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Idle Thumbs Megathread | Indepth discussion inbetween horsebags and birdsounds

Our discussion wasn't really centered around decision paralysis from a consumer standpoint. That came up but wasn't central to our criticisms.

I'm not sure I see that as mutually exclusive to revolving a discussion around the sheer amount of SKUs available. What other than a consumer facing issue are you addressing by that facet being the crux of the discussion. It was inherently based at the purchasing and marketing level as opposed to something like the notion of games getting broken up piecemeal and mechanics suffering as a result.

Hey can i chip in money so sean burns his tf2 items on stream

Didn't catch it mentioned in this thread, but a TF2 item destruction charity event totes happened in the past. They managed to round up 14 people to destroy their 1 in 100 item.

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Golden_Charity
 
So I wasn't lucky enough to get one of the Firewatch posters :(

Super bummed out about that. I would of thought that just the mere fact that it's an Olly Moss piece would of gave them an idea of how in demand it would be. I wonder if there will ever be another run for those prints in the future.

Probably not that design but we'll do more.
 
tumblr_n6azap7eOY1rbx3pvo1_500.gif


sooooo gooood :D
 
service dogs

I haven't listened to this week yet, but I hope this is somehow robot related.

Lately I've been obsessed with having my own personal drone. I commute to work and go about town on my bicycle and it would be so awesome to have a little remote control drone following me at all times. It could carry a case of beer and pupusas, or take some really great follow-cam footage of me navigating through traffic. It would just be so cool to have all your bags and stuff be ferried about by a drone following you 100ft up while you're down below with nothing in your pockets.
 
Waluigi is in Brawl.

Poet though he may be, Mr. Daly has besmirched Waluigi's good name through his fraudulent assertions. I demand that the government of Canada immediately divest Mr. Daly of his winnings and use said winnings to create the Waluigi Awareness Fund (hereafter "WAF").
 
Waluigi is in Brawl.

Poet though he may be, Mr. Daly has besmirched Waluigi's good name through his fraudulent assertions. I demand that the government of Canada immediately divest Mr. Daly of his winnings and use said winnings to create the Waluigi Awareness Fund (hereafter "WAF").

That doesn't count. In Brawl, Waluigi is the same classification of character as that Pokemon fish that just flops around to troll you, while Mario, Luigi, and Wario are playable. I stand with the Canadian poet child.
 
That doesn't count. In Brawl, Waluigi is the same classification of character as that Pokemon fish that just flops around to troll you, while Mario, Luigi, and Wario are playable. I stand with the Canadian poet child.

In line 23 of his epic, "Ode to Waluigi," Mr. Daly states, "Why art [Waluigi] not in Super Smash Bros Brawl?," which is literally a false statement. He does not ask why Waluigi is not playable; he questions why Waluigi is not present. But Waluigi is present. Hence, Mr. Daly has lied to his nation and to the world.

Do the right thing, Canada. The number one party star deserves better.
 
That "tail-assisted pitch control" will be different in the final version. And much sharper. They're basically creating a 48kph killer rotor blade of humanity doom.

It's a lot easier to bring fleshy humankind to their knees when that's where their legs end. That stability control was necessary to stop the deathbots tripping over the leg-debris they create.
 
Adding to the waluigi facts, Charles Martinet was asked what his idea of a Waluigi game would be and his response was "A poker game where you have to cheat to win"
 
I think jake is onto what makes those mk8 gifs so great: they're essentially zapruder film versions of the replays, seemingly making them much more sinister looking than a high quality hd version of the same footage.
 
I think jake is onto what makes those mk8 gifs so great: they're essentially zapruder film versions of the replays, seemingly making them much more sinister looking than a high quality hd version of the same footage.

Yeah they feel so much more like an ephemeral moment caught in time by someone with a phone because theyre taped off TV. That first gif that I saw at leastd, of Luigi rolling up behind Waluigi and then only giving him the staredown as he passes him -- the handheld camerawork is accidentally amazing, how it kind of half-pans over to show luigi deep in the background out of focus, but then as the cameraman (seemingly) realizes whats happening, only Luigi is focused on. It's unstoppable.
 
Holy shit. Nick's Forest story. I'm dying.

I probably looked like such a tool on the subway, grinning like an idiot while he told that story (and the Wario/WaLuigi relation reader mail on the subway home). Still, so good. Nick really doesn't leave anything out, though as with all Early Access, i'm holding off until it's done.
 
Telephone the podcast

Though it's hard to get Nick on every episode it's important to us that we don't use Skype or telephone, and have all the hosts for any given episode there in the room or in person. It may be dumb but it's a point of pride and I think it really adds to the tone of the podcast. People who don't listen often and maybe hear about the podcast from a friend may draw their own inaccurate conclusions but as someone close to the cast I can accurately confirm the value of not resorting to telephone in the creation of an episode of Idle Thumbs.
 
Though it's hard to get Nick on every episode it's important to us that we don't use Skype or telephone, and have all the hosts for any given episode there in the room or in person. It may be dumb but it's a point of pride and I think it really adds to the tone of the podcast. People who don't listen often and maybe hear about the podcast from a friend may draw their own inaccurate conclusions but as someone close to the cast I can accurately confirm the value of not resorting to telephone in the creation of an episode of Idle Thumbs.

Telegraph the podcast
 
I don't know if you guys are making a lot of money with the ads, but personally, I'd rather pay/donate and have an ad free podcast. I know you have a loyal audience, and if you used something like Patreon, I think you'd do well.
 
KAIST Raptor robot runs at 46 km/h, Active tail stabilization

Maintains this speed while running over obstacles that are almost half of its height.

I really pity the first poor bastards that have to face whatever nightmarish form military murderbots finally take.

Just imagine that soldier, realizing his position has been discovered, as an armored, blade spinning death machine comes sprinting at him at speeds to make Usain Bolt envious. That's a moment to rival the Roman legions first sight of elephants being a moment before they were trampled.
 
Quick thoughts:
FEAR AI is still pretty interesting, the white paper on it is even somewhat approachable:
http://www.gameai.com/papers.php?a=9&t=&e=&y=&s=n
Love that the rats have the same AI routines.

The shouting barks bit of trickery is an interesting note. I'm curious if AI will really be a factor in the Shadow of Mordor game. I'm still impressed, even though it's really just a routine, when grunts run away after a Elite is downed in Halo. Morale seems like an interesting system to mess around with. Would also love to see an Elite's ai put into a Grunt like the rats/soldiers in FEAR. Like when big dogs have toy breeds that still think they are big, aggressive dogs.

I only played for the first two hours of Wolf, but felt like the systems didn't gel and actually did suffer from over design for that reason. I like the idea of unlocks through use, i.e. stealth kills get you a stealth weapon, but it seemed a little sloppy. The opening tutorial stuff is trash though.
 
Though it's hard to get Nick on every episode it's important to us that we don't use Skype or telephone, and have all the hosts for any given episode there in the room or in person. It may be dumb but it's a point of pride and I think it really adds to the tone of the podcast. People who don't listen often and maybe hear about the podcast from a friend may draw their own inaccurate conclusions but as someone close to the cast I can accurately confirm the value of not resorting to telephone in the creation of an episode of Idle Thumbs.

Commentary is lost on you it seems.

Listening to people talk at length as to why they're not going to play X game because *reasons* based largely on third hand reports is considerably less interesting versus listening to them talk about titles they have or are playing at the end of the day.
 
Commentary is lost on you it seems.

Listening to people talk at length as to why they're not going to play X game because *reasons* based largely on third hand reports is considerably less interesting versus listening to them talk about titles they have or are playing at the end of the day.

I knew exactly what you were posting about because you're spamming the Idle Forums thread about this to death. I was amused to see you come over here and try to drop your "Telephone the podcast" sound bite apropos of nothing and hope people would pick up on it.

I don't want to be a crass jerk about this but the fact that we don't interest you all the time is, in my opinion, not really our problem. We aim to be entertaining and interesting by talking about things which entertain and interest US. That doesn't mean its always going to be the best content objectively (does that exist?) and it definitely doesn't mean that it will always be interesting to you, but that's just kind of how it is with these things. Hearing what does and doesn't resonate for listeners is important and is something I value, but hearing you basically say "shut up shut up" on the Idle Forums, and then sidling into this thread to just say "Telephone the Podcast" as if that means anything, means very little to anyone but you.
 
Nick is the secret sauce, I always enjoy the pod when he's around.

Nick and Steve are the reason why for me Episode 1-51 + 52-64 > everything else. So many highlights.

Call it rose-tinted glasses but those are my personal feelings. Once in a while we do get a great episode, especially with guests (Danielle is one I like because she always brings topical discussion on games because she reviews them) or when Nick is around.

Steve's podcast is wonderful but I really miss the interaction with Jake and Chris.

Don't worry Sean I like you too! ;)
when you don't talk about DotA or Day-Z
 
I knew exactly what you were posting about because you're spamming the Idle Forums thread about this to death. I was amused to see you come over here and try to drop your "Telephone the podcast" sound bite apropos of nothing and hope people would pick up on it.

Spamming? I posted once and then a couple of times in reponse to the Idle thumbs forum defence force. I think you're letting imagination run away with you there a tad Jake.

I don't want to be a crass jerk about this but the fact that we don't interest you all the time is, in my opinion, not really our problem. We aim to be entertaining and interesting by talking about things which entertain and interest US. That doesn't mean its always going to be the best content objectively (does that exist?) and it definitely doesn't mean that it will always be interesting to you, but that's just kind of how it is with these things. Hearing what does and doesn't resonate for listeners is important and is something I value, but hearing you basically say "shut up shut up" on the Idle Forums, and then sidling into this thread to just say "Telephone the Podcast" as if that means anything, means very little to anyone but you.

I didn't say shut up, I just questioned the value of talking about games third hand. I knew a fella, who knew a fella, who knew a fella who once played <insert title> for ten minutes and hated it and that's what I'm basing my entire world view off of is shockingly narrow minded attitude when all is said and done, and just not good gaming podcast material. You're collectively best where you're talking about games that do actively engage and interest you and get into the nuance of them (that's the secret sauce that makes yours a good gaming podcast). Pouring distant scorn on titles you're not likely play just makes you look kind of douchy when all is said and done tbh. Sorry if you're offended by that.
 
I think Idle Thumbs is at its best when we're extremely excited about something, for sure, but with Watch Dogs it was almost impossible to talk about the reaction to the game in that window from preorder to release reception, because it was super palpable. The preorder stuff became emblematic of AAA grossness, and the feeling of bait-and-switch on what was contained inside the game was resonating from more than "a friend of a friend of a friend" (which is a distillation I find disingenuous). Response to Watch Dogs was everywhere and it was interesting to us. Maybe we talked about it for longer than was necessary but I still stand by it being fine to discuss at all.
 
Pouring distant scorn on titles you're not likely play just makes you look kind of douchy when all is said and done tbh. Sorry if you're offended by that.

Im not sure calling people douchy is the route you want to go down right after you move an argument to a completely different forum just because you perceived yourself as losing.
 
You're collectively best where you're talking about games that do actively engage and interest you and get into the nuance of them (that's the secret sauce that makes yours a good gaming podcast). Pouring distant scorn on titles you're not likely play just makes you look kind of douchy when all is said and done tbh.

Did you not hear any of the Dante's Inferno stuff? That's some of the best casting. If anything I miss the adverse criticism that came with Chris or Nick being more exposed to abhorrent mainstream games outside of their interests due their old press jobs, but change is inevitable and good.
 
I think Idle Thumbs is at its best when we're extremely excited about something, for sure

On that we can both agree.

Response to Watch Dogs was everywhere and it was interesting to us. Maybe we talked about it for longer than was necessary but I still stand by it being fine to discuss at all.

I'm not saying things should be verboten, but tempered to understanding would be no bad thing.

Anyway IIRC some of you did delve into Kentucky Route Zero last year. Have any of you played through Act 3 yet? I guess it might not be your cup of tea, but I'd be curious to hear your thoughts as Cardboard Computer really did some interesting things with respect to the idea of role in the game.
 
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