My first comedic article and one I’m really proud of. I was actually super nervous as I’ve never written a comedy before. I’m so happy to finally post my third article and first comedy. I had such a good time writing this. This article is my love letter to speedrunning and its community. This is something I’ve participated in since my first accelerated back hop in half-life 2. I had such a fun time writing the various strategies and references in this article and hope you guys enjoy it. Let’s give a big thanks to all the critters out there.
Bit torn. It is very long and for a long time I felt it overstayed its welcome. However you pay off that debt: It actually feels very satisfying when Morgan beats the skip at its game, even though the report feels very over the top (which I wont hold against you, because of the satisfactory effect).
The remarks of Morgan towards speedrunning are definitely too long though, and distract from the actual content of the article. I don't think I need an in-depth explanation of Micolash, the argument works without it. That entire report starts to drag, because so many examples of strategies against the Skip were already given.
The last strategy was also drawn out, because we already read so many examples, but then again, the constant streamer-talk made me really hate Sanders, so it kinda worked. (stellar job on making him insufferable btw)
Clinical tone is also way off, which I felt was unnecessary.
These effects will slowly heal over time so long as no other Reset Events occur.
Heal?
abandoned the previous route all together in hopes of finding better times
For the amount of time this article spends explaining speedrunning terminology, it uses said terminology awfully lot. I think it would improve tone if you replaced that, and also make it more interesting, to see how speedrunning slang can be expressed scientifically.
SCP-7680-1 has begun using various glitches within reality
From foundation PoV those are still reality distortions.
started to complete break aspects of reality.
adverb
SCP-7680-1 clips into the barracks with the dinner plate.
Pretty sure 'clipping' is not a term used in reality
uses a gun from the remains of a nearby guard to shoot open two Containemnet Lockers
typo
There are many more instances of this, but I just collected some examples.
I actually agree that this article is a lot longer than it needs to be. I was cutting it down about two weeks ago but ig I’m a little self-indulgent, I couldn’t part with some of the strategies and jokes. I might go through at a later date and cut out bits but as it stands I am pretty okay with the article.
Thank you for the critiques, I appreciate it!
Very funny, though I wish more of the terminology was explained
As someone who's reasonably well-aware of the speedrunning community, I thought most of the jokes in this article landed pretty well. True, it was a bit long, but personally I never got bored with it. Take that with a grain of salt, though, as I tend towards longer articles by default. I also think you did a good job balancing the comedy with the generally serious setting, something a lot of comedic articles struggle with.
The clinical tone is absent, replaced by an informal tone throughout (especially in the progress logs).
Additionally, SR Morgan fluently uses a lot of gaming lingo that makes no sense for them to use (based on her quotation and subsequent explanation of "boss battles"). Examples include:
- All verbatim quotes by gamers. People can't usually repeat back a string of lingo thrown at them unless they understand the lingo. In an informal tone (such as this article), she'd likely misquote someone and mangle their quote.
- To Disrespect, in the context they used it in, is FGC lingo.
- Smash 64 is an unofficial community name for the game. They'd likely call it "Super Smash". As a bonus, if they referred to the console, they'd likely simply call it a Nintendo.
- Spamming, in the context they used it in, is gaming lingo. While "spam" is used in office environments to denote unwanted communication, its alternative definition as "repeating" is gaming-exclusive.
- To Emote, in the context they used it in, is online multiplayer lingo.
Love me a good GAW, but this ain't it, chief. -1
Yeah my main idea was for Regan to use more and more gaming lingo throughout. At the beginning she uses none unless quoting a clip of recorded footage. In the next one she uses a bit more but normally in the context of a game she has played. The final one she’s using them as commonly as a normal gamer. I thought it would make sense for her language to noticeably develop between the months of watching streams and talking to Caden. Sorry it didn’t come across as that and I hope I at least got a laugh :)
This article is a lot. There was a lot that I especially enjoyed:
- The complete puzzlement of the older and more professional researchers as to what the hell speedrunning, twitch streaming, etc. are.
- The development of Regan's character through the story. This is done beautifully.
- The gaming details. "Thanks to all the subs I missed…" this is a remarkably good detail to add to a realistic gaming channel article. Throughout the article you do a great job of this.
Edit: Scratching my earlier crit. Did a closer read and I feel a little more comfortable with the behavior given the ending.
Image is Power Glove on display at the Video Game Museum, Berlin by Marcin Wichary, under CC BY 2.0.