Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[Chazore]

JEMC said:

Thursday news, the long second part:

Helldivers 2 players rip into Arrowhead for 'straight-up ridiculous' Killzone crossover prices, CEO defends the choice: 'The more of this we sell, the more Illuminate-type stuff we can keep dropping for free'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-players-rip-into-arrowhead-for-straight-up-ridiculous-killzone-crossover-prices-ceo-defends-the-choice-the-more-of-this-we-sell-the-more-illuminate-type-stuff-we-can-keep-dropping-for-free/
Helldivers 2 takes two steps forward and one leap back. Less than a week after surprise dropping the Omens of Tyranny update at The Game Awards, Arrowhead has dropped another surprise, though this one isn't as fun or exciting: Helldivers 2 just got a Killzone armor set, cosmetics, and a Helghast gun, which is kinda cool, except they cost three times more than usual and can't be earned in a warbond.
(...)
Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani addressed the angry mob this morning in a rare appearance on the Helldivers Discord server:
"Hey, quick comment on the Helghast stuff. Firstly, this is our first collaboration so we'll be figuring it out as we go along. Let us know what you'd like to see in the future," Jorjani wrote. "Secondly it's optional. The more of this we sell, the more Illuminate-type stuff we can keep dropping for free."

'We are beholden to the lore': CD Projekt says there are 'valid worries' about Ciri as a witcher, but 'the answers we want to give in The Witcher 4 are in line with this attitude'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/we-are-beholden-to-the-lore-cd-projekt-says-there-are-valid-worries-about-ciri-as-a-witcher-but-the-answers-we-want-to-give-in-the-witcher-4-are-in-line-with-this-attitude/
So Ciri's a Witcher now, taking the lead in The Witcher 4, and that has resulted in questions. Some of them are the predictable hue and cry about a girl taking over for Geralt—complaints about "wokeness" and DEI and all that sort of nonsense—but there are also legitimate questions about how it all fits with the established Witcher lore. The Trial of the Grasses, for instance, was previously only survivable by young boys (and only a small portion of them), so how did Ciri get through it—or did she at all? And what about the powers enabled by her Elder Blood?
In an interview with Eurogamer, narrative director Phillipp Weber and director Sebastian Kalemba acknowledged that there are "many very valid worries and responses" about what was shown at The Game Awards, but reassured fans that they're not just making stuff up on the fly.

'Gooner 9/11' averted as Zenless Zone Zero's butt-obfuscation technology is rolled back in the face of horny outrage
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/gooner-9-11-averted-as-zenless-zone-zeros-butt-obfuscation-technology-is-rolled-back-in-the-face-of-horny-outrage/
I'm really not sure where to begin with this one, so I'm just going to lay it out and then try to explain later: A recent update to Zenless Zone Zero made it impossible to get a good look at character's asses, and the blowback was so fierce developer MiHoYo reverted the change less than a day later.

Project Zomboid's new Build 42 update, 3 years in the making, is the biggest game release of 2024 for me—here's why
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/project-zomboid-build-42-update-patch-notes-new-features/
Christmas came early for me yesterday. After previously announcing Project Zomboid's long-awaited Build 42 would be out by the end of the year, developer The Indie Stone released the absolutely colossal update on Tuesday. In terms of the sheer number of features—from a total crafting overhaul to a considerable expansion of the already huge map—this is the biggest update Zomboid has ever gotten. And for me? It's the biggest game release of 2024. Move aside, Shadow of the Erdtree.

I don't really agree with those prices, since I know it's a Sony type deal, and Sony is the one likely putting forth the price of value, since KZ is their own IP 9I imagine they have a say in it's pricing, rather than just handing their assets and saying "do what you want" and not expecting any profits from someone using their assets).

Also "free content" needs to stop being used as a marketing/gambling tactic, it's becoming increasingly obnoxious that devs are using updates as if we were somehow meant to pay for them, when we all know that in the past we had always gotten updates for free with no real strings attached. Case in point Bioshock 1-2 remasters, on PC if you owned the og copies, you would receive the remasters completely for free, and no "extra bonus just for you" jargon to make it sound artificial.

As for CDPR, they need to tread carefully, seeing as how they must have a bible of sorts for their Witcher mythology, so using a side character like Ciri as a possible main, despite what happened with her in the previous game is going to have them treading waters some fans may not agree with. Also we already know what she's fully capable of, so no need for some artificial "Rey Skywalker" approach to making her strong (also no DEI crap and making her gaunt faced either, I know what she looks like and no engine change is going to define that).

We also know CDPR has been hiring only women and that of teens/those in their early 20's recently, so there is definitely some bias they aren't denying, but at the same time trying to make excuses for why it is that they decided upon that. If they want to calm the people down from their DEI fears, they need to not push back at all and instead try to calmly show us that they aren't being riddled with activism within their company. Show, do not just tell. 

I don't know much about ZZZ, but I do know their animation quality is pretty excellent, and it's often best to not mess around with the husbandos/waifus, and I generally despise censorship, so in this case, don't mess with what already pleased fans before. 

While I am excited and waited many yrs for Zomboid's B42 to finally come about, it is still only being released in an unstable state, meaning it is still nowhere near completion and is in more of an Alpha state, which also means current modding will not function with B42. I guess I'll be waiting at least another year or two until they finally release B42 stable, but I am really looking forward to the new lighting/physics/mechanic changes the most.