I'll start things off.

This is old shit, but if you remember when Gamergate was at its height, a lot of them complained about "walking simulators," games like Gone Home, Dear Esther, etc. with very little in the way of typical gameplay mechanics like challenges that have to be overcome through skill or failure states. Gamergate dipshits seized on a white-hot, psychopathic hatred of these games, spinning the lack of skill required into bizarre conspiracy theories about game journalists promoting these as a plot by non-gamers to pave the way for the infiltration of gaming by "anti-gamers." Also because a lot of these games are about minorities, who of course GG assholes considered by default to not be "real gamers."

The thing is, I don't like walking simulators either. I've only played a few, but the only one I even kind of enjoyed was The Beginner's Guide (and even then, I don't think I would've missed out on much if I'd watched a longplay instead). The medium is the message, as the old saying goes, and the ability to engage through interaction with the mechanics is what sets games apart from other media. Walking simulators (and visual novels, but that's a different gripe) don't take advantage of this in a way that gets me invested. To me, a walking simulator feels like the equivalent of a movie that consists solely of a guy sitting in a chair and reading a story out loud.

The difference between me and a GG dipshit, of course, is that my dislike of the genre doesn't hinge on ridiculous conspiracy theories or hatred of minorities, and also that rather than wage some crusade to kick walking sims out of the gaming club, I just don't play them. In any case, though, the association is strong enough that it's something I tend to avoid bringing up.

  • axont [she/her, comrade/them]
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    edit-2
    3 years ago

    Taxation is coercive, alienating, and also lazy. I almost never bring up that opinion because for a lot of chuds, that's their primary political stance. I sometimes use it as a wedge though, like I might bring up to folks that most people in Cuba and the DPRK pay nothing in taxes. The DPRK only has a wealth tax and I believe in Cuba you're only taxed if you operate or work for a private business.

    I like norse mythology and Roman history. It's interesting is all.

    This one is going to sound strange, but it's just my experience out in the wild. Maybe it's just where I live. Expressing a negative opinion of Elon Musk offline is like a slot machine. It's difficult to predict how the other person will react, because Musk among the general population has a very confused reputation. He doesn't easily slot into the culture war, so having a negative opinion of him could easily come across as right wing or very liberal. I've been mistaken for a chud a few times because I hate Teslas and don't believe they do anything to have a positive environmental impact. That's immediately digested as me believing climate change isn't real, both by chuds and liberals. He's an epic liberal science guy to libs and he's an epic business free speech guy to chuds, or he's vice-versa if they don't like him. He's like a kaleidoscope if you lack class consciousness.

    I actually do like walking simulators a lot. Does Yume Nikki count? I'm also really into LSD: Dream Emulator. I like games that give you a very strange environment to explore. Being in control of the camera and where you walk is a way of interacting and can be done immersively. The games often go further than that by encouraging you to think about what you're being shown. You put together the context of the game through clues handed out to you. Walking simulators are often kinda mysterious or surreal, so yeah there's a level of interaction there where you gotta figure out what's even going on.