Nonek

Old copies of White Dwarf are to me a very valuable resource, the first twenty or so issues are now prohibitively expensive, but between there and issue #90 or so the magazine was a fantastic resource for AD&D, Runequest and various other systems. Personally I felt at this time that it was a far superior publication to Dragon and Dungeon magazines. The stand out to me was the city of Irilian, documented over five or six issues it was the setting for an epic adventure, but also a detailed exploration of the place, its language, currency, history and whatnot. However there were interesting and brilliant articles almost every issue, and the regular comics were at times hilarious, especially Carl Critchlow's Thrud. The Games Workshop dungeon planner sets are also worth acquiring if one uses miniatures, or just wants a better visual representation, Caverns of the Dead and Blackmarsh something I believe, very nice and packed full of details and ideas.

You see, utterly predictable and boring. It's like they can't produce anything original, I wonder if it's the effects of their zealotry, and parroting of others opinions as their own?

I think i've reached a point where the censorship, hate mongering, blanket demonisation, determined lack of ethics and clumsy attempts by the social justice fascists to still pretend they occupy a higher moral ground has become somewhat expected. Might I say even boring. Sarkeesian with her cherry picking and taking out of context, while defecating on the few games which have features she supposedly wants included in game design, was amusing in that she was revealing her real agenda with every smug declaration. But the SJF's are just too predictably rabid, they're beginning to bore me.

I've been very satisfied with Obsidian's endings recently, Alpha Protocol's magnificent bastard ending (one of many) was very satisfying, Dugeon Siege 3 wrapped everything up very nicely (though i'd have preferred to be able to skip the final bossfight, perhaps with the use of the god fragment from Gunderric manor.) New vegas was a testament to reactivity and consequence, and South Parks was oddly enough quite touching I thought. Apart from the latter what really made these stand out were the fluidity of them, the reactivity to the players choices, and the consequences born thereof. They acknowledged my actions and were true proponents of interactivity, that wrapped everything up satisfactorily, but also left plenty of room for sequels and unanswered questions that arose naturally. Just my personal opinion however.

Gentlemen, congratulations on your stellar performance in "counting" the votes in operation MacDuff (otherwise known as suppress the Jacobites,) once again the Patriarchy moves and the world changes according to our wishes. Muahahahaha.

Why is that girl only wearing a string bikini? Why is Snake not?

Finished Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption, opted for the good ending which has far more content but is a little too sickly sweet for my personal palette. A good game for the price, with some potential, but not really a patch on Bloodlines.

Good afternoon erect and prominent members of the Patriarchy. Today in our efforts to shape and oppress the world we present our list of approved digital entertainment, games that break from the norm of men being slaughtered as inhuman and worthless, their only purpose to defend the impregnated brood mares of the Matriarchy and the status quo of civilisation. Here we will seek to identify games that give men choice, give us agency and interactivity, and move away from our traditional role as disposable breeders and sacrificial offerings, who offer nothing to society. We will seek to have differing roles for the protagonist, that do not fit in with those the matriarchy wants us to inhabit. Instead of husband, slave, soldier or prisoner, we will have bachelor, freedom fighter, rebel and escapee. Roles that accept and celebrate our intrinsic value, and are not dependent on our fitting in to the niche the Matriarchys civilisation has crafted for us. We will celebrate freedom, agency and choice, rather than repressive linear paths. Now many of you will recommend such fare as Fallout: New Vegas, an ode to reactivity, personal choice and interactivity. Or the Witcher where one has many choices and many consequences, that are realistically implemented and yet somewhat surprising. Or Alpha Protocol, wherein we can be and do almost anything, and approach the game in so many recognised ways. No we condemn all of these for their rampant misandry, their cliche approach to situations and their narratives that are not innovative or original in any way, shape or form. (Disclaimer: And we've never played any of them, and are basing our opinions wholly upon what others biased against these games have said.) So gentlemen and...gentlemen, we present our approved list of Patriarchal video game entertainment: Diablo 3: A true roller coaster ride full of choice and consequence, interactivity and reactivity, that offers a unique narrative and path on every playthrough. A multilayered and staggeringly deep ode to player agency, that derides fun and satisfaction, in its aim to make weepy manchildren get emotional and blubber like they're five year olds, and occassionally snigger at juvenile squeeing humour. (Disclaimer: We haven't played Diablo 3 either, and the above description is utterly without basis, but we have recently bought a lovely summer home that was formerly owned by a large development house, and felt that backs must be satisfactorily scratched.) Yours relaxing by the pool in utter luxury, being massaged by a nubile porn star and fed the finest of vittles. Nonek.

Why would I wish to see Ms Sarkeesian completely humiliated, crushed and silenced forever, I am not a radical who hates her or a seeks to censor any dissenting opinion, I am a moderate who believes that she is wrong but is perfectly entitled to say what she wishes. I will of course discard it if it is rubbish, as most of her content is, and as any discerning critic should. But why would I argue for games being sexist, the vast majority aren't, and even if they are they usually portray and demean men in a far worse light as inhuman cannon fodder. There is room for accurate portrayals of the real world however, with all its problems and areas of conflict, and I would not wish to prevent anybody tackling any topic no matter how controversial. There is nothing holding women back from playing games, indeed they seem to have a certain niche of their own, I see no problem with this. As for what developers create, that is up to them. I hope for more interesting, nuanced content, with interesting situations and npc's, but I certainly cannot and do not want to force my creative views upon them, as i'm no game developer and my taste is unique. The market has room for every type of product, from weird Japanese dating sims to Grunt McMurderman slays the ten thousand, I will choose what suits me and let others do the same. Sometimes I like stupid fantastic silliness like Saints Row, sometimes a wander through Torment. Edit: Anyway good night gentlemen, fine argumentation, much appreciated.

Fallout: New Vegas was mainstream, in fact most of Obsidians work has been, one cannot get much more mainstream than Star Wars and D&D. Obsidians brilliance is that they find depth and nuance in the midst of the most generically dull IP's such as Star Wars, and fly with it. In general yes the AAA studios are sometimes creatively bankrupt, but there are always exceptions and features that stand out, in even the most generic of popular games. Shadow Warrior recently springs to mind, on the surface a brainless shoot and slice em up that has depths that literally shocked me, but of course it was brutally ignored by the gaming press. The co-op madness mechanic of Dead Space 3 was brilliant, the choice and consequence of Black Ops 2 was surprisingly reactive and game shaping etcetera. I want better games and a better industry, but developers are out there busting their arses, working hard and producing gold still. And they are not sexist, racist, homophobic or anything but dedicated. Buying into the hate train is pointless. Ms Sarkeesian does have a point: The point is, say the right lies loud enough, and hate the right demographic of people and you'll go far.

I'm sorry but i've seen far better criticism of games as an art form than what Ms Sarkeesian does, and I expect better than her inane cherry picking and taking out of context, that does not mean that I am mentally and emotionally stunted, merely that I expect a little quality content and will dismiss it if it is not up to par. Ms Sarkeesian's content is not up to par, in fact i've no idea why it gained such popularity, it is poorly made, badly researched, poorly presented and not worthy of all this fuss and drama. The modern game industry is not purely mentally and emotionally stunted either, it is slowly growing after twenty plus years of degeneration, Obsidian's work is what I would call some of the finest in the business, as it is feature rich, reactive and most importantly interactive, the true strength of the medium. Look at the depth, nuance, breadth and themes of New Vegas and its various dlc for instance. Fantastic stuff, groundbreaking and rich in atmosphere and narrative. There are far worse genres and games in the AAA market, but even here we see slow and steady improvement over time, with surprising amounts of depth and detail. And most importantly of all we get to interact and take advantage of the mediums strength, rather than just watching and being preached at, we decide and take the lead, only a slave wouldn't want that. The truth is millions of gamers, those whom play games recreationally, are all different. They like different things and the market can and does cater to them, from the hardcore tactical challenges of Blackguards, to the latest brainless Bioware power fantasy, and everything in between. Kickstarter is growing, the indy scene is booming and AAA's do what they do. It's all a matter of taste, all subjective, and gamers are not bad people for liking what they like or seeking more of it instead of what is currently fashionable and held dear by the fickle press. Edit: On any random day I can listen to far better criticism from a half dozen people on Youtube, with far better produced and fact checked content, as well as gather a dozen different opinions from the residents of this very board. From Volourn's passion to Bruce's rhetoric, Zoraptor's insightfulness, and even the pirate lingo of Mr Gromnir, and they are all as valid and worthwhile as Ms Sarkeesian. And at least these worthy gentlemen do not feel the need to preach at and chastise like they are addressing children, they discuss like adults.

Personally i'm just hoping that we get a journalistic service that is at least fit for purpose and ethical out of this Gamergate thing, that is all I wish for, and that the press in general move on to crucifying another activity. I can't help but be against the hate mongering and censorship that the gaming press are indulging in however, trying to marginalise and dehumanise millions because their lack of ethics and corruption have been brought to light. They have become just as hateful, obnoxious and obsessive as the gentlemen on the other side supposedly sending death threats, especially Ms Alexander whose childish bullying and name calling is utterly pathetic. I've got to admit i've always found Mr Sterling highly unlikeable as well unfortunately, the falsetto squealing, the sarcasm and his dramatic posturing just serve to put ones back up, even when I agree with the points he's making.

What staggers my mind is that these "game journalists" think that they can preach ethics and then act without even the barest semblance of any whatsoever. They have somewhow come to believe that ethical behaviour and objectivity is optional, the Gamergate scandal is quite clearly way overdue, and the medium does need shaking up, not excusing nor apologising for.

The conflict of interest is in his unethical actions, he has brought his career into disrepute through sleeping with this developer, and thus tainted his profession. This is simple ethics and a blatant conflict of interests, when he did not recuse himself from writing anything about her or recuse himself to his public and editor, he was once again compounding his wrongdoing. This is how journalism works, one has not only to maintain objectivity, but maintain the appearance of objectivity.

Yes it is.

That is not the point, he has slept with a developer, even if he never wrote anything about her again in his life he has violated the publics trust in his impartiality. He has a major conflict of interest and this should have been made clear to his editor long before Ms Quinn's adulteries were leaked by her partner, certainly to sleep with a developer whom one is supposed to remain objective and unbiased about is clearly a major breach of ethics. One cannot pick and choose when to maintain ethics, that is what has led to this mess. Greyson should have recused himself and his editor should have fired him for bringing the profession into disrepute. Edit: It's quite clear, there is not only what one has done to be considered, but what one has seen to be done. A journalist literally in bed with his subject is not something that can be countenanced by anybody wishing to maintain journalistic standards.

Given that those tweets come from August 19, way before this whole thing has gotten blown up into this lovely piece of insanity and was solely about Quinn's sex life/censorship of topics discussing Quinn's sex life, I'd say pretty much any decent human being would've been on Quinn's side. If you judge objectively and impartially based on the information available back then, the only reasonable conclusion you could reach is "okay, maybe let's not give the ****-shaming internet mob a platform to do their ****-shaming on". Judging her adultery impartially I would say that I am totally apathetic towards it, except for the part where she has slept with a game journalist. I would have no compulsion to defend her like these gentlemen are doing, as it is my job as a journalist to remain impartial and unbiased, especially with a person I am supposed to be criticising for the public interest. No the whole tone of those tweets is problematic and favoured towards the young lady, whereas they should be angry about Greyson getting caught implicating himself and bringing their profession into disrepute. Journalistic ethics demand no less.

All those tweets "prove" is that those journalists are on Quinn's side, and thus have lost any semblence of journalistic integirty, have proven their bias and that they are far too comfortable not representing the public, but defending a developer whom they are supposed to be judging objectively and impartially. If I were their editor i'd spank their knees for this, if they wrote pieces based on this association and passed them off as the papers opinion i'd fire them for corruption. Looking at the matter from an unbiased moderate perspective. Edit: Ms Sommer's video is a fine piece of work.

I agree that it's farcical focusing on race, except for research in the field, we are after all only a few percent away from literally being bananas.

I'm sorry old chap but i've travelled all over our sceptered isle and even the native Britons who seem to share some dna with the Basques are not swarthy, you do find in Scotland, Wales and Ireland dark haired and eyed individuals but they're as pale as all native islanders. Us native English are usually fair haired (usually brown) and eyed, come visit and see old boy. Of course there are modern orange people, but they're dyed and made up to be that way.

Because of their degenerate fans sickening attraction to virtual romances, this seems obvious. They don't have to make good games when they can make poor dating sims, and make the same profit. Also rather than making detailed and well written characters it's far easier to make them all Hawkesexual, a good cost cutting measure, and they can pander to the SJF's even while making those characters idle, unmotivated, incompetent idiots. But are you saying there is some impediment to men, women or children playing games? Because I can't think of any. Please provide examples.

I'd rather have Mr Sawyers blunt honesty and dedication than the usual PR drivel, the gentleman has a vision and i've enjoyed that in previous games, and though critical of certain elements I paid for the game that Obsidian wanted to make. I do feel that the gentleman comes in for some unfair criticism, though i'm sure he has broad enough shoulders to handle it.

I see you couldn't resist mentioning Isabella's clothes...you are a naughty boy Nonek....a very naughty boy Yes you right, the objectification of women in games can be subjective. For example I think the lovely Isabella represents a perfectly acceptable female character but for many she objectifies women. I suppose you can't please everyone. But take the latest Duke Nukem game, I played it and thought the female representation in that game positioned women in an insulting and vacuous way Also you are right in the sense a developer can create any game they want with no regard to what people may think. For example a developer can create a game where black people are seen symbolically as monkeys or where only gay people are the targets of a killing spree. But then they must accept the SJ storm that will descend on them and the obvious and understandable criticism that will follow To be aware of what some fans will expect from a game or rather won't accept is not hard to understand. Many development companies already do this as I mentioned, its not a big deal So what you are saying is let market forces decide? If so I utterly agree, that is the only true test of a games worth in the long run. And if a game deals with brave subject matter such as racism and homophobia, like the examples you mentioned, I would positively applaud it for presenting a realistic depiction of the world, rather than shying away from content that is not politically correct. So in summary developers can make what they want, the market will judge them and games are and always have been inclusive to almost everybody. Men, women and children. I'm glad that's settled.

Objectification of women, isn't that totally subjective and dependant on context? Some dislike the stylisation of Dragons Crown with its very powerful but sexualised male and female characters, others dislike the brain dead slaves of Bioware whom follow the protagonist for years at a time for no good reason, and cannot do anything themselves, or even dress themselves for the climate or combat. It's a personal matter isn't it? So long as they suit the games aesthetic nothing should be out of bounds in my opinion, with obvious exceptions. More female protagonists, isn't this up to the developer and the story they wish to tell? I mean if they want a genderless AI, a Nubian eunuch, a Lovecraftian alien entity or any thing else that is totally up to them isn't it, or are you saying that they must make content according to your dictates? Shouldn't they design what they want to? Amy Hennig a veteran designer and industry stalwart makes some of the best male characters around, who exactly am I to dictate to her what she wants to make? Chris Avellone writes some of the finest female characters in games, I would not whine at him and demand he make Kreia a man. Edit: In fact another even better example of supposed objectification of women is the Witcher 2, which supposedly is proudly misogynist. Yet it has some of the the best written, most able, powerful, self motivated and intrinsically linked to the plot female characters in any video game. Philippa Eilhart outwits the protagonist, almost seizes a kingdom, reshapes the north, beards a Dragon and launches a moral crusade for equality, and yet many SJF's would have us believe that she is a weak addendum to the plot, when she in fact drives it far more than virtually any man in the game, certainly more than the protagonist.

So what would you like to know about the word inclusivity, I assume you mean in the context of what we ask for when we say " us SJW want games to be more inclusive" ? What I said in my previous post.