Reality vs Adventure

Actually, that may have been part of the point. To just be ridiculous so that they can cry victim for being banned from a gaming store, send the info to their terrorist news, and hope some rich fascist will spend money on the grifting, then blame video games are this..and that...and blah blah blah. That's how those fucks are.

Yeah, you are right. Could have easily been frozen terror, no doubt. And she is a tough person, mentally and physically. I could easily see it being as you said too. It's not gonna be easy. She would ruin the whole thing if she ran, so part of the sacrifice was to let those hyphae go in her mouth (GROSS!) But I think there may have been some kind of other sense that maybe stilled her nerves while being infected. Just how fast that connection works, we just don't know yet. From my perspective, I saw something more than frozen terror. You also have to think about how that infected didn't immediately attack her or eat her. It sensed the infection inside of her. That is why it didn't wrip her to pieces. Instead, it wanted to spread its hyphae into her hyphae that may have been growing somewhere deep inside her. Remember in Jakarta when the scientist put the tweezers down the dead person's throat, the hyphae came out of its mouth. No doubt the infected sensed its own inside Tess. Now, did Tess sense something too? Don't know.

I really liked that beginning part in Jakarta. Bomb it all!!! That really set the tone. What happened to Tess was just Sick! Think about it though. Tess was infected and now we have this new feature of the fungus where they are interconnected. At least I don't remember there being anything like that in the game. Or maybe it just wasn't emphasized enough, I don't now. But when Tess stayed behind to sacrifice herself, she kind of paused for a bit while the infected were walking up the stairs in the direction of Joel and Ellie. It was as if she felt something else, affection for the infected! She had to compose herself and keep trying the lighter. Then she let that one stuff its hyphae in her mouth. Anyone else would have ran, but she was falling into their control at that point. I would be terrified if I saw those things in person. And to have them get that close to you and all you can do is be quiet. Fuck that.

This guy is just another grifter who thinks their ideas are so privileged enough to charge $2,000 because they are singing to the tune of the MAGA base. That is what all these psychopaths are doing, is creating a bunch of conspiracies, hate, division, so they can grift money from other people's fears and satisfy their hate lust. Imagine a world where all your games are like this weird tribalism. They lack any and all basis for their conspiracies. And the reviewer nailed something on the spot. It's how he says how "you can't trust fascists because they don't know how people talk." The one who wrote the game sounds very psychotic at times, laughing in mid speech in their writings, and not really putting any substance together. Take this to an English teacher and they will have a fit. I mean, I ramble sometimes drunk talking, but at least be sober if you are writing a game. Because really, none of it makes any sense. I guess you can set your bars really low as long as your audience is looking for confirmation and not substance. A 5 year old could have written a better game. To charge that much I guess had its intention by causing a splash for advertisement purposes. How else would you stand out with shit like this? And now the message has a platform. All it takes is that -one- who says hmmm. And he gets a recruit. This is grifting.

Actually, it has just been announced that the DOJ is now investigating Google for violating antitrust laws relating to online advertising. And Google is actually under investigation in another antitrust lawsuit. So they now have two investigations. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-google-monopolizing-digital-advertising-technologies

I’m happy you are enjoying Valhalla as it really is something special. My personal experience has been a yo-yo because I lost saved data and had to start over. I’ve been so mad at times because of bug issues. Valhalla just had its last update for the game and by now it runs smooth as it should have been from the get go. But I jumped back into it and got over 200 hours now and it’s primo fantasy, from the world itself to the other maps, to the awesome gear and mounts. After the last update, you now get a free piece of gear each week. And nothing like having a dragon mount and a fiery raven. I’m all in now is what I’m saying. But lately the past month or maybe two I’ve delved deep into Cyberpunk 2077. Its heavy on story and has blown my mind away. This is another game that has had its issues and so sad for that because it’s one of the best games I’ve played. But I started playing after the last big update so I’ve had a good experience so far despite having to try and start the application several times before it finally comes up to play. Other than that, no problems at all. Did I say my mind is freakin blown away by the game? I have stayed up for hours as the story draws me in so much and everything flows so well that it’s hard to know a stopping point. The quests keep me right in it from one thing to the next and even those side quests are no punk. Side quests are heavy duty stuff too. Amazing. They really are setting a reputation for themselves just as I remember playing Witcher 3 and all the great quests there. Currently, I’d have to say Cyberpunk 2077 has its hooks in me big time. It’s deep, really is. Gameplay is fun too. Such talent here.

I wouldn't doubt if he banned any photos, assignments, or discussions of black history month in schools. Technically, he already did because teachers no longer can discuss anything related to racism in classes. So yeah, black history month is not legal to be discussed. I don't see how the federal constitution or even the state constitution is not preventing any of this. What is interesting though, DeSantis passed a bill to require all schools to teach the awareness of communism, while at the same time banning everything he considers woke. How can you force schools to teach something you want to bring awareness to, but ban discussions of racism and African American studies that would bring awareness to those issues. Now that is hypocritical, and just in your face telling you that DeSantis can do anything he wants under Florida's constitution, which is probably being interpreted by his handpicked judges. Tell me, is that not some hypocritical bullshit?

When it comes to Rockstar, they are known for their blatant satire, especially in games like the GTA series. I remember there is a topic about racism and bigotry in GTA 5 and after playing the game, what I saw was pure funny satire. And of course these things can offend some people and I don't doubt GTA 6 will cut back on the satire due to a political divisive climate. But, a lot of kids play these games and may not be able to distinguish what satire is. That's why games have ratings. I like the edginess in games. This all leads back to what free speech is and how entertainment is entertainment, but when it is no longer satire, not taken out of context, is what it is, blatant vulgar bigotry, then that is where free speech crosses the line into harming the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness for other people. I think we simply have to ask a black person who has played RDR2 what they think about the phrase used "N.... Lover." The way it is used and the context all under consideration, if it is ok with them, then I wouldn't take it further than that. Just don't ask Kanye... The world of gaming for sure is recognizing the large adult audience. It would be very strange playing Super Mario Brothers, and they say "hey bitch, where is my mushroom? I gotta date with the princess." That for sure would throw me off. But add that in Saints Row and you will get a kick out of it.

Florida has just banned African American studies in the state. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64348902 Florida is living in the 2020's Woke Scare similar to the 1950's Red Scare. Imprisoning teachers is next. DeSantis is even forcing college boards to send him a list of courses and everything related to CRT in colleges. I mean, grade school is one thing, but attacking higher education to fulfill your woke paranoia satisfaction is blatant hate against freedom of free speech and unabridged education. Colleges and universities are required to "provide a comprehensive list of all staff, programs and campus activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion and critical race theory." https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/desantis-admin-wants-universities-to-report-resources-used-for-diversity-crt-initiatives/ "Attempts such as these by the governor to chill speech and to intimidate those he disagrees with into remaining silent, altering their curriculum, and silencing their students are an affront to democracy and the American way of life," Gothard, who is a professor at Florida Atlantic University, said in a statement to The News Service of Florida.. "Let those who supported Governor DeSantis in the recent election heed this warning: A man who will silence those whom he disagrees - in the classroom and beyond - will one day find a reason to silence you as well," An update to the destruction of universities and colleges by republicans: 1) Sue the universities 2) Mandatory surveys 3) Ban racial/sexual discrimination staff policy training 4) Get rid of tenure policy 5) Transfer public funds to private charter schools 6) Courses to replace ethnic studies course in required programs 7) Block funding for any course relating to diversity, culture, CRT

That's strange. I was just watching that video no problem; now it says private. It was interesting info too.

You are right, thanks for that. I had to go watch that scene again when Ellie broke the code and I didn't catch it when she asked who is Bill and Frank, and on the piece of paper it said B/F. I was under the impression it was from his brother Tommy. And that song could actually be from Bill or Frank too because at this point we really don't know which one. I was also curious about that choice, but I love the song. That's good insight about drug use. I think the song may have several meanings. Remember Joel was trading drugs and at one point he was taking shots and popped some pills. The lyrics could be the edgy relationship between him and Bill or Frank. I thought it had to do with his brother Tommy at first since they had an edgy relationship in the game. Could also be the strange relationship with Joel and Tess going on this dangerous journey together. Or with Joel and Ellie, kind of a prelude to their future relationship. I think the song goes well with any of those relationships, including the drugs and alcohol...LOL. I mean, it's not like it's the end of the world and they are stuck in a military quarantine zone where people are high on life, right? Here is something interesting I found about Never Let Me Down Again: Martin Gore was quoted in issue #44/1987 of Bravo Magazine: "I wrote this song last March. And it was such a long time ago that I cannot say much about it anymore. But you're wrong [about the song because about my girlfriend], the song has nothing to do with relationships. It's about the concept of fleeing from reality and the evil awakening afterwards. Any kind of fleeing. Drugs, alcohol, or whatever." So it makes sense in this show where it seems everyone is fleeing something or wants to.

That did fit perfectly and just made a lot more sense as he needs to get out of the zone to reach his brother. I actually do feel that was lost in the game where his brother went and what was going on and the only real way to get info was to find little messages. In the show they made it clear that he hasn't heard from his bother in a while and he was worried and needed that battery to get out of the zone. I can't remember the song on the radio that played after they already left. What did it mean? Was the brother in trouble? I was confused on the code that Ellie picked up on.

It's hard for me to judge how long stories really are in open worlds because I spend hundreds of hours on those which aren't always the story. So, the timing of the story gets lost unlike story driven games. Witcher 3 for example is a really big game, and yes the story is long, but how long is it really compared to other games? I played most of the side quests and explored every bit of the map. So games like that I don't see how an estimate can even be accurate on story length unless you did a quick story driven play through. Which I would never do in an open world unless I've finished the game once and play it again real fast. So for me, this is a hard question to answer. As far as story driven games, TLOU 2 was pretty long and I love that approach. Days Gone also seems like the story was long, but then again after a several hundred hours of gameplay, was it really that long? I looked it up and Days Gone is 30-35 hours and TLOU 2 is 25-30 hours. So, slap me silly, Days Gone is a longer story. See? I think most of what we play it's hard to really interpret the time of the actual story. That is the point I'm making. Witcher 3 is about 50 hours of story. So I guess that would be my longest game. But I've spent 850 hours playing AC Odyssey including DLC, and still not done. So slap me silly again.

Actually, I pronounce it jag-wire. I've never heard it called jag-war before. But I still have pronunciations from the western USA. But even then, I used to own one and even the dealership pronounced it jag-wire. Even the USA itself has different pronunciations from the west coast, south, to the east coast. And Minnesota up north has a Canadian accent. My step dad's parents lived there and we used to visit. Their pronunciations were annoying I remember. lol

I'm glad you made this post as I'm such a fan of the game and to see this show completely took a hold of me. I actually had a tear fall on each side of my cheek when his daughter got shot. That hit drama at its finest with superb acting. I loved the overall presentation. Like at the beginning when they were driving and trying to get away from the crowds in town and you were in a kind of 1st person mode inside the car, watching the streets like the game instead of an outside 3rd person view showing the whole vehicle and area like shows usually would do. That intensified it so much and added the chaos effect. On another thread when you mentioned the characters are a bit "scruffy and miserable," that is what I love about the whole cast. They all just seem more real. Even Tess and Marlene actresses impressed me. They are tough, but not over the top like a flamboyant she-ra or something. Anna Torv and Merle Dandridge, I'm now a fan of both. And the Pedro/Bella duo is fucking excellent. You mentioned you think they got soft on the violence, but I wondered the same about that actually during the time when they were outside hiding from the guards. In the game you can have a shoot out. I wondered how that would look in the show. I mean, to go and start killing them would look bad because they are people doing their job right? I like that they didn't interact in a shoot out. But that one guard that Joel brutally killed. Well, at least they gave a reasonable excuse due to what happened to his daughter, plus that is definite grounds for execution just being outside the quarantine as we saw. It was a do or die situation. So there is a bit of an ethics debate involved in that scene. Plus, that violence where he lost it, is so much better violence than a typical shoot out. There was an interesting scene when Ellie was outside for the first time and she stands up, looks around awestruck, then spotlights were about to spot her and Tess yanks her back down. The look on Joel's face was classic. He was like, oh shit, we're so fucked. We never should have agreed to this...LOL. Oh yeah, at the end of the show they played a Depeche Mode song!!! That's really cool cause I love Depeche Mode!! I also want to hear what others think about the show. I'm highly impressed.

I started playing GTA 5 for the 1st time about a year ago and I'm still playing it. It's up there as one of my favorite games. Despite the hype and the multiplayer, it has a reputation well earned as a legendary game. I don't even play multiplayer, just the storyline and the bonus Director's Mode where I can tear things up without worrying about consequences. I would have liked to try multiplayer, but I'm just really not into that sort of stuff. Not that I wouldn't love it, I'm just not motivated to pay a subscription just to play multiplayer. GTA 5 has a great story, great gameplay, great satire, great graphics, and fun as hell. I also like how the characters grow on me and being able to switch characters to play. The driving is one of the best I've played in a game. And for a 10 year old game, it holds up in every possible way well into this new generation of games.

In just one month, China has reported 60,000 Covid deaths since they lifted their Covid restrictions. Think about that. China went from only 5,233 deaths in the couple year period since Covid started, to 60,000 deaths now in one month since restrictions were lifted. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64276608

It could mean he will do something in episodes where each episode is focused instead of huge gigabyte series. TLOU 2 was 96gb straight from download w/o updates. This to me seems like a money making scheme where they divide it up into smaller episodes to make more money. But I could be wrong and may not be the intention at all. I think he may be gaining some enlightening experience due to TLOU TV series coming out and maybe he is intrigued by that kind of model. Who knows, maybe he has his sights set in the Hollywood industry. He definitely has worked with brilliant minds in Naughty Dog will excellent story oriented games. But going the route of 'TV Show' would sacrifice gameplay in order to make it more show/story oriented. I prefer a bit of gameplay. But who knows. He and his team has talent.

They have to learn the hard way. When you sponsor something that has questionable value like NFT's which has repeatedly had a loss after loss, then your marketing becomes forced with little mind to your customers. Why not have their customers vote on it. And if Square Enix ignores the result, that would be bad business. And if it is what their customers want, then who can complain. I'd rather we choose instead of forcing it. Or they could just go old school and do whatever they want and wait for backlash. lol

That does sound pretty cool to hook up Oculus to PC. How does that even work though with a headset? Does it provide better graphics that way through the Oculus? Does the PC convert it's graphics into the headset? And of course sound improvement too right, if you have a speaker system? I think you are on to something that just might be top notch gaming experience.

Man, that is insane! I wonder how common it is in the world. And here I was laughing my ass off at the exaggeration of a game, but that happening is all too real. YIKES

I thought this would be a worthy mention. Sarah Huckabee Sanders used to be the Press Secretary under the Trump administration and recently in the mid term elections she won as a republican governor of Arkansas. It's kind of a joke for her to become governor if you knew the clown show she was as press secretary. But that is another story. She just started her term as governor and one of the first things she does is ban the use of the word LatinX in all government documents. As if there aren't any other important issues, her concern is LatinX. I mean, this is really that important that you have to ban it? Wow.

AI also has a purpose of affecting emotions and not just by NPC's, but also by the environment. A great example is the Layers of Fear series. It's visually psychedelic as if everything has a mind of its own. There are no other NPC's except for your character you play as. Every scene tells a story or captures a mood, and it can change from moment to moment.

That was pretty fast. This is the sort of thing I fear as the gaming world gets more digital. Oculus is strictly digital and we are already seeing how you are forced to spend money to upgrade as they end support for an older version of the headset after just 3 years. Think about that. You invest your money in a headset for it to sort of 'expire' in 3 years.

This show starts Jan 15th 2023 which is a few days away!! Unless they changed the schedule I don't know about. I will be tuning in 100% on Sunday. I bought popcorn yesterday.