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felassan · 1 month ago

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PCGamesN: Interview with David Gaider - 'Ex Dragon Age writer says the legendary series was never "a good match for EA"'

David Gaider on Bioware's struggles with EA, Old Republic "sucking up" the cash for Dragon Age 2, and how Larian got Baldur's Gate 3 so right.

Excerpts under cut due to length:

"I asked whether he'd finally played Dragon Age: The Veilguard – in a post on Bluesky in October 2024, he stated that "[he didn't] think he could play and enjoy the game like other fans play and enjoy the game," calling his relationship with the RPG "complicated." He tells me that he still hasn't touched it, saying that his deep-rooted connections to Thedas make it "hard" to go back. When I ask about the series' transition over the years from a strategy-heavy RPG to a fast-paced, mission-based action game, then to a quasi-MMORPG, then, of course, to Veilguard, he says that "Dragon Age is like the Alien franchise of games: every Alien movie is almost a different genre and a completely different reboot of style, and I think Dragon Age, in many ways, is the same." "For the first three titles, I was there, and I understood the reasons behind all the changes – each time it was sort of an overcorrection for what we thought the problems were with the previous title, then it combined with various issues at the time that were specific within Bioware. Dragon Age 2 was the size it was because we had to fill a production slot before the fiscal year and because Star Wars: The Old Republic was sucking up so much cash from everything. Then, Inquisition was kind of a reaction to the fact that some fans were quite disappointed by Dragon Age 2 – although, as an aside, in many ways I think it's one of the best titles in the series – but, regardless, we felt like we had something to answer for. I think, in many ways, Inquisition kind of yet again moved the barometer too far in that direction." "So I kind of see Veilguard [as] more of that – it was answering what came before and kind of moving the barometer a bit too far in many ways, but it also had a lot of internal trouble within Bioware as well; they were at the merciless ends of it, from what I understand anyway." He clarifies that "I'm an outsider now, so I only know part of it. I still haven't played [Veilguard] because it's hard to see. I had a very personal relationship with Dragon Age and I chose to leave it, so I'm not blaming anyone or anything, but to see it sort of continue on without me and make different choices, there's always that element in your head that's like 'is that what I would've done? Would it have been different if I'd stayed and been there and helmed the writing of it?' Who knows, but it is still very, very difficult to see." [...]"

"Back in February, Gaider encouraged EA to "follow Larian's lead," a comment that quickly went viral. I ask what he meant by that. "In many ways, Dragon Age was, I think, not a good match for EA," he tells me. "They never really knew what to make of it, or what to do with it. The expectation was always that it wouldn't do well, and when it did do well, it took people by surprise. By comparison, Mass Effect was slick and it was action-driven and very much up EA's alley, so they always expected that it should do better, and every time it didn't, it got excuses like 'oh they released in the wrong timeframe, or X, Y, and Z.' The idea was that the potential for Mass Effect was more – it could get the action audience as well as the RPG audience. It wasn't until Mass Effect 3 that they started to realize that 'no, there's an action RPG audience, like a crossover,' but you don't just get both audiences together. "Even though Dragon Age only catered to the RPG audience – at least initially – [EA] kept wanting it to move into the action space as well – and maybe by Veilguard it has. I think their idea was that the 'cap' on the RPG audience was only so big," he recalls. "Then Baldur's Gate 3 comes along and proves no, it's possible that if you lean into what a genre does really well, you can grow the audience, as it turns out." "It's funny, trying to turn Dragon Age into something it's not. Wouldn't it have been great if they could have had the vision that Larian had and looked at what that type of game does really well and just doubled down on it? Double down on the choice-driven narrative, double down on the production value, like the presentation of the characters and the cinematics and dialogs, and just take it to the extent where quality is the watchword. What Larian did was exceptional and hard to replicate because they don't have a publisher over them; they're privately owned so you can't just translate that to anyone else, but it'd be like asking a publisher like EA to have the vision that Larian did, and they really live on two different planets."

[source]

#dragon age: the veilguard #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #mass effect #bioware #sw:tor #video games #long post #longpost

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ducksido · 3 months ago

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Ok, so I think a Welsh!Yuu would be awesome, and I’d love to see their reactions to things like the fact that w and y are vowels in the Welsh language, as well as the traditions surrounding Mari Lywd. I think it would be hilarious. Also I would like to see Malleus’s reaction/thoughts on the Welsh flag (because it has a dragon on it)

General Reactions

Grim: "What do ya mean 'w' is a vowel?! That ain't right!" "Mari Lwyd? You guys have a spooky skeletal horse that goes door to door for rap battles?!" Tries to challenge Mari Lwyd in a rhyming battle. Loses horribly.

The NRC Student Body: "Wait, your language has barely any vowels but somehow more vowels at the same time?!" Attempts to pronounce Welsh words. It’s an absolute disaster. Thinks Yuu is casting spells when they speak in Welsh.

Crowley: "Ah, Prefect! Tell me more about your delightful homeland—Wales, such a lovely part of England—" Yuu: "Finish that sentence and you’ll regret it."

Crewel: Impressed by the fact Welsh Yuu knows how to herd sheep. "At least you have a practical skill, pup."

Trein: Loves learning about the Mabinogion and Welsh folklore. Mildly disturbed by some of the stories. "So… your legends involve a guy marrying his own sister?"

Vargas: Immediately wants to test Yuu’s endurance. "You lot love running up mountains, right?!"

Sam: Tries to sell Yuu "authentic" Welsh cakes. Yuu: "Sam, those are just scones."

Heartslabyul

Riddle: Fascinated by the strict traditions of Welsh law. "Your people have so many interesting rules… but I still cannot allow you to argue with people via poetry!"

Ace: "Wait, wait—so you guys just sing at each other when you’re mad? That’s insane. I love it."

Deuce: Amazed by Yuu’s stories of Welsh warriors. "YOUR PEOPLE FOUGHT THE ENGLISH IN REVOLTS FOR CENTURIES?! THAT’S SO COOL!"

Trey: Learns about bara brith and Welsh cakes. Adds them to his baking list.

Cater: Tries to use Welsh slang. "Aye, Yuu! Proper tidy, yeah?" No one knows what he’s saying, not even Yuu.

Savanaclaw

Leona: Scoffs. "You lot fought off invaders with sheer stubbornness? Respect."

Ruggie: Loses his mind when he hears about Welsh rarebit. "So it's just fancy cheese on toast? Amazing."

Jack: "What do you mean you have a tradition where a skeleton horse demands to be let inside your house?!"

Octavinelle

Azul: Very interested in how Welsh mythology involves a lot of clever tricksters. "I believe I’d fit right in."

Jade: Mildly terrified but deeply intrigued by Mari Lwyd. "A skeletal horse that argues its way into homes? I must see this."

Floyd: "YOU HAVE A RED DRAGON ON YOUR FLAG?! THAT’S SO COOL!"

Scarabia

Kalim: Loves the idea of Welsh singing traditions. Immediately asks Yuu to teach him some songs.

Jamil: "So you tell fortunes using spoons? ...Interesting."

Pomefiore

Vil: Impressed that Welsh has some of the oldest poetic traditions. "True beauty is in language and art, I suppose."

Rook: Delighted by the poetic and lyrical aspects of Welsh storytelling. "Ah, the passion! The melody of your tongue is truly enchanting!"

Epel: Loses it when he learns Welsh warriors fought bare-chested. "THAT’S SO METAL!"

Ignihyde

Idia: Shocked that so many fantasy creatures come from Welsh mythology. "Wait… dragons, elves, cursed cauldrons?! You’re telling me your country is a fantasy RPG?!"

Ortho: "So your people hold singing battles? That’s amazing!"

Diasomnia

Malleus: Sees the Welsh flag. "…Your people honor dragons? You must introduce me to your ruler immediately."

Lilia: Knows way too much about Welsh folklore. "Ah, the battles I’ve seen in Cymru! Such fierce fighters!"

Silver: Likes how Wales respects its history and legends. "Your land seems peaceful. …Except for the part where you fight over poetry."

Sebek: Approves of Yuu’s respect for dragons. Immediately starts learning Welsh. "I SHALL MASTER THIS NOBLE LANGUAGE!"

RSA & Noble Bell

Neige: "Your country looks so magical! I’d love to visit!"

Chenya: Steals Yuu’s leek from St. David’s Day and runs off with it.

Rollo: Horrified when he hears about Welsh fire festivals. "YOU SET WHEAT ON FIRE FOR FUN?!"

More Welsh!Yuu Chaos

Names every NRC student the Welsh version of their name. No one understands.

Speaks entirely in Welsh when mad.

Randomly breaks into song when arguing.

Calls everyone "cariad" or "butt" depending on how much they like them.

Absolutely refuses to let anyone call Wales "English."

Welcoming Welsh!Yuu

First Impressions:

Mexican!Yuu: “You’re so proud of your country, I respect that. Also, I heard your cheese game is strong?” Brazilian!Yuu: “I feel like you either have incredible festival energy… or you’d rather be left alone. No in-between.” Aussie!Yuu: “Oi, you got deadly wildlife? Same here. You ever wrestle a sheep?” Sicilian!Yuu: “You have a deep, old culture that people overlook? We’re gonna be best friends.” Romanian!Yuu: “You have legends about dragons? Okay, you have to tell me.” Jamaican!Yuu: “You have a beautiful country and a complicated history? You get me.” Southern!Yuu: “You live in a place where people sing everything? That’s charming as hell.” Florida Man!Yuu: “Your government is technically a Senedd instead of a Parliament? That’s the kind of chaos I respect.” Czech!Yuu: “You have folklore that feels way too real? Yeah, you and I are gonna get along great.” Thai!Yuu: “You’re either chill or petty depending on how people treat your culture. I love that energy.” Vietnamese!Yuu: “You also have an alphabet that confuses outsiders? High five.” Pakistani!Yuu: “You believe in fighting to keep your culture alive. That’s admirable.” Egyptian!Yuu: “Wait, you have ancient ruins and a poetic language? That’s awesome.” French!Yuu: “Your people are stubbornly proud and refuse to let their language die? That’s something I can respect.” Québécois!Yuu: “You get the struggle of being overshadowed by a bigger country. We have much to discuss.” Greek!Yuu: “You tell stories that have been passed down for centuries? I need to hear them.” Irish!Yuu: “I swear we’re cousins. Are you sure we’re not related?” Scottish!Yuu: “You also have a history of fighting England? Respect.” Italian!Yuu: “Your singing tradition is no joke. You could probably out-perform all of us.” Aboriginal!Yuu: “Your culture has been around for thousands of years? That’s amazing.” Arab!Yuu: “You have so much history packed into a small place. That’s fascinating.” Philippine!Yuu: “You got a history of fighting for your language? I respect that.” Myanmar!Yuu: “So you’re quietly stubborn? I like that.” South Georgia!Yuu: “You mean to tell me you got sheep and castles? That’s a wild combination.” Singaporean!Yuu: “You somehow kept your culture alive despite being overshadowed? That’s powerful.”

How Welsh!Yuu Fits In:

Instantly bonds with Irish!Yuu and Scottish!Yuu over Celtic heritage, fighting against English stereotypes, and the importance of correct pronunciation.

Québécois!Yuu and French!Yuu feel their pain. "You fight for your language? So do we."

Mexican!Yuu and Brazilian!Yuu are fascinated by their music. “You mean to tell me your people just sing entire conversations?”

Jamaican!Yuu and Aboriginal!Yuu love their deep-rooted traditions. “Your culture is old and resilient. That’s awesome.”

Romanian!Yuu and Czech!Yuu trade folk stories. “Your monsters are what?!”

Egyptian!Yuu and Greek!Yuu appreciate their ancient poetry. “You mean your old texts are lyrical? That’s so dramatic. I love it.”

Pakistani!Yuu, Philippine!Yuu, and Arab!Yuu respect their dedication to their language. “People tried to erase your culture, and you refused? That’s real strength.”

Aussie!Yuu & Florida Man!Yuu vs. Welsh!Yuu

Unlike most newcomers, Welsh!Yuu doesn’t immediately get bombarded with attempts to unleash their chaos.

Aussie!Yuu recognizes something in them. “Mate, you’ve already got that quiet kind of unhinged energy. I don’t even need to do anything.”

Florida Man!Yuu is intrigued. “You come from a country where people have petty levels of national pride. I must see how far that goes.”

Instead of trying to push Welsh!Yuu into chaos, they take a different approach—testing their pettiness.

Florida Man!Yuu purposely mispronounces every Welsh word. They get a 20-minute lecture on phonetics in return.

Aussie!Yuu makes a bet: “Bet you can’t talk your way out of trouble using just singing.” Welsh!Yuu proceeds to do exactly that.

Eventually, Aussie!Yuu and Florida Man!Yuu realize—Welsh!Yuu is the most passive-aggressively chaotic person in the group. No need to corrupt them.

Final Verdict:

Knows their country is small but acts like it’s the most important place on earth.

Can and will give a full linguistic breakdown if someone dares call Welsh a “dying language.”

Has a beautiful singing voice but refuses to admit it.

One of the most stubborn Yuus. Will argue for hours if necessary.

Aussie!Yuu and Florida Man!Yuu respect them too much to corrupt them. They just sit back and enjoy the passive-aggressive chaos unfold.

Will absolutely fight someone over their culture. Someone insults Wales? They’re done for.

#twst x reader #twst #twst wonderland #twst yuu #twst incorrect quotes #twst headcanons #culture!yuu #welsh!yuu #welsh

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beardedmrbean · 6 months ago

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[Huey Zoomer anon]

The Left: I want to show more black people in history

Me: Okay!

The Left: *Proceed to bastardized history with a Marxist oppressed vs oppressors mindset and refuse to actually use actual African Civilizations properly*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Also like the black Roman thing….hmmm do people mean like North African and MENA provinces where naturally west Africans would show up

Or are they trying to pretend that people of black descent would live in Roma and the Italia peninsula?

Also the black supremacy thing, where black characters can act like Victorian sociopaths because they were oppressed in the past

Don’t get me started on the renewal blood and soil arguments thanks to the Decolonial theory

Also why just more black people in historical eras? Why not show off the ancient Indian merchant (we found Hindu artifacts in ancient Egypt and even the infamous Pompeii dig sites)

Or make the “invisible Jews” more present as they were there

Actually AC origins was the first games I notice the proper cultural exchange between the Levantines and Egyptians

And this weapon from the game https://assassinscreed.fandom.com/wiki/Canaanite_Blade

Wait the Jews were known for their ferocity? *Glance at Hollywood portrayal of Jews and stereotypes of jews* that new, perhaps I can fun NON BIBLICAL and non holocaust focus books about Jewish people more

Hmm, I told this to Nunya in the dms, but what about a video game or two set about the unification of Israel under Saul and David? Not saying from this franchise. But I was thinking like similar to the recent AC rpg games like Valhalla and Odyssey. Mossad can kill me for this but hey

Prologue David as a youth: Baby boy (sorry he was the youngest of 8, the baby fat on his face must been strong af)

David after killing Goliath and his exile: Traumatized baby boy

Fully grow adult David after got his beard: Conquerer daddy

Hmm, have Israelites found any ancient breastplates? Might play with the Judah Tribe Lion Motif with David designs a lot.

Sorry for my rambling…despite being progressive, I think we regress back to 60’s representation with a woke hat

Or are they trying to pretend that people of black descent would live in Roma and the Italia peninsula?

Septimius Severus Roman emperor from 193 to 211. From current year Lybia, there's debate™ about him.

Black people in ancient Roman history - Wikipedia The Romans didn't really have a concept of black or white only roman or not roman, kinda like how the French have been trying to do it for a long time.

Also the black supremacy thing, where black characters can act like Victorian sociopaths because they were oppressed in the past

You can say Killmonger it's ok

Also why just more black people in historical eras? Why not show off the ancient Indian merchant (we found Hindu artifacts in ancient Egypt and even the infamous Pompeii dig sites) Or make the “invisible Jews” more present as they were there

Both would be nice, be interesting to get something going into where the afro iranians came from (same place African Americans came from, same reason too) but there were also traders and others that likely set up shop all over the land mass that makes up the "old world"

Small Jewish community in China been there for a long time, there's some debate about how long but even the most conservative estimates put it at over 800 years.

Actually AC origins was the first games I notice the proper cultural exchange between the Levantines and Egyptians

The Egyptians may have looked down on shepherds, but they still needed that wool at times.

Fiddler on the Roof is good if you're looking for a Musical.

could be fun, could also be a minefield

Fully grow adult David after got his beard: Conquerer daddy

We could probably skip calling him that

Hmm, have Israelites found any ancient breastplates? Might play with the Judah Tribe Lion Motif with David designs a lot.

Resources on ancient Jewish armor? Reddit Brain Trust on r/ArmsandArmor has this and skimming it I'm going with probably not, looking around I'm seeing one place calling the garments the High Priest wore including the Breastplate with "the name" written on it listed as armor.

In fairness it was supposed to keep him from getting killed, just not by soldiers.

Found this too, easy enough to pick out the eras even if you can't totally read what it says, first 2 are Saul next is Davidic then Maccabean, and the last two are Herodian.

You'd have to look up what passes for a coat of arms for the different families to go past that. This looks like a fairly well accepted collection of what they crests are though

Sorry for my rambling…despite being progressive, I think we regress back to 60’s representation with a woke hat

going to the lowest common denominator has really done that a lot it would seem ya.

sorry some of this is a little short, gotta run out for the night soon so I wanted to get it out to ya

#zoomer huey anon

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stuck-in-the-ghost-zone · 1 year ago

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HIIIIIIIIIIIIII MACKEREL. HIII. HI. HI. FINISHED EPISODE 31. holy shit. absolutely reeling. william wisp survival horror villain!!!!!!!!! william wisp survival horror villain!!!!!!!! hes just like taylor hebert forreal.... every single choice he made in this episode was the most logical & best for as many people as possible and yet taken all in all they're fucking horrifying. me when i'm doing the wrong things for the right reasons & i'm alienating everyone who loves me & the only way out is through and i can't stop now because then it would all be for nothing!!!!! head in hands. i fucking said he'd go off the rails as soon as dakota wasn't there!!! u need ur emotional support immovable object bestfriend!!

that being said. actually feeling some kind of way by vyncent "was chill with killing his own father" "grew up in hellmurder rpgland" "has committed manslaughter at best and murder at worst" sol going "yeah this is making me sick. i can't do this."... god. they're both alone now!!!! and i can't even articulate how much i hate that william's alone with his shitty manipulative older brother who dissects people now!!!! it's gonna be Bad!!!!

also i have. So many fucking feelings on the freedom city crew man. head in hands. freedom city wards............ anyway. god!!! shakng u back n forth by the shoulders!!!!! william wisp torment nexus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AHA. AHAHAA YEAH. I SPECIFICALLY SAID THE FREEDOM CITY WARDS THING TO YOU BEFORE YOU STARTED THIS EP SO YOUD SAY THAT. BECAUSE IM SO FUCKING EVIL MASTERMIND CODED. i have been thinking a lot about freedom city wards. they don't. stay wards for very long. smile.

there have been SO MANY TIMES where you've said something to the effect of "wow I can't wait for william to get separated from dakota and become so morally grey" AND EVERY TIME IM JUST SITTING HERE LIKE.

william is alone with david now surely this will not have any dire consequences. yeah i feel rlly fucked up abt vyncent leaving too. god. bold words coming from the guy who grew up in hellmurder rpg land !!!!! but also completely understandable. this was a fucked up situation from the START and it becomes too much. I get it. vyncent was fucking scared and worried and one of their friends was just dissected and william might know David but *he* doesn't so he has no reason to trust that tide or anyone else is gonna be okay .... GOD. I have. so many feelings abt it.

ohhhh wiwi..... wiwi wake up you fucked up big time! but also you didn't really have a choice because your older brother is a manipulative bastard and you can't see through it because at the end of the day he's your big brother and you're supposed to trust him! he wouldn't hurt you right! ughhhghghghghh. greyscale arc is so fucked dude. it's so fucked! william wisp i love you so dearly you're in such an impossible situation and none of your choices are making things better but !!!!! it's the best you can do in the situation you're trying to help you're trying to protect your friends and AUGHGHGHH. UGH.

#i put this in my drafts while i was at work the other day and then TOTALLY FORGOT ABT IT IM SO SORRY #asks #friends!!!#intertexts #GOD DUDE. GOD.#william wisp torment nexus !!!!!!!!

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gemini-care-barr · 1 year ago

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For Barry and Hal-

What fandoms or franchises do you think they are in or follow? Could be podcast related, Reddit forums they are a part of, movie sequels or trilogies or novels!

Definitely something that should be mentioned more in canon comics so let’s use this as a manifesting moment by detailing it out 🤭

Right off the bat, I have to make it clear to absolutely everyone that Barry is 100% a Trekkie and Hal is most likely a Star Wars fan. And while we’re on the most heated sci-fi debate, I’ll add that once Hal and Barry became friends and Barry learned more about the Green Lantern Corps he undoubtedly introduced Hal to Star Trek and successfully convinced him that it was the superior sci-fi franchise, we stan two Trekkies 😜

Now then, I don’t think Hal would be very into book series or fantasy in general but he’d definitely have a particular interest in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings trilogy and I think he’d try Game of Thrones and The Witcher because of everyone’s recommendations but would probably not like it very much. He’s the noble-type though and would be pretty easily convinced to read the Lord of the Rings books (including the Hobbit and Silmarillion) because of the nobility of the characters and story. Same reasoning goes for Donita K. Paul’s DragonSpell series. He’d also probably be into the writings of Henry David Thoreau, Ernest Hemingway, and Raymond Carver, not hugely into them necessarily but if he was super bored and he had access to their stuff he’d dig it haha. His favorite poem would also probably be Tennyson’s In Memoriam A.H.H.. I don’t see him being too into podcasts, but he’d definitely like rock bands like Foreigner and AC/DC. He’s also definitely into movies more so than tv shows and would love movies like The Right Stuff, Top Gun, Braveheart, The Patriot, John Wick, most blockbusters classics really, and probably anything with Bruce Lee haha. He’d probably think anime/manga was for nerds until someone pointed out that Dragon Ball Z was, in fact, an anime then he’d realize they can be pretty cool hahaha. And with video games, I’d say he absolutely doesn’t have the patience for long form RPGs but can probably be convinced to play some FPSs with friends like Call of Duty and Halo lol. Basically, this was a long way of saying that Hal is probably more sporty, not in an obsessive fan of sports way, mind you, just that he participated in mostly sports growing up and even as an adult probably prefers hanging out playing baseball with kids (Adams’ GL run has an adorable scene of just that) rather than watching/reading/listening to anything so essentially he’s just not very media-obsessed; he’s a doer! He also probably wouldn’t participate in the fandoms of any of the media he does consume because he cares more about engaging with the media itself rather than about others’ thoughts and feelings on it haha.

Onto Barry, honestly, Barry is kind of tougher for me to figure out purely because I feel like he and I are very similar so I’m inclined to list basically all my favorite things and my thought processes haha, but I’ll try to avoid doing that 😝. So, like I said, Barry is definitely a Trekkie, the Federation’s belief in preserving alien lives and lifestyles plus its dedication to exploration and science all appeals to his inner nerd. He probably loves the shows For All Mankind, The X-Files, and Bones because of their science-y natures (he definitely introduced Hal to For All Mankind and it’s one of the shows they watch together haha). We all know he’s a huge comic book fan (shout-out to Pre-Crisis that had him reading Golden Age Flash comics 😜), but I’ll also add that I think this love of Golden Age Flash, thanks to his mom, would have led to his own love of Greek and Roman mythology once he realized where the idea for Jay Garrick’s helmet and shoes came from! A love of mythology would eventually lead to a love of ancient western philosophy and writings then to Medieval romances like the Arthurian legends and the works of Chaucer. Old English stuff would’ve crept in there too starting with Beowulf. He was an old soul from a young age so all these things would’ve caught his eye on trips to the library and the old-fashioned romantic notions and chivalry has definitely stayed with him. All this appreciation for much older works would then slingshot back around to him loving and appreciating more modern works that took heavy inspiration from all this older literature like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, the Percy Jackson series, the Harry Potter series, the Codex Alera, and the Dresden Files, oh and all the detective novels, just all, from Doyle, Christie, Poe, Hammett, etc. then when he found foreign detective fiction he’d go mental and just read them all haha. He’d also probably read the Remo Williams and Jack Reacher book series and convince Hal to do the same! I’d say he’s also into old movies and classic tv shows because they all make him feel good with their sweet morals and happy endings. He’s probably not much of a gamer except for the ones with good stories, he’s too interested in learning new things to just watch someone else play though, if a game’s story interests him then he’s definitely playing it himself. Mass Effect is probably one of his secret favorites. He’s super into podcasts, anything informational and/or scientific, probably conspiratorial and/or true crime stuff, too, if for nothing else than to help him get inspiration on how to approach his own cases, he may even try and solve some cold cases that he hears about (he’d probably stumble across Black Box Down then convince Hal to listen with him haha). He definitely grew up with both the Pokémon TCG and show and was actually aware that it was an anime so is likewise somewhat into other very popular anime/manga like Naruto. Music would be jazz (he’d try and fail to get Hal into it, too, see: New 52 Flash’s Annual #2), 60s rock like the Beatles and the Monkees, and probably 80s pop like the Culture Club, oh and Air Supply (which is also Hal’s guilty pleasure band hehe). He likes sports a lot, both playing and watching, but was still more likely to be found reading/watching/listening to something rather than playing; still, the same way Hal can be convinced to play a video game in order to hangout with friends, Barry can be easily convinced to join in some sporty endeavors if it’ll mean bonding with a friend or loved one. Finally, like Hal, I don’t see him engaging too much with fandoms, he’d probably try when he was younger but wouldn’t find too many people who were into the same things then when he did find people things would devolve into arguments instead of just joy for whatever the thing was so he eventually would resign himself to just enjoying the thing itself, our Barry is a soft boy 🥹. He likes discussion though so once he found people who were his safe space they wouldn’t be able to get him to shut up hahaha.

…I …I can’t believe I wrote this much ahahah 😅. I swear I wasn’t going to get this involved! I was just going to name a few popular franchises that each would be into, but then I started thinking about mediums and how they’d appreciate different ones and then… all this came out lmao 😅😂. I apologize for the long walls of text! Just remember: this is your fault 😜

(Note: forgot to say, Barry would 100% be into Jurassic Park (books and movies) and would convince Hal to read the books (he definitely already watched and loved the movies)!

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autisticempathydaemon · 2 years ago

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Alright, let's do this, i guess

My ennagram is propably either 6w5 or 5w6 i'm not quit sure

I do watch a lot of video essays, too many to name any favorites, most of them about fiction/media analysis, a few channel examples being: cj the x, ragnarrox, lindsay ellis, ladyknightthebrave (though i've admittedly only seen her the haunting of hill house/bly manor videos), what's so great about that & hbomberguy (fuck tommy tallarico)

My favorite audio rn is probably "Your Chaotic Roommate Confesses His Feelings For You", for multiple reasons i probably can't get into in a post like this

In terms of who hold no appeal for me, mostly david but also vincent, he's just too idk clasically romantic for my tastes

Speaking of which, i'm generally not the most traditionally romantic person which sometimes makes me worried that i'm not affectionate enough/in the right way for people

I generally love horror and/or fantasy and/or mystery media of all types.

I used to watch a lot of rpg maker horror game lets plays during a generally rough time in my life (though i've still never played one of them myself) mostly the channel manlybadasshero and the german channel nesfatelp.

The professor layton series of puzzle/mystery games are a cornerstone of my child & and early teenagehood, the two with the spookiest athmospheres (the diabolical/pandoras box and spectres call) probably being my favorites if i had to choose. I also recently (finally) started getting into the ace attorny series.

In terms of platonic attraction: just the entire damn squad, including gavin.

I don't really have any guilty pleasure favorites i think, but for some reason i had this weird cheap dvd which was a fairy tale themed collection of german knock studio cartoon films as a kid. There where a few by this studio called dingo pictures (as i would later find out, here's the german wikipedia page since there isn't an english one: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo_Pictures) on there including an alladin knock of (here's a clip of it: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2u4h5STlXUc&pp=ygUVYWxhZGluIGRpbmdvIHBpY3R1cmVz)

It seems to be the same german animation team/studio as that film where the yeee dinosaur meme/clip comes from (this one:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q6EoRBvdVPQ&pp=ygUMeWVlIGRpbm9zYXVy)

Though the dino movie wasn't on the dvd, probably since it isn't fairytale themed, so i never saw that one as a kid.

And there also was a bambi knock of by dingo pictures called goldie that i even had as a seperate dvd of as well for some reason (here's a clip: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b_WNza6_Z2c&pp=ygUMR29sZGllIGJhbWJp) there also where films clearly made by other small studios on that dvd as well, it really was a weird mix.

And although i could even as a kid tell that these films were objectivly "bad" i still found some strange enjoyment and fascination in them at the time and looking up these clips gave me immense nostalgia, i even have to say i enjoyed goldie more than disney's bambi, simply because it was more intersting in it's strangeness while i found bambi always boring.

Well, there you go, hope that's enough/helpful

Addendum: As a kid i used to always just say my hobbies are reading and drawing/painting and while i still like these activities (and i still read a book every once in a while) it started to feel kind of dishonest since i haven't actually been doing these things as much anymore (especially drawing/painting, i really need to get back into that) so last year i started to get into new hobbies i had interested in trying for a while, like learning to play guitar as well as starting to do archery and now also wanting to get into general martial arts (i mean, i gotta get buff arms somehow, right)

Ooh, I like you. Type 5w6, the Troubleshooters, are such an interesting type, and you have fantastic taste in movies, interests, video essays, and games. You know who else would like you? Guy~!

The enneagram types you align with, plus the video essays and games you like, give me the vibe of someone really thoughtful and in their head, like Honey, and we all know what a fuckin great match they are with Guy. This also works because Honey doesn’t strike me as traditionally romantic or saccharine sappy either.

I’m imagining a really loving, lowkey in its intimacy kind of relationship, the kind that’s built on a companionable compatibility you two have. It’s lots of chill nights watching horror movies that he talks through non-stop, mystery movies where he always guesses the killer. Its trying new hobbies, sports, and classes together and getting adorably, lovingly competitive. It’s Guy being very cute but entirely unhelpful with the Professor Layton puzzles.

Song:

It's funny 'cause you drive me half insane/ A universe without you would be thoroughly mundane/ There's no one else I'd rather fall in love with/ And that is my best friend in the world

Yeah, I’ve just designated you Honey-kinnie, friends/roommates to lovers vibes, I hope you’re okay with that /lh Guy’s just the perfect guy (ha) for sneaking himself into your heart, you know? He’s there and silly and incorrigible and inexplicably charming, and then you can’t imagine home with him.

Runner-Ups:

Asher is a really cute choice for runner-up because he strikes me as a scaredy-cat who pretends to be tough, and I love to pair wimps with horror buffs. Ollie is also a good option because I think you, he, and Guy would like all the same things. That would be a really cute fucking friend group actually.

note: you have, again, excellent taste in video essays I highly recommend ladyknighttothebrave’s video about Sense8 it’s my favorite one about one of my favorite shows 💕 you’re also totally fine for sending in two asks, all input is helpful and valuable 💚

Read this post and send me an ask if you’d like a match-up of your own! 💌

#redactedasmr #redacted asmr #redactedaudio #redacted audio #redacted #redactedverse #busybee matches

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casliveblog · 2 months ago

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Custom Toonami Block Week 220 Rundown

Devil May Cry: We now resume Dante falling out of the fucking sky already in progress. He does manage to get a few of the guys some parachutes which probably wouldn’t do much at that altitude but we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it’s fine. He has to go full Devil Trigger for the rest of them though since that form conveniently gives him wings and lets him have a DBZ fight with the Wind Demon brother. Meanwhile they realize the Armor Knight Demon is out of Lady’s weightclass so they dismiss him to go lead the armies of demons getting ready to invade the city so it’s just Lady vs Rose Demon and Slimer. Slimer’s disguise doesn’t last too long but even then Lady gets dunked on and has to let Rose Lady stunlock him and get the jump on her to take them both out. She gets into the Jigsaw control room and tells all the Demon Ice agents to help the refugees and they barely question her character development before just fucking doing it, like granted she’s a Lieutenant and most everyone that would outrank her is probably dead by this point but that is kind of a paradigm-shifting order there. Still it doesn’t last as once the racist Vice President gets back in communication he orders all the migrant refugees killed… topical. This pisses off Slimer as soon as he wakes up from his nap and he just says fuck it and blows up the whole place. Meanwhile Dante’s DBZ fight interrupts Lady’s Silent Hill adventure and they collide to kill the Wind Brother before Lady kinda does the big ah-ha that everyone else has already probably figured out at this point that the Rabbit needs Dante’s fully actualized Demon Blood to activate the amulet and now he’s holding the city hostage Dark Knight style to prove humans are as shitty as he believes them to be and that Dante’s willingness to not be shitty will lead him to his death.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Rimiru and co. make the trek to the dwarven village and he and Gobta get jumped in line by a Konosuba party and if you EVER think Rimiru’s EVER in danger, you’re wrong so of course he just knocks everyone out with his Wolf Conqueror’s Haki but that gets him in trouble since yeah he just knocked out everyone outside and on the outskirts of the city. Still he does the Slime equivalent of blood donation to get all the dwarves healed up and everyone’s cool with him. They do take him to the blacksmith and he donates some of the ore he’s eaten and like idk I thought he was actively absorbing the magic from the ore he ate and that’s how he kept getting stronger but I guess the story’s just gonna be like “he had enough to do this too” which is something that bugs me about Dr. Stone too like inventory management just kind of assumes anything he’s picked up before will have enough quantity to fulfill any need regardless of multiple uses. Plus he can just like… Xerox off magical swords and they don’t specify if he’s using his materials to do this or if he’s just generically forming magic into sword shapes. Like if he could do this why couldn’t he just… eat clothes and a house and make enough houses/clothes for all the goblins? There’s this funny runner where they keep talking about elf women and he keeps picturing RPG busty elf ladies and in Konosuba the joke would be they take him to a strip club but it’s all dawrven women that aren’t his taste but no at the end of the episode there just actually are sexy elf women, god help me I’m missing Konosuba’s sarcastic subversions, idk this’d make sense if Rimiru had been having a tough time of it thus far and fanservice was his reward for sticking it out but no he’s been breezing through shit and just gets the elf titties anyway, there’s no real meat to it other than a reason to show elf titty (which I’m not complaining about cosmetically, just narratively).

Cyberpunk Edgerunners: Now that David has undergone his initiation it’s time for the big slice of life episode that gets us attached to the status quo and acquainted with all the gang characters before they die horribly. David’s running errands and slowly getting upgrades, we get that one meme scene of Rebecca holding him at gunpoint as he opens the door which before I saw the show I thought that was her first introduction but it may actually be funnier for her to do it after she’s already known David for a bit, like there’s no reason for it, it’s very silly. There’s a montage of him training with Lucy, getting new parts, getting driving lessons and learning how to use a gun despite his memories of his mother keeping him from firing, you can practically see the RPG numbers going up on his character sheet. All the while he’s questioning his actual relationship with Lucy since it literally started with a double cross and everyone in this city seems to be both fuck buddies and about to kill each other and it’s a coin flip which is which at any given moment. This is all brought to a head when a Super Hobo kills Rebecca’s brother Pilar out of nowhere and there’s actually a really cool bit where it’s foreshadowed in the cold open but they color the blood green to mildly disguise what’s happening, I just thought that was a neat touch like you could probably still guess it’s a murder but the green throws you off a bit, neat use of Jojo-style recoloring. Like if you had to pick someone to die first to set the tone it probably WOULD be Pilar since he’s a great mix of recognizable yet unimportant but it’s still executed pretty well. The group engages the Super Hobo and David eventually shoots him to protect Lucy while Maine finishes him off. It reminds me of the chapter from Monster about what you need to pull the trigger on someone being forgetting the sweetness of life as he pushes away memories of his mother to shoot this guy. Afterwards everyone reads the room well enough to send David and Lucy off together and she tells him her dream of the moon was real and she doesn’t want him to go dying a senseless gangster death and he says he’ll make sure neither of them go out senselessly and they kiss and I’m sure both of them are going to die horribly now.

SAO Alternative: It’s season finale time and the climax of the NPC Battle arc. With LLENN currently on respawn cooldown, Pito’s hand is forced as the NPCs launch an RPG at them (love the wordplay the Machine Gun Bros get when they don’t know what an RPG is and think they’re talking about the game) so she reveals she bought a fucking bazooka and I don’t know enough about guns to know what the difference between an RPG and a bazooka and whatever the hell David has is but I know it’s time to start blowing shit up. Shirley and Clarence show up to take out the sniper and Shirley thankfully resists Clarence’s suggestion to start teamkilling while the explosions rock the castle and LLENN comes back into the fold, taking out the scientist and pinning down the leader who asks her why she fights and after going through a few reasons in her head she settles on ‘cause it’s fun’ which, suspecting and later knowing this is a real guy she’s murdering is a FUCKING TERRIFYING response, like in-universe it’s an affirmation of the bonds of friendship she’s made in this game but to this guy a lil pink gremlin ran up and murdered him for the sheer joy of it. So yeah, LPFM wins the NPC trial and everyone dips out so the team can have drinks alone because no one can stand Pito’s guts. Karen’s got her character arc and reaffirmed her reason for playing a murder game while getting a healthy dose of ‘it’s just a game don’t worry’ and we get the big reveal that of course these guys weren’t NPCs but actual soldiers going through an experimental VR treatment to… inflict PTSD on them? Idk at first I thought it was an anti-PTSD treatment but they specifically said it’s for soldiers that don’t know what losing’s like so they push things too hard so they inflict the fear of death back into guys who’re too good at fighting with the aforementioned crazy pink gremlin. Like all’s well that ends well and the soldier leader agrees to retire, having learned something about the fear of death and value of life like LLENN had him speedrun the plot of Vinland Saga but it still seems kinda cruel to put soldiers who probably already have issues through that just to humble them, idk. Still a very fun season and I hope we get Season 3 at some point but we got a little weird there in the end.

Heavenly Delusion: Meanwhile on the S.S. Handfish, Kiruko and Maru plot to take down the Handfish after it avoids the first blast, leading it into the belly of the ship and trying it out with the cargo of spongy cardboard boxes and dried weed. Afterwards the two finally make land and head for where one of the sailors said the bird symbol came from only to find it’s a completely different fucking bird symbol, like yeah realistically if you’re just going off hearsay and faint leads not everything’s gonna be a slam dunk, you’re probably gonna be running in circles quite a bit and so far this story has so far captured what a fucking wild circuitous goose chase that would be pretty well. Now in the Promised Neverland side of the story we’ve firmly set Tokio as our main character as she gets to see the incubation room with frog girl and they’re definitely making baby maneaters for the outside and Tokio’s got a mix of abject horror and mild puberty themes going on which mixing puberty and the apocalypse seems to be the general theme for the show. Like part of her is like ‘wow demon baby’ and the other part’s like ‘do I want babies?’ and they actively go over how all the kids are suddenly doing puberty shit out of nowhere despite having no example to follow for it, they’re just kinda figuring it out. And credit to the kids like it’s awkward and cringe as hell but kids stumbling through how puberty works with no context could’ve been a LOT more problematic. Still all this shit and her sick friend dying is weighing on Tokio so she talks with artist boy who reassures her they’re all natural changes and all that shit but then also said dying friend is warning her to GTFO because yeah we really are in The Promised Neverland part of the story and they may be doing some kind of harvesting on these kids.

Trigun: Now that we’ve had a mass genocide of colonists, Vash is more determined towards pacifism than ever, even against animals and shit while Wolfwood is kinda fed up with him just kinda throwing himself into deadly situations and hoping things will work out when someone else kills the bad guy for him. Legato has been brainwashing whole city populations to abandon their cities and the only remaining town in the area is left ridiculously xenophobic, though the kids of the towns are spared for some reason and join together to found a happy little orphanage that Vash’s group trips across. They get raided by some of the adults from the town but after Vash saves their lives from some of the Dune Worms they all agree to band together to fend off these uncharacteristically coordinated animals. It all comes to a head as it turns out one of the orphan kids was one of the Gung-Hoes and controlling the worms. They basically reenact that scene from Clone Wars where the Death Watch guy taunts the pacificsts about who will mark themselves a cold blooded killer with Wolfwood playing the role of Anakin in this case. They do make it somewhat ambiguous about whether the kid still had good in him but yeah Wolfwood did murder a semi-conflicted child and regardless of thinking he did the right thing can’t bare to look into the innocent eyes of Vash, Meryl and Milly any more, taking off on his own as the divide between the pragmatic and idealistic philosophies grows wider than ever.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: Utena is now slowly starting to remember her promise to save Anthy as Akio and Touga prepare for the ��final” duel, planning to sabotage her confidence just like Touga’s first duel with her because this grown-ass man giving a teenage girl a fair fight was apparently never on the table at all. Akio has Touga deliver a present to Utena in his name and Touga despite being one of the most vile people in the series is actually starting to have doubts, it’s eventually clear that Akio issued this task to test Touga and have him confront his feelings as much as it is to rattle Utena’s state of mind. He tries to take Utena as far away as he can so he can discuss things plainly with her but Akio literally fucking scoops her up onto his white horse, proving there is nowhere Touga can find that is beyond his reach. Touga has some fucked up feelings where he simultaneously wants to help Utena but also feels she’s a mystery to be conquered, inspired by her strength but never quite outside of his playboy mindset, or at least that’s what he’s telling himself. He and Sayonji meet and Sayonji just straight up asks if he loves her since all of the crazy things he’s done for the past like decade have been centered around this girl he could never save nor control and he refuses to answer but you get the feeling if the answer was no he would’ve said so. Utena is successfully distracted but feels the memories of Anthy threatening to come forth while Akio gloats about how he hopes Touga can win but doesn’t sound too invested either way, seemingly getting off on the mutual torn conflict between Touga and Utena.

#ooc #Toonami #Custom Toonami Block #Devil May Cry #That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime #Cyberpunk Edgerunners #Heavenly Delusion #Tengoku Daimakyou #SAO Alternative #Trigun #Revolutionary Girl Utena

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onewomancitadel · 1 year ago

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I was reading old posts by David Gaider on Tumblr (preserved in an archive) and it was really interesting reading that they basically weren't prepared for how seriously players took romance in their games. Romance was basically incepted in RPG's by Bioware, and kind of added in as a sort of lark? But there emerged a pretty significant playerbase who expected romance in Bioware games and suddenly romance became a not-uncommon thing to generally expect in RPG's committed to the genre bit. It was sort of implied that this was a female fanbase this but I would argue that the latter of these things (general genre expectation) is now an RPG player attitude irrespective of gender.

These are old posts from ~2015 mind you, so it's possible that his position has changed and of course, Bioware is staffed by different people now, but it was interesting that in these posts he essentially viewed it as a sort of female fanbase problem but also something which distracts from the RPG experience - nevertheless they sought to cater to this inadvertent legacy. I thought this was absolutely crazy but also sort of an inevitable feedback loop, because if you don't take romance seriously as an actual roleplaying element, of course it's going to feel silly and divorced from not just the RPG experience but the world you are experiencing, and subsequently roleplaying in. If it's just there for funsies, or because perverts want to roleplay threesomes/harems/sex stuff, then yes, romance will feel silly. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy and is what makes revisiting these sorts of RPG's difficult, because inevitably I am going to encounter their idea of a sexpot fantasy they think the player wants. See also: attempts at animating sex scenes to be titillating.

I personally do not enjoy viewing RPG's as dating simulators (although this is their general reputation) and I especially do not like romance divorced from the character/plot/overall narrative experience, especially in a world where I am experiencing the story through roleplaying and interacting with other characters! To me, romance is an incredibly powerful way to realise that world, see new sides to characters they would not reveal to anybody else, to reveal things about my roleplayer character, to reward looking deeper, and you know, to even reward things like replayability (and encourage experimenting with different characters).

I thought this was especially interesting in light of how the Solas/Lavellan romance was realised, because I really do not feel like Solavellan is a romance which feels arbitrary. It seems like they really did put the effort in, and this does go for the other romances too, but I think you can go even further. I mean, even in light of this I wondered about, say, the portrayal of previous romances, like I always thought Fenris' was quite unique, but it seems almost like their concern with romance historically was 'how to appease players' fantasies?' and in which case I don't think this is the most interesting and maximising approach to the medium.

Again, I'll totally allow that these posts are old, Bioware has new staff, this sort of attitude may not be consistent RPG to RPG company, but I have seen this attitude expressed about romance in RPG's generally, on repeated occasions, and seeing it espoused by Gaider was very intriguing. I didn't realise how deep this attitude went, even to the developers, and it sort of does the explaining for why I find Solavellan compelling. It doesn't feel like it falls into (too many) of the traps of a traditional RPG romance - although I would say it does at times - and I think its ending is one of the most successful since it cannot be divorced from the narrative stakes at all.

#may the dread wolf take you

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ziracona · 3 years ago

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((I am working on the next chapter to The Kid. It’s just been...some kind of a fall for me. It would be so hard to explain. But I know I’ve got at least two people who follow me on Tumblr for this, so have a little chunk. I picked Cu kicking ass for you.))

SHIT!

I hear the shouts—mostly their own guys, but a few from us. It’s chaos.

God damn it! This was going so well! What kind of idiot-!

“We’ve lost visuals on Salieri!”

That’s the doctor, calling out. Shit, that is bad.

“Lancer, was he hit? Could you tell?” The man is frantic. One of Archer’s swords swings in my direction at random and almost takes a chunk out of my side, and I slide about five inches left just in time to avoid it. He’s shooting massive barrages at everyone—I don’t even really think he’s aiming. Wait…

Shit—okay—what did the Doctor ask? –‘Was he hit?’

No, I think, irrationally angry, scanning for the Avenger myself in case he’s been hit since the first barrage. They’ve shot their fucking missiles at least twice now. I don’t see him though. Which I should—hell—I should at least hear him! We were close like eighteen seconds ago! How fucking far did he go? I can sense him at least, faintly, but it’s weird? Erratic. Not in the way Archer is, at least… All I can tell for sure is he’s somewhere to my far, far right.

“He’s back the way he came from!” I call, trying to avoid more swords as about six slice in my general direction, pivoting to use my spear to cut down a golem in my way as I go, doing my best to fight toward the hoard of undead now moving like a slow wave towards the exit gate, “That’s all I can tell! But he’s not hit!”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure!” I snap back. Of course. Of course he would do that!

A barrage of smaller swords comes spinning out in every direction again, and I hop out of the way of three and deflect a fourth with my spear, finally zeroing in on Archer, about 20 yards away. Shit.

“Cu Chulainn—” Shit. The doctor must be worried for real to be using my true name. “—drop back! We need to find-“

“—No!” I call back, “We fall back, and this gets worse! Just don’t let the rpgs hit you—something in them makes things frenzy, got it?! Like a fucked-up madness enchantment!”

“-I know! -But—no, head back—We’ve lost connection to Salieri and Emiya! Even if the Avenger isn’t hit, something’s gone very wrong with him! We need to-“

“—Regroup, I know—I know!” I snap back, starting to carve my way forward in the crowd again, taking advantage of the chaos to down enemies so preoccupied with the guy on their left going rabid with his arsenal of swords, that they barely register me. I run a mage clean through without him even having time to turn his head and look. “Get someone else! We leave Archer alone or give them time to regroup too, this shit gets worse—I can keep the mages distracted, and I can handle Archer! Take David and find Salieri, and try to do something about the fucking wall of undead heading for the city!”

“—Handle?! –How! Lancer, you realize you can’t kill him, right?—and holding back,” starts the Doctor desperately.

“—Yeah, I ain’t gonna kill him!” I snap back, annoyed more by the situation itself than him, but pretty irritated by now. A couple of mages finally take notice of me and try to land a few mana shots and a stun spell, but they’re so slow that I can dodge easily and take a shot back without even losing my breath. “I’ve fought him non-lethally before! He’ll be fine. I’ll see if I can’t snap him out of it, and I know I can take him. Worst comes to worst, I’ll drag his unconscious husk back and let you people fix him. That’s more than the rest of you can say about the other half of this! I’ve got this—you two handle the city!”

“… You’re absolutely sure?” asks the Doctor.

“I’m positive,” I reply. I’ve almost caught up to him. About fifteen feet off now. I ready my spear.

“Okay,” says the Doctor, and his voice is gone from my head.

Past Archer, I’m very aware the rpgs have gone off about six times now—one almost took me out—and they’re hitting their own people to have a shot at us. The effects are sporadic, but less pronounced on the mages it seems. It’s like they panic, more than go rabid, but it has some weird affect for sure. No real effect at all on the golems and robots. The homunculi and undead though? They get caught in the blast radius, and suddenly they’re a seething mob, gunning for anything in sight. It won’t take long for them to crawl over the growing stack of bodies by the far wall, and make it out of the compound entirely, and the homunculi and undead aren’t even the biggest problem! It’s all the fucking ghosts. Before they were a pain; now with whatever magic shit this is coating them, they’re all trying to be the fucking star of a bad Hollywood paranormal horror flick. Things are flying past and screams echo in the night. I’m at a distance from the worst of it, but I can feel the hatred and chill in the air from the malice on those things alone. They aren’t so big, which is great, but there’s just way too many of them. And the idiots with the guns are still firing! Guess…maybe we scared them a little too much with our frontal assault, huh, I think with a grimace.

Still, we ain’t handling shit well while we’ve got a heroic spirit like Archer going berserk in the middle of it, so he’s the top priority. If the idiot hadn’t taken a round straight on like this, he’d be better than the rest of us are at holding these things back, with that area of effect he’s got with his phantasm! But noooo.

Idiot!

I mean. I get it, I guess. I know why he did what he did. I get it! That first rpg round went off, he sensed something we didn’t, and the Avenger was going to just take the round head-on like he’d been taking everything else for his damage-boost Avenger thing, and yeah so of course he—I mean, sure, something like Salieri going full-tilt monster on us would probably have been a lot worse, and it was the only tactical choice, and I guess his shield just didn’t quite make it up in time, and it was one of them or the other. But even so! Even so! This fucking guy! With his endless ‘heroic sacrifice’ shit, while being the edgiest motherfucker I know, just…it all pisses me off to no end, and this is no exception to that rule! Kind of glad I now have an excuse to slug him.

“Hey, ARCHER!” I shout. I wonder how much he’s in there at all, and how much it’s just the spell running his body. He turns at his name, in a stunted way, like a man asleep, and I slam the back of my spear into his head.

He moves back, quick even with something this wrong with him, but I catch him enough to slice his forehead open, and I’ve sure got his attention now.

Alright. Perfect.

“Wake up!”

I go for another hit with the reverse of the haft, and he jumps to try and get some distance on me, summoning his little shortswords, and just barely parries it, but the force alone knocks him back out of the air and into some of the closer automatons. Barely even registering them, he’s up again in a second, slicing through the ones close enough to try taking a shot, and running for me.

“Get it together!” I snap, catching his shortswords with my haft as he swings at me, “You’re still alive in there, right? So shake it off!”

He ducks under my lance and goes for my gut with a blade, and I swipe his legs out from under him before he can. I leap after, trying to capitalize on him being on the ground, but he’s too fast—rolling out of the way so my speartip hits concrete, and hopping up and back, firing off a barrage of swords at me as he goes.

Okay, how in there?

I’ve seen my fair share of shit. There’s a sliding scale from ‘madness enchantment,’ to ‘under command seal,’ to ‘the grail got them,’ to ‘totally fucked up by magic,’ and he seems…

-He stops retreating mid-motion and shoots forward so fast I barely see it, and I have to duck to avoid a dagger, spinning on my heel and elbowing him in the gut as he goes for a second swipe, and knocking him back.

Shit, it’s hard to get a look at the damn guy’s face!

Okay.

I said I could take him, and I can, but I was kind of hoping this would be easier than literally beating him unconscious and dragging his body back. I mean, I’ve done it before. I can do it again. But shit. He doesn’t make it FUCKING easy, and I’m not exactly looking forward to the state my spirit origin’s gonna be in after that, either.

Maybe he won’t be as tough. He’s fucked up. That’ll help, right?

He’s back even faster this time—Well, at least I got his undivided attention—and attacking with a vengeance. Swings for my head, and I knock the first blade back with my haft, catch the other with my speartip just in time. I swing for an uppercut, quick, and rake him across the chest with my spear—not deep, he’s too quick for that, but this is good, because it means he is reacting slower than usual.

Okay. Alright, I can work with that maybe.

Archer ducks forward and makes a slice for my leg, and I parry him easily, but the barrage of swords he summons to run me through the back at the same time almost get me. Thank god my hearing’s so good. I catch the whistle of wind just in time to twist and slide out of the way, knocking one aside with my spear. I know he’ll go for my back the second I show it to him, and he does, and I’m about to dodge, when I decide it’s better to just let him. I need the guy to fucking hold still –for just two seconds—and he’s more floaty than a fucking bird! This might be my best shot at that. This is going to hurt.

I’m ready to dodge to limit the damage, but as I feel it coming, I realize I don’t have to. The dagger goes in at my abdomen, on the right side of my back, and yeah, it hurts, but also, what the hell? That’s the best opening he’s had, and he blew it—I mean, only our heart or our head being destroyed can actually kill one of us, so-?

No time to really think about it though. The second the blade is in, I reach back blind and clamp my hand around his wrist with a death-grip. I hear a bone crack and a cry of surprised pain from back there, and with my right hand still firmly around his own, I step backwards and ram my back into him, kneeling a little as I do, and I drag the arm forward simultaneously and use his sudden stature above me and all my body weight with it, to push him on top of me and then launch him over my side and onto the ground on his back. As he goes over, the guy rakes the knife in his free hand across my back, but I don’t care, because I’ve got him then, and quick as a blink I ram my lance through the arm I have the death grip on, clean through and into the concrete below, pinning him by it.

He cries out as the blade goes through, and I use the second of shock to make it on top of him, using my weight to keep him pinned down, one hand on my spear, the other catching the hand he still has in use as he makes a swipe for my head with it, leaning forward and using my body weight to force it against the ground, when usually we’d be evenly matched in a grapple. I’m breathing hard, leaning over him up close, and I’ve finally got a look at his face.

He's grimacing, teeth gritted, but not anger so much as intensity. Sweating too, breathing hard. There’s a film over his eyes, like if he’s in there at all, he’s down deep past something else. Not like a Berserker, then. Berserkers are too much all at once: not there, but for another reason. Ah, shit. So, I know less about what’s going on or what to do about it than I thought.

Well, let’s see if I can get any real reaction. He did focus on just me when I attacked, so there’s some amount of logical reasoning left, at the very least.

“Archer!” I snap. He’s struggling with me, trying to get a leg positioned so he can kick me off, and I gotta say, he’s pretty fucking good at that and it’s getting on my nerves. I should hit him. Yeah, that might help, but if I do, I have to let go of his hand, and if I do that, he’s going to throw me off. Shit.

Oh, wait.

I ram my forehead down against the bridge of his nose as hard as I can.

It makes a very satisfying crack, and he cries out, surprise and pain, but more surprise.

I jerk my head up fast, trying to get a look if there’s anything different in his eyes. He’s wincing, still struggling, but that hasn’t done much except hurt him, looks like. Maybe if I hit him harder?

“Come on! Snap out of it! This is getting irritating! You think I want to babysit you all battle, bastard?” I spit in annoyance. He looks up at me, and there’s almost something there—or maybe there is, for a second. He’s listening for a second anyway, and there’s a glint of almost…confusion. And he winces, like the confusion hurt.

Yes! It’s working, I think, and trying to keep the magic off guard, I slap him in the head with my own again, cutting open a cheekbone this time.

“Ow!”

That’s almost a word! Great! More defined than just a cry of pain. He tries to lash out in return though, and actually gets a good kick against the inside of my knee—hurts like SHIT, but I power through, and ram my knee into his in return—not exactly a win for either of us, I gotta admit, and curse under my breath.

Behind me, I hear sounds of the battle. No WAY I can look—if I do, I’m gonna get run through. I’m actually not sure why he hasn’t tried that all ready. Maybe he thinks I’d snap his neck? I could. I would, usually, in a fight like this. If he doesn’t remember we’re on the same side, I guess that logic path makes sense. Anyway, I hear crazy amounts of fighting still, but it’s getting further away. Kind of good, because while I took him down in the middle of enemies we’d already taken care of, no way they’d avoid taking shots at me for more than a few seconds if the battle wasn’t being drawn off. Bad though, because it sounds like David’s still alone. I can’t hear music at all—no Salieri. And that’s a hell of a lot of crowd control for one guy with a rock.

I gotta speed this up.

“This is going to hurt you a lot, but you’ll just have to get over it,” I decide, and I rip my spear back out of his hand and go for his chest.

There’s panic in his face for an instant, and then I hear the shing of swords in the air all around me. Holy SHIT he summoned a lot of them. I have to roll off him to the side on a knee, and swing my spear behind me in an arc, deflecting as many as I can, and one still slices through my arm. He rolls backwards and springs up, but I haven’t lost focus, and I’m up to meet him, slashing at his chest. The man barely gets one of his daggers up in time to parry the blow, and I shatter it, press on hard, harder. No more swords being summoned around us; it’s all he can do to parry and dodge as I press on harder and harder.

UGH he’s so flightly though! It’s always hard to pin him down.

Wait. He doesn’t remember, then-

Hopping back suddenly, I give him a little room. He’s breathing really hard now, wary and intense, surprised, until he sees me ready my spear to throw.

“Your heart is mine,” I call, voice cold, and I see the realization and horror on his face. Immediately, an arm goes up—I can only assume going to desperately try and summon that shield of his. Perfect.

I try not to grin.

“Gae—” I let the mana surge around me, and then dash in with every ounce of speed I can muster, leaving the phantasm unfired.

It works. Taken off guard, he falls back a step in confusion, going for a normal counter suddenly instead of a shield, and I slice into his chest. I’m quick—I get the rune carved in just two motions. I think I’ve done it perfect until I realize his sword is in my side.

Shit, I think, mind registering pain faintly and on a delay. No stopping now though. I get my haft up and ram it into his neck and push him back against the building wall, hard, try to hold him while I wait for it to work. Please work.

I feel the dagger go in deeper as his back hits the wall, and twist. I expect it to rip out and try to come in again, but it doesn’t.

We stop, panting, me with a forearm pressed against my haft and his neck, a hand keeping it steady, him with one arm holding a knife in my side, another just limply hanging there with an unused dagger. I meet his gaze, and he looks…confused. No, distressed. Both, but. Maybe distressed about being confused. Blinks, then winces.

It’s working. I notice he didn’t aim very high, either. Kill shot for one of us is only head or heart. I’m going to walk off a stab in my side. So, whatever control that magic has on him, it’s imperfect, or it’s weakening already. I need it to go faster, though, so I let go with one hand and dig my fingernails into the rune I carved, Algiz, for protection, and I flood the mark with mana.

He jerks like he’s been shocked and gasps, or tries to with my spear crushing his throat, and I can feel the crackle of mana as my spell dispels whatever that shit was that got on him. Its energy sloughs off, like mud, and suddenly he’s looking back at me with focus and an expression I remember.

“Welcome back,” I pant, grin with an edge to it, “Now get your fucking sword out of my side.”

Archer glances at his hand like he didn’t realize it was attached to him, blinks, and rips the blade out. Hurts like shit, but I don’t show it, and I back off, relaxing my stance and letting him breathe freely.

“I don’t remember anything that happened after—” He stops, brow furrowed, and glances down at his chest and the faintly glowing rune there under his ripped shirt.

“Seems to have worked,” I offer, glancing off towards where the battle has moved to now that I can. They ain’t far, but it doesn’t look great. Well, least we’re back to almost our original numbers.

“Okay,” he says, not pursing a line of questioning. “Salieri—did the blast-“

“—Yeah, yeah, you did what you wanted.” I give him a look. “Only hit you. He went MIA right after though, anyway. The rounds fucked up their undead pretty badly too, and they’re trying to rampage towards the city.”

He lets out a sigh, then winces and looks down at his right hand and the hole through it, then holds it up and gives me a questioning look.

“You’re lucky I didn’t take a limb off,” I reply.

Archer decides to let that go and follows my glance towards the fighting instead. “Let’s go.” He summons his daggers.

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” I say, spinning my spear into a better grip and turning to face them with him.

#the kid (fic)#the kid #fate go #fate go fic #progress update

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interact-if · 4 years ago

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Day 2 of Pride Month interviews! You know them, you love them…. give it up for Ames!

Ames, author of Attollo and Metamorphosis

Pride Month Featured Authors

“…and it was a singular, terrible thought, which burrowed itself into your mind like an engorged maggot. This was not a man nor a monster. This was a concept, an ideology, a terrible myth, which had personified itself to stand before you now.You were, to put it simply, screwed.”

After several years of radio silence, you receive a message from your younger sibling that carries a strange sense of urgency to it. Either out of familial concern or boredom, you embark on a journey from your residence to your sibling’s apartment in New Hampshire to see what’s going on and, hopefully, be home before the weekend.

Too bad it’s never so simple.

Demo: Attollo, Metamorphosis (TBA)

Tags: cybernoir, thriller

(INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!)

Q1: Tell us a little bit about your project(s)!

Attollo is a cyber-noir horror set in a walled city off the coast of the Atlantic that’s been a victim of a nuclear disaster. After several years of radio silence, you receive a message from your younger sibling that carries a strange sense of urgency to it. Either out of familial concern or boredom, you embark on a journey from your residence to your sibling’s apartment in New Hampshire to see what’s going on and, hopefully, be home before the weekend. Too bad it’s never so simple. Attollo is a 17+ game that deals with heavy topics and a lot of moral questioning; from cults to corrupt government, it has no shortage of monsters in the dark—both metaphorical and literal.

Metamorphosis is a crime/horror story based in the world of crime scene cleanup, where there are three simple steps: Get the call, clean the scene, and don’t ask too many questions. These are the rules that you live by under the employment of Noctua’s Crime Scene Services, and you credit them for keeping you alive.

However, after a routine house call brings forth nightmares of memories that are not your own, you find yourself pulled deeper into Noctua—a city of both monster and man—in a bid to find out the truth behind the murder of Deirdre Callow, and better yet, how her memories came to be yours. Your job mandates that you don’t dig too deep—but could this finally be the exception?

Metamorphosis is 18+ and will have explicit content; follow the last moments of a stranger to find out not only who took her life, but how this connects to the underbelly that Noctua works so hard to hide.

Q2: Why interactive fiction? What drew you to the medium?

Lmaoo, oh man. I think it really all began last summer when I first found examples of interactive fiction. I don’t even remember how I came across it, it might’ve been that I saw it mentioned in a post or I saw it as a tag on Itch.io, but at some point, last summer I began to investigate it more. I think what really drew me in was the ability for the player to control the narrative; it was like playing an old RPG, but modernized, and the fact that I could see a story unfold that was influenced by my decisions was so fascinating to me. Not to mention that IF allows so much more character depth than regular novels, in my opinion.

I’m 99% sure my first exposure to interactive fiction was through the game Crème de la Crème (a fantastic game, by the way) and I just enjoyed it so much that I went haywire for the genre. Then Temple of the Endless Night came out (another fantastic game that I’m looking forward to!), and that was really the turning point for inspiring me to give it a go. Now, almost a year later, here I am working on my own two games!

Q3: Are your characters influenced by your identity? How?

My bisexuality doesn’t have much of a major influence on the game, but I do think it contributed to the way that I view and write relationships. I figured out my sexuality around high school (I kissed a girl in high school and found out I liked it just as much as when I kissed a boy) and since then I’ve been very involved in the LGBTQ+ community of both my hometown and uni town.

I think this involvement, like being able to hear about other people’s experiences and share my own, has made me feel a lot more comfortable writing some of the characters in the game. Although Attollo and Metamorphosis both don’t focus heavily on relationships (both have murder in them, which I feel is a bit more pressing), I do keep the option for any RO’s to be romanced by anyone, regardless of gender or preference, because that’s simply what I’ve become so attuned to. In terms of side characters relationships as well, I think my involvement and my own experiences have allowed me to write far more diverse relationships than I might have, and I think that this has also allowed a more fulfilling experience for players when reading through.

I also have incorporated some struggles that I’ve faced before because of my identity into the games. For example, I and a few others have faced issues with religion due to who we are, and I incorporate this into both games. Dreamwalker, Pariah, and Sysba from Attollo all have shadows of this experience in their character origins, and Ilali and Ariston from Metamorphosis has a major point involving identity and beliefs. Both games also have undertows of ostracization and division between groups, which is also something I’ve experienced in the past. Being able to grapple these moments and control them via a narrative has been eye opening for both myself and others involved, and I’m hoping it can be a learning experience for the readers as well.

Q4: What would you like to see more of in LGBT+ fiction?

I think, now, the amount of progress in LGBTQ+ fiction is expanding at a wonderful rate. There are so many interactive fictions with options to select sexuality, select gender, select beliefs, etc. However, despite this expansion, there’s still a good deal of backlash against some aspects of LGBTQ+ fiction.

For example, as a bisexual woman who has dated men, I know there are some individuals who may not consider me a part of the LGBTQ+ because of this aspect. Not only is this incredibly disheartening, but it’s a viewpoint that I think should be educated against, and fiction is a fantastic pathway to do this. Another example I can think of is a friend of mine who identifies as asexual but is sex-neutral rather than sex-repulsed. Most people can’t believe her when she says this, and she often faces backlash for this declaration as well. This is another thing that I think that, with exposure through a medium such as fiction, can be worked on.

What I’m trying to say here is that I think LGBTQ+ fiction can be a brilliantly educational platform—if used right. Although it already teaches so much with what it has, I think having that representation of different subgroups of sexuality, of their experiences and beliefs, so people can become aware and knowledgeable of these options, is something I’d like to see more of.

Q5: What or who are some of your biggest inspirations?

Oh man, I struggled to list off inspirations because I know I have some, but as soon as someone asks me who they are my brain just goes ‘brrrrrr’ LMAO.

In terms of the games that I write and the worlds that I build, I think David Lynch and Robert Chambers are probably the two that I somehow incorporate. Attollo and Metamorphosis both have a lot of surrealist horror, which are what these two really specialized in. Shirley Jackson is also another person who inspired me a lot when it came to the writing and creation of Attollo, especially the intrapersonal relationships between the characters.

In terms of life, this is something else I really struggle to answer. I don’t really have celebrity inspirations or anything like that, but I do get inspired by my close friends and sister a lot. Seeing them go through the struggles that they face and absolutely thrive really drives me to push through my own struggles. They’re the strongest, most brilliant group of people that I know, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate that I can be a part of their lives. Not only that, but we also all collectively encourage each other to push further and to chase our dreams (as cheesy as that is LMAO) and that’s something that I think is another stroke of good fortune. I struck gold when I met them, and they’re some of the biggest inspirations in my life.

Q6: What’s a super vague spoiler for your current project?

For Attollo, I’d say ‘Home is where the heart is.’ For Metamorphosis, to quote John Berendt, ‘Always stick around for one more drink.’

Q7: Lastly, what advice would you give to your readers?

What advice would I give to you all? Oh my, I’m not exactly a wise woman here, but I’ll do my best to give you something lmaooo. I think what I really want you to walk away with, from both my stories and this interview, is that if you’re passionate about something, then share it with the world. Don’t let anyone deter your passion.

I remember listening to this painter once who commented to his friend how he ‘really liked painting’, and his friend’s first response was ‘but are you good at it?’. He then compared this to the scenario of walking; would you say, ‘but are you good at it?’ to someone who said, ‘I really like walking’? No, because it simply wouldn’t make sense, and it doesn’t make sense to say that to anyone who’s doing something out of passion.

To put it simply—if you love something, then don’t let anyone take that passion from you. I began writing these stories because I’m passionate about Attollo and Metamorphosis; I love each character, each bit of lore, and I share it with you because I want you all to enjoy it as well. Am I the best writer? God, no. Does everyone like what I write? Definitely not. But will I let this stop me from writing, from enjoying what I’m doing? Never, and I want you to do the same.

Explore your passions, embrace your passions, and let what makes you happy continue to do so

#if: events #Pride Month 2021 #pride month #queer authors #queer fiction #queer creators #interactive fiction

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felassan · 2 years ago

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Article: 'If Anthem is the "anti-BioWare game", then James Ohlen is correcting the balance'

Text [quote]:

"The hugely influential design director talks Baldur’s Gate, his next RPG, and the abandonment of the BioWare model.

“Baldur’s Gate II set the model, and I obviously loved that model,” says James Ohlen. “But there were a ton of people at BioWare who didn’t like it.” During leadership meetings over the course of the Canadian designer’s 22 years at the RPG studio, he’d sometimes feel totally outnumbered when talking about the importance of story. “Game developers don’t get into the industry to create stories, they get into the industry to create games,” he says. “And so there’s this conflict between game developers and story - my entire career it's been a constant fight.”

Ohlen picked his side early. He was telling BioWare stories even before he joined the company. The meeting of Minsc and Boo, one of the most enduring partnerships in PC gaming, came about in a tabletop Dungeons & Dragons game he ran as a teenager. Then a comic book store manager, he took advantage of his premises to guide no fewer than three concurrent D&D groups through their campaigns. “I didn’t really have much of a life outside of Dungeons & Dragons,” he says.

BioWare programmer Cam Tofer played Minsc in one of those campaigns, “as a guy who’s basically been knocked on the head too many times in fights”. A merchant NPC of Ohlen’s invention sold him Boo, the miniature giant space hamster, in an apparent scam. Tofer ran with it, declaring that Boo would be Minsc’s animal companion, and holding one-sided conversations with the confidant that lived in his pocket. “In my campaign he was just a hamster,” Ohlen says. “I always thought of him as just a hamster.”

Back then, in the early 90s, there were no game design degrees, but Ohlen had dedicated himself to the next best thing. DMing proved to be an intensive training course in giving players agency and immersing them in another world - and his local reputation as a story wrangler landed him a job working on Baldur’s Gate. It’s a similar origin story to that of David Gaider, another D&D head who was plucked from the hotel industry to tell tales about vampires and druid groves.

“Have you ever read Malcolm Gladwell on the 10,000 hour rule? I think by the time I got hired by BioWare, I had done 20,000 hours of dungeon mastering,” Ohlen says. “It was ridiculous. I owe a lot to D&D. My friendships, my career, my mental stability.”

BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka encouraged Ohlen to dig into the huge binders that contained the details of all the player characters and NPCs in his campaigns, and to let them spill out into the world of Baldur’s Gate. “I hadn’t intended to do that,” Ohlen says. “It seemed narcissistic. But he was right. Once I started using them, I started getting things done real fast. All the characters had personalities that I already knew.”

Those tabletop campaigns turned out to be accidental writers’ rooms - producing distinct personalities that reflected the voices of their individual players. From the binders came some of Baldur’s Gate’s most beloved companions, like Minsc and the egotistical conjurer Edwin, as well as its villains - leading all the way up to the sequel’s Hannibal Lector-esque antagonist, Jon Irenicus.

That said, inspiration for Baldur’s Gate II’s much deeper companion stories came from an unlikely source. During a freezing winter smoke break in Edmonton, an Interplay producer named Dermot Clarke mentioned that Baldur’s Gate’s characters weren’t nearly as developed as those in Final Fantasy VII.

“I’m very competitive,” Ohlen says. “I went and played Final Fantasy VII and was like, ‘Oh my good god, these characters make ours look like a bunch of cardboard cutouts. This is terrible.’” The disparity convinced BioWare to up their game, leading to the complex journeys of companions like Jaheira - the grieving wife and activist, whose sense of duty has been shaken by so much loss. Despite Ohlen’s distaste for the way SquareSoft’s RPGs played, he continued to be influenced by their character work - all the way up to Knights Of The Old Republic, which was partly inspired by the twist-laden Chrono Cross. That and Star Wars, of course.

“I actually totally, entirely ripped off The Empire Strikes Back in such blatant fashion,” Ohlen says. “You basically go to face the dark lord by yourself, and then you get into a lightsaber fight with him, and he kicks your ass. And then, after kicking your ass, he does the big twist. Then you don’t die because you’re rescued by your friends on the Millennium Falcon - I mean, the Ebon Hawk. It’s beat by beat the same thing.”

Of course, KOTOR’s plot twist didn’t feel familiar to players because it impacted not Luke Skywalker but them personally. For those who don’t know - and spoiler warning, if so - it revealed that your character was in fact a former Sith Lord, their memory wiped by the Jedi Council. In an RPG genre rooted by knowing your avatar down to their last stat, having your identity ripped out from under you felt genuinely radical. BioWare had succeeded in making its biggest setpiece not a battle, but a revelation. And in the process, it proved that BioWare storytelling was packed with the kind of explosive potential a publisher could bank on.

After the sale of the company to EA in 2007, Ohlen was put in charge of creative development on a Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic. It was BioWare’s next great hope, and an enormous undertaking - involving the founding of a brand new studio in Austin, Texas. At launch, it featured eight story campaigns which unfolded across 19 planets. In 2011, executive producer Rich Vogel told Fast Company that The Old Republic hosted “the most content in a video game ever”. Looking back, Ohlen views that as a fundamental problem.

“If open-world is the enemy of storytelling, multiplayer is the arch-villain,” Ohlen says. “If I was to go back in time to give my 2006 self some advice it would be, ‘Don’t try to make the game so long that you can fill up 200 hours. Instead, keep it shorter.’” With less ground to cover, the Austin team could have committed more resources to its Flashpoints - story-heavy missions which forefronted the difficult decision-making and tight encounter design that had elevated previous BioWare games. “Everyone wanted Knights of the Old Republic Online, and it felt more like World Of Warcraft with Star Wars spray-painted on it and some BioWare juice thrown in,” Ohlen says. “Even though the Metacritic was pretty good, it wasn’t new enough to really take off.”

At this point, a Knights Of The Old Republic 3 directed by Ohlen would be “not great”, he says. “Because I’m all Star Wars’d out. I have nothing else to say about Star Wars. But if a whole new studio does KOTOR 3 that loved KOTOR, that could be an amazing game. So hopefully Disney makes that happen. But probably not, because executives around there are all probably going, ‘It’s too hardcore.’” Ohlen still remembers the efforts he made to convince EA boss John Riccitiello that fantasy was a genre that could sell. “I had this whole PowerPoint presentation,” he says. “We have Lord Of The Rings! We have World Of Warcraft! We have Diablo!”

The year after The Old Republic’s launch, with the arch-villain of multiplayer still undefeated, development of Anthem began - and BioWare fought that increasingly costly battle for the better part of a decade. Those at the studio tired of the Baldur’s Gate model had the backing of EA, since a live service looter-shooter in the mode of Destiny could unlock years of long-term revenue beyond the reach of a single-player RPG. Or so the theory went. “It was always chasing the gigantic successes instead of leaning into what BioWare was good at,” Ohlen says. “It wasn’t just EA leaning on BioWare - there were lots of people in BioWare who wanted to do something different.”

Ohlen understood why others at the company would want to get away from a formula that empowered old hands like him and Gaider, and embrace one that empowered them instead. And he knew first-hand that freedom to experiment was what had set BioWare on the path to success decades before. Yet this new direction felt like an abandonment of the studio’s strengths. “Anthem was the ultimate expression of that,” Ohlen says. “It got away from everything. It’s kind of like the anti-BioWare game.”

Ohlen left in 2018, intending to retire from videogames altogether. “The big games have a formula and they don’t adjust it too much,” he says. “It’s very production driven, and I was like, ‘I’m not gonna get to make a game that I want to make at EA.’” He returned to the tabletop, putting together a new Baldur’s Gate adventure book featuring Minsc and the gang. But then Wizards Of The Coast called and flew him up to Seattle to discuss starting a new studio. Ohlen didn’t need or necessarily want a videogame development team under his wing - and that proved to be a perfect negotiating position.

“My demands were, ‘I only do this if I get to start my own studio in Austin, I get to choose who I hire, I get to choose exactly the kind of IP I want to make, no one’s gonna tell me anything about how to make the game.” At this point, Ohlen adopts a megalomaniacal tone, as if he were Baldur’s Gate baddy Sarevok, ascending to the throne of the dead god Bhaal. “I want control over absolutely everything! I want all the power!”

To his surprise, Wizards said yes, and Ohlen has been happily presiding over Archetype Entertainment ever since, building a new sci-fi RPG world without interference. “If you’ve seen the games I like to build, it’s that style of game,” he says. “But then it leans into the people and technology that I have available.” Ohlen won’t elaborate on what’s in his toybox, for fear of spilling secrets - but it’s worth noting that Mass Effect legend Drew Karpyshyn joined Archetype in 2020 as lead writer. “The feel in the studio reminds me of my early days at BioWare,” wrote Karpyshyn on his blog at the time. “I can feel the magic in the air.”

Magic and Wizards and science fiction - it’s the kind of atmosphere in which you could believe a hamster isn’t just a hamster, but something altogether sillier and more exciting. An act of collective imagination is happening, the binders are filled to bursting, and all we have to do is wait."

[source]

#bioware #sw:tor #long post #longpost #anthem #mass effect #smoking mention

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skullstarz · 4 years ago

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BNHA as youtubers

this is actually inspired by this one smau (that i made before i dropped everything, took a hiatus, and rebranded) where everyone was a youtuber or livestreamer of some sorts. i wanted to bring it back since that smau never went anywhere SOBS lmao.

ALSO there are SOME characters i didnt include, they were hagakure, shoji, tokoyami, ojiro, and kouda, just because i got lazy and i couldnt really figure out what they would make videos about without using too much of my brain. pls tell me if you want part 2!!

word count: like 800 idfk sorrey

alternative title: todoroki let me join u during your researching streams

aoyama yuuga: def a daily vlogger cause he thinks his life is so interesting and sparkly. has lots of subscribers and he loves each and everyone of them (pls dont tell him they arent subscribed cause they love his twinkling but actually because they find him hilarious as fuck he will NOT take it as a compliment)

ashido mina: DANCING VIDEOS BRUH she makes the coolest dances to the trendiest songs and has so many subscribers. she either A. has another separate channel where she owns some sort of dance group or company or B. has a tiktok where she accidentally makes dance trends (or she has both)

asui tsuyu: reptile youtube/frog youtube. she takes care of many many lil babies and also sometimes dabbles in playing video games or reacting to videos (mostly relating to frogs/taking care of reptiles) her most popular videos are showing off the room she has all her cages and tanks or her feeding schedule. probably has a tiktok and is popular in frog tiktok.

iida tenya: STUDY. FUCKING. VIDEOS. they typically consist of how to efficiently organize and study, how to maintain concentration, etc, but he also def probably helps with certain topics by making videos on what notes he’s taken on that subject and breaking everything down. probably live streams so he can help people in real time and sometimes joins todoroki in his video research streaming

uraraka ochako: definitely fashion/makeup/living on a budget!!! helping others save as much money as they can while also being stylish/not missing out on things others are doing/using based off of her own experiences! honestly probably a lot more popular on tiktok since she can make short and to the point videos easily so she posts more frequently too.

kaminari denki, sero hanta, kirishima eijiro: share a fucking youtube channel cause they just dont get enough of each other outside of work, huh 🙄 it would probably be a mixture of like mr beast and david dobrik’s whole squad type thing, so like pranks mixed with vlogs mixed with challenges. honestly super fucking entertaining to watch because they aren't faking being obnoxious, they just ARE.

satou rikidou: BAKING YOUTUBE BAKING YOUTUBE hes like one of those silent youtubers who bakes and is like cute and shy so all his subscribers are swooning over him and how domestic he is omg. viewers see that he’s like a bit buff and it makes them yearn for him even MORE. super fucking bashful over it like damn these shawties WANT ME??? i dont believe it

jirou kyouka: AAAAAAA rock babe <///3 everyone fucking LOVES her she seems like so intimidating being good at so many instruments and so talented in general, but when viewers find out she’s actually soft and kinda shy their hearts go doki doki omg. eventually gets asked to help some singer youtuber make an ost for an rpg and pops off (+ goes viral on tiktok a lot)

todoroki shoto: anything horror. plays horror games, goes ghost hunting, does unsolved mysteries and even true crime mukbangs like stephanie soo!!! live streams while researching topics, surfs the dark web with everyone, and gets hella vpn sponsorships LMAO. surprisingly vibes with iida a lot on live, since iida helps out with research, fact checks him, and helps him organize. everyone loves him cause 1. he's hot 2. he's a soft boy despite his content.

bakugo katsuki: cooking content cooking content COOKING FOOD. always fashionable, mf wears LOAFERS??? if he ever gets some sort of netflix show or something similar, it would probably be him traveling places, experimenting with the food there, taste testing different spices and such. he probably WOULD eventually get some sort of show offer like that, because everyone finds his personality funny.

midoriya izuku: plants. idk. bby boy gives me plant caretaker vibes. maybe its the fact that he looks like a damn BROCCOLI but he really gives me like- jenna marbles during her whole plant era. funny, awkward humor while talking abt his baby plants. makes tiktoks about late night impulsive plant buying with todoroki because im sorry but i lowkey ship them tgt and soft boys being soft boys would be SO CUTE.

mineta minoru: fucking CANCELLED. the second he got on any social media he was instantly banished FOR. A. REASON. thank u lord, maybe cancel culture IS good.

yaoyorozu momo: luxury beauty/fashion hauls!!!! reviews them, tells everyone the fabric, durability, and such. honestly people just watch her for the aesthetic n how pretty she is, they never go buy the product, unless its luxury make up. collabs with uraraka a lot for luxury on a budget, and collabs w/ her for sponsors w/ those sites that sell used luxury items

taglist: ask/mssg me or comment to be added.

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x--daughters-of-darkness--x · 4 years ago

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Cristina Scabbia x Diablo: Inside metal and gaming’s most devilish crossover yet

Outstanding hack-and-slash remaster Diablo II: Resurrected isn’t just about polishing up the beloved original’s relentless fire and brimstone. In a striking collaboration with Lacuna Coil songstress Cristina Scabbia and bizarro YouTube star Mark The Hammer, it’s inspired the latest crossover between video games and heavy music, too…

When Cristina Scabbia first picked up the joypad, she had no idea she was steering herself onto a path that would still be throwing up juicy side-missions three decades down the line. A young teenager in northern Italy during the mid-’80s first generation video game boom, the future Lacuna Coil frontwoman didn’t have the spare cash for the cutting-edge equipment of the time, whose 128-colour palettes and blocky two-dimensional sprites felt utterly futuristic. When a local friend powered up David Crane’s 1982 masterpiece Pitfall! on their Atari 2600, however, it opened the doors to another world.

“I’ve been a gamer for quite a while,” her eyes light up at the memory. “I love video games. I love what you can learn from them. I love the stories they tell…”

Few games are as darkly compelling as Blizzard Entertainment’s legendary Diablo series. Bringing to life the dark fantasy realm of Sanctuary – a midpoint between the High Heavens and Burning Hells – its trio of classic titles chronicle the eternal conflict between mankind and the demonic legions led by Diablo, fearsome Destroyer Of Souls. When David Brevik’s original landed in 1996, it was a literal game-changer for the industry, raising the bar in terms of depth and detail, storytelling and character-building. 2000’s Diablo II raised it again, still revered by hardcore gamers as the greatest action-RPG of all, while 2012’s Diablo III brought the franchise into the modern era.

Fittingly, it’s against that shadowy backdrop that Cristina joins us today, to discuss Start Again, her musical collaboration with the minds behind thrilling 3D, HD remaster Diablo II: Resurrected.

Speaking from her high-backed gaming chair in front of an impressive PC set-up this morning, she looks ready for battle. A laid-back, dressed-down counterpart to her imposing onstage alter-ego, she is surrounded by stacks of proudly-displayed paraphernalia, from a plushie of Gremlins’ Gizmo and photos of her band, to figurines of her favourite virtual characters, spare controllers, and the ubiquitous energy drink refrigerator.

Anyone familiar with Cristina’s Twitch streams wondering if this might be a carefully-arranged studio space should think again. “It’s actually part of my living room,” she laughs. “There’s this big table that was supposed to be for dinners with friends, but as we would go out to eat instead, I decided to use it for something that I like, and filled it with computers, monitors and consoles.

“It’s where I play. It’s where I stream from. It’s the safe space.”

Diablo’s heroes work best when joining forces, and 30 minutes further north, in the town of Saronno, we meet Marco Arata – AKA YouTube sensation Mark The Hammer – Cristina’s collaborator on Start Again, and a playful like mind. “I was three years old when I first played on a Game Boy,” he smiles into the light of a bank of monitors, “and I never stopped.”

For readers not in the know, Mark is the uber-talented multi-instrumentalist who’s gained a reputation for uploading incisive, tongue-in-cheek videos to YouTube like Irritating Guitar Lessons and How To Create A Black Metal Song… Without Any Talent. Learning piano aged eight, he quickly graduated to electric guitar, bass and drums. He’s since been picked up as the live guitarist/keyboardist for Italian pop-hip-hop icon J‑Ax. The main Mark The Hammer YouTube channel has more than half a million subscribers, while its English-language alternative boasts close to 100,000.

Both accomplished, analytical, artistic minds, it feels key to Start Again’s success that the duo see gaming as a chance to switch off – less interested in graphics and game engines than narrative drive and world-building.

“Whenever you listen to a song as a musician, you have your brain working, thinking about what exactly is going on,” explains Mark. “I’m a big fan of acting and drama, too, and the same thing applies when you watch a movie. But when you pick up that game pad, you’re able to relax and [switch that part of your brain off]. It’s the only thing in my life that I can really say is completely relaxing.”

“I know that some people prefer creating groups or being part of a competition,” agrees Cristina, noting that Diablo, in particular, fits her play style “but I’m more of a selfish, solitary player. I don’t want to feel that competition while I play. I want to be able to relax and do things at my own pace, to have my own rhythm. I don’t necessarily think of games as an escape. For me, it’s a different world that I want to be part of, [parallel to] the real world. It’s not that I want to [run away and] live in the video game world. But when I’m playing, I want to stay there, I want to focus on what’s happening – I want to absorb all the vibes. It’s not just something that you’re watching: you’re part of it. You can choose your character. You can increase your power. You can pick your path and select your sides.

“There are things about this world that non-gamers could never really understand…”

Like all the best quests, it began with a message from out of the blue. Mark recalls the sense of absurdity, watching an email drop into his inbox that he couldn’t quite believe was real. “I remember opening the message and seeing that it was an opportunity to write [a song inspired by Diablo II] for the release of Diablo II: Resurrected. Oh, yeah, and you’ll have Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil doing vocals. I was just like ‘What?!’”

Having dropped video game soundtrack cover albums Hammer Games Vols 1 and 0 in 2015 and 2016 respectively, Mark had pedigree in the field, but he struggled to comprehend the opportunity for such a high-profile collaboration.

“This is the game that I bought as a 14-year-old when it first came out back in the year 2000,” he fishes out his original CD-ROM jewel case for an unsubtle flex, “and you’re asking me to write an official song to go with it? That in itself is mind-blowing. But to be able to do that with the greatest singer in Italian metal?! I thought it was some sort of strange spam at first. When I realised that it wasn’t, it became amazing on so many levels.”

Not a huge fan of YouTube (nor, presumably, of the hack-and-slash sub-genre), Cristina’s manager didn’t quite know what to make of the invitation. Fortunately, having followed one of Lacuna Coil’s old guitarists through a laptop screen and into Sanctuary all those years ago, and already a fan of Mark’s videos, she didn’t take much convincing.

“I was just like, ‘Mark The Hammer? I follow him!’” she grins. “Then, when they told me the project was to write a song for Diablo II: Resurrected, I immediately said yes. If you look back at interviews that I did years ago, whenever they asked me what dream I had or what is missing from my body of work, I’ve always said that I’d like to write something for a video game. When this came along, it was like, ‘Hello…’”

Cristina admits that she struggled with writer’s block over lockdown. Having watched her native Italy become one of the first countries crippled by the spread of COVID-19, she was unwilling to create music with the power to transport her back to those most troubled of times. Compared to the glacial pace of the music industry over the last 18 months, however, dropping in at crunch time in a massive game’s release schedule came as an invigorating change of pace. The first message exchanged between Cristina and Mark was on August 23, with the song due online to coincide with Diablo II: Resurrected’s launch exactly a month later.

“When you have a deadline, it can either throw you down or really speed everything up and add an excitement,” Cristina muses. “For us, it was definitely the latter. We were perhaps a little bit tense about not knowing each other. Any time you’re working with someone new, you ask yourself these questions: ‘Is he going to be nice? Is he going to be an asshole? Is he going to have the same ideas that I have? The same creativity? The same speed?’

“As soon as we started to text, though, I realised that Mark was really relaxed, really funny. He’s like me. We would send and receive messages in the middle of the night, and get immediate replies. It was like we’d opened the floodgates on an ocean of ideas.”

A high level of fandom was pivotal. Diablo’s angels and monsters – Greater and Lesser Evils – seem like characters lifted from metal album covers to begin with, and the chaotic action that spills from the streets of Tristram and the slopes of Mount Arreat that go down into the depths of Hell could hardly be better suited to metalheads who’re never happier than when throwing down in the pit. Cristina and Mark’s preferred player classes – Sorceress and Barbarian, respectively – even mirror their onstage personas. To simply phone in the sort of crowd-pleasing banger either of these musicians could write in their sleep would be to do the project a deep disservice.

Cristina reckons that if Diablo were a band, it would be either Judas Priest – all OTT outfits, pointy edges and demonic imagery – or Rammstein, spewing sheer pyrotechnic bombast. Mark contends that the larger-than-life, battle-obsessed aesthetic of Iron Maiden might be a better match, pointing out that many of the most monstrous iterations of Ed The Head wouldn’t look out of place in its deepest dungeons. We’d argue that the ominous, folky atmospherics of peak Opeth even more closely evoke the playing experience, echoing Matt Uleman’s iconic original score.

In the same way that Diablo II: Resurrected marks an upgrade for players in 2021 while maintaining the original’s dark heart – dynamic lighting, three-dimensional rendering and high-definition presentation bringing the action sharply up to date – this song needed to pay respect while still packing enough heft to make an impact on metal fans in 2021.

“Diablo is such an iconic game,” nods Mark. “I knew the original score. I knew the original atmosphere. I knew where it had to go, more or less. But it was a challenge to make something new while paying respect to the original. There were parts where I wasn’t sure where I was going, but as soon as Cristina got really into the project and added her vocals, it felt like everything [clicked].”

“Mark’s involvement was crucial,” Cristina presses. “Looking at that original soundtrack, I was thinking, ‘This is such a classic – it’s so iconic – but it’s not singable.’ It felt like putting a voice over the top would ruin it. But as soon as I heard the music that Mark had written, it changed everything. He made it singable. He created so many different parts, that offered so many different scenes, so many different moods. There are atmospheric parts, but there are also heavier parts. It’s like a journey, from beginning to end…”

Part sweeping re-score, part fan’s perspective love letter, part limb-swinging metal banger, the finished track feels like a striking bridge between worlds. Is the aim for fans who’ve yet to discover the pleasures of metal or gaming to be able to walk across it?

“The worlds of metal and gaming have always been strongly connected,” reckons Cristina, highlighting the fact that they’re both tightly-knit outsider communities fascinated by the dark and fantastical, which can appear intimidating to outsiders looking in. Although she and Mark will happily welcome new fans, the main priority was to write a great song, hopefully tightening the bond between communities that already exists. “It’s a lifestyle,” she gestures. “If you see a metalhead, there’s a strong chance you’ll be able to talk about games – or vice-versa.”

Indeed, the lines have increasingly blurred over the last couple of decades. Countless rockers found their way into the world via the legendary Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtracks. The Guitar Hero franchise brought songs as unusual DragonForce’s Through The Fire And The Flames, Lamb Of God’s Laid To Rest and Slayer’s Raining Blood – not to forget Lacuna Coil’s Closer – into the non-metalhead sphere. Celebrities as high profile as Tenacious D’s Jack Black have spearheaded their own digital-metal crossovers, while Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows cropped up as a playable character in Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4. Gamers have even increasingly taken to wearing branded T‑shirts a la those of their favourite bands, enabling them to recognise each other on the street.

On the other side of the coin, bleeding-edge artists like The Armed, Refused and Run The Jewels have recently been inspired to write specifically for games. Svalbard’s Serena Cherry just started a one-woman black metal side-project called Noctule, dedicated to her favourite epic RPG. Hell, Cristina even tells us that pounding compositions by djent-influenced video game soundtrack maestro Mick Gordon are amongst the most listened on her personal playlist.

It’s down to a change in perspective, Cristina reckons, where intelligent eye for detail is now considered every bit as cool as a debauched hell-raiser attitude. Games’ intricate storytelling and epic design are recognised as on par with the finest parts of cinema, and e‑sports competitions regularly boast larger prize pots than those of their athletic counterparts.

“I was always part of the nerd world,” she says, with more than a hint of vindication. “A few years ago, it felt like it was almost something to be ashamed of to admit that you’re a nerd, as if you had this weird, ridiculous aura. But now, everybody – all these people who were never interested – seem to want to be involved in this world. I [sometimes think], ‘Nah, you need to prove you’re really into it…’”

She’s not kidding. As if that massive cache of gaming equipment – from the original PlayStation to countless Game Boys and computer components – wasn’t proof enough, Cristina has even appeared as playable character The Shadow Sorceress in Iron Maiden’s ever-evolving Legacy Of The Beast mobile game. “It was such an honour, such a pleasure to create my own character and give all the directions for the outfit, which was basically the outfit I was wearing on the last Lacuna Coil tour before lockdown,” she grins.

Going even geekier, Lacuna Coil also just launched their own Horns Up tabletop card game, where players must fight their way to the front of the stage. “It’s something we’re all really interested in, but particularly our bassist Maki [Coti Zelati],” Cristina continues. “Every card is related to metal clichés. We even gave our fans the opportunity to see themselves on one of the cards…”

Although Lacuna Coil maintained their high-drama presence with September 2020’s Black Anima: Live From The Apocalypse stream and June 2021’s live album of the same name, Cristina was keen to use the time off to introduce fans to her character away from the band, emboldened to set up her own channel on Twitch.

“I just wanted to learn new things which could enrich my baggage of knowledge,” she enthuses. “I’m already singing, already writing, but I don’t want to fixate on those. Life is made up of so many different things that can enrich my music and my creativity. I was already a Twitch user, watching other people play games, but I didn’t know what my purpose was. I almost felt scared at first. I am a singer. I am somehow an entertainer. I like to talk, which is clear. But it’s different when you’re talking to a lot of people for a couple of hours – or more!

“Eventually, I decided to keep it as informal as I could so that people could see how Cristina is at home. Cristina isn’t just the singer of Lacuna Coil: I have a house, I have a life, I have passions, I have my own personality. I just wanted people to discover that. Luckily they also like this quirky side of me, which feels like the opposite that dark goth lady that so many people know. As much as I didn’t have purpose in the beginning, there’s now such a strong community every time I go online – such a clean place to exchange good vibes!”

Even the persistent undertones of sexism and misogyny that have plagued gaming, she pushes, are a speed bump to be put in the rearview, comparable to what she experienced when first making her name in heavy music.

“In metal, I encountered the same problem,” she explains, bluntly. “[Women becoming a major presence in the community] was something new, and when something is new, people have suspicions and doubts. They don’t know how to deal with it. But there are a lot of female gamers now, and a lot of females in metal. It’s been normalised, which it should be, because games and metal are for everyone.”

As the world comes back up to speed, hectic schedules mean that attention is turning away from screens, and back towards studio and stage. Mark is churning out more and more top-class YouTube content. Cristina has a packed diary, with a tribute concert for late collaborator Franco Battiato at the spectacular Arena di Verona this week, and another secretive collaboration in the works, not to mention writing for Lacuna Coil’s 10th LP, which has just begun – her creative fires reignited by bringing Start Again to life.

Having dipped toes in the video game world, though, they’re both keen to return.

“I really hope we do,” Cristina says. “As a fan of video games, it’s such a great chance to bring together these different passions in your life. There are so many different things I’d like to do, and places I’d like to explore in this world, but time is limited!”

“I loved the challenge here, and the process of collaboration,” nods Mark. “If we could work together again when it comes time to make Diablo IV, that would be amazing. I’d love the opportunity to have my own playable character in an Iron Maiden video game, too, but I’m not sure that’s achievable!”

“I thought the same thing,” grins Cristina, ever adventurous, as we wave farewell. “Never say never!”

Diablo II: Resurrected is out now on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S and PC.

#Cristina Scabbia #DoD collaborations #2021 interviews #diablo ii resurrected

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notafrogblog · 4 years ago

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Who wants to read an entire fucking essay I’ve been writing over the last few months it’s about viddy games wooooooo

Video Games's Popularity

16% of entertainment hours in 2018 were spent playing video games, according to a study by The NPD Group, an American market research company (Stych). Video games have become more and more popular as they have become easier and easier to access through consoles, computers, tablets, and phones. Video games and gaming have become some of the most popular topics to watch on youtube, twitch, and other platforms, which is shown by the fact that youtube has a trending section just for video game content. I myself watch video game content whenever I get the chance. Merriam Webster defines video games as "an electronic game in which players control images on a video screen." If you use that definition for video games, it means gaming is a lot more widespread and prevalent than you'd first think. It would be a struggle to find anyone below the age of twenty who's never played a video game in some form. There are thousands of people in online communities who discuss video games and the people who play them, on sites like Reddit, Twitch, YouTube, Tumblr, Instagram, and more. Video game music, posters, clothing, and general merchandise is popular and lucrative for the companies that make and sell the products. People continue to invest their time, money, and energy into playing and enjoying video games. Video games are such a big part of the online community and my life that I decided to take this opportunity to learn more about them.

While researching this paper, I found different types of sources than I was expecting. Many articles on video games are outdated, poorly written, or simply didn't contain much information. Most possible sources were game reviews, tabloid-esque gossip, or talked about events occurring recently in the gaming community. These weren't very helpful for the type of topics I wanted to discuss. When I set out to write this, I expected to find more analyses of video games or game genres as a whole, or perhaps more in-depth writing. Although I did find articles that were in-depth, they were often very niche, scholarly, or outdated. Video games as a culture moves indescribably quickly, with new games always being released. The vast amount of content and places to share said content on the internet makes video games so widespread, it's near impossible to categorize and talk about video games a whole, rather than individual games or franchises. I suppose that's why there are so many game reviews. People are always looking for new games to play, new content to view. I did my best to find articles and sources I could use to talk about video games a whole, as a culture, and as a complex and nuanced form of entertainment. Part of my own interest in video games is due to the large variety of games and game content available. I would consider myself fairly knowledgeable about video games, especially after researching this essay. But I don't know much about games as a whole, or why people play them. As much as I love to talk about and watch video games, I don't play them often myself. I wanted to know what made other people love playing video games so much. Both my brothers are very engrossed in their respective games and consoles, and I found myself wondering what compels them to put their time and energy into something that doesn't give me that same satisfaction. Which begs the question, why do people play video games? What keeps them coming back? What makes video games so enjoyable?

I started by looking in the school databases, and on credible sites like the Washington Post and the New York Times. Video games is such a broad topic, but many articles focused on specific games or events. While I researched, I wondered what is so compelling about video games. I had some hypotheses. Video games often have a plot, a list of tasks to complete, or some sort of storyline. I found an article about the stories and plotlines of first-person shooter games, one of the most popular genres of games. In the article, David M. Leeson explains what differs between a multiplayer and a single-player shooter: "Most multiplayer shooters are gameplay-driven: play sessions consist of one or more matches, in which players compete with each other (either individually or as teams) to win the game, either by scoring points or capturing objectives. Most single-player shooters, by contrast, are story-driven: play sessions consist of one or more levels, in which the player is told the story so far and then must overcome a series of obstacles to find out what happens next." Already this provides some insight into what compels people to play video games. Multiplayer shooters, such as Fortnite, some Call of Duty games, Battlefield games, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, depend on other players to keep you interested. Winning a match is the main objective. In single-player games, the goal isn't to win a round, it's to complete the story. In a way, this makes a single-player shooter similar to a book or a movie. The difference between them is that the player takes an active part in moving the plotline forward, which keeps the player interested and motivated to find out what happens next.

A storyline isn't the only thing that can be necessary to keep a player motivated. The gameplay plays a big role in keeping the player interested in continuing the game. Games have two main parts, speed and strategy. Speed-based games rely on fast reflexes, immediate feedback, and quick thinking to be enjoyable. Games like these require you to be in the moment the whole time, ready to react to whatever is thrown at you. Games that are more speed-based include titles such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and endless runner games such as Temple Run or Subway Surfers. Despite being very different games in style, aesthetic, plot, and goals, these all rely on speed as a main mechanic. Another aspect of games is strategy. Strategy-based games take a slower route, and are more based on planning and thinking before you act. Strategy games often have some sort of back-and-forth mechanic between the player and some sort of other entity, usually a non-player character (npc) or the game itself. This includes games such as battling games such as Pokemon, storyline games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing, and many mobile games. Strategy games require the player to think about what they want to do before they do it, and often have multiple storylines or options for how to play the game or what to do when. All games have elements of both strategy and speed, but usually one takes precedence over the other. Each category of game has its pros and cons and its own problems.

There are a few problems with speed-based games that the developers must remedy for the game to be enjoyable. Firstly, games with speed-based mechanics are often very easy to pick up and learn. Many Super Smash Bros. players will mash buttons or spam attacks rather than use combination attacks or the full variety of moves available. Speed-based games must introduce a learning curve for players to learn new skills, become better at the skills they already have, and some sort of challenge that requires those skills to be used. Another problem with speed-based games is the lack of variety. One character with only one set of moves can quickly become boring to play. Most games don't have this problem, with many games having multiple characters. Breath of the Wild, however, only has one playable character, Link. Nintendo keeps BotW from becoming boring by having Link have many weapons and clothing to collect and choose from to use, food items to temporarily boost stats, and a way to upgrade Link's health points as the game grows more difficult. Many endless runner games (i.e. Subway Surfers or Temple Run) lack this attribute, which causes players to become bored of them after playing for a while. While they may include customizable or lots of character choices, the changes are purely cosmetic and don't impact the gameplay.

Strategy games have issues as well, most notably those to do with speed. Strategy games often have a slower pace, and making the pace too slow can cause players to become bored. This was an issue with the role-playing game Final Fantasy VII, a 1997 turn-based rpg by Square Enix. Final Fantasy VII is set to have a remake by Square Enix, the first part of which was released on April 10, 2020. An article I discovered addressed some flaws in the original game as well as what the remake should have to make the game better. The article reads: "Modern releases of Final Fantasy VII include an option to speed up combat by a factor of three, and after turning it on, you quickly learn that you almost never need to turn it off to more carefully manage the flow of battle, such is the monotony of just attacking and healing over and over. This speed boost is greeted by latter-day players as a crucial "quality of life" improvement. It doesn't matter how many oakleaves you've acquired in 22 years; when letting the player essentially skip the gameplay is treated as a godsend, you don't have a very good game." (Vogt) As said in the quote, the ability to speed up gameplay shouldn't be necessary. The gameplay is also described as monotonous. Games must be interesting to keep players motivated to continue playing. Keeping players interested in the game is a big part of video game making.

Game designers and developers must put player enjoyment first when making a game. Even if the ultimate goal is to make money or gain popularity in the community, player enjoyment is what leads to a game's success. If a player isn't having fun playing a game, they won't recommend it to others, or join an online community about it, or even continue playing it. For this reason, I decided to find information about the process of game design and development, where ideas came from, and how enjoyment of the game came into the mix. I found an academic study of a game jam in 2013. A game jam is an event where multiple groups of game makers come together to make games in an allotted time using a given prompt. The study discusses multiple aspects of the game jam, including initial ideas, prototyping, and game development and testing, the latter of which is shown in the quote here: "Participants [in the game jam] removed systems within the game (e.g. attacks requiring combinations of buttons rather than single buttons) or reduced the total number of components used (e.g. fewer game levels or types of enemies). Swapping mechanics occurred when already implemented systems were buggy or dysfunctional or when playtesting (personally or with others) showed them to be overly complex or unintuitive." (Zook) This quote shows how game developers must think about how the players will interact with mechanics, especially mechanics they aren't used to. Mechanics are how you do things in the game, whether it be with certain buttons, an item, movement, interaction with the environment, or a combination of these. Mechanics must be easy to pick up on and learn for beginning players, but difficult to master so as to keep players entertained. The quote shows how initially complex mechanisms such as button combinations or buggy systems can be unintuitive for the players, and therefore need to be fixed. If a player has difficulties with the game's function, it won't be fun to play. Games must be fun if they want to keep players interested.

For this paper, I interviewed one of my friend's younger brothers, an avid player of video games. Ian plays video games for a few hours every day, he says, on xbox, nintendo switch, and mobile devices. In the interview, he says that what he thinks makes video games enjoyable is having fun. Although he plays video games more suited to younger users, there were a few things he had to say about games he disliked. The main things he didn't like about games were the difficulty (too hard, too easy) bad graphics, or he "wasn't as interested as he thought he was." His viewpoint as someone who plays a lot of video games is very useful for the question I'm asking. Difficulty of games is something that is hard to balance for game developers. As discussed earlier, the mechanics must be intuitive so the player can pick up on them easily. However, if the entire game is easy, the player will get bored, just like Ian did.

"What makes video games enjoyable?" is the question I've tried to answer. So, what does make video games enjoyable? I'd say it's a variety of things. Video games are so complex, and what makes them entertaining is even more complex. There's such a huge variety of video games available to play, on dozens of platforms and consoles, and in many different ways. Expecting to find just one answer for such a broad question would be unjustifiable. So, I've determined a couple things that make video games enjoyable. As Ian said, games should be fun. Fun means different things to each person, so different games will be better for different people. Different difficulties and styles of games will be different for different people. A more casual game style, like mobile games or kid's games, might be more enjoyable for a gamer like Ian. However, strategy based games such as Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, or shooting games such as CS:GO might be more suited to older players. In short, what makes video games enjoyable is the variety of games there are to play. Games are for everyone, and each type of video game has people who enjoy it, and people who don't. There is no one clear answer to this question. Unfortunately, this means that if I want to be more involved in playing video games, I'm going to have to try some games and find out what I like. If you're interested in video games, I suggest you do the same.

Works Cited

Jabr, Ferris. “Can You Really Be Addicted to Video Games?” New York Times, 22 October 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/22/magazine/can-you-really-be-addicted-to-video-games.html. Accessed 2 November 2020.

Leeson, David M. "Northrop Frye and the story structure of the single-player shooter." English Studies in Canada, vol. 37, no. 2, 2011, p. 137+. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A294194389/SUIC?u=midd34407&sid=SUIC&xid=e5b85bc6. Accessed 18 Oct. 2020.

Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/video%20game. Accessed 5 November 2020.

S., Ian. Personal interview. December 2020.

Stych, Anne. “Americans' favorite forms of entertainment are digital.” bizjournals, 28 March 2019, https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2019/03/americans-favorite-forms-of-entertainment-are.html?page=all#:~:text=The%20shift%20to%20digital%20is,research%20by%20The%20NPD%20Group. Accessed 2 November 2020.

Vogt, Ryan. "For all its greatness, Final Fantasy VII wasn't a good game. Let's remember why." Washingtonpost.com, 7 Apr. 2020. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A619723232/SUIC?u=midd34407&sid=SUIC&xid=0b17c660. Accessed 11 Oct. 2020.

Zook, Alexander and Mark O. Riedl. "Game Conceptualization and Development Processes in the Global Game Jam." School of Interactive Computing, College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, http://www.fdg2013.org/program/workshops/papers/GGJ2013/ggj13_submission_4.pdf. Accessed 11 Oct. 2020.

#idk what this is #hopefully now I won’t fail english class

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kilesplaysthings · 5 years ago

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Happy Halloween! I hope you guys have a fun and safe spooky day!

Now as a horror fan, I gotta tell you guys, I find the vampire lore in IkeVam a little weak sauce (ok, actually a LOT) lol But I do tend to like vampires as more of the monstrous villains in fiction too. So! in celebration of today kiles is gonna recommend some vampire flicks for you all that love these bloodsucking monsters. Let me know which ones you like and maybe even recommend ones that I don’t have on here! :D

Let the Right One In/Let Me In: both the original Swedish film and its American remake are very good, but I personally find the OG better in both acting and dark tones. The story is about a boy who is bullied by his peers and feels isolated from everyone, meeting what seems to be a little girl and befriends her. But there is more to this girl than meets the eye. I can’t recall there being a lot of warnings in this, but it does have some gore.

The Lost Boys: I love this movie. It’s so 80s lol But the vampire stuff is really fun. That and not only do you have a young Corey Feldman in a duo of kid vampire hunters, but you get a young Kiefer Sutherland running around with a sort of Glam Metal look going on. The story is about two brothers and their mom who move to a California town that wind up getting involved with a group of rebellious teens who turn out to be vampires.

What We Do in the Shadows: This is probably my favorite vampire movie. I love the faux-documentary of this New Zealand dark comedy, and I love the homage to traditional vampire lore. No more sparkling, no more resistance to daylight. The vampires in this movie are done right, in my opinion. I’m more of a traditionalist when in comes to monsters, you see. I almost wish we could get an ikevam version that was more like this, where MC is the person making the documentary filming the boys lol

Nosferatu: The Classic vampire flick from the Silent Era of film. It’s a German retelling of the story Dracula. Count Orlock’s design is perfectly eerie and creepy, iconic throughout media. If you don’t mind silent film and you haven’t seen this one, check it out!

Dracula: And then, of course, there’s the classic film with Bela Lugosi. His Hungarian accent became the go-to for other vampires in later media. It’s pretty close to the book for the most part. At least, it’s as good as most book adaptations that were made back then were (which wasn’t too good lol)

Fright Night: This is another very 80s movie. The main character is a teenager who is addicted to a tv show about a vampire hunter and how he hunts vampires. Because of this, he starts to become suspicious that his new, odd neighbor may in fact be a vampire. There is also a remake starring Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell and David Tennant that’s.. ok lol

Salem’s Lot: Stephen King’s vampire tale. A man coming back to his childhood town realizes that a vampire is preying on the townsfolk. While this is an older flick that might not be exactly scary there’s some great classic vampire stuff and eerie scenes. Plus it’s Stephen King!

30 Days of Night: Probably the most horrific vampire movie, where there is nothing redeemable or likable about the vampires whatsoever. The setting of this movie alone makes it terrifying. Set in a northern, remote part of Alaska, an isolated town is beset by ravenous vampires when the town is submerged in complete darkness for one month. Most of the town’s occupants go south for the winter, but those remaining have to fight and use quick thinking to survive. Warning to those who don’t like gore for this one. It’s pretty brutal.

Afflicted: A found footage film about two friends who are backpacking through Europe due to one guy wanting to live life to the fullest before he dies of cancer. Something goes wrong at a party however, and he soon begins to show signs of something... inhuman.

Van Helsing: I know a lot of people don’t think this movie is any good, but I admit I like it as a sort of guilty pleasure. Van Helsing is now a younger vampire hunter that’s sent by the church to help a town in Romania that is beset by Dracula and his brides. It’s got lots of funs stuff like a vampire masquerade ball, a sort of Frankenstein’s monster character, and a fight between a vampire and a werewolf that’s pretty beast :D

Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Though I haven’t seen this yet, the tone, acting, music and cinematography of this movie all look so darkly beautiful. Add a bit of gothic romance, this adaptation of Bram Stoker’s tale is one that I definitely plan to watch soon.

Thirst: A Korean take on a vampiric story. A priest who wishes to save lives volunteers to be a guinea pig for a vaccine that is being made to cure a virus. But things go awry and he comes back to life as a vampire. Now he has to battle between his thirst and his faith. Haven’t seen this either, but I plan to! Korean films are always a cut above, and if you don’t mind some gore and adult elements, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this.

Others I would recommend:

Interview with a Vampire, though I don’t really like that movie all that much. You do get a younger Tom Cruise as a vampire though lol plus Kirsten Dunst’s character is surprisingly sympathetic and sad (at least to me!)

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night: This one’s unique, being an Iranian take on vampires. It’s a slower indie film, about a mysterious girl who only comes out at night and skateboards around a town. I wasn’t too crazy about this one, but it was interesting!

Shiki: I’ve seen three-ish vampire anime. This, Diabolik Lovers, and Vampire Knight. I didn’t like DL at ALL, and I could barely get through the first few episodes of VK. Shiki is excellent, though, if you can get past the odd character designs. I probably would have liked VK better if the story was focused solely on Zero’s character though.

Vampyr. This is an RPG actually, but the vampire lore is so dark, bloody and complex. The MC is a doctor that specializes in blood transfusions who comes back to London from WW1 right during the Spanish Flu epidemic. When he’s turned into a vampire by a mysterious sire, he has to find a way to survive while still acting as a doctor and decide if he will kill others or starve.

#ikemen vampire #ikevam #ikevamp #vampires #halloween #vampire films #halloween recommendations

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