General Discussion

Yes, that was number three. I forgot to add that when posting. Voice chat and an overlay are a must!

I don't think it will, from what I've read. It seems to just be distribution for Bnet stuff, which is great since currently they don't exist on any game service and you have to wait for updates to download, etc.

I agree though, if they're using it for other things beyond Blizzard games, I'll probably pass on those, but it will be great to have Blizzard's games all under one roof at least.

They update themselves when you launch the launcher. And then you wait.

This way, you leave it up and it downloads when it's ready, and you never have to wait.

Plus, you get to see what your friends are playing before you launch the game, so now you can say "hey Jon is playing SC2" and message him to see if he wants to play, rather than launching the game, signing in, seeing nobody online.

And *if* they make it so you only have to sign into the client and not each individual game, that will make me very happy.

Yeah, I hope they have their own overlay. I doubt you'd be able to use Steam's if you're launching anything from the BNet client.

So I've watched this now and given myself an hour to process everything. In the first video I was all-in with what she had to say, but she loses me a little in this one. I still agree with her main point, but I think at times she makes some leaps just because she's looking for all the bad. For example, when someone says "Now I'm taking something from you" and shoots the protagonist's girlfriend, that does not suggest that she was his property. That's a thing people say. When a father dies in a tragic event, he was taken from you. She also calls the protagonist fighting his demon-possessed girlfriend "domestic violence." If a demon possessed my wife and I had to fight it to make it leave, it would not be domestic violence. I don't think this is good for her case, because she's giving people something to latch onto and use that to attempt to discredit her. I don't for a second think she should shy away from difficult topics, but making new problems where there may not be any doesn't help anyone. Those scenes were already bad for other reasons.

When used in certain ways, the tropes she discusses aren't necessarily bad. She even makes a point of saying this. Borderlands 2 and God of War spring to mind for me as two examples. The character mentioned from BL2 is essential, and has more depth than most of the characters. Further, in that game, Lilith is the most badass character around.

I think what it all comes down to is how overused it is. Even today, useless female characters are way overused. With the example about the demon-possessed wife, you could avoid your loved one's attacks while trying to find some magical thing to do something to help. There are many other options here, and that's the point she was trying to make, which I totally agree with. Partly, it's a matter of game plots being incredibly unoriginal, and publishers don't want to take chances. Regardless of the reason, it isn't very inclusive to women.

I think back to my time with the new Tomb Raider. What a pleasure that game was. Not only was it beautifully done, with tight mechanics and great visuals, but it was a woman who was overcoming obstacles, finding her strength, saving women and men alike, and (while there was a lot of shooting) using her mind and keeping her wits about her to get out of some really bad situations. There's a lot of action, but you're rewarded for keeping her archaeological interests in mind as well. How many games empower women like that, or even give you a female protagonist? Not many, and that's really disappointing.

"To say that women shouldn't be cast in the roles, because of the messages that they send, is completely absurd."

Yeah, it is. In the last few minutes of the video she tempers everything she says in the first 20ish minutes with reason, but some of the claims she makes throughout the first part are a bit absurd.

Scrypt, to your point, I have played games where a woman is guilty for not having saved someone. Was she also socially prescribed a patriarchal duty? Is it only a problem if men have these feelings?

I dunno, again I think this is overuse of standard plots. I think how we've gotten to where we are now could be a sign of sexism in how the plots were conceived, but laziness or lack of scriptwriting budget could be just as much of a contributor to this (if not more).

The further I get from this video, the more I dislike it. I certainly think there are sexist elements holding back gaming, but I don't think this video helps much in that regard. It's disappointing. I want to see more strong female protagonists, and I want to see more varied stories in games, but those problems can be discussed more constructively than this video. In fact, I think a discussion about what the indie scene is up to, and why those plots and mechanics engage players in different ways (and arguably better ways) could help push things along. But that doesn't get as much attention, I guess.

http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/the-use-of-violence-against-women-to-justify-and-propel-the-stories-of-mode

Ben Kuchera with the important bits. I seem to agree with exactly what he's saying here.

I just don't agree that this feeling is sexist. Yes, perhaps it's more likely that society has pushed men into the protector role, but survivor's guilt is strong regardless of gender.

I guess it's a matter of its overuse. It may all be down to the fact that there are more male protagonists and that's an easy plot device. Again, I want more strong female characters and interesting plots. I'm just not sure Sarkeesian has her sights set in the right place.

CG awesomenauts would be fun.

The new Humble Weekly Sale is pretty cool too.

https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly

So many great games for so cheap.

Deliciously magical!

Sounds good.

I agree. At least out of the remaining consoles, Sony is the most interesting to me too. Until more comes out about the Steambox whenever that ships.