Various video game stuff not deserving its own thread

[Irenaeus]

Leaving that aside, I'm doubtful that games as we commonly understand them are all about embodiment, though there can be overlap. What is the player embodying in chess, Tetris, or tic-tac-toe?

Leaving aside the theological digression, which was interesting, I'd say games are mixture of "embodiment" as used in the conversation and puzzles, even if the puzzle is figuring out a strategy to beat the opponent — like when I fianchetto the bishop and boldly move the queen to create a battery and checkmate unsuspecting chess dorks.

► Show Spoiler

Who's laughing now?

[DemoGraph]

Only God is God by nature; human nature is divinized by its union with Christ. We put on God and become gods, but we are not the same as God.

This is true for Christianity and other monotheistic religions. By definition they assume that god is unique. And to maintain this uniqueness, they have to move him to other dimension, completely separate him from this world.

Polyteists had no problem with it. Many rulers coronized themselves as gods. There often was a continuum of godlings or spirits on a scale from utterly mundane to utterly otherwordly. Mundane world and celestial world were equally important parts of universal whole. They actively transacted with each other.
E.g., all the business of Greek sacrifice to god assumed that god would lend a part of his power in exchange for sacrifice via a) affecting the fate somehow (that was difficult even for gods, especially on a grander scale, gods weren't able to affect Moirai), b) embodying himself into a sacrificer (kill bull - get Mars's toe into you - become as Mars - kill your enemies, see them driven before you).

What is the player embodying in chess, Tetris, or tic-tac-toe?

I was sloppy with my words. Player doesn't embody anyone. Human embodies the player. Player is an entity that acts according to the rules and intentions of the game.

[aimlesshealer]

This is true for Christianity and other monotheistic religions. By definition they assume that god is unique. And to maintain this uniqueness, they have to move him to other dimension, completely separate him from this world.

You linked the Orthodox Christian definition of theosis, which is why I mentioned it. I must also say that God is above but not estranged from the world: "for of him, and through him, and to him, are all things" (Romans 11:36) and "for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." (Colossians 1:16-17), to say nothing of the Incarnation.

Ok I'll stop posting about theology in the game thread now

I was sloppy with my words. Player doesn't embody anyone. Human embodies the player. Player is an entity that acts according to the rules and intentions of the game.

If I understand you correctly, then you're saying that "player" is an archetypal role which can order chaos, and anyone who plays a game is participating in that role?

[jdcp]

Player is an entity that acts according to the rules and intentions of the game.

Or even beyond the rules and intentions, self imposed restrictions and modding go beyond the intentions while exploits violent the rules to the point they are displaced and in turn, new forms of interacting with the environment arise.

You all are making me wish I had actually written down my thoughts on this topic before discarding it as pointless. I believe both the purpose of a game and the "embodiment" of the player is simply to be free. A game grants freedom to act, the player has the option to act on his will or any he chooses shall be (also called roleplaying). I can add my own new set of rules, or completely forego the existing ones leaving nothing but an empty husk (also called god mode).

Of course, freedom takes many forms and it's not always in the essence of "doing whatever you want", in the case of tetris or chess, I'm not asking to be able to put the pieces outside of the board, just the capacity to choose how I will.

Sounds ******* moronic but it's true. I insist that concepts evolve, so do games, Tetris isn't the same game until you find out there's a button to store a piece. Get where I'm coming? A game doesn't have to necessarily act against the player, nor to provide a body for the player to be in, it just needs to keep offering new emerging experiences to let the player find who he is inside it's boundaries, because after all even if one day we make AI powered games (or some scifi ********) limitations will still be there, so freedom is not more than an illusion, and that illusion is what we call a game. Otherwise, if a game was supposed to be a challenge for me to beat, then why can I just forfeit it and go on with my life?

This could kickstart some interesting discussions, but I insist it's really not an interesting topic at all, games are fun, that's it really. I do recognize the mention of religion here is pretty fun to read about, good job fellas.

I've been talking about Olympic games specifically. Sports industry isn't even close to the original meaning of them. I'd say that your take is much closer.

Even if you were just playing around, the comparison is very accurate. You're actually right in my opinion.

[WhiteShark]

I believe both the purpose of a game and the "embodiment" of the player is simply to be free. A game grants freedom to act, the player has the option to act on his will or any he chooses shall be (also called roleplaying). I can add my own new set of rules, or completely forego the existing ones leaving nothing but an empty husk (also called god mode).

I think you may enjoy this essay: https://arbiterofworlds.substack.com/p/ ... an-rpg-fun

[jdcp]

I think you may enjoy this essay: https://arbiterofworlds.substack.com/p/ ... an-rpg-fun

Very interesting read much thanks, I find special interest in "The Other Types of Fun" sad that it didn't continue at all, but I get what it means. Good to see humility from the author.

That remembers me, don't you folks run a campaign in this forum?

[Acrux]

Yes, and it's using that guy's ruleset!

The main forum for PbP is here: viewforum.php?f=49-play-by-post

@Irenaeus has an active game right now: viewforum.php?f=50-iren-s-pbp

[jdcp]

Yes, and it's using that guy's ruleset!

I'm reading through it and it's really fun, poor Stein

Sadly I've never played any campaigns in all my life, despite once being eager for it, I never managed to roll enough friends into it for long enough to actually enjoy a proper game. So I don't know **** about how to

That said, I'm willing to play regardless of that Where do I sign?

[Irenaeus]

Yes, and it's using that guy's ruleset!

I'm reading through it and it's really fun, poor Stein

@SpellSword He's a very brave fighter and he's about the have a haunting near death experience.

Sadly I've never played any campaigns in all my life, despite once being eager for it, I never managed to roll enough friends into it for long enough to actually enjoy a proper game. So I don't know **** about how to

That said, I'm willing to play regardless of that Where do I sign?

You don't need to know much to start playing. Create a character here viewtopic.php?t=3636-iren-s-pbp-character-creation
and post on the general thread if you want more details (or DM me) viewtopic.php?t=3592-iren-s-play-by-pos ... ion-thread

and let's get rolling.

[roldet]

Rejoice here listed best games of 2025.

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/03/nx-s1-56 ... s-2025-npr

[rusty_shackleford]

Rejoice here listed best games of 2025.

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/03/nx-s1-56 ... s-2025-npr

[WhiteShark]

Rejoice here listed best games of 2025.

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/03/nx-s1-56 ... s-2025-npr

Peak
Climb to your salvation or doom in Peak.

2025 brought the rise of “Friendslop” games:

Our tax dollars being put to good use, I see.

[RangerBoo]

Rejoice here listed best games of 2025.

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/03/nx-s1-56 ... s-2025-npr

Kek! South of Midnight is on there as is Ghost of Angry Lesbian. Remember when gaming was fun? I remember...

[logincrash]

[Rienen]

Didn't think I'd see this drama on here. Hah.

Short version:
IGN's reviewer (to no one's surprise) lied about their playtime in a review, while also making fair points about the quality of a game from the perspective of a new player. A YTer with 1k's of hours in said game gets upset at the low-ish score and critiques the review footage, nitpicking that a new player wasn't playing how a veteran does, and then uses the inflated playtime lie to invalidate the entire review.

My thoughts... Yes, IGN is crap (we all know this). Yes, the reviewer lied about their playtime. That said, the review was generally fair for what Tarkov is for newer players. Cheaters ARE an issue (which is why a large portion of the playerbase has moved to PVE). The UI, while adequately designed, IS slow and buggy. The gameplay IS punishing. The developers quite literally pride themselves on hiding certain information from new players, forcing them to utilize outside sources.

Yeah, the reviewer lied about dying to cheaters and should be made fun of. He could've, instead, simply stated that the game has been plagued with cheaters in the past and most likely will in the future. But, just because there was a small window of time during the initial launch where cheats had to be updated, that doesn't magically invalidate that there have been (and will be) cheaters in every wipe cycle. The review came from the perspective of a newer player (albeit one that also lied about their playtime to come off as more knowledgeable), but many of the nitpicks Onepeg was making during his critique of the review were from the perspective of someone who has played thousands of hours.

"The reviewer included footage where they didn't have specific helpful keybinds set up. He's an idiot"...
"The reviewer didn't use the "right" trader to repair. He's an idiot"...
"The reviewer doesn't know how to read Russian. Well, the game is set in Russian. He's an idiot"...
"The reviewer didn't spend enough time wandering to learn where the unmarked extracts were. He's lazy, didn't use outside materials like I do, and he's an idiot"...

Stockholm syndrome is a hell of a drug.

[logincrash]

Didn't think I'd see this drama on here. Hah.

Short version:
IGN's reviewer (to no one's surprise) lied about their playtime in a review, while also making fair points about the quality of a game from the perspective of a new player. A YTer with 1k's of hours in said game gets upset at the low-ish score and critiques the review footage, nitpicking that a new player wasn't playing how a veteran does, and then uses the inflated playtime lie to invalidate the entire review.

My thoughts... Yes, IGN is crap (we all know this). Yes, the reviewer lied about their playtime. That said, the review was generally fair for what Tarkov is for newer players. Cheaters ARE an issue (which is why a large portion of the playerbase has moved to PVE). The UI, while adequately designed, IS slow and buggy. The gameplay IS punishing. The developers quite literally pride themselves on hiding certain information from new players, forcing them to utilize outside sources.

Yeah, the reviewer lied about dying to cheaters and should be made fun of. He could've, instead, simply stated that the game has been plagued with cheaters in the past and most likely will in the future. But, just because there was a small window of time during the initial launch where cheats had to be updated, that doesn't magically invalidate that there have been (and will be) cheaters in every wipe cycle. The review came from the perspective of a newer player (albeit one that also lied about their playtime to come off as more knowledgeable), but many of the nitpicks Onepeg was making during his critique of the review were from the perspective of someone who has played thousands of hours.

"The reviewer included footage where they didn't have specific helpful keybinds set up. He's an idiot"...
"The reviewer didn't use the "right" trader to repair. He's an idiot"...
"The reviewer doesn't know how to read Russian. Well, the game is set in Russian. He's an idiot"...
"The reviewer didn't spend enough time wandering to learn where the unmarked extracts were. He's lazy, didn't use outside materials like I do, and he's an idiot"...

Stockholm syndrome is a hell of a drug.

I don't care about Tarkov. I haven't played a second of it.
It's the journo lying about easily verifiable information (as they usually do) that I wanted to showcase.

[Rienen]

Didn't think I'd see this drama on here. Hah.

Short version:
IGN's reviewer (to no one's surprise) lied about their playtime in a review, while also making fair points about the quality of a game from the perspective of a new player. A YTer with 1k's of hours in said game gets upset at the low-ish score and critiques the review footage, nitpicking that a new player wasn't playing how a veteran does, and then uses the inflated playtime lie to invalidate the entire review.

My thoughts... Yes, IGN is crap (we all know this). Yes, the reviewer lied about their playtime. That said, the review was generally fair for what Tarkov is for newer players. Cheaters ARE an issue (which is why a large portion of the playerbase has moved to PVE). The UI, while adequately designed, IS slow and buggy. The gameplay IS punishing. The developers quite literally pride themselves on hiding certain information from new players, forcing them to utilize outside sources.

Yeah, the reviewer lied about dying to cheaters and should be made fun of. He could've, instead, simply stated that the game has been plagued with cheaters in the past and most likely will in the future. But, just because there was a small window of time during the initial launch where cheats had to be updated, that doesn't magically invalidate that there have been (and will be) cheaters in every wipe cycle. The review came from the perspective of a newer player (albeit one that also lied about their playtime to come off as more knowledgeable), but many of the nitpicks Onepeg was making during his critique of the review were from the perspective of someone who has played thousands of hours.

"The reviewer included footage where they didn't have specific helpful keybinds set up. He's an idiot"...
"The reviewer didn't use the "right" trader to repair. He's an idiot"...
"The reviewer doesn't know how to read Russian. Well, the game is set in Russian. He's an idiot"...
"The reviewer didn't spend enough time wandering to learn where the unmarked extracts were. He's lazy, didn't use outside materials like I do, and he's an idiot"...

Stockholm syndrome is a hell of a drug.

I don't care about Tarkov. I haven't played a second of it.
It's the journo lying about easily verifiable information (as they usually do) that I wanted to showcase.

Yeah, I'm not surprised a reviewer who would lie about how long they played also wouldn't know that receipts could be pulled proving they were lying. I'm sure there's a rusty topic somewhere that talks about "what's the min time/effort required to put out a review." One thing is for sure though, "not lying" should be part of that. Ha.

[Kolgrim]

Rejoice here listed best games of 2025.

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/03/nx-s1-56 ... s-2025-npr

The only good game on that list is Kirby.

[Havitner]

Pokémon Gen 1:
Now here's a fictional character I'd have sexual intercourse with, if you know what I'm saying!

g.gif

Pokémon Gen 8:
Okay, this one's basically an attractive white woman in blackface, I guess I can still goon to this children's video game character.

1024px-Sword_Shield_Nessa.gif

Pokémon Gen 9 (2022):

► Show Spoiler

1749837358278.jpg

[WhiteShark]

Rejoice here listed best games of 2025.

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/03/nx-s1-56 ... s-2025-npr

The only good game on that list is Kirby.

Khazan, Silksong, FFT, and maybe Hundred Line all look good to me.

[Tangerine]

FFT

If a low effort remaster of a 30 year old game is one of the best 2025 has to offer...

[WhiteShark]

FFT

If a low effort remaster of a 30 year old game is one of the best 2025 has to offer...

I bet I could find better than NPR did. My point was just that saying Kirby was the only good one is hyperbole at best.

[LemonDemonGirl]

Pokémon Gen 9 (2022):

► Show Spoiler

Ok but an old grandma Pokemon Gym Leader could be badass if done right

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I remember playing Pokemon Sapphire on the GBA and thinking Phoebe was cute.

Pokémon Gen 9 (2022):

► Show Spoiler

Ok but an old grandma Pokemon Gym Leader could be badass if done right

Old grandmas are too powerful to be mere Gym Leaders. They are Elite Four members. Agatha, Glacia, and Drasna.

[Stack of Turtles]

I remember playing Pokemon Sapphire on the GBA and thinking Phoebe was cute.

I choose to believe those are part of her head.

[jdcp]

I'll just drop this here:

[rusty_shackleford]

need a game like postal 2 but set in japan and dedicated to destroying japanese stuff

[Roguey]

Tessera, a mentally ill modder who was pretty e-famous two decades ago, has apparently died and his brother has spent the past few weeks grave dancing on his dead forum http://www.tessmage.com/forum/index.php?board=74.0

[TND]

My brother bought battlefield 6 on his steam account, so I wanted to try it out and the menu is an absolute catastrophy. It's just a Netflix menu, what happened to UI design in general? It took me 5 minutes just to find conquest so I can play it.

[logincrash]

need a game like postal 2 but set in japan and dedicated to destroying japanese stuff

You're in luck.