ShivahnUnaware of her barrel shifter privilegeWestern coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderatormod
edited October 2015
Oh one more Spec Ops thing that made me =/ and seemed weird and out of place
One of the "tips" on the loading screen is "How many Americans have you killed today?"
Which would be a much more interesting question if you hadn't used white phosphorus rounds on Dubai's civilians?
Like not to diminish using them on American soldiers, but the game explicitly involves war crimes against foreign civilians, and then phrases that question in a way that suggests you should be only concerned with the American lives. I guess it's supposed to shock you - "oh man I have been killing Americans" but it comes off in this weirdly detached uncomfortable way.
Oh one more Spec Ops thing that made me =/ and seemed weird and out of place
One of the "tips" on the loading screen is "How many Americans have you killed today?"
Which would be a much more interesting question if you hadn't used white phosphorus rounds on Dubai's civilians?
Like not to diminish using them on American soldier, but the game explicitly involves war crimes against foreign civilians, and then phrases that question in a way that suggests you should be only concerned with the American lives. I guess it's supposed to shock you - "oh man I have been killing Americans" but it comes off in this weirdly detached uncomfortable way.
Oh one more Spec Ops thing that made me =/ and seemed weird and out of place
One of the "tips" on the loading screen is "How many Americans have you killed today?"
Which would be a much more interesting question if you hadn't used white phosphorus rounds on Dubai's civilians?
Like not to diminish using them on American soldier, but the game explicitly involves war crimes against foreign civilians, and then phrases that question in a way that suggests you should be only concerned with the American lives. I guess it's supposed to shock you - "oh man I have been killing Americans" but it comes off in this weirdly detached uncomfortable way.
White phosphorous nothing. You wrecked the potable water trucks. Every person left in Dubai will be dead in a few days.
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MortiousThe Nightmare BeginsMove to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
ShivahnUnaware of her barrel shifter privilegeWestern coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderatormod
Oh actually I went back and read the Wiki plot synopsis - some of my complaints weren't really legit.
The choices can be questioned, but there's no reason to question the sanity of the main character until after he orders a white phosphorus strike that hits civilians, which I think actually works really well.
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Orphanerivers of redthat run to seaRegistered Userregular
Oh one more Spec Ops thing that made me =/ and seemed weird and out of place
One of the "tips" on the loading screen is "How many Americans have you killed today?"
Which would be a much more interesting question if you hadn't used white phosphorus rounds on Dubai's civilians?
Like not to diminish using them on American soldier, but the game explicitly involves war crimes against foreign civilians, and then phrases that question in a way that suggests you should be only concerned with the American lives. I guess it's supposed to shock you - "oh man I have been killing Americans" but it comes off in this weirdly detached uncomfortable way.
I dunno, this one I didn't find that out of place. The game has you commit atrocities against the citizens of Dubai, but pretty much everybody you kill who fights back is an American. That fits pretty well the game's theme of "why do you enjoy playing games where you kill a bunch of foreign bad guys" since it bluntly points out how you're playing an American power fantasy by killing Americans, and more broadly, that finding joy in killing a bunch of people is fucked up.
I get that the message is muddied in a bunch of ways, but I think the exploration of "why do you, the player, enjoy jingoistic action shooters" was the main focus and was executed well. I didn't focus on it as a story of how the Middle East is chaotic or how PTSD affects soldiers, though those elements were present.
Sometimes folks are lil too concerned with freedom to and not concerned enough with freedom from
It's easy to assume freedom from when you've always been free from it
AKA, why there are no refugees who move to America and become sovereign citizens
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
ABC Family is shifting from targeting millennials to what it has dubbed "Becomers" as part of a rebranding of sorts to focus on music and the many "firsts" in the lives of its young adult audience. While not a shift in its target demographic of 14-34, ABC Family's strategy will continue to explore a life stage with Becomers focusing on high school, college and the decade that follows — where many of the estimated 69 million with a spending power in the trillions experience the most "firsts" — cars, apartments, jobs, love and heartbreak.
"We are renewing our focus on an especially vibrant and important part of the consuming public, whom we have named Becomers, and are committing to this life stage, rather than to a generation," Ascheim says. "Becomers are exploring and establishing who they are becoming — personally, professionally and romantically — they live in that magical and messy place between their first kiss and their first kid."
EXECUTE MARKETERS
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knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
Oh hey do we have experts on Asian food here
Years ago I took a class in Japanese (don't remember a word of it) and we had dinner at the teacher's home. It was very good, but now that I'm in my dotage the only thing I can remember is she had these little packets of dried seasoned sardines (or maybe anchovies), and you sprinkled the package on your rice and it was delicious.
Does anyone have any idea what those are called and where I might find them? I already tried the biggest Asian food store in town and couldn't find anything that looked right, although this was over 20 years ago and I may be misremembering.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I guess to clarify, I think a lot of the hype got was surrounding the meta commentary about playing a video game about shooting people. Everything said to Walker by Konrad and most of the loading screens were aimed directly at the player. What literally happens, Walker's state of mind, and any broad political commentary were all minor setpieces for the main commentary that you, the player, are willing to do a bunch of horrible things because "The game made me" or "that's how these games work," even if you don't know why you're doing it or how screwed up your actions are.
I ate an engineer
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Orphanerivers of redthat run to seaRegistered Userregular
I guess to clarify, I think a lot of the hype got was surrounding the meta commentary about playing a video game about shooting people. Everything said to Walker by Konrad and most of the loading screens were aimed directly at the player. What literally happens, Walker's state of mind, and any broad political commentary were all minor setpieces for the main commentary that you, the player, are willing to do a bunch of horrible things because "The game made me" or "that's how these games work," even if you don't know why you're doing it or how screwed up your actions are.
the spec ops devs hate the kind of people who would buy shooters and didn't want to make a shooter so they dedicated an entire game to telling you how much they hate you
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ShivahnUnaware of her barrel shifter privilegeWestern coastal temptressRegistered User, Moderatormod
Oh one more Spec Ops thing that made me =/ and seemed weird and out of place
One of the "tips" on the loading screen is "How many Americans have you killed today?"
Which would be a much more interesting question if you hadn't used white phosphorus rounds on Dubai's civilians?
Like not to diminish using them on American soldier, but the game explicitly involves war crimes against foreign civilians, and then phrases that question in a way that suggests you should be only concerned with the American lives. I guess it's supposed to shock you - "oh man I have been killing Americans" but it comes off in this weirdly detached uncomfortable way.
I dunno, this one I didn't find that out of place. The game has you commit atrocities against the citizens of Dubai, but pretty much everybody you kill who fights back is an American. That fits pretty well the game's theme of "why do you enjoy playing games where you kill a bunch of foreign bad guys" since it bluntly points out how you're playing an American power fantasy by killing Americans, and more broadly, that finding joy in killing a bunch of people is fucked up.
I get that the message is muddied in a bunch of ways, but I think the exploration of "why do you, the player, enjoy jingoistic action shooters" was the main focus and was executed well. I didn't focus on it as a story of how the Middle East is chaotic or how PTSD affects soldiers, though those elements were present.
I mean, I don't play a lot of shooters, so maybe that has something to do with it not resonating as a jingoistic thing. I guess it does make sense in a way, since the killing of the civilians is never intended or presented as justifiable... but the game is also constantly questioning your killing of Americans, so I dunno.
There might be something a little broken in me though - within the confines of the game, it didn't matter that they were Americans. I know that was a decision designed to give me pause, but it never did.
I went in knowing it was supposed to be subversive, though, so when I started killing solely Americans I shrugged and thought "this is interesting. Ooh now I will get more ammo for the guns I like."
I'm in a weird spot where I don't know if that makes me the intended audience or not.
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Podlyyou unzipped me! it's all coming back! i don't like it!Registered Userregular
I guess to clarify, I think a lot of the hype got was surrounding the meta commentary about playing a video game about shooting people. Everything said to Walker by Konrad and most of the loading screens were aimed directly at the player. What literally happens, Walker's state of mind, and any broad political commentary were all minor setpieces for the main commentary that you, the player, are willing to do a bunch of horrible things because "The game made me" or "that's how these games work," even if you don't know why you're doing it or how screwed up your actions are.
the spec ops devs hate the kind of people who would buy shooters and didn't want to make a shooter so they dedicated an entire game to telling you how much they hate you
This is the most appealing comment I've seen yet :P
I guess to clarify, I think a lot of the hype got was surrounding the meta commentary about playing a video game about shooting people. Everything said to Walker by Konrad and most of the loading screens were aimed directly at the player. What literally happens, Walker's state of mind, and any broad political commentary were all minor setpieces for the main commentary that you, the player, are willing to do a bunch of horrible things because "The game made me" or "that's how these games work," even if you don't know why you're doing it or how screwed up your actions are.
The player is led by standard gaming conventions. You see an empty room full of chest-high walls, you reflexively rush in and hide behind said chest-high walls and you don't stop shooting until everyone else is dead.
Oh one more Spec Ops thing that made me =/ and seemed weird and out of place
One of the "tips" on the loading screen is "How many Americans have you killed today?"
Which would be a much more interesting question if you hadn't used white phosphorus rounds on Dubai's civilians?
Like not to diminish using them on American soldiers, but the game explicitly involves war crimes against foreign civilians, and then phrases that question in a way that suggests you should be only concerned with the American lives. I guess it's supposed to shock you - "oh man I have been killing Americans" but it comes off in this weirdly detached uncomfortable way.
that phospherous segment is so fucking dumb
oh here's what's basically a cutscene of a guy doing something bad
now we're going to act like you should feel bad about it
no? I don't, because the game had no other options, you're throwing shock at me for shock's sake, fuck off with that
asking me to feel bad about doing something only works for me if there was literally any other option
I guess to clarify, I think a lot of the hype got was surrounding the meta commentary about playing a video game about shooting people. Everything said to Walker by Konrad and most of the loading screens were aimed directly at the player. What literally happens, Walker's state of mind, and any broad political commentary were all minor setpieces for the main commentary that you, the player, are willing to do a bunch of horrible things because "The game made me" or "that's how these games work," even if you don't know why you're doing it or how screwed up your actions are.
the spec ops devs hate the kind of people who would buy shooters and didn't want to make a shooter so they dedicated an entire game to telling you how much they hate you
It was clearly pretty effective commentary given it made a lot of people think, even if it was just to discredit them. And I think it's definitely worth looking into the biases that go into media, and at the time Spec Ops was being developed, there was certainly a large amount of completely unexamined, America: Fuck Yeah shooters on the market (whether you were fighting Russians, Koreans, generic brown people, or space worms).
There are definitely games that had similar meta commentary but had more love for their own genre, but I don't think that's a reason to discredit the game. Successfully evoking negative emotions is still evoking emotions, which a lot of games struggle to do in any capacity, and most of the shooters at the time didn't even try.
Years ago I took a class in Japanese (don't remember a word of it) and we had dinner at the teacher's home. It was very good, but now that I'm in my dotage the only thing I can remember is she had these little packets of dried seasoned sardines (or maybe anchovies), and you sprinkled the package on your rice and it was delicious.
Does anyone have any idea what those are called and where I might find them? I already tried the biggest Asian food store in town and couldn't find anything that looked right, although this was over 20 years ago and I may be misremembering.
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Which would be a much more interesting question if you hadn't used white phosphorus rounds on Dubai's civilians?
Like not to diminish using them on American soldiers, but the game explicitly involves war crimes against foreign civilians, and then phrases that question in a way that suggests you should be only concerned with the American lives. I guess it's supposed to shock you - "oh man I have been killing Americans" but it comes off in this weirdly detached uncomfortable way.
Over the line
It’s not a very important country most of the time
http://steamcommunity.com/id/mortious
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
I can vote and my vote counts as much as yours.
And you must use cream?
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
fukken gr8 breakfast
Fed 7 people (all of whom had seconds) and still had leftovers for tomorrow
I'd love it if you took a look at my art and my PATREON!
I know super shallow depth of field is supposed to be nice but you actually have to focus on part of the thing* you're trying to highlight!
*
Bread and a cup of urine?
so troll
*eats at Arby's*
har har
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtiao
like, if your fridge is pretty clean and neutral, you can pretty much just pack it in salt and hang it to cure
I get that the message is muddied in a bunch of ways, but I think the exploration of "why do you, the player, enjoy jingoistic action shooters" was the main focus and was executed well. I didn't focus on it as a story of how the Middle East is chaotic or how PTSD affects soldiers, though those elements were present.
Well, at least I had a good dinner.
Keeps you on your toes … or off your toes entirely.
It's easy to assume freedom from when you've always been free from it
AKA, why there are no refugees who move to America and become sovereign citizens
Years ago I took a class in Japanese (don't remember a word of it) and we had dinner at the teacher's home. It was very good, but now that I'm in my dotage the only thing I can remember is she had these little packets of dried seasoned sardines (or maybe anchovies), and you sprinkled the package on your rice and it was delicious.
Does anyone have any idea what those are called and where I might find them? I already tried the biggest Asian food store in town and couldn't find anything that looked right, although this was over 20 years ago and I may be misremembering.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
the spec ops devs hate the kind of people who would buy shooters and didn't want to make a shooter so they dedicated an entire game to telling you how much they hate you
There might be something a little broken in me though - within the confines of the game, it didn't matter that they were Americans. I know that was a decision designed to give me pause, but it never did.
I went in knowing it was supposed to be subversive, though, so when I started killing solely Americans I shrugged and thought "this is interesting. Ooh now I will get more ammo for the guns I like."
I'm in a weird spot where I don't know if that makes me the intended audience or not.
those are soup dumplings, right?
those things are delicious
This is the most appealing comment I've seen yet :P
The player is led by standard gaming conventions. You see an empty room full of chest-high walls, you reflexively rush in and hide behind said chest-high walls and you don't stop shooting until everyone else is dead.
oh here's what's basically a cutscene of a guy doing something bad
now we're going to act like you should feel bad about it
no? I don't, because the game had no other options, you're throwing shock at me for shock's sake, fuck off with that
asking me to feel bad about doing something only works for me if there was literally any other option
It was clearly pretty effective commentary given it made a lot of people think, even if it was just to discredit them. And I think it's definitely worth looking into the biases that go into media, and at the time Spec Ops was being developed, there was certainly a large amount of completely unexamined, America: Fuck Yeah shooters on the market (whether you were fighting Russians, Koreans, generic brown people, or space worms).
There are definitely games that had similar meta commentary but had more love for their own genre, but I don't think that's a reason to discredit the game. Successfully evoking negative emotions is still evoking emotions, which a lot of games struggle to do in any capacity, and most of the shooters at the time didn't even try.
This?