GWJ Conference Call Episode 575

Forza 7, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Through The Ages, Destiny 2, Galaxy Trucker, Video Game Middle Manager, Your Emails and More!

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This week Shawn, Allen and Julian talk about playing the middle manager in games and more!

To contact us, email [email protected]! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about or whatever else is on your mind.

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Show credits

Music credits: 

Juparo - Broke for Free - http://brokeforfree.com/ - 30:49

Tropicks - Broke for Free - http://brokeforfree.com/ - 42:03

Comments

00:02:57 Forza 7
00:09:38 Middle-Earth: Shadow of War
00:23:44 Through The Ages
00:26:14 Galaxy Trucker
00:28:00 Destiny 2
00:30:49 Middle Management in Video Games
00:42:03 Your Emails

On the subject of management, friend told me this joke:

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted someone below. He descended a bit more and shouted,

"Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the man, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far."

The man below responded, "You must be a manager."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know."

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

Higgledy wrote:

On the subject of management, friend told me this joke:

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted someone below. He descended a bit more and shouted,

"Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the man, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far."

The man below responded, "You must be a manager."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know."

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You made a promise that you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

Great joke.

In the version of that one I heard the engineer also points out that the manager got where he was mainly by the application of hot air.

As an engineer, I can't hear that balloon joke often enough even though it hits painfully close to home.

And to Certis: funny, Kitsie was the nickname that my wife was given by her godmother.

Those fond memories of the quirky environs of Dungeon Keeper 2 leave me thinking that some enterprising game developer should create a similar management game set in the White House...

If most games make you be middle management, what would be examples of games where you are the "CEO"? Would the equivalent be games like Roller Coaster Tycoon? Tropico?

EbonyPegasus wrote:

If most games make you be middle management, what would be examples of games where you are the "CEO"? Would the equivalent be games like Roller Coaster Tycoon? Tropico?

Nah, you're still a lowly city planner in Tropico, despite what the game tells you. Banana-republic Dictators aren't deciding where to build sewage plants and gas stations.

Democracy might be more like it - you're making high-level policy decisions. 4X seems like a genre where you're more of a CEO type level, Civ, Stellaris, that kind of thing.

On finding names for online, you could look at lists of popular baby names from different countries. I do that sometimes if I'm trying to name a character. It can be a fascinating activity in it's own right especially if the names have their meanings with them.

You can also pick the name of something you like, an animal maybe, and translate it into a different language. That can yield good results.

I go with slightly misspelled names and foreign names.
My First WoW character was the masculine version of my gf's (at the time) middle name.

lunchbox12682 wrote:

I go with slightly misspelled names and foreign names.
My First WoW character was the masculine version of my gf's (at the time) middle name.

Was it Vanesso? Or Beatriux?

I also find slightly misspelled names work fine - with an emphasis on *slightly*. Nothing worse than coming across players whose handle you can barely decipher.

Tripmo wrote:
lunchbox12682 wrote:

I go with slightly misspelled names and foreign names.
My First WoW character was the masculine version of my gf's (at the time) middle name.

Was it Vanesso? Or Beatriux?

I also find slightly misspelled names work fine - with an emphasis on *slightly*. Nothing worse than coming across players whose handle you can barely decipher.

The old name was Losario.
My current one is Chartes. Although so many think it is Charles, so whatever.

On the subject of middle management, I recall really liking Majesty despite it's flaws, liked the idea of shaping the world without having to do everything, I had hope that mechanic would be played with in the years to come. (So much for that)

Think some games miss the mark with not adding a lieutenant /middle management system. In some RPJ's when you reach a certain point you should be able to delegate some quests (like RL ) and if you mis-judge the persons capabilities the our contractor doesn't come back than you have have to get involved. i like part of the sector /governor system in Stellaris, but at this point it's missing peronsality (no feedback on how sector's being managed, of the person assigned is up to no good /making own base of power etc.)

War for the Overlord is a decent recent entrant to the dungeon-master genre. I have played 6-7 hours of it. My main complaints are I wish the field of view zoomed out further, and it has the flag system like Certis mentioned where you plant a flag to direct your minions.