• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    658 months ago

    Imagine a game that’s fun right out of the box… Boring right? Yeah… Let’s put 150 hours of filler at the start before it gets fun.

    Some business exec somewhere.

    • @Carnelian
      link
      English
      308 months ago

      Well I mean, it’s not really like that in this case. Every story expansion just requires you to have cleared the previous parts of the game.

      The base game/before the first expansion isn’t bad per se, I had a fun time with the game at that point. But there happens to be a remarkable step up in quality starting with the first expansion, and the game pretty much keeps getting better from there.

      Also during the last few years they have been revamping the early-game extensively, adding modern visuals and refreshing the design of the dungeons and boss fights. But having played before these changes, I still wouldn’t call the beginning of the game “filler”. I found it quite charming, and the multiplayer aspect is also fun in its own respect at that point.

      Just my 2c, I’m not one to defend large corporations but I don’t think the trope really applies to XIV

      • @njm1314
        link
        English
        128 months ago

        It’s always funny when you see the exact personification of a meme in the comments.

        • @Carnelian
          link
          English
          108 months ago

          Not a big fan of nuance, I presume?

            • @Carnelian
              link
              English
              0
              edit-2
              8 months ago

              Perhaps the confusion is my fault for acknowledging that the game did indeed improve over the course of its ten year run, which is…obviously…the best possible case scenario.

              But if you read my comment again, you may notice that my point is the exact opposite of what you’re joking about. I don’t believe there really is a multi hundred hour “rite of passage” to get to “the good part”. Not only is the beginning already pretty good, but, as I said, they are actively modernizing it to bring it more in line with the later parts (which are even better).

              Is there a subtlety here that I have simply failed to convey? Is the idea of a decent game becoming a masterpiece really indistinguishable from the idea of a fundamentally worthless game dangling the hope of a better game out in front of you like a carrot on a stick? Really help me out here

              • @candybrie
                link
                English
                68 months ago

                If someone says to you that they tried playing the game for a couple hours, but it was kind of boring and the quests have a lot of filler, what would your response be?

                The meme pokes fun at the idea that many people who love the game would encourage that person to continue until they reach the first expansion so they could experience that, as you call, masterpiece.

                It’s not so much that they find the first part fundamentally worthless, just even if you don’t like it, you should maybe keep playing because it gets so much better.

                • @Carnelian
                  link
                  English
                  18 months ago

                  If someone says to you that they tried playing the game for a couple hours, but it was kind of boring and the quests have a lot of filler, what would your response be?

                  At the end of the day we are talking about like a 600 hour story driven RPG, the actual structure of the game doesn’t change much as it goes on so you can tell pretty quickly if you’ll like the game in general (hey, that kind of sounds like, the opposite of what the meme is saying, right?).

                  With that in mind I would say if you aren’t thrilled with the story straight off but you otherwise enjoy the game, you may as well keep playing, and if things pick up later then hey, bonus. If you don’t like the moment-to-moment gameplay I am here to tell you that it does not get better lol. So no worries, the free trial is the way it is for a reason.

                  In summary, I understand what the meme is saying, but have I said that? Let’s step away from such massive games for a second. I believe the best part of Horizon Zero Dawn is the ending few hours, by far. Story just really hits for me then, as it should, because we want things to get better as we play them. Is this perspective, “the best is yet to come”, the same as, “it’s worth slogging through the boring part until then?” Have I called the beginning boring, actually? Have I suggested anyone should slog through it?

              • @[email protected]
                link
                fedilink
                English
                28 months ago

                It’s just that OP has a funny joke and you are acting out the joke, which is funny to some

                • @Carnelian
                  link
                  English
                  08 months ago

                  Yes I can see how funny it would be were it directed at somebody who embodied in any way the sentiment of the original meme. It seems to me that I have repeatedly argued the opposite, care to share any insight as to why you so easily imagine otherwise?

                  • @[email protected]
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    38 months ago

                    Maybe me and the other guy are the only ones but you feel like the person from the OP to us. The extremely serious attitude about a joke just adding to the humour of it.

    • GladiusB
      link
      English
      108 months ago

      The game started 10 years ago. It was a different game back then.

    • @Pacmanlives
      link
      English
      18 months ago

      Oh I see you have met my ex-wife