MAX MCGEE'S PROFILE

author=CashmereCat
For example, if you have a qualm with the way that Max dedicated a large portion of the review to dismissing your title as pretentious (I do), then I think you should address that in a level-headed and calm manner, instead of accusing him of such things as being deceitful.

I am sorry, but using elaborate $10 words in a way that clearly demonstrates you don't truly understand what they mean or how grammar works is pretentious. It is practically the very definition of pretentious. There is no counter argument that can dissuade me or any rational person of this fact because it is a fact.

If my summation of 'tl;dr shit title' seems a bit brusque, keep in mind that one of my primary goals in writing a review is to entertain the broadest audience of readers possible with my rapier sharp wit and all. If I haven't mentioned this before, it's because historically speaking I have found "entertainment value" to be a pretty crappy excuse for being mean, but nonetheless that is a factor in my writing style. It's meant to get a chuckle out of a disinterested reader, not to emotionally curbstomp the game's creator while he's down.

author=CashmereCat
You might also have been able to call him out on rude things he said, like "shit title". I think that was pretty rude to say, and might I say I didn't find the title itself that off-putting at all, despite the attention that Max gave to it.

CC, I get the impression you're attempting to be studiously neutral here, but keep in mind that that is not always appropriate in all situations. In this situation, I posted a critical review and VVBlastFuryVV responded with petulant sarcasm and personal attacks.

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I don't mean to seem like I keep twisting the knife on VVBLastFuryVV but the truth is my review was really not that harsh and not that rude. I have seen--hell, I have received--some truly harsh, truly rude, truly vicious reviews in my time, often delivered to complete games.This review is a glass of milk and a plate of cookies in comparison to shit I've seen on RMN.

I just reread one unbelievably unfair review of one of my games and WOW, the review is one thing but the comments after it are still some of the worst most inexcusable fucking human behavior I have seen in my entire life. Thank God most of those scumfuck assholes no longer post here, or I certainly wouldn't. I guess if I'm looking for something to be happy about, it's that this place has gotten less fucking awful in the last four years.

That a gentle massage of a review like this and the considerate and polite comments that have followed it can be considered scathing/controversial and cause a minor creator freakout in response is surely a sign that this place has improved to a standard of behavior something like basic human norms.

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VVBlastFuryVV, anyone reading this thread, be advised that the following text has nothing to do with you or anything you said here. This is the 'Max, talking to himself' corner and nothing more.

Edit: You know what? I am going to make an effort to be done here. I just reread a review of one of my games from three years ago in 2011 and the review and the reaction to my reaction to it literally made me consider literal actual suicide at the time. More importantly (lol lockez :P), the game was effectively cancelled. I don't have a point here. I'm not going anywhere with this. Just...I need to engage less in unpleasantness. In general. A huge part of the problem is that I just plain have too much time, because my illness largely means that self-employment is the only kind of employment I can hold down. I post too fucking much. There's more to it than that obviously...afaik kentona et al post even more than I do and I doubt it negatively impacts their quality of life...but the rest is beyond my understanding.

If a policy of just not posting a review for any game I would wind up giving 2.5 Stars or less would help me avoid unpleasantness, maybe I should do it. If a policy of not reviewing games would help me avoid unpleasantness, maybe I should stop reviewing games. If a policy of not making games would help me avoid unpleasantness, maybe I should stop making games. I mean, to be honest, I basically did exactly that for most of 2012 and 2013.

Drama has a sick attractiveness to it. At least when you have free time. There is a sick appeal to refreshing the internet until someone is being wrong and then feeling that satisfying, oddly addictive flash of righteous indignation as you use words and logic and rhetoric to assert your "rightness" and tear down their wrongness. So in the short term, shit can be as addictive as some people find Candy Crush or Tetris or Bejeweled. But in the long term? The wages of the diverting passtime of internet arguments are intestinal stricture and loss of bowel function. And that's too high a price to pay to make sure everyone knows you're right, no matter how right you know you are.

So, TLDR, I am going to try to be done here. I am terrible at self control so who knows if I will succeed. But if these are my last words then that is a personal victory and I will feel at least some level vindicated that I have successfully been a better person and conducted myself better than those that have hurt me in the past.

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@VVBlastFuryVV: I am sorry if my review hurt your feelings or if it made your Christmas season any less cheerful and bright. I hope you will believe me when I say that the last thing I meant to do was to hurt, offend, or discourage. I was only trying to help. Even if my feedback was taken the wrong way, I remain unperturbed by that. To use a proper colloquialism: I'm not even mad bro.

I don't "take back" or redact anything I said. I think there is good advice here that will improve your game if you can see past your own ego to read and internalize the content of my criticisms, whatever your problems may be with their tone. To state the obvious, though, be assured that it is your game and you can do whatever you want with it and no sane person has suggested or will suggest otherwise.

Barring a critical failure of self control, I am not going to argue with you about this any more.

Man, you know, I hope this downer comment doesn't put too much of a damper on the whole event,

Hidden because rambling and fairly negative so read at own risk.

author=VVBlastFuryVV
I'll take the gameplay feedback, but I'll ignore the story feedback. I've read it. One man's opinion. You don't like the story? Boo hoo to you.

Yeah what would I know about writing fiction, I just studied it intensively for four years in college, got a degree in it, have been making video games praised specifically for their writing for about ten years now, and get paid to do it for a living.

Let me put this another way, lest my considerable hubris deafen you to an important point: not taking my advice does not hurt me. It hurts your game, by spurning an opportunity to improve it. This is highly inadvisable, because the gameplay issues in your game aren't nearly as serious as the story issues.

Good luck with your game.

I kind of took an unannounced hiatus from working on stuff during RMN Plays. Going back to the grindstone now.

@kentona: Ok so now I am confused. So far I have gotten gifts for two RMNs and one PLAYS...I've been gifted RPG Maker VX Ace, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, and Claire.

Did I actually win a THIRD RMN/fourth overall prize? If I did I would really really like Endless Space, please. I got a new gaming PC for Christmas and it should be able to run it.

But I don't think I actually have a third RMN...looking carefully at my giant pile of cheevos/letters, I only have 6 x R, 2 x N, and 2 x M, so I can't possibly have won a third RMN.

So yeah I think I've already been gifted for everything I won.

I shouldn't have gotten my own hopes up like that lol. Oh well three free games is certainly nothing to complain about.

Yeah my semi-final letter count is:

• R x 6
• M x 2
• N x 2
• P x 1
• L x 5
• A x 1
• Y x 2
• S x 2
• Tess x 0

or

• R R R R R R
• M M
• N N
• P
• L L L L L
• A
• Y Y
• S S

My final review for this event, currently pending.

Edit: I know that since it's nowhere near midnight I could play a couple more games for another shot at winning another PLAYS or even winning another RMN, but I'm plenty happy with the three free games I won and as irrational as this is...I like the number 21 much more than the numbers 22 or 23 and yes that's a big factor in my decision.