I got a Minecraft update post in the works, but a bud of mine asked about how David Jaffe was doing because I seem to have something cool to say about him whenever he asks. So I was surprised to see Jaffe’s blog got rapid-fire updates (sign the game making process is back in check, or just more press for Comic Con tomorrow ^_^), but I checked out his twitter where he really lives and got ticked off about a response made to a tweet of his.
David has made it very clear early on that he detests the “spawn-die-spawn-die” cycle in Call of Dookie and all that current nonsense companies are doing when classifying bad code and sloppy development as ‘modern shooters’. Someone asked about the one-shot, one kill mechanic potential of the sniper weapon pickup, and he responded with the tasty details.
To the fine fellows- and lady- at TMA: There are ZERO one shot kills in the new Twisted Metal except for sniper. And SNIPER is only a one shot kill if you’ve kept the target on the enemy for X seconds (like 15 sec or so) and the enemy KNOWS he’s being targeted so he can flee or shield or counter attack to stop you from taking the shot.(source)
Then lord187x asked, “How exactly does the Sniping work? Does it go into like First Person Shooter view?” (source) David responded by saying:
2 kinds of sniper mechanics in the new Twisted Metal. Neither is a one shot kill like a traditional sniper. Scott and I have made it clear many times we hate the ‘spawn and die/spawn and die’ play from a lot of FPS and so ain’t no way we’re going to encourage that. There is the pick up sniper weapon that works pretty much like the recital weapon in TM:BLACK. Then Grimm has a bazooka crosshair (for his alt special) that zooms and that is kind of like GOLGO 13 on the NES…and if you don’t know the reference: SHAME ON YOU!!!! 
NOTE: Doesn’t mean a good player can’t freeze you, fire a few shot gun blasts, then turbo dash into you and take you out a few seconds after you spawn but that’s like 4-6 attacks and shame on you for not shielding or blocking or knowing how to turbo the hell out of a bad situation …. (source)
A developer and his team that actually know how to make a game, astounding. But instead of praise, someone mentions the shooting going on in Norway, and that discussing how people can be killed with a sniper rifle in-game might not be the most timely of choices. He doesn’t do it rudely, and he even made a follow up to go out of his way to say it was just a heads up to the situation… but that really sets me off. I’m not upset someone told him about the shooting ordeal, but that he felt the need to do so, and the cause. The reason why he gave Dave a heads up wasn’t just to inform him of a current event, but to avoid saying something someone could use against him for their own personal gain.
Where do you draw the line on what is ok to say, and what is not? How about when? Time is certainly a factor, or we wouldn’t have the phrase “toon soon?” coined.
The game is animated violence, it is going to get a T for Teen rating for crying out loud, and Dave comes from a background of M for Mature. This very game is a sequel to a Mature, one of the first that came out commercially for the PS2. He knows the boundaries. Everyone involved in the conversation and even outside of it knows damn well it’s about a video game. If anyone quotes Jaffe it would be blatantly obvious they were skewing his words to suit their punchline unless they only did half the quote intentionally to change the meaning, and that it is not accurate reporting.
It is a GAME.
People are worried about fairness in said game and he was assuring them that all is thought-out and you can react accordingly. The “spawn-die” shenanigans will not be present unless you go against a highly skilled wheel man and didn’t get out of dodge before the stars aligned.
People jump on Dave constantly for his blunt remarks and make ‘something’ clearly out of nothing. Just a few tweets previous to the one I mentioned he said something about someone being gay, to which he instinctually guarded himself by overly clarifying: “And to stop a N4G [----] storm before it starts: when I say ‘gay’ I mean HOMOSEXUAL. I do NOT mean GAY in a bad way.” (source)
It is obnoxious that someone has a knee-jerk reaction to defend themselves because everything they say will be skewed by a greedy ‘journalist’ just to get clicks and a bigger check at the end of the month.
It does nothing but promote other devs to stay the hell away from online social outlets, as those who choose to speak with their fans get it far, far worse than those who do not. The ‘journalist’ gets a few more clicks on ad shares at the end of the month and gamers lose future opportunities to speak with their idols and possibly even shape the way the games they love pan out.
Their greed-laced vision and ignorant arrogance enrages me >.>
