Baldur's Gate #BaldurGate: Siege of Dragonspear

[Zorba the Hutt]

Eh, Tales of the Sword Coast had the first Bioware romance.

Cheesy as all the Bioware romantic stuff was, it's funny reading that flowery prose after some of the "You're an amazing person" type lines in the expansion.

 

[AwesomeButton]

NOW I AM REALLY PISSED!

This should be a lesson to you, never write Metacritic reviews with scores different than 0/10 or 10/10.

 

[Prime Junta]

blatant attack on freedom of speech

If only you had some other forum where you could express your opinion.

 

[Mareus]

blatant attack on freedom of speech

If only you had some other forum where you could express your opinion.

I see what you are trying to say, but my question is this. If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?

If you dont see this as an attack on freedom of speech - where a big review site such as Metacritic censors people for no other reason than not agreeing with their political ideology - I don't know what to tell you.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Its just not Black Island Quality anymore

^ Hardcore Baldur's Gate fan, obviously legit review.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Its just not Black Island Quality anymore

^ Hardcore Baldur's Gate fan, obviously legit review.

No, SoD is Lonely Island quality.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

blatant attack on freedom of speech

If only you had some other forum where you could express your opinion.

I see what you are trying to say, but my question is this. If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?

If you dont see this as an attack on freedom of speech - where a big review site such as Metacritic censors people for no other reason than not agreeing with their political ideology - I don't know what to tell you.

I'm legit wondering what you wrote to make your review be taken down when all of the others in the screenshot were left up. Could you post the review here and your forum posts that led to the ban?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

blatant attack on freedom of speech

If only you had some other forum where you could express your opinion.

I see what you are trying to say, but my question is this. If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?

If you dont see this as an attack on freedom of speech - where a big review site such as Metacritic censors people for no other reason than not agreeing with their political ideology - I don't know what to tell you.

I'm legit wondering what you wrote to make your review be taken down when all of the others in the screenshot were left up. Could you post the review here and your forum posts that led to the ban?

He put his post here a page or two back, wasn't even raging in it or anything.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

Its just not Black Island Quality anymore

^ Hardcore Baldur's Gate fan, obviously legit review.

No, SoD is Lonely Island quality.

I remember right after I became single I'd send the video for "I just had sex" to a buddy of mine every time I got laid. No context, just the video. Since we're in Brazil, he had never really got what I was trying to say until I explained it to him months later.

"Oh fuck, so that's what that was". And then he asked "Shit, but you haven't sent me that video in months..."

Hit me right in the feels

 

[Prime Junta]

If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?.

Indeed, if that happens, then freedom of speech is nothing more than a technicality.

That's not the way things have been going though. The "places where it matters" have gotten more and more squeezed, as "alternative media" of all stripes pop up like mushrooms. Take your case to The Daily Stormer, I'm sure they're happy to give you a platform (assuming you're pasty enough anyway).

 

[Mareus]

blatant attack on freedom of speech

If only you had some other forum where you could express your opinion.

I see what you are trying to say, but my question is this. If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?

If you dont see this as an attack on freedom of speech - where a big review site such as Metacritic censors people for no other reason than not agreeing with their political ideology - I don't know what to tell you.

I'm legit wondering what you wrote to make your review be taken down when all of the others in the screenshot were left up. Could you post the review here and your forum posts that led to the ban?

Ufortunately, I do not have my original review saved anywhere, but I was not being rude or anything. I said: "The game is actually not as bad as 3.8 score seems to suggest. If you like the original BG, chances are you will like this one too. Its writing is not up to par with original games, there is a clear SJW agenda being pushed into the writing, the game is a bit too railroady for its own good and there are some bugs. As long as you can ignore the social commentary, I can recommend the game and I think 5/10 is more than fair."

When Metacritic removed that review, I wrote a second one saying something among these lines: "No matter how many times you remove my review, I will come back and write a new one. People have the right to know what is in the game and that includes things such as unwanted political commentary. I gave the game 5/10 in my original review and I think this was more than fair considering its railroady nature, bugs, writing quality and all the controversy surrounding it. However, today I was banned from Beamdog's forums under false accusation of trans-misogyny and now it seems the developer's influence is even stretching here on Metacritic. Due to abhorent treamtment from the developer, which should be taken into consideration when buying the game, I am now reducing the score to 0/10."

That is all I wrote, and I don't see any reason to ban me. Btw, I made a new account and posted another review and gave the game a 0/10, so that might be where the other zeroes are coming from.

 

[Mareus]

If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?.

Indeed, if that happens, then freedom of speech is nothing more than a technicality.

That's not the way things have been going though. The "places where it matters" have gotten more and more squeezed, as "alternative media" of all stripes pop up like mushrooms. Take your case to The Daily Stormer, I'm sure they're happy to give you a platform (assuming you're pasty enough anyway).

Thank you for proving my point, son. When your only other alternative are the sites like The Daily Stormer which is by the mainstream described as: "an American Neo-Nazi and white supremacist news and commentary website." - I think we have reached the point where its time to sound ringing those alarm bells.

 

[Prime Junta]

If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?.

Indeed, if that happens, then freedom of speech is nothing more than a technicality.

That's not the way things have been going though. The "places where it matters" have gotten more and more squeezed, as "alternative media" of all stripes pop up like mushrooms. Take your case to The Daily Stormer, I'm sure they're happy to give you a platform (assuming you're pasty enough anyway).

Thank you for proving my point, son. When your only other alternative are the sites like The Daily Stormer which is by the mainstream described as: "an American Neo-Nazi and white supremacist news and commentary website." - I think we have reached the point where its time to sound ringing those alarm bells.

I know, it's terrible when the only media left are Metacritic and Daily Stormer.

 

[mastroego]

Well, the SJW disease seems to be spreading.

I posted a Metacritic review giving the game originally a score 5/10 - which I think was more than fair considering all the controversy, bugs, writing quality, etc. I even recommended the game - as long as you don't mind "in your face" political agenda! Then my Metacritic review was deleted! Same day I was banned from Beamdog's forums under false accusation of spreading hatred and trans-misogyny. I also found a few articles misrepresenting valid critcism as hatred towards transexuals by Jim Sterling, Gawker and the usual suspects! So I wrote another Metacritic review - lowering the score from 5/10 to 0/10 due to crappy treatment from the developer and them trying to censor people ALL OVER THE FUCKING INTERNET! Developer's treatment of their customers is a valid point to consider when buying a game, for fuck's sake!

Now I find out that not only has Metacritic removed my review again, but what is worse, they have removed all my Metacritic reviews and banned me from commenting ever again! This here is a blatant attack on freedom of speech! SJWs have been trying to censor internet for years now and luckily the constitution does not allow for it! However, they are now getting into private companies and are censoring content on completely unfounded accusations! If a small company such as Beamdog can influence Metacritic to do such a thing, it won't be long before every gaming company starts using SJW as an excuse to censor dissenting opinion. If anyone knows any big Youtuber who is willing to talk about this, please let him know of what is happening!

NOW I AM REALLY PISSED!

I feel you, but I guess next time just give the lowest score without reviewing, so you won't risk a ban (at least I think it works that way, I don't even have an account there).
Anyway, it's still 3.8, obviously it'd deserve to be scored even lower but I guess it's satisfying enough, given the normal state of affairs with Politically Correct content.

 

[Zorba the Hutt]

Who cares if you can't post a game review on metacritic, you can go to the Daily Stormer

Come on, your trolling is normally more subtle than this.

 

[Mareus]

If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?.

Indeed, if that happens, then freedom of speech is nothing more than a technicality.

That's not the way things have been going though. The "places where it matters" have gotten more and more squeezed, as "alternative media" of all stripes pop up like mushrooms. Take your case to The Daily Stormer, I'm sure they're happy to give you a platform (assuming you're pasty enough anyway).

Thank you for proving my point, son. When your only other alternative are the sites like The Daily Stormer which is by the mainstream described as: "an American Neo-Nazi and white supremacist news and commentary website." - I think we have reached the point where its time to sound ringing those alarm bells.

I know, it's terrible when the only media left are Metacritic and Daily Stormer.

Your attempts at sarcasm miss the mark by a mile. Nobody is saying that those are the only two alternatives. I am saying this is another blow on the freedom of speech in a series of blows in the last few years. And blow by blow.. if you allow it ilong enough - at some point going to leave a serious injury. I maintain that the injury should already be visible to anyone who isn't dense, but hey... you can try to dismiss the whole notion with sarcasm if it makes you feel better.

 

[varangos]

Indeed, if that happens, then freedom of speech is nothing more than a technicality.

your freedom of speach ends when my begins.

 

[Gay-Lussac]

blatant attack on freedom of speech

If only you had some other forum where you could express your opinion.

I see what you are trying to say, but my question is this. If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?

If you dont see this as an attack on freedom of speech - where a big review site such as Metacritic censors people for no other reason than not agreeing with their political ideology - I don't know what to tell you.

I'm legit wondering what you wrote to make your review be taken down when all of the others in the screenshot were left up. Could you post the review here and your forum posts that led to the ban?

Ufortunately, I do not have my original review saved anywhere, but I was not being rude or anything. I said: "The game is actually not as bad as 3.8 score seems to suggest. If you like the original BG, chances are you will like this one too. Its writing is not up to par with original games, there is a clear SJW agenda being pushed into the writing, the game is a bit too railroady for its own good and there are some bugs. As long as you can ignore the social commentary, I can recommend the game and I think 5/10 is more than fair."

When Metacritic removed that review, I wrote a second one saying something among these lines: "No matter how many times you remove my review, I will come back and write a new one. People have the right to know what is in the game and that includes things such as unwanted political commentary. I gave the game 5/10 in my original review and I think this was more than fair considering its railroady nature, bugs, writing quality and all the controversy surrounding it. However, today I was banned from Beamdog's forums under false accusation of trans-misogyny and now it seems the developer's influence is even stretching here on Metacritic. Due to abhorent treamtment from the developer, which should be taken into consideration when buying the game, I am now reducing the score to 0/10."

That is all I wrote, and I don't see any reason to ban me. Btw, I made a new account and posted another review and gave the game a 0/10, so that might be where the other zeroes are coming from.

Well, that's weird, your review seems very much in line with the others on your screenshot. Maybe it's some sort of word filter at work. Either way, should probably boycott Metacritic. As a review aggregator, when they start banning legit reviews, they're providing a shitty service.

Freedom of speech in private enviroments works in a funny way: if you legislate that all private enviroments should be free of censorship, then you're effectively protecting freedom of speech, but at the same time you're also restricting the freedom of private institutions to organize and regulate themselves as they see fit. That's why freedom of speech is traditionally thought of only as a right against State censorship. Maybe with our growing dependency on certain services there should be a paradigm shift, but until then all we can do is vote with our wallets (or, rather, with our internet traffic).

 

[ZagorTeNej]

Indeed, if that happens, then freedom of speech is nothing more than a technicality.

That's not the way things have been going though. The "places where it matters" have gotten more and more squeezed, as "alternative media" of all stripes pop up like mushrooms. Take your case to The Daily Stormer, I'm sure they're happy to give you a platform (assuming you're pasty enough anyway).

Indeed, real world is like your average video game, all the characters are one-dimensional caricatures. Since Mareus isn't a rabid SJW ideologue, that must mean he's a neo-Nazi who's gonna fit perfectly with the Daily Stormer crowd.

 

[Mareus]

blatant attack on freedom of speech

If only you had some other forum where you could express your opinion.

I see what you are trying to say, but my question is this. If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?

If you dont see this as an attack on freedom of speech - where a big review site such as Metacritic censors people for no other reason than not agreeing with their political ideology - I don't know what to tell you.

I'm legit wondering what you wrote to make your review be taken down when all of the others in the screenshot were left up. Could you post the review here and your forum posts that led to the ban?

Ufortunately, I do not have my original review saved anywhere, but I was not being rude or anything. I said: "The game is actually not as bad as 3.8 score seems to suggest. If you like the original BG, chances are you will like this one too. Its writing is not up to par with original games, there is a clear SJW agenda being pushed into the writing, the game is a bit too railroady for its own good and there are some bugs. As long as you can ignore the social commentary, I can recommend the game and I think 5/10 is more than fair."

When Metacritic removed that review, I wrote a second one saying something among these lines: "No matter how many times you remove my review, I will come back and write a new one. People have the right to know what is in the game and that includes things such as unwanted political commentary. I gave the game 5/10 in my original review and I think this was more than fair considering its railroady nature, bugs, writing quality and all the controversy surrounding it. However, today I was banned from Beamdog's forums under false accusation of trans-misogyny and now it seems the developer's influence is even stretching here on Metacritic. Due to abhorent treamtment from the developer, which should be taken into consideration when buying the game, I am now reducing the score to 0/10."

That is all I wrote, and I don't see any reason to ban me. Btw, I made a new account and posted another review and gave the game a 0/10, so that might be where the other zeroes are coming from.

Well, that's weird, your review seems very much in line with the others on your screenshot. Maybe it's some sort of word filter at work. Either way, should probably boycott Metacritic. As a review aggregator, when they start banning legit reviews, they're providing a shitty service.

Freedom of speech in private enviroments works in a funny way: if you legislate that all private enviroments should be free of censorship, then you're effectively protecting freedom of speech, but at the same time you're also restricting the freedom of private institutions to organize and regulate themselves as they see fit. That's why freedom of speech is traditionally thought of only as a right against State censorship. Maybe with our growing dependency on certain services there should be a paradigm shift, but until then all we can do is vote with our wallets (or, rather, with our internet traffic).

Finally an intelligent comment on the problem at hand that presents us with a legitimite moral dilemma. Still, I would argue that self-regulation of any company - especially a review site - should work on principles of freedom of speech. If these priniples are broken, that company is effectively attacking people's right to express their opinions and is guilty of censorship.

I mean, every company has rules to enforce their self-regulation. If people don't break these rules and are still banned, how is that not censorship?

 

[Prime Junta]

Your attempts at sarcasm miss the mark by a mile. Nobody is saying that those are the only two alternatives. I am saying this is another blow on the freedom of speech in a series of blows in the last few years. And blow by blow.. if you allow it ilong enough - at some point going to leave a serious injury. I maintain that the injury should already be visible to anyone who isn't dense, but hey... you can try to dismiss the whole notion with sarcasm if it makes you feel better.

Not really. It's just corporate media being corporate media. You're just sore because they're doing it to you for a change.

I'm Communist. I don't see my political opinions represented all that often in corporate media either. But there are alternative media, and there are ways of getting alternative viewpoints into media hostile to them. Going on a "muh freeze peach!" whine every time your opinion got taken down (or not put up in the first place) is not one of the more effective ones. Find other platforms, and/or find a way to frame your opinion in such a way it slips past the censors. That's how it's always worked, and how it still works -- and believe me, right now we have way more and way more accessible alternative platforms than we ever did.

(Edit: oh, and, if you do find yourself in a situation where Daily Stormer is your only remaining option, maybe you ought to give your opinions and the way you express them a closer look, 'cuz that's bound to mean something.)

 

[Mareus]

Your attempts at sarcasm miss the mark by a mile. Nobody is saying that those are the only two alternatives. I am saying this is another blow on the freedom of speech in a series of blows in the last few years. And blow by blow.. if you allow it ilong enough - at some point going to leave a serious injury. I maintain that the injury should already be visible to anyone who isn't dense, but hey... you can try to dismiss the whole notion with sarcasm if it makes you feel better.

Not really. It's just corporate media being corporate media. You're just sore because they're doing it to you for a change.

Projecting too much?

 

[mindx2]

I'm Communist.

:russia:

Well that explains a lot...

 

[Prime Junta]

I'm Communist.

:russia:

Well that explains a lot...

Trot, not tankie.

 

[Beastro]

If a particular political ideology infiltrates every big media outlet, schools, companies, etc. - and they start censoring people from within on most places where it matters - do you still have freedom of speech? Or is such freedom of speech nothing more than a technicality?.

Indeed, if that happens, then freedom of speech is nothing more than a technicality.

That's not the way things have been going though. The "places where it matters" have gotten more and more squeezed, as "alternative media" of all stripes pop up like mushrooms. Take your case to The Daily Stormer, I'm sure they're happy to give you a platform (assuming you're pasty enough anyway).

All this means is the death of metacritic.

They keep doing that and someone will come along with another Metareview site and suck up the demand.