andrewducker | Interesting Links for 06-12-2022

1) Previous film versions of this story have always puzzled me: why, if they're called musketeers, do they always fight with swords? This version has muskets!
But man, do they ever talk fast and mumble. Even the words I knew I couldn't make out.

3) I've never heard of any of the games this guy is talking about, but evidently he's trying to counter the same tendency that makes people say "Just turn off your brain and enjoy it" when you complain about dumb movies. For my part, I've never gotten interested in gaming for the reason he's complaining about recent games: that they offer only mindless catharsis and not his other two legs of engagement. But I'm not referring to recent games, but to games of the Pacman era, which is the only time I ever got into it at all. When games with his other two legs came around, I found myself faced with a brick wall: the challenge to achieve mastery was too steep, and the context was inept: they offered no road for me to get interested in it. Seeing as these very games were highly praised by gamers (I'm thinking especially of Myst), I have never felt tempted to try anything since, especially as I gather most games are designed for people whose skills are well-honed on previous games.

There are games aimed at much more casual gamers. But even then I think there are still things to learn which might get in the way of your enjoyment. Possibly not worth the effort when there are so many other things that you do enjoy out there :-)

I'd ignore it altogether, were it not that games are being presented culturally as a universal form of entertainment. Makes me feel like a freak for not being interested. It's like sports: I have no interest and would be content to let it be except that it's expected that everyone is interested. I find especially irritating the headlines for whatever international match that's been going on recently. You'd think the U.S. was about to declare war on the Netherlands. What? What'd I miss? Turns out it was just some stupid game.

why, if they're called musketeers, do they always fight with swords?

The original military units on which the story is based were elite companies of aristocratic royal bodyguards, armed with the latest high tech weapons. They would fight in pitched battle as what we would refer to as dragoons but when doing their bodyguarding and intelligence work or just stooging around town getting in to fights used swords and other close combat weapons more in keeping with their noble man-at-arms heritage.

The orginal real life D'Artangnan was a French aristocrat who worked as a spy for the French chief minister Mazarin.

"Seeing as these very games were highly praised by gamers (I'm thinking especially of Myst)"

You'd be surprised to know that a substantial number of players and professionals in the industry not only think that Myst is a terrible game but that it set an awful trend for games that came after it for something like a decade. Some people really hate it with a burning passion.

"For my part, I've never gotten interested in gaming for the reason he's complaining about recent games"

He's mostly complaining about AAA games (the equivalent of current superhero blockbuster movies in a way) which have basically been the same for 20 to 30 years and don't really offer anything new (besides technical improvements). I'm exaggerating of course but you get the picture. They are countless other AA or indie games available now which offer very different experiences and are aimed at all kinds of audiences, experienced or not, skilled or not. More and more producers have also realized that players have aged, have less time, energy or dexterity. More and more games have accessibility and difficulty settings that let you choose how you want to enjoy the game. You still have your lot of try hard or nothing "purists" but I'd say they're just a vocal minority of players.

I think his real complaint there is the lack of diversity in games and if you haven't played recent stuff you probably wouldn't even know, but a lot of the games that the big studios are putting are all kind of similar in their gameplay, basically repetitive combat and/or crafting to keep leveling up, which is fine, nothing wrong with that kind of game, but they are all going to appeal to same kind of players and some players might prefer other kinds of games. The games he flashes as counter-examples are stuff from smaller indy studios that are willing to try something different.

Also not a gamer. It seems to me there's either too easy phone "puzzle" games, run-around-shooting/hacking-things games, or grindy things that are worse than work.

Tactical sims might be interesting ish to me but not with lots and lots of grind.

I'd like a cracking story, a mystery, a deductive logic puzzle, or just exploring a beautiful setting and finding things out.

But I think for me the fact that it's all purely visual and audio means I'll never truly be engaged. I'm very very very 'in' my body, so it's only physically involving things that grip me. Sigh.

If you want a cracking story, mystery, and exploring/finding things out then Disco Elysium is the game you want.

It's the best "Alcoholic Detective Simulator" ever!

https://www.thegamer.com/disco-elysium-review-pc/

Cheers!

Interesting Links for 06-12-2022

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