What influencers you in buying any game?

[Falksi]

1. Gut instinct. Been playing games long enough now to trust that more than the bullshit which various media outlets spout.
2. Opportunity. If it's cheap and worth a punt I'll take it just for something to do.
3. Opinions of trusted mates & Codexers. Conversely there's Codexers who I know will suck off awful games like Witcher 3, and who haven't played stuff like Escape From The Pit so I make a note to avoid games recommended from such folk. luj1 did a brilliant piss-take of "The Top 10 RPGs" including shite like PoE, and it embodied the bizarre nu-wank wave of standards to avoid now.
4. See what the flavour of the month is on various other sites, and avoid those games at all costs.

 

[whydoibother]

I rarely buy a game. What influences me to buy is some combination of the following:

• A friend of mine wants to play together, and its more convenient to do so with a legal copy.
• Modding tools/frequent updates make owning a legal copy much more convenient.
• It is deeply discounted.
• I really, really like that game, and I want to give the developers money and recognition by buying.

4. See what the flavour of the month is on various other sites, and avoid those games at all costs.

I bought flavor of the month Valheim to play with a buddy, had a great time. Your strategy is shit.

 

[Drop Duck]

Analogically I liked most Supergiant games

Never understood the appeal of them, I played a bit of Bastion before losing interest and then didn't pay them any attention. Below average indie devs really imho.

There's something about stiffness of synthetic rules excluding enemy elimination that just feels pointless to me.

If you have played less combat centered RTS games do you think the same is the case there? Does Anno have much less appeal to you than Starcraft? Speaking personally I much prefer calm and atmospheric games that you can take it easy in. Like flight simulators or the Anno games. Games to chill out to. Do you do that at all?

 

[Tihskael]

opinion of gamers on websites like Codex

 

[Angriph]

1) The previous trend of incline or decline of the developer is what matters for me the most. Also the writers involved in the project.
2) Codex opinion might convince me to try a game from a developer that was previously in decline.
3) Game being based on an existing PnP ruleset is a big bonus.
4) If I am really bored, I contrast various opinions of youtubers, websites and user reviews to try to make sense of the game under it - but I don't find them very trustworthy in general.
5) Being able to play it with a friend in cooperative can be a bonus as well (for example we had an IWD coop run that lasted 7 years while we were working in different countries and it was a blast).

 

[Kev Inkline]

If it's free, I usually get it.

 

[Daedalos]

Codex is "usually" somewhat of an indicator of good stuff, when you discount the massive trolls, spergs and autists, yeah, isn't that part of the reason why we've all here?

To complain about shit, and relish in the stuff thats actually good?

Anyway; I midly look at review-scores metacritic, opencritic etc
I look at some youtube channels I usually agree with, and very few actual gaming sites.

That and then just my personal opinion and take on stuff, like watching youtube gameplay videoes, interviews with devs, scvreenshots and shiet, it usually informs me somewaht of the game.

 

[whydoibother]

Codex is "usually" somewhat of an indicator of good stuff, when you discount the massive trolls, spergs and autists, yeah, isn't that part of the reason why we've all here?

Imagine your perfect game, that would forever be your favorite.
Now imagine the main developer on it is gay and dyes his hair.
Would the Codex be a good indicator on its quality?

 

[Daedalos]

Take your bigoted opinions elsewhere, you fucking faggot.

 

[BruceVC]

Codex is "usually" somewhat of an indicator of good stuff, when you discount the massive trolls, spergs and autists, yeah, isn't that part of the reason why we've all here?

Imagine your perfect game, that would forever be your favorite.
Now imagine the main developer on it is gay and dyes his hair.
Would the Codex be a good indicator on its quality?

Maybe not but their are plenty of Codex members who comment on the quality of a game based on metrics that are not about things like that. For me when it comes to gaming I am only interested in the game and its mechanics. Peoples personal ideological views on a game are not a reason I would or wont play a particular game

 

[Van-d-all]

Analogically I liked most Supergiant games

Never understood the appeal of them, I played a bit of Bastion before losing interest and then didn't pay them any attention. Below average indie devs really imho.

IMO SG are all about atmosphere. It's as "mainstream indie" dev as it gets, so nothing overly ambitious, but while I too found Bastion rather mediocre, the narrative, characters & music (!) in Transistor made me somewhat obsessed about that game.

There's something about stiffness of synthetic rules excluding enemy elimination that just feels pointless to me.

If you have played less combat centered RTS games do you think the same is the case there? Does Anno have much less appeal to you than Starcraft? Speaking personally I much prefer calm and atmospheric games that you can take it easy in. Like flight simulators or the Anno games. Games to chill out to. Do you do that at all?

While I do mostly prefer strategy games, a genre heavily based on conflicts I do enjoy a few non combat titles like Cities Skylines or Disco Elysium (gasp). I even play artsy/chill games like Abzu or Journey, sure.

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.

 

[PorkaMorka]

Non-anime, non-hipster 2d graphics = way more likely to buy

Lower end, non-uncanny valley, lame World of Warcraft level 3d = I hate it but I might still buy if the game is otherwise good

High end realistic uncanny valley 3d = Still haven't bought one, hope I never have to

Tactical combat or some kind of interesting strategic layer like Thea = more likely to buy (even if it's sometimes a mistaken purchase)

Single character non-roguelike RPG = Usually won't buy (and when I do, I regret it)

Cards = much less likely to buy

Bioware style Romances = won't buy

I also won't buy games with 2022 style multi-cultural / diverse casting. I will buy games with non-White people but only if they are living in their own distinct culture, preferably one that is similar to real life.

 

[Darth Canoli]

• Devs that are decent human beings
• User reviews (the masses may be dumb, but they're right about some things)
• Codex... but only for RPGs

What doesn't matter:

• Journalists
• Streamers
• "Professional" reviewers

Devs have to be decent human beings... Just kidding, if Hitler was cloned and his cloned as fucked up as the original but he put Realms Beyond crumbs together, I'd buy it, probably on sale just to mark my disapprobation, like 10% or better.

On the other hand, from woke & cancel culturetards, I would probably not buy but it's not like they could release a decent RPG either...

• Trusted devs but they're not legion, Iron Tower and Heroicfantasygames comes to mind.
  
• Some random reviews give a lot of information if you know what you like and dislike.
• Some Codex opinions are priceless.
• The store page and screenshots give a lot of information.
• If it's not enough, playing a demo would do the trick.

 

[OSK]

Conversely there's Codexers who I know will suck off awful games like Witcher 3, and who haven't played stuff like Escape From The Pit so I make a note to avoid games recommended from such folk.

This. I used to always trust the Codex opinion, but I started getting burned on some games. I found that all those games had one thing in common: They came from Eastern European developers. You simply can't trust Slav Codexers opinions when it comes to games made in Eastern Europe. It sucks, because I'm likely to miss out on some real gems thanks to this bullshit. Here I am asking about ATOM RPG in 2018: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...-dead-city-update.114765/page-44#post-5940256. While I think it's massively overrated on RPG Codex, I enjoyed the game, but I could have easily missed out on it because of the Slavs.

If anyone doesn't believe me, just look at the massive discrepancy of opinion between Bethesda and CDPR. The two companies make the same games and if you go to any other site they get put into the same exact tier. The only reason for the discrepancy on RPG Codex is because of where the companies are located.

Slavs need to stop shilling their shovelware and AAA shit like their GDP depends on it.

 

[ELEXmakesMeHard]

My first filter is always based on the art style. If it looks like anime, or cartoony, it's an insta no-go. Strong preference for realism, low fantasy, or grimdark.

Then I check the devs and consider whether they have a history of corruption by woke mind virus, or if they've simply disappointed me before.

Then I check the trailer, description, and reviews, on Steam. I check if it was developed for PC (or if it seems like a clunky port), and try to get a feel for the maturity of the content.

Then I check if there's a Codex thread and look for signs of incline there.

If it's a multiplayer game, I might check gameplay & viewers on Twitch. In example I considered getting into the WWII card game KARDS a while ago, but since it had close to 0 viewers on Twitch I probably saved myself some time (not worth investing time in a dead/dying multiplayer game).

 

[Reinhardt]

Bethesda>CDPR.

 

[Morenatsu.]

new = shit
anime = better
furry = shit but will play it

 

[VonHoffenHeimer]

I'm old i just need a several screenshots and a good description. Maybe a review or two.

 

[Contagium]

My requirements have changed through the years. It used to be just price, but I have probably a good 100 unplayed crap titles that I got on sale just because, or part of a bundle. Now there's just a few primary reasons for purchase:

1. Heard it on the Codex.
2. Already familiar with dev

Price doesn't really matter. I'll gladly pay full price for a day one purchase if I know I SHOULD like it.

 

[Reinhardt]

Don't care about realistic graphics, aaa games, very grown up grimdark, postapoc and so on. Basically 99% of western games i won't even look at second time.
I'm too old for this shit and world is shitty enough to add even more depression from hobby. Now it's either pure numbers, like in blobbers or tacticools, or something lighthearted and optimistic. And west(including slavs) can't into optimistic anymore. It must be some deconstruction or some other literal shit. Gaems are serious business after all.

 

[Reinhardt]

I'm old i just need a several screenshots and a good description. Maybe a review or two.

You still need to learn about game existence before checking screenshots. That's where codex helps.

 

[Humbaba]

I don't watch trailers. I only care about games when they're out, then I try to discern what the critical consensus is from various sources.

I pirate old games and only buy new ones on a sale. I buy nothing off of GOG because they bow to China. I only buy from Steam because there is no other alternative and drm makes pirating a hassle.

 

[JarlFrank]

Often random browsing or something mentioned on the codex or by some youtuber. Sometimes it's just a hefty sale.

I rarely discover something through reviews, aside from checking out a blog or something.

Same for me. I browse the Steam catalogue a lot, and often discover really obscure games with fewer than 30 user reviews, that I haven't even seen mentioned on the Codex before.
If I like the screenshots and the user reviews aren't overwhelmingly negative, I'll buy it and check it out.

I actively avoid gaming news in order to not spoil the surprises of playing a game blind.

 

[J_C]

The videos of Angry Joe.

Spoiler

 

[KateMicucci]

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