Relatively unpopular opinions about any and everything

[BrawlMan]

I'll pick the multiplayer "live service" one over the cinematic, story-driven cutscene-abusing single player one.

Yeah, problem with that. What happens when the servers go down for "live services" games of that ilk. Just look at games like Battleborn or Evolve. Anthem is just sci-fi destiny clone that is going through "fixing" and Fallout 76 is just another multiplayer, survival game, that you can find a dime a dozen on steam.

I don't like abusive cut-scene story games either (except Asura's Wrath, but that is a whole another game altogether), but if the game does not gain any traction, popularity, or the servers eventually shut down, the game disc/app might as well be dead weight (Balrog voice). And I will take the smaller indie titles over either of the two trends you just mentioned. Especially when a lot of these smaller games are getting physical releases if there is high demand or the game does well digitally.

 

[Foxtrot94]

but if the game does not gain any traction, popularity, or the servers eventually shut down, the game disc/app might as well be dead weight

The movie wannabe games already are dead weight from the get go anyway, they don't even need a server shutdown or anything. So I'll pick the type of game that at least is actually a game and I can, you know, PLAY rather than watch for the majority of the time.

Plus, even bad "live service" games can still turn things around and become actually good, there are examples out there like NMS, Battlefront 2 and FFXIV. But a movie wannabe game is gonna remain a movie wannabe game forever.

The argument that they're often generic is true but it's an argument that can be easily be made for the cinematic games as well.

 

[Carlos]

Goku's voice alone is incredibly irritating and ridiculous in Japanese.

I know you hate me or dislike me or whatever... but you and I agree here. I was trying to watch Japanese DBZ at least once, but I cannot get over the Goku voice. The English dub of DBZ puts Goku into a more mature-sounding voice. He sounds legible, but Japanese DBZ sounds ridiculous, almost childish.

 

[Foxtrot94]

I know you hate me or dislike me or whatever

Wha? No I don't. :bored:

 

[BrawlMan]

Plus, even bad "live service" games can still turn things around and become actually good, there are examples out there like NMS, Battlefront 2 and FFXIV.

Those are the exception and not the rule. That still doesn't excuse the crappy monetization schemes and loot boxes. Especially were talking about battlefront. Or four game with crappy at launch with the fix it later mentality. Not everyone has good internet. That's why I avoid most multiplayer games in certain single player games because of it. Instead of rushing to meet the man, make sure your game works first or try not to screw everyone over with ****y monetization schemes.

But a movie wannabe game is gonna remain a movie wannabe game forever.

Hence why I said I'll take the arcade style indie games over both of the trends. But even though cinematic games have some type of vision. Not all of course. I rarely say something like this, but I sooner play Hellblade than most of the live service games mentioned. And I don't even like Ninja theory.

The argument that they're often generic is true but it's an argument that can be easily be made for the cinematic games as well.

I can agree on that. But I'll take a so bad it's good single player game over-generic live service game or cinematic game. Or better yet, just a gamey ass game in general.

 

[Foxtrot94]

Those are the exception and not the rule.

My point is that at least with live service games, there's room for those exceptions to happen. With movie wannabe games, there is none cause what I loathe about them is not their quality, but their very nature.
And sure, greedy monetization is something that IS abhorrent but I can say that making me pay full price for a cinematic game is just as greedy and scummy to me. Those games don't have that kinda value, IMO.

Or four game with crappy at launch with the fix it later mentality.

That's also an argument that can be applied to single player games as well. It's not at all a peculiarity of multiplayer titles, live service or not.



But bugs, monetization, price point and all that stuff is besides the point. The point is the very nature of these games, what they're all about. Take a movie wannabe game and a live service game, both perfectly functional, no bugs, no patches needed, with a reasonable price, and neither with microtransactions of any sort. I'll still pick the latter over the former in a heartbeat. If I get a videogame, I expect to play it, not watch its endless cutscenes. Games are games not movies. Period.

 

[AgentRedgrave]

I think Doctor Sleep was an even better movie than The Shining. Though I do like both alot

 

[BrawlMan]

That's also an argument that can be applied to single player games as well. It's not at all a peculiarity of multiplayer titles, live service or not.

I am highly aware of that (Evil Within 1).

Games are games; not movies. Period.

Try telling that to David Cage and game critics that want to be taken seriously by their other peers.

I'll still pick the latter over the former in a heartbeat.

I understand and respect that. Just keep in mind that 5-20 years later, the game might not be around anymore.

I think Doctor Sleep was an even better movie than The Shining. Though I do like both alot

I do like the Shining, but I feel the word masterpiece gets thrown around way too much. The movie still has plenty of problems.

 

[Carlos]

Wha? No I don't. :bored:

We got into a light argument, but ok.

 

[AgentRedgrave]

We got into a light argument, but ok.

We all get into light arguments from time-to-time dude. Whether we're talking about DMC or anything else, it's only natural, we're not all going to agree on everything, be pretty boring if we did.

 

[V's patron]

I'm interested in Tom Holland's Uncharted movie being a new story/prequel. It could backfire like Solo but I'm open to being optimistic.

 

[Foxtrot94]

I think it would have been more appropriate and rational to treat the whole George Floyd situation as a case of police brutality rather than one of racism. The real problem people should have, and the point that should be made is that a police officer mistreated a person, rather than a black person. Black, white, yellow or red, no one should have been treated like that.

I think America is so busy trying to see racism in everything, that they tend ignore the bigger picture and the underlying issue, the broader problem, when stuff like this happens. Which IMO, is part of why it keeps happening.

 

[DarkSlayerVergil]

I think it would have been more appropriate and rational to treat the whole George Floyd situation as a case of police brutality rather than one of racism. The real problem people should have, and the point that should be made is that a police officer mistreated a person, rather than a black person. Black, white, yellow or red, no one should have been treated like that.

I think America is so busy trying to see racism in everything, that they tend ignore the bigger picture and the underlying issue, the broader problem, when stuff like this happens. Which IMO, is part of why it keeps happening.

Basically this as no one mentions Duncan Lemp or Justine Ruszczyk(both of whom were white) both of which were victims of police brutality and yet barely any mention of them. Instead its so much to just bring everything down to it's most superficial level in this case.

 

[Carlos]

I think it would have been more appropriate and rational to treat the whole George Floyd situation as a case of police brutality rather than one of racism. The real problem people should have, and the point that should be made is that a police officer mistreated a person, rather than a black person. Black, white, yellow or red, no one should have been treated like that.

I think America is so busy trying to see racism in everything, that they tend ignore the bigger picture and the underlying issue, the broader problem, when stuff like this happens. Which IMO, is part of why it keeps happening.

You'd have to be here in U.S. to really understand why things are the way it is. The racial divide has been there for almost 100 years. Blacks were enslaved for almost a century or more, until Dr. Luther King made a speech, and liberated the community. He was shot later on. In 1992, police officers beat up a black man on a Los Angeles highway with batons. It was filmed on tape, and was aired nationwide. Next moment was riots. A group of black rappers rose from that riot and spoke out against these racist officers. There's a film called "All eyez on me" which is actually a documentary, most of the group already died. Their rivals are still alive, and the murderers are still alive.

Why am I bringing this up? It's because it's a stark parallel to what we're experiencing right now. This is nothing new. People are trying to protest the death of George Floyd, but its the rest of the riots that are "fake."

That's not all, in Oakland, there was widespread protests because a black man (Oscar Grant) was shot at a train station. There's a documentary film about that, too ("Fruitvale Station" on Netflix or disc.)

I agree that this is a police brutality on a person, rather than a race. Because, it's not just blacks that this is happening to, it's almost everyone. About 2 and a half years ago, I was arrested for a dumb reason (was defending a friend of mine who was a woman), I was grabbed, pulled down, impaled by a few officers (like George Floyd). I have a visible scab still visible today... So, I sympathize with black folks. The thing is, they're more likely to be harassed and griefed than everyone else. Here's a video of a black man who is a FBI agent... being arrested for no apparent reason.

Their... own... people.

Here is how it looks from people who have nothing to do with the riots...

If you wanted to see the riots up close and personal, there it is... It's chaos out there...

 

[Angel]

Gonna get myself slapped for this one, but I do not believe JK Rowling has anything to apologise for, or explain.

I don't agree with a lot of what she says, nor do I support a lot of what she does, but on this topic she is correct and people need to recognise the difference between a biological truth and hate speech.

Can't keep labelling everything as phobic or hateful just because you disagree.

 

[Foxtrot94]

Gonna get myself slapped for this one, but I do not believe JK Rowling has anything to apologise for, or explain.

I don't agree with a lot of what she says, nor do I support a lot of what she does, but on this topic she is correct and people need to recognise the difference between a biological truth and hate speech.

Can't keep labelling everything as phobic or hateful just because you disagree.

I just looked up what the Rowling fuss was about and I can't believe people are attacking her over that. She didn't say anything against trans people, anything even remotely hateful.

Actually scratch that. Who am I kidding, I can perfectly believe it, in a society that's getting deeper and deeper into SJ totalitarianism. The fact that you can nowadays be attacked for stating something that should be obvious and isn't even ill-willed is ridiculous. Even if you disagree with her, you can still oppose what she says without resorting to label it as something that it's not. But I guess just calling it hate speech requires much less effort and actual thought than a rational confrontation.

 

[Rebel Dynasty]

Not even an opinion so much as a fact a lot of people aren't ready to face. What's happening is no accident, but by design. All anyone has to do is educate themselves, look up Yuri Bezmenov (former KGB), watch his videos explaining ideological subversion, and everything--the way people have fallen into the SJW trap because they believe they're doing real good, the way we're being called *insert bigot label here* every time we question or so much as slightly deviate from an opinion--all of it was part of the KGB's plan. They've literally been doing this **** for decades; Western civilization wasn't their only target, but we are the ones currently seeing some of the worst fall-out as a result. We are literally heading toward an era of Communism, and there are people insane enough to believe this is a good thing. I don't know about you, but 1984 and Animal Farm were not supposed to be instruction manuals--they were cautionary tales.

Also, there's a big difference between actual racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. and people just wanting clarification or having nuanced views on subjects. Right now, the supposedly "Woke, Progressive" Left reminds me a bit of the wildlings from GoT with their "everyone south of their lands is in the south, no matter that it's still the North": anyone who doesn't adhere to them 100% is seen as "alt-right"...which quite ****ing frankly is bullshit. There are A LOT of stops on the political spectrum between Left and Right, and I no more adhere to the Right's ethos as I do to the Left's. Both extremes are ****ing insane and have created the climate we're all now living in.

(Side note. Why do people who like to talk about nuance regarding things like identity fail to see that on a socio-economic or political scale? I don't have a problem with them thinking the former, but shouldn't they be a little more consistent and look at political issues the same way? Why aren't those considered nuanced? Just food for thought).

Groupthink, "wrongthink" b.s. needs to come to an end. People shouldn't be attacked for holding different views, but any time someone points that out, the "Left" likes to strawman and say, "being racist isn't the same as like coffee over tea". Doesn't seem to matter that race wasn't the focal point of the conversation when this happens either; they will literally pull this **** out of anywhere.

It's pretty ****ing disgusting what some Black people are calling other Black people who don't follow their ideology. Like, who tf thinks it's a good idea to hurl those slurs around? Why the hell would you do that, when you supposedly want true equality? Don't even ****ing get me started on the amount of white Leftists silencing Black conservatives, or y'know--anyone who isn't extreme Left.

That's pretty much it for now. I'm trying so hard not to be frustrated with people, because I know how hard it is to snap out of that kind of manipulation. I implore those who find themselves being like those I mentioned to really examine things: Does it really seem right to you that some voices are more important than others? Does it really seem right to you that being racist to one group of people is okay, but not to another? (Racism is never okay, and I ****ing reject the idea that it can't be done to white people; look at South Africa and you'll understand. I don't care how they got there--they are not their ancestors.)

I'm not ****ing taking a knee for ANYONE. If that makes me unpopular, so be it.

 

[Angel]

I have zero idea what it is like to struggle with gender or body dysmorphia. I am not black. I am not gay/bi/queer/insert other(s). The trauma of how people are feeling and how they are treated because of those things is beyond my understanding, which is why I would never presume to speak on behalf of any of those groups.

But I do know quite a bit about prejudice and discrimination. I'm female. I've got a disabled son (but not the "right" kind of disabled, of course. No Olympics for my boy, no inspirational stories written about him or films about his triumphs). I've been homeless. Poor. Grammar-school educated which comes with its own negative connotations. I have been rejected because of my socio-economic background. I have been mocked for not being Northern enough or Southern enough due to having one parent of each region. Assumptions have been made due to living in social housing. And agai when I I people why I cannot take certain pain meds. Suffered debilitating mental illness. Physically disabled for years until 2008. Wrong postcode. Wrong town. Wrong clothes/hair/glasses, for goodness sake.

Top it all off, being a Christian is always a black mark because everyone on the planet is a scholar and theologian and knows more than you do on the subject because there's a Wiki page somewhere written by a furious atheist with a personal agenda - usually rooted in a bad experience at the hands of someone claiming religion. Because, of course, people who are Christian cannot POSSIBLY be fallible and, dare I say, human. My faith is one of the most persecuted and mocked faiths in the WORLD. But no one stands up my MY freedoms or rights or beliefs. You don't have to agree with me, but my gosh at least have the courage to discuss why as opposed to cancelling me. More often than not, the assumptions about parts of the bible people take issue with are made without ever reading the thing and without the correct context. I can grab any number of verses from any part of the bible and twist them to suit - doesn't mean I should. And doesn't make it correct either.

Which is why I have such an issue with the culture of today - the presumptions made about me based on what little information I have posted above can be unbelievably blinkered and destructive at times; a cancel culture is like cancer on social media. And many others have to deal with it too, with no one fighting their corner for fear of being tarnished. Because I'm not BAME, trans, LGBTQ+ etc, I couldn't possibly understand prejudice or discrimination or abuse.

I don't need or want a defence force around me, following my every post and telling me I'm right and slamming down my detractors. I need mature, open, honest discourse with people who can handle a difference of opinion or view without going batcrap insane and calling the Woke Police on me. We need to stand up for injustice, of course we do. But we also need to think carefully about the impact of our stand; will it hinder or help? Harm or support? Is cancelling one group the right way to enforce the oft-twisted views of "tolerance" and "freedom"? People are bleating about free speech but not actually willing to allow it when it offends their sensibilities.

I left social media because it's utterly toxic. And this is part of what makes it that way.

 

[V]

My thoughts on things lately: there's a huge difference between being trans and trans or LGBT ideology. The ideology is exactly that, a political ideology. In my view it has no place in a medical condition beyond asking for the same basic rights as everyone else has, which we generally already have in the West. Ideology about biological sex is being used to twist and subvert society, to confuse people, and to shoehorn an agenda that is completely unworkable. You can't ask society and everyone in it to change the words they use just for you. You can't expect to walk into any space you feel like because you think you're special and don't need to behave and dress accordingly. You can't deny basic biology and then try to intimidate the science community without a backlash.

"Drag queen story hour" is a disgrace. It's absolutely ideological and nonsensical. Drag acts do not belong in schools, nor are they something you can equate with trans people and pretend like it's some sort of normalization for the trans "community". From what I've seen the drag queens look more designed to scare the socks off the kids too. What is this supposed to be? Other than something that will rightfully terrify the parents? If I had a kid in a school that was doing this stuff as well as asking my kid at the age of 4 or 5 what gender they think they are, I'd pull them out. And I AM trans.

Now we have to start parading "trans kids" around as well, in strip joints no less? I am not surprised at all everyone I know is horrified. This ideology is part of the same one that's simply hellbent on attacking social values consciously and deliberately in many other areas too. Since I'm not really a part of the "community" anyway I won't go along with this an inch and will call it out wherever I see it. (Genuine) trans people are being used by this ideology as pawns to push insane policies and behaviors since they feel they must defend the trans cause, even if it's to the most extreme limits. They too need to check themselves and take a step back and think.

Ofc we can tell where it is emanating from - the ideological left which has really started to ramp itself up into a frenzy lately. I can already feel the pushback and honestly, it needs to happen. The alternative is too awful to think about. Sadly many people are too bewildered right now to know what to do. The scale of the problem and that's it's everywhere now is obviously quite unnerving.

I'm not especially religious myself. Spiritual perhaps, but not someone to whom the creator has yet personally revealed himself/itself. But what Yuri Bezmenov said about the power of spiritual matters to constrain the materialistic and aggression of those who have (and want) no boundaries is very true. If you want a world with no boundaries, nothing stopping you from saying up is down and the sky is green, and trying to force others to conform, you are heading for disaster. This is what these ideologues are doing. But no matter what they think they are doing, the natural order is there - their own craziness will come up against it and they can't possibly win. The spiritual at least taught us that and to respect that there are things man can't do and places he shouldn't go in search of "paradise".

 

[V]

Forgot to mention as well that JK Rowling seems to have experienced what the ideological left does to any dissenters in its ranks. It eats them alive, or spits them out. Only their ideology matters to them. She has been a bit ideological herself on twitter in the past and that annoyed me back then. (As was some of the stuff Graham Linehan said - not about trans, but his persecution of free speech and other comedians was bizarre... does he think he's the only person who should have been allowed to make jest of race?)

Now JK has been right to state that biological sex matters - of course it does. Any genuine trans person could tell anyone that... or they wouldn't have a problem in the first place. The biological sex being a thing is what causes the issues at all, between the brain and the body. If this was all some airy-fairy social construct we could just tell ourselves to imagine being anything and all would be well. Man, woman, attack helicopter...

A trip to the shrink and we'd be tickety-boo. No need for anything else.

The ideologues have no interest in the condition, the facts, or the biology of it. They just want to contort the whole thing so that nobody can speak about gender. I'm glad people are speaking out and doing it in a surprisingly humanitarian and considerate way too, even though they have some frothing trans people at their necks. I understand the TERF concern, to a certain degree ... and personally I'm happy to consider trans people - in scientific terms, a sort of hybrid person, if they are taking hormones - since once they do take those hormones, their physicality is affected. But their bio sex never changes, and they'd be idiots to pretend to their doctor that it did. Socially I don't think it matters much, providing they do not set out to deceive in some inappropriate way. Nobody is necessarily losing out much on giving someone the impression at least in public that they are what they are trying to live as, but again, that should not be compelled by law or some stupid stigma upon the cis person. That's the fastest way to non-acceptance.

What a mess.

It should have remained strictly speaking a medical condition and the trans "community" ought to avoided the honey trap of the LGBT politics. But it was hard to avoid since trans people are often treated so badly, to have a group take them under wing. I'd be happy for the T to be dissociated from the LGB and for it to be seen as a medical issue, regardless of whatever fallout from that there may be. Preferable to being seen as a political lunatic who will sue you if you don't get the pronoun right or get the wax strips out.