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[ChairmanPoo]

Stellaris is on sale on humble.  All dlc except for apocalypse plus the base game. So.. you can get most od stellaris for (reasonably) cheap

[AzyWng]

Humble Bundle also has Satellite Reign for free, and Steam has Eador: Masters of the Broken World for free.

These have already been posted in the "Free games" thread, but I thought I might as well post them here too, since we've done it before and you could say they're on sale at a 100% discount.

[Akura]

theHunter: Call of the Wild is 33% off on Steam. I would say avoid the DLC except perhaps the Medved-Taiga map one.

Not altogether bad for a hunting game. I have an unfortunate tendency to wound an animal, then lose it as I track its blood trail.

[Folly]

Humble Monthly has Destiny 2 for $12 this month.

I honestly thought it would take longer before Destiny 2's price fell to a point where I would actually consider buying it. Anyone have any thoughts or opinions on whether it's worth at this price?

[Mephansteras]

It's a pretty good. Gameplay is smooth and entertaining. Levels are well designed and interesting. The story is also pretty good, though I say that as someone who never played Destiny 1.

Works pretty well with a group, though for some reason you can only have 3 people in the group which limits the MP aspect a bit.

I do find the differences between the classes to be rather underwhelming. They can matter, but for large portions of the game they're more mild playstyle preferences than anything really impactful.

[BurnedToast]

Note that Destiny 2 is jammed full of shitty gamble boxes.

So that's something to consider.

[0x517A5D]

Note that Destiny 2 is jammed full of shitty gamble boxes.

So that's something to consider.

Is this still true? Last I heard, the devs (Bungie, I think) planned to make loot crates less important, or remove them entirely, something like that. They said that in their 2018 roadmap.

Given the recent Belgian court ruling that some kinds of loot boxes are illegal gambling, and the news that there's a couple of US senators looking into the possibility of US gambling law violations, I think they're going to flat out disappear from a lot of games.

[Frumple]

Eh... from what I understand of said ruling, I'd wager that staggeringly unlikely unless there's more legal decisions to come. Specific sorts might go poof, but the shit pulls way too many psychological levers to see much reduction in usage as a general thing.

[Teneb]

Remember this is Activision-Blizzard, king of lootboxes.

[BurnedToast]

Note that Destiny 2 is jammed full of shitty gamble boxes.

So that's something to consider.

Is this still true? Last I heard, the devs (Bungie, I think) planned to make loot crates less important, or remove them entirely, something like that. They said that in their 2018 roadmap.

Given the recent Belgian court ruling that some kinds of loot boxes are illegal gambling, and the news that there's a couple of US senators looking into the possibility of US gambling law violations, I think they're going to flat out disappear from a lot of games.

I don't think you realize just how much money they make off gamble boxes. Activision/blizzard made over 2 billion (yes, BILLION) dollars off gamble boxes alone in 2017 (well technically off all PC/console MTX but do they sell anything other than gamble boxes anymore?). Considering that's over 25% of their total revenue and the cost for gamble boxes is almost zero compared to actually making a game... it means the majority, probably by a very large margin, of their PC/console profit is selling gambling boxes.

They aren't going away. That's too much money to leave on the table, and it's enough money it starts being worth buying senators to stop any legislation.

So yeah, they might remove them, but I rather doubt it. At best you get token changes to try and draw players back into the game for the new xpac (and to buy more gamble boxes of course).

Fun Fact, another 2 billion came from mobile MTX, meaning over half the company's total revenue is from MTX these days.

[Rolan7]

Remember this is Activision-Blizzard, king of lootboxes.

I feel like the pioneer title goes to Valve for TF2, though I actually liked (orange boxed) TF2, and it also pioneered the F2P model (a good model for those with any willpower at all).  I like Blizzard games too, but never played Diablo 3.  Or got into any of the Activision lootbox nonsense.

I own Destiny 2 now, mostly because I never had the slightest impulse to buy gold keys in Borderlands 2.  I actually stockpiled the *free* keys it gave me over time, simply because I... didn't enjoy getting loot that way.  I want loot to drop from unique enemies, or extremely rarely from normal mobs.

Getting predictably good loot from an ultra-meta gameplay abstraction just doesn't tickle my interest.  And I don't support games where that's necessary for multiplayer competitiveness.

I still don't regret buying certain aesthetic things to support a developer whose work had lasting value, heh.  Gold katana in Killing Floor: best DLC I ever bought.

Edit: Oops I rambled, but funny note:  I *own* Destiny 2, but I didn't have the hard drive space.  As I shifted some things to external storage, I noticed I had space for Starcraft 2's initial campaign, which is free for everyone.  And then I played that all evening instead.

I love Bungie, but I doubt I'll have a better experience than I get from re-launching Halo 1 every couple weeks.

[Retropunch]

I've just been playing Destiny 2 for the first time (I played a bit of Destiny 1 at a friends house) - I've got to say I'm really enjoying it for what it is. The story is fun enough, with some great set pieces, and enough to do to keep me coming back.

Sure, you can buy loot crates if you want to, but you get a lot of crates without having to buy anything through levelling and completing quests. I'm sure it tails off the more you play, but if you're playing it a reasonable amount (I've put in about 20 hours or so) then you'll keep getting a steady stream. If you're into power gaming/min-maxing/taking it really seriously then sure, you need to buy crates, but if you're in it just to play a fun RPG shooter then I've not seen the need. I imagine they've done a lot of rebalancing from early days - I think it was probably pretty awful earlier from what I've heard, but it seems fine to me now. More than that, the most powerful items in the game aren't unlocked through crates, but through in game missions.

My only issue with the game is that it sometimes gives you items that you can't use unless you buy the expansion. Not many (like I've maybe had 2 in my entire play time) but I dislike that a lot.

Note, this is all from someone who thinks MTX and loot boxes are pure evil. I don't condone them in any game, just that Destiny 2 isn't bad for it.

[Levi]

I am also having fun with Destiny 2.  I don't really understand any the mechanics or how the loot boxes work or why I'm a space wizard but I'm having a good time shooting at the aliens and wandering around looking at things.

[Gentlefish]

IIRC, the only lootboxes you can buy are the grossly incandescent rainbow-looking ones. And all they drop are neato vehicles, weapon skins, and shaders. Activision/Blizzard does their best to keep lootboxes from being a Pay-To-Get-A-Chance-To-Win and I really appreciate that model.

Mostly because it's a system that's like "Hey, want to support us for continuing to host this game? Here's an option, and you get neat cosmetics for it!"

[Teneb]

IIRC, the only lootboxes you can buy are the grossly incandescent rainbow-looking ones. And all they drop are neato vehicles, weapon skins, and shaders. Activision/Blizzard does their best to keep lootboxes from being a Pay-To-Get-A-Chance-To-Win and I really appreciate that model.

Mostly because it's a system that's like "Hey, want to support us for continuing to host this game? Here's an option, and you get neat cosmetics for it!"

This only really goes for free games. Destiny and Overwatch are paid games, which means that you should be able to get all launch content without having to pay extra, much less gamble for it.

And it may be "just" cosmetic, but looking good and cool is pretty important both in meatspace and games. It does affect enjoyment.