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Kotaku: "Greedfall's Detailed Role-Playing can't make up for its unpleasant setting"

ruvikx

Banned
From her article:

Greedfall
is set in a fictional universe that appears to be modeled after 17th century Europe and America with some Celtic influences as well. There are nobles and sailors, newly founded colonies, and dialogue trees full of characters engaging in courtly intrigue.

It's easy to see "why" a radical leftist might be triggered by that sort of setting, i.e. any reminder of the former world & its cultural/racial "whiteness" might make people unappreciative of the shitholes known as urban "diverse" Multikulti liberal areas in the 2019 western world. Burn the past, lie about the present & attack all dissenters. Say hello to the far left.
 

Hestar69

Member
games, she's interested in far left propaganda & shaping a world in her own image. That's all. Everything is about the dogma, all day & everyday. They're the neo religious zealots of our era & a serious problem from the moment they have real influence & real power. It would be easy to ignore these sorts of people if it wasn't for the fact they also pollute the education system & corporate hierarchies as well (hence "diversity" indoctrination etc.).
There is something wrong with her and them....But then again...Nevermind we know she has mental issues.
 

mcz117chief

Member
I find it quite disheartening that people automatically discredit all her opinions just because she has a sjw type hair style. I remember an article from her about the AI in Red Dead 2 being there solely to entertain the player instead of trying to create a compelling virtual world. It was a very well thought-out article and really made me think and agree with her on just about everything. The tweets in the op are fine too. Video games are an art form so they can, and honestly should, contain more than just brainless entertainment. That is why games like Shadow of the Colossus and NieR are so great. Seriously just stop automatically condemning everything she says just because she has different colored hair, most of you sound like "Orange man bad" just on the opposite side.

Edit: I read through the article. She makes some interesting points. The hate she is getting is absolutely undeserved. Again.
 
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Dev1lXYZ

Member
This game came out of nowhere and I am quite interested in it now. This looks like another gem like Kingdom Come Deliverence. Sign me up!
 

Teslerum

Member
I find it quite disheartening that people automatically discredit all her opinions just because she has a sjw type hair style. I remember an article from her about the AI in Red Dead 2 being there solely to entertain the player instead of trying to create a compelling virtual world. It was a very well thought-out article and really made me think and agree with her on just about everything. The tweets in the op are fine too. Video games are an art form so they can, and honestly should, contain more than just brainless entertainment. That is why games like Shadow of the Colossus and NieR are so great. Seriously just stop automatically condemning everything she says just because she has different colored hair, most of you sound like "Orange man bad" just on the opposite side.

I'm discrediting your opinion for an entirly different reason, believe me.

Or if you just want a quick sum-up as you see us this way I'm just going to copy a previous poster

giphy.gif
 

ZehDon

Member
I find it quite disheartening that people automatically discredit all her opinions just because she has a sjw type hair style. I remember an article from her about the AI in Red Dead 2 being there solely to entertain the player instead of trying to create a compelling virtual world.It was a very well thought-out article and really made me think and agree with her on just about everything. The tweets in the op are fine too. Video games are an art form so they can, and honestly should, contain more than just brainless entertainment. That is why games like Shadow of the Colossus and NieR are so great. Seriously just stop automatically condemning everything she says just because she has different colored hair, most of you sound like "Orange man bad" just on the opposite side.
I agree that the personal attacks in this thread are embarrassing, and simply unwarranted. I also remember that article in detail, and we couldn’t have more different opinions.
Frankly, it was horribly premised and poorly explained. I remember describing it as a mess of half-aborted ideas - as if someone noticed Red Dead 2 looked like Westworld, and starting pouring their inane thoughts into a blog... except that blog was a publication desperately trying to be something other than the tabloid equivalent it is.
There was so little intelligent thought put into, or to be derived from, that article, that I’m honestly curious what you managed to get out of it. I’ll preface that question by reminding you the opening premise of the article was that Red Dead 2’s open world felt more like a collection of automata, or more simply a facade, than any other open world the authour had encountered. I think that the article released a week after launch alone colours the entire article as click bait and hyperbole designed to generate revenue for the authour through their revenue share program. I’ll be interested in your reply.
Note: if you link back to it, please use an archive link.
 
I am so sick and tired of these morons spewing some arbitrary, ad hoc woke ideas while having the audacity to say what people, art and entertainment HAVE TO do. You see it in their constant use of the words "need, have to, should" etc and it's sickening. This coming from a guy who mostly considers himself progressive and liberal btw.

Exactly.

Fascism disguised as equalty spreading free think.

Wolves wearing sheep skin.
 

mcz117chief

Member
The idea was, or at least how I understood it, was that the events and ai were acting like performers in a theme park where you are the only visitor. The universe stands still unless it's in your field of view. I haven't played Red Dead 2 so I can't say if it is true or not but I can definitely understand her frustration if she felt the game is like that.
 

Woo-Fu

Banned
I find it quite disheartening that people automatically discredit all her opinions just because she has a sjw type hair style. I remember an article from her about the AI in Red Dead 2 being there solely to entertain the player instead of trying to create a compelling virtual world. It was a very well thought-out article and really made me think and agree with her on just about everything.
That's another stance that is completely off the mark. It doesn't matter how compelling the virtual world is if the player isn't entertained.

If I go by just these two incidents her main problem with games is that they're you know, games.

Can these people fuck off to another industry already?
Other, more established industries are covered by real journalists, this crowd would be laughed out of the room. When's the last time you saw an article like this about a popular novel? Probably never. That industry is too established to allow wannabes to come in and try to turn it into their own personal platform.
 
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mcz117chief

Member
That's another stance that is completely off the mark. It doesn't matter how compelling the virtual world is if the player isn't entertained.

If I go by just these two incidents her main problem with games is that they're you know, games.
Right, in somebody's mind it is entertaining, in someone else's it might not be. I don't see a problem here.
 
I find it quite disheartening that people automatically discredit all her opinions just because she has a sjw type hair style. I remember an article from her about the AI in Red Dead 2 being there solely to entertain the player instead of trying to create a compelling virtual world. It was a very well thought-out article and really made me think and agree with her on just about everything. The tweets in the op are fine too. Video games are an art form so they can, and honestly should, contain more than just brainless entertainment. That is why games like Shadow of the Colossus and NieR are so great. Seriously just stop automatically condemning everything she says just because she has different colored hair, most of you sound like "Orange man bad" just on the opposite side.

Edit: I read through the article. She makes some interesting points. The hate she is getting is absolutely undeserved. Again.

The insults to her person are obviously wrong (a couple quite disgusting even).

I understand and agree with the logic behind your arguments but...

The girl is saying what shes saying using a game like Greedfall as the starting point.

Cmon.

Thats like she was a movie critic making similar remarks using the Expendables as her base for them.

I played a bit over two hours of Greedfall. I havent seen any attempt from Spiders to turn it into an artistic or political work in those two hours.

Spiders went with a different setting in the hopes of it seeming more original and distinct. Besides that they are trying to tackle something like The Witcher with a low budget, growing as developers and keep carving their place in the market.

By design, this no Nier or Shadow of the Colossus. Nor does every videogame needs to be.
 
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Woo-Fu

Banned
Right, in somebody's mind it is entertaining, in someone else's it might not be. I don't see a problem here.
The problem is the writer thinking they know more about entertaining the entire audience than the developer does. Is particularly off target when that writer themselves is only targeting a tiny fragment of their own potential audience.
 
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mcz117chief

Member
The insults to her person are obviously wrong (a couple quite disgusting even).

I understand and agree with the logic behind your arguments but...

The girl is saying what shes saying using a game like Greedfall as the starting point.

Cmon.

Thats like she was a movie critic making similar remarks using the Expendables as her base for them.

I played a bit over two hours of Greedfall. I havent seen any attempt from Spiders to turn it into an artistic or political work in those two hours.

Spiders went with a different setting in the hopes of it seeming more original and distinct. Besides that they are trying to tackle something like The Witcher with a low budget, growing as developers and keep carving their place in the market.

By design, this no Nier or Shadow of the Colossus. Nor do every videogame needs to be.
I never said it has to be like SotC, just showing that video games moved past PONG. She is just saying that given the unique environment and era they could have been more "hot or cold" about the topics she mentioned instead of "a little bit here and a little bit there".

Expendables though were made as a classic throwbacks to the 90s action movies, it isn't a valid comparison. A more apt comparison would be a hypothetical Platoon movie without the village scene, like "why didn't they explore the atrocities committed during the war properly" kind of thing.

The problem is the writer thinking they know more about entertaining the entire audience than the developer does. Is particularly off target when that writer themselves is only targeting a tiny fragment of their own potential audience.

I really didn't get that impression at all. It feels like a very personal view and she acknowledges that when she says that others might not care/be bothered with it.
 
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Barnabot

Member
I think Heather Alexandra should really review Mega Man and Sonic games so she could be asking this:

“I ask: what is current_game saying? What messages does it want to communicate to me? What themes are on display? I have no answers to these questions and if current_game, it’s not been kind enough to reveal them yet.”
 
Yeah, I know Expendables was an extreme/poor comparison but you get my point.

The developers behind Greedfall went for a decent action RPG and an entertainment product.

Not a deep, thoughtful experience or a political message.

The type of criticism she passes has to be made in the context of games that fight to be that. Or she can aim them at the medium as a whole.

Its not valid to direct them at videogames like Greedfall.

There is enough space in the medium for both type of works.

Else, in the current climate, it will feel like another critic trying to dictate what a game should or shouldnt be.
 

mcz117chief

Member
I guess she just felt like this setting, which isn't often depicted in video games, should have either embraced the topics of the time period fully or ignore them completely. I personally don't mind this middle ground approach (or maybe I would too if I played the game) but if she does then who am I to stop her from writing about it.
 
Of course she has short pink hair.

Of course.

"""She"""

What's the deal with pink hair? I remember being at E3 back in 2015 or something, and I noticed that pretty much every single girl (unless she was actually working for a game company) had pink hair. It became a running joke with me and my colleagues.

Why? Why the pink uniform? And why is it that the more "socially aware" you are, the pinker, and possibly shorter your hair is, with a higher chance of buzzcut? Why do you have to pretend to be punk to be a woman in games?
My bet is they want to look unique. To stand out from the crowd.

The irony...
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I thought they parted ways since this person's last BS caught being a derp.


Guess not.
 

Raven117

Gold Member
Ya know, I’m actually surprised more outlets didn’t jump on this given the environment we are in.

But yeah, whatever
 
So are we not supposed to make any sort of media about "the worse times" of humanity?

Colonialism obviously harmed tons of people, but it was always a question of "who would colonize who first". Europe just go there first. If Africa/South America/etc. had, the culture of the world would probably be African/Aztec/etc.

There was never a peaceful low-tech culture that stuck to itself in any of these places. Peaceful cultures do not spread, and peaceful cultures are incapable of defending themselves. Peaceful cultures always got genocided for resources. There were never any "noble savages", nor were there ever "savages" in the first place. Just humans working to survive a harsh world by being harsh.
 
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sol_bad

Member
This Heather bitch is crazy, how is she even a "journalist" in the video game field? She has written other moronic articles like that Red Dead Redemption one.
 

HelpYouFall

Member
The idea was, or at least how I understood it, was that the events and ai were acting like performers in a theme park where you are the only visitor. The universe stands still unless it's in your field of view. I haven't played Red Dead 2 so I can't say if it is true or not but I can definitely understand her frustration if she felt the game is like that.

So you haven't played the game yet you agree wholeheartedly with her? Despite not knowing if it's true or not?

...Because it's...not...

My god, man ...
 

ZiriusOne

Member
Why do you guys still give any attention to these literally who video game bloggers? It's not that hard to simply ignore their shit takes.
 

#Phonepunk#

Banned
more dumb as fuck takes from the purple haired freak

I ask: what is Greedfall saying? What messages does it want to communicate to me? What themes are on display? I have no answers to these questions and if Greedfall does, it’s not been kind enough to reveal them yet.
cool, so you don't even bother trying to answer your own questions. rather than engaging with the work and putting in the mental effort, you need a game to "reveal" them to you. how lazy can you be?

i mean this is just entitled bitching right here. last paragraph again is complaining that the game didn't spoonfeed a message.

the review is a mess. the game is great, but the setting is bad. the theme of the game is bad yet the devs didn't communicate anything to the player? what? either the game has nothing to say or it has something to say and you didn't like it. you can't have both of these, the game saying nothing, but the nothing it says is offensive. ok.

this writer is full of shit. then again they also did that fucking retarded "Why does Spider-Man work with cops?" piece
 
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Nickolaidas

Banned
Greedfall has been touted by the devs and the gaming press as a succesor to Bioware rpgs. Which means you expect rich story and characters.

So I don't think that Greedfall should fall under the category of 'mindless fun' games.
 

DonF

Member
I would like to ask the devs directly: Was you objective to create a fictional world and story or send a contrived political message?
Its just so dumb if you think about it.
Why would a french developer try to send an american political message?!
 

VertigoOA

Banned
I wonder if they’ve realized that their fake outrages promote those games successfully to hardcore gamers that aren’t analyzing games thru some twisted perverted leftist racist lense.

The most uncomfortable I’ve ever felt in a game where Bioshock 3 went overboard with its white supremacy bullshit asking us to shoot a black woman in its opening act. That game was a communist wet dream fairy tale however... I still enjoyed it as a game and its style despite its content being disgusting.

You can’t take this author’s criticism of the game seriously with its weak “cuz colonialism” argument. The setting or world depicted doesn’t mean that the stories are racist drivel... unlike kotaku’s writing.
 
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