Videochat May 2016

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Here's the latest videochat! Many topics were covered this time, including more news on the Planetside 2 play session, discussion about the Nostalrius server, some other possible video plans, whether I should use twitter (for announcements only) and of course, many fan questions. This session had more technical problems than normal, at one point I thought I almost lost 90% of the chat, but was only able to recover it due to me changing twitch to auto-save just before the broadcast started.

COMMENTS

Excellent and enlightening as always, Mr. Scott. Thank for answering my two weird and admittedly detailed questions in a purposeful way and not simply brushing them aside. I was secretly hoping you would give At The Mountains Of Madness the point n' click/graphic adventure approval. Lovecraft is at his best when he allows his horror to forebodingly creep towards an inexorable and utterly desolate vision of a universe that is callously indifferent of humanity. It's a sentiment he has mastered better than most authors, even those writers of a subtler and arguably "better" quality of writing or conceptualisation. His shorter works can be rather weak in comparison to his longer pieces such as Herbert West-Reanimator or The Whisper in Darkness, which sometimes have the unfortunate feel of a moribund punchline better suited to a writer like Ambrose Bierce or even an literary-provocateur like Félix Fénéon, The Statement of Randolph Carter being a somewhat sorry example of.

In regards to my questions about periods of history that interest you, I appreciate your points about historically-inflected fantasy and your later comments about the importance of theme in individual games. I often feel that the fantasy genre over-relies on certain pseudo-medieval and eurocentric tropes, which can be excellent if played with a degree of stylisation and imagination (I don't play them, but the Dark Souls franchise really pushes the envelope in regards to this facet of fantasy) and in doing so may or may not appropriate one-dimensional cultural stereotypes in regards to foreign cultures in a given setting. I'd love to see writers and developers hybridize our collective cultural heritage a little. Just as a deliberately obtuse sample of what fantasy could potentially do, how about some kind of world set in a Nordic-cum-Philippines-pan-Dutch Afrikaans-neo-Kemetic type culture in which sacrifices to chthonic and utterly aberrant equivalents of ancient Greek gods are commonplace, there's a simultaneous and paradoxical form of Gnostic nature veneration, and humans and elves AREN'T the predominate mortal races. I don't even mind the presence of "core" races like dwarves or orcs at all, it would just be nice to see them in more diverse and different roles other than arbitrarily lumped into good and evil camps.

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Am I right in assuming that we can post questions for the next video chat here? If no, tell me to skedaddle and I'll stop bothering everyone.

1. Forgoing any modesty on your part, if you could have any artist (dead or alive, any medium you please) capture your likeness in a portrait, who would you pick?

2. I recently started watching Grickle's wonderfully weird videos, due to your RGD episode about Puzzle Agent. Which is your favourite video of his, and why? Also, what do you think of his recurring character known as Principal Skeleton? I like to think he's a pretty decent guy despite being an unspeakable aberration against nature.

Yes. Please post your questions for the next video chat on June 5th here on this thread, or you can email them to [email protected] .

Thanks!

Where do i send my gameplay videos?

Sharp cheddar cheese goes well with trucks

Ross, the video game that's set during the Spanish Inquisition already exists. It's called Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader and it frames the Spanish Inquisition in a totally different light. In Lionheart's world(Which is based on historic fantasy like you mentioned) the evil that the Spanish Inquisition fights is real. There are demons, people with demons living inside of them, goblins and countless other really nasty things. So the fears of the Spanish Inquisition in this game are justified and if you want to play the good guy their one of the factions to join. The game has real time combat too.

LCbsRprjVm4

https://www.gog.com/game/lionheart_legacy_of_the_crusader

Lost almost 90% of the video chat, huh? It's a good thing I suggested that you should auto-save those videos using Twitch's past broadcast archiving feature then, eh?

=== Questions for Ross's Next Live Videochat ===

• Would ya please be doin' something grand or funny fer International Talk Like a Pirate Day? Your "pirate episode" of Freeman's Mind is me all time favorite. Something pirate-y for September 19th would be might fine. Perhaps a pirate computer game fer Ross's Game Dungeon? Thar be plenty o' candidates! But then, it dunna need ta be so grand. Perhaps just a bit o' pirate banter in a video chat or a blog post on ta Web site in September would be good fer a lark. Yarr! Thankin' ya kindly, cap'n.
  
• Re-viewing Freeman's Mind #15 shows us that you, Ross Scott, predicted the Hyper Loop by Elon Musk. Then again, what child upon visiting a bank and seeing the pneumatic tubes hasn't dreamt of a scaled-up version and all the possibilities it could hold? Funny enough, in the early 20th century lots of places used pneumatic tubes, not just banks. They were very popular as a means of transporting small things in places like San Francisco and New York City. There were even plans at one point to use them to transport people a la a subway in NYC!
  
• Why'd you make Freeman's Mind in Half-Life: Source instead of using the original Half-Life which ran in the Gold Source engine?

To be fair, Elon Musk isn't the first one to have the idea of traveling via pneumatic tubes. Freeman's Mind: Episode 15 was released on September 21, 2009. Futurama had the travel-by-tubes thing back in 1999 and Jules Verne actually had the idea of traveling by train through pneumatic tubes back in the 1860s (see "Paris in the Ocean").

About Freeman's Mind being done in HL: Source, to keep it short, HL: Source has more features compared to Goldsrc (ragdolls, better lighting, water detail etc.) And I think the Source Recorder may be part of the reason why he used that version.

===Hey Ross,===

I'm an art dude, and I sent you 2 emails a couple months ago about possibly making some pieces for you. I know you're pretty backlogged on emails but it still could be something fun to do, yknow? I don't want to rehash everything I wrote before, but if you go to your inbox and search "novak25" you should see my 2 emails. Hope to work with you!

Also I can supply you some gameplay footage if needed. I have plenty of both

-LC

EDIT: I recieved your response email! Thanks!

Question for Ross: Realistically how much do Youtubers make off of my single view? I feel like a dick for using uBlock, and was wondering how much I would have to donate to a Youtuber to "make up" for it. $5? $10? Assuming I watch their content regularly that is.

Realistically how much do Youtubers make off of my single view? I feel like a dick for using uBlock, and was wondering how much I would have to donate to a Youtuber to "make up" for it. $5? $10? Assuming I watch their content regularly that is.

Average of around $2000 per million views, and YouTube takes 45% of that. The big names can get as much as $8 per 1000 ad views.

If you pay $1 to your favorite Youtubers a total of once each, you'll be paying a LOT more than YouTube pays based on your ad views. (unless the Youtuber is one of the big names, and you watch thousands of their video ads)

Zelpa: If you want to fairly support YouTube video makers, you could check out YouTube Red. Basically, you give money to YouTube to pass along to the content creators. Each view of a video is counted and the money is distributed fairly according to what you viewed. In exchange, YouTube doesn't play any advertisements at you. There's a few other extras too. Granted, you would have to allow YouTube to track your viewings to allow the counts to be collected, so whether it is worth it is up to you.

To be fair, Elon Musk isn't the first one to have the idea of traveling via pneumatic tubes.

Well I guess this didn't really shine through in the writing, but the comment/question about that was intended to be, at least in part, asked in a joking manner. It is true that other people have had the idea just as I pointed out in the question. But the timeliness is what is interesting. The Hyperloop idea is actually turning into a reality at this point in time unlike in the 1900's and 1800's.

Time index:

Announcements

00:21 – next Planetside 2 session will be on June 5th 4pm EST (aim is 1st Sunday of each month)

00:42 – you are welcome to send Ross game footage for Twitch

01:38 – this month will be spent mostly on replying to e-mails

02:28 – Ross starts preparing the Game Dungeon fork

03:02 – website redesign on its way

03:45 – it's possible to chain-spawn in Planetside 2; Ross wishes he mentioned this in his tutorial

04:46 – advices on what to do if you are killed too much and discouraged + answers to criticisms about the Planetside 2 tutorial

07:32 – Planetside 2 got a huge update right after Ross made his tutorial and it changes a lot

12:12 – join the VCO outfit if you are looking for some organized action

13:30 – “Valhalla Syndrome” in Planetside 2

14:29 – Nostalrius server is being shut down

15:40 – problems with the Twitch stream

23:55 – Ross is planning to make news broadcasts about dead or dying games

24:55 – Nosgoth is being shut down

25:40 – poll: do people want Ross to have a Twitter account

27:30 – Ross's girlfriend does Twitch streaming at 'amazingmagda' channel

28:10 – will Ross's girlfriend appear in his videochats

28:31 – you are welcome to help Ross with editing

45:10 – please refrain from asking questions like “Ross, what do you think about ?”

1:20:54 – Ross will record and publish the Planetside 2 session (on a separate channel, though)

1:29:06 – Ross's top list of scary movies coming this October

Pre-submitted questions

29:21 – has Ross watched Marble Hornets or other videos based on Slender Man

29:49 – question about The Movie

30:14 – does Ross watch YouTube Poop

30:58 – making a list of unnoticed but worthy Steam games

32:06 – does Ross play chess

33:16 – has Ross read Dan Brown's books like The Da Vinci Code

34:10 – has Ross watched Dexter, Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul, opinion on those

36:30 – does Ross prefer Free and open-source software

38:15 – how Ross verifies game cracks and NoCDs

38:25 – alternatives to www.gamecopyworld.com

40:52 – what would Ross do if he was the king of Valve

44:12 – what music bands Ross likes

45:44 – opinion on game mods

46:38 – going in lockdown mode to completely focus on The Movie

48:34 – if Ross wasn't occupied so much, what game would he dump dozens of hours into

50:54 – improvements of the Accursed Farms website

51:35 – does Ross accept fan art for T-Shirts

51:52 – does Ross accept fan art

52:55 – does Ross have any problems with the Strife legal team

53:33 – would Super Metroid be worthy of making a Game Dungeon if Nintendo wasn't so trigger-happy

54:40 – in the Eternam episode Ross said he likes the French Revolution setting, what other history periods would make good themes or settings

56:56 – has Ross read At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft, what game genre would it fit

58:21 – tips on how to buy games cheaper

1:00:00 – what would Freeman's reaction be if he took the Hivehand

1:00:30 – when should we expect Freeman's Mind 2

1:00:55 – problems with the Twitch stream

1:00:57 – is Ross an actual Polish citizen

Live chat questions

1:02:10 – has Ross played Chzo Mythos series

1:02:25 – will Ross review X-COM: UFO Defense (a.k.a. Enemy Unknown)

1:03:15 – opinion on the current trend of remakes, reboots and original developers coming back

1:05:06 – has Ross considered to build a videogame media server / upload his videos elsewhere in higher quality

1:06:20 – has Ross visited a certain web page about the Multiverse

1:06:33 – why Ross doesn't love you

1:06:52 – why Ross doesn't do on Twitch

1:07:08 – remixes of MIDI music from Doom and Strife

1:07:45 – Ross's biggest cultural shock after moving to Poland

1:09:23 – most time Ross ever spent in a game

1:10:38 – what does Ross use to find games

1:11:34 – would Ross want the Veil faction to sabotage Planetside in order to allow Ross have more players

1:12:20 – creating a team to help Ross manage his content

1:12:52 – opinion on 19th century music and ACW

1:13:15 – how should we send the gameplay footage to Ross

1:13:35 – opinion on Nvidia GameWorks

1:14:12 – opinion of weed

1:15:52 – battle cry for Planetside 2

1:17:10 – question about a game that Ross hasn't played

1:17:17 – opinion on the new Ghostbusters trailer

1:18:39 – Ross's most memorable character from Diablo 2

1:19:12 – would we try World of Warcraft instead of Planetside 2

1:21:44 – Ross's favorite game setting

1:22:09 – why would the Planetside 2 session be canceled

1:22:43 – Ross's near-drowning-in-a-car accident

1:23:03 – is Ross concerned about being hunted down

1:23:20 – for how long is Ross living in Poland

1:23:49 – what would Ross's powers be if he was a character in a 2D platformer

1:24:03 – problems with the Twitch stream

1:24:38 – does Ross have any consoles

1:26:03 – next episode of Ross's Most Anticipated Games

1:26:53 – opinion on music from the American Civil War era

1:27:22 – question about Ross's hair

1:27:46 – how long are the requests from the Ross's Big Birthday Video going to be relevant

1:28:06 – would Ross start a record label

1:28:52 – opinion on What We Do in the Shadows

1:29:52 – Ross's favorite line of Dave from Civil Protection

1:30:44 – opinion on the Battlefield multiplayer killed

1:31:57 – Ross's experience in high school

1:32:25 – Rooster Teeth disaster in Planetside 2

1:34:45 – most difficult physical task or challenge Ross was engaged in

1:36:26 – how much does Ross bench?

1:36:48 – interesting stories that happened in Planetside 2

1:37:11 – will Ross be a part of someone's platoon in Planetside 2

1:37:55 – what is the green alien creature on Ross's avatar

1:38:13 – opinion on game prices and bans in Australia

1:39:52 – opinion on gamer culture

1:41:02 – how Ross came up with the idea of Freeman's Mind format

1:41:28 – does Ross do any weight lifting + Ross's spine

1:42:23 – making a time index of Ross's videochats

1:42:55 – hardest game Ross ever played

1:44:03 – opinion on Half-Life 3 having RPG and open-world elements

1:44:16 – on what server the Planetside 2 session will be

1:45:04 – competitive balanced multiplayer games vs realistic stylistic multiplayer games

1:45:59 – opinion on the Indie scene

1:47:27 – has Ross played a game he anticipated but it turned out to be mediocre

1:47:52 – classical orchestra soundtracks vs contemporary electronic soundtracks

1:48:51 – opinion on Doom 4

1:49:59 – opinion on Sunless Sea

1:50:10 – Ross's favorite apocalypse scenario

1:51:33 – what Ross typically looks for in a game + what genre Ross prefers

1:52:41 – will Ross set up a Patreon account + opinion on donations

1:55:19 – conclusion