0:00 [Zeo Knox] Well, my answer... is no.
0:03 [Crowd boos]
0:08 [Commander Sterling] You know, people like you tell me I can't go into the women's bathroom, but I still do it ya bitch.
0:13 [Crowd cheers] [Announcer] Give 'em hell Commander]
0:21 [Commander] ...You can say yes when I make you. All roads lead to Stephanie
0:26 Fuckin' Sterling.
0:38 [JSS] Hello everyone, James Stephanie Sterling here, and you're joining me at the most nautical themed
0:45 environment we could get to within walking distance, that didn't have a padlocked gate.
0:51 Hello, how are you? Today we're going to be talking about art!
0:56 Or, rather, we're going to be talking about video games: The opposite of art.
1:03 I'm gonna be really annoyed if little midges were flying everywhere... but, if we keep this
1:09 bit of the recording, then we've drawn enough attention to it that it's part of the show,
1:15 and we can get away with the little fuckin' midges flying all in front of the camera.
1:23 Anyway... welcome. Today, on The Jimquisition,
1:27 we're going to be talking about how, once again, the fanbase is fucking exhausting.
1:35 The fanbase is fucking exhausting.
1:38 The fanbase, the fanbase, the fanbase, fucking exhausting.
1:41 Fucking, fucking, fucking exhausting.
1:44 Yes, it’s once again time for another fuckstuffed episode of The Fanbase is Fucking Exhausting! Yet
1:51 another blisteringly depressing example of fandoms being fucking awful, and stupid, and embarrassing
1:57 for *your* sick entertainment! In this latest installment, join me as we look at the reaction
2:04 to Return to Monkey Island, an upcoming sequel to the original Monkey Island games that you’d expect
2:10 would be cause for celebration among adventure game fans everywhere but, because the fanbase if
2:16 *fucking* exhausting, it just became yet another excuse for some twats to act like dickheads.
2:21 So yes, there’s a new Monkey Island game in the works, and with creator Ron Gilbert at the helm,
2:27 the ingredients are there for a lovely excitement pie. And, in fairness, there *has* been quite a
2:32 few people pleased at the thought of a beloved point n’ click series getting a brand new sequel
2:36 headed up by Gilbert, and positioned as a true followup to the original two games.
2:42 However, there’s been one major sticking point so far… a very vocal,
2:47 and *very* angry portion of the community really doesn’t care for how the game looks.
2:52 Return to Monkey Island undeniably has a... *distinct* art style, and for those
2:58 who admire the purity of the original pixel look, or perhaps the traditional animation aesthetic of
3:04 Curse of Monkey Island, it’s understandably been a shock to the system. After all,
3:10 if you’re used to this... or this... then *this* might be a little bit, uh, out-there for you.
3:19 With its wilder, more vivid visual approach, Return to Monkey Island has been compared
3:24 more to a game like Guaca-Melee than any of the actual Monkey Island games.
3:29 It’s bold, it’s flamboyant, it carries an exaggerated charm that most definitely stands out,
3:35 and you know what? If I’m personally, absolutely, 100% honest? I don’t much care for it.
3:44 Yeah, if you were expecting me to defend the art style, you’re shit outta luck I'm afraid. Because
3:48 compared to this... or this... I honestly find myself looking at this and feeling underwhelmed.
3:55 It’s not that it’s bad, but it absolutely is not for me. I’m not fond of the cardboard cutout
4:01 style animation, I find the character design striking but hardly expressive, and ultimately
4:07 it just is not my taste. It’s not the kind of art style I particularly dig. Personally,
4:13 I have a far *far* greater affinity for Curse’s cartoony art style than this overstylized design.
4:20 And that’s fine, y'know? It’s absolutely fine to
4:24 not like an art style. Such shifts can be dramatic, they can be jarring departures,
4:29 and lord knows we as a species enjoy the comfort of routine predictability.
4:33 Hell, some art styles are straight up fucking shit. And you can say that too,
4:38 like the way Babylon's Fall looks. It looks fuckin' shit. It's hideous, disguisting.
4:44 What is *not* fine, however, is the simple refusal to leave it at that, a refusal we
4:50 fucking see time and time again and leads to the fanbase being *fuckiiiiing* exhausting.
4:56 Because it wasn’t enough for a subsection of nerds to just not like the way the game looks, OH no.
5:03 No, they had to take it too fucking far, because videogame discourse just
5:07 ain't allowed one tiny modicum, one goddamn fucking iota of chill, can it? God damn it.
5:13 No, once again a collection of utter fuckin' rifles took it upon themselves to get vicious
5:18 with it, because they were seemingly raised on the belief that they can kick, and scream, and bully,
5:22 just outright bully and abuseother people into giving them exactly what they want,
5:27 exactly how they want it.
5:29 Even if you haven’t heard this latest… sigh… “controversy” before now,
5:35 you know what happened already, right? I mean, you knew the moment this video started. Because
5:40 it happens time and time and time and time and time and time and time a-fucking-gain.
5:44 Yes, enough of the *fucking* gamers took their dislike too fucking far
5:50 and went on the literal and figuritive offensive, harassing and dogpiling the creators rather than
5:55 simply registering their distaste for the art style and fuckin' leaving it at that.
5:59 Angered fans have been attacking the game since it was first revealed, with most of
6:03 the rage reserved for how it looks. And then people just kept going, and going, and going.
6:08 On his blog, Ron Gilbert has been having to play defense regarding the art style for some time,
6:12 such as a post in May where he explained that while the new art style may not
6:16 have been what everyone wanted, it was what *he*, as creator, wanted.
6:21 Now, for a community that often uses “artist’s vision” as an excuse to be
6:24 angry at changes made to games for taste and decency, the gaming community sure
6:28 does have a track record of disregarding the actual visions of actual artists.
6:33 It would seem that the negativity just got too much for Gilbert, who this past week
6:37 pledged to no longer talk about Monkey Island following sustained abuse from among the fandom.
6:41 “I'm shutting down comments,” he explained in his recent post. “People are just being
6:45 mean and I'm having to delete personal attack comments. ”It's an amazing game and everyone on
6:50 the team is very proud of it. Play it or don't play it but don't ruin it for everyone else.
6:54 I won't be posting anymore about the game. The joy of sharing has been driven from me."
6:59 Now, speaking as someone who has been sharing things about themselves online
7:02 for over ten years now, I have to say I absolutely do relate to that last part.
7:06 It’s not everyone, in fact it’s often not *most* people, but there’s always enough sour, salty,
7:11 empty little brats who lack the self-regulation enough to simply disagree and let it be.
7:17 It always has to be a fight. A war. An attack. And for those people it
7:21 always ends up being over the most inconsequential fucking things.
7:24 I mean, you try and get this level of outrage for the sex abuse that runs rampant in the industry,
7:29 and you get barely a fraction of the indignance. You try and mention the
7:33 bigotry and the prejudice espoused by those who profit most from these games (or have said games
7:37 based on their books) and you’re told to stop whining. But if a studio like Capcom DARES to
7:42 put Cammy in some long pants, by fucking GAWD will the Internet hear about it for months.
7:49 Oh yeah, I was waiting for a good time to point and laugh at THOSE dummies, but indeed, a bunch of
7:54 wank warriors got absolutely livid at the fact that one of Cammy’s outfits isn’t a leotard.
7:58 “Cammy with pants another censored character added to capcom Westernize concept of get rid
8:03 of iconic stuff to Pander,” reads one comment, dripping as it does with barely legible
8:08 outrage and clinging to the usual buzzwords parroted by whimpering status quo warriors.
8:13 “Caving to the woke dipshits” said one anti-woke dipshit,
8:17 using perhaps the most overused buzzword in right wing regressive rhetoric. Yes,
8:22 more overused than SJW if you can believe it. More overused than Cuck. Seriously, maybe it’s just me,
8:28 but is “woke”, like, the worst one of the lot? Of all the bullshit these Tory-manipulated suckers
8:34 regurgitate, has there been a more annoyingly pointless and mindlessly recycled insult as
8:40 “woke”? I mean, it has the exact same definition of SJW, ie, “literally anything I don’t like,”
8:46 but the way they’ve run it into the ground is a new level of fucking ridiculous even for them.
8:52 There can be very little else than contempt reserved for someone who literally gets
8:56 offended at a woman covering her legs, like some sort of bizarre anti-Victorian. I mean,
9:02 Jesus Christ, these people call lefties like myself easily offended or triggered but then,
9:07 without a shred of self-awareness, they burst into tears because a cartoon they
9:11 like masturbating over put some fucking pants on. And we’re supposed to believe that the self-styled
9:16 “anti-woke” mob is the “logical” and “rational” alternative to those oversensitive, overemotional
9:22 progressives? Don’t make me fucking laugh. Not that anyone upset over Cammy’s furtive thighs
9:28 has ever experiences enough emotional fulfillment to even know what laughter actually is.
9:33 It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, that preemptive outrage over a game simply
9:37 because of it’s art style doesn’t have historic precedence for looking good in the aftermath.
9:42 Need I remind you of the initial reaction to one of the finest games ever made,
9:46 and touted by many (including myself) as the best Legend of Zelda game ever made,
9:51 The Wind Waker? If you were too young to recall that one, then first of all what
9:56 it’s like not being as close to death as me you FUCKING YOUTHFUL BASTARD, and second of all,
10:01 let’s just say that the shift from darker, more quote/unquote “realistic” art style to bright,
10:06 vibrant, cel-shaded whimy was fucking *loathed* by fans when it was first unveiled.
10:12 Of course, these days the resistance to such a beloved and memorable game looks...
10:16 silly, sort of, and it should have provided a lasting example of how books shouldn’t be
10:21 judged by their covers. The Wind Waker is the favorite of many a Zelda fan,
10:25 and even those who don’t place it at number one would almost certainly count it among the finest.
10:30 If everyone had written it off just because it shifted art style at the creator’s behest,
10:34 well, well it would have been a goddamn tragedy, right?
10:37 People just assumed things about the game based on its art. Assumed it would be a lesser game.
10:43 Assumed its tone wouldn’t fit the series. Assumed it’d be a step back for Zelda. People were wrong.
10:49 These days, discussion of the game barely if ever acknowledged the original reaction,
10:53 almost as if the presumptive outrage truly didn’t matter in the end.
10:56 That, ultimately, people were being pissed off for pissed offedness’ sake.
11:01 I don’t know if Return to Monkey Island will be a good game or not. None of us do. Tjay's
11:06 kind of the point. Visuals can enhance and can definately detract from one’s enjoyment,
11:12 I fully acknowledge that, and while some of my favorite games have been ugly as fucking sin,
11:16 I think it’s fair to be less excited for any game that doesn’t look visually appealing to you.
11:21 But as I’ve said for years, once your criticism enters the realm of harassment,
11:25 you lose any right to expect a decent discussion or, indeed, anything other than scorn.
11:29 Guybrush Threepwood’s voice actor, Dominic Armato,
11:32 pretty much nailed it in his response to the whole thing.
11:36 “Whatever you want Monkey Island to be,
11:37 I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that making this a chore rather than a
11:41 joy for the devs is the quickest way to ensure it won't be anything for anybody."
11:46 And really, that’s what it all comes down to, right? Videogame companies like
11:50 Activision and Ubisoft do enough to suck the joy out of making games from artists…
11:56 Maybe that's an awyful job best left to the pros.
11:59 They're um... They're everywhere.
12:01 [Phoenix] They're on me!
12:03 [Jss] They're every... There's more... How have more arrived?
12:06 [Phoenix] They can smell that we want them to not be here.
12:08 [JSS] You said.. You blew tobacco in the air and said that they would go,
12:11 they would disperse. You've attracted them, you fool.
12:14 [Phoenix] They don't like smoke.
12:16 [JSS] These ones do. In fact, you've given them a taste for it.
12:19 [Phoenix] Great, now they're addicted.
12:23 [JSS] Smoking kills.
12:26 That's really what The Jimquisition has always been about.
12:30 If this show teaches you anything, it's that... and now the fuckin' gulls have joined in.
12:36 I've gotta get that studio. Fuckin' 'ell. Thank god for me, and all of fuck
12:57 it.
