StaceyPowers

I finished my second playthrough of The Last of Us last night (about to start Left Behind again). On my first playthrough, I leaned toward supporting Joel’s decision at the end of the game, but I was still very divided on it. On a second playthrough, not as much.
Marlene’s voice recording and journal entry were very emotional and self-centered. She even mentioned that she was going to leave (the Fireflies, presumably, not just that location) because she couldn’t bear the way the others were looking at her after her repeated failures. She sounded quite desperate for something to grab onto to reboot her organization and her role in it, so her decision-making process to me seemed more emotional than logical.
What do you all think of Marlene? Regardless of whether you felt Joel’s decision was right or wrong, do you think Marlene was being logical when she made her choice at the end of the game? Do you think she was motivated by the greater good or by selfish emotion (not so different from Joel, in a way)?

I’ve never actually played a game that even came near the subject. The LGBTQA+ community hasn’t been part of any games that I was even aware of. But I think it’s a great idea to see more games like that. As long as they’re not the villains all the damn time.

On a thread about the TLOU HBO show, @Crazycrab and I were talking about Ellie’s orientation (because another member brought it up). We both think that Ellie is a great LGBTQA+ portrayal because the matter is treated as entirely irrelevant in the game. There are so many actually important things for the characters to be hung up about (like infected and assholes everywhere) to bother getting hung up over something as irrelevant as Ellie’s orientation. Which is as it should be in an ideal world.
Of course, we don’t live in an ideal world where people expend their anger and intolerance on things that are actually a threat to their lives, so I think stories that reflect that also are important.
So, a contrasting LGBTQA+ portrayal which I also like is Dorian in Dragon Age: Inquisition.  DA always seems to feature a diverse set of characters, which I really appreciate. Dorian’s orientation caused him issues back in Tevinter, and those are front and central in his mind. Being as that is a familiar experience for a lot of LGBTQA+ people, exploring it seemed worthy to me. Beyond that, Dorian is just awesome all around. A lot of characters in DA are LGBTQA+. Some, like Dorian, have struggled because of it. Others don’t even bring it up. They’re just available or they’re not, depending on whether your character is male or female.
What LGBTQA+ portrayals have you liked most in games, and why?  
 

For me, violence is a spectrum. My biggest issue with it is blood, really. The bloodier the game, the less I like it. I like cartoon violence that's more squash and stretch, or at the very least doesn't show blood. My Time at Portia is a good example: in the game, you can fight creatures, who disappear in a puff of smoke rather than a pool of blood. You can also fight the townsfolk in spars, which are very simple fights but still somehow help me. 🙂

I'm curious. I just read your post in the thread about what tells you that you won't like a game and you mentioned violent games there as well. So I'm curious as to what you consider violent? Everyone here interprets violence in their own way, but how you interpret it really has me interested now.

Flow sounds reasonable to me. Especially the game is horror. 

It helps keep my violence in check. Also I love watching anything in which a human is suffering and in pain. Their screaming is beautiful music to me. I love listening to them beg, promising them release, and then breaking that promise just to see the despair in their eyes.
Unfortunately that’s not something I can easily get away with IRL. I’m not the Zodiac, or Jack The Ripper. So the more unimaginable pain I can inflict on a character, both mentally and physically, the more I enjoy the game. The sad thing is that the best I have found so far is Hatred. It’s a lot more tame than what I want/need, but it’s better than nothing.

Ooooh that's a tough one.... I'd love the cash because of my dad's and my health, but on the other hand... I don't think I can easily give up on video games... They help my mental health a lot...

It was in my news feed on my phone. I get a bunch of stories from different sources. Things like The Huffington Post, CNN, The Washington Post, and other news outlets. I honestly don't remember which one it was that I read that on.

They're not giving it. They're loaning it. And we will have to pay it back with a minimum of 100% interest. So basically if we get $1000, we will have to pay the government back $2000. It's a way to screw the citizens. It's not helping anyone, it's crippling those of us who can barely support ourselves even further.

Actually it's 1,200 for single males/females and 3k for couples. Sounds good but in reality it might pay a bill or 2 and a few groceries considering shopping can get quite expensive.

So the irrelevance makes it, well relevant.  That's actually a great point. Ellie being gay doesn't make any difference and that's the way it should be.
 
I would say it would be great to have to these barriers break without the world ending but let's face it!   In just the first few months of this year, the US tried to start World War 3, half of Australia has been on fire and now there is a global pandemic where people are going bonkers over bog roll.
 
I think it's time all people, regardless of nationality, political standpoint, religions beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity or race stand together and declare in one voice!......(LINK)

Actually, to me, there's arguably no better way to make such a point. Because we do have real problems as a species to deal with, and it's time that those stigmas broke down IRL. Seeing how absolutely irrelevant Ellie's sexuality is in TLOU actually is a great demonstration of how irrelevant that stuff ultimately should be IRL after everyone drops their stupid prejudices.
Anyway, very nice post :)

Actually, to me, there's arguably no better way to make such a point. Because we do have real problems as a species to deal with, and it's time that those stigmas broke down IRL. Seeing how absolutely irrelevant Ellie's sexuality is in TLOU actually is a great demonstration of how irrelevant that stuff ultimately should be IRL after everyone drops their stupid prejudices.
Anyway, very nice post :)

I figured he was keeping her gay for the simple consistently.  I don't think they really need to use the show to "spread LGBT awareness" and to be honest, The Last of Us is not really a great story to do that with.  It's a society where along with these types of social and political stigma that come with it with regards to sexuality, race and so on has effectively broken down.  Most people in this would happily kill you for a fresh pair of shoes, there are bigger, or at least more direct problems! That's why the game doesn't put hardly any focus on in it, hell the fact that Ellie is gay wasn't even addressed at all until the Left Behind DLC came out.
 
Like I said earlier The Last of Us is a story about the relationship between Joel and Ellie and how it evolves as they journey together. We see Joel learn to love and care again, something he has been struggling to do since the loss of his daughter.  Likewise we see Ellie, a young girl who is fiercely independent and stubborn learn to trust and open up to him. That's what the Last of Us is about, it doesn't need a ton of focus on Ellie's sexuality, at least not in this story.
 
Now the sequel (judging from the trailers anyway) does seem to be putting a bit more focus on it but we don't know exactly how that's going play out yet.
 
 
hope this helps:
https://www.netflix.com/CancelPlan
 
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to some music:
 

What is your problem? Since I doubt that someone has strapped you to a chair and forced to watch the LGBT friendly content on Netflix "A Clockwork Orange" style, what is the point of this unceasing complaining about it? Netflix's content has nothing to do with the topic at hand anyway and none of us agree with nor give a shit about your homophobic ranting. You've clearly never played the game and most likely never will, something that's probably true of the sequel as well, so you've got noting of value to bring to this topic in the first place. So please, spare us your poison and direct your attention to other threads where you might have something to offer.

But Ellie is gay 😆 Have you played the Last of Us game ?

I am very much looking forward to this series since playing the first one in the franchise. I also heard the writer will be keeping Ellie as gay to spread LGBT awareness. 

As I just learned from @kingpotato, there is going to be a TV show on HBO based on The Last of Us. As best I can tell, it will specifically follow Ellie and Joel’s story, rather than being something else set in the same universe.
My question to everyone here is, what do you all think about this?
My initial reaction to putting TLOU on a screen (other than a video game screen is) is that it seems superfluous. I can’t imagine any movie or TV show based on TLOU getting anywhere near the intensity of the video game. Any other medium just sounds like a downgrade.
But I am reassured that Neil Druckmann will be an executive producer and that he will do some writing on the series. If I’m not mistaken, even he seemed skeptical about adapting the game as a movie in the past. Being as he’s enthused about this—and an amazing writer—that is enough to convince me that it may be worth it after all. As a writer, I’ve learned so much from him, and I think this is a way I could learn more.
There also could be ways to use this to fill in gaps and give us something other than just an overview of events we have played through. For example, there is a huge chunk of missing time between the escape from Pittsburgh and arrival at Jackson. There is no way that it was just an easy straight shot across the country. Just as Left Behind filled in a couple of time gaps, this could too. And just as Left Behind gave us more background on Ellie’s past (which I think is 100% essential to a full understanding and appreciation of the main game), this series could also tell us a lot more about both characters’ pasts.
Are you excited about the HBO show? What would you want to see from the show? How could it add to the story and stand on its own rather than just being superfluous next to the game?

Ahh. Someone should have warned you. Skyrim is probably the buggiest game ever made. Best advice is Save Often and Expect Bugs. Most of them are annoying or funny, but some of them are a real pain in the arse. 

Both them and Tenenbaum to me fell into the archetype of "indifferent scientist who grew a conscience." Arguably they are the voice of conscience in both games.

I’m partway into Old World Blues on Fallout NV for the first time. I love the dialogue, and that there is a whole new map area to explore, but I have to admit I am having a hard time with this DLC. I’m pretty useless without a companion and I forgot to bring ammo for my only decent gun. I’m level 90 or so on guns, but only like 35 for energy weapons, and almost nothing for melee.
So far, I am bleeding supplies like crazy, burning through ammo, most of which doesn’t seem to be replaceable, and barely keeping pace with replacing stimpacks and foods. I am pretty sure I will make it through without running out of everything, but it will be tight.
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to make the most of my supplies, other than “run away and fast travel,” which has been my top strategy? I finally figured out last night I can use the “wait” function to regenerate health with that halo thingy on my head.
@DylanC I know this is one of your favorite Fallout DLCs. And you're always awesome with suggestions :)

I’m partway into Old World Blues on Fallout NV for the first time. I love the dialogue, and that there is a whole new map area to explore, but I have to admit I am having a hard time with this DLC. I’m pretty useless without a companion and I forgot to bring ammo for my only decent gun. I’m level 90 or so on guns, but only like 35 for energy weapons, and almost nothing for melee.
So far, I am bleeding supplies like crazy, burning through ammo, most of which doesn’t seem to be replaceable, and barely keeping pace with replacing stimpacks and foods. I am pretty sure I will make it through without running out of everything, but it will be tight.
Does anyone have any suggestions for how to make the most of my supplies, other than “run away and fast travel,” which has been my top strategy? I finally figured out last night I can use the “wait” function to regenerate health with that halo thingy on my head.
@DylanC I know this is one of your favorite Fallout DLCs. And you're always awesome with suggestions :)

I also dont get why some people think why Infinite is not a bioshock game, probably because its not entirely about rapture but still as they mentioned on Infinite, there is always a man and there is always a city. And well the gameplay is basically the same in all 3 games

I've finally decided to take the plunge. When I post again on this thread I'll no longer be a virgin.
I'm going to play Skyrim for the first time. I'll let everyone know how it goes.