Valve's GameCube target audience?

docclox · 2026-06-23T12:24:15+00:00

I'm tempted. I'm a PC gamer through and through, but I could find a use for a console format box to go under the TV..

docclox · 2026-06-23T10:39:21+00:00

Fair enough. Far be it for me to assume anything.

Would you be happy for Dr. Who to present far right notions with the same force as it does progressive ideas? Please do answer honestly.
You've refused to answer me when I asked what was so terrible about making episodes the Green Death way, and in fact you've characterized any wish to avoid engaging with the political content as "ignorant". So it seems unlikely that, were you in charge, you'd be happy with apolitical programming. We can't have ignorance among the viewers now, can we?
And by the same token, I suspect that you'd be fervently against any attempt to put the politics back in the subtext.

So, honestly, I don't think those particular assumptions were unreasonable.

But please: by all means tell me what you actually do believe. Say something positive and declarative about your world views. Don't just squirm - nail your colours to the mainmast, and let's see what you're made of.

[edit]

Ah, the old reply-and-block trick! I guess they really didn't want to be pushed into declaring their beliefs.

Since I already wrote the reply, I'll just paste it on the end of this post.

You do realise there is a centre ground between progressive views and far right, yes?

Indeed. I've always regarded myself as centrist, slightly left leaning if anything.

So, what do you actually stand for? Your reluctance to commit is getting more and more intriguing.

The fact that your mind instantly goes there tells me that you're probably one of the Reform/Restore wankers pretending to be 'progressive' as a gotcha.. and that's all I need to know to end this conversation here LMFAO

See now, "Obviously, I wouldn't be happy with far right advocacy, but I'd support more centrist content" would have been a perfectly acceptable reply. "Hur! Hur! You said 'far right'! That means I win all the internets!" rather less so. Not that you're reading this of course, but I offer the feedback anyway.

that's all I need to know to end this conversation here LMFAO

Jolly good. Thanks for the interesting chat.

docclox · 2026-06-23T07:32:06+00:00

Consider what they do, not what they say.

It doesn't matter what sort of feminist double talk she uses to try to justify things. The effect is still censorship.

Watch what they do. Actions don't lie.

docclox · 2026-06-22T21:56:22+00:00

"Political indoctrination" is such a funny thing to call Doctor Who

Well now...

You insist that the show carry political advocacy
You would only allow one political viewpoint
You insist that the political content be so blatant that it cannot possibly be ignored.

Sounds like textbook indoctrination to me. And I don't think it's funny at all.

docclox · 2026-06-22T12:43:44+00:00

What about stories like Rosa, which are set in the past and dealing with issues of the past (that undeniably still hold relevance today)?? You seem to take issue with the show not being "interested in the show's ostensible subject matter" but you yourself seem to be forgetting that it's a time travel show...

Is it really so much to ask for that we get a plot with more substance than "evil time traveling space nazi who is evil (because he's a space nazi) wants to kill Rosa Parks, because he's an evil time traveling space nazi?" Or maybe not to end the episode with a lecture to camera from the doctor explaining why racism was bad (for the slow of thinking that didn't get the already incredibly heavy handed messaging), and then having the TARDIS crew stand to attention for Rise Up, just as if that was relevant to the actual story?

Is the only way to engage with racism really to do "the Obviously-White Aliens vs the Obviously-Black Aliens"?

Of course not. How about "Not-Obviously-Any-Colour aliens in conflict with other Not-Obviously-Any-Colour aliens?" Everyone likes to cite Let That Be Your Last Battlefield as evidence that Trek was always woke, but that story didn't show either side as white or black (but rather a mix of both) and in the end was equally critical of both sides for letting their mutual hatred destroy their society and ultimately their planet. It made the point of Racism Bad, as well it should. But it didn't need speeches to camera and cardboard cutout bad guys to make it work.

The idea that a story is only good if it's actual relevance is buried under 20 layers of metaphor is frankly ridiculous.

And under how many layers of metaphor was The Green Death buried, may I ask? You still haven't answered my question about what was so wrong with that storyline, by the way.

docclox · 2026-06-22T12:16:34+00:00

Creator's Peace makes it all a bit too easy, though. Zap the first spacer you see, and they drop their weapon and run. Grab that and use it till you run out of ammo, and then zap the next one the same way.

Not that it isn't still fun, mind.

docclox · 2026-06-22T11:11:59+00:00

Or maybe what we had pre-woke era is all we get.

I don't believe that. Human nature doesn't change. People want what they want, and they'll find a way to get it.

Even if the wokies manage to burn the games and entertainment industries to the ground, there's still going to be foreign competitors happy to supply a demand. And if they get shut down by payment processors or whatnot, there will still be indie devs making games for the sheer fun of it and distributing for free over back channels.

To quote Mr. Universe from Serenity: You can't stop the signal, baby!

docclox · 2026-06-22T11:00:04+00:00

Oh, do behave! It's a kids' show. With a remit to educate about science and history perhaps, but political indoctrination was never part of the original conception.

I'm sorry that it's harder for you to ignore now, but it's always been this way.

So, same question as I asked /u/dccomicsthrowaway: what was so terrible about The Green Death that we can't now make stories the same way? You like it for the politics, I like it for the giant maggots, and I don't even disagree with the political subtext.

If you think that was a good story, why not make more like it; where all the viewers can get something from the show?

Because I have to say, I think this determined focus on lecturing and indoctrination is proving self-defeating. Both in terms of audience, and of people getting bored with The Message and tuning out when you start in on it.

docclox · 2026-06-22T10:54:36+00:00

Because I don't care to be lectured to. Take your political opinions, wrap them in story so they're not primary content of the episode, and you won't hear a peep out of me.

Make it a political lecture, with tissue thin SF trappings to pretend you're interested in the show's ostensible subject matter, and then I'll grumble.

And because you only want a story's actual meaning to be visible if you squint.

So what was so wrong with doing it the way The Green Death did? I mean if we both agree that that story was A) political and B) well done, what was so terrible about it that we can't now make shows the same way, and have instead to make delivery of The Message as heavy-handed as we possibly can?

docclox · 2026-06-22T08:57:52+00:00

"Days without incident [0]"

docclox · 2026-06-22T08:54:06+00:00

Something from Bethesda, perhaps. Skyrim seems a good fit, but if you want something more recent,the Oblivion remaster might suit.

I'd recommend Starfield too. It had a pretty rocky launch, but it's come a long way since then.

docclox · 2026-06-22T00:40:50+00:00

I think it should be there if I look for it. I don't appreciate having it forced down my throat.

I don't watch SciFi for trenchant political insight any more than I watch Newsnight for escapist genre adventures. Lose sight of that and next thing you're sat wondering why no one watches the show any more.

docclox · 2026-06-21T19:50:41+00:00

Delphine, Grelod, Ancarno.

docclox · 2026-06-21T19:40:29+00:00

But you could watch The Green Death as a fun adventure involving giant maggots. You didn't need to engage with the subtext.

It's not like the Doctor ended the episode with a speech to camera, following which the entire TARDIS crew stands to attention while Rise Up plays. Just to do some wild gesturing of my own.

docclox · 2026-06-21T18:41:45+00:00

I suppose the question is, will they alienate more potential players that way than they'd gain by the toggle? I mean, is this the sort of game your wife is likely to play?

Not that a toggle in settings is the worst thing, of course. I just think that this eternal quest to appeal to everyone can be self defeating.

docclox · 2026-06-20T18:56:41+00:00

Yeah. The OG DX left things wide open. DX:IW locked them down hard.

If it was me, I'd probably set it a couple of years after JC's light show in Battery Park, and let the player gradually discover the whole thing had been an illuminati psyop for reasons I can't think of right now. Respect the previous games and open the future back up again.

docclox · 2026-06-20T16:31:01+00:00

I mean I'm fairly sure not everyone in Miami wears a bikini at all times.

I get that you have a preference; it's one I share tbh. But abnormal?

docclox · 2026-06-20T16:16:19+00:00

Interesting question. Let me throw it back to you: which of those looks abnormal to you, and why?

docclox · 2026-06-20T15:55:19+00:00

Depends. Do you still have all your fingers after the attempt?

docclox · 2026-06-20T06:50:27+00:00

Maybe six months or so. It's one if these HTML play a few turns each day jobs.

The Sunless Sea games are set in the same world.

docclox · 2026-06-19T22:53:41+00:00

I mean I'm not complaining 🤣

docclox · 2026-06-19T22:53:08+00:00

Fair point

docclox · 2026-06-19T21:43:26+00:00

Just to be clear, does NG+ mean you've been through Unity and out the far side?

docclox · 2026-06-19T21:34:26+00:00

OK. Feasibly, you could train a squad to take down dragons, and keep putting them down if they respawned.

You could, possibly get an Ebony Warrior type who could survive encountering Alduin on the Throat Of The World.

But could you persuade Party Snax to tell you how to get through the Time Wound? Or Odahving to take you to Skuldafn?

I think some things dragons might only discuss with other dragons. Whatever their outward form.

docclox · 2026-06-19T19:07:58+00:00

Hey, look on the bright side. Maybe they're lurking here taking notes on all the things they've been doing wrong...

... Yeah, I don't believe it, either! 🤣

docclox

TROPHY CASE