocol, because that was a game that was likewise built on seemingly shallow archetypes, but which did manage to humanize them and still surprise.

I liked the game, I'm hyped for DLC and more stories in this setting, but yeah, it didn't stick with me like Obsidian's other games.

KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#474: Mar 3rd 2020 at 1:51:00 PM

I mean, a priest and a diffident female engineer aboard a renegade freighter... Firefly called: they want their cast back.

I've never watched Firefly, but I'm told this game is chock full of them. It's another on a long list of media where I get the answer of "you need to watch Firefly" in response to certain things.

Modern writers' fixation on aping that show is really starting to impact my ability to not have my immersion broken in science fiction. Now I know how non-Star Wars fans feel.

My biggest problem (admittedly) when playing games like this is that I'm always trying to metagame: rather than reacting to the characters and situations as if I am roleplaying as the protagonist

This, I think, is the biggest problem I had with the game's engagement, vs something like Fallout 4. The game expects you to play like this. It's definitely a munchkin's game, not a story-lover's / roleplayer's game.

There's a prebuilt personality for your character (amoral space rogue), and you get options but they don't really flesh anything out or allow you to roleplay as anything wider than sarcastic anarchist vs sarcastic sellout (hell, the game has the same problem with a lot of things: weapons, skills, variety of ways to engage enemies, etc - "options" that don't have any real impact).

Which I suppose is why I ended up experiencing the game vicariously through the supporting cast instead.

The only companion I thought was too character type-y and didn't have enough personality was Nyoka, who is written with a strong sense of wisdom on the very rare opportunities you have to get that out of her. Granted, I only ever used SAM like once because I saw him having a lack of engagement coming.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Mar 3rd 2020 at 1:53:28 AM

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#475: Mar 3rd 2020 at 2:02:56 PM

As just one example, I really thought that ADA was going somewhere with her dialog options, but they just petered out. There's so much room for more content that didn't make the final cut.

Edited by Fighteer on Mar 3rd 2020 at 5:06:31 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

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