Henroid

Blizzard more or less called GamerGate out as a bunch of bullshit artists trying to mask their hate, at the opening of BlizzCon. GamerGate took to saying "They weren't talking about us" and almost immediately official Blizzard sources were saying, "Yes we were." So y'know, expect more of GooberGate's crap in response. Also, on the WoWhead website (guide / data site for World of Warcraft) a lady just mentioned the opening statement being critical of GamerGate, and she is now getting a ton of harassment and hate mail. How the fuck, that was fast.

I'm kinda shocked at peoples' reaction to the art here, especially regarding calling it 'bland' or saying it's the same as everything else. We're in an industry drowning with "NO MAKE THINGS SUPER SERIOUS GRAPHICS" and the last year or two has been a departure from that shit (see: Splatoon).

Milo is shockingly American for someone that's actually English.

My computer is now up and running. Still getting Windows and my browser sorted as far as font and other settings go, but the rest will be cake. I'm just happy to have my own goddamn computer again.

Also, Edit - Also also,

Anita's involvement in this is so weird. It was like a week and a half after the Zoe thing broke out, she just so happened to have an episode of Tropes vs. Women ready. It fired up (what would become) GamerGate, she said they were as usual full of shit, and also relayed how she can relate to what was happening to Zoe in that it was just attacks on women. Which GG spun as "Anita got herself involved for attention." As if she needs permission to comment on something happening to not her. Also, is that ZALB shirt pro-ZALB or anti-ZALB?

Dunno how many folks follow Sarkeesian on Twitter, but she just posted this. Apparently it's from a Call of Duty trailer. I always thought that game had a "gritty 'realism' " thing going on as far as its appeal / target audience. This is the most arbitrary-as-fuck sex-appeal play I've seen ever.

Not only is candy super discounted but I get my employee discount on top of that.

Apparently Goobergate is using all its sockpuppet / bot accounts to mass report people on Twitter now for - get ready for it - spam. It kinda seems like the final cries of the beast, flailing its limbs around, trying to give one last "fuck you" to everyone. And yet it is ironically silent.

A price that cheap would make me suspicious. I made sure all the stuff I was buying was from Newegg directly. I've always been suspicious of sites allowing outside vendors to sell things through them, and only needed one incident to have that suspicion confirmed. A few years ago my mother's printer died and she wanted a new one, but the same model. Which is fair enough to ask for, so I found exactly one on Amazon. But it was from a non-Amazon vendor. I warned her about it, she wanted it anyway. On arrival, we found that they didn't pack the ink properly for shipping, and it spilled all over the place, including the internal components of the printer. Because it wasn't Amazon directly (just indirectly) my mother couldn't get a refund through them, and the vendor refused to refund even though we shipped it back. So yep. I am very brand-name driven in this kinda shit.

I ended up going with Newegg. All I needed to fix my computer was a new copy of Windows, a new DVD drive, and a new HDD. That was like $200. But then I realized I should get a new surge protector and I let a friend talk me into getting a (very short-term) UPS/surge protector. Also I wanna run a write under the house from my room to where the router is so I got a 40 foot CAT5 cable for $15. Remember when they used to be like $1 or $2 per foot? Thanks WiFi hard-ons! So yeah altogether I may have just dropped $300 BUT WHATEVER I want my life to have some normalcy; me being in the comfort of my room to be a nerd.

The only extent I'm willing to give the "video games lead to increased aggression" a handshake is under specific circumstances. And those circumstances go beyond video games. Basically if someone grows up participating in a competitive activity and their parents and friends are hands-off with it and the lessons it could teach, you'll end up with someone growing up not accepting losing / not getting what they want well, and they'll probably just lash out as a result, not having been taught you can rein that bullshit in. Or should. Many comments I've seen against GG have been pointing out that 'gamers' are trained to win. Which I mean, yeah, you want to win the game, and if you're the type of person whose life revolves around one thing you're going to relate all your life experiences to that one thing. It's almost sad in a way.

Where would you folks recommend I order PC parts from online? I've got things squared away and can finally order for / repair my months-dead PC.

Turtling kinda gives breathing room to explore what things actually are though, and to test their effectiveness. Otherwise it's like playing just one race in a game; you don't know what other functions in the game are capable of if you don't take the time to figure it out.

Warcraft 3 is the RTS that broke my habit of using turtling strategies in online matches (I still do it in campaign / story levels). The game put an emphasis on your standing army being your best defense, way stronger than any defensive structure you could build. And of course when you have a standing army in WC3, you may as well go out and level your hero. You may engage the enemy also. Crush some expansion they're making, maybe? It wasn't until this podcast that I considered how much of an impact WC3 had on my playstyle. I'd since gone back to Warcraft 2, Starcraft, and Total Annihilation, and playing them was REALLY different than my typical shenanigans. As a quick anecdote: I once played a round of WC3 against someone that flipped their shit at me because I had a tower built near my lumberjacking peons. He went crazy bananas about me being a towering baby - it was ONE tower, not a wall of them.

Even Howard Stern got over the "PFFT REAL MEN KNOW HOW TO GET LAID" shtick over a decade ago. Mike Cernovich is a true cro-magnon.

Junior Mints retweeted this:

What the hell difference is that going to make? I mean, to 'help' GamerGate.

I'm at the point where Pardo is discussing the game speed in Starcraft, and man... Never considered the implications of that. I mean at a competitive level at least; I certainly thought about it when playing the campaign once in a while. Edit - I really like Rob's outlook or theory on game design, when it comes to RTS' at least. It certainly isn't universal truth but it does make sense.

Just a few minutes in but Rob Pardo is a hell of a get for a first episode.

Isn't that where Far Cry 3 takes place?

That's a good point. I mean Bill O'Reilly going on The Daily Show doesn't result in me going, "Ugh, I hate Jon Stewart." Bill is so toxic and aggressive on his own show that it takes him being on someone else's for me to be able to listen to what he's saying. There's been a time or two where I at least understood where he came from on things (but this was like 8 years ago, can't remember the specifics). He's an oddball and I still don't like him overall, but I'm not going to let his very presence ruin something. Especially over one appearance. This anti-feminist campaign is so ridiculous in how it handles bridge burning. They're truly making themselves to be an island, all alone.

Telling Colbert to talk to Adam Baldwin is probably a big mistake, because the odds of them knowing each other personally / working together is WAY higher than Baldwin actually knowing any of the GamerGate chumps. Which is to say, his frankness will either put Colbert off, or Baldwin will rein in the crazy and not represent GamerGate how its members want it represented. Also that "thunderfoot" guy is crazy. How is Anita Sarkeesian getting MORE and BIGGER air time / recognition a "nail in her coffin"? Unless that was some sort of threat he was making to her.

Put his story into comic form.

There's too much content surrounding my life to digest for me to pay attention to baseball. I'm not against it, but it just didn't make the cut on what I desire most. So that said, I can't wait for the World Series to end because it's all anyone talks about at work. It'd be one thing if it was a sometimes thing, but all the time is like . ... also everyone at work is a filthy San Francisco fan and our security guy and I are the only Oakland folks. REPRESENT. Edit - I forget the emoticons are different on this forum, it's always a surprise to see my sentiments reversed or otherwise twisted.