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Author Topic: What are you playing?  (Read 75720 times)

Eric/E.T.

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #840 on: November 18, 2020, 12:32:35 AM »
Teabagging in games. Would like to hear more about this from people who've been involved in gaming to a greater degree than myself.

I didn't know anything about this until I saw multiple opponents sort of bobbing up and down after they'd take a stock off me. I thought, This is very unusual and a lot of people seem to do it, so then I looked it up, got its FPS origins, and then researched more about it trying to figure out if people understand the implication. I'm going to assume most people who play FPS's are cisgender boys/men who are using a cisgender male fighter/avatar to perform a homosexual act (since they're probably doing it to a cisgender male fight/avatar controlled by a cisgender boy/man) for the point of taunting someone and thinking it's funny. I know there are different varieties of players and avatars, but I'm taking this as the majority. That's incredibly homophobic and degrading, but as I try to scan the internet to get more information as to whether people understand the actual implications of the act (beyond the it's funny, gets people tilted, whatever), gamers just seem oblivious. You have one camp that hates it and says it's disrespectful, and the other side that says it's just fun and if you're mad then you're proving its effectiveness, but neither pointing to the problem of the homophobia and sexual degradation. It's also very much like you're raping a corpse.

Just, any thoughts from any more seasoned gamers? What am I missing about gamer psychology and the gaming community (which I do NOT understand well)?

It has a form I've seen more lately called squidbagging in Splatoon 2. Nothing new, but I never play competitively, I just do the Regular Battle/Turf War, so you'd expect maybe to see it less there. But then I started noticing the twitchy squid-kid-squid-kid thing where you mash on LZ, looked it up, and there are all sorts of conversations there, too. The thing doesn't bother me, I figure at best they're just dumb kids, at worst some very sick and immature adults, but I'm just surprised on how the ramifications of the action aren't more out there. Kind of reminds me of when fans of the Mexican National Team (soccer) Yell, "Aaaayyyyyy PUTO!" on goal kicks, not understanding that such a word can be used as a serious homophobic slur. That one actually makes me mad because I see little kids imitate it, which is awful. But still, while we tackle some cultural issues head on, to the point where we may be getting a little oversensitive, male-to-male corpse rape or facsimiles thereof seem to be OK.
« Last Edit: November 18, 2020, 09:59:45 PM by etdoesgood »
A witty saying proves nothing. - Voltaire

Beavermoose

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #841 on: November 18, 2020, 02:47:06 AM »
I think teabagging or just squatting up and down was the only way to taunt an opponent or celebrating a victory before games introduced emotes and it just stuck. I doubt gamers even think about the sexual implications of it.

The Deer Hunter

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #842 on: November 18, 2020, 03:30:23 AM »
I've never seen a paragraph that long about teabagging. From my experience it's purely "i killed you, eat shit".

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #843 on: November 18, 2020, 08:22:53 AM »
I grew up when it started and guys definitely knew what they were doing. It was a straight male dominated space at the time but we've come a long way since then and a more diverse player-base means it's often frowned upon now. Not always, but I see it way less than I used to.

Fwiw, I always thought it was disgusting and never did it.

FLYmeatwad

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #844 on: November 18, 2020, 08:47:39 AM »
They can solve these problems by not limiting how often you can taunt in Smash, that way you could just keep letting Dorf whip out that big sword or spin and laugh at the other trash players. Clash Royal definitely lets you emote spam, but, as a refined person, I will only mock those who start it and I come back to beat them, or form messages through the emotes when they are playing straight meta garbage decks with no originality, so I'll hit them with an emote of their win condition before it gets played and then a goblin eye roll and princess yawn. Unless it's royal hogs, then you can just use the sleeping royal hog emote until they deploy them.

Don't really teabag in FPS games, especially because you can't see it anyway as CoD lets you hop back in to the game after death pretty quickly depending on the game mode, and I assume they've probably integrated much better taunts with emotes like Fortnite maybe, though I haven't really checked. In Smash if the person does it first and I come back after that first stock and take them down, you know for a fact that's getting thrown back at them, otherwise I'll do the typical dash back and forth or lean on the edge until Dorf is on his tip toes. I don't play a lot of competitive games, CoD I guess, but that's so low stakes it's hard to get involved in it since I can have fun basically playing it as a single player game since the W L doesn't matter much. But anything I'm playing that's 1 v. 1 I'm not really trying to win, as that's likely irrelevant, I just want to break the other person's spirit.

A wise man once said, "I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed."

Bondo

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #845 on: November 18, 2020, 08:56:23 AM »
This all sounds like why I don't play multiplayer games since I was in college the first time.

Eric/E.T.

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #846 on: November 18, 2020, 10:10:25 PM »
Interesting responses.

I agree about the taunting in Smash. It's one of the really good design components, and they disabled it to let something totally degrading take its place. You'd think someone would've figured it out by now, but I stopped playing that game anyway, so whatever.

I think doing it but not thinking about what it actually means is a weird out, when the meaning in the actual FPS games, where you are sticking your crotch in another player's dead face is pretty obvious. The Smash and Splatoon incarnations take some background knowledge that I did not have. That's more just bobbing up and down rapidly.

One really weird variation is what I call the squidbagging party, which I've encountered two or three times. Multiple players, sometimes from both sides, seem to meet up at a designated place and just squidbag, as opposed to actually playing the game. Sometimes they set up - if they have this secondary capability - a super jump point at this location, so if they get splatted, they can just respawn and return to their squidbagging. I could say what I think its analog is to other certain acts, but I'll pass. I do think it smacks of homoeroticism and smells of homophobia. I will say that, though this is not a blanket statement, so don't be mad at me, but I do think it's a lack of proper socialization. Games definitely can't take care of that aspect of life. These weird rituals prove that.
A witty saying proves nothing. - Voltaire

FLYmeatwad

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #847 on: November 20, 2020, 10:00:51 PM »
Probably going to finally get a chance to open the PS5 this week. Wish me luck. Thus far, all I've really been doing is going hard on NBA 2K21 via rookie sensation for the Sixers Ender Justice, even though they didn't sack up and take me one overall, but rather two. Unbelievable. Do want to try out the WNBA more as well, especially to see if there's a MyPlayer mode there/how it plays out. Also curious as to what would happen if I stayed in college for four years rather than being one and done/going number two in the draft. Perhaps I could have gotten to number one.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #848 on: November 27, 2020, 10:17:48 AM »
Forgot to post this here now that we are at the end of a generation.

My Top 5 PS4 Exclusive Games

The PS5 launched this month, marking the end of another console generation. As we look forward to what the next leap in technology will mean for video games, I want to take a moment and look back at the best of what the PS4 gave us. It was my console of choice between the two consoles, mostly because of the exclusive games, and today I want to look at those exclusives and talk about what made them great.

First, I’ll say upfront you won't see any Naughty Dog games. I don’t like their style of games and I didn’t play any of their PS4 releases. If you love their games, more power to you, just know I’ve got limited game time and stuck to stuff I thought I would like.

Second, no Dreams because it came out after I sold my PS4. I thought back in late 2019 that I wouldn’t need to keep my PS4 around because I’d get a PS5 on day one. I was naive to think I’d be able to get a console at launch. It’s a shame because Dreams looks fantastic and could have made this list if I had played it. Every now and again, rumors circulate of a PC port which I’d love to see, but I also will get it if I get a PS5 sometime in 2021.

With that out of the way, let’s jump in:

5. Horizon Zero Dawn

Note: Yes, this eventually released on PC as well, but I played it back when it was a PS4 exclusive so I’m including it here.

Open world games and third-person shooters often don’t do much for me but this game clicked once I got out of the opening area. The unique post-apocalyptic reversion to tribalism mixed with dinosaur robots made me curious about the world but it’s the mechanics that kept me hooked.

That’s because combat in this game is the most interesting I’ve encountered in an open-world game. You’re tasked with taking down these robotic foes and doing it with a set of tools that require you to think about the terrain, targeting weak points, using elemental damage, and using traps that make the best fights as much of a puzzle to solve as a test of reflexes.

It’s a game I enjoyed traversing and exploring so much that it’s the only game I’ve platinumed, collecting every last trophy in the game. It’s a stunning looking game with an interesting setting and world that kept me coming back until I had drained it of every last ounce of gameplay.

4. God of War

Who knew that a series infamously known for its gore, objectification of women, and extreme machismo would reinvent itself into a grounded, moving father and son tale? When I saw the first trailer, I thought it had to be a joke how straight they were going to play this story. But they did it. They actually did it. It's a strong and moving tale that captures the emotionally complicated relationship between a father and son.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised that the story of Kratos, a son of Zeus, involves the kind of mythological tragic arcs that have fascinated us to the point that we still tell stories of these long lost deities. Transplanting Kratos from his Greek roots into Norse mythology and giving him a son injects vigor and life into the series.

All the moments with Kratos and his son Atreus as they go on a personal journey to spread the ashes of Laufey, wife, and mother to the father and son duo, work as well both a coming of age story for the son and a tragic tale of a man who doesn’t know how to be the father to his son.

I’ve spent so much time talking about the story and the setting because it is that engaging, better than a certain series of movies based on an actual Norse god that raked in millions of dollars at the box-office. God of War nails the fundamentals of a strong, deliberate third-person action game that is a good compromise between its arcady combo predecessor and the new generation’s evolution of third-person action games that takes its cues from animation based combat systems.

3. Until Dawn

I love horror movies, especially dumb horror movies, and Until Dawn is your chance to live inside a dumb horror movie. You play a bunch of horny teens who go up to a remote cabin in the middle of winter and inevitably get trapped with a psychotic killer. Until Dawn is standard horror fare until it isn’t and the game shifts gears to an underrepresented horror subject.

How much you enjoy Until Dawn will depend on your existing knowledge of horror stories and how lenient you are towards having characters die because of bullshit quick time events. The quick time events are a bit much at times, but I took it in stride as part of the feeling that sometimes in horror stories all it takes is one dumb mistake to end up dead.

There’s an interesting mechanic in the game that foreshadows the future to come, which would ruin the tension of a typical linear horror story, but because Until Dawn is a video game with branching narratives based on which characters you are able to save and which ones end up dying, these act more as warning signs that hey, be on your toes because Mike might get axed in the next 30 minutes if you aren’t paying attention.

As an actual game, some may complain it has weaknesses, but I like to remind myself that games are also experiences and when it comes to experiences I had on the PS4, this is one of the absolute best ones. If you’re goal going into this is to make sure every character survives or be good at all the prompts, you will be frustrated, but if you take it as interacting with a compelling horror story, I think you’ll have a great time.

2. Marvel’s Spider-Man

One of my favorite childhood games is Activision’s Spider-Man 2 video game adaptation. I spent countless hours spent swinging around New York City with no real goal. As a kid, I didn’t have the vocabulary to put into words why I found it so compelling. Now I can say it’s a game that I enjoy because it gave you a sense of momentum and mobility that made the act of getting from point A to point B consistently satisfying.

Insomniac nailed that feeling on the PS4 with Marvel’s Spider-Man. Not only that, but they also put it in a Spider-Man story so satisfying that many rightly called it a better Spider-Man stories than the ones Disney are making. Funnily enough, it revisited the story of Doctor Otto Octavius but this time with better performances than the hammed-up nonsense that Spider-Man 2 got from the cast from the films. Video game audio and visual performances are a lot better today than they were in 2004, making for a much more compelling narrative experience.

I love this game because as much as the game is about having that power fantasy of playing Spider-Man, the story beats and narrative are quick to remind you that Peter Parker is one man who can only do so many things and his attempt to do everything means that he’s often unable to change the things about his life that are the biggest obstacles to his happiness. Sure, you can beat Rhino and Vulture without breaking a sweat, but you consistently fail at maintaining your day-to-day responsibilities which eventually takes its toll on you.

That’s what makes this Spider-Man game satisfying because you get to the end and you know what’s coming. You know from the opening hours that this can only end one way. You spend the game trying so hard to do the right thing but it is at the expense of something and when it is time to pay your dues, the game does not pull any punches.

1. Bloodborne

Could it have been any other game? When I bought a PS4, I referred to it as my Bloodborne machine. I bought the console for this game and it did not disappoint. From Software as a studio revitalized gaming for me with Dark Souls, presenting something so many games were lacking at the time by treating me with intelligence and forcing me to play with discipline and control.

Bloodborne continues that design philosophy but mixes things up by making you play aggressively. A health regen system built around you hitting your opponents quickly to recover lost health as well as a sense that enemies are faster and more dangerous means that sitting back and waiting for openings only gives enemies more chances to hit you and usually the person who gets into the most hits wins.

Bloodborne starts off as a moody gothic horror piece and gradually evolves into cosmic horror with delightfully Lovecraftian horrors in the back half of the game. It’s a game that will scare you because that big monster will probably make you lose the precious blood echo currency of the game and because it’s a terrifying-looking creature that you’d rather not fight.

If From Software wanted to, they could have gone the way of the industry and cranked out more Dark Souls games ad-infinitum but the team is committed to taking their design ethos and then mixing up the core mechanics and introducing new intellectual properties to make fresh feeling third-person action games that force people out of their comfort zones. If only more studios aspired to challenge both its players and themselves with such a philosophy we’d be treated to an embarrassment of riches.

Will

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Re: What are you playing?
« Reply #849 on: November 27, 2020, 07:05:50 PM »
I tried playing SPIDER-MAN and I was very frustrated with how cheap a ripoff the combat feels in comparison to the Rocksteady BATMAN games. Not only that, but the fact that the game forces you into a mission at the start of the game means it's not quite the Spider-Man game for me (I just want to web sling and chill bro!). I'll get back to it maybe.

Pre-ordered CYBERPUNK 2077 but I am starting to feel kind of bad over it knowing the horrible treatment the various deisgners went through. What does everyone think about all of that? Do these crunch time stories make or break a purchase for you? I am uncertain if I should cancel my preorder or not.

Also, has anyone here played THE OUTER WORLDS? I may have asked about it here before. What's the consensus?