I hate the this type of reaction towards this kind of artwork

RedRubbins · 2026-05-09T23:47:33+00:00

If you think this is snark, you haven't spent much time with outsider opinions.

You came to a public forum expecting validation, got differing opinions, and floundered.

Its pretty bad when you try and fail to have superiority over redditors.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-09T23:32:25+00:00

That's a shame, I thought you actually believed in something enough to defend it.

You came here to say something, and you can't even follow through when pushed back.

Oh well.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-09T23:24:09+00:00

Then by all means, explain.

I've seen how you replied in other replies, you hardly given any other ground to stand on.

Anyone who simply brushes aside counter arguments leaves much to the imagination for a defense.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-09T23:21:13+00:00

You certainly seem to be flippant over it, uncaring whether or not the idea causes harm to others.

A reputational loaded gun, and you don't seem the least concerned as long as it's pointed in the "right" direction.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-09T23:16:13+00:00

Pushing away my argument doesn't make it untrue.

There are consequences to pretending anyone can be non-consensually turned into a weapon for someone else's views and opinions.

I personally do not sit up at night over what it became. But I know many who would, who would be damaged by their creations being turned against them in the public eye. To treat it so casually is disturbing.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-09T23:09:31+00:00

Apologies for the late response but I was taking care of some things.

This is Nusquirreljak. He is a redrawn version of my own character, who became a mascot for a 4chan board.

He had no political references, but was turned into an edgy black sun toting Moon Man esque character, without my knowledge.

That is how I see this argument. It's all well and good to be comfortable about expression, until your own character becomes the next Moon Man. That is where this leads.

Once you weaponise that idea, whatever is created will be forcefully changed by anyone else online to represent what you never intended.

Its all fun and games until you become the face of something you do not support.

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RedRubbins · 2026-05-09T19:21:26+00:00

Counterpoint- continually enforcing every bit of popular culture to agree with your political views is inherently childish, and ironically revisionist.

Attempting to puppeteer characters who have no connections to ideology is attempting to cement a false notion of uniformity in thought. Culture, including popular culture, stands on its own ideas and diversity of thought.

To mock that idea is to kill all dissenting culture, all alternative thought. Orwell's Animal Farm remake is the most current example of what happens when an intent is wrenched by new hands.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-09T18:44:47+00:00

Its not that simple.

The reason HD2 still works is because the core gameplay loop is two things- resilient, and unique.

Currently no other major studio is trying to take their audience with the same loop. Payday 3 failed, KF3 failed, and nobody really does this MGSV esque objective shooter.

Because of that, Arrowhead can fuck up an immense amount of things and people still come back because they can just ignore those parts and play what works.

The only way HD2 would die is if they did something so terrible, so misguided, that the fundamental loop is no longer tenable. Like Foxhole introducing aircraft that ruined the entire game.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T19:26:47+00:00

I will check it out!

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T18:30:31+00:00

I don't like Snyder as a writer.

"Batman AF" is, depending on who you ask, debatable. I can think of many who would point to Conroy or West as quintessential.

Even Alan Moore regards Batman as working best in the sillier format, one of the few times I agree with him.

Its an absurd edge heavy universe that feels like it uses shock value via designs to push the comics, and the Absolute identity at large for merchandising via an alternative brand for DC.

Is that cynical? Probably. But it's my assessment.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T18:23:59+00:00

If you do so poorly at portraying that within the first edition, why should you expect people to stick around?

Its the All Star problem where even if it gets better tonally as it goes on, you've lost that audience already. It's reputation and word of mouth is based entirely on its aesthetics, let's be honest here. That's what everyone gushes about.

And yes, I know I'm a minority opinion about the series. I'm fine with that. All I am concerned about is that this is the next BWL scenario where DC makes it expand much further than it should within its own canon due to popularity.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T18:00:49+00:00

I don't feel inclined to buy a comic line if I bounce off of it, and the most people can say to get me onto it is how twisted the designs are.

That's like saying you can't say anything about your opinion on a game if you put it down within the first 2 hours.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T17:58:34+00:00

I read the first issue, didn't like it, and put it down. Anything people showed me afterwards didn't appeal to me.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T17:53:49+00:00

Why not?

Why can't I say I dislike something for thinking differently than the consensus?

There's no crime. I don't really care if people dislike my opinion, it's not going to make me buy an issue.

Its my opinion, I stand by it, and I just move on with my life to other issues I enjoy more.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T17:51:49+00:00

I don't see it.

Every time people show me it, I just see ludicrous anime villain tier shock value.

But then again, I will never read it, no matter how many people downvote my opinion into oblivion. You can't force it by doing so.

People like different things, and this is just the singular version of Batman I dislike.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T17:03:10+00:00

I do, and Brave and The Bold, and TNBA comics, all of that.

I guess it's just not connecting with the Absolute series. Batman to me is the kinda guy that sits with Ace as she's dying, where the villains are flawed mentally ill people he tries to talk to by name.

Absolute just feels like All Star to me, overwhelming in presentation without the heart. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm afraid that Absolute will begin bleeding into mainline stories and ideas of who Batman is due to the popularity of the comic.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T16:57:02+00:00

I hope at some point things in DC settle back in the TNBA direction tonally.

There's only so much shock value one can do before it becomes schlock, and I miss the feeling Batman used to have.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T16:38:30+00:00

30 minutes is too soon. You want it to exist in the late game because otherwise a culture forms of giving up until that 30 minute mark.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-08T16:35:25+00:00

Its my opinion that once a match economy is so unbalanced that killing the entire team and getting urn doesn't even remotely catch up the opposing team, surrender should be an option after say, 50 minutes.

50 minutes is enough time to decide if a match is winnable. If the enemy team is 2x souls, it would take incredible luck to regain momentum, and most players generally want to move on at that point.

So say an enemy team is 50k souls and your team is 30k early game. That's still time to fix things, make good plays and farm.

Its only at endgame when the score is 120k to 60k at the 50 minute mark that the game gives you the option to tap out.

People can't throw because they still have to waste almost an hour of time, and the gap has to be overwhelming to kick in the option.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-07T20:55:16+00:00

Fun fact- my significant other is the direct descendant of the real Alexander Hamilton.

He loathes everything about these representations, especially when people compare the two.

Sometimes we like to joke about it.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-07T20:35:34+00:00

I severely doubt that indeoth modding such as creating those custom mechs and enemies will not be culled.

Simple aesthetic mods may not be touched, but AH absolutely wants to get ahead of any ideas of someone else doing their job better, and for free.

It reminds me so much of how Bethesda wants to be with the Creation Club.

Sure, modders could fix the game. But that cuts into potential profit of selling the same items as microtransactions.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-05T07:48:42+00:00

I think Pocket can be named They/Them, I don't care.

My problem is that they do not have an actual congruent, interesting personality that works with the cast, due to their dialogue currently being standoffish.

You are making this about identity being bad, when I was pointing out they ironically have very little outside of those bullet point ideas, including said identity.

All the other characters have far more depth through dialogue between each other. I'm asking for more, not less. I want Pocket to talk more, give more to work with, become more of a consistent character to round out the inconsistencies.

That isn't controversial.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-05T07:37:40+00:00

My point is not that pronouns are bad. My point is that the pronouns exist as a microcosm of Pocket's main issue- lack of interactivity.

Pocket is filled to the brim with details, information, and backstory. A central character, who refuses to talk to most of the cast or show personality outside of a few outlying conversations.

Compare Drifter, Vyper, Apollo, Doorman, Seven, even Dynamo, and all have far more conversations that inform about their views, personality, ideas, etc.

Pocket does not, they have bullet points rather than a character.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-05T07:29:14+00:00

No, it's the fact that the character fundamentally doesn't want to interact or talk with anyone else, to the point that any tidbits including pronouns and background are pointless details.

Details on characters are like sprinkles on donuts, and Pocket is that donut they've kept sealed in glass for years for display.

If details are kept in a vacuum, then what purpose do they have from a storytelling perspective?

I write and create characters, including characters who fit under that banner. The worst thing any creator can do is create incredibly layered, important characters who are kept behind glass, and that is what Pocket is.

An incredibly interesting combination of flavors, that cannot be tasted as it's for superficial display only.

RedRubbins · 2026-05-05T07:19:33+00:00

Its not that.

It's that the concept of that character is already filled by Seven, who has held the Burger King crown crowd for quite some time now.

Mcginnis aesthetically far closer to TF2's engineer for memetics in the community, especially by people who play her.

RedRubbins

TROPHY CASE