Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 2)

[Polident]

I want games to move past the idea of the power fantasy and show the difficulties and hardships of romances and how to overcome them.

No you don’t, stop lying. You want a power fantasy that caters to you.

They already did it!

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

I'm fine either way and as I've said in the past, I've have issues with how romance has been handled in video games (and the presses and communities reaction to it).

To try to sum it up (because I really don't want to write another 2000 word essay):

1. Romance and especially LGBTQ+ romance should not be solely based around the player, representation should be more then that and that can sometimes feel like the devs are hiding it from players who don't want to see it (not saying that was the intent). We SHOULD be seeing trans characters, gay men, lesbian, bi women, ace people, Non binary people in the games living out their lives.
   
2. I want CANON LGBTQ+ romances the same way many RPGs have canon straight romances. I want main player characters who are lesbians with canon girlfriends and love interests who are essential parts of the stories; same with gay romances etc. LGBTQ+ romance shouldn't just be the realm of Choice based games (where they can always be considered "non-canon" and ignored (or wlw fans be told off for enjoy say Chloe x Max or Edelgard x Byleth (damn that pairing is still so damn popular))), we have every right for our experiences to be canon and the focus of narratives and not just an optional choice. Same with wanting canon Black RPG protagonists, gay and lesbian protagonists, trans protagonists, autistic protagonists etc.
   
3. I've said this MANY times but I'm not a fan of playersexual romances and want lesbian and gay companions, I want bi, gay and lesbian issues brought up, I want LGBTQ+ experiences shown in ways that aren't possible if all romances have to fit for a player power fantasy. I also do not like the idea that gay and lesbian should be barred from being represented as companions or romances because deemed "bad" because they "ruin" people's power fantasies or players "immersion".
   
4. Honestly, I've been made very uncomfortable with how fandoms treat characters, like their owed sex or to romance characters. I've said this in the past but the old Bioware forums were really bad when it came to Samara (and character who had repeatedly said no to Shepard and was in mourning both times) and demanded she MUST be romancable which eventually she did in the Citadel DLC. Like... You're owed a date or sex, if someone says no, accept it, I feel like games should point that out.
   
5. On that related note, I dislike games where they treat not romancing a character a bad thing, like it's some sort of failure or treats the player character as lonely or give them no alternative videos.
   
6. Companions should have lives outside of you, which includes romances, like I said above, not everyone is going to be interested in you and LGBTQ+ rep should be more then just how it benefits the player, I want companions in pre-established romances or romances that flourish as the story go on, that are their own side stories that you can't hide away if you romance one of the characters.
   
7. I want games to move past the idea of the power fantasy and show the difficulties and hardships of romances and how to overcome them.
   
8. I dislike it when fans and press (which to this day I still feel the gaming press is very juvenile with how they discuss romance and sex in video games) conflate romance and sex and treat sex as mandatory for romance or as the reward/end goal. It's depressing to see romances that don't end in sex always considered bad or the worse, regardless of how well written they are. It comes across as all these characters are to people are dolls, the story or their characters don't matter to them.
   
9. I dislike how some video games with romance can feel so gamey, whether it's just letting you bypass it with gifts spamming, just saying what your companion wants to hear while contradicting that when speaking to anther companion with no consequences, just being to getting away with awful shit they hate by picking the blue option or shallow Charisma checks (which can feel abusive, gaslighty and manipulative) with no strains or consequences etc.
   

   My problem with romance in video games, is that it turns courtship into a puzzle, where it's just about selecting the right answers to make someone love you. Whenever I romanced someone in Mass Effect, it felt like a chore, and like I was manipulating someone. It's the whole "insert enough niceness tokens into someone and they will have to bone you"
   
   It would be more interesting if the characters had to be compatible with you based on what choices you've made, what type of character you've designed. This would be very difficult to implement though, so I don't blame developers for not trying.
   
   In comparison, becoming Garrus' homie in Mass Effect felt natural and logical.

   Indeed.
   
10. I want more lesbian and wlw focused video games in general; and many mlm and gay video games, ace video games, trans video games etc.
    

The problem to me is Obsidian mandating it to their teams. It's fine if a creative team doesn't want to have player driven romance, but don't force them either way. If The Outer Worlds 2 learns the right lesson from the first game, the player should be helping the companions find love. Playing matchmaker is fun too!

This, I'm actually surprised this isn't more common in RPGs (or a game that focuses on that).

https://www.resetera.com/threads/lets-have-a-totally-normal-conversation-about-obsidians-decision-to-mostly-not-have-romance-in-their-games.1275567/page-8#post-144142503

I kinda agree that player-sexual stuff is more an issue of trying to not lock players out of as much story conent and interactions as possible, but I also don't think the game should ever dictate the players identities or sexuality. We saw how badly things went with Assassin's Creed forcing players into a canon romance.

I disagree and think more games should have canon main characters who have canon sexualities and identities (that aren't white/pale cis straight men). Video games are an artform like any others and creatives should be able to express themselves and tell the stories they want and explore the topic they want. If a game creator wants to make a game focused around the aro ace experience, they should be able to do that without having to compromise it. If a lesbian devs wants to have a canon lesbian lead with a canon wlw romance, they should. If a gay black man was to make a game about their experience or wants a character that's a gay canon black man then great. Those types of experiences and stories are fully valid and so many would be very difficult if not impossible to do if the creatives weren't allowed to dictate their main characters sexualities and identities and forced to use character-creation and choice based mechanics. A more diverse game industry, both behind the scenes and in front of it is a good one for me.

Choice games and RPGs have their place but they shouldn't be the only options for diversity and RPGs when it comes to our lead characters and video games in general with canon LGBTQ+, POC, Women, Autistic leads have their place. I desperately would love to make video games (Fighting games and RPGs) with canon lesbian (trans and cis) leads with canon romances along with lesbian/wlw fighting games with dating sim mechanics.

not a fetish

[Chumbawumbafan69]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/criticisms-of-golden-age-simpsons-episodes.1273350/#post-144091053

Watched Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming last night and really bumped on the line where Lisa was excited to meet a female fighter pilot who "bombed 70 mosques during Operation Desert Storm".

A truly wonderful thread full of people who absolutely understand humor.

[Boredfrom]

Hell yeah brother, that’s why we have it so good under capitalism. Have fun working a job you hate that you can’t leave because it’s the only thing keeping you off the streets. Sure you can’t take time to follow your dreams under the current system but if you work hard enough and long enough maybe someday you might! And hey, at least it’s not communism!

/s

I really want to know how communism will allow you to pursue your dreams when you can barely work with the system that at least give you a choice of what the hell to do with your life.

[Boredfrom]

Maybe forced labor for prisoners of war or death row criminals maybe, if like absolutely necessary in very niche circumstances?

[BananaBlast]

link

Tales of Xilia Remastered to be CENSORED - Has Woke Gone too Far?

I can't believe this. Gaming has gone too far. When I was young, all I ever talked about was the pipe in Xilia. That was my childhood and when rumors were coming around of a remaster i said "I can't wait to see the pipe again".

I can't believe Namco Bandai would do this. How could Guerilla Games allow this? I'm going to walk 360 degrees away from this game.

Being a man's beard used to be the wokest thing a woman could do

just fell to my knees in a gald shop. how could they do something like this?

Ha ha, very funny. It's not like you people fall to your knees over the same exact type of thing.

It is so pathetic seeing all the chuds bitch about this when they are only seeing the news and not realizing it is just the smoking pipe that was removed
Even more when they blame the west and localization when the change comes from Japan thanks to wanting to avoid a higher rating due to underage smoking

.....And if they did censor more content? What would be the first thing a person like you would say?

"F-f-fucking chuds! Who cares! It wasn't even noticeable! How dare you notice things! I'm glad they censored it!"

[benji]

I really want to know how communism will allow you to pursue your dreams when you can barely work with the system that at least give you a choice of what the hell to do with your life.

In the advanced version, the entire thing hinges on the concept of false consciousness and that what everyone ACTUALLY wants (if they did the work and knew the theory) is exactly what I want so the system will then tautologically produce exactly what I want. But for most of these people it's just that socialism is the opposite of capitalism and since capitalism is bad, socialism is therefore inherently good. And that's all there is to it, the alternative is that they literally believe "we don't have enough choice now, the answer is to have no choice at all" and that's too low of level of reasoning without demonstration that this is true to assume.

It's not just socialists anymore, almost everyone does this when they talk about wanting The People* in charge. In the case of Era, it takes no time at all to see they don't fundamentally believe that someone, like Trump or Biden, can legitimately be doing not just what they think is right but what they think people want. Everyone is unimaginative and cruel like they are and constantly scheming for some greater yet incredibly vague long term objective that they seek to achieve through things like wanting to sell Disney content to more young men.

*me

[BananaBlast]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/katseye-has-superior-jeeaaans-gap-counters-the-sweeney-ad.1277841/#post-144186285

I wasn't going to post this thread, until I saw the ad and realized I know the choreographer.

This is GAP's response to the American Eagle ad. Featuring popular (and diverse) group, Katseye. Featuring the iconic hit "Milkshake" by the iconic Kelis, who re-recorded her vocals for this ad (which in itself is a slay, because Kelis doesn't get out of bed for anything other than tending her thriving farm these days).

Is..... is there seriously a "feud" going on, based largely upon a terminally online discourse whether or not "Sydney Sweeney's got great genes / jeans" promotes racist eugenics?

I hate culture wars.

[Boredfrom]

I think is just Royalan being a clueless tool.

[benji]

"Gap has seen a resurgence because the brand is going back to basics at a time when people are craving that," Dylan Davey, founder and brand strategist at global talent agency The Social Inc., told Newsweek. "In an uncertain economy, authenticity and simplicity feel comforting and cleverly recognized and Gap taps into that.

"The new denim campaign works well because it also leans into nostalgia in a fresh, playful way that feels fun and accessible. Featuring Katseye with 'Milkshake' adds cultural energy, but the focus stays on tone and mood rather than on individuals."

Oof, yikes, bunch of fascist dogwhistles in this.

[Polident]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/katseye-has-superior-jeeaaans-gap-counters-the-sweeney-ad.1277841/#post-144186285

I wasn't going to post this thread, until I saw the ad and realized I know the choreographer.

This is GAP's response to the American Eagle ad. Featuring popular (and diverse) group, Katseye. Featuring the iconic hit "Milkshake" by the iconic Kelis, who re-recorded her vocals for this ad (which in itself is a slay, because Kelis doesn't get out of bed for anything other than tending her thriving farm these days).

Is..... is there seriously a "feud" going on, based largely upon a terminally online discourse whether or not "Sydney Sweeney's got great genes / jeans" promotes racist eugenics?

I hate culture wars.

This is the user you guys say is morbidly obese, right?

[benji]

Terrific ad. Seeing Sweeny's latest movie possibly being one of the worst preforming movies of all time has been awesome.

My exploitative sweatshop company is better than your exploitative sweatshop company!

I'd take this over them making racist ads. Gotta pick your battles, homie.

You're 100% correct, it just stinks that this is what capitalism has to offer for us.

Hey look, they are still in it to make money, don't forget that, but…still takes some guts these days to stand for diversity.

My exploitative sweatshop company is better than your exploitative sweatshop company!

Fresh account so I won't jump to immediate conclusions, so giving the benefit of the doubt I'd suggest thinking twice about the appearance of irony when making what comes across as an ostensible "And yet you participate in society" complaint while repping a Microsoft affiliated avatar.

haha i saw that too I was gonna say lol

Coming out with an ad like this that has diversity in it, is well choreographed/thought-out and is a humongous counterstatement to a controversial ad that is hated by pretty much everyone or being questioned by everyone at this very moment is brilliant.

Check and mate. American Eagle really made it too easy.

I haven't been following this. Is Sweeny questionable beyond this ad?

The fact that she took the job is already beyond questionable.

Incredible content as always.

Dope. Shieet, I loved me some Gap denim back in the day and I am in the market for some new jeans, might come through.

Fun ad. Gap, BR, and Old Navy are the only stores that make tall shirts that fit me properly. Been buying all my tops from them for years.

I actually need some new jeans right now and I wouldn't have ever bought them at AE even before the Sydney Sweeney shit, but I will now absolutely go to GAP.

In 2019, it was revealed that Fisher, together with her sons Robert, William, and John, had donated nearly $9 million to Americans for Job Security, a non-profit group that opposed Barack Obama in the 2012 election.[9]

Like many other members of the Fisher family, he supports pro-charter school candidates in a variety of races.

In September 2022, Fisher donated $980,000 to the "No on 30" California ballot campaign;[9] Proposition 30 was defeated but would have increased taxes on those earning more than $2 million per year.[10]

After college, Fisher worked in the mailroom at the Republican National Committee and as a fundraiser for then-president Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush.[13]

In 2019, it was revealed that Fisher, with his mother Doris F. Fisher and brothers William S. Fisher and Robert J. Fisher, had donated nearly $9 million to a political action committee that opposed Barack Obama in the 2012 election.[20] He has donated to Ohio Rep. Mike Carey, a longtime coal lobbyist and supporter of President Donald Trump.[21][22] In 2023, Fisher endorsed Republican Party candidate Doug Burgum for the 2024 US presidential election, having donated the maximum legal amount to Burgum's campaign.[23][24]

[benji]

This is the user you guys say is morbidly obese, right?

When Royalan sits around the house he really sits around the house.

I'll be doing three shows in the Catskills next week.

[benji]

Don't see an Era thread yet for some of Joanne's radicalized agents getting annihilated:

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) will suspend two boys who attend Stone Bridge High School because of their interactions with a [male] student who identifies as male, and chooses to use the boys' locker room at school.

Earlier this year, 7News Reporter Nick Minock was the first to report that LCPS launched a Title IX investigation into the students after they were recorded on video asking why there was a girl in the boys locker room.

7News was also the first to report that the [male] student who identifies as male was the one who recorded the video in the locker room -- a violation of district policy.

LCPS’s Title IX Office launched an investigation based on that video and the male-identifying student’s complaint. That office has now determined the two boys are responsible for sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination, according to attorney Josh Hetzler, who represents the families.

Hetzler said they were notified by LCPS Friday evening.

The punishment includes ten days of suspension and a no-contact order with the complainant, including not being able to be in any of the same classes. The boys are also required to meet with school administrators to determine a corrective action plan, according to Hetzler.

This is exactly the kind of genocidal rhetoric allies need to be arming up and punching back against. Love seeing the fash finding out after fucking around. 

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

using a kpop group? do they know the kind of torture capitalism puts those girls through? Training camps from when their children, starvation, unrealistic beauty standards? and y'all caping for them? 

[benji]

using a kpop group? do they know the kind of torture capitalism puts those girls through? Training camps from when their children, starvation, unrealistic beauty standards? and y'all caping for them? 

It's well known that Era, especially the staff, isn't remotely a progressive forum or a safe space for women. Staff won't even give up Microsoft products.

[benji]

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

edit: Oh, apparently Peacemaker mocks Thirty Seconds to Mars in the first episode of the new season. Twitter is predictably reading it as highly personal:

[AldusMoneyPenny]

Our boy Ksweeley no longer obese! Congrats bro.

I am on Mounjaro which is the same active drug as Zepbound and it has actually helped me lose weight after being obese. My doctor recently told me I am at a currently healthy weight and am not obese anymore and my doctor told me it's due to the Mounjaro.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/serena-williams-reveals-she-uses-glp-1-weight-loss-drug-zepbound-i-just-could-never-get-back-to-where-i-needed-to-be%E2%80%99.1277853/#post-144184518

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

using a kpop group? do they know the kind of torture capitalism puts those girls through? Training camps from when their children, starvation, unrealistic beauty standards? and y'all caping for them? 

It's well known that Era, especially the staff, isn't remotely a progressive forum or a safe space for women. Staff won't even give up Microsoft products.

shitpost aside look up what they do to their poor kpop idols.  

FUCK SOUTH KOREA

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

Our boy Ksweeley no longer obese! Congrats bro.

I am on Mounjaro which is the same active drug as Zepbound and it has actually helped me lose weight after being obese. My doctor recently told me I am at a currently healthy weight and am not obese anymore and my doctor told me it's due to the Mounjaro.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/serena-williams-reveals-she-uses-glp-1-weight-loss-drug-zepbound-i-just-could-never-get-back-to-where-i-needed-to-be%E2%80%99.1277853/#post-144184518

based

[jooseloose]

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

edit: Oh, apparently Peacemaker mocks Thirty Seconds to Mars in the first episode of the new season. Twitter is predictably reading it as highly personal:

Weird. I thought Gunn and Leto would have gotten along well considering they allegedly have similar interests allegedly.

[HaughtyFrank]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/katseye-has-superior-jeeaaans-gap-counters-the-sweeney-ad.1277841/#post-144186285

I wasn't going to post this thread, until I saw the ad and realized I know the choreographer.

This is GAP's response to the American Eagle ad. Featuring popular (and diverse) group, Katseye. Featuring the iconic hit "Milkshake" by the iconic Kelis, who re-recorded her vocals for this ad (which in itself is a slay, because Kelis doesn't get out of bed for anything other than tending her thriving farm these days).

Is..... is there seriously a "feud" going on, based largely upon a terminally online discourse whether or not "Sydney Sweeney's got great genes / jeans" promotes racist eugenics?

I hate culture wars.

How is any of that even a response to the Sweeney ad. It's just a jeans ad. We're really at the point where we're pretending diversity isn't standard in TV ads?

[benji]

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

 

Guy is usually the only replies to his posts, of the 12 comments on that one, 11 are from himself.

Get some of his games: https://zacharykosma.itch.io/

[Polident]

How is any of that even a response to the Sweeney ad. It's just a jeans ad. We're really at the point where we're pretending diversity isn't standard in TV ads?

Wait until they learn the same ad agency made both ads!

[benji]

Guy is usually the only replies to his posts, of the 12 comments on that one, 11 are from himself.

Yeah, let's make fun of others for replying to their own posts.

[kaleidoscopium]

Good. It's important to support the LGBTQ community and there is absolutely no good reason not to. Inclusivity and standing up for oppressed communities are extremely important, especially in the time we live in now.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/gov-jb-pritzker-announces-free-legal-lgbtqia-hotline-in-illinois.1277898/#post-144193353

 

More than 70 per cent of transgender prisoners in British jails are serving sentences for sex offences and violent crimes, government figures have revealed.

At least 181 of the 244 transgender inmates, more than 74 per cent, are in jail for crimes including rape, forcing under-age children into having sex, grievous bodily harm and robbery.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/government-figures-70-per-cent-183558245.html

[kaleidoscopium]

Trans rights aren't a fucking purity tests christ, we are people and if you blame us for for this shit please fuck off

https://www.resetera.com/threads/news-trump-admin-bans-coverage-for-trans-govt-employees-mandates-conversion-therapy-coverage.1276656/page-3#post-144194979

In politics, a purity test is a rigid standard on a specific issue by which a politician or other figure is compared. Purity tests are established to ensure that the subject maintains ideological purity with the ideas supported by a particular group, often a political party or one specific faction of a party.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_test_(politics)

Sure sounds like one to me.

[Eric Cartman]

Every single colleague I worked with when I was in the games press who remained in the industry went into marketing/“community management”. It was just seen as the next natural step in the career path — the same job but more money.

The article that led to Rab Florence leaving Eurogamer was about how close the media and marketing people were. This was shortly before they all started creating ethics policies because people started to ask questions about all the freebies and extravagant review trips.

also right before a MASS MOVEMENT of COORDINATED HARASSMENT AGAINST WOMEN

(our vietnam)

[JoeBoy101]

1755261223[/url]']

It's disheartening that nobody is talking about arkane protest against genocide in microsoft OT. Not even an acknowledgement.

I stopped reading OTs related to MS a long time ago because they're disheartening. I understand you can't force people to care but it just sucks to see many act oblivious to something so major they contribute towards.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/the-bds-movement-calls-for-a-boycott-of-xbox-and-microsoft-gaming-products-over-its-parent-companys-complicity-in-the-genocide-in-gaza.1155057/page-22#post-143878614

Wonder why? Could it be that you people aren’t open to a discussion and will ban anyone that steps out of line with your position?

1755825992[/url]']
Honestly I think Blueball can't be Jeff because lately his posts are increasingly incoherent. This may be a me issue, but lately I read his musings and feel like I can't find the point.

With Zeo, you always know exactly what he's talking about.

Well he can’t be Jeff because he isn’t deleting his posts here.



EDIT - REAaaaaal late.

[Eric Cartman]

I know these people think its ableism to make fun of Fats. But cmon, doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why one politician has more of a platform than another.

I mean, sure, one of the platforms has to have more structural support to hold them up, of course its going to need to be bigger