Q&A: February 24th, 2021

DaCody Asks
In your opinion, what is the worst use case of RPG for a game tag?

I presume by gametag, you mean genre label? Hmm, honestly its hard for me to come up with an answer, probably because I don't put much weight on labels in general. I find the conversation rather tedious as whether a game fits a genre or not doesn't determine its quality.

Mass Effect 2 is far less of an RPG than Mass Effect 1, yet most I've met seem to prefer it, so why then spend hours and hours discussing how much of an RPG it is, and instead talk about its strengths and weaknesses?

The Great Leveler Asks
What audio equipment do you use (amp, dac, headphones/speakers)?

I've got cheap Edifier R980T speakers, cheap Status Audio CB-1's, a Scarlett Solo USB Audio Interface, and an Apex 460 microphone my Father gave from his days of being in a band. It's often said the more expensive something is, the higher quality it is, I've learned this is bullshit.

Higher costs should result in higher quality, but that's not always the case, and everything I've listed has served me very well, and often better than equipment that cost 3-4x more money.

Ferenc Viczmándi Asks
Looking back, what is the shortest single player campaign for which you'd happily pay $60?

Spec Ops: The Line. Game's only six hours, but the amount of time its stuck around in my brain is longer than dozens, possibly hundreds of games combined. That's what I'm after these days, I don't like the idea of games purely being time killers anymore, though I understand their usefulness.

Bryan Tai
What are some good books you can recommend? Either fictional or non-fictional

Off the top of my head, Gone Girl, City of Thieves,  Fahrenheit 451, Amped, and Philip K. Dick's entire short story collection. Both the Avatar and Dragon Age books are surprisingly good too, if you're into those universes. None fiction, I've previously recommended Blood, Sweat, and Pixels and Significant Zero for games. Comics, I've also recommended are 100 Bullets, Low, Descender, and Lazarus. I really need to get back into those. 

Though I'm currently reading Sea of Rust, and Extra Lives. I've also just come off of finishing "The World of Cyberpunk 2077" and loved its in-universe writing enough to pick up the recent Apex Legends "Pathfinder's Quest" book that does the same.

Nino Francaviglia Asks
Have you ever been interested in or played in a TTRPG Campaign?

Absolutely. However, I never knew anyone in person that organized such campaigns, so my lone experience was online via Roll20. It's cool, but obviously being a first time player, there were lots of things to keep track of and the layout for playing Tabletop online is quite tiresome.

Come to think of it, I wonder if someone could make a rival that optimally streamlines the process. Clarify, I don't mean streamline like 2010 game design where you delete systems and replace them with hit A, but just something that keeps players actively engaging in Tabletop's strengths, rather than its tedium.

When that Avatar Tabletop comes out though, I've already got multiple characters in mind.

Parker Brown Asks
In your opinion, how far can (or should) a video game go in terms of social commentary before it feels like it's beating you over the head?

Depends. If you're game is about being an oppressed minority living under an oppressively government, I hope there's some nuanced commentary in there or its a really wasted premise. I think for the most part, the issues with "politics" in games are misattributed. Battlefield 3's campaign really frustrated me because of how its poorly written by numbers Clancy rip-off plotline is obstructing its gameplay, that would occur whether the game's politics align with my beliefs or not.

So when commentary feels preachy, its not the what the commentary says, but how its saying it. Mass Effect Andromeda portrayal of a Trans person is laughable, because of how distorted and inaccurate said portrayal is, not because there's a trans person in it.

I'd say then, take it as far as you the developer feel it should, but like anything, handle it with care and precision.

Hibiya Mori Asks
Now that Sega has remastered the original Yakuza games, what do you think of how they handled them compared to their originals vs the Resident Evil remakes.

I unfortuantely can't say as I've not played any of the Yakuza games, though having owned 0 for years and now a trilogy of them being released on Xbox Game Pass, I'm tempted to change that.

Sandraincloud90 Asks
What are your general thoughts on how Call of duty is being handled as of late?

I'm glad that its become a technical benchmark once again. For far too long, Call of Duty seemed content with just being outclassed in its animations, graphical fidelity, and movement. I'm also glad it offers a wide variety of experiences for people.

But I'm also not closely attached to it, so when there's a latest grand failure of the franchise, I can't really bring myself to care.

Holy Shift Asks
I understand that it was probably due to the shitty YouTube copyright rules, but I was surprised to find little mention of the licensed soundtrack in the Most Wanted video and none in Carbon. So, two questions – your top picks from each and do you think Most Wanted's licensed soundtrack had major influence on the music tastes of contemporary kids/teens, cause in my Slavic part of the world it definitely did?

The entire Carbon licensed soundtrack is a copyright minefield with the only exception being the song used for the intro. As for your first question, Nine Thou, Lets Move, We Control, One Good Reason, and Tao of the Machine for MW. For Carbon; I Am Night, Colour me Black, What It Look Like, Don't Speak, and Bounce.

MW definitely had an influence on my musical taste, being that it combined with my discovery of Celldweller via Halo Montages.

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