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Let's talk about an awesome youtube LPer for a while, and one I personally think deserves a lot more exposure than he gets: Un, proprietor of I Played A Thing. The fact that he's been one of my best friends for about ten years, shockingly, doesn't actually enter in my assessment of him as an LPer. No, seriously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6oI_h7-WIs Un tends to cover games that are either extremely obscure, qualified cult classics, or just plain off-center. He's got a particular love affair with the Saturn, having done quite fantastic LPs of Astal, Dark Savior, and Princess Crown. As shown above, he's also done the fantastically bizarre Aquanaut's Holiday: Hidden Memories. I chose the above video specifically for his reaction starting about 4 minutes in, which is absolutely enthralling.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMDGlAbFyuk One of the things I love about Un's LPs is his sheer, unflinching dedication to quality and informative content over all else. He is a very funny dude with a solidly dry wit, but what really makes his LPs is the attention to craft and the almost encyclopedic knowledge he displays regarding what seems like every goddamn game ever made. His earlier stuff isn't of the most fantastic quality audio-wise, but it's also compelling to watch him grow over time from 'pretty good' to 'actively fantastic' as he gets more of a handle on the technical details of his own setup. He does have a few things I consider mild flaws, like his habit of reading dialogue aloud, but I don't really mind it that much because holy poo poo have you heard this dude's voice? He's like the glorious starchild of Walter Cronkite and Casey Kasem. The video linked above is a good example of a situation where it would be more or less mandatory, given he's playing a game where all the text is in Japanese and is actually consulting a translated script as he plays so the viewer knows what the hell is going on. And yes, he did that for the length of an entire game, just because he thought it deserved showing off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcWZn3_xACg Part of what makes Un's stuff so good is all the poo poo he DOESN'T do. Scarecam? gently caress that. 'Ratecommentsubscribe' chants? Hell no. Day-1 LPs of new stuff everyone else is doing? Nope. Catchphrases? Nuh-uh. His entire style is characterized by a degree of shocking humility and serenity that borders on unheard of for youtube LPs. You very much get the sense that he's into this because he wants to showcase games he loves, and not just shill himself as a product to advertisers. If you're looking for something that feels a lot like Frankomatic or Nidoking's LPs, Un is pretty much who you want among Youtubers.
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Oct 10, 2013 19:43
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Niggurath posted:Aye, I remember that he was actually on here for a bit and he was doing a pretty good Dead Space 2 LP, but then just dropped off the forums. I also remember there was a problem with him during his initial posts because people hunted him down on some furry forum. Apparently it's a good idea to never ever mark yourself with animal names or animal icons. Honestly, web detective stuff like that always irritates me. Genuinely, who gives a flying crap about what people do outside SA as long as they don't bring it onto SA itself? At that point you're just poo poo-stirring for the sake of it, unless it's something genuinely harmful or actively illegal. I guess it depends on how you define 'harmful' but if we're talking about being a furry I just don't see it being relevant here as long as they're not making it some kind of posting gimmick.
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Oct 11, 2013 04:22
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As regards the Game Grumps, what they put out varies a good bit in quality, but my general feeling is for every one kinda-cruddy video there's at least two or three really entertaining ones. They also put a lot of effort into their technical presentation and they're pretty quick to admit when a given gag or concept just flat-out isn't working, like how the Steam Train Castle Crashers LP was kind of terrible for the first few videos then got a lot better. They're definitely what I'd consider a 'lunch break LP' where I'll throw on a video while I'm eating because they tend to be short, punchy, and consistently fun. Also, they got a lot better once Danny replaced Jon. I'm sure there's a ton of folks waiting in the wings to impale me for saying so, but I feel like Danny plays off of Arin way better and relies a lot less on shouting and catchphrases; JonTron really works best as a solo act doing his own informative non-LP stuff. Towards the end of Jon's run you could feel the fatigue setting in.
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Oct 11, 2013 13:46
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Redeye Flight posted:
I actually really love Rooster Teeth's stuff, once you remember, as you said, it's a thirty-minute comedy show with gaming as a template rather than a true Let's Play. They do some REALLY creative stuff with making their own little games and competitions in Minecraft, as opposed to the typical 'watch me build a thing while I babble non-sequiturs' that is most Minecraft LPs. They've very much got an 'orderly chaos' sort of approach to multiplayer stuff and some of their contests are genuinely fascinating from an emergent gameplay standpoint. Their Versus series, which is a weekly 10-to-30 minute video for one-on-one competitions, is probably my favorite. The shtick is that whoever won last week is the reigning champion(represented by the cheapest replica wrestling belt they could find), and must face a round-robin-selected challenger who decides what actual game they play. Versus shows off a lot of surprisingly obscure and weird games as the challengers keep trying to up the ante to find that ONE THING the current champion sucks at. Which tends to boil down to 'Ray holds the belt for weeks at a time' because he's an actual professional gamer, but it's always fun to watch both the one-sided curbstomps and the moments of surprise clutch play.
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Oct 11, 2013 21:39
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about Rooster Teeth
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Dartigan posted:By the end of the vid he actually just starts incoherently moaning and making sounds and jibberish, and I was sitting there looking at his sub count thinking, "Really? Over 900K subs? Is that how you do it?" If there's one thing modern entertainment has taught me, it's to never underestimate the mass-market appeal of people acting out like annoying dumbasses. Seriously, I can't be surprised by this when things like Honey Boo Boo and Jersey Shore exist.
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Oct 12, 2013 23:52
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Sorites posted:Facecams are most tolerable during really personality-heavy vids. Consider the video Rooster Teeth did with the Rage Quit guy playing Slender. The point of the videos was really "This guy and his friend are losing their goddamn minds", not "Here is a game". And in that context the facecam was...at least rationally connected to the artistic objective. Also it was pretty obvious from context that they were taking the piss out of people who do lovely facecam LPs of Slender, judging from the bit where Gavin nearly jumped into Michael's lap.
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Oct 16, 2013 23:59
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Sorites posted:Have we talked about Spoiler Warning? I find Josh funny, but I also have to just roll my eyes at them because what they consider 'terrible design' baffles me entirely sometimes. I can understand picking on some of the Assassin's Creed games, Revelations and 3 in particular, but they picked out AC2 to heap scorn on? Also them ragging on Alan Wake like it's an incompetent effort is just 
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Nov 14, 2013 08:02
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