tegan

I Had a Random Thought (About Video Games)

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Man, Goodra has such good stats and such a wide movepool that I have no idea what to oh wait it looks like it literally only learns the same status moves that every other Pokémon does.

 

Special Attacker it is.

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I can't find any damn rain to finish evolving my Sliggoo so I started another shiny hunt. This time I'm breeding for a Tyrunt with Ice Fang/Fire Fang/Thunder Fang/Dragon Dance. That was a pain to set up, I tell you what.

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A man awakens in squaller and is confronted by his dead-end existence, at the mercy of forces beyond his control. He isn't even supposed to be here!

Angry and unsatisfied, and with his foul-mouthed friend in tow, he digs into his past, determined to reclaim what he thinks is rightfully his, which happens to be represented by a lost lover.

Along the way, he encounters a host of characters who denigrate and demean him. He's the hero tho so fuck them, on he goes.

He uncovers secrets best left hidden, hurts those around him and is betrayed by those closest to him but on he pushes. Finally, he literally disappears up his own ass and is confronted with his true enemy: himself.

He realizes the folly of his quest and has to confront the damage he's done, damage that can't be undone.

Also there's some combat, but it kind of sucks.

---

Those who love this story love it with an undying ferocity. This is reinforced by the fact that those who come across it feel like they have discovered something. When others fail to appreciate it, or point out its very real flaws, it's grounds for holy war. Even with its rabid fans and even though it sort of creaks today, it is hard to deny that it did accomplish something impressive.

Those that worked on it are minor deities in some circles, yet they've never quite emerged from the shadow this early work still casts and, despite themselves, they still touch on it.

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All I know about Planescape is from a really interesting discussion on the Daft Souls podcast, which made me want to play it. But the things I guess were spoilered sounds like pretty important spoilers. Is there loads more that'll suprise me? the things that were spoiled were

the 5th rule on his back stating 'don't trust the skull', and the location of a previous incarnation of yourself as a crazy person who locked himself up in a place full of traps.

 

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There is an ENORMOUS amount of content in Torment. Honestly, it isn't a story that relies on it's twists.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a person who is bothered by spoilers so YMMV.

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If you can get into it, I think you're in for a real treat.  I played it once when it was quite new, and have never been able to replay it.  I've tried a few times in the last 5 years, and it is sooooo slow.  And then I hate myself for how much my patience has eroded.

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I did try to play it, and will try again but even apart from being slow paced, it's really not the kind of gameplay that will engage me and draw me on.

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It's weird to me that people think the name Skullface is out of place in a Metal Gear game. It isn't even the dumbest one.

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So this integrity-in-games-journalism thing has really snuck up on me. I didn't realize that it was such an emotional issue for some people and I think it may be worthwhile to examine. While I myself do think that the influence of money has a way of taking all the fun out of things, the idea that a journalist's, critic's, curator's, or developer's private life is expected to be public in order to insure that no influences corrupt "objective" perspectives seems ludicrous and disrespectful. When Problem Machine said this in the feminist thread I was like "Tell it like it is Problem Machine, I feel you here!"

 

Fuck video games journalism's integrity. Fuck it forever. I could not possibly give less of a fuck if the people write about games that HAPPEN TO BE MADE BY THEIR FRIENDS. How fucking terrible to imagine that something could possibly be written about a game that the writer cares about, not just as a fun experience but as a work of art that was created by a person. I hate that this is something people even care about, much less care about enough to MENTALLY TORTURE SOMEONE OVER.

 

Burn it all fucking down.

 
I feel you Problem Machine. You feel soft like peach-fuzz, but warm like an engine within its casing, having been worked at high-capacity all day.
 
The opposing sentiment is not hard to find, and (honestly) I think it is kind of creepy when I read stuff like this and this. I'm conflicted because I don't want to belittle sincerely held concerns, but the talk about integrity in games-journalism quickly gains an intense, emotional confidence that I now find volatile and scary. Claims that there is no conspiracy and that a site has ethical guidelines just pulls the the elastic farther back so that it hurts more when a misunderstanding goes into the twitter rumor-mill. I have two separate thought-experiments that I've been considering today, one for each end of the spectrum. 
1. Would it be possible for a journalist, critic, curator, or developer to state in no uncertain terms that their opinions have no ethical guarantees; for them to then share their sincere enthusiams which would inevitably develop an involuntary trust; and for that person to have any protection from the irrational demands that all information about them should come into public scrutiny? The only way I could see this done would be if the content was produced anonymously and in that case, the creator's identity would be the first thing to be revealed against their will. So it seems like a total impossibility to me. If you produce well-developed content, the mob will inevitably decide that it's their right to tear your life apart. What the fuck?
 
2. I have an idea. Someone should form a kickstarter. Double-blind tests will be done to determine the most isolated and dedicated gamers. These gamers will then live monastically on an island where games will be sent to them and they will produce objective reviews. It will (of course) be all male so that lustful thoughts can not influence any opinions (accept in cases where a game gets an extra point for evoking frequent and reliable erections). They will have no access to commerce, or media that is not off-the-shelf video-games. Generous donations from those who desire objective reviews and utmost integrity in games-journalism will keep the gamer-monks fed. I actually think this is doable. It does not seem like it would be that hard to find 10 or 12 guys who would be willing to live in isolation in exchange for a never-ending supply of free games, housing, and food. Then everyone else can just have their own opinion. 

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See, when I think of what we supposedly get out of having scrupulous ethical standards (specifically, that large corporations who will spare no expense to convince people that their specific tentpole game is a necessary purchase), I wonder how that's any different to people getting obscenely hyped up over a big AAA game that turns out to have major problems when critically re-examined, like, say, GTAIV.

 

Of course, there's always pressure from the audience to score a highly anticipated game highly, no matter its actual quality - if anyone had given GTAIV a 'this is well-made but kind of tedious and hollow' kind of score the pitchforks would have almost certainly have come out. I think there are systemic biases in how games are reviewed (such as the 4-point scale) that reflect the history of the medium, but I think there's an expectation by the audience that these biases will stay in place.

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It's weird to me that people think the name Skullface is out of place in a Metal Gear game. It isn't even the dumbest one.

 

In MGS3 there is a man who controls bees and wears bee armor and shoots bees out of a tommy gun (made of bees) and throws bee grenades at you. Video games.

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It's weird to me that people think the name Skullface is out of place in a Metal Gear game. It isn't even the dumbest one.

 

It wouldn't be out of place, if that Metal Gear game didn't include explicitly, poorly handled rape scenes of a minor, including her death via bomb placed beneath her genitals, all with the purpose to further the plot of some gruff male protagonist. Oh, and don't get me started on the unsubtle Sacco and Vanzetti references...

 

In MGS3 there is a man who controls bees and wears bee armor and shoots bees out of a tommy gun (made of bees) and throws bee grenades at you. Video games.

 
Remember when the MGS series held a consistent (mostly campy) tone that was subverted by making characters well developed and interesting? I do...

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In MGS3 there is a man who controls bees and wears bee armor and shoots bees out of a tommy gun (made of bees) and throws bee grenades at you. Video games.

 

I want this in my life. How have I not played this game?

 

Speaking of campy ridiculousness, does anyone have fond memories of Neo Contra? The Nazi dog was my favourite. Also, most preposterous ride to work ever (start of vid)

 

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My favourite thing about the Zoe Quinn thing is that by far the biggest cry of "journalism ethics!" has come from TotalBiscuit, who also unabashedly accepts payment from publishers to cover their games. And also is kind of a jackass.

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See, when I think of what we supposedly get out of having scrupulous ethical standards (specifically, that large corporations who will spare no expense to convince people that their specific tentpole game is a necessary purchase), I wonder how that's any different to people getting obscenely hyped up over a big AAA game that turns out to have major problems when critically re-examined, like, say, GTAIV.

 

Of course, there's always pressure from the audience to score a highly anticipated game highly, no matter its actual quality - if anyone had given GTAIV a 'this is well-made but kind of tedious and hollow' kind of score the pitchforks would have almost certainly have come out. I think there are systemic biases in how games are reviewed (such as the 4-point scale) that reflect the history of the medium, but I think there's an expectation by the audience that these biases will stay in place.

 

For me, a lot of problems would be solved if scores were just dropped altogether.  I think scoring games (or movies or any other kind of creative content) is just dumb.  Reviewing them is fine.  Tell me what you liked about a game.  Tell me what you didn't.  Let me decide if the good things sound better than the bad.  Unless it's actual, technical info like framerate or something that can actually be measured, it's your opinion which is totally valid.  Putting an number on it implies some sort of universal scale on which all things can be judged and I don't believe for a second that exists.

 

It makes me want to enact an idea I've had forever, which is a website that is built on subjective reviews.  The scores are basically "recommend" and "don't recommend".  Everyone would be free to review a game and give their opinion, but in order to do so you have to provide a list of other games you like or dislike.  The idea is that if you liked certain games, and someone else liked those same games, then maybe you'd also like this other game they recommend.  Or vice versa.  It's something I'd do if I had the time, money, and ability.

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2. I have an idea. Someone should form a kickstarter. Double-blind tests will be done to determine the most isolated and dedicated gamers. These gamers will then live monastically on an island where games will be sent to them and they will produce objective reviews. It will (of course) be all male so that lustful thoughts can not influence any opinions (accept in cases where a game gets an extra point for evoking frequent and reliable erections). They will have no access to commerce, or media that is not off-the-shelf video-games. Generous donations from those who desire objective reviews and utmost integrity in games-journalism will keep the gamer-monks fed. I actually think this is doable. It does not seem like it would be that hard to find 10 or 12 guys who would be willing to live in isolation in exchange for a never-ending supply of free games, housing, and food. Then everyone else can just have their own opinion. 

A true hermit, a man separated from the human contact for 27-years, a man who expected to die without ever speaking to another person.  That man...played Pokémon occasionally because he stole a Gameboy.  Somehow that single fact is the most surreal part of this story to me.

 

Edit: Crap, I actually meant to put this in the random thought thread.  Oh well, I'll just leave it here.

 

I really want to see this guy write a Pokémon review now.

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I'm only three-quarters of the way through this article, but it is absolutely phenomenal. Guro is making some really insightful observations about this mysogynist/conspiracy worldview. I'm very impressed.

 

these people don't really care about lack of recognition or coverage for interesting new games made by outsiders. they care about getting back this abstract, indefinable feeling of a shared culture created and fostered by corporate media that seems to have been lost to them. 

 

Just in case the quotation containing a link is confusing, I want to point out that the link below is the article I'm referring to, not the link in the quotation. 

http://ellaguro.blogspot.com/2014/08/on-right-wing-Video game-extremism.html

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So I had a lot of Steam Wallet funds, placed a buy order and accidentally -

 

BZ4qptj.png

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I really want to see this guy write a Pokémon review now.

 

Ha!  He is supposed to be looking for a job.  He seems to be as qualified to be a professional games critic as much as anyone. 

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There's a small part of me that looks at these asswipes panicking that 'their' games are being taken away, and thinks 'now you know how it felt when you took my adventures games away, you fuckers'.

 

There definitely seems to be an invitation into shared delusion - you'd think that people would be more skeptical of an ex airing dirty laundry - that's common along certain sections of the population. Here's a secret, the email that Obama wasn't really born in America says, that you could probably disprove with a little effort. But isn't it nicer to believe that it's true? That you're part of the secret club that knows the truth, and that we're all heroically fighting together against the forces of darkness that are secretly poisoning all that we love? But we see through their little games, don't we. We won't be fooled.

 

We're the good guys.

 

The horrifying thing is that to them, it's nicer to believe that everything they care about is irredeemably corrupt than it is to believe that they're not particularly special.

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Is it bad that I want to buy Depression Quest, a game I have little interest in playing, simply to make a statement? 

 

Nope! Support what you believe in.

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