Recent reviews by Sibernethy

Security issues, security issues, security issues, security issues, security issues. VRChat is one of the most frequently hacked and screwed around with games I've ever played. They really made a lot of people angry this time with the recent raid from bluescreeners. Fix your security problems or we will exodus in mass and find another place to congregate at.

Before I give my reason for the opinion I have, let me tell you guys, that Shop Titans as a game, was very fun to play. I enjoyed playing it for a good several months. I loved the shopkeeper theme, the basic mechanics of gameplay are solid, and in many ways, it hits all the right notes. I hate having to write this review or that it's come to this. However,

Kabam recently announced a 4th paid worker, a summoner that gives you access to familiars that boost the stats of Champions. Sounds great, right?

It's at this point that I begin to see the greed of the company and the expendability of the playerbase. I put easily $150 into Shop Titans since I started playing somewhere around August 2021, through various purchases, including all 3 existing paid workers, the $9.99 a month for the monthly subscription service called Royal Merchant, which let's be honest, we all get only because it allows us to repair items with gold. The rest of what it offers is mostly useless and the loyalty program is mostly littered with cosmetic items.

Now, regarding my own choices as a player, I am responsible for spending $150 on the game, but it neither helps the game nor me as a player when my cash investments into the game become obsolete every time Kabam adds a new important NPC. And $150 doesn't mean a damn thing to the dev team anyway because they make far more than that from all the other players collectively.

The game also did me really dirty the other day. I was 4 Ascension shards away from leveling up my Potions line to the point where I could get a 5% to multicraft items and I was so looking forward to that. I had about 10-15 chests saved up for moments like this. I went through every single one of them without even getting a single shard. Even the lowliest wooden chest would have been adequate to hit once for the shards I needed. I spent 250 in gems which I happened to have on more chests (all wooden). Still nothing. I got a whole bunch of research scrolls but no ascensions.

Now I have no evidence to back this claim but it honestly felt like the game knew I needed those last 4 shards so it just straight up wouldn't give them to me through normal means. I ended up having to buy a pack of 35 for $9.99, which I was not happy about. I felt manipulated and cheated, and honestly, this is how games like Shop Titans work nowadays. This game preys on your impatience, your frustration, and the in-game NPCs complain at you when you refuse their $19.99 offers, which is manipulative. It sucks, and while it comes as no surprise to the average seasoned video game player that games these days operate like this, it sucks more when you already like the game and enjoy playing it, only for it to hit you with this crap later.

Ladies and gents, the giant fatal flaw and the cardinal sin of F2P games is that you will never be rich enough to satisfy the beast. It will always keep wanting more and more from you just so you can keep up. And it's for this reason I'm leaving the Shop Titans community as well as the game.

My friends that play this game regularly warned me about the unfair, cutthroat tactics of many players in this game, and I witnessed it firsthand as well as on a stream. People come in, they bet all-in right off the bat, before they know what cards show up, and they hold the game hostage for the other players. I was folding almost every single game because I did not want to bet my entire balance every match they did this. I'm just glad someone told me about this before I started playing so I caught on fast and didn't lose my money.

There is also currently no way to report cheaters in this game so they are prolific in the public servers. And I've heard reports of people in the dev team, "sleeping" with these cheaters, gaming the system to encourage losing players to buy more chips and make more sales for the game. I don't know if this is true, but it bears close examination. Any system in online games, not properly designed, will be abused, and this game is no exception.

This is a disgrace to the world of poker. I'm sticking with Hoyle Casino. At least there, I don't have to worry about Chuckles the Cheat (See Youtube).

I like games with a sense of humor and Streets of Rogue gave me more than a few laughs! The character class descriptions are on point. Besides the comedic value of the game, for an alpha, the gameplay is solid, with no detectable bugs that I can see, and the chaotic nature of the game, with its many adjustable parameters ensures for a long night of entertainment.

One thing I REALLY love about this game is the capacity it has for "themed" multiplayer gameplay. For example, I love coming up with ideas for how to pair one class with another, such as Jock + Hacker, inspired by the movie Freak The Mighty. Other interesting pairings could be the Assassin, Slavemaster, and Thief (Partners in Crime), or Vampire + Comedian (Dark Humor), the possibilities are endless, especially with the ability to make custom characters.

Highly recommend this game!

If nothing else, get this game for the comedic value. The two main characters are the dynamic duo for sure! I love any game where the hero(es) is a complete doofus but somehow he stays happy, cheerful, and completely oblivious to the effects of his misadventures. :P

A fun little puzzle game, perfect for people want a challenging brainteaser (trust me, it'll taunt your brain many times). Some people in my Vidme audience have expressed interest in playing it as well. Simple, fun, inviting, and reminds me of the games you play on your phone!

Stardew Valley made me appreciate friendships a lot more. Also made me more thoughtful of what to get my friends and family for Christmas! The game itself is like a better written Animal Crossing. Different NPCs react differently to how you treat them. And they send you nice things through the mail if you're really on good terms with them. :)

Aside from that, it's a fun game to play if you're wanting a break from competitive, fast paced, stressful combat games or just want something lighthearted to play.

When getting this game, I highly recommend visiting the wiki often and doing some research while playing, especially for the first time. It's quite involved, especially regarding the seasonal cycle and calender events.

But yeah, this is one of my favorites!

The hostility against newcomers is frightening.

I played CS:S for the first time today. I had hesitated for a long, long time due to the amount of footage I've seen of 10-year-old kids yelling and screaming their heads off at other players. So I launch the game and pick a server to watch. Naturally, being a beginner, I went for one of those "newcomer-friendly" servers.

The second I open my mouth to say I've never played this game before, there were people voting to mute me. And it's not only me that was exposed to this kind of treatment. They can't stand each other and yet they taunt, bully, mock, and rage at all the other players on the server. It's like a tribe of wild animals.

I have never been scared out of an entire genre in 30 minutes. This game is not friendly towards newcomers at all, and I can't with good conscience recommend this game, despite its enormous popularity. I said nothing bad towards anybody else and this is how I get welcomed into CS:S, a complete stranger, that nobody even knows.

If you can stomach it, then go play it and have fun. I'm saying this game is not for everyone and certainly not for me. If this is how people act on "newcomer-friendly" servers, I can just guess how well received new players will be anywhere else. I'm not even going to try CS:GO. Sorry, but I'm turned off from FPS games. If this is how people always treat each other, I'm sticking to Garry's Mod.