Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:57 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

   Wow, so, #Cyberpunk77 is pretty great.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:36 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     • Brian Merchant

     Interesting similarity between Johnny Silverhand and the legend of Ned Ludd.

     Enjoying "Blood in the Machine" by @brianmerchant!

     "Lludd Llaw Eraint... was a Welsh hero who lost an arm in battle and was exiled as god-king, only to receive a new silver replacement that allowed him to return as a sort of cyborg warrior deity..."

     Protestors bearing the name of "Ludd" rioted and smashed the machines degrading the lives of workers.

     Johnny would approve!

     #cyberpunk2077 #luddites

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:39 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     Anyway, I recommend checking out Noah Caldwell Gervais's video essay on #Cyberpunk2077, which I thought was insightful.

     https://youtu.be/lWEkeqJ2djM

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:41 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     To be honest, this is part of the reason I didn't participate in side quests. I *felt* the pressing need for V to save herself. Side missions for this life that was destroying me didn't seem relevant (I never really needed money.)

     But maybe that says more about me and what I was looking for in the game, than the game itself. I think other people are able to switch tracks from "story" mode to "game" mode easier than me - separate the plot from the entertaining mechanics.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:42 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     If anything, I think the #cyberpunk2077 story was *too* effective, because I have no interest in buying the DLC.

     The value add is, more flavor to this merc life, more ways to emerse yourself in this high tech, low life world, more ways to participate in the practice that brought about your own destruction.

     I internalized the story so much that the opportunity to experience more of Night City is actually repellant. My V got out, you want me to send her back?

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:43 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     *MY* V chose to leave, others chose to stay, others chose to be fully absorbed by the Corpo world. These are all viable outcomes to the same question; "what matters to you in this terrible world?"

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:45 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     It's been a month since finishing and I've had a chance to reflect on #cyberpunk2077's narrative.

     I think the branching-start-branching end model for storytelling is elegant. V can start in different places and end in different places. What results is a different perspective on fundamentally the same story: Night City and its hyper-capitalist, merc-dominated life, chews up individuals and destroys them as it perpetuates itself.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:46 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     (If you couldn't tell this game left me with some *feelings*.)

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:47 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     Something that... haunts me a little about #cyberpunk2077.

     Johnny Silverhand did everything he could. He organized culture against the corpos through his rock albums; he organized riots; he detonated a nuclear weapon in Arasaka Tower... and fifty years later, the tower was rebuilt.

     I sometimes struggle to imagine #solarpunk succeeding in the face of capitalism. Game didn't help.

     Lesson learned; It's dangerous to consume #cyberpunk media if you're already on the edge.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:48 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     I'm beginning to realize that my #Cyberpunk2077 experience was very positive compared to many others, and that's because:
     - I followed the Nomad->Nomad storyline, which was the most "complete"
     - I didn't interact with gigs or any of the leveling mechanics

     Really, I lucked into the most satisfying aspect of the story, and I went deep on *just* the story.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:49 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     My V lost her nomad group, came to Night City and decided to be the best merc and fill the void. But what she needed was family. Jackie was her family, and when she lost him she worked as hard as she could to build a new family. She joined Panam, found a family with the Aldacados, and after jettisoning the Relic, turned her back on Night City and the merc dream. (I thought I had romanced Panam, but turns out as a lady I didn't have that option.)

     Damn. What a game.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:51 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     Holy cow. #Cyberpunk2077 was fantastic.

     My story was so fulfilling. I'm stunned.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:52 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     Can I just say, I find the presence of "shards" in #Cyberpunk2077 to be really charming.

     This is the future. Everyone has cybernetic implants. Even the cabs are robots! And yet, files in the game are often transfered through a physical medium.

     This is probably because the game is #cyberpunk, a genre which was created before the Internet was common in households. (Plus, watching V and Rogue try to pair bluetooth signals would be lame.)

     Data made into a material object is old school and fun.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:53 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     Right now I'm working with a character who we first meet when an important mission goes south. Then, he is simply a threat, and we know he must be a particularly dangerous threat because of who he is working with. His primary function is to amp up the tension as we realize that things have gone out of control.

     Later, through various twists of fate, we're working with each other. While planning a mission, there is a beat that doesn't drive the plot forward, but dwells on the characters' pasts.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:54 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     I think they do a really good job of setting up characters in Cyberpunk 2077. They'll be introduced, briefly, and the introduction plays some other purpose.

     You see a legendary fixer in a bar, and seeing her will prompt the characters to think and talk about what it means to be a legend (which is an important theme of the game). The scene stands by itself.

     Later, we'll meet and interact with her, and the introductory conversation helps us understand who she is.

     #Cyberpunk2077 #storytelling

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 01-Nov-2023 05:34:56 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     My perception of #Cyberpunk2077 was largely determined by the negative press it received at launch. I took a gamble on a steam sale - thought I'd be disappointed.

     I'm... kind of astounded by the initial chapter. The characters of this game are really well crafted. I care about what happens to them.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Tuesday, 20-Aug-2024 22:24:41 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     I picked up #cyberpunk2077 again after a while. Man, the themes of that game still reasonate with me.

     I particularly like how the oppressive cyberpunk city ends up being the backdrop for deep human interconnection. V's connection to Jackie is the obvious example. The Aldecaldos. Judy and Evelyn. River and his sister's family. Night City is dystopian, but the people in Vs circles care deeply about each other - pulling each other out of scrapes. Showing affection for each other. It's beautiful.

   • Embed this notice
     In #Flancia we'll meet (flancian@social.coop)'s status on Wednesday, 21-Aug-2024 06:56:02 JST In #Flancia we'll meet

     in reply to

     @derek thanks, you made me want to look into it more!

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Saturday, 16-Aug-2025 03:33:44 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     Looks like my impulse to replay #Cyberpunk2077 runs on a timer. I picked it up this week on a whim, and it looks like I'm in another playthrough.

     What I notice this time is the depiction of the police.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Saturday, 16-Aug-2025 03:43:06 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     The police in #Cyberpunk2077 are flawed, as any institution in Night City.

     In terms of people, there are "good cops" (most dramatically personified in River Ward) and dirty cops who receive bribes from the Corpos. The player is exposed to both over the course of the game.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Saturday, 16-Aug-2025 03:51:37 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     In the story, the NCPD are presented as a positive force, but understaffed, underfunded, and constrained by Corpo interests.

     The player receives missions to kill gang members, and in some cases.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Saturday, 16-Aug-2025 03:53:41 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     This time around, the characterization of the NCPD in #Cyberpunk2077 as a good but flawed organization seems implausible. Corpo power seems enormous - how, if the leadership and the money driving the NCPD comes from corpo dollars, could a municipal police force be even partially safe from corruption?

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Sunday, 17-Aug-2025 21:37:53 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     Another thing about #Cyberpunk2077. It seems that the primary (only?) form of oppression is class-based.

     My understanding of state oppression is that that the state needs to divide the people as many ways as possible so they don't unite. So they encourage hatred of ethnic groups, of trans people, of migrants, of women. You don't see a ton of that kind of division in Night City.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Sunday, 17-Aug-2025 21:50:15 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     You meet about an even number of sex workers on the gender binary in #Cyberpunk20077. A person with breasts and a penis is part of the hypersexualized advertising scape. The most wealthy and powerful people come from a broad spectrum of ethnic groups.

     There *is* a relationship between ethnic groups and class, in some instances. The mostly Japanese Araska corp rests at the top of the power hierarchy, and burnt out Pacifica is controlled by the Haitian VooDoo boys.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Sunday, 17-Aug-2025 21:58:53 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     So it seems that if #Cyberpunk2077 is trying to say anything about oppression, it's speaking with the language of class and capitalism. But it strikingly leaves out most of the other forms of division that emerge in an oppressive society. As a result, Night City feels almost enlightened, sometimes: multicultural, gender egalitarian. If you ignore the poverty and the corpos flying overhead, it it might be a nice place to live.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Saturday, 01-Nov-2025 00:43:57 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     The other dialog that I think speaks to this comes from a character who is entirely bought in to the Corpo world: Takemura.

     Takemura is a true believer. He was elevated from poverty to high status by Arasaka. He believes that, eventually, given enough time and power, Corpos will save rest of the world too.

     https://youtu.be/wj4eqATAP6k?t=324

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Saturday, 01-Nov-2025 00:43:58 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     It's interesting to me that the writers had Johnny explicitly say, "I'm not angry about capitalism, I'm angry about oppression." He turned terrorist, not because the system is inherently flawed, but because "spiraled out of control".

     #Cyberpunk2077 builds a world in which people are oppressed, and leaves the viewer reason out why. For better or for worse, game story doesn't speak to the root cause of the dystopia - they are more interested in characters reactions.

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Saturday, 01-Nov-2025 00:43:59 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     "I saw corpos strip farmers of water and eventually of land, saw them transform Night City into a machine fueled by people's crushed spirits broken dreams and emptied pockets. Corpos have long controlled our lives, taken lots...and now they're after our souls... i've declared war not cause capitalism's a thorn in my side or out of nostalgia for an America gone by. This war is a people's war against a system that spiraled out our control."

     https://youtu.be/Ra2WrJJN_mY?t=235

     #cyberpunk2077

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Saturday, 01-Nov-2025 00:44:01 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     One of the critiques I've heard of Cyberpunk 2077 is that it doesn't have much to say, directly, about capitalism. By and large characters (including the player) aren't focused on the economic system, they're focused on the products of it: a corpo war, gang violence, health care.

     Like #cyberpunk novels, Cyberpunk 2077 builds a world and leaves the viewer draw conclusions. But sometimes it has characters address the theme directly. Take this speach from Johnny Silverhand in Act 2:

   • Embed this notice
     Derek Caelin is writing a book (derek@social.coop)'s status on Monday, 17-Nov-2025 03:59:34 JST Derek Caelin is writing a book

     in reply to

     When I say I want more games like #Cyberpunk2077, I don't mean more games with #cyberpunk as a theme. I mean I want to feel the layers of emotion that come with romancing a character who spent the whole game seeing things she loved destroyed, then invited me to dive into a lake where her flooded town lies, then tells me that with you she feels hopeful, and sits with you in silence as you drink coffee listen to the waves by the shore and see the neon city in the distance. God, what a story.