Anthony Burchs bad writing
Handsome Jack writing - Yeah that's cool and all. But you know, once he does something badly...uff. The scene about mysgony in EP4 had Anthony Burch written all over it and it made me cringe into another universe. There was another one joking about it in the Pre-Sequel and it was such a bad joke that everyone didnt even get what was funny about it (nothing, really). And you have no idea how happy I was that he was barely included in the writing of the Pre-Sequel and not in Claptastic Voyage DLC to ruin Clappy again. I'll take all other Gearbox and Telltale writers over this guy, after all they have shown to be able to write hilarious and great scenes as well, so I can live without Burch.
Edit: Guys, it's not the mention of mysgony in itself that I take issue with, it's how that joke was delivered. Like it seemed really forced in there. Theres so many better ways to bring something like that up. And more smooth ones as well.
Also I'm just stating my opinion. I'm not calling out to stab Anthony or something as wild.
Comments
Which line specifically if I may ask?
I could also really live without the the not so subtle agent pounding, so I would be more than happy to see Burch go and the original writers come back. I would only worry about the character of Jack, if he returns. However, his best lines where adlibs of the voice actor, so I'm sure Jack will be just fine as well.
Burch is actually great if he sticks to just plain humor, and only humor and pop culture references. I mean, in BL2 everyone praised him for not really putting in political leanings, but he got seriously shit on by most of the fanbase by the time TPS came out because he went WAY overboard with the sexuality and stuff.
If he tries to insert his political leanings, that's a definite 'NO', because look what happened to TPS last time!
The one in Tales? When you're disguised and meet the two guards on Helios and chose a specific option, lemme just go and look if I can find the exact quote...
Huh. I loved that bit with the guards if you chose the option to call them "ladies". I also loved that whole bit in The Pre Sequel about friendzoning (i'm assuming that's what you're referring to?) I thought both were hilarious, but also contained good messages about respecting others.
I'll never understand the hatred towards Anthony Burch. I love the dude's writing. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
You're talking about if you call the guards girls and how they're talking about boys? Then the guards say something about executives and misogyny?
In that case then this is honestly the first I've seen of someone complaining about it. It's just one line and not everyone gets it. To be honest, I had a good giggle with that and so did quite a few other people from what I've seen.
I can see how that would annoy some people, but it isn't really something to get so worked up about. Plus Anthony wrote the Jackapedia entries which a lot of people really like.
Not to be rude or anything, but I would also rather not like Burch to write for CL4P-TP. He has expressed hate for him, and if someone hates a character its for the best that they don't do the writing for them.
Rhys: "Sup Ladies? What you been doing? Talking about boys?"
Guard: "Nope. Just talking about casual Misogyny and how it manifests in corporate executives."
Rhys: "Uhh... Oh. Yeah... I was kidding..."
Guard: "And boys. Captain's Brother is finally marrying his boyfriend."
I thought it was bad, like trying to shove something about feminism into the game and it felt out of place.
But then again, Borderlands 2 had a lot of memes and very obvious references in there so it really did feel more like Memelands than Borderlands. Hell, Claptrap was like a living meme.
I think the thing with the Pre-Sequel was because Janey Springs was written like her being a lesbian was the main character trait. Tales actually made her more than that.
Borderlands 2 was the one where the memes and references were pretty fresh and so people liked it.
By TPS, it had gotten rather stale, due to the previous game and its nine DLCs or so.
When I first played the games and such I thought he was pretty cool, but the more I looked on the scenes he wrote and some certain things that happened, I just can't stand that guys writing anymore.
i have never seen his political or other stuff that people are hating him for. I have absolutely nothing against the guy and I like the humor he writes.
His style of writing very much seems to be a love it or hate it type thing. But he did leave Gearbox earlier this year, so he's likely to have little to no impact on BL3 when it comes around. Regardless of what we think of him, looks like we're in store for some new writers soon. Speaking of which... it would be pretty awesome if Telltale helped them out a bit with writing.
Well, it's more of people not liking how he inserts the issues of LGBT and women's rights into his scripts. Some feel that he pushes it a bit too much and takes away the humour. That's most of the fanbase.
The other side are those cisgendered, misogynistic, probably racist, paranoid, overly hostile, sex-obsessed, hypocritical, narrow-minded white neckbeards who view every liberal as a Nazi who needs to be killed.
Thank you so much for pointing this out. I always feel like everyone loves the guy, so i never say anything bad about him, but GOD his writing style can be annoying. I think he did a pretty solid job on BL2 (it's not a masterpiece but i think it's pretty fine for an fps) but he needs to stop with his political bullshit. When i got the line about misogyny i just got this gross feeling in my mouth like "uuugh that was definitely written by anthony burch.." At this point i am just pretty glad he is apparently not writing BL 3.
Imo he pushes it too much. And he apologised for possibly offensive writing in BL2...Like, really man? You don't stand behind your writing and just apologise for the most little things? And they renamed the midgets to 'Lil' enemies because midget was apparently too offensive.
This game has violence and mass murderers. And you take issue with that? Come on man.
Springs sexuality wasn't really the issue as much as it was the other things for me. Like Torgue feeling he had to explain 'friend zoned', and a man being evil simply because he has a chauvinistic streak. After #gamergate back lash and Sarkeesian, I think a lot of players are just sick of it and just want to play the game and have the writers keep their agenda out of it.
Yeah, also Anthony totally supports the shit Sarkeesian does no matter how dumb it really is. I'm saying this as a female gamer, I freakin hate her.
lmao, I think he writes that kind of stuff to make anti-SJWs angry and uncomfortable. And I see he succeeds!
I don't find anything wrong about it. After all, it's another joke to tease Rhys and how he screws up every time, and it gives a good message. I didn't see that he "pushed it too far", it was literally 3 lines. What are you so angry about?
I was so happy to hear he left before they got on Claptastic Voyage. But yeah it would be cool if Gearbox and Telltale could work together every now and then. Telltale have quite the talent with story writing.
It felt forced and out of place. I'm not an anti-sjw nor a sjw, as both sides seem to be mostly equally idiotic.
But I'm a gamer and I have seen other games where topics like this were handled much better and felt less squished in. I'm all for showing equality in games, but lord there's so many better ways.
Lil' is kind of funny.
Sarkeesian is of course, batshit insane most of the time.
That said, the hate campaign is getting kind of ridiculous, to be honest. Private grumbling or small rants once in a while are fine. The death threats, though, seem like a really stupid overreaction. She's a douche, and I get it as a troper. But seriously, all that does is make people look like complete morons.
He also left the writing team, so everything he stated is either canon or not. Make that of what you will.
Both sides are bullies and retards. Feminazis are rabid tinderboxes ready to blow at the slightest mention of "woman" from a male, even if it's not used derogatory. Neckbeards are hypocritical gunpowder kegs who convince themselves into thinking that women are the cause of everything bad in the world, but have zero issues watching porn, fapping or jerking off to celebrities' cleavage.
It is, but the reason was pretty ridiculous :d
Yeah. At least they weren't called dwarves outside of Dragon Keep.
I thought that line was fine. The misogyny bit felt like it was simply a stab at Vasquez, given his personality and how bastardized he had become in the company's eye, it felt like a very proper insult. And the followup about the guard marrying his boyfriend just felt like a good light-hearted way to lighten the tense mood.
Also, the captain's deadpan reaction could be a little self-depreciation on Burch's part, given how enthusiastic people are about gays in the 54th century.
I think it's amazing that she has gotten any attention at all. If it wasn't for the 'death threats' no one would really care. For someone who hates damsels in video games, she likes to play one in real life. Of course death threats are stupid and don't help your cause, and in this case it created a cause that wasn't there to begin with.
I'm a female gamer too, and just really resent her 'speaking' for me and trying to make it out that I am some how a victim. I am not a victim and these women don't speak for me. I can speak for myself.
I personally think lines like that add to the humour/atmosphere of the game. The joke is that a ruthless, dog-eat-dog universe like Borderlands where morality pretty much doesn't exist and violent anarchy reigns is far more progressive than our universe. (Or specifically in this case that the most brutal corporation in the galaxy, where throwing people out of air locks is how you get ahead, is surprisingly tolerant).
It's the exact same reason why the main games censor swearing (or use words like 'frickin' etc.) - it's all to illuminate the overall absurdity (and hypocrisy) of a game that sees the player slaughtering thousands..
I haven't really been following that, I just hold the opinion but I think sending death threats is ridiculous. Especially since she now can complain about the death threats x(
Midget is more offensive than Dwarf, though (and at least it had context in TTAODK).
I really don't understand why changes like that are a big deal. I mean, does it bother a person that much? Has the change from Midget to Little Psycho literally RUINED the game for that person?
Games are meant to be a place where a person can escape to and have some fun - can you imagine if there was something in your favourite game that made you feel bad about yourself/upset? Something that reminded you of the very thing you were trying to escape?
It just seems like a no brainer to me. If a creator finds out that something they created was potentially offensive/upsetting to a group of people I think they have every right to rectify that mistake in future iterations. It's just called 'not being a dick'. And if people want to inexplicably have a whinge about it, even though it LITERALLY DOES NOT IMPACT THEM IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM, then I think the best thing to do is ignore them and remember that you may have made someone's gaming experience a little bit more enjoyable.
In this particular instance, Anthony wasn't pushing an agenda or any of the other ridiculous things people accuse him of, he was just trying to make the game as welcoming and safe for as many people as possible.
Yeah, I agree with social justice but not with the Tumblr interpretation of it. Their message is good sometimes but their way of saying it is waaaaay too aggresive.
Anyways I didn't find this bit forced, it's just a joke. We shouldn't push it too far, after all they are just opinions, but we shouldn't feel uncomfortable around these topics either and they're not out of place just because they make us think. And again, it's a joke about how Rhys is an idiot, it's not like the writer is personally judging you.
But there's something wrong when the writer honestly apologises for offensive writing...
The line isn't funny to me, but I really don't care, because I didn't chose it. It doesn't seem in place with the rest of the game though.
What's wrong with an apology, though?
I thought that dialog option was the funniest one to choose. I had a good laugh.
That it's for things he shouldn't apologise for and other people even enjoyed. As soon as some sjw complained he was sorry, what a freaking wuss.