Worth Reading: 01/04/13

Thank you for the TBBT link, I couldn't agree more with the blogger. TBBT is a horrid show, one of the worst I have ever seen. It's not just boring as hell, it's cruel

Also, I would say that L4D is the perfect example of a good, scary CO-OP shooter, where the players play the "survivor"-role... A shame the sequel was a piece of garbage, that completely missed the point

Friggin' love Ken Robinson

I was given the TBBT season 1 on Blu Ray for christmas one, year watched the whole thing over a week. Enjoyed it but never thought when the season was other that I needed more of this show. Reinforced the fact that Laugh Track comedys really piss me off, I feel the laughs are way more forced these days compared to the days of Seinfield and early days of Friends, I felt those shows had some subtle laughter compared to just laughter at max on every joke on Big Bang, might just be my nostalgia kicking in though.

Just when I thought patrick couldn't get any more pretentious he starts posting TED talks in "worth reading." This "feature" needs to be taken out to pasture.

@dvorak said:

@Dezztroy said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

I thought the linking to sites where you can buy guns is terrible taste for a game, hey you'r having fun shooting dudes with this rifle so why not buy it in real life

A civilian cannot legally buy/own the majority of the weapons represented in MoH: Warfighter.

That's completely inaccurate, but whatever.

That probably says more about our gun laws than anything else.

I can't help but feel like a lot of Big Bang Theory hate comes from people projecting on to the show, and not the show itself. My girlfriend loves the show and watches it obsessively, which means I've seen every episode at least once. After reading the blog that Patrick linked, I have to say that while I agree with it to a point, I think that the criticism goes too far.

It's certainly not for everyone, ironically, because it is a lowest common denominator network laugh track sitcom. In that regard, I think it is no worse than every other show in its field. It's a show about a bunch of nerds, but it's not made specifically for them. It's supposed to appeal to a broad audience.

Where I think the hate goes too far is when people say that it is demonizing or belittling nerds. It seems to me that when self-proclaimed geeks watch the show, then relate to the main characters and then feel slighted when those characters are used for laughs. The thing people seem to miss is that the non-geek characters get this treatment too. There are PLENTY of times that Penny, or other non-nerd characters are made the punchline of a joke, but it's easy to overlook those moments and assume it's a nerd-hate-fest if that is what you 'want' to think of the show.

I definitely agree that the show could be a lot better, but I can't help but roll my eyes a bit when I read complaints that it is some kind of hateful, abomination of a show.

@ReaganStein said:

Just when I thought patrick couldn't get any more pretentious he starts posting TED talks in "worth reading." This "feature" needs to be taken out to pasture.

What's wrong with TED talks? They're informative and interesting.

Patrick starts watching TED Talks as part of his New Year's Resolution, and I've started watching Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (the UK series, not the rubbish US one). That series is fucking fantastic! It's actually helped me to become a more involved part of my business and see small business in a much more refreshing light.

@Dezztroy said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

I thought the linking to sites where you can buy guns is terrible taste for a game, hey you'r having fun shooting dudes with this rifle so why not buy it in real life

A civilian cannot legally buy/own the majority of the weapons represented in MoH: Warfighter.

That's completely inaccurate, but whatever.

@Beb said:

I can't help but feel like a lot of Big Bang Theory hate comes from people projecting on to the show, and not the show itself. My girlfriend loves the show and watches it obsessively, which means I've seen every episode at least once. After reading the blog that Patrick linked, I have to say that while I agree with it to a point, I think that the criticism goes too far.

It's certainly not for everyone, ironically, because it is a lowest common denominator network laugh track sitcom. In that regard, I think it is no worse than every other show in its field. It's a show about a bunch of nerds, but it's not made specifically for them. It's supposed to appeal to a broad audience.

Where I think the hate goes too far is when people say that it is demonizing or belittling nerds. It seems to me that when self-proclaimed geeks watch the show, then relate to the main characters and then feel slighted when those characters are used for laughs. The thing people seem to miss is that the non-geek characters get this treatment too. There are PLENTY of times that Penny, or other non-nerd characters are made the punchline of a joke, but it's easy to overlook those moments and assume it's a nerd-hate-fest if that is what you 'want' to think of the show.

I definitely agree that the show could be a lot better, but I can't help but roll my eyes a bit when I read complaints that it is some kind of hateful, abomination of a show.

People just have a hard time realizing every sitcom is terrible. It's exactly as funny as Seinfeld. Not any worse, or better. Except it's probably broadcast and filmed in HD? So it's objectively better, I guess?

I just want to say how happy I am to see pictures of Ultima Online posted on a video game website in 2013. Such an awesome game that will never exist again.

@gladspooky said:

People just have a hard time realizing every sitcom is terrible. It's exactly as funny as Seinfeld. Not any worse, or better. Except it's probably broadcast and filmed in HD? So it's objectively better, I guess?

That's not an incredibly stupid thing to say at all.

@norcy_blarvest said:

I just want to say how happy I am to see pictures of Ultima Online posted on a video game website in 2013. Such an awesome game that will never exist again.

+1 to that, Sire!

@BlueMizzen said:

I don't watch Big Bang Theory, seems lame.

And it is. It is just another paint by the numbers, hackneyed sitcom. How they are not booed out of Comic-Con and other conventions is a mystery. Anyone that compares it to Seinfeld is seriously delusional.

@patrickklepek Shining Force and Shining Force 2 are two of my favorite games of all time. Shining Force 2 would hold up more, I imagine. Did you ever play Gladius from the last generation? That was an evolution on the mechanics of Shining Force, and I would recommend that as a better alternative to playing a Genesis game.

That TED talk was really interesting. Thanks, Patrick.

I've seen that TED video before, probably my favorite also I glad to see somebody breakdown what Big Bang Theory really is which I've always seen as being nerd/geek is dumb and funny!

@GrantHeaslip said:

Aside from ending a couple of sentences with ", too." (why?), I've got to give credit where credit's due: Patrick published an entire long-form article without any blatant spelling or grammar errors. Here's hoping this wasn't just a fluke.

Edit: Looks like I spoke too soon:

@TrafalgarLaw said:

"and maybe bringing in outside writers to report on material that I have no business, interest, or time to tackle."

My native language isn't english but shouldn't it be business with, interest in [...]...?

Also, you use, a lot of commas, which is, very annoying to, ultimately, read.

It would be "interest in" if the verb form were "tackling". He has no business to tackle, to interest to tackle, and no time to tackle that material.

The commas are often caesura, commonly used in poetry to designate a natural pause, however prose has evolved to the point where using them is not so verboten.

@Dezztroy said:

@dvorak said:

@Dezztroy said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

I thought the linking to sites where you can buy guns is terrible taste for a game, hey you'r having fun shooting dudes with this rifle so why not buy it in real life

A civilian cannot legally buy/own the majority of the weapons represented in MoH: Warfighter.

That's completely inaccurate, but whatever.

Please show me where a civilian can pick up a milspec M249. Without the need for a license and such, of course. There's a reason manufacturers produce and sell separate products for the civilian market.

There are 8 transferable NFA M249 in existance. And what you said is "A civilian cannot legally buy/own the majority of the weapons"

Not where a civilian requires a license to purchase a majority of weapons in MoH.

But whatever you are still wrong because an NFA Firearm requires no such license.

Also what you also said is that a civilian cannot buy/own the majority of weapons in MoH, not whether or not they can own an M249, but that's still wrong too.

You can buy a transferable M249/FN Minimi for the price of small house here

All you need to do is purchase it and fill out an ATF Form here.

Then they process you through a background check in order to confirm you are not a felon, the firearm is then registared to your name, $200 tax stamp and boom you have your M249.

TLDR: Dezztroy is wrong and shouldn't talk about stuff he has no idea what he is talking about to avoid looking stupid.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

You obviously don't know the origins of guns, they were used to demolish the opposing force who had things like swords and shields. You'r whole argument is just so silly I actually think you are trolling. Like you keep bringing up the electric chair like some one could just bring that around with them, hooking people up to it one by one. Guns make cowards unstoppable, every one of these mass shootings are pretty much always nerdy skinny dudes that would of got overpowered if they went into these places with a knife, the gun was the thing that made them powerful without them they are nothing, you want to hunt with your gun? Use a bow and arrow and a knife and stop cheating with a gun.

Out of humor here you are going to criticize my lack of knowledge on guns, when you consider it cheating to hunt with a gun, instead of using a bow and arrow and a knife.

Okay dumbass, for number one do you even have the first fucking clue of how to hunt with a gun? Because not only do you have to take in consideration the range of your target, but the accuracy MOA of your rifle, where the winds blowing, calibrations to your MOA/MIL turret, barometric pressure and altitude differences, velocity of different ammo choices, terminal ballistic effectiveness of your ammo choices, whether you are shooting at a high angle or not, parallax adjustment, breathing control, trigger control, and in some cases the rotation of the earth to make a shot placement on an animal in order to drop it dead right then and there to make a clean kill.

Bows and arrows? Do you even have a god damn idea what happens when you hit an animal with a bow and arrow? When you shoot it with a gun and you do the correct placement it drops fucking dead right then and there. When you hit it with a bow the bow most of the time clogs up the wound port, making the animal unable to blead itself quickly. So now it's running around in agony for 20 god damn minutes suffering before it's last minutes. Does that sound fucking fun to you or the animal? No? So shut the hell up.

I bet you didn't even understand a quarter of what I said, so stop talking about shit that you have no idea what it is.

Now the history of guns.

The first Machinegun ever made was made by Hiram Maxim who was told

"If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each others' throats with greater facility.'"

Nothing about it said to obliterate the other side. Maxim did not make his machine guns so that the Brits could hold all the power. He sold his machine gun to everyone because they would fight each other.

A machine gun or any gun for that matter are NEVER designed as murder weapons. They are tools of WAR. Where Both sides are engaged in armed conflict. And the objective of war is to WIN, and NOT to KILL. Killing doesn't win you a war. We can kill every single person in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan with every the NATO arsenal but it won't WIN us a WAR.

@insanejedi said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

You obviously don't know the origins of guns, they were used to demolish the opposing force who had things like swords and shields. You'r whole argument is just so silly I actually think you are trolling. Like you keep bringing up the electric chair like some one could just bring that around with them, hooking people up to it one by one. Guns make cowards unstoppable, every one of these mass shootings are pretty much always nerdy skinny dudes that would of got overpowered if they went into these places with a knife, the gun was the thing that made them powerful without them they are nothing, you want to hunt with your gun? Use a bow and arrow and a knife and stop cheating with a gun.

Out of humor here you are going to criticize my lack of knowledge on guns, when you consider it cheating to hunt with a gun, instead of using a bow and arrow and a knife.

Okay dumbass, for number one do you even have the first fucking clue of how to hunt with a gun? Because not only do you have to take in consideration the range of your target, but the accuracy MOA of your rifle, where the winds blowing, calibrations to your MOA/MIL turret, barometric pressure and altitude differences, velocity of different ammo choices, terminal ballistic effectiveness of your ammo choices, whether you are shooting at a high angle or not, parallax adjustment, breathing control, trigger control, and in some cases the rotation of the earth to make a shot placement on an animal in order to drop it dead right then and there to make a clean kill.

Bows and arrows? Do you even have a god damn idea what happens when you hit an animal with a bow and arrow? When you shoot it with a gun and you do the correct placement it drops fucking dead right then and there. When you hit it with a bow the bow most of the time clogs up the wound port, making the animal unable to blead itself quickly. So now it's running around in agony for 20 god damn minutes suffering before it's last minutes. Does that sound fucking fun to you or the animal? No? So shut the hell up.

I bet you didn't even understand a quarter of what I said, so stop talking about shit that you have no idea what it is.

Now the history of guns.

The first Machinegun ever made was made by Hiram Maxim who was told

"If you want to make a pile of money, invent something that will enable these Europeans to cut each others' throats with greater facility.'"

Nothing about it said to obliterate the other side. Maxim did not make his machine guns so that the Brits could hold all the power. He sold his machine gun to everyone because they would fight each other.

A machine gun or any gun for that matter are NEVER designed as murder weapons. They are tools of WAR. Where Both sides are engaged in armed conflict. And the objective of war is to WIN, and NOT to KILL. Killing doesn't win you a war. We can kill every single person in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan with every the NATO arsenal but it won't WIN us a WAR.

Me and my mates killed a wild pig with a knife in my mid teens and took turns carrying it out the bush behind our necks we didn't have to stand at a safe distance with a gun. I still stand by my statement only pussies use guns to hunt. And I seriously could care less about your gun jargon. Your obviously stupid seriously read what you are saying about the first machine gun you're contradicting your self.

"A machine gun or any gun for that matter are NEVER designed as murder weapons" you have seriously got to be a troll, what was it designed for then? To cut the lawn?

Shining Force II rocks and totally holds up.

Course, I played the originals when they were new, so maybe that's nostalgia, but I bought and played them for the PC recently and still loved them.

Nice

@Jourdon said:

@ReaganStein said:

Just when I thought patrick couldn't get any more pretentious he starts posting TED talks in "worth reading." This "feature" needs to be taken out to pasture.

What's wrong with TED talks? They're informative and interesting.

That was probably the best TED talk I've seen.

The Shining Force games are interesting but incredibly simple. The Fire Emblem games are the natural evolution of those systems. You should look up the craziness that was the intent behind the 3 games that were Shining Force 3. Not a game you can go back and play but man did they have some pretty cool ideas. I do love the series and spent a chunk of my childhood with them.

@Dezztroy said:

@dvorak said:

@Dezztroy said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

I thought the linking to sites where you can buy guns is terrible taste for a game, hey you'r having fun shooting dudes with this rifle so why not buy it in real life

A civilian cannot legally buy/own the majority of the weapons represented in MoH: Warfighter.

That's completely inaccurate, but whatever.

Please show me where a civilian can pick up a milspec M249. Without the need for a license and such, of course. There's a reason manufacturers produce and sell separate products for the civilian market.

There are 8 transferable NFA M249 in existance. And what you said is "A civilian cannot legally buy/own the majority of the weapons"

Not where a civilian requires a license to purchase a majority of weapons in MoH.

But whatever you are still wrong because an NFA Firearm requires no such license.

Also what you also said is that a civilian cannot buy/own the majority of weapons in MoH, not whether or not they can own an M249, but that's still wrong too.

You can buy a transferable M249/FN Minimi for the price of small house here

All you need to do is purchase it and fill out an ATF Form here.

Then they process you through a background check in order to confirm you are not a felon, the firearm is then registared to your name, $200 tax stamp and boom you have your M249.

TLDR: Dezztroy is wrong and shouldn't talk about stuff he has no idea what he is talking about to avoid looking stupid.

nice article!

@Jekaboom said:

@norcy_blarvest said:

I just want to say how happy I am to see pictures of Ultima Online posted on a video game website in 2013. Such an awesome game that will never exist again.

+1 to that, Sire!

+1 again! greatest ever game

Shining Force is like if you took Fire Emblem, made it boring by taking out the threat of permadeath, and gave it a lame story and characters that are cardboard cutouts. It stood out in the West when Fire Emblem wasn't being localized, but I don't think it holds up at all, when the other greats of the genre (Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre) are just much more interesting games.

Given the advances in the genre, Shining Force 1 and 2 hold up about as well as Final Fantasy 1, which is to say NOT AT ALL.

games "forcing" us into situations

I had some trouble with this. No doubt the devs are manipulating...massaging the situation into which way they want things to go. One of the latter examples has made made me think how Assad of Syria have forced Alawites, Christians and such into this us/them situation with the oppressed Sunni majority. 'You're with me or you , your families, and clans are brutally obliterated.' And I personally bet it's just that way to a very significant degree.Thus Assad sandbags for his survival, and ppl. without desiring hate do horrible things to survive.

Devs ought to learn from Pros like Assad. And perhaps players like me might learn the lesson of putting the controller down, waste 40 or so dollars, but understand an ethical choice, rather than going on to see what happens next. Sure,it seems rather strange and monetarily rude...is this the lesson to be learned?

I would have no issue I think in real life, soooo, what do the devs' want? Tricky territory and an obstruction to we always want to see over the next hill, around the next bend. Perhaps it isbest to take it to the end, absorb the lesson, but let's keep it honest that way. There is(I understand) a gun in my hand......quite a lesson.

Wow, that picture of Ultima Online sure brought back some memories. I read the article associated with it and I don't really agree with it though. If anything games helped me realize that with the best will in the world (best equipment, good communication with people, good knowledge and experience), shit will still hit the fan and it's important to be flexible enough to switch tacks and/or recognize when you're settling into a destructive pattern.

A year ago, I probably would have agreed with the blog post about TBBT, without having watched it. Then I watched it, and I disagree with it. You do laugh at the idiosyncrasies of the characters, as you do in other comedies. The author brings up Community, which I happen to enjoy more than TBBT, and even there we laugh at the idiosyncrasies of characters. You have Britta, the feminist always looking for a cause; Pierce, the old white guy who is politically incorrect; Shirley, the religious mother. Should these demographics be as offended by Community as this guy happens to be about nerds in TBBT? I feel he's suffering from some kind of PTSD from high school that has him projecting onto TBBT.

Happy 2013, Patrick! Great work last year, and I am looking forward to 2013.