tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79561717844056044662024-03-13T17:03:38.539-07:00Reading Too Much Into EverythingSocratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-29935520513479387702023-02-02T14:52:00.000-08:002023-02-02T14:52:49.449-08:00Looking Back And Moving Forward Part 3<p> </p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 8px; max-width: calc(100% - 48px);"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/03/turn-on-your-brain.html" target="_blank">Turn ON Your Brain</a> - I stand by this. If a piece of media is engaging my mind is working to maintain that engagement. If the media is bad my brain is working to examine why this isn't working for me. So either way my mind is working.</span></h3><div><br /></div><div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 8px; max-width: calc(100% - 48px);"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/03/this-movie-is-rated-f-for-fun.html" target="_blank">This Movie is Rated F For Fun</a> - I'm not sure I got my point across well. Yes, a piece of media should not be boring, but there are many ways to engage with media. If it's not boring to you, then it did it's job of providing something to enrich you. I'll probably expand on this later when the opportunity comes again.</span></h3></div><div><br /></div><div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 8px; max-width: calc(100% - 48px);"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/04/not-so-jolly-rancher-scene-in-batman-v.html" target="_blank">Not-So-Jolly Rancher</a> - I still haven't run into a good explanation for why this scene is here few people even talk about this. Will probably have to revisit this after some research.</span></h3></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 8px; max-width: calc(100% - 48px);"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/04/zack-snyder-v-public-record-dawn-of.html" target="_blank">Zack Snyder v Public Record</a> - i was all over the place with this. Need to keep my points tightly focused. At least Ben Affleck turned out ok.</span></h3></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 8px; max-width: calc(100% - 48px);"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/05/redemption.html" target="_blank">Redemption</a> - pretty proud of this one. I probably should have given more examples, but those three jumped out at me</span></h3></div><div><br /></div><div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 8px; max-width: calc(100% - 48px);"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/05/still-on-about-this.html" target="_blank">Still On About This</a> - Yeah, BvS was a film I could not get out of my mind. Pretty proud of this one too. It was originally longer but cut it for brevity</span></h3></div><div><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #212121; float: left; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 8px; max-width: calc(100% - 48px);"><br /></h3></div>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-42985047694303576772023-01-21T14:06:00.000-08:002023-01-21T14:06:00.352-08:00Looking Back And Moving Forward Part 2<p><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/non-tranformative.html" target="_blank">Non-Transformative</a>: Ohh a pretentious title. That will get
people reading. And surprise, we’re getting another Transformers movie. Good
news: the director is not Michael Bay. Bad news: One of the producers IS Michael
Bay. Not gonna lie, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA7jeHjKohk&t=129s" target="_blank">trailer</a> looks pretty good.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/doomsday.html" target="_blank">DOOMSDAY!!!</a>: Wait, I predicted that Doomsday was cloned from
Zod’s body and I was (mostly) right about that? One internet cookie for me! I
however didn’t mention that it would be Darkseid that would take Doomsday and I can’t prove that was my thinking, so minus one internet cookie. Oh
well, I’ll do better next time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/why-writing.html" target="_blank">Why Writing</a>: I meant to convey that good writing is
super-important, and I did not do that. I’ll try to do better in conveying my points
better.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/best-comment-ever-this-week.html" target="_blank">Best Comment Ever (this week)</a>: I don’t think I’ll bring this
back, even though I thought it was a cool concept at the time. These comment
were fire though.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/02/i-wonder.html" target="_blank">I Wonder</a>: no more short lazy ones like this, though my
point still stands<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/02/pile-on-goofyawesome.html" target="_blank">Pile On The Goofy/Awesome</a>: Thanks to the past 6 years, I
want goofy/awesome stuff again. More of this please. No more edgy ironic humor
for me (oh hello Velma; didn’t see you there; now go away).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-road-less-traveled-moment.html" target="_blank">A Road Less Traveled Moment</a>: He didn’t last long. Oh well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/superdefense.html" target="_blank">SuperDefense</a>: Lame title though my point stands. Want an
example? Superman vs. the Elite. That should have been a live-action movie
instead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/02/shaka-when-walls-fell-konami.html" target="_blank">Shaka, When The Walls Fell</a>: A show depicting when the
subject of the article misses the point or misunderstands the point of whatever
IP they’re messing with. Might bring this back.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-possible-fictional-future-of.html" target="_blank">The Possible (Fictional) Future of Content Creators</a>: A swing
and a miss on my part. There are more Star Trek content creators than ever
before. Mi Fair Use point still stands however.</span><o:p></o:p></p>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-7236116606215685972023-01-01T16:52:00.004-08:002023-01-01T16:52:52.215-08:00Looking Back And Moving Forward Part 1<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">It is the year 2016...wait it's 2023?
Where have I been all these years? Oh yeah, real life happened. I'm
truly sorry about that. I fell off and only now am I coming back to
try again. A lot of stuff happened in the interim, and boy do I wanna
talk about that, but let's start off slow. We'll take a look at my
old articles & see where I did well and where I made my mistakes.
Maybe we can all learn some lessons along the way.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/an-open-letter-to-games-industry.html" target="_blank">An Open Letter to the Games Industry</a>:</u> What a waste of
time that was.Even if the AAA game industry ever read it, they would
never have followed any of my suggestions. Not because of the merits
(or lack thereof) of the suggestions, but because there would be no
money to be made in following those suggestions. In fact, they leaned
even further into the bad business decisions that made them tons of
money but alienated their customers even more. Not that their
customers ever actually stopped buying their products, but that's a
separate issue.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/all-eyes-on-bonnie-bon-bento.html" target="_blank">All Eyes On: Bonnie Bon Bento</a>:</u>
My first All Eyes On blog highlight. There were others so let me say
I stand by all my recommendations. They are all good content, but I
understand if they're not your thing. I want to do future highlights,
but with an eye towards giving lesser-known content creators a chance
in the sun.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/lack-of-motivation.html" target="_blank">Lack of Motivation</a>:</u>
A corollary to my disgust with the games industry, to the point that
I haven't bought a AAA games release for years, with a few
exceptions. More and more though it seems like I'm playing games to
cope with life more than any actual enjoyment I get out of games.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/apples-to-oranges.html" target="_blank">Apples to Oranges</a>:</u>
How can an article age so well yet age so poorly? Lack of critical
thinking skills, that's how. All I had to do was extend my distrust
to CDProjektRed & the post would have aged better.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/knights-of-dinner-table-bundle-of.html" target="_blank">Knights of the Dinner Table</a>:</u>
I still plan on reviewing the entire series, but I want to do this in
youtube.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><u><a href="https://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/01/tripping-over-rift.html" target="_blank">Tripping (Over) the Rift</a>:</u>
Lame title. Oh yeah, referencing a show that 5 people saw when it
first came out will work wonders for my credibility as a humorist. As
for the Oculus Rift itself, well boy did that subject serve me well
when VR took off, right? RIGHT?</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Part 2 will be more of this. After that will be my plans for the future. Thanks for reading</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-16802264317722507762018-07-20T18:00:00.000-07:002018-07-20T18:15:53.906-07:00My James Gunn Thoughts<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="8k3ra" data-offset-key="ch40b-0-0" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="ch40b-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="ch40b-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Ok, NOW I have something to talk about and sink my teeth into. You might want to grab a sandwich and settle in. This is gonna be a long one.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="61mng-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span><span data-offset-key="jt5a-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">So, ahem...</span><span data-offset-key="847fe-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">James Gunn said some offensive tweets long ago, and <a href="https://news.avclub.com/james-gunn-fired-from-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-3-o-1827757055" target="_blank">CERTAIN people</a> (more on that in a bit) dug them up and got all riled up about them. Because of this, <a href="https://io9.gizmodo.com/james-gunn-will-no-longer-direct-guardians-of-the-galax-1827757364" target="_blank">Disney let him go from the making of Guardians of the Galaxy 3</a>. </span><span data-offset-key="847fe-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">So, first, a few disclaimers so that they don't get lost in what I'm about to say.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="261l0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="261l0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">1) I will not defend what he said long ago. They are indefensible. And if you are truly disturbed by what he said, then definitely do not like him as a person and as a content creator if you can't separate the art from the artist. I certainly don't like those tweets, and I'm not going to pretend those tweets aren't awful.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="60blc-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="60blc-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">2) Disney ABSOLUTELY has a right to fire him if what he said long ago does not fit their brand image now. After all, Disney is REALLY hoping you don't remember they once put out Song of the South.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="8b82b-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="8b82b-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">3) Bad behavior should not be tolerated AT ALL, and this includes tweeting offensive crap. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="cth52-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="cth52-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">So, with that out of the way...</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="be9d2-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="be9d2-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">This whole thing was kicked off by a person named <a href="https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1020229342549413890" target="_blank">Jack Posobiec</a> (and Mike Cernovich, but who gives a shit about him) who obviously did not like James Gunn's attacks on trump (considering on his description tag on his twitter that he's the author of the book Citizens For trump). So he obviously took the time to dig through James Gunn's twitter feed for anything to throw back at him, and came up with the offensive tweets that occurred years ago. This caused the pushback that got Gunn fired. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="ffvkv-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="ffvkv-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">Here's my HOTTEST of hot takes: He was correct in bringing up the tweets, but what I question is his motivations. Did he do this out of a sense of justice, or was it because he took offense at Gunn's trump remarks and wanted to get back at him? I leave it up to you, gentle reader, to guess which one it is. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="b4inu-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="b4inu-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">As I said, I will not defend Gunn's tweets. I will, however, defend his mindset at the time. And if you want proof of his mindset at the time, go watch his 2010 film Super. This is a dark, edgelord-y film. I saw it, and I was legitimately disturbed by what I saw. And I 'm usually not disturbed by films like this. Thinking back on it, I don't like the film, but I did like where he was going with the story and what he was trying to say. And it was certainly weird and different. </span><span data-offset-key="4q2lc-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">This, by the way, is why Disney hired him to do the Guardians movies. He was great at weird and different. They knew what he was about, and hired him anyway. Disney firing him for the same weird edgelord-y mindset that got him hired in the first place seems more than a little off. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="9htn5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="9htn5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">And about that weird edgelord-y mindset: He clearly grew out of the edgelord-y part but kept the weird part. If you read subsequent tweets from then on out over the years, he grew and changed as a person. And I am willing to forgive a person if they grew and changed. People forgave me when I was a young, terrible jerk and grew out of it. So I'm willing to grant the same leeway, so long as that person makes the effort, and that growth is shown through later actions. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="9htn5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="9htn5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">This is why James Gunn gets the leeway, while someone like, oh, trump, Tomi Lahren and people like them do not. Because those people DON'T change and grow. This is the same reason why I don't like Rob Liefeld the artist. Dude, you're supposed to be a better artist over time, not worse. Why is <a href="http://hugelol.com/lol/470908" target="_blank">Captain America's chest bigger</a> than Dolly Parton's.....ok, getting off track here.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="9htn5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span data-offset-key="9htn5-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">And while James Gunn apologizing for his dumb antics years ago is too little too late, at least he apologized. I've yet to hear alt-right idiots apologize for their bad behavior. Although I have heard some trump voters apologize for voting for this idiot. And they get the same leeway Gunn does. So do criminals who have done their time in jail and paid for their crimes, and try to be productive members of society. They get the same chance and leeway from me. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">And that's my thoughts. Whoever they get for Guardians 3 will be fine, I'm sure. Disney usually pays a lot for good talent. And I'm sure James Gunn will be fine. He'll get work elsewhere. He's too good a talent to waste. But I'm sad that this happened. </span><span data-offset-key="e2p4u-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;"><br data-text="true" /></span></span></div>
</div>
Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-70775045731902627812018-01-21T20:43:00.001-08:002018-01-21T20:43:07.035-08:00Prime/Kelvin<span style="font-size: large;">Well, the last post was a bummer, so let's focus on something a little more fun.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">SF Debris puts out enjoyable videos about (mostly) science fiction media. His best videos, in my opinion, deal with Star Trek. He's recently begun to take on Star Trek: Discovery, which is good since I still refuse to pay $6 a month to see that show. So, I'm looking at his video about The Vulcan Hello episode when I noticed something around the 6 minute 42 second mark. In a memory flashback Michael Burnham (the protagonist of the show) remembers being in a Vulcan learning bowl at the Vulcan Science Academy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhq9y3lXz2NFsG-chGbQrPiQ80gCXG7bclF-9pd91o9EXWXaLjecdnen8WuhSreufOIA1D0EM8yn-71rtXRIveYxnTPuwy9vlRK29b3LGIcrM1AWxMkJBd7ddy0vvj0pEPKyXryWeeeRQ/s1600/Michael+Burnham+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhq9y3lXz2NFsG-chGbQrPiQ80gCXG7bclF-9pd91o9EXWXaLjecdnen8WuhSreufOIA1D0EM8yn-71rtXRIveYxnTPuwy9vlRK29b3LGIcrM1AWxMkJBd7ddy0vvj0pEPKyXryWeeeRQ/s640/Michael+Burnham+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now you can eat cereal & learn quantum mechanics at the same time!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;">I thought, where did I see this before? And then I remembered...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zTaBZsGBtc4/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zTaBZsGBtc4?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, the 2009 Star Trek movie. Which actually cleared up one of the most glaring problems I had with the Discovery series so far. The producers have sworn up & down that this series is set in the Star Trek Prime universe, 10 years before The Original Series. But the aesthetics, the <b><u>look</u></b> of the show don't support this. It leans closer to Enterprise & the more recent films. Plus, you now have to explain why Original Series Spock never mentioned having Michael Burnham as a half-sister. Not mentioning Sybok was one thing, but Burnham? And before anyone naysays me, McCoy mentioned having a daughter, Sulu says Chekov never had a brother, and we met Kirk's brother Samuel & his family. Plus you have to explain why there's no mention of the spore warp drive that the Discovery ship uses in any of the Prime universe Star Trek TV shows.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But if the show is set 10 years before the 2009 Star Trek movie, this solves all these problems. The aesthetics look the same throughout, we don't know much about the Spock from the Kelvin timeline (the universe in which the Star Trek 2009 movie, the Into Darkness sequel & the third movie Beyond is set) so you can do whatever you want with the character, & you don't need to explain the spore warp drive. We can assume some ships in the Kelvin universe use dilithium, and some use the spore drive.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Of course, this contradicts what the showrunners of Star Trek: Discovery have said, but in my mind, this fits. Especially since in all prime universe Star Trek media involving Vulcan learning, those places have a different aesthetic that is at least consistent. Consider this image from the Voyager episode "Gravity" where young Tuvok goes to learn how to purge his emotions:</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUD187i8UabkG4x_Carn0ArRp1IG79tx056TpyRk5K1onzTPBHHJHTKl_LpNMkWoyI75X1gAnnJC_sKQ9HlZnWYh1h6LwC8MQJMVqjiStD33Wxkh4uvqnUyCbvmlzM5WtC5gy1rm9IpmQ/s1600/gravity_005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="705" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUD187i8UabkG4x_Carn0ArRp1IG79tx056TpyRk5K1onzTPBHHJHTKl_LpNMkWoyI75X1gAnnJC_sKQ9HlZnWYh1h6LwC8MQJMVqjiStD33Wxkh4uvqnUyCbvmlzM5WtC5gy1rm9IpmQ/s400/gravity_005.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"This isn't working. Now I feel depressed!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And look at where Spock takes multiple tests in Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home:</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7e2ygrQAmgvx3tNP0UX74anHGApo1g_ydvMv6U5rptU7Euc3IbKHy3RnlNMAYyBHD1ms2nf6f0pfDVTaTlFHEOYaCyGgdsbuEpinBbmxcOPIIBYR3Q443aGXNTq_gm4jeH6rJd0UIYh8/s1600/thumbnailImagespock.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="831" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7e2ygrQAmgvx3tNP0UX74anHGApo1g_ydvMv6U5rptU7Euc3IbKHy3RnlNMAYyBHD1ms2nf6f0pfDVTaTlFHEOYaCyGgdsbuEpinBbmxcOPIIBYR3Q443aGXNTq_gm4jeH6rJd0UIYh8/s400/thumbnailImagespock.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I get to fail all my finals at the same time! Neat!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">These are different learning facilities on Vulcan, but they are all in desert caves, or what looks like caves. The aesthetics here are pretty consistent. All this leads me to believe that Star Trek: Discovery is set in the Kelvin timeline, not the Prime timeline.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Which is great, for me. Now I no longer have to scratch my head, wondering where Discovery fits in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I look forward to the flame war I just created in the comments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-45353409147482241162017-11-12T12:05:00.002-08:002017-11-12T12:05:52.651-08:00A Perfect Storm<span style="font-size: large;"><i>A particularly bad or critical state of affairs, arising from a number of negative and unpredictable factors.</i></span><div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I know that starting out this article with the meaning of the title is pedantic and pretentious. But I also know that I don't particularly care. My reason is that this storm is a perfect counter to all the nonsense put out by trolls and idiots that say they don't want politics in the entertainment media they consume, whether it's video games, movies, music, books, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, let's set the stage. Recently, Gal Gadot has stated that she would not play Wonder Woman again until Warner Bros. cancels all partnership with Brett Ratner. The link to the article is <a href="https://jezebel.com/gal-gadot-will-not-play-wonder-woman-again-unless-brett-1820372029" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Okay, for those who don't know who Brett Ratner is, he is the director of the Rush Hour films, X-Men 3:The Last Stand, and the Hercules film starring The Rock that nobody saw. He has also been the subject of sexual harassment allegations. My default state is to believe the victims for obvious reasons, not the least of which this is the automatic stance that law-enforcement personnel must take when performing their duties (or rather, they should, but that's another subject altogether).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21UbXywIeA_8EiKZdN86AVyG5N3n5RLg0AC_zq-g1kkkwu9iIM9gwF8pGbRqdan4yu-qAY4VShM-ZOo1XHLPEe3GHJ_T5jQtcLhKwxX-pMCsAjL8wVQhjg0itWkK24yN-SVDhRbyGcKc/s1600/The-Legend-of-Hercules.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21UbXywIeA_8EiKZdN86AVyG5N3n5RLg0AC_zq-g1kkkwu9iIM9gwF8pGbRqdan4yu-qAY4VShM-ZOo1XHLPEe3GHJ_T5jQtcLhKwxX-pMCsAjL8wVQhjg0itWkK24yN-SVDhRbyGcKc/s400/The-Legend-of-Hercules.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The other Hercules film nobody saw that year, and it doesn't even have The Rock in it.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Brett Ratner also owns RatPac-Dune Entertainment, which helped produce the Wonder Woman film, and thus profited from the deal. The closest analogy I can think of is (<b>Godwin's Law incoming!</b>) if Hitler financed and produced the film Schindler's List. I hope you can see what the problem is here. If not, let me spell it out for you:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>A man accused of sexually harassing women profited from a film that has women's empowerment themes.</b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And, oh, it gets better. According to the article, the Warner Bros./RatPac-Dune deal was originally brokered by Steve Mnuchin, the current Treasury Secretary for president Donald Trump. And no, the lower case p is NOT a typo. And yes, Donald Trump has also been accused multiple times of being <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/politics/donald-trump-sexism-tracker-every-offensive-comment-in-one-place/" target="_blank">a sexual harasser</a> too, at least.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0ubErh7rhdxM3dVvnTuQbLWmLmdK3P7Zk3qNDdYfPJQ9G-Mnp-FzZfSI46jZnL5neWO0tZutrzTUF7zaxKIINkI-y0mq7MMVNDPYc4mDE-j6c7YtgGJhQ1EpXXDqhyN0T0oniyV-KeM/s1600/nyt-trump-is-set-to-name-ex-goldman-sachs-banker-steven-mnuchin-treasury-secretary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="1190" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0ubErh7rhdxM3dVvnTuQbLWmLmdK3P7Zk3qNDdYfPJQ9G-Mnp-FzZfSI46jZnL5neWO0tZutrzTUF7zaxKIINkI-y0mq7MMVNDPYc4mDE-j6c7YtgGJhQ1EpXXDqhyN0T0oniyV-KeM/s400/nyt-trump-is-set-to-name-ex-goldman-sachs-banker-steven-mnuchin-treasury-secretary.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Trump: "Here's a great idea! I want as my Treasury Secretary the guy who financed Batman v. Superman. I'm sure he'll knows how to spend America's money wisely."</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">All of this is to make the following point: even if the entertainment media you enjoy has no political themes IN IT, that doesn't mean politics is completely devoid FROM the making of that media. And that leads to situations exactly like this. And I can't believe I have to explain this relatively simple concept to people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now if you don't care about the politics surrounding entertainment media, that's fine. But that means you also lose the right to bitch/moan/complain when those politics result in good media not being made. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I, however, do care about the politics surrounding entertainment media, and that means I take notice when the politics behind one of the first (and, if we're being honest, the ONLY) good movie DC Films has ever made may result in more good movies not getting made. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now, to be fair, as the article points out, the chances of Warner Bros. completely severing ties with RatPac-Dune are really good, since Wonder Woman was a good/beloved/<b><u>profitable</u></b> film, so Gal Gadot coming back to do more Wonder Woman films is also very likely. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But since Warner Bros. also likes to shoot itself in the foot every now and then, it is equally likely that they'll replace Gal Gadot and put out an objectively inferior Wonder Woman movie. And this is not even taking into account that Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder Woman, would probably walk out too (and if you don't think she will, you haven't been paying attention). That last paragraph may be my opinion, but I'm willing to bet money I'm not the only one who thinks that way. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlqgLcFi54W2KMLP_yrmQlxl3skwGifGHmhVB_vs0p5GScLmUFPezmWO6x5lKv6oiDjWL7KCGIB8vDv1vWuz52-gRQD4YnDFIWp1LgcQZR3no8CO_3WV2ZSJm7Rt5WXZRJ4H3dL1-iu8/s1600/Lauren+Southern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlqgLcFi54W2KMLP_yrmQlxl3skwGifGHmhVB_vs0p5GScLmUFPezmWO6x5lKv6oiDjWL7KCGIB8vDv1vWuz52-gRQD4YnDFIWp1LgcQZR3no8CO_3WV2ZSJm7Rt5WXZRJ4H3dL1-iu8/s400/Lauren+Southern.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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Meet your new Wonder Woman! Fighting for truth, justice, & the Nazi way...Wait, what??!!</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, to all those (including myself) who don't think politics matter in entertainment media, I say this: we're all fooling ourselves.</span></div>
Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-24240445091896065892017-10-23T20:28:00.002-07:002017-10-23T20:28:50.781-07:00Moby Dick, Flipper & (Insert Famous Minnow Here)<span style="font-size: large;">A recent Jimquisition video talked about a company that uses customer data gathered from mobile games being played in real-time to offer different microtransaction prices to different gamers at the optimal time where their resistance to buying said microtransactions is at their weakest. Here's the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQsc14gDPbk&t=2s" target="_blank">link</a> (and if you enjoy his video, consider kicking him a dollar or two to his Patreon, if you can). </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But the pinned comment to this video is far more interesting to me, since Jim Sterling inevitably gets these kinds of comments whenever he brings up the subject of lootboxes and microtransactions. The relevant portion of the comment I want to talk about is provided here, courtesy of THePunisher Xxx:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>I'm so sick of your bitching and assumptions with no facts. "Only whales buy crates". You are basing that off of conversations and conjecture, you have no hard facts showing game sales and who buys crates.</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Oh, hard facts. That's for me. My brain always conjures red flags whenever somebody mentions "no facts to present your case" or some other such nonsense. And since I've been accused of being pedantic, well...time for me to lean into that characterization. So let's get pedantic...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJrRKI5jEXR81ZwC1CLCrSVXUBM5drGUPDNPwIv2Bu70Tw0OfcT-4yZGnfjQK5nH0mkCUNoIAxnS2GR7DJFRxI-LkKMxLeDybFk8od60dqj4gV6g8DBsq2hLEqnibmIGmGvAe0W_kiz0/s1600/Shall+We.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1579" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJJrRKI5jEXR81ZwC1CLCrSVXUBM5drGUPDNPwIv2Bu70Tw0OfcT-4yZGnfjQK5nH0mkCUNoIAxnS2GR7DJFRxI-LkKMxLeDybFk8od60dqj4gV6g8DBsq2hLEqnibmIGmGvAe0W_kiz0/s640/Shall+We.jpg" width="628" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SHALL WE???</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">First, what is a whale in this context? It was first used by casinos to describe people who bet thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The earliest use on the internet I could find was <a href="http://www.ildado.com/casino_glossary03.html" target="_blank">from February 2001</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The term was later used and expanded upon by Hany Nada to form what he called the WMD Model (Whales, Dolphins, Minnows). In his <a href="http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/1537643/what-the-music-business-can-learn-from-the-gaming-and" target="_blank">article</a> on the subject (written in February 2013), he described how whales make up almost 3% of the freemium game user base, but drop thousands of dollars on microtransactions, making up the majority of a fremium game's revenue, so they are the best customers to "reel in", as it were. Dolphins make up a larger percentage of the user base, but spend tens to hundreds of dollars. Minnows make up the largest percentage of the user base, but either make one purchase or none at all. The information on player base and spending habits comes from a Swrve Monetization Report, which you can download <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiSyOWVpYjXAhVrx1QKHWR6B9UQFgguMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Flandingpage.swrve.com%2Frs%2Fswrve%2Fimages%2Fswrve-monetization-report-0114.pdf&usg=AOvVaw20rAj62uMlanBXM9rq9lzV" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Since then, marketing has taken the WMD model to heart, and there are plenty of articles on this subject, which the latest one I could find was <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-a-whale-2917364" target="_blank">this one</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So, Thee Punisher One Large Ex and Two Small Exes, is all this <b><i>"conversation and conjecture"</i></b>? Is this enough <i style="font-weight: bold;">"hard facts" </i>for you?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe you should take 5 seconds to google the subject before you pop off about stuff you clearly don't understand.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As usual, if you want to comment on this, share your thoughts. And please, pardon my terrible, terrible photo. I promise the quality of this blog will improve, someday. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-12563525880333620602017-09-26T21:16:00.000-07:002017-09-26T21:16:04.418-07:00Developers v. Gamers<span style="font-size: large;">A very interesting thread popped up on Twitter. A game developer <a href="https://kotaku.com/game-designer-says-developers-would-be-more-candid-if-g-1818729507" target="_blank">opined</a> that the reason developers don't talk to gamers is that the gaming culture is so toxic that anything said by developers concerning how games are made will be accused of lying or cheating the gamers in some way. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I read the thread about a day before the story broke on news outlets, so I've had more time to think about the issue than others. And he does have a point. Whenever a video game is about to come out and it has a feature that is unfamiliar, weird or shady, (or had a feature that was in a previous game taken away), the gaming community will rage and troll and launch boring tirades against the developers of that game, claiming they will boycott the game. Then the gamers buy it, enjoy it, and wait for the next outrage to cross their path. If you want a really good example of this, take a look at the outrage surrounding <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/05/no-mans-sky-perils-infinite-promise-sean-murray-hello-games" target="_blank">No Man's Sky</a>. Even I <a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/09/no-mans-pie-in-sky.html" target="_blank">wrote</a> about this game, and while I have softened my stance from the developers being liars to just getting in over their heads, the basic point stands. There are a lot of gamers that are toxic to developers (and most everyone else really).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But what no one seems to be asking is why this is. So let's ask why. I have a few answers, and the ultimate reason(s) could be one, some or all of them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. Shady business practices. Video game companies are secretive about how much games cost to make. This is not surprising. Most companies don't release numbers on how much to make a product. What gets gamers in a uproar is how these companies ask for $60 for their games, and it turns out to be an upfront fee, and then ask for more money from you in the form of microtransactions or lootboxes for cosmetic game items that used to be free in previous games (like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/destiny-2-shaders-2017-9/#in-the-first-destiny-game-shaders-let-you-change-the-overall-color-theme-for-your-characters-outfit-you-could-collect-shaders-from-completing-certain-activities-or-sometimes-as-a-random-reward-at-the-end-of-an-activity-1" target="_blank">shaders</a> and <a href="https://kotaku.com/nba-2k18-mycareer-the-kotaku-review-1818712286" target="_blank">haircuts</a>). And these gamers tend to blame the developers for putting them into the game. But these developers are coding microtransactions in these games at the behest of their boss, the video game company. You know, the boss who signs their checks, and thus gives the orders, and the developers obey them or they get fired. You gamers want to get mad at someone? Be mad at WB Games. Be mad at Activision. Be mad at EA. Ask them why it's so expensive to make a game. Ask them to explain themselves and their actions. Don't blame the developers. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. As a corollary, video game companies are throwing developers under the bus. Usually it's the developers who are the face behind the games, not the game company boss. So it's the developers who are talking to the gamers. And those developers have the unenviable job of convincing gamers why microtransactions, lootboxes, day-one DLC, season passes and other shady crap are necessary to the experience of playing these games. Even if they are adept at public speaking (which they're not for the most part), all these shady practices are a hard sell. Take a look at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igjXK1IAM9I" target="_blank">this video</a> and <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/dpkvnm/inside-the-nasty-no-mans-sky-backlash" target="_blank">this article</a> to see what I'm talking about. And again, fans can't parse out the fact that WB Games ORDERED Bob Roberts to say those things and Sony LET Sean Murray twist in the wind, promising No Man's Sky features that would never be in the game. Why? Plausible Deniability. Oh no, it's the developers saying these things, not us your friendly neighborhood game company.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. Gamers can (and usually do) act badly. Sure, they've been lied to. Sure, they've been cheated out of their money by greedy companies. That's still no excuse to shoot the messenger. The developers are toeing the company line, and they have to if they want to keep their jobs. Stop blaming, harassing, doxxing, & sending death threats to the developers. They are slaves to the capitalist nightmare just like the rest of us, and are trying to bring a little entertainment to our lives. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. And sometimes, certain developers can be super-jerks themselves. I'm looking at you, Digital Homicide, Konami, Capcom, Blizzard. That's right, I said Blizzard. With your really good-looking $60 Overwatch game with the freaking lootboxes. You make more money than the GDP of every third-world country on Earth combined, every year. Why the damned lootboxes?????!!!!!!!!!!.............</span><span style="font-size: large;">Uh, *ahem* yeah. I guess I need to take my own advice & calm down. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Honey, where's my Lord of the Rings music CDs?</span>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-65442875202937943092017-09-20T19:53:00.000-07:002017-09-20T20:05:22.375-07:00Quark Would Be Proud<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Never be afraid to mislabel a product - Rule of Acquisition #239</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Jim Sterling has brought up the issue of Triple-A video game
companies reaching into gamers’ wallets to yank out additional cash AFTER they
have originally paid $60 for a video game <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9gwtmcB_TM" target="_blank">again</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TXWdyrqFP8" target="_blank">again</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWTsJZD3YFQ" target="_blank">again</a>. He has
repeatedly stated that he will stop talking about this anti-consumer practice
immediately once these game companies stop doing this. Well, good luck with
that, since apparently game companies seem disinclined to stop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Let me be fair to these companies. Businesses exist to make a
profit. And I’ve argued before that companies can be as greedy as they want.
But I’ve also maintained that they don’t need to be jerks about it. I could go
on about this, but for now I want to focus on this video made by Jim Sterling.
The subject is how to have microtransactions in games correctly. I will expand
on this video by comparing the advice he gives with Star Trek Online, which does
all these approaches right. Notice I said right, not perfect. I urge you to
watch the video first so that you know I’m not misrepresenting his views.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And welcome back. So, let’s take these concepts and apply
them to Star Trek Online (STO). It is an MMO based on the Star Trek license. Let’s
see how STO stands up to regular triple-A games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As explained in the video, microtransactions are psychologically
manipulating. They tempt the player into paying money for additional game
content (whether it’s been held back from the game initially or created later).
In his opinion, once you pay for a $60 game, all the content should be
accessible in some way without paying additional money (virtual or real). You
should not have to pay twice. That’s like paying for a car and paying again for
seat belts to be installed later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">STO is a free-to-play game. You can create an account, download
the game and play all the story content for free. There are 13 groups of
missions, with 115 total missions, all inspired by the rich 51-year history of
Star Trek. There is even a story set in the Kelvin Timeline from the recent
Star Trek movies. These are mostly good stories, which includes characters like
Seven of Nine, The Doctor, Spock and Geordi LaForge, voiced in most cases by
the original actors. Let me remind you again that all this story content is
free to play.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkI91fU0Qffa9jCAbEUWZBhDSCRtIR4rBSKjQBMgN1Jgk0TEsix2vseBhQGOh6MTnTiIBXhil9bpt85m3J2jZngEg1UKirWK5_SIEmb0BgOScHsA-HyxFzDJk-C7bhaGOQZQyEflTROUI/s1600/STO+Missions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkI91fU0Qffa9jCAbEUWZBhDSCRtIR4rBSKjQBMgN1Jgk0TEsix2vseBhQGOh6MTnTiIBXhil9bpt85m3J2jZngEg1UKirWK5_SIEmb0BgOScHsA-HyxFzDJk-C7bhaGOQZQyEflTROUI/s400/STO+Missions.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ever wonder where the Prophets sent the Dominion Fleet in "Sacrifice of Angels? You find out in this game.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So where are the microtransactions? They are the starships
you buy, the bridge crew, the uniforms, the alien races, and so on. You buy
virtual currency (Zen) with real money or with in-game dilithium you can
collect or mine in the game. Does the game give you free starships and bridge
crew while playing? Yes. Are they good enough so that you can breeze through
the story content? Also yes. You can play the whole game without ever spending
a cent. Does the game tempt you by waving pictures of starships in your face
and reminding you of what you can buy? No. You are never tempted to buy the
U.S.S Enterprise for 500 Zen (equal to $5.00). But you can go into the store,
look at the ship and make your own decision whether you buy it or not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlg7pdOmtaelz0pf8dUJfTS1FMZZ0lXzAyx2vFTbgWMHoIz52J6Ha8v6E-F_VqQajp0oUxSH2GnjKlcdyRPFFoIxIvwSpjw5gPBhjDMERer-CgrioeF8rdusE13BiN_1mxlM6AAb2LJE/s1600/USS+N%2527Tirpriz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIlg7pdOmtaelz0pf8dUJfTS1FMZZ0lXzAyx2vFTbgWMHoIz52J6Ha8v6E-F_VqQajp0oUxSH2GnjKlcdyRPFFoIxIvwSpjw5gPBhjDMERer-CgrioeF8rdusE13BiN_1mxlM6AAb2LJE/s400/USS+N%2527Tirpriz.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Any fans of the Robotech novels out there? If so, you'll get the starship name reference.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This, in my opinion, is how you do microtransactions right.
Star Trek Online makes the game free-to-play, then tempts the player to pony up
for additional in-game items. Like I said, if you mine dilithium, you can
exchange that dilithium for Zen, which is then used to buy anything in the
store. It just takes longer to save up the Zen for the ship you want. This goes
for everything in the game. So, everything in the game is free. It just takes a
long time to get all the in-game items that way. Spending real money simply
makes acquiring those items faster. What’s more, there is no paying for power.
The game is almost ruthlessly balanced, so that the only advantage you get over
others is a cooler-looking ship, or a better-looking avatar.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3k0fqB7BKGHxnwhlHCwVX9mOsrTHIgNFy-SnlomOgcHJ9WdMLqkgJMiJ767wf26uoDpRiNGETKjMYCFm5P7vu-az1xxAjLZRcpYfnjORPA8SXU1WOl0qDoVaOKUwU0RdAEziaQXS-x0/s1600/Captain+Dileni.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3k0fqB7BKGHxnwhlHCwVX9mOsrTHIgNFy-SnlomOgcHJ9WdMLqkgJMiJ767wf26uoDpRiNGETKjMYCFm5P7vu-az1xxAjLZRcpYfnjORPA8SXU1WOl0qDoVaOKUwU0RdAEziaQXS-x0/s400/Captain+Dileni.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So cool!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the video, Jim asks the question (in a whiny-voice) “But
how do these free-to-play games make money to pay for the servers and support
the game?” Well, in the case of Star Trek Online, they must make a lot of
money, considering they’re able to pay for actors like Robert Picardo, Leonard
Nimoy, Chase Masterson, LeVar Burton, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan, Ethan
Phillips, and Denise Crosby to voice-act the roles they’re famous for in the
game. So, they’re probably doing very well for themselves. And for the record,
they’re putting out another series of missions on October 3. That means they
make enough to pay programmers to make new content. Another sign STO makes more
than enough money. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here’s another question posed by Jim; “But if we’re not
forcing people to buy them, why would anyone buy them?” Here’s a large sample
of what I bought in STO over the years with real money:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">the U.S.S. Enterprise; a playable </span><span style="font-size: large;">Federation Klingon Race; a playable </span><span style="font-size: large;">Trill Race; the </span><span style="font-size: large;">Future Enterprise ship from the episode “All Good Things”; </span><span style="font-size: large;">3 Star Trek Uniforms; </span><span style="font-size: large;">3 other starships.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">All these items I was never forced or manipulated to buy. I wanted to buy
them, and thus reward STO for their hard work. Not just in creating these stories,
but setting them in the Prime timeline. These stories are set after Voyager
came home. And this is the only licensed Star Trek property (other than the
novels) that are doing this. Not even Star Trek: Discovery is doing this. I am
never manipulated into buying STO’s stuff. They tempt me. They seduce me. But they
never manipulate me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Got this for 2600 Zen ($26) at a sale. Money well spent.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Games like Overwatch, Middle Earth: Shadow of War, NBA 2K18, Destiny 2 and
Dead Space 3 are all $60 games, and all of them have microtransactions that
psychologically manipulate people just by their very presence in those games.
Like Jim, I also have a mildly addictive personality, so if I buy these games,
there’s a very good chance I won’t enjoy these games because I will always
wonder how much of the game is being cut out and gated behind a
microtransaction paywall and being sold back to me. And I might buy something
to find out. And buying something once in a $60 game with real money is once
too often in my opinion.</span></div>
Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-92206768457058381542017-09-08T19:31:00.000-07:002017-09-08T20:21:38.043-07:00Throwing Shade(rs)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Hi, I’m back. It’s been a while (thanks to real life concerns,
really sorry about that), but a recent event has brought me back to the
internets once again, and that event is the recent release of the Destiny 2
video game. And in my opinion, this game represents everything wrong with the
AAA game industry. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I will present my case through a unique
method; by responding to the comments about Destiny 2’s new way of giving
shaders to players. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Shaders are color palettes that can be added to your in-game
gear. You know; make your gun red, your boots green, your armor gloves purple,
that sort of thing. In the first Destiny game, once you acquire shaders, you
can keep them & apply them to all your gear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In Destiny 2, shaders are consumable items that you apply to
individual pieces of your gear. And once you apply a different shader, the
original is gone. Same thing if you get better gear down the road. Once you get
rid of the other gear you applied shaders to, the shaders on them are gone too. This means that no one
will apply shaders to equipment that’s going to be upgraded or traded for
better gear anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And just to twist the knife a little, you can’t buy the
shaders you want. You buy random shaders from lootboxes with real money.
Granted, you can acquire shaders from leveling your character, from the chests &
engrams you find, and from rewards received from vendors plus endgame
activities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A lot of people think this is bullcrap. But every devil has
its advocate, and Destiny 2 is no different. So, let’s see what these advocates
have to say. Then I’ll respond with what I hope will be cogent arguments against
these commenters. The link to the article by Jason Schreier is <a href="http://kotaku.com/destiny-2-players-fume-over-one-time-use-shaders-and-m-1801803456" target="_blank">here</a>, and the Twitter statement from the game's director is <a href="https://twitter.com/thislukesmith/status/905863524127129600" target="_blank">here</a>. And please read the comments yourself just so you know I'm not misrepresenting anyone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Leopard on Twitter
says: “You know you made a great game when the biggest issue is cosmetics”
[laughing emoji]</i>---No, the biggest issue is the AAA game industry's tendency to nickel
& dime you to death AFTER they already got your $60 to $100 depending on
which version of the game you bought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Rocker[DTP] on Twitter
says: [To be honest] people will complain about anything. I have proof that
they drop more than enough to make them expendable {and then shows a picture of
the different shaders he collected and how many of each type of shader]</i>---But
I notice from the picture you used that you can only hold 50 types of shaders.
Star Trek Online (a free game) has more than 50 types of shaders that I can use on my
character, uniforms, and (sometimes) starships that never run out and I don’t have to buy.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Dang3rousFluffy on
Twitter says: Look at it this way if I spray paint my gun and grind off the
paint am I going to get my paint back</i>---Let’s set aside the false
equivalence here (a real gun vs. a digital space gun) and address this. Let’s
say you went to a car dealership and bought a Porsche that has a really
sweet-looking cherry-red paint on it that washes off at the first rainstorm.
But you have the following options: bring it back to the dealership and pay for
a new paint job (that also washes off in the rain) and get a RANDOM COLOR, or
every time you complete a workday you get a paint can filled with a RANDOM
COLOR you apply yourself (that also washes off in the rain). You would want your
damn money back on the car.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> <i>After some commenters talk about how making games are risky ventures and expensive to make thus making game companies continue to push the line a little each time regarding pricing scams, Jason Schreier says: The REAL problem is that the price of games hasheld steady at $60 despite inflation and the rising cost of game development. $60 is pretty expensive to begin with, so it's hard to imagine that changing, but this is unsustainable!</i>---So either stop making games or raise prices. Or at least be more efficient with your resources so game development doesn't cost so much. In any case, I don't care about any of that. I'm a customer. I only care about getting a good game for a low cost.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Finally, AldoraGreel (commenting on the article) says: So what they're mad with is they use to be infinite use items and they're not now, right? Because as a Diablo 3 player, I have no issue with this. If you wanted to customize your look in D3, you paid in-game currency to do so. If you wanted to change colors, you bought one-time use bottles of dye to do so. Need to make your new armor red? Buy more dye. This is EXTREMELY common in games. I actually don't think I've ever played a game with infinite reuse color change items. Usually, if there is an item to earn to change the color or look, it requires multiple purchases. As long as the shades are relatively easy to buy/earn with in-game currency/methods, why would anyone give a shit if Bungie is trying to be scummy and sell people stupid shit? Sad your favorite developer isn't as pro-consumer as you once thought? Aw. Poor little guy. Must not have been paying attention for the past few years.</i>---</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This is a good comment to respond to. Number one, Diablo 3 is NOT Destiny 2. Different aesthetics, different game styles and mechanics, different everything. Not equivalent at all. Number two, explain to me how limited-use items is superior to unlimited use items. Number three, so you don't care that Bungie is scummy and sells you stupid shit? So you don't care if businesses sell you inferior goods and services? So you don't care if a car dealership sells you a lemon, or a realtor sells you a house filled with termites? Number four, I don't care if a business is pro-consumer or not. I DO CARE if a business is anti-consumer. Finally, I have been paying attention, which is why I haven't bought any AAA game except for The Witcher 3. Because game companies pull crap like this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And the ONLY reason game companies pull crap like this is because apologists like the above people keep buying these games. Now if they find value in these games, more power to them. But please don't defend these companies. They don't care about you, anymore than they care about this blogpost. And that's fine. But any video game buyers out there reading this, I urge you to think twice before rewarding these kinds of anti-consumer practices by buying this game. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-42682097713874548992016-10-11T13:46:00.000-07:002016-10-11T13:46:14.102-07:00So, as it turns out...<span style="font-size: large;">Whelp, Devin Faraci has been accused of sexual assaults he had apparently done in the past. <a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/08/why-him.html" target="_blank">As I have said before</a>, I never agreed with a lot of what he said, but I respected his opinions. Now I must withdraw my respect of him. Why?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Because it's my personal choice to do so. The reasoning behind my decision doesn't really matter, but as a human being I cannot condone what he has done. And no, I will not discuss my reasons here. This is a nerd site, and I am determined to keep it that way. No politics & no religion. I created this blog to be a safe zone for us nerds. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">However, one of my blog posts has dealt with Devin, and I felt I needed to address that. While it dealt with his profession and not him as a person, and while I believe in my readers' ability to tell the difference, there may be those who may choose not to parse out that difference due to personal belief. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So I wrote this so that I may assure new & longtime readers who come to this site that I don't tolerate this kind of behavior in myself or others. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That post will remain up, as a reminder that I make mistakes, but this post will also remain up, as a reminder to me to own my mistakes, and apologize for them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Thank you for reading.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-62560420619955187122016-09-02T08:42:00.003-07:002016-09-02T08:42:47.474-07:00No Man's Pie In The Sky<span style="font-size: large;">It has been 2 weeks since No Man's Sky came out, so let's look at the state of play in this particular part of the nerdspace. According to Steam, it was the <a href="https://nowloading.co/posts/4017494" target="_blank">top seller</a> before it came out, and player count topped 212,000 before it dropped to it's current <a href="http://steamcharts.com/app/275850#1m" target="_blank">3,000</a> player count. I expect that type of drop on a game like Evolve or Star Wars: Battlefront, because both those games were multiplayer only, had only 10 maps, maybe, and not a lot of content to keep the player's interest. But this is No Man's Sky. It has 18 quintillion planets and procedurally generated wildlife (you can name the planets & wildlife), crafting mechanics, and a story that takes you to the center of the universe. These sound amazing.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">That is, until you found out that the names you give the planets and wildlife <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/articles/no-mans-sky-discovery-names-reportedly-erased-for-/1100-6443081/" target="_blank">disappear</a> after a while, the crafting mechanics are a little weird (you can feed iron to animals & you have an extremely limited inventory), and the story is dependent upon you keeping Atlas Stones that you may <a href="http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=33790" target="_blank">mistakenly sell</a> to free up inventory. And new problems keep cropping up , such as preorder bonuses <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/4wzc0x/gamebreaking_bug_with_preorder_ship_stuck_without/" target="_blank">breaking</a> the game. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Add to all of this the fact that Hello Games, the developers of No Man's Sky, at the least were <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2qKAX_QaoI" target="_blank">communicating their overreach</a> in their goals for the game or at most <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTTPlqK8AnY" target="_blank">outright lied</a> about what was in their game during the hype that preceded the launch of the game.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Everybody has had their say about this game, but I don't see my viewpoint being communicated, which is why I'm posting this. My view is that this whole thing has been a disappointment. In fact, I warned about this very situation in my facebook post from May 27th:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtwZrm63A1CNs59__xmEn9pz_ihCIHfW1kQdNEjn01KE6CMCNg4Sv3UqpHWhpfJSZKR_88z_OAQG0G-WQ0OvnKRn0iZbdcYweAcIuIbEzFErxCFdz02qn6ktIG7E-xOzIl2yVjM3phqE/s1600/Facebook+Post+Great+Games.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgtwZrm63A1CNs59__xmEn9pz_ihCIHfW1kQdNEjn01KE6CMCNg4Sv3UqpHWhpfJSZKR_88z_OAQG0G-WQ0OvnKRn0iZbdcYweAcIuIbEzFErxCFdz02qn6ktIG7E-xOzIl2yVjM3phqE/s640/Facebook+Post+Great+Games.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">And surprise, here we are. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Do I believe that Hello Games' reach exceeded their grasp? Yes. That's not a bad thing. </span><span style="font-size: large;">But do I believe they lied about what the game would contain? Also yes. And that <b>is</b> a bad thing. Certainly the features the game has now was not worth $60. Minecraft had just as many features as No Man's Sky (possibly even less) but sold for $27 (the same price it is now). That's another problem right there. If the game had sold for $30, no one would have felt ripped off. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And let's not leave the fans off the hook. As I warned in my post, we as gamers must remain vigilant, and part of that vigilance was not buying too much into the hype that accompanies any potentially good game. Fans did not heed that lesson, and we had groups on both sides arguing loudly about whether the game was good or bad. I didn't even know about this game until it almost came out, and even as the fervor reached a fever pitch I never bought into the hype. I've been burned by too many bad games, and I don't have the money/time to do it. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The sad part about all this is that there are people who have enjoyed, and still enjoy, this game (warts and all). And I applaud them. And I now join my voice to those who enjoy the game. This game actually has potential. If this gets frequent updates like Minecraft did as it went alpha, No Man's Sky may potentially be just as enjoyable and just as awesome as Minecraft. And on that day, I will buy it, and reward Hello Games for their hard work with my money. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But for now, this game feels like Star Trek without anything interesting, like the characters, the aliens (humanoid or not), story, plot, or anything else for that matter, though it does look pretty.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">[For the record, yes, I know it has aliens and a story. But the key word in that last statement was <b>interesting</b>. Felt the need to point that out, sorry.]</span>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-39649716308874135892016-08-02T20:19:00.001-07:002016-08-02T20:19:44.949-07:00PokemonNO TRACKING<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Niantic recently disabled the
tracking feature on their PokemonGo game app. After a few days of silence,
Niantic finally explained why, saying that the feature was “confusing and did
not meet our underlying product goals”. They also said that they had “limited
access by third-party services which were interfering with our ability to
maintain quality of service for our users”. You can read the whole statement
<a href="http://kotaku.com/niantic-explains-pokemon-go-changes-1784692551" target="_blank">here</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">A lot of articles have been written
about this, and I have a lot to say about a few of them. First, some context.</span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">Here is the original PokemonGo game
trailer when it was first announced last year.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2sj2iQyBTQs/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2sj2iQyBTQs?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Notice at the 25 second mark that
the video promises that the app tracks distance to a pokemon clearly and
accurately. That’s not what we got though. Instead we got the app showing how
far pokemon were by how many footprints (called steps) was shown underneath the
graphic. The more steps there were, the farther they were, as <a href="http://www.capitalfm.com/music-news/pokemon-go-footprints-explained/" target="_blank">this article shows</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">But then the <a href="http://kotaku.com/pokemon-gos-three-step-glitch-makes-tracking-pokemon-im-1783854268" target="_blank">3-step glitch</a>
happened, which showed all pokemon were three steps away, no matter how far
they actually were. People turned to third-party apps that accessed the
PokemonGo app and showed where pokemon were relative to your position and what
they were. Pokevision was one of these apps. Soon after Niantic CEO John Hanke
<a href="http://kotaku.com/pokemon-gos-creators-are-wrong-about-cheating-in-the-ga-1784496384" target="_blank">voiced his displeasure</a> at the existence of these third-party tracking apps,
Niantic released the update that not only disabled the PokemonGo tracking
feature, but <a href="http://kotaku.com/pokevision-and-other-pokemon-go-trackers-seem-to-have-b-1784602025" target="_blank">all third-party apps</a> that accessed it. People were angry at this,
to the point that many were <a href="http://kotaku.com/pokemon-go-players-requesting-refunds-over-lack-of-trac-1784616329" target="_blank">requesting refunds</a> for any in-app purchases that
relied on PokemonGo’s tracking feature (some got their refunds). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Articles started proliferating on
the net, some decrying Niantic’s actions, some applauding them. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="http://www.themarysue.com/pokemon-go-refunds-smh/" target="_blank">This article</a> talked about how the third</span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">-party
apps allowed people to track down the most powerful pokemon quicker and use
them to defend gyms. This is cheating in the article’s opinion. The article
also states that these apps also reduced or eliminated the sense of wonder that
comes from exploring a new place and searching for new pokemon. </span><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="http://kotaku.com/pokevision-creator-pens-heartfelt-letter-to-niantic-abo-1784733187" target="_blank">This one</a> had a letter from Yang
Lui, the proprietor of Pokevision, one of the 3</span><sup style="text-indent: 0.5in;">rd</sup><span style="font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">-party apps that
was shut down. In this letter, Lui states that using Pokevision was not
cheating, but was a band-aid on the bigger problem of PokemonGo’s lack of a
workable tracking feature.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Now that all sides have had their
say, let me put in my two cents. As for Pokevision being used to find more
powerful pokemon easily, that is true. But what is equally true is that in
order to evolve these pokemon into more powerful forms, you need to level up
your trainer avatar, collect stardust, collect pokemon and trade them in for
candies (this is an oversimplification). In other words, people still need to
go out and travel in order to get powerful pokemon. It takes a lot of work. I
don’t see how work translates into cheating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">As for removing the sense of
wonder, wonder is for people who have time to go to new places and find new
pokemon. There are PokemonGo fans who work and have other commitments that take
time away from playing this game. If these people have limited time to play,
they could remove some of the randomness that came with finding pokemon by
using Pokevision. And they still have to perform the steps I laid out above to
create more powerful pokemon. And at least Pokevision was a tracker app that
worked, better than PokemonGo’s tracking feature, which was itself a weaksauce
version of the one Niantic promised in their original trailer last year. So
Niantic didn’t have the moral high ground here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Having said all that, let me
applaud Niantic for taking steps to address fans’ anger and concerns (finally).
They put out a statement saying they’re working on the problem (though it’s
mostly corporate speak). They have hired a community manager to speak to fans
more directly and quickly. They have
given refunds for in-app purchases that took advantage of the borked tracking
feature. But Niantic needs to do more to gain back the fans’ respect. To
Niantic, I say this: Fix these problems quickly. Stay in constant contact to
let us know what you are doing to address our concerns. And don’t hate on
others who created better solutions for your fixes than you have. Learn from
them. To the fans, I say this: I understand the anger, and if all this was
enough to put you off this game, I don’t blame you. This game has been a dissapointment. For the rest who are
hanging on to this game in spite of everything, give Niantic time (but not too
much time). They are clearly working to fix their problems, so let’s ease off
them so they can concentrate. In the meantime, continue to catch ‘em all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Thanks go to Kotaku, CapitalFM.com, The Mary Sue and Youtube for providing the works I cited*. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
*All linked work is care of their respective authors, none of them are owned by me, yadda yadda, copyright law, legal phrases, fair use, etc. </div>
Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-87813910769796952942016-08-01T20:33:00.000-07:002016-08-01T20:33:56.169-07:00Why Him?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Recently Devin Faraci (columnist
and Editor-In-Chief of Birth Movies Death) was invited along with other film
critics to the Justice League set, currently filming in London. You can read
the article on his visit <a href="http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/06/21/a-hater-tours-the-justice-league-set" target="_blank">here</a>. According to him there was a subreddit on his
visit, with people wondering why he was invited, despite the fact that he was a
hater of the Batman v. Superman movie (hereafter called BvS). Devin says his
reason right in the article that it was precisely because he was a hater of BvS
that he was invited. It was to show Devin that Warner Bros. was learning the
lessons that the last film taught them, and that those lessons were being
implemented in Justice League. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">I find this very interesting.
Warner Bros. could have invited any of a hundred film critics who didn’t like
BvS to the set, but they invited him. Sure, it’s because he’s a hater, but I
think there are additional reasons that go beyond him being a film critic.
Before looking at the reasons below, read his review of BvS <a href="http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/03/22/batman-v-superman-review-zack-snyders-doomsday" target="_blank">here</a>. Short
version: He didn’t like it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Devin is a knowledgeable nerd. That
is, he understands film and how it’s made and the language film uses to entertain
people. And in the case of BvS, he has also read the source material from DC
comics. He can engage with, and criticize the film with a more complete understanding
than other film critics who may not have the comics background he does. So his
reviews of these types of movies will be somewhat more insightful. This is
proven by the additional articles he’s written that expands on why BvS is a terrible
movie. He wrote <a href="http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/03/30/superman-and-the-damage-done" target="_blank">this one</a> about Superman’s place in popular culture for the last
few generations. There’s <a href="http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/04/29/what-the-death-of-jimmy-olsen-really-means-for-the-dc-movies" target="_blank">one</a> about why the death of Jimmy Olsen was stupid. He
also wrote one about <a href="http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2014/10/13/wonder-woman-is-getting-the-new-52-origin-in-batman-v-superman" target="_blank">Wonder Woman’s origins</a> when she shows up in BvS. He even <a href="http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/03/27/kingdom-come-the-comic-that-foretold-batman-v-superman" target="_blank">wrote one</a> about the parallels between BvS and the graphic novel Kingdom Come. Because
he can engage with the DC Movieverse with this level of knowledge, Warner Bros.
would need to convince him, and through him, convince the majority of the
movie-going public. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">On that note, another reason is
that a lot of people read his columns, enough to convince others that any DC
Movieverse film he doesn’t like to not go see. Whether or not he has a
wide-enough influence to affect ticket sales, the fact that Warner Bros.
invited Devin means that Warner Bros. thinks he does. Nerd culture is now
popular culture in America. And a big reason why people go to these comic book
movies is that nerds are excited for these movies and are convincing the
non-nerds to go. Convince Devin that Justice League is a good movie, and he may
tell nerds to go. Nerds convince non-nerds to go, and boom! One billion dollars
in the bank. Or so Warner Bros. thinks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: large;">So that's why I think they invited Devin to come see the Justice League filming. A lot of this is conjecture though. While I haven't always agreed with him (Star Trek Beyond, for example) I have always respected his opinions. Go read his articles. They're great. And read the rest of Birth Movies Death while you're at it. If you like the site, whitelist it, so the contributors can be paid for their work. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-72969898875106826602016-05-23T17:28:00.000-07:002016-05-23T17:28:23.786-07:00I Have Seen It's True Face <span style="font-size: large;">It's a weird time to be a DC Comics fan. The movies based on those comics <a href="http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/batman_v_superman_dawn_of_justice/?search=batman%20v%20sup" target="_blank">aren't all that great</a>; the <a href="http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/135185-dc-comics-reportedly-investigating-another-sexual-harassment-allegation.html" target="_blank">constant albatross</a> that keeps hanging around the company's neck is bad for their PR image; the majority of the stories told in those New 52 comics <a href="http://www.newsarama.com/18869-the-new-52-two-years-later-the-worst-of-the-dc-reboot.html" target="_blank">aren't compelling</a>; and doing <a href="http://io9.gizmodo.com/dc-comics-lifts-the-lid-on-dc-rebirths-big-new-revelati-1778185214" target="_blank">line-wide reboots</a> every <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_52" target="_blank">few years</a> keeps fans confused about which timeline to invest their money, time, and energy on (though DC is not calling this a reboot).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But the big secret behind this Rebirth reboot-not-a-reboot is that Dr. Manhattan (from Watchman) was behind the creation of the New 52 DC Universe. This means that Watchman is now canon in the DC universe. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So the entirety of New 52 universe stories are a huge giant sequel to Watchman?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Does this mean grim-gritty-grimdark New 52 DC universe?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Will the Joker be the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Watchmen_characters#The_Comedian" target="_blank">Comedian</a> in disguise? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Will <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owlman_(comics)" target="_blank">Owlman</a> in Earth-3 secretly be <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nite_Owl" target="_blank">Nite Owl</a>?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Will <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Watchmen_characters#Silk_Spectre" target="_blank">Silk Spectre</a> kill Wonder Woman and take her place?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Will <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Watchmen_characters#Rorschach" target="_blank">Rorshach</a> fight Batman (and win)?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Or will DC Comics come up with stories far more stupid than the ones I just came up with (smart money says this will be the route they take).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This is the kind of idiocy that keeps me buying <a href="http://www.kenzerco.com/index.php?cPath=22_23" target="_blank">Knights of the Dinner Table comics</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The accumulated filth of all their reboots and price increases will foam up around their waists and all the DC comics executives and stockholders will look up at the fans and shout "Save us!" And they will whisper "no".</i></span><br />
<br />
<br />Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-37561712515439469512016-05-17T05:55:00.003-07:002016-05-17T05:58:24.625-07:00Still On About This<span style="font-size: large;">I sit here, wondering why I'm so angry over Batman v Superman (hereafter called BvS). You see, I saw Captain America: Civil War (hereafter called CA:CW), and I thought it was a great film. I began to wonder, how could BvS be so bad, but CA:CW be so good?</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">It's not like Warner Bros. set out to make a terrible film. I'm sure nobody there sat down and thought "I am going to greenlight this movie, spend money on this project, and produce a bad film that will insult not only the intelligence of the fanbase, but general audiences everywhere! This will produce a profit for us!" No sane person thinks this. But BvS comes out, then CA:CW comes out, and suddenly we have a basis for comparison that either amplifies the goodness of CA:CW, or amplifies the badness of BvS, or both. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">How could this happen? A few theories come to mind. It may be any, all, or none of these theories. Pick whichever one that fits your worldview. Please note that I have no special knowledge or insight that explains these theories. Most of them actually reflect what I believe about business & human behavior. I reserve the right to be wrong, and to be called out on my bullshit.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">1. <u>Philosophy.</u> Warner Bros. makes movies to make money. Marvel makes movies to EARN money. Notice the priorities inherent in those philosophies. Warner Bros. doesn't care how the movie is made, as long as it makes money. Marvel cares about how the movie is made so they can earn the money. This may be why CA:CW has earned more money in 10 days than what BvS made in the past month and a half.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">2. <u>Careless Hiring Practices.</u> As a corollary to the Philosophy theory, Warner Bros. looked at Zack Snyder's resume, saw that he did well not only with adaptations (300 & Watchman) but in a film involving superheroes fighting each other (Watchman again). So they hired him for BvS. Then they looked at David S. Goyer, who wrote the screenplays for all three Batman films made by Christopher Nolan. Those movies made money, so of course Warner Bros. hired him for BvS. Not once did it ever cross their minds that almost all the movies Snyder & Goyer worked on were grimdark in tone, which fits when adapting Watchman and Batman, but doesn't fit with someone like Superman. And Snyder & Goyer tried the grimdark Superman gimmick twice (Man of Steel was the first attempt). </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">3. <u>Ego.</u> I write my thoughts on this blog, but that doesn't make me Shakespere. I have no illusions about being a great writer (or even a good one). I know I have a lot to learn, so I keep writing to hone my craft. I wonder if Zack & Goyer let their egos run wild, since they pretty much had a free hand when it came to making BvS. They probably felt they could write and film any scene and it would fit. This is probably why BvS has <a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/04/not-so-jolly-rancher-scene-in-batman-v.html" target="_blank">one of the weirdest scenes in any movie, ever.</a></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">4. <u>Corporate Directive.</u> Warner Bros. wanted Avengers money, but didn't want to do the work necessary to attain that goal (making multiple movies to introduce different characters over a 10 year period) so instead they told Snyder & Goyer to fit the other planned heroes into BvS somehow. Maybe this is why Wonder Woman gets a bunch of youtube videos hacked from Luthor's database showing herself, Aquaman, Flash & Cyborg. Oddly enough, there are no videos on Batman or Superman, which would have went a long way to explaining how Luthor knew Batman was Bruce Wayne and Superman was Clark Kent. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">5. <u>Stupidity or Willful Blindness.</u> Mistakes happen. Even otherwise smart people can make mistakes. That I could understand. What I can't understand is why they released BvS in that state. A film goes through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_screening" target="_blank">many screenings</a> before it's released to critics or the general public. That means Warner Bros. executives had to see the finished product beforehand. What did they think when they saw the Jolly Rancher scene? Or the Luthor in prison scene? Or the Knightmare sequences? Did they think to themselves "This is the worst movie we ever saw." Or did they not care? If they did care, the least they would have done was told Snyder to reshoot scenes or edit out those scenes that didn't fit. If they didn't care, that makes them either stupid or willfully blind to the film's flaws. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I know that I've written a lot of posts concerning BvS. This is one of those films that sticks in my mind. I hope this post finally frees me from the mental tyranny of this movie, and you, the reader, from my mad ramblings about this subject.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<img src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ff/56/62/ff5662b8e635699a64ec811b12530f0c.jpg" /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<img src="http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11111/111119510/4557101-superman.png" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<img src="http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11115/111157674/3801027-4954048079-37787.jpg" /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe not.</span></div>
Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-6205374251184095002016-05-06T17:44:00.001-07:002016-05-06T17:44:02.602-07:00Redemption<span style="font-size: large;">It's amazing, in this current age of superhero movies, how many people who sucked in one superhero movie would be great in another. Just off the top of my head, here's some examples:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Chris Evans</u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Anybody remember him in the first 2 Fantastic Four movies made by 20th Century Fox, when he was the Human Torch? No, because everyone remembers him as being the awesome Captain America.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Ryan Reynolds</u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Wasn't he in that dumb Green Lantern movie? I don't know. I can't recognize him in his amazing Deadpool movie (<a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic/mpaa.htm" target="_blank">currently the 2nd top grossing R-rated movie ever</a>).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Ben Affleck</u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Say what you will about Batman v Superman (<a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/04/not-so-jolly-rancher-scene-in-batman-v.html" target="_blank">I know</a> <a href="http://socraticnerd.blogspot.com/2016/04/zack-snyder-v-public-record-dawn-of.html" target="_blank">I have</a>) but everyone now pictures Ben Affleck as cool-as-fuck Batman and not dumb-as-hell Daredevil.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Amazing how good an actor can be when he has a good director bringing out a good performance from him. Or when the actor is reading from a script written by writers who know what a good story is. If all these actors did was their first superhero roles and quit immediately afterward because they were bad experiences, would we get a good Captain America: Civil War movie? Would we get a good Deadpool movie? Would we get a good Batman in an otherwise terrible Batman v Superman movie? I'm glad we don't live in a world where we had to find out. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><u>Bonus:</u> Elizabeth Olsen was in the latest Godzilla movie that was awesome only when Godzilla showed up. But here she is, Scarlet Witch, in Avengers: Age of Ultron & Captain America: Civil War, both great movies. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Know other great examples of actors & actresses in terrible movies but redeemed themselves in awesome movies? Let me know in the comments.</span>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-32217222329844389112016-04-29T21:55:00.001-07:002016-04-29T22:50:09.507-07:00Zack Snyder v Public Record: Dawn of Quotes<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (hereafter called BvS) is
not a good movie. Most of us have either come to terms with this fact, or have begun
to forget about the movie entirely. The underperformance of the movie has had
several effects, from rumors that Warner Bros. will release the R-rated version
of BvS, to the director Seth Grahame-Smith leaving the Flash movie over “creative
differences”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Blame for the movie is being spread around, of course. But
the ultimate responsibility, for my money, lays on Zack Snyder. Hundreds of
people worked on the movie, but he was the one that made all the creative
decisions that made the movie what it was. The thing of it is, it’s not like we
didn’t have ample warning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Let’s look at a Zack Snyder <a href="http://www.ew.com/article/2008/07/17/watchmen-chat-director-zack-snyder" target="_blank">interview with EntertainmentWeekly, from July, 2008.</a> When asked about if he was always a comics fan, he
said that he had a subscription to Heavy Metal magazine, but when a friend
tried to get him into normal comic books, he said “No one is having sex or
killing each other. This isn’t really doing it for me”. When told that grim and
gritty could work in the Watchman movie’s favor, Zack said that Batman was
cool, and got to go to a Tibetan monastery and be trained by ninjas and also
said “Okay? I want to do that. But he doesn’t, like, get raped in prison. That
could happen in my movie. If you want to talk about dark, that’s how that would
go”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Is this what Zack Snyder thinks is “grim and gritty”? And
the Warner Bros. executives never saw this interview and told themselves that
maybe hiring this guy to do their DC Comics movies may not have been the
brightest of ideas?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Then there’s the <a href="http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-brief-history-of-zack-snyder-defending-the-end-of-man-1763888746" target="_blank">constantly shifting justifications</a> he made
for the creative choices he made in Man of Steel, from Superman learning how to
not murder by murdering, to lame mythology excuses. If he had just said that it
was his creative choice for Superman to be an uncaring monster and that the
next movie would deal with the consequences, and stuck by that statement, the
Superman fans would not have liked it, but we would have lived with it.
Instead, he piled on excuse after excuse until we no longer knew what he was
thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Finally, there’s the reasons he gave for killing <a href="http://www.ew.com/article/2016/03/25/batman-v-superman-jimmy-olsen" target="_blank">Jimmy Olsen</a>
and <a href="http://moviepilot.com/posts/3847463" target="_blank">Robin</a> in his latest “masterpiece”, BvS. When asked about why he murdered
Jimmy Olsen, he said “we don’t have room for Jimmy Olsen in our big pantheon of
characters, but we can have fun with him, right?” As for Robin, he said “In my
mind, it was that Robin had died 10 years earlier, during some run-in with a
young Joker. So there was a fun backstory there to play with”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Zack Snyder equates the murder of various DC Comics
characters with “fun”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">You know what really hurts? It’s the fact that the movie probably
had a far better director right there in the cast. Ben Affleck was an Academy
Award-winning director (for Argo). He probably knew, better than almost anyone
in the production process, what Zack Snyder was doing, and how totally Zack was
destroying the movie. Don’t believe me? Look at his face during an interview (which
was funnily done to Simon & Garfunkel):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wtfoRESVir0/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wtfoRESVir0?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">You can almost hear what he was thinking: “I tried to help.
I tried mightily to keep this movie from becoming a train wreck. I talked to
Snyder. I acted my ass off. I tried to save this movie.” And he failed. That is what's written all over his face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Failure.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-81814593190218580642016-04-20T14:50:00.000-07:002016-04-20T14:50:57.932-07:00Not-So-Jolly Rancher: The scene in Batman v Superman that ejected me from the movie<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Shamus Young, in his Twenty-Sided blog, <a href="http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=17745" target="_blank">talks about the different types of disbelief that forces a person out of the fictional work he or she is reading, watching, etc.</a> For one person, it could be something technical. For
another person, it could be some discontinuity in the sequence of events. For
still another, it could be simple boredom. But they all have the same result;
complete ejection from the fictional work into the real
world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">This happened to me while I was watching Batman v Superman:
Dawn of Justice. One scene occurred that was so out of place, so unbelievable,
that it violently ejected me from the movie and planted me squarely in the real world. And this scene is in a movie that
has a guy that flies and shoots eye-lasers, a woman with a magic rope, and a
murderous thug in a winged rodent cosplay. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">It was this scene: around half-an-hour into the movie,
Senator Old Guy talks to Alexander Luthor (the young son of a far more
interesting supervillain), saying “We can help each other”. Luthor asks for two
things while reaching for a bowl of Jolly Ranchers; access to the kryptonian
ship and Zod’s body. The senator agrees to this. Luthor pulls out a
Jolly Rancher, unwraps one, and offers it to the senator, saying “It’s cherry”.
Luthor then SLIDES THE JOLLY RANCHER INTO THE SENATOR’S MOUTH AND THEN LICKS
THE FINGERS HE JUST USED TO FEED THE SENATOR. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">What the hell did I just see? What was the sense of that
scene? I screamed these questions as I was being thrown out of the movie into
the real world. After the movie, I ruminated on that one scene for weeks. I
went to TV Tropes to see if I could derive some meaning to that scene. This
scene is not even mentioned there. And none of the other tropes which involve
feeding (<a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RomanticSpoonfeeding" target="_blank">Romantic Spoonfeeding</a>, <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FoodAsBribe" target="_blank">Food as Bribe</a>, <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ThroughHisStomach" target="_blank">Through His Stomach</a>) were even
close to helpful. I scoured the internet, trying to find something that would
explain the jolly rancher scene. Nothing. So, the scene had no cinematic
meaning, suggested no deeper plot (like maybe mind-controlling jolly ranchers),
wasn’t a setup for something later (like “Granny’s Peach Tea”), did not have
characters who acted like human beings, and didn’t even make sense within its
own universe. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I have a feeling this scene was where a lot of people mentally
checked out of the movie. What’s more, this scene raises a lot of questions:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">1) Why did Zack Snyder waste time, money and effort making this
scene? What was he trying to say? I subscribe to the notion that everything
added to a book, movie, whatever, was deliberately put in. So why was it put
in? It added nothing; it explained nothing; if the scene was deleted, the only
part of the movie that would be affected would be the running time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">2) Did no one involved in the making of that scene point out
how ridiculous it looked? Remember, there were hundreds of people involved in
the production. Want proof? Look at any end credits part of any movie. So how
did no one speak up?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">3) Did the Warner Bros. executives, when they screened the
movie before it was released to audiences, looked at that scene and said to
themselves “Holy crap, we made a mistake hiring Zack Snyder to direct all our
Justice League movies?” Or did they say to themselves “A young idiot feeds an
old dude candy! That’s what the people want!” </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">This movie has a lot, and I mean A LOT of problems. This was just one of them. But it was the one that stuck out the most for me. </span></div>
Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-11587994231498438462016-03-29T17:50:00.001-07:002016-03-29T17:50:59.987-07:00This Movie is Rated F For Fun<span style="font-size: large;">So I had a discussion regarding superhero movies in the wake of a certain superhero movie, and the subject of fun came into my head. A lot, and I mean, A LOT of the criticisms (mostly by moviegoers) leveled against that certain superhero movie claim that one of the reason it failed was that it wasn't fun.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I was about to claim the same thing, but thought about <a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/issues/issue_65/381-Fun-is-a-Four-Letter-Word.2" target="_blank">this wonderful article</a>. To be sure, it was a thought-provoking piece. Should superhero movies be fun to watch? Certainly fun would be inherent in the genre, isn't it? </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">None of these comics were "fun" in the normal sense: Watchman, The Killing Joke, Supergod, The Walking Dead, the later Daredevil runs...I could go on. And yet all of these are good ideas for movies and TV shows (and some are there already).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Fun should not be the only metric for a superhero movie (or indeed, any movie). Granted, a big reason for going to the movies is escapism (because real life is boring AND it sucks). Superhero movies have escapism built into it's DNA almost by default. But that doesn't mean these movies also can't be dramatic (The Dark Knight), thought-provoking (Winter Soldier) or emotional (parts of Batman v Superman).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A better metric is whether the movie was either an enjoyable experience or a boring slog? Because if there's one sin a movie (or any media) should not commit, it's that it should not be boring. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And in my opinion, that the only metric that counts. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-70867596073812562412016-03-27T14:12:00.000-07:002016-03-27T14:12:04.144-07:00Best Comment Ever This Week (March 27, 2016)<span style="font-size: large;">This comment was made by Eight-Bit Hero, concerning the beginning of the Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice movie:</span><div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Dear Literally Anyone Who Ever Makes A Batman Film In The Future,</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>We <b>DO NOT</b> need you to re-tell Batman's "origin story" ever again. Seriously, even if, somehow, somebody is seeing your film without ever having heard of Batman before (right?), you do <b>not</b> need to show us Bruce's parents getting murdered in the street for a fourth (fifth? sixth? I lost count) time. Let them look it up. Convey Bruce's motivations in some other more meaningful way. </i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sincerely, </i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Everyone</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">(all bold text is the author's emphasis, not mine.)</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Marvel once again proves why they are better than Warner Bros. at this whole storytelling thing, by announcing last year that Spider-Man will <a href="http://www.craveonline.com/site/845723-exclusive-marvels-spider-man-reboot-not-origin-story" target="_blank">NOT get an origin story</a> in his next reboot. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">How refreshing.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-75905940806682938772016-03-23T20:25:00.001-07:002016-03-23T20:25:24.496-07:00Turn ON Your Brain <span style="font-size: large;">The embargoes have been lifted and the early reviews for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice are in the wild. But I will not comment on those. What I will talk about is a comment said about one particular <a href="http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/batman-v-superman-is-v-bad-1766555948" target="_blank">review</a>. This was said by ReburnsABurningReturns:</span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>I feel like people are watching these movies for all the wrong reasons. Like, turn off your fucking brain and enjoy the superhuman slugfest for what it is, and then turn your brain back on afterwards. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Or don't. (Cruising) through your day off in brain free (mode) is far more relaxing than worrying about being "cultured" or having complex social interactions with the most horrifically overrated thing on the planet, other people. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">( ) = edited by me for clarity</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This reminded me of an article posted by Matt Singer called <a href="http://screencrush.com/turn-your-brain-off/" target="_blank">Stop Telling Me To Turn My Brain Off During Movies.</a> For me, the most relevant portion of the article is this:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>"Turn off your brain" is less of a defense of a movie than admission of incredibly low standards for entertainment. Why ask so little from something you paid to watch? It's odd that in an age where people complain so ferociously that movies are so much worse now than they used to be, that some of those same people would turn around and defend those same inferior products with the excuse "Eh, it's fine as long as you don't think for even a moment about anything passing in front of your eyes." When that's all you require from Hollywood, why is it shocking when they churn out nothing but garbage?</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">THIS is why Hollywood turns out crap movies. If the movie audience "turns off their brains" while watching a poorly-made movie and say they like it, then that's all Hollywood will continue to make. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">How can people like </span><span style="font-size: large;">ReburnsABurningReturns fail to understand this simple concept?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now to be fair, there probably is a percentage of people who will accept and enjoy any piece of bad media that is shown to them. And if they enjoy that media, then more power to them. I wish them well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But if they turn around and say to me that I should turn off my brain while watching that piece of bad media, then I have the right to call them out on that clearly wrong statement. Because my life is far too short to waste it on bad movies, books, TV shows, etc. And I will never "turn off my brain" to enjoy them. I will keep my brain on for good media, though. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So keep your brain on, fellow nerds!</span></div>
Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-67074130761245429132016-03-14T22:53:00.000-07:002016-03-14T22:53:41.465-07:00Shaka, When The Walls Fell (DC Comics)<span style="font-size: large;">DC Comics will print comics based on <a href="http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/134747-belligerent-dc-comics-unleashes-hanna-barbera-reboot-variant-covers-on-defenseless-public.html" target="_blank">Hanna Barbera properties</a>. To be fair, I actually like parts of this idea. To see some of my favorites (Space Ghost, Birdman, Galaxy Trio, The Impossibles) get the comic book treatment is a good thing. Some of these properties are a good fit for comics and in fact some of them have been in comics before. </span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But I worry about whether they will be handled correctly. We have been given almost no information, and what little information there is has been in pictures done by various comic book artists. And if you want proof of how badly they may be handled, let's take a look at what they have planned for Scooby-Doo:</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi85fCO4s-XV544i-WFkBiwxt68AXBBQ0pKom_ZQeV9hTAuvded6hatK9OANoJUP0TGRBxPUqr9WYq0V2U0kqrvV0MiSvXfFsasRC1ay_rbYkqvjDKHNzW-5OhbJnnCRMzMN0TG_ta1jCs/s1600/zq3gtmm3t9ksh3linwld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi85fCO4s-XV544i-WFkBiwxt68AXBBQ0pKom_ZQeV9hTAuvded6hatK9OANoJUP0TGRBxPUqr9WYq0V2U0kqrvV0MiSvXfFsasRC1ay_rbYkqvjDKHNzW-5OhbJnnCRMzMN0TG_ta1jCs/s640/zq3gtmm3t9ksh3linwld.jpg" width="420" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scooby-Doo? Where are you? Because I don't see you here!</td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-size: large;">Since I don't have any other info, I can only go by the picture presented to me. And I have a few questions:</span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Are the gang ghostbusters now? Because in another picture Fred's guns suck a monster into what I guess is his proton pack?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Was Daphne ever in the military? Because she seems to be wearing purple khaki fatigues. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Does Hipster Shaggy have a mystical tattoo on his left arm? Does he do bullshit shaman magic now, pulling material components out of his man purse of holding? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Velma is flying a drone. That's ok. What's not ok is the way she's drawn. From the perspective of the picture, she is in front of all the other humans. She should be at least as large as the others, but instead she's smaller. If you compare the length of her body to everybody else's, she looks WAY shorter. Either the perspective is wrong, or she's a midget. So which is it? Yes, she was shorter than the others in the original cartoon, but not a midget.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Scooby Doo is wearing an eyepiece which has the ability to shoot out what appears to be bubble emojis. Does that mean he no longer talks? He can only make his feelings known by bubble emojis?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ruh-roh Raggy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Of course, I'm looking at this picture out of context. There may be reasons for these changes. There may even be good reasons for these changes. And I'm not saying the comics should be a slave to the source material. The Big Hero 6 movie made changes to almost all the characters across the board. But those changes were made in order to tell a good story. Also, at least 90% of that movie audience never heard of the original comic, so it was easier to justify those changes. And even though I knew and owned the original comics this movie came from, I didn't mind the changes. The movie was very good and I enjoyed it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But thanks to syndication, reboots and various TV movies, almost 90% of the potential audience of these comics HAVE heard of Scooby-Doo. If you make too many changes to the core characters without any justification, you risk alienating your audience. I know I'm confused by all these changes; and I don't even like Scooby-Doo all that much. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So I'm not liking where all this is going. But who knows? The comics may be good. They may even be great. But DC Comics is not putting it's best foot forward with these properties. </span></div>
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Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-11819385215846122592016-03-07T13:12:00.002-08:002016-03-07T13:12:34.854-08:00The Possible (Fictional) Future of Content Creators [UPDATE]<span style="font-size: x-large;">Youtube has <a href="https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/youtube/x3aGmn_MsqI" target="_blank">responded</a> to the #WTFU movement. It's the usual PR and doublespeak expected from a corporation. I will take it at face value and assume they are on top of this problem, but I won't be surprised if nothing gets done. So far there is no incentive for them to do so (one good incentive is that there is actually a rival for youtube, but there is none). Does this sound cynical? Yes. So, youtube, the ball is in your court. Prove me wrong. Surprise me by actually doing something about your Content ID problem.</span>Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7956171784405604466.post-55237324335743349852016-03-04T20:22:00.000-08:002016-03-04T20:22:21.403-08:00Shaka, When The Walls Fell (Venom Movie)<span style="font-size: large;">Sony wants to do a <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/spider-man-spinoff-venom-revived-872844" target="_blank">Venom movie</a>. There is nothing wrong with the idea of doing this movie. While I don't think this is a bad idea, there are indications that this idea will be badly executed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For one thing, the same producers that were behind the bad <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-amazing-spider-man" target="_blank">Amazing </a> <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-amazing-spider-man-2" target="_blank">Spider-Man</a> movies will be attached to this movie. Remember, those movies made so little money Marvel had to step in to make him awesome again (just how awesome we will all get a chance to see this year in Captain America: Civil War).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For another, Venom will apparently be divorced from the Spider-Man franchise. So, Venom will just be some guy with an alien parasite as a costume, instead of either Peter Parker's journalist rival Eddie Brock or Peter's former bully Flash Thompson? Both those guys are attached to the Spider-Man mythos, and are integral to Venom's origin and motivations (both the costume and the people in them). Given Hollywood's recent terrible record with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8ZPg8uaoR0" target="_blank">origin</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMEa0CJbAUs" target="_blank">stories</a> I'm willing to bet Venom's will be this: a lightning strike will spill unknown chemicals onto Dr. John Generic Smith while he's wearing his black pajama onesie, endowing the costume with intelligence. That equals boring.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">They are also planning a franchise around him. He is a one-note psychotic villain with Spider-Man's powers. He's going to look and sound like grimdark Spider-Man. That equals double boring. There's no franchise to build around him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Fortunately for me, Venom was never a compelling character, so I don't particularly care if this movie will be good or not. But for every bad movie like this that gets made, there a good movie NOT getting made. That depresses me.</span><br />
<br />Socratic Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08916999145563123707noreply@blogger.com0