The Divide

[MrFinnishDude]

I have just noticed that Erin has not been hallucinating lately. (if you count off that giant mantis)

There was also the pikmin in/on her drink last week.

Oh, i did not see that. good observation

 

[Deathlyphil]

Okay so this came up on Address the Sess and now here, does someone want to explain to me what this Luddonarrative Dissonance bullshit is?

Basically, when the gameplay and story have a huge disconnect.

The classic example is "in Final Fantasy VII why couldn't they just revive Aerith with a phoenix down?"
Basically, the game rules and the "story rules" or "cutscene rules" are working on two different rulesets. This is seen everywhere. You'll also see characters take an insane amount of damage but then suddenly a knife to the throat or gun held to the head in a cutscene is a huge threat.

All credit to Devil May Cry as it never had this problem.

The other obvious one is Nathan Drake. In the cut-scenes he comes across as a nice guy. In the game, he's a mass-murdering sociopath...

 

[VanQ]

I'm still of the opinion that the term "Game Journalist" is an oxymoron. They're almost always self-proclaimed journalists with no credentials or just so plain... bad.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Okay so this came up on Address the Sess and now here, does someone want to explain to me what this Luddonarrative Dissonance bullshit is?

Don't worry about it it's just the latest way for gamers to sound pretentious.
We don't need to be pretentious. David Cage alone brings more than enough pretentiousness to the industry.

They'll stop over/mis using it soon...like they did with "entitled."

 

[Susan Arendt]

Okay so this came up on Address the Sess and now here, does someone want to explain to me what this Luddonarrative Dissonance bullshit is?

It's a term people throw around when sounding edified is more important to them than actually getting their meaning across.

 

[Reeve]

What I took away from this strip is that Grey is jealous of someone else.

Ludonarrative dissonance is just a purple prose way of saying that the gameplay has nothing to do with the story. In other words: The game's story does not require that the game be a FPS/RPG/RTS etc.

 

[Kyogissun]

Okay so this came up on Address the Sess and now here, does someone want to explain to me what this Luddonarrative Dissonance bullshit is?

It's a term people throw around when sounding edified is more important to them than actually getting their meaning across.

Thanks, I thought it was some journalistic bullshit, glad to have it confirmed.

So the comic is more praising how everyone can say the same thing, but some journalist will speak all fancy and be praised for it. Essentially, the idea is that praise towards an opinion nowadays is rarely on the credibility of the statement, but how eloquent someone can be.

What a lovely world we live in.

 

[Something Amyss]

I have just noticed that Erin has not been hallucinating lately. (if you count off that giant mantis)

Unless...This is all one of her hallucinations!

It's like Inception, but with crazy.

Wait...Leo was pretty crazy in that movie.

It's line Inception!

 

[Me55enger]

I'm still of the opinion that the term "Game Journalist" is an oxymoron. They're almost always self-proclaimed journalists with no credentials or just so plain... bad.

Mm, yeah, becuase journalists with credentials are real pillars of the media community these days.

The bling on the shelf is rarely reflective of actual public opinion.

 

[tahrey]

They want our souls, and our money, our blood and our bones...

/nailed_it
/first

 

[Tombsite]

Okay so this came up on Address the Sess and now here, does someone want to explain to me what this Luddonarrative Dissonance bullshit is?

It's a term people throw around when sounding edified is more important to them than actually getting their meaning across.

Really? I actually like the term a lot because it gets its meaning across so accurately. Most likely I have just been reading college text books for too long but I am surprised that you as en editor do not like the term. As this is something that gets debated more and more, what would, in your opinion, be a better term?

Not meant as at attack, I am really just curious.

 

[Snotnarok]

As a webcomic artist I agree, gather your steel! We shall find blood for this travesty! ...Or a comic about it works too *cough*

 

[OfficialJab]

Does anyone else miss this comic focusing on Erin being crazy?

I don't at all. I miss it parodying video games, it's like CAD all over again. We all get a little of what we're looking for.

 

[Neonit]

D'aww, dont worry - we care for you

Besides, i have heard that nowadays, anyone capable of typing and having internet access can consider themselves "journalist".
I have heard that makes for easy press passes during conventions.

Then again, i hear many things....

 

[Callate]

Ah... More bitter than funny, guys. Maybe it needed to be said, but... move along.

 

[Machine Man 1992]

Okay, I'm confused: can someone point me out the two items this comic is lampooning?

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Okay so this came up on Address the Sess and now here, does someone want to explain to me what this Luddonarrative Dissonance bullshit is?

It's a term people throw around when sounding edified is more important to them than actually getting their meaning across.

Really? I actually like the term a lot because it gets its meaning across so accurately. Most likely I have just been reading college text books for too long but I am surprised that you as en editor do not like the term. As this is something that gets debated more and more, what would, in your opinion, be a better term?

Not meant as at attack, I am really just curious.

I agree; I actually enjoy the term. After all, we have to find a name for it somewhere along the line; why not this one?

Sure I had to look up the "Ludo" prefix when I first saw it but I learnt a new word root in the process and that's always fun. I wouldn't use this word simply to sound like I'm better than everyone else, I would use it because it sums up the core issue that I would be talking about.

 

[RJ Dalton]

That's always how it goes. Pretty much always been how it goes.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Okay so this came up on Address the Sess and now here, does someone want to explain to me what this Luddonarrative Dissonance bullshit is?

It's a term people throw around when sounding edified is more important to them than actually getting their meaning across.

Really? I actually like the term a lot because it gets its meaning across so accurately. Most likely I have just been reading college text books for too long but I am surprised that you as en editor do not like the term. As this is something that gets debated more and more, what would, in your opinion, be a better term?

Not meant as at attack, I am really just curious.

I agree; I actually enjoy the term. After all, we have to find a name for it somewhere along the line; why not this one?

Sure I had to look up the "Ludo" prefix when I first saw it but I learnt a new word root in the process and that's always fun. I wouldn't use this word simply to sound like I'm better than everyone else, I would use it because it sums up the core issue that I would be talking about.

The problem is it's really pretentious and there's already a suitable English term for it (gameplay and story segregation, as noted above.) Authors making up pseudo-latin words for things instead of just using English is the thing I most hate about reading 18th and 19th century documents, and it's even more obnoxious now than it was then. I saw one particularly bad example a while back: "cathexis." It was used in some paper someone wrote on ancient Rome. When I went to look it up, first I found the meaning (it means "the process of investment of mental or emotional energy in a person, object, or idea"), but then I found where it came from. Turns out some d-bag translator made it up instead of just using the German word "besetzung" when he was trying to translate the works of Sigmund Freud and found out that word had no suitable English translation. He made up a word out of wholecloth instead of just using an existing one and inserting a footnote to explain it. Yeah.

 

[nerdpride]

Huh. Ludo means "play". Or something, I'm never sure.

http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/in-defense-of-ludonarrative-dissonance/2283/

Tee Hee. He's defending ludonarrative dissonance.