Path: ...!local-3.nntp.ord.giganews.com!Xl.tags.giganews.com!local-2.nntp.ord.giganews.com!news.giganews.com.POSTED!not-for-mail NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 09 Nov 2024 16:17:04 +0000 From: Spalls Hurgenson Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action Subject: STALKER 2... Gone Gold Date: Sat, 09 Nov 2024 11:16:48 -0500 Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 2.0/32.652 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Lines: 61 X-Usenet-Provider: http://www.giganews.com X-Trace: sv3-fnD4vJpwZVLbFrB5pMVlcq50O5IRe4M/ckDYvCJQzF38Ggm8D40mh7JziTK1Krrjo6kVXjE4CCxCHoE!UtlpCDyjHnlKsozJLt12eldMI7o+F4Pd1uhLOfFX5c1EuCImWqp6iDDnfLRosRdKVOU+Em9P X-Complaints-To: abuse@giganews.com X-DMCA-Notifications: http://www.giganews.com/info/dmca.html X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Please be sure to forward a copy of ALL headers X-Abuse-and-DMCA-Info: Otherwise we will be unable to process your complaint properly X-Postfilter: 1.3.40 Bytes: 3696 So reportedly STALKER 2 has 'gone gold', that is, its reached its final 'ready for release, no more features or fixes added' version. It has a reported released date of November 20th of this year. Will it really make it? It's been a rough road for STALKER 2, with many failed attempts to first get it off the ground, and then a long development cycle (and missed release dates) for its current iteration. Its understandable if some look askance at this latest announcement; history would be on their side, after all. But I think this time, it's really going to happen. I'm somewhat torn about the news. I have a mixed relationship with the STALKER games. I admire what they try to do, even as much as I damn them for their actual implementation. There's a lot of fun to be had in the STALKER games, but a lot to dislike too. I got a lot of enjoyment playing them even as I hated the experience. It's a weird franchise. So news about the STALKER 2 release? I'm similarly ambivalent. A part of me wants to rush out and buy it right away [Not gonna happen. Not so soon after the "Mechwarrior 5: Clans" reminded me of the folly of doing so] but another part says, 'Wait, wait. Remember all the bits you disliked about "STALKER" and "Clear Skies" and "Call of Pripyat". Wait a few months or years until the cost has gone down, and the price of your disappointment is less severe'. There's no rush, after all. Except then I remember Ukraine, and wonder if maybe there is a rush... especially since it seems likely the US is going to abandon that ally in a few months (Putin could never manage to win in Ukraine through force of arms, but he has certainly has talent for leveraging American idiots to his advantage). So there's a big part of me that wants to buy STALKER 2 just to show support --Slava Ukraini!-- for that nation through the purchase of their best video game. Although that money would probably be better spent just sending to a pro-Ukraine charity. So that's what I'll probably do instead. [Who knew that a decision about a buying a video game might have such vital geo-political consequences? ;-)] Still, even ignoring such topics and whether or not I'd actually LIKE the game, it still excites me just to see the game actually get released. It's been a road fourteen years long (a development cycle as protracted as "Duke Nukem Forever"!) and even if the actual game isn't to my taste, I hope it succeeds. It's creation has obviously been a labor of love for its developers, and the franchise has been foundational to modern PC gaming. Now if only it actually gets released. ;-)