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Writer's pictureCraig Norris

AirTags, Top Gun Spoilers, and Gaming Activism

Episode 54 - With host Craig Norris, and co-host Taylor Lidstone.

First Broadcast on Edge Radio, Friday 17 November 2023.



Learn about how AirTags have become an increasingly popular tool for law enforcement agencies to tackle car thefts. We also discuss the recent case of a New South Wales police officer who received a sentence for pointing a gun towards a colleague over Top Gun: Maverick spoilers. We also explore the world of gaming activism to examine how gamers on platforms such as Roblox, Final Fantasy, and The Sims are leveraging virtual worlds to push for social and environmental change. As well as PC game modding and how game developers like Capcom are grappling with the issue of offensive and morally questionable mods that can cause public outrage. Finally, we end the episode with an in-depth discussion of the latest Baldur's Gate 3 patch, which has brought about a significant change to one of the game's “popular?” speedruns.


Join us for this insightful and informative episode of Media Mothership, where we explore the fascinating intersection of media, technology, and society.


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Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript of the audio and it may contain errors. We may update or correct this transcript in the future. Please contact us if you have any questions about the information in this transcript. The audio is the official record of this episode.


DR CRAIG

Alright. Hello. You're listening to the medium. The ship here on at 399.3 FM and as always, we're looking at popular culture media discussion and oddities around. The world of. Media and entertainment and I am your host doctor Craig, trying to be as confident as I can. This day show. Because I'm I'm. I'm just mixing up my technology. I'm just plugging a lot of things into the desk than I am. Last week I had Bliss on who was reminding me one of the key things about being a good presenter or working with tech. Any tech right? He's the tech support officer at the media school and a PhD student, and he was saying just stay calm. You know, as it goes more and more disastrous, it's significant that you stay calm. Because if you start losing it, then the whole thing's. Gonna fall over. Right. The talent that you've got will kind of. Lose it as. Well, and so, you know, you just gotta stay calm, make sure you offer some water to everyone. So on today's show, we're going to be looking at some really unusual and interesting news and information that's come across my desk around pop culture and media and disc. Well, actually, it's a great question. My workflow is set up around various.

LORD TAYLOR

He puts it on your desk.

DR CRAIG

RSS feeds so I use two. I use feedly. And I use inner reader which basically deep trolls like I always imagine it like one of those unethical fishing boats that deep trawls ruining coral reefs and so forth.

LORD TAYLOR

And it it just searches for things like on the Internet and then send it directly to you.

DR CRAIG

Unsubscribe to channels mainly, yeah.

LORD TAYLOR

Yeah, bomb making. How to hold up a bank? Yeah.

DR CRAIG

No, no, no, the good ones. You know the Reddit ones, yeah. And then I I kind of curate them media and popular culture, but as we're talking on air, if you do have any points you'd like to make with the controversial material I've been dealing with, and you can hear us hopefully and not destroying the audio feed from edge with the devices. You can reach out and SMS us on. 048881170. Seven or leave a chat message in the YouTube or Twitch stream, which potentially. We're also on.

LORD TAYLOR

Yeah. Make sure you go to the media mothership stream, not just any stream that you're on, we. Can't see it exactly, yes.

DR CRAIG

If you start sending jam messages. Just in, you know, Dan Carlson's, you know, cooking, uh, we won't see. So yeah, do. Do reach out to that. Participation is always encouraged and welcomed. And yeah, basically the topics we're going to be looking at today is police, police and technology got two stories on police and technology, then video games. Basically all the rest. Video games. I got a story on video games and politics, video games and sex. Bit salacious, but I don't think I need to give any warnings for that content. But that might trigger more people to listen. They say. Sex sells. Uh, so doing that, and if I can get around to it, I might play some really interesting interview with dead by daylight. And there's one fantastic AI story. So all that and more coming up on media mothership. On Edge radio. 99.3 FM.

Speaker

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Speaker 5

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Speaker 6

There he goes into that radio station he's about to host the show. Showtime media mothership.

Speaker

He he.

Speaker 2

Is it? Doctor Craig and Lord Taylor. To most people, a radio show is a collection of sounds and words. But there's one programme I know of where the hosts explore the power and influence of media on our perception of reality. Every week they chat with creators, critics and fans of movies, TV shows, video games and more. In the first episode, for instance, you'll find the K pop. And cultural intermediaries interview and in another audio adventure, you can inspect the Harry Potter or Sherlock Holmes radio dramas that are a unique creation of artificial intelligence. Don't miss these chat bot generated radio dramas gone wrong.

Speaker 7

That the show media mothership. A fast moving media analysis who tips the scales at 239 lbs. Brought to you by the Tasmanian youth broadcasters, incorporated, makers of Edge Radio and other fine media empires.

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When you overeat or eat too fast, you're looking for trouble with your digestion. That's no time to let your stomach ruin your day. Instead, try a better way, a gentle way. Listen to refreshing media mothership. Yes, when you're bothered by heartburn, nervous indigestion, or other common digestive disturbances, media mothership promptly helps to calm and quiet the upset. It settles and sweetens it.

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Next time you eat too much or too fast, you can do something for that uneasy, uncomfortable feeling by refreshing medium mothership. That's right when your stomachs upset, don't add to the upset. Take soothing media mothership and feel good.

DR CRAIG

OK, we're back Creeky Creek. And this is media membership here with Doctor Craig, will Taylor. Talking as always about unusual and odd things that have hit our desk now, the first one I wanna do, I just wanna get this AI story. Out of the. Way it has a nice little audio piece.

LORD TAYLOR

OK. Yeah.

DR CRAIG

That's there and it's head title headlined unauthorised David Attenborough AI clone narrates developers. Life goes viral. So this is a story from ours, Ars Technica, and basically it's talking about a developer who created this AI bot or piece of software that. Uses camera to then generate a David Attenborough reaction to what it's seeing on camera, right? Yeah. And the David? Attenborough voice seems to be trained quite significantly on his voice, so there's a small sample that I'll play. It goes on, the article goes on to talk about how the developer Charlie Holtz combined GPT 4 vision, commonly called GPT 4V. And 11 labs voice cloning technology to create an unauthorised AI version of the famous naturalist David Attenborough. And the sample here is an example creates where it narrates holtz's every move on camera as it's making it. There's a short delay. And as of last Thursday's afternoon, it's got over 21,000 likes, so it's going a little viral and I'll play now a clip. And basically what? It he's first setting up the software so you can't see it on radio, but he's typing in some commands and he's talking about. How he's going to then get the voice software connected to the camera to then prompt as he's moving in the in the view.

Speaker 6

OK.

Speaker 9

Here's a quick demo of what happens when David Attenborough narrates your life on the left. I'm going to start my camera, which every five seconds takes a photo from my webcam on the right. I'm going to start David Adam Burr.

Speaker 8

Men of Homo sapiens, distinguished by his silver circular spectacles, look closely at the subtle arch of his eyebrow. It's as if he's in the midst of an intricate ritual of curiosity or scepticism. The backdrop suggests a sheltered habitat, possibly of communal feeding area or watering hole. Are in its natural environment. We observe the sophisticated Homosassa piens engaging in the critical ritual of hydration. This male individual has selected a small cylindrical container. Likely filled with life sustaining H2O and is tilting it expertly towards his intake orifice. Such grace such poise.

DR CRAIG

So I'll put links in the show notes so you can find those on YouTube and Twitch, and it's quite a a fun little experiment, but obviously it has very troubling implications in terms of the use of AI. To take unauthorised voices. But there's a proof of concept. I mean, again, there's a short delay between what it's seeing on video and then generating spontaneously a in the style of David Embury reaction to but it it works surprisingly well. Yeah. How quickly. It reacts how it does that kind of naturalist narrative over the top of it. It's quite clever, so again it it does. Have even more impact when you. See the YouTube. Of it or the video? Footage of it. So again I'll put.

LORD TAYLOR

So I can't say does the video footage look like him?

DR CRAIG

Well, the video footage is the developer, so it's. He's just sitting in a cafe, right, which is why in the Attenborough reaction audio, you hear him talking about how you know, it appears the subject is sitting in this domestic domestic. Sitting or something. So basically it's him sitting like in a zoom call. So it's as you would see in a zoom call, he's just sitting there facing.

Speaker 9

Right.

DR CRAIG

And then, yeah, as he drinks from a cup that reacts to that saying. Yeah, look how expertly he's doing this and mentions the glasses and so. Forth. So yeah, it's quite. Clever as a proof of concept, and again, you know, worrying in terms, I mean.

LORD TAYLOR

What would? What would? What do you think?

DR CRAIG

The the good and bad things of this.

LORD TAYLOR

The thing is. I mean, I suppose for good things, it's like any actors or vocal artists who are no longer with us, they could always come back using this technology and and in terms of bad things, I guess, well then it just means everyone has got a like an audio alibi because people can just say. Well, someone trained it on my voice. That wasn't me. Someone threatened you, threatened your company over the phone. Might sound like me, but it wasn't me.

DR CRAIG

Yeah. And so I do think as always on media mothership, hopefully we're setting up the debate. I mean in the past, maybe maybe less so. But yeah, maybe maybe we're we're, we're. We're trying to to achieve that now.

LORD TAYLOR

That was very loud.

DR CRAIG

Yeah, it's just blew all your drums. Alright, well, at least it's. Designated a change in pace. Two stories about police and media that I wanted to talk about. The first one, again from Ars Technica, talking about air tags, are the new go to for cops after spiking car thefts.

LORD TAYLOR

So air tags are those things are like you. You check it on your keys and then you can find it via.

DR CRAIG

GPS. Yeah. So Apple has the air tags, and there's there's another one called tile, which is useful for Android systems. And yeah, you can put it on your people. Use them when they. Lose their constantly, not finding their car keys so. They'll put these little tag things on them and you hook it up to your app on your phone and you're able to find out where your keys are.

LORD TAYLOR

Do you know how that like, how that technology works? Like how does it send out?

DR CRAIG

The signal. I imagine it's because of the. It must be reaching other iPhone users, right? It must be triangulating through iPhone users or Android users in this case to kind of Crowdsource a.

LORD TAYLOR

Right. OK. Yeah. OK, you're right, yeah.

DR CRAIG

Geo location, right? I've I've not looked into any dev. But this story is is using that technology that's typically used just to find your keys or your wallet, where you might have A tag or the ad tag connected to for cars. So the story goes on. This is in America talking about how there was this TikTok trend. Over summer for all these car thefts.

LORD TAYLOR

Well, that's a great trend.

DR CRAIG

Yeah, yeah. On TikTok, where basically, uh, these individuals were able to get around. Yeah, smart car technology and be able to break in very quickly to them. Anyway. Let's go with with a massive number of them. So what the in Washington? What one police department's done? There is rolled out a private pilot programme a few weeks back where they've been given. Free tracking device to say look, just attach them to your car and to quote the police. Personally, yes. So they're saying, yeah, they're going to hand out these tracking devices, add tags and tiles, and then they'll help residents hide them in their car. So these can't find them. And then residents can, you know, have their app available, which will allow them to to find their car. Right and well work. With the police in their car, so the police officers quoted as saying, our goal is not just to prevent carjacking and motor vehicle thefts, but also to ensure swift law enforcement action when these incidents occur. These tracking devices allow our officers and detectives to be better positioned to quickly locate stolen vehicles, recover property. And gather vital evidence for investigations. So it's really a really interesting idea of police officer giving away current tag and tracking technology with the idea of then using that to track down criminals and relocate property. Cool. Sounds good. Yeah. So that's a good use of technology. Now, the next story I have, Gaynor, is sentenced for pointing gun towards colleague over Top Gun Maverick spoiler. I mean, fair enough. Yeah. Yeah. So the article goes on to talk about how, you know, normal day in the workplace. I guess at the start.

LORD TAYLOR

Is it? Yeah, at like a like, a police station. This was, yeah.

DR CRAIG

In the police station? Yep. So the story the journalist described the story as a Sydney police officer who pointed his gun towards a colleague after warning him not to reveal. Spoilers about the movie, Top Gun Maverick and then yeah. Yeah, it's been handed A2 year. Good behaviour. Bond and conviction and yeah, it sounds horrible. So basically it was a little bit of gentle jesting. It seems at the start. Of the day. Where? So, according to court documents, the complainant 26 year old. Probationary Constable Morgan Royston saw the Tom Cruise blockbuster the previous night and told Gaynor that morning. I'll spoil it for you. And then the the police officer who was found guilty of the offence said don't spoil the movie, see word and then he points to this. Yeah. Yeah. Then he pointed his firearm in the vicinity of the complainant and held it stationary for five seconds. And at 5 seconds is a long time to be looking at. Someone with a gun. Pointed in your. Vicinity after saying don't do something, so yeah. Troubling news I. Mean. Definitely that idea of spoiler culture. I remember one of my just a slight humorous tact now from this very serious story was that Harry Potter movie with Dumbledore.

LORD TAYLOR

Died. Yeah, yeah.

DR CRAIG

Half blooded Prince, right? Not just half blood Prince, half blood. OK, that 1/2 Prince. There were this phenomenon of drive. By spoiling where as people were queued during the launch day. Of this movie. People would see the movie would drive by these queues and yell out Dumbledore dice.

LORD TAYLOR

Are you sure it? Was that? Yeah, I mean, who? Who? No, no.

DR CRAIG

Yeah, drive by schooling. I'll. I'll look at cheques.

LORD TAYLOR

No. Like specifically for Harry Potter because, yeah. Everyone would have read the books. If you're there on the. Opening or maybe that's?

DR CRAIG

Why they were doing it as well? They already, yeah as well. Yeah, but I I didn't. Yeah. I mean, you could have. Definitely done it for Empire Strikes Back, yeah. But yes, so there we go. But spawning is one of those issues which some people. Find immensely distracting.

LORD TAYLOR

For example, one that I've definitely seen was Iron Man dies. That is the one that I saw of the drive by spoiling. And people would just like they just thought be talking about something unrelated on the Internet, on Reddit, something like that. And then just at the end of it, at the end of the post just. Put ohh and. I'm and and. Yeah, look and.

DR CRAIG

I had. I had an experience of being spoilt for I think it was the towards me was a dad, I think. In his two kids. Right. And as they walked closer, they were having a conversation about the damn movie. Star Wars Force Awakens, which obviously just said. And just as they got the shooting of me, they said Ohh. I can't believe you see Luke Skywalker at the end. That's really interesting that they poured it back in that scene. Wow. And I'm like, oh, alright, I'm sure that's not important. I'm sure an end sequence. Yeah, he's. Pretty dull and boring and has no lead up, yeah. So yes, yes, that's that that happened. I'll play this again. Let's see if it it. It doesn't blow everyone's eardrums this time.

LORD TAYLOR

Well, but my you know.

DR CRAIG

Alright, it's the wrong I'm doing the wrong fader, OK.

Speaker 10

Hold on. Are you the fan by the fan?

Speaker

Right.

DR CRAIG

Too many buttons. Ohh dear miss studio. OK OK, story topic 2. In today's discussion, gamers on Roblox, Final Fantasy and The Sims, and more games are bringing activism to the virtual world to scenario ABC News. And it's talking about how, specifically, in the light of the Israel Gaza war. There's been protests, political protests in these otherwise considered children's video game spaces, so Roblox, for instance, there's been protests, you know. Virtual flag burning. Things you're shaking your.

LORD TAYLOR

Head, I mean, wherever. You stand on the issue. Like what? What? What the hell does that achieve? Doing it in a game?

Speaker

Do you know?

DR CRAIG

It it does show that games are not some gated community space that is outside the real world, like like people sometimes say, yeah, I'm doing this game for escapism, right? So I wanna get away. Stressful day. I'm gonna play my game. But it's it's it's not. It's stuck in this real world and someone is going to possibly get political with you in that space. So my favourite story not from here? Well, not my favourite story, but first story I heard of politics and video games was Warcraft. Was it Warcraft? Where on on.

LORD TAYLOR

OK.

DR CRAIG

The story goes that it was. The Chinese gamers in this massive multiplayer online shared fantasy games. And cool. Anyway, could be a political point anyway. So in this space they were basically they mobilised this group of Chinese gamers, mobilised beforehand to commit genocide of all players that had indicated that their nationality. The Japanese it coincided with the anniversary of World War 2 massacre. I think so. They even though this was a fantasy game where people's nationality didn't matter, right? There were elves and dwarfs and Wizards. Nevertheless, they one activist community decided they would make political protests and they went ahead and did it. And they. They killed every shepherdess player on the server, which I found really amusing, but would would really be upsetting. Well, yes. Yeah. Yeah, so I guess.

LORD TAYLOR

Reborn so.

DR CRAIG

That's a good point. Maybe one of the good things about it happening in a virtual space is that it's not physically done right. It's not physical.

LORD TAYLOR

So you're saying? That all of our wars should now be done via. Massive multiplayer online games.

DR CRAIG

Yes and no. I think there's still trauma that could happen online. I mean, I. Do think that. There's still equivalent. You know those kind of? Shock photos that you can get sent. Which can be. Just as upsetting. So I'm not saying it's it's somehow more desensitised piece, but at the same time it's it's at least less physically assaulting than than it happening in the real world. But obviously within that. I would strongly encourage and advise people to, you know, behave within the terms and rights agreements right and the protocols for civil. And responsible discontent.

LORD TAYLOR

But imagine how easy it would be if you just loaded up GTA5 and you had a bridge and you had Zelensky on one end. Putting on the other and they just fought.

Speaker 11

From one end.

DR CRAIG

Right.

LORD TAYLOR

Of the bridge to the other, and then whoever won got control of the. Left. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

DR CRAIG

Let's let's resolve this obvious macho competition in the Street Fighter tournament type thing, which is a perfect segue into my next story.

LORD TAYLOR

Exactly, yeah.

DR CRAIG

Thank you. So the next story is from PC Gamer. After a naked Chumley scandalised defeating fighting game tournament, Capcom sounds the alarm about PC game modding. There are a number of mods that are offensive to public order and morals, says Capcom. Have you heard the story? It's a great story.

LORD TAYLOR

I read through the show notes. Oh, what's coming? Up, that's what. That's why I did specifically do.

DR CRAIG

Excellent. So this was a story I. I came across a few weeks ago. Where it looked like I I saw. The the tournament feat. So it was hilarious where you've got. Yeah, a typical E sport tournament happening with Street Fighter, so it's a 1V1 martial arts game. I'm sure no Street Fighter and the guy before they crossed to the match he's talking about, you know, wearing round X and we've got two competitors, one from I think China and Korea and. You know a bit of stats are behind both. Of them, and they're talking about. It's gonna be a great match. And they cut to the match. And you see, they start talking about the non nude character first, right? They say, OK, that's an interesting choice of whatever the character was that they did it and then switches to the nude character. So what it seems to have happened though, was that this gamer had left on a mod for his Street Fighter game. And that mod happened to be 1, which. Makes the characters naked, or that that has a naked skin. The characters and. Hilariously, this happened in a global tournaments that was being live streamed. And so now, yeah, Capcom have come out and and flagged, hey, these mods which obviously are unauthorised and as much as mods are in many ways making games fantastic and better than the base game and their volunteer work and can be part of this professionalisation the great story. Of what is it counter strike? 3 Whatever the counter strike, the counter strike game coming from half life.

LORD TAYLOR

Ohh yeah yeah.

DR CRAIG

So yeah, this morning spaces is certainly a way in which talent emerges. Nevertheless, here we see a hilarious example of of how that can go very, very wrong. Very wrong. Yeah, I was going to try to find that to to play that sequence. But I thought, you know, you could get me blocked on YouTube or something. OK. Yeah. Do you have any thoughts about Street Fighter tournaments, nude mods? Well.

LORD TAYLOR

Not played. Any of that. Or Street Fighter. The thing is, with mod modding, yes it's it's a. It's a very sort of difficult thing to. Sort of police, I guess, because you can't have. It it can't be political like like if if it if it is, is gonna be like have political content like a lot of them do it has to be apolitical. Like so for example, I'm thinking of Nexus Mod which is one of the biggest mod. Centres on the Internet and they have been removing content that has exhibited. Sort of. One side of a conflict and allowed ones that are the other. Side really. Yeah.

DR CRAIG

Is this real world?

LORD TAYLOR

Whole that needs to be within an unbiased format.

DR CRAIG

Yes. Yeah. Look and and again I think. It can be a healthy way. To get ideas debated, it can also be very, very unhealthy way that that happens. I know there was, you know, was it. It's the the Nazi bar rule that if you allow anyone. Unrestrictedly into your gaming forum or like it's it's a Garry's mod. It emerged in the Garry's Mod space, right? So what is Garry's Mod for this?

LORD TAYLOR

So Garry's Mod is is a mod from some sort of half life game. Pretty sure it is half life. And it just uses all of the textures in that and creates A sandbox environment that you can basically create anything doing that you want. And yeah, there's servers all around and.

DR CRAIG

And what they found, there's an article talking about the to to to trope called like the Nazi bar troop because it goes on to say that if you allow anyone into your community unrestricted without having to abide by any guidelines, so initially you get the Hitler tribute space.

LORD TAYLOR

As a previous Garry's mod. Mod moderator.

DR CRAIG

Yes, really. Yeah. And it's called the Nazis bar because the phenomena that it's trying to describe is how, while, while, while the person that first says, you know, they have some views, but they'll be very discreet, their friends who they also get into this forum space or to create content. There may not and it quickly accelerates. Into a space where there's a lot of detestable content, and then you find that the only people in that space are the testable content creating people, and it just falls over and you get the Nazi bar. So instead of a nice bar that everyone hangs out in and has drinks, it's becomes a Nazi bar. Yeah. And no one goes. To that bar anymore because they're only Nazi. So yeah, it's.

Speaker

Well, not just go.

DR CRAIG

To the bar. Yes, yes, that's right. This was called. Just the Nazi. Van so interestingly with modding, yeah, the same thing. Can that happen if there's not appropriate rules regulations, it can just descend. Into something very effective.

LORD TAYLOR

Yeah. So I'm I'm on Skyrim a lot, right? So I've played Skyrim through, let's say, 90 times at a very conservative estimate, and every time has been with a different slew of mods that has changed it. Now I've got a. VR I've got a VR mod set through Wabbajack which is a really good little mod, sort of automatic mod creator thing. And yeah, playing through that at.

DR CRAIG

The moment and from the base game, it's a radical change. Once you plug all these mods in. It it really is.

LORD TAYLOR

So big, so, so much of a big change. You can do things like you can start fishing. You can just like, sit on a lake and fish if you want a sport in a boat and row it somewhere.

DR CRAIG

And that's not in the.

Speaker 11

Vanilla game, no?

DR CRAIG

You can't fish. You can't kind of chill.

LORD TAYLOR

But the thing about having it as the. With the VR is is, it just adds so much more realism to it in that you can just sort of like all of this other this stuff that's in the game that you wouldn't normally be able to pick up. One of the mods allows you to pick up. Literally anything in the. Yeah. So there's a Rock You can pick up a rock and throw it and throw it in.

DR CRAIG

And this substantial work.

LORD TAYLOR

The seam if. You want. Does it inflict?

Speaker 12

Damage no.

DR CRAIG

And in fact, it's interesting you mentioned this because I bought a game recently specifically because I wanted to play the mod. I didn't want to play the bass game at all. It was a Christian.

LORD TAYLOR

Street Fighter.

DR CRAIG

I will into that one. Yes. So this tournament no Crusader kings three, right, which is set in mediaeval Europe and the Middle East. But there was a mod that sets it in the Japanese Sengoku period. And I've been watching this YouTube about it and there's not.

LORD TAYLOR

Ohh yeah.

DR CRAIG

There's there's a new novel, Nagae's ambition game, which looks really good, but there's not a game that has an RPG dimension that I've wanted like, say, the Kings three, and I felt great. I'll pick this up to play the mod and I'm thinking, well, what am I doing? I make. Really, buying a game for mod that that erases the original and and and maps out a completely different game. And again, it's from the ground up. Reworking it in terms of the animations. And so forth. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's amazing where we're.

LORD TAYLOR

At it is, yeah.

DR CRAIG

Talking maybe what's less amazing is is our base urges. Which can occur within this environment. So now we are entering into the sexy time. The discussion I don't think. I need a language warning for kids. Language warning. OK, let's do it anyway. So this is from Polygon. The headline is boulders Gate 3's latest. Patch is bad news for 6 speed runners. Liesel no longer. Drops pants in under 2 minutes. That's a really crudely again, I'm not the writer of that. It's quite crudely expressed. And yes, in no way reflects the interests of the about. Shipwrecks radio.

LORD TAYLOR

The shipwreck just of Craig Norris.

DR CRAIG

No, I didn't write this one. OK. So do you know the game boulders gate 3?

LORD TAYLOR

I've heard of it. I've played the first boulders gate, but I didn't know. I I haven't played the third one. I knew it. Was out though. OK, well, you've.

DR CRAIG

Got more knowledge than I do what I know it's like an RPG fantasy setting game. Elves and humans and or? Yeah.

LORD TAYLOR

Dungeons and Dragons very much like.

DR CRAIG

So first definition is what's board skate 3? Yeah, RPG fantasy. What's? The speed run. Do you ever ever done a speed? Run. Yeah, of.

LORD TAYLOR

Course I. Have alright so.

DR CRAIG

What is the speed run then for our listeners?

LORD TAYLOR

To compete with other people to complete either a game or a level in a game as fast as you.

DR CRAIG

Can I've never done a speed run? One of the speed runs you've done?

LORD TAYLOR

But on the Skyrim speed room and this.

DR CRAIG

Is what's the challenge to actually complete the entire game? Oregon. Well, what did you get down hours. Days. Yeah.

LORD TAYLOR

It's a completely entire game. It was a couple of hours. Yeah, but quite a few people have got it down to two minutes, I think 29 minutes might be the the lowest one that there is something like that.

DR CRAIG

It's been a typically is. Is days, weeks of commitment?

LORD TAYLOR

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And yeah, but they use glitches a lot of times. Speedrunners use glitches in order to progress further in the levels. So for example, in Skyrim, if you pick up a bucket and jump and hold the bucket, you can basically just jump up the side of a mountain up to. The top of the map because it glitches into.

DR CRAIG

Wow, great. The the Polygon of the mountain or something and something you can travel up.

LORD TAYLOR

So the thing, yeah. And sometimes there's only one specific space that you can go into. A big example of that is with Super Mario. The first one that came out of that and people that do speed runs of that there. Are specific pixels that you have. To stand in.

DR CRAIG

Pixels. So we're talking about like, millimetre by millimetre.

LORD TAYLOR

Millimetre by millimetre. And one if you get in there with the right sort of thing. And of course, I wanna do it the first try because then that means that they're the fastest in the world once you get into that little pixel and they can sort of like clip through, there was one. There's one particular. Level of Mario in which if you go into it you then it's at the start and you clip down into the ground that's underneath it and then you can just run along through everything to the end and then just jump up into the. So that's.

DR CRAIG

That's it.

LORD TAYLOR

Jump up on the other side of the flagpole and then go backwards.

DR CRAIG

I've not heard about have. You heard about sex speedruns before? No. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So.

LORD TAYLOR

And I I wouldn't care to. Look it up.

DR CRAIG

This one basically, yeah, I hadn't. Realised this was the. What's interesting to me is the kind of arms race between this subset of gamers that it's basically in this role playing game. You can have you can romance. Character discussion and the article goes on to to yeah. So someone got there and one minute, 58 seconds. Right. So what's interesting to me not is it's less that that's happening, but more that the then the game developers see that and say.

LORD TAYLOR

We're gonna touch. That out? Yeah, that doesn't fit with.

DR CRAIG

How this game should play out into and I agree in terms of narratives of of, of romance. So. So they patched it out so that now you know, to to romance this character previously. You know, you still need to do various feats and have stats at particular levels. You need that, but then you need to, you know, achieve particular goals which can only be unlocked in particular order. So you're fascinating discussion there, but then. You know, so that was when was that article? That was November 3rd and then ten days later I IGN website got another article about boulders gate threes speed 6, speed runs. There's a there's another one. Called the bear. Sex. Speed. Run. Which is even more troubling. Because I guess the first one was Ogre. That your speed running your romance towards this one is a bear that you're speed running a romantic relationship towards. Yeah. So there was this whole discussion around this. Subculture of. Speed running sacks but then also because it's in a fantasy setting the the bizarreness of it, you know. They got the. Voice actors involved in that on and I'll play the the opening. Reaction to it. Oh, will I? No. I'm not. Going to play.

Speaker 8

That no dear.

DR CRAIG

It's not playing. That's fine. Yeah. So the voice actors on to. Comment on what this sex speed running thing is about, so yeah. There you go have. The other mods. For Skyrim that we should no we yeah sexy time mods.

LORD TAYLOR

Are probably, yeah.

DR CRAIG

Travelling world we live in.

LORD TAYLOR

I mean, that's the thing. With the with Skylar and pretty much everything.

Speaker

Matters to it.

LORD TAYLOR

OK, that's cool. Now I'm thinking about with Skyrim. You can mod in Thomas the Tank Engine. Really. Yeah. You can change all the Dragons to be Thomas the Tank Engine. You can change all of the yals to. Be Shrek.

DR CRAIG

And you know it, it is. It is amazing because I I run playing Doom back in the day and enjoying some of the early mods. There the the. Simpsons Mod I think, was a Doctor Who mods this mod turned all these monsters that you're battling into. You know Homer and Bart, but then still explode and die. And you're you're wiping them out. So it's. It's a, yeah. Wonderful juxtaposition of things that usually aren't there. Very, very.

LORD TAYLOR

Odd. One of my made mod and nobody sort of like it was made for the old version of Skyrim and now the new version app is the one that's everyone's making mods for Special Edition and yeah, it was never ported over.

DR CRAIG

So what did it used to do?

LORD TAYLOR

It allowed you to cook recipes, but as a follower of Namira who's a God within the game, who is the God of Cannibal.

DR CRAIG

Ohh my gosh. Ohh wow. So these are recipes on. Eating people. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. OK. Yes. Well, I can. And again it's interesting because yeah, obviously. So what's interesting here, again a couple of months that we've talked about. So the Street Fighter mod, as soon as it brushes up. Against I guess. Real concerns they would have for a A G rated game being modern. With adult content or unethical illegal behaviour like cannibalism.

LORD TAYLOR

But that that, that's what I I guess it's sort of because it fits so well into the narrative of the game as well, because you've got these Daedric princes who do all of these horrific, horrible things, and you can choose to either defy them or to join them. Like one of the first things that I've always do in Skyrim has joined the Brotherhood. Who who's the murderer? The the people that go around murdering people.

DR CRAIG

He was a research article. I remember reading about why most gamers in games where you can play.

LORD TAYLOR

As a good or bad good.

DR CRAIG

Or bad? Yeah, you still pivot good, right? Even though the game potentially you would think from the outside has more escapist wish fulfilling fantasy through a bad track. Then the good one when you're still binding by rules. Nevertheless, in reality, most people find more comforts in the good guy narrative makes.

LORD TAYLOR

Would that still work in Skyrim though? Because I cannot think of any single like YouTube stream that I've seen where people haven't started attacking the whole guards who are like the police of the state, basically.

DR CRAIG

Yeah, it's interesting. Yeah. Well, and again, maybe that's the broader discourse around the meaning of police. These days, having. Means or or being questioned because I mean it's like change there was those honest student I had who did a research project on why you can't play as Han Solo in video games that often video games only give you a choice of playing as as the very good character. Look Skywalker. With a very bad character dot Theta. But you can't really play morally ambiguous character that's changing between stats right that often the stats, if you mean maxing. Min, Max towards extremes right, you've gotta commit to 1 pathway.

LORD TAYLOR

Yeah, that's true. Because like, yeah, you either go from the character who's the strongest or the one who's got the biggest defence, not the one who's the the Jack of all trades.

DR CRAIG

And you're punished by being staying in the grey area. The grey zone, I think. Red Dead Redemption similarly will have a point system where you can. You know, you get various increases to your stats if you're playing as a as a good cowboy. Yeah. You don't. You can't play his hand solo. So that that kind of morally ambiguous character.

Speaker

I mean I I get.

LORD TAYLOR

I guess that's where things where games like Elden Ring are good, because it doesn't matter what you pick or who you who you do or what stats you have. You always get killed by the next chapter that you come.

DR CRAIG

And is that? More due to. The fact that you're playing against other humans.

LORD TAYLOR

No, no, it's a single player.

DR CRAIG

All right.

LORD TAYLOR

Because it is part of the dark, Dark Souls, extremely difficult game. I downloaded it and I couldn't get past.

DR CRAIG

Right. Yeah, yeah.

LORD TAYLOR

It and got. And deleted it. It's too difficult.

DR CRAIG

Punishing because the other thing this is running with the Han Solo dilemma, right. So, you know, research saying that most people is good guys and most games that are PG based kind of skew towards good or bad character. Min, Max narratives. It is interesting when you when you don't have the good and bad points system and you just allow gamers to play a game and then how the game falls over because. Of it, you. Know there's the case of one of the ultimate games where basically gamers figured out that they could get good stat rewards. They basically committing genocide on various animal species. What's it called? Extinction basically causing the extinction of various animals species get their skins and basically you can get your points up and the game designers and realise this and what they create is a whole ecosystem where like the the the, the lower space animals, the rabbits. So I think were the food for the next level animals and so forth, right? It's a very complex ecosystem and they had the gamers in and. And the ecosystem. Just was breaking down because gamers were just min maxing. The fact that yes, it's a grind to kill these rabbits, but the. Result per time effort is better after two days than than doing all these quests. Similarly with Day Z where the game has had a very well balanced a zombie game, open world zombie game where the game has a very carefully balanced kind of health spawns and loot spawns and weapon spawns but then. The game is. Because they didn't know each other weren't really playing the game cooperatively, they were all playing PvP and killing the humans and spawning or or. What are they doing like the spawn campers killing the newbies and and basically the game didn't play as a zombie game anymore. It played as a kind of Fortnite game.

LORD TAYLOR

Right. Yeah. So they killed.

DR CRAIG

Against what? The DNA of the game was meant to be anyway, so game around hard characters because I'm keen to. There's a there's a really interesting interview with the designers talking about how they took these iconic characters. Michael Myers from Halloween. The alien and they, they had to to to try and work within the characters. Story ability. Yeah. And then make it fit within the game requirements and how that worked. It didn't work.

LORD TAYLOR

So. So basically they just got all of these villain monsters from franchises and tried to stick them together into game.

DR CRAIG

Umm. And what's interesting is, yeah, the the game is a male a based. So this means that if they've got a, a, a monster that is range based, it breaks the mechanic. So anyway we'll talk about all that next. Week coming up next, though, is Kpop Unlimited. Really not? Yeah, what's let's get us excited about what's something exciting you can say about Kay, but is.

Speaker 8

I I don't I. I don't know.

DR CRAIG

There any Gangnam Style?

LORD TAYLOR

No. Do you do? You wanna just keep talking about other stuff that you've got or play play something? Cause I I did not bring my USB today so I can't play any music.

DR CRAIG

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, what? So we're going to. Do a short break. And come back on medium mothership entry here, 99.3. This is Doctor Craig will Taylor.

LORD TAYLOR

And this.

Speaker 10

Around Hobart City and in the territory out West, there's just one way to handle the media and the spoilers, and that's where the radio host and the sound of media mother.

Speaker 13

Media mothership the story of media power that spread globally with Young Australia the story of a DJ theorist who moved with it. Craig Norris, pH.

Speaker 12

Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meat to eat Duffy ain't here, but Archie is and. He's got a. Special treat for you. Tonight. He's hosting media mothership. The show that brings you the latest news and views from the world of entertainment. And now, here is Anna knows everything about showbiz, Archie.

Speaker 11

Welcome to Duffy. 'S Tavern, where the beer is. Cold and the talk is hot. I'm your host, Archie, the man with the plan and the brain with the strain. We've got a. Show for you tonight. That'll knock your socks off and make. Your head spin like. A top. So sit tight and loosen your belt because we're about to serve up some verbal vittles that'll lead you licking your lips and scratching your head. We've got a mixed bag of guests tonight from the high and mighty to the low and flighty. So grab a cold one and settle in because it's going to be a wild ride here at Duffy's Tavern.

LORD TAYLOR

Right, you know.

DR CRAIG

You're listening to media mothership here on Edge radio, actually.

LORD TAYLOR

You've got all you've got. All three microphones on so I can talk over here and then they'll talk over here.

DR CRAIG

We are audio magicians. Wow. Audio something? Terrorists maybe. Sometimes when he's both. Yeah. Thanks for listening to me, your mothership. On Edge Radio, the main points and takeaways from today's episode. I think the pros and cons of technology, so we did the police stories. We had a a good police story about police giving air tag tracking systems for citizens to help them find cars that had been stolen bad, because then we also had police using that authority to stop people spoiling movies by pointing guns. And that fellow officer.

LORD TAYLOR

But that said, spoiling movie should be like a criminal offence.

DR CRAIG

I would like to set that up as a new. Show topic next. Week, OK, sure. And yeah, because we we talked about the possible Dumbledore spoiling and other spoiling that we've experienced. So there's that. Then we had the discussion of sex and modding. And some hilarious moments of speed running. But the troubling implications that raises and look in a way, really. If you're doing a. 6 speed run. It's not about kind of engaging with the sexuality of it. The idea of romance. It's more just the mechanics, right? It's more just, you know, it reminds me of this article talking about how this adult was watching it. Teenager played GTA and it was a particular taxi mission in GTA and he was watching his teenager play it. And he. Was controlling the taxi and he was hitting pedestrians, knocking him over and the pedestrian would get up and then getting the taxi and the the guy, the the teenager gamer was doing the missions and afterwards the adult was talking to the teenager saying, you know, you're really violent in that game. Why were you? The pedestrians, right? The the NPC chart. You know, falling into that trope of, you know, yes, violent game, violent teenager. This is all bad media effect. And what was interesting is the response the teenager gave, which was just that, you know, hey, the taxi mission. Is a. Real pain to get through. The easiest way to do it is to hit the NPC character and. It was kind of important. Because what it's revealing is that while you might think the gamer is being violent by doing this, the gamer isn't reading their actions as being violent. They're reading it as exploiting an A dumb AI mechanic.

Speaker

Yeah. And and.

LORD TAYLOR

A and a big part of it is that sometimes teenagers can come up with excuses really quickly.

DR CRAIG

I would like to. Be optimistic about. This and that, that that teenager was displaying a clever lateral thinking and not simply being violent, being violent anyway. So I think that's what we've taken away. From to this topic, I've certainly taken. It away. Thank you. Next. Week we're going to discuss. The probably the dead by day. Game. Maybe we'll get into that David. Aaron Barrett.

Speaker

Yeah, yeah. See what?

DR CRAIG

That turns in. We'll have it on.

LORD TAYLOR

I'll download it.

DR CRAIG

In the studio. We'll have David Attenborough discussion of our. Of our stream in. The studio that'll be good. Wouldn't it? Probably, yeah. Great content. I think our content is fantastic, of course. But yeah, you can listen to previous episodes on YouTube. Twitch and adds. Radio.org. You or your podcast provider. Of choice you can find. Doctor Craig and Will Taylor. On Facebook and Instagram and.

LORD TAYLOR

All the social Spotify.

DR CRAIG

Spotify. Yeah. What's the name that you're going? Under on Spotify.

Speaker 1

OK.

LORD TAYLOR

Name. Then you have a artist. Name no, that is 1.

DR CRAIG

Artist name Taylor. It's it's great. OK, you can check that out. Taylor Winston songs. Keep listening to the radio. Coming up next. Is that radio? And then dreams. You can sit down. We've got the fundraiser. Big on Saturday night. Ohh really? Yeah, so. Yeah. You sound surprised. Yeah.

LORD TAYLOR

I didn't know.

DR CRAIG

Yeah. Yeah, it's. Literally there the poster. So it's November 18th at alter tonnes of great bands are going to be playing starts at 4 rock up. It'll be a brilliant live show so so well worth going.

LORD TAYLOR

I'm pretty sure I said I was gonna go. To that, I'm not going to go to that.

DR CRAIG

Now you should. You can donate still though to Edge Radio. So for our fundraiser. Head over to the website. Mate and what's the website? Give a donation. It's radio.com dot AU.

LORD TAYLOR

Ohh no no, it's.

Speaker

Is it what is?

DR CRAIG

It edge radio. Not.org dot AU ****** edge radio dot. Org dot AU.

Speaker

There we go.

DR CRAIG

Over there make a. Donation. Great news was we hit the 20K. Goal. Yeah. Yesterday through generous donation. And so now we're doing a stretch. Goal right by them, OK.

LORD TAYLOR

Maybe. Yeah. Well, the more money you give, the better equipment we get and the the more that we can do with it.

DR CRAIG

Ah, totally. We could definitely use that I mean. I could definitely. Use any help I can get. All right, so. Keep listening to his radio, more great tracks and news around the corner. This has been media mothership. Doctor Craig. Lord Taylor. Oh, can I get this? Going saying by, we'll take any final words.

LORD TAYLOR

Yeah. Yeah. Goodbye. Goodbye. That is my final word. Let's go around the corner.

Speaker 14

Website For more information about Edge Radio turning 20 Edge radio.org dot AU.






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