Interesting. Doesn't surprise me that you teach film making because I was more impressed by your use of imagery to make your points than the points you were making. Not that I disagreed with many but som

Rolling your own smoke and the unshaven face tell me that this is guy who is just telling like it is. No pretense, just facts delivered by someone you would meet out back for a smoke. The sweater and glasses tell me "this is someone who has thought this through" The use of imagery that simultaneously conveys thoughtfulness and lack of pretense was very effective especially when you make they point that the democratizing promise of EA is something of illusion.

So it was with the switch to the couch -- there the bowl of crisps, the forward viewing angle conveys your point about the 'player' being a passive watcher of cinematics very effectively. I'm watching someone eat a bowl crisps and in doing so seeing my own reflection. This is passive entertainment.

Then the coffee cup appears when you talking about other games -- tells me you are going to dig down into the details. Coffee cup to right of laptop is work mode for people who are working from home. Got my cuppa stimulants, I've cleaned my workspace, let's get something done. I should be listening now. Then the angle switches some and I'm looking from an angle that suggests I'm sitting down and talking with you. We're talking as friends and we talk about potentially embarrassing issues, right? Makes the point about autoeroticism -- which I think is you best insight -- that much more effective.

I was truly impressed by a video you say you just threw together -- I'm sure I could have learned a great deal in your class.


Points of disagreement:

Other points about the quality of the writing and such I found less compelling -- even if I did enjoy the video montage. Yes, the writing is YA-like. But that's what's advertised on the tin. Right? Why would we apply a different set of criteria?

Likewise I think the fact that you weren't a big fan of the Baldur's Gate series and wanted something something more innovative and genre breaking like Disco Elysium is all fine and good but I doesn't seem like a good criteria to bring to a sequel. I thought HBO's Watchmen was brilliant -- it deconstructed the hero narrative, offered some brilliant commentary on racial politics, had something to say on the complexities of populism and the role of increasing unaccountable secret state entities -- but that's not what I want from the next Star Wars movie. I felt like I reading the commentary on a paper that was graded with the wrong rubric.

I have mixed feeling about you the facial expressions -- I guess you can say that I play aspects of myself but I always feel a bit alienated from my toons and so the disconnect between her facial expressions and mine don't bother me much. At the same time I think you've put your finger on why this matters to some.

Point of agreement:

Now I think you make good points about how the cinematics make the 'player' seem a viewer and not an actor and how this design decision will always make the custom character experience seem an afterthought. I also think think you are right about how the full voice acting limits the ability of the devs to change the story. I wish we had more walls of text and fewer cinematics.

And, again, I think you've solved the riddle of why BG3 players are so horny.

TL;DR Even I only agreed with half of what you said I was impressed by the video.