The boys are back in town! RKG boys, that is. Retry Elden Ring, Season/Series 2 premiered today–and they gave us producers an additional episode. They premiered it at 1 p.m. my time, which meant I had to skip the first half hour because I had Taiji. Once I hopped into the Discord, it was so cool to watch with the gang. I watched the begininng of the first episode after it ended and now I’m watching the second episode.
In the last post, I was talking about the small minority of very vocal voices in the RKG community who want to dictate how Rory plays.
Anyway. Here’s the thing about gatekeeping–it’s just bullshit. The older I get, the more I’m just so over it. I don’t want to even acknowledge they have a point because they don’t. I have always been of the mindset that if it’s in the game, it’s fair play. Even if it’s a cheese strat, so what?
I have never understood and I will never understand why people are so salty about how other people play the games. Well, I do know why, but I simply don’t agree. I also don’t think that just because someone pays money for content (Patreon), they got to dictate the play. I am well aware that I’m being a bit hypocritical because I so emphatically want him to be able to use the spirit summons–but only whenever he wants to. There have been times when he’s chosen not to do it and have been times when he just forgets he can.
But in general, I say let him play how he wants to play. To me, I chose to be a patreon because I enjoy their content. I appreciate Rory for who he is, even when he annoys the hell out of me. Even when he annoys the hell out of me? I like that he’s chaotic and all over the map. I like that he stubbornly clings to something that is no longer serving him. I like that he has excellent twitch responses that sometimes makes him overreact to the circumstance. I like that he has a childlike wonder for some of the things he’s seen in the games.
That’s what I don’t understand. Why would you pay money to a content creator and then try to change the way they operate? If you enjoy what they do, would you not want them to do more of it?
If I were to steram a From game, it would be with many caveats. One, it would not be on a first playthrough. I just would not and could not do it. I’m already stressed the first time through because I am so bad at these games. Rory is so much better at these games than I am, it’s hard not to be jealous because they are pretty much all I play. Or rather, I always have a From game on the go. And I still suck at them. I know it’s because of my hidden disabilities, but I get frustrated because my love for the games does not make me any better at them.
I struggle so much with them that I will take any advantage I can get.
Number two. No backseat gaming. At all. I will instantly put someone on timeout if they do it one time and ban them the second time. I have no patience for that at all. AndI would clearly define what backseat gaming is. I don’t have a problem with pointing out bonfires/sites of grace (when I’m near them. Not when I first enter an area or whatever). Other than that, though, none at all. No telling me where to go. No telling me what weapon/armor/incantations to use/wear.
There is a funny story of a content creator that got so sick of people in his chat telling him to increase his Vigor, he set it to zero. And he refused to lovel it for the whole game. Which meant he died to Malenia (considered the hardest boss in the game) 2,999 times. Yes, he beat her on the 3,000th try. I’m citing all this from memory, which means that I amy not have the details right. But I know that I have the story in general correct. Anwd i had to admire him for sticking to it because I think I would have faltered around the hundredth death.
I understand the mindset, though. Thhe more someone tells me to do something, the less I’m apt to do it. And in this case, I would be as bristly about it as he was. In fact, I would be tempted to do a ‘don’t tel me what to do’ run–which is basically me doing what I want.
That’s one thing that I really like about Rory–he just does what he wants to do. Not out of orneriness, but just because he wants to. When he has to do things he doesn’t want to do–it’s painfully obvious. And it’s like all the life has drained out of him. Again, I empathize because I’m the same way. If I’m fored to do something I really don’t want to do–I do it robotically and with absolutely no enthusiasm.
Utnbridled Rory is best Rory. It’s one-third of the reason I watch (along with Krupa’s lore and Gav’s grot). Muzzling him takes the joy out of the show, and I know I am not the only one who thinks that way.
Another thing. no spoilers. At all. I understand that people are so enthusiastic and just want to show their love, but let others find out things for themselves. This is part of the reason I hesitate to watch lore videos or even the story trailers. I like going in as unspoiled as possible. Gav jokes about how much our community spoiler tags everything, but I prefer it to not spoiler tagging enough. There was someone in the Discord trying to argue that people should be allowed to enjoy the videos however they want–including not spoiler tagging things. He could not understand that this action affected other people so one person’s enjoyment might be impeding on someone else’s.
I dunno. There might be space for someone like me, but I highly doubt it. More to the point, there is no way I would subject myself to that.