The Jimquisition: Weapon Durability, Fanbase Fragility

Durability is one of the reasons I think "System Shock 2" is overrated. (And, even more than Zelda, apparently, that durability applies ONLY to the player. Oh, look, another broken shotgun.) Sorry you're having DDoS issues, Jim; hopefully those responsible will sort themselves out and/or find something new to be angry about, soon.

Kraken

I imagine you're about snowed under right now Jim but I wanted to post a message of support. I am a massive Nintendo fanboy and fully believe as a company they often bring much of the grief you give them upon themselves. That said, the fact your site and reputation are both under attack is senseless. People simply can't expect there to be no dissenting opinion when it comes to Zelda - or any big franchise for that matter.

It's so laughable that Jim's score is getting singled out. On Metacritic there are 27 other reviews below the mystical 98% score. If you look at the raw numbers (without Metacritic rounding up), with Jim's score the mean average is 96.49. If ignore Jim's score the mean average increases to a huge 96.80.

I'm not an internet personality so I no idea how much you should react to trolls... BUT a piece on if and how metacritic scores actually effect developers income would be good. Not only to shut up folks who think devs don't get paid for anything less than an 85 meta-score...based on (from what I can tell) a single reported incident 5 years ago... But also to potentially expose an industry who mistreats it's staff, so people can see who they're both giving money too and rushing to defend (assuming any speculation outside the 'New Vegas' incident is to be believed)

So.................................... the weapons break. But you carry a hundred at a time?! Since when is Link a weapon boat anyway? Link the Ripper. He's supposed to have like, a wood sword, a silver sword, or a master sword. Right???

Michael

Wow... I knew it had a durability system but I didn't think it was THAT bad. Dark Souls has one too but I've never broken a weapon in that. Probably because it a more realistic system where you have to use them a long time before they break and I usually use the small amount of souls left from leveling up to fix my weapons and such whenever I'm in the area to do so. I think the lowest durability ever got was 10-ish during the first time I played DS and didn't realize right away there was a durability system.

Naterkix

The overgrown children throwing a hissy reminded me tgat I should pledge.

I love Zelda, and love Nintendo, but that dose not mean either are ever perfect, BotW to me is damn good game, but goddamn the durability system ruined a lot of fun at key moments in the middle of a fight, find a bad ass sword and it breaks with no way to repair it. Last thing that I disliked is the massive slowdown that happens in random areas of the game, I can fly from one end of the map to the other but get near some trees and slowmo happens. Would I agree to the 7 out of 10 ? Not entirely as I pass over those issues and soldier on, but I do see the two glaring issues stated could very easily (and have) ruin an amazing game.

Antonio B.

I, like Tersa, (another person who has commented here) have enjoyed your content for many years. Although I've never ever used Patreon before, I've decided to come support you. After viewing this Jimquisition and reading an article about the cyber attacks, Ive decided to vote with my wallet. Even though nerd culture has evolved into the monstrous thing at the end of Akira. I'm proud to support your personal criticism that will hopefully wake up the mindless drones out there. Thank god for YOU! (P.S. I just used the upgraded bomb to do 80% of my fights :P )

Ewoc

I used to support your Patreon in your early days on this site but I had to withdraw for financial reasons. However, after reading a comment in this particular video that talks about how your opinions of the Zelda series were cynical (and that it was somehow wrong), I was inspired to be your patron once again. I hope my humble donations will keep you going every month. Thank you.

I thought about buying this game, then I heard about the weapons durability stuff and decided nah. Then I read Jim's text review and thought well, maybe, if he can still like it despite this "feature". And now the fan reaction here has made me decide to not bother. I know that the fans do not care about sales going down, only about the aggregate review score going up, so this irony will be missed on them. Ah well.

I find it weird that BotW used a lot of the mechanics from the Elder Scrolls games, but Nintendo kept the weapon durability after the Elder Scrolls got rid of it. I think the Master Sword limited time use is really absurd. The Sword of Evil's Bane or that Seals the Darkness has a timer? The Goddess helped make that sword! I guess Jim is experiencing the same thing that happened when Jeff G at Gamespot gave Twilight Princess an 8.8/10.

Idnex

Guess I will wait till its emulated and code hacked so I can lock durability…that or the switch is jail broken and I can do anything with the game Back on topic I kinda liked how FO3 and NV did condition, only most things should be 3000-15000 and not 200-500. IMO the best way to do item durability is have items really tough like dark souls 1 or a bit tougher. Now toss on 200% damage bonuses for being at 95% or higher durability and give the enchantments and what not bonuses as well, 89-94% you just get damage bonuses that cap out max damage at 200%, then every 5 to 10% points the weapon gains some debuffs up to 40% of normal damage, basically at its best it gets a lot of bonuses when it hits 80%-90% or less it starts getting dull. Either way it should last a few dozen hits before it goes down a point. For guns you have cheap ammo or over powered ammo degrade it faster(you could do this in New Vegas) Then you can add more depth which I am sure modern devs hate is the more cheap or common the build of the weapon the less health it has the better it is the more health and bonuses it gets, but the median to go down a point should remain high. The whole point of in game smiting and weapon modification is balancing durability, power and added features/damage bonuses. I love me some stacking and tweaking and most games seem to hate it, Dark souls seems to like it one game then dial it back….it’s annoying just nerf it in PVP and stop removing it from the game….

I started contributing to your Patreon just because of this episode and the shameful behavior you've had to suffer. Keep up the great work Jim and thank god for you!

SomeoneVexMightKnow

Special little snowflakes getting their undies in a bunch. Ah, accusations of bribery. Truly the most childish and misunderstood of reactions. Might as well be screaming I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THE INDUSTRY!!

Dr. Judge, Private Eye

Good show Jim. I was recently bombarded with hate on my local forum for saying its a 8 or 9 at best. I played the wii u version. I don't like the outdated graphics or god awful stanima bar. It reminded me of the stamina bar in FfXV that you focus on more than the surroundings.