Jagged Alliance 2 is overrated

[whatevername]

I would agree, but there is something really different in the way we - for the lack of a better word - old school gamers approach such games.

I am always fascinated when I watch my popamole friends play games. They are nice people and far from stupid but when it comes to games they seriously suffer from some form of ADD. I can't even blame them, they don't want to work for a game, they just want some entertainment and shut down for a few hours. But since they don't want to put any effort into understanding even the simplest of gameplay mechanics ("why can't my Vanguard use the Assault Rifle!? I am SO disappointed by this restriction!"; Bethesda does 'better' in this regard, by doing away with as many restrictions as possible. they have good reason to do that) even a game like Mass Effect can become too complex for them. They skip over every second dialogue and then complain that they don't know what to do (again: Quest compass anyone?) and don't understand whats going on. If something does not happen every other minute, the game gets boring to them. They just want to run around and shoot things and have fun and not think too much.

I recently coincidentally made one of my popamole friends play JA2 because I told him about the game and got him interested. He was unable to play it. Seriously. Every hour he would text me some shit complaint that simply came from the fact that he did neither read the manual nor put the smallest effort into understanding the interface (which is really good in JA2 and should be to a large degree self-explanatory. I only recently read the manual myself for the first time to see if I still missed things). He complained about sectors being taken back by the enemy (cause he didn't know about militias), he complained about his injured mercs getting increasingly worthless (cause he didn't know how to apply doctors/patients), he complained about mercs being annoying and disrespectful to him (cause they constantly died on him and he just let them rot in the dust).. the list goes on an on. Of course finer tactical stuff like stealth or night-ops or interrupts is completely lost on someone who even has problems hiring mercs in the first place ("where do I get other guys from, Anon?!") or does not know how to crouch or climb up buildings or even understand why he should do that.

They suffer from a severe lack of patience and simply are not prepared and willing (anymore) to put the slightest effort into understanding a game, thus they are overwhlemed with gameplay mechanics that to us seem uncomplicated. As a result, even a game like JA2 which seems to be easily accessible can become an insurmountable obstacle.

Tell him it's possible to play with 1 merc on insane "difficulty" without being wounded, maybe his brain will explode...

 

[80s Stallone]

JA2 is not overrated! It is underrated!

 

[The_scorpion]

The started shooting themselves completely on their own? no friendly fire involved?

 

[whatevername]

The started shooting themselves completely on their own? no friendly fire involved?

Some mercs bio says they won't do anything with some other merc. If you put Biff and Razor in the same squad, Razor will quit, etc. Usually he says he's gonna carve Biff into pieces lol.

 

[The_scorpion]

yeah. i just don't remember them actually shooting themselves unless you order one to shoot another. Then the targeted merc will return fire.