Reality vs Adventure

But it falls into the same thing we’ve talked about before. It’s a bit shallow to claim something, then choose to ignore when presented an example of the same issue.

Would this Ragnarok Thor be considered political? Is it up to your standard of beauty and heroism? Is it too real like for a game of fiction? And you keep mentioning them prudes for making characters less attractive, but you yourself feels uncomfortable with characters that have less clothing. What you want is fully clothed and attractive. And if it isn’t the attractive standard bearer of the fan base, you call them politically prudent. To add to your case- sure there are those who have ‘out of touch syndrome’ and add diversity for outside reasons and inadvertently hurt the reputation of that diversity and at the same time pissing off fans like you for changing your idealistic characters. But I think this God of War Thor deserves some praise; would you agree with that? If not, why exactly?

There is a paradigm in the gaming world to make things look realistic and that includes open vast terrain even if we may pass through only once. Exploring is a part of my gaming even if there isn't much to see, I still want to get a view of everything as if I'm a land surveyor. I always try to visit areas more than once. And if there is something on the map in the middle of nowhere, I tend to savior it to make sure I go back to the area another time. But that is the fault of the devs not having quests to push you out places more than once. Some games have new daily quests that you have a choice to do, and it makes you explore different places in a certain region. I usually don't move on till I get an overall feel of the area. And that is what I enjoy spending many hours doing. And some time later on, weeks or months or even a year, to go back to an area I may catch things I didn't see before; also I can just play around as a goof since I've already seen the lay of the land. And those moments for me is what really stays in my memory. Most of these open world games aren't meant to just play the storyline, do some quests, and be done with it. They are meant to immerse for years to come. I mean, if done right you only need that one game; maybe not, but point stands. But back to the paradigm...bigger is realism. I have no problem utilizing a smaller map, but my point is that this paradigm can't be stopped. Everything in the gaming world is becoming more and more realistic. Soon, we will drive down Route 66 and have a journey through the entire USA. We will be able to explore real, yet modeled, cities, towns, and landmarks along the way. Games will be 1000gb and consoles will be 1000tb. You can't stop this radical paradigm. Unless of course resources become scarce that prevents the making of those drives. An example of that is the 12 inch Gi Joe doll size in the 80's. Because of the Cold War and oil prices, which impacted plastics, GI Joe had to decrease the size of figures from 12 inch to the 3 3/4 inch size. So world events can change this paradigm in the gaming world. But for now, bigger is real. And that shouldn't mean that smaller and more utilized maps have to disappear. Those should get better too.

I think the Marvel version of Thor just doesn't fit the image that I would have for a Norse God and the lean body is part of it, but more importantly for me is that he just looks too young or too unscathed to play the part of a warrior God. Thor in Ragnarok seems more realistic and wild as we would expect, not some perfect shaved, wrinkle free, flower eater. The Ragnarok version would tear apart a turkey leg. People have the idea that the image of a God is perfection. Even more so in today's world. Why is that? A lot of those older pictures and paintings depict ordinary body shapes. Why are we so obsessed with clean and boring and unattainable now? Is it really that disturbing to see a game character with a belly? I would play that bellied Thor any day over most of the other characters I see in games.

TLOU2 was the last game I finished just a few weeks ago. And I'm playing it again.

The ps4 has an update 9.00 now that I saw my system just updated and I read there are a lot of problems with it. I swear if this update ruins my saves or system I will be done with gaming. I am sick of all the updates in games and console alike. Has the gaming world always been like this? I'm just gonna turn off my damn network.

Great points, but what about rural landscapes? That's a reason to keep maps big. I think open worlds don't really need to get smaller, but bigger. You are right about functioning transit. Now think about a massive open world with multiple cities to explore and transportation to get you there, or just fast travel if you don't want to sight see. I imagine something, let's say a game that takes place in Europe. You can get to many cities in a short amount of time. Imagine a game where you can go to England, Italy, Germany, Spain, and just lose yourself in all the possibilities. Or the USA and travel from California, through the midwest or south, and on to New York. Some games have multiple maps like Witcher 3 and AC Valhalla. They aren't nearly as big as what I'm talking, but if you want radical, that would be radical. I think sequels or DLC's can build on the map. This is an approach I hope AC Infinity takes, but obviously I prefer without the forced online crap. But what they are doing is radical. Besides that, I say they could have some really good city and nation building where you can actually interact with everything. A combination of Civilization/Tropico for building and GTA/Cyberpunk/RDR in interaction. Then be able to DESTROY entire cities and go through the rubble and loot the bodies. Then make a colony in space and on and on and on.

I don't think it's a number, it's more of a style. I would think anything before the ps2 years I see as retro. Classic gaming is definitely before ps2. Retro may mean the same as classic, but to me retro seems a bit more gray area. To me, classic is a style and retro is graphic quality. If the way games are now graphically and doesn't change for the next 100 years, then retro will still be before ps2 days, maybe include ps2 in the gray area. But in a 100 years if gaming is all VR and looks like real life, then ps5 and everything under is retro.

That's right because we are consumers and have control over what garbage is sold. If a lot of our money goes into games that supports unoriginality, then that is the market. If developers feel it's risky to make a unique game, then they understand that the consumers prefer poop sticks.

For me not really. I play to survive using the character but could care less what happens to them if I'm not connected to them. Humans in real life have an aura about them that attracts you or repels you. Same thing happens when a character is given life, it also brings with it traits you may not be able to bond with. Or something just doesn't sit right with you. That is why character customization is important. It's not so important when there is no emphasis on the character such as in games you don't see too much or hear too much of them. Although customization won't change their dialogue, but at least they won't look like some asshole. A shallow poorly made character without knowing much about them brings a poor response in empathy I have in regards to whatever happens to them in the story.

Governor Gavin Newsom wins the recall election and will stay as governor. This was a very important win because it undoubtedly saved lives in California due to the pandemic. First they complained that Newsom had too strict of restrictions in this pandemic, but now as they see how republicans are anti mask and anti vaccine with the highest death rates in republican states, the liberals in California learned to just shut the fuck up and don't take for granted what the spoiled idiots have. Unlike backwards Texas where I am. Larry Elder was a very dangerous candidate because the only black ace up the republican's sleeve to pray on the vulnerable and back stab them. It gives republicans the 'I'm not a racist card' while campaigning white supremacist rhetoric. And now the voter fraud claim in the recall has taken over in republican's minds. Their stance is that no election is legit if a democrat wins. But at least for now California is safe. So stop complaining how life is hard with the restrictions in a pandemic and be glad you are alive and your government is trying to keep it that way.

Swords and shields, raw brutality, strength, bravery, are all more personal than shooting guns and dropping bombs from a plane. Even arrows are more personal because you have to hit a critical spot instead of cannon balling a leg off. Even though cannon balls are a nice delicacy compared to a missile. I would choose to get hit by a missile any day and die instantly. A big cannon ball tumbling through a field of soldiers is horrendous. Humans are disgusting critters. Even raining down arrows is more personal because you see people get hit right next to you and hear their screams. A bomb will shell shock you if you survive. You run for cover. Not when it rains down arrows. You endure the swarm. Fighting hand to hand you depend on your abilities. Even in magic, you learn the craft and depend on your abilities. A machine gun you just rip through the bush. Spray bullets fields away. You don't even see or taste the blood. But when you do, when it sprays in your mouth, you get hungry and you have to be put down now after the taste of blood. Isn't that what they say about dogs and any animal that bites a human? Our blood is so tasty that it drives every mind to madness. To crave more and more. Shooting a missile from a jet, you can go back to base and eat a warm meal. Hacking with an axe, your next meal you leave extra bloody. You can't get enough. When it's you that drew the blood and felt it and tasted it, you won't forget. You don't get the same in a shootout unless you lick a soldier's wound. 😛

People don't make and sell things based on originality. They make and sell based on what is predicted to sell. So if they profit from unoriginality, then it is the people who are boring and distasteful. Also, being time pressured is a part of it. Contracts with publishers are a huge problem. I want you to make me a shoe. You have one week. One week? I can make a really great shoe in one month. Who cares! It's a shoe; you walk in it. Shoe ready? Yes, but with more time I could have used this better quality leather to make it last longer They don't know that!

Today is the recall election day and the Larry Elder campaign has already declared on a website that the election has voter fraud. And the election count hasn't even happened yet. Then the site says this statement "They say that in America, there are four boxes of liberty. The soapbox, the ballot box, the jury box, and the ammo box." This is the new reality democracy has to face in every election now. Claims of fraud and inciting acts of violence. Take notes all you countries of democracy. The American Experiment is being tested and these are the steps republicans are taking to overthrow it. So learn from this. There will no doubt be hostile takeover coup attempts in the near future at the dog whistles of these republican politician's actions and words. And California recalls itself are an abomination of democracy where an elected politician can legally get ousted by a small percent of votes. I don't know how many states have this recall crap, but it degrades democracy. There are rules for impeachment if the case is strong enough. If not, there is no reason an elected official should be replaced by another with a handful of votes by supporters of a different party. And there will be doomsday for California if that far right republican is elected. No doubt Larry Elder will ban mask mandates and deliberately create havoc and death in a big liberal state like California. These far right people have weaponized the pandemic. Is that what you want California? Hope you voted NO for your sakes.

That's pretty good. Did you come up with that?

I didn't think about that. Some of that hair will grow back. It just seems like an all day job to maintain. I thought I liked shiny objects but this is 'over the top.'

There aren't many games like that, but that doesn't mean there can't be. Any game with a powerful message can reach some pretty shallow people, but for those intolerant types, how many hours of gameplay, or how many impactful games do they have to play while in real life they are exposed to bigotry/prejudice/indifference for years, decades, a lifetime? The culture of gaming itself is kind of looked down on in those types of people's eyes as it is. To embrace gaming is the first step before even considering that gaming can be able to increase toleration levels. Then it takes a rare impactful game to penetrate their comfort zones or boundaries. Then it requires their personal life to be distanced from their peers, or else they forget.

The thing about TLOU2 is that the weather doesn't randomly change so you can take your time and stare without thinking you better move on before nightfall, if that makes sense. But that is a game where the environment is so detailed, I want to stop and gawk. At the same time, I want to keep pace with the story. I'm actually playing a second play through where I have a faster pace and more story/action oriented. My first play through I was simply overwhelmed with scenic beauty and the devastation that left me entranced. But if you want to know other games with that level of detail, I have to say the Assassin's Creed series especially in the cities. I get so lost in the moment and culture in those games. But TLOU2 largely takes part in a downtown skyscraper area, where detail is on another level; literally. But it's not just that, it's also the gas stations and neighborhoods; things we are so familiar with that to see it in waste is scary yet comforting in its own self inclusive way. The contrast between that and AC games is that the latter takes place in ancient times where we get to see man's beginnings in technology and architecture. A world built and displayed in its splendor, while TLOU is torn apart in the end days. I love these contrasts in the games I play. But the detail is amazing in either world.

The game has everything I love in a game. The environment and detail was amazing. And it even had a bit of nature taking over the cityscape. There was more going on if you paid attention like symbology in a way. And attachment to the characters, awesome story, great gameplay and fighting scenes, and all the realism. I've actually started a second play through. I put it on the hardest setting. Here we go MF. I'm not gonna hold back this time!!! Bring it!!! I said bring it; aaahhahaha. I saw a video where this player was awesome at killing in that game. They made it gruesome. That's what I'm gonna do this round.

That's why I say there should be a strong emotional story involved for a game like that, otherwise it is just crime based. There should be consequences, rehabilitation, and and a story showing how a criminal can change and take down those things that drove him to crime. That is what a good story can sell. Are people that shallow to only pay attention to the bad and not the good? They can't blame the game then at that point. But they will anyways.

Toddler trump probably left buggers under tables and door knobs. He probably skittered his crack all over the carpet and left semen stains on the oval office chairs. I can see the bigot coughing all over the phones and thinking about what all he can do to trash the place before he gets kicked out. Biden seriously had to disinfect the WH after the walking and talking trump virus administration became incubators for the virus load. Now they have to unstink the air from Conway.

For me it is probably TLOU part one on the ps3. During that time I just upgraded from a ps2.

ahahahaha Geez man! You are making me thirsty for da blood!

It depends on what you play. Even violent games can have a story that helps you to understand something like the cause for the violence, the solution, and maybe even personalize characters that may be an enemy to see the world they came from. Or if the protagonist comes from a different background than what you are used to and whatever beliefs they have, you could become attached to that character and possibly change your perspective. It is hard to find a good game that can do that, but it is definitely possible to increase toleration especially if more games come out that challenge prejudice. There are more and more adults getting into games, so we should see an increase in 'smarter' games that can teach something. At the least, challenge the prejudice. GTA obviously wouldn't fit in that category. But let's say GTA had a backstory why someone became a car thief; it still won't justify the crime, but help in understanding why; then see the character evolve and rehabilitate themself somehow. Make it a strong touching story and GTA even with all the violence becomes something entirely different.