Escapist Podcast: 084: Reboots, Weird Foods and Gaming While Angry

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Rhubarb pie is the shit, and I refuse to eat it with strawberries.

My mom would occasionally make me one when I was growing up, and still does when it's my birthday, and I couldn't get it all the time because she would make it from scratch and the rhubarb from the store was usually terrible. The way to make sure it's the best is to bend it, and if it was stiff then you had to bake it that day otherwise it would go bad. However, if it was bendy where you could tie knots with it then you don't even bother because then it would be really sour and gross.

When I used to live in Wyoming my mom used to grow rhubarb so it would be awesome and fresh, and, sadly, you can't grow it in Arizona.

Now I really want a rhubarb pie. :/

 

[SadisticFire]

Its okay Paul. I hate pie too.
I suppose my hatred of pie is derived from when my grandmother made chocolate moose pie, or something, and I am not a huge fan of chocolate. The pie was the richest and bitterest thing I could ever iamgine as a 6 year old, and I begin to throw up, but my granmother would not lot me stop eating it and forced me to choke the whole thing down. I threw up several hours later and had to clean it up. So yeah, pie scar.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

I think the "stop liking things I don't like" ridicule is going a bit too far.

There's a very good reason why arguing about who's opinion is better is still important: producers and developers will make what people like and pay money for. If you're a fan of puzzle platformers and no one else is, it is entirely valid that you make your love for platformers vocal. If you don't try to proselytize, the thing you like will eventually become a niche, then a rarity, and then cease to exist altogether outside of indie games, and all for logical financial reasons. For gamers, this can be a particularly painful subject because it happens so often: platformers are already going that way, puzzle games as well, as are top-down RPGs, point and click adventures, stealth games, space sims, etc. etc. etc.

If you keep that in perspective, being upset about Tomb Raider changing from a platformer/puzzle game to an action adventure third-person shooter is absolutely understandable. Denying that is a bit facetious, I think.

 

[-Dragmire-]

"Well what did you do that for?"

*hands up* Guilty... I get it from my dad.

Apparently, I've inherited his mannerisms despite not spending a whole lot of time with him growing up(so says the rest of my family), so I'm blaming genetics!

EDIT: [sub][sub][sub]I also hate pie, you're not alone. I just can't stand the tart.[/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[awdrifter]

The new Tomb Raider is a reboot, not a prequel. If they make a new Tomb Raider 2, it won't follow the old timeline.

 

[T3hSource]

Tomb Raider suffers from cognitive dissonance. Cutscenes and quite a few scripted events make her look fragile and weak, just like any other human being.
Gameplay wise she's a demigod: can use perfectly 4 ranged weapons; quickly, efficiently and brutally executing her opponents with any sharp objects she carries; amazingly strong legs which allow her to jump over 5 meter gaps; arms of unmatched strength which also gives her the ability to pull off wooden pillars with a rope 30 meters away from her and so on and so forth. Not much of a survival game is it? If it's an action game, it shouldn't act like the protagonist is fighting for survival. If I wanted to realate my current condition with someone I'll talk to somebody, not play a game to escape reality for a while.

I guess I want another The Line, FUBAR situation with a flawed human character who deteriorates as the game progresses, the whole "survival" thing would be a great addition into gameplay for such a setting narrative, Far Cry 3 already teased me with that and now Tomb Raider also wants to act like a survival game AND be for "the masses" at the same time.

EDIT: MOAR STUFF!
For the question from the guy who has a problem with LoL and his girlfriend you didn't really help, but the discussion did bring up plenty of accurate points and suggestions, my advice would be to find other 3 people, who can play and not get enraged if losing or anything. Every time I summon up the courage to play, I just shiver from the thought of me doing badly and dragging down everyone with me (that's how MOBAs work), I'm just afraid. Last time (2 months ago) I played it was with some people on Team Speak,some Dutch some Danish, whatever. We were just goofing and spouting jokes and memes, a casual night, I was the jungler(the guy who helps the people that will do the damage and kill the enemies), when we were losing, the mage player said "I blame jungler, I always blame the jungler.", of course it was just a jokingly statement which I didn't mind whatsoever, we lost, we were outplyed and I accept that.

As for PIES, I don't have those here, instead the closest food I can think of is "banitsa", but it's a traditional dish and barely has any relation to pie whatsoever, it's not even sweet, it's closer to salty.

 

[wizzy555]

'Northern Bastard' refers to people like myself from the North of England, it can be used in a humorous, friendly or insulting context depending on your relationship to the person. As snippy said, the reasons for this is because of our more blue collar, rough around the edges nature, amongst other things. The northerners in Game of Thrones are actually pretty similar to real northerners, in the context of the setting of course.

There is also the stereotype song that southern footie fans use to mock northern fans with:

Go t'pub
Drink t'ale
Get completely plastered
Go t'home
Beat t'wife
Cos I'm a Northern Bastard

Yeah, we don't have the best reputation........

Yeah I am pleasantly amused how English culture is represented in represented in Game of Thrones, I want to start calling the Scots wildlings.

 

[Susan Arendt]

I think the "stop liking things I don't like" ridicule is going a bit too far.

There's a very good reason why arguing about who's opinion is better is still important: producers and developers will make what people like and pay money for. If you're a fan of puzzle platformers and no one else is, it is entirely valid that you make your love for platformers vocal. If you don't try to proselytize, the thing you like will eventually become a niche, then a rarity, and then cease to exist altogether outside of indie games, and all for logical financial reasons. For gamers, this can be a particularly painful subject because it happens so often: platformers are already going that way, puzzle games as well, as are top-down RPGs, point and click adventures, stealth games, space sims, etc. etc. etc.

If you keep that in perspective, being upset about Tomb Raider changing from a platformer/puzzle game to an action adventure third-person shooter is absolutely understandable. Denying that is a bit facetious, I think.

We never, EVER said that it was wrong to have a preference. In fact we said exactly the opposite many times. What we were discussing is that it's perhaps self-defeating to say "If I can't have what I want, then it shouldn't exist at all."

I thought it was amusing how you guys start off talking about how extreme fanboys are with their extremes and ideas of what an IP "should be" and then condemn the Sherlock Holmes movies for that exact reason (Not being your idea of what S.H is). I actually really liked those movies....maybe because I didn't go into it with any pre-conceived ideas of of what a Sherlock Holmes film "Should Be".
Anyway good podcast as always keep up the good work (Gratuitous food discussion included).
P.S Ive heard "Like a house on Fire" soooooo many times. It's not just a Philly thing.

I said I didn't like the movie because of Robert Downey Jr., who I think does a shockingly bad job at playing the role. He mumbles, his accent is hit and miss, and he doesn't convey the spirit of the character. I don't mind that they decided to make him a brawler, given that it's based on science and planning as opposed to mere brawn. Part of why I don't like the movie is also, I think Guy Ritchie's style - the whole "analyze the situation, then watch the situation unfold" trick got very old for me very quickly. So it's not that "waaah, they didn't give me the Sherlock I wanted," it's that they didn't give me a very good Sherlock, period. With a different actor and director, I may have enjoyed that script quite a lot, I don't know.

The second movie is just plain bad. Bad plot, bad writing, boring characters. Bleh.

 

[Lieju]

I love bats.

We have bats living on our attic, I call them my pets and love watching them fly in our backyard.
One summer they kept ending up in my room when they left for their nighthunt and I had to catch them and let them out. I never found out how they got in my room, but that only happened that one summer.

 

[Karloff]

Strawberry & Rhubarb Pie

Rhubarb, trimmed & cut into chunks, 3&½ cups
Strawberries, halved, 16oz
Brown sugar, ½ cup
Sugar, ½ cup
Cornstarch, ¼ cup
Cinnamon, ground, 1 teaspoon
Salt, ¼ teaspoon

Egg, large, beaten and blended with a little water, 1


NB: needs pie crust, separate recipe.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl, toss gently to blend.

On floured surface, roll out dough to 13 in round. Transfer to 9 in diameter pie dish. Leave ¾ in overhang.

Roll out second dough to 13 in round. Cut into strips, c ½ in wide.

Spoon filling into crust. Cover filling with dough strips, making lattice. Fold overhang, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively. Brush top of dough with egg/water mix.

Transfer pie to baking sheet. Bake 20 min. Reduce heat to 350F & bake till crust is golden, c 1½ hour. Transfer pie to rack, cool.

Serve.

Pie crust

Flour, all purpose, 3 cups
Sugar, 2&½ teaspoon
Salt, ¾ teaspoon
Chilled solid vegetable shortening, ⅔ cup
Butter, unsalted, ½ cup & 2 tablespoon, cut in pieces
Ice water, c 10 tablespoon

Combine flour, sugar, salt. Cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water, adding v slowly, until clumps form. Gather dough into ball, cut in half. Wrap each half separately in plastic & refrigerate until firm, c 1 hour.

This makes enough dough for a topped pie.

This works very well; I've done it I can't think how many times, and never failed yet.

 

[ritchards]

You answered my question - yay!

And now predicting (or subtly suggesting, your choice) that Susan will be getting a lot of oatmeal raisin cookies at the next Escapist Con. (And then she might eat something!)

 

[ciasteczkowyp]

ALL HAIL TO THE iOTTER!

1:13:36 Getting Angry While Gaming
The toxic nature of people playing League of Legends made me quit it.

 

[ciasteczkowyp]

sorry for doublepost.

 

[Eric the Orange]

To comment on your discussion of the new TR and related issues, I've thought a lot about what makes something part of the same franchise and not. Is it the same characters? Same feel? Same story? Same gameplay? I guess that's up to personal opinion.In my personal opinion it's feel that is the core of what makes two games in a franchise really be in the same franchise.

For example many games had a hard time from the conversion of 2D to 3D (though I don't see why games HAD to go 3D but that's a rant for another time). One franchise that did so well was the Mario franchise. Both the old 2D platformers and the new 3D exploration based styles FELT like a Mario game. In the colors, the music, the characters, ect. Now the Mario franchise has it arguably easier because there is not much of a story, characterization, or world that you really have to do. That being said, The game play is so different I have a hard time comparing the two types quality wise, but I would say they are part of the same franchise.

The counter example is cases of things where it just feels so different it's like they just dressed up a different property with a pre-established name to get sales (which is no doubt true). Take for example the Godzilla 2000 movie. It's style is so far removed from the other Godzilla movies that it's hard to think of them as the same thing. If you can search replace the names in a property and it becomes unrecognizable from other examples in the franchise, I think it should have just been it's own different property.

 

[Remus]

Favorite pie - peanutbutter creme pie with whipped cream, graham cracker crumbs and chocolate drizzle on top. Yum.

Thinking about your problems with LoL and people that like playing it but are just miserable afterward, I couldn't help thinking about my time playing WoW. I am a former hardcore raider. The last guild I was a part of expected people to memorize every raid strat, level all existing reputations that they might benefit from in some way - which in MoP, there are a LOT - and are encouraged to log into the PTR and play raids before they were actually live. After all of this, raid loot distribution was based around a loot council. So not only are you punished for not performing at peak, but it can be a downward spiral if you are not given successive item drops. *phew* So, dailies, PTR, raids, lots of stress and all of my time just being eaten away with minimal chance of reward for my effort. I was not enjoying the game. I did eventually leave that guild, having the good sense to look around and ask "Why am I doing this?" So not only am I playing casual now and enjoying the game more but I have time in my day to play other games, watch movies, and occasionally listen to a podcast. When people get into competitive gaming, they really should only play it so long as they enjoy playing it. It is actually possible to enjoy the content, visit the story being presented, and not be at that top echelon of the game.

 

[Eric the Orange]

You answered my question - yay!

And now predicting (or subtly suggesting, your choice) that Susan will be getting a lot of oatmeal raisin cookies at the next Escapist Con. (And then she might eat something!)

YES! at the beginning of the con when you get your ticket you also get one oatmeal raisin cookie, and if you see Susan you must give it to her. I have this picture in my head of Susan being weighed down by a giant pile of cookies.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Did Tito spill something on his shirt? Cause he was wearing a different one in the later parts of the podcast. With the discussion on it's color early on I noticed it eventually and I was like "wait...that's clearly very purple...there's no way they coudln't tell what color it is" and I went back and he indeed was wearing a different one.


Do you guys like, have a wardrobe in the office or something?



Oh and I am with Paul, I'm an overtaster so most sweets, including pie, taste overpoweringly sweet to me, causing me to need to drink a whole glass of water after just a couple of bites. This evens out cause I can taste other foods better so I enjoy it a lot.

Due to that, I shall cheat and say my favorite pie is Shepard's Pie!

 

[aelreth]

I agree that disclosure is best on who backed kickstarter projects. However until you start coughing up more than 100 dollars it shouldn't effect your judgement.

 

[JenSeven]

Strangest thing I've eaten?
I've probably eaten things that people from other countries think is strange.
Raw herring with chopped onions. (Just raw, I know some really strange people also think the herring is alive, but it's quite dead since it has been beheaded and gutted)
Salt black licorice (I mean double salt here, not the normal salt ones).

These are two things that I know people from other countries think are weird, but not being from another country beside my own, I have no idea what else.
But then again, you might think hutspot, endive stamppot or other Dutch national dishes are really strange.

On a second note, rhubarb isn't supposed to be sour.
Just boil it with a piece of chalk and you'll get the best flavor out of it.

 

[II2]

You know, I've been a regular follower of your podcast and generally enjoyed it a lot, but I do have a small bone to pick.

You guys have thrown around the phrase, 'it's the ginger haired step child of the [subject]' often enough for me to notice. Growing up with red hair and foster parents who did their best, but getting a lot of bullshit in elementary and highschool 80s-90s for that, it's got some bad memories to it.

I learn to adopt a thick skin on the internet about such matters. I know it's a saying and most places I wouldn't bother even bringing it up, but you seem like nice respectful people who might even conceivably modify their use of language slightly, if asked politely. I guess that's why it kinda stings; your podcasts really FEEL like sitting down and hanging with buddies, so my normal cynical internet defenses aren't up regarding the unavoidable aspects of my genetics and upbringing used as a generic put down.

On most days, it's just one of those things you shrug off. On those rare days, it feels a bit more like:

Spoiler: ANGER

Spoiler: NSFW

Anyway, good casts.

I dunno if Susan ever sorted out the beavers living in her back yard, but if they're still there, maybe introduce some otters to the pond? Double or nothing on cute aquatic mammals?