Retrospective *eia

To call the battlefield franchise "well made" is a bit of an insult to high quality fps games. BF2 was released CHOCK full of bugs (if you played it, you'll know) and was left unmaintained. Certain game-breaking bugs were left in for months and months at a time despite ruining huge aspects of the game. On top of the bugs that were not fixed, new content was released and promoted - that ALSO contained bugs. Even when bugs were fixed, new bugs were introduced. And many of the fixes involved changes that negatively affected other aspects of play! How can this be called "well made"?

I consider myself an experienced gamer. I enjoy many genres, and have been playing for ~18 years. I don't just play huge titles, but i do play those too. I play indie games, casual games, you name it. The only company that i go out of my way to avoid is EA and that's due to bad experiences with their games. I am not "just a hater", as i did play dragon age and sang its praises once i'd come to accept that it wasn't simply another standard EA title.

Take bioware for example. Before they were 'bought' by EA they made some of the (arguably, but almost universally accepted) best games of their particular genre. Baldur's gate 1 and 2, neverwinter nights.... we're talking sweeping epics that involved in depth and original story lines that carried the game single handedly (i mean, it was only isometric, the story was everything). Then suddenly, EA get involved and bioware produce mass effect - instead of being able to choose from a plethora of moral and immoral dialog options, actions, we get a good/neutral/evil meter and equivalent options. I'm not going to tell anyone mass effect is a bad game; it is up to the public to decide and they have decided it's good. But i insist that, but for the dated graphics, their earlier RPGs were better in every single other way, and what they provide in their modern RPGs falls short on any RPG checklist you care to make when you put it up against Baldur's gate, icewind dale, etc.

I was very excited when dragon age was released, but then immediately disappointed again when dragon age 2 was released - and who can honestly claim that 2 lived up to 1? Can anyone deny that it was shat out at maximum velocity to cash in quickly on the success of the first? It was a completely different game!?

I hope i have managed to not sound like an anti-fanboy cock; i have spent hundreds and hundreds of pounds on game flops by EA which were underhandedly promoted by reviewers that i then learned not to trust. I feel utterly cheated by them but that is why i don't buy their games now, and that's why you'll find more and more people expressing the opinions herein and in the video. So yes, it's very easy to say "lolz u shudnt buy there gamez u foolz", but when there's several teams of people working together to try and trick you into doing something it may take you a few goes before you learn what the shape of the turd looks like. It's underhanded and i would have thought you could understand why people get annoyed by that.

I'm not surprised piracy has increased with the steady decline in VALUE FOR MONEY. I payed £30 for half life 1 and i still play it to this day. I'd gladly pay £100 for it in retrospect. The first installment of a battlefield game costs me £40, and £15 for an extra few maps or guns they add. Valve are still giving me stuff for free, and i cannot thank them enough for putting pride in their work, and for that they will have the kind of brand respect that EA will never get.

@Fletch hit the nail right on the head. I don't think people who disagree are stupid, or wrong, or anything. But if you haven't experienced the old AND the new (that goes for everyone, not just fans of the new or just fans of the old), then you are not in an ideal position to put forward arguments about whether or not games have increased in value for money, or decreased in value for money; i'm glad you enjoy modern games, but i feel disappointed and cheated by them and that's a perfectly valid thing to express, and it is not your place to tell someone they're over reacting or being a baby. If you haven't tried it yourself, you can't know for sure.

I think that is what this guy was trying to say in a humourous way, probably didn't do the best job of it ever but it was at least funny. And do remember it was meant to be funny. I think some people in this thread in favour of EA have looked more foolish in their pro-EA arguments than this guy did in his anti-EA exaggerations. Remember it was meant to be funny.

TL:DR - i don't blame you

I'm willing to accept a billion dollars and then figure out which system they used in retrospect.

I've been watching these (they're up to episode 4 as I write), and they are such a trip down memory lane for me, they traverse my gaming life very well. I loved Kings Quest when it came out, I played some Zork (not much though), and devoured the Space Quests, Police Quests, Leisure suit Larry... and then the Monkey Island games. LOVED them.

I love these retrospectives.

And I love being a backer of DoubleFine's Adventure game, cannot WAIT for that to arrive

From what I recall (from reading his books, and a biography) he was young and wanted to help the war effort. I think the quote was his, but also that if he had been a bit more mature he would probably have still done the same... just not without considering the consequences.

The safe cracking etc. was just thumbing his nose at authority, being a smart alec, and trying to point out that the regulations were stupid and the safes weren't that secure... the directive sent out in response was that everybody should keep their safes locked while Feynman was about.
>> ^dannym3141:

@Yogi
I understand. I don't know the history of it, but perhaps his inclusion was in some way not optional? Or perhaps he felt morally obliged to help. If he merely suspected that he had expertise valuable to the protection of his country, he may be easily coerced into doing something to protect his family, or some other propaganda story.
I remember reading a scientist's musings on helping develop the bomb, but i can't remember who it was. It may well have been feynman but i did a project on einstein recently, could have been him. I belive they said something to the tune of working really hard in conjunction with other great minds to develop something, almost for the pride of developing it, but also for their country, and not considering the consequences of what they were working on. Only in retrospect did they wish they had considered their actions first.
My brain wants to tie that story to this, because it would fit nicely and explain why he didn't just leave. I'll try and find the information.

@Yogi

I understand. I don't know the history of it, but perhaps his inclusion was in some way not optional? Or perhaps he felt morally obliged to help. If he merely suspected that he had expertise valuable to the protection of his country, he may be easily coerced into doing something to protect his family, or some other propaganda story.

I remember reading a scientist's musings on helping develop the bomb, but i can't remember who it was. It may well have been feynman but i did a project on einstein recently, could have been him. I belive they said something to the tune of working really hard in conjunction with other great minds to develop something, almost for the pride of developing it, but also for their country, and not considering the consequences of what they were working on. Only in retrospect did they wish they had considered their actions first.

My brain wants to tie that story to this, because it would fit nicely and explain why he didn't just leave. I'll try and find the information.

>> ^Payback:

>> ^GeeSussFreeK:
>> ^Peroxide:
Nowadays with the money in my budget I do the best to go to the movies, shows, and buy the media that I actually like.
Before access to the internet I can recall too many bad memories of coming home with CDs and DVDs that I thought I would love, and then ended up being really upset that I had purchased them.

Laziness did it for me. Stealing games is just to hard compared to downloading it on steam. When I was a kid, driving to the store was harder than just downloading it (and it was also free). I would wager that a large majority of people wouldn't pirate if the copyright holders offered their content in the right way. I like the way valve put it, "Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem". Not always true, some cheap thief's out there, but I know I have bought more games via steam and more books via amazon then I did before them.

I noticed ME3 is going for $80. 80 fucking American fucking dollars. Not fucking likely.


Great post then great reply. I think it's a service problem and a price problem, steam does well because they do good deals. Fact.

I see a game, it looks good, but i've been stung so many times i'm tempted not to try. Then i see it's worth 4.99, and it's completely worth the purchase. 40 pounds for a game i may or may not like and may or may not be able to return at my own expensive of time and effort is an absolute joke. Especially modern day games. Sorry, that's how i see it. Not that i pirate, i just play indie games and get the right games.

Valve so far are the company to release games that i would admit i've had about £150 worth of fun from, and in retrospect i'd have happily paid that for the game. How often can you say that with the £40 titles?

>> ^EvilDeathBee:

This guy is easily amused


He's paid to be easily amused in retrospect.

Who doesn't love modern television programming?!!?

>> ^bmacs27:

>> ^Aniatario:
It's so easy to turn a blind eye to anything until it effects you personally. When I was a kid, I called my friends "gay" all the time. It was just another insult to throw back at other little shits in the playground. Then my best friends Mom came out of the closet..
Really changed my perspective.
edit: And the more I think about it, no teacher ever told me not too. Kinda fucked in retrospect.

What's wrong with calling someone happy? I think it's the F-Word people really get worked up about. Even that is being slowly "reclaimed."


What's wrong with calling someone a cigarette/bundle of sticks?

Seriously, certain words hurt because of the way they have been and/or are used. But I shouldn't even have to be pointing that out.

>> ^Aniatario:

It's so easy to turn a blind eye to anything until it effects you personally. When I was a kid, I called my friends "gay" all the time. It was just another insult to throw back at other little shits in the playground. Then my best friends Mom came out of the closet..
Really changed my perspective.
edit: And the more I think about it, no teacher ever told me not too. Kinda fucked in retrospect.


What's wrong with calling someone happy? I think it's the F-Word people really get worked up about. Even that is being slowly "reclaimed."

It's so easy to turn a blind eye to anything until it effects you personally. When I was a kid, I called my friends "gay" all the time. It was just another insult to throw back at other little shits in the playground. Then my best friends Mom came out of the closet..

Really changed my perspective.

edit: And the more I think about it, no teacher ever told me not too. Kinda fucked in retrospect.

This guy has ALWAYS been up his own ass. I am a fan but enough with the documentaries and retrospectives.

Actually, I could have sworn at first I ticked the channel box, and then unticked it on second thought. Turns out I didn't, but in retrospect, I have to say this is a video more _about_ a particular skill than it is demonstrative of it (which is more in line with the idea behind the channel), so I'd say I have to agree with Deano and Hybrid.
*return

In retrospect, Rufus T. Firefly seems like a decent head of state.

Yeah, I actually figured that but Speedy's an easy target for people with no sense of humour- I'm sure this Mayor fits that category.

In reply to this comment by ulysses1904:
Not sure if you misunderstood me, as I wasn't knocking or "censoring" Speedy Gonzalez. FWIW, the Warner Brothers cartoons from the 1940s and 1950s are the quality standard that I compare all over animations to. And no doubt some of them have blatantly racist or ethnically insulting scenes and characters, which were viewed as acceptable back then.

My comment was that it would fit right in with the mayor's taco remark, to act like being a fan of Speedy Gonzalez would help build bridges to the modern day Latino community in East Haven.

>> ^therealblankman:

>> ^ulysses1904:
Wow....just....wow. I live near New Haven and have read about this quote but this is the first I'm seeing the footage. At least he didn't say "I might have tacos and then watch a Speedy Gonzalez retrospective".

Don't you knock Speedy Gonzales! That dude rocks! He's won at least one more Academy Award than any of us ever will. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speedy_Gonzales
The world of America was bigoted and rife with ethnic stereotypes at the time. Those views were just as wrong then as they are now, but to censor the mouse is the same as pretending that those views never existed. Disney pretends that "Song of the South" was never made, but that's a mistake as well.