Tabletop gaming has always had its share of women-hate and male toxicity.
Sexes were historically separated from playing together for thousands of years in order to avoid licentiousness. This was simply an extension of the general separation between the sexes. By the 19th and early 20th century, at least in Europe and the US, the sexes had found ways to mingle by means of parlor games, many of which we would consider overly racy today (a great many of them involved kissing and/or groping, for example).
The last hundred years of tabletop games saw women relegated to "women's divisions" (in Chess, for example), "girls" games (aka pink and/or about makeup and jewelry), or even the kitchen in the belief that they don't have what it takes to play at a man's level. They often don't, if you exclude them from serious training opportunities, exclude them from playing against top players, diminish their desires, goals, and accomplishments, require them to deal with unchecked harassment, and require from them a fanatical devotion to play for endless hours with unwashed, excruciatingly rude, and sexist jerks. Despite this, there are always a few women who are able and willing to complete with many of the top men in any game.
I had hope that in our little corner of the world, harassment would get no worse than that, and hopefully better. While anyone of any sex might get killed playing Dominoes in a Jamaica coffee shop or throwing dice on the streets of Taiwan, tabletop games remain a relatively safe, family-friendly, and gender-mixing activity. Chess, Go, and Bridge have women's divisions, but the majority of their competitions are mixed and relatively safe. Wargaming is a men's club, but it's not toxic to women as far as I know. CCG and RPG events are/were known to attract mostly young male jerks, which scared off some women (see above) but I hadn't thought that these jerks' behavior rose to level of toxicity associated with Gamergate. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
Women are not only harassed, but sexually assaulted at these conventions; the organizers and police are often unable or unwilling to help them. Apparently the CCG and RPG players who grew up in their little boys' club are now adult enough to feel entitled and powerful enough to join the ranks of the male toxics, white nationalists, and "pickup artists", just like the Gamergate folks. And just as in Gamergate, douches post harassing videos and posts claiming that woman who complain about harassment are lying for the attention, as a result of which teeming hordes of similarly minded jerks harass them more, and more seriously. And when called on it, of course, they post endlessly, harassing everyone with why they are right and everyone else is lying and "missing the point". Ho hum, how familiar.
Seems like this behavior is getting worse, not better, and I can think of a few reasons why. I just wish that they didn't infect my hobby.
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Two Highlights From DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN
Right now, I am playing DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN, a new title by Quantic Dream studio. As its predecessors – Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain, and Beyond: Two Souls – the game uses cinematographic language with its mechanics based on decision trees. During most part of the narrative, you must take significant decisions that will affect the course of the game and result in different ends for the story. The trailer below shows the gaming dynamics and main plot:
Besides the immersive narrative and beautiful graphics, I want to comment on two great features of this game.
1) The ending phase screens show the complete decision tree of each chapter. This is a very cool feature from DETROIT, you can observe in details what type of consequence your acts generated inside the gaming narrative. This visual aid helps players understand how each character works in the ambient. Below, there's an example of this feature.
2) The opening screen always has an interesting content. Every time you start to play DETROIT, there's one opening screen with a very sympathetic female android named Chloe giving you a technological trivia. I was playing it in June 7th and she told me that that day was Alan Turing's (the British mathematical genius) date of death. Then, last Saturday morning she told me "this is a perfect way to start a good weekend". The android also takes interesting surveys, asking players about the interface between human and machine. It is just a "content snack", but it helps to contextualize the gaming experience in a more immersive way. Below, I'm sharing some of these moments:
Another great acquisition for my collection.
#GoGamers
Besides the immersive narrative and beautiful graphics, I want to comment on two great features of this game.
1) The ending phase screens show the complete decision tree of each chapter. This is a very cool feature from DETROIT, you can observe in details what type of consequence your acts generated inside the gaming narrative. This visual aid helps players understand how each character works in the ambient. Below, there's an example of this feature.
2) The opening screen always has an interesting content. Every time you start to play DETROIT, there's one opening screen with a very sympathetic female android named Chloe giving you a technological trivia. I was playing it in June 7th and she told me that that day was Alan Turing's (the British mathematical genius) date of death. Then, last Saturday morning she told me "this is a perfect way to start a good weekend". The android also takes interesting surveys, asking players about the interface between human and machine. It is just a "content snack", but it helps to contextualize the gaming experience in a more immersive way. Below, I'm sharing some of these moments:
Another great acquisition for my collection.
#GoGamers
I'm That Guy!
Funnily enough though, I actually owned the game back in 2001! The actual CD! FFVII basically took over my life when I was 11 years old and after completing it, and becoming obsessed with it, I started looking through my back copies of the Official Playstation Magazine to try and find some games that were like it in some way, part of this genre called "RPG" which I had never even known to have existed previously (I'm not sure I can be blamed for this either, because in the UK we hardly received any RPGs for consoles).
I made it my mission to check out the used sections of Electronic Boutique and the other second hand games shops near me (which included a shop called a record shop called Bebop and another which I think was called Games Express in Sutton, surrey).
On one fateful day, I found it, Suikoden II, as I flicked through the boxes in Games Express. From what I remember, I think I payed an insignificant amount for the game, I certain don't remember having the save and go back, I'm guessing it must have been about £10. I took it home, I played the game through and I had a great time with it, it isn't too tricky and I completed it, getting the 'bad ending' the only ending I knew of at the time. And then I took it in a second hand game shop and sold it.
I'm that guy! I had Suikoden II, now worth £150 on EBAY, and at points in the past worth even more. I have almost no recollection of exactly what I traded it in for. Sometimes I like to tell people I traded it in part exchange for Chrono Cross.... but I don't know for certain if that is true. I know I definitely got CC pretty soon after Suikoden II, but I don't know... another memory says I traded it in for Ergheiz (now worth as much as Suikoden II on EBAY! A game which I also traded in!), or possibly it was Destrega or Street Fighter Alpha 3. The thing I do remember though is that I was surprised at how much the store gave me for Suikoden II, I think it was £15 or something, more than I paid for it to begin with.... I think they got the recommended price out of a book.
Anyway, I'm that guy, the guy that traded a super rare and expensive game in for almost nothing. But in all things Praise be Jesus Christ now and forever. Games are there for fun and recreation, and if we are really lucky, we can find something good and true and beautiful in them which can lead us to praise Him and bless Him and love Him more. Games aren't my life, my life is hid with Christ in God.
I played a lot of great games back in the day, I owned and played almost every PS1 RPG released in the UK, and now I own Suikoden II once again on PSN, in all honesty I have no regrets that I sold it, but it makes a fun story. I am going to write a review on Suikoden II soon. There is a lot in this beautiful game which is genuinely inspirational and supportive of the truths of our holy faith.
It's About Time...
Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks is essentially a re-themed Elder Sign, but I think I'm okay with that. Thematically, Elder Sign is a game about tweedy academics solving problems intellectually rather than with brute force, and that is absolutely what a Doctor Who game should be about.
Like Elder Sign, the core gameplay in Time of the Daleks involves rolling dice and matching their symbols in order to complete tasks. Each player plays as a particular Doctor, with assistants and gadgets that allow him to manipulate the roll of the dice in order to get the right combination of symbols. Each successfully completed task moves that player closer to winning the game.
Also like Elder Sign, there is a villain at work, essentially trying to outrace the players and prevent them from winning. In this case it's the Daleks, and their presence is felt in the game in several ways. Failing at a task will generally move the Dalek saucer forward on the scoring track, and of course they win if they beat all the players to the end. Additionally, any failure will also result in a Dalek figure being placed on the board, where they reduce the number of dice the players get to roll. Too many Daleks on the board will also lose the game for the players.
There are a few ways in which Time of the Daleks differs from Elder Sign (enough to keep Reiner Knizia's lawyers at bay, anyway). The dice-rolling tasks that players must accomplish are determined by a combination of two different tiles on the board: a location and a dilemma (usually a villain from the TV series' long history). This makes for a great deal of mix-and-match variety, as Silurians may threaten the planet Karn in one game, and the Time Meddler in another.
Combine that with a randomly shuffled deck of companions, and the game can tell a multitude of what if stories as Leela teams up with Sarah Jane Smith and the 11th Doctor to stop the Cybermen from invading Clara's apartment, or the First Doctor and Nardole foil the Master's Trap at the Bank of Karabraxos.
Another way in which it differs from Elder Sign is that it is only partially co-operative. Players are in competition with each other to get to the end of the score track first, but they all lose if the Daleks get there first. If a player is having a tough time solving a dilemma, he can ask one of the other players for help, which they may be inclined to do if it will slow down the Daleks. Additionally, the assisting player shares in the reward for completing the dilemma. It reminds me a lot of the multi-Doctor stories where they fight and bicker but end up cooperating for the greater good.
If you read the online chatter about this game, the main complaint about it seems to be that the announced expansions for the game have not yet materialized, a year after the game's release. Part of this frustration no doubt comes from the fact that the game was originally intended to feature six Doctors rather than four, and was scaled back in order to get the asking price down. The game's coverage of the world of Doctor Who does feel a little thin here and there -- clearly there is room for a lot more content.
Nevertheless, it's a solidly designed game with some beautifully designed components (The Expanse Board Game could learn a lesson here). Most importantly, it feels like Doctor Who, which is something no other board game in the show's 55 year history has quite managed to do.
Rating: 4 (out of 5) A good game that could be a great one. It captures the feel of Doctor Who, but not quite the depth.
- Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks official website
- Doctor Who: Time of the Daleks on BoardGameGeek
Curse Of Enchantia - WON!!
Written by Alfred n the Fettuc
That's it! I conquered Curse of Enchantia! I slayed the beast! Victory! Free at last!
I have mixed feelings about it. One part of me is very proud to have done this without a walkthrough (even if the temptation was very strong a few times) and the other part is astonished by the vacuity of the whole thing. I think my soul has died a little by playing this game to completion. Good thing it was for the blog, if it helps at least one person to stay away from this game in the future, maybe my sacrifice wasn't for nothing.
But for now, let's all go back in the enchanted land of Enchantia one last time in order to help Brad get rid of the evil sorceress once and for all! Yay!
After my trip to the planes of madness, I find myself back in town once more. As I now have in my possession the precious fire extinguisher and electric fan, I pay another visit to the wizard. I expect him to send me back to the cliff so I can give these items to the giant parrot but then again, the wizard has proven in the past he can be a little erratic about what his magic exactly does. What's the worse than could happen? It's not like he's going to kill me right?
So I wake up into some sort of grave, proving the wizard has a sick sense of humour (or is totally incompetent). Looking around me, I grab a bone and ATTACK the wall with it so Brad can carve his way out of here.
Exiting the grave, I find myself in a nice looking graveyard, complete with a tombstone to my name, bats, full moon and zombie hands trying to grab innocent feet. Nice place you got there! I guess I'm getting close to the evil enchantress. If only the music would change somewhat to reflect the atmosphere of the whole thing, but then again we are stuck with the same tune.
Immediately after, a vampire appears and rushes towards me. When he touches me I disappear and the whole scene starts again. This puzzle is actually the one that took me the most time during this session. I grabbed the cymbals and the shovel next to me and tried everything on the vampire but nothing worked.
The fact that the vampire is running towards me is a bit of a clue though. I try to go down on the screen for him to get grabbed by the zombie hands but I get grabbed instead. I spend a long time trying a lot of things but the solution is simple enough. You have to get behind your grave as soon as you exit it so the vampire falls into it. The difficulty is actually managing that because the pathfinding is quite finicky and the time window very short. After the bandit and the yeti, this is the third time in this game someone falls down while trying to grab me. At least this time I actually had to do something for him to fall, it wasn't automatic.
After getting rid of the vampire, I grab what seems to be a mirror or a silver plate on the ground and can finally progress east (after falling in my own grave once or twice and getting grabbed by the hands because of the hit detection). After a few steps, the vampire reappears but stands still this time.
I'll call the vampire Bob for now on because it seems he won't go down so easily so he needs to be named and Bob seems like a suitable name for him. So this time, attacking Bob with the shovel works!
So now I have a few items to get rid of a vampire : crucifix, garlic bread, mirror. Even the cymbals, fire extinguisher, match and the pen could easily be used. But as we all know now about Enchantia, there is only one way to solve a puzzle. So this time, you have to push the tombstone next to Bob on his foot.
I can then proceed to the next screen… and you guessed it… Bob is already waiting for me. I think he's into BDSM or something.
So how are we gonna hurt Bob this time? Simple enough, I eat the garlic bread and make him smell my breath.
I grab the vacuum cleaner (probably left there by an overzealous graveyard keeper) and Bob reappears.
Attacking him with the crucifix works this time. Pretty straightforward. Let's move on.
Going farther east, this time, Bob reappears, badly hidden behind a gravestone, waiting for me. He is a bit late though, because I'm already behind him.
I approach him quietly (probably with a sadistic grim) and attack with the cymbals. Turns out this vampire is also sensitive to strong sounds.
Finally, Bob seems to have had enough and he quits his job, leaving the door open.
The next screen holds a skeleton, a flower and a strange-looking tree. Very elaborate, especially considering you can't seem to do anything with any of these objects and that only one of the three obvious exits works.
So I go into the only walkable exit northeast and arrive in front of a gate with fire-spewing gargoyles. Maybe it's finally time to use my fire extinguisher? Nope. You just have to walk to the gate and push it.
I arrive in front of what can only be the enchantress' castle and enter by the front gate. So I'm guessing the whole security of the castle was based on a single pain-loving vampire and two useless fire-breathing gargoyles. I kinda wonder why the enchantress hasn't been overthrown by the people earlier.
I pass the empty hall of the castle and enter an empty room with a fireplace in which I find a lonely golden ring on the ground.
Trying to climb the stairs in the hall leads to a kinda funny slapstick moment where the stairs give way and Brad falls down face first.
The door on the right leads to a library. Only one book is interactive. I try picking it up but it doesn't work. Turns out you have to push/pull it because, as in all good castle libraries, it opens a secret passage.
And the secret passage leads to… the enchantress' laboratory. This is it. The final showdown. The battle for control over Enchantia. The ultimate fight for my freedom.
So the fight goes as this : the enchantress prepares a spell and you have a few seconds to react before she kills/stun you and you can try again. Her first attack is a ghost she sends toward you.
Considering you're locked in your spot and your only options are using all your inventory items, the whole ordeal is pretty straightforward and relies mostly on trial and error. For now, attacking with the vacuum cleaner works on the ghost.
For her next attack, the enchantress evokes fireballs so the fire extinguisher seems to be the obvious choice. It stumped me a little because you have to PUSH the extinguisher, not ATTACK with it.
She then switches to direct fire blasts in your face which are surprisingly fast. You need to attack with the electric fan to send the blast back to her.
The enchantress collapses and you need to put the ring on her finger (well let's say you need to COMBINE the ring with the enchantress). Why? At this point I confess I'm just trying anything on anything and not searching for any kind of justification. I'm guessing the ring that was just lying on the floor three screens back was the ultimate weapon against the witch. Kind of another big oversight in the overall security, don't you think?
And with that done, we are teleported back to the baseball field and are granted a fabulous end screen with Brad doing his victory jump, fist first and smiling at the camera, like the hero of some kind of very bad 80's baseball underdog movie.
And that's it! Yay! I can't help but feel the whole ending sequence has been drastically cut, probably because someone at Core Design felt the whole creating process had been long enough (and probably cutting back on beta-testing as well). Then again, considering the difficulty of some of the other parts of the game, I really can't complain. The ending sequence is straightforward and could even have been fun (despite its simplicity) if my hatred for the game hadn't been so high at this point.
For a bit of fun I looked over Let's play on the net and I found one narrated by none other than Yahtzee Croshaw (of Zero Punctuation fame). Here is a link to it. It's as funny as usual (if you don't know his work, I really urge you to look into it, the guy is hilarious) and he comments on a lot of similar points we did (notably concerning the blu-tack for example).
So now, all I have left to do is crush the game with all the might of the PISSED system (which probably never wore its name more accordingly), but in the meantime I have a few questions, I don't know if anyone can answer but I need to ask them anyway.
Session time : 1 hour
Final total time : 9 hours 30 minutes (way too long)
Items that never found a purpose : Piece of meat, match, silver plate, pen
Final score : 441
Percentage complete : 92% (why???)
That's it! I conquered Curse of Enchantia! I slayed the beast! Victory! Free at last!
I have mixed feelings about it. One part of me is very proud to have done this without a walkthrough (even if the temptation was very strong a few times) and the other part is astonished by the vacuity of the whole thing. I think my soul has died a little by playing this game to completion. Good thing it was for the blog, if it helps at least one person to stay away from this game in the future, maybe my sacrifice wasn't for nothing.
But for now, let's all go back in the enchanted land of Enchantia one last time in order to help Brad get rid of the evil sorceress once and for all! Yay!
 |
| Don't worry, Brad. It'll all be over real soon. |
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| Oh. |
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| Black Mamba was a wuss. |
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| Why my tombstone is actually on the grave next to mine is anyone's guess. Maybe it was another Brad. |
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| What a warm welcome! In my arms! |
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| The land of Enchantia is full of clumsy runners. |
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| Surprise! |
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| Worst vampire ever. |
Two more steps and Bob is there again. This time, he is nice enough to let me take all my time in order to pick up the garlic bread and the crucifix lying on the ground.
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| New theory : Bob just likes getting hurt and he leaves these kinds of items purposefully on the ground. |
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| I expect the next encounter to be solved with a 1-ton acme weight. |
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| 50 shades of vampire. |
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| Good thing there is no damsel in distress in this game. My killer breath could have been a problem later. |
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| He is not even trying anything now. He's just waiting for me to attack him with something. |
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| I am the great Jacinto. Take that! |
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| Come on, buddy, you're not even trying. |
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| Don't worry. This hurts you more than it hurts me. |
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| Come on, Bob, don't take it like that, we were having fun. |
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| My guess : a few puzzles had to be cut due to budget or time restrictions. Well I won't complain. This game has wasted enough of my time already. |
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| I certainly hope this security system didn't cost them too much... |
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| Once you realise the monstrous door looks like it wears a small red hat, the whole thing feels more festive than intimidating. |
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| The only interactive item in this room. Seems like a waste. |
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| Well funny except for Brad who is now completely toothless. |
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| I think the book in question is "Adventure game programming for dummies" |
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| Hey you look eerily like your sister in the ice cave, don't you? |
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| 'Tis but a flesh wound |
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| Who you gonna call? |
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| Here, cool off. |
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| Magic can't do anything against a good electric appliance. |
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| Now that the witch is done for, I can quietly turn super-saiyan. |
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| Oh, and Shadow of the Beast wants its font back. |
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| I'm not sure the lads gave enough criticism. |
So now, all I have left to do is crush the game with all the might of the PISSED system (which probably never wore its name more accordingly), but in the meantime I have a few questions, I don't know if anyone can answer but I need to ask them anyway.
- Why did I finish the game with 92% completion? Maybe I missed a fantastic optional area with exceptional puzzles? Yeah, probably not.
- What were the use of the silver plate, the pen and the piece of meat?
- Why didn't I do anything in the village inn? Seems like a lot of work for an area with absolutely no purpose.
- Why am I still asking questions about this game while all I want to do is drink my sorrows away and go play an actual good adventure game?
Session time : 1 hour
Final total time : 9 hours 30 minutes (way too long)
Items that never found a purpose : Piece of meat, match, silver plate, pen
Final score : 441
Percentage complete : 92% (why???)
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