Kal-El814

I really cannot emphasize this enough. Not all successes are good, not all failure is bad.

Hey I didn't bring up ND. And I don't think their writing is "bad," I just think they 1) don't do a good job of having the gameplay and narrative gel and 2) I think their writing is good for games, not necessarily "good writing" in general. But I'm no hater, I buy almost all of their shit on launch day. Except Crash Bandicoot, friends don't let friends play Crash Bandicoot games. Also around these parts I have a rep to maintain about being a ND critic, I have to keep paying those taxes. Honestly I think the biggest thing that DE has going for it aside from writing quality is related to what I was getting at before... It's not a power fantasy, the world does not revolve against you. AT ALL. It's clear its world has history, both recent and more distant, that are affecting YOU and the world around you. But you're focused on the murder, the whole game takes place in one city block. That really puts the PC and the events of the game under a microscope in an interesting way, which is much more aligned with how many TT RPGs run. Most systems aren't built for you to change the world you're in, you're just living in it. I love that something like Mass Effect lets you change the fate of a whole species with a conversation or two, I enjoy power fantasies and "big scope" as much as anyone. But as someone who plays a bunch of indie RPGs, I also have and appreciate for those "small" moments where the world changes YOUR character, or when your actions just... change another character's mind about your character. That stuff really hits in TT RPGs and DE lives in that space as well as any CRPG I've played. In DE I did a thing. Someone that hated me before I did it changed their opinion of me after I was done, and then they did something kind for me to thank me. That meant as much to me as something like the giraffe scene in TLoU because I made the choice to do it. I could have failed doing it, but I did not. I could have not done it at all, but I did. This isn't to shit on TLoU, I adore that scene. But personally I'm always going to be more attached to an outcome that I could affect than one I could not.

Just finished DE yesterday. The writing takes a big ol dump on everything Naughty Dog has ever written, it’s not even close. ND is obviously much, much better at delivering a cinematic experience. But in terms of dialog, character depth, world building, yeah, DE gobbles up just about everyone else’s lunch. I’ll say that I could completely understand someone getting to the end of DE and thinking that the game doesn’t stick the landing, or not like that this is a “real” RPG and has no combat to speak of. Or if you’re the kind of person who wants the world to revolve around the protagonist a la BioWare stuff... this isn’t that game. But if you’re the type of person who thinks that the point of the journey is the journey and not the destination, it’s hard to imagine someone failing to appreciate this. One thing it does very well that most video RPGs handle very badly is failure. In many modern tabletop RPGs, you’re not expected to succeed on every check and a good GM works “failing” into the narrative. Something like Mass Effect, you fail something and that’s it. In a lot of indie tabletop RPGs and DE, failure often provides different ways to move forward, just with consequences.

Say it with me now... abolish the second amendment.

What.... huhthefuck

Ulysses 31 was rad.

I cannot comprehend the mental gymnastics that go into thinking that you might die if you leave your home, so you'd better be armed... and then you end up with an assault rifle in the loofah aisle at Target. It's so fucking stupid. No additional magazines, no body armor, weapons about as secure as my Jansport in 9th grade while waiting for the bus, not even moving tactically! Someone with a handgun could wait for them to walk by and ventilate all of them before they know what's happening. It's fucking madness.

The fact that this isn’t illegal honestly blows my mind.

No, merely stating the fact that the prevalence of guns in America is problematic. Open carry, permitted or not, is fucking absurd and everyone who does it looks like a goober.

Other than our daily nightmare, I suppose.

Tips For Being An Unarmed Black Teen WWW.THEONION.COM With riots raging in Ferguson, MO following the shooting death by police of an unarmed African-American youth, the nation has turned its eyes toward social injustice and the continuing crisis of race relations. Here are The Onion’s tips for being an unarmed black teen in America: From 2014 but The Onion has been on point for some time.

Really good episode aside from literally everything about the Flag Smashers continuing to be dumb as hell. It’s bizarrely timely with them cribbing Q’s slogan and disrupting a vote, it’s just all so nonsensical and lazy. Also was the timing of the second montage weird to anyone else? Sam and Bucky were killing the shield frisbee game and then Sam’s just whiffing? It was a cool scene, just weird that it came after the one with him and Bucky together.

Make a show based on 8 bit Castlevania that delves into the lore of why Simon Belmont always walks like his leg is asleep. Edit - how the fuck is May 13th less than a month away, eat my asshole, time. Jesus Christ.

The current standard for shooting someone being a bad faith definition of “fearing for my life” is fucking ridiculous, especially when the second amendment is a thing and there are millions of guns out there. Anyone COULD have a gun and lots of people COULD get a shot off real quick. That aspect of the shit ass training police receive is technically true, but using it as a justification to blast holes in people is just wildly problematic. If someone’s on the ground, prone, they COULD have a gun tucked away on them somewhere and bark off a round before the police get to them with cuffs / zipties, if that guy starts wriggling might as well blast him to make sure you get home tonight. It’s fucking ridiculous and it needs to change.

HURRRRRRRRR HURR HUYRR HERRRR HERRRRRR HUURRRRRRRRRRR

Less often than I used to and more selectively, but yes. I for sure feel less entitled to “joke” about topics that aren’t “mine” than I did when I was younger.

Yuuuuuup. As legitimately fun as it was taking apart the PS3 / PS4 controllers and upgrading the batteries (also interesting to see how Sony iterated on the guts of the PS4 controller throughout the system’s life) I’d rather not have to do that

I think all wireless controllers should use AA batteries so that they don’t inevitably turn into wired controllers. Alas.

Abolish the second amendment.

It’s a Sega game that’s their whole fucking brand forever.

Two have been good, two are unwatchable.

In the biz we call this Snydering.

There are so many YouTube videos dedicated to people trolling these scammers, I had no idea it was such a large problem.

This one time I will allow people to arm themselves and shoot civilians: Let’s load up some of these fuckers and pew pew pew