What game are you playing?

Started by DavidW, May 09, 2010, 04:07:59 PM

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lisa needs braces

#1100
Quote from: Alberich on September 12, 2014, 11:47:39 AM
Playing Half-life 2 episode two. Along with the original Half life and it's add-ons this is probably my favorite. Although I am driven crazy by that one achievement, killing all 333 antlion grubs, I managed to get only 325. So frustrating. And it's a great game, one of the greatest shooters ever made, even though original is still even better. I think the reason they haven't continued Half life in 7 years is because they don't know in which direction to take this franchise.

I completed Half-Life 2 (and its mini sequels in 2011), almost 7 years after the game's release and quite enjoyed it and appreciated many of its aspects but, by 2011, it was certainly a series that showed its age.

What I suspect is that there's a special attachment that many people who first played the game back in 2004 (people of a certain age, many of them teenagers or in their early 20s) have to the game, but in 2014 the Source engine is outdated, and Valve would have to do serious work to create a fully modern sequel and they have their hands full with being the most successful digital games store.  ;D

Maybe Valve realizes that there's no way a sequel can live up to the myth that's been built around Half-Life 2?  ;D

Artem

I'm also playing Half Life 2 for the first time. I'm on the second part of it. I was a big fan of the original Half Life when it came out long time ago and maybe I'm getting old for computer games in general, but I'm loosing the excitement of playing HL2 the more I'm playing it. There are two many scenes where you have to wait for a conversation to end just to get out of another door.

ibanezmonster



Just finished FF13-2 and now just started Lightning Returns.

I liked this a bit better than FF13. More freedom!  :D
Having to choose a monster as a third character was really cool. I liked how the villain in this game actually had some good reasons for turning the world into oblivion, rather than just being evil. The best part of the storyline was somewhat near the end, before the final dungeon. Especially the part where you are controlling Serah and in a dreamworld version of the opening village. Now that is a real Final Fantasy moment- something the series has strayed away from and needs to go back to. Poor Serah and Yeul...

Lightning Returns has gotten very mixed reviews, on par with FF13 (while FF13-2 seems to have gotten the best reviews of the trilogy), so not sure what to expect.

lisa needs braces

Quote from: Artem on September 28, 2014, 11:02:09 AM
I'm also playing Half Life 2 for the first time. I'm on the second part of it. I was a big fan of the original Half Life when it came out long time ago and maybe I'm getting old for computer games in general, but I'm loosing the excitement of playing HL2 the more I'm playing it. There are two many scenes where you have to wait for a conversation to end just to get out of another door.

That is a definite fault of the game.

I think the original (and its expansions) are simply better games.

lisa needs braces

There's a huge controversy going on right now in the gaming world, called "GamerGate."

Basically, there are two issues:

1. Some popular gaming websites (Polygon, Kotaku, etc) have come to be seen as favoring political ideology (of a feminist, leftist sort) over pure gaming content.
2. Some journalists affiliated with these websites have relationships and connections with indie game developers, and this is seen as potentially coloring their coverage of many games.

As an illustration of the second point, consider the game "Gone Home."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gone_Home

I haven't played it but this is a typical reaction to it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwMjXnBWBuQ

There's suspicion that a lot of these young game reviewers (on certain sites) are too chummy with the people they're supposed to be covering. Worst still, when these accusations were first raised, a lot of these critics decided to fight back by declaring "Gamers are Dead."

http://gamergate.giz.moe/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/1409546711940__large.jpg







ibanezmonster

Quote from: -abe- on October 14, 2014, 05:48:46 PM
Lol, this stuff is exploding.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/
That's funny, I was just reading a new story about some threats made against her, except no one actually believes them because in the past she has made up stuff.

Isn't she like some sort of feminist that is attacking how video games portray women or something? Which is hilarious, as I go finish up the FF13 trilogy, each game starring a woman hero (Lightning then Serah then Lightning again) or think about the several games in the past I've played featuring female protagonists. I mean, sure, female protagonists aren't quite as common, but male villains are also more common than female villains, and does anyone care?

But meh, I could be misremembering the case- glanced over something about this a while ago. Is this something she actually complains about?

lisa needs braces

What you have is some people of a cultural marxist bent poking millions of video game consumers with accusations of sexism and misogyny. The gamers get irate at these accusations, and a few of them make threats through Twitter that are then used to paint the entire male video game community negatively by those making the "sexism and misogyny" accusations in the first place.

Rinaldo

Quote from: Greg on October 14, 2014, 07:25:11 PMThat's funny, I was just reading a new story about some threats made against her, except no one actually believes them because in the past she has made up stuff.

She didn't make anything up. And the authorities take these threats pretty seriously. Especially after Elliot Rodger.

Quote from: Greg on October 14, 2014, 07:25:11 PMIsn't she like some sort of feminist that is attacking how video games portray women or something? Which is hilarious, as I go finish up the FF13 trilogy, each game starring a woman hero (Lightning then Serah then Lightning again) or think about the several games in the past I've played featuring female protagonists. I mean, sure, female protagonists aren't quite as common, but male villains are also more common than female villains, and does anyone care?

She's doing a feminist critique of the tropes used in videogames, not an 'attack'. And yes, people do care, because it's an important topic, tied into the overall sexism that's pretty prevalent in the gaming industry, as indicated by campaigns like 1reasonwhy.

Quote from: -abe- on October 14, 2014, 09:18:11 PMWhat you have is some people of a cultural marxist bent poking millions of video game consumers with accusations of sexism and misogyny.

What you have is a bunch of a-holes, trolls and cynics trying to preserve the boys' club of videogames at all costs.

ibanezmonster

Quote from: Rinaldo on October 15, 2014, 05:50:25 PM
She's doing a feminist critique of the tropes used in videogames, not an 'attack'. And yes, people do care, because it's an important topic, tied into the overall sexism that's pretty prevalent in the gaming industry, as indicated by campaigns like 1reasonwhy.

What you have is a bunch of a-holes, trolls and cynics trying to preserve the boys' club of videogames at all costs.
When people critique IT and such for being a "boy's club," I think they are losing some perspective.

If I had to guess, the main reason why there are far more men in IT and video game development is the extreme number of hours a week that people have to put in for some IT-related jobs (I knew a guy that was working over 100 hours a week). The game industry is absolutely absurd, and that's why I chose not to get into it. 90+ hours a week- not thanks. Nowadays, it's still more often moms that stay at home when couples have kids, so I can imagine this being a strong turnoff for any female who is even considering taking time off from work to be with kids. Thus, males who have historically been expected to work whatever number of hours a week is necessary to provide for their family are more likely to be open to a 70+ hour a week schedule. I'm not saying that I support this, but this is just a common aspect of society. It would be more ideal to have the same number of stay at home dads as moms. So what solution is there other than the government mandating a legal limit for of hours worked? I could just imagine how that'd go over with businesses and small government advocates, not to mention the economic impact, etc.

Anyways, when you are in a territory filled with a different demographic, you should expect there to be some people that'll say stupid stuff. It doesn't say anything about the whole group. The one girl that was in our programming class a few years ago was treated with respect just like anyone else, though there was this one guy who say highly inappropriate stuff to her, but he just said highly inappropriate stuff in general. I remember once being in JoAnn fabric and had to get some fabric cut, and this lady said that I didn't look like I come in there often so it's not my field of expertise- obviously because I'm a guy and you only ever see old ladies in that store. Instead of going on some internet rant about how women don't want me in their fabric stores, I just rolled my eyes.


Quote from: Rinaldo on October 15, 2014, 05:50:25 PM
What you have is a bunch of a-holes, trolls and cynics trying to preserve the boys' club of videogames at all costs.
I'm highly skeptical of any large numbers of guys wanting to do that. Most straight guys are going to want more females to be in the workplace. The IT field is a "sausage fest," which is very much undesirable.

lisa needs braces

Quote from: Rinaldo on October 15, 2014, 05:50:25 PM
What you have is a bunch of a-holes, trolls and cynics trying to preserve the boys' club of videogames at all costs.

A history of women and videogames:

http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/The+road+to+gamergate_513c7b_5308230.png


:P



Rinaldo

Quote from: Greg on October 15, 2014, 07:16:25 PMIf I had to guess, the main reason why there are far more men in IT and video game development is the extreme number of hours a week that people have to put in for some IT-related jobs (I knew a guy that was working over 100 hours a week).

I'd say the main reason is simple history. Less than 100 years ago, there were still universities where women couldn't get a technical degree.

Quote from: -abe- on October 15, 2014, 11:49:09 PM
A history of women and videogames:

Fixed: No Girls Allowed

ibanezmonster

Quote from: Rinaldo on October 16, 2014, 04:20:05 AM
I'd say the main reason is simple history. Less than 100 years ago, there were still universities where women couldn't get a technical degree.
Okay, but nothing is stopping them now from getting a technical degree. There were plenty of girls at the technical school I went to. Well, they were all in cosmetology. Cosmetology was basically 90% female, 10% gay dudes. Auto mechanics and welding were 100% male. Our programming class was 90% male, 10 % female. Graphic design and accounting were the only somewhat balanced classes, gender-wise.

They're just choosing what girls are more often interested in- makeup and hair, etc. rather than fixing cars or working on computers. And in that field, it's more family friendly than most IT work, so if you do decide to have kids one day (or already have them) it's easier to see them more.


Rinaldo

Quote from: Greg on October 16, 2014, 05:45:12 AM
They're just choosing what girls are more often interested in- makeup and hair, etc. rather than fixing cars or working on computers.

Because. Of. All. The. Centuries. Of. Women. Being. Denied. Getting. Knowledge. And. Degrees. Not. Only. In. Technical. Fields.

It's social inertia, it's slowly eroding but there's still many stereotypes and glass ceilings left.

We're in a games thread, so let's consider this example, which was part of a study about the way games are marketed: a group of teenage girls was asked about their interest in a game from the Battlefield series. There was none. But then they got the chance to play it and LOVED it. Women are people, you know? And people have different tastes and interests, which are massively shaped by the society they live in.

Quote from: Greg on October 16, 2014, 07:01:45 AM
Lol, speaking of that lady, I saw something a friend posted on fb...  ;D

Well, if you find missing the point of feminists like Anita Sarkeesian funny..

ibanezmonster

Quote from: Rinaldo on October 16, 2014, 11:43:59 AM
Because. Of. All. The. Centuries. Of. Women. Being. Denied. Getting. Knowledge. And. Degrees. Not. Only. In. Technical. Fields.

It's social inertia, it's slowly eroding but there's still many stereotypes and glass ceilings left.
And that's what's preventing them from taking cosmetology in school? Wait...

Of course, oppression is the simple answer. It can't be that they aren't interested in the subject. Just can't be. But who am I to discuss oppression, since I am a white male with special privileges who gets everything handed to him and oppresses people not in his demographic.

If the average person were asked how many males vs. females they know that have built a computer in their free time or worked on a car recently just for fun, would you really expect an even number? And if not, is it because of white males suppressing them?



Quote from: Rinaldo on October 16, 2014, 11:43:59 AM
We're in a games thread, so let's consider this example, which was part of a study about the way games are marketed: a group of teenage girls was asked about their interest in a game from the Battlefield series. There was none. But then they got the chance to play it and LOVED it. Women are people, you know? And people have different tastes and interests, which are massively shaped by the society they live in.
Of course there are plenty of girls who play games. I know a few and there's plenty on my server and linkshell in FF11.

But there's far more men developing the games, and a lot times they are making games for themselves, rather than their audience. 

North Star

Quote from: Greg on October 16, 2014, 12:13:41 PMOf course there are plenty of girls who play games. I know a few and there's plenty on my server and linkshell in FF11.

But there's far more men developing the games, and a lot times they are making games for themselves, rather than their audience.
Just like in the good old days when there were obviously many women undergraduates, but they just weren't interested in professorships and such..
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr

Rinaldo

Quote from: Greg on October 16, 2014, 12:13:41 PMAnd if not, is it because of white males suppressing them?

It's beacuse we suppressed them for centuries. And in certain fields, the suppression continues more subtly through sexism.

ibanezmonster

Quote from: Rinaldo on October 16, 2014, 12:52:32 PM
It's beacuse we suppressed them for centuries. And in certain fields, the suppression continues more subtly through sexism.
Oh, okay. Girls are less interested in building computers for fun because of guys because of centuries of sexism. Okay, got it.

North Star

Quote from: Greg on October 16, 2014, 12:55:23 PM
Oh, okay. Girls are less interested in building computers for fun because of guys because of centuries of sexism. Okay, got it.
Girls are only interested in what happens between the fist and the stove.
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." - Confucius

My photographs on Flickr