@Tennmuerti said:

When did it start getting so negative.

It's always been negative.

You were right.

The trend of constant bitching is getting annoying. I just only now started noticing it. Constructive criticism and discussion is one thing, but the bitching about new popular games that are quite decent is getting to be almost toxic. Half the threads in the game boards are people complaining. And usually the more people that are playing the more bitching there is, % wise. The less popular games thankfully suffer less.

I''ve now even seen completely misguided complaints on game's mechanics, from people that have not even played the game they are complaining about. Tiny things get out of proportion. A glitched enemy is equated to a game having bad AI overall. A single leftover issue is now a company fixing completely the wrong things in the sequel (when most of the things people asked for was addressed actually). The hyperboles just keep coming. And i though Darksiders 2 was pushing it, jeez.

When did it start getting so negative.

Fuck. >.>

Peace.

Sorry.

While it often seems to me that there's a few things with the crafting, mystic forge & armor upgrades that could use a little better explanation in Guild Wars2. Between the sheer size of the world with the scaling feature that makes the world challenging wherever you go keeps Guild Wars2 quite fun for me. Going back to an earlier dungeon or zone for some quest reward armor set to craft, due to the level scaling, forces the game to stay at a challenge always to keep it from getting stale by just breezing through it with a higher level character while leaving you access to any higher level skills to give you enough variety in gameplay.

@ahoodedfigure said:

If it were a drug we'd take it all the time (and I wonder if anything would ever get done :) ).

It is a drug.

@Little_Socrates: Holy crap, your kind mention of me brought me into the conversation. Didn't know you could do that just by typing it, thought you had to hit reply. I guess I have to read the thread now to justify responding here.

@TaliciaDragonsong: I'm betting some level of complaining is going to be part of a lot people's ability to cope with games not being exactly what they were expecting. Usually things get that way when you have a mass market game, where they hold back on what they're doing because they don't want to risk alienating people (and thus sales), but since they still want to attract people to the game in the first place they'll use stuff to describe it that's sometimes a bit vague, or weirdly stated in hindsight, and when you get there you feel like it's not the game they were talking about. But yeah, there are people who want the world from a game who maybe don't understand the insane amount of work that goes into a piece of software just to get it working, much less playable, much less fun, much less what everyone wants it to be all at once.

And yeah, love is nice. Pretty core human emotion so it's hard to fight, hard not to enjoy, hard not to get led weird places by it. If it were a drug we'd take it all the time (and I wonder if anything would ever get done :) ). Many kinds of love, though. I like that English as ambiguous about this, because it allows us to re-interpret what the word means when the different kinds people talk about don't quite fit. Other languages name many types, which is useful, though I think I benefit from the ambiguity.

Been playing FTL most of the time. Fun game, if a bit brutal. I wish there were even more random encounters than it already has, but I guess there are plenty I haven't seen yet. It's a bit crazy to play a game and know there IS no way to load a previous save. I'm not new to the idea, but this is the first time I've really thought about the impact it has on my approach to playing. As far as MMOs I played Star Wars, and we're both still playing on the free account now and again, waiting to see how the free-ish version pans out. I wouldn't mind playing Guild Wars 2, since it's looked good from the beginning stages and it sounds like my kind of MMO more than most, but I tend to prefer games I can put down at any time :)

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@Slag: Gotta be different right? I find there's a good audience in these websites and the most random users pop up to comment on my blogs so I very much appreciate that. It's all about finding something worth discussing, which is why I tend to avoid all the big issues because they're often too personal to have a sane discussion about or everything has been said already by the other 400 blogs about it (Tomb Raider!).

true dat!

@Little_Socrates said:

@Slag: I'm thrilled that you've jumped in.

Thanks for the compliment, as I'm sure everyone appreciates it. You're correct in that writing something intelligent and well-thought out doesn't necessarily mean a discussion will appear. And while a discussion will almost certainly appear if someone writes about the scandal of the day, it might not be intelligent. I think we should almost certainly avoid those until a couple of weeks after they occur; similar to how it might have seemed unnecessary to review "Call Me Maybe" for some music critics until it had ceased to be a flash in the pan and become a full-on summerjam, it's smart to wait until these things are meaningful before writing about them. There's definitely room for response to, say, "Wii U Price Announcement/Date Announcement" type stuff, but whatever David Jaffe said on Twitter is not worth discussing.
Well, maybe it is, but it probably won't develop a very informed discussion, at least.

Np man. You guys write good stuff.

I guess the "news of the day" kind of stuff bothers me a little less than it does you. I disagree that people should wait to talk about such things, although I can see why you think it would be better.

As long as a place can support both styles of conversation (shallow and deep) I don't really see a big problem with it. Now if you were to write a blog in the manner you typically do but let's say your topic matter was Anita Sarkeesian's ongoing kickstarter thing, and then the comments were of the same kind of quality that has been seen in those threads on here of late, Then I would say the Giant Bomb forum community has a real problem. At least so far it hasn't gotten to that kind of stage in the year or so I've posted here. Those threads generally start from a bad place and unsurprisingly went there as well.

I do feel people need an outlet to talk about "current events" for lack of a better term, even if what they have to say is often kinda dumb. And really I think people when they comment on those kinds of threads are really there to vent, so they aren't listening to anybody anyway. Maybe that's not an optimal way to communicate but there's a societal benefit on some level I think to have a place where you can speak your mind. Yeah David jaffe may have something dumb on twitter, but what makes it "dumb" is how other people see it. And perhaps to some people that's worth sharing.

While what you advocate which is expecting people to wait until emotions have cooled seems rational, I doubt it's a realistic expectation given human nature. By then it likely means the general public's interest in the subject has cooled too, I suspect discussions after the fact may be better less due to the timing and more due to who is left in them (namely more thoughtful people on the matter). Most everyday folks live in the moment and tend to mentally move on from things quickly.

The mainstream media plays into these kinds of whims of the public pretty perfectly, despite what some people think I personally don't think they are deliberately trying to distort the truth as much as they are trying to give you the news they think you want to see. Confirmation Bias at it's worst. You don't hear them talk much about AIDS or the US troops in Iraq or West Nile Virus or Wall Street corruption etc much anymore. Some of those are just as serious problems now as they were when they were hot button everyday newscycle issues. But the "newness" is gone, the hysteria phase is over, and thus the media has moved onto wherever is novel now. And they will play things to death like missing little girls, because there is a human interest angle that carries those stories perhaps far longer than they should.

And not every discussion in life should be deep in the first place, one thing I've noticed as I've gotten older is that going too deep too fast in verbal discussions is almost always seen as uncomfortable when you first meet somebody (You ever go out on a first date where your date asks you how many kids you want? that kind of stuff rarely ever results in a second date in my experience) . There usually is a feeling each out kinda of phase, where trust is built, humor/demeanor is gauged etc. And those conversations tend to be pretty light material.

Not every shallow conversation is negative either. Stuff like the Team Brad meme is pretty harmless fun.

Offtopic and news of the day kind of thread tap into that desire to communicate that way I think, but I also have zero expectations of seeing something insightful out of threads like those.

@TaliciaDragonsong: Such is the price of fame. Just wait until the day you get famous. Heaven knows how many things you'll say that'll be taken out of context and put on Facebook walls.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@LikeaSsur: Well I admit that was a bit hotheaded of me but come on, watching those guys fumble around while by all means it should only keep getting better and not worse kind of put me off. That and the fact I was just waiting for loverboy to get out of the shower. I will watch it but I hope there's some merit to it, the site's not been very professional as of late and I hope they do some interesting segments. Do they? That's kinda what I wanted to know because right now I'm not feeling the usual sillyness of the crew!

I'll preface this by saying this was the first BLLSL I actually watched live, so I may be biased towards it, but I think it was a pretty good show altogether. Again, the comic book segments were less than stellar (because I don't know anything about anything regarding comic books), but Patrick played some scary games, Brad died a lot trying to get really hard achievements, Jeff danced and hosted a Warlord tournament...there was some upcoming game coverage, but it wasn't like last year, where some segments were glorified infomercials. Just skip the first hour and the comic book stuff (and maybe the Starcraft segment? I heard that dragged on too long) and you'll have a gay old time! (Unless we have wildly varying senses of humor, but considering we're both here, I think that's not an issue).

@Video_Game_King said:

@Slag said:

I don't think yours get as many comments sometimes @Video_Game_King that they otherwise might because your often tend to read like game reviews of semi-obscure games.

That's not at all what I write about!

I don't think yours get as many comments sometimes @Video_Game_King that they otherwise might because your often tend to read like game reviews of semi-obscure games.

That's more like it. However, to be serious, I'd say that the obscure game thing is what sets me apart from other blogs. The reason I don't do less obscure stuff more often is because that ground's been covered well enough already, and people need to know that Devil World is just Jesus Pac Man.

I agree that seems to be your niche and it's dang good one to have as it sets you apart from the crowd.

In your case it's a shame Giantbomb doesn't let you easily track pageviews (although I'm sure there's lots of good reasons why they shouldn't to include that feature), since I bet your readership is pretty high despite your comment count sometime being low due to other people being in the same boat I am. Just a hypothesis of mine.

Whoa! Popular today! I guess I'll divide it up nicely, then, 'cause I really don't like the way the short reply tower ends up looking on my monitor.

@TaliciaDragonsong: Build it and they will come, I guess.

I agree that permadeath goes against what makes many MMOs fun and it would drive a lot of people away. However, your own champion, diversity, is here to save permadeath's skin; I don't know if there's an MMO that's ever tried permadeath, and as a result I'd love to see what exactly happens. Sadly, MMO development costs so damn much that the general disinterest or distaste towards the idea would make it impossible to create. We'd have to wait for a world where the next game in the Souls franchise is selling millions of copies instead of just the 1.1 million Dark Souls managed to sell. (Also, Dark Souls sold 1.1 million copies? WHAT?)

@emem: You're probably right.

Most people probably don't want to talk about these things. However, the point of internet forums is to share our opinions and make our voices heard, if only by more faceless posters. Posting on these forums indicates a desire to communicate at some level. I'd love to generate more really stimulating communication, or create a community for such writing here on Giant Bomb.

As for gamers growing up, that's happening all the time! We're at the point where we're finally starting to reach equilibrium as to kids vs. adults playing games, and while many adults are not "grown-up," they're constantly growing up.

@Video_Game_King: It's generally accepted in the style guide, I imagine.

Images and videos work nicely in combination, too. Multimedia catches the internet's attention and all that. Even FCH gets in on the action occasionally.

@Slag: I'm thrilled that you've jumped in.

Thanks for the compliment, as I'm sure everyone appreciates it. You're correct in that writing something intelligent and well-thought out doesn't necessarily mean a discussion will appear. And while a discussion will almost certainly appear if someone writes about the scandal of the day, it might not be intelligent. I think we should almost certainly avoid those until a couple of weeks after they occur; similar to how it might have seemed unnecessary to review "Call Me Maybe" for some music critics until it had ceased to be a flash in the pan and become a full-on summerjam, it's smart to wait until these things are meaningful before writing about them. There's definitely room for response to, say, "Wii U Price Announcement/Date Announcement" type stuff, but whatever David Jaffe said on Twitter is not worth discussing.

Well, maybe it is, but it probably won't develop a very informed discussion, at least.

@Slag said:

I don't think yours get as many comments sometimes @Video_Game_King that they otherwise might because your often tend to read like game reviews of semi-obscure games.

That's not at all what I write about!

I don't think yours get as many comments sometimes @Video_Game_King that they otherwise might because your often tend to read like game reviews of semi-obscure games.

That's more like it. However, to be serious, I'd say that the obscure game thing is what sets me apart from other blogs. The reason I don't do less obscure stuff more often is because that ground's been covered well enough already, and people need to know that Devil World is just Jesus Pac Man.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Little_Socrates said:

When people who really love games really, truly dig deep into game design and philosophy, something magical can erupt in between jokes about Triple H's hair. Here's to hoping we can propagate such conversation and thought

Given my recent butt-deep philosophical blog...maybe? It seems that people are willing to discuss this stuff, and they're certainly capable it, but the problem may be that a catalyst is required. Otherwise, a type of inertia sets in. Thinking out loud and whatnot.

hope you don't mind me, jumping in here.

I'm of the opinion that the first post of a thread sets the tone for the whole thread. The reason @TaliciaDragonsong's blogs, your blogs@Little_Socrates and your most recent blog @Video_Game_King generate good discussions is because you all put some thought and effort into your blog. Not to mention they tend to be well-written.

I don't think yours get as many comments sometimes @Video_Game_King that they otherwise might because your often tend to read like game reviews of semi-obscure games. I've read most of them but I usually don't have anything to add to what you already said and by the time I read your blog on originality some posters basically already said what I would have,

Not a guarantee that a lot of discussion or meaningful discussion will come out of it, but it's the best way to generate one imo.

Reaction to reaction of News/scandal of the day stuff are kind of hit and miss. Some inflammatory topics like The tomb raider thing, people have a hard time talking about intelligently in real life so it shouldn't be a shock they struggle to do so here too. But again a lot seems to me to anecdotally depend on whether the initial poster has something intelligent to say on the matter.

And then of course there are also low quality blogs, like certain (former?) poster's who will not be named, which are flame bait from post 1.

Is what it is, there's a place for silliness and I'm glad all sorts of threads seem to be able exist here.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

I put a few pictures in (the most random I can find, ha) just to migate the wall of text and pull some more readers.

I just thought that was a rule for writing about blogs.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@MordeaniisChaos: Aye but I kind of remember the bad parts about this wait as well. I rarely saw him (even less when he moved to England for his job) and when I did I was too stricken by his refusal years ago so we just stayed good friends. But god, every time I met/saw him I fell in love again! But then the love would make place for doubt in the weeks after and that got pretty bad. He's back to England now and I feel much the same way, all sorts of doubts crawling around. So I do like the anticipation but it does have setbacks as well! Ha, go wrestle a bear! I'll sip tea and continue reading Kushiel's Dart then.

There are certainly bad parts, and I'd give just about anything to spend every damn day with her, and maybe someday I'll get to make that come true, but sadly I'm that jerk that just has to go put his dumb ass on the line for 4+ years in a foreign country. But if in the end she makes it through that with me I certainly intend to make quick with the kidnapping her to a bunker of my own construction.

There are no bears left here, I keep having to kill them to prove my manliness! Hey, that's the book my lady friend just finished reading/drooling over! Actually it might have been a while ago, her reading habits betray the laws of time and physics and stuff.

@TaliciaDragonsong: Regardless of source, anticipation is sort of like a multiplier for romance and passion. She and I have gone through our fair share of anticipation and impatience but it always ends with fireworks :) I'd hope for use to find some more even ground at some point, sometimes it's nice just to hang out and read without feeling like we need to use our time. Or just being unable to keep our hands off one another. Still, passion is a hell of a thing, and rare. Time doesn't slow down when you're skimming past death, but that first kiss after a long wait always seems to have that effect. It's always good to know others are enjoying a similar experience :)

Look at me, being a mushy non-manly man. I need to go fix up my high and tight and drink some protein shakes before they put me on a do-not-enlist-sissies list!

Anyway, I'm glad you are enjoying your man, finally. And I'm glad it was worth the wait!

@Video_Game_King: That kind of writing really does need to start happening more often; it's happening more and more in the western market, with the numerous essays regarding Spec Ops: The Line, Max Payne 3, and Mass Effect 3 being really very impressive. I do sometimes get to have those conversations in reality, and they're amazing. On the internet, it's a bit harder, and we have to step up our game, either with style, video content, or wordplay.

The way film escaped the "for the plebs" mentality was by having intelligent analysts defying conventional wisdom and engaging in philosophical discussion on how films should be made, along with the aid of the early "genius directors." I'd say we're at the point now where the games are good enough; it's now the responsibility of those who really want to talk about it to keep on talking about it until others join us. Going to college is definitely a good way to learn those techniques and write for yourself, but writers can bring elements of college discourse to the masses by engaging and educating them in the process. For example, Patrick repeatedly links to Tom Bissell, and FilmCriticHulk repeatedly gets to write for institutions larger than his own, and the masses read them and get smarter for it.

@emem: ...however, your point about a lack of personal opinion is just as problematic, though just as true for film and literature as well. Those mediums DO have their more philosophical discussions and are still occasionally mired in "how dare you say TDKR was bad blah blah blah" or "I hate Twilight no I'd never read it read it it's so stupid blah blah blah." Tastemakers still get the largest say in a lot of ways. That's another conversation, I think, but definitely one worth having.

"Am I wrong in thinking that questing, pvping, and generally roaming a big fantasy world is part of a MMO?" You're wrong in thinking they're inherent parts of an MMO. Genres aren't defined by certain mechanics just because a bunch of games in the genre use those mechanics; they're defined exclusively by whatever the genre label you're using actually says. I've heard this 'if you don't like these mechanics then you don't like MMOs' line of reasoning before, and it's dead wrong. It just means you don't like a very specific subset of MMOs, which just happens to be the type everybody keeps making over and over again.

@TaliciaDragonsong: It's wonderful. It's one benefit to not having constant access to one another. When we come together, the already impressive magnitude of everything about being with her is multiplied tenfold. Including sleeping, which is like a coma from all of the togetherness.

Enthusiasts and press alike are beginning to enter something not entirely unlike a pre-Socratic philosophical age, where we argue the impossible for the impossible simply to have a lasting argument. It all rings slightly of the Zeno Paradox and the work of Parmenides, where it's impossible to satiate the philosopher because they are making demands which ignore reality. Personally, I rather enjoy that kind of conversation; it's a form of idealism that gives us better and better understanding of the medium and ideas for how to improve it. Of course, most of the detractors never really engage in the more philosophical conversation that leads to their thought processes, leaving us with more simple internet rage, trolling, and denialism. They have the thoughts and demands circulating throughout their psyche, but they don't verbalize them as it requires too much effort and explanation to truly engage in real discussion and debate.

That lethargy is the worst thing about games conversation today; if the detractors truly engaged in real conversation about their thoughts when it comes to games, we'd have a lot more honesty in the preview process and the eventual release conversations.

@Little_Socrates said:

COMMENT INCOMING.

OH FUCK.

(And now, the rest.)

I was thinking more "somebody stepping up and deciding to bring all this philosohizing nonsense unto the gamer peoples", but yea, what you said sounds a helluva lot more likely.

I'd say that the problem might just be the Internet age. Gimme a second. *breaks out a wooden cane fit for beating somebody to death with, hunches back, raises finger with good hand* Things simply move much faster than they used to, so people's attention spans aren't what they used to be. It doesn't help that if you drive a point into people's heads repeatedly (like I do), you come off as incessant and annoying.

So what you're saying is that more gamers need to go to college? That sounds far more logical than it has any right to, but I'm down with it. Let's drop a knowledge bomb on gamers.

I'd say the mass-market thing is just an easy excuse. There's been a mass-market for...well, everything at one point (penny dreadfuls can attest to that in literature), so I'm guessing the bigger problem is perception. Games are still ultimately seen as a kid's hobby, and gamers may still internalized those feelings. It certainly goes a long way toward explaining all this immature shit. Talk of problems is easy, though; solutions are another beats entirely. Personally, I'd say gamers should be more appreciative of the awesome stories out there and start discussing the themes present and how those interact with the game. I wanna see some essays on what Fragile Dreams has to say on human nature and what makes a person human/why that's important to us, or what Radiant Historia's saying about the power of one man, or Seisen no Keifu's scathing criticism of ideals themselves. I try to implement some of this in my blogs, whenever it comes up (I think I nailed it with my Deception/Polterguy I'll post eventually), but clearly, that's not enough. We need more of this.

You tamed the curls? Congrats!!

So, wait, I just realized you asked about the BLLSL. You tuned in for 5 minutes (I remember seeing you in chat, you tuned in at, in my opinion, was the worst segment), said "Sell outs," and left? No wonder you have a bad impression of it. Do you ever plan to watch it, or will you always just assume the worst of it for whatever your reasons are?

@Video_Game_King said:

@Little_Socrates said:

When people who really love games really, truly dig deep into game design and philosophy, something magical can erupt in between jokes about Triple H's hair. Here's to hoping we can propagate such conversation and thought

Given my recent butt-deep philosophical blog...maybe? It seems that people are willing to discuss this stuff, and they're certainly capable it, but the problem may be that a catalyst is required. Otherwise, a type of inertia sets in. Thinking out loud and whatnot.

By a catalyst, you mean a recent event or upcoming event that immediately relate to the issue at hand? Such as how we seemed "The Besties: The Thing" simply because the prequel was being released and it seemed appropriate? Or how we're supposed to prefer horror games as a discussion topic because Halloween is approaching, or how we talk about sexism in games because Tomb Raider and Hitman are lightning-rod examples of it in practice? I'd definitely agree most gamers move from issue to issue as lightning strikes it, and abandon the issue before it can really be resolved. Ongoing issues are also a problem, though; your war on "It's the same, but now it sucks" has been ever-present, as has mine on revering classics without regard for how they've aged, but neither are conversations people really care to discuss because they're omnipresent and it feels like we're just rambling on an issue that ultimately doesn't impact how much they actually enjoy what's coming out as it comes out.

Aside, I apologize for missing your blog this week, as it's an interesting topic and one I plan to engage in shortly. COMMENT INCOMING.

I think the process will come about more quickly with persistence. Anecdote; I'm enrolled in art history courses and a comm arts class this semester. In art history, I'm being asked to engage in formal analysis, or the analysis of visual appearance without historical context, symbolism (which is part of said context,) or commentary as to whether the painting is "good or not." My classmates in art history are learning the same techniques as I am for the discussion, so the discussion remains on the level of formal analysis, leading to discussions about shading, coloring, line, etc. without discussion of "yellow is symbolic for money" or "the woman looks sad." In my comm arts class, we were asked to engage in photos based on their composition; that is, without context, but not without regard to emotion or subjectivity. My classmates responded to the photos in regards to subject matter and emotional context; however, I repeatedly used terminology from formal analysis as well as composition terms (such as lead room and the rule of thirds), partly to familiarize them with the terminology. By the end of the hour, my classmates were using limited formal analysis and full memory of composition (as we had read about it in the reading assignment for the class period.) They heard me analyze the way line structure directed eyes towards certain parts of the image, the way shading impacted our understanding, and by the last photo I was no longer contributing because my classmates were catching everything I would have commented upon.

As we continue to write more engaging material, other readers may begin to understand the way more philosophical discussion can work; they may even start their own conversations that we have to throw our own commentary at.

Of course, before I start sounding like a crazy person, let me say that I enjoy your regular old "is it good or not?" conversation as much as the next guy, so long as the conversation can come up a little bit from "do you like it or not?" and actually be a bit detailed. But, damn, it is unfortunate that said conversation is the driving force in games discussion. Of course, it's also the mass-market discussion in film, though I'm less and less sure that people even really talk about movies anymore.

Love is cool!

I'm finding that WvW is the best way to level alts so recently after running through the PvE. And boy is it a blast! :D

@Little_Socrates said:

When people who really love games really, truly dig deep into game design and philosophy, something magical can erupt in between jokes about Triple H's hair. Here's to hoping we can propagate such conversation and thought

Given my recent butt-deep philosophical blog...maybe? It seems that people are willing to discuss this stuff, and they're certainly capable it, but the problem may be that a catalyst is required. Otherwise, a type of inertia sets in. Thinking out loud and whatnot.

@TaliciaDragonsong: Thank you; you're quite the writer yourself. Though I generally love the very serious blogs of @ahoodedfigure, I'm hoping to write some more focused and philosophical threads myself to generate more conversation. When people who really love games really, truly dig deep into game design and philosophy, something magical can erupt in between jokes about Triple H's hair. Here's to hoping we can propagate such conversation and thought.

It's probably true that permadeath is unpalatable and frustrating in an MMO; I play online games so little that I have trouble recalling the ebb and flow of network connection, which would be a pretty significant problem for permadeath. That said, the idea that crazy gangland kids would simply run around wasting each other is a bit exciting to me, and actually almost fits the tone of The Witcher; maybe player-killing could earn a bounty on your head or some sort of police attention so that players couldn't really get away with mass murder unnoticed. I just think that the permadeath would actually force people to forge relationships with other players. Meanwhile, getting a character to the level-cap would be practically legendary, and the major events of EVE Online and the assassination of Lord British are still the most interesting MMO touchstones for me. Of course, I'm not an MMO player, so my opinions on the genre are almost completely uninformed and also mostly irrelevant, but I still ponder as to what would make me really care for an MMO. The gameplay often seems robotic to me (I honestly haven't seen Guild Wars II in action to comment on it specifically) and the playstyle seems deliberately antisocial for those who don't bring friends into the game with them.

Of course, I'm not exactly Algernon. I have trouble meeting people in real life, so perhaps an MMO depersonalizes my own antisocial tendencies and exaggerates them. I always feel surrounded by people advertising, yelling at each other, and occasionally looking for groups, and apart from L4G, I rarely want to get to know anybody. The most personable I've ever seen an MMO community become in public chat is probably the QL for Tera, and that conversation is between personable scumbags. Hooking up with larger communities (such as a Giant Bomb guild or something like that) can mitigate said loneliness, but as much as I love Giant Bomb, that's not enough of a hook for me, and there's no other community I would choose. I feel like permadeath might actually force communities to grow in certain areas along with a greater sense of character empathy and identity.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@Video_Game_King: I dunno, you tell me? I never rate my own work because yeah, I might as well quit living then. :(

Wow. That was a complete 4500 degree turn, in terms of tone. But yea, I'd say the formatting gives your blogs style, like how my fear of hitting the Enter key because I think it's gonna yell at me for sexually harassing it style.

*thinks of the last time my out of town lady visited*

Yup, that's pretty much accurate.

I've been wanting to jump into Guild Wars 2 but I don't really want to support Freddies in their attempts to sell electronics/software (which is bad because I work at Freddies) and I don't want to treck all the way up to Best Buy to buy it. So until my debit card nonsense gets sorted out I have to wait to buy the digital version. But at least you can buy it now, right?

As fir tge cinokaububg, wow, I really missed the mark on that one. AS FOR THE COMPLAINING, I'mma keep doing it, mostly because I find it super engaging to pull things apart and find every little flaw. Mostly though because I think that's the only way you can get better at doing what you love: seeing the flaws in your work and the work of others and learning how to avoid making the same mistakes or at least do better at that thing. Everyone, including my closest friends, call me an asshole that likes nothing, but that's not true at all. Despite my criticisms, I'm just damned enthusiastic and in love with playing vidya gayms.

Ugh... Are the other gays going to start calling games made by gay folk "gayms"? If they do I think I'm turning in my homosexuality license v.v

That's all folks.

That's kick ass @TaliciaDragonsong! I'm pysched for you!

Pretty awesome what can love be like when you it happens to you. Mad props to your guy for manning up and making the gesture. All the best to you on wherever that goes for you.

RE: Big Live Live Show 3 Live-

I dunno haven't watched it. I don't have 9 hours to spend on something like that. I'll just wait for the cliffnotes version myself.

RE: the rant stuff -

I think know what you mean and I know what @Tennmuerti means too.

yeah sometimes people play so many games they do forget to actually have fun with them. Games are games, sometimes people overthink them and forget to feel the experience.

I get that people see flaws with games, and most of them have some sort of legitimate flaw if you are critiquing them. And that talking about is natural and can be interesting within reason. As long as you are willing to listen to an opposing view, which too few people do.

But if everybody complains and whines, then cumulative effect is really a big downer on a community level. Being in a place with a negative atmosphere can be draining and frankly it's just not fun. No one person may whine that much but if everybody does a little it can change the feel of a group or forum or whatever. There needs to be a reasonable balance of positive and negative in any good conversation I think. It's a balance I think ever forum struggles with.

Life is stressful enough. I don't need to stress about whether this game's multiplayer is busted or that game has repetitive quests. If I don't like it, I'll stop playing and play something else. No big deal.

I just want to game and have fun :)

EDIT:

I just saw what this "team Brad" business is about, apparently this happened at the end of the Live Live show. I'm not a first person Shooter guy, but this is simply awesome to watch.

@TaliciaDragonsong said:

@pyromagnestir: Sorry, writer's habit :P
I've no comment on that video.

Well, I'll take that to mean the video was just as pervy and inappropriate as I was going for. Mission success!

Enthusiasts and press alike are beginning to enter something not entirely unlike a pre-Socratic philosophical age, where we argue the impossible for the impossible simply to have a lasting argument. It all rings slightly of the Zeno Paradox and the work of Parmenides, where it's impossible to satiate the philosopher because they are making demands which ignore reality. Personally, I rather enjoy that kind of conversation; it's a form of idealism that gives us better and better understanding of the medium and ideas for how to improve it. Of course, most of the detractors never really engage in the more philosophical conversation that leads to their thought processes, leaving us with more simple internet rage, trolling, and denialism. They have the thoughts and demands circulating throughout their psyche, but they don't verbalize them as it requires too much effort and explanation to truly engage in real discussion and debate.

That lethargy is the worst thing about games conversation today; if the detractors truly engaged in real conversation about their thoughts when it comes to games, we'd have a lot more honesty in the preview process and the eventual release conversations.

That said, Diablo III definitely wasn't for me, and I can localize it to the aesthetic not meshing with my sensibilities the way Diablo II tapped into something primal within my 14-year-old self. Also, I felt like most of the areas were too open, as I preferred the more-confined and less-overpopulated style of II. But, as a result, I simply played some of the demo and stopped, which is definitely not enough to judge the game on its merits.

I still don't have much to say on the subject of MMOs. I know WoW very much turned me off very quickly and as such I never made it to level 10, but the idea of the real grandeur of an MMO still intrigues me. I think the thing that could pull me into an MMO despite all its trappings and gameplay would be permanent death; if your character dies, start the entire game over. I think I could be interested in that because it would allow for real player legends; a player that has survived since launch might eventually take on Lord British qualities, while his inevitable and eventual assassin might be famous as well. There could even be a revival mechanism, an intense quest that an admin can give out to players of high enough level and stature; of course, you'd either need to raise a new character to that level or have PRETTY GOOD FRIENDS to take on the quest for you, and you'd still need more good friends to complete it either way. And, of course, that level of intensity only makes sense for a Witcher MMO, right?

Maybe not? I mean, isn't that kind of what makes your blogs distinctive around here?

I instantly picture Batgirl confined to a wheelchair when I read the beginning (she's a red head, so it fits well). I can't wait to get paid so I can get a PC and GW2, even though I'll most likely suck at it.

@Brodehouse:

Do you think love can bloom on a battlefield?

Well, if nothing else, congratulations on the least understood yet most powerful emotion of the human psyche.

Bravo.

Punctuation NOT immediately followed by a line break? What madness is this!?