Recently I was contacted by, Fun to 11, the company responsible for Miskatonic School for Girls regarding another Kickstarter project he had set up: Flame War. The basic premise is that you are in control of threads on a forum (or a comment section--it's pretty open-ended in that regard), and looking to have the most engagement without things getting ugly.
The measure of success, or how you win, is by accumulating the most interaction: the most single cards in a thread?
How does that happen? In a fairly simple and straightforward manner, you start a thread with any card, and then anyone can post to that thread with a card whose numeric value is equal or greater to the current top card; they likely will, since you can put down two cards every turn. The goal is to close three threads and have the most cards by the end of the game.
In the past week, while battling demons in Sanctuary, I've flitted in and out of groups with Bauske and EccentricTomboy (hoping to catch Dryden at some point or another), and am still working on a review. In fact, much like the Sonic 4: Episode 2 review yesterday, I am thinking of asking our other writers to proffer some opinions as well, so we get a range for you to select.
We don't do scores here at GayGamer anymore. Partly because we're not aggregated by any sources, so it doesn't matter if we do. Partly because we do still offer a conclusion paragraph that tends to tell you what you want to know if you want to quickly ascertain whether a game is for you or not. It also means we can theoretically have more fun with what we post about games.
Now, about that always-online thing for Diablo 3. Beyond the first day, I haven't had much problem with it, to be honest. A few lag hiccups here and there that make me nervous to ever run a hardcore character, but otherwise it's been fairly smooth sailing. My first day in the game was actually in a four-person group with EccentricTomboy, Bauske, and one other. We didn't get much of the plot: a four-person brawl on screen tends to mean lots of colors, bashing, and fun, but doesn't give much time to actually stay awhile and listen. That may be okay, though.
I've also tried public games, to have people join, sit there, and not respond to me, nor actually play the game. It's worrisome. Anyone who has played has surely heard all the rumors and speculation about hacking through achievements? Or replicating your login session so that they can get into your account without needing your password (thereby ignoring authenticators as well)? Blizzard has released a statement about what to do, but hasn't actually detailed anything.
Which makes sense: why give potential griefers more ammunition?
I'm just not joining public games again until something is cleared up (and maybe not even then--I'm a fan of exchanging Battletags and talking with people I know). So, what about you?
Has your Diablo experience been wrought with lag, disconnects, or being hacked? Is this pretty firmly cementing all the reasons an always-online experience for a game which can still theoretically be played single-player is a disaster? Vent! Let us know.
Over on Joystiq this past Friday, Rowan Kaiser wrote up what makes the Quest for Glory franchise so amazing. Which led me to further thinking on the game series, and how it has influenced other games. Which is to say, in my opinion, I can see influences in a lot of places (particularly in BioWare titles). That is the topic for another post, however, as today I am more interested in figuring out what games have come closest to this particular RPG and adventure hybrid.
Recently I have been trying my hand at writing using ChoiceScript, which is used to make those lovely Choice Of games (Dragons, Vampires, and Zombies, oh my!). In reading up on how they handled choice and advancement, I came across this page, which describes their use of stats.
While the Choice of Games folk want you to make meaningful decisions, they came up with a method that seeks not to have them creating a labyrinthine novel with which you interact. Which is very similar to the QFG style: use stats to deterine a pass/fail option. What that means is your decisions matter in that they determine how your stats will increase, which in turn affects what you will succeed or fail at in future endeavors.
Reading over Rob Zacny's excellent piece on The Darkness II, You Don't Know Jackie, I realized I had never actually written what I wanted about the game; particularly since I rather enjoyed the first one and felt it has been an under appreciated game. I don't necessarily disagree with Zacny, about the tiring aspects of the arcade point shoot-em-up qualities, or the fact that the centuries old brotherhood you're fighting doesn't really propel the plot in an interesting fashion. However, what I took from the game was its thematic concerns with what reality is.
The first game's brilliance came in how it questioned free will, particularly in a videogame. Whenever I am asked about moments in gaming that truly affected me, my mind jumps back to that moment where the titular Darkness stops me from interacting with a cutscene. It is a cutscene: I'm not supposed to be interacting with it, but the fact that the game went out of its way to make sure I understood why, was particularly brilliant. The rest of the game blurs in that fashion, but it was such a defining moment that it had me wonder what exactly Jackie had control over.
The answer was: whatever I could control, and nothing more. Jackie had no free will. He was a puppet not only to the Darkness that lived inside him and controlled him forcibly at times, but my controller, which dictated how he even fought, which powers he learned, and moved him about as a doll in particularly dark set pieces.
Given such, I am less interested in the small pieces that make up an Aristotelian plot diagram for our anti-hero Jackie Estacado, and more interested in what the game tries to push in terms of philosophical questions.
The last time I had a piece on Kotaku I was a bit smarmy/angry. It happens sometimes.
This time, I wrote about my experiences with the closetShep playthrough I had of the Mass Effect series. It only reflects my experience, and given other peoples' coming out stories (they are quite individual in most cases), I figured I would provide the link here for those of you who might want to read through it. A quick snippet:
As someone who did enjoy the series, I wanted to lovingly mock it while pointing out its parallels to the thinking behind such policies as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But before I could do that, those points became irrelevant: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is no longer in effect, and there are now options for players to allow Shepard to experience two male same-sex romances.
If any of you attempted a similar run, I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts!
McSweeney's can often be visited for a quick chuckle and guffaw. Thanks to my friends Regina and Alex, I found this particular piece, from the perspective of Samus Aran.
Which is to say she supports same-sex marriage because she herself is a lesbian.
The entire read is worthwhile, but here's a little snippet to grab your attention.
Why have I kept this a secret for so long? That's hard for me to say. The nature of my work forces me to silence. Working as mercenary, it's far better to let my arm-cannon do the talking. Plus, the way I chose to express myself tended towards the unorthodox. I wrote a book of poems entitled Morphing Inside My Varia Suit, which failed to find a publisher. I would flit between one relationship and another, hopping inside my gunship and speeding off to the next planet before things got too serious. Then the Mother Brain decided to outlaw same-sex marriage on planet SR-388. Planets Tallon IV, Aether and my birth planet K-2L followed suit. What year are we living in? Earth Year 2009? It's time for the universe to redefine its narrow concept of marriage.
Either Kickstarter doesn't exist in Ms. Aran's universe, or she needs to get on using it as a way to publish her book of poetry. Who knows, she might give Sappho a run for her money.
Also, I am now looking at that arm-cannon in an entirely new light.
A few months back I finally gave Enslaved: Odyssey to the West a go, and found myself enjoying it, with caveats. What really made the game for me, though, was imagining Monkey, one of the protagonists, and the one you control, as a gay man.
There wasn't any one thing in particular that made me think this, and I don't see it as demonstrably provable--it's just that the game never dispelled me of that notion either. Given his exaggerated hip swagger, it recalled nights in various clubs, or walking down Halsted during Market Days in Chicago. Which is to say, it had that certain male sexuality that people like Calvin Klein have worked to bring into the mainstream; which is not to say it is exclusively homosexual in nature, but it is from where I was coming when approaching this particular game.
So how did the game actually play out?
Well, what amused me is that there seemed some vague plotline about how Monkey and Trip were actually developing something. I say vague because I know in the tradition of these things, I am supposed to believe that the obviously dripping feelings they were exchanging were indicative of a possible romance.
I saw it more as a close friendship, as I have had with many friends, regardless of their sex.
In case you do not understand both my pseudonym and little avatar down there (real name is Denis, for the curious), I am an unabashed fan of the Quest for Glory series. Today, GOG has finally put the series up for purchase and download.
My love for the series started when I was around nine, and my mother had installed the games for me to play, thinking I would enjoy them more than just the traditional adventure games I had already played. There were a few reasons for that. First, there was my love of puns and language, and being able to find all these cultural references and then educate myself on them (these games served as my entry-point into both Monty Python and the Marx Brothers).
Then there was the fact that in terms of adventure games, it wasn't as rigid. This was a game of choice! Not choice as in choosing an outcome for a morally ambiguous question, as in with BioWare's latest, but more akin to what we see in the Choice Of games: choices based on your skill. Many puzzles had at least three different ways to approach them: as a stealthy thief, a cunning wizard, or a brute fighter. Just choosing one of those (or later becoming a paladin) did not block off the other choices, though.
Which ties into the third reason: the RPG elements. There was combat, sure. However, there were stats, and instead of leveling up, if you wanted to become better at a stat, you used it. Wanted to be more intelligent? Cast spells. Want to be better at throwing? Throw things. Dodging? Avoid the cheetaur claws!
So, the game is now available for download for the first time, at $9.99. It comes with all five games. The first game comes with both the EGA and VGA versions (former is parser and typing based, the latter point-and-click). If parsers are not your thing, and you want to go through the second game, there is also the AGDI fan remake to give a try.
Have fun!
P.S. In the fifth game, Andre the fisherman just so happens to be queer. Give him some flowers and watch as he mentions a jealous boyfriend.
Sent in as a tip by reader Steve J., the above video mixes certain nostalgic charm, for those of us who recall the SNES as a most lovable platform, with what appear to be varying doses of photography and Google Maps-esque images. Personally, I would be rather amused to see pixelated street fighters roaming about.
If you happen to enjoy the music, you can thank Triplefox. The album, Level Up! OST is available for free download (with some Creative Commons licenses for the songs)right here.
Over the past several weeks I have had the opportunity to engage with a group of people with whom I rarely interact: teenagers. From ages twelve to seventeen. As someone who is too young to have friends with children that are teenagers, it had completely slipped my mind that there was an entire spectrum of people who rarely made an appearance in my life. To both groups I was introduced as someone who writes about games online. As I am sure would have happened when I was growing up, their ears almost instantly perked up, and conversation was had.
What I observed was fairly simple and confirmed what I, and I believe many others, think about gaming in general, and in youth. Of course, this is not a full-on study with the proper controls and such, so it should all be taken with a grain of salt. As in, this is likely not wholly representative.
First? Almost every single person gamed. Whether it was on their iPads, phones, through browsers, or what the media tends to think of as more 'traditional' gaming. Everybody, young men and women both. While some young women talked about various fashion designing games they played, I really did not see it absolutely different than the group of boys who discussed their love of Minecraft. Creating things can be a lot of fun, particularly when in the confines of a structured ruleset.
Second? For a good portion of them, motion gaming and iDevices are just not cutting it long-term, though they do enjoy gaming-on-the-go. Motion gaming has largely failed to give them the experience they desire: either a narrative or a game with a more complex set of goals and strategies. Whereas iDevices? Cited as having too few games that really engross them, instead providing more games that are played between classes for a quick distraction. I do imagine more will change in these avenues, especially as many remarked on enjoying being able to give voice commands through the Kinect.
The last observation? Kickstarter has yet to have any real appeal for them. Which is great, in many ways, as they are not yet with tons of disposable income. When discussing games that were available, they saw large success stories, and found it was largely by designers and properties that had no real sway on the games they played, or with which they grew up. Right now, at least in games, Kickstarter seems to have a real appeal to nostalgia and a desire to bring back portions of gaming we seem to have lost through either an evolution of the genre, or a fade into obscurity.
So, there you are, my non-scientific study of what I learned about teenagers. I am sure there are some of you who have more experience with them on either a weekly or daily basis (or even are teenagers yourselves, hi!), so please let me know if any of these observations seem out of place. Largely, though? Outside of the Kickstarter thing? Is it that surprising to find teenagers largely have similar opinions to everyone else playing? This is what I get for only reading about the supposed effects of gaming on them, or studies on them, rather than just talking to them. Mea culpa.
Being late to the party, I only finished Mass Effect 3 this past weekend. While I was pleased as pie that there was an exclusively homosexual romance in the game, it was not the one I pursued with Sebastian Shepard, for a number of reasons. However, this morning I was pleased to find that BioWare's blog had up an interview with the two writers responsible for both the male and female exclusively homosexual romances: Patrick Weekes and Dusty Everman.
Which is to say: this is not about the ending. Nor is it spoiler-free (in terms of game plot, yes, but not in terms of things that happen during the romances themselves). Spoilers will be below that handy dandy cut, contained in quotations I found particularly worthy of attention. Which is not to say this has always been how BioWare has presented itself, but hopefully is something that indicates future thought processes.
I still recall the Dragon Age forums having official posts concerning the fact that having a purely homosexual romance of any sort could be seen as a waste of resources: these are choices that would not be selected often enough to justify the cost, or the time spent away from other portions of the game.
What's changed? This is purely supposition, but I imagine it has a lot to do with budget, the growth of the series, and numbers. After all, in the day of internet connections, achievements, and our save-files having markers that tell who we played, what we did, and whom we romanced, they have quite a bit of data on how many people are engaging in these romances. When refuting the privileged straight male gamer, Gaider made note that the numbers they have are not insignificant.
Which makes sense to me, as someone who rarely roleplays himself in an RPG. I do still like to see same-sex romances when I can, though. Or perhaps same-sex flings. Depends on the character. However, it seems I am constantly reading reports of straight men who play as a female Shepard, and romancing Garrus, or going for one of the female companions in their crew. Funny how that works.
It is not often I get to mix my love of games and with my love for RuPaul's Drag Race. So far I have only had one opportunity, which was interviewing Pandora Boxx after noticing her frequent talk of mowing through zombies and jumping around platforms that are not on her feet.
Then came the video that was released yesterday for RuPaul's Glamazon. Now, I am keeping this below that handy-dandy cut so that you can avoid spoilers, in case you have not seen the last episode, and don't know who the final three are.
Suffice to say, however, the video itself may be my favorite of the ones released yet, and not just because it makes plenty of references to men in dresses channeling Godzilla realness in what looks to be a version of Rampage with drag queens instead of the furrier and scalier monsters to which we're accustomed. Personally, this appeals to me much more than the thought of Ru's head being misappropriated and placed on the body of Darth Vader (which is not nearly fabulous enough for her, no sir).
So, if you want to see the video brand-spanking-new for the finale episode in two weeks, or are not caught up yet, this is the last reminder to not make that jump. Meanwhile, I will dream of a possible future that includes drag cosplay challenges.
• Briker Ed on The Devil May Cry In January Of 2013: Never cared for the old Dante, but I'm really digging the looks of the new one. This one feels more...
• Randy "Dr Randle" Marr on Capcom Causes Street Fighter Fangasms: Now that's how you do a 25th year anniversary. I'll hand it to Capcom, if they know anything, it's collector's...
• Tyler on Teens: Interesting article! I just wanted to add some information. I teach theater to kids age 6-13. This age bracket is...
Are you gay and working in the games industry? If you are interested in networking with other folks like you within the industry, try joining the Gay Game-Industry Professionals mailing list.
Click here for all the details!
