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Jeff Vogel blogs about awesomeness.

Andhaira

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http://jeff-vogel.blogspot.com/2009/07/ ... -full.html

I Want To Play Awesome, Fun People Full Of Awesomeness

I had one of those gaming epiphanies the other day. I get them every so often, but I can usually lie down in a dark room with a wet washcloth on my head and make them go away. But not this time.

Here's what I decided. I don't mind if a game like Final Fantasy or Grand Theft Auto gives me a fixed character and tells me my story without letting me choose anything important about it. I'm cool with that. I can still have a lot of fun. But ...


I will no longer play any game that makes my character an insufferable, fun-hating prig.


This first started getting on my nerves with Grand Theft Auto 4. In this series, you're supposed to be this crazy criminal dude running around and doing wild, crazy things, right? Total adolescent power fantasy stuff, right? Well, instead, you play Niko Bellic, a tormented Serb with a dark past whose issues have issues. He's a grim guy. He hangs out with his cousin Roman, who is obsessed with drinking, gambling and strip clubs. And trying to not get too bogged down in his cousin's freaky drama.

After about 20 hours, I realized that I wished I was playing Roman. He had more fun.

Then the first downloadable content for GTA 4 came out. The Lost and the Damned. It's about biker gangs, so that's gonna get crazy, right? Well, your character is the responsible, business-oriented, goal-focused member of the gang, constantly berating your wild, devil-may-care superior. I instantly loathed myself.

Last week, I tried out Lost Odyssey, a huge RPG for the XBox. It's a gorgeous game, really pretty and high budget. But you play this (wait for it) grim, tormented immortal who never smiles or has fun or does anything to lighten up his joyless trudge through eternity. And, early on, you meet this immortal girl, and she's really hot and she wears shirts with no backs and flirts with you. And what's just about the first thing you try to do?

Punch her.

Seriously. She pokes fun at you and you take a swing at her and she jumps away. And what the hell? I want to spend 40 hours maneuvering this douchebag? It seemed like a neat game, but I'm sick of playing games where I hate the dude who's always in the middle of the screen.

Know what game I loved? Final Fantasy X. (Warning. Spoilers for a 75 year old game ahead.) In it, you play Tidus, who is a SPORTS STAR who gets to make time with HOT, MYSTICAL BABES, and who loves to laugh. And sure, you eventually turn out to not exist and dissolve, but sometimes that's the price you gotta' pay to have a good time, amirite?

(If you watch the video I linked to above, the awesomeness starts at 2:00.)

So there. That's my pet peeve. I have enough self-loathing in my regular life, without loathing my imaginary self too. I have two small kids. Jesus, let me have fun SOMEWHERE.
 

Jasede

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Retarded interview by a retarded developer, posted by a retarded poster.

Commented on by me.

Edit: Final Fantasy X. Kill Vogel. Do it now.
 

Trash

Pointing and laughing.
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That retarded developer has created some of the coolest dungeon crawls of the last decade. I really don't get that irational hatred for the guy.

Not to mention that he's partly right as usual. The pc you get stuck with should at some point click with you. Wether this is through being awesome or something else is beyond the point. Lost Oddyssy was ruined for me by the utter douchebaggery of the pc. What an utter boring twat and it is beyond me why people would want to spend any time around that cunt. It really manages to destroy any incentive to play further into the game. Dunno about the other game characters he describes though. Nico Bellic from GTA4 is to me a typical GTA sociopath. The whole brooding about the horrors of his war torn past is profoundly funny when in the next scene you butcher half the police force and cause scores of civilian casualties.
 

Jasede

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Why don't you stop posting and go back to jerking off on the FF X box, poser?

Trash said:
That retarded developer has created some of the coolest dungeon crawls of the last decade. I really don't get that irational hatred for the guy.
That's a retarded point. Hitler gave everyone in Germany jobs and improved our economy dramatically. Let's all go love Hitler. What do I care if he made "good games" if he's a douchebag writing pointless drivel (again) and admits to liking... Final Fantasy X? Playing his games is like eating his toenail clippings...
 

Wyrmlord

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Trash, the guy behaves like a douchebag on the internet.

That doesn't make him any different from the generic internet douchebag, and I don't hold him to higher standards for being a developer.

And yet, you'd treat him exactly like you would any internet douchebag - which is to be disinclined to read what is posted about him or disregard him completely.

Also, look at it this way:

Jasede:Vogel::MisterStone:Blakemore
 

Andhaira

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Why don't you stop reading and go play your Gameboy dumbass?
 

Seboss

Liturgist
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I'm pretty darn sure this blog post is sarcastic all the way through.
 

Bloodeyes

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Tidus was a fucking douchebag. Too bad I never bothered finishing FFX, seeing him dissolve would have made it all worthwhile.
 

Andhaira

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It had a pretty good and satifying ending. Was linear as hell though like all JRPG's.
 

Severian Silk

Guest
Can you guys try and get through a single post without mentioning fags and Hitler?
 

asper

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Project: Eternity
Vogel is awesome, the responses in this thread prove it once again!
 

Trash

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Jasede said:
Trash said:
That retarded developer has created some of the coolest dungeon crawls of the last decade. I really don't get that irational hatred for the guy.
That's a retarded point. Hitler gave everyone in Germany jobs and improved our economy dramatically. Let's all go love Hitler. What do I care if he made "good games" if he's a douchebag writing pointless drivel (again) and admits to liking... Final Fantasy X? Playing his games is like eating his toenail clippings...

You also hate movies, books, records, etc whenever they are made by people you dislike? No matter how good they might be? Do you spend a lot of time checking wether the products you might like are made by people who can pass your high standards?

Oh, and Wyrmlord? I really can't make heads or tails from your post. What exactly is your point?
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
Hitler Hitler Hitler Hitler Hitler
Niggers Niggers Niggers Niggers

Which is better?
And why?

Discuss!

/thread
 

Jasede

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Oh, we've been through this. Vogel is a retard. Yes, yes, he gifted you great (debatable) games - so what? Every single interview - and I mean absolutely every single one of them - has at least one or two major idiocies in it.

Some guy posted he was being sarcastic about FF X - no he wasn't. If you ever read Vogel interviews you'll notice he has terrible taste, dumb opinions and is just a fuckwad in general.

Like his games for all I care, but you'll never be safe from my Vogel-scorn. Never. I shall climb the highest mountains and sail the deepest seas to berate you about Vogel - for I am the true RPG warrior, and my destiny lies ahead of me.

Dun, dun, dun...

Edit: I'll never like anyone milking the same engine BILLIONS of times and then claiming he doesn't earn enough money to do better, only to proceed churning out the same game time after time for an unreasonable price. Maybe if he, you know, got a real job instead of peddling his shit-encrusted gems he wouldn't have to mewl on blogs so much.
 

Trash

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Jasede said:
Oh, we've been through this. Vogel is a retard. Yes, yes, he gifted you great (debatable) games - so what? Every single interview - and I mean absolutely every single one of them - has at least one or two major idiocies in it.

Nah, he just enjoys games for what they are. Escapism. That's all and all the nerdrage he causes by saying just that in interviews or on his blog is hilarious. He's not idiotic nor does he have idiotic views, he just doesn't take himself or gaming too serious. The only fault I can find with the guy is that he keeps milking the avernum and geneforge settings. I would really like to see something new and original from him.
 
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Just be thankful that when Vogel made Exile 1 in 1995, he hadn't yet played any jRPGs. As a result, the game he ripped off was Ultima, not Final Fantasy. And since he's a slave to repetition, he's never veered from that design. If he were starting from scratch today, you would never get games you like from him. It's a fluke of history, not design genius, that led to someone with his preferences making games you guys like.
 

Rosh

Erudite
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Messages
1,775
WanderingThrough2 said:
Just be thankful that when Vogel made Exile 1 in 1995, he hadn't yet played any jRPGs. As a result, the game he ripped off was Ultima, not Final Fantasy.

Not entirely true, the other main inspiration was the SSI games, from what I can recall discussing with him on Usenet. But yeah, it plays more like U5/6. He caught all of those who were tired of the Ultimas going into action gameplay, and who missed all of the old SSI games like gold box and silver box.

I also think a lot of Vogel's post was made in irony. It takes a Final Fantasy character to be the most believable out of the bunch.
 

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