The "whatever's on your mind" thread

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Comments

  • edited June 2012
    For whatever reason, the Chinese Guomindang runs an office in San Francisco. My interest in the Chinese civil war demands that I visit it and take pictures during my trip to the Bay.
  • edited June 2012
    I tend to think of it like this.

    Story, spectacle, and controversy is what draws people to the game, and can keep them there for a while.

    But in the long-term its the mechanics, the challenge and the atmosphere, (the game world itself. The lore, the characters, the design ect.) that keep people playing!

    Think of all the games that are considered classics. All of them excel at one or more of these to a significant degree.

    I also don't agree that people want casual flings either. People who really want to play something, make time to play it.

    My mother plays a puzzle bobble clone for hours.
    The mechanics are indeed, very simple and accessable, but to her there is a lot of depth, strategy, and skill involved that makes her keep on playing it.

    Competative games like Starcraft, Street Fighter, or COD/Battlefield have massive long term appeal and following because the depth and draw comes from other players.
    (I see people really learn the inner workings of those games, and even exploit them, and themselves and their equipment to maximise their performance. Its a very strong appeal to some people)

    Those games tend to have their own organic ecosystem almost, because the community behind that become the directors almost. Their vision guides the game, for good or worse.
    They have their own folklore and their heroes and villains, and sometimes its fascinating to look into.

    And I'm going to admit. Having vision and drive is very tough, I imagine even moreso for a big studio with managers that have to answer to shareholders and don't like taking risk.

    Thats why the spectacle and polish is so strongly emphasised these days, becuase it sells.
    But in the long-term, its not evolving the medium, its stagnating it.
    And that is why we need challenge. The Dungeon Master, as it were.

    Someone has to be there to challenge the player, challenge the team and the system.

    I think the veterans know this, and thats why they split off and went indie.
    And lets be honest here, its working great for them.
    They get the challenge, but have the tools and experience to deal with them.
    But its not boring because they have to fight the new indies as well.
    (And from works like Super Meat Boy, and Fez. They are definately kept on their toes! XD)

    They don't have to make a lot of money, (lower overheads ect.), they don't have to make deadlines, they just need to listen to their fans (which with the internet, is very easy these days), and make the games they want to play, and the games the devs actually want to make.
    Just like it used to be, and in a way, how it should be.

    EDIT: That kind of business is organic, and sustainable.
    Build up a loyal fanbase that genuinely wants to support you, and they in turn influence others to join the fold.

    Its kind of like a cult. But not evil or stupid.

    There always be challenge in games, but it will be like quality in movies. A bit here and there for the dedicated, while spectacle is for the majority of the audience.
  • edited June 2012
    DAISHI wrote: »
    There always be challenge in games, but it will be like quality in movies. A bit here and there for the dedicated, while spectacle is for the majority of the audience.

    Final. Fantasy. XIII.

    Final_Fantasy_XIII_EU_box_art.jpg
  • edited June 2012

    On a completely unrelated note; one of the things that I truly love about YouTube, other than watching awesome reviews of 'Prometheus' of course, is the ability to add comments below the hosted videos. It truly is a wonderful thing that people the world over can leave comments of hate, racism, memes, praising someone for a review of 'Prometheus', general ignorance and of course, inane posts stating a fact so obvious that even a brain-dead chimpanzee would agree - in a desperate plea for a horde of 'thumbs ups'.*

    As much as I adore the comments section, I must confess that even that particular pool of pure delight can't hope to compete with watching the actual videos themselves. There's just so much to choose from; people falling over, films with 'Part 7' missing, a baseball bat being swung into a man's genitals, superb reviews of films such as 'Prometheus' and of course everybody's third favourite - penguins. There's no porn of course (everybody's second favourite) but hey, who needs porn when you've got entertaining reviews of 'Prometheus' to watch, right?

    * Evidently a lot of brain dead chimpanzees do agree.

    DISCLAIMER - The text contained within this post is in no way, whatsoever a shameless plug for a certain review of 'Prometheus'. Furthermore, the multiple links contained within St_Eddie's signature are also not a shameless plug. This disclaimer is binding in law, via you having read this disclaimer.
  • edited June 2012
    Possibly because the only reason I don't do that is due to civilization having the Internet and the woods not being cripple friendly?

    I didn't know you were a cripple.
  • edited June 2012
    I didn't know you were a cripple.
    Yep
  • edited June 2012
    I didn't know you were a cripple.

    Where have you been? Next you will say you didn't know I am fabulous.
  • edited June 2012
    coolsome wrote: »
    Where have you been? Next you will say you didn't know I am fabulous.
    lMvCX.gif
    What?! I thought you were awesome!
  • edited June 2012
    TomPravetz wrote: »
    lMvCX.gif
    What?! I thought you were awesome!

    And I thought he was cool...

    Man, am I behind the times or what?
  • edited June 2012
    And I thought he was cool...

    Man, am I behind the times or what?
    At least you're not as behind as I am, I thought he embodied cuteness.
  • edited June 2012
    The Electric Age. Been listening to it all day(while not working). Very strong start to finish album.
  • edited June 2012
    DAISHI wrote: »
    Difficulty used to be the appeal of video games, but by and large that's becoming the domain of a niche group. More and more people want simple, easy games that help pass time. Even more dedicated gamers just want the experience of blowing things up without too much difficulty. But as the time to play games becomes increasingly limited, difficulty becomes less of something people want in their games.

    I definitely play games for the experience now a days. I play them to progress through the story line and experience new content and environments. I still like a bit of challenge, but not so that it blocks your from progressing for weeks on end. I believe the wise of master Stephen Fry once likened difficulty in games being like a pop quiz at the end of a chapter of a book, where you have to answer the questions correctly In order to keep on reading. Which is daft. I paid for a game, I should be able to finish it!

    That's why I love the difficulty settings in Kid Icarus. There's 90 of them. and if you die, it adjusts in down for you. Alternatively, you can have hard to get hidden content. For example. in the original spyro (Me and my sister have been playing it recently), There's an area of the level you can only get to by supercharging for loads of corridors, jumping round the side of the castle and up a ramp. All whilst having almost very little control and going very fast. It took me over an hour to do, but it felt good. However, I just know that the younger me would never have been able to do it, and if it was compulsory, I would have given up on the game.
  • edited June 2012
    Friar wrote: »
    I believe the wise of master Stephen Fry once likened difficulty in games being like a pop quiz at the end of a chapter of a book, where you have to answer the questions correctly In order to keep on reading. Which is daft. I paid for a game, I should be able to finish it!

    I'm pretty sure that it was Dara O Briain who said that! :confused:
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2012
    St_Eddie wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure that it was Dara O Briain who said that! :confused:

    I thought so too.
  • edited June 2012
    ...For the most part, games used to be a LOT shorter too. A two hour game that could be drawn out to five by a high degree of difficulty is much more manageable than a ten hour game drawn out to twenty-five. In an age where the gaming demographic has changed from kids into the 18-35 key demographic, whom have less free time to play, the last thing developers and distributors want is for people to shelf it.

    Though, there are some exceptions such as adventure, RPG games, as well as franchise games(let's face it, the next Batman game could be 30 hours and people would love it), where long is generally preferred. A longer game works favourably in a few cases, but not in most(many thought Portal 2 was too long which is rubbish in my opinion).
  • edited June 2012
    I find the whole concept of Guaxni very fascinating, (I've had to read up on it as I'm doing an assignment on Cross Cultural Negotiations between UK and China).

    Essentially the way China works is the opposite to western civilisations.
    Everything absolutely everything is based on subjective properties.

    It is WHO you know that is important, and who they know as well.

    Imagine if you will the movie The Godfather, particularily the titular character.

    He will pull some strings to help you, but eventually he is going to call that favour in one day when he needs help.

    Now imagine a whole country full of Godfathers.

    That is China.

    Patience really is a virtue, and you best be friendly, polite and not too pushy as first impressions mean EVERYTHING.

    You come off as bad to someone, then its very hard to repair that relationship.

    But if you can master the art of forming relationships then you can do some very impressive things. Sometimes even illegal things! XD

    I'm going to admit, I am having way too much fun learning and researching for this assignment.

    I actually need to make the darn report now.
    (It doesn't even need to be good, I only need 2 marks. But damned if I'm not going to do a work of decent quality. My body physically will not let me do it! XD)

    EDIT:
    Johro wrote:
    ...For the most part, games used to be a LOT shorter too. A two hour game that could be drawn out to five by a high degree of difficulty is much more manageable than a ten hour game drawn out to twenty-five. In an age where the gaming demographic has changed from kids into the 18-35 key demographic, whom have less free time to play, the last thing developers and distributors want is for people to shelf it.

    I entirely agree with you on that.

    Braid is short, Portal is short, but I actually beat those games.
    They were hard at some points, really pushed you physically and mentally, but I think its great because it kicks that primitive drive in.

    The problem really is with games like Kayne and Lynch, and The Force Unleashed, which are both short and easy.
    You might like them, but you will NEVER go back to them really.
    There is nothing there to bring you back. No hooks.

    Games like The Binding of Isaac work so well because there are lots of neat little things you miss the first or second time round that you want to quickly jump back in and look for.

    Achievements in games need to be more like this, than be say "Chapter 1 done" 20 points. -_-

    The episodic format would work pretty well if say, each chapter presented unique challenges and secrets but were in smaller, managable chunks than a full 20-30 hour game.
    And had a great story to tie it all together.

    (Half Life Episode 1 and 2 being good examples of episodic gameplay, Telltale games being kind of bad examples as they kind of fall short. (but being adventure experiences alone makes people go back to them. I'm not knocking Telltale, they are good at what they do, BUT! They could do so much more, and I think they know that and have improved on it with The Walking Dead so far))

    EDIT 2: Why am I not a Game Designer yet? XD
  • edited June 2012
    Thinking of putting together an emergency "bug out" kit because it'd seem like fun/my mormon heritage beckons me to do so. Any ideas?


    No guns. Sorry, Comrade.
  • puzzleboxpuzzlebox Telltale Alumni
    edited June 2012
    Essentially the way China works is the opposite to western civilisations.
    Everything absolutely everything is based on subjective properties.

    It is WHO you know that is important, and who they know as well.

    There is quite a bit of that in the western world as well, particularly in certain industries. People are just less upfront about it. Business certainly isn't some kind of utopian meritocracy.

    Think about education as well... I'm pretty sure that the quality of knowledge gleaned from a Stanford MBA isn't really worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. A lot of what you pay for is the quality of your cohort, who become your business contacts after graduation.

    Giant Tope wrote: »
    Thinking of putting together an emergency "bug out" kit because it'd seem like fun/my mormon heritage beckons me to do so. Any ideas?

    This. With your culinary training, you might even be able to make it taste good!

    Giant Tope wrote: »
    No guns. Sorry, Comrade.

    Knife? Taser? Brass knuckles?

    ... Trebuchet? :p
  • edited June 2012
    puzzlebox wrote: »
    This. With your culinary training, you might even be able to make it taste good!
    THAT WAS GOOD UNTIL THE TEXTURED VEGETABLE PROTEIN BACON. D:

    puzzlebox wrote: »
    Knife? Taser? Brass knuckles?

    ... Trebuchet? :p

    I should get a nice survival knife sometime. I'm hoping that if I get an old truck like I want to I can go camping on my weekends sometime. I'm not planning to get one anytime soon though. I just don't think it'd be good for me to own a gun :p

    I HAVE been wanting to go back into archery though. Gun must be way easier for survival hunting, but bow and arrow and trapping better than nothing I guess. :p
  • edited June 2012
    Giant Tope wrote: »
    Thinking of putting together an emergency "bug out" kit because it'd seem like fun/my mormon heritage beckons me to do so. Any ideas?


    No guns. Sorry, Comrade.

    bug out?
  • edited June 2012
    I've spent all day creating the second episode of my show 'Heinous Hollywood. In this episode I ponder why Hollywood will never be able to create a truly great video-game adaptation...

    Heinous Hollywood - Episode 2: Video-game Adaptations

    Please leave any comments (good or bad) within the relevant section on YouTube.
  • edited June 2012
    Giant Tope wrote: »
    Thinking of putting together an emergency "bug out" kit because it'd seem like fun/my mormon heritage beckons me to do so. Any ideas?


    No guns. Sorry, Comrade.

    How about a small gun? Guns are absolutely necessary for emergencies. How else will you, as a prepared person, ward off the unprepared people?
  • edited June 2012
    How about a small gun? Guns are absolutely necessary for emergencies. How else will you, as a prepared person, ward off the unprepared people?
    rB3vQ.jpg
  • edited June 2012
    How about a small gun? Guns are absolutely necessary for emergencies. How else will you, as a prepared person, ward off the unprepared people?

    General mindfulness and awareness of surroundings and/or a big stick. I don't want a gun for pretty personal reasons. If my ancestors were able to make it through emergencies without a gun helping, I'm sure I can get through one as well.
  • edited June 2012
    How about a flare gun for boating?
  • edited June 2012
    If I were boating, then sure. I'm pretty inland though. Heh.
  • edited June 2012
    Giant Tope wrote: »
    General mindfulness and awareness of surroundings and/or a big stick. I don't want a gun for pretty personal reasons. If my ancestors were able to make it through emergencies without a gun helping, I'm sure I can get through one as well.

    But everyone else will likely be armed too! This is 'merica, where all the people prepared for disasters are generally the same people who spend their weekends at the range.

    Also, why not a flaregun? Even if you're pretty far inland, you can still signal with it. There's one in my attic, actually. Right where I can't get to it if I actually needed it. Should fix that.

    Anyway, my emergency pack is an ammo pouch that's slightly larger than a waist pouch. It contains two MREs, water purification tablets, a box of 20 .45 ACP FMJ rounds, 20 7.62x39mm FMJ rounds, some tea, some matches, a 100ml tiny-ass bottle of Jack Daniels and several collapsible mugs.

    EDIT: Forgot about the ziplock full of schematics for water condensers, traps for small game, and pot stills. Important shit.
  • edited June 2012
    But everyone else will likely be armed too! This is 'merica, where all the people prepared for disasters are generally the same people who spend their weekends at the range.

    Maybe in the south.

    Over here, we call survivalists people that you can throw into the wilderness with nothin but the shirt on their backs, cord, water, and a knife and have them thrive for months on end. Outdoorsmanship without guns is pretty much a way of life here and is completely normal.
  • edited June 2012
    I like the movie superman Doomsday.
  • edited June 2012
    Giant Tope wrote: »
    Outdoorsmanship without guns is pretty much a way of life here and is completely normal.

    175.jpg
  • edited June 2012
    That's pretty much my experience in the northeast as well.
  • edited June 2012
    Stuff like this. I wish I had the time off to do this. Partially the reason why I want to open my own small business.
  • edited June 2012
    I live in Oklahoma, where the governor has recently signed an open-carry gun law.

    My brother in law says that if someone openly carries a gun, guess who a criminal with a gun is going to shoot at first?

    My parents also say that having open-carry gun laws make it like we're reverting back to the Old West.
  • edited June 2012
    So don't? I find looking crazy and antisocial works pretty well.
  • edited June 2012
    Chyron8472 wrote: »

    My parents also say that having open-carry gun laws make it like we're reverting back to the Old West.

    You gotta admit that would be pretty cool.

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  • Mississippi Queen by Mountain. My favorite song.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg_Nw20GG0E
  • edited June 2012
    Too much cowbell.
  • edited June 2012
    How about a small gun? Guns are absolutely necessary for emergencies. How else will you, as a prepared person, ward off the unprepared people?

    That reminds me of a conversation between my dad's old boss and his Mormon employee. When he found out the guy had six months supply of food in his garage, he asked, "Do you have any guns?"

    The guy replied, "No, I don't believe in guns."

    My dad's boss thought about this a moment and then said, "Well, I don't have six months of food... but I do have guns."
  • edited June 2012
    I guess if push comes to shove, and short of some impressive Home Alone shit, he would soon have guns and food.
  • edited June 2012
    Johro wrote: »
    I guess if push comes to shove, and short of some impressive Home Alone shit, he would soon have guns and food.

    I think that's exactly what he was implying.
This discussion has been closed.