Fun with DX:HR on YouTube.

John P. on 27/9/2011 at 15:16

Agreed that YouTube is flooded with lame videos with no other point than to show an "awesome" takedown, but my point with this thread was of course to post the good videos out there, that has had some thought put into them.

I have to say - when I played the game (haven't gotten around to replaying), I never even tried the takedowns or the Typhoon or any weapon at all in fact, on civilians (well, except a few thugs).

It just didn't occur to me that it was even possible(!). When I play a game the first time through, I enter it as if I was actually there myself, and try to get immersed in it. I played the game with the takedown indicator icon gone too, so I guess it never occurred to me that it was OK to take down civilians. Of course I could have deduced it, but the thought just wasn't in my head.

I had planned to go through it again in a more "let's see what I can get away with in this game" fun run later, though.

What I don't like about all those takedown videos is that it gives people who haven't played the game the impression that this is the ultimate badass mass murdering game, when it's the freedom you're given that makes it possible, and you can equally easily do a stealth/non-lethal run.

Dia on 27/9/2011 at 16:14

Quote Posted by John P.

What I don't like about all those takedown videos is that it gives people who haven't played the game the impression that this is the ultimate badass mass murdering game, when it's the freedom you're given that makes it possible, and you can equally easily do a stealth/non-lethal run.

Seconded. I'm playing 'non-lethal' this time thru and lovin' it, though while trying to explain the whole premise of HR to a friend, all he could say was, 'Yeah, I saw some pretty crazy videos where the main character was like Wolverine - retractable blades; awesome!'. My response was an immediate facepalm.

Re: stealth - after all these years of playing Thief I'd have thought the stealth part of HR would be like a walk in the park. Not. Don't get me wrong; it's still great fun trying! I just happen to suck at it when things heat up. I really like the fact that HR gives you the options of lethal/non-lethal.

DDL on 27/9/2011 at 18:54

I found a lot of the stealth super hard initially (in that they'd sometimes put dudes staring RIGHT AT a spot that you had to cross), but then I remembered m'DX training re: box-based distractions. Flinging boxes into corners noisily solves an awful lot of guard-avoidance problems.

Mind you, it also resulted in my least proud HR moment: backtracking most of the level to pick up a dustbin from a gent's toilet just so I could have something to throw and distract guards.

Worse: it was glued to the floor. :(

june gloom on 27/9/2011 at 19:08

Quote Posted by henke

What he's doing is making himself feel morally superior by picking on VA for making a non-PC joke. And he's done a wonderful job of derailing the thread. Goddammit dethtoll.

Stop before you hurt yourself.

Why mention women specifically? Why not just "I find fake violence against random NPCs hilarious?" You can huff and puff and bluster all you want about how "that's not what he meant" (despite the fact that yes, yes it was, as evidenced by his latest post) but it doesn't change the fact that what he said is fucked up. He may not have really meant to sound like a misogynist intentionally, but the fact is, he sounded like a misogynist, I called him on it, and as a response he's only digging his hole deeper. Don't jump in with him.

What I don't understand is why when I call someone out for making a comment that is just plain fucked up- i.e. "I find fake violence against women hilarious"- I get jumped on for being overly sensitive. This is a pattern with TTLG, I've noticed. Why are you defending it so hard? Oh, wait, I forgot, this is the place that crawled up my ass about Roman Polanski. Fucking hipsters trying to be edgy. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

DDL on 27/9/2011 at 19:31

Hey, I also find killing kids with coffee cups in IW hilarious.

"HEY KID! THINK FAST"

*smash*

In answer to your question though: mentioning women specifically because it's "wronger", thus funnier. The same principle applies to kids (which as driver noted, you don't seem to have a problem with?).

In essence, while incidence of people being smashed in the face/stabbed by mechanically augmented individuals is...quite low in our current society, the incidence of men having random fistfights in the streets is probably higher than that of women having random fistfights (though up here in manchester it's mostly cause they're busy smacking each other with the heels of their shoes).

THUS:

Things that differ from the norm are often funny.

Things that differ MORE from the norm are often funnier.

From this we can conclude that it's not unreasonable to find totally unjustified (but fake) violence against totally unsuspecting (but fake) women to be funnier than equivalent totally unjustified (but fake) violence against totally unsuspecting (but fake) men.

And you're not being accused of being overly sensitive, just overly...picking entirely the wrong argument.

june gloom on 27/9/2011 at 20:02

Except it's not funny. I mean, aside from the fact that these videos are painfully juvenile and honestly a little sickening, you guys really need to consider why you think the portrayal of violence against women- such as "Extreme Nipple Twister"- is hilarious. And please, don't split hairs with me over "real women vs. fake women," because that's just insulting. A video of someone slaughtering NPCs entirely at random without regard for race or gender is one thing, but videos that focus exclusively on assaulting female NPCs and laughing about it is another.

Regarding the kids thing... women have been the subject of systematic dehumanization for a very long time; meanwhile, society protects its children. People think killing a kid with a coffee cup is hilarious because society thinks it's wrong. People think Extreme Nipple Twister is hilarious because society thinks it's okay. I personally don't give a shit about killing kids in video games; I don't do it myself but it's not an issue with me. Hell, killing female NPCs as part of general gameplay isn't an issue either- the random raider in Fallout 3 or whatever. What is an issue is the idea that LOOK AT ME I SHOVED GIANT BLADES THROUGH THIS CHICK'S TITS is LOL SO FUNNEE. Is it funny because you're fucking immature- and I say this as someone who laughs at fart jokes- or because you have an opinion about women you don't want to admit, if only to yourself? Question your motives.

DDL on 27/9/2011 at 20:14

So it's a specific video you have trouble with? If so, say so. Because the titty twister video isn't really that good anyway, because it's just bad video editing of an already ropy animation, whereas "HOWDY CAP'N!" *PUNCH* is funny as hell for sheer wrongness.

Also, I think you have massively massively missed the point.

Again.

D'Juhn Keep on 27/9/2011 at 20:53

Thread title becomes bitterly ironic

Sulphur on 27/9/2011 at 21:12

Fun with Dix: Human Resources?

june gloom on 27/9/2011 at 23:58

Quote Posted by DDL

So it's a specific video you have trouble with? If so, say so.

No.

Quote:

Also, I think you have massively massively missed the point.

Again.

And what was the point? That violence against NPC females is funny because they're not real people or NPC males? Because that's exactly what you said, and I'm telling you that's fucked up.