• 2 Posts
  • 35 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 1st, 2023

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  • it’s hard to totally land that message when the game offers no alternative.

    I’m of such split opinion when it comes to this argument against the game. I’ve read it so many times now and I kind of agree that there should have been some nuanced choice that changes the story in such a way where Walker tries to redeem himself? If I recall correctly, the only choice that actually made a difference for the end, was what you did in the very end scene with the mirror, right? And, of course, the choice not to play the game.

    Then again, would it have been better if the player had had the option for a less shitty (not necessarily good or positive) path? Sometimes in life, especially during war, the only things that happen to you are shit and even what you do might be out of your control, because you only have one option that results in staying alive or because your mind is so focused on the task at hand that you can’t even consider other ways of tackling a problem. This might be a bit graphic, but I think Spec Ops puts you in the passenger seat with a maddened driver. You tell the driver your destination (finishing the game) and he just hits the pedal and, no matter how much you protest, he roadkills every person on the way there. The car doors are unlocked and he occasionally stops, giving you an opportunity to get out. When you finally arrive at your destination and complain that he killed all those people, he goes “If you had left the car, I would’ve stopped.” I don’t know, I feel like I have a point here, but I can’t put it into words.

    Also, there are games like Animal Crossing that aren’t criticised with “Well, the message (of positivity and being rewarded for hard work and cooperation while being friendly) falls a bit flat, since the player doesn’t even have alternative options, aside from not playing the game.”

    So, yeah, I’ll leave it at that now, since I think my comment is plateauing in its insightfullness.





  • Like @Pea666@feddit.nl , I’m unfamiliar with the boardgame but from what i see and read in the rulebook, it seems very fun.

    I am a bit confused about game-ending scenarios because I did read that a set of cards determines the objective (for each player?), to increase the replayability. But it also states that you can win either by destroying the entire fleet or by having the highest score (hostile ships destroyed) after six rounds with no victor. If it is the case, that you have objectives but you can also win by having more points after six rounds, I’d just get rid of the “win after sox rounds with highest points” clause. If there are no set objectives, I would sit down with your son and come up with interesting and fun objectives that, upon completion, declare the winner instead of this “technically you can win by killing one ship and running away for five more turns”, because that does sound like a boring base rule.



  • Reading the entire article, it seems that they still want to tread very carefully with this whole AI ordeal. Valve isn’t just opening the floodgates, as the title would make it seem.

    While yes, a healthy dose of skepticism is good to have, I think if I had to trust someone to navigate AI in gaming in the gamers’ favour, I would pick Valve. Or maybe I’m overestimating Gabe’s involvement in the happenings of the legal department’s section that is currently responsible for AI stuff.

    EDIT: Shame on me, @princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone , I think I had already seen the PMG video about the Steam Marketplace and its lootboxes and the gambling sites. But because I neither play these titles nor participate in the marketplace, I forgot that these serious issues exist. And the documentary concerning actually working at Valve rocked my stance back and forth. On one hand, I love the concept, but there are big problems here as well.

    Once more, a genuine thank you for pointing me at these two video documentaries, even if I had already seen one of them.








  • It’s hard to explain more concretely than “I just like women more”. In multiplayer (and actual roleplay) games (and even emojis in WhatsApp) I tend to play women as well and won’t correct someone when they use “she/her”.

    Now that I read it here from a couple other people, I would also agree that the female options are usually more interesting and grounded in all aspects (Voice acting, looks, skills).

    I don’t think I’m an unhatched trans (learned that term in the comments here hah), because I really don’t mind being a guy. But I also wouldn’t mind if I had been born a woman?