Granny Dragon

Okay, a quick note about pathologies since there was one interesting level to this conversation (I won't call it an "interview"). John Walker accused Molyneux of lying, maybe even pathologically. Molyneux on the other hand was explaining, or excusing, his behaviour by framing it in a way that was closer to another pathology, namely hypomania. I found that exchange fascinating. In any case, my biggest issue was the use of the word "pathological" which I think should be used less lightly. Maybe I am too sensitive, being involved in projects on psychological pathologies, but there are other ways John could have asked the same question. I am somewhat grateful for the article because it revealed so much about two people. It is interesting that a conversation which starts with an accusation of Molyneux lying finds Molyneux lost in half-truths and contradictions. Seen from that angle there was an actual through line in John Walker's questions, as it seems that while certainly not pathological, Molyneux is certainly loose with the truth even when he is not pitching a project. As an interview it is flawed, but wow, what an engaging read.

I was lucky, but my wife reacted strongly to it at first. She felt very ill and when she went to the restroom it sounded like all of her insides had been liquified and were ejected out of two ends. That happened during our honeymoon, in Madagascar (south of Tulear), a long and bumpy ride away from the next hospital. She got better about 36 hours later. I forgot the names, but you have the choice between at least two malaria suppressors. The cheapest had the possible side effect of making you depressed. We decided not to go with that for this special occasion

Will the Microsoft glasses be released in time for the New-York-Times-Holo-Violator-Star-Wars-Episode-7-ad (Idle Thumbs 156)?

So in my class at school in Germany, it was Heinz who was the biggest dick with regards to how he treated his mother. She was the classic mom, coming in every hour and offering treats to Heinz and us visitors. Heinz just kept shouting at her every time she came in. However, my favorite exchange between them was a slight variation of this. Later one afternoon, after already receiving some verbal abuse, Heinz' mother entered the room: "Heinz, why did you trample on the strawberries?" Heinz, in the most jeering tone: "Because strawberries are stupid, mom!"

I think that Empire Strikes Back, including the father-son revelation, worked so well because it made the audience aware that there was more to Star Wars than a super-shallow but fun space romp with great special effects. Suddenly the film got "deep", or at least deeper, in a surprising and yet elegant way. In A New Hope, you had the supernatural Force and a kid who learned it from an old master to save the universe. Empire focused the two aspects of the Force, and at a broader level of power in general. Yoda's lessons were about that, but still in a more theoretical way, but they paved the way to Luke's encounter with Vader. "I am our father" is the most concrete demonstration of what can happen if you don't keep your shit together and give in to the seductions of power. Suddenly all these vague phrases from the swamp planet turned into a conflict which was very real. None of this is very high-brow, but after A New Hope I can imagine that the audience was very surprised not just at the plot revelation itself, but at the new depth. The prequels on the other hand, with all their politics and confusing plot elements, could have benefited from fewer attempts at being sophisticated. To turn the topic to games, Knights of the Old Republic did a very similar thing, and even though you can call it a re-hash of the Empire story it worked because it was a surprise that the game would even go beyond lightsaber battles and evil dudes.

This was a perfect cast. It had everything I love about Idle Thumbs. The Fiver is the new golden era!

I agree that not every decision needs to set off a tornado in Texas, but here is the point: A choice is only meaningful if I believe that there may be consequences. It is good if a game offering choices sometimes shows that consequences are substantial. The design.needs the the right balance. If too often I can't even influence the immediate result I lose the feeling of having agency. I enjoyed the TellTale games of this year, but both TWD Season 2 and TWAU went too far in that regard. Too often have I selected the option of doing or saying something courageous and dangerous only to have someone else keep me from doing it in the last second. Too often for me to suspend disbelief.

Okay, on Koko: The research on Koko is very poorly documented, there are hardly any serious scientific publications on her, and Patterson refuses to collaborate with other researchers from the field. So almost all data available are the videos. Based on the videos there is no evidence that Koko understands anything beyond the very basic. While she knows some signs, there is no evidence for meaningful communications about death or similar topics. In the science community Patterson and Koko are considered a bad joke. So why do we see meaningful interaction? There are two important phenomena: one is often referred to as "clever Hans effect": Koko picks up cues from others and has learned which types of reactions result in greater attention, increased affection or other rewards. The other is that Patterson wants to see meaning in what Koko does, and humans are excellent when it comes to finding meaning even if it's not there, or not there to a greater degree. In the case of Patterson this bias goes so far that unexpected or uninterpretable behaviour is always interpreted as humour: Koko is being silly again! Needless to say Koko is extremely silly according to this interpretation. Let me link to and comment on my two favorite bits of interaction with Koko: Here, Koko watches TV. Patterson is engaged in a conversation with her. Note that before Koko truns away from the TV, you can hear someone else enter the room. Patterson interprets Koko's behaviour as her finding a particular scene (which involves some dialogue about courage) hard to watch because it is sad. In this one, Koko picks a method for adoption. Actually I will not comment on this further. It's so bad. The real shame is that gorillas are intelligent animals and there is much to learn about them and from them. This includes Koko. Unfortunately we won't learn anything of real scientific value thanks to Patterson secluding her. It's probably too late now since Koko is pretty old. I can understand the attention Koko gets on the web, but the videos propagate a very wrong idea about gorilla cognition. This is no criticism of the piece that Sean read on the show, which indeed raises some great points and is written very well.

The Gamersgate/#gamergate bit had me smile so much that a woman next to me thought I was flirting with her. I pray that whoever did some of the previous Idle Thumbs animation videos (g-man, robots) is on the case.

On the "violence leads to violence" vs. "sexism leads to sexism" e-mail (by LOLFace) and discussion: I think the better comparison to the sexism discussion is the discussion on how Call of Duty and similar games depict the source of international tensions and the motivations of foreign groups. Call of Duty, so the argument, does not make you more likely to "kill brown people" in the name of counter-terrorism, but it may make a substantial proportion of players more accepting of it. Both this and the discussion about sexism are about establishing attitudes.

I agree that it takes time for a guest to get used to the pacing, and Anita did towards the end. However, I don't think the alternative is to treat people Like A Guest. The alternative is to sense and adjust to a person's mode of communication, to sense that a person is being interrupted often while she never interrupted anyone so far. This can happen naturally if one pays a little attention.

What a cool idea to invite Anita. I respect her a lot. I know talking over each other is Idle Thumbs style, and it works when everyone is doing it while still respecting each other. I think that especially before the break Anita had problems with that. There were two or three points at which I would have appreciated her not being interrupted. Perhaps I am the only one who had this impression... in any case, it got better in the second half. It would be great to have her back, perhaps at a time when the internet has calmed down a little bit. I can't escape context when listening to her. It made me add a lot of layers that I wish weren't there. It would be great to hear more from Anita the cool person who is a feminist instead of Anita Sarkeesian the Feminist at the Center of an Internet Battle.

Hi all I agree that this was an excellent episode. You guys wondered about the mainstream perception of WW1 in Germany. Obviously there is the stab-in-the-back-myth propagated by many after WW1 and used by the national socialists in their propaganda: Hard fighiting soldiers were betrayed by communists and Jews who plotted Germany's downfall. Of course this is not the mainstream anymore. In school, WW1 is not even half as important as WW2 and especially national socialism. We talked about Nazis in History, Politics, Art, Religion and German Language and Literature classes. WW1 was discussed in History only and is presented as (1) the result of a desastrous combination of international treaties and (2) a war of attrition which the Germans lost. We hardly talked about the role of command, and only a little about technology. The focus was on what started the war, including a general enthusiasm about the war when it began, and the end and consequences of the war, in particular the Treaty of Versailles and the French occupation of the Ruhr area.

Morning Thumbs feels different from regular Thumbs. Sean, Jake and Chris were even more at ease, if that makes sense. Add me to the list of people who are tired of Watch^_^Dogs without having even played it. It's like buying some kind of collector's box from a rock band with 50 extra b-sides, live takes and demos, but actually having to listen to most of the material just to get to the album. There is too much content in video games.

I finished it. What a weird game. Sometimes, just for short bursts of 15 or 20 minutes, it feels like a cool Thief. I get the sense that I am in a real, interesting place, there are a range of meaningful gameplay option, and I just wish that the entire game was like this. Thief has within its design space the potential to be a great *Thief*. It is maddening that so much of this potential is unfulfilled. Here and there Thief plays like Call of Duty. I have to cross a burning bridge on a fixed path, jump at the right time, run and stop at the right time, while everything around you collapses in a giant scripted event. It is as hollow as spectacular. Most of the times I am between the two extremes. The mix doesn't work and confuses me more than the incoherent story which doesn't even succeed in making you understand the main character's intentions (the Baron's, Orion's, even Garrett's). The scripted failstates are very annoying. Thief is all about not being detected. However, a handful of times I sneak through a level only to be interrupted by a cutscene during which I am found! This is definitely not how I remember the design philosophy behind Thief games. At the same time this game pays strange homages to the previous titles. The "scary level" is a former asylum. It does not come even close to Deadly Shadow's Cradle level, partly because it tries to pull off the exact same tricks. Another level is set in an old cathedral. However, there is no reason why the events taking place there could not take place anywhere else. The cathedral is just thrown in for flavour (or nostalgia?). However, the effect is diminished by the entire Thief world not having any sense of depth or real history. Remember how different the Dark Project was in that regard. If you paid attention, you could see glimpses of the conflict between Pagans and industrialisation right in the first level! Hints (for instance, pictures on the wall) were subtle enough that they only clicked later on. Thief is not bad, but it makes me want to play a real game: a game that respects me. A game with huge levels. A game which knows what to do with them Thief made me buy the Dishonored DLC which has been reviewed positively. In my view, Dishonored is the new king of the immersive first person exploration/intrusion genre. It is where the true soul of Thief and Deus Ex went.

I sent Chris my recording for the new IT theme song today. No matter whether they make it into the final mix or not, I had fun jamming with Remo Attached are my results: I used three tracks from Chris and all seven of my tracks. The clicks are on Chris' tracks. Maybe others want to upload their recordings as well? idlethumbs150full.wav

Another new guy! Hello Since moving to the UK I am in dire need of conversations about games....

My wife is in Germany over the weekend, so I am spending it student bachelor stype watching Russia carry out a coup and playing the new Thief. The former is scary. I recommend RT.com to get some extra, though extremely partisan, news. The latter is enjoyable, though it is clear that this is not the Thief that fans wanted. I am a fan. The first Thief is incredible with regards to gameplay and setting, including its mythology and attention to detail. The second improves the gameplay, but doesn't feel as strong in the fiction department. The third Thief looks great for its time, especially with fan-made textures, has an interesting fiction, but lacking gameplay mechanics. The fourth Thief takes the gameplay further into shallowness. At best, the level design is on par with Deadly Shadows. Levels feel like broad, segmented corridors. Broad because there are still several ways to proceed, segmented because there are several barriers that separate one section from another, with no way of going back. This may have been done to make orientation easier, and it is true that it is very hard to get lost. However, to me orientation also means that I get a sense of understanding a place, which is something the level design makes very difficult. The above mentioned corridors are winding, locations do not open up to me. The result is that I don't see the logic of a place. I don't see the relationship between exteriors and interiors. I don't have the feeling for where I am inside a compound. Context sensitive actions increase my confusion. You can only jump where the game thinks it makes sense; same thing with climbing. Of course this means that of all your actions, the proportion of actions meaningful to the "mission" is higher than in previous games. However, I often feel that I have to guess what the designers were thinking. This too hurts the sense of being in a credible space since so much of the visual and geometric detail is mechanically irrelevant and inapproachable. The visuals are strong! The shadows and the mist work very well, and being able to see Garrett's hands makes the act of taking items, opening chests etc. more gratifying. However, I miss the sense of mystery in the world. The City is, even more than in Thief 2, a very mundane place. Buildings are old, but they have no history. Most striking is the lack of religious or mythological symbols so far: no hammers, no cogs, no pagan eyes and no equivalent. This is very unusual for a Thief game. I cannot say much about the plot. I was surprised not to see cutscenes in the classic Thief style. Instead, we get "cinematic" in-engine stuff that comes across as very bland. The writing is not strong, but after the trailers I expected it to be much worse. Garrett does have a credible relationship with some characters. I trust kaputt and can imagine that it will get worse. It is a functioning stealth game. You observe stupid guards while planning the next step, walk or dash from shadow to shadow and, while the lack of exploration never makes me feel that I am "robbing a place blind", steal a lot of stuff, including many unique items. The tools make sense within the mechanics. I am enjoying myself. But there so much wasted potential.