She was the one that penned the original "Gamers are Dead, Gamers don't have to be your Audience" article.

Though considering the GameJournoPros list that later came to light, I can hardly call her the author with certainty considering this was probably made among them and then altered slightly for each republication.

Autists are really susceptible to this for some reason.

You're promised acceptance. And it's easy acceptance.

They don't want to be women. They want to be treated like women. They want the perceived social benefits. They want to be treated as intrinsically valuable by society at large, rather than a disposable wallet.

I don't entirely blame them for wanting those things. The sad thing is that they turn to what is ultimately an addiction, constantly chasing these things they will never actually achieve. And when it doesn't work out, more often than not they turn to pushing it on others to delude themselves that they didn't make the wrong decision. The decision to turn to grooming is part of the denial to keep the delusion going.

As much as I think they're scum, I do also feel sorry for them. Because it must suck going through all that and still being a loser at the end of the day.

I watched it last night and couldn't disagree more.

Aesthetically, you're correct, it looked amazing. There were clear influences from Alien Isolation too. And there were some interesting ideas with the aliens. But the film explicitly relies on the characters being idiots, and I mean being idiots and not just lacking in information. The film relies on positive reception with "winks and nods to the other films"..... what are these "winks and nods"? Blatant line repetition or scene replication. Because you liked those scenes in the other films, yeah? So you'll like those scenes done all over again but worse, right?

And then there's the contrivances. I know a contrived plot is generally a given for just about any horror, but this was a little too much. Between a door conveniently being too strong for young adults to smash but weak enough for handful of facehuggers to smash with ease (but later glass doors being too strong), and an elevator on a space station designed with a counter-weight system, it was just too much for me. Just silly little contrivances over and over and over.

Oh, and the rhythm of the plot? Do you want the second half of Covenant again, which was the second half of the original Aliens but worse? Congrats, you can have that yet again.

Honest to god, I would rather watch Alien Resurrection again. Because for as bad as that movie is, it's at least entertaining. Hell, I'll take Prometheus and Covenant over this.

If I wanted to watch the old scenes, I'd watch the originals films they're from. Not this film that does them again but worse. Is it without bad scenes? No, there were some good scenes, but they were few and far between.

This clip that I'm linking was recorded in 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/GTn1He86oJk

For those that don't want to watch the minute-or-so clip, it basically points out that in 2018, Russia had 400 arrests for posts on various social media. And that's a travesty. It then points out that there were 3300 arrests in the UK for posts on social media.

There is no doubt about this. It's not ambiguous. It's not a matter of debate. The reality is that the West is living under tyranny. A very comfortable tyranny, but tyranny all the same.

The issue is that for decades, media has portrayed tyranny as this all oppressive force that leaves the people in a depressive shamble. A dystopia. But the truth is that isn't needed for tyranny. It just needs useful idiots to turn a blind eye because the thugs of the state aren't beating in their heads.

Tyranny came to the west a long time ago. And it's grown, and grown, and grown. Never let these people obfuscate the truth. They are tyrants, through and through. There is no excuse for their actions.

They look so..... hollow.

And I know that there've been a few ex-influencers that have said as such about that "lifestyle" (and I use that very loosely), but even then they look like imitation people. Just waiting for the next product to consume and sell. I'd feel sorry for them, except I'm not sure there's really a "them" to feel sorry for. What's left of being a "person" when you're like that?

That is true, and there's plenty of plot-lines that try to push the "here's this rebel faction of the agency", but it still pushes the idea that these people who are infringing on peoples rights are the outliers and not the main agency.

But you are right that many of the villains are the way they are through the government, and not just some rebel faction.

Honestly, I suspect Firefly is never getting a revival now because of the message it ultimately held, which was largely anti-government, or at the very least anti-centralised government. It was popular back in the day for such a stance (look how close Ron Paul actually got to winning the primaries. That's the reason his face was a reaction image for quite some time). Could you imagine how quickly it would kill a career to make a project that's actually anti-big government anymore? One that's actually critical of the establishment as a whole? I don't see it happening anytime soon in the mainstream, but once upon a time, it was popular, and not just because people like rebels.

There's a reason that Alan Moore hates his work. Because it speaks far more to an anti-central power, and that's a right-wing ideal, even if he doesn't want to accept it. And Whedon's work with Firefly reflects that.

Zach is supposedly a libertarian, but that label is so broad these days that it could mean anything from "I just wanna smoke weed in peace and everything else is fine" to "I want actual small government". I've not really looked into it solely because I don't care that much. Like yeah, cool, one of the very few non-leftists in Hollywood, but I also don't care what some actor has to say about politics regardless. I don't go to a bus driver for tax advice, I don't go to a lawyer to buy a fridge, and I don't turn to actors for political takes, even if a good or bad take can come from anywhere.

But it is surprising when you see people who by all rights shouldn't be fans of something actively and openly propagating that very thing. Like Chuck was 2007-2012. That was right after the PEAK of things like Obama's administration utilising smart tech (TVs being a big one in the media at the time) for the purposes of monitoring US citizens. But here are two people that should have been critical of that basically shilling for the NSA and CIA. It's so bizarre.

Wanna know the best thing about this thread? That archive shows where the thread was at that point, and so many people LEAPT at the opportunity for group-think. But take a look at it now. The thread is deleted and locked (no surprise there from the mods), and all the top comments are rightfully calling the devs out for being pissy about two reviews that mentioned pronouns.

People bitch about legacy media being eager to run with a story and then never correct it once later information comes out, but social media like Reddit is worse. Because those idiots that instantly and eagerly ran to defend those devs will never admit that the devs manipulated them by omitting the truth of the situation.

These people WANT to be victims. They do not want to be accepted. They want the social currency that victimhood gets them.

Honestly, it goes back years for this kind of thing. Watched Chuck for the first time a few years ago, and it's kind of amazing just how blatantly the show is federal propaganda. Just unabashedly pro CIA and NSA. And it's weird because you have both Zack Levi and Adam Baldwin, both of whom are right-wing/libertarian adjacent, and it's just shocking how pro-state the show ends up being.

It's nothing new, but once you start noticing things like that, it's hard to not always notice it.

Does this mean I can also opt out of online/central moderation too? Or is that non-negotiable? (obvious answer is obvious)

By your logic, there should be no removals, nor bans, for any reason, under any circumstance, because all removals can be re-displayed as "preservation" including illegal content.

By your assertion of my logic, you mean. You seem to think disagreeing that YOUR interpretation of THIS instance (and/or any other) means that I disagree with ALL instances of moderation.

This is what I mean about you being jaded. You've lost all respect for any critique. Any nudge in the right direction. You just handwave it away as some crackpot that wants no rules at all, when that simply isn't the case.

And that's why now you're not even bothering with the content of the issue. Instead you're diverting into other attack to deflect away from the critique at hand: This comment should not have been removed, and was only removed solely on the basis that you found it icky. And while I agree that it can be interpreted that way and would therefore be disgusting, I also know the clear fucking intent here. That you want to assume the worst is a direct fault of your own, not a fault of the community at large.

There are several ways to find out exactly what was said if you really want to.

"Please sir, you're free to speak in this specially designated free-speech zone"

What a fucking joke.

you have never been able to advocate for children getting raped. No in in KIA1 ever allowed it. No one ever allowed in KIA2 ever allowed it before I got added. I carry on that tradition.

Cool, great, but frankly, I doubt you in that this comment included what you say it included. It might be interpreted that way. But I doubt it's as cut and dry as you are making it seem to be. Your word does not have the trust-worthiness that you seem to think it does. And going "well, if you just jump through these hoops that make your experience objectively more frustrating, you can still totally follow along" is utterly stupid.

So sure. Carry on and continue to pretend like nothing is a problem. Like you're not jaded and beginning to ignore long-time users here simply because YOU don't want to acknowledge there's a problem. Hide behind that which is easy to defend while you ignore your other shit solely because other places are less open and "lackadaisical". Because again, fuck that pedo shit, but I still doubt you.

Edit: After looking it up, yeah, I don't think this should have been removed. Is it an asshole comment? You bet. Is it encouraging rape? No, and only someone demented would think so. Especially considering you don't know the circumstances. What if the man who got her pregnant was also legally underage? I'm not a fan of it, but I'm not retarded enough to not know that these days, sadly, kids are getting sexual far younger than they should. And they shouldn't. That isn't encouraging rape, and you damn well know it.

There's been talk (and attempts) at this stuff for years (For example, Here's KiA5). The problem is that the more this stuff happens, the more splintered it all gets and each tiny little offshoot is more personalised and niche and as a result, more insular.

Unless you get a near 100% adoption rate via exodus, it's just going to cause less cohesion. And what sucks is that people like Dom know this. So either people jump ship and the community gets divided up into more factions, or we stick around and bear his bullshit. It's a lose lose for everyone but people like Dom, which is why for months now people have been pleading with him to either change his ways or let someone else in to help out, all to no avail.

I honest to god find it baffling how ANYONE trusts an alphabet agency. After decades of admitted wrong-doing, for some reason with absolutely no motivation at all, we're meant to believe these agencies somehow self-reformed, and then we still see shit like bulldozing terrorist camps, secretly cremating bodies and "there was no motive" over the worst public shooting in US history (Stephen Paddock).

At every opportunity, these agencies have spent decades actively working against the public, but for some reason there's this very weird very obtuse belief that they arbitrarily changed their mind.

And I don't know what's worse. The people who believe the lie that these agencies are the good guys, or that they can or even should reform them to work in their favour.

It was victim-blaming the rape of a minor.

And how do we know that now? You've censored it, and it's down to your diminishingly trustworthy word.

Since when did we shift from free speech, even unlikable speech, to censoring that which is uncomfortable? I know I'm not the first to make this point, but come on, this is hard to defend as anything less than censorship because it makes you uncomfortable.

And I have no problem with it making you uncomfortable or angry or whatever. But this place was always meant to get away from that Reddit mentality of constant censorship on the emotional reactions of controlling mods. You were legitimately better than this. And I get that modding leaves anyone jaded, but it's such a shame that you don't want to even consider that maybe you're not doing the right thing by the rest of the sub.

And yet it got positive reception, and open discussion. Why are we taking a broad approach to restricting speech here again?

And don't get me wrong, fuck that pedo freak right off, but why extend that to proper discussions? You just make it harder for anyone else coming in to follow along with what was being talked about.

I ditched team-based and solo online quite a while ago now. It's pretty much exclusively limited to co-op, and even that is a rarity for me.

Multiplayer became shit because of the emphasis on matchmaking and public servers. Private servers allowed for self-moderation (or the lack thereof if you preferred) and was infinitely better for nearly everyone. Did you want an unironically good Christian server that didn't allow swearing? It probably existed. You want one where you can troll to your hearts content? It existed. Wanted a try-hard server? You bet those existed too.

The only type of person matchmaking benefits are those delusional enough to believe the algorithm works in matching them up with others. But the hard truth is that it never does. You will never get a skin-head and a feminist to get along online. It simply doesn't happen. But matchmaking says we should put these two in a lobby and surely this will work out.

The end of the private server as the default is the biggest hit to the health of the online gaming landscape, and nothing will change my mind.

And I'm not going to arm up and storm the White House over something that hasn't even happened here yet, and never will

Never said you should.

I don't know why me saying "this attitude breeds complacency" has got you so worked up. There are plenty of uncharitable assumptions that could be made, but I don't think they need to be made. You could have moved on by now, but it really struck deep with you, didn't it?

Trade Paperbacks. It's basically the term used generally used for collections of issues sold together.

But since you are so hung up on "bravado", how about you explain to us what about the UK going after Twitter users constitutes crossing a line that American citizens should be revolting over.

Your whole bravado was:

Good luck with that. We haven't been subjects of the crown for over two centuries. Your laws don't mean shit here.

And in response to that, I pointed out that it's all good that it doesn't mean shit, until it suddenly does. Because here's something that has happened: The government has sold people down river in the past. It hasn't happened yet regarding this, and therefore it doesn't matter, until suddenly it does. You then wanted to take it all personal.

What I wasn't doing was telling you to do anything, except that maybe you should take threats seriously and not just endlessly scoff because you think you're perpetually immune. Because shit changes, and it can change fast.

But fuck it. If that's the person you want to be, you go right ahead and ignore those threats. It's amazing how easy it is to boil a frog.

Honestly, even if CDPR hadn't decided to hand over the reigns to a moron, I still wouldn't have the highest of hopes for this. It's the way it's worded where "it's not about him this time" just seems like it's meant to be disrespectful.

Also, it's modern day. Even a semi-trusted developer like they once were wouldn't really be that trustworthy in my opinion.

Except I'm not looking pathetic. You're here trying to bring an internet slap fight in front of other users because you got emotionally wounded by it. And instead of even considering that others might disagree with you too, you have to cope and immediately jump to "alts, alts, muh aaaaallllllltttttsssss" rather than anything else.

You're getting this worked up because a stranger called you on your bravado. And it clearly struck a nerve because a normal person that disagreed would simply go "pfft, whatever" and move on. But you're desperate for attention and want other users to back you up.

Do you think anyone wants to back you up? Has anyone leapt in here to back you up? Or do you think they see a weird internet slapfight and they're just leaving it alone for the most part?

Since you want to keep this going, but didn't want to post here...

Your other comment in full:

You sperged out because we aren't torching the White House over the opinions of some idiot cop in the UK. It isn't bravado to not be worried about it, not being a subject of the UK and all.

But weirdly your posts were miraculously instantly getting multiple upvotes even though the thread was dead and buried. It's absolutely pathetic. What kind of complete loser has to upvote his own posts on a middle of the nowhere forum like this to feel better about themselves? Or are you just trying to forum slide with your blackpill doomer shit? Either way, get a life.

My response:

You sperged out because we aren't torching the White House over the opinions of some idiot cop in the UK.

No. I called you on your false bravado. Your attitude of "we'll definitely rise up if this injustice comes to pass" is encouraged to keep you continually saying "we'll do it next time!". But the reality is that shit needs to get worse, and you don't want to even consider that it's true. You're so sure you're safe and secure, but you've had your rights infringed all your life and you've done nothing. And I don't blame you for that. But stop deluding yourself that you're going to rise up. Because that delusion is, funnily enough, stopping you from rising up.

But weirdly your posts were miraculously instantly getting multiple upvotes even though the thread was dead and buried.

Not my concern, but..... there is of course this feature. Literally sorts threads by last comment posted. That's what I'd bet on at least. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What kind of complete loser has to upvote his own posts on a middle of the nowhere forum like this to feel better about themselves?

Dunno. Don't care enough about internet points to even really look. Why were you paying attention to that? It's weird.

Or are you just trying to forum slide with your blackpill doomer shit?

It's not doomer shit. Doomer shit is saying that nothing can be done. It's saying that people still have good lives for the most part and don't want to lose that, even in the face of terrible human rights violations.

What is more likely to get people to do nothing is convincing them to hold onto their safety blanket by deluding themselves that they're totally going to do Something™ next time. Just ignore the countless other times you could have done Something™ and didn't.

If you think it's doomer to be realistic, and to acknowledge that people have shit they don't want to lose, then I'm sorry that you have so little that it supposedly isn't what's stopping you from doing anything.