The Official "What Are You Playing Now?" Thread

I just bought Dragon's Dogma, Dark Arisen. Going to crack it open tomorrow. Anybody else played this or have some thoughts on it?
I have a few hours on it, I like it so far. Bit of a slow start, but that's probably not a bad thing looking at the depth of the game.
Having spent a lot more time with the game now, I really like it. It started a little slow, but once I got the mechanics down, its been great. The combat system, along with the Pawns, is really great. That and the freedom to build your char the way you like is why to play it. A deep engrossing story is not the big selling point here. Think Kingdom's of Amalur crossed with Dark Souls.
I only played for about an hour or two and I agree about the slow start. First off, I didn't understand the beginning sequence where you're on your way to fighting that large dragon. I died part way through and then it sent me to the screen where you create your character. I then got through the first couple of missions, found a side quest in a well and kept dying. I've done a lot of reading about the game and from what I can tell, certain areas you come across can be more difficult than what your level is prepared for. I'll just have to skip the well and come back once I figure everything out.
That first part was just the tutorial, not a big loss IMO. The well will be hard until you get a couple Pawns as well as your own. The game is not Skyrim with level scaling, closer to Dark Souls in that you wander into a new area, and it could be more dangerous than you are ready for. I think I was at least level 12 before I did the well.

Tips for early on,

pick a class that suits your playstyle and don't be afraid to change. there is a one time fee to unlock the class, then you can swap freely between them.

The Dodge button is the X when holding R2(I think the default is R1 I'm using controls B)
That will be a lifesaver - literally. Thanks for the tip.

What is the gear acquisition process like? Do certain bosses or areas have certain gear or are things random?

 
Still playing GuildWars 2, which I'm a little surprised at...

And after the initial disgust of NBA2K13, I'm actually liking it a bit more...
Did you play WoW at all? I've always been interested in Guild Wars 2. It's an mmorpg, correct? What's it like in comparison?

 
Still playing GuildWars 2, which I'm a little surprised at...

And after the initial disgust of NBA2K13, I'm actually liking it a bit more...
Did you play WoW at all? I've always been interested in Guild Wars 2. It's an mmorpg, correct? What's it like in comparison?
I used to play WoW before Cata came out and f*cked everything up...

It's a bit like WoW, more like an improved EQ if you ever played that...

The one cool thing is, you scale down, so you can go back and do areas that may be lower level than you, just alot of things I think WoW wished they'd have come up with...

 
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GW2 is, at its core, a combination of what many consider the best ideas in MMO gaming across the last decade.

There are no set quests that you pick up and then go do like a traditional MMO (the exception being the personal story quests for your character). Instead, PvE areas have places indicated on the map by Hearts, which will provide you with a goal once you get close enough to the spot. The goal is a bar that fills up the more you help out whatever NPC(s) require aid. Usually there are a couple ways to help, which might include driving off pests, harvesting meat from something, rounding up cows, etc. Similar to the range of things you might do on a standard quest in another MMO.

In addition, all around the map, dynamic events spawn that you can help complete if you want. These are often combat oriented, but not always, and the events scale depending on how many people are there participating. It's kind of like the rifts in Rift, except you'll usually find yourself defending an outpost, raiding a bandit lair, or killing a boss, etc. Some of the dynamic events are chains and completing one will spawn another. Every area has an overall boss that, when the chain is completed to get to it, spawns and offers a large fight for those interested. You can ignore any of these things, including the Hearts, by just not doing them - but it's how you gain exp and level.

PvE also includes exploration, and you get rewards for finding all the points of interest, waypoints, etc on a map (and doing all the Hearts). Most areas have at least one jump puzzle, and some of them are seriously long and have some thought put into them. Some of them are easier to find than others.

Each class can use certain types of weapons, and what weapon you're using determines your attack skills (number keys 1-4). You have to acquire each type of weapon and use them to unlock those skills, but it doesn't take long to do it. This allows you to switch up your role pretty easily (not once in combat, though). So one might allow you to be more a ranged support, while another a melee combat, and another a ranged dps, etc.

There is no dedicated trinity (tank, dps, healer) in GW2. Every class can do a bit of everything, and every class has some healing they can do to support themselves. Certain classes can switch into more of a healing/support mode, though. You're able to unlock and slot other abilities based on your class as you level up, and these help customize your current roles. They have a wide variety of uses, and can include summon pets to help you fight, turrets to kill stuff, healing circles, damaging skills, debuffing things, buffs, traps, snares, etc. Through your weapon and what types of skills you have slotted, you can setup your character to do what you want.

Combat tends to be more fluid than something like WoW. Dodging plays an important role. I've seen people say dodging is useless except for avoiding major, telegraphed attacks. To some extent that's true, as you do absolutely need to avoid the huge attacks, but dodging other smaller attacks when you're able will still make you more effective in combat. I approach PvE combat in GW2 more like PvP combat...always moving, always dodging.

PvP auto scales you UP to level cap, and takes place in large areas with a lot going on. There's a lot to do if you want, other than just standing around trying to kill other people. It's a WvWvW setup, so it's like a competition between servers. And then of course there are dungeons starting at lvl 30. Without the trinity, they work a little differently than normal dungeons are often a bit more chaotic rather than controlled. To do some of them on the harder difficulty, though, you need to sort through some of the chaos and manage the fights, just like any other MMO.

It's one of the better MMO's out there, at least to me. But even though it's not everyone's cup of tea, it's one of the few MMO's I'd recommend everyone at least try.

 
Seems like a handful of things are fixed, but chests and drops seem mostly random. And new weapons are few and far between, you will want to Enhance them at the weapon shop in the main city. Armor has more options, and it doesn't hurt to keep a variety of gear in the bank for when changing classes. And given how money seems to have limited uses, bank almost everything, and save it for enhancements, both the items and the money.

Make sure to keep Pawns about your level, which means if you always take the 0RC ones, you will be grabbing new ones every couple tips to town.

 
My only problem with WoW, Guild Wars 2, and other PC-like RPG's - my PC broke last fall and the repairs were far too expensive to justify repairing. And because of work, I purchased a Mac, which can't support PC games.

It's time like these I wish I was a spoiled brat with filthy rich parents who would happily buy me a customized alienware or other such device, but said life is non-existent. And at 23 years old with a job, I've passed the point of asking for expensive things from them.

Damn it.

 
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My only problem with WoW, Guild Wars 2, and other PC-like RPG's - my PC broke last fall and the repairs were far too expensive to justify repairing. And because of work, I purchased a Mac, which can't support PC games.

It's time like these I wish I was a spoiled brat with filthy rich parents who would happily buy me a customized alienware or other such device, but said life is non-existent. And at 23 years old with a job, I've passed the point of asking for expensive things from them.

Damn it.
Bootcamp it?

 
My only problem with WoW, Guild Wars 2, and other PC-like RPG's - my PC broke last fall and the repairs were far too expensive to justify repairing. And because of work, I purchased a Mac, which can't support PC games.

It's time like these I wish I was a spoiled brat with filthy rich parents who would happily buy me a customized alienware or other such device, but said life is non-existent. And at 23 years old with a job, I've passed the point of asking for expensive things from them.

Damn it.
Bootcamp it?
Or Steam it?...

...as in put Steam on your new Mac. Not actually use a steamer on your Mac computer. That would be bad.

Plus, you can build a gaming PC for cheap--nothing top of the line, but you'll get better 1080p performance out of it than current gen consoles.

 
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My only problem with WoW, Guild Wars 2, and other PC-like RPG's - my PC broke last fall and the repairs were far too expensive to justify repairing. And because of work, I purchased a Mac, which can't support PC games.

It's time like these I wish I was a spoiled brat with filthy rich parents who would happily buy me a customized alienware or other such device, but said life is non-existent. And at 23 years old with a job, I've passed the point of asking for expensive things from them.

Damn it.
Bootcamp it?
Or Steam it?...

...as in put Steam on your new Mac. Not actually use a steamer on your Mac computer. That would be bad.

Plus, you can build a gaming PC for cheap--nothing top of the line, but you'll get better 1080p performance out of it than current gen consoles.
Yea, just frankenstein something, and you'll be pretty happy with it...

 
My only problem with WoW, Guild Wars 2, and other PC-like RPG's - my PC broke last fall and the repairs were far too expensive to justify repairing. And because of work, I purchased a Mac, which can't support PC games.

It's time like these I wish I was a spoiled brat with filthy rich parents who would happily buy me a customized alienware or other such device, but said life is non-existent. And at 23 years old with a job, I've passed the point of asking for expensive things from them.

Damn it.
Bootcamp it?
Or Steam it?...

...as in put Steam on your new Mac. Not actually use a steamer on your Mac computer. That would be bad.

Plus, you can build a gaming PC for cheap--nothing top of the line, but you'll get better 1080p performance out of it than current gen consoles.
Yeah, Steam is the best bet for any PC or Mac gaming. Hell, very few titles are even available in stores anymore.

 
I have not played it, but Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions reviewed well when it came out. And most superhero games don't review well.

 
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