Amazon PCDD - Important Update New Community Manager Incoming!

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Hey CAGS,

I’ve got some news I’m both excited and sad to share with you at the same time. I’ll be leaving the Digital Video Games team in Mid-March to join the marketing team for Amazon.com’s Loyalty and Rewards program, Amazon Coins. My boss and I have talked extensively about how to maintain and continue our presence here and across the other communities we’ve created in the past couple of years. To that end I’d like to introduce you to Josh, who take over monitoring, updating, and responding to this thread. Josh will be ramping up over the next couple of weeks, he  will be posting shortly to introduce himself.

Now that the “what’s going on” part of the message is out of the way I want to tell you all how much I love CAG and the posters here. This was the first community I joined when I started this job (anyone still remember that first thread?) and all of you have had a huge hand in shaping how we think about and execute Community Development and Management here at Amazon, which has in turn shaped my career these last two and a half years.

I started to write out a section calling out the regular posters and realized the list would be both overly long and incomplete at the same time. Instead I’d like to thank you all again, you all have my deep and sincere gratitude. I’ll still be around and my gaming accounts aren’t going anywhere so feel free to hit me up anytime you want to chat. I’ll probably still hang out in the thread too :).

Thanks again everyone, let me or Josh know if you have any questions!

The Indie Store has launched!
Amazon.com is launching a storefront dedicated to supporting and promoting PC/Mac/Web-based Indie Games. Our Digital Video Games team is a small group of passionate gamers and we’re all really excited to help Indie developers reach more customers quickly by providing a quick and simple process for bringing their games to market. Additionally we’ll be supporting the Indie Store with a ton of promotions, both at and after launch. Many of these promotions are designed to give the developer the opportunity to maximize their revenue. For example, Amazon is forfeiting all royalties from bundle sales and passing them along directly to the developer, we’ve also created an “Indie Spotlight” program to help customers learn more about the games and developers they love. We view the Indie developers as some of the most creative in the industry and we want to help them continue to create new and innovative experience for customers.

Why we are doing this:

  • Allow customers to discover an entirely new category of games on Amazon.com
  • Help developers reach new customers quickly. Our onboarding process is straightforward and we want to sell every Indie game available
  • We want to leverage our strengths to support and help the developers who are driving forward innovation and creativity in the games industry
General Information

Hi CAGs,
I'll be posting deals we're running on Digital Games (PC/Mac, Free to Play, Sony/Microsoft Points/Subs).

I'm also here to answer questions you might have, get you closer to the developers by hosting Q&As, setting up podcasts, live streaming gameplay etc. If I don't respond to a question you have in thread please send me a PM. These ping my email address and make it more likely that I will see your question and respond more quickly.

Cheers,
Tony


FYI. EA Games sold by Amazon will not activate on Steam.
F.A.Q.S.:

1. Does the game I'm buying from Amazon Activate on Steam/Origin/Uplay? What DRM does the game use?

There are two places to identify DRM on a digital video game detail page:

At the top of the page, below the title:

16hm7a8.png


In the "Product Description" section:

r06ykl.jpg


2. Note on Electronic Arts Games - For the most part, EA games sold on Amazon do not activate on Steam. Most activate on Origin.

3. Note on DRM with limited activations:

Our Policy



4. Sometimes I'll do giveaways.

5. I work with developers and publishers to get fun (or at least what I think is fun) content to share with you all. Here are some examples:

a. Check out the Pax Gameplay videos here: Xcom: Enemy Unknown I played Xcom with Jake, the Creative Director for the game, a few months before the game came out Also, on this page, check out the Q&A, also a community driven event.

b. Check out the interview on this page: Borderlands 2 we did this interview at E3 with Randy Pitchford this year.

c. We've partnered with the ++GoodGames Podcast to feature many of the games we carry. They talk to the developers about the game development process, how the games are conceptualized and managed, all kinds of fun stuff. I'm working on putting together full link list and will update when I have it.

What else do we sell?

Xbox Live Points and Subscriptions:

1600 Microsoft Live Points
4000 Microsoft Live Points
12 Month XBOX Live Subscription
3 Month XBOX Live Subscription]
12 Month + 1 XBOX Live Subscription

PSN+ Subscriptions and PSN Points:

$20 PSN Points
$50 PSN Points
12 Month PSN+ Subscription
3 Month PSN+ Subscription

We also have a Free-2-Play store supported by our GameConnect technology. Gameconnect allows you to link your Amazon.com account with free-2-play and MMO accounts so that you can buy things like in game currency, premium game time/subscriptions, in game items, etc. on Amazon.com using your Amazon.com payment options and have this content delivered directly into your game.

5. Price Matching notes: Generally we do not match international retailers (GMG, Gamersgate, etc) or physical retailers (Best Buy, Newegg.com, etc.)
To check out the Free-2-Play games we offer you can visit our storefront here: Free-2-Play Store

 
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Cheaplikeafox 3.0 said:
Hmmm, I thought FIFA 12 had hit $5?

So would you recommend NBA2k11 or 12 over 13 for the career mode? I love the career mode, but I suck at it, but maybe it's the AI issue?
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Yeah, I definitely recommend NBA 2K12. I put more time into 11, simply because that game was such a drastic leap over previous versions. The MyPlayer mode is in both of 'em, and quite similar. 2K12 just has slightly more refined controls, and is probably easier to get updated rosters for.

edit: the generic pricetracker I checked didn't have any mention of FIFA 12 recent sale prices. obviously I haven't been paying attention to that particular game. not sure how 12 and 13 compare, since I was still playing PES last year. Doubt there's much difference between FIFA releases though.

 
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I'm definitely holding out for $5 on FIFA 13. It was $5 on Nuuvem but naturally Origin games are blocked from purchase/region locked for US buyers on Nuuvem...

 
I'm definitely holding out for $5 on FIFA 13. It was $5 on Nuuvem but naturally Origin games are blocked from purchase/region locked for US buyers on Nuuvem...



I bought fifa 12 just because the price... And I really wanted a FIFA game. My last one was fifa 2002, so I couldn't wait for 2013 to hit $5 around year end.
 
indef said:
Yeah, I definitely recommend NBA 2K12. I put more time into 11, simply because that game was such a drastic leap over previous versions. The MyPlayer mode is in both of 'em, and quite similar. 2K12 just has slightly more refined controls, and is probably easier to get updated rosters for.
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So what is wrong with the My Player mode in NBA 2K13? I have it and have only played single games so far.

 
gilby said:
So what is wrong with the My Player mode in NBA 2K13? I have it and have only played single games so far.
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I suck at it, but I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with it. What's most annoying is the whole player grade thing. Every GOOD thing you do adds to it (so you're shooting for an A or B rank), and every BAD thing you do detracts (sending your towards a D or F rank).

Sounds good in theory, but it's kind of ridiculous in practice. You can play very well, and then suddenly you'll ask for a totally valid pass, and you'll get a "bad pass call" detraction from your rank (which knocks way too much off the grade). Or on defense you'll be randomly assigned to a player who you weren't assigned to a second ago, and he'll score before you can even react, and you'll get your grade knocked down from that.

Obviously a lot of the issue is that I suck, but the difficulty is pretty fucking brutal if you want a good rank (for some strange reason the game doesn't let you make the difficulty lower for My Player mode, only default or harder). I'm surprised as hell when I can keep myself above a D rank. All in all, it just feels like it's too hard to get positive additions to your grade, and they're too small, and subtractions happen too often and knock too much off your rank.

 
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Was about to complain that Ghostbusters wasn't the Steam version, but then I realized it isn't even listed on Steam anymore :whistle2:(

I'm not even sure why I want it, I know it's probably pretty lousy, but for some reason I'm continually drawn to it, and $2.50 isn't too bad. But then again, I'm not a fan of DRM-Free downloads :whistle2:k

 
MrNinjaSquirrel said:
Was about to complain that Ghostbusters wasn't the Steam version, but then I realized it isn't even listed on Steam anymore :whistle2:(

I'm not even sure why I want it, I know it's probably pretty lousy, but for some reason I'm continually drawn to it, and $2.50 isn't too bad. But then again, I'm not a fan of DRM-Free downloads :whistle2:k
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That one has been off the Steam store for quite awhile.

 
MrNinjaSquirrel said:
Was about to complain that Ghostbusters wasn't the Steam version, but then I realized it isn't even listed on Steam anymore :whistle2:(

I'm not even sure why I want it, I know it's probably pretty lousy, but for some reason I'm continually drawn to it, and $2.50 isn't too bad. But then again, I'm not a fan of DRM-Free downloads :whistle2:k
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I've only heard good things about the game. There are other GB games that aren't so good but apparently this one's the one to play.

I'll probably grab it.

 
Idiotekque said:
That one has been off the Steam store for quite awhile.
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Yeah, I see that now. I just haven't been keeping tabs on it so I didn't know.

CheapThomas said:
I've only heard good things about the game. There are other GB games that aren't so good but apparently this one's the one to play.

I'll probably grab it.
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Hmm, looking at reviews it seems a lot of the bad ones are for the console versions (which apparently are missing some stuff), and the PC version actually seems to have a lot more positive ones. The only thing holding me back now is having it as only an amazon download, but I guess if I downloaded and played it now it would be alright. I just tend to forget I even own any DRM-free downloads.
 
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Tony (unless someone knows a workaround)

I may have found a site flaw that prevents sales.

I cant buy (at least some) origin games without linking my account. I was wanting to buy a command and conquer complete for myself and my brother, or at least just for my brother, for his birthday He was a C&C addict in college for a while, he'd love that. So I doubt you could buy two of the same game also. I just wanted to send him the key.

Is that a stipulation if the instant access version?

Cant wait for cliffs of dover next week!
 
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MrNinjaSquirrel said:
Yeah, I see that now. I just haven't been keeping tabs on it so I didn't know.

Hmm, looking at reviews it seems a lot of the bad ones are for the console versions (which apparently are missing some stuff), and the PC version actually seems to have a lot more positive ones. The only thing holding me back now is having it as only an amazon download, but I guess if I downloaded and played it now it would be alright. I just tend to forget I even own any DRM-free downloads.
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I Have the Steam Version :bouncy: :joystick: :D/

At $2,5 is a steal, just buy it, it's an awesome game!. And if you're a GB fan, you'll ejoy it even more

 
MrNinjaSquirrel said:
Good to hear, I think I probably will. Just going to go over that spreadsheet a bit more first to see if there's anything I want more (note to Tony/Cheapy: a lot of links are broken) :)
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Most of the big games on sale are over. Maybe that is part of it?
 
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6er said:
Tony (unless someone knows a workaround)

I may have found a site flaw that prevents sales.

I cant buy (at least some) origin games without linking my account. I was wanting to buy a command and conquer complete for myself and my brother, or at least just for my brother, for his birthday He was a C&C addict in college for a while, he'd love that. So I doubt you could buy two of the same game also. I just wanted to send him the key.

Is that a stipulation if the instant access version?

Cant wait for cliffs of dover next week!
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It's not really a site flaw, just how the two different versions are set up. One links directly to your Origin account [the PC Instant access -- http://www.amazon.com/Command-Conquer-Ultimate-Collection-Instant/dp/B00DNHLFQA ], the other gives you a code to redeem in Origin [Online Game Code -- http://www.amazon.com/Command-Conquer-Ultimate-Collection-Online/dp/B009IR1SR0 ]. What you want is the Online Game Code, but unfortunately it looks like it has fallen off its sale price.

 
Damn, I am loving how the bundles are listed on the right side of the landing page, that's awesome!

It seems trying to sort results (in this case, from low to high) results in blank white pages, using multiple browsers.

EDIT: That applies to clicking through the pages of the search results as well.

 
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gilby said:
Black Mirror is on sale again. It's decently regarded and not available many other places. There's a sound issue that has a fix that was recently reupped somewhere. I'll see if I can find it.
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Is this the cheapest Black Mirror 1 has been?

Has it been bundled before on HumbleBundle, Groupees, or any of those?

 
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sunasun said:
I bought the cd for it at a garage sale for 25 cents.
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Nice grab! :D

But, what I meant - "Is this the cheapest Black Mirror 1 has been...at say a digital retailer (Gamersgate, Amazon DVG), digital bundle place (like HB or Grouppes), or B&M retail store (like Best Buy, WalMart, etc)?"

;)

 
techguru928 said:
It's only $1.25 :p
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It's not like we're talking about Bioshock: Infinite here - we're talking about Black Mirror 1. :p

That's $1.25 that I could put into a bundle. :p

Matter of fact, I remember getting a 4-game adventure pack bundle from Gamersgate cheap in that $1-2 range - which included Black Mirror 2.

Hence why I'm wondering if Black Mirror 1 has been bundled before.

 
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MysterD said:
Nice grab! :D

But, what I meant - "Is this the cheapest Black Mirror 1 has been...at say a digital retailer (Gamersgate, Amazon DVG), digital bundle place (like HB or Grouppes), or B&M retail store (like Best Buy, WalMart, etc)?"

;)
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You can always check indiegamebundle wiki, they usually catch MOST major bundles.

 
MysterD said:
Thanks! Bookmarked it.

Don't look like it's been bundled, unless I missed it...

From a Google search - I see Indie Gala has had Black Mirror 2 + 3 bundled, before...
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Looking through my history, I bought it from Gamersgate....for $4.98. Yep.

 
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MysterD said:
Nice grab! :D

But, what I meant - "Is this the cheapest Black Mirror 1 has been...at say a digital retailer (Gamersgate, Amazon DVG), digital bundle place (like HB or Grouppes), or B&M retail store (like Best Buy, WalMart, etc)?"

;)
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I don't think so, unless it was it was in an obscure bundle, none of us have ever heard of.

 
sunasun said:
I don't think so, unless it was it was in an obscure bundle, none of us have ever heard of.
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How could you forget the (not so) Humble Black Mirror Bundle? Pay what you want in burgers to the guy in the shack and he'll slip you a code under the table written backwards in crayon so lurkers can't steal it. I was in for 10 ;)

 
hey guys,

does anyone of you know if the Shaun White Squared Pack (Shaun White Skateboarding, Shaun White Snowboarding) redeems on Uplay?

 
MrNinjaSquirrel said:
How could you forget the (not so) Humble Black Mirror Bundle? Pay what you want in burgers to the guy in the shack and he'll slip you a code under the table written backwards in crayon so lurkers can't steal it. I was in for 10 ;)
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lol, was doing a google image search for paying with burgers and this was one of the results

b4aaf68dcf27889eeab25f2d1ea7d655.jpg


and then this

P1050772.jpg

 
xamon said:
hey guys,

does anyone of you know if the Shaun White Squared Pack (Shaun White Skateboarding, Shaun White Snowboarding) redeems on Uplay?
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Not to dampen your spirit, but I've played Shaun White Skateboarding and it's really, really terrible. I have no idea what they thought they were doing with that game.

 
Idiotekque said:
Not to dampen your spirit, but I've played Shaun White Skateboarding and it's really, really terrible. I have no idea what they thought they were doing with that game.
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Not really a problem, i'm buying it more to fill my Uplay repertoire than anything else. If they are Uplay, Amazon has a sale if not I will pass. I also don't mind games being bad when I buy them for that cheap.

 
theemadgamer said:
No between about it, it's exactly ZERO%. Just bought it, offered to download drm free game, yea! NOT!

Amazon.PNG


TMG - taking one for the team since 2013
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Yeah, I brought this up the day before, but the post was lost in the shuffle:

JaseC said:
Tony, is 7 Gates: The Path to Zamolxes actually a Steam game? I bought it but was given only a direct download link, so I submitted a refund request and while it was obliged, I was encouraged to purchase the game again as a "technical glitch" supposedly prevented my initial order from receiving a key. The thing is, though, I've tried searching for the game in the Steam registry as well as the store itself and came up with nothing, so I think it's simply mislabelled.
Click to expand...
It's still labelled as a Steam game. Somebody ought to fix that.

 
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MysterD said:
Nice grab! :D

But, what I meant - "Is this the cheapest Black Mirror 1 has been...at say a digital retailer (Gamersgate, Amazon DVG), digital bundle place (like HB or Grouppes), or B&M retail store (like Best Buy, WalMart, etc)?"
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I believe so, yes. It hasn't been available digitally anywhere for all that long, and it went on sale at this price in Amazon's summer sale. So this should be a match of the lowest price.

 
Idiotekque said:
And if you wanna read another massive wall of text, here's my TSW explanation/review that I've posted in the past.


Extremely detailed The Secret World review below:

Best current MMO out there, in my opinion. Incredible combat system, highly talented voice actors, excellent writing, tons of customization, challenging gameplay, and best of all, you're getting what you pay for. No hoops to jump through; you pay once and you never have to pay again (unless you want cosmetics or a couple new mission packs). You also get enough cash shop points through gameplay (after you finish 30 missions, which isn't a whole lot) to buy a mission pack (I believe there are two for sale right now, although issue #5 may come with the game now, I'm not sure). So you're getting free DLC through gameplay.

I'm gonna spoiler the rest of my post into sections... because it's long.

[customspoiler= Crafting/Loot ]The only thing that I think could have been done better in TSW is the crafting. Admittedly, I didn't do a whole lot of it, so I may not be the best judge, but it is a bit boring and complicated. The loot system is also not extremely exciting, since talismans (armor in the game) and weapons are simply _____ Sword, _____ Pendant, etc, with the blank being filled in by a descriptor like "Ruthless" (accuracy and critical boost), or "Stalwart" (defense boost), etc.

There are still different levels and rarity of loot (the typical MMO quality system, white<green<blue<purple), so you'll still get a blue drop and get giddy about it, but it's not like other MMOs where it may have a fancy name and look awesome, since talismans are unseen on your character (weapons are though, and have a variety of different looks, despite having the same name on occasion). The exception to this rule are talismans and weapons you get from some quests, which will have unique names and looks (at least in the icon) and usually fairly good stats.[/customspoiler]

[customspoiler= Customization ]Taking a step back to talismans (armor/accessories) not affecting the appearance of your character, though, this is actually a good thing. Your clothing is totally customizable, and there's a lot of it (including quest reward clothing and cash shop clothing), so you have the ability to use the best equipment while not having to change what you look like, or settling for good armor that is butt ugly (as happens in many MMOs). There is no MMO with a better customization system than TSW besides APB: Reloaded, which is a TPS and hardly of the same genre.

Besides clothing, you can customize your character's face and hair as far as changing their nose, eyes, jaw, etc. You can also change these things later either with in game currency (expensive at first, but later on, not too bad) or cash shop currency (very cheap, about $1-2 a change last I checked).[/customspoiler]

[customspoiler= Setting/Theme ]What really sets TSW apart from other MMOs, though, is the setting. You're a human in the modern world who has been imbued with anima (the power of the Earth), and you choose between three different secret societies who are seeking out people like you to take care of supernatural occurrences around the planet... as well as furthering their own agendas. Gameplay between the three factions is relatively identical, besides storyline missions here and there that pop up both through the progression of the story, and progression of your rank. These missions may take place in the same areas between the factions sometimes, but always come at things from a different angle with a different objective. Other times the missions are totally different between factions and go to some wild places.

All in all, the game is super dreary and mysterious. While a lot of missions don't venture far from your standard MMO mission systems, the little tales and legends and secrets will keep you going. This game is the best modern day, supernatural, whimsical, fantasy game I've ever played. From Lovecraftian themes to fucking Sasquatches, this game does it right. It's not corny/campy, yet it still doesn't take itself so seriously that it is over-serious about such wacky subjects. I wholeheartedly recommend playing as an Illuminati character as well. Your boss in that faction is one of the best characters I've seen in any game in a very long time, and her dialogue adds a lot to the experience.[/customspoiler]

[customspoiler= Leveling System/Abilities ]Lastly, I have to say that the leveling system in this game, while initially confusing, is the best I've ever seen. There is virtually no "overleveling" in the game, and really no grind to speak of (if you have an alright understanding of what you're doing). SWTOR has annoyed me to no end (though I still enjoy it) because you're forced to skip missions (sometimes entire planets) because you'll overlevel if you don't, and upcoming missions will be pathetically easy. This doesn't happen in TSW, let me try to sum up how the system works.
You gain AP and SP through combat and missions. The intervals of experience set to gain AP and SP NEVER changes through the game. This isn't an accurate number, but say you needed 5000 experience to gain an AP at the beginning of the game. At the very end of the game, you'll still need 5000 experience to gain another AP. This creates a totally dynamic, always changing leveling system, where you have complete control over your progression.

AP (ability points) are used to purchase new abilities. There is a wheel that holds abilities for each weapon type (Melee: blades, claws, hammers. Ranged: pistols, assault rifles, shotguns. Magic: blood, chaos, elemental.). In the first level of the wheel, you will be aiming to learn all of the abilities for your weapons (you equip two weapons at a time). Once you do that, you'll have a lot of options, with multiple skill trees all focused towards different combat styles (for the most part).

At this point, you can go in all kinds of directions. As a blade wielder, you may build your tank abilities, or your DPS abilities. As an assault rifle user, you may build your healing/leech abilties, or your DPS/DoT abilities, etc. There's a lot of options here, and since you can have 7 active abilities (attacks, healers, etc) and 7 passive abilities (boosts to certain attacks, etc), you have to pick and choose exactly what works for you. This leads to a lot of unique builds between players. Other MMOs (like SWTOR) feel kinda lazy in this regard, where you can use all of your abilities all the time, and lead to 20-30+ different abilities mapped to tons of different keys... even though you only end up using 10 or so regularly. TSW makes you choose, and adds a much higher level of strategy to combat.

SP decides what level of weapons and talismans you can equip, and also gives you some stat boosts. That said, just because you can equip a high level weapon doesn't mean you're going to blow through enemies. SP also comes much slower than AP, so grinding for it isn't really that appealing. The natural progression of your SP works great as you make your way through the game.[/customspoiler]

I'll try to cut myself off there. I could go on about this game forever... tl;dr, get the game, it's excellent, and better than the rest of the MMOs on the market right now.
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Great review!

So what is the end-game like? Is there a strong story progression through the game and a feeling of an actual ending you can reach, or is it just a standard open world and you wander around and do things until you get too bored to continue?

 
Thermopyle said:
Great review!

So what is the end-game like? Is there a strong story progression through the game and a feeling of an actual ending you can reach, or is it just a standard open world and you wander around and do things until you get too bored to continue?
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There is an end but it's not really an ending. Like with all MMOs new areas will come out that continue the story. But I wouldn't call completing the story "end game"
 
Anyone else have a problem with the Sega Action only pack and duped keys?

No? Guess it's just me :| Support wants me to contact Sega since this is a post download issue(?) 

o_0

 
Shaun White Snowboarding is okay.  The mountains are all decent with a few different paths to get from top to bottom, and the interactive lifts are a nice immersion mechanic.  Does a fine job of replicating the feel of a real ski resort.  Controls/handling are a bit on the wonky side.  It's not as good as the PS2 era SSX games, but we're limited for winter sports titles on the PC.  Picked my copy up on clearance at Target for about $4 and wasn't too disappointed.

Conversely, I purchased the PS2 version of Shaun White Snowboarding on launch day.  That remains the worst video game purchase I have ever made.

 
indef said:
Shaun White Snowboarding is okay. The mountains are all decent with a few different paths to get from top to bottom, and the interactive lifts are a nice immersion mechanic. Does a fine job of replicating the feel of a real ski resort. Controls/handling are a bit on the wonky side. It's not as good as the PS2 era SSX games, but we're limited for winter sports titles on the PC. Picked my copy up on clearance at Target for about $4 and wasn't too disappointed.

Conversely, I purchased the PS2 version of Shaun White Snowboarding on launch day. That remains the worst video game purchase I have ever made.
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I believe he was talking about Shawn White Skateboarding, not snowboarding. From what I've heard it's much worse than the snowboarding one.

 
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