In my experience with TF2, many popular community servers have common-sense rules like no slurs, cheats, etc. The great thing about a player-run server is that, if you want, it can be stricter than official guidelines, as Valve for example is pretty hands-off beyond the obvious in-game cheats. It allows pockets of the community to shape the experience they want to have more adeptly than official servers ever could.
They were going to implement “harsher” (read: more invasive) anti-cheat at some point, but it never happened as development stalled. Some say the devs are lazy, but I think it’s just the classic feature creep that cripples passion projects with zero oversight. Star Citizen is the highest profile example, although I think the feature creep is part of its appeal to a lot of people. So that might be an imperfect example.
Deep Rock Galactic is still actively developed, so there is hope. An indie titanfall-like is in early development too. If boomer shooters can have a revival, so can classic multiplayer…
I also blame the broken sound update, and the focus on class balance changes over new weapons and maps. Even when they did make new maps, they’d often be overhauling a bad, but fun map into a fine, but generic map (new Basra). Imagine if Valve “fixed” 2fort or Dustbowl. I think it’s that bad, given old Basra’s ridiculous sniper battles were a highlight for me.
Was it unbalanced? Absolutely. But it was stupid fun and something no other game had. The choke point in the middle was just a big mosh pit, but it was so much fun because of how people used proximity chat. Helicoptering over the carnage while someone played 70’s rock over radio was part of why that game went viral.
I know the map isn’t removed from the pool entirely, but it speaks to a design philosophy I personally disagree with. Having a couple “bad” but funny maps are more important than having a bunch of okay generic maps. New Wakistan looks to be making the same mistakes (if it’s ever released).
This ended up being long. I played for a couple hundred hours, so I guess I’m passionate about it :).
Oh, whoops. That’s what I get for skimming :).
If you found HL1 dated, there’s a good remake in source: https://store.steampowered.com/app/362890/Black_Mesa/
Even as a purist (HL1 is my favorite FPS period), I love how Black Mesa handles the source material. It’s on sale for $5 right now too. Besides Valve’s other games, check out F.E.A.R (2005), Doom series and the Bungie Halo games.
Especially considering that a particular Final Fantasy game has one of the most famously spoiled twists. You’d think they of all people would know.
If you want to try an FPS, the original Half-Life is amazing (if visually dated), and was designed to ease the player into the experience as opposed to something like Doom or Dusk that throws you into the action without any tutorials. I’m biased though, Half-Life is my favorite FPS of all time lol.
It goes on sale for around $2 regularly, which is a nice bonus. I second the Portal and Stardew recommendations of others too.
Check out Tamriel Rebuilt too! It’s a mod to add the mainland that, while incomplete, already has 100s of quests. Good quality control too.
Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind lets you fly around, jump over whole cities, and kill most NPCs with one high powered spell. It’s a very unique game, but if it clicks with you there’s nothing quite like it. Vibrant modding scene too.
The base game is certainly playable, but if you want modern resolutions and some vanilla-friendly bug fixes OpenMW is an open source recreation of the engine, there’s instructions on their website.
Civ 3 had some killer modern music.
The Mombasa Streets music made me stop in my tracks a couple times.
Sifu is a fun martial-arts focused game. If you liked the combat of Sleeping Dogs and Batman Arkham, it might be your kind of game. It’s currently on sale for $20: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2138710/Sifu/
Vita… now, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a very long time.
Many slaves have the “go free” dialogue option, which allows you to free them if you have the appropriate key from that area. Not all can be freed this way, there might be a mod for that but I’m not sure. Happy hunting!
Welcome! This is a pretty fun question, because it shows both the strengths and limitations of the game. On the one hand, there’s no full quest line to abolish slavery in Morrowind, although some slaves can be freed. There are some mods for adding quests, but I haven’t looked into them very deeply.
On the other, since no NPC is essential you can end slavery through brute force and kill every councilor that supports it, every slave trader, etc. Bloody, but still arguably in line with the “might makes right” philosophy of the Telvanni.
So while there’s no “official” way, the game leaves the door open to roleplaying if you’re playing a character who would take matters into their own hands.
If you kill an NPC needed for the main quest, the game will give you a “the thread of prophecy has been severed” message. It’s still possible to get the necessary equipment to fight the final boss of the main quest even if you kill, say, Caius, but I wouldn’t recommend killing any main quest NPCs until after it’s completed.
The built-in failsafes aren’t explained in-game, and are buggy. It’s more so just a cool last resort for repeat playthroughs where you play, say, a traditionalist who refuses to work with the Empire to solve the blight storm crisis.
It’s one of the coolest things about the game. Even though I’d never consider methodically killing everyone on the island, the knowledge that you can do it makes the decision not to much more impactful from a roleplaying perspective.
DRG. Rock and Stone!
No, but enchant skill in Morrowind is kinda weird so I honestly wouldn’t worry about leveling it for a first time playthrough. I never leveled it and was still able to enchant some exquisite pants with enough stamina restore to negate fatigue entirely, for example.
If you talk to an Enchanter NPC, the option to enchant will be in the dialogue list like a shop owner or spell crafter. Since you’re in the Mages Guild, the easiest to reach would probably be Galbedir in the Balmora Mages Guild.
If you need more specific info the UESP wiki (https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page) is a great source. Just be weary of spoilers. I personally use it to check racial attribute spreads whenever I start a new game.
Ah yes, the crown jewel of the Ouya!