Bjorn

We buy about one a year (usually not the most recent one), and they're still fun. It nails the sweet spot for co-op gaming where it's just dumb fun. The last one we picked up was the big Marvel one.

John Oliver's main piece this week was on the NCAA and "student-athletes". Nothing that most of us don't already know, but still a good delivery of core issues.

Cool, glad you found it! The weird thing is that it only appeared in private windows, I couldn't find anything in regular windows.

That makes way more sense!

I'm super trying to figure out what you were seeing in that video?

:tup:

We try to hold a big movie night at least once a month, usually of classics most of us have seen, so they devolve into MST3K style laugh-a-thons. Also, sports! That's probably the most common reason we have people out. There will probably be people out once or twice a week to watch games for the next month as the NCAA tournament goes on.

Girlfriend spends most of the day in our office with us, looking for interesting places to nap.

I'm going to interrupt this string of spoilers to say that I'm still really digging Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated. We're deep into the second season now, and the overarching mystery is getting clarified. It's funny, my wife was crazy excited for House of Cards s3 to come out. But we've been super busy and somewhat stressed over the last few weeks, and watching it just doesn't feel relaxing at all. But Scooby Doo is kind of perfect to wind an evening down with.

This pretty much sums up how I feel about the apparently controversial elements of it. It's an insidiously bigoted argument to make. Please note, I'm not calling Bogost a bigot, I think he's used poor logic (and maybe a lack of empathy) to arrive at bigoted stance. Something non-marginalized people (myself included) do all the time. Honestly, the more I read Bogost's essays, the less and less I care for his work. I don't think it's particularly insightful, and I think it generates conversation solely because of his name and not the quality of the writing or arguments. Quite frankly, I think he's disdainful of people who look for representation in games. He loathes them, and the poisonous effect they are having, polluting the systems driven paradise he thinks ought exist. Take a look back at one of his passages in his Gone Home piece, when he comments on people who had emotional reactions to it: The language use here is really careful to me. He's not saying the reactions of those players had any value, just that they exist and should not be questioned. But not questioned only out of propriety, the implication is that intellectually it would be desirable to question, but to do so would be a social faux pas. Then he goes onto question their cultural cred, their intellectual strength, if they were to be so effortlessly moved by what was obviously an average attempt at fiction at best. And finally, his shame. That he, a man (straight AFAIK), was not able to share in this pool of emotion from which others were drinking deep. And then there's this from a Gamasutra piece: Of course we talk about using other media for social change. People do write books with the intention of hoping to change something, even if it's just to shift the views of a few people. People do make movies to have an impact. The Day After was practically designed to force a conversation about nuclear deterrence. And directly to his point, people do talk about other media that way, and even argue about whether or not it works. I really can't fathom how someone who studies media could say that this conversation doesn't happen about other media, and ought not happen about games. I'm sure I've seen something else where he displayed some strong disdain for social justice movements, but I'm struggling to find it. Ultimately I think this piece continues a trend where he tries to marginalize the experiences of marginalized people when then look to games for representation.

They're kinda creepy (in the most awesome way).

He worked on Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft, his reputation is immortal and unable to be tainted.

The Kansas war on women and education continues unabated. Education from kindergarten to college level are facing significant cuts. When the President of K-State criticized looming cuts, a legislator suggested that low priority academic areas could be cut, you know, like women's studies. When asked for clarification, he added "I'm speaking to prioritization. That's it,” the legislator said in an interview at the Capitol. “There are far more important things than teaching ideological indoctrination.”

I doubt the gaters ever turn on Kern, he's a Real Game Developer™, which makes him as valuable as gold to them. Part of their narrative is that there are secretly huge swaths of developers who agree with them, but are afraid to speak out because of the Feminist Gaming Illuminati, so they need every one they can get.

You've got the right of that, marking it "For Reference Only" is a weird fucking way to mark that. We do the same thing (reprinting an old invoice rather than making a new one), but instead of using a simple phrase, we just briefly explain what's going on, like "Resend 1 widget, customer reported 1 arrived damaged".

This thread is like equal parts joy factory and tear machine. The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, It isn't just one of your holiday games; You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES. First of all, there's the name that the family use daily, Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James, Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey-- All of them sensible everyday names. There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter, Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames: Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter-- But all of them sensible everyday names. But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular, A name that's peculiar, and more dignified, Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular, Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride? Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum, Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat, Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum- Names that never belong to more than one cat. But above and beyond there's still one name left over, And that is the name that you never will guess; The name that no human research can discover-- But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess. When you notice a cat in profound meditation, The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: His ineffable effable Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

Alien Isolation is only ~$16 at the Humble Store right now. DO WANT. But also have no times for games right now.

I'll concur that Varin is quite beautiful. We had a cat with coloring similar to Oscar, I'm really glad he ended up back with you. Our black and white one was an absolute mountain of a cat. His name was Spot. He was pushing 21 pounds at his biggest, a lot of it muscle. It's hard to find pictures that convey the full scale of him. The lady (on the right) is 6' 1", and his body was longer than her torso by several inches (not including his head). He was also very likely the half brother of Mangus, who he adored (different mothers, but we're pretty sure the same stray tom fathered them both). They were practically inseparable, because Mangus would follow Spot everywhere he went. One morning we just found Spot dead, no clear sign for any reason why, he was only 10 or 11 years old and had always had clear checkups from the vet. Mangus' behavioral issues really started a few months after that. We adopted Girlfriend from a shelter because we thought a younger companion might chill him out. Old Man Tig generally refuses to acknowledge the existence of other cats, making him a poor companion to other cats. Unfortunately Girlfriend and Mangus never really bonded and his howling continues to this day. I miss the hell out of Spot, he was my big dumb buddy that was always happy to hang out and cuddle.

I pretty much never get tired of hearing about, talking about or seeing pictures of kitties.

Okay, the Meow thread wins, I'm moving my pictures over here. Long live the Meow thread! Let's make introductions. This is Tig, our old man (15-16 years old) This is Mangus, our behaviorally challenged 7 year old. And this is Girlfriend, so named because we joked about getting Mangus a girlfriend when we adopted her, then that joke actually stuck as the name.

Post moved over to the Meow thread!

Yes it does in fact result in that. Thankfully we live in the country, and our nearest neighbor is even weirder than we are, so it's okay. It looks like the other thread is the more popular one, so I was just going to copy my pictures over there and defunct this one (change the title) once I get a chance. Thanks! That top picture of Tig is maybe one of my favorite photos I've ever taken.

Eh, whichever ends up getting traction. I actually like the simplicity of Meow as a thread title, so we all usually try to be entirely too clever.

DAMMIT. I should have refreshed the forums.