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

[HaughtyFrank]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-make-her-look-more-corpulent-more-stuffed-where-the-eyes-cant-escape.275780/page-564#post-160642264 
 

Hello I have come seeking the wisdom of those who post here.

I normally don't participate in these type of threads because I'm a straight male and I recognise that this is a space for women and fem people to discuss the topic of sexualisation in video games.

He doesn't know 

[Greatness Gone]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/nearly-everyone-at-heart-machine-has-been-laid-off-after-a-publisher-is-no-longer-moving-forward-with-an-unannounced-game.1635202/#post-160645426

Fuck this industry.

After their big hit, they released a mid game written by a sociopath and a game no one liked.

All of their games after HLD were bad. Solar Ash is one of the worst “feeling” indie games I’ve ever played. They’d be alive right now if they just did an iterative Hyperlight Drifter sequel.

[jimmys13]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/link-to-the-past-is-not-playing-with-the-difficulty-and-lack-of-dungeon-saves-lttp.1635463/

As is, you die in a dungeon you wake up on the floor with the entrance you used to enter it; no exceptions, meaning you die to a boss you have to get back there and try not to lose any hearts while you do, because they don't really have any way to heal outside the boss area, let alone inside.

I did this about 30 times; not always making to the boss either (those evil turtles I tells ya) then i remembered the save point function and saved before entering the boss room, 15 attempts later and the deed was done, and this lovely game was put on my do not replay when finished list

I beat this game when I was 6.

 

45 attempts on the first darkworld boss in alttp is OP retarded

[Boredfrom]

I don't have a ton to add, but it's never black and white with this stuff. Women are allowed to want to be sexy and powerful, and there is nothing wrong with that. Where the difference comes in is really in where the power and control over the situation lies, and Bayonetta is absolutely powerful and in control at all times. We should not be shaming women for being attractive, for dressing a certain way, or being sexual.

So often the issue with depictions of women in games isn't about them being sexy or attractive. It's about them being objectified for the assumed male audience, written by and for men, treated more like eye candy than fully-developed characters with real lives and desires, and about the lack of diversity in women depicted (age, body type, race, etc). To basically any media-literate woman it's usually very obvious when a character is intended for men's consumption.

 
genuine question, do trans identified women have these types of conversation when discussing depictions of men in women-targeted media? do they get all up in a tizzy when a man in media is eye candy for women? 
 
im well aware that fujoshis exist but they're never demanding stories bend to their will, they just stay in their bubble happily watching shows and reading books that feature gay effeminate men and drawing fanart. meanwhile men throw a shitfit when their favorite yuri ship that they goon to doesn't become canon and accuse the author of misogyny.

Chinese fujoshis do, if the Love Deepspace drama is anything to go by.

[jimmys13]

From community discussion

[Boredfrom]

That reminds me, I saw the Odyssey the other day (excellent film but not a good adaptation of the odyssey  ) and is funny that my impression is that Elliot Page is just going to get typecasted as “juvenile soldier/man” even if s/he is in her/his forties.

[Uncle]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-make-her-look-more-corpulent-more-stuffed-where-the-eyes-cant-escape.275780/page-564#post-160642264 
 

Hello I have come seeking the wisdom of those who post here.

I normally don't participate in these type of threads because I'm a straight male and I recognise that this is a space for women and fem people to discuss the topic of sexualisation in video games.

He doesn't know 

this person is definitely posting to get access to all the "must have posted in this thread" hidden comments

[Boredfrom]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-make-her-look-more-corpulent-more-stuffed-where-the-eyes-cant-escape.275780/page-564#post-160642264 
 

He doesn't know 

this person is definitely posting to get access to all the "must have posted in this thread" hidden comments

Man, I hope so. Is always depressing seeing someone bending the knee to the Burka Thread so willingly.

[Taco Bell Tower]

A straight male in the burka thread?

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/wave-race-64-turns-30-this-month.1635253/#post-160648216

 User Banned (Permanent): History of hostility towards other users, account in junior phase

Fake appreciation post to justify sharing a bunch of AI bullshit. I would bet you needed AI to even remember this anniversary. I would not take kindly to somebody using AI to recreate a "better" version of me (or something I created) as part of a celebration for my birthday.

[simiansmarts]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/harbour-masters-ship-of-harkinian-team-using-ai-code-ai-assets-in-all-of-their-ports-now.1634749/#post-160624639 
 
another two minute hate thread for hobbyists using genAI coding assistance in their PC ports of N64 games 
 
weird that the user above got banned for expressing the same vitriol as most of the people in this thread 
 

Using AI pisses in the fucking well. No, actually fuck anyone using this shit

[benji]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/marvel-comics-really-does-have-an-events-problem-right-now.1634752/

Threads from 1998.

[benji]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/matthew-lillard-feels-%E2%80%98ashamed%E2%80%99-for-returning-to-scream-franchise-after-melissa-barrera-firing-%E2%80%98i-blew-that%E2%80%99.1635196/

Wanting people to call a genocide a genocide is not purity testing.

Literally is?  

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-make-her-look-more-corpulent-more-stuffed-where-the-eyes-cant-escape.275780/page-564#post-160642264 
 

My radical though is that manga or video games about spikey haired youths clashing swords don't need scantily clad girls on the side.

You see I was foolish, I thought ResetERA was actually cool. But as it turns out, only the cool people are in this thread. Because when I bring this up I get weirdos trying to shut me down by going "yeah but gacha games sell really well..."

It feels really annoying and dismissive. Obviously I know this type of content sells, that's not my argument. My argument is that I don't think this is what mainstream audiences are looking for. I know this because mainstream audiences have people who are not horny straight men in them only. We have examples of anime works like Pokemon that find great success and don't have this stuff in them. And I'm sure many people have personal experience where they've tried to sell anime on someone who is put off by the fan service and objectification. . But I guess because the only option for a AAA JRPG on your mobile phone are horny gacha games, none of this matters.

God knows how y'all stay sane if this is the BS you have to put up with day to day. How do you engage with people like this? is it even possible?

1. I don't care about this.
2. See 1.

What's the basis for this presumption that because you don't like something about something that fans of that thing are required to agree with you and demand it change?  

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-did-metacritic-culture-and-the-hyperfixation-on-review-scores-and-reviewers-happen-what-did-it-happen-what-caused-or-the-causes.1634515/

If you read this forum you probably know what I'm talking about it. Metacritic is a hub for a lot of online discourse, has been for much of the 21st Century at this point when it comes to gaming; just look at ERA where we have threads where people predict review scores, review threads that can go up to over 80 to 100 pages; or threads, or threads about "Would you play a game that has X score on Metacritc?" etc.

And this culture around Metacritic... Well gets very ugly, especially towards the reviewers and critics who often get harassed, mocked, attacked, faced bigoted remarks and shaming or have gamers hold decade long grudges because they gave a review a 8/10 or a 7/10 or a 4/10 etc etc; all because "They lowered the aggregate score!", "There trying to sabotage the game!" and "Their ruining my hype!" ... Or even because they had like a paragraph of criticism. I've seen racism, transphobia, death threats, open misogyny, homophobia etc from gamers used to attack reviewers justified because "Well they said X about a game so really it's there fault!", it honestly feels some people don't realize reviewers are just people as well given the many times I've since 2013 people not seeming to understand that more than one person writes for publications for IGN or Kotaku; or that different reviewers have different opinions and tastes and there is no such thing as an "objective" review. I'm dreading the GTA6 reviewers coming out because gamers are going to be vicious to ANY reviewer who dares says a single criticism.

And even beyond, it can often flatten discourse, people treating reviews (or in most cases the Metacritic aggregate score) as sacrosanct and anyone who disagrees or likes a "low" scored game is just an idiot or has "bad taste" etc or just refuse to play games below X score, potentially robbing themselves of experiences that they may have enjoyed. It's part of gaming culture I really don't like and it's often why I avoid the Review threads and prediction threads on ERA.

But we all know this... My actual question is... Why?Why did Metacritic culture spawn? What was the first publication to suffer this type of backlash for a "bad" review score? When did it spawn and why did it become so normalized in online discourse that it leaked back into the companies themselves (often setting targets for certain scores, dictating certain game designs or worse; being tied to bonuses for the devs etc) and just became an aspect of gaming culture we all just accept as normal? Because it's not really normal, the hyperfixation on review scores seen in gaming circles isn't really something I see outside of gaming when it comes to movies and TV shows and when I do see it, it's often gamers causing it there as well. So why did it become so normalized? And why Metacritic specifically?

Is it a byproduct of gaming's toxic hype culture where people hype themselves so much (often helped by certain press and publishers themselves) that they don't accept any kind of criticism or treat any kind of "negative" news as an attack (see journalists who have been attacked for just reporting on leaks, release date delays or just pointing out a game like Cyberpunk 2077 had areas that might be an issue for people epilepsy) or some weird slight to themselves?

Was it related to "REAL ART" insecurity many gamers were having at the time during the mid to late 00s? I don't know if people remember this, but back in the day press and fans were fixated on this idea that gaming needed to "prove" itself to be "REAL" art to impress film and TV snobs and elitists, I remember tons of articles like "Is Heavy Rain the first game to be considered "Art"", "Is The Last of Us the first true art game?" etc; or why gamers and companies got fixated on "cinematic" experiences or trying to mimic film. I personally always thought back in the day this was just silly (games were always art and it's waste of energy to try to convince and impress snobs who think otherwise), but I wonder if that lead to gamers fixating more on reviewers and "prestige".

Or was it just related to the growing pains the gaming community was having in the 00s? Where colourful and cheerful artstyles were shunned, anything perceived to be to "kiddie" was treated as bad and gamers needing to prove themselves "mature" by liking blood and "dark" and "serious" experiences that resulted in the 7th Gen being so grey and brown and stuff like the hyperfixation on "realistic graphic" and everything being so grim back then.

What caused or what causes made gamers being fixated on review scores and Metacritic?

Why gamers "fixate" on MetaCritic: because they don't have to list the review scores of multiple sites. Publications have faced "backlash" for review scores as long as there have been gaming publications with review scores. It's funny that you claim there's no fixation on review scores when it comes to TV shows when the website The AV Club was about little else. Starting to sense you may be ignorant of things outside your immediate experience, especially when you think people referring to publications rather than (often obscured*) individuals started around 2013.

I have no idea what the rest of this is about, sounds like paranoid delusions.

*Jeff Gerstmann wasn't providing "Jeff Gerstmann's opinion" for GameSpot, he was authoring GameSpot's opinion. It's funny that you're chastising others for understanding this fiction that the publications deliberately engage in.

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/trump-suggests-eu-allowing-canada-as-associate-member-could-be-a-%E2%80%98hostile-act%E2%80%99.1635409/page-2#post-160662214

Kill yourself, you Jabba the Hutt-cosplaying fuckface

[BIONIC]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/thoughts-on-the-wii-and-360-indianapolis-500-games-from-destineer.1635571/

Been watching the DreamWorks Turbo film a lot lately (awesome movie BTW) so I've been in an Indy500 mood.

Back in 2007 Destineer put out Indianapolis 500 Legends on Wii by Torus Games:



Seems very decent and can run in 60fps though it seems to drop at points. It got okay reviews but nothing major seemingly.

Then in 2009 Destineer put out Indianapolis 500 Evolution for Xbox 360, this time by the late Brain in a Jar:



If I'm correct it seems to be capped at 30fps? But also not a soul reviewed it to my surprise, so I have no clue if it's any good or not. Hell I wasn't even aware it existed until a week ago! I remembered Brain in a Jar teasing the project as their big HD debut racing game ages ago, this clearly being it.

Anyone here play either or better both? What can you tell me about them? Would either be worth remastering if possible?

Literally who gives a fuck

[Daffy Duck]

It’s amazing how they twist thee things around to match their own beliefs and fit their narrative.

"Aid in the region" is most likely code for Israel, or UAE, or Saudi.

At "best", it might be aid to the Israeli lapdogs "Palestinian Authority" in the westbank, which is money spent to aid Israel's occupation.

There's no way they sent a penny to Gaza.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/macklemore-dropped-from-tour-after-saying-free-palestine-after-personal-demand-from-robert-kraft-up-all-supporting-acts-drop.1632688/page-35

[benji]

At "best", it might be aid to the Israeli lapdogs "Palestinian Authority" in the westbank, which is money spent to aid Israel's occupation.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/macklemore-dropped-from-tour-after-saying-free-palestine-after-personal-demand-from-robert-kraft-up-all-supporting-acts-drop.1632688/page-35

Genocide is when you support the equally legitimate government in the other half of Palestine rather than Hamas. (A recognized terrorist group illegal to give money to btw.)

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

NOT. A. PURITY. TEST.  

[jooseloose]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/why-women-criticise-sexualised-character-designs-ot3-make-her-look-more-corpulent-more-stuffed-where-the-eyes-cant-escape.275780/post-160655959

God knows how y'all stay sane if this is the BS you have to put up with day to day. How do you engage with people like this? is it even possible?

I quit pretty much all the communities that are centered around cishet men, and only participate in those which are women- and queer-oriented and run. I avoid basically everything else.

In the case of ResetEra I mostly just do not participate in any of the discussions or threads that touch on those subjects, and I make liberal use of user and thread ignoring. It is extremely evident the admins here do not see the status quo as a problem and so I am responding by pulling back engagement with the site and community.

Off you fuck, then. Pretty sure they said the exact same thing a few weeks ago.

[DavidCroquet]

Known Zionist sympathizers, the Palestinian Authority.

[HaughtyFrank]

Known Zionist sympathizers, the Palestinian Authority.

Isn't it amazing how they radicalized themselves more than the people living there? Unlike Gaza the Westbank actually has elections. Clearly the Palestinian authority should copy Hamas and launch an October 7th style attack. That really improved the situation for people in Gaza

[HaughtyFrank]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/wave-race-64-turns-30-this-month.1635253/#post-160648216

 User Banned (Permanent): History of hostility towards other users, account in junior phase

Fake appreciation post to justify sharing a bunch of AI bullshit. I would bet you needed AI to even remember this anniversary. I would not take kindly to somebody using AI to recreate a "better" version of me (or something I created) as part of a celebration for my birthday.

Them being mad about AI assisted decompilations is still the weirdest hill to die on. Who does this hurt? Who is losing their job here? "I insist that fans put in more unpaid labor!"

[Snoopy]

That reminds me, I saw the Odyssey the other day (excellent film but not a good adaptation of the odyssey  ) and is funny that my impression is that Elliot Page is just going to get typecasted as “juvenile soldier/man” even if s/he is in her/his forties.

He fell into the trap of thinking just because Hollywood supported his transitioning that meant he'd continue getting good roles. He's 5ft 1 or something. He can't do cute indie girl anymore. He can't do action movies. He can't do leading man romance. So now he has to compete against Peter Dinklage and Toby Jones. Both of them are better actors with much more charisma.

[jooseloose]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/wave-race-64-turns-30-this-month.1635253/#post-160648216

 User Banned (Permanent): History of hostility towards other users, account in junior phase

Fake appreciation post to justify sharing a bunch of AI bullshit. I would bet you needed AI to even remember this anniversary. I would not take kindly to somebody using AI to recreate a "better" version of me (or something I created) as part of a celebration for my birthday.

Them being mad about AI assisted decompilations is still the weirdest hill to die on. Who does this hurt? Who is losing their job here? "I insist that fans put in more unpaid labor!"

It's funny because it's slowly killing the Decompilation OT. People are just scouring repos drooling at the thought of finding a Claude contribution. More and more decomps are using it so they're slowly running out of things to actually discuss.

[Let's Cyber]

He fell into the trap of thinking just because Hollywood supported his transitioning that meant he'd continue getting good roles. He's 5ft 1 or something. He can't do cute indie girl anymore. He can't do action movies. He can't do leading man romance. So now he has to compete against Peter Dinklage and Toby Jones. Both of them are better actors with much more charisma.

I was watching Days of Future Past and forgot Ellie Page was Kitty Pryde in a few X-Men movies. Automatically I thought, "Why doesn't she act anymore?"...

Then I remembered. 

[HaughtyFrank]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/wave-race-64-turns-30-this-month.1635253/#post-160648216

Them being mad about AI assisted decompilations is still the weirdest hill to die on. Who does this hurt? Who is losing their job here? "I insist that fans put in more unpaid labor!"

It's funny because it's slowly killing the Decompilation OT. People are just scouring repos drooling at the thought of finding a Claude contribution. More and more decomps are using it so they're slowly running out of things to actually discuss.

One of the funniest things to come from this whole thing is the reaction of the showrunner from Umbrella Academy

But according to documents provided as part of the January 2023 complaint, Blackman initially did not seem receptive to the idea of transitioning Page’s character on the show. In text messages provided to HR, he wrote, “Elliot wants to come out as trans on the show. As Ivan. Oh my fucking God. Kill me now.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/umbrella-academy-steve-blackman-abuse-allegations-1235047142/

[Jansen]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/over-85-of-japanese-game-developers-use-generative-ai-in-game-development-2026-cesa-survey-shows.1635697/page-2#post-160675444

Yeah it's coming one way or another and in a big way. Game development costs too much for them not to go down this road.



I don't expect consumers to put up that much of a fight if the end product is decent. I'd say gamers are genuinely the least "activist" of all enthusiasts despite the constant culture wars. Hogwarts Legacy and Cyberpunk both sold tens of millions of copies and both were banned or stifled in terms of discussion here. I expect the same to happen with the first major AI product that is genuinely good. It's easy to boycott garbage but morals and principles will fly out the window if a good game is made with AI.

Lots of shade here 

[Jansen]

I think this is a preposterous stance when there are people who study, develop, and implement algorithms for a living for purposes ranging from healthcare to engineering to finances to personal accommodation for disabilities and there are contexts where GenAI doesn't even have the problems Western GenAI does (like China building their data centers in the desert where they have too much wind and solar energy to know what to do with to power their data centers and their algorithms are often made open to the public).



Era's the main place in the internet where I've seen the good intention for standing against unregulated autonomy in economy and demanding transparency in tech turn kinda rotten because people are refusing to consider nuance or context for any GenAI case, they just think any time it even appeared in someone's thought bubble that the end product is now vibe coded slop, because everybody has just gotten the nonsense idea in their head that all GenAI is slop, vibe coded with 0% human intellect, or furiously immoral with no ethical ends to meet. As someone who was studying computer science at the graduate level around 3-5 years ago when this all started emerging into the public sector, there are countless examples I saw where GenAI is literally saving lives, and only those "educated" enough to know about it would have much to say about it.



Now that's not to say that ALL applications of GenAI are responsible or the right tool for the purpose--it's a heavyweight tool and needs the right purpose for it to be an efficient + proficient outcome with human ingenuity, and the energy crises of feeding these data centers in the west is not no issue at all (in fact it needs to be solved like China's doing it). Sometimes, vibecoding with GenAI something like a small hobby project could be argued to be like doing surgery with the skullhammer, sloppy, lazy, and messy, but in other ways it could knock out some very intense coding bottlenecks that leave human intellect time for other bottlenecks or creativity in the coding process. Just all some ideas to think about.







I mean I mostly use Gemini but I find it immensely helpful for tasks like organizing lists and personalizing and tailoring how to tackle them given I have ADHD and get overwhelmed with that kind of task organization altogether sometimes. Can totally see it helping for putting together an i
tinerary quickly.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/over-85-of-japanese-game-developers-use-generative-ai-in-game-development-2026-cesa-survey-shows.1635697/page-2#post-160672828

[Besticus Maximus]

Dr Nothing Loud is just doubling down on not being educated or having morals 

[simiansmarts]

Dr. Poops Loud versus Jeff Marvel 
 

[Uncle]

Era won't like it, but AI is here to stay. The western pushback against it is an anomaly, globally.

"Everyone else is doing it so you might as well accept it"

Nah. Fuck that noise.

AI creates substandard product and tremendous technical debt, and companies only use it because of the illusion it is cheap makes the exchange seem favorable in the c-suite because it gives the illusion of increased productivity. It has only entrenched itself thus far because it is so ridiculously subsidized. As soon as the actual bill for generating slop comes due, anyone relying on it is going snap back to reality so fast they are going to get whiplash. And many of these studios will simply cease to exist altogether.

so, like...maybe in some cases you could argue this, especially in large, complicated projects, but how do you square this with the fact that lots of people are using it for discrete solutions, one small project to accomplish a specific task, or one start-to-finish complete little indie game, and not facing any major issues?

you can say "oh well small projects don't count" but they pretty obviously do, those kinds of uses alone are incredibly valuable to millions of people

Seriously. Companies that are forcing workers to integrate it into their workflows and thus erode critical thinking are sacrificing their future on the altar of immediate gains as well. It's not hard to imagine someone who spends their days tokenmaxxing and prompt-fucking to the extreme suddenly finding themselves with little to no practical knowledge of how their codebase works, no training to fall back on, and suddenly the budget for your compute cannot accommodate the cost imposed by your provider when they decide the line must go up.

this is incredibly short-sighted considering the rate of progress, it won't be long before models that reach the level of current Claude Code can be run locally, if not already, and those cost nothing but your power bill

they forget that large companies can afford enterprise level GPU clusters to run them for their own staff