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[hops]

On the topic of horror games, I played The Last Door Episode Two last night. I swear I'm not normally thateasy to scare and it's kind of confusing for my heart to race that much, seeing as I'm the person who read Lovecraft and r/nosleep and go "meh"

[Emma]

This is the point in my life where I resolved to either stay the hell away from ghosts, or at the very least, do absolutely nothing to intentionally antagonise them.

I'm the opposite. I used to scare pretty easily, not so much anymore now that I scare myself more than anything else does, but I've basically decided that if I ever feel as though something's out to get me I'm going to scream at it to do the best it can.

[Egan_BW]

A scary game isn't "don't pop out at me, don't pop out of me, AAH". A scary game is "Oh. Oh god what the fuck. You're just fucking with me right? You wouldn't actually write it this way, I'm just drawing false conclusions, I have to be."

The really scary games are just a constant mental wide-eyed ".......".

What? Writing isn't scary, silly! Plot and lore and stuff can be disturbing, but I only really get scared if the game poses a credible threat to me, and I don't fully understand it. It's the opposite of the stealth game fantasy; in a stealth game, you hold information that you withhold from the game. In soviet horror game, the game holds information that it withholds from you.
But nah, writing is just words.

What do you think plot and lore and stuff is if not writing? There are threats other than the screaming mutant teeth machine coming right at you. The overarching power of dread is so much greater.

Yeah, and plot is bollocks for being scary. For me, dread only comes from sound and environmental design. Even that is only impacting if I think that the game can follow up on a threat to kill me if I'm not careful. But "Silent hill is actually your mind!" is not spooky by itself.

[Eric Blank]

Had loads of fun helping my dad fell a 60+ foot tree today. He got the chainsaw stuck in it just before finishing the last wedge cut. I brought him the maul and wedges, and we had next to no luck getting it to budge; the tree leaned over onto the chainsaw blade and remained there, supported by the equally large, still-alive and healthy tree adjacent to it. Only maybe 1/4 of the original trunk still existed at the level he'd cut it. So I went shopping, came back and after putting the groceries away we went back out there to try and get the chainsaw free/fell the tree again. What we eventually ended up doing is throwing a rope around the tree about 20 feet up, and using a come-along (ratcheting pulley thingamabob) and another line to yank it in the direction we wanted it to fall. Three, actually, to keep the tension on it because we had to move the come-along back several times, kept running out of line.

The last ten minutes I was ratcheting it closer and it just kept popping and moving ever so slightly, so I kept running every time it did. I was horribly stressed out because I've heard of trees put under pressure just snapping explosively, and I was worried it would fall in the direction I was pulling it. We finally ran out of line on the come-along and then my father decided to just yank downwards on the line a few times. The tree finally snapped loose of the branches of the adjacent tree and fell, right where he'd intended for it to land with the wedges. So fucking relieved at that. The chainsaw blade is bent slightly and I'm guessing it will have to be replaced.

Tree was mostly dead, but the wood was still fine and it doesn't look like it's rotted at all. Firewood!

In hindsight I should have taken a photo of the chainsaw stuck in a tree trunk that was mostly cut away. Or maybe my dad yanking the whole thing down. that wasn't really a priority at the time.

[misko27]

I am here because I want to sleep, and ANTS ARE EVERYWHERE. fuck ants. I was hoping the problem was limited ot the bathroom, but the ants are here and they are under my bed. probably coming from the walls or something. man, fuck that. this is a stupid dorm room. I need to pick up ant traps when I get back home.

Really the only game I've played thats actually legitimately scared me was a point and click called The Last Door.

No clue why I was so scared by it though.

Was it the room with the crows? That room traumatized me. Put on music, "hey nothing spooky happened. now what". walk out. "oh hey, the music stopped". walk back in.

then face to face with that fucking room. I noped the hell out of there as soon as i could. It's almost funny now, recalling the image of my character just turning around and leaving as soon as the room loaded. Totally, completely harmless room, you can walk from one end to the other just fine, but you know what? I literally went out of my way to avoid that room whenever possible from that point on, at least until the crows left.

fuck that, fuck red lights, fuck crows, and fuck music (and fuck ants). And that was only the first chapter. I didn't have it in me to continue. I should, one of these days...

[hops]

This is the point in my life where I resolved to either stay the hell away from ghosts, or at the very least, do absolutely nothing to intentionally antagonise them.

I'm the opposite. I used to scare pretty easily, not so much anymore now that I scare myself more than anything else does, but I've basically decided that if I ever feel as though something's out to get me I'm going to scream at it to do the best it can.

[Emma]

Shit, I didn't mean to come across as that edgy. Unfortunately edge can't always be avoided when you're as cool as Shadow the Hedgehog /s.

[NRDL]

Shit, I didn't mean to come across as that edgy. Unfortunately edge can't always be avoided when you're as cool as Shadow the Hedgehog /s.

I honestly interpreted that as you being genuinely helpful to the ghost, as in "Do your best  " not "FUCK U BRAH GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU GOT  ". 

Although that brings to mind something interesting about fear.  Lately, I've been trying to adopt the mindset of "turning all fear, anxiety, doubt, insecurity, etc., into aggression".  I haven't really exposed myself to much frightening stimuli so I don't know if it's possible or if it's just big talk from my inner mind. 

In times of danger or stress I can see definite value in altering the fight or flight response to just fight and fight some more.  The external scary stimuli is still there, you can't really do anything about its existence, but changing your reaction, over time through constant affirmation and repetition, from blind panic to energetic fury/determination/hate towards a threat, seems like it can give one a better chance at actually dealing with said threat.

I dunno, just some thoughts.  I just never really enjoyed being helplessly afraid.  I know I'll always be afraid, that's good, it's natural and acceptable, but I'd prefer "Fear turned into Action" over "Fear freezing you in place".

Alright, that's enough derailing from me, back to your scheduled spooky.

[hops]

That's the point of horror games, though. They're simulation of a frightening situation where you're not in actual danger.

[Loud Whispers]

That's the point of horror games, though. They're simulation of a frightening situation where you're not in actual danger.

If you die in memes you die in real life

[Yoink]

That's the point of horror games, though. They're simulation of a frightening situation where you're not in actual danger.

Wait, what?! Really?
Aw great, well now you ruined horror games for me. Gee thanks.

[hops]

That's the point of horror games, though. They're simulation of a frightening situation where you're not in actual danger.

Wait, what?! Really?
Aw great, well now you ruined horror games for me. Gee thanks.

For $5 bucks I can punch you in the balls whenever you die in the game.

[MrRoboto75]

That's the point of horror games, though. They're simulation of a frightening situation where you're not in actual danger.

Wait, what?! Really?
Aw great, well now you ruined horror games for me. Gee thanks.

For $5 bucks I can punch you in the balls whenever you die in the game.

By the end of dark souls, I'd be sterile.

[TempAcc]

Barely in topic, I always feel that horror games get kinda lame when you're given ways to actualy fight the supposedly scary things, which is exactly why I think people will stop thinking resident evil 6 is SUPAH SCARY once they gain hold of a shotgun or something.

Who the hell cares about deformed female zombie redneck people when you have a shotgun?

Silent hill is also kinda guilty of this. O mai, supah scary vagina monster, I am terrified, now come closer so I can perform certain acts upon you with this rusty crowbar that will make Freud's corpse vibrate with glee.

I mean, not all games to have to take the amnesia route and leave you completely helpless, its ok to give people a way to fight back, but said way of fighting back shouldn't be so great as to completely eliminate all threats, or else it just becomes resident evil (hello hello, The Evil Within).

[Rolan7]

Shit, I didn't mean to come across as that edgy. Unfortunately edge can't always be avoided when you're as cool as Shadow the Hedgehog /s.

I honestly interpreted that as you being genuinely helpful to the ghost, as in "Do your best  " not "FUCK U BRAH GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU GOT  ". 

I read it somewhat weirdly.  "Do your best" is a phrase that really unsettles me, so I thought GD was trying to give the ghost performance anxiety.
(Basically the phrase, to me, means "We have high expectations of you." and "Is that thing you enjoy doing really worth your time?" (and not just videogames, but various creative hobbies...))