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daybreak-writer · 4 years

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I Was Taught to Not Be Autistic.

For some reason I feel like I should write right now. So that's what I'm doing. I'm writing.

I guess I want to write about myself. I want to write about how I'm finally...discovering...myself I guess. I don't know. Something about saying that feels wrong or incorrect. I'm not sure. But I have autism. I'm autistic. And it makes sense. And I'm sad. I'm sad a lot of the time. I'm sad because I can't even tell my mom I'm autistic because any time a medical professional told her that, she would deny it and say I'm "just like that" and that she knows me better than they do. And I always believed her. She is a therapist after all, so she would know.

But no.

I'm autistic. I really am. And I love things. I love things so much. I will love one thing until I can't love it anymore because I've loved it so much. And I wish I could have all of it. But a lot of the time whatever thing it is is something that can't really satisfy that want or need. Like Portland. I love Portland. I love Portland more than anything and I just want to move there. But then what? It's not like I can have an aesthetic based around Portland. It's not like other special interests like bats or TV shows.

Then I also love video games. I love Overwatch. I don't have many Overwatch things. I love Camilla, I have many Camilla things. I love Cities: Skylines, but you can't really get Cities: Skylines things. And it makes me sad. I want things to express how much I love that thing.

I normally love something for a week to a month at a time, which sometimes makes me feel as though I'm not valid. Most autistic people with special interests will love that thing for years or their whole lives. I guess the only thing of mine like that would be Portland. And stuffed animals.

The thing with stuffed animals is that I’ve had a huge collection all my life. But my family hated it. They hated how my room was filled with stuffed animals and how I would want to buy another every time we went to Target. So after a while I got so dejected about it that I just gave up. I still have lots of stuffed animals, but my old ones are hiding in my closet. Only the new ones that I get do I keep on my bed, because my family tells me to put them in the closet. To hide them. To not let my friends or boyfriends or girlfriends or partners see my stuffed animals because it's immature.

I was also taught to stop cracking my knuckles. To stop chewing gum. To stop scratching my arms or to stop shaking my leg or to stop clicking my pen. I was taught to stop. I was taught to hide. I was taught that what I did was annoying, it bothered everyone around me. And why would I want to bother people? People always thought I was annoying. So I was taught to stop. It's unprofessional. Stop. The noises you make bother people. Stop. The clicking and chewing is annoying. Stop.

It's always stop.

So I would try. I tried to stop. But I would always sit in my bedroom and crack my knuckles. And chew gum. And bounce my leg. And click my pen. I could never stop forever. It didn't feel right.

I love talking about things I love. I was told to stop. My parents didn't want to always hear about a video game I loved. Not everybody wants to listen to me talk. If I keep talking about things I love, people will get annoyed. It bothers people. I only talk about that one thing. My parents don't care about that one thing. Nobody cares about that one thing. I was taught to keep it to myself.

When I talk, I get loud. I get very loud. I get loud and passionate and excited because I love talking about things that I love. My parents don't like that I get loud. They say I'm too loud. I need to be quiet. I can't be loud. Being loud is annoying. Being loud bothers people. I was taught to not be loud. I was taught to not be passionate.

I was taught to not be autistic.

I was taught that the movements I did and the volume of my voice and the things I would talk about were annoying. I was taught that I was annoying.

So I stopped. I tried to. I tried to keep everything inside. And then I talked about everything on Instagram. I would spam posts about what I loved. I felt that my friends online would understand and it's okay for me to be loud there. To be passionate. To love things and to love talking about things. For the most part that was the case. But there were always a few saying I was being annoying. That I was too loud.

I once met an internet friend in real life at a convention. They said to me, "Wow, you're not as annoying in person as you are online." I took that as a compliment. It meant that I had gotten better at being quiet. At not being passionate.

I was always passionate. My emotions were loud. If I was happy, I was elated. If I was sad, I was devastated. If I was mad, I was enraged.

"It's like I always have to walk on eggshells around you," my mom would say, "Nobody can say one thing wrong without you having a meltdown." I cried a lot. I cried at everything. I would get upset a lot. She was right, every little thing someone said wrong would make me cry. "You're just a sensitive kid," my mom would say, "You were a sensitive baby, too. You're just always sensitive." She didn't mean it in a bad way, she just stated it as fact. But when I showed that I was sensitive, it would be my fault. My fault that I couldn't just move on. My fault that I would hang on to the words that were said.

My meltdowns get bad. I'm terrified of shots. I had to get a TB test when I was 17 for a volunteer position at an elementary school. At the CVS MinuteClinic I had a meltdown. They called my name and for 2 hours I screamed and cried and wouldn't go into the clinic. My mom got mad. She said I was acting three years old, that I needed to act my age. What kind of 17 year old girl acts like this? She thought I was faking. She thought that I just didn't want to get the test. She didn't understand that the meltdown wasn't voluntary.

I screamed and cried and couldn't speak any words except for "I'm sorry"

"I'm sorry"

"Stop saying you're sorry," my mom would say, "it's annoying."

Of course it's annoying, I'm always annoying. I couldn't speak any other words. My mom had to pin me to the clinic chair and sit on my lap for the nurse to give me the TB test. "I'm sorry."

"Stop it."

I was taught to stop.

The nurse whispered to my mom, "The only people I see react like that are autistic. Have you ever thought your daughter might be autistic?" She thought I couldn't hear her. I was sitting in the corner with tears still streaming down my face, struggling to just say "I'm sorry" because it's all I could do.

"No, my daughter's not autistic," my mom said, "she's just 'like that.'"

In the car going home, I was still crying, but this time it was silent. I told my mom that I had heard the nurse. My mom said, "What do you think about that?" I said, "I don't know."

"Well I don't think you're autistic. You've always been good socially. You're just sensitive." That was always my mom's answer.

I let it go. "I can't be autistic," I thought, "I have good social skills, I wasn't as good in middle school but I'm better now. Now I know when I'm annoying people. I can't be autistic."

When I was 18 I got a new therapist. Her son is autistic. After I turned 19 my therapist said, "I think you have autism. What do you think?"

I asked for more explanation. She taught me about how autism looks different in everybody, it's never just one thing. I thought that was interesting. It was the third time a medical professional thought I had autism, except this time my mom wasn't there to tell me otherwise.

She explained a lot to me, about how helpful it is when children are diagnosed at a younger age. How then the parents can learn how to raise a child with autism, and how our brains work differently. It made sense to me.

I looked into it more. I read a book on it. My whole life started to make sense. I had been confused for my whole life, never knowing why I had so many problems and why they all seemed internal.

It finally made sense.

I do have autism. I'm loud and I'm passionate and I click my pen and I chew my gum and I love things and I love talking about things and I cry when I'm upset and I have meltdowns when I'm scared and I make noises when I'm happy and I am autistic. I do so much that makes sense now. It all makes more sense.

I just wish I had known sooner.

Maybe then I wouldn't have been taught to stop. Maybe I would have been taught why I am doing things.

Maybe I wouldn't have been taught to hide.

I love that I'm autistic. It makes me who I am. The words "autism" and "autistic" are taught to be scary words. They're not scary. They shouldn't be scary. For me they are correct. For me they teach me about myself. For me they teach me how the world works and how I work.

For me they're perfect, and I will never be scared of them again.

#actually autistic #autistic #autism #autistic life #autistic positivity #writer #writers on tumblr #my writing #poetry #poets on tumblr #I wrote this on my phone #neurodivergent #autism pride #actuallyautistic #stim #stimming #spilled thoughts #spilled words

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yugyummygot7reactions · 4 years

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Got7 Imagine: You Are Their Neighbor

Mark:

You were lucky that you and your neighbor had the same habits. The sounds of gunfire and grenades would often echo back and forth between the apartment walls, the occasional profanity would make it through as well. Any other neighbors and you were sure the cops would have been called by now.

Even with all of the noise exchange, you had never met the guy next door. You assumed he was a guy. You heard yelling that usually sounded like a man, but it could be a husky woman, you weren't sure.

One night when you were settling in for a night of some multiplayer madness, you realized that a trip to the store for beer and snacks were necessary. You walked to the closest convenience store and other than one other very handsome guy in the back looking at energy drinks, you were the only customer there. You both checked out one right after the other and you noticed that he turned down the same streets as you to get home. You were walking behind him trying not to look like a creep following a guy home.

He turned into your building and you were surprised that you had just encountered someone from your building.

You rushed to the only working elevator and the guy was standing in the back corner of the elevator.

“What floor?” he asked as he leaned towards the keypad.

“Twelve,” You said as you looked at the keypad. “Oh, looks like we are on the same floor.”

He nodded and went back to fidgeting with his hoodie sleeves.

You both got off and turned left. You knew almost everyone in you hall. Could it be he was the mysterious neighbor.

“You live in 1204?” You asked him, shocking him.

“How do you know where I live?” He stopped dead in his tracks. “I swear I have nothing of value for you to steal and if I ghosted you I’m sorry and please don’t kill me.”

You laughed as you walked passed him to apartment 1206, your apartment.

“I live next door,” you laughed as you unlocked the door, “see?” you shook the keys.

“You play Overwatch?” he asks, skeptical. “Oh wait, it must be your boyfriend.” He reaches for his door knob.

“I live alone.”

“You play as Reaper.” He said calmly as he tilted his head to the side, “I prefer Mei.”

“You can tell that from the sounds through the walls?” You asked, shocked at his knowledge of the game.

“I don’t really do much other than play overwatch and go to work.” He said calmly. “I’m Mark Tuan by the way.”

“I’m Y/N.” You were amazed that such a beautiful human was a recluse gamer.

“Wait, Mark Tuan...like MarkYienTuan93?”

“That’s creepy.” he said looking at you shocked again, “How do you know my gamer tag?”

“I’ve played with you. Well, against you. You always beat me for the top rank. Every. Time.”

“Wait, you’re killerY/F/N69?” He looked shocked.

“That’s me.” You smiled.

“Add me.” he said with a smile, “I think we could kick some serious ass when we aren’t trying kill each other.”

And with that he walked into his apartment.

JB:

You adored your neighbor, JB, you just hated his cats. Nora was sweet, but the other 4 needed new homes. They meowed all night and hissed any time you got close to their Daddy. It isn’t your fault he wants you to call him Daddy too.

You met him when your cat jumped over the fence and somehow ended up at his place. Spots was there for over a week before JB realized he had an extra cat and that the cat was the one on all of the missing posters around the neighborhood.

After he returned Spots, you two clicked. You never went on dates, it was purely a physical thing.

It started when you left a window open while you were watching porn. He saw it from his living room window and made his way over to your place to interrupt and ask if you wanted some real life help getting off instead of just using toys and your hand with some porn. He made sure to point out that he could do what was being done in the video as well.

You were offended at first...and embarrassed...but you agreed to give it a try.

Ever since then, it’s been a normal thing.

You would occasionally see him watching porn and would venture over to his place and he would sometimes just come over to see if you wanted to “Netflix and chill.”

There had been some odd interruptions by both of your furry children, but for the most part things just worked out well.

Being his neighbor was definitely good thing.

Jackson:

Living next to an athlete was a perk. You could chill by the apartment complex pool and watch your neighbor run and lift weights. He ended every workout with a long swim and a relaxing soak in the hot tub, so everything was on display and you loved it.

You knew from hearing his workout buddies that his name was Jackson. He spoke a ton of languages and lived across the hall from you. You didn’t think he knew that though.

He would walk by you while you were chilling in the pool area and smile and wink, but he never came over and introduced himself at the pool or in the hall.

Even if you ogling him was the extent of your relationship with him, you were okay with that. Seeing his sweaty and wet body all the time was more than enough.

Unfortunately, your mouth decided one day to ruin that.

Jackson walked by, like usual, and smiled. You opened your mouth to smile back and instead of a smile, you accidentally said “Damn those thighs.”

You hoped it was quiet enough that he didn’t notice, but the pool was abandoned and the echo was real.

“It was leg day,” he said with a smile, “They always look this toned on leg day. By tomorrow they will be normal thighs again.”

“There is nothing normal about those thighs.” Your mouth spoke before your brain could stop it. “I mean-” you freaked out and sat up, “They are very nice thighs. There isn’t anything wrong with them. I-”

“I’m Jackson.” He wiped his hand on a towel and reached out to shake yours, he knew exactly when to cut you off. Bless him.

“I’m Y/N.” You smiled nervously and shook his hand.

“Oh, I know.” He said with a smirk before putting his goggles on and diving into the pool.

“YOU KNOW?” You asked, louder than you should have while he began swimming his laps, a small smirk lingering on his lips.

Jinyoung:

You had the best neighbor. You just didn’t know his name. He brought over cookies for the holidays, ran the neighborhood watch, he read a lot, was quiet all the time, and he kept a crazy clean apartment.

You had had dinner at his place multiple times as friends, but you never remember him telling you his name. He used your name all the time and you were forced to never say his. You wanted to ask, so badly, but it had been 3 years. It was way too late now.

Tonight your neighbor knocked on your door and asked if you had dinner plans. This was normal enough and your answer of ‘well I bought some ramen on the way home,’ was apparently not an acceptable answer.

He brought you over to his place and had a whole dinner set up for two. There was wine and a candle already on the table and the mood was not what you expected.

"Have a seat." He said as he grabbed the food and set it down in front of you.

“Did your date stand you up?” You asked as you looked at him intensely, waiting for him to take the first bite.

“Nope.” he said as he mixed his salad. “I figured you hadn’t had dinner so I whipped something up.”

“This is too romantic for a neighborly dinner.”

“So what if it is? What if I want things to be romantic with you, Y/N?”

You picked a terrible time to take a sip of wine. You barely held it in, but the alcohol still burned your nose and caused you to choke.

“You want what now?” You asked as you regained your composure.

“Date me.” He said as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, a long sip of wine following in a fluid action.

His suave actions threw you off.

“You want to date me?” You asked, still dumbfounded.

“Did I stutter, Y/N?” He asked, taking another sip of wine.

“No. You were very clear.” You said as you downed your wine in one long gulp.

Your neighbor got up and got almost uncomfortably close to you when he refilled it.

“So?” he asked, the heat of his breath grazing your face.

“Yes.” You said, lost in his eyes.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I’ll date you.”

“Yes, You’ll date me....” He was looking for something else and you couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Say my name.” He whispered into your ear. “I can’t remember you ever saying my name and I want to hear you say it.”

“I-” you started as he pulled back to look at you.

“You-?” he said, clearly teasing you at this point.

“I need to-” You were going to excuse yourself and pretend this never happened.

“I was right.” he said quietly to himself before a smile overtook his face and he began to laugh. “You don’t know my name.”

You froze. How could you admit you just agreed to date someone whose name you didn’t even know.

“Let me introduce myself, since I know for a fact that I never have before.” He said before taking your hand and kissing it. “I’m your boyfriend, Park Jinyoung.”

Youngjae:

Oh the nosies you were hearing. You couldn’t figure out what your neighbor was doing, but boy did it sound x-rated. The moaning, the breathlessness, the guttural sounds. They all sounded like you wanted them beneath you. You didn’t know why he was so loud all day, but you knew you had to meet him.

You decided to head over to his place with a plate of welcome to the neighborhood cookies and tea. The noises weren’t there for once, so you assumed that whatever he was doing, he would be appropriate and able to accept a visitor.

The man opened the door with a loud laugh as his dog was doing something on the ground near his feet.

“Hi, I live next door, I wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood.”

“Ummm... I’ve lived here for 2 years...” He said as he eyed you warily.

“Yeah... I’m a little late, aren’t I?” you laughed nervously as you held out the tray of sweets.

“Well, I guess I can’t say no to a free plate of cookies.” He said as he gently took the plate, “come on in.”

“So what do you do?” you asked as you walked into his place. It was very simple, nothing nearly as lewd as you thought you would find.

“I’m a singer.” He said calmly, “I thought you would have known that with how often I’m singing in the apartment. I can hear your nightly routine of watching Rick and Morty, so I thought you could definitely hear my singing.”

“That’s what those noises are?” you asked, shocked that his voice through the walls sounded so sexual.

“What did you think they were?” he asked, his face and ears turning red.

“I-” you paused, not wanting to make this more awkward than it already was. “You should try a cookie.” You gestured to the plate, trying to deflect from the awkwardness of the situation.

“Ah. I will later. I have to practice some more.” He said as he went over to the music stand. “You’re welcome to stay if you’d like.”

You decided why not? You had only ever heard him through the walls. His voice was angelic. You wanted to listen to him all the time. With any luck, he’ll let you.

Bam Bam:

The boy across the hall was an enigma. You had gotten a few glances of him, always well dressed, always laughing. His friends came over a lot and they would listen to music and have mellow parties. One day, he caught you looking at him while he was walking down the apartment complex hall.

“Hi.” he said as he took off his sunglasses and smiled.

“Um. Hi.” you said, looking away, trying to not make it obvious you were staring.

“I’m Bam Bam, who are you?”

“I’m Y/N” you said, extending your hand for a shake. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet the girl next door.” He said as he smirked. “I’d love to get to know you better.”

“What?” You asked, thrown off.

“I’ve seen you glance at me and my friends. Want to come over to a party later? It’s really chill. We just drink and listen to music.”

“Umm.. Sure.” you said, nervous. He was so much better looking up close.

“Great, come by around 9? By the way, I have a few cats. Be prepared.”

Yugyeom:

The stomping was happening again. You had already filed so many complaints with the building and no matter what it won’t stop. Your upstairs neighbor was just so loud.

“FINE! TWO CAN PLAY AT THAT GAME!!!” You yelled at the ceiling as you got up and blasted the loudest classical opera music you could find.

You hadn’t even met your neighbor yet and you were already fighting.

Less than 10 minutes of the music and there was a knock on the door.

“Can you turn the music down please?” A male voice yelled as the pounding on the door continued.

“The door’s open!” You yelled, not leaving your couch. He was going to have to work for this after the last two weeks of hell since he moved in.

“TURN IT DOWN PLEASE!!!!” he yelled, just feet away from you, but you could still barely hear him.

You were going to answer, but standing in front of you was a very attractive, very sweaty, very tattooed, shirtless man.

He reached around you and grabbed your remote, shutting the opera down.

“How do you have eardrums?” He asked, putting the remote down on the table.

“I’m sorry, was it bothering you?” You asked, his gentle scent of axe body spray and sweat bothering you in the best way.

“I was trying to practice for my dance competition and your music was throwing me off.” He was breathing heavily, standing above you now. God how you wanted to see him breathing heavily above you in another position.

“Your dancing echoes through my apartment and throws me off every night.” You said, standing up to try to look him in the eye. Damn he was tall.

“I-” he paused for a moment before his eyes went from angry to gentle. “I didn’t know. I knew someone was complaining about me, but I didn’t know you could hear me. I thought it was something else.”

“It was me.” you said grumpily, “don’t you have a studio you can practice at?”

“It closes at 6.” he pouted, “I need longer to perfect my moves.”

“Can you try to perfect them in a quieter way?” you asked, taking a step back from him.

“What if I can make it up to you somehow?”

“How?” you asked, puzzled.

“Make you so tired that you can sleep through my dancing no problem.”

“And how would you do that?” You asked as he stepped closer, leaning in towards your ear.

“Come by tomorrow at 7pm and I’ll not only tire you out, I’ll show you what I thought was actually causing the noise complaints.”

His lips brushed your ear as he turned to leave.

“I don’t even know your name.” You said as you followed him, admiring his back.

“Yugyeom.” he whispered as he closed the door behind him.

#I'm sorry some of these are so short #I had ideas for them that I couldn't figure out how to elaborate without writing a novel #JB and Bam I'm sorry #got7 imagines #got7 #kpop imagines #yugyummygot7reactions #ilikeeverythingonmypizza

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blessuswithblogs · 5 years

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Video Games are a God Damned Mess: Bad Business Practices, Unsustainability, and the Fidelity Plateau

(shoutouts to the anon rando in my inbox for telling me about the read more button you were kind of rude about it but i don’t use this website so i legit didn’t know)

The video game industry has always been a bit wild and wooly compared to its older contemporaries. The emergence of a new medium is always rife with upheaval as paradigms shift and people discover that the old rules don't necessarily apply all of the time. That said, the past three months have been filled with what I can really only describe as catastrophes for many disparate publishers and development studios.

You may recall I talked a bit about this during my game of the year list and Fallout 76 analysis, but to recap: with Telltale shutting its doors and shafting its workers, the writing was on the wall for the same thing to happen again as the intrinsically unsustainable boom and bust cycle began the less glamorous stage. It turns out I was correct in my predictions but congratulating myself for seeing this coming is not unlike congratulating myself for accurately predicting that tomorrow will be Tuesday. Or. Whatever day it will be when I post this. fuck i dated the lp thread ruined LOOK the point is that this was really obviously going to happen and that nobody felt the need to prepare for it or try to stop it before 10% of Activision-Blizzard's workforce got canned is a major failure of the industry at large.

So let's talk a bit about what's happened since then. There's been a lot, so forgive me if I miss your favorite corporate implosion. First, at Blizzcon, Diablo Immortal was revealed to what actually might have been the most actively hostile reception of a game in history. This has less to do with the more financial aspects of the ongoing Videocon Crisis and more just kind of served as an ill omen and an example of Blizzard's worrying descent into... wherever it is they're going. If gross incompetence was a place, they would be descending into it. On paper, a Diablo mobile game is a money-printing proposition. When all is said and done Immortal will still probably make them gobs of cash. In practice, however, they fucked the landing so hard they probably lost potential sales. The kind of folks who go to Blizzcon and get omegahype for a new diablo game are not the kind of folks who play mobile games. Mobile games have a Stigma among the hardcore crowd, and also the Ethical Business Practices in Video Games crowd (which as of this writing appears to be me, Jim Sterling, and the Warframe devteam). For a lot of braindead gamerbros, mobile games are synonymous with things like Candy Crush and Peggle, which are perfectly fine games honestly but they're For Girls or some shit so mobile games are bad and for casuals. More pertinently, mobile games are also a ferocious jungle of microtransactions, pay2win mechanics, and generally shoddy design. Command and Conquer and Dungeon Keeper, beloved franchises that have been ripe for revisiting for years now, both found mobile games and they were both utterly terrible. These games make a great deal of their money by exploiting "whales", or in actual human being language, vulnerable people with disposable income and difficulties with impulse control or addictive personalities. Or kids who know their mom's creditcard number. Kids play video games. Now that we are no longer kids (theoretically, anyway) it can be easy to forget that. I'm not the pearl-clutching type, but I think that stigmatizing a genre of games that proudly touts an exploitative-of-children business model is probably okay.

So there are lots of reasons to be skeptical of Diablo Immortal right out of the gate, and quite frankly whoever thought that just pushing that out there with literally no other Diablo related news items (like any whispers of the long coveted hd remaster of diablo the second) was either transferred in from another company the day before or had some kind of unspeakable grudge against the scheduled presenters, to whom my heart goes out to. There is also some undeniable precedent that Blizzard-Activision will, in all likelihood, monetize the everloving daylights out of it. Both Hearthstone and Overwatch have more or less become nicely polished vehicles with which to deliver lootboxes to players for a nominal fee. If this hadn't been followed by a seemingly unceasing calvacade of disasters, the whole debacle would have been really funny to point and laugh at. It's still pretty funny to point and laugh at, but it also has some less amusing implications. Blizzard in particular has been up to a lot of no good lately. Let's talk a little bit about their recent one-two punch.

First up, we have the complete and sudden abandonment of competitive support for Heroes of the Storm. Heroes of the Storm was essentially Blizzard's seething regret and resentment for letting Valve snatch up the whole Defense of the Ancients thing put into code and unleashed upon an unwitting populace. It had actually been gaining some renewed interest over the past year or so due to the developers putting in some elbow grease and making the game both more accessible and just. More better. HotS has also had a modest but respectable eSports scene since the game's launch, with a variety of professional players, shoutcasters, tournament organizers and emergency bugfixers employed. Many of them were anxious about their jobs for months in advance with no word from the higher ups about who would still be employed by 2019. Sometimes, companies have to make difficult decisions and let people go to keep operating. Even my communist ass reluctantly accepts this as a reality of the system we live in. However, there is a protocol about this kind of thing. Giving notice. Giving, you know, severance pay. Stuff like that. And of course this presupposes that this sort of cut to the workforce is actually necessary in the first place. Given that AB subsequently reported record profits for the year of 2018, I have some doubts. Completely dropping support for a game out of the blue is a scummy thing to do to your playerbase. When it is also directly impacting the livelihood of hundreds of people in your employ, it goes beyond scummy and turns right into Unacceptable.

But "unacceptable" is Bobby Kotick's favorite word in the English language so while shoving hundred dollar bills from his latest corporate bonus up his butt he and his friends in the boardroom decided that the HotS esports people might get lonely, so they had better go and fire another 10% of the workforce too. Just because. Like literally just because. His company is doing fine - better than fine! They are at record levels of better than fine. But the shareholders demand more and more exponential growth, so to cut costs that really didn't need cutting, away goes 10%. Will game quality suffer because of this? Undoubtedly. More work being piled on fewer people who are also living in mortal fear of losing their jobs Just Because is not a recipe for success. People are mad about this, much like people were/are mad about Fallout 76 - players of games, industry wonks, and iconic voice actresses alike are no longer tolerating this kind of thing in Two Thousand and Nineteen, Common Era. Nor should they!

Elsewhere in the Game-o-sphere, similar developments are brewing. ArenaNet, the folks wot do Guildwars, went through another round of mass layoffs. EA's stocks have plummeted and Battlefield V "failed to meet expectations" because it only sold A Ton and not A Fuckin Shit Ton, and Anthem is not really lighting the world on fire. After Mass Effect Andromeda's... curious debut, Bioware has probably been feeling the heat and a lot of people are concerned that it too will suffer the ultimate fate of all studios acquired by Electronic Arts: joining Visceral Games in a broken heap at the bottom of the garbage chute. Bring back Dead Space you motherfuckers. Bethesda continues to, improbably, suffer through PR disaster after PR disaster with Fallout 76, a game that seemingly cannot stop fucking up. Ubisoft has received some positive attention for vowing to NOT lay off hundreds of employees for no discernible reason, which leads me to believe that our standards for praiseworthy behavior have dropped alarmingly low. Even 2K Games in all of its monolithic glory seems to be feeling a bit of a Stock Price Squeeze. Honestly by the time I get this done and posted it's entirely possible that somebody else will fuck something up. I'm still kind of waiting on the fallout from Randy Pitchford's porn thumbdrive, but I'm also a little bit pleased that Actual Money Crimes are getting more traction in the news cycle.

So, returning to the main point: the industry is in a bad situation of its own making. It's a scene that's almost always been defined by trend-chasing. For a while, that meant that we would just have to suffer through an endless glut of EXTREME SPORTS GAMES SPONSORED BY A DUDE or a barrage of samey console shooters desperately trying to be Halo every once in a while. Unfortunately, the trend-chasing now extends not only to the games themselves, but to the methods by which they are monetized. Ever since DLC became a mainstream thing, the brightest minds of the boardrooms have been working tirelessly to deduce which method of fleecing players will scientifically speaking get them the most money. Inevitably, when some enterprising little weasel develops a new and improved monetization scheme, the rest of the little weasels will immediately latch on to that scheme and that's how you end up with Battlefront 2's ridiculous lootbox grind and Shadow of War's ludicrous inclusion of randomized lootboxes in a singleplayer action-adventure game. While I'm certain that the platonic ideal of the lootbox has existed in some form or another for decades now, I think that we can squarely lay the blame for the Great Lootbox Plague of the Twenty-Tens at the feet of Valve.

Valve has been known for questionable business practices for a while now (albeit in a more lowkey way than We Fired 800 People So Bobby Kotick Could Buy a New Yacht), largely getting away with it because Steam has been more or less unchallenged as the premier digital distribution service for video games. This might be changing soon, as Epic Games is going straight for the jugular with a number of aggressive moves with its own fledgling platform, but historically, Valve has faced very few consequences for just kind of being petulantly antagonistic towards its userbase because said userbase is easily mollified by steam sales and Gaben memes. When people think lootboxes in 2019, they probably think of games like Overwatch or Battlefront 2 or basically any contemporary multiplayer game. I certainly do, but a bit of fact finding allowed me to remember that Valve has been doing this shit since Counterstrike and Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2's byzantine cosmetics market can't be overlooked either. All three of these games are or were at one point genre leaders and made Valve so much money they basically decided that they didn't really need to make games anymore. A reasonable conclusion to draw, given the fact all three of these games are inextricably linked to their history as very popular mods. Valve just outsources a great deal of its labor to dedicated, naive fans and gives them a pittance of the huge mounds of dollars they make from their hard work. It's a good racket, but it has set an alarmingly poor example to the rest of the gaming world.

Games as a service, in concept, is fine for games that lend themselves well to the idea. MMOs have been using a variation of the model for decades now and that genre is actually like, Perplexingly Healthy. Free to play games like League of Legends and Warframe have also had success with a service model. The problem comes from the AAA Game industry's pathological insistence on shoving square pegs into things that don't even have holes to begin with. Shadow of War, or Assassin's Creed, or any other major singleplayer offering, has no business whatsoever being a Live Service. They are finite experiences by design and that's completely fucking fine and normal. Appending microtransactions and lootboxes to them is a transparent attempt to just suck up a little bit more money from players in the most unsustainable way possible. Here is a small hint if some WB Games bigwig stumbles upon this: first of all, I'm building a guillotine, so you better watch your ass. Second, how dare you fucking make Shelob a sexy lady. Third, (this is the one that is probably most relevant): People are willing to pay as they go for cosmetics and timesavers for games that they like and want to support. I've dumped a lot of money into League over the years because there was a period of time where I was playing it nonstop and having a wonderful time for quite literally no cost to myself, so I felt like buying the cute Panda Annie Skin was a good compromise. Regrettably I would later learn that there are aspects of Riot Games I'm not super okay with giving money to but at the time they seemed agreeable and my friends who work there gotta get payed somehow. This whole dynamic of wanting to support a video game goes out the damn window when you are already charging a $60 entry fee, plus whatever highway robbery pricing you put on the inevitable DLC. In this case, the onus is squarely upon the publisher to provide an experience and content one would reasonably expect of the pricetag. Putting in microtransactions for cosmetics is galling. Putting in microtransactions for actual game progression, like in Battlefront 2 or Shadow of War, is outright insulting.

Many will leap to the defense of these publishers and developers, saying that these measures are necessary to make these ludicrously expensive and lavish AAA games that all look suspiciously like one another. For the time being, let's accept this as a true statement. If this is, in fact, the state of affairs in the industry, then the industry needs to change to a more sustainable business model. When playing Destiny 2, during a big space cutscene, the cute pilot lady ferrying me to The Large Molerat Man's Murderboat had beautifully rendered skin where you could see the pores and the little wispy cheek hairs that swayed to the momentum of the space plane's movements. It was very nice but then the next year or so I heard nothing but people pointing out "hey this game has no content you dipshits" or "the devteam is actually scamming people with the experience system to wring more playtime out of them". The cheek hairs affair succeeded in making me want the pilot to buy me dinner and regail me with stories of her space adventures as I batted my lashes at her in romantic admiration, but also: stop it. You do not need to do this. This is strictly unnecessary. The graphics arms race of yesteryear is over. Nobody cares anymore. Fidelity is plateauing harder and harder, to the point where games running properly on console without having to settle for 30FPS is becoming very difficult. There is an Earth B somewhere out there where Bloodborne was not a sony exclusive and got a PC release with 60FPS support and loading times for humans and on Earth B I am still playing that game for the forseeable future because it is the best game ever. We are far past the paradigm where we are making Tremendous Graphical Leaps with each successive generation. Right now, as of this writing, games look jawdroppingly good. Just ludicrously pretty and grandiose. Continuing to push the graphical envelope for Every Damn Annual Release is a waste of resources: monetary resources, labor resources, system resources. As of March, 2019, what people really want is stability and functionality. Something that runs nice and smooth at 60FPS and doesn't turn its characters randomly into nightmare inverse-Rayman beasts. I think the huge success of the Nintendo Switch, a console with relatively modest hardware but superb functionality, portability, and a surprisingly full featured library of both massive first party titles, like Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey (which honestly look better than a lot of games on more robust hardware because of wonderful art direction) and smaller indie games, is testament to this line of thinking.

Maybe that's too bold of a statement. Maybe there's this huge swath of the gaming public that is just clamoring for more cheek hairs. If there are I think they're fucking out of their minds but who am I to judge. As long as games like that werewolf game The Order exist, where the universal reaction is "this is so pretty!!! ...wait there's nothing in here." I think that there is a serious responsibility to push back against that because evidently it's bankrupting the game industry and forcing them to violate international gambling laws to stay afloat. Except it's fucking not, actually. Many publishers are claiming record profits, upward trends, and are in a spot to have the raw nerve to say "well this game that sold 7 million copies didn't sell 8 million copies so it failed to meet expectations". They are doing ludicrously well for themselves in terms of generating revenue from sales. Where these highly successful corporations are running into problems is satisfying the almighty Shareholders. Shareholders are sort of like. Imagine if you got a job where you had to keep a large committee of actual babies happy, except the babies don't know shit about fuck about anything and demand that you routinely break all reasonable laws of sustainability and keep bringing in exponentially higher profits or they will take their ball and go home. There is still, evidently, money enough to give newly hired executives million dollar signing bonuses, but when it comes to just making a game that doesn't fall back on exploiting people with gambling addictions, we're suddenly dealing with an outfit of noble, longsuffering churchmice just trying to make ends meet. People are rapidly getting fed up with this blatant hypocrisy and dishonesty. Sales from Hearthstone card packs alone could fund a robust HotS esports scene for eternity if properly apportioned. This money is not properly apportioned. It is thrown into a gigantic incinerator so Kotick can get high on the fumes.

You might be wondering what this girls' deal is with Blizzard. Surely there are more egregious offenders? Firstly, Blizzard is very relevant at the moment because they are one of the highest profile publishers to recently Do A Business Oopsie. Secondly, I live in Irvine, California. Blizzard HQ is a ten minute drive from where I live. It's a local company to me, and it's legitimately kind of hard to see it continue to go down this path because I've had friends and neighbors who have worked there and enthusiastically described the experience right up until the very moment they get canned for no reason. My alma mater, UC Irvine, is one of the leading schools in the nation on adopting eSports into their collegiate athlete program. I understand, to a lot of people, Electronic Sports (please support them) are a big joke silly thing, but to me and my family who work in the UC system, they're actually like a huge and pertinent part of professional life. I'm literally being consulted by my mom's co-workers for advice and insight on how to minimize the abusive and toxic behavior that has become synonymous with streaming and professional gaming because campus now has a huge eSports center with rows on rows of gaming computers for students to use. Games Are Big. They are a powerful cultural and economic force in the lives of millions of people and denying that because of "haha nerds" is the same shortsighted, utterly-lacking-in-self-awareness wanking that resulted in the stupendously destructive "its just the internet, it doesnt matter lol" attitude that has caused the world so much grief. That said Bart Simpson becoming an esports legend sponsored by Riot Games is still pretty lame don't @ me.

What it comes down to is this: the games industry has grown into a hugely influential and powerful institution that affects the lives of more and more people every day. However, the appropriate growth in regulation, oversight, and worker protection has not occurred and has honestly shrunk. People love to talk up Satoru Iwata because when the Wii U was floundering he took a massive pay cut and refused to lay off any staff, reasoning that "it will be very difficult for our teams to create software that will impress the world when they are constantly worrying about losing their jobs." It's a little incredible that The Baseline Reasonable Thing To Do has elicited such effusive praise, but that's the world we live in and Iwata-san was pretty alright so I'm okay with it. Both his conduct and reasoning are both solidly above reproach in this case: it is really hard to be creative when the Sword of Damocles is hanging over your head! That’s 500% true! This goes for game developers, community managers, eSports staff, support staff, literally every part of the process that matters, even the totally unrelated clerks and communications people who are still completely necessary for creating games. The only people who don't suffer are the dipshits on top who don't actually contribute to the creation of games in any way. They're still fine. Better than fine, really. That's why people are mad. That's why people SHOULD be mad. Don't stand for this anymore.

#blizzard #activision #eSports #game industry #bethesda #fallout76 #valve #layoffs #destiny #ea

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noctvrnis · 6 years

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So, I played Mass Effect: Andromeda...

...and I CANNOT understand how it got this ridiculous amount of hate.

To be honest, I was disappointed myself when the game released and I heard all those negative things about it but that was mainly cause I had only gotten into the Mass Effect franchise around that time. I entered the BioWare fandom about two years ago with Dragon Age: Inquisition and back then I thought I had found my favourite game of all time. But then I gave Mass Effect a chance because of how popular it was after all these years and I have to say, (sorry Dorian, I love you) it’s the best video game series I’ve ever played. Even a year and a half later, I still think about Shepard’s story and the ending of the games, especially cause they got me through a very rough patch of my life.

I’ve played quite a few different games since then, like Overwatch and Destiny 2, (which both went to hell in the past few months imo) but I still sometimes feel like going back to the trilogy even though I’m lacking the freetime for it. So, when I was desperate for a new experience cause the games I’ve been playing for a while just weren’t enjoyable to me anymore, I checked out Andromeda. Cause even tho it probably had one of the worst releases in gaming history it was still a Mass Effect game. So when I actually found it for 8 bucks, which looking back is more than just ridiculously cheap, I was like okay why not. To be fair, I didn’t expect much at all but after 10 hours into Andromeda I somehow already knew I was gonna enjoy it. And I did. Hell, it’s not the trilogy but I absolutely loved the game and I do not, not even the tiniest bit, understand HOW it got THAT much hate?!

Don’t get me wrong, it had its flaws, a lot of them and I probably don’t even know the full extent of it because I didn’t play it around the release but the stuff I read online is mostly just an absolute shitshow of dumbass arguments of why the game is apparently so bad. The worst part is, it looks like a stupid ass trend to me. Hating Andromeda was a trend. It’s so obvious that such a huge amount of people who shit on the game didn’t even fucking play it.

I understand disappointment, especially after the trilogy but painting it as the worst game of 2017 when it is definitely NOT feels like a bad joke to me. Yes, I prefer the original games as well, but I actually enjoyed Andromeda more than the first Mass Effect. But hey, Mass Effect 3 was my favourite and I actually enjoyed the ending so maybe that’s just me having unpopular opinions, hah.

Anyways, yes, I like Shepard a bit more but I absolutely adore Ryder as well. They were actually a bit more relatable to me because Shep is just this amazingly skilled N7 guy, who knows what he’s doing and even tho he’s an ass and a huge dork sometimes, he’s still this born leader, while Ryder feels more all over the place to me. Maybe that’s because they are younger and you get just thrown into all of this, Shepard does too, but Ryder seems more helpless to me a lot of the time, I don’t know. I definitely enjoyed both of them. Especially because they were both sarcastic idiots but in totally different ways. Both of them had their own humor, their own sarcasm and I loved it.

The characters, your squad from the original trilogy are more interesting to me, yeah. But I can’t really say I adored them as much after the first game already as I did after finishing all three. It all came with the journey. I can see why people think that at first the Tempest crew isn’t that fun but after finishing Andromeda, I can say that they all grew on me a lot and I actually loved their loyalty missions and those cute as hell friendship cutscenes at the end.

When it comes to gameplay I can’t really complain at all because I enjoyed it A LOT. I don’t exactly prefer it over the other Mass Effect gameplay styles cause I think I liked them equally. The combat felt very dynamic to me and that’s probably what I loved most about it and playing as a Biotic was definitely awesome.

Storywise it’s a bit complicated. I DID enjoy the storyline and I don’t think it was nearly as bad as people made it out to be. One of the main things I have to say about it is that it felt, much like the first Mass Effect, like the beginning of something BIG to me and it’s pretty damn obvious that they had a lot of stuff planned for Ryder and the Andromeda galaxy. If we’ll ever get a sequel after all of this... and that’s probably the thing that pisses me off the most. I don’t really think people realized that they basically helped digging Mass Effect’s grave with that absolutely ridiculous amount of unnecessary hate.

Overall it’s just? I don’t get it. Hell, BioWare (or more like EA, big fuck you for that one by the way, you deserve all those Worst Company awards) fucked up and the game did have a lot more potential and I totally understand that compared to the other Mass Effect games it isn’t as good but god damn it, Andromeda is NOT a bad game. Because fuck no, tons of fetching missions, which literally exist in every single RPG out there and some weird facial animations don’t make a game awful.

The thing I appreciate the most is that they listened, they tried to fix the stuff we were mad about, worked on the animations, gave us bi Jaal and that’s more than most companies do nowdays. It doesn’t excuse the fact that they released an unfinished game or that the DLC got cancelled but it’s not exactly the teams fault when they got disbanded and didn’t even have a chance to release any new content.

I loved the vibes of Andromeda, the graphics and visuals were awesome (apart from some facial animations), the soundtrack was great, the planets just looked absolutely stunning, I adored playing as Ryder and to me it just felt like the start of something big, something amazing. And I want more.

People need to get those sticks out their asses and stop being pressed about the fact that it’s not like the trilogy because it was never supposed to be. Shepard’s story is over and I’m glad it doesn’t feel like an imitation of the original BECAUSE even tho it doesn’t, it still feels like a Mass Effect game to me. Yes, it could’ve been better and like I said, it had a lot more potential but that doesn’t mean it was a bad game. The community needs to see Andromeda for what it is: something new. I still believe in the potential of the series and I hope we’ll get a sequel and even after all of this, I trust BioWare and hope that the next Mass Effect will satisfy people the way the trilogy did.

Mass Effect: Andromeda was a good RYDE (hah, I hate myself).

For anyone who has actually read this far: Thank you for taking your time and I totally don’t understand why you did this to yourself but I appreciate it.

#mass effect andromeda #mass effect #bioware #lara talks #personal

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bts-jimin16 · 6 years

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BTS Reaction to Them and Their S/O Being Intentionally Cockblocked by Another Member

Namjoon

You could sense Namjoon’s sexual frustration as you sat between him and Seokjin in the dorm. The members had kindly invited you over for movie night and you more than happy to come. So now here you were, sitting sandwiched in between your horny boyfriend and a smirking Kim Seokjin. Namjoon knew what his hyung was up to by the smug look on his face, he was trying to get him back for breaking something that belonged to him.

But Namjoon didn’t care, as you could feel his hand sneakily making its way up your left thigh. Placing your hand on his, you turned to face him and motioned your head in Seokjin’s direction signifying that you couldn’t do anything because Jin was right there, which only made Namjoon very annoyed. What push him over the edge was when he announced that you and him were going to bed because he was ‘tired’ only to be interrupted by Seokjin saying it’s still really early and all the members wanted to spend more time with you due to not seeing you on a regular basis. Namjoon being both annoyed and horny, turnt around and glared at his sly hyung.

“Are you serious right now?”

Seokjin

You and Jin were in the kitchen preparing snacks for the rest of the boys for movie night when you felt wondering hands finding their way up your hips and your waist. Knowing exactly what Jin was trying to do you turnt around and attached your lips to his, wrapping your hands around his neck. Getting caught off guard you both pulled away alomst immediately when you heard Namoon’s voice as he entered the kitchen. Your cheeks burnt with embarrassment as you looked in Namjoon’s direction. He gave you both this look like he knew what you both were doing but he didn’t care.

“What are you too up to?” he smirked full aware of the situation, causing Jin to burst out in a fake laugh.

You watched both of them laugh like it was the funniest thing in the world but you could hear the coldness behind Jin’s voice, clearly mad for getting interrupted from making out with out.

“HAHAHAHAAHAH i’m going to kill you HAHAHAHAHAH!!”

Yoongi

To say Yoongi was pissed, would be a HUGE understatement. Yoongi had been horny for the entire day since you left him high and dry that morning,so he’d been thinking about all the possible ways he could tease you as a way of getting you back during dance practice, recording sessions; hell even lunch break. Every time he had the slightest thought of your twitching body under his, he could feel the excitement rush through his body, meeting at his crotch area. He couldn’t wait to get home.

So when he heard that they were done for the day, he was home bound.Anticipation set in his body as he drove home, not letting a single thing distract him from his goal. Looking forward to seeing you home alone, he burst through the door, only to be baffled at the sight of you and Hoseok playing a game of uno. Thinking it would only be a short game, he sat next to you, watching the game with slight interest. And so, he sat there for 2 hours, grudgingly waiting until the two of you had had enough of the damned game.

He released a sigh of relief when he realized you and Hoseok had packed up and he was on his way out. SO as soon as his body was out of sight, Yoongi pounced, his lips tracing your neck and his hands searching your body. He had just been getting into it when he heard a cough. Looking up, he saw Hoseok’s sly smirk, barely catching him muttering about forgetting his keys. He shot daggers in his direction.

“The next time you make me wait two hours for sex, I’ll make sure you never have sex again in your life”

Hoseok

You and Hoseok would be on the couch with you sitting on his lap as you both were engaged in an intense make-out session and to say Hoseok was more than excited to where this was going would be more than an understatement.

But unfortunately for him, you both were rudely interrupted by a very suspicious Seokjin, that came and innocently sat down on the opposite couch and turned on the TV. Hoseok was fully aware of his actions, he knew Jin was clearly still mad at him for saying he didn’t like his food earlier. Annoyed with his hyung’s actions he got up from the couch pulling you up with him before heading to his room, he wasn’t going to let Jin interfere with your intimate time.

“Let’s continue this in the bedroom babe”

Jimin

Jimin could never seem to understand why certain members of BTS weren’t able to read the mood/aura of a situation. It frustrated him to no end, because somehow, he always ended up at a disadvantage, courtesy of their oblivious nature. Jimin and you were deeply involved in foreplay, when Jungkook signaled his arrival by ringing the doorbell an excessive amount of times.

That’s how the both of you ended up out in the living room, faces still slightly sweaty from your activities, clothes lazily thrown on and worn, with you serving Jungkook a cup of tea and a slice of cake. Jimin glared hatefully at Jungkook, incredibly annoyed at his oblivious self, happy munching on cake and sipping on tea. Just the sound of his voice made Jimin’s mood worse, Jimin Jr.’s constant throbbing a reminder of the play session Jungkook had just innocently interrupted. However, he’d held his peace, praying he would leave soon.

That was not to be he realized, when he heard Jungkook asking your permission to stay the night because his roommate kicked him out for whatever reason. Jimin immediately shot up from his seat, grabbing you and forcing your head in his neck as he shot daggers at his maknae’s evil smirk.

“Yahh, we were in the middle of sex when you interrupted. Quickly leave so we can continue”

Taehyung

When Jimin had obliviously put himself in the way of preventing Taehyung from making any move on you he wouldn’t hide how annoyed he was.

Taehyung had invited you over to the dorms and you could practically hear the urgency and impatience in his voice but you couldn’t blame him. You hadn’t been with him in forever it felt and you were more than excited to come over.

But as soon as you stepped through the door Jimin had stolen you away before you could even give your boyfriend a kiss hello. He wanted you to watch him practice his high notes but Taehyung beat him to it.

“Jimin come on, we were going to have sex!!” he’d whine pushing him away.

Jungkook

Jungkook sat on the edge of the bed with a pillow on his lap as he fiddled with his fingers looking uneasy. But you saw right through him, you could tell he was horny and was hiding his hard on from Tae that was seated on the floor, emerged into the video game. It alomst made you laugh at how cute he was when he was like this but you couldn’t say that you didn’t wish Tae hadn’t interrupted you two.

Just as Jungkook was about to kiss you earlier, you both were interrupted by Tae barging in suggesting we all play Overwatch together. Which you could tell made Jungkook a little annoyed but he didn’t want to turn down his hyung. But somewhere in the midst of playing games, you found yourself seated on the bed with an agitated Jungkook as Tae was the only one left playing.

The sexual tension was very hard not to read so Jungkook knew Tae was doing this intentionally but he had no idea what he did wrong, but then again, Tae always liked to tease him when it came to you and him being together.

“Uhhhh......how about we continue this game tomorrow?”

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brothermouzongaming · 6 years

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Diversity and inclusion in games

This appears to be one of the more pointed topics in gaming recently. Titles like The Last of Us 2, Overwatch, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Uncharted Lost Legacy, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, and most interestingly Battlefield 1 are all blockbuster titles that I do believe touch on diversity and it’s implementation. Some garnering negative attention, some not so much. It’s the implication of such things that can take a player out of the experience and even wreak havoc on the writing. I wanted to dive into some of these titles and discuss what they bring to the table when it comes to this discussion.

First and foremost I want to take a look at the big ones on that list.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance- This game caught a lot of flack before it was even released because of people with access to review/ influencer copies claiming the game to be racist. I heard this and my ears perked up, no people of color you say? Damn, that sucks it’s always nice to see people of various backgrounds and ethnicities existing outside of a stereotypical environment. Then I looked up the game and it’s setting... the game takes place in Scandinavia.... during the Holy Roman Empire...of course it was gonna be whiter than a Jimmy Buffet concert in the god damn Swiss Alps. This is so not the hill to die on. This (to me) is one of those instances where setting needs to be put first especially when making a super deep RPG.

Battlefield 1- I’m gonna start with this and keep it short because I find it interesting that this is the case: Battlefield 1 was all male multiplayer avatars. No one said a word, I don’t even remember any sort of outcry outside of a VG24/7 article. Is it because there was a historically leaning tint to the entire delivery? Yes EA and Dice were clearly trying to tell a story in the historical setting of WW1. Even in saying that, the campaign episodes featured some of those female fighters that the article references. So it’s clear the inclusion of women might not be the real root of the problem yes? Especially when there was no controversy involving said missions. No incels blabbering on about the fems coming for their games. I’m sure there were some but nothing that found it’s way to the public eye. The calm nothingness that was Battlefield 1 is made even more confusing when discussing it’s follow-up title.

Battlefield V- I would like to say I sit on neither side of the very large argument taking place around this game. I understand and hear both sides both as someone who would love representation in games, but also as a gamer that understands that there are certain times and places for this kind of thing especially when your game takes place at a point in real-world history. Again, not the hill to die on if you ask me. This boils down to nothing other than the obvious: money. EA doesn’t give a fuck about representation. EA doesn’t care whether or not this game is historically accurate. They want that montey hunteyyyy. Female avatars mean female specific customization options which means more microtransactions. This is a message for both sides because it’s true regardless: EA doesn’t care about how you feel no matter what side of the fence you’re on. Gamers who want realistic WW2 games, I’m sorry but what the hell did you expect from EA forreal tho. Feminists and people who overall want inclusion in games, this is the equivalent of Coke putting a little rainbow on their bottle in June. A MLK day sale at your local Toyota dealer. They don’t care, they want your money.

The Last of Us 2 has had some rumblings of discontent around it and again I get why because people love this franchise but I do believe it’s a little short-sighted. Anyone complaining about Ellie’s kiss didn’t play the dlc or doesn’t remember it. They were obviously gonna touch on that again. As far as the missing father figure, there are clearly details about Joel that Naughty Dog are concealing for us to find out (or for them to reveal later). It just goes to show there’s sensationalism on either side and that neither side really has anything to worry about.

“Wait Chayton why is Overwatch here?” Because Overwatch is one of the games that prove that inclusion and diversity are perfectly acceptable in gaming. So long as it’s not ham-handedly shoved down player’s throats for no other reason than profits and politics. No one says a word about any of the characters and each is loved both by their own fans and as the player base due to everyone’s overall importance within the world, gameplay, and lore.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is one of the most diverse games I’ve ever played. Future Prague is rich and lived in (almost too much in some cases) and the world as a whole is teeming with all kinds of people to meet and help or harm. Again not a word from the gaming community. Why? Because it was really well implemented and made sense within the world. I’d even go so far to say that it can evoke a real emotion when you see these masses of people of all backgrounds being oppressed for no real reason.

Female representation does need a boost, that is true and without a doubt. I will say though it’s never looked better. Uncharted Lost Legacy, NieR: Automata (which literally turns the video game partner trope on it’s head), Tomb Raider and it’s massive return to the forefront of gaming is clear proof that not only can it be done but it can be done well and have it mean something and not just be fan service. Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice and Horizon Zero Dawn are works of art through and through. These games are out there, not in mass, but if you ask me the shift is already happening and games like the ones above make me excited for it. Hell, gaming’s history features many amazing and interesting female protagonists Jade Beyond Good and Evil, Joanna Dark Perfect Dark, Samus Aran Metroid, Clementine The Walking Dead, most of the Warframes in Warframe all of which are phenomenally designed, Faith Connors Mirror’s Edge, and Heather Mason of Silent Hill. I understand that list may be overkill but it’s to prove a point. There is a litany of female characters and they are only going to become more and more prominent. I just hope we don’t all go mad over video games. They’re meant to be enjoyed, people. In the end, I hope that everyone listens to each other a little less in the sense that we don’t take each other's opinions and ideas so to heart. Especially when companies work on their own volition and to gain money. So if you don’t like a game or it’s stance, don’t purchase it. I think the “solution” if you can even call it that, is the fact that character personalization is finding it’s way into every game nowadays. Allowing us to put ourselves in the games or some horrifying monstrosity of a person for our comedic enjoyment.

Besides, can you even name a black protagonist outside of Clementine ;) Oh! My dude from Prototype 2.

All in time.

#diversity #kingdom come deliverance #battlefield 1 #battlefield v #the last of us 2 #video games #gaming

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red-wardens · 6 years

Note

Aside from Dragon Age, what other video games do you like?

*deep breath* my dude (i say, in the most gender neutral way) *pulls out all my games and lays them on the counter*

RPG’s (mostly played on XBOX or Nintendo consoles)

Mass Effect Trilogy - ME was my first Bioware game and changed MY ACTUAL LIFE™. i played the entire trilogy 3 whole times before i even picked up Dragon Age Origins (which i also played 3 times…)

Mass Effect Andromeda- sure it had its flaws but Vetra Nyx is my actual wife and I love all the teammates and it’s a pretty game and the dialogue is so funny i just love this game ok

Fable 2, Fable 3 - before finding Bioware games LionHead Studio’s Fable games were my RPG of choice and they, especially Fable 2, still have a big place in my heart and in my replay-ability list

Fallout 4 - I’m such a softie when it comes to companions so the “companions can permanently die if they go down”gave me mass i’ve anxiety and prevented me from playing the earlier Fallout games but I really enjoyed 4 (plus it was the first Fallout with romance options which is what I’m all about)

SWTOR- Star Wars the Old Republic (just recently)

FFXV - I came for gorgeous boy band with cool weapons and was caught off guard by TRAGEDY AND ANGST

Divinity Original Sin: just started this a month ago and I love it, great dialogue and creativity for an old-fashion RPG

More: Monster Hunter World, Kingdom Hearts, Borderlands/Borderlands 2/Borderlands Pre-sequel, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon (probably my first RPGs and I played on Gameboy then Wii lol), Legend of Zelda Games, Kirby (just, most Nintendo games)

Non RPG’s-

Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2 (my favorite games when I actually want to shoot things with friends), House of the Dead, Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare (i used to be a HUGE zombie geek in high school)

Overwatch (a little bit…i suck lol but I love the characters and have met some of the voice actors. I Mercy mained),

League of Legends (just during the first 2 and half seasons back in 2012-2014. I kinda dated a pro league player who got me interested. i Annie/Soraka/Sona main)

Other: ARK, Minecraft (a looong time ago when it was still in early stages), American McGee’s Alice and Madness Returns (beautiful psychological horror-action game), Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly (another great horror, played on my friend’s Playstation 2), Pom Gets Wifi (hilarious and cute, short computer game about a dog trying to find Wifi in Heaven)

Games I’ve tried/played but couldn’t get into: Fortnight, Halo/Halo 2 (i liked the story, im not big on multiplayer), Ace Combat (i like these games but i’m just trash at any driving or flight simulators), Gears of War, any Call of Duty Game :/

Games that have been on my To-Play list forever but I haven’t got to yet: Bioshock trilogy, Assassin’s Creed series,

——

I’m probably leaving out some but those are the ones off the top of my head. SORRY for the essay, thanks for asking :)

#about me #answered asks #video games #mass effect #left 4 dead #rpgs

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segadores-y-soldados · 7 years

Text

Moira: A Fate Fulfilled

“So it’s always interesting to think back on the ideation of a hero, you know - how do we start, we get that question a lot. And with Moira, it was a little bit of gameplay and a little bit of story. You know - we heard your feedback, you guys wanted a new healer in the game, and we felt the same way. Um, so we really started there. And uh, we have a lot of benevolent healers in the game - we have an angel, we have a monk, a mother, and the most upbeat, like, positive dj that you’ve ever met. So we felt like it was time for something a little bit more morally ambiguous, a little bit more shady. So we started there, and we started with these concepts.” - Arnold Tsang, Moira Reveal Panel (timestamp: 4:52 - https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=292)

---

Question: yeah, so I know that Tracer was kinda inspired by the “Jumper” class in Titan and all that, and there was a couple of other heroes in Overwatch that were inspired by scrapped classes from Titan, and I was wondering if Moira was one of them, and what other types of abilities or class playstyles from Titan would you like to incorporate into future heroes of Overwatch? Geoff Goodman: Moira’s definitely like - completely [from] scratch, there wasn’t really anything there from Titan, and a lot of them were like that.

---

From scratch, huh?

---

In mid-June of 2016, a redditor posted a long and incredibly well-thought out theory, citing in-game interactions and designs, on why they believed Mercy was actually “the true villain” of Overwatch.

You can find the post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/4okg03/a_long_theory_mercy_is_the_true_overwatch_villain/

Perhaps their biggest hypothesis was that Mercy had been the one to incorrectly resurrect Blackwatch Commander Gabriel Reyes/Reaper, which had resulted in an antagonism between the two characters, one representing an “angelic savior” and the other representing “the embodiment of death.” They concluded with:

Yes.

This is where the “Evil Mercy” theory really got started.

I remember it, because it was one of the first big “lore theories” on Overwatch I had ever read.

In time, the “Evil Mercy” or alternately, the “Mercy failed to correctly resurrect Reaper” theory spread pretty far. Among the discussions was a cited interaction between the two characters that people swore they heard in the game. This interaction goes something like this:

Mercy: This isn’t what I had in mind for you... Reaper: You knew exactly what you were doing.

Or alternately

Reaper: Remember, you’re the one responsible for all this. Mercy: This wasn’t my plan for you, Reyes...

Except there was a major problem.

Neither version of these supposed interactions existed.

Fans were baffled. Many people were convinced it existed, or had existed and then been removed from the game. The only source was an early Hammeh video from May 2016, just after the beta of the game launched, in which you can find the line:

Reaper: Don’t forget - you’re the one responsible for this. (https://youtu.be/PoKRFx5Sb5g?t=245)

However, unbeknownst to many fans, Michael Chu had debunked the existence of the exchange for a long time.

“I'm not sure where it came from (maybe there is another line that sounds similar to it), but the "this is not what I intended for you, Reyes" line/exchange does not actually exist in the game.” - Michael Chu, July 22, 2016 (https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20747844983#post-16)

The theory continued to spread until Michael retweeted his Blizzard Forums post on his twitter in January 2017 (https://twitter.com/westofhouse/status/822513004784664576?lang=en)

After that, it started dying down.

But it was about that same time that fans of the game began asking for a new support hero -

A morally-ambiguous or even outright evil one. (Real talk, you will get hundreds if not thousands of post on this exact subject if you search “evil healer” or “Talon healer” in the Overwatch subreddit, some as far back as 7 or 8 months ago, so March-ish, and at least a few as old as a year ago).

Most of the fan ideas about an “evil healer” involved some sort of life-leech or life-draining ability in which the “evil healer” could draw health from opponents and then redistribute it to their allies, pretty standard to a fantasy warlock or black mage-type character, except modified for Overwatch’s “firm sci-fi” settings.

Meanwhile, what flew quietly under almost everyone’s radar was the release of Oasis, first onto the PTR in December 2016, and then live servers in January 2017.

As far as I can tell, Hammeh was once again the only source really covering the surprisingly dark and morally ambiguous intent of some aspects of the map. You can find that here: https://youtu.be/6GE11k0X9sQ?t=337.

More importantly -

Hammeh was the first source to compare Oasis directly to the Solder Enhancement Program.

Hammeh: “Remember that...Oasis in the present-day, we’ve had the Soldier Enhancement Program, or whatever took effect on Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes for - roughly - twenty-six years or so ago? Given that Morrison and Reyes - pre-his current existence as Reaper, of course - were the products of that twenty-six-year-old program, what could a city of scientists...without perhaps any moral limits on their research, have achieved in Oasis?”

(Congrats on calling it, Hammeh, you deserve mad props) And he brings up a point very near and dear to my heart:

Hammeh: The last known place that we’ve seen Mercy was actually in a Middel Eastern area - I sort of estimated, trying to guess from this map, it could be maybe Iraq or Iran, but what if she was, perhaps, in Oasis? What would she be doing here? But, who knows? It’d be fascinating if we saw Mercy turn up at Oasis at some time in the future. Given that Mercy made big breakthroughs in nanobiology, one wonders if, maybe, she worked with some people in Oasis...or not. Complete speculation, but I could see it working.

Sometime after Uprising, in May 2017, I posted a (rather rambling) essay on how Overwatch was incorporating “horror stories” and “tales of the apocalypse” into the game, even “in fun modes” like Junkenstein’s Revenge. But one of the big points was that I speculated on the possible Mercy-Oasis connections:

http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/159665523340/overwatch-apocalypse-now

The most important one, however, is this set (I cannot find the direct quotes, so I’m basing this off memory but):

Sombra: “What are we doing here?” Reaper: “We’re here to see an old friend.”

Now this is extremely interesting. One of the prevailing fan theories is that Angela “Mercy” Ziegler may have connections to Oasis - she is depicted in the Recall short as being located somewhere in the Middle East, particularly somewhere in present-day Iraq, which is where “the city of Oasis” is located. In the Reflections comic, she is shown to be working on some sort of “active field duty” in a tent that is brightly-lit. In the “We Are Overwatch” short, she rescues a young girl on the edge of a large city with multiple skyscrapers in the background.

I know there is already speculation that, if Mercy is in fact located in Oasis, Reaper is “out for her.” Another version of the theory goes that Reaper is coming to see her to ask her for help with his current state of existence (note that I am not a fan of the “Mercy botched saving Reaper” theory because that has been effectively debunked by Chu).

Because if there is anyone capable of helping Reaper restore himself, it would be “the doctor of death herself,” Angela Ziegler.

We know from Dragons, Recall, Hero, and the Museum Heist that 1) ultimates such as the Dragons and Tactical Visor are canon, 2) Reaper is capable of transforming himself into smoke, 3) Winston’s in-game abilities - including his Rage ultimate - are canon. At the moment, there is no reason to believe that Mercy’s Resurrection ultimate is not canon. People will no doubt argue that I’m making a leap of logic here, but until confirmed otherwise, I’d say it’s likely that all Ultimates are canon.

And therefore this means that Mercy knows how to revive the dead.

More than anything, this means that if Mercy is associated with Oasis, that we should be giving a solid, hard look at what exactly this implies for lore. I’m not saying that Oasis “having Lovecraftian connotations is 100% canon,” but rather it is important to note that the types of references a story builds for itself almost certainly influences the type of story it wants to portray. The fact that Mercy has not one, but multiple skins that are related to “raising the dead in morally-ambiguous ways” is telling. She has two Valkyrie skins, the Imp and Devil skins, and the Witch skin (which literally carries “a book of life” on her).

Again, I already know these skins aren’t canon. That’s beside the point. The point here is that all of this combined creates a very ambiguous tone about Mercy and Oasis - the undercurrents of mistrust, the sensation that “something lurks in the city,” the feeling that “humanity is playing with forces it cannot control,” the idea that “a doctor who defies death” lives and works there, the idea that the “in-game embodiment of Death Himself” is going there to “visit an old friend.” These are all things that build an eerie sense of foreboding.

Exactly as Lovecraft would have wanted it.

Lovecraft’s Nameless City builds the groundwork “lore” for his Cthulhu mythology. The “nameless city” is a city in the Arabian desert, older than Babylon, implied to have been “lost” to the ages as humanity began to conquer the earth. The ancient race that built the city retreated underground, where they continued their worship of the Great Old Ones. The human protagonist of The Nameless City wanders deeper and deeper until he is beset by the presence of the ancient race and some form of the Great Old Ones, ostensibly for “intruding on a realm he had no right to access.”

Sorry for the long quote, but I was ecstatic to see Zenyatta get a Cthulhu-based skin this Halloween, because directly after this Oasis part, I talk about Zenyatta and his connections to “the unknowable.”

What the Overwatch team is building here is a series of “range of canon” background mythologies (some that are “non-canon but merely background white noise that colors how the players view the world,” to “these are kinda sorta canon and you should be paying attention to how we use these references,” to “these are outright canon and we will be using them blatantly for whatever we want”) that develop the world in a set of unique ways. Even for the stuff that “isn’t canon,” it still exists in the game and it still tints how players interact with the characters, their personalities, and their story arcs. Reaper’s Mariachi skins and Zenyatta’s Djinn skins may never matter “in the overall story,” but they still show small “slices” of personality that reveal something new about them. Similarly, Zenyatta’s lines about his discord orb may never “make it to canon,” but they still demonstrate that “something dark” lurks within them.

And this is, arguably, both the strength and weakness of this style of storytelling: anything and everything is open and available for use. You can design a world where a map references the Tower of Babel and more or less imply that “the doctor who defies death” lives there, but you can change this at the drop of a hat. You can create a robot monk whose abilities rely on amplifying “the disquiet” in other characters’ souls, but then say that his statements on these abilities are not “canon.” You can craft a narrative surrounding three old comrades who have had a major falling out and then leave massive gaps in the explanation for this problem. You gain freedom, flexibility, and openness in exchange for lore that stands on a foundation as steady as shifting sands.

It is almost undeniable that Moira fulfills nearly every aspect of these two fan theories: the first of “Evil Mercy” and the idea of her involvement with Reaper’s condition, and the second of “something dark lurks in Oasis.”

Moira is exactly what fans have been asking for -

With all the pros and the cons related to that.

---

In between the first postings of the “Evil Mercy” theory (and Michael Chu’s very soft denial of them) in the Summer of 2016, and the release of Oasis on the PTR in December 2016, a seemingly unrelated fandom event occurred. The large comic book “First Strike,” which was meant to detail the origins of the original Strike Team and their battles in the Omnic Crisis, was canceled.

The original post is, unfortunately, gone now, but bless reddit for having some of the best bots ever:

(https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/5do14r/first_strike_graphic_novel_update_canceled_via/da5z4mb/)

“While we are grateful to the team for the fantastic work they put into it, we’ve ultimately decided to take the story in a different direction.”

And

“In the years since First Strike’s conception, we have done a lot of development on the universe and its sotires. While the core of this story remains, we have changed and expanded upon how we see the events that took place during the first days of Overwatch.” - Michael Chu

Several months later, in May 2017, Jeff Kaplan expanded on that in a Polygon interview:

“We sort of saw Overwatch really open up to the world, and listening to players and the stories they were telling and what they imagined the Omnic crisis to be really made us second guess what we were doing in First Strike,” said Kaplan. “We thought, ‘Hey, if we go down this path, it really closes all these doors.’”

Fan theories about the Overwatch cast’s pasts abound, and players produce fiction, art and other original content in droves. Although animated shorts and digital comics have had success in filling out the game’s universe — particularly the most recent comics, “Uprising” and “Reflections” — the Overwatch team found that a 100-page graphic novel no longer made sense as supplemental reading material, six months into the game’s life.

“Part of the magic is that everything is not tied off and explained to players,” Kaplan said of keeping Overwatch’s canon less defined. “There’s a lot going on in Overwatch right now where I think that the story in players’ heads is often even cooler than what we can deliver to them.”

(https://www.polygon.com/2017/5/17/15655410/overwatch-first-strike-canceled-jeff-kaplan-interview)

Many fans were bitterly (and rightfully) disappointed at the cancellation - the Omnic Crisis is one of the most speculated and discussed concepts from the Overwatch universe, along with the five main heroes (Gabriel Reyes, Jack Morrison, Ana Amari, Reinhardt Wilhelm, and Torbjörn Lindholm) that it involved.

However, the cancellation was quickly followed by a new wave of creator-fan controversy when a fan asked Michael Chu on his twitter if the word “decades” in Reaper’s hero profile was, in fact, accurate or a typo.

You can find the whole exchange here:

https://twitter.com/to_grok/status/826487157430874112

User: Thank you for responding. But does that mean Reyes has been Reaper before Overwatch fell?

Michael: I'll let you draw your own conclusions, but the wording on Reaper's bio is intentional.

The response sparked a massive wave of renewed discussions on the ways heroes and villains are written and portrayed, both in Overwatch and larger media (a discussion I was a part of). People were (rightfully) furious with the implication that Gabriel Reyes - a hero in the Omnic Crisis - had actually been undermining his own organization for “decades” under an alias, or that he had been suffering from wraith-like powers and pain for nearly thirty years without any of his friends and allies noticing. Once the fury cooled down, some people began to toy more with the idea, and the concept that “something had been off with Gabriel” since his involvement in the Soldier Enhancement Program grew quietly among fans.

What was also slowly realized in between the two “controversies” was that there was the increasing likelihood that the “different direction” Michael had originally mentioned in regards to cancelling “First Strike” was actually probably specifically in regards to Gabriel Reyes/Reaper and his eventual role as an antagonistic character in the present storyline of Overwatch. Despite being “villainous,” Reaper is one of the most popular and immediately recognizable characters in the Overwatch cast, and has led to the creation of hundreds of thousands of fanart, fan stories, comics, memes, jokes, videos, posts, discussions, and ideas. Previews of the “First Strike” comic had Gabriel Reyes cast in heavy shadows, looking rather omnious compared to the other characters, and it also showed him in his Blackwatch uniform, a division which hadn’t actually been made yet.

In his late February-early March GDC talk, Michael Chu went on to say this quote about the “villains” of Overwatch:

“What’s important to us is that their motivations are not purely rooted in being evil, despite how they might seem on the surface. As we reveal more about these characters, we want people to be able to empathize and understand their beliefs. Because sometimes what makes a villain a villain is the extent to which they’re willing to go to reach their goals. And one thing that we find most important when we’re talking about our villain characters is that there is nothing to say that a villain cannot be as charismatic or more charismatic or as likeable as a hero character - because, like the old saying goes, ‘every villain is the hero of their own story.’”

The picture during the presentation was of Junkrat and Roadhog, but it was very clear that all of the Overwatch “villains” were a part of this category: Widowmaker, Sombra, and yes, Reaper.

Moira, without a doubt, fits into this category as well, but more than that -

Moira very likely represents some of that “different direction” the Overwatch development team decided on between the game’s release in May 2016 and the cancellation of “First Strike” in November 2016

Especially in regards to Gabriel Reyes/Reaper.

In fact, along with the quotes by Arnold and Geoff listed at the beginning of the post -

I think it’s highly likely that Moira was created as a direct response to everything that has happened between the game’s release and now.

Moira may be the first true “fan-feedback” character created on the Overwatch roster.

The other four characters that have been released since launch - Ana, Sombra, Orisa, and Doomfist - where all largely conceptualized before the game came out, but were staggered for release over the course of a year. While many fans thought they had input on Sombra and Doomfist in particular, it became very clear that, once the two heroes were released, they were drastically different than what anyone expected or predicted.

Moira, on the other hand, covers several things fans have been asking for since at least June 2016: the “evil Mercy”/“evil healer” with a lifeleech ability, a lore connection to the sinister parts of Oasis, a Talon “support” character with moral ambiguity, and a “different direction” that permits the Overwatch developers to possibly give more freedom of morality and a wider ranger of plot backgrounds for other popular characters - chiefly Gabriel Reyes/Reaper, but also Jack Morrison/Soldier: 76, Angela Ziegler/Mercy, Sombra, Genji Shimada, Jesse McCree, Amélie Lacroix/Widowmaker, Akande Ogundimu/Doomfist, etc.

However, she also constricts certain “plot ranges”/“plot twists” now - the revelation by Nesskain that Gabriel Reyes was “scared” over his enhancement or shift into “Reaper” is both surprising and enlightening.

(oh look, a Blackwatch version of the Valkyrie suit.)

https://twitter.com/nesskain/status/926674887615188992

Now, it’s entirely possible that Nesskain’s comment means very little to the developers, but he did also write that he is permitted to know the “People of interest. And a bit of story” when commissioned to make official art for Overwatch.

Which more likely means he was given the direction to make Gabriel look “scared” during his transformation process.

This immediately relieves some of the pressure that Gabriel Reyes chose to become Reaper, but it now puts the onus on Moira instead, and her decision to possibly experiment on him against his will (or in ways he did not agree to).

To summarize, the timeline of post-game-release events looks like:

June 2016: Major posts on "evil Mercy" start going viral.

July 2016: Michael Chu denies the interactions between Mercy and Reaper exist.

November 2016: First Strike is cancelled.

November 2016: the first few posts on "we need an evil healer in the game" start appearing.

December 2016: Oasis is released on the PTR - Hammeh releases his first video speculating that "someone with darker science" is at Oasis and/or Mercy is at Oasis.

January 2017: Oasis is playable on live servers.

early February 2017: Michael stands by his statement that "the wording on Reaper's bio is intentional."

late February 2017: Michael has his GDC talk - discusses unreliable narrators and “villains” being heroes of their own stories.

April 2017: Uprising is released showing Gabriel Reyes in a more humorous, lighthearted manner.

July 2017: Doomfist is released, revealing more aspects of Talon. Moira is pictured for the first time.

November 2017: Moira is revealed.

---

What this all culminates in is a rather interesting mystery that connects several dots that people have speculated and discussed for quite some time. Most surprisingly, the Overwatch developers actually decided to stick to their guns and put in some very intriguing tidbits that point to a combination of both “reworking” Gabriel Reyes/Reaper’s entire storyline and still “retaining” several details, while still meshing with fan desires and fan theories for a new healer.

Moira’s background and her current “plot” are almost perfectly designed to sell a brand new, well, direction for several aspects of the larger story.

It requires several steps to put it all together.

Step 1. Moira in Oasis

“Currently, in addition to her duties as a scientist for Talon, Moira was also invited by the Ministers of Oasis to become their Minister of Genetics, and so she is basically leading up their genetic research at the city - and this [referring to her Oasis skin] is what she’d wear when she’s over there.” - Michael Chu, 11:12 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=672)

Cool. So now we have a way to tie Oasis to the larger world of Overwatch (again, kudos to Hammeh for predicting that a character like Moira "without any moral limits” on conducting scientific research would come along), as well as expand on the shady and morally ambiguous aspects of the Oasis.

Step 2. Gabriel’s “decades”

“She was recruited by Gabriel Reyes to be a member of Blackwatch. And uh, during that time she had relationships with the Blackwatch crew - McCree, Genji - they all have their own sort of likes and dislikes for each other. Reyes wanted someone could help advise him on, uh, some matters of genetics that he was, uh, interested in, shall we say.” - Michael Chu, 3:47 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=227)

In Moira’s lab of Genetics on the University map, you can find this folder in the spawn room. It is brand new -

And identical to another “lore detail” found in Dorado.

People have been attempting to predict Gabriel Reyes’ “SEP ID number” since the concept that “76″ was Jack Morrison’s SEP ID number was first theorized. Lots of people picked things like 13 (“unlucky”), 666 (“the Devil’s number”), and 75 (“to go along with 76″), etc - these were all fairly common. This writer picked 127 as a play on a holiday.

What the “Soldier: 24″ folder also seems to imply is that Gabriel has been having issues or side effects from SEP, thus retaining some aspects of his Hero profile saying “decades” on it.

In retrospect -

It’s probably not a coincidence that Michael’s “the wording on Reaper’s bio is intentional” tweet follows the release of the Oasis map onto live servers by like...a month.

It’s also very clear that the Ministry of Genetics was always present on the map, right from the very outset, along with Reaper and Sombra’s interaction about “seeing a friend.”

Sombra: So what are we doing here boss?

Reaper: I need to pay a visit to a friend.

Which certainly played me like a damn clarinet, because man, I fell for it hook-line-and-sinker.

Of course, I was basing my predictions on this next part.

Step 3. “Evil Mercy”

“So, there is a connection [with Moira], but it’s actually not to Zenyatta, it’s actually more of a connection to Mercy. Um, you know, they both worked together - obviously, Moira’s a part of Blackwatch, Mercy was a part of Overwatch, but she’s [Moira] has definitely taken and modified some of that tech. There’s some evidence on the Oasis map that sort of hints at some of that.” - Michael Chu, 3:27 (https://youtu.be/CEQ_qDtyRHA?t=207)

The title of the paper reads “Genetic Conditioning and Regenerative Propertis of Applied Nanobiotics.” - by Dr. Angela Ziegler, MD. Ph. D.

You can also find a copy of Mercy’s research in Moira’s Genetics lab, which is is pretty sneaky way to incorporate the whole “Mercy’s technology failed to resurrect Gabriel” into this whole new storyline. It’s hard to say if Moira specifically used Mercy’s technology (or a warped verison of it) on Gabriel, or if she’s taken Mercy’s tech and reworked it into her own healing beam, but the wink and nod to fan theories about “Evil Mercy” is pretty ingenius and somewhat sinister, Blizzard.

Step 4. A reason to fight

For a very, very long time, there were only two maps that lacked any clear connection to the overarching plot or lore of Overwatch: Ilios, and Oasis. Everything else had some sort of story tie-in, either to a major character or a major event. Sure, many maps lack a specific reason for six people to go brutally fight six other people in a parking lot, like...Hollywood...or Nepal... but they at least had a connection to someone or something.

Up until now, the biggest theory was that - well - Mercy might be chilling there and Reaper might be out hunting for her, but basically overnight that completely changed.

In theory, it would be enough to simply connect the map to Moira and be done with it (much like Nepal is simply connected to Zenyatta), but there’s a unique extra detail in the University map now.

This is the other spawn room on the Unversity map. It mirrors Moira’s on the opposite side.

This is the Ministry of Chemistry logo.

Okay, seems alright, symmetry is important after all.

But there’s...an issue.

Title: “Repairing Degenerative Genetic Structures” with a large post-it note that says “Draft”

And that -

is the Ministry of Genetics logo

along with the title “Ministry of Genetics” in Arabic.

The “Ministry of Chemistry” spawn room

is this one:

Hmm.

I suspect Moira does not appreciate her fellow Minister running off with her research on a very...unique “test subject.”

And I also suspect “Soldier: 24″ does not want his secrets getting out.

And -

as the “map” from Necropolis shows us -

Reaper has to pay a visit to a “friend.”

...Even if she is “the one responsible for this.”

---

And before I get questions about the possibility of a romantic angle between Moira and Reaper, I’m just going to stop everyone right here:

Geoff Goodman: “It [Her Fade ability] has some similarities to Reaper’s wraith form…uh which is…it’s funny how that works out.” Michael Chu: “You know, we obviously - there’s a…there’s a close relationship between Moira and Reyes-slash-Reaper, and I think one of the fun things we were able to do is to sort of hint at some of those things in her, uh, abilities.” Geoff Goodman: “She’s helping Reaper out and is like, ‘You know, I think I could make this better, I have an idea.’” Michael Chu: “Professional relationship.” Geoff Goodman: “Ahaha, yes…good call.” Michael Chu: “You know what I’m talking about.” [Whole panel laughs] - Time: 14:49 (https://youtu.be/HsJU3PEk9JY?t=889)

The tone of the whole exchange makes it very clear that Michael (and Geoff) are emphasizing that the relationship between Reaper and Moira is literally just professional.

And...well...

I also have a username to uphold, so you know my stance on that.

What will be very interesting to see in the near-future are the in-game interactions between Reaper and Moira, as well as Moira and the other Talon members, Moira and the old Blackwatch agents, and Moira and Mercy. Moira absolutely fulfills Michael’s quote here:

Michael: When we created Moira, we wanted her to have all these connections to characters throughout Overwatch history, through different groups. (Moira Reveal Panel)

And, more importantly -

Michael: Who is Moira? Well, most importantly, Moira is that new support hero character that you’ve been waiting for! (Moira Reveal Panel)

Moira is probably the first character created almost entirely from fan feedback and fan ideas, with the developers’ twists, after all.

When Geoff Goodman says that she was created “completely from scratch,” what he most likely means is that the Overwatch development team had no concept of her at the time of the game’s release. She did not come from a scrapped Titan hero. She did not come from a developer’s concept. She did not come from another hero’s background.

She likely came from fan reactions to three main things: the request for a “morally ambiguous healer,” a “different direction” from the original background plot, and a way to enhance the underlying sinister and darker elements of Oasis (if it was not created in tangent with her ideation).

...

So, friends -

Be careful what “heroes” you wish for in the future

Because you might reap your rewards.

(The Blizzard devs are always listening)

#moira #moira o'deorain #reaper #gabriel reyes #overwatch lore #overwatch theories #my essays #my writing #resources #references #blackwatch #overwatch #oasis #ministry of genetics

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ourlittlebitofnothinguniverse · 6 years

Note

All for the video game ask. (do I need to mention only if u r comfy w/ it at this point). Love you!!

alright u done done it now bitchhhhhhhh are u READY 4 THIS SHIT (dshfa;lkj thamk i am so pumped ur my biggest enabler) i already answered a couple of these for anon but i’ll go ahead and answer them here as well

1. First game you played obsessively?hmmmm i wanna say the legend of spyro the eternal night? i played it so much i could beat the whole game in four hours. i’ve heard lots of ppl actually hated the legend of spyro trilogy but honestly they can suck my ass i loved them

2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.uh besides my answer for anon of skyrim not many games have actually just straight up influenced my art style but i’ve been playing this game called Fe (not fire emblem just Fe) and i really want to draw fanart for it bc it’s super cute if that Counts as influence?

3. Who did you play with as a kid?if this is meant in terms of co-op games nobody bc we didn’t have anyif just in general, my sister for the most part. i’d watch her play things like resident evil and she’d help me with the hard parts in medievil and crash bandicoot warped (read: racing levels)

4. Who do you play with now?myself lmao i don’t rly like co-op and multiplayer games and i prefer to play most games by myself

5. Ever use cheat codes?like i told anon, no bc i don’t know how they work and i’d probably only use them for the sims anyways

6. Ever buy strategy guides?not really? once we bought the collectors edition for diablo II when i was little and it included the strategy guide which i stayed up all night to read (bc i had run out of other reading materials in the house) but like i don’t really use them idk

7. Any games you have multiple copies of?the sims three and i know you know the reason why but in case anybody else wants to know: i didn’t know they had actually completely changed the game since i had played it last probably a decade ago so i bought it @ walmart this year and then i got mad bc it apparently SUCKS ASS now so in search of a copy of the original version i bought a second one from amazon bc the Image being used WAS of the original case but it really was the new version so now i have two SHITTY SHITTY VERSIONS of a game i used to love that i will never play bc it’s shit except maybe i will bc apparently it has real life music in it just replaced with sims language which is amazing and this response is far too long for the question but i asked u if u were ready so u signed up 4 thisi also have an xbox version of it tht i got for like christmas or smth years ago and a,,,,,, ds version??? that i got last year bc somebody was selling “the original version of the game including every expansion pack” for only like $30 and it definitely said disk version but when i got it it was this Pre-owned Dirty Ds Cartridge Covered In What Looked Like Strawberry Jelly and when i tried to contact them they shut their page down so there’s that which equals four shitty shitty copies of the sims three and i will never be more mad about anything than i am about this

8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection?uh well back when i had a job i spent A Lot of money (to me it was a lot) to get the collectors edition of the last guardian so that would be my most expensive. other than that i would have to say one of the hardest to find (maybe not rare but not common)games i have currently is medievil for ps1 bc it took me like a week of searching to find a copy in good condition online for sale bc i rly wanted to own it again since we had to sell all my old games when we moved to oregon which sucked bc we had a Bunch of cool games (mostly early ps era)

9. Most regrettable purchase?did you see my rant about the sims three for answer 7? yeah

10. Ever go to a midnight game release or stand in line for hours?never lived in an area where that is A Thing

11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games?i wanna make a homestuck joke here (srsly probably not like i said i don’t rly do any type of co-op or multiplayer games so)

12. Ever get picked on for liking games?not really?? is that a Thing?

13. A game you’ve never played that everyone else has?uh idk literally any COD game, basketball games, Fallout games, overwatch, anything that’s co-op, shooter games or sports related etc idk i’m a simple fellow these types of games don’t appeal to me

14. Favorite game music?idk what this means? like genre-wise??? idk abt stuff like that i just like good game music but i’ll tell you the fuck what, hiveswap music fuckin SLAPPED

15. If it was a requirement to get a game related tattoo, what would you pick?fuck shit idk man i don’t rly want a tattoo maybe uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh smth that could be vague

16. Favorite game to play with your friends IRL?idk rip lmao

17. Ever lose a friend over a game?Nah man i can’t even imagine smth as dumb as that unless they’re screaming racist or sexist slurs bc then friendship is terminated but otherwise like wtf it’s just a game,,,

18. Would you date someone that hates gaming?i mean?????? sure????????????? they don’t have to game with me??????????? unless they tell me I can’t game bc they don’t like it in which case Bye u controlling piece of shit

19. Favorite handheld console?u kno those games that used to come in sonic happy meals? yah (jk uh i don’t have much experience w/ handheld consoles besides nintendo ds-es and they’re cool)

20. Game that you know like the back of your hand?like i said i played spyro the eternal night so often i could beat it in four hours so probably that one.

21. Game that you didn’t like or understand as a kid but love now?the only games i didn’t like as a kid i p much still don’t like now

22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories?i am Poor

23. The game that you’ve logged the most hours into?currently skyrim or stardew valley

24. First Pokemon game?I didn’t get to play any pokemon games until this year actually but i got myself pokemon y and ultra sun so those are my first two! although you Could technically say pokemon go bc i played that for the first time like One month before i got y and ultra sun but like idk if tht counts so *shrug emoji*

25. Were you ever an arcade game player?i never lived where arcades were a thing tbh

26. Ever form any gaming rivalries?Why

27. Game that makes you rage?there’s this absolutely adorable and INFURIATING game called so many me that’s a puzzle platformer but the controls are so ridiculously precise that it’s absolutely the WORST to play bc unless you do it just right at just the right millisecond you will die over and over and over

28. Ever play in a tournament?nah

29. What is your gaming set up?the livingroom tv and my mom’s xbox one or my bedroom with my ps4 i got for my birthday and my xbox 360 that i got like 7 years ago

30. How many consoles do you own?alright so If ds-es count i own,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, roughly seven? i have my new ps4 i got for my birthday last year, my 7 year old xbox 360, another xbox 360 i bought from a kid @ school, a ps1 i bought last year for the Nostalgia that’s in rly good condition, a rly old ds lite a rly old 3ds and my new pokeball 2dsxl. i would also say that the ps3 my aunt left when she died is mine bc my mom never used it and she had bought most of the games For Me and Her to play together anyways so the idea that she left it to my mom is,,,, Weird but my mom claims it was left to her so Shrug emoji

31. Does the 3DS and/or Virtual Boy hurt your eyes or give you headaches?“virtual boy” i love it omg. uh not really i don’t use my ds-es that often bc i don’t have a just wild amount of games but when i do use them it doesn’t rly mess w/ my brain or eyes too much

32. Did you ever play a game based on your favorite show/cartoon/movie/comic?probably not?

33. Did you ever have any bootleg games or plug-n-play games?i don’t think so tbh

34. Do either of your parents play video games?my mom does but she really only plays like three games (the newest assassins creed, skyrim, and stardew valley)

35. Ever work in a game store? Or do you have a favorite game shop?nope

36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game?man have u ever heard of brotherhood a tale of two sons? mom told me abt it and she didn’t warn me abt how it ended and i had to leave the room and cry bc it broke my heart

37. Have you played E.T. for the Atari 2600? Do you think that’s the worst game ever, or do you have another nomination?i didn’t know that was a thing

38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like?i can’t think of any tbh. oh wait i take that back sonic unleashed it’s terrible but i love it

39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?maybe not a sequel but they rly need to come out with another stardew valley type thing or maybe expansions or smth so that you can talk to and befriend more ppl and stuff

40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls?never been able to try them but they look super fun and i can’t wait to see how they improve the technology

41. A genre that you just can’t get into?multi-player games period. also first person shooters and sports games. there’s more but i can’t remember the title of the game bc i don’t know what genre it would be lmao

42. Maybe it wasn’t your first game, but what was the game that started you on your path to nerdiness?i assume this means game related nerdiness not just my inherent nerdiness in general so probably the very first spyro game

43. Ever play games when you really should have been concentrating on something else?all the time my dude

44. Arcade machine that has consumed the most of your quarters?none

45. How are you at Mario Kart?probably shit i’m not good @ steering in games

46. Do you like relaxing games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon?i love them! i have like 100+ hours logged into stardew valley and i only got it in like november of last year

47. Do you like competitive games?not really

48. How long does it take your to customize your player character?so long. i either have to make them gorgeous or beautifully hideous

49. In games where you can pick your class, do you always tend to go for the same type of character?yah tbh lmao. i have like eight thief stone khajits in skyrim rn

50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create?i have a Lot of ideas and not all of them are good

51. Have you ever played a game for so long that you forgot to eat or sleep?forgetting to sleep, yes. forgetting to eat? no

52. A game that you begged your parents for as a kid?i was a very sheltered kid i didn’t know about new games coming out when i was little bc we didn’t have any way for me to find out About Them. i’m making up for it by begging as an adult for ni-no-kuni II and the new spyro trilogy remastered

53. What’s your opinion on DLC these days?depends on the game tbh some of it is good and a lot of ppl who make mods are rly talented but sometimes the big companies just make dlc to make more money so it can be rly shitty so it’s kinda a 50/50

54. Do you give in to Steam sales?heck yes rn i’m waiting for house flipper to go on sale bc i’ve been waiting for it to come out since i found out abt it

55. Did you ever make someone you hated in the Sims and did mean stuff to them?no my style of playing the sims was more along the lines of make a hundred houses that are all P Much The Same House and making a hundred familys and never playing literally any of them hadflskja;sdfjdslkhja i just liked building stuff and that’s why i’m pissed abt how much they changed the sims three bc it used to be Way Better

56. Did you ever play Roller Coaster Tycoon and kill off your guests?we didn’t have it but i did have zoo tycoon and i’d release the dinosaurs sometimes

57. Did you ever play a game to 100% or get all of the achievements?legend of spyro the eternal night

58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?uh!!! that’s too much pressure and i would get so bored playing them for the rest of my life even if i loved them so i will not choose

59. Do you play any cell phone games?sort of? i’m big into abyssrium and i like viridi if those Count?

60. Do you know the Konami Code???????????????????????? guess not

61. Do you trade in your games or keep them forever?keep them forever!

62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game?i got the last guardian before getting the ps4 does that answer ur question? (jk that is not the only reason i wanted and got the ps4 but it was One big reason)

63. Ever go to a gaming convention or tournament? nah

64. Ever make a TV or monitor purchase based on what would be best for gaming?not really? i just use whatever i currently have bc i am lame

65. Ever have a Game Genie, Game Shark or Action Replay? Did it ever mess up your game’s save file?nope

66. Did you ever have have an old Nokia with Snake on it?not a nokia but we had this one handheld thing that had a bunch of games in it that included snake i just can’t remember what it was it had like letters and numbers and it needed like regular batteries and you could only play the games that came programmed on it

67. Do you have a happy gaming-related childhood memory you want to share?i cannot think of any right off the top of my head even though i know i played a lot of video games and loved them when i was little. hm it might not count as like a gaming-related childhood memory and more of just a memory of a game but we did have one really interesting little game that i absolutely loved i think we only rented it but u were a scientist who could turn into a mouse and it was absolutely amazing i loved it i have no idea what it was called hm

68. Ever save up a ton of tickets in an arcade to get something cool?not really we didn’t have arcades around where i grew up

69. In your opinion, best game ever made? there are a lot of rly good ones i can’t choose a best game

70. Very first game you ever beat? like i told anon i’m p sure it was crash bandicoot warped

WHEW this was rly fun thank u for enabling me it took me like two hours to answer this i’m so happy. ilu 2 man hope ur day has been rad!

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coffeeschim · 7 years

Text

bts ➸ as boyfriends

seokjin: • a prince who’ll definitely treat you like his princess • loves taking you out to eat • thats basically what most of your dates are • likes to go out during midnight, to also get more food • wraps his arms around you and pulls you close to him so your face is in his chest • never wants to let you go when he hugs you • takes nonstop selfies bc he thinks you guys are too cute • waking up next to him would be so nice • you’d see his sleepy face, and a tiny grin appear when you tell him good morning • and he’d get up immediately to make you guys breakfast • sometimes while he cooks you’d see his toned back when he doesnt have a shirt on • which you never complain about • kisses all day !! • he loves kissing you • every kiss would be sweet and soft • always always always makes sure you’ve eaten • if not he’d be super worried and frantic bc he wants his baby to be well fed and healthy • “have you eaten today ?” • “no, not y-” • “WHAT - give me sec i’ll make you something really quick !!” • then lectures you to start eating more often and that it’s unhealthy to skip meals, etc • when he gets upset he comes home and pretends nothing is wrong • but you know something is up, because he isn’t as smiley as he usually is • so you give him the biggest hug and tell him how much you love him repeatedly • and he always wonders how he ended up with someone as wonderful as you and how lucky he is yoongi: • days would usually be spent at home or in the studio • loves it when you stay up with him while he works even though he knows you’re tired • finds it cute when you’re sleepy • likes sitting down with you and sipping on coffee • a smol softie when its just the two of you alone • LOVES CUDDLING • a huge cuddler and loves snuggling in bed and being really close • just likes having you in his arms in general • and if you fall asleep in the studio while he’s working on some things • his eyes always glance back at you every 2 sec to make sure you’re sleeping well • his gummy smile never fails to appear when you do something incredibly cute • “what are you smiling for ?” • “you can be really cute sometimes.” • likes making you blush bc he finds it amusing • gets flustered and blushes even more when you compliment him back tho • when he writes lyrics, he always tends to think about you to inspire him • sometimes writes letters to give to you to write in words about how much he loves you • he fave place to kiss you is on the lips or the back of your hand • loves holding your hand • tries to hold back a smile after every kiss you have

namjoon: • having namjoon as your boyfriend would be so wonderful • very aesthetic • would have you take his kim daily pics • does anything with you • like is down to do whatever, as long as you’re having a good time • casual & cute dates • he’s a really selfless person so he tries to be the best boyfriend • holds your hand tightly when you walk side by side • hugs you so tight and tells you about how cute you are to him and how much he loves you • he’s soooo smiley with you around • your presence just makes him so happy that he can’t help but smile • the two of you could literally be watching something he doesnt really find interest in, but you did and he sees that you’re interested in it • and smiles bc you focusing intensely on it is adorable to him • deep conversations or meaningless topics • there was no in between • reads you his favorite sections of his favorite books • kisses on the cheek, bc he thinks your cheeks are really soft • shares his hoodies with you, and is never surprised when they’re missing the next day • he’s really clumsy, so when he hurts himself he hesitates to tell you bc he doesnt want you to worry about him • even tho you find out anyways • finds you irresistible as you try to aid his wounds • “how did you even manage to trip and fall like that ??” • “i guess i cant stop falling for you” hoseok: • will make you happy 24/7 • his bright aura shines so much when you’re together • and he gets 10x happier when you’re around him bc he’s just so in love with you • always gives you kind words of affection • likes to bring you into the studio so he can show you new choreographies he came up with • and gets shy when you compliment the dance and tell him how much you loved it • “omg hoseok that was so amazing !!” • “do you really think so?” *face turns to a tomato* • isn’t afraid to be himself around you • when he’s self-conscious about himself, he has that pouty face shown • and never wants to talk about it so you two always end up cuddling with you telling him how great of a person he is and that he shouldnt worry if people try to say otherwise • likes it when you play with his hair bc it feels nice • library & cafe dates for sure • cuddles are so nice and warm • likes being the big spoon, bc he loves hugging you from behind so much • matching pjs • noSE KISSES !! • like you’d both give each other gentle pecks on the tip of your noses • and it’s so cuteeee even strangers in public would admire the love they see you have for each other • but also neck kisses in private • always shows skin ship and is never afraid to show it • before you two go to sleep he’ll sometimes offer to sing to you • and ofc you accept bc hoseok’s singing is beautiful

jimin: • so. many. giggles. • like that one cute little laugh that comes out ? • yeah that’s the one • you’ll ALWAYS hear it bc he just thinks you’re so dang adorable and cant help it • loves back hugging you and resting his head on your shoulder • and then he tends to kiss your cheek in the process • his camera roll will be filled w a bunch of pictures of you together • he likes to cherish every moment you two spend together • cuddles are the best with him • when he’s away, he always makes sure to call you every morning and night • deep conversations always somehow end with him explaining all the things he loves about you and how he wouldn’t know what to do without you by his side • ice cream dates !!!! • midnight runs just to go get ice cream tae tags along sometimes • also walks on the beach to watch the sunset • is so overly sweet to you, it’s like impossible for him to ever get mad at you • “please don’t get mad, but i lost your favorite hoodie” • “ahh, i’m not mad. it’ll give us a reason to get matching ones now !!” • “omg jimin” • he’s very touchy with you, so he’ll have a hand on you at all times • sneakily grabs your butt from time to time • in the morning you’d wake up and see him sleepily laying there with a smile on his face as he says “good morning beautiful” • and then he lightly brushes his lips against yours and gives you a morning kiss taehyung: • big hugs every time he sees you • he’s such a teddy bear that he’d be the best cuddler ever • likes caressing your cheek softly • in the morning when he wakes up you’ll be able to hear his super raspy voice • when you’re laying down he tries to be as close as possible to you • feels the need to always be around you • when he’s away he’ll video chat you and text you every day if he’s not busy • he’s really into art and photography at the moment • so expect loads of candids of you on his phone • and most of the time you don’t even realize how much he takes pictures of you • he does it bc he finds it your beauty so breathtaking • “why do you have so many pictures of me tae?” • “because you’re the definition of art in my eyes” • staying up late playing overwatch together • just staying up late all the time in general • they’re usually spent with you two laying next to each other in bed and sharing your deepest thoughts and wonders about the world • or maybe late night walks while holding hands and enjoying each others presence • loves kissing you anywhere • but while hugging you from behind, he’d kiss you on the neck • lots of laughs between you two over nothing • but its cute • your favorite songs would be playing in the background and he’d grab you by the hand and start singing to you • reminds you how much he loves you everyday • you’d be so important to him, that he’d always make sure you were okay when he’s not able to be with you

jungkook: • you would be like best friends • very competitive when it comes to games and sports • so when you did either of the two, he’s not gonna go easy on you • sometimes lets you win bc he loves seeing how happy you get when you finally beat him at something • bowling dates for sure • loves loves loves kissing you • loves it more when you kiss him • if you kiss his nose, he’ll smile widely and his nose would scrunch up • very protective of you • he’d get jealous if he saw you getting too close with another guy and then do that tongue thing • or if another guy was getting too close to you, he’d step in right away and take you away from him • he wouldnt get too mad over it bc he knows hes better • sings you to sleep !! • before you two go to bed, he’d be holding you in his arms • and then he’d start singing your fave slow songs softly until you fall asleep • hugs would be gentle as he wraps his arms around you • caresses his thumb against your skin lightly as he holds your hand • gets shy when it comes to saying his feelings out loud sometimes • tells you he loves you whenever he plants a kiss on your forehead • SEEING YOU IN HIS CLOTHES IS HIS FAVE THING • like he’d see you walking around one of his many white t-shirts • and the boy will forget how to breathe • “jungkook are you okay??” • “yeah, i’m fine - totally fine. no worries.” • but then a few sec later he’d be so egotistical • “so you seem to like my shirt huh?” • “i had nothing else to w-” • “i happen to think it looks better on you than on me. you should wear it more often”

#bts #bts headcanons #bts scenarios #jin #seokjin #hoseok #jhope #jimin #taehyung #v #jungkook #rap monster #namjoon #yoongi #suga #bts imagines #bts boyfriend #bangtan

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spinnerella · 4 years

Note

If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?

Nia, I’m so sorry because I feel like you’re always kind enough to send me ask meme questions and I always get lazy with them, so here goes two days late!

58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?

This one is super difficult because I enjoy so many different things about so many different genres of games. If I had to pick three, though, I would go.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. I’m in the midst of playing the second game, so to be fair, I can’t really pick whether I’m going to like it more than BBS, but I love the combat system set up in this game. Generally, I just also care about the characters in this game so much. The Wayfinder trio feels the most like a family to me out of the 3 in the game. I would have probably had more of an argument to put 358/2 Days on this if it had been remastered for the 1.5 remix, but sadly it wasn’t, even though I adore the characters of Days.

Overwatch. I feel like my level of enjoyment for this game can decline and rise depending on my mood, but overall, I’ve really enjoyed how much I get to play it with friends more than anything. I don’t wanna say that I’m shelling out money for the sequel because I REALLY don’t want to drop full price on the PS5, but the promise of story (sadly) has me convinced that I’m going to buy it eventually...but my PS4 is also my baby and I won’t go gently so we’ll see.

Resident Evil 2/Resident Evil 3. I refuse to pick between the two of them because I’m having such a hard time deciding which I like better. Honestly, if the third game wasn’t so short, I’d probably pick it over the second in a heartbeat, but I can’t justify it because of how it just feels like I wanted more out of what was there. I like RE2 because the combat/item management (yes, I know it’s weird) stuff can be fun for me depending, but I don’t like how it isn’t as plot heavy, so I’m just grouping them together. The Raccoon City Experience(TM).

An honorable mention goes to The Last of Us, which would normally be at the top of my list, but its sequel fucked up so bad that I’m mad at the whole franchise right now. :)

Thank you for asking!

Fun Video Game Asks for you and your cool friends

#holymicrobots #ask meme #answered asks

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xenoxxe · 6 years

Text

Usually I wake up at 5:50-6:00am and go back to sleep til about 7:00am. I still struggle with getting up every morning, and no. Its not because I'm just pure lazy. Some days I wake up and I can't get out of bed at all. Like a force holding me down and I feel compelled to just stay in place. Other days, I feel exhausted and upset for no real reason. Its like I just wake up sad for sometimes no real reason at all. But some days are better. Some days I feel completely motivated to get out of bed and power through the day. But those days are rare.

I either eat or I don't. I don't typically like to eat in the mornings, so I usually just skip breakfast. If I do eat, it's always something small. My go to is usually a piece of toast or some fruit. I mainly just snack periodically throughout the day to tide me over. Naturally, I don't feel the need to eat.

Around 7:45 to 8:00 is when I leave for school typically. I usually walk through alleys with my music blaring. I don't like being seen by other people, so I'd rather stick to something a little more hidden from public, even if it brings more potential dangers.

I arrive at school and usually stop at my locker and drop my stuff off first. Then I head to the cafeteria to hang out with my friends before class starts.

My first class is probably one of my personal favourites because I have an amazing teacher to teach me my favourite subject, science. Even if I show up to class upset or am more quiet than usual, he picks up right away and does his best to help me. He can always make me laugh and smile. It doesn't matter if I was having the worst day ever, he always has found a way to make it better.

I basically have a free period for the next to do whatever I want. I typically just go hang out with friends or finish math homework. Usually extremely boring class if I can't go hang out. However, it isn't always boring since I have a hilarious teacher. There was this one time where he stepped in dog poop and didn't realize it. He checked everyone's shoes except his own and when he sat back down at his desk, he realized the stench was worse where he was. When he realized it was him that had the dog poop on his shoe, he threw a sarcastic tantrum type thing. I'm not sure how to fully explain it but it was funny as hell.

Next class is typically the one I am worst in. Math. I really do struggle alot with math, so it's kind of nice to be able to sit with my best friend. I originally sat with someone I haven't gotten along with in years and he hates my guts.

I then have lunch. I usually have 2 main places I hang out and select people. I either hang out in the cafeteria or at tables close to classrooms. I don't usually feel compelled to eat at lunch either so I mainly just talk.

Next, I have English. I honestly really don't like my teacher very much already.. I don't want to be rude to her because she is of higher status than me, but some of the things she does or says to others is just flat out rude or offensive. I also don't know her very well and still am really anxious around her, but she seems to think we are best friends or something. I forgot my assignment at home and she told me I'd have to do something for her, which of course I'm not doing because I don't know her and it's her job to give me grades. I don't think there will be much that can change my mind about her.

Last, I have gym. I mean, I don't really mind the physical activity as long as there is music involved. I don't have many friends in my gym class because they either hate me, grew tired of me or don't talk to me. Other than that, I somewhat enjoy that class even on bad days. Mainly because of the loud music.

When school is done for the day, I walk home. I usually take the main road, with my blaring music still. I am always in a bad mood after school because of people that also walk home. They always think they are so entitled to everything and mock me, taunt/tease me or swear like a mad man. Also I hate slow walkers with a passion.

When I get home, the first thing I usually do is eat a snack. After that, I get boring. I usually go play video games (Overwatch) until supper. After supper, I go back to playing video games until about 9:30 or 11ish and get off. Unless it's Friday and I play d&d from right after school til about 8. Then I play video games for about an hour or two.

After I get off video games, I lay in bed again and think for a bit. I also sit down and talk to people til sometimes 4am. I don't get a ton of sleep due to insomnia. Im really bad at keeping normal sleeping schedules so it just gets progressively worse every night. Usually I have troubles falling asleep and staying asleep. I'm not gonna talk about much for my night because it can get very depressing.

Lol sorry for dragging this on. I know there's alot of stuff I left out, but most I left out on purpose because im lazy and not writing down each specific day.

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saruteku · 6 years

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Overthinking Games: Overwatch: Talon

Haven’t done one of these in a while so I’ll overthink Talon and if calling them a terrorist organization is really fair compared to Overwatch and their actions.

Talon is known as the Terrorist organization and the bad guys of Overwatch’s universe but is that really the case? Overwatch has done a lot to advance and protect the world and their deeds are well known, but as Overwatch fell Talon took control, but lets look at each one of the Talon operatives so far.

Moira is portrayed as “Science gone wrong” but her intentions and interests are obvious from the start. She believes Science should not be limited, that discovery is a must and no sacrifice is too small for the benefit of the future. Morally she is grey, but if she discovers a benefit then it was well worth the risk. She prospered in Oasis because Oasis has similar beliefs, Science should not be limited, but the reason she is seen as evil is because she will take the risk without fear, a complete opposite to Mercy who is a lot less willing to accept risk and who is only interested in the progress of medical study. Look at Mercy, Moira, and Ana as healers, Mercy’s staff only gives benefits as she believes in healing and empowering, Mercy is rather mad about Anas rifle since it took her technology, and it was made to both heal her allys, and to poison her foes, and then there is Moira, because she can absorb the health of others she is able to heal groups of people, this shows their mindsets rather well, Mercy will only heal but has the drawback of having to focus on one ally, there is no risk of hurting anyone, Ana heals people because she failed to protect her comrades, but is also willing to continue taking out targets. She’s a battle Medic. Moira will take the life of a target and spread it amongst her team, her having 2 rapid multi person healing abilities that must be fueled by bringing harm to someone that opposes her. TO her she is doing the most good as the life of her enemy is not wasted and she can help more people at once than Mercy can.

Sombra is shown as a manipulative and aggressive hacker. She is portrayed about not caring much about anything and just doing it because it’s fun, but look at what changed her from a normal girl to the stealth hacker she is. She discovered something and someone shut her down. Sombra is an orphan because of the war, and her video showed she was willing to survive by any means. She was able to get by being a hacker because there was noone else to take care of her, and now she has been shown putting powerful people in line. She wants to see who “really runs the world” she wants to figure out who is in control, and there is a very real chance she wants to expose everything that has corrupted the system. Afterall, she spared the life of a woman getting technology from the enemy, not because she’s sympathetic or nice, but because she would be a powerful ally in getting more information and she knew she had a family. It would have been easy to just let Widow kill her, but Sombra wants more than just destruction, and her personality doesn’t seem like the type trying to get money or jewels because with her skills she could just hack bank accounts. With the kind of knowledge Sombra has gained she can easilly prevent another war by keeping a close eye on the powerful.

Doomfist is a criminal. He is the Scourge, he is a Warmonger, few people in the universe of Overwatch have nothing really nice to say about him, but his story is also about change. If he was never in an accident he may have stayed a normal fighter and never became the Doomfist, but he was and his life was changed. because of the accident he was made more powerful, more agile, more weary of conflict, but he lose what he could have been. He personally learned that when there is a conflict humans have to rapidly change in order to adapt to it. Imagin everything that happened after the first Omnic Crisis. The Moon Colony, Ecopoint, the Australian Fallout, the Transcendence of Omnics, and then suddenly people started getting complacent. They believed Overwatch caused more harm than good and forcefully shut them down and now even as the world falls apart no one is doing anything about it. Doomfist believes the world isn’t suffering enough for people to feel the need to change. he believes that it takes a Major event for the world to come together, like it did during the first Omnic Crisis. If he was a barbarian harming people for fun I would have thought he was a bad guy, but his way of speaking and keeping his calm is very focused. He needs people to suffer in an effective way. Random Chaos will just make people panic, but having a direct enemy that they can not overcome will MAKE them overcome. Having something they can work on to defeat will make them stronger. You don’t lose unless you are complacent and refuse to change.

Reaper is a murderer and a rather hateful person yes, but he has a few reasons to be that way. Remember, Reaper probably can’t see himself as a Terrorist because he is pretty much doing the exact same thing he was when he was in charge of Blackwatch. He has missions and he takes then VERY seriously. In a few ways he’s a better person than Soldier: 76 is because while 76 is going around and beating people within an inch of their lives Reaper has been shown to not take lives that he doesn’t need to. He could have killed Winston plenty of times but settled for trying to dehabilitate him. In Infultration he shot everyone once, only people that attacked him, but one guy ran and fell. It would have been smart to make sure all resistance is dead, or at the very least 100% not a problem, but Reaper held back, which raises the question on if Reaper’s Shotguns are actually lethal. Soldier 76 was shot in the back at point blank and he lived Reaper is a lot more of a covert operator than a vigilante like Soldier whos gun CAN and DOES kill people (Noones living after the Pulse bomb blows up) Reaper’s sense of justice and world order may differ, but they were on a mission to eliminate someone that makes deals with Omnics, and Reaper has always seemed to give people second chances. He was interested in Moira’s work even as she started getting scorned, Genji and McCree were both accepted members of Blackwatch even though Reaper was meant to destroy McCrees gang, and when he is voted Legendary after a match he says “Finally some Recognition” He worked hard to spread peace by doing jobs no one wanted to do, and honestly, as the Reaper he is a lot more able to do his job without worrying about image, something Overwatch was CLEARLY worried about.

Sadly I can’t say much for Widowmaker. If anything Talon is the best she can do after her brainwashing. She is told to kill a target and she does it, happily. It sucks what happened to her, but even with all her talk of joy about killing even she is restrained. She does not waste bullets, she does not kill more than her intended target. She will fight back opposition, mainly Tracer, but she was able to perfectly shoot Mandatta even though it was by shooting threw Tracer. She could have easily shot spectators trying to get Tracer, but she didn’t, only the one resisting her and her target were shot at. She could have also picked off a few enemys for Reaper, but she waited calmly for her target. She’s not a mass murderer, she is a sniper with a cause. There is almost no differance between her purpose and Ana’s purpose.

Talon is constantly called a terrorist organization but look at all of the similarities and differences between it and Overwatch. While Mercy sounds like she hates healing battle wounds and sometimes sounds like she’s happy soldiers die Moira is happy to rebuild people. While Torbjorn sounds like he HATES Omnics most of Talon don’t seem to mind them at all. While Soldier: 76 went on a Vengence Rampage Reaper is still doing calculated and controlled missions, and while Overwatch potentually forced Reinhardt out because he’s too old I’m sure Doomfist would respect his power and his choice to fight till his dying breath. Both organizations had a goal, both of them are changing the world they believe should be changed, both have passionate allies, it’s just when it comes to Talon vs Overwatch is what is more important, Freedom or Security.

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tak4hir0 · 4 years

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CUSTOM GAME ENGINES: A Small Study A couple of weeks ago I played (and finished) A Plague Tale, a game by Asobo Studio. I was really captivated by the game, not only by the beautiful graphics but also by the story and the locations in the game. I decided to investigate a bit about the game tech and I was surprised to see it was developed with a custom engine by a relatively small studio. I know there are some companies using custom engines but it's very difficult to find a detailed market study with that kind of information curated and updated. So this article. Nowadays lots of companies choose engines like Unreal or Unity for their games (or that's what lot of people think) because developing a custom AAA-level engine requires lots of resources, so, I decided to list here some of the most popular custom engines with the team-sizes and notable titles released with those engines. Most of the engines listed here have been developed along the years with multiple iterations and multiple videogames, those engines have gone through several versions or even complete (or semi-complete) rewrites from scratch, with a consequent engine name change. Also, important to note, most of those engines use numerous middleware for specific functionalities (Platform, Physics, Network, Vegetation, UI, Rendering, Audio...). *NOTE: I tried to be as much accurate as possible with the information about the employees count (I checked the companies websites, Wikipedia or company LinkedIn) but take it with a grain of salt (some employees numbers could not be up to date). The BIG Companies *From left to right: Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Final Fantasy XV, Red Dead Redemption 2 Below list is for very big corporations, sometimes with complex corporate structures with several divisions (not only focused on videogames) and various studios/subsidiaries developing games. Some of them work with multiple engines, not only custom ones but also licensed ones. Company Employees Studios Engine(s) Notable Games Activision/Blizzard ~9200 ~9 custom engine(s) Call of Duty series, Overwatch, Starcraft II Electronic Arts ~9300 ~36 Frostbite 3 Star Wars Battlefront II, Anthem, Battlefield 1/V, FIFA 20, Need for Speed series Ubisoft ~16000 ~54 AnvilNext 2.0 Assassin's Creed series Disrupt engine Watch Dogs series UbiArt Framework Rayman Legends, Child of Light, Valiant Hearts Snowdrop Tom Clancy's The Division 2, The Settlers Dunia (CryEngine-based) FarCry series Silex (Anvil-based) Ghost Recon Wildlands LEAD engine Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series Dunia-based The Crew Capcom +2800 ~15 MT Framework Monster Hunter: World RE Engine Resident Evil 7, Devil May Cry 5, RE2:Remake, RE3:Remake Konami +10000 ~30 Fox Engine Pro Evolution Soccer series, Metal Gear Solid V Square Enix +4600 ~18 Luminous Studio Final Fantasy XV Nintendo +6100 ~8 custom engine(s) Zelda: BOTW, Mario Odyssey Riot Games ~2500 ~3 custom engine League of Legends Rockstar +2000 ~9 RAGE engine GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2 CD Projekt +1100 ~4 REDEngine 3 The Witcher 3 Epic +1000 ~11 Unreal Engine 4 Fortnite Usually those companies invest in custom engines to have full control over the technology and also avoid the revenue cut imposed by the licensed engines. Despite that fact, there are some big companies that in the latest years have chosen Unreal Engine for their productions, the most notable cases are: Capcom is using Unreal for the new Street Fighter IV/V titles. Bandai Namco latest big hits are using Unreal: Jump Force, Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Tales of Arise. Square Enix also moved to Unreal for several new titles: Dragon Quest XI, Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy VII Remake It's interesting to see that those big three are Japanesse companies, I wonder if that's maybe a market trend for Japan. Also to note, the chinesse holding Tencent owns 40% of Epic Games, I bet it has some influence in the Asian market. Middle-size Studios *From left to right: Rise of the Tomb Raider, Uncharted 4, A Plague Tale Here we have the medium-small companies that decided to create their custom technology for their titles. The number of employees could be a nice reference to consider because a custom game engine is usually developed in-house (I mean, not outsourced) but note that some of those companies could have a big number of people due to in-house artist/audio teams, while other companies out-source those parts of the development. It would be really nice to know how many engineers are working on the engine division for each company, I'm sure there would be some big surprises, probably by the low number of engineers working in the engine and tools! Also interesting to know more info about the tooling included with those engines, it's really difficult to have access to that kind of information. Engines tooling is usually a hidden-secret (beside some GDC presentations or some quick showcase videos). *From left to right: Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Death Stranding Company Employees Engine Notable Games Creative Assembly +650 Warscape Engine Total War series Bungie ~600 Tiger Engine Destiny series Infinity Ward +500 IW 7.0 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Eidos-Montréal ~500 Dawn Engine (Glacier2-based) Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Paradox Interactive +400 Clausewitz Engine Imperator: Rome Bethesda ~400 Creation Engine Skyrim, Fallout 4, Fallout 76 Valve Corp. ~360 Source 2 Dota 2, Half-Life: Alyx Crystal Dynamics ~350 Foundation Engine Rise/Shadow of the Tomb Raider Avalanche Studios ~320 Apex engine Just Cause series, Renegade Ops, Mad Max, RAGE 2 Naughty Dog +300 Naughty Dog Game Engine Uncharted series, Last of Us Rebellion Developments ~300 Asura engine Alien vs. Predator series, Sniper Elite series Techland ~300 Chrome Engine 6 Dying Light Crytek ~290 CryEngine V The Climb, Hunt:Showdown From Software +280 Dark Souls engine Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, Sekiro Remedy +250 Northlight Engine Quantum Break, Control Guerrilla Games +250 Decima Killzone Shadow Fall, Until Dawn, Horizon Zero Dawn Platinum Games ~250 Platinum Engine NieR Automata, Bayonetta, Vanquish Santa Monica Studio +200 custom engine God Of War series id Software +200 idTech 6/7 Doom, Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein series Sucker Punch +200 custom engine Infamous Second Son, Ghost of Tsushima? Insomniac Games ~180 Insomniac Engine Rachet&Clank series, Marvel's Spider-Man Quantic Dreams ~180 custom engine Detroit: Become Human IO Interactive ~170 Glacier2 Hitman series Asobo Studio +140 Zouna A Plague Tale Ready At Dawn ~120 custom engine The Order: 1886, Lone Echo Mercury Steam ~110 custom engine Spacelords, Castlevania:Lords of Shadow series Monolith Productions +100 LithTech F.E.A.R. series, Condemned series, Shadow of Mordor/War 11 Bit Studios ~100 Liquid Engine Frostpunk Frozenbyte ~100 Storm3D Trine series, Shadowgrounds Kylotonn ~100 KtEngine WRC series, TT Isle of Man series, V-Rally 4 TaleWorlds Entertainment ~100 custom engine Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Daedalic Entertainment ~90 Visionaire Studio The Whispered World, Deponia series Media Molecule ~80 Bubblebath Engine Dreams Deck13 ~70 Fledge Lords of the Fallen, The Surge, The Surge 2 Nihon Falcom ~60 Yamaneko Engine Ys VII, Ys VIII, Ys IX Croteam +40 Serious Engine The Talos Principle, Serious Sam series Some observations from this list: Rise of the Tomb Raider lists only 10 programmers working on Foundation engine in the credits, probably a good reference number to get an idea of the people working on the core engine. Kojima Productions use Decima engine, developed by Guerrilla Games, for Death Stranding, previously they used Fox Engine for Metal Gear Solid V. Media Molecule latest game/engine (Dreams) seems to have been developed by only ~15 coders, amazing! Companies targeting one single platform, usually have less restrictions and can push the limits of that platform. Unfortunately, that's a luxury that most companies can not afford. Asobo Studio, the company that originated this market study is not that small... but, like other companies, they seem to work in multiple titles in parallel. Very nice to see that some of the engines have entries in the Wikipedia with some details and titles released, it should be a must. Small-size Studios (Indie Studios) *From left to right: The Witness, No Man's Sky, X-Morph Defense Here we have some really small studios that also choose to develop a custom engine for their games. Note that most of those engines rely on other libraries/frameworks for certain parts of the game, the common choices we find are SDL (cross-platform graphics/input), OGRE (rendering engine), MonoGame (cross-platform game framework, also relyes on SDL, SharpDX, OpenTK, OpenAL-Soft...). One question many people could ask is, what parts of the engine are actually coded by the developers? Well, it depends, but usually coders take care of the screen-manager, entities-manager and content-manager as well as the wrappers/interfaces to the external libraries. Second question, what parts of the engine usually rely on external libraries/middleware? It also depends on the company resources but usually audio-system, physics, rendering, networking, ui-system, terrain-system, vegetation-system and some other pieces. *From left to right: Factorio, Thimbleweed Park, Owlboy On the following list (and the next one below) I added the publishing date (only +2012) and the link to Steam for all the games... there are not many games with custom engine from small studios out there and I think they deserve to be recognized and supported. Company Employees Engine Notable Games Shiro Games ~30 Heaps.io Northgard (2018), Evoland (2013), Evoland II (2015) Hello Games ~25 No Man's Sky Engine No Man's Sky (2016) Frictional Games ~25 HPL engine SOMA (2015), Amnesia series DrinkBox Studios ~25 custom engine Guacamelee (2013), Guacamelee! 2 (2018), Severed (2016) Supergiant Games ~20 MonoGame-based Hades (2019), Pyre (2017), Transistor (2014) Wube Software ~20 Allegro/SDL-based Factorio (2019) Chucklefish ~20 Halley Engine Wargroove (2019), Starbound (2016) Ronimo Games ~17 RoniTech Engine (SDL) Awesomenauts (2017) Runic Games ~17 OGRE-based Hob (2017), Tochlight II (2012) Lab Zero Games ~17 Z-Engine Indivisible (2019), Skullgirls (2013) Introversion Software ~14 SystemIV (SDL) Prison Architect (2015) Exor Studios ~14 OGRE-based Schmetterling The Riftbreaker (2020), X-Morph: Defense (2017) Tribute Games ~11 MonoGame-based Flinthook (2017), Mercenary Kings (2014) Thekla Inc. (Jonathan Blow) ~10 custom engine The Witness (2016) Terrible Toybox (Ron Gilbert) 9 custom engine (SDL) Thimbleweed Park (2017) Matt Makes Games (Matt Thorson) ~7 MonoGame-based Celeste (2018), TowerFall Ascension (2014) Coilworks ~7 custom engine Super Cloudbuilt (2017), Cloudbuilt (2014) Lo-fi Games (Chris Hunt) 6 OGRE-based Kenshi (2018) D-Pad Studio 6 MonoGame-based Owlboy (2016) BitKid, Inc. 6 MonoGame-based CHASM (2020) Double Damage Games 5 OGRE-based Rebel Galaxy Outlaw (2019), Rebel Galaxy (2015) Almost Human Games 4 custom engine Legend of Grimrock (2012), Legend of Grimrock 2 (2014) Wolfire Games 4 Phoenix Engine Overgrowth (2017) Some observations from this list: Nicolas Cannasse, co-founder of Shiro Games, is the the developer of Haxe programming language and Heaps engine, used by Motion Twin for Dead Cells (2017). Hello Games is a very small studio considering the size of No Man's Sky and that they use a custom engine. Really impressive! Runic Games was dissolved in November 2017, the founders created Double Damage, now they are working on Echtra Games on Torchlight III. Rodrigo Braz Monteiro, Chucklefish CTO, is the person in charge of Halley engine, actually the engine is open-source! In most of those studios the people in charge of creating the game engine it's only 1-3 persons! Lo-fi Games was a one-man team (Chris Hunt) for more than 6 years! Some of the games in this list took +5 years of development! Not many games... a couple of hits per year... One-man custom engines *From left to right: Stardew Valley, ScourgeBringer, Eagle Island Finally, the list of the heroes. Games developed by 1-2 people with custom game engines, engines mostly coded by one person! Respect. Creating an engine and a game from scratch to the point of publishing it is an extraordinary accomplishment, not many people in the world is ready for that. Almost all of them are 2D games, usually with very small budgets and developed along multiple years. Congratulations to the developers! *From left to right: Axiom Verge, Ghost 1.0, Remnants of Naezith Some observations from this list: Some of those teams are formed by 1-2 people but probably grew at some point and/or outsourced some parts of the development (art, audio...). Usually the publisher also helps with some resources (localization, marketing...). Omar Cornut from Lizardcube is the main programmer for Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap engine and also the developer of Dear ImGui, a free and open-source immediate-mode gui library used by lots of AAA custom engines. Ben Fiquet from Lizardcube is also the main artist for Streets of Rage 4, the custom engine of Guard Crush Games is written by Cyrille Lagarigue. Marc Flury programmed Thumper game engine rejecting the OOP paradigm in favor of a procedural programming approach. Christian Whitehead is the creator of Star Engine used in Sonic Mania but Headcannon (Simon Thomley) and PagodaWest Games (Jared Kasl and Tom Fry) were also involved in the development of the game. Some of the games in this list took +5 years of development! Not many games... a couple of hits per year... There are some other remarkable games using custom engines (usually XNA/MonoGame) that worth mentioning: Minecraft (2011), Braid (2009), Super Meat Boy (2010), Terraria (2011), Dustforce (2012), Sword and Sorcery EP (2012), FEZ (2013), Dust: An Elysian Tail (2013), Rogue Legacy (2013), Dyad (2012), SpaceChem (2013). Conclusions I'll start saying I'm biased, I'm really passionate about videogames-making technologies and I admire custom engines and game-making tools. I also contributed to custom engines ecosystem with my grain of salt: raylib and several game-making tools. I prefer a custom engine over a licensed one, I consider that the extra amount of effort put into the product usually translates into some specific great mechanic or some amazing in-game details. Said that, I must admit that creating a custom engine is a big endeavour and not many people are ready for that. I recognize Unity (and Unreal to less extend) have really democratized videogames development, lots of small-medium size companies can use Unity today to develop games quicly and put them on the market, sometimes with very low budgets... But, still, lots of big companies prefer to rely on their own custom technologies. From my gamedev-teacher perspective, I think students must learn how engines work internally with as much detail as possible. Relying only on engines like Unity/Unreal for education to allow students develop eye-candy project in short-time is not the way to go. At the end of the day, someone has to write the engine and the tools! NOTE: Feedback and improvements are welcome! :)

#Gist

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