San Diego Comic-Con 2018: Geek Mecca or Marketing Sodom and Gomorrah?
In the past decade geek culture has been become increasingly lucrative, as major corporations find new ways to further monetise what was formerly a niche market. Multi-million-dollar movies are tailor made to the caprices of their audiences. Limited edition action figures and other memorabilia are now designed, created and sold not as toys for enthusiastic children but as collectible investments to the middle-aged. Cosplay is no longer the exclusive preserve of fans sporting homemade outfits, but photo opportunities for professional artists with portfolios, looking for sponsorship. Conventions have moved from the church halls and community centres into cutting edge conference facilities and awkwardly rub shoulders with corporate trade shows. Money changes everything and not always for the better.
Fundamentalist Fandom
Naïve (adjective): (of a person or action) showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement. I have chosen this word over delusional, foolish or puerile in an attempt to keep this post measured and level headed. Because this is a discussion about fandom and it’s a subject that is seldom driven by cool, even handed, mature reflection. Fandom is about passion, strong emotional connections and a sense of community. These can be and often are positive things. Yet fandom can also be about myopia, zealotry and gate-keeping. Something that that is supposed to bring people together can degenerate into a “them and us” scenario. Just another binary, tribal, world view that screams at anyone or anything that is not “the same”. And in recent years, due to the internet and social media, fandom has now developed an erroneous sense of ownership. By loving something and venerating it, you (allegedly) have an inherent stake in it and a right to say how it evolves. Which leads me neatly on to “Remake the Last Jedi” movement and the staggering naivety that underpins it.
World Cup 2018
A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about how I’m not a major sports fan and how sporting events and their associated culture are not a major part of my life. Let it suffice to say that nothing has occurred to change my perspective since then. Effectively myself and sports exist in two separate spheres and “never the twain shall meet”. I don’t have a deep, abiding hatred of sporting activities; I simply have no interest in them. They’ve never been an integral part of my life, although in my youth I was always happy to try them. If I do have a beef, then it is with some of the wider aspects of sporting culture which can stray into racism, sexism and blind zealotry. The tribal nature of sports is also not to my liking either. However, I strive to maintain a live and let live attitude, so as long as I can keep sport at a comfortable distance, we can mutually ignore each other.
The Need To Challenge Yourself
In March 2016 I effectively took early retirement from my IT consultancy business and became a fulltime carer. Since then I have focused my time on addressing both my disabled parents’ health needs and the logistical and administrative task of running their home. It keeps me busy to say the least, but I find that being organised, proactive and maintaining a tight routine is the key to staying on top off it all. However, what this role doesn’t provide in any shape or form is any serious intellectual challenge. Scheduling appointments, re-ordering medication and liaising with the District Nurse Team and Doctors Surgery mainly require the use of soft skills. It is gratifying to be on top of these tasks, but it doesn’t have the same satisfaction of a rigorous technical conundrum.
Non-Driver
As a carer I have to take both of my disabled parents to various clinics, appointments and sundry trips out. Today, it was a visit to the hairdresser with my Mother and then a journey to the audiologist, to collect and be fitted with her new hearing aid. There was then a journey for shopping and a final visit to the pharmacist, before returning home. Luckily, both my parents qualify for the London Taxicard Scheme. The Black Cab are a disabled friendly vehicle and the yearly quota of subsidised journeys are an absolute godsend. However, there is another reason why I find this service invaluable. I do not, nor have I ever held a driving license. To date I have never driven a car and considering my age, the cost of ownership and insurance, along with my personal mindset on the subject, it’s highly unlikely that I ever will.
“Geek Culture” and the Media
During my lifetime, I have seen many niche market hobbies and pastimes become mainstream activities. Much of what is now generically known as “geek culture” use to be the exclusive and esoteric province of hardcore fans back in the seventies. Comic collecting, conventions commemorating obscure TV shows and even gaming were activities that were mainly conducted under the mainstream radar, in minor conventions centres, church halls and out-of-the-way bespoke stores. Forty plus years later and all of the above are now big business, generating staggering sums of money. For example, let’s take a moment to reflect upon Avengers: Infinity War which has so far earned $1,164,106,540 at the box office since its release on April 27th. The notion of a film company investing so heavily in such a genre franchise was virtually unheard during my youth. Sure, that changed with Star Wars but if you’ve read anything about the making of that movie, you’ll know it was both a battle and gamble to get it to the big screen.
Do Other People Spoil Multiplayer Games?
Despite its numerous flaws, I really like Friday the 13th: The Game. I enjoy the basic premise and have a great deal of love for the intellectual property. Sadly, like so many multiplayer games of this nature, its Achilles Heel is its player base. Every 20-minute round in Friday the 13th: The Game is a total lottery. Trouble often starts while waiting in the lobby for 8 people to join the game. By default, those with gaming headsets and mics are automatically “live”. Hence the garrulous inanities, trolling and abuse starts almost immediately. Thus, the first thing you have to do to make matters tolerable is to mute all those present. Once the game begins, again it’s a gamble as to whether anyone is interested in working collaboratively and actually achieving any of the in-game goals. If more than one player spawns near a building, it becomes a race to see who can plunder potential resources first. Use of the four-man vehicle can also be a bone of contention. It is not unusual to see one player abandon those that have contributed to repairing the car and just make off with it. Some players will subsequently runover their comrades just to steal their loot.
This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things
"This is why we can't have nice things" is a well-established internet meme. Over time it has been over used and has become a bit of a cliché. Yet under certain conditions it can still be utilised in a pertinent fashion to make a salient point. Recently, something somewhat innocuous and trivial occurred that caused me to recollect this saying. The incident itself is not of any major importance but it resulted in me realising that this sort of thing happens more and more often these days. Allow me to explain myself. I like many of you frequent a few forums and subreddits. On one particular site, a thread was derailed by someone who decided to just simply name call. Nothing unusual there I hear you say. But for me personally, it was one time too many. Name calling serves no purpose in an adult debate, so I decided to point this out. Eventually, the problem post was removed as there were others that thought that such behaviour was crass. However, the person in question who posted the remark, would not concede the point in any way shape or form. They either did not want to or what was more likely, were totally incapable of comprehending their own transgression.
UK Tourism
The United Kingdom is the world's 8th biggest tourist destination. According to the national tourism agency, 2017 was a record year for the UK, with 39.9 million visits by tourists. This number is set to pass over 40 million this year according to VisitBritain, which is predicting tourists will spend a record £27 billion over the coming 12 months. U.S. remains the most-valuable inbound market, although the number of travellers originating from Europe is larger than those travelling from North America. Furthermore, in recent years there has also been a substantial increase in Chinese tourists visiting the UK. Popular destinations include London, Bath, Edinburgh and Cambridge. The country's principal tourist destination is still the capital, with the Tower of London being one of the most visited attraction in the country. The post Brexit fall in the pound against the euro and the dollar is helping drive visits.
Why Does the Games Industry Seem So Dysfunctional?
Write here...If you take a look at video game industry at present, it isn’t exactly enjoying universally good PR. 2017 saw numerous damaging revelations such as the “loot box” debacle, several high-profile studios going to the wall (and not just because of financial mismanagement), and more recently there have been serious allegations of bullying and sexual harassment within several high-profile studios. Despite being a “modern” industry it seems to have all the flaws of those that have existed for centuries with respect to abuses of power and financial skulduggery. This raises the question "why does this industry seem so dysfunctional?" Just because gaming is a multi-billion-dollar business we naturally assume that successful companies are efficiently run, by competent captains of industry as well as skilled and professional staff. It is therefore confusing when this illusion is shattered due to evidence to the contrary. This begs the question, why do these institutions so often have metaphorical feet of clay?
Fix or Replace?
I was sitting at my desk on Sunday afternoon, diligently typing away at a blog post, when I heard an audible hiss and then felt my seat slowly descending. The gas lift piston in my office chair had broken after just 18 months of use. Now I don’t consider myself to be overweight (I’m 5′ 11″ and weigh 178 lbs) so, I put this event down to mechanical failure rather than an excessive load. Either way I was left with a chair that was too low down and not fit for purpose. I’m a big advocate of ensuring that your workspace is user friendly and conforms to health and safety standards. If you don’t have an appropriate chair you can seriously damage your health. So, I decided to look for a replacement chair online and soon discovered that there’s a wealth of choice. Prices range between £25 and £300. But the thing is, I like my current chair. It’s nothing fancy but it’s comfortable. Furthermore, it’s a good size for my office which isn’t especially large. So, I decided to see if fixing the chair was a viable option instead.
Ambiguous Language
I have both a love and fascination for the English language. I enjoy both its formality and informality, its diversity, as well as its inherent evolutionary nature. To my mind having a wide vocabulary is an invaluable social and intellectual skill as well as being essential to self-expression. How can you mean what you say if you cannot say what you mean? So, when confronted by contemporary phrases such as “milkshake duck”, rather than balk at them, I strive to understand them. Language is not immutably, set by the parameters and standards of when you learnt it. If you endeavour to grasp the subtleties of popular culture along with slang from different socio-economic groups, communication becomes so much easier. The English Language is beautifully malleable and offers different modes for different situations. I therefore choose a specific manner of speech depending on who I’m talking to.
Delivery Culture
Yesterday being a bank holiday, we decided to slum it and go to McDonalds. We toyed with the idea of ordering via my phone and having a home delivery, but this would incur an additional £5 charge. So, we decided to drive to our local High Street and get a takeaway. Now for those who haven’t been to McDonalds for a while, there are now separate order and collection points in the “restaurant”. If you especially despise human interaction you can use one of the touch screens to order and pay. I guess the older system where food was pre-prepared in anticipation of purchase proved too wasteful. Who can say? Whatever the reason, serving the needs of the customer was probably the last consideration. But I digress. I duly made my order then tried to stand in a place where I didn’t obstruct other customers and waited for my order to be prepared. There’s a large information screen above the collection counter so you can track your order number which is printed on your till receipt.
The Peril of Leaving Comments
I recently decided to try and comment more on websites and blogs, mainly in a shameless attempt to raise my own writing profile. I live in hope that people will be enamoured with my “puckish epigrams” and follow the breadcrumb trail back here. However, leaving comments takes time because I cannot just post a few succinct words. I always end up typing several paragraphs because brevity often leads to a point being misconstrued. We do after all live in an age where people actively look for offense regardless of whether it’s there or not. However, I digress. What I enjoy about leaving comments on blog posts and website articles, is the chance to exchange ideas and to riff off other people. I also find that by marshalling my thoughts and leaving a comment elsewhere, it can lead to me subsequently expanding on those ideas and developing them into a blog post for Contains Moderate Peril. So overall, I advocate leaving comments and feedback.
Black Friday
I have been subject to a continual barrage of emails over the course of the week, promoting Black Friday sales. These have covered everything from power tools to medical supplies, children’s toys and even granite work surfaces. Obviously. there’s also been a lot of promotions for discount games. This eclectic mix reflects the fact that I use my online accounts to purchase items for my entire family. I hate to think what the various analysts and number crunchers make of this. My Amazon recommendations includes both urine bottles and Thomas the Tank Engine paraphernalia. But I digress, I’m sure pretty much all of us have been battered around the head and shoulders this week by various kinds of unsubtle marketing. However, I am happy to report that I have not succumbed to this “encouragement”. The simple fact is that I don’t need anything at present so have bought nothing. Furthermore, I had an epiphany nearly two decades ago, when I discovered that buying stuff really doesn’t make you feel any better, solve any of your problems or fulfil any of the inferred promises of the advertisements.
The Complexity of Socialising
A couple of things have prompted the train of thought that is the basis of this post. The first was the recent BBC television documentary by Chris Packham about autism and how it has shaped his life. The second was a post over at Massively Overpowered regarding “playing alone together”. The reader comments ended up becoming a discussion of the old “introverts versus extroverts” debate. Both of these have got me thinking about the complexity of social interaction and the stress it may or may not cause to various individuals. Social skills and group dynamics are things we learn through osmosis. The prevailing culture allegedly shapes us, yet precious little is taught formally. Our parents have an impact at the beginning of our lives but then we find ourselves at school for the lion share of the day, trying to get along with a wide variety of differing personalities. Simply put, socialising is complex and to be successful at it by societies standards, requires a very specific set of skills.