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General discussionWeekend Promo: TotalBiscuit Recommends(447 posts)(447 posts)
(447 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 18, 2015
Up to 75% off TotalBiscuit's favorites: Pillars of Eternity, Wasteland 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Pharaoh + Cleopatra and more.

Love him or hate him, TotalBiscuit is a force to be reckoned with. He's the guy that millions of gamers listen to on a daily basis - whether it's first impressions, reviews, or his trademark cynical commentary on industry news, ins and outs - The Cynical Brit's influence on a generation of gamers can be hotly debated, but never denied. Today, we take a look at some of his favorites, his top bites, the 30+ games that <span class="bold">TotalBiscuit Recommends</span>:




From the creative minds of Chris Avellone, Tim Cain and Josh Sawyer comes Pillars of Eternity, where adventure continues beyond the gate. It's a critically lauded revival of the classic cRPG in the vein of Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, to call it Obsidian Entertainment's spiritual sequel would be an understatement. Of course, that's not the only modern revival of old school favourites - Wasteland 2 is a sequel to the historic 1988 title that redefined RPG gameplay and inspired legendary titles like Fallout - full of multipathed quest solving, choice, consequence and maturity. Brilliant storytelling isn't just an RPG domain - classic point and click adventures like The Longest Journey or its big, action-adventure sister Dreamfall: The Longest Journey are known for featuring some of the most unique universes and best written tales in gaming. The list just goes on with some of absolutely top releases in gaming history including S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat, Mount & Blade, Pharaoh + Cleopatra, and so much more!






See TotalBiscuit's own take on this promo's biggest highlights!
<iframe width="775" height="436" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NwiFN8Ddj34" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>





This weekend, <span class="bold">TotalBiscuit Recommends</span> some of his favourite games ever. Check them out in our weekend promo, with deals up to 75% off lasting until Tuesday, July 21, 3:59 AM GMT.
Post edited July 17, 2015 by Konrad
Posted July 19, 2015
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psumner: Apparently, "love him or hate him" is GoG's way of defending TotalBiscuit's association with GamerGate, his wish for someone to get cancer on Twitter, his contacting the employers of game developers if they don't like him, his defense of transphobic humor, and so on. I don't love or hate him--I oppose the endorsement of someone who relies on hatred as a career gimmick and encourages negativity that damages gaming.
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kalirion: He did apologize for the cancer comment, and I'd say that "transphobic" epitaph in PoE was not transphobic at all in my eyes.

I do agree that the contacting of employers incident was 100% uncalled for though.
There's no question the joke was transphobic, which is why it was removed. The joke is that transgender people are so shameful or disgusting that a guy who slept with one jumped off a cliff. Typical "punching down" humor.

Sensing a tidal wave from the Trump-esque "stop being offended" crowd, which ironically enough is offended all the time these days, it's no surprise which side TotalBiscuit took, but it only reinforced the stereotypes of juvenile bigotry he claimed had no merit. In that bulging realm of mid-tier YouTube content in which any attention can raise you above the sea of shrieking Let's Plays and tedious lore breakdowns, maybe denial is just another part of the character. Anyone who ends a post with "Thus endeth the lesson" is practically following a forum-trolling flowchart. From the outside, I can only lament the negative effect it has on everything else.
Posted July 19, 2015
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kalirion: He did apologize for the cancer comment, and I'd say that "transphobic" epitaph in PoE was not transphobic at all in my eyes.

I do agree that the contacting of employers incident was 100% uncalled for though.
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psumner: There's no question the joke was transphobic, which is why it was removed. The joke is that transgender people are so shameful or disgusting that a guy who slept with one jumped off a cliff. Typical "punching down" humor.
No, the joke was that a man was so homophobic he felt driven to kill himself when he found out he had had sex with someone who had been born with male genitalia.
Posted July 19, 2015
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psumner: There's no question the joke was transphobic, which is why it was removed. The joke is that transgender people are so shameful or disgusting that a guy who slept with one jumped off a cliff. Typical "punching down" humor.
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Wytsfs: No, the joke was that a man was so homophobic he felt driven to kill himself when he found out he had had sex with someone who had been born with male genitalia.
As many jokes toying with prejudices, this joke was both (or exactly none of these), really depending on who read it and who wrote it. It's a joke that can be transphobic when told by/to people who mean it as "transgender people are so shameful or disgusting that a guy who slept with one jumped off a cliff", and can be anti-transphobic when told by/to people who mean it as "a man was so homophobic he felt driven to kill himself when he found out he had had sex with someone who had been born with male genitalia".

It is nothing in and by itself. Its meaning is only contextual. And its context is out of reach from any commenter (1° we are not in the author's mind, and 2° the recipients' minds are varied).

The "no, it means THAT" argument is pointless. The argument should be "how should we react to contexually ambivalent jokes/symbols" globally. And being restrictive there is too dangerously limitative, because a lot of antiracist jokes (caricaturing racist worldviews) are also racist jokes (when repeated amongst racists). Being restrictive would give terrible consequences to Poe's law.

Stupid polemic is stupid.
Posted July 20, 2015
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psumner: There's no question the joke was transphobic, which is why it was removed. The joke is that transgender people are so shameful or disgusting that a guy who slept with one jumped off a cliff. Typical "punching down" humor.
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Wytsfs: No, the joke was that a man was so homophobic he felt driven to kill himself when he found out he had had sex with someone who had been born with male genitalia.
The punchline comes at the expense of the transgender woman, who is misgendered as a man. The hero is so repulsed by her that he kills himself, and the audience is meant to find that funny.

This type of humor is called punching down because it comes at the expense of a marginalized group, and it's very common for members of a status quo to rationalize it. The transgender woman who found the joke was herself harassed on Twitter and had to set her account to private.
Posted July 20, 2015
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psumner: The punchline comes at the expense of the transgender woman, who is misgendered as a man. The hero is so repulsed by her that he kills himself, and the audience is meant to find that funny.
Yes but amongst this audience, some can find funny that he finds himself in that horrible predicament (because "oh noes, trans are so gross")

AND

some can find it funny that he is repulsed by transsexual people (like the funny racist parents in antiracist comedic scenes where the child introduce them to his/her foreign lover)

AND

some can find it funny that he is disgusted THAT MUCH while still endorsing a disgust they consider understandable to some extent (although I admit that this may unfortunately be the most frequent case - independantly from the author's own intention)

AND

you cannot tell which one of this cases it is for whom (for which player, and for the author himself).

AND

That is the case with many jokes, plots, etc. Which are compatible with many interpretations, many "usage" of them. In the context of that game, the joke is too isolated to allow for one univocal intention (justifying the outcry). It doesn't have a context, or accompanying elements, that "push" the player towards one interpretation of it (as is often the cases in, say, movies or plays where the general tone and accompanying jokes clarify together, little touch by little touch, the author's position and the public's expected interpretation).

As it is, isolated, that joke is a mere rorschach bolt.
Post edited July 20, 2015 by Telika
Posted July 20, 2015
I like this weekend promo, but the big titles are still a bit too expensive. Will wait some more, until their price drops further.
Posted July 20, 2015
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psumner: There's no question the joke was transphobic, which is why it was removed. The joke is that transgender people are so shameful or disgusting that a guy who slept with one jumped off a cliff. Typical "punching down" humor.
Do we need politically correct pirate ballads now? -_-'
Post edited July 20, 2015 by phaolo
Posted July 20, 2015
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Wytsfs: No, the joke was that a man was so homophobic he felt driven to kill himself when he found out he had had sex with someone who had been born with male genitalia.
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psumner: The punchline comes at the expense of the transgender woman, who is misgendered as a man. The hero is so repulsed by her that he kills himself, and the audience is meant to find that funny.

This type of humor is called punching down because it comes at the expense of a marginalized group, and it's very common for members of a status quo to rationalize it. The transgender woman who found the joke was herself harassed on Twitter and had to set her account to private.
Please comment on games. No one has come here for theories of what is or isn't appropriate in comedy. There are plenty of other forums to discuss that on the internet. GOG is a place to buy and discuss games. Some people find the "punching up/punching down" argument ludicrous and, even, offensive. Others subscribe to it.

Also, I know it's sometimes difficult to realize that one's "American Privilege" is a form of solipsism, but seeing as this is a site based in Poland, with a large international audience, and comparatively few U.S.-based commenters, invoking your own nation's political dramas holds less value than it might in a setting comprised of an American plurality or majority.

We can see that you have a lot of anger, and that's a shame, but we're here to discuss games. Check your setting, here. Thanks.
Posted July 20, 2015
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psumner: The punchline comes at the expense of the transgender woman, who is misgendered as a man. The hero is so repulsed by her that he kills himself, and the audience is meant to find that funny.
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Telika: Yes but amongst this audience, some can find funny that he finds himself in that horrible predicament (because "oh noes, trans are so gross")

AND

some can find it funny that he is repulsed by transsexual people (like the funny racist parents in antiracist comedic scenes where the child introduce them to his/her foreign lover)

AND

some can find it funny that he is disgusted THAT MUCH while still endorsing a disgust they consider understandable to some extent (although I admit that this may unfortunately be the most frequent case)

AND

you cannot tell which one of this cases it is for whom (for which player, and for the author himself).

AND

That is the case with many jokes, plots, etc. Which are compatible with many interpretations, many "usage" of them. In the context of that game, the joke is too isolated to allow for one univocal intention (justifying the outcry). It doesn't have a context, or accompanying elements, that "push" the player towards one interpretation of it (as is often the cases in, say, movies or plays where the general tone and accompanying jokes clarify together, little touch by little touch, the author's position and the public's expected interpretation).
Most of this boils down to "My subjective Interpretation of this one joke is the objective truth: thus its offensive AND BY GOD WE CAN HAVE NONE OF THAT"

Im wondering why the triggerhappy people instantly jumped to conclusions, the "hero" could have bedded a crossdresser man prefectly at ease with his given gender or a very femenine man who seduced him on drunken stupor for all we care, the punchline of the joke is on the one who jumped off a cliff, not on his one night´s stand.

But that of course, its another subjective interpretation. Wich is in no way shape or form the objective truth.

See? there is no point on losing sleep over this stuff.
Posted July 20, 2015
We appear to come from many nations, many creeds, with as many variations as the planet provides. Some of us love RPGs, others love FPS. Some love puzzles or strategy games and others love interactive fiction. I love adventure games (actually putting me at odds with TB's tastes).

However, I can say one thing for certain! All of us share a love of games, which brought us to GOG, in the first place! And, if anyone doesn't have a love of games? Well, then I cannot imagine why they would come to such a place.

With this in mind, let's enjoy this place and take advantage of all it has to offer us. There's something for everyone and that's a great thing!
Posted July 20, 2015
low rated
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psumner: The punchline comes at the expense of the transgender woman, who is misgendered as a man. The hero is so repulsed by her that he kills himself, and the audience is meant to find that funny.

This type of humor is called punching down because it comes at the expense of a marginalized group, and it's very common for members of a status quo to rationalize it. The transgender woman who found the joke was herself harassed on Twitter and had to set her account to private.
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pokowalczky: Please comment on games. No one has come here for theories of what is or isn't appropriate in comedy. There are plenty of other forums to discuss that on the internet. GOG is a place to buy and discuss games. Some people find the "punching up/punching down" argument ludicrous and, even, offensive. Others subscribe to it.

Also, I know it's sometimes difficult to realize that one's "American Privilege" is a form of solipsism, but seeing as this is a site based in Poland, with a large international audience, and comparatively few U.S.-based commenters, invoking your own nation's political dramas holds less value than it might in a setting comprised of an American plurality or majority.

We can see that you have a lot of anger, and that's a shame, but we're here to discuss games. Check your setting, here. Thanks.
I am commenting on games in response to someone's defense of controversial game content. The suggestion that Gamergate was purely an America-based campaign is disproved by posters in this very thread, including TotalBiscuit. Your post is nonsensical.
Post edited July 20, 2015 by psumner
Posted July 20, 2015
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pokowalczky: We appear to come from many nations, many creeds, with as many variations as the planet provides. Some of us love RPGs, others love FPS. Some love puzzles or strategy games and others love interactive fiction. I love adventure games (actually putting me at odds with TB's tastes).

However, I can say one thing for certain! All of us share a love of games, which brought us to GOG, in the first place! And, if anyone doesn't have a love of games? Well, then I cannot imagine why they would come to such a place.

With this in mind, let's enjoy this place and take advantage of all it has to offer us. There's something for everyone and that's a great thing!
Cant say I disagree with that.
Posted July 20, 2015
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lunaticox: Most of this boils down to "My subjective Interpretation of this one joke is the objective truth: thus its offensive AND BY GOD WE CAN HAVE NONE OF THAT"

Im wondering why the triggerhappy people instantly jumped to conclusions, the "hero" could have bedded a crossdresser man prefectly at ease with his given gender or a very femenine man who seduced him on drunken stupor for all we care, the punchline of the joke is on the one who jumped off a cliff, not on his one night´s stand.

But that of course, its another subjective interpretation. Wich is in no way shape or form the objective truth.

See? there is no point on losing sleep over this stuff.
The objective truth is the limerick itself, which contains none of the fan-fiction you made up to rationalize it, and none of which erases the transphobia anyway. The joke is clear. The punchline comes at the expense of a transgender woman who is considered so shameful that the man jumps off a cliff, which the audience is supposed to find funny. Obsidian agreed that the joke was offensive and removed it. A noisy but small segment of the population had a nervous breakdown and decided transphobic jokes in videogames were the hill it was going to die on. They lost that culture war, just as Gamergate did. I imagine it must be a very anxious existence to hold these positions, watching bitterly as society constantly rejects them and moves on.

Videogames are a part of pop culture and are subject to cultural criticisms and analyses of their social impact, just like any other art. I think much of the defense of the joke really came down to resentment over expanding inclusiveness and diversity, which threatens the narrowly defined "gamer" label that was so accurately described as dead last year. You can't praise games as art while dismissing attempts to critically discuss their social impact without coming off as a myopic curmudgeon.
Post edited July 20, 2015 by psumner
Posted July 20, 2015
This thread makes me sad.
Posted July 20, 2015
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Wurzelkraft: This thread makes me sad.
It's not the thread that makes me sad.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionWeekend Promo: TotalBiscuit Recommends(447 posts)(447 posts)
(447 posts)