I know that there has always been an illusion of choice, but it was so fucking obvious with this episode, man, it was just bad. I'm pretty sure that most of your decisions have the same outcome no matter what you pick, except for the last one with Sarita
Yeah that's pretty accurate. Reggie is always going to die, Kenny will get beat down no matter what, any optional surviving characters are going to contribute nothing save 2 lines of dialogue, etc and it was really obvious and somewhat annoying in this episode. But i've learned just to enjoy TWD for the journey rather than the destination. Everything is going to play out the same, but the game lets you create your own little narrative within its predetermined story. From reading through these threads people always rationalise their choices in interesting and different ways, someone might have chosen all of the same dialogue choices as mself but because of different reasons. I think it's really interesting and that personal experience is why I don't mind looking past some of the very obvious flaws in this season.
Reggie dying and Kenny getting beaten to shit are not good examples of a lack of choice. Even if the game wasn't limited to very specific choices in what is still a linear narrative, you still can't control how other characters act. If Carver wants to kill Reggie, he's going to do it. If Kenny wants to take the fall for the walkie-talkie and Carver wants to beat him within an inch of his life, they're going to do those things. The places where this is an issue are scenarios like the one Anwar mentioned, when people start arguing about plans but no matter what side you fall on, there's really only the one way it will play out.
The choices that really matter in these games are the ones that affect your interpersonal relationships. The first season did a good job of this, the scenarios played out mostly the same, the main difference was what characters were around and how they reacted to Lee. This season really wants that dynamic to come out through the tension between the new group of survivors and Kenny, and making the player choose between the two, but is really not doing a good job of it. The story is interesting enough for me to stick through their roller coaster ride though, as long as they let me be the most stone-cold little girl on the planet.
Well before the Facebook transaction was announced, Mr. Luckey acknowledged in writing ZeniMax's legal ownership of this intellectual property. It was further agreed that Mr. Luckey would not disclose this technology to third persons without approval. Oculus has used and exploited ZeniMax's technology and intellectual property without authorization, compensation or credit to ZeniMax. ZeniMax and Oculus previously attempted to reach an agreement whereby ZeniMax would be compensated for its intellectual property through equity ownership in Oculus but were unable to reach a satisfactory resolution. ZeniMax believes it is necessary to address these matters now and will take the necessary action to protect its interests.
If the statement released to Engadget is to be believed, Oculus basically admitted that Carmack's work on VR was indeed Zenimax'.
Yeah, if you read over that NDA it seems like Zenimax actually has a case here now that Oculus has been bought. If Oculus is using Zenimax's code, which Carmack says that they own, then sharing it with Facebook (which they are, de facto, just by the nature of being part of Facebook's corporate entity) then Luckey is in breach of the agreement that he signed. I'd love to think that Zenimax's legal team are being a bunch of assholes considering their previous shenanigans regarding Scrolls, but if I were Zenimax I'd probably be doing the exact same thing in this scenario if previous attempts to resolve the issue weren't going anywhere.
The idea that it's somehow disingenuous to use every advantage these games offer you is ridiculous. When Brad abuses his Soul Arrow in Demon's Souls, he's playing the game correctly. These games are unforgiving and pull no punches, and you should pull none either.
@mrgtd: You are so right. If you don't understand why Bioshock Infinite is supposed to be a shooter, you are missing the point entirely. Booker is a violent person, violence defines his character and is at the heart of this story, with regards to his development. Sure, it isn't the best controlling shooter, but if this game wasn't a shooter, it wouldn't work nearly as well as it does.
Seriously, the core takeaway about the characters of Bioshock Infinite is that everyone's a goddamn monster. Including Booker. Including Elizabeth by the end. Not a single person in that game is a good person. The only people who you could conceivably cut some slack are Robert Lutece and Elizabeth.
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