What are you playing now?

[Tawmis]

In the meantime, I'd suggest copying and pasting anything you write (in this thread at least) to a txt file and saving it before you click "submit." If your post gets eaten again, you'll still have your original reply and just in case there's something in the reply that's "not playing nice" with the board we'd also be able to examine it.

^ This.

And also, have ye tried resetting yer browser lately or clearing cache?

And, of course, have ye tried another browser - see if the issue continues? (Like if yer using Chrome, try using Firefox on the forum and see if it keeps happening)

[JasefWisener]

Souls games are difficult for sure, but they’re designed in a way that makes them fair at the very least. Either way, Elden Ring is definitely the most approachable Souls game there’s been.

[MusicallyInspired]

True, but I've seen a lot of people put "souls-like" tags on games on Steam that aren't in any shape or form a souls-like simply because there may be a few similar game elements or even just look similar.

Oh, for sure. I wasn't saying that as a correction or rebuttal to you but just in addition.

[Tawmis]

I hate when things get to many genres.

Remember when it was like rock and roll... and then there was heavy metal (using this since I am familiar with it to make a point in a second)...

Then thrash metal.
Then death metal.
Then black metal.
Then nu metal.
Doom Metal.
Hair Metal.
Progressive Metal.

And about 5 or 6 other types of "metal."

For freak's sake.

Don't call it a "Souls Like Game" - just call it a fantasy game. Or a scifi game. Or whatever.

But man, all the sub labeling....

/soapbox

[goatmeal]

In the meantime, I'd suggest copying and pasting anything you write (in this thread at least) to a txt file and saving it before you click "submit." If your post gets eaten again, you'll still have your original reply and just in case there's something in the reply that's "not playing nice" with the board we'd also be able to examine it.

Can't tell you how many messages I've lost on other forums before I came up with this "one simple trick" as well. Any kind of posting more than a sentence or two gets the Notepad treatment.

[MusicallyInspired]

Don't call it a "Souls Like Game" - just call it a fantasy game. Or a scifi game. Or whatever.

But man, all the sub labeling....

/soapbox

You could do that....but Skyrim, Eldin Ring, King's Quest, and Guild Wars are all very different kinds of games. "Fantasy game" isn't going to cut it.

[Tawmis]

Don't call it a "Souls Like Game" - just call it a fantasy game. Or a scifi game. Or whatever.
But man, all the sub labeling....
/soapbox

You could do that....but Skyrim, Eldin Ring, King's Quest, and Guild Wars are all very different kinds of games. "Fantasy game" isn't going to cut it.

See, it does to me. Skyrim is a fantasy game. King's Quest is. Guild Wars only deserves "MMO" next to it, for an additional label.

Yeah we can call them "Adventure Games" or whatever for King's Quest - but really, it's just a fantasy game.

Instead of "Souls like" - just say it's a stupid difficult fantasy game.

[Rath Darkblade]

In the meantime, I'd suggest copying and pasting anything you write (in this thread at least) to a txt file and saving it before you click "submit." If your post gets eaten again, you'll still have your original reply and just in case there's something in the reply that's "not playing nice" with the board we'd also be able to examine it.

^ This.

And also, have ye tried resetting yer browser lately or clearing cache?

And, of course, have ye tried another browser - see if the issue continues? (Like if yer using Chrome, try using Firefox on the forum and see if it keeps happening)

Yes, I reset my browser and clear my cache every time I log off a forum. So ... *shrug*

I hate when things get to many genres.

Remember when it was like rock and roll... and then there was heavy metal (using this since I am familiar with it to make a point in a second)...

Then thrash metal.
Then death metal.
Then black metal.
Then nu metal.
Doom Metal.
Hair Metal.
Progressive Metal.

And about 5 or 6 other types of "metal."

For freak's sake.

Don't forget stainless steel! And aluminium! And cast/wrought iron! And ...

[MusicallyInspired]

Don't call it a "Souls Like Game" - just call it a fantasy game. Or a scifi game. Or whatever.
But man, all the sub labeling....
/soapbox

You could do that....but Skyrim, Eldin Ring, King's Quest, and Guild Wars are all very different kinds of games. "Fantasy game" isn't going to cut it.

See, it does to me. Skyrim is a fantasy game. King's Quest is. Guild Wars only deserves "MMO" next to it, for an additional label.

Yeah we can call them "Adventure Games" or whatever for King's Quest - but really, it's just a fantasy game.

Instead of "Souls like" - just say it's a stupid difficult fantasy game.

Yes, that's all true. But it's not very helpful for categorization and advertising.

[DeadPoolX]

Don't call it a "Souls Like Game" - just call it a fantasy game. Or a scifi game. Or whatever.
But man, all the sub labeling....
/soapbox

You could do that....but Skyrim, Eldin Ring, King's Quest, and Guild Wars are all very different kinds of games. "Fantasy game" isn't going to cut it.

See, it does to me. Skyrim is a fantasy game. King's Quest is. Guild Wars only deserves "MMO" next to it, for an additional label.

Yeah we can call them "Adventure Games" or whatever for King's Quest - but really, it's just a fantasy game.

Instead of "Souls like" - just say it's a stupid difficult fantasy game.

To me it's really about how granular you want to get when classifying... well, anything.

For instance: Strategy is a huge genre, and sure, you could leave it at that and you wouldn't be wrong. However, what if you want to find a specific type of strategy game?

So let's say you wanted to play a Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game. Well, if you have that as a sub-genre, it'll be easier to find than looking at everything in Strategy.

Now let's assume you wanted to get even MORE specific and you're looking for an RTS that has tactical pause (which allows you to cue up orders when the game is paused instead of frantically clicking units in real time), so now you'd want to find Real-Time Strategy with Tactical Pause.

Yeah, it can get overly complex, but it's also useful if and when you want to find a specific type of game under the umbrella of a larger genre. As in the example above, it'll be much easier to find an RTS with Tactical Pause if there's a sub-category listed as that versus scouring the larger heading of Real-Time Strategy or worse yet, the massive category that is Strategy since it'd include every other type of strategy title in addition to RTS with Tactical Pause.

This is also why I think it's more useful to categorize games by game mechanics rather than content. Like you said, we could list King's Quest and Elden Ring as Fantasy, but they are nothing alike in how they play, so using Fantasy as a category is, at best, mildly helpful and at worst, unnecessarily confusing.

That said... sometimes the line between genres is incredibly blurry and up to personal interpretation more than anything else.

[notbobsmith]

Don't call it a "Souls Like Game" - just call it a fantasy game. Or a scifi game. Or whatever.
But man, all the sub labeling....
/soapbox

You could do that....but Skyrim, Eldin Ring, King's Quest, and Guild Wars are all very different kinds of games. "Fantasy game" isn't going to cut it.

See, it does to me. Skyrim is a fantasy game. King's Quest is. Guild Wars only deserves "MMO" next to it, for an additional label.

Yeah we can call them "Adventure Games" or whatever for King's Quest - but really, it's just a fantasy game.

Instead of "Souls like" - just say it's a stupid difficult fantasy game.

To me it's really about how granular you want to get when classifying... well, anything.

For instance: Strategy is a huge genre, and sure, you could leave it at that and you wouldn't be wrong. However, what if you want to find a specific type of strategy game?

So let's say you wanted to play a Real-Time Strategy (RTS) game. Well, if you have that as a sub-genre, it'll be easier to find than looking at everything in Strategy.

Now let's assume you wanted to get even MORE specific and you're looking for an RTS that has tactical pause (which allows you to cue up orders when the game is paused instead of frantically clicking units in real time), so now you'd want to find Real-Time Strategy with Tactical Pause.

Yeah, it can get overly complex, but it's also useful if and when you want to find a specific type of game under the umbrella of a larger genre. As in the example above, it'll be much easier to find an RTS with Tactical Pause if there's a sub-category listed as that versus scouring the larger heading of Real-Time Strategy or worse yet, the massive category that is Strategy since it'd include every other type of strategy title in addition to RTS with Tactical Pause.

This is also why I think it's more useful to categorize games by game mechanics rather than content. Like you said, we could list King's Quest and Elden Ring as Fantasy, but they are nothing alike in how they play, so using Fantasy as a category is, at best, mildly helpful and at worst, unnecessarily confusing.

That said... sometimes the line between genres is incredibly blurry and up to personal interpretation more than anything else.

You do need a little more granularity to figure out what kind of game something is. Probably the simplest way is to include the setting (sci-fi, fantasy, etc.) and genre (RPG, FPS, etc.). In the example you gave, Skyrim and King's Quest both have fantasy settings, but Skyrim is an RPG and King's Quest is an adventure. They are very different kinds of games and someone who might be looking for another game like Skyrim might not be interested in King's Quest. Likewise, Skyrim and Mass Effect are both RPGs, but Mass Effect has a sci-fi setting.

Like DeadPoolX said, you can get much more granular than that (and lots of games aren't easily classified), but setting + genre covers the basics.

[Tawmis]

You do need a little more granularity to figure out what kind of game something is. Probably the simplest way is to include the setting (sci-fi, fantasy, etc.) and genre (RPG, FPS, etc.). In the example you gave, Skyrim and King's Quest both have fantasy settings, but Skyrim is an RPG and King's Quest is an adventure. They are very different kinds of games and someone who might be looking for another game like Skyrim might not be interested in King's Quest. Likewise, Skyrim and Mass Effect are both RPGs, but Mass Effect has a sci-fi setting.
Like DeadPoolX said, you can get much more granular than that (and lots of games aren't easily classified), but setting + genre covers the basics.

While true, it's like pulling a thread on a sweater - and watching it all unravel.
And as DPX said, it can easily become one person's ... idea... as to what is what.
Like going back to music.
A co-worker and I discussed Guns n' Roses.
He calls them heavy metal. (Loud guitars, Axel had big hair, etc)
I call them grunge. (Their attire, their lyrics didn't really fit hair metal, or even general "metal" type lyrics).
Google it, and it might say rock. (Which, OK - these days everything that was heavy metal is now "rock" or classic rock) lol
So very much up to how someone views something.
And leads to confusion.
Like how this thread began discussing what is "souls like" for those, like me and Rath, who've not played this "souls like" type of game.

[MusicallyInspired]

Play it and you'll understand the need for the distinction.

I'm curious though. What would we call Roguelikes or Metroidvanias if we couldn't use those descriptors?

[Tawmis]

I'm curious though. What would we call Roguelikes or Metroidvanias if we couldn't use those descriptors?

See, to me when I hear Rogue-like, having grown up actually PLAYING Rogue...

This means a very basic, top down view of a dungeon.

Diablo is a very pretty "Rogue"-like game, though it's absolutely nothing like the original Rogue game where V, B, s, and W's were chasing you around the screen and you're finding ! potions that you have no idea what they are until you quaff them - and that's only a description that you can then name based off what it told you. Quaff a blue "!" and it says "A cool breeze washes over you"... name it cool breeze, because no idea what the does.

[Rath Darkblade]

You do need a little more granularity to figure out what kind of game something is. Probably the simplest way is to include the setting (sci-fi, fantasy, etc.) and genre (RPG, FPS, etc.). In the example you gave, Skyrim and King's Quest both have fantasy settings, but Skyrim is an RPG and King's Quest is an adventure. They are very different kinds of games and someone who might be looking for another game like Skyrim might not be interested in King's Quest. Likewise, Skyrim and Mass Effect are both RPGs, but Mass Effect has a sci-fi setting.
Like DeadPoolX said, you can get much more granular than that (and lots of games aren't easily classified), but setting + genre covers the basics.

While true, it's like pulling a thread on a sweater - and watching it all unravel.
And as DPX said, it can easily become one person's ... idea... as to what is what.
Like going back to music.
A co-worker and I discussed Guns n' Roses.
He calls them heavy metal. (Loud guitars, Axel had big hair, etc)
I call them grunge. (Their attire, their lyrics didn't really fit hair metal, or even general "metal" type lyrics).
Google it, and it might say rock. (Which, OK - these days everything that was heavy metal is now "rock" or classic rock) lol
So very much up to how someone views something.
And leads to confusion.
Like how this thread began discussing what is "souls like" for those, like me and Rath, who've not played this "souls like" type of game.

I thought the grunge 'genre' started in Seattle in the late 1980s? *confused* Guns 'n Roses started in L.A. in the early 1980s, playing with L.A. Guns and the like.

I always thought it was too bad how Guns 'n Roses self-destructed. I mean, I can see why - Axl was sometimes self-promoting, self-obsessed so-and-so. But he had stage presence. Slash, Duff, Matt and Izzy were and are all very talented. I haven't seen too much of the "new" G'n'R lineup to be able to judge, and frankly, I still think the "old" lineup is best. But they haven't done anything together since the 1990s.