Ganrich

@Amentep - I can also agree that the word feminism may have been necessary to get the equality ball rolling. I can see your point there. On a side note this is interesting if it is true: http://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/someone-inside-congress-edited-a-wikipedia-article-about-gam#2hcih81 This next article is interesting as well. It has valid points that A) game media is basically an advertising arm of publishers, B) Gamers are very skeptic of what comes out of these sources as a byproduct, and C) Gamers may have been more receptive to criticism of the industry had A and B not been an issue. It stays in the middle a bit, but it definitely is an improvement from the Gamegate bashing that other articles tend to follow. It also says: http://www.timeslive.co.za/opinion/2014/09/22/gamergate-ethics-and-hate

I agree with Volourn here. A term given to a group of people, while excluding others, is used to exalt that labeled group over the other. Feminism is used to give benefits to females, and has recently become about tearing down males in some smaller sects of the movement as well. It is ceasing, or has ceased (depending on who you talk to), to be about equality. Human Equality will always mean equality among humans as it isn't a word that is exclusive to a group of people. It is a blanket term covering all of humanity.

I played it at launch and you were required to play multiplayer to get the ending. So if it was patched out I am unaware. Either way a patch would have been post review.

I have to say that any video game trailer that truly fits in a thread called "RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS" it is Grimoire.

Gromnir, I am using metacritic only to show the average "Critic" reviews of those games. I am not using the fan reviews. I only did it because it is easier to find critic reviews through metacritic than surfing the entirety of google for specific reviews, and because it showed the averages of those reviews. The general positivity of the press on those games was the purpose. I don't use metacritic to influence my decisions for purchasing a game though. Never have. I was more naive with ME3 because I was still a bit of a BioDrone. I was only paying attention to reviews which was my mistake, but that is the point of this. They aren't reliable as they are being used to advertise more than almost anything else in gaming. DA2 I wasn't paying attention to development as I had a lot going on, and once again I saw solid reviews with very little critique of the game. I don't really follow competitive shooters in development because I know I should expect more of the same. The lack of discussion from those reviews on the subject of changes to GoW were why I purchased it. I should have said I got screwed by normal sources. That is my fault. I can't even remember which sites specifically as I have slept since then. I have since these three burns prominently followed specific people because of either how they do their reviews or because of their taste in games. As an example I follow TotalBiscuit because even games he doesn't care for have been games I thought I would enjoyed and enjoy them I did, and it is because of his "not a review" style.

@Fighter - Thanks Fighter. @Volourn - cool.

I am assuming you want detailed reasons? I can do that, but it is still "me thinking different" in regards to the review given. ME3: 1). Conversation system was more or less gutted and has half the nodes as in previous titles. So dialogue became much more cinematic. 2). Multiplayer system was shoe horned into the game, and required one to participate to see everything in the single player ending. 3). Many reviews said that it was more narratively focused, but the narrative was easily weaker than 1, and IMHO weaker than 2 (but arguments can be had there). 4). Ending - which wasn't mentioned in any review. As the backlash that ensued would have been avoided if the media had gotten to play it and not lynched the dissenters for their opinions. Metacritic critic average of 9? Please... On a further note of the ending... Original Bioware videos discussing ME1 prior to launch said decisions you made in the first 2 games would impact how everything ended. In the end you had red, green, or blue and none of your decisions mattered. So, this false advertising from Bioware cost me $120 for the first 2 games, and the lack of a mention of the ending being railroaded from media cost me another $60. After ME2 I was debating buying the title, but the 9/10s on every website made me go buy it anyway. I should have known better. I am now out $180. DA2: 1). Story was convoluted. 2). Item systems were terrible (armoring companions was worse). 3). Enemy waves became terrible and boring. Which would work in an aRPG, but DA2 was still too much of a cRPG for it to be fun. 4). Boss battles were just bloated HP balloons. The critic's metacritic average was 82. I'd give it a 7 at best, and more likely a 6. GoW4: I realized I said ascension in my above post, and I did mean Judgment. I meant Gears of War and not God of War. My issue here is they gutted everything interesting about multiplayer. Action Reload is a prime example. In the sea of Halo, CoD, and Battlefield type shooters in the world GoW had a mechanic that took skill to perform, and it was something you had to play for a while to get right. They removed the learning curve, and made another generic shooter. This is why I love the old Arena style shooters. If you played them, you learned the spawn times and locations of the power ups and weapons, and you got better from that knowledge. This taught you to stay alive with crappier weapons. In GoW you had to do that plus learn the timing of Actin reload to be good at it. They also reduced the number of guns you could carry to 2. They removed Down but not Out. So, in essence they removed everything that made gears unique outside of it being 3rd person. It was turned into a 3rd person CoD or Halo to appease a larger audience, but wasn't nearly interesting enough without those mechanics because of the Stop and Pop nature of the cover system. Also, it had 8 maps, and only 4 were worthwhile to the competitive seen but they were crappy. Somehow this got them a critic metacritic average of 79 when it should have been much lower. I am much harder on sequels than original titles FYI. When you have a sequel and start gutting systems from the previous title to make a date or to streamline a product I see it as an issue. Especially when the reviews, more less, gloss over those changes. Then in turn and give it praise... That is where the term "false" comes into play. We can say they were ignorant of some of these issues, but someone that is ignorant of a product shouldn't do the reviews. I know you are an advocate of DA2, and that is fine. I am sure there are games I like that you dislike. We can have differing opinions, but I am not derailing this thread further to have this debate here after this post.

Actually, you are describing Devil Worshipers which are not synonymous with Satanists. Just to preface this... I am spiritual, but not religious. I just love reading on the different religions of our world both past and present. The mythologies are wonderful... Even when cultish or fringe. Satanists typically (followers of Anton LeVey) are just atheists with flavor. They don't believe in God or Satan. They believe that people should treat people well because it is the right thing to do, and not because of fear of the lake of fire. Satanists also believe in doing what they enjoy be it sex, gambling, etc as long as it doesn't hurt other people in the process. Their appearance and name is incredibly misleading. They call themselves Satanists because they believe in not being held back by a Deity giving rules and regulations, and that is what the Serpent in Eden, and a few other instances in the Bible of Satan describe. It describes empowering humans. A core belief is that the person is their own god and should act responsibly as a byproduct. http://churchofsatan.com Another Sect of Satanism actually does worship Satan, but they believe he is the creator and wants to empower humanity hence the Snake in the Garden of Eden. They believe Jehovah/YHWH to be a deceiver to hold humanity back. They also do not perform sacrifices against humans or animals. They believe the true Gods are what Judaism, and Christianity by proxy, are based on. The religions that predate them if you will. Although, I am unsure what deities of old they consider real off the top of my head, but I believe they worship the gods that are similar to the Egyptian God Set. http://www.angelfire.com/empire/serpentis666/HOME.html Devil Worship is the worship of Devils and demons. They perform sacrifices and the like. They aren't however, necessarily, Satanists. They can be a form of Satanist, but not all or even a majority of Satanists are Devil Worshippers. On the note of Christianity and its anti-gay stance. The most common story is that of Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah. I believe this is a crappy translation of the Hebrew word "to know". They add sexual connotation in the English translation when there is none in the Hebrew word in the story. The mob wants to meet Lot's guests (Angels) so that they may know them, but it isn't sexual. Here is a link to this topic if interested: http://hoperemains.webs.com/sodomandgomorrah.htm One thing I have also read, but isn't in the article I just linked is that when Lot refuses to give the mob the angels (as it is ancient Hebrew custom to protect guests at all cost) he offers his daughters to the mob so that "they may know them". The word used in this instance is said to imply sexual connotation. The article goes to greater detail on the rest of the theory if you are interested. I need to read up on Islam. It is one I haven't had the time to get into, and I have limited time and I like reading up on polytheistic religions of old more so than our current monotheistic ones. So, I can't say much on the video other than it is disturbing, but I have little context.

It was streamed on twitch, and I can't link it atm, but someone asked John Carmack during Q & A of his keynote speech today if he feels Oculus has solid sexual/minority representation. Carmack responded by saying (paraphrasing) something along the lines of "we have a hard enough time finding qualified people. So we really don't care what you look like." I love John Carmack. Edit: here is the video on YouTube. I am trying to find the time of the question if they didn't edit it out. Yeah, I can't find it, but I am not on my pc. It may have been edited out. I can't blame them that.

This is a pretty good article on the subject I think. http://www.viralglobalnews.com/technology/gamergate-anita-sarkeesian-video-games-journalism-time-change/17327/

To answer the question, "Tell me about a game you bought from a 'false' review?" ME3, DA2, Gears of War: Ascension, and there are probably more. I wish I could add alien colonial marines and duke nukem forever to that list for poetic irony, but they were so bad that they couldn't get overinflated reviews without looking blatantly corrupt. I enjoy the goofiness of Borderlands, but those tweets just lost them a customer. They don't have anything else I want to play anyway.

Saw these guys last night. They are pretty heavy, and not for everybody for sure, but they put on a good show last night.

Leave it to the French. We got French fries, French toast, and rapey. I am beginning to see a correlation.

Awesome post, KaineParker. I agree. I would go further to say if they cannot see the issue at hand I can't trust them. It is easy enough for me to just get my reviews from a source that has taken this backlash a little more seriously, or a YouTube person like TotalBiscuit. On a separate note I just want to say I condemn the attacks on ZQ almost completely. I do have issues with the situation with TFYC, and see that as shady. It isn't her place to play the gatekeeper to something promoting feminism because she disagrees with it or whatever. Especially on a crowd funding site. I also lost a lot sympathy for anything after her little article the other day. Knowing the wolves are circling, and after telling people she doesn't want her private life to be discussed publicly, she does it herself. This puts a giant target on her back for all those horrid people that were all attacking her to just keep it up. Someone crying about a burn after shoving their hand deep into the fire gets a little less sympathy for me. Many human beings are ****ty, and if you publicly call them out for it they will get all the ****tier. Perhaps she has flip flopped to be the martyr? It just seems wrong both morally and in a "something is fishy" kind of way. Sarkeesian is a non-factor to me. I don't agree with her methods, but it is what it is. Leigh Alexander is the only one i truly find reprehensible. She revels in treating people terribly. She can't act her age on her twitter account yet can call other people out on their man-childishness. I think she is the only one I condemn at the moment because her actions are that of a zealot. It seems a classic case of the Nietzsche quote, “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.” I think she has become so hellbent on her crusade she has become what she condemns. All the while that she is acting in this way she somehow retains a news director position? Any other business would drop someone like a bad habit for insulting a fairly large portion of their demographic on a regular basis. Ah, but she is "fighting the good fight" so it is justified. Acting like poison is hardly ever the right answer when trying to preach acceptance, and it is hardly the answer in many other situations as well. "We have to be inclusive, BUT NONE OF YOU THAT DISAGREE WITH ME ARE INVITED."

Good video, Sensuki. People have trouble with criticism, and seem to see it as bashing. It isn't though. It is necessary to be honest with the devs to make the game the best it can be, and it keeps the devs on their toes. The devs need to hear it, and understand that they cannot be lax at this point in the game. I feel all of your critiques have been evenhanded, and there is no malice or bickering tone in your posts. You have given incredibly positive criticism. You haven't jumped into any thread screaming, "The sky is falling!" All the while you have shown incredible due diligence in your critiques. I think Josh is incredibly intelligent and talented, and he knows how to explain things to people to help them understand his reasoning in the decisions he makes. Albert Einstein said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Josh has explained things going on in PoE's dev cycle in incredibly simple ways to make them understandable by the uninitiated. I think Josh is truly passionate about games, and I believe passion is incredibly important when creating art of any kind. Passion puts heart and soul into the product. EG - Joss Whedon and the cast loved Firefly. That is where the charm came from. The show exudes charm, and that is because they all loved it and worked hard to make it the best it can be. Another show that had this was Cheers. Everyone wanted to be there because they loved it, and it shows in the final product. I feel that way with Obsidian as a whole. They love RPGs and it shows. The Codex... I will preface this by saying I am not a part of that community. However, when the Wasteland 2 beta released there was a huge amount of hate and disappointment levied at it. Some deserved, and some not. A lot of people dismiss that it is beta. This is because of a few reasons such as many betas are glorified systems tests/marketing ploys. They don't care about the tester's opinion on how systems work, but only that they work. They also are using it like a demo to lure people to buy the product on launch (much more an issue in the FPS and MMO genre). Also, people feel they are ignored because their advice may have gone unheeded. Now, we have PoEs beta, and guess what? It ain't perfect, and some systems have had some controversial designs. The game was sold to a group of very fundamentalist RPG players, but has some very progressive systems. Some people can deal with it, and others go on the warpath. Anyway, I am getting off my soap box. I enjoy your criticisms, Sensuki. Keep them coming. Also, I guess I got to watch Rectify now. I am a GRRM fan so I like Game of Thrones, but it isn't nearly on the level of his books IMHO.

Yeah, watching the video again. That UI is soooooooo PST. It should stay.

Longknife - That is one hell of a post! I really enjoyed it and agree with it fully. On the note of Video Games, specifically. The way to change gaming to make a game that has a female protagonist that envelopes all these ideas that these feminists want or require, and make it the best it can be. You have to change it from the inside out. Playing the gatekeeper by controlling the media, or through sympathy from that media, is the wrong way. You are forcing an ideology instead of trying to show the world a better one through intelligence, art, and all things that the entertainment industry "should', but doesn't always, embrace.

That's fair, Longknife. I just hate jumping to conclusions on **** like this.

I figured that was the only way, Humanoid. Thanks for the reply, and you as well Hiro. I have about 1000 points at the moment, and there isn't anything else I want. $30 is a bit too steep for me to just get a T-shirt given my present financial situation and would leave me with a slew of excess points.

Has anyone contacted the Police to verify if a bomb threat was reported? Is that something the police would discuss with a simple inquiry? I am unsure of police procedures in the case of a bomb threat. I would have expected a HUGE news report if a bomb threat was indeed called in, but it is what it is. I have my doubts about the legitimacy, but I am not going to call someone liar if the facts aren't all in. It is easy become desensitized to these claims given the frequency lately, I admit. I do agree with Volourn about people being scumbags under those circumstances.

@Enoch - If it makes the word Numenera easier to digest... I am pretty sure I remember Monte Cook saying it is an homage to the Island of Numenor. Numenor was Tolkien's Atlantis story. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BAmenor

Is there a way to increase your pledge? Am I just too sleepy, and just overlooking it. I want the T-shirt, but I want the Pat Rothfuss and MCA Comics + the Digital Torment Sourcebook for the PnP which excluded from my tier. At the moment I have the 3 latter added as they are a source for entertainment and will be more worth it to me, but a shirt is cool too. Anyway, I love the video. I R excited.

I agree, I don't really agree with all of his videos. I think that getting him banned is like he says though... It makes those he is speaking out against look like they are scared of what he is saying. It also is a form of harassment. If he were female we could cry sexism, misogyny, and hypocrisy. Since he is male it is justice, though. /sarcasm.

This is interesting @thunderf00tgot his twitter account suspended, and made a YouTube video response to the situation.

This makes me think of the Denis Dyack vs Neogaf incident. Minus the alleged sexism BS. Not very many people stepped in to defend his harassment or ridicule. Whether or not deserved. I personally think Dyack is a very intelligent man, but has a hotheadedness that tended to bite him on the ***. However, you would be hard pressed to find anyone in the general gaming community that would speak positively about him, and that is because he lashed out at the community at large. Arguments can be made against Dyack's managerial skills though. Now here we are with ZQ, and the start of this wasn't her fault like it was Dyack's, but we have the media lashing out at the same community. They want that focus to stay on ZQ. I say forget her, let her be, we have bigger fish to fry with the media.