Brianna Wu / John Walker Flynt - "Biggest Victim of Gamergate," Failed Game Developer, Failed Congressional Candidate

[FatNero]

The highlight of the day.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vBalypYa2v8
Sadly, it also seems like it'll be the last one.

NO. MORE.

 

[Human Institute Director]

Nah, the feature does actually exist in the super special edition, you can see it in action at the end of this video:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4JyWmr7q88U
You do have to beat the game first though, which is only for masochists. Even Wu obviously never played the game through in its entirety. Or maybe she did and just shipped the thing knowing it was broken, because she hasn't got the first clue how to fix it.

Ending is just as badly written as the rest of the game.
At 27:00, Amelia cracks a shitty joke when her friend is grieving for her loss.
And then there's this ... punchline I can't quite describe with words.

 

[The Grimace]

So wait, what's the issue with the game that needs patching? I haven't paid attention.

 

[Norvic]

If you ask me, I feel Brianna simply lost interest in working on the game, likely because the fad of 'indie game developer' fell by the wayside on twitter, combined with the internet dogpiling that followed him wherever he went.

If anything, Frank pushed Brianna to release the game because of growing backlash on Kickstarter. Brianna would have been happy to let the whole thing collapse and ignore the multitudes of pissed off people left in his wake. Frank would have been blackballed because of his association with the project however, so he was forced to do something.

You have to say that releasing the game, even broken as it is, was the right move though. Everybody can see this game is a clunker, and hardly any of the kickstarter backers cared enough even to redeem their keys, let alone to complain about the things that were promised and never delivered. Doing this release got the kickstarter backers off their back and sent them away, if not satisfied, at least mollified enough that they wouldn't consider legal action. Frank seems so much smarter than BriBri in every single way.

R60 is going to haunt Wu forever though, if she is stupid enough to continue trying to be a game developer. She couldn't mention her back catalogue without risking someone standing up and asking where the patch is. I just looked back at the interview and podcast that inspired me to sign up for an account here in the first place. Just 9 months ago, Wu was saying shit like this:

What gets me up in the morning is I completely believe it is a good and moral thing to give jobs to people in the industry who are typically not treated well. And it’s not just women, it’s people of color, the LGBT community, it’s all kinds of minorities in the field. And if you want to create a place that gets beyond the kind of scrappy, indie startup, that involves getting involved in the business-sphere, and auctioning off stock, and really growing the company. What you’re going to see from GSX in the next few months is the name of our studio is going to change. You’re going to see a whole bunch of new hires, and a whole bunch of money. I want to create the EA of our industry, but for women and other under-represented communities. It’s ambitious as hell, but it’s a worthwhile goal.

And that she believed that a man with her track record would have VCs falling over themselves to give him money. Now that those of us who care enough have played the game her track record is supposedly based upon, it seems even more delusional than it did at the time.

I think Wu's given up because game development didn't give her the effort free riches she believes she deserves. I think it's clear she didn't really do much produce the one game GSK did put out, hearing stuff like the fact that Frank actually produced all the large scale geometry, it seems like Wu's contributions were limited to doing some texture painting at best. Wu clearly has no understanding of her game deep enough to fix even a trivial defect, not even really in the code but in the data that drives the code. She's spent so much time piggybacking on other peoples' hard work and playing at being an engineer, and it hasn't paid off so she's just flitting about searching for her next identity.

 

[AngeloTheWizard]

So wait, what's the issue with the game that needs patching? I haven't paid attention.

A QTE for the final boss is glitched as to be unbeatable. Basically, the amount of time you have for the QTE makes it impossible for even a turbo controller to pull it off.

 

[Lackadaisy]

Does the overpriced 'lore book' explain Minuete's heart antennae and bug eyes? Because that was something that threw me off when watching these let's plays. Not that the rest of the game is that much better. It feels like we've been dropped into a game series mid-way through, world building and character wise. Like we're all supposed to be familiar with these characters already. Though, given that its audience is restricted solely to Brianna Wu herself, I guess that's not surprising.

 

[Redeemer and Destroyer]

Does the overpriced 'lore book' explain Minuete's heart antennae and bug eyes? Because that was something that threw me off when watching these let's plays. Not that the rest of the game is that much better. It feels like we've been dropped into a game series mid-way through, world building and character wise. Like we're all supposed to be familiar with these characters already. Though, given that its audience is restricted solely to Brianna Wu herself, I guess that's not surprising.

Minuete briefly explains it during a dialogue option. If I can recall, it has something to do with her altered DNA, a genetic mutation, as part of a Chessboard experiment. I could be wrong, but that's all I can remember.

 

[GabeRegan]

Apparently in the Revolution 60 universe using nanomachines to turn somebody into a bee woman is considered a major technical advantage.

 

[Norvic]

Does the overpriced 'lore book' explain Minuete's heart antennae and bug eyes? Because that was something that threw me off when watching these let's plays. Not that the rest of the game is that much better. It feels like we've been dropped into a game series mid-way through, world building and character wise. Like we're all supposed to be familiar with these characters already. Though, given that its audience is restricted solely to Brianna Wu herself, I guess that's not surprising.

If you're really bored, you can read it yourself.

 

[Keystone]

Q: Why does this character have bug eyes and heart antennae?

A: :autism:

Long and short of it, really.

 

[Kosher Dill]

It feels like we've been dropped into a game series mid-way through, world building and character wise. Like we're all supposed to be familiar with these characters already.

I think that's actually intentional, because John sincerely believes that's a good, engaging writing technique. "Election Eve" was the same way: you're just supposed to assume the main characters are friends because of all the vaguely-described wacky hijinks they had in college, and not sweat the details. Same in R60, except replace "wacky hijinks" with "paramilitary missions".

 

[Jaimas]

I'm actually shocked Wu is a fan of MGS. Isn't that series basically built on themes Wu's ilk would find problematic?

That's actually something I've always found simultaneously hilarious and tragic.

Despite how much Wu puts into her public "LABELLING THINGS PROBLEMATIC" persona, the truth is, she's a gigantic weeb. If she embraced that and stopped being the anus equivalent of a black hole she'd be much happier. Instead she comes across as a self-loating nutter.

Nah, the feature does actually exist in the super special edition, you can see it in action at the end of this video:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4JyWmr7q88U
You do have to beat the game first though, which is only for masochists. Even Wu obviously never played the game through in its entirety. Or maybe she did and just shipped the thing knowing it was broken, because she hasn't got the first clue how to fix it.

Yeah, I had to use that feature myself a lot when writing a summary of the endings.

 

[Maradontia]

If you ask me, I feel Brianna simply lost interest in working on the game, likely because the fad of 'indie game developer' fell by the wayside on twitter, combined with the internet dogpiling that followed him wherever he went.

If anything, Frank pushed Brianna to release the game because of growing backlash on Kickstarter. Brianna would have been happy to let the whole thing collapse and ignore the multitudes of pissed off people left in his wake. Frank would have been blackballed because of his association with the project however, so he was forced to do something.

Rev 60: (Verb) To completely stop giving a shit about a video game or other project so it goes undone unless someone else bails you out, and the quality is low nonetheless.

Example: "Did you hear Bill totally Rev 60'd that presentation to Saks and Co.? It was a laughing stock at the meeting."

"Yeah. I heard his assistant did all the work while he was golfing. It was already late and the boss was getting pissed. He would get fired if his uncle wasn't the owner."

Minuete briefly explains it during a dialogue option. If I can recall, it has something to do with her altered DNA, a genetic mutation, as part of a Chessboard experiment. I could be wrong, but that's all I can remember.

The sad thing is there isn't a fan forum anywhere discussing this game in such depth. The only people who know this info are making fun of it.

 

[Norvic]

Wu's pretending to be a programmer again, and once again I am triggered.

Can't even keep her story straight. Last time she told this tale, she got her first computer in the late 80s and nobody had computers then. Now she was hacking BASIC in elementary school.

This is exactly the same MO with game engines. She dismisses everything she has no personal experience of as "toys." I'm more than ever convinced that Pascal is the only language she's ever tried to learn, and that only because it was a lesson at school.

This Turbo Pascal 4 anecdote is always the one she trots out, and she never even tries to talk about any other language even in the "this is a thing that exists" depth that she talks about Pascal.

 

[Kiras left nipple]

BASIC 'more like a toy'

Basic first appeared nearly 52 years ago in dartmouth college ,around about the same time wu announced the rev 60 patch...

 

[GleamingTheQ-Bert]

I think that's actually intentional, because John sincerely believes that's a good, engaging writing technique. "Election Eve" was the same way: you're just supposed to assume the main characters are friends because of all the vaguely-described wacky hijinks they had in college, and not sweat the details. Same in R60, except replace "wacky hijinks" with "paramilitary missions".

You're absolutely right; it reminds me of Red Letter Media's infamous Star Wars prequel critique, when Mr. Plinkett points out the defect in Lucas' attempt to backstory Anakin and Obi Wan's relationship; it's all:

"...blah blah blah since we fell into that nest of Gundarks..."

vs.

"...your driving hasn't improved since Tselinoyarsk..."

TL;DR TELLING not SHOWING

 

[Elbe]

I'm actually shocked Wu is a fan of MGS. Isn't that series basically built on themes Wu's ilk would find problematic?

People like Wu don't really give a shit about social justice.

For them it's just a way to treat people like shit while believing they're occupying the moral high ground. A bit like fundies.

 

[Shugo]

You're absolutely right; it reminds me of Red Letter Media's infamous Star Wars prequel critique, when Mr. Plinkett points out the defect in Lucas' attempt to backstory Anakin and Obi Wan's relationship; it's all:

"...blah blah blah since we fell into that nest of Gundarks..."

vs.

"...your driving hasn't improved since Tselinoyarsk..."

TL;DR TELLING not SHOWING

Maybe that's why she keeps saying she doesn't want to pull a "George Lucas" and remove content she actively vilifies other media for portraying (neurotypicality enforcement i.e. calling mental illness an illness, ableism, sexism, body shaming by not having fat fucks), because she's as much of a hack. Georgey just had a bigger budget to make garbage.

 

[Ti-99/4A]

Turbo Pascal 4 came out in 1987. Someone that's been programming for almost 30 years could have made a whole OS in the time it took to make and completely botch Rev. 60.
But, John's gotta be the first and best at everything, even when he's completely clueless and dead last in reality.

 

[Very Honest Content]

Can't even keep her story straight. Last time she told this tale, she got her first computer in the late 80s and nobody had computers then. Now she was hacking BASIC in elementary school.

To be fair, John Flynt was born in 1977, so elementary school was scheduled to last between around '83-'88 for him so I'm going to say the timeline is plausible for the claim. But only to be fair . . .