My Secret Base

While it doesn't have everything I want in it just yet, it's at a stage where I want to share it to my friends who have Pokemon Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire.

Come into my dojo!  If you can find it... :D

-Red

C:

Best birthday present to myself in recent memory.

Thank you GameFreak! :3

-Red

Just some rambling about the coming year

Well, Redlin has got some things going on.

For one thing, the camera I bought over the course of summer is really justifying itself as of lately.  I've been able to shoot footage for a good number of student shorts and whenever I cam op I get incredibly happy.  It's just what I'm wired to do.  I want to keep doing it, get better at it and do it for a living.  There is a lot of other things I can do in the film industry (people say I can direct?!) and I may end up being part of the sound department as the guy holding the stick and the mic above the actors for awhile.  But when it comes down to it, I know what makes me happy and nobody can tell me otherwise.

In less positive news, I'm very uncertain about my ability to continue with my program due to financial reasons.  If I don't get the money I need from the government through a student loan by February, I'm packing up and heading home.  Obviously that would knock a lot of the wind out of my sails but I've been spending the last week and a half contemplating it and its not an utter disaster.  I can still find work back home, build up a bank account and strike out here in the West Coast once again.  I might not get to accomplish my goal of getting my film degree right away but I'll be DAMNED if I'm not going to get myself into the film industry, one way or another.  I don't think I'm much good for much else in the workforce to be honest.  Not in anyway that makes me money and keeps me content...

Hmmm...

I turned 23.  I'm not sure what to think about that.  Still feel the same on the inside.  Still kinda self-anxious...  I'm blogging when I should be sleeping.  I'm my own worst enemy!

In Escapist news, things are going better.  GamerGate (ping, did you just hear that?  That's a view from someone running 24/7 search filters just on the term!  Hello bot-and/or-person who argues loudly on the internet!) has vanished from Off Topic and its a minor renaissance with threads about... THINGS instead of threads about CONSPIRACIES.  It's beautiful and I've just significantly dated this post by even mentioning the subject.  Dunno.  Don't care.  Enjoying the lull in the forums while it lasts.

What else...

I asked a girl out this past weekend.

WELL THAT'S ALL FOLKS

-Red

The Citizen Kane of Gaming - A Rare Facebook Response and Opinion Piece

Hey, ever wondered what I'm like on Facebook?  Turns out I'm a RECLUSE!

Still, I do go on once and a while.  More so during school because a LOT of film kids organize things exclusively through FB and I can't afford to be left out.  These people will be making films and handling real money in the future and it behooves me to ingratiate myself to them now by working on their projects for free, giving them feedback and generally being a guy they'd want to work with in the future.

ANYWAY

An old friend of mine, one that goes WAAAAAY back and has recently changed her identity (power to her) has posted once again that comment she brings up every once and a while:  

"Gaming needs a Citizen Kane.  Some grand work to convince the world of its legitimacy as an artistic medium."

Now in the past I've scoffed or moved on in disinterest but this time I've responded.  Its probably because I was at a screenplay writing class today, finished a screenplay and have been buzzing on "How do I engage my audience" all day.  Going with that "I'mma write things" energy has gotten me in trouble before... >.>

So I posted.  It was long and because Facebook is stupid with not allowing breaks for paragraphs in comments, I will re-format it here for you guys to see.  That's right, its an honest to god Redlin opinion.

At least I know better than to post this in Gaming Discussion.  My writing is already getting torn apart at school.  I've got a blog, might as well use it for things and stuff! :D

 Citizen Kane of Gaming?

A combination of Oscar winning voice acting, script writing and art direction as well as rewarding gameplay is just the beginning. It's going to have to be an entire emotional journey that could not be adequately expressed in any other medium while still being accessible enough for people who have never picked up a controller in their life or pressed WASD in any way outside of typing. It can't be sold to just gamers, its going to have to be sold to everyone. That way it can't be written off by people who have turned away from controls before. Like any good story, the hook has got to be so good and intriguing that the outsider will tolerate learning how to immerse themselves like us.

Existing games with great stories are presented but generally through gameplay videos (which causes the "Why isn't this just a film" question which vexes EVERYONE). Its got to be something that generally is accepted to be only shared by PLAYING it because watching it is worthless in comparison. The problem is there is no gaming publisher with the money to fund such an endeavor who would care to take a risk like that when its entirely too easy just to sell genre games to known markets. The spark for something like this certainly is in the indie market somewhere but they don't have the resources (both in promotion and production budget) to do it on the scale needed for it to break out of the normal markets. 

Hollywood might be slosh because of the fear of risk their executives have right now but in its hayday even they knew enough to put enough money into those innovative movies from unknown directors. Before Jaws there was no Steven Spielberg the Director. Someone took the risk of funding a movie filmed on water (the expense, the inexperience, etc) because they saw a story that could be worth pursuing with a guy motivated to see it through. The Game Industry needs to have a Jaws moment, where a publisher puts the money forward for a visionary team to take that leap and succeed. Of course, Jaws existed before Youtube and I know story spoilers and trolls are much more prolific now than ever before in history. 

What's the answer? 

What's the story that brings in more than just the pre-existing base of gamers? 

 What are the control schemes and game mechanics that aren't insultingly simple yet embrace the coming of brand new players? 

What's the answer to preventing people from sneak peaking it outside of the game experience, censorship on a massive scale? 

Could the gaming community as a whole do the impossible and band together, deciding to NOT record the game (in doing so forcing the curious to actually play it for themselves)? 

I don't know the answers but I am positive the raw materials in the ether that is game design can produce such a title. All it needs is the initial spark and someone rich enough to get it going. We just haven't seen it yet. A Citizen Kane of Gaming, something everyone can agree is the pinnacle of the industry at the time of its release is needed. I just don't think it can be sold for us alone and then be expected to be the definitive proof for those outside without it being something they themselves cannot easily get started. 

And once this gem is made, this best game ever made, this purest experience of the form produced... It has got to be shared in the only way games can ever be considered a legitimate medium of art for: It has to be played.

Hmmmmmmm...  Did I just do what blogs are typically known for?  Did I just...

QUICK, FORGET I HAD AN OPINION

 You didn't see ANYTHING.... <.<

-Red

What the heck

It's me!  This is for an Escapist thread but I'll toss it up here too.  I'm on the left and a friend from school is on my right.  We were the sound team for a shoot and someone wanted a picture of both of us.

-Red

Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. C

 

The traverse speed of the hull needs a buff I think.

-Red

BTW POKEMON REVIEWS (and other things)

I've been informed I'm not rambling enough.

Well, here's a thing I'm doing:

Click here! 

I've started an ambitious review project for that game series I know and love so well.  Remember NOT to comment on this first installment as you can get mod wrathed for bumping old user reviews!

Anyway, that first episode was a lot of fun and I'm slowly gathering my wits to write Episode 2: Pokemon Art Style and Gameplay.  After that for Episode 3 I was going to concentrate on each game's story, focusing not only on the general plots of each game but on all the dialogue and hidden gems that make their worlds feel so vast.  After that I was going to do a concluding thread in which I crown an overall victor when it comes to which Generation that I, in the most objective way I can, determine to be the best.

A big motivator for doing this was the coming release of the 3rd Generation remakes.  Without sitting down and writing these reviews, I don't think I can say for certain which generation I love the most.

*HINT HINT ITS NOT FIVE HINT HINT*

Anyway, that's kind of my project I'm doing for fun on the side. 

News for my life in general?  I have to figure out an auto-claim for my car (joy), secure my finances for this semester (also fun) and not lose all my money in the intermediate period.  Also I got fired.

July sucked but so far I'm making August, albeit a lonely month, a fun one.

 

I'm also playing loads of World of Tanks, gonna try to get into the World of Warships closed Beta and am going to try and write some more before summer ends.  A weekend at a campsite would be nice.

So would a girlfriend.  Be nice I mean. <.<

THERE'S A RAMBLING FOR Y'ALL

-Red  

Everything in Moderation

*sigh*

"DEM DAMN NAZI MODS, I GOT A WARNING FROM THEM CAUSE I USED ALLCAPS AND INSULTED EVERYONE TRYING TO ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION WITH ME"

Or, less sarcastically what is actually being mostly said is:

"The moderation can be schizophrenic and I don't like that because its not fair 100%.  It's too hard to avoid warnings on this site and that is why people don't like the Escapist."

Ladies and Gents, here's a little tidbit you might want to remember if you are unfamiliar with the Escapist: The Mods run on a warning queue, they don't go on random patrols for wrathing others.

If a post gets flagged for moderation enough and it is deemed to be breaking the rules, they will take action.  It's simple and largely directed at the individual by the community reading the post.

Does this mean the moderation is not 100% consistent?  Yes.  That's because our community is not 100% consistent.  What one person will report is something others would just pass over.  If something is truly terrible, it generally does get a report from at least a few people but if the offending post is merely borderline, it may slip through the tracks through the internet version of the Bystander Effect.  Someone else will surely report this!  Or maybe they just scrolled down with disgust but didn't report.

No reports = Low Possibility of being detected randomly by a mod.

It is NOT hard to avoid warnings on the site.  If it wasn't, Sassafrass wouldn't have zero warnings at a 70K+ post count!  Also Jesus Christ Sassafrass...

Anyway, a while ago I caught Kross explaining to someone why the moderation was so strict and apparently heavy handed on certain issues while lenient on others:

with a limited staff.


The guys who run the Tech Team are busy keeping the site functional, the guys at the top of the editorial staff are busy writing the content the magazine is known for and every other paid member of the Escapist staff is also working away at their job.  The hours, insofar as I know, are just in the weekdays and there is only so much time they can turn their attention to issues of community and of punishment.  This is why they are humorless when they have to take the time to review, usually completely petty, moderation appeals.  They are forced out of doing the job they were hired to do, that they want to do in order to babysit someone who feels their warning over calling someone completely worthless in society was unwarranted.

It ain't fun.  The fact that there is a community manager who actually does go through each appeal personally speaks volumes for how much value the site as a whole places on the issue of keeping the community civil.  The fact that there are volunteer moderators across multiple timezones shows that the long term community members also appreciate the value of the standards the rules set for conduct in the forums.

People new (or just being difficult) may find it impossible to comprehend but this moderation system the best option for managing the huge number of daily posts that a popular forum gets.  The net is dependent on what the mods see on their own or what the community flags for their attention.  If the mods are in error, the warning (a WARNING, not a site BAN people!) can be appealed to be stricken from the record.  This takes time because it goes over the mods heads and ends up going to someone paid to do many other things in the weekday.

So why is this such an issue for the vocal minority?

A warning is public.  A warning bruises an ego.  A warning means that they were wrong and on the internet, you can never be wrong and people will go into massive sprawling posts to defend something that really, really is petty.  Being wrong is just something that doesn't happen to me!! <_<

I've been slapped on the wrists for low content posts in the past.  I appealed one, the rest I accepted as fair.  I've been goofy and sometimes I take funny derailing too far.  When I get warned, it stings but I don't take it personally as if a Mod was out to get me.  I broke a rule and got punished for it in a very small way.  I can still go about my daily postings and live my life off the site.  I DON'T NEED TO AVENGE MY POST!

Anyway, just my thoughts on this again.  Much respect to the mods who patiently go over this over and over again.

I need a bacon sandwich.

-Red

I require this picture

No questions.

-Red

EDIT: Bonus, knives!

Escapist site testign

I blame Kross.

-Red

Upload post

No girls ever ask me that IRL... ;~;

Also I posted another WoT replay.

-Red

Well, this is happening now

Someone gave me power.

Well, a lot of power anyway.  Like I said in the thread, it got me thinking.  I prefer to work co-operatively than to take charge and order people about but that's what a DP does when the set is handed over to him.  The Director is in charge of the story, the cast and how he wants to see it all done in the end.  How all those shots are accomplished however is my responsibility.

So I'm going to have to be a leader in the coming weeks.

I'm sure I'll blog about how that develops.

-Red

P.S. - I might drop off the radar more than I have already when things get very busy.

Video is up!

It's taken a little while to upload it but after some quality checks, I've released my next replay video for everyone to see.

...

I guess Google thinks it doesn't exist and cannot be embedded so here's a link.

So I kill things and stuff.  Also I now know the fps is low in my recordings but unfortunately that's not likely to improve for some time as I recorded a LOT of footage before World of Tanks updated to its current patch.  All I need to do is add commentary.

Anyway, I might be able to be Director of Photography for my next school project if I play my cards right so if I do get that role I will be dropping off the radar again.  Curse my future career being so time consuming!! XD

Take care guys,

-Red

Busy

Well this is getting busy.

I have a business meeting today where I get marked as it were a class based on my appearance and my business card (which I had shipped to me earlier this week).  After that I plan to meet up with an English prof and go through my current novel and get his thoughts/suggestions on how I can move towards getting it eventually published after I've finished my first draft.  After that I have to do some group work then go home and get a good night of sleep in because if I don't wake up early and lobby hard for myself, I might not be the camera operator/director of photography for this 3 page script we're shooting that I really, REALLY want to be the one in charge of the camera for.

Then after that I have to do a presentation and then I'm finally done for reading break.

Or not really.

I have an Essay and I want to film an inspiration video during that time.  Plus friends want to do some sort of Let's Play thing.

University.  It gets you running.

I'd post more on the Escapist and stuff but I'm actually fighting the clock these days.  My relief valve right now is Pokemon, which I'm playing more than I have in the last 6 months.  Thank god for portable gaming and thank you guys for an awesome 3DS to do it on. :3

Cheers!

-Red

So I did that replay video thingy I menioned in the FG chat

And this is the result.  I'm reliably informed that the audio still dips down but I'm understandable throughout the whole thing so I suppose that's alright.

This is the first time I've put up content with the intention of making a little bit of a series out of it since my ill fated Pokemon Yellow LP back in the day.

I wonder how this will all pan out when I'm done my first 17 replays. o:

-Red

That was incredible.... Thank you.

You.

You all know who you are.

You are the people on the Internet I've befriended and have never done anything to deserve such a gift from.

Today I came home after a frustrating experience in Calgary.  After a great visit with my friend Marter (one of the first of you lovely Escapists I've bonded with) I discovered I had missed my flight.  I had to pay for a new ticket and sleep on a bench for 6 hours to wait for the next flight home.  On the way back I had a baby wailing in my ear and I had some pain in my left ear as the plane descended.  I made my way to the public transit system and then hauled my suitcase and carry-on bags up 5 blocks.

Not exactly fun but that's life.

What happened when I entered my room after visiting with my land lady erased all of that instantly.  Upon opening a plain cardboard box I came upon something that instantly humbled me.  I literally couldn't speak due to the surprise.

But let's back up a little bit.

Due to the persistence of one amazing individual by the name of xmbts on the Escapist, I finally gave in and surrendered my address to her.  She sent me a package which I couldn't receive due to custom fees my landlady refused to pay.  The package was to be returned to sender and when I explained what had happened to xmbts she quickly got a hold of the shipping company.  By the time that was sorted out I was flown out East to have a terrific Christmas holiday with my parents.

After ensuring the package would not be turned away by my landlady in my absence a second time by leaving a note mentioning it, I promptly forgot all about the package.  So when I entered the door and my landlady mentioned it (before launching into a long conversation about stuff I didn't care about but had to endure for the sake of being polite >_>) I remembered it and figured it would be something like a shirt or a maybe a poster...  I had no idea what it was going to be but I didn't expect THIS:

As xmbts will doubtless retell to you, I couldn't really coherently respond for a time.  Certainly all of the weariness of travel melted away but something else dawned on me after the initial shock slowly wore off.  I haven't felt this way about a present since 1999.  The Christmas morning I woke up as an 8 year old and found a Gameboy Color under the tree with a copy of Pokemon Yellow and Super Mario Bros. Deluxe was the last time I was hit with such a speechless, powerful joy in a split second. 

xmbts was quick to tell me that it wasn't all her.  That Maxieon and others were behind it too.  I have to tell you right now that I cannot possibly say thank you adequately enough to describe how I feel about this gift but I'll try anyway:

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY POKEMON LOVING HEART!!!

That was the best Christmas present surprise that I've had in years.  I feel bad that I can't know of a way to repay you guys in a better way but I suppose I'll just have to say this in the meantime: I am never leaving the Escapist.  Ever.  I want to be friends and hopefully bring smiles to you guys for decades to come.  You people truly have started 2014 in an amazingly positive way for me and after a difficult 2013 I can think of no better therapy than to start playing more Pokemon.  I totally believed I was done with the series seeing as family would never gift it to me again and I wasn't going to buy anymore Pokemon games myself.  I suppose this means I'll be wearing hats and shuffling around in the grass for a long, long time!

Seeing as I have a lot of playing to do now (I still haven't started Black 2) I will have to wrap this up.  I don't want you guys to do anything like this for me again, I think you might give me a joyful heart attack!  

If you guys ever want to talk, just hit me up. 

I could not be more happy today to be a member of such an amazing fellowship of gamers.

Once again I'm speechless, I have no more words.

Thank you.

-Red

First post of the year

My blog is called ramblings for a reason.  I saw it and liked it. 

I DO WHAT I WANT!

-Red