Aggrochat

Tonight we have a show where we are mostly discovering games that have been out for a very long time.  We start off with Rimworld and Tam’s adventures in this story generation engine.  From there we talk about Wolfstride and how it is a very 90s anime representation of a video game.  From there Tam talks a bit about the Star Citizen Guide program that links someone needing help with a live person to help them, and how recent changes have made that system work strangely.  Finally, we dive into Path of Exile and how the rabbit hole has widened and captured most of us.  We talk about confronting the passive tree and the weird edge case builds it can support along with some early multiplayer experiences.  We also talk a bit about how important it is for games to support a controller and a mouse and keyboard to meet the players where they are most comfortable.  Finally, we dive a bit into the microtransactions within Path of Exile and their general acceptance.

Topics Discussed

• Rimworld Adventures
• Wolfstride
  • Very 90s Anime Game
• Star Citizen’s Guide System
  • Echos of Everquest Guide System
• Path of Exile
  • The rabbit hole widens
  • Multiplayer experiences
  • Controller Support in ARPGs
  • Acceptance of MTX

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We did not record a show last week because the news of our country was a bit too fresh for most of us to talk about video games.  Now another week has passed and the wound has begun to scab over a bit.  Tonight we start down a Thalen and Grace but eventually pick up a Thalen as we go.  We talk about Summer Games Done Quick and have an aside about Wiley Wars coming to the Switch.  From there folks talk about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and trying to play it six-player on a console that does not support that.  From there Bel talks about falling back into Diablo III and finishing out Season 26…  while also playing a horrible ideas class that is really bad at boosting friends.  From there Bel talks about his recent experience diving down the Path of Exile rabbit hole.  Guild Wars 2 made many changes that were not well received by the most hardcore players, but we largely think they are a good thing and talk about that.  Finally, we wrap up with a quick discussion about Outriders Worldslayer and how it is still a very bleak game, but also a great mechanical experience if you can get past that.

Topics Discussed

• Summer Games Done Quick
  • Wiley Wars on Switch
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
• Diablo III Season 26
  • Bad Ideas Build
  • Being a Bad Carry
• Path of Exile
  • Bel Goes Down this Rabbit Hole
• Guild Wars 2 Massive Changes
• Outriders Worldslayer
  • Still a Bleak Game

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Tonight was a weird show.  Firstly we are recording this show on Belghast’s Birthday, which in our almost 400 episodes I am not sure we have actually recorded on one of our Birthdays before.  We set out with the mission of recording a show about the “Not E3” festivities that have been going on but get sidetracked as one does.  Instead, we go down a path of talking about Diablo Immortal once again, but from the standpoint of how exactly one should be funding game development.  Clearly, the NetEase and Blizzard team chose violence, but how exactly does one fund modern game development costs when the market has shown that if the price trickles up from $60…  folks freak out.  From there we do eventually return to talking about Sony, Microsoft, and whatever Geoff Keighly is running that now serves as the replacement for E3.

Topics Discussed

• Bel’s Birthday
• Diablo Immortal Again
• Funding Games Ethically
• Gamepass Model
• Microsoft Show
• Silksong
• Valheim Cross Play between Gamepass and Steam
• Star Citizen, Starfield, and the era of Space Games
• Redfall
• The Gamesir X2 controller reprised

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Tonight’s show is a bit of a strange one.  We had a bunch of absences and at the start of the show, it was just Ammo, Bel, and Thalen.  Then as we recorded a wild Ash and Kodra appear, but this does have the effect of causing a few topics to be rehashed.  We start talking about the nonsense that Bel is doing where he attempts to fix the episode gap on YouTube and re-releases the original 73 episodes.  We dive into Guild Wars 2 and specifically the Living World Season 1 and the current Dragon Bash event.  Bel reprises the topic of Diablo Immortal this week and talks about having gotten to level 56 and all of the many monetization traps in that game.  Then Thalen talks about his experiences playing Talos Principle and Stanley Parable.  Kodra appears and we reprise the Guild Wars 2 topics a bit before Bel dives into a discussion about the universally good changes coming to New World.

Topics Discussed

• Re-releasing Original AggroChat Episodes
• Guild Wars 2
  • Living World Season 1 Chapter 2
  • Dragon Bash
• Diablo Immortal
  • The Grind
  • Lootbox Bait and Switch
  • $450 Gem
• Talos Principle
• Stanley Parable
• Guild Wars 2 Revisited
• New World Upcoming Changes

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