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Unified Vidya Games thread

Started by Cain, November 21, 2013, 05:10:58 PM

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Junkenstein

Put down drinks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/29876839

QuoteWith the new Call of Duty being released today the game's lead developer Michael Condrey told Newsbeat: "I certainly wouldn't characterise the community of fans I know and had the pleasure to engage with as toxic or misogynistic.
"The community as a whole is very healthy, engaged and thoughtful and probably like anything anywhere well outside of gaming.

HO HO HO!

5/5 for that man for keeping a straight face. This is the series that's best known for 12 year olds screaming various slurs while pushing some highly questionable ideologies.

I can only assume the man has never engaged with any of the fans of his series, ever.
Nine naked Men just walking down the road will cause a heap of trouble for all concerned.

Cain

I think about the only thing more prevalent on Call of Duty games than 3edgy5me misogyny and homophobia from 12 year olds is spurious accusations of cheating by butthurt losers...and it's usually done by much the same kind of people.  Hey, someone got a higher k/d ratio than you, and doesn't hide in the corner using Ghost and an automatic sniper rifle all game?  FILTHY FUCKING AIMBOTTER. Be sure to downvote them and send them a badly written piece of hatemail after the game (fav example of the former andthe latter).

It's not the worst gaming community out there, but it's the largest bad gaming community.

Junkenstein

That begs the question, which IS the worst gaming community?

On a blind bet, I'd guess some kind of MOBA crap. From what I recall those things were pretty much designed to create a shitty community as possible.
Nine naked Men just walking down the road will cause a heap of trouble for all concerned.

Cain

League of Legends has a bad rep.  I don't know if it is as large as CoD, but it's still pretty big.  Dota 2 is also pretty damn awful.  Dark Souls fanboys.

Eater of Clowns

Quote from: Pippa Twiddleton on December 22, 2012, 01:06:36 AM
EoC, you are the bane of my existence.

Quote from: The Good Reverend Roger on March 07, 2014, 01:18:23 AM
EoC doesn't make creepy.

EoC makes creepy worse.

Quote
the afflicted persons get hold of and consume carrots even in socially quite unacceptable situations.

Faust

Sleepless nights at the chateau

Cain

Can of Worms Status Update: opened.

As far as I can see, there are two Gamergates.  One is about ethics in gaming journalism (srsly).  The other is about harassing women (srsly).

Sometimes those two groups overlap.  Sometimes they fail to denounce the actions of so-called "allies" hard enough.  But sometimes they don't.

Personally, my feeling is that it's been obvious for a long time that gaming journalism is corrupt as fuck, and the Zoe Quinn saga, while pretty blatant, is nothing especially new.  The outlets most responsible for such things are quite happy to highlight the (actually horrific) harassment of female developers and game commentators, if only to avoid responsibility for their own actions.

LMNO

The "ethics in journalism" bit makes me shiver with horrormirth, and in a way is inexorably linked with the misogyny bit.  I know you already know, but the fact that the whole thing kicked off by having a pissed off ex make unsubstantiated and later repudiated accusations against his X-GF, combined with a complete lack of understanding of how entertainment criticism (it's not journalism, people) actually works, is one massive facepalm.  Trust me, I was an entertainment editor at a magazine for a few years; it's all payola, eventually.  Srsly, if a real journalist had tried to make those initial accusations, he would have gone down harder than Stephen Glass.

Faust

Quote from: Cain on November 06, 2014, 05:12:09 PM
Can of Worms Status Update: opened.

As far as I can see, there are two Gamergates.  One is about ethics in gaming journalism (srsly).  The other is about harassing women (srsly).

Sometimes those two groups overlap.  Sometimes they fail to denounce the actions of so-called "allies" hard enough.  But sometimes they don't.

Personally, my feeling is that it's been obvious for a long time that gaming journalism is corrupt as fuck, and the Zoe Quinn saga, while pretty blatant, is nothing especially new.  The outlets most responsible for such things are quite happy to highlight the (actually horrific) harassment of female developers and game commentators, if only to avoid responsibility for their own actions.
Ay, If the harassment crowd could be dropped into an oubliette,  you'd get a clear portrait of valid gripes, where pretty much all large gaming media sites are a pay for positive review for whatever iterative shit comes out. Of course these gripes are and remain Indistinguishable from the ethics in movie reporting via large media outlets.

If anything carving out the gaming subset of ethics in journalism at all seems strange.
Sleepless nights at the chateau

Cain

Even the indie developers are at it. 

Honestly, if someone asks me what I consider a very clear case of abuse of power against critics in gaming, the first thing that comes to my mind, even to this day, is a particular group that tried to issue copyright notices to get TotalBiscuit's Youtube page shut down.  Basically, TotalBiscuit got permission from a company to review a beta version of a game they were planning to release.

He made a video which was critical of the game.  Not unfairly so, TB is IMO a very fair reviewer and does not go in for mindless bashing or mean spirited criticism, even of genres he may not personally like.  However, when the company in question discovered this was the case, they pressured Youtube with copyright notices to take down his videos, contributing to a strike against him under Youtube's community guidelines and so caused his channel to be threatened with closure.  They claimed he did not have permission to post the video and, when he showed otherwise, they said they had rescinded the permission, as was their right.

Eventually, Youtube took down the strike against him, and TotalBiscuit uploaded a review (without any footage) alongside an explanation of the subsequent events.  But TotalBiscuit is kinda a big deal, in online game reviews.  That one piddling developer could temporarily, and almost premamently, silence him over a critical review shows how easily game critics can come under pressure when they actually dare to have an independent opinion.

Meanwhile, on the flipside, if you're willing to sell your critical faculties to the highest bidder, and have an audience, you can get pretty much anything you want for free.  Not just the games - the hardware upgrades to play the games, the right equipment, early access, you name it.  And, needless to say, while those reviewers are made to sign non-disclosure agreements, so long as they stick to those terms, which are far more lenient than the legal gray hole in which most Youtube partners operate, they are perfectly free to upload whatever footage and music they want.

And then there is the spectacle of the major gaming sites whose advertising is almost entirely paid for by the people they are supposed to be objectively reporting on.  I mean, there is a reason IGN's reviews are a joke, it's not that they simply employ morons.  And that Xbox Magazine is actually considered a good source on game reporting.... :eek:

But I think anyone with half a brain already knew this was the case, even before the current drama.

LMNO

I had a really clever thing that showed how this sort of thing pervades all of media criticism, but the computer ate it.

Suffice it to say, even the New York Times Review of Books works the pay-to-play angle.

Cain

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, I don't think video game journalism is any more complicit in this kind of corruption than the rest of the entertainment industry.

Honestly, it wouldn't matter so much at all, if not for the fact that game developers are shoving shit down everyone's throats while insisting its prime beef, using the "critical reviews" as proof.  This year has been quite exceptional, as virtually every hotly tipped AAA rated game that has had any sort of media coverage has turned out to be garbage.  Watch Dogs?  Check.  Titanfall?  Check.  Dark Souls 2?  Check. Destiny?  Check times infinity.

It's actually gotten to the point I have high hopes for Dragon Age: Inquisition, simply because most of the reviews are saying it sucks and giving laughably inaccurate information.  I can't see Assassins Creed: Unity or Black Ops: Advanced Warfare exactly thrilling people, given their short development cycles.

But by the time everyone realises they suck, the companies will have their cash.  The hype machine will have achieved its goal, and wont give a fuck about post-purchase blues.

Faust

There are a few exceptions, Alien Isolation had fairly glowing reviews and it's the most creative and enjoyable game I've played all year, and despite it being first person, and having guns in it, it manages to entrench itself firmly in the First person stealth genre more so than thief (this years mediocre one) or even Dishonored.

It's very entertaining to play a game that gives you several guns when no situation is improved by using them.

It doesn't mean that they dont treat the journalistic outlets as any less of an extension of their marketing department then say COD does, rather in spite of that, it coincidentally happened to be a great game.
Sleepless nights at the chateau

LMNO

Dear Internet: quit making games that are the equivalent of Hoobastank's career.


Oh, god.  They're touring Asia.  Like right now.


:emo:

Cain

So, this is what I've been helping to test for the past couple of months.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59849/?

I do recommend.  Functionally, quite a few of the perks are similar to SkyRe, but the overall number of perks has been pared down from the ridiculously specialised builds than T3nd0 encouraged with SkyRe.  Also, it's a lot more compatible, as it makes much less changes than SkyRe.

Notably:

No race changes.  No standing stone changes.  No combat AI changes (though bleed damage has made a return).  No experience gain changes.  No levelled zone changes.  No changes to enemies.

Wayfarer as a perk tree makes a welcome return, as does Fingersmith (now renamed "Dexterity").  Alchemy has been significantly overhauled to make it much more useful and powerful - there are several new poison effects which are quite powerful.  Perkus Maximus has also been designed to work with the "Wintermyst Echantments" overhaul and should be included as part of the main download.

Personally, I recommend playing it with Deadly Dragons, DCO, OBIS, OBIS Redone, Revenge of the Enemies, Trade and Barter, Frostfall, Better Vampires, Bloodmoon Rising and Improved Artifacts installed.  At least, that's the mod list I've been working with (note: Bloodmoon full compatability not proven, but the only conflict should be bonus unarmed damage being converted into "damage reflected", which is no biggie).

Mostly, these mods are compatible on their own, or else with the patches located here http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/59257/?#content