Category Archives: Poll Questions

• Weekly polls to stimulate interesting and intelligent discussion

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In case you don’t know, the Fourth Wall is the imaginary “wall” at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set.

I don’t know if it’s used for gaming or even if it’s been broken in games or mods before, but I thought it would make an interesting question.

Personally, I think it would be fun in a humorous mod but not in a serious mod because it would break the immersion for me.

If it has been used in mods, which ones?

Last week I asked Would you play a mod that was purposefully trying to be offensive? and naturally the discussion touched on what is and isn’t offensive. So this week I have decided to allow that discussion more freedom.

Let me start by saying that personally none of the items in the poll are acceptable for me in a HALF-LIFE game. I am not saying that they shouldn’t appear in other games but that I don’t think it’s suitable/acceptable in a Half-Life game. Valve have worked hard to set a certain tone within the games and focus on other elements rather than simple shock value and for that I am glad.

This is a tough question to broach. In fact, I am not even sure that I should start this discussion. I’ve used the image but I am talking about all types of offensive content.

Personally, I dislike almost anything outside of the basic idea of killing to save my planet and I know that’s naive considering the game genre I play but I do feel that some things are off-limits.

Now I know that nobody reading this even remotely believes that Episode Three will be anything but incredible BUT I can’t get the thought out of my head.

For this poll question I am specifically thinking about people who post reviews and recommendation images here on PP.

I am not talking about playing a mod on different difficulty settings, but the general idea of going back to the mod after a few months and playing it again.

In the HunterVille mapping competition, one of the “Honourable Mentions” starts without a weapon. Unfortunately I didn´t find the crowbar the author placed near the beginning, so I had to struggle through until I found another one (It was right next to me, so it was completely my fault!)

At the beginning I was incredibly frustrated, but that frustration turned to motivation quite quickly. I knew I must have missed something but I wanted to see if I could still finish the map.

As much as I follow any other game, I have been following Brink. It’s not exactly my style of game but the details are incredible.

The Container City is a complete dream for me and if there is a proper SP version then I may even buy it just for that, once it comes down in price of course!

I have to admit I am pretty lazy when it comes to weapon selection.

Generally use what I have in my hand unless it’s against Worker antlions, then I try and use the shotgun, just for the splatter effect.

As with all my “What would Freeman…”, the question relates to BEFORE the Black Mesa incident.

Let’s see if we can get a sort of consensus of his character.

This question relates to what would happen if Freeman had won the lottery. And when I say “won” I mean a BIG win, at least 20 million Dollars.

As with all my “What would Freeman…”, the question relates to BEFORE the Black Mesa incident.

Let’s see if we can get a sort of consensus of his character.

To be honest, I’m not sure what kind of pet, if any, if would have. I suppose the idea of a dog by his side and him walking in the woods is appealing to me, but at the same time he might not have had a pet at all.

As with all my “What would Freeman…”, the question relates to BEFORE the Black Mesa incident. Let’s see if we can get a sort of consensus of his character.

This week, I ask about the kind of music he listens to. As with last week, you can choose a number of options. This week you have a maximum of two votes.

As with all my “What would Freeman…”, the question relates to BEFORE the Black Mesa incident. Let’s see if we can get a sort of consensus of his character.

This week, I ask about the type of holidays he would have taken. You can choose a number of options this week.

What do we really know about Gordon Freeman? Not that much. I am sure many of you have wondered about his life outside of Black Mesa, so this could be the first of many fun polls, based around the idea of:
What Would Freeman Do?

This poll question was inspired by Jasper. He emailed me to suggest a poll about the current mod drought and how it affected us playing our favourite mods.

I jiggled it a little to wonder whether people saved mods for rainy days (or droughts!).

This is a really important question because I believe there are thousands of players who have never heard of mods and contacting them is very difficult.

Most of the newer players will have heard of them, probably through there friends or school mates, but what about older players, who just walk into a store and buy the game.

I suppose this could depend on the enemy in question but if I think about it I always prefer to take out my enemies from a distance, especially Hunters!

Maybe that’s why I love the crossbow and grenades.

You don’t see it too often but when you do it can be as frustrating as hell – endless streams of enemies, poring out of some entrance with an almost demon passion.

On the surface I would say that there is never any place for this game mechanic in a normal map or mod, but there are times when a designer may want to challenge your preconception that you are invincible.

This week’s poll question is from Jasper who wonders about some sort of submarine vehicle or adventure in Episode 3.

Perhaps the best way to infiltrate the Combine base around the Borealis would be underwater? Of course, that depends on how much is left by the time Gordon gets there.

About two months ago jjawinte wrote something that I have been pondering for a while. He said:

Valve couldn’t have done it better for the Half Life franchise. Subtle changes have been made through the years of course, but they never strayed from the anchoring elements of the story, and should the franchise continue further, I pray that they never do.

This week’s poll is taken from the discussion from Outpost 16 where Alyx says “fuck“. Initially the discussion started out as to whether it was out of character for her but quickly moved onto whether it fitted the HL universe.

I am torn.

I’m not really a big fan of vehicles in games, but I fully appreciate how they break up gameplay, allow players the opportunity to cover large distances etc.

Each vehicle in the Half-Life series has had the environment matched to it. Whilst that might sound obvious it doesn’t always seem to work that way in mods or even in games.

I loved Opposing Force and presume you did too. The inclusion of new enemies was very important and these enemies, called Race X have never been seen since and too my knowledge never been acknowledged in Half-Life 2 or the episodes (please correct me if I am wrong).

So, the poll question simple: Would you like to see the return of Race X?

I understand why Valve make other games, I do, I just don’t like it. I want the best Episode 3 they can make and I want it now.

In addition I want a series of video tutorials for making single player mods, a book and even paid forum support. Did I mention I want it NOW!?

Have you ever noticed how different Alyx is in HL2, HL2: EP1 and HL2: EP2? I have to admit that I didn’t until Jasper pointed it out to me and suggested this poll question.

Let’s look a little closer, and these are Jasper’s descriptions, so feel free to compare and contrast each Alyx with your observations.