Art - Final Fantasy 7 Remake - Meditation 2
The following contains spoilers for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, specifically for Chapter 12. You should be done Chapter 12 and firmly into Chapter 13 if you don't want to be spoiled on anything.
I hate spoilers, and I will always try to protect readers/viewers/audience where possible.
Showing posts with label Story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Story. Show all posts
Friday, April 17, 2020
Monday, March 9, 2015
D&D - Why
D&D - Why
Why do we play D&D? I had this conversation a few weeks ago with someone. She said that for her D&D was more just an excuse to get together and hang out. An excuse to drink and order pizza and see people.
I shook my head.
Why do we play D&D? I had this conversation a few weeks ago with someone. She said that for her D&D was more just an excuse to get together and hang out. An excuse to drink and order pizza and see people.
I shook my head.
Friday, February 20, 2015
People - Broken Man - I Was Raped, Does Anyone Care?
People - Broken man - I Was Raped, Does Anyone Care?
What follows is a lengthy, difficult, unreferenced autobiographical writing from an otherwise anonymous poster on reddit. He uses a throw-away alias, that would be difficult, if not largely impossible to track down. He even opens with an admission that he doesn't know what he aims to accomplish by posting this story. I don't know what I intend to accomplish by reposting it.
Only that it is a troubling piece of writing. It's a human piece of writing. It delves into a societal darkness that is problematic for us to analyze too closely. But we need to do a number of things, at least in my reckoning. First, this man needs to know that we do care. That the world is changing, and that we listen, and have empathy as individuals, as a culture, as a society for him. That his story, were it to prove credible is worth listening to. Second, that our world is changing that twenty years ago, ten years ago...men would never have even imagined that this was a problem. He delves a little bit into this in his piece of writing.
We don't live in that world anymore. We're in the midst of transitioning through it, but the world is a-changing through it. We have a lot of hard questions to ask, and a lot of harder answers to find. But we'd never know until stories like this, human stories begin coming to light.
So I share it with you, in the darkness of the internet. In some strange corner of nowhere. Hopefully it moves you to ask questions too. Obviously...trigger warnings galore.
Edit: I added this message when I shared it to Facebook...I feel like it might, but maybe doesn't, explain why I put it into a public blog to share.
This is a piece of writing I read tonight. Once I finished reading it, I had to go for a walk and think about it. When I got back, I transcribed it over the course of half an hour, loaded it into one of my private blogs and left it. I keep repositories of writing for myself everywhere, dark writing, tragic writing. Human writing.
Then I came back five minutes later. I hadn't shared it. Maybe it was because I was ashamed I had read it? Maybe because I was ashamed for the guy, his story that I had read. It was on my mind. It was on my mind because I didn't know how to explain it. I still don't. I don't know why it is important, only that it is. And in an era where we share images of kittens, and what people wear, or what GoT character best represents us...why would I hesitate to share something important?
Truthfully I'm still not sure. But I'd like to talk about it.
What follows is a lengthy, difficult, unreferenced autobiographical writing from an otherwise anonymous poster on reddit. He uses a throw-away alias, that would be difficult, if not largely impossible to track down. He even opens with an admission that he doesn't know what he aims to accomplish by posting this story. I don't know what I intend to accomplish by reposting it.
Only that it is a troubling piece of writing. It's a human piece of writing. It delves into a societal darkness that is problematic for us to analyze too closely. But we need to do a number of things, at least in my reckoning. First, this man needs to know that we do care. That the world is changing, and that we listen, and have empathy as individuals, as a culture, as a society for him. That his story, were it to prove credible is worth listening to. Second, that our world is changing that twenty years ago, ten years ago...men would never have even imagined that this was a problem. He delves a little bit into this in his piece of writing.
We don't live in that world anymore. We're in the midst of transitioning through it, but the world is a-changing through it. We have a lot of hard questions to ask, and a lot of harder answers to find. But we'd never know until stories like this, human stories begin coming to light.
So I share it with you, in the darkness of the internet. In some strange corner of nowhere. Hopefully it moves you to ask questions too. Obviously...trigger warnings galore.
Edit: I added this message when I shared it to Facebook...I feel like it might, but maybe doesn't, explain why I put it into a public blog to share.
This is a piece of writing I read tonight. Once I finished reading it, I had to go for a walk and think about it. When I got back, I transcribed it over the course of half an hour, loaded it into one of my private blogs and left it. I keep repositories of writing for myself everywhere, dark writing, tragic writing. Human writing.
Then I came back five minutes later. I hadn't shared it. Maybe it was because I was ashamed I had read it? Maybe because I was ashamed for the guy, his story that I had read. It was on my mind. It was on my mind because I didn't know how to explain it. I still don't. I don't know why it is important, only that it is. And in an era where we share images of kittens, and what people wear, or what GoT character best represents us...why would I hesitate to share something important?
Truthfully I'm still not sure. But I'd like to talk about it.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Game Design - Inside Tip
Game Design - Inside Tip
Let me give you an inside tip. Game designers, game developers, game programmers...none of us sit around and debate to each other about some kind of weird mythical set of guidelines that define whether what we make is a 'game' or not. This whole stupid debate around needing a fail state, needing gameplay, needing player choice or player motivation in order to make something a game?
None of us are talking about that. We are talking about metrics, UX design, UI design, narrative, story, character driven scenes. We're talking about tuning numbers, watching playtests, coming up with concept. We are staring at code, long sheets of xml data, inputting weird database numbers and looking at what comes back.
We're watching lines of graphs printed out for us in real time and trying to draw conjecture out of it.
But let me tell you, none of us are sitting around asking each other if what we're making is a game or not. Nobody cares. We're making it, if it has any kind of interaction at all, and isn't a piece of productivity software, it's a game. We don't debate that part, we just make games. Lists of assets come down, milestones get declared, we tune the controls, replace big grey boxes with interesting things, watch people play and take notes. Not even the dumbest intern at the lowest level of EA ever asks some senior dev "Is this really a game though?" It just doesn't happen.
Just because you didn't like Gone Home? Just because you thought To The Moon was too linear? Just because you thought there's no difference in the narrative to Journey? That's your problem. Those games, perhaps are not for you.
I have a secret, not all games are for everyone. In fact, I would even posit that many games are not for many people. There is A game out there for everyone, but not every game is for every one. That's a sad truth of the matter. Some people like more guns, less guns, more blood, fewer jump scares, more jump scares. Some people like more variety in the art, others don't care about pixel art, maybe some people like vector, or painted styles. Some of us like voice over, others are perfectly content with blocks of text. Sometimes you want hip hop music in your game, I would think you're crazy because I like orchestra or minimalism, but I get that you like hip hop in your game.
Does that make sense? Just because someone else sees the value in a game doesn't mean their opinion isn't valid. But having weird little internet arguments over what are subjectively 'good' or 'bad' or 'not even' a game, games? That doesn't even make any damn sense. And beyond that, you're actively treading on people's REAL LIFE agency. You're telling them what they can or can't love. And why. And the reasons you are presenting are stupid.
Criticize tangible things, like disagreements about flow, or textures, or functionality. Criticize community, or policing, or the company's EULA. But you want to tell a developer that their game isn't a game? Well my immediate response to you will be "Your face, isn't even a face." I mean what? Your statement doesn't even make any OBJECTIVE SENSE.
Get over it.
And stop being so offended that I muted you that you went to harass my friends. We're not in grade school any more.
Get.
Over.
It.
Let me give you an inside tip. Game designers, game developers, game programmers...none of us sit around and debate to each other about some kind of weird mythical set of guidelines that define whether what we make is a 'game' or not. This whole stupid debate around needing a fail state, needing gameplay, needing player choice or player motivation in order to make something a game?
None of us are talking about that. We are talking about metrics, UX design, UI design, narrative, story, character driven scenes. We're talking about tuning numbers, watching playtests, coming up with concept. We are staring at code, long sheets of xml data, inputting weird database numbers and looking at what comes back.
We're watching lines of graphs printed out for us in real time and trying to draw conjecture out of it.
But let me tell you, none of us are sitting around asking each other if what we're making is a game or not. Nobody cares. We're making it, if it has any kind of interaction at all, and isn't a piece of productivity software, it's a game. We don't debate that part, we just make games. Lists of assets come down, milestones get declared, we tune the controls, replace big grey boxes with interesting things, watch people play and take notes. Not even the dumbest intern at the lowest level of EA ever asks some senior dev "Is this really a game though?" It just doesn't happen.
Just because you didn't like Gone Home? Just because you thought To The Moon was too linear? Just because you thought there's no difference in the narrative to Journey? That's your problem. Those games, perhaps are not for you.
I have a secret, not all games are for everyone. In fact, I would even posit that many games are not for many people. There is A game out there for everyone, but not every game is for every one. That's a sad truth of the matter. Some people like more guns, less guns, more blood, fewer jump scares, more jump scares. Some people like more variety in the art, others don't care about pixel art, maybe some people like vector, or painted styles. Some of us like voice over, others are perfectly content with blocks of text. Sometimes you want hip hop music in your game, I would think you're crazy because I like orchestra or minimalism, but I get that you like hip hop in your game.
Does that make sense? Just because someone else sees the value in a game doesn't mean their opinion isn't valid. But having weird little internet arguments over what are subjectively 'good' or 'bad' or 'not even' a game, games? That doesn't even make any damn sense. And beyond that, you're actively treading on people's REAL LIFE agency. You're telling them what they can or can't love. And why. And the reasons you are presenting are stupid.
Criticize tangible things, like disagreements about flow, or textures, or functionality. Criticize community, or policing, or the company's EULA. But you want to tell a developer that their game isn't a game? Well my immediate response to you will be "Your face, isn't even a face." I mean what? Your statement doesn't even make any OBJECTIVE SENSE.
Get over it.
And stop being so offended that I muted you that you went to harass my friends. We're not in grade school any more.
Get.
Over.
It.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Life - Nighthawk
Life - Nighthawk
n. a recurring thought that only seems to strike you late at night—an overdue task, a nagging guilt, a looming and shapeless future—that circles high overhead during the day, that pecks at the back of your mind while you try to sleep, that you can successfully ignore for weeks, only to feel its presence hovering outside the window, waiting for you to finish your coffee, passing the time by quietly building a nest.
#DictionaryOfObscureSorrows
n. a recurring thought that only seems to strike you late at night—an overdue task, a nagging guilt, a looming and shapeless future—that circles high overhead during the day, that pecks at the back of your mind while you try to sleep, that you can successfully ignore for weeks, only to feel its presence hovering outside the window, waiting for you to finish your coffee, passing the time by quietly building a nest.
#DictionaryOfObscureSorrows
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Quotes - Remember Me
Quotes - Remember Me
"In the End, man is not entirely guilty - he did not start history. Nor is he wholly innocent - he continues it."
- Albert Camus
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Life - Nodus Tollens
Life - Nodus Tollens
n. the realization that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense to you anymore—that although you thought you were following the arc of the story, you keep finding yourself immersed in passages you don’t understand, that don’t even seem to belong in the same genre—which requires you to go back and reread the chapters you had originally skimmed through to get to the good parts, only to learn that all along you were supposed to choose your own adventure.
#DictionaryOfObscureSorrows
n. the realization that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense to you anymore—that although you thought you were following the arc of the story, you keep finding yourself immersed in passages you don’t understand, that don’t even seem to belong in the same genre—which requires you to go back and reread the chapters you had originally skimmed through to get to the good parts, only to learn that all along you were supposed to choose your own adventure.
#DictionaryOfObscureSorrows
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