Posts I'll Never Understand

[pfunk880]

Quote: Originally Posted by Medway

Oh deffinatly, if they were there someone would make a set but I bet a large portion of people wouldn't bother messing with them since it obviously plays so well out of the box.

Not necessarily.

Like fossen said, a lot of people won't even start playing a game until there's a slider set available for it.

[Hammerhunker]

[quote=Medway]To the above poster, those arent slider tweaks they're rule changes, there's a difference. Closest thing to a slider tweak would be someone taking steroids to "up their stats". QUOTE]

I am the above poster, and I disagree with you. Yes they are rule-changes, but aren't they designed to affect results? Aren't sliders designed to do the same?

[Cardot]

Very interesting topic. When sliders became common place in video games a few years ago, I thought it was great. But I have also noticed that year after year I am spending more time on them, and less time actually playing the games. A few years ago, I would get a game, practice the controls for 5 minutes and begin a season. Nowadays it seems I put in 5 hours of gameplay adjustments before I am ready to begin a season. And I am not even overly obsessive about the stats (I really feel for those guys)...I just want a good challenge.

While I am now trying to limit my slider time, there is still alot I like about them. It is nice having an alternative when you are stuck between skill levels. It is also nice to be able to maintain a challenge when your skill slightly improves in one aspect of a game. If I find myself becoming a little too successful running the football, it is nice to bump a slider a notch, and not jump to an entirely new level, where everything becomes more difficult.

I also like the customizing possibilities. I want a realistic college basketball score, but I don't want to have to play 20 minutes halves to get it. A couple shooting % sliders can help me create these settings, while the guy who likes 20 minute halves can adjust them the other direction and have it his way.

It is nice when developers put in effective, well explained sliders. Often times, less is more. I never like seeing tons of sliders, several of which have no visible effect (NHL 2K4, I am looking at you). Or when there are sliders that you have no clue what they do (doesn't MVP have one called "Variable Stuff" huh??). Or ambigous sliders like a football game with a break block slider for the defense even though there already are pass block and run block sliders for the Offense.

[SportsTop]

Quote: Originally Posted by Clay_OS

No, actually the default settings are the design of the game.

Design of the game as developed by testers on the R&D staff. They are, in essence, developing a set of default sliders.

It's funny how the tune file was considered a God-send throughout the High Heat series, yet in this case the sliders are getting a negative lablel.

[fossen]

Quote: Originally Posted by Squint

Design of the game as developed by testers on the R&D staff. They are, in essence, developing a set of default sliders. It's funny how the tune file was considered a God-send throughout the High Heat series, yet in this case the sliders are getting a negative lablel.

'Cause I personally don't like 'em. I personally think it's gone too far. I personally would rather buy a game, than a development kit.

Y'all realize I'm just one person, right? That I am in no way, shape, or form the official voice of OS? Hell ... half the time, I'm not the official voice of me.

I'm all for healthy debate .... I wouldn't raise the issue if I wasn't. But let's not turn this into some sort of "oppression" thing. One guy, me, doesn't like sliders and wrote about it. That's all.

But ... is the sequence of scenes in a movie just a "default" sequence? If you have problems with a movie, do you use the DVD and resequence the scenes to make a better movie? Do you publish that sequence, anouncing that this is the way to watch the movie?

In both cases, you are using the tools given to change the original artistic intent.

[SportsTop]

Quote: Originally Posted by fossen

'Cause I personally don't like 'em. I personally think it's gone too far. I personally would rather buy a game, than a development kit. Y'all realize I'm just one person, right? That I am in no way, shape, or form the official voice of OS? Hell ... half the time, I'm not the official voice of me. I'm all for healthy debate .... I wouldn't raise the issue if I wasn't. But let's not turn this into some sort of "oppression" thing. One guy, me, doesn't like sliders and wrote about it. That's all. But ... is the sequence of scenes in a movie just a "default" sequence? If you have problems with a movie, do you use the DVD and resequence the scenes to make a better movie? Do you publish that sequence, anouncing that this is the way to watch the movie? In both cases, you are using the tools given to change the original artistic intent.

Seems like you are getting a little bent out of shape over a harmless debate. I just thought there were many people on separate sides of the fence on this subject. Besides, wasn't the purpose of posting a link to the article to in this forum meant to drive conversation about it?

You can't honestly be comparing a movie to a video game, can you? But I'll take the bait and jump on that argument. The DVD doesn't give me the ability to change its scenes or maybe I would. A video allows its players to adjust the gameplay to the user's abilities to allow him the best experience possible.

Who wants 20-16 or 1-0 baseball games all the time? Not me. Just because the developers happen to play 100 games in which they experienced realistic results doesn't mean the rest of us will. That is why they gave us the ability to tweak to our hearts desire.

[Hammerhunker]

Quote: Originally Posted by Squint

That is why they gave us the ability to tweak to our hearts desire.

Well put, and the very essense of this debate. Some love that aspect of the game and will spend time just tweaking on the sliders, probably more so than playing the game, while others bypass it and just play as is. Both instances are just fine and dandy.

[fossen]

Quote: Originally Posted by Squint

Seems like you are getting a little bent out of shape over a harmless debate. I just thought there were many people on separate sides of the fence on this subject. Besides, wasn't the purpose of posting a link to the article to in this forum meant to drive conversation about it?

Isn't that what I said? You're the one that decided that somehow "sliders are getting a negative lablel" because one guy doesn't care for them, and another poster has decided it's somehow high school all over again with the cool non-slider-luvvin' kids picking on the slider underclass.

Quote: Originally Posted by Squint

You can't honestly be comparing a movie to a video game, can you?

Why not? What's so different? part of what's different is that in a film, you respect the director as "author" ... a videogame you expect should somehow be "realistic", and don't think there's any art involved.

Quote: Originally Posted by Squint

The DVD doesn't give me the ability to change its scenes or maybe I would.

Sure it does - select the chapters in whatever order you think best.

Quote: Originally Posted by Squint

Who wants 20-16 or 1-0 baseball games all the time? Not me. Just because the developers happen to play 100 games in which they experienced realistic results doesn't mean the rest of us will. That is why they gave us the ability to tweak to our hearts desire.

Again - I think that games are a challenge, and you should meet them halfway.

You getting scored on too much? You can adjust the slider, or pitch better.
You not scoring enough? You can adjust the slider, or learn how to hit.
You not getting enough walks? You can adjust the slider, or learn plate discipline.