Ab56 v2 aka Ash

I would also argue that people in this thread missed her main point about Mario and Double Dragon here. I don't think Ms. Sarkeesian was even arguing that the "damsel in distress" element was essential or even major component to the story. Of course it's not essential--games didn't really even have the capacity for elaborate stories back then. The point of her focusing on those specific games was to explain what the "damsel in distress" theme was. She then went on to explain that even if it seems minor, there are a countless number of other games with that same theme. Since this trait is not applied with reversed gender roles nearly as often, it is otherizing and a type of microaggression.

That is a possibility. I just think it's a highly unlikely one.

Anita Sarkeesian has been making Feminist Frequency videos for a long time, so there is a clear track record as to the quality of her videos. No one should be surprised at what she ultimately churned out. She also got way more money than she actually requested. It's very likely that most of her expenditures were on research material. We also don't know how much of the money she actually used on this project or will have used by the time it is complete. It's pretty clear that a lot of the people criticizing her are doing it because they hate her, a woman who dared critique a medium riddled with problems. These people's misogyny, or the influence misogynists have on them, best explains the extraordinarily high level of vitriol thrown her way. It's not conclusive proof of misogyny, but it is strong evidence.

I completely agree with zircon as to the impropriety of YouTube comments. There is nothing wrong with Ms. Sarkeesian closing those comments off. Unless you've literally gotten death and rape threats and nigh endless bigotry spewed at you by hundreds, if not thousands of people, I'm not sure you are in a place to fairly judge her decision. Even then, it's her choice, and no one is entitled to comment or rate on her video if she doesn't want that feedback. Moreover, if you truly want to critique or discuss her work, you can do it in other discussion spaces like this very forum, or pay a visit to her Facebook page. There are many people critiquing her content there; I paid a visit and commended her for a great video. I'm not at all concerned that this video was mostly focused on the 1980s and 1990s rather than more recent games because this is only part one of a much larger series. Thematically, it is a good introduction to everything that is still a problem today and will be covered in future videos in this series. For reference, here is her line-up of upcoming episodes: 1. Damsel in Distress 2. The Fighting F#@k Toy 3. The Sexy Sidekick 4. The Sexy Villainess 5. Background Decoration 6. Voodoo Priestess/Tribal Sorceress 7. Women as Reward 8. Mrs. Male Character 9. Unattractive Equals Evil 10. Man with Boobs 11. Positive Female Characters! 12. Top 10 Most Common Defenses of Sexism in Games

If there are good reasons for not doing it and also good reasons for doing it, do a careful cost-benefit analysis before dismissing the idea.

No really though: why don't you make the site open source? I've personally seen development of a site occur because they made their code open for volunteers to play with.

Have you considered making the website open source on Google Code and providing a downloadable version for people to play with? In doing so, you might be able to get some valuable development from volunteers who can get some time to learn the code before diving in. They may be able to help for at least couple years, or add at least a feature or two, even if they can't commit much beyond that. You could lay out some guidelines for how you want things to be done before changes are committed.

My point is that asking for feedback is complete pointless if no one but the people asking the question understands the intricacies of the system you are trying to improve. Most of the people who are supposed to give feedback have no idea what's been tried before or what the intricacies of this site are. I'm simply saying that in the future, this should be laid out more explicitly from the very beginning rather than several pages later, or the feedback may as well never have been asked for.

One more thing I wanted to point out is that inevitably, if this community wants to survive, it will need a way to survive without any single particular person at the helm. Similarly to founding a nonprofit organization or other business, the owner may find that he or she wants the organization's work and community to continue on even if the owner can no longer dedicate time to it for some reason (e.g. family, illness, etc.). I've seen many sites and projects completely fall apart because there was no long-term plan for sustainability and growth. Just a thought. Additionally... It happens. There is no such thing as a permanent solution for a community that grows. The only thing you can do is work on scaling temporary solutions more efficiently. One final point: these feedback threads don't ever seem to be productive. It normally boils down to a few ideas getting tossed around, someone saying, "we thought about that and it didn't work," or "we're working on it." Maybe a more fruitful discussion could be had if someone "in the know" could lay out in specific detail what the constraints are and what has been tried before. Otherwise, this will go nowhere.

Alternatively, if djp writing up posts is an impenetrable barrier, lighten djp's other responsibilities by delegating other aspects of running the website so he has more time to write. This solution would help, but I'm not sure it can compensate for the amount of creative energy it takes to write. One person can only do so much.

If the actual "posting" part is the bottleneck, then the most reasonable solution is to delegate that task to other capable people so the workload is split. Period. Get people who know how to write about music. djp can always author a few of his own write-ups and edit other people's write-ups if he wants. As much as a site owner would want to keep this privilege exclusive to himself or herself, and as much as he or she may deserve to maintain that privilege, there comes a point when the website and community's expansion requires delegation. Otherwise, you shortchange other areas where the website and community can grow. That's the hard truth. But delegation should also be seen as a positive thing. Along with the bonus potential for growth, sharing leadership allows other members of the community to share responsibilities and feel that they are contributing in a meaningful way. That's what keeps people involved and active.

I haven't posted on OCR in months but I found a WIP of this on my hard drive, so I came back to check if it was ever finished. Is it? I sure hope so!

"Shake shake!" The Game Mischief Makers is a somewhat little-known game for the N64. The game was was released in 1997, having been developed and published by Treasure and Enix respectively. It is a 2D side-scrolling platformer that's as fun as all get out. The game follows Marina Liteyears, a robotic maid who kicks ass and takes names on her quest to save the kidnapped Professor Theo from the evil Empire. Marins'a adventures take place on planet Clancer, whose primary residents are--you guessed it--Clancers. A lot of the tools and technology in this game are Clancer-made, and they have the unique look to prove it. Throughout the game, Marina battles a variety of creatures and badass beast mechs. CERBERUS ALPHA! HELL YEAH! If you haven't played it, check this game out. The Music Mischief Makers has an amazing soundtrack for being such an under-acclaimed game. I could go on, but I'll let some of the music speak for itself: -Just to give you a feel for what this game's world is like, here's a video of introduction. You can tell already that they use some pretty unique sounds in this game--at least I've never heard anything like quite like it. -This is probably the most memorable theme in the game, as it recurs in many stages, and is the main character's theme. -It's honestly been years since I've played, so I don't remember where in the game this song took place, but I totally dig it. -Sweet jebus, how awesome is this for a mini boss theme? Gets me pretty pumped. -"LOOK AT ME," quoth the awesome boss battle track. Bottom Line All that said, Mischief Makers is a great game with a great soundtrack that I would love to see done justice on OCReMix. I haven't made many requests in the seven or eight years I've been around here, but it would really make my day to see this game represented. Do me a solid, will ya?

If the method of creating the sound is at issue, it sounds more like a patent question than a copyright question.

I understand and agree that the site's creator has final executive authority over its content; this thread is just a vehicle for putting up options for the creator's consideration. If there are viable suggestions for helping the site grow or adapt to growth, they're worth talking about and evaluating for both djp's benefit, and that of the greater VGM community.

Rexy: I don't agree with the one "remix of the week," idea for the reasons you stated, but would additional staff being allowed to post remixes increase the amount of remixes that could be posted? That is, would this allow for a situation where there would be more than one remix per week, seeing as there's apparently a large backlog of remixes waiting to be posted? The rest of you people need to chill out. If you don't feel there is a problem, your further participation in this thread is unnecessary. Your stance is clear, and repeating it won't advance this discussion in any meaningful way. On the other hand, you could try to look at the "problem" here as "how can we improve OCR's promotion of all of its music?" This is an issue that will always deserve more thought, as this community and the amount of music it provides grows. Creating new promotional ideas and evaluating them for strengths and weaknesses can only help OCR in the long run, so focus on that rather than getting angry at each other. Treat this thread as a discussion for how OCR should adapt to growth. I would hate to see this thread get locked because of people shitting it up with irrelevant arguments.

That sounds pretty cool, and I like that you're thinking. The only thing I'd worry about themed batch releases is that it would push back posting stuff by artists who choose to do something different that may not fall within a theme. That is, unless you mean releasing batches of music in addition to other tracks, which might still create the same problem against a minority of tracks that album music does. Whatever is done, I think it should encourage as much quality and musical creativity as possible, because that's the bread and butter of OCR. Spinning off of Rozovian's idea, how about devoting certain days of the week to posting a batch of mixposts(regardless of theme)? Mixpost Days, if you will (call it what you want). You could do a lot of promotion with weekly Mixpost Days, because it's a particular event to focus people's attention toward. People could also make it part of their schedule to check OCR on those days rather than randomly checking and hoping something was posted too.

I read your entire post, and taken in its entirety, I got the impression that although you had potential solutions, you believe they are impractical. I'm not trying to attack anyone, so please don't take my posts that way. More on topic, I actually think having another staff member post ReMixes is a pretty viable solution that deserves more thought. I'm not particularly certain what in the process makes posting new music take so long, so pardon me if there's more to it than I think. I get the feeling from above posts that it's djp's write-ups. As much as I really enjoy and appreciate the analysis and flavor those write-ups add while I'm listening to new ReMixes, I think others in this community could also write quite passionately on this topic too. Ultimately, people come here for the music more than the words about them, so having helpers post more for you would be really beneficial. The only caveat I see would be posting too much music too fast, consequently shortchanging the amount of time new ReMixes have to be on the front page, and the time people have to absorb those tracks. However, again, I think this is an aesthetic problem that could be solved by re-designing the front page layout somehow. A caring community like this one can always adapt for growth.

The Internet is a poor substitute for legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your area if you expect to be doing anything that could get you sued. (Sorry if this sounds rude.)

Actually, you just can't think of a practical solution. That doesn't mean there isn't a solution, however. Others in the community should take the time to come up with whatever creative approaches they can to increase exposure. The discussion is worth having.

The complaint does not seem to be "I want my remixes to have more exposure." The complaint is "I want encourage more remixes that are not necessarily part of an album." This is not necessarily an unfair or selfish request, seeing as albums occupy a lot of talented artists in the VGM community, and they often (not always) cover music from games that have already received a lot of attention. It sounds perfectly healthy to want to come up with ways of encouraging some diversity, however it's done.

Would it be possible to rework the front page somehow to dedicate a portion of the sidebar to specific tracks that are on the latest featured album? Sort of like what SuperiorX is suggesting, except just separating those particular album mixes from other remixes altogether. In doing so, both types of posts can get featured appropriately. Just a thought. This just seems like a simple aesthetic issue with the front page layout more than anything.

Hey Bahamut, I don't go on IRC or these forums as much anymore--even less since starting law school--but I didn't ever properly thank you for the advice and support you've offered me over the years. So thanks! Good luck with the marines, and maybe I'll catch you on IRC some time. Best regards, A.B.

I made my post before the lesbian scene. Before, it seemed like they were toning down the sex that was actually in the book.

Can someone explain to me why it's bad to show lots of sex and violence in a show that's based on a book that features lots of sex and violence? Moreover, is there any good reason people are arguing more against the sex than the violence? This show is amazing.