This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I can neither agree or disagree with such a vague assertion. When did the drop off happen? What are some notable examples of poor writing? What sort of games do you actively seek out and which do you avoid?
In creating my own mental shortlist of games I'd recommend on the strength of their writing, I find it starts in the early 00s and continues right up to the present day. This is pretty consistent with the transformation that happened around the turn of the millenium, where genres that had previously included only the bare minimum of writing suddenly had characters the audience cared about and plots that were more than just the connective tissue between levels. Naughty Dog went from Crash Bandicoot to Uncharted in less than a decade, and many studios went through similar if not quite so dramatic shifts.
If I had to offer an explanation as to why you feel writing is worse, it's because it's much, much harder to ignore now. In many games you simply cannot escape voiced dialogue unless the developer had the charity to offer a distinct volume slider for it. Audio logs are fucking everywhere, friendly NPCs chatter, disembodied voices give instructions and repetitive incidental dialogue just won't die (No one has as many friends as the man with many cheeses). Probably most egregious are the walk-and-talk segments that Ubisoft (I believe) pioneered, which are the worst incarnation of the unskippable cutscene yet. Maybe they're 'invisible' to the average player which is why they've become the expository vehicle of choice for titles like the new God of War.
Anyway if you're looking for some good writing in a scifi setting I'd recommend The Talos Principle.
More options
Context Copy link