Frede

No one called you a troll, though I do think your apology was called for, and in good form. If you look closely "Watch Out,A Troll!" [sic] is just Star's signature. Though at least one guy has made the claim that we're all trolls here. Might as well play with open cards ;)

But Ken didn't write the SQ3 soundtrack. That was Bob Siebenberg.

"Xerox". It's a Xerox machine ;)

I don't mind J.J. Abrams, but why the hell would you have Damon "Let's make Prometheus suck" Lindelof writing this?!

Cause on the Internet, nothing ever survives a copyright takedown ;)

Yeah, Tesla Effect is really good. I definitely second your recommendation. It's everything a Tex Murphy game should be.

I think my main problem with your arguments is right now is that you're completely black and white. In your world, it is, apparently, not possible to consider what you say without being a fanatic who will unashamedly put a video on YouTube where you apologise for the colour of your skin and your chromosomes on everyone's behalf. You keep pulling out these extreme examples as if to go "Look! Look at yourselves, you imbeciles!", seemingly oblivious to the fact that most people here will agree with you that extremism is prevalent in both camps and that the above video is treating the issue in a very problematic manner. And again, as is Roseanne. Were I to play that game, I would post a photo of Anders Breivik or somesuch and go "Look! This is what your love of bigotry has created! You're exactly like this!". It might make you shut up since it's a very uncomfortable attack to attempt to refute, killing off the discussion and (mistakenly) leading me to believe I "won", but we'd be no closer to understanding one another. Just saying. If this discussion appears one-sided and near-dead, it may be because it's becoming extremely tiring to be accused of sympathising with women who want to castrate all men or whatever. When exactly did we get to this? All the "PC Police" here has suggested is that maybe - just maybe - there are alternatives to putting other people down by being an asshole. By yourself, in a group, in art, etc. EDIT: This was originally written in response to PurpleTentacle.

Parody is fair use in the U.S, but I'm not sure unauthorised parody for commercial purposes is gonna go down well with Activision in any case. Gotta keep them lawyers fed.

And this is exactly why I'd prefer it if all the feminists that aren't batshit insane (again, I know lots who aren't) would unite under a different name than people such as Roseanne. Who obviously does seem to be affected by that particular affliction. It is, of course, quite comforting that Roseanne isn't really in the limelight anymore. And I personally think part of the lack of an outcry can be attributed to that rather than just her gender. She's a bit of a nobody. And again, I think Gareth made an excellent point in that a person being an asshole has (and should have) nothing to do with gender. Roseanne is just an idiot and her views on men are idiotic.

I usually don't, except if the people in question are being bigots, racists or sexists. You seem to agree with me that some points of view transcend mere opinions and become suppressing. Why does that only work one way?

I can partly agree with you, because I have sort of become anti-feminist myself. I do not deny that there are many sensible men and women who identify as feminists whom I agree with. I'm very much pro-equality myself. But there are radical feminists out there who are, among other things, advocating castration of men because... well, they're men. I think the less radical feminists should go for another name. On an etymologic level, I don't think "feminism" sounds like something that's about equality. It sounds like positive discrimination towards females. No one in their right mind would advocate this and I know many feminists who don't, but I think that word is spent. Pro-equality people need another label. But that's where my agreement with you guys stop, because I think your shots are way too scattered and by now you're calling everyone who disagrees with you PC by now. Like Gareth, it amuses me that you're continually getting offended at the idea that sometimes - just sometimes - shutting up is a wise option. You do so without hesitation while decrying that fact that something you write can and probably will offend other people. Pick your battles. And I mean... holy shit, have you heard Gareth in action as Pete Toleman? Have you heard Troels' podcast? Have you seen the stuff he writes on Twitter? These guys are not exactly pro-politically correctness. They seem more like pro-common sense to me, without losing their respective senses of fun. EDIT: And before someone raises their finger and calls me a PC policeman, I just want to point out yet again that I am definitely not a feminist, and that my views on women in entertainment can best be described by this Frank Zappa quote: Also, since "Roseanne" was brought up, I find it amusing that you neglect to mention how often the women on that show were the butts of the jokes. I remember (it's Denmark - we didn't and don't get many funny shows over here so bear with me, please) one particular episode that revolved around Roseanne's PMS. An affliction that's, according to those unfortunate enough to suffer from it, not very funny. Okay, we're not talking about a 1:1 ratio here. Dan was probably the butt of jokes most often. But don't pretend "Roseanne" was a hyper-feminist show in which the female protagonist ran around cutting men's balls off. You know damn well it wasn't.

I don't know whether I should be proud or horrified that this discussion partly arose because of the way Bea was interpreted in two fangames I worked on. If you find Bea "borderline psychotic" in VSB or SQInc, just be happy it's not, and will never be, canon. Bea was portrayed in SQV, and that's her only authorised appearance. I will say that I've never understood why some people can't put themselves into her shoes in the latter game. The story explicitly states she's been continually neglected by her oblivious buffoon of a boyfriend for the past ten years. If you don't allow the character to express anger, frustration and resentment at that - and yes, she may be imperfect in that she is prone to overreacting, but hey, you're allowing Roger to be an obviously imperfect character - and simply call her "psychotic", a "bitch" or whatever, I think that says some fairly unfortunate things about the way you look at relationships and I can only hope it only applies to those that are fictional.

I'm sure it did connect with the intended audience, but it never connected with anyone else. In hindsight, they aimed this at the die-hard Outcast fans. And I'm not sure that group could ever have raised 600k, unfortunately. They only added substantial info for newcomers with some of the updates, and that's just too late.

Congratulations on finally being able to release the complete game! Great job :)

I wouldn't say games in general. AAA crap and many of the recent adventure games, maybe, but otherwise, it really depends on the game; for instance, I've had great fun with FTL and that game is all about the gameplay. That's also what makes it extremely addictive. So I'm not buying that particular generalisation. Sounds a bit too much like Statler and Waldorf to me :P

I just finished it and I enjoyed it. Sure, it could use a bit of polish for all the reasons I've previously mentioned, but I've seen worse. And I noticed they've already pushed one patch out on Steam. I hope there'll be another one. As for GK20, I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt for now. They've got time to take note of the feedback they're receiving now and that might make a difference. I'm not gonna touch the PC-stuff because, frankly, I'm getting a bit tired of it. No, the world is not perfect. Lots of people feel entitled to be offended about any tiny little thing and yes, that does extend to gaming. But being an alarmist about it isn't going to help much either. If you meet the world with a frown, chances are you'll get frowned at. I've seen 1-2 reviews that criticised "that puzzle" in Moebius and only one of them - again, the one by the oft-polemic John Walker - really went overboard. So I'm not honestly anticipating any of that in relation to GK20. It's not that I've seen anyone pull the "well, it was a different time"-card in regards to the original Gabriel Knight either and thanks to GOG, the game is widely available. For god's sake, it's still widely acclaimed - if Jane Jensen changed Dr. John's skin colour or internal decor, that's when we'd really see a shit storm. Okay, I kinda went ahead and touched the PC-stuff anyway. Having read the book, however, I do hope we're spared the sight of Dr. John's alledgedly humongous genitalia. Not that I'm particularly offended by that, but there's a time and a place, right? Let's just say it's something I can live without. He's imposing enough already.

Again, I like Moebius, but its cosmetic flaws are kinda disheartening to behold at times. I do hope Phoenix are looking with respectful eyes at all the feedback they're getting. It'd be a damn shame to see all those problems repeated in the Gabriel Knight remake.

Hah! Brilliant :D Ironically, I did think some of his dialogue regarding Bianca's death was a bit out of character, i.e. how he can't think straight in her bedroom because it's all so terribly tragic. No, Malachi, just pop another Xanax and you'll be perfectly fine. I'm glad they didn't tone down his line about funerals and weddings being "equally tragic". He may not be a completely original character - much like the sleazy, drawling Gabriel Knight - but he's incredibly entertaining once you warm up to his unadulterated, as you say, dickishness.

I'm currently playing Moebius: Empire Rising. I like what I'm seeing so far, even if the 3D models exhibit some ugly flaws that harken back to The Silver Lining. Some of the acting is a little bit wooden as well. The story is very intriguing, though, and the puzzles are never too challenging because they just fit the narrative very well, so the minor gripes I've had with the game so far never become too detrimental to the experience. And most of them (i.e, Malachi's walking speed) are of the kind that could be resolved with a patch later on, which I hope happens - the game deserves as much. In any case, those dismissive of Phoenix Online can rest assured that Moebius is substantially better than The Silver Lining, which I wasn't a huge fan of either. I haven't played Cognition, so that comparison is not for me to make. Also, seeing as this game was brought up in the thread about feminism and political correctness in gaming, let me add that I've yet to get an offensive vibe out of that game. True, Malachi Rector is often such an asshole that you wonder whether his last name is spelled correctly. But he's an asshole to everyone he comes across, and the player is never asked to condone his behaviour. I presume the latter is vital to keep in mind for some of the more controversial puzzles that have been singled out in reviews. I personally dig the guy. It feels like I'm playing as Benedict Cumberbatch's interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, which I find to be a huge compliment. Gabriel Knight he ain't, but he's a good lead. Pete Toleman would love him. He should do a Let's Play. So let the above serve as my recommendation. I must say that I'm still not sure if I would've paid the full price for the game, had I not been fortunate enough to win it in a giveaway, but now that I've tried it, I can say that I would definitely pay for a sequel. Now bring on Tesla Effect and don't delay it further, dammit!

Agree with everything beind said in here. It's quite amazing how detracting the little things can be in an adventure game and walking speed is very much an area where you have to find a good balance between realistic and gamer-friendly.

One project that I want to give a shoutout is Outcast HD Reboot. Being a huge fan of the original 1999 game, I'm thrilled that the original people behind it have regained the rights and are now planning to give it an overhaul, using the original source code and assets as a base. Knowing that pretty much everyone here likes sci-fi, you should consider backing. There's no way it can disappoint.

I think it looks great. I love that the Mallard is parked there.

Well, John Walker isn't the best of writers. Over on the Serena team, we did a bit of a double take when he posted a review (before release and with a few vague spoilers, even). The man has a right to his opinions, but some of the criticism was still a bit weird. He has that feeling of entitlement to him, IMO. Wouldn't judge him to be a PC clown. Just an occasionally bad reviewer...

Frank Zappa said something similar in an infamous 1986 episode of Crossfire on the subject of censorship. I find myself agreeing with him here. He also often stated that he, in his songs, was a simple documentarist. He'd often find himself in the crosshairs of people who thought he treated women appallingly in his lyrics, but as he would bluntly put it, "women do fucking stupid things too". In the light of that (true) kind of equality, I think it's worth nothing that Larry Laffer is constantly made fun of in those games. He's not exactly a hero who gaineth a woman. He's a loser who is berated, tortured and laughed at for being completely out of step with reality. You could argue that the series would pretty much lose that subtext after the first three games. Certainly, I find the women in LSL5 to be objectified. But merely branding LSL as "sexist" and smugly submitting your review is, I think, a very black/white oversimplification of the issue. Also, I think Gareth, Troels and Andrew have all covered what I think about this subject in a much more eloquent fashion than I ever could. I deplore the whole notion of censorship, but I would honestly prefer that over being subjected to the "opinions" of people who somehow find that freedom of speech is a licence to be an asshole. "Think before you talk" can go a long way without even coming close to the dreaded self-censorship.

"I'm meltiiiiiiiiing!" Okay, good point. That and the music :D