The Escapist Forum Roundtable #1 - CHAT WITH THE STAFF!

[Archaon6044]

for me, beating Gears Horde mode on Insane difficulty in one beer-fuelled night with a mate.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

General RAAM from the first Gears of War on insane, alone. It required alot of nail-biting and luck.

\
Ah yes, that was... Fun.
Other than that sitting through Gundam: Encounters in Space. Its an accomplishment because it was just such a horrible game.

 

[Mintycabbage]

Me on Team Fortress 2 as a heavy. One more person on my team (engineer) against seven other people. It was zone control. We were defending. After a 30 kill streak we won. Do I have to elaborate any further?

P.S. whilst I am talking to the staff. When are you going to make Zero Punctuation downloadable?

 

[The_Prophet]

Max Payne. Last level. Berreta and lead pipe. Nuff said.

 

[Sennz0r]

for me, beating Gears Horde mode on Insane difficulty in one beer-fuelled night with a mate.

You did that with just two people? Hell I take off my hat to you, sir.

 

[Higurashi]

I would have to say... all the hundreds of hours I spent on <url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shining_in_the_Darkness>Shining in the Darkness as a kid. Man, I was hardcore back then, even if I was too dumb not to be able to finish it. I did last year though, but not without help. There is not really a different way. -_-

I love having the perspective on older games now. At the time they just made you feel like a poor excuse for a gamer. Now you realize bad design played a large role and that probably only 1% of the people who actually played the game beat it.

I remember listening to a retrospective podcast about Phantasy Star I and the guy on it said he got to the final dungeon and had to call a Sega hint line. Apparently the person manning the phone said there's no way you're going to get through this so I'll just mail you the map of the dungeon and our hint script.

How's that for contrived game design?

Hehe.. back then, I did not mind at all. I just happily grinded and looked for more clues in the endless f*****g psychedelic dungeon. But yeah, finding the last part that I needed to finish it was... random. There was no way whatsoever one should even begin to suspect it was hidden where it was. And that is nothing short of mean. So yeah, probably around 1%.

Ahahah... yeah, the dungeons of Phantasy Star are frickin' hard... but such a lovable game still. See, I do not mind at all that they might be nigh impossible. It is part of the charm that is old games, and I will probably always remain one of those gamers who remember the time fondly and wishes it make a comeback.

Then again, I am something of a masochist, as anyone could tell you.

for me, beating Gears Horde mode on Insane difficulty in one beer-fuelled night with a mate.

You did that with just two people? Hell I take off my hat to you, sir.

So... do I. That takes more patience than I have for the repetitive, simple and non-charming gameplay and design. But Horde Mode is hordes of fun. Me and my pal could definitely do that, with patience, if we found it fun.

 

[Maet]

This week's question is: What is your most significant gaming accomplishment and why?

I just got all the trophies for BioShock on the PS3 outside of the DLC (which I plan to get sometime next week). "I Chose The Impossible" wasn't as impossible as it sounds, although the first few Big Daddies are really merciless ass kickers.

I also ranked #14 on the Diablo 2 Hardcore ladder, although I can't for the life of me remember which year it was.

 

[Erana]

Playing pokemon.
Before you scoff, or your head explodes, or something, consider the fact that I had a gaming phobia, and yet I've always been intrested in games. Pokemon was the gateway game that made my future gaming possible.

 

[CrafterMan]

Playing pokemon.
Before you scoff, or your head explodes, or something, consider the fact that I had a gaming phobia, and yet I've always been intrested in games. Pokemon was the gateway game that made my future gaming possible.

Pshh, meh, hiss!

Hahaha, me to, me to.

First the cards, then the gameboy games. I did anything to get those games!

ANYTHING!

 

[Hippobatman]

Reached the semi finals in a retro gaming tournament. I was damn proud, and I kicked ass in the previous rounds, making the 2nd best score in those preliminary rounds.

Also, beating Guitar Hero 2 on expert made me feel good.

 

[Ranooth]

My first 100% on expert vocals on Rock Band.
I think the song was Maps.

 

[Drake the Dragonheart]

getting 100% item collection with a finishing time under 5 hours on metroid fusion ranks up there.
Beating Olga Flow on PSO episode 2 ultimate with my HUnewearl is definitely one.
Beating Castlevania Circle of the Moon with every mode (normal, magician, fighter, ranger, thief)
Completing act 5 of Diablo 2 all in one sitting.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

I really don't know...Having been playing games for near on 26 years (Yeah....) it's sort of difficult to pick one moment. I've clocked Green Beret twice on the C64 (which is REALLY tough), spent nearly 2 hours on the TMNT Arcade machine in one slot, clocked SF2 on Expert without using special moves or losing a round, got 36 kills in a row on TF2...I just play to have fun really.

 

[oktalist]

When I defeated my mate Chris in Quake 2 insta-gib on Q2DM1 ("the Edge") during a smallish LAN party. Frag limit was 50, we were both on 49, he was seconds away from making a kill and I took 'im out from the other side of the arena (no zoom). Cue cries of super-w00t from me; he was the bestest evar at FPSes, first and only time I beat him at anything. That game really honed my reflexes and aim. If you stood still you'd be dead in the blink of an eye. As soon as you see someone, you have to hit them first time, no hesitation, no time to line up the reticle; if you missed, you could be sure they wouldn't. Occasionally two people aiming at each other would both miss, followed by erratic strafing while waiting for the railgun to recharge.

Ask me this question again in a couple months and I might say "when I completed Deus Ex without firing a shot"

 

[Archaon6044]

for me, beating Gears Horde mode on Insane difficulty in one beer-fuelled night with a mate.

You did that with just two people? Hell I take off my hat to you, sir.

we found a hidey-hole on one of the levels, with one thin entrance tunnel, and armed ourselves with boomshields and gorgons.
there's an ammo crate right outside the tunnel mouth, so that's not a problem.

by no means did we manage it in one run. deaths were thick and fast, but we got there.....

eventually


edit: the level was Pavillion

 

[Antidamacus]

Creating a user made campaign for Freespace 2.

 

[John Funk]

Playing pokemon.
Before you scoff, or your head explodes, or something, consider the fact that I had a gaming phobia, and yet I've always been intrested in games. Pokemon was the gateway game that made my future gaming possible.

Hey now, no shame in Pokemon.

Hm. Perhaps "Making an all-Eeveelution team work semi-competitively" ought to be one of mine.

 

[Sennz0r]

for me, beating Gears Horde mode on Insane difficulty in one beer-fuelled night with a mate.

You did that with just two people? Hell I take off my hat to you, sir.

we found a hidey-hole on one of the levels, with one thin entrance tunnel, and armed ourselves with boomshields and gorgons.
there's an ammo crate right outside the tunnel mouth, so that's not a problem.

by no means did we manage it in one run. deaths were thick and fast, but we got there.....

eventually


edit: the level was Pavillion

Ahh yes, the hidey hole there is indeed perfect. I played horde a lot with my brother and if we didn't get bored/overzealous in there we might have given them a run for their money.

Still, did you do it in one run or just restart at the same wave?