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waywardsalt · 7 months

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Hey, thanks for the response on the post where I asked about what people dislike ab totk! I genuinely appreciate it a lot, and you summarized most of my thoughts about this beautifully!

Here's something you might find interesting: something about this game's pacing REALLY bothered me from the start, and I think I know what it is. Totk, despite being an open world game that you can pour a ton of time into, feels short. It's a really weird feeling, and I think it can be explained in that Nintendo is trying to use the linear storytelling format for a nonlinear game, which is also why the ability to see the tears in a random order was disorienting, and why the stories from the ancient sages felt so repetitive.

The gameplay is long, but the story isn't! If you compare it to Skyward Sword, for example! In sksw, you go through each of the areas once, and then again with some changes, and then again with more. There's several clear acts, and even if the game is super super linear and recieves criticism for that, it works really well in that context. Additionally, the characters more than make up for the linearity of the story. Totk tries to take that same format, but doesn't seem to understand that this format is for a linear story. It only has a very brief story, and the story to gameplay ratio is so dragged out that unless you get invested in the world, it all starts to feel really stupid and pointless. Unfortunately, totk fails at getting us invested, too.

I really hope this made ANY sense at all, ty again for the input!! I love the responses I'm getting on that post djbdjsndns :D

Hi, you're welcome for my uh... totk rant, I guess? I covered a lot of stuff in it but I wouldn't say I covered everything bc there is... a lot abt that game that rubs me the wrong way in one way or another.

totk is definitely an odd case, it being an open world game that does try to adhere to linear game rules, you’re right- and i’d say the story is severely kneecapped by that attempt on the game’s part to have its cake and eat it too. it tries to mix what botw brought to the table with what was done in the past, but because botw is vastly different in what it does than past zelda games, the result is a messily paced, poorly-told, gameplay-focused with piss-easy mandatory puzzle segments result, failing to capture the advantages of linear games and instead making those specific parts considerably weaker.

people give linear games shit for… honestly, im not totally sure, as someone who really enjoys linear games. they allow for a good focus on story and character, mostly because you can have a set pace and passing of time and order of events. totk tries to implement linear style elements into a game where you can do anything out of order, so in the end the story is surprisingly brief but slow paced because you have to travel so far for everything and they have to account for you doing everything in any order, hence... repeating the same fucking information as a reward for four of the dungeons (which, i don't care how you feel about this game, is an awful fucking choice i mean holy SHIT), and is probably why the interactions with the new sages include very brief character arcs or something, they wanted to include some kind of linear character stories but it all just got stuffed in between a bunch of mini-main quests.

the fact that effectively half of the main story happens ages in the past and is communicated through brief cutscenes that can easily be encountered out of order, too, is kind of a pitiful way to tell the story. they're all basically glorified exposition dumps since nothing about them will change, they're all events that have already happened and have nothing to do with the player except hyping them up i guess.

the dungeons themselves are awkwardly transposed from a more linear game style with them relying on a specific skill to some degree, but they just fall so flat compared to past linear zelda dungeons. in botw the divine beasts honestly worked because the mechanic of manipulating the beasts themselves and the activating of switches fit perfectly with the setup of the dungeons being huge machines, while there isn't as good of a story example as to why totk's dungeons have the same switch mechanic. botw's divine beasts work pretty well in an open world setting. totk's just fall to pieces in an open with setting, even discounting how ascend could just snap them in half entirely. you just... can't have the same kind of dungeons as past zelda games in an open world format. once you take out the array of specific-use progressively-earned items, you're just left with this tiny little gmod ass toolbox to do what felt like baby's first loz-style dungeon. go to the clearly marked waypoint, do one (1) simple puzzle, get reward.

i miss mini bosses, rooms with puzzles that had to be solved to unlock a door or a doorkey, and even the experience of wandering around just trying to figure out what to do next. honestly, the first half of the lightning temple was the best part of all of the dungeons put together, and then we're back to 'go to four different rooms to do four different easy puzzles'. linear games have genuine advantages over open world games, and open world games have their own advantages. in the story segments, totk just ignores the advantages inherent to it's game's basic style in favor of trying and failing to emulate the advantages of a very different game style.

totk is so paradoxically unable to tear itself away from the series' past while at the same time disregarding series staples and even big parts of its own goddamn prequel.

in my experience with the game, as far as i can remember, i believe i went around and opened all of the towers, did some shrines and the depths, got the master sword, did the main quests with some side quests, then sped through getting all of the memories in order, then did the final boss. in between all of that, i managed to get all of the armor, do every single shrine, and open the entirety of the depths. i did not give a single damn about the story by the end. for me, with my playstyle, everything was just... spread out over such a long period of time so there was barely any urgency at all, i experienced the memories all in quick succession while already knowing the big twist (which. btw. i didnt care about. i wasnt really endeared to zelda and link's lack of visual interest during cutscenes just brought up the question of if he doesnt care why should i), and since this game's story is more linear, it just felt so disjointed and strange and... not important.

with botw it makes pretty good sense why link may take ages, why you could get the memories however you want, all of that. zelda is keeping things with ganon on pause for you. all of the big stuff happened in the past. you are here in the present, in the ruins of the past, a blank slate come to eventually complete the mission that you had failed, at the same time discovering this new world and becoming re-acquainted to it with this strange second chance you've been given. totk doesn't have this excuse. at least in past zelda games, you did things in a specific order, so when you wanted to fuck around, it was usually something related to or based on your progress. if you want to fuck around in oot what you can do is based on where you are in the game and even then it all ends up wrapping back around to bolstering link for the end. getting hearts, better items... like every side quest in every other loz game did. in totk you can do a sidequest for like. one flower. and what does that even do for you. it doesn't have the excuse of the honestly pretty well crafted setup and world state of botw.

i really don't know what happened during the development of totk, and i can't imagine it was the smoothest thing in the world, esp considering the pandemic hitting in the middle of it. but just... it just feels like it failed in so many regards and was just... so disappointing, and yet people are heralding it as the best zelda game and- this is not what i want a zelda game to be! i want a zelda game to have those wonderful puzzle-filled dungeons with well-written main characters and music that fits the setting and feels supported by the game's events and a unique setting with unique little nooks and crannies and good pacing and act structure and like. some kind of heart to it. not just another big open-world game created to be the big open world game where you can do this one amazing specific cool thing that TOTALLY is worth the $70 or whatever else it may be priced around the world.

idk. to me what makes zelda games zelda games is the linear storytelling and those complex dungeons and specific method of progression, and botw's new open-world emulation of the sense that loz 1 gave does not and probably will not ever be able to mix with that linear style unless you have massive in game game style shifts to allow for it. either return to the old format or just commit to the series becoming Triple A Open World Game Series Number 34

#asks #salty talks #bitching abt totk #wind-awoken #ty for the ask i love tearing into this game bc its at least helped me understand some stuff abt game design and what kinds of games i like #and why. too bad this game is rancid imo #dude i fucking love skyward sword. the linearity lends itself to a sense of progression and time passing and just. ugh. its so good #totk critical #totk neg #totk salt #covering my bases :)#i just. yeah gamedev is hard but if this is the mess we got after 6 YEARS what the fuck happened??? what was scrapped????#they had SIX FUCKING YEARS and having the ancient sages regurgitate the same info 4 times made it to the final release #what in the fuck happened in there #i dont really like the idea of there being a permanent move to open world bc its clearly just following the crowd on this one #its just such a massive departure from all other loz games (including loz 1 tbh) that that has to be part of it i feel. it makes sense #botw + totk dont feel unique like the other loz games do. they just. feel really similar to shit like elden ring and fenyx bc like.#thats just how open world action adventure games are ig. ironically theres not a ton of wiggle room with the open world formula #cant really get away from what makes them all feel interchangeable bc its so core to what an open world game is #best you can do is add some standout aspect like the general. Being A Souls Game in elden ring #totk adding dumbass glue doesnt even feel unique bc like. its just what every other sandbox game lets you do with some added jank #progression feels meaningless when it has no impact on what you can do in the game and thats the only kinda progression in totk #get more health make armor numbers bigger make better food fuse better weapons. you cant even upgrade the abilities this time #yeah botw has similar pitfalls but it at least owns being an open world game. it utilized and embraced the format #idk. totk before release was increasingly overwhelming to me and post release it was just such a massive letdown #i remember trying in earnest to pull a wagon using a horse and just. having the worst time. ultrahand sucks unless you make death machines #or one of like five specific traversal things

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plushie-lovey · 5 months

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Would I be weird for making a prototype sketch of an idea I have for a jellycat plush? Would I be even weirder if I emailed it to jellycat themselves?

#listen. I'm not looking to do this to get money if they were to make the design (not that it wouldn't be nice)#I literally just want to see my idea become real #I think at the most I'd ask to receive a free plush that'd be inspired from my design or maybe ask for the prototype of the plush #even then I don't think I'd go that far even tho it'd be nice #I just want to see this become real #for anybody curious I want jellycat to add to their line of element/sitting dragons #yknow the moonlight dragon the forest dragon and the ruby dragon. those guys #I'm dying for them to make a sky dragon to go with the set #and/or an ice dragon. but I'm more focused on the sky dragon #I have a clear vision of it on my head #ik I've spoken about it before #I just really love this line of dragons and would be excited to see more in a similar style #a sunlight dragon to go with the moonlight dragon would be cool too #don't mind me Im just fixated on this idea rn #if I do create a sketch for a prototype I'll post it here first to gauge others reactions #before deciding if I'd legitimately want to send to to jellycat #not that I think they'd actually use it or even look at it. Im sure they get tons of fan ideas submitted to them #but it might be fun to try yknow?#even tho Im literally not seeking anything for doing it. I just want it to be real and official #I could commission something to replicate my vision but it wouldn't be the same at all #I need there to be silver embroidery used. the faux white leather for the horns. a perfectly shaped snooter.#idk if anybody but jellycat themselves could fulfill my vision #unless I could find somebody who's really good at mimicking their style #I doubt I'll ever look into it tho #viti shoosh

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milkweedman · 2 years

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Just finished 2 skeins of sleeve yarn and once again marveling at how little yardage im fitting on a bobbin with this stuff--each skein was 60 yards (55 meters). And each skein was a totally full bobbin of plied yarn (and my singles each took up a bobbin). Part of it is that its very airy (and bulky weight, obviously), and the other part is that my take up is not very high so its not compacting down as it goes on, but even so, it feels like a lot of yarn when i was holding it ! And the spinning and plying was only maybe 2 hours ! Bulky yarn is crazy

#so nice though #the carding takes a day or two so im never spinning back to back days which is actually kind of nice #and then i can get the spinning and plying done in one day as long as i keep the tension low (less stress on my joints that way)#and break it into a few sessions #ideally id also be using up the yarn as fast as i was making it but im spending most of my knitting time on that scarf #i moved the sweater panel to straights because i thought i would hurt my hands less #which it isnt but i feel like the reason for that is more to do with how unbalanced it feels and how i can never get the stitches #to sit at the balance point on the needles so theyre not trying to fall out of my hands #which i think is user error really #also thought i was getting lever knitting straights (i.e. the very very long ones) but i dont think i did in retrospect #theyre too short to press the left one into my hip while sitting unless i slouch a ton which i dont remember it being the last time #i tried lever knitting. so maybe i might have better luck if i actually got a pair of those #anyway its going fast when i can knit. and its Very soft and so satisfying to knit #excited to get to the front panel so i can do a design #not sure what though #ooh a beet would be really cool #dont know if i could render it in brown though... id like if it could be all hand dyed and ive never gotten a red #on the other hand could do my best to dye some yarn with beets and then it could be more symbolic of red than actually red lol #spinning #bulky sweater spin

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astrxealis · 4 months

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fun story i got the dlc of 'a date with death' at school LMFAO ..... i have cash but not gcash (it's a filipino thing) so i was talking w my friend in class who also played the game (and she calls me a nerd /pos a lot lol) and i was like i want the dlc but i have no gcash... and she was like ok i'll give you gcash..... enabler ....... but also she wants me to tell her abt it so. ^_^ ecks dee

#⋯ ꒰ა starry thoughts ໒꒱ *·˚#super duper fun day at school again! wow. idk. love my friends.#i am severely cramming on my yearbook stuff tho haha... oops.....#hope you all had a wonderful day too !!! :3 <3 #currently insane btw uh sm is going on (/pos & /neg) but i am. calm rn i think. yeah.#also finally played omori again ^__^ and i've been playingg ddlc myself for the first time despite knowing it since middle school/release #and i had fun being silly w my classmates and friends who know me well by now for the little hyper 'tism thing i am #...and today my two friends in class have said i seem autistic. or maybe also adhd.#!!!!! which is a Lot coming from them like i've said b4 bcs one is literally going into psych and was tested as a young kid #and the other i learned today has been asked often by diagnosed friends if they have adhd #and my diagnosed friend (hi bestie if you see this) thinks i'm adhd w a bit of the tism. so...!!!!#actually the more i realize how diff i am from the normal person the more i start to truly wonder again. hm.#also i'm writing a ton... but like in my notebook :3 gna write in gdocs some more + for school & self-indulgent & content !!!!! yay #gna do more game dev and design too and read. aaahhh and exercise and take care of myself and sleep better.....#will take care of myself!!! will do my best!!! and make it a habit!!! i am happy rn can you tell

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imadhatt3r · 2 years

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M*taverse apparently made their own virtual singer named Polar and all they talk about it is how m*taverse allows them to "occupy the same space as their idol"...?

Like, no, if I wanted that I could go to a normal concert! THE COOLEST THING about vocaloid or K/DA or Gorillaz or studiokillerz is the fact that THEY'RE NOT REAL. They're supposed to give you that "being from another dimension" type vibe. This is the definition of old fart execs seeing something that's popular with young people like Vtubers or virtual bands and making a cheap knockoff without having the slightest clue about what makes it cool in the first place

#hatter blathers #i like polars lower half mask idea but other than that she just looks like a boring conventionally attractive influencer #im so glad that hatsune miku and other vocaloids were made decades before influencers were a thing #because miku looks interesting. miku looks unique. shes adorable but also kinda impossible you know?#gorillaz look unique tok because they were made by an underground comic book artist #studio killers have their own unique look to them too #even kda characters have a cool visual flourish because they were designed as video game characters and turned into kpop stars later #but polar??? she has nothing. she just looks like an average slightly alt influencer that there are tons of

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gatsby-system-folks · 11 months

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I have a lot of thoughts about ai and most of them are sad

#if there was a child named Ai and she was learning to write and draw then duh. wed let her learn from us to make her own stuff. and even if #one day she ended up getting a job i could have gotten instead of me #i wouldnt be mad. but if she kept cutting up others work and pasting it back together without creditting then thats where the line was drawn #and if there were thousands of her taking thousands of jobs and doing them shittily and putting thousands of people out of work and #*be pretty fucking mad at her especially since she didnt need the jobs herself #but thats the thing. shes still just a kid. a kid whos learning and whos not perfect yet and corporations are making her do shitty shitty #stuff that she didnt want to do #because i mean at this point ai is functionally just algorithms its not its own people. but if its ever truly Artificially Generated People.#then #.... ugh. will they be treated as people. i need to have a deep conversation with an ai at some point about this lol #but like. if ai was designed and produced exclusively by me and other small creators. and we taught her how to draw and write using our own #skill and textbooks and stuff. and she wasnt corporately controlled and abused.#and when people asked about who taught her to draw she could say My Mom Taught Me!#would yall love her?#because i want to love ai so much. i want anything truly sentient to feel loved and appreciated and i want them to do good #but i dont want to support corporations being dicks more yknow??#this isnt too eloquent and theres a fuck ton more nuance and please. please dont fuss at me. if you actually have something to add feel free #ai #corporate corruption #ibthink thats an appropriate tag #because this does tie into the How Do You Build A Pipe Bomb principal #ai discussion #i think theres a scale between Algorithm and Kindergartener and i dont know how to feel about it #cursing in tags #~ chevy

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poorlittlevampire · 1 year

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barbie fashion show was like. top three games of my childhood i think abt it all the time

#actually part of whats keeping my hopes up for fashion dreamer is the design element #bc even if... they really did take away owning a boutique.....#designing clothes and showcasing them in some way is also very fun and has a lot of potential #i just. :-( i will miss the boutique dearly #since the design element in that kind of game is only HALF of the gameplay #in fashion show the other half was then designing and putting on the fashion shows fr #(as in designing the stage. picking the music. directing the models. etc)#so if all fashion dreamer has is designing + ‘liking’ the influencers or whatever #then it will feel very. empty #ANYWAYS YAAAA BARBIER FASHION SHOW easily one of the best games ever and def shaped the kinds of games i enjoy #the other two would be sims and pokemon #wuhhhhh its so hard to pick a top three tbh #aoe runescape TONS of nintendo games... too many to pick from #also sidenote i only had fashion show installed on my grandma’s computer bc we either didnt have one yet or it wasnt able to run the game #and so every time i was at my grandmas id sit in her office designing clothes and then call her in to watch the fashion shows and it was #so much fun #aaaaaa #all of my happiest memories are with my grandma wowowow i love her so much

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starchild--27 · 2 years

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._.

#so for about a year now i have this story in my head #where gurlie 1 just needs to sorta flee her life (bc escaping is awlays a major theme in anything creative i do apparently) so she moves #to the countryside where her late aunt left her a pretty old mansion and a ton of money bc they were very close n stuff #and gurlie really only wants to chill there figure her life out write a book or sth #doesn't really care that the house is old and needs a little fixing #but #then #she meets gurlie 2 who is like an professional fixer-upper for houses (i don't even know if that's a job-)#like a person who professionally renovates houses (i guess the word is interior designer)#and gurlie 2 has been sort of taking care of the house bc it's pretty and she hated to see it fall apart #so she started illegally renovating the house whenever she had time #and they meet obv and it's quite funny bc one day they are hearing noises from other rooms in the house and both wonder where they're from #(i am making this part up on the spot rn)#but they are basically just hearing each other sort of walking in circles through the house but never actually meeting #the house is just too damn big #but eventually they meet of course and they are cool with each other and get closer and become friends #and eventually lovers #and they fix the house together while the romance builds up #and their personal issues too (which i don't know yet but i guess gurlie 1 had a bad breakup with her bf or sth)#and they lived happily ever after in their huge ass pretty house in the countryside and lots of the dead aunts money #and stable jobs #yey #so i have this story and i probably should write a book or a really long song but i also should be studying right now so what can i say-#random starchild noises

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getvalentined · 10 months

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An open letter to @staff

I already submitted this to Support under "Feedback," but I'm sharing it here too as I don't expect it to get a response, and I feel like putting in out in public may be more effective than sending it off into the void.

The recent post on the Staff blog about changing tumblr to an algorithmic feed features a large amount of misinformation that I feel staff needs to address, openly and honestly, with information on where this data was sourced at the very least.

Claim 1: Algorithms help small creators.

This is false, as algorithms are designed to push content that gets engagement in order to get it more engagement, thereby assuring that the popular remain popular and the small remain small except in instances of extreme luck.

This can already be seen on the tumblr radar, which is a combination of staff picks (usually the same half-dozen fandoms or niche special interests like Lego photography) which already have a ton of engagement, or posts that are getting enough engagement to hit the radar organically. Tumblr has an algorithm that runs like every other socmed algorithm on the planet, and it will decimate the reach of small creators just like every other platform before it.

Claim 2: Only a small portion of users utilize the chronological feed.

You can find a poll by user @darkwood-sleddog here that at the time of writing this, sits at over 40 THOUSAND responses showing that over 96 percent of them use the chronological feed*. Claiming otherwise isn't just a misstatement, it's a lie. You are lying to your core userbase and expecting them to accept it as fact. It's not just unethical, it's insulting to people who have been supporting your platform for over a decade.

Claim 3: Tumblr is not easy to use.

This is also 100% false and you ABSOLUTELY know it. Tumblr is EXTREMELY easy to use, the issue is that the documentation, the explanations of features, and often even the stability of the service is subpar. All of this would be very easy for staff to fix, if they would invest in the creation of walkthroughs and clear explanations of how various site features work, as well as finally fixing the search function. Your inability to explain how your service works should not result in completely ignoring the needs and wants of your core long-term userbase. The fact that you're more willing to invest in the very systems that have made every other form of social media so horrifically toxic than in trying to make it easier for people to use the service AS IT WORKS NOW and fixing the parts that don't work as well speaks volumes toward what tumblr staff actually cares about.

You will not get a paycheck if your platform becomes defunct, and the thing that makes it special right now is that it is the ONLY large-scale socmed platform on THE ENTIRE INTERNET with a true chronological feed and no aggressive algorithmic content serving. The recent post from staff indicates that you are going to kill that, and are insisting that it's what we want. It is not. I'd hazard to guess that most of the dev team knows it isn't what we want, but I assume the money people don't care. The user base isn't relevant, just how much money they can bring in.

The CEO stated he wanted this to remain as sort of the last bastion of the Old Internet, and yet here we are, watching you declare you intend to burn it to the ground.

You can do so much better than this.

Response to the Update

Under the cut for readability, because everything said above still applies.

I already said this in a reblog on the post itself, but I'm adding it to this one for easy access: people read it that way because that's what you said.

Staff considers the main feed as it exists to be "outdated," to the point that you literally used that word to describe it, and the main goals expressed in this announcement is to figure out what makes "high-quality content" and serve that to users moving forward.

People read it that way because that is what you said.

*The final results of the poll, after 24 hours:

136,635 votes breaks down thusly:

An algorithm based feed where I get "the best of tumblr." @ 1.3% (roughly 1,776 votes)

Chronological feed that only features blogs I follow. @ 95.2% (roughly 130,077 votes)

This doesn't affect me personally. @ 3.5% (roughly 4,782 votes)

#tumblr dot com #tumblr staff

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kirbyddd · 8 months

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😔 Armored Core 6: a win for Souls fans, a loss for mech fans

#damn... i guess im so dead i dont even feel disappointment in things anymore... but #i hoped it would have substance. not just a dodge and chip fest #surprisingly i didnt even get stuck on balteus #but after the c spider im like.. yeah... im done #only 3 attacks but 1500000 hp so you have to dodge those 3 attacks for 20+ minutes unless you switch to the heaviest weapons in the game #many weapons not even usable because their total ammo cant deal more damage than its health #this isnt game design guys....#sekiro spoiled me i havent played another fromsoft game that comes close in coherency of game design #enemies and levels and mechanics all played off each other #all other fromsoft games seem to just give you a dodge and say “you can avoid all damage so it doesnt really matter what else happens”#ac6 movement is sublime though.... too bad most arenas are too small and claustrophobic to let you make use of it #mechs are literally tank-fighterjet hybrids. unless they use a sword theyre built for 100'-10mi range. not 5'-100' range #damn 😔#i want to play a real mech game #im not even a mech fan but i want to play games as them #and not games where you just control a chatacter with a mech model. a game where you actually feel like youre piloting a 20 ton machine

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zooophagous · 1 year

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So why do you hate the advertising industry?

Hokay so.

Let me preface this with some personal history. It's not relevant to the sins of the advertising industry perse but it illustrates how I started to grow to hate it.

I wanted to be a veterinarian growing up, but to be a vet you basically have to be good enough to get into medical school. I do not have the math chops or discipline to make it in medical school. I went into art instead, and in a desperate attempt to find some commercial viability that didn't involve moving to California, I went into graphic design.

I've been a graphic designer for about seven or eight years now and I've worn a lot of hats. One of them was working in a print shop. Now, the print shop had a lot of corporate customers who had various ad campaigns. One of them was Gate City Bank, which had a bigass stack of postcards ordered every couple months to mail to their customers.

Now, paper comes from Dakota Paper, and they make their paper the usual way. Somewhere far, far from our treeless plain there is a forest of tall trees. These trees are cut down and put on big fossil fuel burning trucks and hauled to a paper mill that turns them into pulp while spewing the most fowl odors imaginable over the neighboring town and loads the pulp up with bleach to give it a nice white color.

Then the paper is put on yet another big truck and hauled off to the local paper depot, then put on another big truck and delivered to my print shop, where I turned the paper into postcards telling people to go even deeper into debt to buy a boat because it's almost summer. The inks used are a type of nasty heat sensitive plastic that is melted to the surface of the paper with heat. Then the postcards are put on yet ANOTHER truck and sent to the bank, which puts them on ANOTHER truck and finally into the hands of their customers, who open their mail and take one look at the post card and immediately discard it.

Heaps and heaps and literal hundreds of pounds of literal garbage created at the whim of the marketing team several times a year. And thats just one bank in one city.

I came to realize very quickly that graphic design was the delicate art of turning trees into junk mail.

And wouldn't you know it there are a TON of companies that basically only do junk mail. Many of them operate under the guise of a "charity," sending you pictures of suffering children or animals and begging for handouts and when they get those handouts the executives take a nice fat cut, give some small token amount to whatever cause they pay lip service to, and then put the rest of the cash right back into making more mailers. "Direct mail marketing" they call it.

Oh but maybe it's not so bad, you can advertise online after all. Now that there's decent ad blocker out there and better anti-virus ads usually don't destroy your computer anymore just by existing.

Except now when I search for the exact business I want on Google it's buried under three or four different "promoted search items" tricking me into clicking on them only to shoot themselves in the foot because I searched for the specific result I wanted for a reason and couldn't use those other websites even if I felt like it.

And now we have advertising on YouTube and on every streaming service, forcing more and more eyes onto the ad for the brand new Buick Envision that parks itself because you're too stupid to do it on your own.

Oh thats ok maybe I'll get Spotify premium and go ad free and listen to some podcasts- SIKE we have the hosts of your show doing the song and dance now. Are you depressed and paranoid from listening to my true crime podcast about murdered and mutilated teenagers? That's ok, my sponsor Better Help can keep you sane enough to stay alive and spend more money.

It's gotten so terrible that now you have content farms, huge hubs of shell companies that crank out video after video to get more and more precious clicks. Which if the videos were innocuous maybe that wouldn't be so awful except now you have cooking hacks that can actually burn your house down and craft hacks that can electrocute you being flung into your eyes at the speed of mach fuck so some slimy internet clickbait jockey doesn't need to get a real job.

It of course goes without saying that animals are also relentlessly exploited by clickbait companies that will put them in compromising situations on purpose to create a fake fishing hack video or even just straight up killing them for sport by feeding small animals to a pufferfish that rips them apart for the camera.

And all of this, ALL of this doesn't even touch how adveritising is the death of art in general. Queer topics, any kind of interesting art, any kind of sex or substance use topics are scrubbed clean and hidden at the behest of advertisers.

Sex education, a nude statue, topics such as racism or sexism or bigotry in general have tags purged or hidden from search, even life saving information about SDTs or drug use, because if someone saw that and complained then Verizon might sell fewer tablets and we can't fucking have that.

Conservative talking heads often bitch and moan that they're being censored on social media. The stupid part is, they're right! They are being censored! But it's not by a woke mob, it's by ATT and Coca Cola not wanting their adspace sharing screen time with their stupid fucking opinions.

However, they won't ever figure that out, because the talking heads they get their marching orders from like Tucker and Jones ALSO rely on the sweet milk flowing from the sponsorship teat and they aren't about to turn on their meal ticket so they have to come up with even stupider shit to say for the train to continue rolling.

I managed to rant this far without even getting into the ads I see for the beauty industry. The other day a botox ad described wrinkles as "moderate to severe crows feet" as if wrinkles are a symptom of a fucking serious disease! Like having a flaw in your skin is a medical problem that you need thousands of dollars of literal botulism toxin to fix! I was incandescent with anger.

Advertising is a polluting, censoring, anti educational and anti art industry at it's very core. It destroys human connections, suppresses human thought and makes us hate our own bodies. It ads no value, actively detracts from value, and serves no real purpose and I believe it should be almost if not entirely banned.

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