Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 1)

[benji]

[BIONIC]

Jeff Marvel has entered the chat

https://www.resetera.com/threads/bokeh-game-studio-unhappy-with-igns-review-of-slitterhead-slitterheads-frustrated-up-potentially-toyama-himself.1038831/page-11#post-131827974

Based as fuck tbh, games media is horrible at understanding anything but the biggest, most expensive games

Actually cringing at this reaction.

Instead of making the ridiculous claim that games media only understands the biggest, most expensive games (which is provably false), maybe you should just consider that Slitterhead isn't very good? Your claim that the reviewer didn't "understand" the game is deeply pretentious.

Even if you disagree, it's completely unprofessional to call out a review outlet like this, especially when outlets like IGN regularly have their critics harassed by alt-right chuds if they give a lower score to a game. A tweet like that absolutely feeds into the horrible landscape that people who work in games media already have to deal with.

It's also extremely weird to call out IGN specifically when the game is at something like a 61 on Metacritic with a 7.0 user score. The general consensus across the board is that the game is just 'okay' at the absolute best.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/dragon-age-the-veilguard-review-thread.1020987/page-53#post-131226558

I am not a dude, please don't call me one.

this seems unnecessarily defensive, "dude" is widely unisex no?

especially here / among peers?

https://www.resetera.com/threads/dragon-age-the-veilguard-review-thread.1020987/page-53#post-131228307

User Banned (3 Weeks): Dismissing Concerns of Transphobia

Please don't tell others what gendered words mean to them. The word dude might be used by many in a gender neutral way, but not everyone agrees it is and many people do not want to be refered to with it.

The only reply you should make here - the only respectful and decent one - is "my bad, thanks for letting me know" and avoid using it to refer to them in future.

Um, I asked an innocuous question, there was no hostility or "telling others" there.

My queer community uses dude non-gendered all the time and so I was a bit shocked by that poster's response is all.

Check my profile I'm also non-binary.

If you're reading any hostile tone in that post of mine I do apologize for that, I'm on the spectrum I often get caught up like this [especially on the internets].

I'd rather we not litigate my gender identity and what I feel comfortable with. I asked you not to call me a dude, please do not call me a dude. Simple as that.


Something can be revolutionary and still be seen as bad by somebody, in this case me. There is no objective measure for quality in art, and no objective critique of art.

You didn't tell me, in fact, anything?

I never called you a dude?

This thread is more hostile than the election thread.

Enjoy!

<3

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/era-have-you-ever-been-given-shit-for-playing-a-character-in-a-game-thats-the-opposite-of-your-gender.1036686/page-3#post-131685390

User banned (1 month): Transphobia

My wife teases me sometimes but I got her back when my lady character had a big dong in cyberpunk

[books]

"Please don't tell others what gendered words mean to them"

The fuck is wrong with these people?! Words have meaning. If basic ass words are malleable, then anything can mean anything and anything means nothing. Cats are now dogs and dogs are goats.

"Check my profile I'm also non-binary."

Not non binary enough, chud!

[Ribosome]

WSJ Op-Ed: Harris lost. It's time to unleash Israel.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/now-that-harris-has-lost-let-israel-win-hamas-hezbollah-weapons-biden-blocks-shipments-0fd7c482

Hamas-Bros, I don't feel too good... wait what's that noise outsi

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/coca-cola-receiving-backlash-for-releasing-a-fully-ai-generated-christmas-commercial.1037127/page-7#post-131737491

User Banned (1 Week): Backseat Moderation

Speaking of things that appear real but don't actually exist:

"OFFICIAL STAFF COMMUNICATION: AI content news that is merely about individual showcases of AI application, algorithm updates, offsite community bans, and otherwise non-pressing news are not to be made as their own threads, but instead to be discussed in the OT. Current threads about the subject will be locked."

"a moratorium has been put on AI content threads that are not determined to be significant news. Any such threads will be locked and redirected to an AI OT."

"a thread will be closed and redirected if it is derailed to discuss the concerns and ethics of AI content generation."

So is this "moratorium" still a thing, or should it be removed from the Official Policy Log at this point?

[Cauliflower Of Love]

rip sweet prince(ess?)

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/okay-what-is-the-deal-with-horizon.1036611/page-2#post-131670609

User Banned (1 Week): Inflammatory Generalization

lol the sheer amount of cope in this thread is amazing. You'd almost have to quote every post.

The hate comes from the fact that it's a nonsexualized female lead. That's it. Even if it's an unconscious bias from the enthusiast crowd and a teeeeeeeeny bit of console-warring.

They play better than most AAA open-world action adventures, look great and honestly the fairest criticism at least for the first is the central mystery about how the world ended up as a robodino utopia is way more interesting than the main story itself.

I'm not surprised it's a universal smash hit even if I don't fully jive with it, I'm not going to start concern trolling about the health of the Killzone franchise.

[Cauliflower Of Love]

fun fact, and I can't get into it but the era logo was generated through gen ai.

[Alpacx]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/american-soccer-ot-world-cup-bound.10674/page-236#post-131822634

ShagsMagoo:

So, Christian Pullisic fucking sucks. I hate seeing that so much.

Scored a great goal. Proceeded to celebrate by doing the Trump double handjob dance.

[Besticus Maximus]

Pulisic is shit tbf

[benji]

I should go find the very old post where she explains her worship of Lucio

Trying to do this:

Overwatch is undoubtedly the most inclusive AAA game I've had the pleasure to play and experience.

It being the most inclusive AAA game doesn't mean shit.

The OW teams' writers and artists, as well as the voice actors, have done insurmountable work in regards to providing an experience that makes minorities feel included in both the community and the meta development of the work itself, hopefully paving the way for gaming, both the works it produces and the communities that surround those works, to stop being such hostile, anti-diverse, right-wing embarrassments.

However, you cannot solely measure the success of any given work's representation in just the quantity of minorities that fill your work. The quality of the representation, how these characters represent and portray the backgrounds they come from matters too, and even with Overwatch, an effort that is deliberately inclusive by design, Blizzard has made mistakes that anyone who takes a modicum to delve into a bit of the tangential learning opportunities the game presents will recognize.

I'll point the finger at Lucio. I love this boy to death. Blizzard stumbled into making a black revolutionary (yes, he's fucking black) who managed to overthrow a totalitarian regime oppressing his people and didn't get either assassinated, locked up, had a bounty put on him, or maligned by white people for it like every other black soul braver than I has experienced. There is a starry-eyed, fable-esque bent to his background that is refreshing in not just gaming but media as a whole, and that's before you get to his charitable personality. As far as I'm concerned, Lucio is my personal Superman, something for me to aspire to be.

And yet, I still wonder why Blizzard was so shortsighted as to take two years to give him any meaningful form of black Brazilian representation (the capoeira skin), why his own voice actor had to push and lobby to make him speak Portuguese when almost every other character up until that point either spoke their native language and/or had an accent to tie them to their home country while he spoke in a straight American accent, and why they continue to downplay the logisitical nonsense of a black kid growing up in the slums in the tropics being an avid player of the rich-ass winter sport known as ice hockey, all in service to a nod of their own ice skating endeavors. And it's not even like the ice hockey skins are treated like the other joke skins; they have flavor text that reference his background, and Lucio has lines referencing hockey when he's not wearing them. This stupidity is actually canon! You'll find others closer to the source than I that feel his status as a musician is stereotypical, generic in its presentation (he probably wouldn't be an EDM artist), or both, and that his ascension to fame has some seriously negative sellout connotations in Brazilian culture. One also cannot get a little uncomfortable with how fantastical his story is and the reality that was Bolsonaro's election and the embracing of right-wing fascism in Brazil we just witnessed.

Overwatch is great for representation. But it is not perfect, and arguably can never be, and I will directly quote Lindsay Ellis from her Pocahontas video as to why:

"The legacy of colonialism is baked into every facet of every culture on the planet."

The authenticity and quality of representation will always be murky and debatable because the lens with which we view representation of minorities in works not directly made by those people will inherently be made in a context built upon cultural norms that accept white supremacy as a status quo. In that vain, representation is not necessarily a concrete goal, an objective number or concept with which you can target with precision. It is an on-going process, one mechanism among many with which we use to help bang out the kinks of society. You don't ever nail it. You simply get better at it as society continues the march towards a world in which European colonialism is a horror of the past.

I approve of the OP and thread. Excellent job.

I have two stories of revelation at how video games have been improving. First was Horizon Zero Dawn. My friend got it and a PS4 and invited me over to play. Standard hangout night.I mainly watched, although I tried my hand at hunting a few things (I did enjoy the 10 minutes I've spent on HZD). A few hours in to where Aloy is grown, through the silence of observing it hit me and I turned to her.

"You realize this game has a bunch of black women just, like...existing as normal characters in the world with no strings attached or stereotypes, right?"

"....Holy shit you're right."

Yeah. Horizon Zero Dawn made me cry later that night after going home just because people like me were existing in a game all over without being a complete embarrassment or drawing attention to themselves. They were a respectfully integrated part of that game's society. It was comforting.

Second is my Lucio fanaticism. Overwatch is relatively bonkers on the front of representation. It's deliberate, it's researched, and it's respectful. The ongoing-development format means that the fandom has some control over these characters' portrayal too, meaning we can revisit missed opportunities. It's a water bottle in the desert, and thus fandoms take hold. The Lucio fandom is bonkers in its adoration of him as a "precious child," but also savvy enough to point out that Lucio is one of the only black men in all of fiction period that openly staged a violent revolution to free the marginalized and downtrodden from oppressive rule without getting jailed, assassinated, or otherwise ostracized in society by white power structures. Everything he did is so far framed as justified and he is popular and loved among most of the cast. Back at home he remains a community leader free to continue trying to better the lives of favela residents (hinted at by his New Year's resolution).

Given the fact that actual black people can't even kneel in protest of oppressive governmental structures without harsh criticism, blackballing, and pushback even sometimes amongst their own allies, the wildly unrealistic success in his backstory contrasts against this reality and subsequently elevates him to a fable or Robin Hood-like figure- someone to look up to and a symbol of utopic dreams. His backstory and accompanying album also lean real hard into leftist sociopolitical lenses, such as a preference for socialist/group-oriented approaches to life improvement with potential snipes at the rich, the validation of "millennial anxiety," the social value of artists and entertainers in Brazil, and on and on and on.

Honestly Blizzard would do well to capitalize on this more in a post-Black Panther world because the implicit lore of Lucio is fucking bananas to me. And he doesn't even have a short or comic yet.

That's just a consequence of his lack of open lore. Most players are never going to engage with the details and meta implications of his backstory because it's never brought up to any real extent in game. You have to go out of your way to read it and start connecting the dots, really talk with people in the know, which only Lucio fans and/or the demographics he resonates with are going to do.

Horizon Zero Dawn was excellent in b that regard. My friend bought it near launch and invited me over to experience it. Hours into the game, in the middle of a conversation with an NPC, I nudged her and was like, "This game has a ton of black women and they get to exist as normal people without any bullshit attached." "Oh shit, you're right."

We stopped playing for a second to admire it. Will never forget that moment lol.

[benji]

Also, this from 2018: https://www.resetera.com/threads/fans-are-disappointed-that-overwatch-still-doesnt-have-a-black-woman-hero.80148/page-11#post-14827819

Take a look at this list.

Yesterday, Not even a day passed, they were all in my thread shitposting, downplaying, and gas lighting about the topic at hand.

What is the common denominator between this thread and mine? It deals with concerns coming from a Black perspective. This is fucking ridiculous and its pretty much come to a head.

Clearly someone felt their comments were out of line to ban them but once again ERA can't commit to making a better site than what else is available on the web. These posters see the word 'Black' and come running to stir shit, and time and time again, moderation gives them a few days timeout. They come right back to board and continue the same shit.

Look at how many people you banned in this thread, You think their gonna change? You think they'll be more receptive next time? That ban taught em a good lesson?

Is this how you all want to run the site? Is the standard white male gamer perspective the default that needs to be protected?

We had an embarrassing thread with WomenERA being bombarded with male posters completely ignoring their views. That's okay here on ERA too?


Its pretty damn disappointing. How are black moderators suppose to feel about this like Nepenthe and Slayven? Im sure they are well aware of these clowns who constantly stir shit and have to see them come back time and time again and make this board even shittier for everyone.

Im speaking for myself, but I know I aint alone in this thought. Posters are tired of this crap. Take out the fucking trash for once. It smells. It reeks in here.

You want to send me a notification about ERA 2.0 and goddamn emojis but you can't even commit to making a board with friendlier discourse between diverse people.

Its embarrassing, it truly is. What is the gameplan? What is the plan of action? Ignore it? Thats how we got here. You ignored action and now the board is astroturfed with alts and people taking the piss out of the community. Its all a fucking joke for them.


No, Im not going to PM you. Im going to post publicly so people can see wtf is going on and what we can expect as a response.

Cerium and SweetNicole

Ball is in your court. Ready to play?

PS: A perm for me and Racism getting 3 days proves my point.

[Taco Bell Tower]

Buy my book btw 

[benji]

Nathan Grayson retweeted this:

If you'd like to commission something from freelance artist Ian: https://www.bossrushstudio.com
Or just contribute monthly: https://www.patreon.com/bossrushstudio
Tip freelance writer Korlis here: https://ko-fi.com/korlis
Commission freelance TTRPG designer Martijn (Helicity) here: https://www.machine9.net/

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

Jeff can't even be an ally and boycott Disney/Marvel after they kneel to the Chuds. 

Lil bro shouldn't even talk. 

Spoiler:  (click to show)(click to hide)

Keep it up, Jeff. You will always be my favorite little troll.

[Besticus Maximus]

Imagine you turn up to work and a bunch of blue hairs are screaming at you for doing the job you were hired to do

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

In this thread, PlanetSmasher dishes up some advice on writing. 

But also gives a terrifying update on his own forthcoming, sure-to-be-a-disaster-that-nobody-buys fantasy epic.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/what-are-you-thoughts-on-lore-drift.1038333/#post-131786664

It's an inevitability, especially for universes that stick around for a really long time and ESPECIALLY for universes without a consistent writer between entries.

I've even seen it happening in my own setting the longer I spend time writing in it. Certain aspects of the cosmology I basically STARTED the story with have completely transformed into different things the more I write. Oftentimes those changes have been for the better or have been a result of me growing as a person and as a writer, but sometimes I just fuckin' forget details and replace them.

PlasMa... how in the name of fuck have you grown as person??

In the last 3 years, your Era posts have shown that:

- You have furious mental breakdowns over videogames
- You are one of the most angriest, bitterest, more deranged lunatics on a forum filled with other crazies
- You have grown 1000 miles backwards as a person, and not one step forward

If anything, your fantasy epic will be less like 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'A Game of Thrones', and more like 'Mein Kampf', considering how constantly angry you are.

 I'll do the Bire a favor and read his book but I don't think It'll ever be good enough for him to release.

There better be some wlw in it. 

[Polident]

Imagine you turn up to work and a bunch of blue hairs are screaming at you for doing the job you were hired to do

The good news is, increasingly, nobody cares about them or what they think. They used up all their capital  these past few years.

[Potato]

Imagine you turn up to work and a bunch of blue hairs are screaming at you for doing the job you were hired to do

"Artists" have been almost universally difficult to work with for hundreds of years. 

In the modern world they have created hostile work spaces and have leveraged their specific and somewhat scarce skills to make creative work difficult and costly. 

There are genuinely visionary people who make creative work better and drive entire mediums forward, but the rank and file texture artists of the video game industry have never been those people.

I feel sorry for anyone who loses their job to technology, and they won't be the only ones, but damn if these sorts of people don't make it easy to just turn a blind eye to the plight of a whole category of workers.

[Snoopy]

[benji]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

[benji]

Anyway, when you think about it trans women really are the women of women:

[Snoopy]

Finally, someone said it. Men are better women.

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

Happy Birthday Melody 

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

Buy my book btw 

No.

[benji]

It this Melody's sweet ass car in the driveway?


Did we know he's been recently sued by Discover Bank?


Or that he's been avoiding paying his former landlord unpaid rent (another $1882) and now also avoiding a Debtor's Exam for close to a year?




🎂 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELODY 🎂

[Propagandhim]

[Vertigo]

Yikes I hope Melody is able to be smuggled across the border to Canada asap