Manners. Maketh. Man.
Quetzalcutlass
joined 2 years ago
VeeBeard?
And the next time Gandalf visited, he tried to lock him in his tower. Kinky.
It was, which is why it sucks that it got snuffed out instead of one of the dozens of less interesting subplots.
Half-Life, and more recently Abiotic Factor (which is basically Half-Life reimagined as a survival crafting game).
I liked how there was a multi-book background subplot of some Aes Sedai investigating the Black Ajah in secret, only for them to get killed off between books (and their deaths only mentioned in passing during the next book's prologue) and the Black Ajah plot thread put on hold, then for the solution to the Black Ajah to be handed to Egwene with a wrapped bow a few books later.
I get Jordan was trying to cut out extraneous subplots and actually finish the series, but it sucks that so many pages were wasted on something that went nowhere, and the eventual resolution didn't even need them in the first place.
The game made over a billion dollars but disappeared from the cultural zeitgeist almost immediately. Of course the publisher only cares about that first part, so unnecessary sequel it is!
What I meant by it being too late is that once you're a billionaire, you can fund your interests (like making the world a worse place) off the passive income you make from interest and investments. Licensing fees are probably a drop in the bucket at this point. Even if she makes tens of millions less due to a massive boycott (which is wildly optimistic), it wouldn't affect her life or political activities a smidgeon.
And since Hogwarts Legacy was the game that finally dethroned Call of Duty and random sports games as the top seller of 2023, I doubt a boycott would be at all effective. Harry Potter was many people's childhood, and they'll buy it regardless of external factors just to finally live in that world.
Edit: I fully support anyone who chooses to boycott Rowling and anything associated with her. It makes sense to not want to support her in any way. I just wanted to point out the unfortunate truth that a boycott won't actually hurt Rowling or her disgusting political activism in any meaningful way, outside of maybe bruising her ego. She's not beholden to public image like a corporation is, so she won't even make a token effort to appear less awful.
I loved the descriptions of the Carheinien Game of Houses, where everything was political theater and anything you did in public was scrutinized for multiple deeper meanings. It's a shame the actual politics shown in the series was mostly pampered and immature nobles complaining that preparing for the literal imminent apocalypse was too inconvenient.
It'd make a great RPG setting, but IIRC every attempt at a licensed adaptation (aside from a forgettable FPS like twenty years ago) has ended up in development hell or terrible. Or both, in the case of the show.
I do like that the portal to alternate dimensions ended up being how the Seanchan acquired the weird monsters their army used. That was some quality world-building.
Matt and his crew, Thom, Aviendha, Min, Verin... There are so few likeable characters, especially amongst the women (you could write an entire book about how WoT handles women - I should note two of the three I listed as likeable are tomboys and were therefore saved from Jordan's normal characterization). And due to the aforementioned thousand named characters, the good ones get almost no screen time.
But there's always time for Egwene and Faile, the two worst "good" characters. Don't you want to know what Salidar or the Shaido are(n't) up to for the billionth time?
It's funny. I actually liked the Wheel of Time, but any time I talk about it it's to rant about its flaws.
"Fell down an elevator shaft and landed on a pile of bullets" has lived in my head rent-free since I saw this movie 25 years ago. I don't know why - it's not even particularly funny or clever, but the line stuck with me.