feelthedarkness

So neat. So the Bratmobile trail made me wonder, are there no "rules" against using the names/images of real products, as long as it doesn't purport to represent those products?

Olly moss is so good, it makes me want to give up. That new Life Well Wasted poster. dammit.

He's made some real clunkers, but he's also totally earned the right to be a prickly eccentric! I think it's a shame that Ultima Online (a game I didn't really play) didn't manage to set a permanent standard for online gaming: persistent, interactive worlds, immersive, fungible open ended social structures.

We had a very brief exchange about that flavor in an episode thread. I enjoy the sci-fi tropes, like making an underwater plankton farm to make specialized future goo for advanced engineers, though I understand how somebody could not care.

I've played a bit of this, and I enjoy it. I'm not a huge strategy/city builder person, so I don't think I'm qualified to put it in any kind of perspective. It seems fairly robust in terms of building settlements, plus some combat, plus trading. There is a lot of game there.

I guess I'm wading a bit into the unpopular field of authorial intent, but I was really engaged by the the idea of obsession/compulsion, and I wasn't quite bothered by the convenience of his recall (more on this later). I feel there is some ambiguity to how much of the narration is literal, and what parts are obsessive thoughts on the narrator's part. He frequently ascribes whole lives and intent to people he just looks at. He gives shifting appearances to the patient/doctor. Even the too abrupt ending, The doctor patient say "we have no choice. No choice." When he winds up in the gay bar I don't think it's fully accidental. (edit: I skimmed a lot of the posts so I could blurt my thoughts, and now should add that I agree with Argobot's reading, who said it first, and wasn't overlooking it!) The biological urge/predestination runs throughout. Aryan, Jewish, Gay, things inherited from parents. He has a moment of clarity where he sees his house falling into total disarray because of his obsession, triggered by the trauma of his work trouble. Also, in reference to the drama of the landlord, for OCD sufferers, a foreign disruption of "home" is another major trigger. Some of it hits a bit close for me, as one of my closest friends has a severely crippling OCD disorder, which manifests in guilt about dishonesty. I get fairly regular phone calls where he needs to apologize for mis-truths, frequently years ago. Literally: "4 years ago, we were driving to Brad's and I said Lenny Briscoe's last season on Law & Order was was the 15th, but it was really the 14th." Also, I couldn't help but picture the narrator as the adult Jimmy Corrigan from the Chris Ware comics.

I think some of these kickstarter games are bound to be a bit clunky, be it time, budget, or manpower. I think it might that be part of the charm? A lot of my favorite late 80s/early 90s games aren't exactly seamless. Shadowrun looks sweet though. Next 2 years are (hopefully) going to be good.

Sorry man, I don't feel that I'm being belligerent by suggesting people try to consider the nature and context of their criticisms in a field where women's voices are very often diminished. I mean, jeez, look at response she received when she expressed herself if you want to talk about belligerence. I feel she laid out a clear and simple argument providing hundreds of examples, over generations, of this problem. I'd again ask you to consider the type, nature, and tone of the response. When men say "she doesn't sound professional, she didn't entertain me" all that. It exists in a context. (I'm not just referring specifically or soley to your words, but maybe the larger group in which your words might be landing.) no beef man. 1 luv.

Sorry man, I totally agree, I was just making a joke about the absurdity of somebody going in an entirely different direction than the pitch. (Such, say donating the money, which plenty of people said.)

Hey, you know that $200 I gave you for an isometric RPG? Whatever man, make Sexy Boggle. It's your cash now!

I hope people are at least aware that it is problematic and emblematic that people are apply this level of scrutiny and criticism to 1 second, two words, of expressed emotion. it's really something else.

I'm sure you're thought of it, but a more in-depth analysis of a single, or even handful games would not serve the broader goal of illustrating that these tropes are ubiquitous, and deeply ingrained. Though, it would make it easier to dismiss with the handful of counter claims providing that beloved "balance."

She even makes it explicit that being aware of these things does preclude one from enjoying them, so you don't even need to care so deeply that you stop play like 98% of the games being made.

well, you picked the right hobby then.

I don't think she needs to change the mind of somebody who is currently non-receptive, when she's potentially reaching hundreds of thousands of younger people, kids, educators who might show this to a class.

So that's what you got out of that? 22 seconds of panties. Not like hundreds of examples? It's kind of dark man. Also, on top of the usual picking apart she receives, I'm seeing people focus on the one instance of her raising her voice. Two people on this thread are kind of focusing on that, but you're insisting she makes a more "entertaining video"? She's now obligated to entertain people who are predisposed to ignore anything she's trying to say?

as somebody who works at a STM publisher, she's reaching tens of thousands times more people with her first piece than an academic paper would.

I almost want to take it a step further and say it becomes a shorthand for "you're dumb for trying something." The real artistic value of something can be hard to see without enough time or distance. To keep it with this episode, think about encountering David Lynch's stilted dialog today for the first time, without the weight of his success. Would it read as genius? Also, board games! One of my current favorites is LORDS OF WATERDEEP. It's a worker placement game with a bit of D&D quest flavor. It kind of plays like Peurto Rico, where players have 2 Lords they can assign to a job (building) per round (3 Lords in later rounds). Players can purchase the buildings, and receive rent/bonuses when other players use them. It comes with more buildings than can be placed in 1 game, so the experience can be pretty different each time. Players recruit units to complete quests for VPs, gold, enduring skills/bonuses. Each player gets assigned a Lord that has victory conditions to meet, like "own the most buildings" or "receive 2 extra VPs per Piety quest completed" We've had a lot of success with grizzled old dice kings, and novice players alike.

Player housing will live in the persistent shared world, so real estate will have location value. Once a house is purchased, players will need to pay regular taxes on it of course. But as a special thank you to select Kickstarter supporters, all housing obtained by making a Kickstarter pledge of Citizen, Lord, Baron, Duke or Lord of the Manor will be tax free for life! FINALLY, a system that rewards people with money first. I love the idea of permanent residence and finite real estate, but it also fills me with anxiety, even if I never encounter it.

Quest For the Original IP Rights

Really well done, and I think these could serve as great educational tools for younger people.. Also, there is nothing wrong with being critical or at least aware of problematic things you enjoy. She explicitly states that she enjoyed these games, but there are problematic themes.

aww. I got punked.

Oh My:

Kevin Saunders, who was the lead on Mask of the Betrayer is on the new Torment team. Mask might by my favorite D&D game, and I think they did one of the best jobs handling game narrative morality, where you could often make a choice, and then choose the reason. I still feel a bit bad how honoring a deal turned out for ol' Kaelyn.

That brain in a tank from Revenge of Shinobi: leaves me alone except for the rare occasion when it pokes noodle in.