Gwardinen

I don't really know why, but I enjoyed that so much. Damned adorable hamster short circuited my brain.

Yes, it's out on the 7th.

I have no idea when to actually try games like this anymore. Prison Architect has been on Steam Early Access for two years now. At what point is it finished enough to really get in to it? I was having this same problem with Planetary Annihilation, and now that it's technically released people are saying it still seems like a beta at best. Does anyone have an assessment on whether to wait or go for Prison Architect? Or the other game with the same initials?

Ugh, every time Richard Dawkins says anything it makes me feel ill. I feel embarrassed by him in the same way I presume religious people feel embarrassed when a fundamentalist Christian talks about God hating fags. And I'm not even an atheist! I'm agnostic! I just hate the idea that anyone of faith would look at him and think that, as a non-religious person, I share his opinions.

It's pretty strange that it doesn't summarise the plot, it just describes almost the entire film.

Just watched Palo Alto. It's actually pretty well acted, especially considering most of the people in it are quite young. But it's gorram depressing at times. Pretty relentlessly focusses on the things teenagers do wrong, and the toll it takes. There are only about two good decisions in the whole film.

Don't really feel like expanding on it at this time, but I thought it'd be cathartic to come into this thread and say: Online dating sucks.

I will do this. I have never played and do not own that game about swinging, but there are plenty of sexually permissive middle class people of a certain age around here. I am sure I can figure it out.

Haven't shaved this week (and possibly last) and decided to record myself doing it in stages. Enjoy. Not having bothered to shave recently: Trimmed down to a human beard (if that human's facial hair was patchy as hell): A faux intellectual goatee! Now we're getting somewhere: Classic creepy moustache: And finally, as close to clean shaven as I can ever be bothered to get:

Oddly heartwarming:

Borderlands 2 is free on Steam for the next few days, and is heavily discounted during that time as well. I haven't really played it much, but I'd be interested in getting to grips with the game with up to three other Thumbs. Anyone interested?

Well I meant that it's discounted compared to the RRP being shown on Steam. It might not actually show as a discount. The voucher works, though. I got it for £24 total, which would be €30.

The voucher code NEVR14-U3AJ96-7004LF can be used at Green Man Gaming at the moment to get 20% off. As far as I know it works on anything, but of special note is that it can be combined with the fact that Civilization: Beyond Earth is already 25% off as a preorder (at least in the UK) to get it for £16 less. If the same holds true in the US, for example, that'd be along the lines of a $25 saving.

More Lego pics! yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssss

Yeah I realised as soon as I wrote that that it was just as off base and rhetorically suspect as the stuff I was trying to highlight. We hear the "but that happens to men too" excuse used so much in so many ways that are total bullshit that it should have set off bigger alarm bells in my own brain. Let me try again. It would be more relevant and accurate to say that many of the behaviours player are allowed to engage in with female NPCs are not necessarily indicative of a male devalued interpretation of women.* This is because they are already so deep in another gaming trope - disposable, interchangeable non-story-related NPCs. Being able to be randomly murdered and dragged around in games such as GTA, Deus Ex and Hitman are not attributes of female characters, they're attributes of any character that isn't a participant in the story, and more broadly any character other than that the player is inhabiting. This isn't to say it isn't a problem, or even that it doesn't also merit social scrutiny and worry about whether it's reducing empathy and subtly changing viewpoints (just in this case the victims would be anyone the player doesn't know or anyone who doesn't have value to them - something our community does often seems to have trouble with), it's just that Sarkeesian's assertions that this is about sexism specifically felt somewhat unsupported. Again, though, this kind of wouldn't matter if there were more people creating the sort of content she does - any flaws would be covered by other commentators. What I really want is people who are even more knowledgeable and experienced with the industry creating even more incisive commentary about these things, not for her to stop. *Note: I really am saying not necessarily. Unconscious sexism probably DOES play some part in it, but the point I was really trying to make in my first post is that a lot of part 1 felt like it was somehow trying too hard to find fault once Sarkeesian got on a roll with a few games, and how that is not necessary because there is SO MUCH SEXISM to criticise totally legitimately. I think I am particularly sensitive to any overreaching of this sort because I am always worried about MRAs latching on to it as proof that the whole topic should be ignored.

I don't know that I agree with this, because I actually feel like some of the points she makes actually weaken the overall essay. I haven't seen part two yet, but the first part of the Women as Background Objects series actually spent a great deal of its middle portion kind of losing me. She spent a fairly significant amount of time leaning heavily on a small handful of games' treatment of women while completely neglecting to mention that they treat men identically (in terms of the things she was pointing out, not overall) and actually often mock the type of person who would do such a thing, and the society that would allow it. It bothered me because those games DO treat women problematically, and even the points she was discussing (largely centred around the ability to use and abuse NPCs with relative impunity) are problematic as well, it just felt incredibly rhetorically strange. Reaching strenuously for examples of mistreatment isn't necessary; there are plenty that are readily available and it weakened the entire (very valid) argument for me. That said, Sarkeesian is still quite new to this, I believe, and beyond that no piece of criticism is ever perfect, nor does it ever affect everyone the same way. This is still a very important set of issues to talk about, and using clear examples and explaining them in a way that makes sense even for people who are not particularly deep into the industry is a worthwhile cause. I also don't want to imply that I actually think these videos are bad. In fact, I've only seen one group tackle similar problems better - Extra Credits (perhaps because the main writer is actually a game designer himself). If I'm disappointed, it's only because I want more people to do an even better job of this.

The GOTY version does seem like the best value for money, if the DLC or characters are any good, yeah. I think it's only free for another day or so so if anyone's available and interested we need to get on this fairly tout de suite.

So Marvel Heroes was recently renamed and rereleased as Marvel Heroes 2015! Because of course it was. They even managed to snag a new Metacritic page. Has anyone played this game recently? I've actually heard quite positive things about how much it's changed since release and am kind of interested in trying it. I suspect this would be more enjoyable with other Thumbs, so is anyone currently playing or interested in playing?

Dammit, I hate it when actors whose performances I enjoyed turn out to be pricks. It makes me feel somehow guilty for liking them, even if it was just a persona they were donning. I felt the same way when I watched an interview in which Jeremy Irons argues against gay marriage (comparing it to bestiality and incest in ways that would be hilarious if only they weren't so creepy) - I can't fully enjoy Scar anymore, despite loving the Lion King.

As I mentioned in multiplayer networking, Borderlands 2 is free for a few days on Steam, and is 75% off during that time as well. If anyone's interested in gathering some Thumbs, let me know!

That's a pretty reasonable reaction. I just want to point out that that is only standard at an airport. British police do not usually carry firearms, though there have been some unfortunate incidents with "terrorism suspects" over the past decade. Our issue with excessive force and racism-esque responses by police in this country tends to be against Muslims or people who "look Muslim", rather than the apparently anti-black stuff going on in America at the moment. That said, I definitely feel like British police are way less inclined to roll up and start shooting on a regular basis than US police, as has been said partly because most of them are not armed (and therefore also not trained) that way.

That is bizarre. This is a week in to a negative PR shitstorm and the police are raiding churches? Who thought that would be a good idea? I have mostly been saddened and angered by events in Ferguson so far, this is the first instance of outright confusion I've felt. It feels like a joke - "only way they could make this shit worse is by raiding a church, heh heh". What is going on over there?

Thinking of finally pulling the trigger on this. Is anyone interested in doing a coop campaign? I feel like I'll only actually commit to a game of this length and complexity right now if I have a partner.

Which game is that, Merus?

Well, I specifically meant ROBOT surveillance. I thought the uprising was meant to be a secret in these early stages.