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| Alt-text: Wait, that second one is a woman? ... wait, if that bothers me, then why doesn't ... man, this game is no fun anymore. |
What bothers me most about it is just how old and abused the concept is. The idea of humanising the faceless hordes that populate games and films has been explored so many times. Just to list off a few: the extended version of the first Austin Powers movie; the first Doctor McNinja comic; the dickwolves fiasco over at Penny Arcade; the protagonists of Terry Pratchett's Guards! Guards!; Oblivion, a game almost designed around the premise of humanising the NPC population; and, in particular, the No Russian level from Modern Warfare 2. That's just off the top of my head, using fairly well-known examples, and they are all far better executed than this comic.
What is odd about the comic is the particular example Randy uses. Why does he say 'FPS' when FPS games tend to try harder than most to make the NPCs acceptable targets? How many of them use robots, zombies, aliens, demons, Nazis, terrorists or sociopath gladiators as the enemy (actually, I think that covers every FPS)? Why not target strategy-based wargames like the Total War series, or sandbox games like Manhunt or GTA, where slaughtering people by the bucketload is fairly standard? And why just 'FPS'? Why not a particular game?
I have the horrible feeling that Randall wrote this using the No Russian controversy, an issue that blew up over a year ago, as a reference. If that is the case, then there are two possible conclusions here. One is that he is over a year behind in his pop culture references, and he is playing catch-up. This seems unlikely to me, at least compared to the second option, which is that Randy has already written a year's worth of comics and is peeling them off one by one and sticking them on the site. It would explain the constant dated feeling of his comics, and the reason he doesn't notice all his blatant errors. It explains his refusal to improve the artwork, and how rushed they all seem. It explains the drop in overall quality as compared to the early days.
It explains fucking everything.
EDIT: Aaannnnd having read the xkcdsucks comment thread, I realise Randy is probably just copying Reddit posts. Well, fuck it, I still think my theory has a basis. There must be a way of testing the 'Reddit stealing' and 'comic stack' hypotheses. Maybe by trying to predict what the next comic will be?
BINGO TIME!
Just for Mike.
I think it may be impossible to get bingo if Rob doesn't right a Megdall fanfic...
The "comic stack" theory assumes Randall has a buffer. That would implicate that Randall had time to spare on this comics, instead of churning out comics in the last 15 minutes of the day. That really makes matter even worse(really, Randall, you didn't catch that mistake in a whole YEAR), but seems unlikely. It really breaks Occam's Razor, I reckon.
ReplyDeleteNow, the main problem with this idea is execution. That it's been used before is a matter that can be overcome by good execution. But, as we know, Randall always chooses the WORST execution possible. In this case, instead of showing us the game, he has shown us a stick figure playing the game. And didn't even bother to close the his head.
That's really shoddy.
I am assuming Randall had a minor buffer some time in the past, and used it to spew out a huge amount of comics in a small amount of time. Now he just sits back and throws one out three times a week. In fact, I think he's got enough comics to run until 1024, which is where he will stop.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, the execution is as bland as can be, but when FPS games themselves are pointing out and playing with the 'humanised NPC' idea, you're probably too late to parody it.
I didn't even notice the trepanning of the guy's head. I think I just blank it out these days.
I don't think he has a phoning-it-in stack based on the whole sickness 5-minute-comics. That was his stack, that was his buffer. It's gone now. He did have a stack in the beginning, because this whole comic started as doodles in his notebooks from high school that he scanned and uploaded.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you're both right on this one, although I don't think he would blow his entire stack like that (hurr hurr) on the 5 minute comics.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he has an emergency stack, in case he can't think of anything on time.
Capn raises a better point indeed. If he had a stack, he wouldn't need the whole "BOO HOO MY UNDEFINED RELATIVE IS SICK, TAKE THESE SHODDILY DRAWN COMICS THAT MANAGE TO BE BETTER THAN MY USUAL COMICS AND LOVE ME PLS" stuff, you know.
ReplyDeleteNo. This comic is offensively bad. On top of being the go-to joke of every video game webcomic ever (Brawl in the Family even did it in song) it's been done in nearly every other medium as well.
ReplyDeleteIf the fact that it was a completely unoriginal joke that managed to bring less to the table than even the cookie-cutter uses of it, there's also the fact that many popular games already do stuff to humanize the AI opponents. Many POPULAR games. The joke had failed before it even got finished being told.
I'm probably lowering my standards. I didn't get too pissed off with this one because there aren't any hideous, outright errors. It's just a dated, massively overused concept that has been terribly executed.
ReplyDeleteOblivion? What?
ReplyDeleteWell, compared to most RPGs they're pretty humanised. There's quite a few instances where you're required to kill someone that you've spoken to in some depth. The final arena fight, the last assassination missions and a couple of the fighting guild missions spring to mind.
ReplyDeleteBeen a while since I played it though.
When I read this comic I assumed it was meant to be an online multiplayer FPS, like Modern Warfare 2, and that the "three-second snippets" refer to the players you are defeating.
ReplyDeleteDidn't really make it funnier, and your theory probably makes more sense.
I assumed they were NPCs because everyone respawns in multiplayer games. If you are right (and there is a good chance you are, now I look at it), Randall is even more out-of-touch/stupid than I thought...
ReplyDeleteIf that is the case, it's basically a repetition of 438, in that it's trying to re-humanize the faceless people you meet on the internet. (whether through gaming or forums)
ReplyDeleteOnly in this case, it's even more poorly done.
Hey I just thought I'd throw in something that hasn't been mentioned here at all: The "joke" is COMPLETELY blown by the title! I honestly think this is the most egregious error here; in the rare xkcd that actually tries to have a real live joke with a real live punchline, Randall puts it at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteBingo?
ReplyDeleteCaptcha: Lanizess.
"You're not lazy if you're too lazy to spell 'lazy' right!"
-Randall Munroe
There's no comment thread for this comic. What I do?
ReplyDeleteBingo the previous thread again.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I wasn't trying to instigate the 4chan box, I was genuinely surprised by the chan-iness of the comment thread. And, did you notice that Randall ended his sentence with a preposition in the alt-text of the latest comic?
ReplyDelete