KickStarter Jane Jensen's Pinkerton Road Studio & Moebius Closed Down

[Keshik]

I’m always a bit perplexed by these questions, though I try doggedly to answer. Perhaps my confusion is that I don’t identify myself as a “female designer”. I am a game designer/writer. My gender is irrelevant, right? Who really cares?

On my way back home, I kept thinking about that interview. It bugged me, and I tried to figure out why. My first reaction was: female game players need role models? Really? A woman doesn’t know who she is until a video game shows her someone to emulate? Hmm. Do people ever say guys need ‘role models’ in their games?

I love Jensen.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

This is exactly what I said.

It's funny how every single story written by a woman follows the exact same pattern without any variety, she even explicitly spells it out. They have a one-track mind, and they hate fiction and anything abstract, except when it can serve an eminently practical fantasy (which is fantasizing about a top man ideal to discern it better).

And the reason why women read stories with same-sex male romances (or with such innuendo like Gabriel Knight 2) is because women naturally want to be submissive in relationships, but now modern lieberal/feminist ideals they're brainwashed to see any such thing as weakness. That's why in these stories there is always a male who is more passive. In essence this is to allow women to project themselves in the shoes of the weaker male without hurting their ego.

I don't think I've ever read a male character written by any female author that was not extremely phony. At least I'm glad to see that she is actually self-aware that she is writing from a female bias.

 

[Morgoth]

Kewl Gaemer girlz want to be like Lara Croft, not Jane Jensen anyway.

 

[Abelian]

Let’s review some of the mega hits in pop culture in the past ten years: Lost, True Blood, Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Skyfall, Harry Potter.

Okay, not Harry Potter. Forget that aberration of the laws of space and time.

 

[groke]

Thanks for the lengthier response -- it makes it easier to come to grips with what you're saying.

I certainly fretted about my own response, because I know there's a fine line, when you take on the role of an interlocutor, between "trying to keep an open mind about what someone might mean" and "covering up for someone who's trying to pull some shit," and very often the latter masquerades as the former because people know they can't get away with covering up shit in an overt way these days.

Anyway, I think the real issue is that, yes, this blog post could have used less unnecessary provocation and more "this is the audience I write for and what I know about -- this may not apply in your case." And I think that you can still get something out of it if you play that disclaimer in your head while reading it, even though it's not there.

A brief mention of gay men doesn't make up for the tone of the article, so to speak, but what I'm saying the article is what it is, Jensen writes the kind of characters she writes for the audience she has. I don't think either of us would instruct her to stop doing that. I think what we all want is more awareness and less myopia, when it comes to pieces that deal explicitly with gender and sexuality (because, let's face it, the thesis "hot men" crosses that line).

Anyway, I think the real issue is that, yes, this blog post could have used less unnecessary provocation

unnecessary provocation

Anyway, brb buying Moebius

 

[Aeschylus]

Putting all the SJW bullshit aside (please, put it aside), I just finished and it's a solid game. Easy, and because of that short (around 8:30 to finish), but solid. And Jensen managed to put out a complete, original game unlike most of the other Kickstarter-backed adventure games, so props to her for that.

It's decently written, or at least entertainingly over the top. It certainly follows Jensen's milieu of doing a lot of historical research for her games, though this one tends to be a bit more shallow than the GK games. There's a lot of information there if you care to read it though. The central premise is a little bit sillier, and less grounded in traditional mythology/religion than the GK games, but it works within the context of the game and provides for some interesting gameplay devices.

The main downsides to the game are the non-existent puzzle difficulty and the general lack of polish. Solutions to puzzles are made a little too obvious, through a combination of GUI quirks, in-game hints, and just an overall small number of actual puzzles themselves. The game seems to realize this, and puts in a bunch of semi-artificial lengthening mechanisms, such as forcing you to find out about a puzzle before grabbing an object, and an (ugh) extended maze sequence towards the end.

Oh, and the music is mostly nice, though sometimes jarring when dramatic music starts blaring in a mostly tension-free situation, and the voice acting is all pretty good, except for a few instances when the actors seemed to have contracted head colds.

It seemed to me like Jensen was trying to fuse a GK-esque plot with a modern Holmes and Watson duo, with all the craziness and homoerotic undertones that that implies. For the most part, I thought it was done well, and I hope there's a sequel some day.

 

[Abelian]

forcing you to find out about a puzzle before grabbing an object

While it can make the game more annoying, I can see how this can be justified from a realist perspective. It can seem a little contrived how video game characters pick up random objects (see this hilarious IDW2 example) rather than encounter a problem, then go back and pick up objects that can solve the problem. Similarly, requiring the player to inspect an object before picking it up or interacting with it can add realism at the cost of padding the game.

Were any of the puzzles contrived? I'm not asking for examples, since there is a good chance I'll pick Moebius up later; I'm just curious about the puzzle design.

 

[Aeschylus]

Yeah, I'm aware it makes more logical sense in some cases, it's just annoying to have to backtrack all the time. Though I suppose forgetting where Random-Item-X is is the only thing making the game difficult at all.

There are no particularly off-the-wall puzzles, the solution is always pretty obvious, and the puzzle solving/progression is always quite linear, except for one bit towards the end of the game. On the bright side, there is some actual C&C which can send you along slightly different paths. They're not *bad* puzzles really, just the solutions are very telegraphed.

 

[Abelian]

Heh, I'm reminded of the sausage lady in GK2. I kept trying to buy sausages, but Gabriel kept saying he didn't need them. Finally, when I was able to buy them, I thought they were for the wolves in the zoo. This was interesting because you could buy the sausages before you knew what you needed them for, but had to wait until the correct chapter to do it.

 

[DeepOcean]

But more to the point… why do I so often find myself writing male characters? The truth is, I’ve always preferred writing men to women in my novels as well as my games. The answer was really pretty obvious—I don’t just write male characters, I write male characters who are hot simply because I enjoy it.

I totally see a few manginas dying after reading this.

My first reaction was: female game players need role models? Really? A woman doesn’t know who she is until a video game shows her someone to emulate? Hmm. Do people ever say guys need ‘role models’ in their games?

That was a kick in the theeth of the SJWs.
Women behaving like women and wanting things most women want in video games? No! We SJWs know that women always wanted to have dicks. Jane Jensen, so disappointed them and they can't even play their game of "I won't listen to you because you are a machist pig." now I see why RPS wrote that piece of shit they called a review. Now, I'm sure I will buy this game.


Jane Jensen

 

[J_C]

Now I'm angry. Angry because I won't be able to rub Jensen's thoughts into every feminist's face on the planet and scream: read this, READ THIS YOU FUCKIN RETARD!

 

[Darth Roxor]

Roguey

Spoiler

 

[Darth Roxor]

Finished.

Jesus Christ, that endgame has to be one of the worst fucking endgames in the history of endgames.

That entire last chapter in Qatar was COMPLETELY POINTLESS.

C O M P L E T E L Y P O I N T L E S S

Seriously. Three consecutive maze sections is bad. Combined with no real ending of any kind is extra bad. Combined with absolutely nothing else to do during said maze sections is ridonk bad. Combined with the whole chapter not adding ANYTHING to the game, be it concerning plot, difficulty, anything, other than a stupid timesink, is just extraridonk bad.

Fucking hell, and just when it was getting very interesting in the previous chapter they finish it off with a turd like this that leaves a horrible taste in your mouth :/

Also

I have no idea who Bashar Abdullah is, but HE SHOULD BE SUMMARILY EXECUTED

("with jokes from" made me laff however)

 

[J_C]

Finished.

Jesus Christ, that endgame has to be one of the worst fucking endgames in the history of endgames.

That entire last chapter in Qatar was COMPLETELY POINTLESS.

C O M P L E T E L Y P O I N T L E S S

Seriously. Three consecutive maze sections is bad. Combined with no real ending of any kind is extra bad. Combined with absolutely nothing else to do during said maze sections is ridonk bad. Combined with the whole chapter not adding ANYTHING to the game, be it concerning plot, difficulty, anything, other than a stupid timesink, is just extraridonk bad.

Fucking hell, and just when it was getting very interesting in the previous chapter they finish it off with a turd like this that leaves a horrible taste in your mouth :/

Also



I have no idea who Bashar Abdullah is, but HE SHOULD BE SUMMARILY EXECUTED

("with jokes from" made me laff however)

NO no no. Please no. And I was getting excited about the game. It seems they ran out of money in the end and had to rush the game out.

 

[Abelian]

Finished.

Jesus Christ, that endgame has to be one of the worst fucking endgames in the history of endgames.

That entire last chapter in Qatar was COMPLETELY POINTLESS.

C O M P L E T E L Y P O I N T L E S S

Seriously. Three consecutive maze sections is bad. Combined with no real ending of any kind is extra bad. Combined with absolutely nothing else to do during said maze sections is ridonk bad. Combined with the whole chapter not adding ANYTHING to the game, be it concerning plot, difficulty, anything, other than a stupid timesink, is just extraridonk bad.

Fucking hell, and just when it was getting very interesting in the previous chapter they finish it off with a turd like this that leaves a horrible taste in your mouth :/

Thanks for the heads-up. I suppose they left in plenty of sequel hooks for future cash grabs? Also, were there any gimmicks like timed or agility-based puzzles?

 

[Darth Roxor]

Also, were there any gimmicks like timed or agility-based puzzles?

Only one "timed" puzzle, but it was actually sorta clever. Nothing agility-based, no QTEs and no sliding-pictures (thank God)

I suppose they left in plenty of sequel hooks for future cash grabs?

Yes.

I just wish at least MAYBE EVEN ONE OF THEM WAS RESOLVED? :/

 

[DeepOcean]

Finished.

Jesus Christ, that endgame has to be one of the worst fucking endgames in the history of endgames.

That entire last chapter in Qatar was COMPLETELY POINTLESS.

C O M P L E T E L Y P O I N T L E S S

Seriously. Three consecutive maze sections is bad. Combined with no real ending of any kind is extra bad. Combined with absolutely nothing else to do during said maze sections is ridonk bad. Combined with the whole chapter not adding ANYTHING to the game, be it concerning plot, difficulty, anything, other than a stupid timesink, is just extraridonk bad.

Fucking hell, and just when it was getting very interesting in the previous chapter they finish it off with a turd like this that leaves a horrible taste in your mouth :/


I have no idea who Bashar Abdullah is, but HE SHOULD BE SUMMARILY EXECUTED

("with jokes from" made me laff however)

Does it get the Darth Roxor's seal of approval or the ending is so bad that ruin everything?

 

[Darth Roxor]

Does it get the Darth Roxor's seal of approval or the ending is so bad that ruin everything?

Nah, the ending doesn't really ruin "everything", the game is still alright all in all. Like I said before, if you liked Gray Matter, you should like this - it's got the typical Jensen shtick of "is this all true or is it just mumbojumbo?!", lots of historical stuff and research, etc. It has a better plot than Gray Matter, but worse puzzles, and is on the whole shorter, I think, prob cuz of said puzzles.

So idk, 7/10 it was an enjoyable romp until the last chapter.

 

[Drakron]

It has a better plot than Gray Matter, but worse puzzles, and is on the whole shorter, I think, prob cuz of said puzzles.

Dont know about that. Grey Matter was very interesting about the characters and none of the twists come from the left field, there were plenty of hints even with the last one that if you thought about it they didnt exactly tricked you.

 

[Darth Roxor]

It has a better plot than Gray Matter, but worse puzzles, and is on the whole shorter, I think, prob cuz of said puzzles.

Dont know about that. Grey Matter was very interesting about the characters and none of the twists come from the left field, there were plenty of hints even with the last one that if you thought about it they didnt exactly tricked you.

I'm not exactly sure what you've just said, but I didn't mean to imply that Gray Matter had a bad plot.

 

[Aeschylus]

7/10 is probably fair. But yeah, the maze section at the end is just pointless padding to add some length.

 

[Western]

I've just gotten to Chapter 6, and I'm enjoying it, the way Jensen writes the relationship between David and Malachi cracks me up, it's been entertaining so far, the writing and voice acting is solid and the music is great. Complaints about the art style are fair enough, but that can be overlooked. Not a perfect game, but at least I feel like I got what I backed, unlike the Double Fine Kickstarter where it felt like someone was urinating in my face.

 

[Drakron]

I can see how this can be justified from a realist perspective.

Not when you fly back to New York to get a bottle of whiskey and them go back to Washington.

 

[Abelian]

I can see how this can be justified from a realist perspective.

Not when you fly back to New York to get a bottle of whiskey and them go back to Washington.

I didn't realize the Prohibition is still in effect in Washington.

 

[Drakron]

I didn't realize the Prohibition is still in effect in Washington.

The problem is this, you need to distract Veronica (I think its her name) and so you need a bottle of whiskey as a gift so she can later be persuaded to get some drinks ... but the only bars they made is in New York that serves the only purpose of getting this bottle and a conversation earlier on, the other is in Cairo that would be even more absurd.

This could been solved if they made a hotel room for him to stay or just a store ... heck even the Senator office would be a better choice.