Bjorn

I think we should be done with the Allen discussion. Ultimately it's a family tragedy played out on an international stage, and none of us will ever know more than we do right now. Which while disturbing and squicky enough for me, personally, to not bother using my limited free time to engage with his work, there's plenty of unknown for other people to have their own legitimate view on it. Let's talk about something positive. This is cool. There's a growing effort to recruit more female Wikipedia editors, and large international "edit-a-thons" that seek to fill in the gaps in history and art on Wikipedia where women have been left out (sometimes intentionally, sometimes through ignorance).

This effect is a lot more subtle. It's more about the structure of sentences and paragraphs than it is just being outright bizarre.

I tried to come up with a more apt modern sciency comparison, just to run the thought experiment on myself, but we just don't associate invention with the individual like that anymore. The living angle really is important to how I think about this, whether or not a perpetrator or their victim is still alive. That someone was a monster 100+ years ago...meh, don't care. It just doesn't carry any emotional weight to me. Like slavery, I understand how American slavery, and its abolishment, led to a series of societal changes both good and bad, that ultimately have come down through the many decades since to still have an effect on how modern American society works. But I don't particularly care if any historical individual had slaves. And if we were talking about one of the influential silent film directors who guided early cinema and crimes he committed, again, I wouldn't really care. In those cases, I completely agree that you can separate creator from content if you want, or you can academically look at how their actions may have affected their creations. But for living people, it's just too emotionally charged.

I don't think you "appreciate" world changing inventions like alternating current, or the polio vaccine, or powered flight in the same way that you "appreciate" a work of art. That's a bit too apples and oranges. And again, that's another example of someone long dead whose crimes and victims would all be history. A better example might be if one of the founders of Google was discovered to be a true monster. They defined what searching the internet is, functionally cataloging the greatest library humanity has ever created. It's a company inextricably linked to daily life for many of us. But if credible allegations surfaced, along with a personal history of questionable choices that reinforce the allegations of some terrible crime, I'd be a hell of a lot less likely to depend on Google services even at significant cost to myself.

There is a line of behavior that would make people distance themselves from a piece of art. Something so deviant, so profoundly disturbing or disgusting, that it would drive virtually everyone away from the work. Let your imagination run wild. I won't bother to list my own ideas here. I think everyone knows of something that would cause their stomach to turn at the mere thought of it, and once that thought was associated with the art, the art itself would become a catalyst to that revulsion. Creators have been intrinsically linked to their creations for thousands of years of human history. This isn't about celebrity worship and forgiveness, or divorcing the author from the content. It's about how crimes against women and girls just aren't stomach churning enough for many people in our society. Allen's relationship history and the allegation of abuse are clearly not enough for some people to cross that line. Not even when Allen starts a relationship with his children's teenage sister. It's not when R. Kelly has been accused of rape almost as many times as he's released an album. Not when Jerry Lee Lewis likely murdered one of his wives in a fit of rage. Not when the a place kicker for Michigan was finally expelled 4 years after allegations of sexual assault were made. Not like a college kicker is a huge celebrity. For what it's worth, I'm not directing this at anyone in this thread, I think it's a pervasive attitude throughout society, and one that I also had until I started watching my daughter grow up. Hell, I might still have some elements of it that I'm not even aware of. It's taken me 20 years to unpack how many fucked up ideas got planted in my head growing up in an isolated, conservative Christian Midwest town.

I really liked that game. It sold me with this line in the description: "It also features an engaging, character-driven story written by an actual English major!" It's also worth a NG+ playthrough if you enjoyed the mechanics of it. You unlock new equipment and upgrades, and there's a ton more story. The protagonist starts keeping a diary with thoughts on everything that's going on, which some genuinely funny commentary on the people she's meeting.

The bizarre thing about the morality in it is that the kinds of non-lethal punishments you deliver to your targets are far more cruel and inhuman than just killing them would be. You deliver a woman into sex slavery. You brand a man in the face. You arrange the tongues to be cut out of two other men and condemn them to a short life of brutal, hard, slave labor. "Good" Corvo is a monster. "Evil" Corvo is just a man who gets the job done.

I feel like it's much easier to dismiss the horrible behavior of one long dead than it is to reconcile the praise a living person receives for their work even though they may be a terrible person. If the allegations are true, then every time Allen's work is praised, or he is held up as a paragon of cinema, you are causing direct harm to someone. There is someone out there who was damaged by him, abused, through a betrayal of the most important love and trust that exists in the world. The kind that only develops between a parent and child. She lives every day in a world that declares a fucking movie is more important than a child's safety, health or protection. But this is more than just a single accusation. Allen has a history of relationships with young women, borderline children. First marriage was to a 16 year old (to be fair, he was 19 and it was 1956). Later on he had a reported relationship with a 17 year old actress. And finally he started a relationship with a teenager in whose life he had been a father figure for the previous 12 years (though he denies playing any such role). A girl who is the sibling of 3 of his own children. But "the heart wants what the heart wants" and he's fucking Woody Allen, and so gets away with it. Read this interview from after he and Farrow's daughter got married. The language he uses is actually the same thing that we recognize now as the justifications that serial pedophiles (and shitty judges) use to justify their actions. Example: Because at 18 or 19 she was sooooo grown up! So mature! Of course she fully understood the implications and fallout of everything that was happening, and there was absolutely no influence by a man more than twice her age who is a recognized master of emotional manipulation through his films. I mean, what kind of crazy person would claim that this wasn't just a relationship of equals? And then there's the level of blame that he assigns to Mia Farrow in that interview. He claims that Farrow would have been just as upset if he had started an affair with his secretary as she was over him starting an affair with her daughter. What kind of fucking misogynistic sociopath makes that kind of claim? Bury Allen's work in a vault. Let people appreciate it's roll in cinematic history a century from now. Let him fade into obscurity and stop giving him the money, attention and adoration he seeks in life.

I embrace my assholery while trying to minimize or eliminate any harm it may cause. Some I stayed friends with, some I didn't. But thankfully the one that I was probably the most hung up on has ended up becoming one of my longest and best friendships.

"...you run a sub-forum on reddit?" got a legitimate belly laugh out of me. Though that comic awkwardly hits home a little close. I certainly spent a lot of years as one of those nice guys who lacked the confidence to pursue the women I was interested in until after establishing a "friendship" that was really based on my attraction to them.

Yeah, I think it does. Neither game I mentioned necessarily drives narrative with mechanics, but it does require work and initiative on the part of the player to delve into what is going on.

I keep meaning to go back and play some of Torment again to see if the writing holds up for me now. I remember being blown away by it, but that was 15 years ago and I was a young and not particularly well versed in quality writing. I rather enjoy games where much of the story is optional, like Dark Souls. Since the game completely works without them ramming a story down your throat, they can play with some interesting, ambiguous and deep lore, knowing that it's there for people who want it, and isn't getting in the way of people who just want game. I'm playing a Binding of Isaac-style roguelite right now called Our Darker Purpose that is very similar. The story and lore is mostly stored in item descriptions and a lore book you have access to, and it's actually some good stuff. But if you're just in it for the wash, rinse, repeat of a decent roguelite, then it isn't slowing you down. I find that with that style of story telling, I actually end up caring more about learning about what's going on, since I have to go out of my way to learn it rather than being spoonfed.

I knew about Numbers Stations, but had never heard of the Conet Project. That's some fascinating stuff. I see you can download it for free from their site. Tempting... What are the odds that my wife will kill me if I try to play any amount of this while being stuck in a small office with her? Edited: Nevermind, I listened to some tracks online. I'm not sure I could listen to it for more than a few minutes at a time without going a little batty.

Hmmm...

There are people who believe that Slender Man is real, and that any claims to the contrary are just lame efforts of a cover up. The interview is mostly about how the creator feels about the public nature of Slender Man, and his semi-desire to control his creation, but does have some gems of call ins from Coast-to-Coast.

Who would have guessed that looking for a retro game with a bald, green clothed druid would have multiple options? Mystic Towers looks crazy familiar, but I can't honestly remember if I ever played it or not.

They made it so you have to spend a minimum of $250 total every three months to get your rewards (or buy slightly less on one of the rare double/triple bonus days), which does suck for people who only spend a little on eBay. But I tend to spend several hundred dollars on month on things like labels, custom paper, toner, packing/shipping supplies. One of the perks of being a small business owner is that the ridiculous amount of money you have to spend is at least earning you bunches of rewards. We are a very, very, very small business, and still spend in the neighborhood of $100,000 a year on shit we need between inventory and supplies. At least the rewards pay for video games and the occasional vacation (very occasional, as we usually can't justify shutting the business down for much more than a long weekend). I'm also sorry to hear about your kitty. We have 3 sociopathic little fuzzballs of our own that we wouldn't know what to do without.

Somewhere in the world, Peter Molyneux just broke out in a sweat with the thought, "What if it was a game where you played the hero's horse...?"

You automatically start smoking once you've hit the limit break thanks to a c-c-c-c-c-combo! I should go over to the random thought thread and avoid public discourse.

Yep.

Yeah, I wanted to do that, but...

Magic and Mayhem? It only sticks in my mind because it was created by Julian Gollop, creator of Xcom.

That's very close to being what both my wife and I's systems are (we have slightly better video cards). They are both terrific machines. I love them, really some of my favorite PC games of all time. That said, they are easy to burn out on. I couldn't finish the most recent one (Warriors of the North). It just felt like it was never going to end. But I still enjoyed the time I played it and may go back some day. I'd suggest buying the first one, The Legend, if you only want to buy one. They make some minor changes/improvements in each sequel, but nothing huge. And The Legend by far has the funniest stuff in the entire series. And each of the following ones makes consistent references to The Legend. You'll still understand the story, but there are a ton of references you won't understand. And the second game's story is built around the princess actually going out to find the hero from the first game, who has mysteriously disappeared. The protagonist changes in each game.

Finished this yesterday afternoon. It's easily an early GOTY contender for me. I get why it bounces off some people, whether it's the alternating turn combat, or preferring one half of the gameplay (adventure vs combat) over another. But I pretty much loved every minute of it. The final fight did come very close to making me throw my mouse across the room. And there are so many interesting loose threads to be picked up in a future game, particularly For people who have finished it...

and cigarettes.