Why is there no way to disable the zombies? Does anyone actually want them? If I were playing with my K'Nex and some zombie came up and killed me I'd throw the fucking K'Nex out. It's a sandbox game, not Resident Evil.

*I've never played Minecraft and so do not know if there is some way to disable zombie attacks.

>> ^rottenseed:

Maybe I just don't get it. I don't game...at all. And this game is boring to watch. I've seen some cool things people have made, but it doesn't impress me anymore...and it's still horribly boring to look at. So what is the point of this game? Is it just an intellectual sandbox? Is there a purpose to the game?


Minecraft will make the most eloquent argument for itself if you play it. Either the experience appeals or it doesn't, but no description or explanation can really suffice. Essentially, though, yes; it's an intellectual sandbox.

Incidentally, Minecraft is the perfect accompaniment to a lecture, debate or radio segment. I find that my retention rate increases quite considerably if my brain is being stimulated by mining and construction.

Maybe I just don't get it. I don't game...at all. And this game is boring to watch. I've seen some cool things people have made, but it doesn't impress me anymore...and it's still horribly boring to look at. So what is the point of this game? Is it just an intellectual sandbox? Is there a purpose to the game?

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Not just clever marketing. This game is really something special. My whole family is in love with it at the moment.

It is hard to explain what makes it awesome, especially since the graphics are so shit - let me try:

>> ^Gabe_b:

>> ^shuac:
After playing this game, I'd love to see a full sandbox game set in a prison. You are a new inmate and your goal is to escape and clear your name. Or somesuch. It would be comparatively easy to make because you'd only need just so many textures and models. Not like Shawshank...more like Escape From Alcatraz only more gritty and dark.
To quote Jerry Seinfeld about prison, "It is a fascinating lifestyle."

I'd play that. Could be pretty good too. You could work in different ways to escape. Sneak out, Thief style, build up a gang and take the place over and have a chopper get you out like in south america, or maybe an adventure game-y and dialog based route to get out legally. Close combat with improvised weapons, raiding the armory... sweet


So.... The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay but much more sandboxy. Sounds good. Prison Break the game if you will.

However, if they made and official Prison Break the game, I'm sure it would be horrible.

>> ^shuac:

After playing this game, I'd love to see a full sandbox game set in a prison. You are a new inmate and your goal is to escape and clear your name. Or somesuch. It would be comparatively easy to make because you'd only need just so many textures and models. Not like Shawshank...more like Escape From Alcatraz only more gritty and dark.
To quote Jerry Seinfeld about prison, "It is a fascinating lifestyle."


Seconded! I always wondered what a first-person survival horror sandbox game might be like - trying to cobble together a way to escape from an old house or castle or something.

(Then Amnesia: The Dark Descent came out, but it's still mostly linear.)

>> ^shuac:

After playing this game, I'd love to see a full sandbox game set in a prison. You are a new inmate and your goal is to escape and clear your name. Or somesuch. It would be comparatively easy to make because you'd only need just so many textures and models. Not like Shawshank...more like Escape From Alcatraz only more gritty and dark.
To quote Jerry Seinfeld about prison, "It is a fascinating lifestyle."

I'd play that. Could be pretty good too. You could work in different ways to escape. Sneak out, Thief style, build up a gang and take the place over and have a chopper get you out like in south america, or maybe an adventure game-y and dialog based route to get out legally. Close combat with improvised weapons, raiding the armory... sweet

After playing this game, I'd love to see a full sandbox game set in a prison. You are a new inmate and your goal is to escape and clear your name. Or somesuch. It would be comparatively easy to make because you'd only need just so many textures and models. Not like Shawshank...more like Escape From Alcatraz only more gritty and dark.

To quote Jerry Seinfeld about prison, "It is a fascinating lifestyle."

>> ^MilkmanDan:

I stopped being interested in Guild Wars 2 after I heard (quite some time ago) that they were scrapping the max level of 20. From this video, looks like I need to give it some further looks.
I hate grinding. I hate level systems. I hate when my character at the end of the game is multiple orders of magnitude stronger than at the beginning -- Final Fantasy style (start with 38HP, end the game with 9999HP, yet nothing really changes because the ratios of damage / defense / max health etc. all remain relatively constant).
I've only really been into 2 MMOs. I started with UO at launch and played for about a year, eventually quitting because I hated the open PvP. It took me a long time to decide to give another MMO a shot after that, but I took the bait for Star Wars Galaxies and played from a few days after launch for over 4 years. I hated the leveling process in SWG, but once I had finished it I got to play a nice sandbox-style open world game that suited me very well. Too bad that the life-cycle management of SWG stands as probably the best example of what NOT to do in maintaining an MMO -- I'll never play an SOE game again.
I tried Guild Wars 1 and really liked it, but since I was at the time most active in SWG I never got community connections in Guild Wars that could have had me really hooked.


The max lvl is 80, however like the original GW levels mean virtually nothing. In fact unlike others MMOs where each level takes more XP to gain, GW2 has the same XP required for each. Its more of a simple marker or your progress. If you are lvl 80, and you want to play with a friend of lvl 1, not a problem, GW2 will scale your levels to match.

I stopped being interested in Guild Wars 2 after I heard (quite some time ago) that they were scrapping the max level of 20. From this video, looks like I need to give it some further looks.

I *hate* grinding. I *hate* level systems. I *hate* when my character at the end of the game is multiple orders of magnitude stronger than at the beginning -- Final Fantasy style (start with 38HP, end the game with 9999HP, yet nothing really changes because the ratios of damage / defense / max health etc. all remain relatively constant).

I've only really been into 2 MMOs. I started with UO at launch and played for about a year, eventually quitting because I hated the open PvP. It took me a long time to decide to give another MMO a shot after that, but I took the bait for Star Wars Galaxies and played from a few days after launch for over 4 years. I hated the leveling process in SWG, but once I had finished it I got to play a nice sandbox-style open world game that suited me very well. Too bad that the life-cycle management of SWG stands as probably the best example of what NOT to do in maintaining an MMO -- I'll never play an SOE game again.

I tried Guild Wars 1 and really liked it, but since I was at the time most active in SWG I never got community connections in Guild Wars that could have had me really hooked.

>> ^Jaace:

Looks cool...but why can't game companies stop copying each other with the freakin' location/storylines? This game sounds exactly like Fallout (1,2 or 3) and Borderlands combined. I'm getting tired of tromping through "post-apocalyptic wastelands" and would rather play in a different locale for once this decade.


The gaming industry is a gargantuan bandwagon train, almost to the same extent as the movie industry. A while ago the fad was WWII shooters, then it was sandbox games, particularly GTA-style (think Saints Row, Just Cause, Prototype, Infamous ...), now you could say it's arcadey modern day shooters (MW2, Medal of Honor), and post-apocalyptic games (Fallout, Borderlands, Rage). Here's hoping after Deus Ex 3 comes out, it will be cyberpunk.

I've enjoyed Rockstar / GTA games since GTA3. But to me, the "story" that takes some approximate amount of time to meander through has never been the point of the games. In fact, my biggest gripe with the GTA series has been that I usually have to force myself to suffer through the pointless drivel that is the story in order to open up the map in its entirety.

Sandbox games have never been extremely popular, which seems unfortunate to my tastes. And interestingly enough, the games that I have enjoyed the sandbox aspects of the most are often games that bridge that popularity / audience gap by including a story or other traditional gameplay elements. The GTA series has a storyline, and central plot-oriented missions. Ultima games had storylines and character-development goals. So I guess I'm happy that those are included in the games, if only because it will make them appeal to a broader audience and increase the chances of more games being released with the same design priciples; even if I tend to completely ignore those elements myself.

Anyway, it was interesting to hear Yatzee criticize the sandbox component of the game, which is exactly what would sell the game for me. Presumably he could do the opposite of what I would do with the game, and ignore the sandbox elements to play through the story... To each his own I guess.

choggie probably knows as much as anyone that the sift has been turned into a private playground for about ten assholes who feel they need to decide how everyone should behave in their sandbox and exert their meta-retard powers over everyone they can smack around with their e-penis.

Oh, and man, he really liked it.

Which is hardly surprising as he does love a 'fun' sandbox game, and from playing the demo I would definitely concur, it's shitloads o' the fun.

I love this game, and so do you, Yahtzee.

I played it for nearly 24 hours (not all at once obviously), before even attempting any of the missions other than the first couple of required introductory missions. After that, it was all sandbox fun! Spent most of that time completing areas to 100% one by one.

With so much shit to do, on such a huge scale, it's a wonder they ever bothered putting story missions in in the first place. They're nice though for when you tire of sandboxing it.