Dragon Age

[papillon]

3d disorients me horribly. I can't play first-person games *at all* because the view makes me sick to my stomach. Even in third-person I tend to get confused.

The radar and the cover mechanics certainly help, and I _can_ get through easy fights on my own, just not anything complicated. With enough time on training wheels maybe. (I think I'd also be slightly better off with a MANUAL. At least, I assume the physical copy of the game has some reference material!) But I just want to see the story, so I don't really care about playing 'right'.

[LVUER]

I used to be like that too (in FPS case, not all 3D games). It seems that I have vertigo and migraine. It's all changes after I play Counter Strike.

Before that, I can't play any FPS. I will feel terribly sick after playing for about 30 minutes (and even more and more sick after prolonged play if I forced it). It's still now for several game, the latest game that still did this to me is Conduit. BF and CoD series is fine.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

eerily, I have completed DA2 just the other night (that is, the 21/22 July night) and, well, the coincidence with the questionable acts of a certain RL anders next days has really impressed even me, one accustomed to causality of "casuality" and already haved not few episodes of precognition...

Of course, the rece is withheld for the time being....

and last news seems to point to that RL anders having gaming in his hobbies, I'm not optimist on a timely release of DA3...

my solidarity to the Norge and Norwegians.

Dott. Piergiorgio.

p.s. of course the mods are fully free to edit and/or delete this post...

[Aleema]

The Chantry incident does indeed open the dialogue of terrorism -- is it ever good? No. I don't think it ever is. That's why I really enjoyed this game: it made me think and it made me feel. I had romanced Anders the first playthrough, and I had zero spoilers, so what happened was ... a complete shock and I wanted to kill him. Me, as a player, I wanted to kill him and hate him and everything for betraying me. As a character, who had known this man for years upon years, not days, I told him to run away and never come back. But both as a character/player, I was disgusted when he showed up at the end anyway, smiling and shit. I wanted to punch his face in. But he is, by far, the most remarkable romance I've ever played. I figured they'd do what they had been alluding to: have Justice posess him and he goes on a Templar killing spree and I'd have the choice to forgive him. What they actually did was so perfectly wrong and weaved into everything to take me off guard and really evaluate my life. Being from America, "terrorism is bad, mmkay" is basically driven into my mind everyday, but I had never been directly tied to the terrorist or the cause (I played pro-mage that round). People vehemently say in the Bioware forums that it was the only thing that could be done; the world needed the war; there could be no compromise; etc. I can't hear those over the loss of innocent lives. It was wrong, and Anders should have never, ever done that.

DA2 is getting its first story expansion soon (like Awakenings, I've been told), so I'm actually looking forward to that. I may not be able to afford it, but I can at least see in reviews if it furthers any plotline. Knowing Bioware, it probably won't. But hey. Hope.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

Aleema, I agree only partly with you, that RL anders has survived, and he seems being a fundamentalist christian, a gamer and having an above-average intelligence, the dangers for the game environment isn't limited to Bioware being more cautious in the game plot/scripting.

as provisional evaluation, he sooner or later that individual figures the rationale of some inevitable background questioning and interest, and being a fundie will exploit this, if not for financing his legal expenses. Remember that one of the arguments of jack thompson and roland yee is that in a 100+ hours game the "bad messages can be hidden toward the end" (whose sadly now can be actually considered a case in point) ? he known the gaming environment, at least from what is known from the now-blanked fb page, and probably known about the issues about game censorship, and as usual, as a christian extremist, can attempt to shift the blame into the "devil hidden inside videogames",,,,

This can't bode well for ren'ai and video game creativity/art in general, trust me.

it's only a matter of time that the eerie similarities will be noticed by the generalist press/news outlest, and from there, noticed by fundies, and the xtian censorship bandwagon glee and shift into full gear....

Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.

[Aleema]

Wait, are you saying that because DA2 had an act of fictional fantasy terrorism that it supports Jack Thompson's claims that video games are bad because of some uncontrollable event that happened in the future? That that scene is evil and should have never happened, for the sake of our genre? I think that scene in DA2 was the BEST part of it. It gets you thinking and questioning your morals and beliefs. When's the last time something had truly done that to you? The ACT that's depicted is what's awful, and the REASON is inexcusable, but this is a STORY. Just like murder mysteries don't advocate murder, it explores them.

But the name coincidence is kinda weird.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

dear, seems that you missed the main point....

as the dictum says, putting in other's shoes help in understanding the others, esp. the other whose isn't unfriendly; in this case I have put myself in JT and roland yee's shoes and trying to figure how they can (too easily) exploit the incident (remember, we're talking about the so-called religious right). Also I have taken the time and patience of reading all these papers on the legal/legislative attempts to censor videogames, and I noticed what I have wrote in my previous post, the accent put into the alleged "hiding questionable content" is in the court papers of the schwarznegger vs. EMA supreme court trial.

I must also point that between the two sides of the Ocean there's a different perspective on "questionable content": on my side, the issue lies in graphic depiction of violence, and on your side on the graphic depiction of sex and nudity. and take note, this terror attack is happened on *this* side of the Ocean.

and please notice that seems confirmed that breivik IS a fundamentalist christian, and can easily give an help, not only for ideological/partisan reasons, but also for the inevitable huge legal expenses. Even if during the searching of his house(s) isn't found the "damning evidence" (that is, a copy of DA2) he can easily allege that he's played (and won) it and then disposed/selled/given away his copy. And please don't forget that "repenting for his sins" and blaming all his misdeeds on "devil's cunning schemes" "hidden" toward the end of a video game.

I'm overwatching google's search results, and as of few minutes ago, the basic search for anders + terrorist gives mixed results for the RL and DA2 topics, so until the RL-related links swamps out the DA2-related links, is highly feasible that the propaganda hook can be noticed by the anti-game, pro-censorship christian fundamentalist like roland yee and JT (whose are only the most prominent or best known of the lot)

Hope to have now well explained my point and worries.

Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.

[Aleema]

Sorry, your English is difficult to follow, so I'm not completely sure what you were trying to say.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

oh, well... sorry, I can write later, when I have more time and I can streamline the thoughts and the wording ?

[dott.Piergiorgio]

well, for now, I noticed that in Aleema's replies there are an interesting observation, whose can help to understand not few things:

I think that scene in DA2 was the BEST part of it. It gets you thinking and questioning your morals and beliefs

whose is the very thing a christian (and other) fundamentalists/dominionist fear most, that their flock or potential flock think and question their morals and beliefs... hence the main reason behind their constant attempt to censor ( =bring under control) the new videogame media. They have all to lose from an free, untamed and unrestrained Eleventh Muse.

For the rest, the heavy thinking, news and information-gathering and locating an connecting the dots of today now has led me in needing a good rest, and I'll continue the discussion tomorrow (but the others are free to post on what I have written and pointed....)

G' night and
Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

as expected :

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2011/07/25/ ... y-massacre

I suspect that there's not much comment needed

Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

UPDATE: the worst-case scenario is happened:

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/origi ... 0723.shtml

let's brace for the incoming binary crossfire between hackers, censorship advocates and law-enforcement....

Dott. Piergiorgio.

[Aleema]

Hopefully, Norway will figure this out. Just like when games were under attack after Columbine school shooting in America, Norway will figure out it's overreacting, too. It may not be immediately, but they will figure it out and be steps closer to accepting video games as story-telling mediums like books or movies. Only recently has American government agreed that video games are just interactive stories, not killing simulators. Everyone's still got a while to go, though.

I don't care much for either linked article: one is just a journalist who needs a story. And the other is to be expected from something called the "Australian Christian Lobby." Looks like they were just WAITING for something violent to happen to blame it on video games. This is me rolling my eyes.

[dott.Piergiorgio]

Aleema, sadly I can't share your optimism, because one of the arguments of the advocates of videogame censorship (and control/sterilization) is that parents can't do a throug vetting of a game prior of allow children to play these, I quote from the .pdf I post there (my apologies to bluelemma and pytom for the OT attachment):

from leland yee's amicus brief

Moreover, there is a practical side in favor of the
State’s effort to regulate the sale or rental of violent
video games to children. Parents can read a book,
watch a movie or listen to a CD to discern if it
is appropriate for their child. These violent video
games, on the other hand, can contain up to 800
hours of footage with the most atrocious content often
reserved for the highest levels that can be accessed
only by advanced players after hours upon hours of
progressive mastery.

I can easily see that yee gleaming at the unique occasion presented to it on a golden plate....

.. and also discern the incoming renewed attacks on videogame & videogaming, aimed to bring them (and their use as media) under control (as happened to movies and television in USA in past) leading directly to a renewed chaos not only on US or EU courts, but also because a more drastic hacktivism in response, and, Divine forbade, much dire consequences

Best regards from Italy,
dott. Piergiorgio.

[Samu-kun]

Dunno what you guys are talking about. The attack on Norway was a textbook example of a political attack. Video games had absolutely nothing to do with it. The targets were selected for the political impact they would cause. Usually in attacks where the media blames video games, the targets are selected out of convenience (school, Akibahara). I'm certain that this Anders did it to support his political beliefs and not because he played too much Dragon Age.