Let's Play / Master Classes Archive

There isn't one.

What questions do you have?

Just the queue for LP's and its the very first post in this thread

I'm working on it. Expect it up in a few days once I finish it.

Too many Let's Play's guys. Seriously. It's hard to follow more than two at once. If you actually want feedback please stop starting them unless you're totally committed to finishing.

I think he's right. I was about to say something about this myself. I mean, we have two Pokemans going on right now. That's a bit much, you know?

You guys do know that the queue has all but ran dry, right? There probably aren't going to be any new Let's Plays for a while.

Thank god, I've been drowning in these things for the last month. Don't get me wrong, I love a good Let's Play!, but I've had to ignore the majority of them for a while now because the volume of content that is being created is simply overwhelming.

Sorry, I'm to blame for the double dose of Pokemon since I wanted to do mine while my fiancee was out of town. You guys know I'm good for finishing, though.

It's not the quality of the let's play threads that is the problem, it's that you aren't going to get much feedback when there's over a dozen active. That's disappointing for everyone, because these things are a lot of work for the leader.

Yeah, this is part of the reason I kind of put mine on hiatus (well, that and work). I knew when I didn't have the time to read every LP, other people wouldn't have the time for mine.

That said, I'm hoping to get a good number of updates through the 21st or so.

HOORAY! REJOICE! *dances around*

Oh god, I think I love Bard's Tale too much.

Also, the style of the BT LP is golden.

And I agree! With the amount of threads available, not everyone's going to be able to catch them all, and to some games this is anathema. All I'm saying is that it'll solve itself in a few months time when the threads start to finish up one after another and the old stuff might (might!) get revived with room to breathe. And by then the LP fad will have worn out and only the really dedicated hanger-ons will still be doing them.

It means never having to feel bad for longish delays between postings though!

If this board was organized like, say, a TV network, trying to hit various target audiences, we'd probably have a lot fewer. But instead it goes by the "That looks fun, I wanna try too" method so we get some overlap and nobody can really read everything. I don't think that's bad. The writers aren't pressured to keep a certain pace or achieve a certain level of quality because they got the "JRPG slot" for the next six months or whatever.

I don't know how long all the currently running games are but I wonder how long it'll be before things wind down again.

I predicted the LP fad would die out in like a month, and that was three months ago. Now we have more than ever.

Gamespite <3 LP threads CONFIRMED.

I always try to choose the lite-RPG games, because they have some decisions the crowd can toss in, but then I'm not stuck playing little by little through a 40+ hour epic quest. That's probably the biggest problem with the flood of LPs- none of the RPGs are done and gone before more games come in from the queue (not that I'm not enjoying the ones I can keep up with).

I probably won't be done with mine until the end of the month, for what that's worth. By my count, I have 14 more updates; I might get another one done today.

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing fewer RPGs and more action-y games, provided they are written by someone who knows the game and can show everything off. (Example: Tomm's LP of Ninja Gaiden would be phenominal.)

...says the guy who has done two LPs to date, both RPGs.

i thought about it, but then i realised that i'd get too sucked into a game to bother screenshotting, so i said forget it.

I kind of agree with this, but I think the problem is that it's much easier to go through an RPG with screenshots than an action game. The Ys III one that I've been working on is a bit difficult to write since explaining strategies through text and screenshots (let alone getting screenshots of boss battles) is pretty difficult. I suppose one solution is doing a video Let's Play, but I don't know how much people would like talking over a video.

There's some program that'll take a bazillion screenshots every time the screen changes... in bmp format. Or find some way to record videos and then screenshot the hell out of it while watching the video. Zithuan used one of those for Kagero, which is kinda actiony.

Well, one idea I thought of on ZSNES is to record your play, then rewatch the video and take screenshots. That way you don't have to worry about taking shots interfering with your play or vice versa.

EDIT: Preempted!

Problem with video LP's, in my opinion, is that they lack the element of condensation that's one of the things makes the format so appealing in the first place.

I do agree with the action games sentiment, though the nature of action makes it, as mentioned, a lot harder to really go over. Something like, say, a LET'S PLAY GOD HAND would be a great thing, but the player would probably have to go...one handed.

I suppose the other thing you can do is use something like Joy2Key and a controller, and map the screenshot button to one of the triggers on a controller (which doesn't help so much with games that need to use the L/R buttons). At least that way you don't have to hit a screenshot button on the keyboard.

Honestly, I've derived a lot of pleasure from watching video LPs. One of my favorite LPer does videos exclusively, and he's almost always interesting to watch.

It may take a bit more time, but it helps to see an action game flow like that. RPGs have a lot of filler time that can easily be condensed. But how would you show the action in a game like Hagane through screenshots? I just can't imagine that format working well.

They've got to be done well. People are telling me my MM3 LP is going pretty good, but I script the entire video before recording it. I don't think I have what it takes to record it "live".

For an example of someone who does, look up ProtonJonSA on youtube.

I'LL WRITE IT, AND WE'LL DO IT LIVE.

The Sonic 2006 LP was a "live" recording, which made the pain all the more palpable. My favorite one was probably Maxwell Adams (and crew)'s Resident Evil 4 LP (which isn't in the archive, but is still living on the SA forums). Both of those, interestingly enough, involve groups of people.

I like video LPs, but when it's handled poorly, it can get pretty bad. Sometimes, you don't even need to speak, though. The Siren LP uses subtitles, which does an excellent job of maintaining the creepy atmosphere of the game while remaining informative.

I can read LPs at work but I can't look at streaming video. Thus, video LPs suck.

Doing this with an action game and screenshots is considerably more difficult. I guess I attempted to do something similarly when rising to prove my NES-penis was as big as Tomm's. If anyone wants an example of possible things to do with an action game LP:

Beating Ninja Gaiden in One Life: A Pictorial Essay

Saga Frontier! I totally want in on this one if there's still a free slot and I'll play anyone except T260-G or Asellus (you know, the two good characters), as I've fished both of their quests twice and never touched anyone else for more than an hour. Come on, people, this is the SF equivalent of offering to play a cleric!

I'm also not above ripping my copy to ISO and mailing it half-way across the country if someone needs one (is a DualShock 3 plug and play in XP with USB? I've been missing the wireless receiver to my good logitech PC controller since my last move).