GWJ Conference Call Episode 659

Dauntless, Astrologaster, Magic: The Gathering Arena Update, Entitlement Culture, Your Emails and More!

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This week Amanda, Sean and Julian talk about entitlement culture! And Rob Daviau pulls a Kramer.

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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00:01:27 Path of Exile
00:03:34 Dauntless
00:11:09 Astrologaster
00:16:10 Magic: The Gathering Arena
00:20:50 Entitlement Culture
00:41:48 Your Emails

This podcast was terrible!

I demand that you delete Episode 659 and have Shawn, Allen, and Corey re-record it!

When does the Kickstarter launch for Strawberry Rhubarb Pop-Tart Crumble Legacy?

I feel like Star Wars the Phantom Menace was really ground zero for the birth of Internet out rage.

As I asked in Twitch chat, how many other game developers does Julian have locked in his kitchen?

I really have to complain about your entitlement talk. And be really entitled about it, of course.
No, but jokes aside: As a political person I have to be obnoxious about this, sorry.

The term entitlement culture originated in the far right conservative media sphere to discredit a generations desire for social, economic and cultural progress. We should keep that in mind when lumping together indie developers getting death threats and people being dismissive of publishers who squeeze an entertainment franchise for subpar products while forcing poor working conditions on their staff.
I know you didn't do that in your discussion, but when we are talking about gaming culture, that is part of the story. After all, the way the term originally became so effective, was by lumping together all the instances of real and justified desire for social progress with some rich kids ranting about how their parents won't let them be a superstar.

It is really a loaded term, is what I'm saying, and should be treated as such.
Sorry folks, I had to say this.

Sounds like we are all entitled to a positive noodling around playdate!

Being in the UK and over 50 years old, I feel like I've only ever fist pumped twice in my entire life (both times recently and both times in the privacy of my own home.) Once was when I finished a painting I was particularly proud of and once when I beat the False Knight, in Hollow Knight, after thinking that boss would be my Waterloo.

I'm generally intimidated by bosses in games but there was something about bouncing about in 2D that I felt would require a dexterity I just didn't possess. Turns out, so far, I do have what it takes to progress and beat bosses like the False Knight in the delightful Hollow Knight. A charming black and white (it feels black and white even when there is colour present) game about insects and grubs.

My last fist-pump was my second victory in Tetris 99.

The first time I was too much in shock to register it. The second time it felt deliberate.

I’ve won a couple of times since, but that second one was the best.

I wonder if the "true story" behind Astrologaster is that of 17th-century "doctors" Simon Forman and Richard Napier.

Have you hallucinated your family to be rats? Do you suffer from pain after committing adultery? Did you see the devil himself?

If you have, then you are among some 80,000 patient cases recorded and undertaken by 17th-century doctors Simon Forman and Richard Napier. The doctors were infamous in their time for their ability to diagnose and cure patients of any ailment, ranging from bewitchment to venereal diseases, by consulting the planets and stars.

In the wake of their deaths, the two astrology doctors of 17th-Century England left behind an expansive archive of 80,000 patient records which were haphazardly documented in 66 calf-bound volumes.

lthz wrote:

I really have to complain about your entitlement talk. And be really entitled about it, of course.
No, but jokes aside: As a political person I have to be obnoxious about this, sorry.

The term entitlement culture originated in the far right conservative media sphere to discredit a generations desire for social, economic and cultural progress. We should keep that in mind when lumping together indie developers getting death threats and people being dismissive of publishers who squeeze an entertainment franchise for subpar products while forcing poor working conditions on their staff.
I know you didn't do that in your discussion, but when we are talking about gaming culture, that is part of the story. After all, the way the term originally became so effective, was by lumping together all the instances of real and justified desire for social progress with some rich kids ranting about how their parents won't let them be a superstar.

It is really a loaded term, is what I'm saying, and should be treated as such.
Sorry folks, I had to say this. ;)

Buckle up, friend, let's do this!

You're 100% right in my opinion. It's directly related and connected to entitlement and gaming. Come away with me.

I absolutely didn't get to even touch on much of the notes I'd taken for this, and I apologize.
It was just...So Much.

Articles like The Delusion of Meritocracy and the Culture of Entitlement and What We Mean When We Talk About Entitlement (sorry, both links from the same source) were both in my mind when I wanted to talk about this.

The trend in demanding special treatment is learned, and we have a developing culture that has learned to demand special exception. This has bled over into the media sphere by critic demands for rewrites, redesigns, and other changes that people feel they deserve.

A lot of people are quick to blame millennial entitlement on imagined swathes of spoiled brats of today, but note that this ignores where this intersects with class dynamic, and a lot of misappropriation of the term when applied to suppressed younger generations of color, gender, sexuality, or socioeconomic status who are actually disenfranchised and seeking balance, and not just limited to the spoiled children of privileged and lucky boomers who cultivated the behavior that belies the negative connotation.

(Anecdotally, I've worked in the service sector for over two decades, one of which whose primary demographic is 30-60. Entitled behavior is consistent with every generation, and aligns more with wealth than age. The 40-60 swathe is particularly not adverse from entitlement in the slightest).

Another layer of the venn diagram of this is the western idea of individualism and personal growth above all as a driving force behind a lot of this behavior, but like...that's kind of heavy for a casual gaming podcast.

The thing about heavy topics is there are broad swathes that can be touched on, but that can have a tendency to broaden a scope and lose the course if we're not careful.

I wanted to go into so much more, but shied at the last minute and the discussion suffered for it, I think. Interesting learning experience regarding staying on-topic as well as staying the course with my own source material.

Thanks for the comment!

Also Correction: I said TF2 instead of L4D2. Twice. Apologies!

Excellent topic and discussion! There's generally not enough discussion of those issues and, importantly, how to counteract the negativity imho.

Felix Threepaper wrote:

Excellent topic and discussion! There's generally not enough discussion of those issues and, importantly, how to counteract the negativity imho.

Thank you!
What's going to impact change is cultural shift, and that's not something immediately actionable. You can't change another person's behavior. I think on a personal level it's about recognising when we're about to climb aboard a hate train or engaging in spaces that may be influenced by trolls and negative campaigns.

Spoiler:

Honestly, every time these events crop up, it's the same old song-and-dance from the similar bad actors like those that brought you ethics in games and other various gates. I think it's important to see that, and recognise what the larger impacts are in society contributing to these flare ups, and address those.

I believe though that's a discussion for another forum, though.