jmbossy

Though my course load has mostly been full of social sciences (sprinkled with art history where I can), I haven't been able to find meaningful academic tutelage on more creative subjects. I'm interested in social sciences mostly as additions to my base artistic interests, but my school does not offer courses or literature on these subjects. So, if anyone has any recommendations for game design, graphic design, or film theory text books I would really appreciate the suggestions. I mostly suspect IT will have suggestions on game design texts, and I've already been suggested "Game Feel" by Steve Swink, but any opinions you have on my circumstance would be welcome. Thanks

I'll definitely find a copy of Theory for Fun, and I'll see what else I can get my hands on. Thanks for the recommendations! Also, that link is pretty fantastic. I'll probably read as much of those as I can before it goes anywhere.

I don't know I agree there is a large enough audience of gamers who are both passionate about the industry, but not enough to seek more information regarding its largest controversy in some time, to target with a social media campaign. It could have been effective earlier on, but obviously not many people were willing to stick their necks out between the doxing and death threats. Really, the entire thing crumbles when the non partisan see a victor and begin to gravitate. We can't actually target them because they aren't all that interested in cultural priority for the games industry. The most they will do until they see more support from news outlets is reductively denounce harassment (which, you know, is super helpful). I think Gamespot and Giant Bomb are doing a better job at trying to appeal to the apathetic, but its probably easier for them as they weren't direct targets of GG like Polygon. I imagine the last stumbling blocks will be IGN, /r/gaming, and other middle ground news sites.

The vocal arm of the anti-GG movement is mostly involuntary. If you believe that GG are the aggressors in the conversation (which I do) than anti-GG's only reasonable defense is solidarity. Though I agree a lot of the anti-GG's on social media aren't doing all that well to articulate exactly how GG is unfounded, they don't have much to work with. The sad truth is that it is human nature to want to fight back when assaulted. The problem is, and its the same reason solidarity is the only justifiable response to GG, is that the group's rhetoric is founded almost entirely in circular logic; there is literally nothing you could say to point out their hypocrisy or even misunderstandings. Edit: "Children" may be a little much. Not because it's inaccurate but because I'd rather not rely on insults to validate my point. Let's say--- they are a violent and effective swarm uninterested with reason to communicate their ideals.

Arthur Gies of Polygon just published his review of Bayonetta 2. Let's just say the reception hasn't been all that progressive... http://www.polygon.com/2014/10/13/6957677/bayonetta-2-review-wii-u

I'm actually marathoning the first few episodes this Sunday. i'll check back with mine and my unsuspecting friends' reactions. Should be good.

I think you're joking, but i'm not actually sure... Netflix it is!

So I guess I'm going to start watching Twin Peaks then. Anyone have any suggestions on some specific way I should watch the episodes, or will Netflix be fine?

It's definitely a fair opinion to have. I enjoyed The Rover a lot while watching it, but really beyond Pearce's performance I haven't felt the need to consider the film making in anyway. I'm definitly going to keep a close eye on Michod going forward (I'm watching Animal Kingdom tonight actually) but he really hasn't shown me the same promise someone like Roskam did with Bullhead or The Drop; both of which I highly regard.

For as much as I enjoyed Gone Girl I fully understand that argument. The script is surreal and if it weren't handled by such an impressive director it would have bordered on hokey, in fact that's how I (to unpopular reception) felt about Gone Baby Gone by Ben Affleck. In fact I actually think the two movies have a lot in common, but Fincher really shows how mature he is with Gone Girl, where Affleck could only show promise.

Yeah The Rover is pretty alright. I liked the performances (Pearce, especially) and the direction, but it felt a little needlessly nihilistic. Also, I watch way to many movies so I'm just going to throw out whatever I've seen recently every now and again (if they're at all worth watching). Gone Girl (My Spoiler Free Review) Summary: Both critical and visceral, sort of adds to Fincher's growing filmography of psychopaths and such. I imagine more people will like this than those who liked Zodiac or Dragon Tattoo, so if you liked either of those you'll probably like this. Also, (not by me). The Drop (My Spoiler Free Review) Summary: Very stylish American debut from the oscar nominated Michael R Roskam. Stars two top of their game performances from Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini, and there is a lot more to this movie than most people will pick up on. So far my favourite movie of 2014 (of the 40 or so I've seen) Night Moves (My Spoiler Free Review) Summary: Quiet and tense. Beautiful cinematgraphy, tension-filled direction, and a couple of strong performances (Eisenberg, especially) but not much else. Also my review for The Rover if anyone is interested. I'll post a review for pretty much any movie I watch over on Letterboxd but I'll try not to spam this thread too often if I can resist the urge.

Has anyone been watching The Knick? If not I've seen the first few episodes and it is very well made. If you haven't seen the terrific first couple of seasons of Hannibal, I feel, so far, like The Knick is a cross between Hannibal and House. Also Soderbergh is a pretty damned good director and is the lone director for the entire series, so if you liked Side Effects or Contagion I feel like he goes to a lot of the same thematic places.

I'm glad I wasn't the one to say that ps. If any of you are looking to meet people in the lower mainland of british columbia, my mom says I'm pretty cool

That is actually very well considered. I do believe there is room for ventilation, but what I guess I hadn't considered was your final point. All I can say in my defense is that any expression should be clarified as argumentative, if there are any people in the middle ground, if their morality doesn't inform their vote than we shouldn't allow any incidental immaturity from our part cloud our arguments.

I don't think anyone can realistically imply something so obviously disparate, but I do feel there is a point to staying resolved against the disorderly. You mention that hate beat MLK, but I don't know its fair to say that in the global society we all exist within any one life is more important than a given philosophy. People die. Worse, people are killed. We can't let fears of these things dull our arguments, we can only hope that we manage to say something worth saying before we are forced into silence. Edit: Further optimistic rantings We are on the winning side of this fight, but we need to be able to endure the war before we can say its over. All these hateful people can hope to do is create fear to participate in the conversation.

It feels like I have actually had the opposite response to this than most of you. I have taken a 5 or 6 month break from gaming due to life issues leaving me perpetually disinterested in anything. The only reason I'm back, is because after a long, sad day I turned on the most recent idle thumbs and felt my heart break. Needing further context I came back here only to see a lot of your collective spirits lower than usual. I love gaming, and no matter how sad my life is I want gaming, films, literature and everything else I love to be a part of my daily routine and part of the conversations I take part in. If this forum can't rise above the cultural depression we're in, I don't know who else could.

The important distinction to remember, and this was also an issue recently with the Cosplayer harassment at cons, we have to ensure we aren't blaming the victims for their response. In this argument ALL women who feel a connection to gaming culture are being affected, some much more drastically than others. What is being discussed is their very input in the community. We aren't trying to protect them because they're women, but because they are being attacked. If you saw someone in an alley being assaulted you wouldn't consider their gender before intervening. It is important, if you want to participate in a culture to recognize the culture's best interest and to protect every voice.

Short Term 12 If you haven't heard of this movie up until now, I would recommend you go in blind and give it a chance. If you need convincing/context before you spend any money, the film's synopsis is hidden below.

I barely know how to respond to all of this. This industry is so profoundly important to me, and these SJW's have devoted themselves to actually improving the class of experiences our culture can share in. To see the growth of this industry resisted so aggressively is legitimately upsetting. I understand gaming is in its infancy overall, and all mediums had to progress beyond their own adolescent limitations, but this is awful. Non-gamers have approached me about the violence, the sexuality and anything else the public sees as being mishandled by the games industry, but this is the first time in my life I am ashamed by what our industry has cultivated. I don't know the factors leading to this are entirely the fault of the industry, but this cannot be set aside. This is acidic, and needs to be addressed, and purged. Fuck these people.

From my incredibly limited experience, being in your early 20's is kind of an odd existential mess. Maybe its just that myself and the people I know are abnormal, but taking my observations as universal, people seem to be finally interested in developing actual character. If I can try and make a suggestion: In high school, like them or not, you have a relationship with almost everyone in your grade. Your peers actively judge you but you have context for their observations based on your opinion of them (i.e. if someone I don't respect thought I was pretentious I would contextualize that label as meaningless). Now you don't have a way to contextualize how you're viewed, and you're developing (if not, retaining) social insecurities. If your view is that because people are now more reserved about their opinions you are having difficulty understanding how you should define yourself, then I think the logical response is to stop defining yourself by the metrics of others. I don't know how to elaborate this beyond beginner's psychoanalysis, but you should consider finding a method of self evaluation that doesn't rely on other people but on a healthy comparison between what you want and what you're accomplishing. I don't think any one view on your situation will solve your existentialism but this is where I'm going to cast my vote.

Could someone fill me in on what's happening? I haven't been on the Idle Forums in some time and this SJW has been completely under my radar. (please PM if easier)

I've become increasingly interested in the academic theories on game design (from both developers and enthusiasts) but I'm having an incredibly difficult time finding sites/aggregates dedicated to such written work. As this fascination is almost 100% because of my increased listening to idle thumbs, I figured maybe some of you could make suggestions on websites or writers. Maybe moving forward this topic could act as a place to turn other thumbs onto articles of note. The one writer I have been reading into is Tom Bissell (known for his appearance on Tone Control (hosted by Idle Thumbs)). http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8157257/ to get the ball rolling.

I beat one of the 4 major bosses!!!

So I powered through and made my way to the Bastille (?). I got stuck at the first boss of that area so I tried my luck at Heidi's Tower. Most of the complaints I've had since being stuck have gone; I feel the game's paths are beginning to open up, and I feel as though I have more freedom (closing to how I felt about DS1). This is true. I died so often trying to beat Bastille's first boss that I ended up removing a good portion of the grunts before the boss from my world, and I'm sort of scared that eventually I'll be against a wall and have no where to really go except let my health waste away and push against a boss who is clearly too strong for me (not unlike my first playthrough of DS when I met O&S). Though, the game is looking up, and despite my numerous amounts of frustrated bursts I am really enjoying myself.

been having a lot of issues understanding where i'm supposed to be going at certain points. I got a key from the first boss which lead me to 3 new locations, 2 of which were dead ends, and one of which lead to a boss i'm fairly sure i'm not supposed to be fighting. aside from that, a statue is guarding one way, some contraption won't turn and unlock a new path, and heide's tower, i presume, will be an area for later... anyone else feel generally lost?