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Topic: The everything Xbox thread

Posts 7,941 to 7,960 of 11,914

ThanosReXXX

@JoakimZ Well, the info is only visible if you've set that option. Mine is only visible for friends.
So, if you set it to open, they can ping you, get your IP address and all that. And I already hate sites tracking me on internet, but I've got all of that locked down. On a console it's a bit more difficult, though. Unless you use a gated modem or a VPN, but that's a bit too much, even for me.

But besides all that, I don't really care all that much about achievements anyway, so I don't need anyone or anything to track them for me. I recently finally had the time to finish the latest COD campaign, but I only ever play the single player campaign, so I'll never get all the achievements anyway, which would annoy me to no end, if I would start focusing on them.

I'm more of an old-skool gamer. I either go for high scores or finishing the main story, and once the game's story is finished, I've completed the game, no matter what some arbitrary achievement/trophy list tells me.

Edited on by ThanosReXXX

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

redd214

Well trophies/achievements can be turn into credit so not entirely arbitrary imo. I enjoy the game within the game of it. Not as into it as I once was but certainly can add another layer of completion for a game you like and getting money back for it is a nice bonus as well.

Dunno if this was mentioned but MS is having a sale on some disc games on their website. A few pretty solid deals in there for those who prefer physical.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/collections/Xboxgamedea...

redd214

ThanosReXXX

@redd214 Yeah, I've noticed that, and it's a nice development and bonus, but that's kind of a more recent feature of achievements. Before that, it was just an artificial way to extend the longevity of a game. Some achievements were absolutely and completely stupid and completely non-relevant to the game, and some achievements, especially in multiplayer games, can easily be gathered by cheating/cooperating with each other, rather than competing with each other. And to get those, me and my friends often did, because otherwise, some of these achievements were damn near impossible for the average gamer.

And I'm more of a casual gamer anyway, so between work and my private life, I don't really have the time and taste anymore to "get gud". I just want to play and enjoy games whenever I have the time, and not have to worry about some stupid achievement that I missed or for which I have to backtrack/replay an entire game.

One of those examples is dog tags in the original two Gears of Wars games. Once you had missed them, you either had to restart the level, or backtrack. Well, if that's even possible, because sometimes, if you missed one, walking a bit further triggered a cut scene and then you couldn't go back at all.

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

ThanosReXXX

@DarthNocturnal I feel I have to start out with adding that my point of view is of course that of an older, pre-online gamer (started gaming in the 70's and 80's in arcades), so all I'm used to for the largest part of my gaming life, is beating high scores (or trying to) and other kinds of natural incentives, such as simply wanting to beat/finish a level. I never needed to receive any kind of virtual pat on the back for that, other than seeing my initials on the high score list...
(and hoping they weren't erased too soon after having accomplished that)

Achievements are bolted on, often not related to main story lines in games (which to me makes quite a few of them way too distractive), so while they might add to games in some ways, they often also use these kinds of tactics to artificially make games last longer than they actually do, while adding nothing essential or intrinsic to these games, with which I mean to say that without these achievements, the games should still be entertaining enough on their own, because if the largest part of the entertainment value purely comes from these achievements/trophies, then we should probably come to the inescapable conclusion that these games weren't actually all that good to begin with, if they need those kinds of crutches to hold them up...

Back in the day, high score improvements were a thing that you did of your own volition, and the only means that the developers of the games had to entice you to keep playing, was making the game that good or that much fun to play, so you would choose to do so. Achievements are an initiative from the other side, not from the gamer himself, so it's an artificial lure to keep you attached to a game for longer than you might normally do. (edit: once you've finished a game's main story line/campaign)

In all fairness to the system, it sometimes actually does add great value to a game, if the achievements actually mean something, but if (like in the Xbox 360 days) I only have to start up a game for 100 times in a row to get a special achievement (Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway), then that's just developers grasping at straws, far as I'm concerned, because it has nothing whatsoever to do with the game and/or its storyline.

And I could probably list hundreds if not more equally stupid or even more insane "achievements", that don't actually make me feel like I've achieved anything substantial in any kind of way, other than the achievement of falling for the developer's cheap shenanigans...

So yeah, I can agree with luring players in with good gameplay which might very possibly persuade them to keep playing the game and beating and keep on improving that high score, but achievements have kinda taken that, and ran away with it, often in not all too coherent and/or relevant manners. I can understand that it adds to the games for some, but for me, there's no incentive to try and get all of them in certain games, especially the ones with big multiplayer components, also because I simply don't have enough friends that still play these games.

To clarify: due to my MASSIVE back log, spread across multiple consoles, and my prevalent tendency to mostly buy games after they've become a bit cheaper, I'm far behind any of them were owning recent titles is concerned, so by the time I buy these games, they've probably already played through them multiple times, and don't really feel like doing that again, even for me. And I really can't blame 'em, because I probably wouldn't want to either.

But of course, that's just my personal sentiment, so if others do like achievements or trophies, then that's perfectly fine. Personally, I just can't help seeing right through what they really are, and that breaks the illusion for me. So, usually I just ignore them, and only ever see them pop up during gameplay, but I don't go out hunting for them, or checking which ones I already have or haven't got yet.

Edited on by ThanosReXXX

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

ThanosReXXX

@DarthNocturnal Very true, and from what you've said now, it's actually clear that we agree in large part, because for me, having fun with games and playing them as I want to play them (and not as they're trying to make me), is what I prefer.

Agreed as well on only getting achievements that are actually doable. Well, at least: as I said before, in my case it's more of an automatic thing. I just play the games and whatever achievements are gained with it are a bonus for the points on my profile...

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

BruceCM

That's like me, @ThanosReXXX .... If I see any achievements nearly done that I can finish easily, I'll do those, too

SW-4357-9287-0699
Steam: Bruce_CM

redd214

I don't remember if this was mentioned here in the past but big man Phil confirmed that Xbox One controllers will work on Scarlett. Great news for those that have a lot or have custom ones. Hope Sony does this as well, don't see why not. Like I said if this was old news Apologies

redd214

BruceCM

My plan is by the time I've finished with my XBox One s, Scarlett will be available around half price pre-owned....

SW-4357-9287-0699
Steam: Bruce_CM

XBontendo

redd214 wrote:

I don't remember if this was mentioned here in the past but big man Phil confirmed that Xbox One controllers will work on Scarlett. Great news for those that have a lot or have custom ones. Hope Sony does this as well, don't see why not. Like I said if this was old news Apologies

Just saw this, and that it amazing news. Now if the One library along with all current backwards compat games carry over on day, I'm sold.

XBox/Steam/Epic: owendershot | Switch friend code: I don't remember, these codes are crazy, I'll check later.
Playstations are fine, but I don't have one.

redd214

GWG for September. Have only played TTT2 but I remember it being terrific at the time though probably a bit clunky compared to 7 which is dirt cheap nowadays.

redd214

ThanosReXXX

@redd214 Never even knew there was a third Earth Defense Force game. Oh, well. Series complete, I guess.

For all you interested people, here's the official Xbox Channel video of the upcoming free Games with Gold:

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

ThanosReXXX

And here's one to check out, for all you arcade racing fans:

Wreckfest, published by THQ and made by Bugbear, who also made the excellent FlatOut games on Xbox, PlayStation and PC. It's out now on consoles. (it was released on PC last year)

Might be something for you as well, @NEStalgia, now that you're completely into Forza Horizon, although Bugbear racers are always more of a Destruction Derby type racer, but still...

Edited on by ThanosReXXX

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

redd214

@ThanosReXXX Its absolutley fantastic. I was going to hold out until it became cheaper but I had a bunch of credit from fleecing Gamestop all last week so I sprung for it. Very very fun racer!

redd214

ThanosReXXX

@redd214 Good to know. I've got all the FlatOut games as well, and from the various gameplay videos I've seen of Wreckfest so far, they've managed to hold on to that specific type of gameplay and physics pretty well, so this one definitely goes on the wanted list...

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

JoakimZ

Wow, I had totally missed that EDF 2025 was made BC. Really happy to see both that it is Bc and we’re getting it for free

JoakimZ

3DS Friend Code: 0259-0335-6096 | Nintendo Network ID: JoakimZ

DAHstroy

Just bought an Xbox One S last night off a great Labor Day Sale, looking for some great titles other than Forza Horizon 4 and Sea of Thieves. Do you guys have any suggestions?

DAHstroy

ThanosReXXX

@DAHstroy First off, be sure to get an Xbox Live subscription. Even if you don't intend to or like to play online, it's still worth it for the monthly free games alone.

This is a good comparison site to see when and where you can get the cheapest subscriptions:
https://cheapdigitaldownload.com/catalog/category-xbox-live/

As for games: I absolutely agree with getting Rare Replay. It's a great collection, and it has something for everyone. Besides that, there's so many kinds of games, even though the catalog is smaller than the PS4's, so there's still more than enough to play. For suggestions, it may perhaps be helpful if you could tell us what type of game you absolutely don't like. That list will probably shorter, for most people anyway...

Once you've made a gamer profile, you can also go to the online marketplace, and browse the demo section, where there's a truckload of stuff you can try out. And besides that, there's also the GamePass service, which is basically the game version of Netflix. You pay a monthly fee to subscribe to it, and then you have unlimited access to nearly the entire catalog of Xbox One games, plus a whole range of backward compatible Xbox 360 and even original Xbox titles.

And there are regular offers for try out periods for GamePass, often only for 1 or 2 dollars for a month, which you could both use to try out some games, but also to see if you like the GamePass service itself.

As for the monthly free games, you might want to put this link in your favorites from now on:
https://xbox.com/gameswithgold/
Or simply keep tabs on the official Xbox YouTube channel, where you'll see all the relevant videos pop up every month.
https://www.youtube.com/user/xbox
And last but not least, also check out Larry Hryb's aka Major Nelson's website:
https://majornelson.com/
He is the official spokesperson for any and all Xbox community and event related stuff. He used to be part of the original Xbox development team, but now this is what he does. They also sometimes call him mr. Xbox...

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Nintendo Network ID: ThanosReXX

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