Until Dawn EP3: Girlfriend Arguments

By Shamus Posted Friday Nov 4, 2016

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 99 comments


Link (YouTube)

At the end of the episode the good doctor gives a psych test. From the standpoint of scientific rigor, it’s about as useful as a “What kind of lover are you?” quiz from the pages of Cosmo. But let me answer them anyway:

Men worry me vs. Women worry me

An interesting question, because – assuming we’re talking about teens like we see in this game – we’re really talking about two very different threats. From the standpoint of my teenage self, I’d have to go with women. A guy can kick your ass. And if you’re me, there’s not much your narrow ass can do about it. But women can say mean stuff to you. A bruise will be gone by next week, but the rejection of a woman can haunt you for years. And I’m not talking about getting dumped. I mean even little stuff, like getting turned down for a date. Those words cut deep.

As an adult I don’t have a strong male / female preference when it comes to worrying about people. I’m obviously not afraid of being rejected by a woman (my 20 year wedding anniversary is in two months) but I also don’t worry about guys punching my lights out.

I guess the takeaway here is that Adulthood is awesome, aside from the part where your body gets fat, hurts all the time, and then suffers from progressive malfunctions until you die.

Planes Scare me vs. Crowds scare me

Planes are fun and awesome. Crowds are stressful and annoying.

I fear heights vs. I fear drowning

Gah. These are both really bad phobias of mine. I guess statistically drowning is the bigger threat, but being near a ledge provokes a more atavistic level of reflexive panic. I think it depends on what part of my brain you’re trying to scare.

Snakes scare me vs. Rats scare me

If by “rats” you’re including “diseases carried by rats”, then historically rats have killed a lot more people. But I’d have to go with snakes. Snakes are assholes and I fear their venom.

Guns are scary vs. Knives are scary

I’m not particularly worried about either of these. Guns have moving parts, and that makes them interesting to me in a mechanical sense.

I guess I’ll pick knives, but only because it’s possible to give yourself a nasty cut in the kitchen. But that’s probably not the kind of fear this test is interested in.

Rats scare me vs. cockroaches scare me

Oh HELL no. This isn’t even close. Phobias about roaches are one of the reasons I’m glad I don’t live further south.

Clowns scare me vs. Scarecrows scare me

Clowns make me vaguely socially uncomfortable, but they’re not scary. And scarecrows are cool.

Gore disgusts me vs. Crows scare me

Actually, I’m generally fine with both of these.

Rats scare me vs. spiders scare me

This is what, the third time rats showed up? Nothing else has gotten this much attention so far. After all of this buildup, there had better be some rats somewhere in this videogame.

I think this question is too vague. Are we talking garden spiders, or brown recluse? Spiders are not created equal. Once venom is part of the equation, I’m more worried about the spider.

Gore vs. Needles

Pffft. Neither of these is a big deal to me. When I was 19 or so, I attended a vocational school. I was on the third floor with the other computer science nerds, but sometimes the nursing students would come down from the fifth floor, looking for people to practice on. I was always happy to volunteer. Not only am I cool with needles, I’m cool with needles in the hands of a terrified nursing student with trembling hands.

Clowns vs. Zombies

Yeah, neither one of these is a big deal.

Needles vs. Dogs

Uh, the test says “dogs” but it has a picture of a wolf. In any case, dogs are scary. I know I said dogs weren’t scary on the show, but I was kind of thinking in terms of of “cute dog pictures” you see on the internet. Now that I’ve thought about it more, I actually do have a pretty strong fear of dogs in certain circumstances.

I mean, dogs could theoretically kill me because of my asthma and allergies. On top of this, at several points in my life I’ve been menaced by large, aggressive dogs owned by irresponsible assholes. I was also bitten once, which resulted in an asthma attack and a trip to the hospitalI was a kid, and due to complicated circumstances I had to stay in a house with a dog owner for several hours. The bite left a nasty welt, but I’m not sure if the dog saliva was a meaningful contributor to the attack.. And on top of that, I watched The Grey a few years ago, which solidified my fear.

Needles vs. storms

Needles are not scary, and storms are awesome.

Peter Stormare is scary

Yes.

It’s kind of funny how these things were paired up. There were 12 questions in all and it mentioned many things I’m afraid of, but there were only 3 or 4 questions where I had a strong preference. In most cases, the stuff I was scared of was paired with other stuff I was scared of, and the non-scary stuff was matched with other not-scary stuff.

Looking forward to seeing where this all goes.

 

Footnotes:

[1] I was a kid, and due to complicated circumstances I had to stay in a house with a dog owner for several hours. The bite left a nasty welt, but I’m not sure if the dog saliva was a meaningful contributor to the attack.



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99 thoughts on “Until Dawn EP3: Girlfriend Arguments

  1. Majere says:

    The reason rats showed up so much is because you guys kept selecting rats so it was going through the tiers of X vs. Y with your choice in mind trying to determine “the scariest thing” by pitting it against the other options.

    1. Jokerman says:

      Yeah, its like… a tournament of spookyness.

      1. Majere says:

        A tournament that missed my greatest fear: windows and mirrors.

        1. MrGuy says:

          So…a one-way mirror is the worst thing ever?

          1. Majere says:

            Well crap now you’ve added a new layer to my terror.

            1. Felblood says:

              Wouldn’t a new layer of terror be a situation where your third greatest fear was hiding behind the two-way mirror?

              1. Duoae says:

                But would it be on the reflective side so *it* couldn’t see you… or the other way around?

                Is it scarier to know there’s your third greatest fear on the other side of the one-way mirror, looking at you but you can’t see it or what it’s doing?

        2. Steve C says:

          So having to download Microsoft’s flagship product from multiple servers is terrifying to you? Understandable. Personally it just fills me with dread.

          1. Fists says:

            Oh man, I still haven’t picked up Forza Horizon 3 because of that one.

        3. Shoeboxjeddy says:

          Is this like a defenestration thing or…?

    2. King Marth says:

      The scariest thing is piles and piles of cash. Please don’t throw lots of it at me later in this horror game.

      Generally because drug deals are usually involved when large quantities of cash show up without explanation. Sure, rats kill people via plague, but people don’t kill you for taking their rats. (John Wick 3: Where’d my pet rats go?)

      1. Incunabulum says:

        Sure thing Br’er Fox.

        1. tmtvl says:

          I bet he’s terrified of manjuu as well.

      2. Blunderbuss09 says:

        I know you’re kidding, but my dad’s neighbor actually had this problem when she found a dufflebag full of money dumped in her backyard (typical ‘I don’t want to be caught with drug money I’ll just come back for it later when the heat is off’) and then having to call the cops two days later when someone came by to ‘collect’ the money and was very angry that said money was no longer there. The lady was fine, but still.

        1. Abnaxis says:

          No duffle-bags, but it was a happened-more-than-once occurrence in my wife’s neighborhood for her (or her brother) to find $500-1000 in cash lying around. I think they just kept it each time–it’s a lot of money to a kid, but I guess not enough for someone to show up angry about. At least, they never told me anyone came back looking for it.

          My wife grew up in a pretty bad neighborhood…

    3. skeeto says:

      Yup, it’s running a sort function and the comparator function is the player’s UI.

    4. Nimrandir says:

      I’m having Ultima IV flashbacks here.

  2. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Oh em gee,those guys that are still friends after their breakup are acting like they are still friends after their breakup!How dare they?!!

    1. King Marth says:

      As mentioned in an earlier comment during Rutskarn’s introduction of game systems, Monsterhearts forces teen drama by making actions like “forgive someone” into late-game improvements, while actions like “shut someone down” are available from the start.

      Unbalanced, OP teenagers here. How can they develop from there?

      1. Tom says:

        I once played a Monsterhearts game in which I tried to have an alliance with another player. This meant we would interact often, and because interacting with people as a supernatural teenager is hard we kept kissing each other then breaking each others’ noses. In the meta game we were essentially friendly and cooperative besties, but through the lens of the mechanics it became a convoluted and weirdly realistic story about closeted teens being self loathing and overly competitive.

        There was some vampire/warlock magic shit going on as well, but who cares about that?

  3. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Did Shamus say that he wouldnt want to shit on a bench??

    1. MrGuy says:

      In my view, it depends entirely on who owns the bench.

  4. Henson says:

    It’s interesting how some of these fears showed up only once, and yet rats shows up three times. And at the end, Dr. Stormare doesn’t mention many of the things that only showed up once (women, crowds, knives). It’s also interesting how some of the last elements to show up only have to get through one pass of questions, while things like needles and clowns have to have multiple passes. Is there any rhyme or reason to these questions, or is it just flavor, I wonder?

    1. Nixitur says:

      I’d guess that it’s a typical tournament-style thing, possibly with a loser bracket. Although I frankly don’t feel like recreating the brackets.

    2. Tever says:

      Have seen a playthrough of this before (and not having watched the episode yet to see if they contradict me), I believe the questions are generated based on your answers. Or it might just be random.

  5. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Really?You never saw robin just chilling at night?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Plq6Z8lIPc

    1. Echo Tango says:

      The best part of that clip, is that Batman insulates Robin, thereby increasing the amount of time he would be frozen!

      1. tmtvl says:

        “Ah, finally some me time. I haven’t been to the strip club in years.”

      2. Nick says:

        Assuming that the cape doesn’t have some inbuilt heaters, that is – this is batman we’re talking about

        1. As I’m sure Mumbles would mention, there’s a number of different Batmen based on the creator.

          For example, there’s the Animated Series Batman, which is the clip…

          …then there’s Frank Miller’s insults to the character. :P

  6. Christopher says:

    Man, it’s been a decade since someone told me to read a motherfucking book.

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      No one ever told me to read a book about incest.

      1. Echo Tango says:

        Let me suggest some appropriate literature for you… :P

    2. Echo Tango says:

      I work in a web development / SAAS company, where half of the employees are age 20-30, and most of them prefer dead-tree format. I am constantly flummoxed by my coworkers’ desire to not read things in a format with orders of magnitude savings in weight and space. Depending on how large your library is, this approaches infinite savings, too…

      1. Incunabulum says:

        In that age range, that *is* surprising.

        OTOH, the actual user experience with a paper book or manual is orders of magnitude better than with an e-reader – if its something where you’ll need to reference multiple sections quickly over and over (like a tech manual).

        I’m an old fart (45) but technically inclined so while I grew up with paper (and still prefer it for actual reading), nowadays I pretty much buy e-books exclusively. Reading a book on paper is still better than reading it off a phone, but not so much better that it trumps having your whole library with you at all times. But I’d still want a hardcopy manual to work or study with.

        1. Locke says:

          This is the reason why nearing 100% of my dead tree book purchases are RPG books. The rare exceptions are things I can’t get in e-reader at all.

      2. Philadelphus says:

        I’m 27, and I’d say it strongly depends on the book. Fiction books, things like novels, or long-form text Let’s Plays, I’ve taken to reading on my (large screen) phone because you mostly read through them linearly and the weight savings and portability win out. Any kind of textbook or reference book, something that you’ll be flipping through in a non-linear manner looking things up? You couldn’t get me to use an electronic version of that if you paid me. (Well, maybe if you paid me enough.)

        1. guy says:

          I find textbooks on my desktop to be pretty handy courtesy of hyperlinks, but e-readers just wreck tables and images.

          1. Echo Tango says:

            Yeah, I actually totally agree with you guys – current commercially-available e-readers are only good for long-form / don’t-flip-pages-back-and-forth-much books. (i.e. mostly fiction) Any kind of textbooks or manuals are not compatible with the slow CPUs, crappy interfaces, etc that we are stuck with right now. :)

            On the other hand, my coworkers who baffle me – they were talking about long-form fiction books when they said they like dead-tree! Their main reasons were stuff like the smell, and the tactile feel of the paper. Now, they aren’t imagining anything – old books actually emit molecules that smell like vanilla and other smells – but you still don’t need dead-tree format to get this effect! They make smelly markers and smelly stickers for children. Stick some of that onto your e-reader; Boom – now your e-reader smells just as much as dead-tree format! :P

          2. Abnaxis says:

            Someone really needs to come up with a “technical manual e-reader,” because the normal apps for reading pdfs and books universally suck when you’re trying to find a section of a whitepaper or textbooks, regardless of whether its OCR’d or hyperlinked.

            That’s niche, though, so it’s not #1 on any dev’s priority list.

    3. Christopher says:

      Okay, but that’s not what I meant.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlKL_EpnSp8

  7. Cinebeast says:

    I really like the psyche eval scene. It doesn’t amount to anything, exactly, and the choices are pretty standard, but it inevitably produces discussion among the players. (Or when there’s just one player, they inevitably decide to explain why they’re scared of so-and-so and such-and-such.)

  8. MrGuy says:

    Now I’m kind of curious if the test was binary, or it was one of those meta-tests that look at things like how long it took you to respond. For example, if you hesitated a long time on rats vs. spiders before picking, it’s probably not a strong preference, but if you pick one right away, it’s clearly the scarier one.

    As to coming back, could be related – if you didn’t seem to have a strong preference, maybe they’re revisiting things, like the eye doctor (1, or 2? 1, or 2?).

    Or maybe they’re trying to create a scale, and need to revisit some options to “slot” them between other options. I wonder if the options they revisit change based on what you select early….

  9. baseless_research says:

    Mumbles, Psycho-Grant Ward was an awesome villain(s) and I loved his performances, and I will fight you for it.

    Bake-off?

    1. 4th Dimension says:

      He was okay while there were people giving him orders. During the previos season on the other hand he was a nuisance and it felt like he was draging the show back down the stupid Hydra plot that should have been mostly resolved by now and the team had a much bigger and more interesting problem. And then he became the Hive and became EVEN MORE ANNOYING.

      1. Phill says:

        Grant Ward was one of the reasons we never made it to the end of the previous series of SHIELD. “Oh good they are still dragging muppet around as the big bad when SHIELD had kicked his arse three times already? ” Sounds a bit like the endlessly reappearing Seymour from Shamus’s FFX series, only more lame.

        Not bothered with the current series either. It’s lost us for good

        1. ehlijen says:

          Yup, I actually thought he was more interesting as a good guy then a villain (marginally), and really just wanted him gone from the show. He had no chemistry with anyone anymore and his own personal plot felt mundane and pointless in a SHIELD season.

          And then they did finally kill him, only to bring him back. And to have the person who did kill him despair for IT WAS A SIN!!!!11!!! and now the world was paying because of that. (Season 3’s religious overtones really didn’t sell me).

          1. Hector says:

            I hold that he would have worked very well had Coulson not stupidly chucked him off. Sure, he would be very dangerous, but he was an incredible asset if handled properly. I mean that both in- and out of show terms; Ward who has been revealed as a Hydra agent can go places and do things that most SHIELD agents can’t, and there are a lot of story opportunities there. Grant Ward as a straight villain is just annoying. As someone who isn’t exactly or easily classified as good or evil he’s interesting.

            1. ehlijen says:

              I disagree. Once the show had locked in the pathological liar thing, there was no way he was ever going to be compelling as either a main villain or a dangerous ally. He was clearly just going to be the guy who jumps sides whenever the writer’s pen twitches, with no true agenda on his own.

      2. baseless_research says:

        I’ve never found him annoying – except in the first season, when that was kind of the point. I mean sure he was insane and always trying to force is warped perspective on other people but that’s because/how he’s incredibly broken as a person.

        If they’d kept him longer than they did he would have needed to get a new/different goal but to me it never outstayed its welcome.

      3. Daemian Lucifer says:

        He was the villain you enjoyed seeing beaten.And since that happened multiple times in various ways,I was pretty ok with him most of the time.

      4. krellen says:

        The best part of Season 4 is that Grant Ward is gone and they replaced him with Ghost Rider. A cool version, not a Nick Cage version.

        1. baseless_research says:

          A cool version, not a Nick Cage version.

          does not compute

          1. ehlijen says:

            Agreed. Cage et al goofing around on the set of ghost rider is what made the movie watchable.

              1. ehlijen says:

                I didn’t actually like the sequel nearly as much. I thought it was somewhat deficient in the humour department, compared to the first.

                It wasn’t just Cage goofing around in the first movie, all the actors did. And that sense of fun and joy transferred to the audience. Ghost Rider 2 was altogether a bit bleak for me.

  10. Exasperation says:

    Needles are totally scary… the way they jab you, then start sewing, then jab you again and sew some more, over and over regardless of the pain, until you pass out…

    What do you mean that’s not how local anesthetic is supposed to work?

  11. Mersadeon says:

    I think part of the questions are made up depending on what your previous answers were, to get a ranking of the different fears – which is why rats showed up in the questionnaire so often.

    Also, cockroaches, man. I am so happy I have never seen one in real life. They hiss. THEY HISS! That’s not right! THEY NIBBLE ON YOUR EYELIDS WHILE YOU SLEEP!

    EDIT: Oh, also, I really like the psyche evaluation scenes – sure they don’t have anything to do with actual psychology, but I just really dig them. Silent Hill: Whatever-The-One-With-Frozen-Stuff-Was-Called also had some really great fun with that, and some really neat enemy design resulting from your choices.

  12. Andy_Panthro says:

    The psych eval reminded me of the questions you used to get for character creation in the Ultima games, and it’s something that I wish was used a little more often.

    1. Echo Tango says:

      In RPGs, questions like this always leave me with a character that doesn’t fit what I’ve got in my head. So, I’m always left trying to meta-game what the questions are trying to do under the hood, which is annoying and distracting. I like these questions in this game, because it’s in a genre that’s supposed to be hiding information from you. :)

      1. Mersadeon says:

        That’s why I liked the games that allowed me to do the test and then, at the end, just say “naw, let me just pick my skills/traits/attributes”. Best of both worlds!

    2. Nimrandir says:

      I’m glad I’m not the only one whose mind went there.

    3. John says:

      I would probably agree with you if I hadn’t had some bad experiences.

      Tactics Ogre for the GBA starts with a visit to a fortune teller who asks you a series of six questions. Your answers determine your starting stats as well as the initial composition of your party but I was never able to figure out which answers would give me which results. I once got a Cleric–which is extraordinarily convenient in the early game–but I was never able to do it again. It drove me a little nuts.

      Then there’s Knights if the Old Republic, which gives you a little quiz to determine your Jedi class. The questions are consistent and if you’ve read the manual you can see where each set of answers is guiding you . . . but then the game let’s you ignore the results and do whatever you want.

  13. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Rats vs spiders is an interesting one for me.I dont fear rats at all,but I would never touch one with my bare hands if I can help it,because I am fully aware of what kind of shit they carry both on and in them.As for spiders,I have a slight phobia of them,but I have touched/carried a few with no gloves on.Though afterwards I scrubbed like I was prepping for surgery.

    Snakes are basically lizards with no legs,so I like them.Though I live in a country with no poisonous snakes,so maybe thats why I never had a problem with them.I would definitely think twice before trying to pet a cobra.

    Storm is awesome.Sexy too.

    1. Lachlan the Mad says:

      I live in Australia and I’m fine with snakes. Snakes are great.

      1. Sean says:

        Guys, I think this is a bunch of snakes pretending to be a person. Quick, someone go check.

  14. Viktor says:

    Snakes are sweet lazy babies. I mean, don’t approach a wild one, but that holds for any animal(unless you’re Mumbles). The only snakes that are at all aggressive are rattlers, and a pair of boots will stop them. Meanwhile, pet snakes are adorable and will climb all over you.

    1. Philadelphus says:

      Snakes have been some of my favorite animals for as long as I can remember. I came across some fascinating research done on rattlesnakes in the southwest that suggests they actually have a pretty good social side to them, engaging in parental care, and even communal child-rearing (unrelated females watching others’ young and guarding them from predators, that sort of thing). Some of it’s pretty touching stuff.

  15. ehlijen says:

    I was surprised by the planes vs crowds question. Don’t most people experience flying only as part of a crowd, i.e. jammed by the hundreds into the economy section?

    I can’t help but thing that that would confuse the answers a little.

    At least I don’t like flying all that much only because the cramped and crowded aspect (being tall and broad and entirely the wrong built to sleep comfortably in airplane seats).

    1. Echo Tango says:

      Hardly anyone can sleep comfortable in those seats. I’m average height for a North American, and although the headrest mostly lines up with me, I don’t have enough room to lay the seat back, so I have to use muscle energy to keep my head upright. :C

      1. Syal says:

        I always get window seats, not for the window but for the wall. Get a poofy coat and sleeping becomes possible.

        1. ehlijen says:

          Nah, it’s aisle seats. There I can stretch at least one leg.

          Also, I find the best way for me to sleep in a plane is resting my forehead on the headrest of the seat in front of me (yeah, I’m that tall). I can’t lean my head back sitting upright (headrest goes to just barely the base of my skull), and I can’t push my knees far enough forward to be able to slouch in the seat.

          Oh, and I’m about a yard shoulder to shoulder, so it’s super fun for the person next to me, too!

    2. Daemian Lucifer says:

      On an ideal flight you get to interact with 1,maybe 2 people(the stewardesses).And while on a non ideal flight you would get to interact with more people,it would be in a more frustrating than fear inducing way(someone is being particularly disruptive,or the person next to you wont shut up,or the person in front of you reclines their chair,….).So while there are a bunch of people on a plane,its not really a crowd.

  16. Leocruta says:

    I definitely would have picked the crow option. I think crows are pretty awesome but whenever I see them, I’m always a little worried I’ll offend them in some way and then have to deal with crows stalking me everywhere, biding their time.

    There was a small wood/park near my old house and during the fall, the bare trees would be absolutely filled with thousands of crows. Tall trees, thin branches, a murder of crows against a grey sky staring at you.

    Most unnerving.

    1. Henson says:

      I’m afraid of crows, but only because they might poop on me.

      We get lots and lots of crows up my way…

      1. Leocruta says:

        Indeed, just one more aspect to the terror that is the crow.

  17. Phantos says:

    A first-person perspective of a creepy weirdo asking you psychological questions?

    Sounds legit!

  18. Mr. Son says:

    It will be interesting to see if/how that fear test affects the game.
    And I liked the discussion of the two characters’ ways of trying to be funny. :3

  19. Gndwyn says:

    I was amused to see Shamus in his answer to the Men/Women Worry Me question seemingly independently come up with that famous aphorism from Margaret Atwood: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.”

  20. SpiritBearr says:

    It might be my youth mixed with my northern Canadian adaptation but sitting on that bench in jeans isn’t that bad. If the Cable car ride was five minutes and it was snowing at 0 degrees C with Wind chill. It would enough time for your ass to go numb.

    1. Echo Tango says:

      Man, I never remember how wind chill works. Is it a colder number with or without the wind chill? And why did somebody invent this dumb number instead of just putting on a balaclava and mittens? Arg! ^^;

      1. Philadelphus says:

        Generally wind always makes things colder, unless you’re talking about the Santa Ana winds in California.

  21. Since “everyone” are doing these:

    Men worry me vs. Women worry me
    Neither actually. But crazy and fanatical people worry me (eyes the news).

    Planes Scare me vs. Crowds scare me
    I dislike crowds (it’s crowdy), but Id’ say planes scare me more as I do not have the ability to fly (but a huge ability to fall).

    I fear heights vs. I fear drowning
    I don’t fear drowing as I do swim. I do not fear heights but I do fear the fall (which doesn’t kill you but the end of it does).

    Snakes scare me vs. Rats scare me
    Similar to Shamus thoughts only in thes parts a rat bite is probably worse than a snake bite.

    Guns are scary vs. Knives are scary
    Close to medium distance knifes are more lethal, the likely hood of anyone running around with explosive bullets or long range rifles in these parts is close to 0.

    Rats scare me vs. cockroaches scare me
    Gotta echo Shamus here, I’d rather cuddle a rat than a roach.

    Clowns scare me vs. Scarecrows scare me
    Meh.

    Gore disgusts me vs. Crows scare me
    Ditto.

    Rats scare me vs. spiders scare me
    I prefer rats over spiders.

    Gore vs. Needles
    Depends, did I just step barefoot on a old needle?

    Clowns vs. Zombies
    Under the fantasy of them being real, clowns are harmless if bitten by one.

    Needles vs. Dogs
    I once got my upper lip clawed in almost two by a dog, I have not had any similar incidents with needles.

    Needles vs. storms
    Ooh. I love storms. Like when it’s not raining that much (more like a gentle drizzle) but you see lightning and hear thunder rolling across the sky. So relaxing and powerful at once.

    Peter Stormare is scary
    But oh so awesome mocap.

    1. tmtvl says:

      Guns are much less likely to break off on your ribs, get caught in your clothes, can kill from a much longer range, have a non-zero chance of accidentally firing,…

      Aside from that I echo your post.

      1. Kathryn says:

        Assuming you are talking about guns manufactured in the last century, they have a zero chance of accidentally firing. It is impossible for a modern gun to fire without user intervention. (If you meant accidentally being fired, then carry on. Although accidentally firing a gun is better described as negligence, as it literally cannot occur if you follow the four rules of gun safety.)

        1. The four rules of gun safety:
          1. Don’t be stupid.
          2. Don’t be stupid.
          3. Don’t be stupid.
          4. Don’t be stupid.

        2. Benjamin Hilton says:

          ehhhhh……yeah that’s just tempting fate to say Impossible.

        3. ehlijen says:

          Modern guns can absolutely fire accidentally, or fail to fire, or jam. In a well maintained gun, using high quality ammo with good safety features and a skilled operator, yes, the odds are very very low.

          But just like with car accidents becoming more likely once a driver has had their licence for a few years, the enemy of safety is confidence. Habit is human nature, and eventually, once people have gotten into a habit of thinking of their gun as safe, most people will try to cut corners on elaborate efforts that seemingly aren’t necessary (the gun never went off by accident before, why would it now?).

          It’s why gun safety advice, actually most safety advice, is quite blunt and aims to shake people out of that confidence.
          ‘Every gun is loaded until you find no bullet in the chamber!’
          ‘You have to stop at the sign, even if you can’t see anyone for miles!’
          ‘Don’t run with scissors!’

          Safety is never absolute when dealing with chemical explosives and moving parts, but it can approach a practically safe point, assuming no assumptions of perfect safety are ever made.

  22. Cinebeast says:

    The Guns VS Knives question is the most interesting to me because, practically speaking, guns are exponentially more dangerous. Yet more often than not, people pick knives. What’s up with knives?

    I mean, I would make the same choice. I’ve fired guns and I’ve chopped things up with knives, and between the two the knives make me much more uncomfortable. Whenever I’m holding a sharp knife all I can think about is how easy it would be to cut my thumb off, or to turn and throw it at someone, or drop it on my foot, or slice my wrist open.

    I don’t know if everyone has the same feeling I do, but I wonder sometimes.

    1. Matt Downie says:

      Sharp edges are a primal fear. Bullets aren’t.

      1. Syal says:

        I’d say it’s probably proximity. Knives have to get uncomfortably close to hurt you. If a gun is that close, it’s being used incorrectly.

        Also knives are always “firing”, they don’t sheathe themselves between slices.

    2. Philadelphus says:

      There’s also the fact that most people have probably cut themselves accidentally on a knife a whole lot more than they’ve even been shot, so it’s comparing something you know is bad mentally with something you know is bad viscerally.

      1. While knifes cut you easily, few knifes can cut off parts of you or into you that easily.
        The majority of fighting knife wounds are lacerations (since the target is protecting themselves), stab wounds are more serious though.

        Also, Mythbusters (damn I miss that show):
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckz7EmDxhtU

        Interestingly enough the distance they are testing over is similar to many gun situations, only people normally do not wear a quick draw holster, nor is the weapon loaded and the safety off (unless you plan to shoot yourself by accident because you stupidly have it in your waist safety off and loaded and by mistake you rub against the trigger).

        A quick sprint with a knife against someone like Jaime does but instead of a stab I’d probably go for a neck slice (you can use your body impact to push the gunman back, your non-dominant hand to grab their head and then slice down the neck with the knife. That is probably as close as you can get to a “one shot” knife attack/defense.

        However, at this point one could just as easily do the same minus the knife and just grab the gun, twist their gun/wrist and shoot the gunman with their own gun at point blank. Most guns are designed to be held a certain way and shoot, they are not designed to prevent being wrangled out of your hand(s) at all. Even a small/light person could close the distance and turn the gun back at the gunman.

        1. tmtvl says:

          The guns aren’t designed to resist being wrangled out of someone’s hands, but human hands are designed to resist things being wrangled from them. In any combat situation small/light people will have a tricky time overcoming their inherent disadvantage, especially if the weight difference is more than 10 lbs.

  23. Gruhunchously says:

    Deus Ex: Girlfriend Augments

  24. SoranMBane says:

    I wouldn’t be comfortable answering all those “which of these animals do you find scary” questions, because I honestly love all animals. :(

    I guess for most of them I would just default to “rats,” since, while I don’t find rats scary (they’re too cute to be scary), I would be anxious about interacting with a wild one; there is always the small chance it could have a disease, and a decent chance it’ll get defensive. I don’t want to get hurt or sick (although it’s not really the rat’s fault if it does have a disease, and any small animal would be well within its rights to bite some big, hulking potential predator trying to mess with it).

    I guess I did used to be afraid of spiders, but I got over it. I can actually handle picking up wild spiders (they’re all little wusses, honestly). I wouldn’t be willing to touch a wild rat.

  25. General Karthos says:

    I’m frickin’ TERRIFIED of needles. Of my two phobias (the other being moths) the needle phobia is much, much stronger. I can’t even manage to give blood (for which I feel bad), but I just can’t face needles.

    I hate roaches, though I don’t fear them. But I’m just as grateful I live nowhere near where roaches dwell.

    I love rats. I’ve had pet rats before. I’m fine with rats running up and down my arms, sitting on my shoulders or my head, or even running up inside the sleeves of my shirt.

    Crowds scare me. Or at least, make me uncomfortable after a while. I like my solitude.

    Clowns don’t scare me, but I say they do, because it’s expected. Of course, clowns peeking in your window in the middle of the night or standing across the street under a street light looking straight at you and holding a knife….

    Ironically, the more stable the height, the more worried I am about it for some reason. Like, I’m not worried about crossing a swaying rope bridge over a massive chasm, but standing on the 40th story of a building that I know was designed specifically NOT to randomly fall down is scarier for some reason. I can’t find any rational reason why this should be.

    But no. Needles vs. anything, needles are going to win. Even thinking about them makes me uncomfortable.

  26. natureguy85 says:

    On the one hand, I cringe at all the interrelationship, ex-dating drama, but on the other hand it is set up well and I like that they give you some choice over it, such as letting the guy look through the view finder or not.

    I like the set up for the choice to shoot the squirrel and knowing how Sam would react. I like that Chris brings up Sam looking at his phone. I like how they teach you that you can do nothing. There may be minimal gameplay, but I like what I’m seeing so far!

    A shadow toward the end made me expect “The Dark Entity” from Alan Wake to show!

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