jmh42

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About jmh42

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  1. I don't think anyone here is really blaming the editing, Michael. This is pretty clearly a content problem. Well, "problem" is perhaps overstating it, this is an episode whose content is really only interesting/accessible to a specific cross-over group of 3MA listeners. It's a bit like the racing show, except great pains were taken there to ensure that non-racing gamers understood what was being discussed.
  2. I would simply suggest that, if Rob and the 3MA crew want to discuss e-sports in this kind of grueling detail, perhaps a separate podcast would be a better place to do it.
  3. Episode 174: For I Have Sinned

    Rebellion completely replaces Trinity, and incorporates all of its content.
  4. Episode 174: For I Have Sinned

    Thanks for the answers, Rob. I'm still a little troubled by the idea of having to build a titan to be competitive, though it may just be that having seen this kind of thing done poorly I'm being overly cautious in a case where it's done well. It does make it seem like the alternate victory conditions are less independent paths to victory and more military stalemate breakers, though. Is that a fair assessment? I appreciate the clarification on the factions. That actually sounds pretty good. Am I correct in having gotten the sense from the show that the races themselves are somewhat more differentiated than they were in Trinity? I'm glad to hear the AI is capable of surprising you, and using at least some of the advanced features well. If you can't tell it sucks, that probably means it's good enough. Again, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. I'm thinking this is probably a buy, based on the show, overall word of mouth, and the details you've filled in. @ Codicier I really believe that a game worth playing is a game worth paying real money to play. I also really believe that if we're intent on paying $5 for games, we'll rapidly reach a point where the only games out there are the ones worth $5. I'm more than happy to pay $40 for a great strategy game, I'm just not sure whether Rebellion is a great strategy game just yet. It's looking good, though!
  5. Episode 174: For I Have Sinned

    Great show, Sins is a game with which I've always had a very mixed relationship. When it was initially released it really disappointed me, in that I didn't feel it lived up to its "4X" billing at all. I recently picked up Trinity after a hiatus of several years and was struck that it really does seem to be moving in a good direction. The diplomacy, the addition of another victory condition, the emplacements, all of these seem to push it away from the more typical RTS play and towards something 4Xier (rhymes with sexier ). Rebellion looks like it pushes things even further in that direction, and that's great news. Even more victory conditions, even more options, even more factions, that's very much what I want. Having listened to the show I do have a couple of remaining concerns/questions: 1) The difference between factions in Trinity is significant, but subtle. On the surface, they look pretty symmetric (you can pretty much match 1 to 1 every TEC ship with an equivalent Vasari ship, for example). The differences are in the bonuses and the tech trees, and they end up being substantial, but with that being as subtle as it is I have to wonder what the differences between the loyalist/rebel factions in Rebellion really amount to. Do they have different ships? Different bonuses? Different tech trees? This wasn't really broken down clearly in the episode. 2) The titan balance stuff worries me, a lot. I remember the Age of Mythology expansion bringing in "titans," and how every match devolved into a race to the titan rather than having any other substance. This seems particularly lethal to Sins' new direction, where there's been this push towards more options, more strategies, and more win conditions to really fulfill that 4X promise. If the game just turns into a titan race for everyone, that seems a lot less interesting. "I win" buttons are fun once in awhile, but they get old fast. It sounded like the devs weren't all that concerned about this, but it's an absolute dealbreaker from my perspective. If anyone can comment beyond what's in the episode, I'd appreciate it. 3) How does the AI handle all of this new stuff? It was pretty weak in the original Sins (at least early on), and seems to be somewhat stronger in Trinity (though it still doesn't seem understand some things, like how to use the Vasari super weapon). Does Rebellion improve it further, or do all the new additions gum it up? Thanks to anyone that can provide some illumination on these points. This is probably enough of a wall of text already, so I'll just say that this kind of analysis is exactly why I listen to 3MA. Keep up the good work, guys!