Vinge’s aliens take some work, but once I get used to them, they feel natural, and by the end I want more.
3 Likes
I liked the atevi from C. J. Cherryh’s Foreigner saga. It was fascinating to watch the one human ambassador/translator try, book after book, to understand and deal with beings that seemed so much like humans but never truly thought like them. In later books of the series, the author starts to narrate scenes from the viewpoint of the alien leader’s son, who grew up studying humanity and sometimes feels caught between the worlds. That kind of disappointed me; we keep being told we humans will never fully understand the atevi mindset as it’s shaped by their biological imperatives, so how can we see a scene through their eyes? They’re still excellent books, though. It reminds me, I’m several books behind and I need to catch up…
3 Likes
Your comment reminded me of telephone banking, etc. menus. Waiting for the list of options to complete is so awful.
The irony of suffering that terrible audio interface on an advanced computer phone is painful.
Linear media are not the superior choice for interactive services. Learning is interactive too!
2 Likes
I find games are a sensitive spot.
Calling out the Witcher 3 on Reddit for sub-optimal treatment of female characters was greeted with denial, derision, and hostile accusations.
Even when accompanied with praise for the underlying game they bug out instead of discussing. Things can be great and flawed. Denying that is way too limiting
10 Likes
I’m fairly active on the Witcher subreddit, and while there’s quite a bit of decent discussion to be had there, any perceived criticism results in manchildren rushing for the pitchforks.
This has even resulted in a small online backlash against the goddamned author of the Witcher books after he’s made a few jokes about gamers. Head-deskingly pitiful.
6 Likes
All in.
3 Likes
As a lady on thr internet with opinions… that just sounds like the internet to me.
(I’ve not seen the sub but I dont doubt your assessment, not in the least.)
7 Likes
Mary Gentle’s Golden Witchbreed / Ancient Light duology does an interesting job with this. Her aliens initially appear to be your standard humans-in-costume types…until you eventually realise that they really, really aren’t.
It’s very nicely done.
5 Likes
Aw, somebody is disappointed.
It is of paramount importance to ensure than boys understand how dangerous women can be, with all their sexiness. Especially since they’re the “game players”.
Where did that wall of text originate, especially the last paragraph with its backward slashes in the middle of sentences?
13 Likes
And here was me thinking that computer games started out as commercial products, shat out to such a degree that the industry crashed in the mid eighties.
And they stayed commercial products, with the whole “games as art” thing barely a decade old.
8 Likes
I couldn’t even read that… jesus…
Seems like someone needs to watch this.
@adonai - see the video above!
7 Likes
Here, have some folk art:
8 Likes
it’s from the terribad arcade game “Custer’s Revenge”, it’s meant as a counterexample to your claim of games as folk art.
To be fair, I think some early generation games could pass as folk art - single author creations that were put together out of love and curiosity rather than desire for commercial success (I’m thinking of early Ultimas, for instance). To say that the entire industry was like that is pretty disingenuous though.
8 Likes
That’s not particularly accurate, there were very artistic games before indie games became inexpensive enough to make and crowd sourcing let good ideas get the support to come to life. There were technological limitations at first, but PC gaming in the 90s is full of the weird and fantastic small titles that got investors to get funding. Games like “I have no mouth, and I must scream” are a prime example. Even in around the millennium publishers took risks on expensive games that were art concepts, something about the PS and PS2 era consoles gave interesting creators a lot of money.
The commercial part was the majority of games since always (just like movies), but “games as art” began before the commercial industry took hold.
2 Likes
Which means that I have to do this…
https://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/07/29/6360540777961880201837021561_mcHOSTJMjCrjW.gif
11 Likes
Regardless of what I think of the thesis, take a like just because reflexive dismissal and mocking intentional uncharitable reading is the way forums are.
2 Likes
Take your ignorant and biased reference to mental illness out of your sentence. We’ve had enough of that today from new-and-disappointed posters.
9 Likes
So you know, your post makes it seem like I said that, and it wasn’t me. I never even quoted it in my post, so I’m not sure how that happened.
3 Likes
Posting for a friend (no, really!):
I’m sorry but your definition of folk art is a bit disingenuous. Folk art is art created by people outside of fine art traditions. Folk artists are generally uneducated in fine art tradition and don’t follow traditional rules of art like perspective or composition.
One could say, that video games DO follow these rules and therefore are not folk art. Game makers are highly trained and do follow the rules of perspective and composition, making games much more inline with fine art than folk art.
Also you seem to be conflating folk art for folklore/tales. The two are separate. Yes people can communicate folklore via folkart, but they are two separate realms, two distinct things.
10 Likes
Wait wait wait…
So saying “men rape” is bad because only very few men actually do this… (obligatory #notallmen)
But so so many women lure innocent young men to their doom that we need an entire entertainment industry to teach us about the dangers of women’s sexuality?
Ok then.
25 Likes
