Is the 'game over' style of Uplink too harsh?

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Too harsh?

Yes
5
26%
No
13
68%
Not harsh enough.
1
5%
 
Total votes: 19
Lpoolboy
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Is the 'game over' style of Uplink too harsh?

Postby Lpoolboy » Sun May 06, 2007 2:00 am

Hi all, I saw this game on valve the other day and since my graphics card died and I've been looking for games with less emphasis on graphics till I can buy a new PC, I decided I'd plump for this. I've heard alot of good things and it was only £5. So why not?

Anyway, I started playing, a little apprehensively at first, not really knowing what to do even though I had completed the tutorial. I completed a few missions and went to bed a tad disappointed. The game seemed to be a glorified spreadsheet covered in 'RPG-paint', you accept a mission, grab/destroy/manipulate something and then you report back to whomever gave you the mission and collect the reward. Whoopee.

But I guess I've heard a little too much to give up on it there, so when I woke up I cracked on, and started delving a little deeper. And I was having fun, but suddenly I saw an oppurtunity, a door had opened and if I leapt through it I could be having alot more fun. I had just completed a mission in which I had to report on somebodies bank details (you can all see what's coming, can't you), it was easy enough, the guy had just over 100k in his account, I reported this to the kind people who were paying me around 6% of that sum and went on my merry way.
Then it hit me, ofcourse, that if I could find out how much money he has so easily, I could make that money my own so easily also, and if they hadn't tracked me the first time around I doubt they could do it a second.

So I made a note of the details I needed, my banks IP address and my account code (this was probably my downfall, I didn't think of this at the time, greed had gripped it's gluttonous hands around me) and I bounced over many servers, waltzed in and transferred the money. A zinch. I only transferred 50k, but I saw it as just a taster.

So far so good. Nothing had happened. No police email, no 'transfer denied'. It was all coming off.

Then my screen goes blank - 'Crap' I muttered, and nothing happened for a few seconds, 'it must be broken.' And as I was about to press ALT+CTRL+DELETE I got the message telling me they had destroyed my stuff and I would be booted. I was distraught, but it was fair, I had been stupid and now I was being punished.

So, I tried to log back in, thinking I wold have to scrape my way back up, but it turns out they had even taken away my character, I would have to re-register.

Now I'm sure you've all seen this argument a thousand times, but it's just that this strikes me as very harsh, to the point where it's kind off put me off starting again. Like it or not I bet this kind of thing has driven away many a potential long-term player. Surely they could just destroy your computer, meaning you would have to buy your software again, and maybe put your rank down by 3 or 4, but to make you start again. Ouch. This game doesn't mess around.

Sorry about the long post. What do you think?
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KingAl
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Postby KingAl » Sun May 06, 2007 2:22 am

The harshness of the 'game over' is from my perspective integral to its tense atmosphere.
Stewsburntmonkey
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Postby Stewsburntmonkey » Sun May 06, 2007 2:55 am

You can avoid it for the most part if you get the security upgrades for your system. Also it is only the big hacks (like banks) that will end the game. For small hacks getting caught just means fines.

If you want to cheat a little you can make backup copies of your .usr file.

In any event the fun of the game is figuring things out. Once you have things figured out you can "beat" the game in a matter of minutes. If it were a longer game the finality of getting caught on a big hack would be a serious issue, but as it is you actually don't lose much.
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ChasM
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penicillin

Postby ChasM » Mon May 07, 2007 10:47 am

Lpoolboy wrote:Ouch. This game doesn't mess around.


If you didn't learn anything from your failure, then it wasn't harsh enough.
I refer you to results of your own poll. Get over it. The challenge Uplink presents is irresistable.
Yes, the tension is high in this game. Seems directly proportional to how evil the hack is.
Yes Virginia, real banks use spreadsheets. But I think what's under the hood in Uplink is a database.
A glorified database covered in 'RPG-paint' would be more accurate.
Did you notice that drag-and-drop is inverted? A program is drag-and-dropped onto the data. Hmmm...

I'm sorry to hear that your graphics card died. If you had tried to hack in "Second Life" they'd ban you from all gameplay, or so I've heard.
That door you just 'leapt through' was put there with no welcome mat. Best of luck to you.

When you come to grips with your own greed, please try it again. Let us know your progress/failure.
This forum will give you some of the best posts you'll ever see on the Internet.

For example:
What birthday gift is best for the man who has everything?
<see Post subject: for punchline>
My only point here is that topics seem to go off-topic a lot. No one here has much self-discipline.
Be greedy. I have an agent that stole 2,000k credits! There isn't even that much for purchase. What was I thinking?
(-: Chas.M. :-)
Lpoolboy
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Postby Lpoolboy » Mon May 07, 2007 5:11 pm

Thanks for the comments guys. I suppose the game is different to most others with the way it handles these things. Atleast it gives you the choice to do what I did.
Oh and Chas, I'm allergic to penicillin. I didn't get the joke anyway. 8)

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