#videogame discourse

[adam-sadmon]

I've found it: Videogame Journalism³

[borderlandsresearcher]

Normal Mortal Kombat Fans: Omg!! Cyrax is a woman now? How cool! She's so pretty ☺️

Chronically Online Mortal Kombat "Fans": I can't believe they added another FEMALE to the game!!! And she's AFRICAN???? THE WOKE VIRUS HAS TAKEN OVER!!!!!! 🗣️‼️

[icyzoie]

If you ever have a bad day, just remember a "anti-woke" grifter got ratioed by UBISOFT

no really, here's the sauce: https://x.com/assassinscreed/status/1897048261619540235

And for those that don't know what ratioed means, here's the urban dictionary definition.

I was about to post this, but then it happened! Ubisoft strikes again 😂

Source: https://x.com/assassinscreed/status/1904648274675445938

If I was ratioed by Ubisoft, I'd vanish off the internet

[maripr]

"James Sunderland would divorce his terminally ill wife" has been so far the funniest Silent Hill 2 remake take i've seen

[rideroftherange]

You wouldn’t say to “update” a Rembrandt or a Monet with modern tech and realistic graphics.

At least not if you had any taste…

I'm convinced that the ppl who ask for AAA-graphics HD remakes of heavily stylized games are the same ppl who slobber over AI-generated 'live action trailers' of ghibli films and stuff. There is some specific brainworm that makes people go 'abstraction is the work of the devil' and they are all SO LOUD about it

Man I’m so so fucking tired of that shit

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

Disney Princes/Heroes may be the most underrated and least discussed group in the entirety of the Disneyverse, but we already knew this, tbh. I think outside of hotness debates and the frequent, "He looked at her like this 🥺" from fangirls, not much is said about them, nor is there a lot of content and merch based on them. That is just referring to them within fandom spaces. Mainstream just ignores them altogether. Ngl, as someone who has truly found a lot of value and depth in them, it makes me sad.

[rideroftherange]

I feel like Wolfenstein got hit by the “Videogames Cause School Shootings” panic. While Doom got hit with both panics.

Both serve as well documented examples of people being whipped into a destructive frenzy over completely harmless things.

https://www.tumblr.com/damnfandomproblems/784919621980635136/8987-the-problem-with-hydra-is-that-they-are?source=share

Wait... Wolfenstein where you fought Nazis caused less controversy than DOOM, where you fight literal demons from Hell?! The literal incarnations of evil itself?!

That...makes no sense. The games even go out of their way to showcase how cruel and sadistic the demons are.

Posting as a response to a previous ask.

[cassatine]

i firmly stand on the "videogames are art" side of the argument, which means they can exist anywhere on various sliding scales, from masterpieces to bland-boring-commercial to do not resonate with me to so ideologically rank they make me hear the kill bill music etc etc.

by which i mean it's deeply frustrating when people reply to the "games are art" statement with some variation on "most of them aren't tho" like no my friend either it's an art form either it's not, and whether most contributions to the medium are ~good art~ or not is a separate question.

[tgirl-communist-number-infinity]

Really just need to start beaming

THE BASE WILL USE ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN THE SUPERSTRUCTURE TO REINFORCE ITSELF

directly into the brain of everyone who drums up some stupid gotcha about how actually X subcategory being used for US propaganda means that Y broader category is bad too.

[dwtdog]

I still remenber the "he cheated" "OMG who?" "Minecraft" that kills me every day. Dream x Minecraft new otp /j

dream x minecraft is my otp /srs i need to see his damn paw

[deathbirby]

As someone who's also not reading the - what is it now, 6500 word long screed? - about Edelgard Good Actually because fuck that, I just need to say you're providing an invaluable fandom service. Seeing someone who's able to stand in the face of a sealioning and laugh back is encouraging, and makes it a lot more obvious who's the problem with this discussion.

It's actually a bit horrible how so much of their discourse mirrors a radicalization pipeline, actually. Start with the seemingly- normal takes, get closer to your target, add on increasingly unhinged fanon and reinterpretations of the text taken as gospel, then just overwhelm with sheer 3000-word-long essays if anyone honestly tries to talk back. I've already lost one friend to the radicals (before they ironically realized Imperialism Bad after the events of 2022), and all of this absolutely discourages me from recommending the Fodlan games to anyone else in the future, despite how fond I am of them.

MAYBE one day in the future when people have reading comprehension again, I can have a normal geek out with someone over how the 3H games are just really fun modern adaptations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms (which makes it hilarious they were made half by KOEI). Ah well. One day.

I am fueled by spite and rage towards these people who straight up harassed multiple people out of the fandom, so I welcome any opportunity to clown on them. Especially Raxis. Fuck him, lol.

I think someone else has explained it more clearly, but it's cult tactics they're using. There is immediately an "us vs them" mentality. You are with us or you are against us. Being with them makes you a bad person. It means we can harass you, and if you call us out on this, then that means you're just one of them and an enemy. It's why their discord server has you walking on eggshells. One wrong word and you're labelled a filthy edelcrit/mooner.

Maybe they'll realize how fucking stupid they are and give it up. Or maybe the fandom has had enough and starts cracking down on them in fandom spaces.

[salora-rainriver]

Currently realizing how very much Weird it is that multiple Very Big Companies have put out stories where the heroes are fighting (or people related to the heroes previously fought) what is essentially a slave rebellion.

Like. How do you get to that point? How did your story become that?

if you don't know what I'm talking about - Overwatch. Overwatch as an example, where much of the plot is now revolving around the Omnic Crisis that was in essence a robot slave rebellion. Yes, the lore's walked back from this and danced around it a lot and complicated the whole mess but - like this is just an example. walk through this with me and I'll show you why it's so weird.

you're lead writer for a new IP, it's a team shooter, fast-paced gameplay, colorful cast of characters in a 20-years-into-the-future setting. Major themes include heroism and hope and multiculturalism of some sort.

you decide sapient robots are going to be in this setting. you want to lightly dive into the moral dilemma of sapient robots that were created for menial labor and do they have rights and/or a soul,

you decide that in the past of this setting, there was an uprising as the robots realized they weren't free. this shook up most of the world, there was a massive war. this is recent history.

okay. decent worldbuilding. now, let's get back to the heroes. they're upstanding moral citizens. they protect and save people and give hope to the masses.

who are they fighting?

... FAIRLY SURE YOU DID NOT SAY "the robots, right?"

RIGHT?

SO THEN HOW DID ANYONE AT BLIZZARD HQ COME TO THE IDEA THAT THE ANTAGONISTS SHOULD BE THE ROBOTS?

DO YOU SEE WHY THIS IS SO WEIRD? LIKE HOW DID THAT ENTER THEIR HEAD. THESE BITCHES ARE FROM CALIFORNIA. LAST I CHECKED, SLAVERY APOLOGIA IS NOT THAT COMMON IN CALIFORNIA.

like even IF we incorporate the backtracking of but no these are the bad side of the uprising - how was that the first thing that came to mind. why not organized crime syndicate forcibly enslaving the robots. isn't that the more straightforward 'who are the antagonists' answer?

and hey - if you can explain (explain, not excuse) Overwatch, great. now why did Hogwarts Legacy. like let's ignore Rowling for a bit (but fuck her),

again, worldbuilding time, here's the magical hogwarts world. who are we fighting? can't do the wizard nazis, that might feel trite.

this world has all sort of opportunity for unscrupulous magical-flavored criminality and potential for corruption or it could just be a slice of life and you're a normal student-

goblin uprising.

WHY????? like even IF some dude super high up was a literal goddamn nazi, why did so many people not ask "wait - this is weird. why not just wizard mafia"

and this isn't even covering all the other situations where this exact thing happens that i can't remember right now, but like why does it keep happening what's going on why do people keep writing 'discrimination is wrong' storylines that also make the antagonist a member of a discriminated-against group. ????????????

[l3rking]

I’ve been thinking about what “Challenge” and “Difficulty” mean in Destiny. I think we’ve hit the wall on how much damage a single target can sponge. So much so primaries are an un-optimal pick for most stuff. And it’s for a lot of reasons. Generous special/heavy economy, the strength of those weapons (LMGs and wave frames in particular), the weakness of legendary primaries, etc. Primaries in particular is what has me thinking about it. I want to use primaries. I want them to viable. But making them hit harder just doesn’t sound like the solution to me. 

So what can be done? More complex encounters? More mechanics? Ammo rework? Where’s the point where it becomes so difficult it’s inaccessible? Are we already there and the people complaining about the game being too “easy” are just hitting the skill ceiling that Bungie wants to set for the game? 

I’m genuinely curious what other players think about this. Maybe players who have experience in game design can weigh in? I just don’t know enough about the nuances to really communicate what might make it better. I just want Destiny to offer challenging experiences but also not have 1/3 of it’s weapon sandbox feel like wet noodles. 

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

I hate the "realistic body types" discourse sm. These mofos won't stop getting butthurt and angry over people who don't even exist at damn all.

[dspdick]

"omg are hobbies the new tiktok trend?" "finding a personal style is so hard!" "ugh im so tired of chasing trends"

this is insanely chronically online. wdym your hobbies are doomscrolling on tiktok and instagram. go write a fucking fanfic. watch a movie. draw something. read the book thats been sitting on your nightstand for three months. hobbies are NOT a privilege. yes some hobbies are expensive but you can find good shit for starters for a low price. youtube tutorials are free. WHY IS EVERYONE ACTING LIKE YOU NEED A LICENSE TO GET A HOBBY?? WHY ARE YOU CHASING A TREND FROM TIKTOK BECAUSE SOME RANDO TOLD YOU YOU DONT HAVE A PERSONAL STYLE BECAUSE YOURE BORING AND HAVE NO HOBBIES? what did yall do before getting a phone because istg i feel like 90% of the people who say that shit genuinely have no braincells. im sorry if it sounds bad but how boring and dull do you have to be to not have a hobby before tiktok. what did you fill your life with before getting stuck doomscrolling?

and also the people who complain about following trends and not having a personal style??? ????? THAT is privileged because wdym you can buy whatevers trending this week. we didnt buy many clothes when i was growing up and i had to figure out what i liked on weekends because i wore a uniform to school. most of my clothes and staple pieces are hand-me-downs or shit bought off vinted. how little personality does everyone whining and bitching on tiktok about not being able to be an interesting individual. yeah maybe your personal style sucks because youre dull and only care about the opinions others have of you based on what you WEAR. this is so fucking embarrassing people are fucking stupid.

[hauntedobservationobservation]

it's hard to explain to a certain kind of readers that sometimes I want to read something really messed up and wince and cringe and stare at my empty wall for a bit... and it's fun for me

obviously everyone gets something different from reading

but sometimes when people start talking about "why do people like this messed up shit?" I just... I can't help but sigh and wonder, if the typical reader simply does not have a taste for the weird like I (and others) do

of course I don't mind not reading whatever others read, I don't do it for other's approval, but side eyeing others with darker tastes than yours is a bit alienating towards readers that could potentially be your friends, if only you understood that everyone reads for different reasons

of course I like cozy and happy things every now and then, but I like grimdark, I like gore, gritty sci-fi and worlds of hopelessness and despair

and there's nothing wrong with that