syntheticgerbil

For now I know I don't. A former boss of mine is trying to get a Game Camp together where kids make prototype games over the summer. It's possible I might end up there trying to teach them how to create simple animations. So there's that I suppose. Thanks guys, I think I know what to do. You've all been a big help.

But the new sounds like it's completely fucked again. Is it fucked?

I agree with this fully. I guess evil is the wrong word, but I don't feel like anything good comes of jamming free to play in to a game. They are always some existing game genre with a bunch of gates added in to get as many transactions as possible. The sad thing about the free to play set up is I've heard they are almost completely funded by the "whatles" (as they call them). These people have no self control and will sink in hours of dollars in to a game, much like a drug addict. The morality of that sucks, there's no way to cut that off, and I doubt any free to play company is against such a thing. I think I once heard a statistic bandied about the office that 90-95% of players never spend and that will never change. With that in mind, I can't think of it as anything but a system for preying on people. Also my favorite part of the company I worked at was when the design director at the time proudly described everyone as meth dealers and not weed dealers. Dealers that smoke weed also consume their product, whereas meth dealers I guess never consume their product. Amazing. Simply fucking amazing.

Why are the shows by the creators I like turning out to be so disappointing and crude (and not in a good way) right now? Kill la Kill and Space Dandy both don't seem like they will ever redeem themselves. So disappointing. I'm expecting Kaiba in the mail at some point. I will probably marathon that when it comes in since I love just about everything Masaaki Yuasa has directed.

Argh, I don't know what to do guys, maybe you can offer me advice. So I have two job offers (potentially) that are both not ideal, but will bring in money. They are not career oriented, but I need them to at least keep open time so that I can do artwork when I decide I no longer feel constant pressure while doing it and can create from a place of enjoyment again. One job pays $10/hr. and involves me checking orders and licking stamps and putting them in envelopes for a Ticketmaster type place. You have to do this at a steady pace for 8 hours a day and you can listen to music all day with headphones (podcast city!). It's always Monday through Friday and the place is very close to home. NO TALKING. I don't care about the talking part, whatever, just funny that's part of the job description. It's only for six months however. It's also worth noting that I found that job through a temp agency, and the guy I'm working with says he will still look out for artist jobs while I'm working there as well as temp to hire positions since he understands that the job is not something for the long term. Overtime payment also kicks in here should it ever happen, but he thinks it won't. The other job is being a mailman, which pays $15.30/hr., however it's a city carrier assistant position. What this means as described in the orientation I went to, is that you are a substitute worker and that you also deliver overflow mail. You have to be on call everyday and you will most likely not start at the same post office everyday. Since Austin is a clusterfuck of traffic issues right now, because of terrible city planning, this could mean driving literally driving an hour and a half for 20 miles if going at peak traffic time. Also apparently Amazon.com is doing some thing in Austin where they are a test for Sunday delivery. They also warned on orientation that you may be working everyday for months. It's not a job you can say no, you have no choice. She said you get six days a week if you are lucky. What can happen is you might get a ton of overtime (in which time goes in to an hour and a half) or you may only work 24 hours a week sometimes, just a few hours every day. So I don't know, this job might mess might life up considering I don't deal with stress well and take medication for bipolar disorder, However, that is some sweet sweet cash and I could use a lot of that even if I burn out and quit. Also if I fail the driving test which is part of the first two weeks training, I get fired instantly. You don't get to be an actual mailman with a set schedule until two years later, in which you will be considered as a career person in the post office and get retirement benefits and all that that pay off after 30 years of service (which I will most likely never do). The woman at orientation said it's super competitive to no longer be an assisstant and there's a chance you won't be considered as well. What would you guys choose in this situation?

I think that's what the topic is here for, so it's good to discuss. No apology needed I think. I agree on that. Topics like this wouldn't be any good for anyone in terms of the historical merit of an individual if everyone felt the same and in all cases of the nature even.

An AIDs cure is not a creative work, it's that same as invention. That kind of stuff is not a good analogy because once again, it's a means to an end. Once they have the cure for AIDs, the second they become a dipshit, it really doesn't matter because it's everyone's cure. It's not like he's going to have a series of cures that he hangs on a wall and that you can buy in a box set. It takes creativity to think of solutions more often than not but it is not something that exactly identifies the creator. Also inventions are not usually just the creation of one insane genius, but instead a collective competition between humans towards our latest toolset as a species evolving. A lot of creations and advances in technology are fueled by a need for war and not just one person actively trying to kill with better weapons. You guys can say it's subjective, but I don't see how they can be the same without ignoring key differences to say so. I don't see how it's congruous to swear off the telephone if Arthur Graham Bell turned out to be a child molester. First, he doesn't make the telephone with his bare hands and he is dead and the invention is everyone's at this point. Second, multiple people were trying to achieve an ability to talk long distance with lines anyway at that point in time, so it would have invented at some point if not him (plus I see there is debate on who actually invented the phone). I mean we don't know the inventor of a can on a string.

There's so many more books I do not want to show, there's so many it's so out of control I'm a bit embarrassed.

I think if there's no cap on what you can spend, it's inherently evil. There's always going to be someone who feels they can do it right, but I haven't seen it. Everything is about following the law of diminishing returns and most free to plays without caps equal unknowledgeable players spending a significant amount of money over the cost of a brand new $60 AAA title and generally they are spending this on shoddy bad designed and programmed games. It could be just me, but I worked for a company that solely did free to play everything for two years, despite everyone below the head honchos begging to stop doing that shit. For the guys in charge, it somehow meant unlimited money and there was always a rush to overprice useless shit and keep churning it out. Only one of the four games I worked on made a profit there, the rest being absolute failures and money pits. Nothing was designed for fun and instead made to have blockades and ways to trick players in to losing track of their money spent. Art direction was solely based around what would sell foremost, so there were lots of tits and "bad ass" needed. I'm guessing even with Zynga eventually, this free to play shit didn't work out as planned. That said, I'm pretty desperate and I'd take a job at Zynga right now, if only to get back on my feet.

Nah, I'm not generally bothered by people dating young or half their age. If that's what they want to do, it's fine. but I think 16 is about the cut off. It's even less bothersome considering how young people used to marry a century ago and the average lifespan was much less. Personally I wouldn't since it just seems like a barrel of trouble waiting to happen, plus any long term viability is pretty much zero. Also to give another aspect of this, there's a lot of animators I like who made some blackface cartoons (although what animator or comic artist didn't in the 00s, 10s, 20s, 30s and 40s?) but I still appreciate their work. I don't think it was with racist intentions the way we see it these days even though it was wrong, no doubt. Times have changed and I don't feel it would be fair to hold them to the standards of today as the historical context is important. Also none of the ones I enjoy were out to do only blackface cartoons.

I guess that's the thing, in these types of cases I don't really have to retrain my brain, the betrayel is already there. But I've sworn off some creators I like just for things like political views or their attitude. None of them have become a sexual predator, so I don't know. I also think it's up to the fan to decide if the allegations in the case of sexual transgressions are true or not if they are not found guilty in the court of law. I don't know, I don't mean to be so strict about it. I'm a big fan of Charlie Chaplin but he was married two different women at 16, which many find appalling. I think it's somewhat questionable but considering the times and that this is not pedophilic behavior (some people don't get that that is relegated to preadolescence), I am not bothered by it. He never really married anyone his age, even his fourth wife that he married when she was 18 and stayed with her long term until his death. If this stuff ruins Chaplin for anyone, I certainly wouldn't blame them.

Alright, I give in and I participate. Although I don't really do a bunch of gaming at my actual computer, it's usually in another room at the TV.

Well, I know the final consensus in these discussions that is it is always going to be correct to separate the art from the artist, but I call bullshit on that. Even if the work is unrelated to the nasty lack of inhibiation by the artist, it is still of the same mindspace. An artist creates from the core of their being, their fears, attitude, bad habits, and every facet of their personality being a reason behind whatever decision made for the creation. To separate the art from the artist is silly in my mind and says a lot more about consumer society more than the artist itself. People often want to find a way to like some artist because a critic once said this and we should all look to them, or you've already invested so much time, money, and energy in to their movies, books, or games, that you can't let go now. Just because someone is critically acclaimed doesn't mean you have to bother. I've never seen a Woody Allen film and since I've grown up with all the talk about him, I'll probably never see one. You draw a parallel to Roman Polanski as well. Throwing invention into the mix is just another part of the problem, as an invention is not an artwork, it is a means to an end. A transistor is not a film, sorry. That said, art can be a means to an end, but usually the artist making a page layout on a newspaper is just following instructions and using good judgment instead of following a personal creative calling. If an artist, director, or musician I liked turned out to be a child molestor tomorrow, their shit would be in the trash because it would be forever tainted with the knowledge of what kind of person was actually behind this. And if they were truly putting their heart and soul in to the art, then you would most likely pick up the pedo vibes in the work. I don't think this has instantly happened ever anyway, usually a reveal of one's true character is preceded by rumors and raised eyebrows on creative decisions. Anyway, I full agree with Gormongous' intial statement. Really guys, just go out there and make someone else famous. Leave the old hats to the critics, find a bright new soul.

Yeah call center work leads to a bunch of burnout sooner than later. I used to work at one during high school for about 6 months and I did really well the first month and my performance of completed surveys dropped off little by little until I quit. I think the cheerfulness in your voice starts to disappear and you can't fix it since you don't know it's happening. I usually felt like a jerk when just cold calling a bunch of people and was mostly amused when they got angry, but sometimes you would talk to very lonely people who would just sidetrack the script so they could talk to someone. I always made the mistake of engaging them (against my quota) just a little bit because I felt so bad and I guess I was lonely there too, but you could only say so much since the managers would routinely listen in to your calls. Anyway, awesome Ucantalas, I know that feeling and I know where you are coming from. Glad someone seriously brightened your day.

Subbes, I have been feeling really fond of my cat lately, since he's always kind of around the house and (creepily) right there if I need to pet him and feel better. So I hope your cat beats that cancer. Nachimir, the guy wouldn't have a case if he got all angry and threatened to sue you right? Is there a way to block his number from your phone?

I'll contest to that. I really don't want to do anything else now that I have completely failed to get another job in games after 4-5 years doing it successfully. It just feels gut wrenching to have to get some other unskilled job since you don't have a degree for anything else and therefore lose all your potential in life. Thing is, when I think of going to school again, I can't think of anything else I'd love to do other than art and animation and therefore can't justify running up more enormous student loan debt. So now, I'll almost take any bad job related to games (or animation) if it were offered and the overtime were terrible, just because I don't want to do anything else. Damn it.

I played Mega and Lite simultaneously when originally playing Monkey Island 2. I got stuck at some point in Part 2 on Mega, switched to lite, finished Part 2, then had an idea of what to do in Mega mode and just kind of did that over and over from there. Probably not the best way to do it, but I still have fond memories discovering the alternate easier puzzles. I don't think I played Lite on Curse until much later.

I would just use this to draw.

Just eat a shitload of chicken alfredo until you want to puke,

Hmmm, if cost of living kind of causes some problems for Campo Santo, might I suggest moving to Austin, Texas? I only say this for selfish motives so that I can possibly work for you guys. I'll work super cheap, even if it's just to fetch coffee and bananas (fuck Doritos).

;( Poor cat.

Play coins are for doing all that Streetpass stuff primarily. And Nintendo hates for you to be active to gain play coins, because they think people can't make it to 1,000 steps a day! God, I hate that cap.

If you aren't planning to play Four Swords 20th Anniversary Edition, you can also download it as an investment. There was a time when people were selling DSis and 3DSs on ebay that had Four Swords 20th already installed so that you could use it in a system transfer.

I don't know, how does one actually tackle a door? Wouldn't that involve being able to grab it from the sides which is not possible for a closed door still on the hinges? Looks like some serious punchan to me.

Zelda Four Swords Anniversary is available again for free from the eShop until February 2nd. Better get it now before Nintendo makes it unavailable for years again!