I have to say, this is 5 months too slow, but that’s what happens when you’re in the military and you become busy with it. I didn’t see a response within the first week and I assumed I wouldn’t get one. Then duty has called and this whole thing had to be put on the back burner for quite some time.

But here I am though, 5 months later with nothing to do one night wondering, “Did I ever get any consideration from that post I made to that game dev quite some time ago?”

Looks like I did. So here’s a response:

I don’t see my initiation here as being venomous. I do feel as though I’m standing up for myself towards something I saw as being flagrantly rude towards me. I also see myself as trying to be empathetic and reasonable.

You did, however, admit on 05 October 2013 that your responses to my e-mails were “terse”. This was on the Steam community forums. I think it’s easy to see that you being terse might have felt like “being brushed off” to me.

Also, since I don’t seem to ever clean out my inbox, I found all the letters sent between you and me. I will admit, I was putting the pressure on, but I was not being dishonest in any way.

In saying such, the quote, “Christopher, I’m sorry you didn’t like my game. Since I could not bring you joy I hope you find it elsewhere in life.” could be very genuine or insanely sarcastic.

I took it to be the latter, if you hadn’t noticed. If it truly wasn’t, then I do apologize sincerely for taking you the wrong way. I suppose that is the flaw of the English language in writing; there is not tone by which to derive context. Also, I was already pissed off at wasting money on a game that seemed innately flawed to me . . . so yeah, there’s that.

You do seem quite intelligent, so I’m going to assume that you understand how that statement (especially considering the letters leading up to it) could be taken into the context of a “cyber middle finger” in my face.

As far as the double standard thing goes, this is where I do have to disagree with you whole heartedly. I think some things can be objectively bad. Like an automobile that has the chance to explode when you turn the key in the ignition.

This hypothetical automobile can be very pretty to look at to most people, it can have amazing handling, it can be very comfortable to sit in, but the fact that it doesn’t act as a viable automobile due to its high failure rate makes it broken and therefore bad.

Well, unless that’s what the makers are trying to do. But if they’re actually trying to make a good, working auto then they have failed and it is a bad automobile.

Don’t get me wrong, I think perhaps “high art” gets too much exaltation just because it decides to play by all the rules, but “lesser art” is still praise worthy because it still properly functions as art; in that it invokes feeling and/or wonderment upon the person viewing it. If art, whether exalted or not, fails to captivate or summon feeling, then I have a difficult time giving it praise as a piece of art.

Kind of like De Stijl. A lot of it invokes nothing in me (and many people I know) but I seem to find things like “Head VI” by Francis Bacon to be completely mesmeric.

Both are considered abstract art, but I feel like one functions better as art than the other. But hey, this could just be a type of opinion. Maybe there really are people that think De Stijl stuff is truly brilliant and appealing and not just because it’s in vogue to do so.

I dunno . . . I really didn’t mean to make this post turn into me sounding like an art snob.

Anyway, if you mean what you say, I thank you for your kind words. I have found success, just not in my music. I work hard, which pays the bills quite well. My music production is meant specifically as a fun thing I do in which I hope others can also find enjoyment. If that happens, even minutely, that’s enough success for me, but I won’t be unhappy without it. I did get commissioned to write the theme song for an upcoming podcast, so there’s that. I imagine people will probably be more concerned with the content of the show than the intro and outro music though. Still, hopefully people will appreciate it as a befitting theme to the podcast.

Anyway, in turn, I wish the same upon you. Despite my impressions of your game, “Incredipede”, I wish the best for you and any future endeavors you commit yourself to. Especially if you really aren’t half-assing it and you’re truly putting your best foot forward with it.

…unless you’re a woman that likes Bioshock Infinite. It’s disconcerting to be told by an admittedly middle-aged white man that you don’t exist. Just saying.

“This means the old guard, and the old boys’ club specifically, has to go. Out with the fanboys and apologists and sycophants. Out with those who know a whole lot about videogames and not a lot about anything else.”

“I want to hear every divergent view, every unpopular opinion. I want gaming to revel in dissent. We should marvel at a medium that allows us such room to play, to explore, to bring ourselves to bear on the experience and make it our own. A good review will honor this. It will say: This is what it was like for me. And in doing so ask: Now what was it like for you?”

Thompson does advocate for a specialized group of “reviewers” that are better at this criticism than others, but I think that the piece is more iconoclastic and pro-subjectivity than it seems at first.