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There are directions games can go in that make political subject matter work well, but it requires careful attention - my favorite little thing about We Are Chicago is that they hired a writer who has specifically lived in the area they are trying to represent and is actually black (the race and culture they are trying to represent) to vet the game's authenticity, and then even hired a secondary consultant who is an ex-gang-recruiter and the leader of Reclaim Our Kids to look over and make sure the content related to gang violence is accurate and to put in readable brochures offering information about leaving or avoiding gangs and about the real-world charity to players. This might not seem like a little thing because it has such a major impact, but in fact it's remarkably easy for a team to go ahead on a project while hoping their assumptions about a culture are correct - if you want to market a game on having a message, that message better ring true. Speaking generally, incorporating real life topics into art can create a lot of responsibility (especially when topics are current and thus stand a chance at impacting the way people see and act about issues that are currently causing real harm), and games are much more expensive to create than probably any other kind of art barring maybe a summer blockbuster film full of people demanding high pay, and accordingly, the bigger budget ones don't want to divert their budget onto making sure they tackle a topic responsibly. Social consciousness beyond very broad philosophical messages is the realm of indie games, films and music. Moving away from games I hope to play next year, a little thing I really enjoyed in a game I'm currently playing is how full of details Nathan Drake's house is in Uncharted 4. In addition to trinkets and file folders with pictures from previous games, the stairs of his house are lined with pictures of him and his wife, always in scenic locations that really represent how much he travels outside of the three previous outings we have had with him, and establish him wordlessly as a generally adventurous guy instead of asking us to simply trust that he wouldn't just be so lucky as to have his only three vacations involve lost cities (which would also be in character for him, since luck is pretty much his established superpower).
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Aug 20, 2016 08:02
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To get back to little things in games, I've been playing Bloodborne again lately and I noticed something pretty cool. Bloodborne has 3 endings based on what you do in the game's final moments; the first of which is to exit the nightmare without solving the whole "cthulus sucking the world into an alternate reality" thing by submitting your life to the final-ish boss. Unlike some of the other souls games, Bloodborne doesn't change much in new game plus, but if you do get that ending one thing does change. A new gravestone in the hunter's dream appears, and the plain doll will sometimes stand at it. If you talk to her, she mentions a hunter she once knew that was enchanted by the dream and then exited to see the sunrise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q61QzKE2ulg
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Aug 20, 2016 08:03
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Alteisen posted:Its funny cause the same companies that want games to try to mirror political things a little are the same ones that complain the loudest when a company does try to do it. Players too. People in the Deus Ex thread were furious. It was pretty obvious that a lot of them played the games as a marxist spy fantasy and were really mad that the game would distract them from the revolution by framing conflict in racism terms instead.
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Aug 20, 2016 08:49
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CJacobs posted:To get back to little things in games, I've been playing Bloodborne again lately and I noticed something pretty cool. Bloodborne has 3 endings based on what you do in the game's final moments; the first of which is to exit the nightmare without solving the whole "cthulus sucking the world into an alternate reality" thing by submitting your life to the final-ish boss. Unlike some of the other souls games, Bloodborne doesn't change much in new game plus, but if you do get that ending one thing does change. A new gravestone in the hunter's dream appears, and the plain doll will sometimes stand at it. If you talk to her, she mentions a hunter she once knew that was enchanted by the dream and then exited to see the sunrise.  I never knew this
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Aug 20, 2016 09:16
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Been playing the sequel to Grow Home called Grow Up the last few days. Both are super charming games and you just kinda wander around looking for collectibles. There's no set path and no real conflict. Just a super chill game. I was climbing around on a floating island and heard this weird humming sound and I couldn't find what it was. Turns out it was a little bug sitting on the top of the rock. The sound was coming from the bug. He was humming a little song. I was delighted.
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Aug 20, 2016 15:44
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Trainmonk posted:What I want to know is how many actual marginalized people are interested in games taking stances for them and how many are just regular white guys seeking a sophisticated storyline involving real world issues. I think that, ironically with deus ex, "we didn't ask for this" is a common feeling among people those issues actually involve. I would love if more games represented me or told good stories about my marginalized group 
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Aug 20, 2016 20:25
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Prokhor Zakharov posted:I would love if more games represented me or told good stories about my marginalized group Same. In fact, I have off and on considered trying to get into games for such a reason, but life is a bit too hectic.
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Aug 20, 2016 20:55
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I was thinking about my favorite game of all time today (Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind), and thought of one. The first guy you talk to in the main quest, who gives you a large portion of your main story quests in the beginning, is the spymaster for the Blades in the region. He ends up being a shirtless, middle-aged, balding man wearing soggy brown trousers. His house is a lovely mess, and he's poorly concealing an illicit drug stash under his bed. When he gives you your final official Blades orders, he mentions that he has to leave the region because he was recalled to the Imperial City to be reviewed. After this point, he disappears from the game, and it's heavily implied that he was fired from his position for being a coke-fiend. I always thought that it was neat that such a main character in a fantasy game has such little decorum. I also appreciate that the game accurately depicts my plight of an elf of color who is oppressed by the Empire and a theocratic regime under the Tribunal 
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Aug 20, 2016 21:24
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FELD1 posted:I was thinking about my favorite game of all time today (Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind), and thought of one. The first guy you talk to in the main quest, who gives you a large portion of your main story quests in the beginning, is the spymaster for the Blades in the region. He ends up being a shirtless, middle-aged, balding man wearing soggy brown trousers. His house is a lovely mess, and he's poorly concealing an illicit drug stash under his bed. When he gives you your final official Blades orders, he mentions that he has to leave the region because he was recalled to the Imperial City to be reviewed. After this point, he disappears from the game, and it's heavily implied that he was fired from his position for being a coke-fiend. I always thought that it was neat that such a main character in a fantasy game has such little decorum. Interesting guy!
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Aug 20, 2016 21:35
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Does he ever get mentioned in any other lore or was he a Morrowind one-off?
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Aug 20, 2016 21:44
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Prokhor Zakharov posted:I would love if more games represented me or told good stories about my marginalized group Didn't say represent, I said take stances for. More clearly, attempting to define or coopt marginalized people and their motivations primarily for white folk's easy consumption. Its almost voyeurism a lot of the time. Representation is like when they put a gay person in the game.
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Aug 20, 2016 23:33
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Prokhor Zakharov posted:Does he ever get mentioned in any other lore or was he a Morrowind one-off?
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Aug 21, 2016 00:07
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:Caius is a really interesting character beneath the surface as well. Hasphat at the Fighter's Guild tells you all about his and Caius's philosophical and political debates, as two old men in a backwater town with educations and an interest in the world. Also it's possible he was a Mehrunes Dagon cultist triple-agent given that his guiding the player character into shaking the Red Tower directly caused the Oblivion Crisis. Heh, I don't know how many times I talked to Hasphat Antabolis and never really pried into what he was saying (I liked using him as a low level trainer though). This is really interesting to me, and I'll definitely look into it next time that I play through the game.
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Aug 21, 2016 01:53
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Trainmonk posted:Didn't say represent, I said take stances for. More clearly, attempting to define or coopt marginalized people and their motivations primarily for white folk's easy consumption. Its almost voyeurism a lot of the time. Taking stances would be great too!
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Aug 21, 2016 02:33
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FELD1 posted:Heh, I don't know how many times I talked to Hasphat Antabolis and never really pried into what he was saying (I liked using him as a low level trainer though). This is really interesting to me, and I'll definitely look into it next time that I play through the game.
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Aug 21, 2016 02:35
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Trainmonk posted:Didn't say represent, I said take stances for. More clearly, attempting to define or coopt marginalized people and their motivations primarily for white folk's easy consumption. Its almost voyeurism a lot of the time. This is your real response to people you act like you can speak for, after they contradict you? That seems patronizing and unimpressive to me. It's not like this distinction was lost on the person who said "represented or told good stories about" either.
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Aug 21, 2016 03:12
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swamp waste posted:This is your real response to people you act like you can speak for, after they contradict you? That seems patronizing and unimpressive to me. It's not like this distinction was lost on the person who said "represented or told good stories about" either. No, I am speaking for myself as a minority. Why did you assume all of that?
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Aug 21, 2016 03:19
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And it's not like stances aren't already taken on oppressed groups all the time. Like every Call of duty, where vague defined outsiders hate America for an obviously baseless reason, and need to be wiped out, is taking a stance. I would maybe like at least some to try to be less lovely about some of them, maybe? Hell. When everything ignores you, more or less, that is a stance, that whatever is going on doesn't really matter, no?
Tiberius Thyben has a new favorite as of 03:31 on Aug 21, 2016 |
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Aug 21, 2016 03:22
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Trainmonk posted:No, I am speaking for myself as a minority. Why did you assume all of that? I meant that you could speak for them too. It seemed like you were saying "this is the only minority viewpoint and if you don't agree it's because you don't get this distinction" even though the person you were replying to clearly did.
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Aug 21, 2016 03:43
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In the Deus Ex HR DLC I was expecting the boss to be as bad as all the main game ones. I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to just turn invisible and stab him in the head.
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Aug 21, 2016 04:12
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swamp waste posted:I meant that you could speak for them too. It seemed like you were saying "this is the only minority viewpoint and if you don't agree it's because you don't get this distinction" even though the person you were replying to clearly did. Was just clarifying because I felt misunderstood bud.
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Aug 21, 2016 04:27
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Tiberius Thyben posted:And it's not like stances aren't already taken on oppressed groups all the time. Like every Call of duty, where vague defined outsiders hate America for an obviously baseless reason, and need to be wiped out, is taking a stance. I would maybe like at least some to try to be less lovely about some of them, maybe? Hell. When everything ignores you, more or less, that is a stance, that whatever is going on doesn't really matter, no? The other games in the series sound a lot simpler than Modern Warfare 3, the only one I've played, which was about a rogue faction of the Russian military inciting the third world war and in which you played as two British men and a Russian.
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Aug 21, 2016 05:52
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2house2fly posted:The other games in the series sound a lot simpler than Modern Warfare 3, the only one I've played, which was about a rogue faction of the Russian military inciting the third world war and in which you played as two British men and a Russian. Ghosts is about South America Uniting under a Venezuelan dictator who really hates the US for reasons left unexplained. They then go on to destroy most US population centers with satellites. It is the most egregiously bad, but they are all kinda goofy. Tiberius Thyben has a new favorite as of 06:08 on Aug 21, 2016 |
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Aug 21, 2016 06:03
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Ghosts' single player was cool because it was insane and over the top but played completely straight like it didn't realize how crazy it was. It reminded me a lot of old 80s action movies that way. Every other wild flamboyant game like that has a kind of obnoxious self-awareness to it, like you can feel the developers nudging you in the ribs and going "wasn't that wacky??? Eh? Eh??" so it was a refreshing change of pace.
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Aug 21, 2016 06:59
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WeaponGradeSadness posted:Ghosts' single player was cool because it was insane and over the top but played completely straight like it didn't realize how crazy it was. It reminded me a lot of old 80s action movies that way. Every other wild flamboyant game like that has a kind of obnoxious self-awareness to it, like you can feel the developers nudging you in the ribs and going "wasn't that wacky??? Eh? Eh??" so it was a refreshing change of pace. I think you'd like the new Wolfenstein games, too. Every Nazi important enough to get a name is as evil as Hitler himself, and no one bats an eye about it.
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Aug 21, 2016 09:30
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Another bloodborne easter egg I enjoyed: The stacks of books in the Hunter's Dream workshop have a couple copies of "How To Pick Up Fair Maidens" amongst them 
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Aug 21, 2016 09:43
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CJacobs posted:Another bloodborne easter egg I enjoyed: Some texture artist somewhere is just nodding his head and saying "Finally someone noticed."
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Aug 21, 2016 10:19
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Tardcore posted:Some texture artist somewhere is just nodding his head and saying "Finally someone noticed." The great part is, it's in character for that book to be there.
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Aug 21, 2016 10:29
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Tiberius Thyben posted:And it's not like stances aren't already taken on oppressed groups all the time. Like every Call of duty, where vague defined outsiders hate America for an obviously baseless reason, and need to be wiped out, is taking a stance. I would maybe like at least some to try to be less lovely about some of them, maybe? Hell. When everything ignores you, more or less, that is a stance, that whatever is going on doesn't really matter, no? My dude let me tell you about a little game called Spec Ops: The Line
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Aug 21, 2016 15:26
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timp posted:My dude let me tell you about a little game called Spec Ops: The Line A man falls through the earth and into Parisian catacombs. Taking a torch from the wall he spies row upon row of skeletons. Grasping the nearest by the shoulders, he shakes it madly, yelling "my nigga have u played Spec Ops: The Line?"
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Aug 21, 2016 15:36
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Alhazred posted:A man falls through the earth and into Parisian catacombs. Taking a torch from the wall he spies row upon row of skeletons. Grasping the nearest by the shoulders, he shakes it madly, yelling "my nigga have u played Spec Ops: The Line?" Please can you remind me the original version of this.
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Aug 21, 2016 16:08
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Wasn't the original statement "my nigga have u tried LSD"?
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Aug 21, 2016 16:14
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VideoGames posted:Please can you remind me the original version of this. quote:its really amazing how the actions of goons and mods are so freaking far beyond the pale that its actually impossible for a bystander to believe.
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Aug 21, 2016 16:16
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That is a drat fine quote.
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Aug 21, 2016 16:35
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Wait, the lard bucket guy was also a mod? I completely missed this until now. That is hilarious.
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Aug 21, 2016 17:26
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dpbjinc posted:I think you'd like the new Wolfenstein games, too. Every Nazi important enough to get a name is as evil as Hitler himself, and no one bats an eye about it. I haven't gotten around to The Old Blood yet but I certainly loved that vibe from The New Order. I loved the dead seriousness with which it presented Nazi moon bases and dogs in mech suits.
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Aug 21, 2016 17:35
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:Duncan Thank you so so much. Everytime I read that I end up crying with laughter. It might be one of the best posts to have ever come from this site.
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Aug 21, 2016 17:46
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Can somebody please provide a link for that lard bucket thing, holy poo poo.
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Aug 21, 2016 21:25
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 Oh I'm sorry I thought you meant "mug of beef tallow someone heated up and ate with a spoon", here is the bucket of lard, unfortunately I can't find the posts around it just the picture 
The Chad Jihad has a new favorite as of 21:55 on Aug 21, 2016 |
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Aug 21, 2016 21:45
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Been playing The Witcher 3 again recently, and during one quest, Geralt tells someone to have the town bar their doors and put a line of salt outside because some poo poo's going down that night. As you run through the town doing the quest, there are actual lines of salt outside the doors. None of the buildings are important for the quest, and they absolutely didn't have to bother with it, but every house has a line of salt only for that quest.
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Aug 21, 2016 22:05
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