GOG Spring Sale and some great old EA games deals

[ivrognard]

@Straatford87 will inquire a friend to check if there are more notable titles. Due to (lack of) availability, i kind of lost touch with what happens in that part of the world. This friend of mine is a big fan of the asian and european cinema and makes his asian movie purchases from playasia and yesasia. If there is anything of note in the genre, he's bound to know. 

As for why we still like the old games, guess i've already presented my case with the survival horror (not exactly my choice of name, but that is how remained in the gaming history). I will point towards one of the most ignored EA games: Emperor: Battle for Dune, a game with a lot of innovations in terms of gameplay, many still unused in the modern RTS.

Perhaps one of the most innovative RTS from all times, WarZone 2100 was another vastly ignored despite having some amazing gameplay mechanics, a decent story and good music. The gameplay used in that game was way ahead its time and still stands the test of time. It was a complex RTS, with customizable units, research, a veterancy system and an adaptive AI. The AI wouldn't cheat, but it will try different tactics, leading to lengthy battle of attrition and making the limited resources a lot more important. The surviving units could be issued from the respective buildings with the gained veterancy level. They could also be modified with better weapons and armor. A free version of the game, released with the blessing of the original devs, can be found over the interwebz. I think it has the music and the movies removed, though things might have changed since last time i played the free version.

Many of the old 2D games had really good stories. The point and click adventure games had puzzles that would make your head blow, while some of them would require a radical way of thinking (Monkey Island series were  such games). RPG's would actually require a serious effort, had a lot of replayability because a numeber of reasons: different gameplay based on the classes and the party, a well implemented choices and consequences system (i can name here only a few games, though: Fallout 1/2, Planescape: Torment, Alpha Protocol and The Witcher series). And no, a good choices and consequences system won't show you right away the consequence of your actions. The games i've mentioned are doing it right. You are surprised much, much later by the consequences of your actions. Sports....God, i still love the atmosphere in FIFA '99, the fun from NHL 2000/2001 or the commentaries from NBA 2000.

I guess i won't have enough space to present the case of why i love many of the old games, beyond the actual nostalgia. Will try to do it, better on the genres and little pieces when i will have more time.

[Straatford87]

@ivrognard

Any suggestions that you might have are more than welcome! 

It's very interesting that you brought up several examples of games that had great innovation, but in the end were ignored. To question why that could be, I will momentarily speak from my personal experience as a gamer. I think that there's three main options:

• I think that no matter how awesome or innovating a game is, as a player, I mostly want to be comfortable with what I'm used to. Because gaming is for many, including myself, a means for relaxation, being overly innovative could potentially draw away from the core experience and turn away users that just want to dive in.
• While presenting players with something new, innovating doesn't necessarily translate into a more fun experience.
• At other times, there is certainly such a thing as innovating ahead of its time where players simply aren't ready to move on to something new.

To summarize: I do think innovation in games is important. But I guess the most important thing is doing it at the right time, and striking the correct balance between innovation and the core gaming experience.

[ivrognard]

Pushing this up, as there is a weekly sale for DRM free EA games on GOG. The entire EA catalogue on GOG is for sale with a 75% discount and there are some really sweet deals. So if you want something from that catalogue, that's a good time to pick it up, as usually the discounts are 50%-66%.

[ivrognard]

Another push for the GOG summer sale

So if you want some good old EA games, go wild, as the discounts are quite good.

80% discount for the following: The Saboteur, Mirror's Edge, Crysis, Crysis Warhead and Jade Empire. Everything else is at a 75% discount

[Straatford87]

[ivrognard]

And again EA is present in the GOG sales with some nice discounts (70-75%)

https://www.gog.com/games?devpub=electronic_arts&sort=popularity&page=1

So if you are a fan of golden oldies, DRM free games and discounts, drop by and pick up some of those titles. That's a good selection and...who knows?! Maybe EA will decide to add more of those oldies there and on Origin, too. 

[ivrognard]

So Winter sales on GOG with 70%-75% for the EA games 

There are some nice oldies and some newer ones. So give it a chance. As usual, those titles are DRM free and fully working on Windows 10.

[ivrognard]

Lunar sale again on GOG. Again 70-75% discount for the EA games that are there. 

DRM free and complete compatibility with Windows 10 for those titles.

[CMeki]

@ivrognard

DRAGON AGE!!!!
Since your post a few weeks ago I bought and finished Inquisition and cried several times during the play-through and now I'm playing Origins on bf's Steam account (family sharing), but only the standard version. And here's the Ultimate Edition for like, less than 50 SEK? :eahigh_file:

That's half a Sims 4 Stuff pack!!

Lol I bought it. Just need to get DA2 on the next Origin sale :D

[ivrognard]

@CMeki I love GOG for a few reasons: DRM free, the client is optional - you can use it to download and install the game, but it's not required to play the games and you can backup the installers (you can download them through the client or from the GOG's site, in My Library). Plus, no troubles with compatibility issues. They are brought up-to-date so they can be played on any Operating System starting with Windows XP until Windows 10, plus they've managed to salvage a few games that supported MacOS and Linux. Also, support is quite fast and pretty knowledgeable (guess that having to deal with some rather old games, they had to hire some really competent people).

As for Dragon Age 2, while not my favorite as an RPG (mostly because the infamous ninja reinforcements and the recycled maps), my love for the characters and for the story knows no bounds.

Inquisition has a nice open world, but not very populated and the fetch quests got on my nerves. Favorite characters: good, old Varric, Cassandra, Dorian and Vivian (don't tell the others, because i will probably be lynched for not liking Sera). Favorite NPC's: Leliana (an all time favorite in the series for me), Josephine and Cullen - yes, i've found all the advisors quite interesting. Trespasser's story was actually better than what the whole game offered. Favorite moment: the reception at the palace and the whole cloak and dagger game. I would have loved to see more quests like that.

Sims...my dream is to complete my Sims 3 collection at some point. As Origin had no sales for two years by now, i will probably go the Steam route. Sad, but unavoidable. After that, i will still have to pick some stuff from the Sims store. Also, i will have to grab that Sims Medieval.