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Andrew Allanson (Director of YIIK; Ackk Studios) Believes Games Aren't Art Because Players Can't Understand His Vision; Also a piece of shit

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ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
So the director of YIIK and co-founder of Ackk Studios went on a ramble about how people just didn't understand the writing of YIIK. "they just don't get it", to paraphrase. games can't be art if they don't understand Allanson's diatribe apparently

D4nUJt7UYAA2dAx.jpg:large







but the biggest take away is where he made these comments. the source isn't mentioned, and from the tweets, you can see why





Also I do not recommend listening to the source podcast for context it's uh. Extremely offensive.
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I figured I could take the hit, so: listened to the entire convo with Allanson on the podcast in question. It's made clear that Allanson is a fan of the podcast, mentioning seeing their performance live at least once. Previous guests include Tim Pool, Sargon of Akkad, & RooshV.
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being on and a fan of a podcast that hosts gamergaters, white nationalists, and literal rape apologists (to name a few) tells you all you need to know about this dude's views
 
ASaiyan

ASaiyan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,228
Was wondering why the protagonist of this game was such a universally-decried piece of shit.

Turns out, the apple don't fall far from the tree.
 
Ahmedz

Ahmedz

Member
Nov 27, 2017
41
Yikes. I was gonna request a key to stream this game for shits and giggles, but even that isn't worth it.

Later Andrew đź‘‹
 
TubaZef

TubaZef

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,565
Brazil
I was looking forward to this game and after seeing the bad reviews I decided to wait for a sale... glad I did that. I'll just stop waiting now, what a douchebag.
 

Deleted member 1413

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,617
Probably shouldn't be making it hard for people defending you.
Felt pretty bad for the dev with people mocking their work relentlessly near launch, but cant say I feel bad now.
 
Hailinel

Hailinel

Shamed a mod for a tag
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,527
Loudninja said:
Sooo I am interested how much of a piece of shit was the character?
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The main character Alex is a self-absorbed hipster dipshit to a stereotypically awful degree.

Also, I'm really glad I didn't buy this game despite following its development over the years. It's been a weird, wild ride.
 

Zedelima

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,718
Players: hey this game is so bad

Andrew: you dont understand it!!!!!
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
92,776
here
need to hear from DNAbro, who went through the game piece by piece

dnabro, is this a secret genius game, or shallow dishwater game
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
got a feeling this guy wrote a self insert and decided that the only way he wouldn't get laughed out of the scene would be by claiming it was MEANT to be a horrible shitnugget

and got laughed out of the scene anyway
 
beelulzebub

beelulzebub

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,593
This response seems to have as much depth of thought and self-reflection as YIIK had. What a crybaby tool.
 
Hucast

Hucast

alt account
Banned
Mar 25, 2019
3,598
It's not so much that games aren't art, it's much more that many gamers don't care about the art aspect. I guess he's frustrated that the medium isn't as mature as actual art mediums like film, painting and sculpture etc. I don't think videogames will actually ever have a very art appreciative audience because the medium is now existing for like almost half a century

edit: Maybe the game just bombed financially and he's lashing out I guess
 

Deleted member 5621

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,192
Yeah, because literally no other game ever pulled that before. You are so unique lol

(also go study some art before arguing nonsense about it™)
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
Also, it's hilarious to me that this guy would design and market his game entirely to people who hate criticism of games in any form and then turn around and complain his game is not being appreciated as art
 
OP
OP
ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
Hucast said:
It's not so much that games aren't art, it's much more that many gamers don't care about the art aspect. I guess he's frustrated that the medium isn't as mature as actual art mediums like film, painting and sculpture etc. I don't think videogames will actually ever have a very art appreciative audience because the medium is now existing for like almost half a century

edit: Maybe the game just bombed financially and he's lashing out I guess
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no, the dude completely misses the point that people make when they criticized his game.

I think what I'm probably going to do is I'm going to probably try and tell a story that takes place in a world very different than our own, that way I can explore some themes that I think will be easier for people to accept if they're not necessarily done through human characters.
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The biggest takeaway for me is that if I'm going to make characters that aren't likeable, not to make them the main character.
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I wanted to explore what would it be like to be a truly unlikable person who needs to somehow do something to save the world, that goes contrary to his personality, but he doesn't have any redeeming qualities.

What would it be like to see a character like that transform?

And I did it. It was a pretty big experiment because Alex, the main character in YIIK, is not Sherlock Holmes. He's not super charismatic when he's rude to people, he's just really selfish and hasn't grown up yet.

I was mostly inspired by the flaws I see in our generation and the types of selfishness and lack of empathy that comes out in a lot of people in our generation.

I think it went over okay with people who beat the game, I think people who finish the game see Alex through the redemption arc, and they often tend to end up relating to Alex more than they thought they would.

Some misinformation going around that the game isn't aware that Alex is flawed, so I think ultimately it went over like a garbage fire, but some people understood what we were trying to do with the story.
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source: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Jes...rew_Allanson_Ackk_Studios_Life_after_YIIK.php

he's not taking the criticism as "what I did wrong", but instead taking it as "people didn't get it"
 
vestan

vestan

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Dec 28, 2017
24,630
ah yes the paragon of artistic merit known as "YIIK"

how could anyone not appreciate a game with writing like this that rivals the likes of dostoyevsky and kafka

Ga0Caqe.jpg
 
brinstar

brinstar

User requested ban
Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,270
Listening to the full clip I could at least kind of understand where he's coming from, but from I understand the game just isn't written well at all to begin with. And then seeing the kinds of people that podcast host makes me never want to look at any future thing this guy makes ever lol

When I first saw YIIK I thought it looked really cool. I'm so disappointed in.... *makes vague hand gestures toward the game & creator* all... of this
 
Renteka-Bond

Renteka-Bond

Chicken Chaser
Member
Dec 28, 2017
4,271
Clearwater, Florida
I actually do agree that I think a lot of people didn't get the game, especially when the game was attacked a lot when it launched and people made judgements without actually engaging with the game itself, but man does he make it hard to want to defend him with the rest of the statement.

I do still plan on beating it because I like the idea behind the game, but the air around this game has been really tiring all around.
 
neon_dream

neon_dream

Member
Dec 18, 2017
3,644
DEEP THINKER:

"Why don't MORONS (that's you) like my unlikable, shitty character? Idiots (all of you people)."

giphy.webp


"Fucking children."
 
Courage

Courage

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,978
NYC
yes because people didn't buy into the shitty execution of your vision, it automatically means games aren't art. FOH
 
ArjanN

ArjanN

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,113
I guess I agree with the very specific point that the general audience often can't handle intentionally unsympathetic characters.
Not that I buy that that really was what happened with YIIK..
 
Comic Obsessed

Comic Obsessed

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,792
Peru
I'm still planning to buy YIIK once that is like 99 cents or something. Everything that I've heard about it has made me morbidly curious and I'm always up for a some sort of Tommy Wiseau gaming experience.
 
TubaZef

TubaZef

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,565
Brazil
Have most reviewers really didn't like the game because of the main character?

I think that the interactivity of the medium really makes it harder to make a game with an unlikable main character, given that you have to put yourself in his place in a way. But that was done before dozens of times, so it's doable. In fact, the whole GTA series is based on having asshole characters!
Seems to me that the guy is just a bad writer.
 
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