Okay, would people recommend playing 1, 2, then 3, to get the experience as it was first given? Or going 3, 1, 2?

I wonder if people realize that cyberpunk is meant to be a dystopian satire, and not just a cool aesthetic. It should feel like a condemnation of a number of modern practices (including our over-commercialization and hypercapitalism). I guess the issue with Deus Ex is that reality has jumped the shark so hard that it doesn’t even look like much of an exaggeration in some spaces, and more like the logical outcome of another decade or two.

I’m sure there are some weird tech bros out there that see it as a utopia, and that’s where I stop being able to see eye to eye with them. Who would want to live in a world where the cycle of poverty is more vicious than ever, where literal under-cities of people have to subsist on artificial light and synthesized foods that keep them alive, but only barely?

I agree completely. Some games and genres really need enough players to ensure queue times aren’t awful, and that there are lobbies/games/matches where players of all levels can enjoy themselves.

Battle Royales need big playerbases. Team-based games (like many shooters and MOBAs) benefit from larger playerbases. Fighting games want large playerbases, because it’s very frustrating to get a game 6 months after release only to find that it’s a Discord fighter, or that the only people playing are absolute killers who destroy you without leaving you any room or time to learn how to improve.

Among 2D fighters, SF6 and MK1 are pretty dang big.

I would recommend GBFV:R and GG Strive. Granblue is very grounded, and if you play Street Fighter you’ll be able to wrap your head around the systems. Strive is a bit more anime, but without being too much (in the way that Xrd Rev 2 and Melty Blood are too much for me to comprehend what’s happening).

I don’t know if you’re into tag-style games, but learning one might help you get ready for when 2XKO comes out. I’m not a Riot fan, but Riot has such a following that whenever it launches, it’ll receive a large playerbase immediately.

Also, regarding the 30th Anniversary collection, I personally think it’s super cool. Awesome for local play and for nostalgia. It even has netplay for Hyper Fighting, Super Turbo, Alpha 3, and Third Strike, though most PC people are probably just playing on Fightcade instead.

I heard the Giant Bomb crew mention this on the podcast, but couldn’t find it. Sounds like a wide blend of a lot of different things! I like it when Capcom is willing to be weird and try something new.

RoA is also a good pickup right now because it’s kind of the biggest platform fighter that actually kept a competitive audience, and RoA 2 is coming out pretty soon. My brothers (Melee dudes) are pumped for it.

That name is still so very uncomfortable.

What sort of fighting games are you interested in? What have you played, and what are you curious to try?

LET’S GO FIGHTING GAMESSSSSS

Tekken 8 - $39.98
I’ve heard good things about this Tekken, but I’ve never wrapped my head around the combo/juggle system and 3-D fighters in general

DBFZ - $9.59
Great game, it’s a shame that it didn’t get to shine long enough as the common grounds among various FGC communities. Still, for $10, that’s great.

MK1 - $27.99
I think this is supposed to be a story reboot, so it’s easy to get into for newer players, narrative-wise. Combat seems to be good too, and NRA is great for including lots of things to do for people who aren’t into grinding a ranked ladder against human opponents.

GG Strive - $19.99
This game is GREAT. It isn’t quite as frenetic as older entries or other anime fighters, but it’s flashy and stylish as hell. I’ve gotten multiple people into fighting games starting with GG Strive. Definitely check it out if the look or style even remotely interests you.

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising - $29.99
I like this one a lot, though the sale is a bit shallow. Anime looks, but a very grounded system. It gelled with me, coming from a Street Fighter background. I still struggle with corner combos, but to me it’s a demonstration of the accessibility and depth of the game. I can hit my 4 hit combo, sure, but someone who knows what they’re doing can pull out a 9-move combo and do 30% more damage in the corner, meaning that playing for stage position and footsies and everything are just as important as they are in SF.

I never played it, but it seemed to face the issue that so many other flash-in-the-pan games have. It’s got a great idea, and then players want more, more, more, and the team wasn’t planning/prepping for that much that soon. And by the time they do get those additions ready, the playerbase has moved on.

I heard Helldivers has fallen off a cliff for player count, and it’s definitely been the bane of many fighting games I’ve bought.

Ah, that’s a bummer. I love Danny’s stuff in general, didn’t know that about this company.

Honestly, avoiding the all feed may be better for my enjoyment of the platform. On Reddit I used to just sub to my specific interests and never interacted or saw all the politics talk or general memes. When I moved here, most communities were too quiet for it to take up the same spot for me, so I started browsing by all instead.

I’ll give it a shot, thank you for the reminder/realization.

I think Steam NextFests have been a big part of the prevalence of demos. Before we had those, sure, a few games would have demos, but they wouldn’t really gather much attention. NextFests are a good excuse for players to try a bunch of demos (think of the old demo discs that came with gaming magazines) and post about them on social media. This is a great way for smaller games to attract eyes, so now developers are more incentivized to actually produce demos, rather than just neat trailers and screenshots for marketing purposes.

Number was plucked out of my ass. But sure, let’s look at a redwood and see when they start reproducing.

The Sierra Redwood can reproduce sexually (seeds in cones) as early as 24 years old, but one source I found said that seeds are usually not high-quality until the tree is 200+ years old. It also takes about a 2-year maturation period within the cone before being ready for planting. Other types of redwoods can reproduce asexually, which may have an effect on the rate of expression of the mutated genes.

A generation just has to be the age gap between a plant and a plant from any of its seeds. So if a tree can start to flower and drop seeds around year 3, then it’s as minimal as a 3-year gap between “generations”.

From what I’ve played and heard, it’s a bit of a “reset” after the highs of Endwalker, and the story takes a while to get started. It takes 20 quests to even reach the first new dungeon, which will take at least an hour+ of gameplay and cutscenes. I’m still looking forward to getting through it, but I understand the muted responses.

This is one of those games that I never played, but heard years later that there was a cult following for it.

A friend of mine apparently played it during childhood, and it’s one of their core games of that era. The variety of gameplay with the bright yet grim style just spoke to them deeply.

Apparently 3 is a prequel to 1 and 2, though you can obviously play it 312 or 123, whichever you prefer.

It is hard to stay afloat as a comic book store.

It depends on what I’m trying to maximize.

If I just want the happiness spike ASAP, then I would just buy $15 worth of Magic cards, or maybe a booster pack or three, depending on the set.

If I’m trying to maximize my overall happiness over any amount of time, I think spending $15 on something reusable, like a nice pair of socks or a hat would work out for me.

If I want to maximize happiness in general, then spending it on someone else I care about does double duty. It makes someone else happy, and I get happiness from being involved in the process.