The long awaited Map Editor for forthcoming game, ‘That Which Sleeps’ is released to beta backers. The Witchfinder approves.
After the Witchfinder’s critical article last week, King Dinosaur Games have released an update video for the first time in nearly 5 months along with the first build code of the Game’s Map Builder. The Witchfinder tries out the map editor and it is promising.
Joseph Vivola and Joshua Perry better keep their promises, if they want to keep their reputations. Picture used for the purpose of criticism pursuant to s 30 (1) Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The Witchfinder points out that Kickstarter promises are a contract. Breaking those promises, no matter the excuse, may permanently damage the developers’ reputations as it has done Peter Molyneux with Godus. It may even lead to legal action.
Backers of promising Indie Game ‘That Which Sleeps’ have yet to see materials promised in November. The developers may have good reasons, for now they still have time … but the clock is ticking.
Kickstarter. Birthplace of some brilliant games. Yes I am looking at YOU, Shadowrun Returns and FTL.
Kickstarter. Abortion-clinic of failures like Godus. Designer, Peter Molyneux OBE has recently been torn apart by the media after it emerged that the project may not fulfil its promises. Putting a human face on it is the winner of Molyneux’s immediately previous game, Curiousity, who has yet to receive his prize money.
Gawker.com (whose parent company Gawker Media has Nick Denton for a CEO) thought it would be really funny to poison Coca Cola’s #MakeItHappy campaign with text from Mein Kampf. The Witchfinder thinks it would be really funny if no one advertised with Gawker ever again and Mr Denton was socially ostracised. Swastika by Dreamstime, Nick Denton by Dave Winer on Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0 License – http://ow.ly/ICKRe
Incredibly conveniently, Gawker decides to demonstrate just who the villains of the #GamerGate saga are by writing software to interfere with Coca Cola’s latest publicity campaign by causing it to spew out Nazi propaganda. The Witchfinder calls for a boycott of any business owned or operated by Gawker Media CEO Nick Denton until Gawker Editor Max Read is fired. Also undesirable is generally objectionable Gawker Writer Sam F Biddle who has recently apologised for joking about bullying.
Ethics in Journalism. A weighty phrase, oft-debated with varying degrees of cynicism. The members of #GamerGate say they back it. Some people think it is ethical to go through a politician’s trash. Some do not. Some people think it is ethical to hack phones. Some do not.
Your Inquisitor is going to go out on a limb and suggest that subverting a campaign by a soft drinks manufacturer to #MakeItHappy by writing a bot to cause it to spew out the text of Adolf Hitler’s infamous book ‘Mein Kampf’ is one of those things where most people ‘do not’. Yes Gawker did that – then they wrote an article about how funny it was.
Gawker.com has a history. For example in 2014 Gawker writer Sam Biddle was shamed for saying “Nerds should be constantly shamed and degraded into submission.” After some advertisers pulled their advertising Biddle apologised for his ‘joke’.
In late 2014 Nick Denton reorganised the company to share managerial responsibility. However his is still ultimately the leadership. Denton sets the tone and the parent company website still lists him as CEO. It is unlikely, given the media coverage, that Denton is unaware of the ‘Mein Kampf’ story but even if he is, as the top man he bears moral responsibility.
Depression quest – depressingly bad. Condescending to people with mental health problems but has escaped scrutiny due to its author’s PC credentials.
The Witchfinder reviews a truly appalling game called Depression Quest (DQ), written by Zoe Quinn from the #Gamergate controversy. DQ combines condescension with poor execution. Bizarrely, the supposedly ‘right on’ media has actually given this game a pass due to the author’s alleged PC credentials.
The Witchfinder says it is time game journalists stop defending Zoe Quinn and promoting her work – not for gender reasons but because of her comments on mental health issues.
For those of you new to this blog, the author is a law student. Your Inquisitor spends a lot of time helping vulnerable people and their families in Court, pro-bono, as a McKenzie Friend with a specialism in Mental Capacity (the Court of Protection). Since starting this blog some years ago, the Witchfinder has actually passed some exams and now holds a Graduate Diploma in Law. He has moved on to studying a Master’s Degree in Law combined with an LPC (British equivalent of a US attorney’s certificate).
This blog is mostly about politics, with law and the very occasional game review.
One of the first things you need to know about UK Equality Law, which is mostly codified in the Equality Act 2010, is that having the same characteristics does not get you off the hook (s24). So for example, a female boss who fires a worker for getting pregnant is not off the hook for being female. Similarly, having the same disability does not get you off the hook for discrimination. Actionable discrimination need also not be deliberate it could be by accident or even subconscious – see Swiggs and Others v. Nagarajan [1999] UKHL 36.
The Witchfinder playing the role of the evil Keeper. Note the red robe. Red is the colour of evil.
The Witchfinder recently took time out of the relentless grind of human suffering and misery that is the role of a McKenzie Friend in the Family Courts. Instead, he did something more cheery and played a pre-release game about indiscriminate slaughter. This is the review.
There have been many attempts to remake Peter Molyneux’s classic Dungeon Keeper. In the original game the player takes the role of a supernatural force of evil, who carves out a vast underground lair. Heroes periodically invade, only to be slain by your horde of evil minions.
Dungeon Keeper was an incredible success, but sadly the series ended after Dungeon Keeper II. Critics and fans were left hungry for new features, especially the ability to go outside and oppress the good people of the land directly.
There have been many attempts to follow up the legacy of Dungeon Keeper, such as Dungeons, Impire and War for the Overworld. All of these have met with mediocre reviews, and whilst the Witchfinder enjoys Impire it simply does not approach the joy of the Dungeon Keeper series. In the Witchfinder’s opinion, the best Dungeon Keeper successor to date is KeeperRL (Keeper Rogue Like), which is why – despite being in alpha – it deserves this review.
The Witchfinder exposes sick supply teacher Karl Adamson of Plymouth, United Kingdom. This twisted monster has written a game about murdering Conservatives with a shotgun, also featuring cocaine, ‘magic mushrooms’ and public sexual deviancy.
It is said that those who can’t, teach. Even within that profession however there are those who rise to the heights and those who do not. Supply teachers, for example, like Karl Adamson. Karl is a not-especially-successful teacher who aspires to be something more – to be something greater. Karl writes games, some of which he uses in the classroom and all of which are available on his website, http://vacillatingdichotomy.wordpress.com/.
The Witchfinder imagines young children avidly browsing Mr Adamson’s website to find Sir’s latest offering written. So what is Sir’s latest offering? The Witchfinder has been playing Karl’s new game Tory Bastards, a game about murdering Conservatives with a shotgun and bombs.
The Witchfinder reviews Left Behind, a fun and much maligned series of Christian PC Games.
Left Behind IV – World at War – 70% (TWG Review Guidelines here)
The Left Behind franchise enrages left wingers. For those who don’t know, it is a future fiction setting based on a particular interpretation of the Book of Revelations – the last book of the Bible. The idea is that on a particular future day God dematerialises all true Christians and young children and takes them to heaven. Those ‘Left Behind’ are subject to the tender mercies of the Antichrist for the next 7 years (called the Tribulation) after he sets up a one-world dictatorship. A small group of people, calling themselves the ‘Tribulation Force’, attempt to spread the truth to the people as a last chance before Christ returns at the end of the 7 years.
Left Behind began as a lengthy series of books before being made into a set of films and then a series of computer games. A Big Budget Hollywood remake of the first film is scheduled for 2014.
The games themselves have attracted controversy with the game’s makers on one hand claiming this is a non-violent game featuring peaceful family friendly gameplay and on the other various left wingers claiming it is a theocratic death-fest where the dead pile up ‘like cordwood’. Rather than take either side’s word for it the Witchfinder decided to try it for himself.