Makes sense. You don’t strike me as much of a “reader.”

If I got to control how the story was told and had better writing/storytelling skills? Or if you had a really skilled writer with access to my brain and memories? I could probably get a 75-85 out of it. I’ve definitely had some interesting things happen in my life. The lack of thematic journey would be where I struggle though. The best stories have payoff and a struggle to overcome. Which, of course I have. But none so large that I could base my entire life story on it. Maybe someone embellishing a little bit could scrounge one up, but tell me any biopic that doesn’t do that.

Steel fuckin *guts.

In related news, as part of its recently publicised cutbacks, BioWare has “let go of” Lukas Kristjanson, the lead writer behind Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, and the writer of the first three Dragon Age games, Mary Kirby.

Oh it wasn’t Larian, that name was mentioned to me so I just assumed from the quote above without rereading. I dunno the connection between larian and BioWare, but they’re obviously releasing games together? Or sharing titles?

I was saying I’ve been hearing good things about BG3 and saw they fired a lot of people to “streamline” the company. I was just deriding capitalism for that insane mindset

I dunno, I’m not a huge gamer. I’ve had just FIFA and gta v on my console for years happily. Rdr2 is a newer purchase for me and I love it. But I don’t really like fantasy games, so I’m not really larian’s audience.

I like shooting and driving and open worlds. And soccer. I put off getting rdr2 for so long because I couldn’t drive. I regret writing it off because I was definitely wrong about it

I mean, I’d argue that GTA V didn’t have the most emotional storytelling, but it wasn’t a character driven game like RDR2. The characters had the stories they did because they each opened up different avenues into different types of crimes. They didn’t focus on it. The characters were all insufferable. But that doesn’t mean the writing for the story itself wasn’t good. Yeah, the characters all kinda sucked, but the storytelling propelled the tension and wasn’t just some lame bullshit that felt like it needed to be there. The characters don’t develop that much, but the backstory was great, the intrigue and the vastness of the word made it great. That’s all writing. But you’re right, it couldn’t stand alone as a character driven story.

RDR2 on the other hand is a character driven story at its heart. You definitely need to play it because it’s incredibly well done. If you’re looking for good storytelling, emotional connections to the characters’ trajectories, and a great fuckin game, RDR2 is where you wanna be.

Is it just my devices? I can rarely get these piped links to work. I watch a lot of music via YT and when I made the switch to lemmy, I found out about piped. I was fuckin thrilled. But almost every link I click on wont load the damn video. And when I try to stream some music, I get so many buffering pauses that it’s maddening. Anyone else? Or any recommendations?

That’s troubling. I’ve been playing the shit out of both GTA V and RDR 2 because they have the two best campaigns I’ve ever played. Especially RDR2. It was unique in its trajectory, in its beats…I really hope the follow ups, (however many years down the road those might be) won’t be affected too much by this. The writing made those games what they are.

I haven’t played baldurs gate, but I’ve been seeing a lot about it, mostly positive. Interesting, the news about that company. Being successful doesn’t usually call for a massive shakeup. But that’s capitalism for you. Fuck the workers, squeeze more out of those you keep. Classic.

It’s not even clandestine. They’re openly admitting they’re using the vulnerabilities as a way to spy.

Entirely dependent on the job I’m working. I work in film, so sometimes we’re on a prelight and the day is 12hr, I could work anywhere from four to maybe 10. Then some days were on 10hr shoot days, and I could work maybe 30 min. And then there are days like this week, working a documentary on multiple locations, and I worked a collective maybe 40 min/day (with a 9:30 call and me leaving by 2-3 while getting paid for 12hr).

Same in American!

Do you have any billions of dollars lying around? I somehow doubt it can be done for under $100…but I also have zero clue

Yes, the trend of making more and more mentally disruptive technology has been continuing. Yes, capitalists have managed to make more and more effective attention/brain drains…that’s exactly what we’re saying.

The kids “adapt” in that the world has changed and kids have no choice but to live in the world they grew up in. It doesn’t mean the above things aren’t true. It just means things change, and I dunno about you, but I don’t see things moving in the most positive direction. Angrier people, less and less able to have nuanced discussions, people becoming more entrenched and hostile about their views, more instances of thinking people with differing opinions are “evil…”—that shit is in large part due to social media, not to mention network news (both “advancements” of the exact type were discussing).I mean, shit, look how much radio has changed. From old timey radio broadcasts with the family sitting around the fire hearing tales of Redd McGibbon and Bullet to fuckin Howard stern making strippers do math so people can laugh at them and goddamn Rush Limbaugh. See what we’re saying?

Exactly. We’ve also been saying that burning coal was destroying the climate, and then we said CFCs were destroying the ozone, and then we said massive deforestation is ruining the climate…doesn’t make any of them less true just because we’ve said similar beings about less efficient means of destruction.

Will forte is not in this movie. It’s will Ferrell.

I honestly think the movie looks like garbage. But that’s just me. If it were forte, I might actually reserve my judgement. But it’s not. It’s will Ferrell, and the man hasn’t had the most stellar record since…well, that’s up for debate. But it’s been a minute.

Edit: ah, my bad errybody, Forte is in it. Still… if it were him fronting the poster and being the main draw, I might feel differently about it. But right now it just feels like another “sausage party” type “non-family friendly family movie” with big names to put butts in seats. Stupid, raunchy humor just because you “can” isn’t my type of humor. I dunno, maybe I’ll be proven wrong when everyone tells me I need to see it and then I’ll enjoy it. Guess we’ll find out. But I had similar feelings about anchorman 2 or, well, sausage party. It’s gonna be dumb and doesn’t seem worth my time

I mean, I get what both of you are saying, but I’d argue that the phrase “power corrupts” still applies here.

It’s a feedback loop of being above the law that feeds into these police gangs (like the one in Texas, I believe, that were called because “two black men are staying with a white woman.” The gang went over and sexually assaulted and then pulled the trigger of a gun they shoved in one of the two guys’ mouth. They literally pulled the “let’s sprinkle a little crack on ‘em and get out of here” move. They said it was a drug deal gone wrong—yes, they planted drugs.)

These guys push each other to test the limits of their power abuse further and further. Just like 4chan users tried to one-up each other’s shocking memes and shit, these groups of cops try to out-“badass” each other.

So I do think that their power plays a part in this. Of course the power didn’t make them racist pedophiles, but—especially in Germany, they got a taste of getting away with things people never get away with, and they explore those things. In Germany, sharing and displaying swastikas is illegal. So, I think the taste of untouchability that comes with being a cop definitely fed into their sharing and espousing these views.

Yeah, even when I’ve had the urge to check Reddit for something I’m trying to figure out, I will do everything I can to avoid it. And if I can’t, I try to determine how much I care about what I’m searching before I even give them a single click. It’s a small, insignificant protest, but it’s a forever protest, for me. I’m happy on lemmy, I don’t browse as much, I interqct with more of the community and want to help build it. On Reddit, I felt dirty because of everything they’ve been doing the last 5 or so years. Tencent, killing third party apps slowly and then in one fell swoop, etc. fuck ‘em

When I was living in peru, there was a peruvian version of the hairless dog that lived with me. I loved that nutjob. So crazy and funny, but a true sweetheart.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruvian_Hairless_Dog

Because they’re fuckin rock n roll?