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

[DavidCroquet]

TLDR: "Basically, the conclusion of this video is that The Last of Us is a coherent and meaningful work that also reflects a kind of liberal Zionist perspective with the general point that often the ruling class justify atrocities not through making things simple, but making them seem too overly complicated for any well-meaning person to oppose. So that anyone who does try to simplify it can be written off as an extremist justifying terrorism, and in this case anti-semitism. Now, here's that but for an hour."



I'm like 15 min in, and it's really good so far.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/jack-saint-zionism-and-the-last-of-us.1287732/#post-144645816

And away we go

I feel like Benji could pick this apart better, but even from Messy's summary, it's obvious they are working backward from a conclusion.

Like, no shit that authority figures present things as hopelessly complicated in order to discourage opposition. You don't need to jump to Israel/Palestine for that...just remember the last time you tried to argue yourself out of detention in high school. Or the last time you asked for mutual aid and people started hiding behind their bills and their family expenses. There's no innate connective tissue that naturally links from a story that presents a too-complex-to-resolve conflict directly to Israel/Palestine. 

Not to mention that the game themes clearly saying the exact opposite of what this video essay claims: the ending pretty plainly suggests that "overly complicated" problems are, in fact, ultimately resolvable and the solutions are often deceptively simple. 

Obviously the whole thread is just an excuse for Era to bag a Zio, but you guys get what I'm saying.

[Yulwei v2]

TLDR: "Basically, the conclusion of this video is that The Last of Us is a coherent and meaningful work that also reflects a kind of liberal Zionist perspective with the general point that often the ruling class justify atrocities not through making things simple, but making them seem too overly complicated for any well-meaning person to oppose. So that anyone who does try to simplify it can be written off as an extremist justifying terrorism, and in this case anti-semitism. Now, here's that but for an hour."



I'm like 15 min in, and it's really good so far.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/jack-saint-zionism-and-the-last-of-us.1287732/#post-144645816

And away we go

Playstation Studios OT posters no doubt already gearing up to absolutely fucking flood the report system with posts from that thread  

Hopefully this thread doesn't get locked or censored when it inevitably addresses Druckmann's zionism.

[Boredfrom]

"Basically, the conclusion of this video is that The Last of Us is a coherent and meaningful work that also reflects a kind of liberal Zionist perspective with the general point that often the ruling class justify atrocities not through making things simple, but making them seem too overly complicated for any well-meaning person to oppose.”

One of the most BS and most self destructive notions that, otherwise, intelligent people peddle.  

ERA types dislike complexity, that’s why they gravitate to label “Nazi” anything they hate, including Jew people.

No, I don’t support IDF bombing random hospitals for vibes or starving people to death. I also just don’t support the sudden normalization of anti semitism or whitewashing terrorism.

Playstation Studios OT posters no doubt already gearing up to absolutely fucking flood the report system with posts from that thread  

Nah, fuck Hamas ERA and Messy.

[Boredfrom]

In more banal news:

https://www.resetera.com/threads/nintendo-seriously-needs-to-announce-dlc-for-mario-kart-world.1287567/

Nintendies realize that Nintendo usually suck on live service games not handled by Sakurai or the Splatoon dudes. 

Adding Mario Kart fans to the "Wouldn't be happy with even all the riches in the world" list.

Nah, bless them. Kind of proud on them for not going “game is perfect, thank you daddy Nintendo.”

[jooseloose]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-its-wrong-for-fans-to-attack-people-for-criticising-their-favourite-works.1287378/

Before we start, let's get out of the way what this thread isn't about:



We aren't talking about people who go after art because it's "woke" or because it include women, black people, gays etc. That isn't critique of art, that's just hate and bigotry and should be called out. 
This thread is not about people who attack artists and creators because they didn't like their art, obviously that's wrong. 
This thread is also not about people who dismiss or attack works because of their own snobbery, who hate say FPS games because they think it's beneath them, again that isn't fair critique because it's not actually based on the art. 
And lastly, this thread isn't about people people who criticize works they don't actually play and base them solely on assumption, again that isn't fair critique and should be called out. 
Also, their is also nothing correct factual errors (and not a subjective opinion isn't a factual error). Trying to avoid the spread of misinformation is a good thing. 
And also, if you say go into a thread specifically labelled a "hype check" thread and start slagging of the game, you probably well aware of what you're doing in rattling the hornet's nest and kind of deserve to be called out. 


For the past day I've been thinking about this, it annoys me online when fans attack others for criticising their favourite works, often treating said criticism very personally and often just creating more hostility and toxicity in the process.



*Also this is going to be a long OP and it quite rambely, sorry for that, hear is a picture of a cute Warthogs to make up for that (:


One of the most frustrating aspects of this is the assumption that the person doing the critique, especially when its harsh critique, does not like the work or the series. In many cases thought this is not true and the opposite; they love the work and that's why their harsh in their critique because they want the work to be better. I wouldn't push for fighting games to be less objectifying of their women characters if I didn't love Fighting games, I wouldn't be so harsh with my critiques of games like Baldur's Gate 3 if it wasn't a game I wanted to enjoy but couldn't.



That's generally the thing, in most cases, something being disappointing is often worse then just being bad because the latter has more emotional connection. If they made another Soul Calibur game, one of my favourite video game series and it was bad for me, lacked any story or single player modes, none of my favs were in it, outdated visuals, poor music, yeah I'm going to criticize it no matter my love for the series; fanboys screaming, "Just move on!" is not going to change that and just comes across a gatekeeping.



Also, just because a lay person may not be able to properly articulate or isn't correct in their use of technical words (see the "the Graphics were bad" when they really mean the visuals and the art design) why something felt off or didn't work doesn't mean the criticism is inherently invalid. This was something I remember being taught during my BA in Film and TV during a lecture all about critique of your work; most people don't know how films are made, you shouldn't expect them to, but they do know when something was bad for them, even if they don't know how to properly express it. Like most people don't know how a sausage (Meat or Vege) is made but can tell if something is wrong or bad with that sausage, even if they don't know or how to express that outside of simple terms like "bad". While people should 100% educate themselves, I don't think it's fair to expect everyone to know exactly why a game exactly feels unfun to play. "This feels bad" is valid, they may not understand why it feels bad, just they do.



Critique of a work is not a critique on the people who enjoy it. I don't like westerns, I don't like farming sims, I don't like Ant-Man; I have many reasons why for that but that doesn't mean I don't like people who like westerns, farming sims and Ant-Man, that would be very silly. I may not get it, I may not agree, but in the end of the day it's all subjective and we can enjoy what we want. My friends and I discuss stuff and disagree with each other but we're still friends, being different makes us human. It's why it annoys me when people online do take critique of their favourite works personally and lash out, again often at people who do enjoy the work. This is something you see happen to reviewers and critics, often getting attacked and abused for their critiques (often for games the fans haven't actually played, their just hyped for and hate seeing a review that "ruins" their hype) for their reviews not being "perfect" even if they enjoyed the game overall; I've seen people hold decade long grudges for reviewers because they gave a game they liked a 7/10 because they took it as a personal slight.



And honestly? This is absurd, that reviewer doesn't know you, I don't know you, we're just expressing our opinions, it's not personal because we don't know you and likely don't want to know you if you start screaming at us. If the person is attack the devs or going after you for liking something, then yes call them out. But if their just expressing why they disliked a game, that isn't wrong, means they don't like you or think you're wrong for liking it.



Which leads me to my next point, your opinion is not objective truth, your tastes aren't objective and you're superior/smarter to others based on your tastes. Someone critiquing something you like doesn't make them wrong, even if their the minority opinion, that critique is still valid (and the reverse is also true, someone praising a work not liked by many is still valid). It's not right (and honestly disgusting) to make judgement calls based on the media they like or insinuating their not smart for liking certain media, often because these standards are often based on nothing more then snobbery, elitism and lets be honest, sexism (their is a reason why it's so often game genres more popular in general with women get dismissed as "casual" games). This is again something I see so often directed at reviewers and critics, fans calling for "objective" reviews when really what they mean is that they want reviews that echo back their opinions.



And to be blunt, you simply can't make those call on people's characters based on what they like, Some of the smartest people I know love professional wrestling, something I often see treated as "low art", same with superhero fiction, shipping etc. Way too often have I seen people's intelligence questioned because of the games they like, that their less sophisticated if they like mobile games or Online FPS games, their less "hardcore" if they like games like Animal Crossing (which fucker, have you SEEN how dedicated and hardcore some Animal Crossing fans are!?), you're a casual if you like story and single player games in fighting games etc. Liking certain media doesn't make you smarter; a smart person doesn't need to prove their smart, they just are.



You can also like a work while also objecting and caring about something; their are many women who love Bayonetta, Stellar Blade, Nier, Dead or Alive etc who also care strongly about women's right and objectification in games, sometimes liking these game in-spite of it or finding something about them that they want to see more of; it would horrible and wrong to insinuate they hate women or don't care about sexualization and objectification (and I regret doing this in the past).



You also cannot dictate to people what is valid and invalid criticism because you don't care about it or you think it's a minor issue. A minor issue for you can be a big and important one for someone else and even if they are minor issue, a minor nagging issue can taint a work for people. I often find social issues often get shit on this way, often dismissed as minor issues such as objectification of women for example (again, something you often see reviewers get attacked for bringing up).



And lastly, attacking people is simply just wrong, you aren't doing the devs a favour by harassing a reviewer or another fan, you aren't creating a positive environment by pushing out people who love this work because they had issues with the latest game; you're just a toxic arsehole. This feels especially disgusting when certain fans weaponize real and serious harassment of the devs to go after people who criticise the work, accusing them of supporting the harassers or using it to make people stop saying anything they don't want to hear; I'm sorry but that's disgusting (and thankfully not something I've seen often on ERA) and comes across and not actually giving damn about dev abuse. You don't create positivity by attacking others and creating more toxicity, you do it by adding more positivity like the time Animal Crossing and Doom fans united to give use the Doomguy/Isabelle memes.



... I have no idea how to actually conclude this ramble so hear is a picture of a Cheetah:

SHUT
THE
FUCK
UP

All that effort. Only 5 replies.

I love when they make massive posts like this and get fuck all replies

[HaughtyFrank]

TLDR: "Basically, the conclusion of this video is that The Last of Us is a coherent and meaningful work that also reflects a kind of liberal Zionist perspective with the general point that often the ruling class justify atrocities not through making things simple, but making them seem too overly complicated for any well-meaning person to oppose. So that anyone who does try to simplify it can be written off as an extremist justifying terrorism, and in this case anti-semitism. Now, here's that but for an hour."



I'm like 15 min in, and it's really good so far.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/jack-saint-zionism-and-the-last-of-us.1287732/#post-144645816

And away we go

""I landed on this emotional idea of, can we, over the course of the game, make you feel this intense hate that is universal in the same way that unconditional love is universal?" Druckmann says. "This hate that people feel has the same kind of universality. You hate someone so much that you want them to suffer in the way they've made someone you love suffer."

jesus christ

How is this a "jesus christ" worthy quote? Let alone on Resetera where they fantasize daily about killing Republicans or billionaires

[Yulwei v2]

"Basically, the conclusion of this video is that The Last of Us is a coherent and meaningful work that also reflects a kind of liberal Zionist perspective with the general point that often the ruling class justify atrocities not through making things simple, but making them seem too overly complicated for any well-meaning person to oppose.”

One of the most BS and most self destructive notions that, otherwise, intelligent people peddle.  

ERA types dislike complexity, that’s why they gravitate to label “Nazi” anything they hate, including Jew people.

No, I don’t support IDF bombing random hospitals for vibes or starving people to death. I also just don’t support the sudden normalization of anti semitism or whitewashing terrorism.

Playstation Studios OT posters no doubt already gearing up to absolutely fucking flood the report system with posts from that thread  

Nah, fuck Hamas ERA and Messy.

Sonyponies vs Hamas ERA. It's a fight  I've been waiting to see   

[saltygeneraltso]

TLDR: "Basically, the conclusion of this video is that The Last of Us is a coherent and meaningful work that also reflects a kind of liberal Zionist perspective with the general point that often the ruling class justify atrocities not through making things simple, but making them seem too overly complicated for any well-meaning person to oppose. So that anyone who does try to simplify it can be written off as an extremist justifying terrorism, and in this case anti-semitism. Now, here's that but for an hour."



I'm like 15 min in, and it's really good so far.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/jack-saint-zionism-and-the-last-of-us.1287732/#post-144645816

And away we go

""I landed on this emotional idea of, can we, over the course of the game, make you feel this intense hate that is universal in the same way that unconditional love is universal?" Druckmann says. "This hate that people feel has the same kind of universality. You hate someone so much that you want them to suffer in the way they've made someone you love suffer."

jesus christ

How is this a "jesus christ" worthy quote? Let alone on Resetera where they fantasize daily about killing Republicans or billionaires

Because he's a blood thirsty j- zionist.

[Jansen]

Y'all remember the long ago when everyone didn't have a camera in their pocket and you could actually get away with punching someone for running their 👄

[Jansen]

[Potato]

I like how a mass of internet nolifers literally colonized autism so badly that it in 2025 there’s now a discussion where everyone has to be reminded that real autism exists.

You mean that zigzagging between “autism gives you superpowers” or “a quirk that makes you say stupid shit in public” is not a recipe for acceptance?

Frankly--and I'm showing my ignorance here--I'm wondering how we "got here" with autism. And I mean medically. 

Autism: it could mean you know everything about trains! or it could mean you can't feed yourself, are inarticulate, and could casually die in mundane scenarios if not constantly monitored. 

I knew a severely autistic...

There is not a dial labeled autism from bad to not autistic.

Whoops, low-functioning...

I always feel icky when people fall back on "high functioning" and "low functioning", or declaring a "level"

ok, sorry, he was really fucked up. Anyway, he died as a result of his own activities and simply not having eyes on him in the exact moment that things went south. I have had more than one experience where I talk about my experiences with this guy, and someone says "oh yeah I have autism" and it's just...very evident we are not talking about the same thing at all. 

I'm not sure how medical practice is served by piling the most annoying people you know under the same umbrella as inarguably disabled people who are in genuine need of support and services. It's always puzzled me.

The part all the social benefits and Bluesky grifters always leave out is that ASD stands for autism spectrum disorder. The fact that they're posting grifts or able to scam social benefits says they're pretty high functioning, if they are even on the spectrum at all...

[Jansen]

Most of the self-diagnosed idiots if they have anything at all they probably have a personality disorder

[Besticus Maximus]

Will smith season is upon us 

Funny that being nonbinary and 25 I am the axis of this chart. Must be why I like all movies

[Jansen]

I think the only thing you can actually read into that anecdote is it's the first time Neil saw live footage of an atrocity, and it chilled him seeing what human beings can do to one another. It doesn't necessarily mean that he's indifferent to the plight of Palestinians; only that the murder of those soldiers was the example of violence he saw broadcast, and so it was the one that made an impression. If his state media had been routinely broadcasting the horrors inflicted on Palestinians, it likely would have made an impression on him, too.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/jack-saint-zionism-and-the-last-of-us.1287732/page-3#post-144659043

Um don't you know that people never change and even if the offense was made in 1970 we can never forgive nor forget 

[Boredfrom]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/would-you-be-for-or-against-steam-obscuring-the-review-summary-on-a-games-store-page-until-you-hover-over-click-on-it-as-the-default.1284855/

I'm not a dev but it would have been interesting to see what the dev/player split looks like on this

Guess who is back.  

https://www.resetera.com/threads/legacy-gamers-what-efforts-have-you-made-to-get-into-the-likely-future-of-the-industry-gaas-gaplatforms-hardware-agnosticism-vr-etc.1287312/

Roblox just passed Steam's all-time player count.
Not too significant on its own but coincident with publishers and their aggresive live service push, the long-awaited decline of console exclusivity, all-time high gacha design popularity, the greatest amount of investment into alternate hardware (vr, handhelds), UGC platforms, cloud gaming, and so on, I think a shift is more apparent than it's been in the past with motion controls or other supposed radical industry shifts

Dude also changed his user name (was PlayerCharacter before, I think…)

[Boredfrom]

I'm sure this thread is good natured, but you sound as ridiculous as someone in 2008 going 'what are you legacy gamers doing to embrace the clear future of motion controls, smartphone gaming and onlive'. I know you acknowledge you think Roblox's success is different, but to its me exactly like the emergence of the smartphone era that became the hugest gaming platform on the planet and also managed to not really change the 'legacy" model at all. The pool just gets bigger, it's not a case of "get with the times or get left behind"

Is totally not.  

Even entremet is not that obvious.

[Uncle]

oh boy oh joy, there was another Wisconsin trans school shooter who was identified, caught, arrested and expelled, and then the school covered it up from parents because they feared anti-trans backlash

https://thepostmillennial.com/wisconsin-school-covered-up-13-year-old-trans-students-massacre-plan-report

[Boredfrom]

and then the school covered it up from parents because they feared anti-trans backlash

Okay, Uncle, want me to say something or nothing. Your choice.

A forensic search of the suspect’s phone revealed chilling internet searches such as “school shooting targeted list,” “keeping a kill list,” “trans kill hit list,” and “can 13-year-olds be arrested.” The teen was arrested on suspicion of making terrorist threats and referred to juvenile authorities. Because juvenile records in Wisconsin are sealed, it remains unclear whether she was ever charged or convicted.

Gee, I wonder why.

[nachobro]

dont you bitches dare start another gay slapfight jesus h christ

[BananaBlast]

No more arguing, please

[Uncle]

and then the school covered it up from parents because they feared anti-trans backlash

Okay, Uncle, want me to say something or nothing. Your choice.

A forensic search of the suspect’s phone revealed chilling internet searches such as “school shooting targeted list,” “keeping a kill list,” “trans kill hit list,” and “can 13-year-olds be arrested.” The teen was arrested on suspicion of making terrorist threats and referred to juvenile authorities. Because juvenile records in Wisconsin are sealed, it remains unclear whether she was ever charged or convicted.

Gee, I wonder why.

correct, it is unclear whether the student was charged or convicted of anything by law enforcement, but what is known as that parents were not informed of the threat which was dealt with by expulsion and passing the case to law enforcement

for example, imagine a school received a bomb threat; it might forever remain unknown whether the perpetrator was caught or charged, but in the US it is generally considered the school's duty to inform parents that such a threat was made and dealt with through proper channels

[nachobro]

[Jansen]

[Uncle]

you don't think schools tend to inform parents of bomb threats and thwarted shootings?

our local district has informed parents of such things

[Boredfrom]

I’m just going to say, the reason was probably not just because to protect the school of Trans backlash. While I think they should have notified the parents, I also think the immediate reaction of “oh gee, another trans mass…”  probably justify in their eyes not wanting to ruin the entire life of the edgelord kid potential mass shooter. If they fucked up in the eyes of the law, they should be called out obviously. But it looks that, in everything else, they seem to have done the right thing. 

Dont go  on me, Uncle.

[Gamegirl Nostalgia]

sisters we need to strengthen the honmoon not destroy it. All this fighting is getting in-between us and our mission. 

[Jansen]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/so-youve-discovered-youre-actually-a-robot.1288236/

Please if there is a God out there free us from this mortal plane

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

sisters we need to strengthen the honmoon not destroy it.

I have absolutely no idea what this means, but you have my... er... whatever it is you need from me. 

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/so-youve-discovered-youre-actually-a-robot.1288236/

Please if there is a God out there free us from this mortal plane

Cool, no more shitting for me.

[HeavenIsAPlaceOnEarth]

From the Are You Tired of Comic Book Movies? thread:

You mean the entire medium of comics (not a genre)? One that goes through many genres, not just superheroes, from comedy, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, social drama, historical etc that conspires of thousands of artists and writers from all around the world (like people forget Scotland has a very old comic book scene with some of the oldest long-running comics in the world with stuff like the Beno and the Dandy) including the ever popular Japanese Manga?

Or do you mean US Superhero comic film adaptations... Like DC and Marvel aren't the entire medium and do not get why this conflation is so common. Like are we saying Garfield, Saga, Tales from the Crypt, Case Closed, Dennis the Menace, Berserk, Maus, Dragon Ball, Ghost World, Akira, Tintin and the many many many more non-superhero comics should be ignored or treated as not allowed to be adapted because their from the same medium as Superman and Spider-Man? Would you say no more animated movies because you're tired of Disney animated films or no more video games because you're tired of GAAS games?

You know what the hell they mean you tedious fuck.

So for the rant, the thread title really rubbed a really annoying pet peeve of mine.

Yes, everyone knows that, you do this all the fucking time.