culturedleftfoot's recent activity
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Comment on What are your home remedies for a cold? in ~talk
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Comment on Who's your favourite personality on the "other side", politically? in ~talk
culturedleftfoot Link Parent I was trying to think of any (intentionally) funny conservatives the other day and I actually couldn't come up with any (although a lot of that is probably me just not paying attention to media...I was trying to think of any (intentionally) funny conservatives the other day and I actually couldn't come up with any (although a lot of that is probably me just not paying attention to media personalities). Even when I thought of comedians, the ones I like who are probably right-leaning are nowhere near those who lean left. I suppose it's easier to be funny punching up than punching down.
1 vote -
Comment on I paid $47 an hour for someone to be my friend. Is this a cure for the loneliness epidemic? in ~life
culturedleftfoot Link Parent Well, not to play semantics, but saying social media is the fundamental problem is different from my stance that it's merely an accelerant. I mentioned the 70s off the top of my head because, in...Well, not to play semantics, but saying social media is the fundamental problem is different from my stance that it's merely an accelerant. I mentioned the 70s off the top of my head because, in terms of the US, I think the biggest challenges to popular assumption of social harmony could more or less be considered fallout from/latent resistance to the civil rights movement and the changes that were legislated in the previous decade, and IMO the only other factors of comparative cumulative impact on the national psyche in the past century are 9/11 and the post-WW2 engineering of consumerism.
Having said that, my view is basically anecdotal and I realize things can probably look fairly different depending on where you choose to look.
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Comment on I paid $47 an hour for someone to be my friend. Is this a cure for the loneliness epidemic? in ~life
culturedleftfoot Link Parent Social media has accelerated the process and amplified the effects but this problem has been a long time coming. It's hard to argue that sense of community and social contract haven't been on a...Social media has accelerated the process and amplified the effects but this problem has been a long time coming. It's hard to argue that sense of community and social contract haven't been on a steady decline since the '70s at least.
4 votes -
Comment on What was your most memorable gaming moment? in ~games
culturedleftfoot Link I'd never been interested in FPS games because I thought they were all about walking backwards in narrow corridors shooting demons with shotguns, which never looked fun. When my brother's friend...I'd never been interested in FPS games because I thought they were all about walking backwards in narrow corridors shooting demons with shotguns, which never looked fun. When my brother's friend brought over Halo and we played through the first level together, it was immediately different for me with its larger environments and varied gameplay. I'd had some great moments after that, but walking outside at this point during the assault on the control room and seeing a full-pitched battle going on between the marines and the covenant without me was definitely a "Holy shit!" moment. It made the game feel so much bigger than just me.
They still put the Flood into the second half of the game and changed the combat dynamic into exactly what I didn't like, but I digress...
2 votes -
Comment on What was your most memorable gaming moment? in ~games
culturedleftfoot Link Parent I don't know if it's because I liked Tifa better or maybe I had got that plot point spoiled for me somewhere along the way beforehand, but the first time I played it, I really did not understand...I don't know if it's because I liked Tifa better or maybe I had got that plot point spoiled for me somewhere along the way beforehand, but the first time I played it, I really did not understand why everyone made such a big deal out of it. I just went, "Wow, she's dead? Huh." It had next to no emotional impact for me, and reading all the trauma it seemed to cause other players left me baffled.
1 vote -
Comment on Can someone explain the hype around Super Mario Maker 2? in ~games
culturedleftfoot Link Parent Yes, there are tools to vote on levels, share a particular level, play a selection at random, etc, and just about whatever else you would expect. Did you look into the first Super Mario Maker at...Yes, there are tools to vote on levels, share a particular level, play a selection at random, etc, and just about whatever else you would expect. Did you look into the first Super Mario Maker at all? If you didn't get the hype around the first, you won't get the second. People love Mario, they got a game that let them make Mario levels with some good tools, and their imaginations went wild. this one is basically more of the same with a few improvements. If you want an idea of how much people got into it and why, try this article and dip into some of the videos.
5 votes -
Comment on Creator of DeepNude, App That Undresses Photos of Women, Takes It Offline in ~tech
culturedleftfoot Link Parent You are insisting upon missing the forest for the trees, my friend.You are insisting upon missing the forest for the trees, my friend.
1 vote -
Comment on Creator of DeepNude, App That Undresses Photos of Women, Takes It Offline in ~tech
culturedleftfoot Link Parent If that weren't true, civilization would not exist. I think you are restricting yourself to a narrow viewpoint. Think about it, there are also many people who dream of seeing 150k in their bank...Perhaps, I just don't necessarily agree with the idea that if we teach people, they will act differently.
If that weren't true, civilization would not exist.
I think you are restricting yourself to a narrow viewpoint. Think about it, there are also many people who dream of seeing 150k in their bank accounts who wouldn't dream of harming someone for it, despite being quite able, no? What do you think is the difference between those who would and those who wouldn't? Those who won't formed a worldview, over time, that makes them believe that taking a life is not worth that little. Do you think they came out of the womb with that in their mind? They were taught.
People make up society. Societal realities are in place because people make decisions informed by their ethics. Legal frameworks are shaped by the ethics of the decision makers. You want to change society on a fundamental level, you change the people.
5 votes -
Comment on Creator of DeepNude, App That Undresses Photos of Women, Takes It Offline in ~tech
culturedleftfoot Link Parent I'm not talking about simply more classes, I'm talking about formative education. You understand the difference? It's like picking up a second language when you're 3 as opposed to when you're 21....I'm not talking about simply more classes, I'm talking about formative education. You understand the difference? It's like picking up a second language when you're 3 as opposed to when you're 21. Not only will your grasp of the language itself differ, but your experiences, your outlook, just about everything is set on a different path.
4 votes -
Comment on Creator of DeepNude, App That Undresses Photos of Women, Takes It Offline in ~tech
culturedleftfoot Link Parent Somehow, these same people never seem to reason, "Somebody's bound to blow up their house someday. The technology's out there, after all. Might as well be me."Somehow, these same people never seem to reason, "Somebody's bound to blow up their house someday. The technology's out there, after all. Might as well be me."
1 vote -
Comment on Creator of DeepNude, App That Undresses Photos of Women, Takes It Offline in ~tech
culturedleftfoot Link Parent Because that one class isn't worth too much, quite frankly. One semester of ethics isn't going to reliably counteract 20 years of cultural programming. As @mat alluded, we need to teach kids...Because that one class isn't worth too much, quite frankly. One semester of ethics isn't going to reliably counteract 20 years of cultural programming. As @mat alluded, we need to teach kids philosophy across the board as they're growing up as a core part of modern education.
8 votes -
Comment on What are some of your favorite examples of storytelling via gameplay? in ~games
culturedleftfoot Link Parent The moment when you realize that you've been walking past a whole lot of the story all along! That epiphany is fantastic, and I include that under gameplay because it really is part of what the...The moment when you realize that you've been walking past a whole lot of the story all along! That epiphany is fantastic, and I include that under gameplay because it really is part of what the game is all about: figuring out all these puzzles and meta-puzzles.
2 votes -
Comment on What are some of your favorite examples of storytelling via gameplay? in ~games
culturedleftfoot Link Parent No worries, I didn't think you were being prescriptive with your opinion. I am trying to get at the root of it though, because it reminds me of how the word pretentious is so readily and widely...No worries, I didn't think you were being prescriptive with your opinion. I am trying to get at the root of it though, because it reminds me of how the word pretentious is so readily and widely applied in video games nowadays to anything that could be remotely considered artistic. I actually agree with your first two paragraphs, but I challenge the idea that Starseed Pilgrim removes structure entirely and disagree that it's to its detriment. I now realize that I should have asked you how far you got in the game, because your ultimate level of success with it probably determines your opinion in a major way. I don't think it's a game you can love if you only get through it halfway.
I had an experience once that was illuminating and I think is relevant here. I watched this performance on SYTYCD with my girlfriend at the time when it first aired. She was (and still is) way more artistically inclined than me. I suggest you watch it before reading the rest of this post. When they were done dancing, I saw everyone getting emotional and gushing over it, and I had absolutely no clue whatsoever why they were getting all weepy. I'd always felt like most art flew over my head; usually I'd shake my head and move on, but since my gf was sniffling right along with them, I told her that I didn't get it and asked what was so great and moving about the dance. She said something along lines of, "The power of their love is so beautiful. She's fighting to win her battle against cancer, and when she thinks she can't go on, he becomes the wind beneath her wings."
I can only imagine the look of incredulity on my face. Needless to say, I could not see how anything we just saw was related to cancer in the slightest, and told her as much. (We were having that convo while the judges were commenting, so I'd never even heard the last judge's comment confirming the cancer premise until looking this up just now.) She went on to explain to me that the headscarf was a big clue, as women with cancer often wear them when their hair falls out from chemo, and followed that up with a couple other things lost to my hazy memory... maybe something about her top being somewhat willowy like a hospital gown too, I think. In any case, I was gobsmacked, because it simply never occurred to me (read: I assumed) that the performers' choice of clothing in a dance could actually be that significant.
The point of all that is it made me think about why I never felt like I got art, and helped me realize that, beyond whatever limitation I might just have in general, I never picked up the tools to interpret art. I grew up with some peripheral exposure to art, but no real knowledge and definitely no training. I'd never learned the language, as you mentioned, and that's why I couldn't parse the story in the performance (to my credit, I at least could appreciate the quality and grace of the physical movement). Besides that, I also realized that my own assumptions and expectations about what something could or couldn't mean were major factors in limiting the potential for my interpretation and understanding... which is horribly damning when I eventually considered that I had a lifetime's worth of experience consuming media but a sum total of zero experience creating it. I never knew that creativity was often an iterative process, for example. I assumed great artists just spat out their works fully formed whenever inspiration took them. Despite having always had a kind of suspicious respect for creatives, I'd never really sat down and thought sensibly about just what goes into making an expressive work. I never conceived of an artist editing ideas. I'd always reduced it to the artist either "having it" or not, and accepted me as a luddite not having it. It was comfortable.
Now, all of this might seem like common sense to you and self-indulgence on my part, but, to bring it back to Starseed Pilgrim, consider that you might have had some expectation, some assumption, of what the game should have been doing, and perhaps that colored your experience. Maybe you assumed that the dev was attempting to do something that he never claimed. Maybe you were looking for an experience that the dev never offered... and maybe that assumption blinded you to what was actually there. I have my own interpretation of the game, and I don't think you necessarily have to be smart in any certain way to enjoy it, but I do think it's probably the best in its class at what it does - discovery, a practically universal human joy. I can't conceive of any possible way how the game would be enhanced by reducing its initial opaqueness.
3 votes -
Comment on What are some of your favorite examples of storytelling via gameplay? in ~games
culturedleftfoot Link Parent That's a great shout. I didn't even play it, only watched it, and I thought it was masterful.That's a great shout. I didn't even play it, only watched it, and I thought it was masterful.
1 vote -
Comment on What are some of your favorite examples of storytelling via gameplay? in ~games
culturedleftfoot Link Parent Ahh, good point. I really should get around to finishing that.Ahh, good point. I really should get around to finishing that.
1 vote -
Comment on What are some of your favorite examples of storytelling via gameplay? in ~games
culturedleftfoot Link Parent So, in essence, you're saying that because you feel like you don't get why the game doesn't give you any instructions, it's either badly designed or up its own ass? I have no issue if you don't...So, in essence, you're saying that because you feel like you don't get why the game doesn't give you any instructions, it's either badly designed or up its own ass?
I have no issue if you don't like it and/or if you criticize it. It plainly may not appeal to everyone. I don't see how useful it is to be so uncharitably dismissive of something simply because you don't understand it, though.
1 vote -
Comment on What are some of your favorite examples of storytelling via gameplay? in ~games
culturedleftfoot Link Parent Well, why do you think that's artsy fartsy, as opposed to simply, say, opaque?Well, why do you think that's artsy fartsy, as opposed to simply, say, opaque?
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Comment on What are some of your favorite examples of storytelling via gameplay? in ~games
culturedleftfoot (edited ) Link Is it cheating if I mention Bastion's dynamic narration? Braid comes to mind; most specifically, its climactic sequence and how you have to use the main gameplay mechanic to access the extra bits...Is it cheating if I mention Bastion's dynamic narration?
Braid comes to mind; most specifically, its climactic sequence and how you have to use the main gameplay mechanic to access the extra bits of story in the epilogue. Another similar game in that regard is Starseed Pilgrim, a... gardening platformer? You might even dispute if it qualifies, as it doesn't have a narrative per se. A lot is left to interpretation of poetry you find throughout the world. I prefer not to to say too much about it in case anyone is interested in checking it out (which I absolutely recommend), but this video is the best thing I've seen about it on the interwebs.
Oh, and that moment in Fez. Definitely, Fez.
7 votes -
Comment on What brought you here? in ~tildes
culturedleftfoot Link Parent Yeah, I've read it before; that "nefarious" was meant with tongue firmly in cheek. I personally was/am not as up in arms about the recently popular complaints about Reddit, probably because I...Yeah, I've read it before; that "nefarious" was meant with tongue firmly in cheek. I personally was/am not as up in arms about the recently popular complaints about Reddit, probably because I wasn't there for the really early years and I didn't frequent the default subs past my first month. Reddit's issues, or at least some of the bigger ones with the community, were pretty plain to see, even to a newcomer like me five years ago. The main reason I'm on Tildes is for quality of discussion, which I can still find on Reddit in pockets but is not as segregated over here.
4 votes
The same ingredients keep getting suggested in the comments here because they work, there's just lots of ways to take them. I'm not really up on the comforting bit but I usually do a lemon-ginger-honey cough syrup. Throw in some turmeric as well if you feel like it.
For a bonus, mince yourself three cloves of garlic, let it sit for a couple minutes, and then down it in a glass of water, or in some raw honey if you want to chew. That should stop just about anything short of Zika in two days tops.