StaceyPowers

How do you feel about gambling in video games? Not loot boxes specifically (we have threads on that), but like casino games and such like in GTA Online.

What games do you think feature the most spectacular creature designs?

I lost my trusty steed in RDR: Undead Nightmare and am now stuck with an undead horse that is going to get me killed. How/where can I find a new mount fast?

Is there any type of game you have zero experience with? For example, I have never played a battle royale game.

What was your favorite game you played this year? Mine was Spec Ops: The Line.

Which games have handled undead/zombies/infected/similar enemies the best?

Where do you like to shop for game-themed merch other than official stores? I recently discovered KnerdKraft for cool game-themed art prints.

What are the creepiest enemies you’ve faced in games? For me it is probably still clickers in TLOU.

Thank you for everything, @DC 🙂

Are there any games which directly or indirectly taught you something useful about your own nature? While I could give a few examples, I think Spec Ops: The Line has taught me the most about myself by helping me see how my unconscious motivations can distort my actions without my knowledge, and why it is important to question one’s own motives now and again.

I am a super slow gamer. I have noticed that on average, I can add 50% or more to the “average” estimate for how long it takes to play a game. So, if a game is listed as six hours, it will take me at least nine, sometimes even ten or twelve hours. How do your playthrough times tend to compare to the numbers you typically see listed?

What are some games that focus on PTSD? The most obvious example I can think of is Spec Ops: The Line, and another is BioShock Infinite (though for some reason people don’t usually talk about PTSD with respect to Booker, and I’m not sure why).

What are some of the most cowardly things you feel that video game characters have done? I think my example would be Captain Martin Walker for pretty much the entirety of Spec Ops: The Line, for reasons that are clear at the end of the game.

In another thread, @Shole mentioned that a game called Nightmare Creatures initially seemed really creepy, but years later, seems more funny than creepy. What are some other games you have played that after aging a bit lost their original effect on you and now feel more funny than effective?

I think I'd say overall he was a brave person, but the lie was certainly cowardly. I think there must be solid examples of lawful vs chaotic good, but I will have to think on that! Most I can come up with are more like various versions of chaotic good fighting each other.

I can't disagree with you there. I didn't lose all respect for him, but it was a rotten thing to do.

Overall, I do think this is a correct description of him. But I feel there was more to the ending than that, and it took me a second playthrough to be sure I felt that way (and a couple of playthroughs of Left Behind). The imagery at the start of the game and the imagery at the end of it are close mirrors, and it seems to me that protecting what is innocent was a motive alongside survival. The soldier who shot Sarah was doing something pragmatic and logical, but also unnecessary. I got the impression what the Fireflies wanted to do with Ellie was potentially likewise. Plus, Riley seemed a clear source of virtue, and her words at the end of Left Behind were also similar to Joel's at the end of TLOU. I kind of felt like they reached the same decision point in different ways. Selfishness may not be heroic, but a character being selfish doesn't necessarily make him un-heroic either. Note: I haven't played TLOU II yet. For all I know, all of the above is wrong. In terms of being effective against that leader strategically, or in terms of good storytelling? Honestly, lawful good leaders sometimes irk me, as they often tend to have a black and white view of the universe that just doesn't fit with real life. While trying not to dirty their hands, they end up causing more harm than good sometimes. They don't make good soldiers. They are more worried about protecting their egos than protecting others.

I didn't know that was even a thing!

@The Blackangel mentioned in another thread about games and human nature that anti-heroes may be more realistic as characters than heroes. Do you prefer heroes or anti-heroes in your games, and why? Personally, at least to some degree, I think that being a hero versus an anti-hero is in the eye of the beholder. Many people would call Joel from TLOU an anti-hero, I think, but I’d just consider him a hero.

In another thread, @Reality vs Adventure and @The Blackangel and I were talking about aspects of human nature explored in video games, and got to talking a bit about heroes in games. While most games I think make fairly typical statements about heroics and its value, one game that takes a very different stance regarding the ego-driven desire to be a hero is Spec Ops: The Line. What other games make unusual or unexpected statements or critiques on the idea of the hero?

I cannot stand puzzles in games that do not appear to have a logical in-game basis. For example, I ran into a puzzle in DA: Inquisition the other week that required running over tablets in a certain order, and the best way anyone could explain how to do it online was to imagine that they are a number pad on a keyboard and then to just step on even or odd numbers. Why would the Inquisitor in Thedas be thinking about “what if these tablets are like the numbers on a keypad?” Does this sort of thing drive anyone else crazy?

Are there any specific types of sim games you think would be cool, but do not to your knowledge exist? I know there are some coral reef/aquarium type sim games, but they seem really casual, and I think it would be cool if there were a super detailed one for maintaining a diverse coral reef habitat.

When I was a little kid decades ago, video games, computers and the internet were not nearly as prominent among children as they are today, so we all grew up with highly genderized toys (i.e. dollhouses and kitchen play sets for girls, action figures for boys). Now, I think kids grow up with much more neutral activities, since they all grow up playing the same video games, etc. (i.e. the Sims is kind of like a virtual dollhouse, but boys and girls alike enjoy it). Do you think this has led to differences in gender socialization, expression and/or identity among people growing up today?

Come to think of it, most of the games I've really adored featured anti-heroes.

Spec Ops: The Line subverts this beautifully.