I used to think it was a useful shortcut - of COURSE the player engages with the character(s) they’re playing; they have control over them and shared experiences.

But the balance between that sense of agency and also following the narrative of the story is where greatness can lie.

Yes, it’s different. Yes, it can be frustrating when you’re just not very good at games (companies have gotten WAY better at adding difficulty settings for people more interested in the story than combat)… but when it’s done right (by some very skilled game makers), it’s an incomparable experience.

I have a bunch of “AI” audio plugins- mostly for noise reduction. Really wish they’d just stuck with “advanced algorithms” for processes like that… every time I use one it knocks against my brain and sets up the expectation I’m going to have half a Spice Girls track randomly inserted.

… reach the ending, and how that affects their relationships, and how much of their humanity they lose along the way.

And that’s really special.

We’ve since had a lot of games with hugely branching narratives based on player choice (e.g. Detroit: Become Human), and modern discussion appears to expect the “choices matter” tag to always incorporate multiple objective endings.

This game doesn’t do that. Choices affect the WAY the characters…

This one’s for anyone who’s ever worked with a brand before.

(Or seen a technical drawing at any point in their lives)

It’s by no means a universal thing - depending on the role, a lot of/ the majority of the people you’ll encounter and work most directly with are in it for the love of the form/ storytelling. And collaborating with them is immensely fulfilling.

I’ve seen the same in animation - people who simply cannot read a storyboard animatic (normal 2D boards timed to dialogue, SFX, music) and later want huge story changes. Or refuse to consider story changes before they’ve seen rendered animation.

It’s… hugely dispiriting.

I hate living in the future.

I had the same thought while reading it in August.

At least the name was changed. In another few years Twitter will (hopefully) be the retro thing that no longer exists but was an entirely different entity from what people (maybe) finally started to call X.

Oh god, I’ve just been reading about what happened in May when they announced they were leaning even MORE heavily into AI.

I was last on the app a year ago and it was already unrecognisable from the experience I’d previously had in around 2016.

eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/n...

People are saying that “no one there had the authority” means that it couldn’t have happened?

In 2025?

So few people seem to account for boobs when doing shirts, and it really limits my options in a lot of cases.

Your attention in this matter is rare and good.