feelthedarkness

I hope game devs build/include "Rift Mode" where the targeting reticule and the camera are controlled independently.

Also, the obvious Idle Thumbs enthusiast tie in is that Valve hired Clint Hocking, and we haven't really heard anything from him. I want to assume they put him on HL3, converting it to some kind of systematic open world thing.

I'm not sure I agree with this! I think the high profile single player FPS has plenty of life. Far Cry 3, Bioshock Infinite, and even Metro Last Light were big games, and the criticism (of BSI and even FC3) wasn't due to the nature of the games, but the narrative. Gordon gunning down hundreds of aliens IS the plot of Half Life, so there isn't the same dissonance as BSI. Part of me wonders if they're are increasingly disinterested in games that aren't ongoing revenue sources?

Women like action movies and games just fine. The idea is to make things and not treat women like property for male amusement.

No amount of cajoling or rephrasing is going to change the idea that the problem lies with the current social structure that devalues women in exchange for social, financial, and political dominance.

One last time, the things you are suggesting (explicitly gendered games, the types of things in them) are the very same, exact things, the women (and men) of this thread, and video series are fighting against. games are already being made largely as "male" games, and the results have been very negative for women, both socially and professionally. You really need to try listen to what these women are saying and rethink this.

I've been meaning to check this out.

This sounds like a game that would just reinforce gender stereotypes, when this larger conversation is about how damaging gender stereotypes are. Also, one of the big problems in the industry is there is an extremely low professional participation rate among women, both on the production and journalistic end. I'm sure it was covered in this thread, but when they were testing The Last of Us, ND had to INSIST they include any women, because the testing company had none.

our current era is defined by media that bears no resemblance to people's real lives. this forum exists as a monument to fantasy! i think you need to let go of some of these ideas about gender.

Man, The Sarah Connor Chronicles was really fun, even when it was ridiculous (Terminator in 1920s, in a Newsreel scene). I wish that show stuck around. Also, my earliest web/game memories was posting on some kind of forum thing called HAWKEYES BAR & GRILL on Prodigy in 1993/94.

look it's just not realistic to have women in the FBI in that era, fighting aliens.

Wow. 1,000 dark, dark comments already. Whoever wondered why people might be reluctant to identify as gamers, feast on those nuggets. Me? I identify as "youtube commenter"

Also, I say this in good fun, but you're not promised content tailored to your exact preference with the Season Pass. You're getting stuff.

I agree with Badfinger here. I think they also might be playing around with their combat mechanics in a setting that compliments only that. A lot of effort went into developing the weapons, and vigors, gear, etc... So I see a logic in them just playing around with that stuff, putting it through it's paces without having to consider narrative, which many felt was often in conflict with the mechanics. Especially in light of the hints that they are working on a narrative focused expansion. "Turning a profit" is also keeping hundreds of people employed, housed, and fed. This is one of the least exploitative ways they could do it.

That is a good review, thanks for sharing that. I'm curious what people thought about why the final thing that happens, chronologically is her running into Burdmoore during the blackout? It's never too late to live the life you want? Sort of unrelated, but I kept thinking about the movie The Conformist during the Italian sections, the intersections of class and post fascist Italy, and gorgeous villas.

I don't think a combat arena to play with those mechanics is that bad. I can easily see people being disappointed that it isn't the DLC content they wanted. I enjoyed the combat, but I also agree that the combat's intersection with the story got a bit muddled. I didn't grab Dunwall City Trials until the Steam Sale.

I finally watched Upstream Color this weekend. I love that this is his followup to Primer. I think the connections in UC are spectacular, the color coordination of the scenes, and the narrative, and the audio. Really something else, and surprisingly coherent for a movie this dreamlike.

I finished The Flamethrowers this weekend. As a late 30s dude, I've Sandro'd a relationship or two in my younger, foolish days, though not with a cousin. The penultimate chapter from Sandro's perspective really captures the experience of somebody who's aggressively there, cutting through any good sense, and the kind of entitlement society instills. I found Ronnie and Sandro both kind of repellant, but I can't deny they aren't people who exist, or maybe it's an unwillingness to acknowledge I have shared any traits with either? The perspective of the book is remarkable. Elements of it that I found initially underwhelming, the ending of Reno just waiting for something, or the general sense that not much happened with her as far as actual narrative goes, gave way to a realization how deliberate that probably is. What was supposed to happen? All these rich guys stop talking at or around this young woman and recognize her artistic genius? Talking to my girlfriend about it, she said she was struck by the feeling of waiting for life, or the feeling of being caught in everyone else’s wake. I’m looking at some reviews, and there are a lot of dudes praising Ronnie’s stories, while they criticize the book, and Reno’s lack of agency.

Oh no, my first character is a rigger! It felt so cyberpunk.

i think free action potions worked, which are different than potions of freedom (haha, maybe a problem in itself) and i think the spell protection from chaos or negative plane protection worked. I think i was able to free 3 of my people, and if your ranged ran to the far corners they could range out the demon's spell. that part was really hard.

I capital L love the Black Isle family of games and Dev's and only played BG1 for the first time when EE came out. I understand what Lobotomy is saying about D&D mechanics, but I sort of disagree. It presents it's challenges, but ultimately I find it all interesting how limited things are, and how important stripping debuffs are. That might be kind of boring, but I think in game it makes things pretty tense, particularly if you are pushing through areas where you can't rest. BG2 is an incredible step up from BG1, and after playing them in reverse order, it makes sense how it cemented a legacy. The quest quality, and pacing is a huge step up. It's kind of strange how much of the game doesn't start until you reach the titular city, which doesn't happen until you near the final chapter.

Small minded people with no real power get pleasure in taking it where they can. They always seem to take aim at others low enough to take down, while point scoring within their own communities.

Oh wow, I totally didn't connect that with SOPA/suicide incident. Really tragic.

I just saw this, an explanation/summary of what happens at the end. Interesting, and covers a number of things I remember not getting (like what happened with The Entertainment): http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/ijend

Haha, it's certainly possible! They've won a few, though. It's more that I feel "trust them to drop the right color card" is mechanically kind of thin for a game that is supposed to be telling a story. Arkham Horror for example makes far more amusing narratives out of it's gameplay elements.