Editorial Tranny Grimdark - Hyperreality in Bloodlines & Dragon Age

[Drakron]

Lol, what. I wasn't talking about realism wrt game mechanics. The subject is developers hyping realism and maturity when they throw in big boobies, lots of blood and gore, and their juvenile sex fantasies.

I would say M is rated for inMature but that is beyond gaming, cinema is as guilty of that if not more.

 

[Deleted Member 10432]

Quinine Moonshitter seems to be suffering from an inability to separate fiction from what we call reality. Apparently, he has also not discovered gothic fiction, or the concept that an author's characters and their personal mores may be at variance.

The blog he links to by Tiger Sandalwood or w/e about George RR Martin is even worse at this.

Person does unpleasant thing in work of fiction, news at 11.

 

[ironyuri]

A Latina trans woman in her 20s, she oft runs between worlds in real life and her beloved RPGs

Alright bros, I'm going to come down pretty hard here. This piece is all derp and faggotry, not a single line offers fucking potential.

There are scant few lines that do not make facile use of complex theory which the author (I use the term loosely) doesn't understand.

To go all hyper hyper-reality on the blog, another term which she misappropriates fairly severely (going so far as to cite it from two unknown fucking sociologists who she probably read in first year, rather than just citing Baudrillard), she raises the problem of maturity in games but then tries to analyse portrayals of women.

This poses a theoretical problem in itself: that there is an objective "mature" portrayal of women, which these games distort. It also ignores women's agency to portray themselves, but that is another problem entirely.

She writes about this whole VG thing, but her own blog cites other authors without properly referencing. She misuses theoretical terms consistently (that's about the only thing she does consistently). Her writing is poorly copy-edited, worse than an undergrad paper. Her (mis)use of seemingly heavy-weight terms gives her blog an obfuscatory slant which leaves the appearance of something more intelligent and critical than it is (ironic given her criticism of VGs for slanting their depictions as mature when they are not :derp.


tl;dr- If any of you think this has any relation to academic work on VGs, then you are wrong. Fuck off and die.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

WHAT WHAT'S THIS ABOUT GEORGE RR MARTIN? ARE THERE TRANNIES IN ICE AND FIRE? I'M ONLY IN BOOK 3. IS JAIMIE ACTUALLY A TRANNY? HELP

 

[Azrael the cat]

How the fuck did we get from the GAMES FUCK YEEEEAAAAHHH carefree mentality to this whole retarded "Games are vessels for politics/artistic statement/psychological exploration into the mind of whining transsexuals" argument? When I was a kid I played games to explore alien worlds in Outcast, build entire dungeons in Dungeon Keeper 2, run a criminal underground in The Gangsters, carry out dangerous missions in Shadow Watch, save civilians in Swat 3, and all this without a single fucking mention of gender equality or any OH GOD IS THIS ART contemplation.

Because in the space of about 2-3 years, a handful of games by a handful of developers produced genuinely good writing, with interesting themes, good use of humour and more than a touch of philosophy (Torment, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, I have no mouth but I must scream, a couple of others at most), and a bunch of gamers INCLUDING ME thought that this could be the future of video games.

We didn't realise that encouraging that as a mainstream approach, rather than the rare fluke/side-project would lead to Bioware and similar companies churning out the gaming equivalent of Mills and Boon novels. Or that people would then start to over-analyse games until they miss the point that they're about having fun (even though 'fun' most certainly can include philosoraptory and lore-immersion - I had plenty of fun with the 'what can change the nature of a man' stuff, and slowly working out what the curse of torment actually was). To the extent that the author's argument is 'this depiction of people who I identify with in games means that people like me can't have fun playing them', then it's a worthwhile point to make.


Similarly, I can agree with the flaws of over-analysis, but simply dismissing all complaints from people who get the piss taken out of them in gaming, to the point where they can't partake without feeling like shit, is a bit much. Over-emphasis on political correctness is one thing. Crying about how the world doesn't unthinkingly devote itself to your particular gender/ethnicity/sexuality is another, and people who whine about 'how dare she complain about sexism in games' are just as bad as those who get upset as soon as there isn't a gay/bi/furry/female/trans option in every game around.

 

[Lesifoere]

Similarly, I can agree with the flaws of over-analysis, but simply dismissing all complaints from people who get the piss taken out of them in gaming, to the point where they can't partake without feeling like shit, is a bit much. Over-emphasis on political correctness is one thing. Crying about how the world doesn't unthinkingly devote itself to your particular gender/ethnicity/sexuality is another, and people who whine about 'how dare she complain about sexism in games' are just as bad as those who get upset as soon as there isn't a gay/bi/furry/female/trans option in every game around.

 

[bhlaab]

I am so sick of nerd transsexuals who write essays. Great you found an episode of Deep Space Nine to be very "cis-normative" thanks you really opened my mind there Ms. Voldemort Crescentriver

 

[I.C. Wiener]

The blood quality game mechanic might be a valid point. But, it makes sense as a function of the victim's physical health. Of course a bum as destitute as the ones in Bloodlines are going to be less healthy and have shittier blood than an athlete or physician. Same with a disease-riddled whore (author of the article would probably take exception to that stereotype). The blood plague quest makes me think that's what they were actually going for, but I do remember thinking the way Jack explained it in the tutorial was classist first time I played the game. I'll have to see if I care enough to examine the theme on my next playthrough.

The complaints about sex workers are stupid. The prostitutes charge money for sex (except you drain their blood instead). The only traits they possess are universal to all prostitutes. They are too barebones to be stereotypes. I'm sure if Troika had infinite money to first complete the fucking game then add periphery sidequests that serve as padding with nothing to do with the game's central themes, they could have delivered a mature, complex, realistic and sympathetic portrayal of prostitution. The game also has stereotypical depictions of mexican gangbangers as violent, identical cloned thugs commanding motherfuckers to freeze, but I don't see any complaining about that.

The author also missed the point entirely about Heather.

I haven't played enough of DAO to know what is being discussed, and I can guarantee that the joke in question wasn't funny (bioware), but it sounds like the author's chosen gender was the butt of a joke. Black comedy is treating something serious unsympathetically, d/w it.

The bitching that there weren't enough minorities in Bloodlines makes makes me think the author is looking for things to complain about.

 

[the_unshaved_masses]

WHAT WHAT'S THIS ABOUT GEORGE RR MARTIN? ARE THERE TRANNIES IN ICE AND FIRE? I'M ONLY IN BOOK 3. IS JAIMIE ACTUALLY A TRANNY? HELP

Spoiler

Arya grows a penis for the faceless men and the Night's Watch collectively sacrifice their genitals to Rhloo (or whatever that fire god is called)

 

[Jools]

That site/blog is as retarded as the internet can get, anyway. Currently ranked 4th in my list of retarded sites, just after fecesbook, twatter and 4square.

What about 4chan? I don't think you can make a list of retarded websites without mentioning that shithole. Last time I checked that site out, it seemed like it would make GD look classy. It's the internet equivalent of Shub-Niggurath's cunt.

Bro, 4chan doesn't even try NOT to be a shithole, and that makes a big difference, because this way 4chan can -occasionally- provide a few moments of mild entertainment. On the other hand, the sites I mentioned (and the blog from the OP) are the epitome of futility, coated in multiple layers of retardedness, and do nothing but offer a sad insight into the darkest depths of human stupidity.

 

[SCO]

WHAT WHAT'S THIS ABOUT GEORGE RR MARTIN? ARE THERE TRANNIES IN ICE AND FIRE? I'M ONLY IN BOOK 3. IS JAIMIE ACTUALLY A TRANNY? HELP

You're in luck. There is, in fact, crossgender transvestism in aSoIaF.

 

[Radisshu]

The tranny prostitute in DA was implemented as a fucking joke

 

[Antihero]

[...] and people who whine about 'how dare she complain about sexism in games' are just as bad as those who get upset as soon as there isn't a gay/bi/furry/female/trans option in every game around.

If somebody has a valid complaint, then let them complain, but why let that impede critical debate? Although in this specific case it'd probably be a lost cause if all the arguments stem from highly selective sources and quotes of little substance on their own, twisted to make a point.