Mathias

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  1. Double post but I don't think that first question was a blunder... Walker loops it back around in the end when he deliberately states that he didn't ask if Molyneux is purposefully trying to mislead people. As an industry professional, I am particularly annoyed by the constant blame shifting and whining that game development is oh-so-unpredictable because you know Creativity! and all. I find that attitude so super unprofessional and disrespectful. It's something that gets propagated by many renowned figureheads and I think it's really bad for the industry as a whole.
  2. Oh, I so disagree with the sympathies for Molyneux! That the interview would be confrontational was (or should have been) clear given the context of it (given in the beginning of the article). Then the (uncomfortable) connection to GaGa is there but in a very different sense: John Walker was the RPS guy who really put himself out there during the summer and received his share of abuse for it. I do not think the confrontational tone of the interview and preceding article about Godus are simply a pro-consumer stance calling out 22cans. The way they conducted the kickstarter and subsequent treatment of backers is directly damaging for this way of financing game development, in my opinion. I think one can say projects like Godus are detrimental for other indies who have to work so much harder in the future to proof they have the integrity to deliver on promises. Multiple times it is asked if backers would receive their money back, and the correct response is never given: 22cans doesn't owe their backers their money back because kickstarter is not a preorder system. But Molyneux never comes out and says that. In the past, dealing with these bets and risks has always been on the publishers' side and they reap huge rewards for taking on those risks. In this light, I find it only fair that when now interacting commercially directly with the consumers prior to product delivery that developers are taken to task and are confronted by their promises. Lastly, maybe how the interview was received on this episode is also a cultural thing? It's funny to me that the analogy was "Obama on the Daily Show" that way. Anyway, people who put themselves out as public figures get asked confrontational questions like that opening one all the here in Germany. English press is traditionally not any less harsh, I believe. Also, consider that a 'yes' to the question would have absolved him from any malicious intent^^
  3. Holy smoke, I can't stand asparagus, either. Can't wait for the first episode, just watched the pilot.
  4. So the first link is the "wrong" European pilot, though? I don't know how to tell them apart (and prefer to watch things in their original language) but don't want to spoil something by just watching both. Thank you, though, and sorry for the language confusion.
  5. Excited! I've haven't seen it and can't imagine better company to do so now =) But I fear I might be doing it wrong? What's the deal with European pilot? I have the series available for streaming in Germany in OV but the first episode is of feature film length so it's the wrong one? So I might have to watch this http://www.amazon.de/Das-Geheimnis-Twin-Peaks-Teil/dp/B00ERJLVPS/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1412803851&sr=1-2&keywords=twin+peaks instead of this http://www.amazon.de/Pilot/dp/B00KLF5PF4/ref=sr_1_4?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1412803851&sr=1-4&keywords=twin+peaks ? At what point do they match up again? I'd prefer to watch it in its OV.
  6. Ugh, so this equivalence of violence and sexism in games is really bothering me. The thing about violence in video games is that it is not violence: it's a depiction of violence. It can be realistic, glorifying, gratuitous, trivializing, etc. The difference with sexism is: sexism in games is sexism; not just a representation of it. Essentially, violence in a game is to violence in real life as sexism in Anita's videos is to sexism in games. A view onto the thing as to the thing itself. If sexism in games causes more sexism is thus a question akin to does violence cause more violence. Of course, the whole issue is a great way to derail the conversation.
  7. Feminism

    Heh, I can assure you it's a lot easier done on twitter than in person... I suspect it has more effect in the latter, though.
  8. Feminism

    Yeah, it was baffling for me. I had the weird feeling that he really needed to tell me that, although none of my replies (I think) would have indicated that I'd sympathize with it. Yes, and I end up feeling half complicit by having had a civil conversation with them! It's truly a weird experience as I feel they engage in an actual discourse with me just because I'm a guy. And it's not like I am avoiding confrontation, either (Twitter forces a certain directness, after all). I've had other experiences where they run out of big words to fling around, like from a few days ago: http://sfy.co/is9n (pls excuse the high-horse-ish remarks, some of the incredulity about it all gets to me and needs an out). Those are the ones I am more hopeful about, though--unless they maybe run and cement their original justification for their anger like this other dude obviously did at some point. I do also think about what the right thing to do is. I don't think you can 'fix' them... they need to do that themselves. I think it's okay to empathize but I'm wary of thinking of them as people who need (my) help. Maybe it's more in making sure to squish the little misogynist acts/habits in everyday life; stuff like talking over other people (btw, I didn't read all the 192 pages but I assume this is a mixed crowd--one of the hardest things I've had (and still probably have to a degree) is getting the thing about safe spaces into my head). Ah, thanks. Perfect use of " there, too. Oh, it's a Chrome issue? The thing was really annoying to put together in Chrome, as well.
  9. Feminism

    Hi, I needed somewhere to go with this. I haven't been much to the forum but am an avid reader of the podcasts. This relates directly to feminism but could be its own thread, as it is also about gamer/nerd "culture". @pixiejenni has been someone who has been quite diligently engaging with the GG crowd to collect actual statements (something they have not been able to organize themselves, which I think is in itself already telling). That can be found here: http://pixietalksgamergate.wordpress.com/ (and is quite interesting but not what this post is directly about). She posted some conclusions she came to, today and I had a longer conversation that spiraled out of that. Starting point was the need for critiques of games. After the first quarter of back and forth I thought maybe this guy actually has some interesting insight into how games criticism is lacking. But as the conversation continues it becomes clear this is about something completely different. Then, two thirds in he shows what he is really about. Here is the Storified version of the conversation: http://sfy.co/sg1H Now, the way he argued makes it seem he is genuinely convinced, not "just" of institutionalized male oppression by feminism but of how this relates/is opposed to "nerd culture" (whateverthatisexactly). I find this radicalized nerd identity is a weird form of extremism--it's the first time I've come across it in person, not just MRA itself but born out of this kind of identification. Weird and troublesome how such extreme right thinking has found fruitful ground for recruitment there.
  10. Hi all, first post :-) As always, loved the episode. Look forward to it every week. Now, after having read the interview with the writer behind Far Cry 3 I think this is where it failed in delivering its message: it's a satire of a generation of games that is no longer the current one; imagine that story and its content and how it ends and how it would relate in a timely context to games 10-15 years ago, like Postal, Soldier of Fortune, Manhunt or the mentioned Tomb Raider. Then the exaggeration might have worked and the punch line of the ending might have as well. Now, for me personally, his whole message was lost: I played Far Cry 3 in full consciousness of delving into a power fantasy of exploration. I enjoyed the intro for that, pumping it up. I played it for the entertainment of being the guy to explore and exact power on that environment. So what actually happened when I came across the 'exaggerations', as the author put it or rather the in parts offensive tones (mainly in the story bits)? I found it first and foremost uninteresting and having now heard his reason I think I'm glad I didn't push through the story, it's message is nothing new, valuable or challenging for a mature person. It's like wrapping the message of a children's story in adult content. Ao what I got from it was simply the satisfaction of the above described entertainment and when that was starting to be hampered by the story and the pointed out contradictory and unnecessary funneling/mission walling I stopped playing. Which, as it seems, is apparently in line with one of the endings anyway–I did not need the story for me to come to that realization.