On Another Note About Gaming Discourse: Its Always The Same Complaints About Stuff That Honestly Make

On another note about gaming discourse: it’s always the same complaints about stuff that honestly make no sense. “Marvel dialogue” this, “Fortnite artstyle” that, “Oh it looks like a hero shooter” when no, it really doesn’t.

It’s enough to make me scream, and I’m pretty damn sure people do this because they saw their favorite reviewer say the same thing, and now they just parrot the arguments for most things, even when not applicable!

Sorry I had to get this off my chest. Rant over.

I’m gonna be honest, if someone uses the term “Marvel Dialogue/Writing” to criticize a game, or complain that something’s “Quippy” when there’s a similar property out there that uses similar dialogue and gets a pass, I’m gonna raise eyebrows and squint at your so-called “critique”.

(Seriously, these two “criticisms” have been feeling more and more dog whistle-y lately)

Shoutout to leftists who are too poor/disabled to give back to their community.

Shoutout to leftists who are too poor/disabled to shop at local/small businesses.

Shoutout to leftists who are poor/disabled and have to buy things from Amazon and other megacorps because it’s the most cheap or convenient.

Shoutout to leftists who are too poor/disabled to reduce their environmental footprint because they need the single-use plastics.

Shoutout to leftists who can’t go vegan because of dietary needs, disordered eating, or neurodivergence.

Shoutout to leftists who can’t volunteer or go to community events/protests/noise demonstrations because of inaccessibility.

Shoutout to leftists who can only be politically active online because they’re housebound.

Shoutout to leftists who are disabled and are rarely politically active because they simply don’t have the energy.

Shoutout to leftists who can’t be politically active because they’re under the care of a guardian or are trapped in an abusive situation, and they don’t have control over their finances/belongings.

Shoutout to leftists who can’t read theory, or who have trouble reading theory, but still do their best to learn.

Shoutout to leftists who can’t understand theory at all because of cognitive/intellectual disability.

Shoutout to leftists who want to be more active in their community but can’t because they struggle with anxiety, socializing, or maintaining relationships.

Shoutout to leftists with personality disorders, complex trauma disorders, conduct disorders, OCD, psychosis, and any other leftist whose personality or thoughts often unwillingly go against their beliefs due to a trauma response or chemical imbalance.

Shoutout to leftists who don’t have any “practical” skills that would be needed in a commune (i.e farming, building, sewing)

Shoutout to leftists who are too busy simply trying to survive to even think about being politically active.

Shoutout to leftists who have to always ask for mutual aid but can never give back.

Shoutout to all the leftists who can’t do this and can’t do that and can’t do the things that leftists are “supposed” to do. No one person is perfect.

You aren’t a fake leftist for not being able to do these things. All that matters is that you put in the effort, in whatever way that you can.

It’s not about your abilities as an individual. It’s about our power as a collective.

CY_BORG may be one of the most gloriously anti-establishment games I’ve had the pleasure of reading through. I was certainly enjoying the world-building and the picture of this inescapable dystopia, but I think the moment I fell in love was the first page of the rules for the system. On this page it says, “You are encouraged to break every single rule in this book. Except this one.

Rule #00

Player characters cannot be loyal to or have sympathy for the corps, the cops, or the capitalist system. They might find themselves reluctantly forced to do missions for them or their minions. But make no mistake—they are the enemy.” Talk about a powerful thesis statement.

I do think if I ran a campaign in CY_BORG I’d likely want to make it a little more hopeful than the corebook. (in the sense that you could possibly have a chance of destroying the system and create something better, but I’ll wholly admit that to do this would require me to change or ignore certain aspects of the setting.) Of course, this is also to point out that TTRPG systems are intended to help facilitate telling a story that you and the people you’re playing with actually want to participate in, so if changes are needed, then they should be made.

Imagining this theoretical campaign I’d probably run at least three or four adventures in the system’s suggested way so the players can get REALLY disenfranchised with the world before I offer the seeds of sedition and revolution. 😁✨

I’ll say this about the new Fallout show; it at least has allowed me to identify the absolute nutters in the community and provide a free block list for me. Seriously people, calm the fuck down…y’all are making me dislike New Vegas by association.