What influencers you in buying any game?

[Darth Canoli]

I have three HARD dealbreakers, as in I will definitely, 100% not buy the game if it has one of these.

1. Early access
2. Pay2win
3. Splash art featuring black women

1- So, a great game comes out of EA because the devs needed the EA money to develop it and it's one of the best RPG of the last 20 years and you won't buy it?

2- I understand if it's micro transactions but which RPG have those? Like NONE of them? On the other hand, if the devs sell a micro DLC with items having an impact on the game like Xulima or Trudograd, i don't mind, you don't need it, you don't have to buy it either you can go with the main game only, can't you?

3- What if the game is set in Ethiopia during the reign of a famous Ethipian queen like Makeda or Kandake? On the other hand I agree if it's just another cancel culturetard pulling a black crusader woman out of his ass.

 

[KateMicucci]

1- So, a great game comes out of EA because the devs needed the EA money to develop it and it's one of the best RPG of the last 20 years and you won't buy it?

2- I understand if it's micro transactions but which RPG have those? Like NONE of them? On the other hand, if the devs sell a micro DLC with items having an impact on the game like Xulima or Trudograd, i don't mind, you don't need it, you don't have to buy it either you can go with the main game only, can't you?

3- What if the game is set in Ethiopia during the reign of a famous Ethipian queen like Makeda or Kandake? On the other hand I agree if it's just another cancel culturetard pulling a black crusader woman out of his ass.

I will consider buying it when it comes out of EA. There are enough games already that I don't have any need to pay for one that's not done yet.

I don't know any RPGs that have that. MMOs maybe. It's my rule for games in general. It's why I never do free-to-play games, cell phone games or Magic the Gathering.

A black woman dressed as a european knight or something is the most offensive. But even when it's something like the new AOE III African Royals expansion where they're in appropriate historical costume, it has an unpleasant political odor. It's atonement for the developer's guilty conscience. I don't need to be part of that.

 

[BruceVC]

1- So, a great game comes out of EA because the devs needed the EA money to develop it and it's one of the best RPG of the last 20 years and you won't buy it?

2- I understand if it's micro transactions but which RPG have those? Like NONE of them? On the other hand, if the devs sell a micro DLC with items having an impact on the game like Xulima or Trudograd, i don't mind, you don't need it, you don't have to buy it either you can go with the main game only, can't you?

3- What if the game is set in Ethiopia during the reign of a famous Ethipian queen like Makeda or Kandake? On the other hand I agree if it's just another cancel culturetard pulling a black crusader woman out of his ass.

A black woman dressed as a european knight or something is the most offensive. But even when it's something like the new AOE III African Royals expansion where they're in appropriate historical costume, it has an unpleasant political odor. It's atonement for the developer's guilty conscience. I don't need to be part of that.

Are you objecting to black women in certain games because of the historical inaccuracy? I remember you once made an interesting historical point about chainmail bikini armour being more realistic than a women knight\guard wearing plate mail armour which is incongruous because I doubt their were any women in Medieval ages who were knights or had the strength to wear heavy armour?
And Im not being sexist, I just think certain things must be portrayed accurately where possible

 

[unseeingeye]

I pretty much only play RPGs anymore, other than the point and click adventure games from the 80s and 90s that I missed out on, so it is mostly a matter of being intrigued by a thread here or a suggestion by a member I know with similar tastes. For the most part these games are 20 or more years old. Also my wife has similar taste, so she sometimes will introduce me to great games, most recently she turned me on to Darkest Dungeon which I'd have overlooked otherwise (and had, actually). As for new games it almost never happens, and never has anything whatsoever to do with marketing with the exception of Stalker 2, but then this is a series I'm long since familiar with.

Historically, as a drug addict, it was a matter of how high I was and how much money I had that wasn't desperately needed for drugs (which wasn't much). As an addict in recovery, my mood rarely rises above "I'll give it one more day" so my willingness to be interested in something new is exceedingly rare and focused almost exclusively on books.

 

[JarlFrank]

A black woman dressed as a european knight or something is the most offensive. But even when it's something like the new AOE III African Royals expansion where they're in appropriate historical costume, it has an unpleasant political odor. It's atonement for the developer's guilty conscience. I don't need to be part of that.

I dunno. I'm as right-wing and anti-SJW as it gets but I'd totally make a game set in medieval Africa because it's an interesting and underused setting. And I prefer female characters over male ones so I'd go for a covergirl before a coverguy.

There would be nothing at all political about that game.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Are you objecting to black women in certain games because of the historical inaccuracy? I remember you once made an interesting historical point about chainmail bikini armour being more realistic than a women knight\guard wearing plate mail armour which is incongruous because I doubt their were any women in Medieval ages who were knights or had the strength to wear heavy armour?
And Im not being sexist, I just think certain things must be portrayed accurately where possible

Without the exact quote, it's hard to argue.
What I do know is actual women warriors like amazons didn't wear much armor.
Also, I don't mind some sexism as opposed to SJWism and if there has to be women warriors, I'd Rather have Conan kind of outfits rather than full plates which were never worn by women (there might be some rare exceptions and they were just wearing it and not actually fighting with it)

I dunno. I'm as right-wing and anti-SJW as it gets but I'd totally make a game set in medieval Africa because it's an interesting and underused setting. And I prefer female characters over male ones so I'd go for a covergirl before a coverguy.

There would be nothing at all political about that game.

If the combat is well designed and the settings accurate, I'd buy it.

 

[Karwelas]

Spoiler

 

[KateMicucci]

Are you objecting to black women in certain games because of the historical inaccuracy? I remember you once made an interesting historical point about chainmail bikini armour being more realistic than a women knight\guard wearing plate mail armour which is incongruous because I doubt their were any women in Medieval ages who were knights or had the strength to wear heavy armour?
And Im not being sexist, I just think certain things must be portrayed accurately where possible

No, historical accuracy is not the issue for me. I don't like it in fantasy or sci fi games either. It shows where the developer's heads are at. Prominently including a black woman is a symbol. There probably aren't more than a dozen black woman gaymerz in the world, so it's not to market to them. And I'm not sure, but I suspect, that very few people want to play as a black woman. The black woman on the cover is to signal, "We are progressive. We are inclusive. We have a black woman on the cover. If you buy this game it means you are progressive and inclusive too".

I dunno. I'm as right-wing and anti-SJW as it gets but I'd totally make a game set in medieval Africa because it's an interesting and underused setting. And I prefer female characters over male ones so I'd go for a covergirl before a coverguy.

There would be nothing at all political about that game.

You'd have to find a dev team who have been living in a bunker on Mars since 2012 to make such a game non-political.

 

[Reinhardt]

I would buy historical or fantasy african rpg game about Africa. Not californian game about modern kwa niggers in medieval Africa.

 

[Kev Inkline]

No, historical accuracy is not the issue for me. I don't like it in fantasy or sci fi games either.

 

[KateMicucci]

No, historical accuracy is not the issue for me. I don't like it in fantasy or sci fi games either.

I don't know why you're confused.

 

[Kev Inkline]

Ok, so what would be a historical accuracy in a scifi game, say Mass Effect, that you wouldn't like?

Spoiler

though I admit I must have first read this as historical inaccuracy <3

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

The only game i have bought in the last 5 years was Grimoire and thanks to regional pricing for less than a dollar. Don't give money to people that hates your guts which is 99% of developers.

 

[octavius]

I suspect, that very few people want to play as a black woman.

I dunno...I came up with the name M'bollemus, and I need a character for the name.

 

[Starwars]

It's a combination of... well, what the game is. What it's about, the setting, what is it going for, gameplay. If it feels interesting then I'll gladly take a chance on it. Disco Elyisum was like that and was one of the greatest gaming experiences I've had. Part of that is staying the fuck away from reviews, endless pre-release discussions on forums such as this or, worst of all, streamer/youtuber stuff.
Obviously there's some degree of "info gathering" beforehand usually but for me, the transparency, discussion on every single detail in the games and the sort of let's play mentality (where people share and complain and spoil each other as they're playing though a game) nowadays completely sucks the fun out of discovering a game on your own.

And certain developers are obviously more on the radar than others due to what they might have done in the past.

 

[Humanophage]

Do you mean buy as opposed to just play?
- Costs less than 7 USD. I only buy discounted and for RUB (for comparison, Rimworld costs 6 USD if you buy in RUB, but 20 USD if you buy in USD). 7 USD = will consider buying if the stars are right, 4 USD = will seriously consider buying, under 2 USD = will probably buy if somewhat interested.
- I endorse the developer for ideological reasons (Rimworld).
- The developer is a small indie that makes niche games (Underrail, Age of Decadence, Dungeon Rats, Dominions, Star Traders).
- The game is heavily endorsed on the Codex - or rather I would consider reading people's opinions. This did fail me a few times though (Troubleshooter, X-Com 2).
- I played the game a lot and liked it, so I might buy it for later replays or as a sign of gratitude.

I will try to abstain from buying if the game is heavily far-left, but the overlap of SJW and good gameplay is rare (Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous? Too expensive for now anyway). I will also abstain from buying anything AAA, unless very heavily discounted. I won't buy anything above 9-10 USD even if I do want to play it eventually.

The one unfortunate exception are MMOs. I did pay the full price a couple of times for them, but even there it is usually possible to buy a heavily discounted version from some special website.

Overall, the prices for games are way too high, especially considering the fact that you end up barely ever playing some of the more expensive games.

I do occasionally read steam reviews as a supplement, but I have learned that the average is irrelevant. Too many trashy, shallow games have "very positive" reviews, while deep and challenging games might even have "mixed" for some silly reason.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Generally, I'm mostly influenced by:

1) my own opinions after watching video LPs, etc. if I'm very curious
2) opinions of certain Codexers or the hivemind if there's actually consensus
3) sometimes I'll check metacritic just to get a quick sense of the overall commentary on a game
4) my inexplicable whims*


* which is how I end up with shit in my accounts that I don't remember buying or even what it is

 

[Stavrophore]

I can't pirate it properly and it cost at most 25 usd.

 

[Ramnozack]

1. If its a multiplayer-centric game or loses something if you can't play it online (Dark Souls)
2. If the dev is somewhat based and I want to support that (Kingdom Cum - No Niggers, Grimoire)

Those are the two most important factors for me when buying a game, other than if the game interests me or not.

 

[DemonKing]

Main factors for me would be:

* Genre - I like a lot of different ones but not hardcore strategy for instance, or sandbox type games.
* Platform (although with Gamepass this is less of an issue than previously).
* Previews/Reviews (multiple beyond Game Spot/IGN for instance)
* Developer - Do I trust them based on past performance or have seen enough potential in previous games to take a punt.
* Demos - Less frequent now than previously but welcome when available.
* If it's multiplayer might be best to get in early when there's a large community/developer support plus you are learning the game along with the rest of the players rather than dropping in on servers full of veterans who destroy you.
* Direct sequels or spiritual successors to games/series I've enjoyed.
* Word of mouth (friends, message boards etc)
* Sales.
* Length of game. I'm time poor at the moment so I can't take on games that are going to drag on forever. Probably 20-30 hours is my sweet spot.

 

[Drop Duck]

Not going into some philosophical rambling I just find it hard to engage in something I consider pointless. I understand why an army would want to capture a location, or why city needs it's industrial and housing districts separated. But while, I do get it why a bunch of people would chase a ball around according to some made up rules on how to move or touch it - it makes sense IRL as a fairly safe way to compete; in a computer game it just seems way too tame and boring to choose it over the others.

I do find that interesting. Because after all it's all safe since it's just video games but those fictional stakes makes a difference. Maybe those save the world plots in RPGs are important to drive sales.

 

[DeepOcean]

Usually:
Ten questions I seek to answer with LPs or reading forums:
Does it have an acceptable art style?
Does it have an unique spin to it that I didnt play better somewhere else?
Does the gameplay feel polished and impactful or there were some corners cut on the feel of the game? Pillars of Eternity combat feels floaty and not physical while hitting enemies on Battle Brothers feel crunchy and satisfying, so it isnt just a budget thing.
Is it a one note gimmicky game or does it look like it has substance?
Does it respect my time or just want to punish me with tedium and grind because it is trying to disguise lack of content or extort me for microtransactions?
Does it have woke cringe in it? If yes, how annoying that shit is?
Are enough people reporting serious gameplay issues?
Is it multiplayer focused? Big no for the most part, with a few exceptions, when I like the gameplay of the game enough.
Most of all: Am I in the mood for that style of game right now?

 

[Tyranicon]

Does the gameplay feel polished and impactful or there were some corners cut on the feel of the game? Pillars of Eternity combat feels floaty and not physical while hitting enemies on Battle Brothers feel crunchy and satisfying, so it isnt just a budget thing.

Yes! So many devs leave this one out. I should look into finding more sound effects/animations....

 

[Daedalos]

The videos of Angry Joe.

Spoiler

Joe usually has pretty good and correct opinions on stuff tbh. Havent really experienced him reviewing something that wasnt genuinly good or bad

 

[rusty_shackleford]

nothing, I hate video game developers