Tldr:

Having too many cultures that have not established a “market share” in politics makes the, people who run a country, job harder as it has to contend with dealing with the potential of new cultures forming and the inevitable culture clashes that follow as differing values and ideals will demand different things.

It fractures and dilutes points of control which encourages politics to try ensure loyalty though aligning itself with views of the majority.

End tldr

Unironically, Stellaris is probably a decent example of the thought experiment played out. Unless a species is built with ideals of the intergration and/or has its proper foundation set then it can quickly spiral out of hand as you have to deal with " a hunded voices asking for one thing".

It is far easier to control and secure a foundational majority based off of one species as it can be more easily guided towards an established outcome.

Adding too many “outsiders” has the potential to cause an imbalance and a shift in thinking which then requires a new paradigm to “herd the sheep” as it were, while still trying to maintain a standard that the base species has become accustomed to.

If it not carefully controlled, it can potentially lead to a fracturing of opinion and thoughts which is a lot harder to manage and “guide” as one runs the risk of isolating one group and in doing so opening up the potential cascade of problems if the ignored minorities builds up steam which then forces leaders to contend with trying to figure out a way to maintain control over the many species bases while still doing it in a way that causes the least amount of disruption to their control.

CDDA, takes awhile to get comfortable with the controls, but it does scratch a certain itch once one can get setup and start to test one’s luck in search of the good stuff.

One has to make their own objectives for it though otherwise one can sort of just get to a point and not know what to do. But getting to a point where you can just walk into a city and be the most dangerous thing there does have a certain charm to it considering the journey getting there. It certainly rewards exploring though as one can find all sorts of craziness hidden away waiting to be found.

I know it is cliche to say but it took me the longest time to really knuckle down and play it, but boy once I did - I basically started up another playthrough right after to see what I missed and the shift in perspective when I played a different type of character was interesting to say the least.

So started as a skeptical intellectual who had to pull themselves from a sorry cop to a regular cop and approached things logically with a touch of eccentricity and pangs of regret and then compared to a wishy-washy communist with fascist leanings (which characters called the character out on) psychic superstar cop with an alias he truly believed was his name and I enjoyed and saw a completely different side of the game which was unexpected.

I can fold my ears twice - so from the top of my ear I fold it towards the bottom of my ear and at the point where it folds I can fold it again across over the first fold.

First thing that came to mind and I see others are here are of the same mind with platinum trauma response.

So leaves me to wonder how far are we from the cyberware then?

It would be glorious but that level of attention to the art of “dancing” is a dying breed in games, personally a fan of the “one-stop drop shot” and the “fire man shuffle”

I will also say, the original Fallouts are games of its time. It sold itself off its narrative and as I am playing Fallout 2, it is still enjoyable but I do concede there are moments of frustration that one learns to work around.

It is not a perfect game, but it is a game that was written in a plausible manner that could be considered too real look at human nature at times and in the same breath going off the rails crazy with something out of pocket that can catch one off guard.

It does a great job of allowing one to make it their story, although some of the writing might not gel with everyone it at least framed it well in setting.

It think it gels well with people that can roleplay in a setting as even the combat logs have humour to it. It requires a lot of reading and the people in the videos look like clay dolls but it is bound to envoke something in someone if they are enjoying themselves playing these types of games.

The turn-based nature of the combat can turn people off, but I cannot deny the charm of running up to someone and giving them a concussion by wolloping their head and then going in to gouge their eyes to make them useless in combat and finishing them off with a shot to the groin.

You would have hated the original Stardew Valley Gramp Pa, would give you a stern talking too and declare his immeasurable disappointment (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

I can somewhat understand though, I like the timer aspect even if I do not like the feeling of being “rushed”. But I understand, you would hate pathfinder:kingmaker though

I can see them doing a better job of it yes, they are probably the closest to understand the how the older Fallout works and already have experience making games like it too in a more modern setting

Thank you for more eloquently writing what I couldn’t really properly get out

There are things in Fallout 2 that stick with me since the first time I played it more than a decade ago because their are moments that feel impactful - it made me feel guilt for my actions, it made me laugh at something totally ridiculous and it has charm and subtlety that I feel Bethesda games struggle with.

I played and finished fallout 3 and new vegas, played a bit of 4 and besides New Vegas giving me some of that old fallout charm, it does not have as nearly as memorable moments that live rent free in my head

Fair enough, Fallout 2 at least did deal with a lot of dark themes that I don’t see Bethesda retreading.

In regards to the kids thing, there were ways around it, it was more an annoyance having to buy back stuff that got stolen if one didn’t take those precautions and on an evil playthrough could cut the pretense and do it without much consequence besides the perk reputation as the place was a craphole anyway.

The older fallouts needed one to get into the setting to start the ball rolling, it is not a pretty game and would not be above throwing the playable character in difficult situation if they didn’t prepare for it but it had a way with its writing that helped one to roleplay once one got to a point where one got established which is an older game paradigm that isn’t popular nowadays - building a reputation, and once you have one can start to interact with the world proper.

New Vegas scratches that itch, but isn’t completely the same

I suppose it is like playing a interactive book and then falling in love with the writing and systems that represented uncomfortable realities in an interesting way.

Bethesda’s version is toned down

• Cannot kill children in Bethesda games (without modding)
• Fallout 2 dealt with some realities of porn, learnt about terms like being a fluffer if are not fit for porn and if you had the skills it provided a pretty salicious perk image and a stage name among a couple of other changes. Sex referencing was used quite a lot in game - sometimes disturbingly so at times.
• Gravedigging fair enough, there is a perk one gets in fallout 2 that hits you with karma penalty when you do it but otherwise point taken
• Joining the slavers in Fallout 2, you get branded with a facial brand telling the waste “Look at me, I am a Slaver” which had the effect to lock a character out of quests and be automatically branded an enemy of the NCR - which is a choice that can be made in the second town.

I really would not like Bethesda level writing and character gating to muddy the classics. I seriously doubt it will do the old series justice with the level of inappropriate content.

Easiest examples being the thieving children in Fallout 2, it allowed you “solve” that problem if you didn’t have patience and got a negative quirk in the process.

A low intelligence run was almost a completely new experience with a different level of interaction that was tongue-in-cheek look at someone who really struggles with “standard” game narrative.

That not to mention how much of a mess it will be for bethesda to code for a player plus up to 5 party members per encounter ( making Charisma not a “dump” stat). I strongly doubt they can pull it off if it as a company is still struggling to make the player character plus 1 work smoothly.

I also feel that the old fallout’s sense of humour might not fly with today’s sensibilities specifically the level of objectification, a female character can use to their advantage or the level of “male power fantasy” with specific perks and SPECIAL loadout - which I am sure is something Bethesda will try to avoid as they seem to push for a more gamified systems.

And I really do not think they will be willing to make The Brotherhood play a minor role as they are like a “minor” faction that tries to avoid too much attention in setting in their mission to preserve the old tech from repeating the mistakes of the past

I strongly doubt Todd and his team are the right people to devote resources to truly capture the dark world of old fallout into a faithful reproduction. I think it would be toned down and would most likely follow a bethesda vision for the series.

Maybe I am being overly negative, but I feel even if they maybe revamped it with some prettier graphics and modern system sensibilities, it might still lose some of its soul in the process. I am willing to be proven wrong though

Having played Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice, in the beginning I admit I looked at her and didn’t see “modern day beauty standard” but then one has to consider that it is a game set during a viking era. Then I realised I need to then consider that I cannot apply “modern standards”.

I mean she wasn’t ugly in my eyes, just I guess appeared somewhat plain which is not a slight against the actress but more as an aquired appreciation to how they designed her but when you really look at the details it is perfectly acceptable to see what they did get right. It is a person that has gone through a lot and of course she is going to look not “clean” considering what baggage she is carrying and where she is coming from.

It is not some future world were mud and dirt don’t magically stick to your skin, it is a realistic portrayal of a person going through a lot of dirty places, being a bad ass and losing her collective mind with a story that explores someone with mental illness in a time when it was considered a “gift” from the gods if you were lucky.

I started a blog this month and happy I got 20 posts published

Final Fanatasy x:

“Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!”

• Auron

Mass Effect - I see there is a legendary edition with all the content bundled in one package

• Mass effect 1: Is slow in the beginining, then opens up after the tutorial, although the secondary content feels like a grind one can find a lot of lore in between it all. Outside of the Golden path the environments and a lot of the combat feels samey, but the story really comes together well in the last moments

• Mass effect 2 : The game is streamlined a lot, better environments and the character and crew stories steal the show and everything comes together in the ending again, although your choices are a lot more meaningful in the way the final mission plays out

• Mass effect 3 : The culmination of the Mass Effect triology, even with the hits and misses the highs are high and the lows are low. The ending although improved on from what it came out with is serviceable now - although not going to harp and kick on that dead horse.

I will admit by today’s standards Origins is a bit dated, and it can feel janky but I think it was one of bioware’s better games in a single package

6 origins that each have their own effect on the story and has some enduring characters - it is a good fantasy story that has your character choices play out in the final stretches and it does feel good seeing results of that play out in way that, to me at least felt meaningful.