Joseph Anderson

> "My opinion is not worth more than anyone else's, but it's undeniable that it has much more influence. My videos on *Fallout 4* get so many views that just today, more people will listen to me speak my opinions on that series than most people will be listened to about anything in their entire lives"
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> - EFAP 16
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**Joseph Anderson** is the video essayist.

He is a bit of a Longman, tending to put out hours-long analyses on games that are generally well-researched and -argued. There are a few misses in amongst his hits though, and he has a tendency to get defensive in response to criticism and write off others as simply not understanding his point.

Joseph's dislike of *SOMA* may actually stem from him being a robot, as evidenced by his monotone delivery, and feeling as though *SOMA* marginalized his people.

## History

#### On Massivity

Joseph Anderson was one of many people MauLer responded to in his *SOMA* series. Throughout the video it was a recurring joke to end a counterargument with a cheap insult like "idiot" or "asshole," getting more vulgar each time until ending with calling Joseph a "massive faggot." Joseph vowed to never speak to MauLer when he heard about this, informing him that he can't insult people and get away with it. When MauLer told him that the insult was part of a joke and not made in earnest, Joseph was baffled by the idea that somebody could call somebody a "massive faggot" as a joke, asking what the joke was meant to be. MauLer answered that calling somebody a large gay for being wrong about a video game is of course meant to be absurd, to which Joseph then asked what definition of the word he was using. After about two hours of back and forth, Joseph finally agreed that it is possible for a joke like that to exist, but still advised MauLer to reflect on what he's done to that community. In EFAP 12, MauLer consulted a trusted member of the LGBT community on this issue, who answered that the usage did not bother him because he and most gay people he knows are not faggots (and most faggots he's met have been straight), and if Joseph didn't want to be referred to as such then he shouldn't have been such a massive faggot. They later came to realize that the offensive part of the insult was actually that he had been called a "m\*ssive."

defended epic gamestore for saying that if clothing store is the only one that has specific clothing you wouldn’t care, but the game store bribed to be the only one to get the games

### The Man Without Fear

> "Videogame protagonists are not human; you cannot fully commit to imagine how it would feel like if you were to take their place because you are already in the place along with them. In addition, with the superpowers every videogame protagonist has, typically, every main character in a video game can't die. Sure, they can get ripped apart, impaled through the chest, blown up, all sorts of things, but they always come back. Sometimes it's contextualized in the game's world, sometimes it's a simple reload screen and you are as good as new - better actually, since you've learned to avoid that same death next time."
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> "You can't respawn in real life, but you can't get chased by a Xenomorph, so what's his point?"
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>  - Joseph Anderson and MauLer
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MauLer called together a rag-tag team comprised of ChaseFace (who had met MauLer through having similarly been covered in his *SOMA* series), SmilerAl, Metal, and Fringy for an Emergency EFAP - Joseph Anderson had finally released his hotly-anticipated video: **Why Horror Games Don't Scare Me** (and Rags and Wolf were unavailable). MauLer prefaced the video by saying he considers Anderson one of the better video essayists out there and that he respects the effort he puts into them, even going so far as to say the world would be a better place if videos like Anderson's were the norm. Chase simply wished he would fix his audio, even offering to help him set up his mic, to which MauLer added that he wished he'd make his delivery sound less dead. It was also noted that Anderson tends not to take criticism too well, getting defensive in response. MauLer realized that some may say this video was just Joseph's opinion, and so made it known that this stream was similarly just their opinion on his opinion.

Joseph began by recounting how both horror games and horror movies used to scare him when he was younger, but now only horror movies still do while horror games don't. He brought up how games blur the line between character and player, putting you in the character's shoes, which should theoretically make them even scarier, but they don't... at least not for him. He figured that people get scared for characters in horror movies due to empathy causing them to imagine being in their place, but you can't imagine being in a video game character's place because you already are in their place, and you have what he calls their superpower to resurrect after death good as new - or even better, since you now have new information from your last life - as opposed to movies where every death is set in stone, every death is canon. MauLer and Fringy argued that the main continuity of the game is canon too, and the previous death is meant to be treated as non-canon, that you weren't *revived* but rather are playing through the series of events where that death never happened. Fringy added that Joseph seemed to place too much stake in death and nothing else, wondering why the same argument couldn't be made about watching a movie and knowing that a main character won't die halfway through, or rewatching a movie when you know what is going to happen, or even simply knowing that all the characters are actors and won't die in real life. He argued that fear is not always caused by immediate danger, but by the idea the fiction puts in your head, like imagining that something like a Xenomorph could exist. The roster agreed that the intensity of a game is at its highest right before death and then drops off after you die, and that that experience dwindles as you replay it each time, but that's true of any game, not just horror. MauLer brought up how Frictional's games tried to address this very thing, with *Amnesia*'s monsters doing damage over time rather than insta-killing and *SOMA* (which Anderson had previously called not a true horror game) having monsters that knock you out and leave you limping the next time you wake up.

Joseph stated that most horror games are not truly scary, as they not horrific on their own but only horror-themed, with disturbing imagery and an oppressive atmosphere, comparing it to how other types of games like puzzle games will theme themselves by taking place in a fantasy or sci-fi setting, except doing so in a "spooky setting." MauLer brought up Joseph having said SOMA is not really a horror game, as it did not scare him, startle him, make him out of breath, or spook him, as horror should do, and therefore is not horror, which came off as a lot more than merely stating his opinion. This led to a broader discussion of genre as a whole being a tricky topic to pin down - is any part where you fear for a character's life, be it in Destiny, Mario, or Infinity War, horror, simply on the grounds that it made you feel fear? Joseph added that he will never say it's not valid to separate yourself as the player from the game's protagonist, but asks if that doesn't mean they've failed to fully connect you, which sounded like a bit more than just stating his own opinion. He argued that there is an Olympus Mons-sized difference between "that character is going to die" and "*I'm* going to die," to which Fringy countered that when you're playing in the moment, you *are* going to die.

Joseph revealed that the game that has scared him the most recently is *Don't Starve*, which left many people in his comments baffled, and left Al with blueballs. Joseph cited the game's permadeath mechanic as giving death meaning, leading him to panic when death was on his heels. While they understood what he was getting at, they found the absoluteness of what he was saying a bit of a stretch, and one commenter on his video pointed out that this would make Minecraft Hardcore Mode the best horror game. MauLer also felt that if it were the case that all horror games had permadeath, an alternate universe **Johnseph Ornderson** would be criticizing them for ruining his investment because once you die the game is all over. Joseph asked the viewer to imagine the scary-looking monster also doing tangible consequences, prompting the question of if being set back in progress is not a tangible consequence. He brought up how dying may actually become a preferable outcome if you use up too much ammo and want to restart, which the gang agreed is an issue that can arise, though he took it further by mentioning getting mad at an enemy for not killing you fast enough, leading them to ask if he knew there was a quit button. Joseph made sure to caption the footage of him unloading his ammo with a disclaimer informing people that he was missing on purpose, to dispel any mean comments he might get about his aim.

Anderson called *Until Dawn* the only modern horror game that made him uncomfortable through its mechanics, while the whole EFAP roster found it not scary at all, with Chase bringing up its claim at the beginning that the player's choices matter, and MauLer adding that that claim is bullshit, remembering his and Al's playthrough of it where Al attempted to kill as many characters as he could and ended up saving more of them by accident. Anderson differentiated *Until Dawn* from other horror games in that your choices can cause characters to die, and they don't come back, and MauLer pointed out that not only can they come back if you restart the game, but the game allows you to replay individual chapters as well, which is practically the same as respawning after a death. Joseph argued that "it's *undeniable* that knowing characters can die adds a great amount of tension whenever they're in danger," which sounded like a lot more than merely stating his personal opinion. Al also wondered aloud if Joseph had inadvertently admitted that *SOMA* is a horror game, since it's no less scary than any other horror game by his standard.

Joseph decried most horror game protagonists as “immortal force of natures” that can’t be killed, only “inconvenienced,” He offered up the option that he should just suspend his disbelief and meet the game halfway, but rejected it as a solution since he doesn't have to do that for movies and therefore shouldn't have to for games either. Joseph asked if others were actually afraid or just appreciating the horror themes, rather than the "actual" scares, and the gang found it humorous that that difference boiled down to "I was scared by the scary themes, not the scary gameplay, therefore it's not scary."

Joseph proclaimed that no matter how vulnerable a horror game protagonist is, there is no way to dismiss their immortality, which sounded like a bit more than just stating his own opinion. He asked if this means he wants every horror game to have permadeath, and answered yes... in a way, but it's not that easy, conceding that you can't slap permadeath onto game, and it only works in *Don't Starve* because each playthrough is a different challenge to live as long as possible, and learn from each playthrough to live longer next time, which would also be true of respawning in any other game. He elaborated that when he criticizes a horror game like *SOMA* for not being scary, it's the genre he's critiquing, not *SOMA* itself, even though he called *SOMA* not a part of the genre when he critiqued it. He expressed want for a game that makes the monster "genuinely" terrifying, making you feel like the best option is to just run away, as if that was not already the case in most horror games as they are. He contrasted this with current horror games where death loses you nothing, to which the roster responded that death at the very least loses you time for certain, and can also lose you items or XP. Joseph expressed that he wanted to have no choice but to be scared, because that's what terror *really* is.

Before blaring some *Undertale* music for his end title card, Anderson stated that he eagerly awaits a game that pulls this off, to which MauLer responded that he felt he hadn't sought out the game he wants, since games like that are already out there, citing *Monstrum* as an example. MauLer felt like the video should have been more of a discussion about immersion and reckoned it'd be a great topic to have a conversation with him about but this video didn't argue it very well, which was odd given that it had been one he was meaning to make for around two years, and Anderson tends to go a lot more in-depth on what he discusses, having shown Mario Odyssey moon-collecting gameplay *ad nauseum* to get the point across that he found the gameplay tedious, so to be so vague and broad about an entire genre was odd by comparison. When the guests were asked their opinions of the video, their answers were as follows -

* “Confusing mess of bad arguments” - Fringy
* “Speaks with air of authority but doesn’t back it up” - Chase
* “He used *Until* *Dawn* and *Twilight* unironically, can’t get over it” - SmilerAl
* “Poorly phrased at some points, could be interesting topic to discuss, but stances so definitive in the end, and I don’t think there is any follow up to that shit, so….” - Metal
* “Scary how he thought it was good idea to release it” - Rags

After the release of his video, Anderson tweeted that the only reason people would have disagreed with his video is because they were jealous of his bravery. He deleted this tweet because no one liked it.

### On One's Ability to be Objective When Critiquing

> "Subjectively, how much is that? It's just your opinion that you captured my family. What does capture mean?"
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> - MauLer
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MauLer, Rags, Wolf, and Fringy next encountered Joseph Anderson on EFAP 16, where they took a look at his video "**Subjectivity is Implied**."

thinks objectivity exist, but only clinical way, like names - belittles people watching his video, saying that they are stupid people who don’t understand what he is saying. if people understand the implied subjectivity, then they should understand the “basics of communication”

You go to movies with friend and you have differing opinion on it, do you:

A: Disagree and talk about it

B: Ask more info and listen

C: Scream wildly about opinions (rip of your shirt in a frothing rage and ask how dare they present their opinion as an objective fact, that they are a monster for trying to speak for every one and that the movie is really good. then you launch into your rehearsed speech about how important it is to remember that everyone has a different opinion and …) "you get the point of this exaggerated example. you understand that this isn’t right thing to do and if you did it, you should apologize to your friend"

“subjective nature is implied”, meaning that one doesn’t have to say that something is their opinion as the fact that its opinion is implied by the dialogue - horror genre is the work trying to scare person or make them feel disgusted, but to him if it doesn’t work then its not horror - thinks when person say “that movie is really good” they are not trying to talk for everyone, so are they talking about it being well made or they liked it - you may think its not okay to compare comments made in every conversations and in a scripted video, but he doesn’t think so and we should either “if you fully understood what the result would be” - hundreds of people in his comments talk about subjectivity vs objectivity, but not about what was in the video, wonder why? - shows comments, but shittily covers them in white splotches, then puts a spooky ghost on like blog on commander shepherds face icon. whites out some but shows some full. - says commentors are using his “error in presentation” to dismiss his video and there is no point of arguing when person can just “self-righteously” say “stop presenting your opinion as objective fact” - spent 3 hours telling hos Mario odyssey is boring and 13 hours how horror games don’t scare him and 14 talking about basics of conversation - shows comments as that they are saying that he is passing his subjective view as objective fact, bu thinks they mean he made some mistakes and now are berating him over it - issue that many content creator that just want to talk about things is that people just don’t understand if they are being talking about facts or feelings - thinks people are using his subjective comments as easy way to dismiss his arguments - overall present that you cant make anything good by being objective, so now Phantom Menace is as good as Shawshank redemption. “Stick figures in the Sistine chapel” - terms like Jumping and sprinting and death would be called to question if true objectivity is applied - cant see text of subjective other than adding “I think that”, “in my view” and “in my opinion”, needs to improve his writing if he thinks that monotones repetition is inevitable - pertinence his audience by talking to them like they are bunch of morons. implies audience cant take opinions and only get angry at him - his watches would take his word as gospel without checking the facts and repeating faulty information, which is probably what’s happening since he doesn’t add “in my opinion, but doesn’t think that since we all understand subjectivity, we can read between lines (which is why he made video about subjectivity being implied” - whole video is him engineering situation where only he is right

## Trivia

* points finger at other for his own faults, like saying that people are using their opinions as shields
* Joseph's video made Metal cry, though everything does that (EFAP 11)
* Joseph is the One Strawman to Rule Them All
* History books don’t cite all of their sources with direct evidence
* thinks saying “SOMA is not a horror game” is opinion without the tag of “in my opinion”. people need to have opinion indicator added to every sentence, since people are stupid
* “if every sentence need them, can we agree that most of them don’t?”
* wrote *Interstellar Marines*
* Does Joseph is Quinton?
* Has *Undertale* music in his video
* Chase wants to take a big poopie on him, he said so himself. This could not have been a joke (EFAP 11)
* he is Darth Opinion “the condescending”
* doesn’t believe he talks down and condescends his audience
* says someone is “literally talking out of your ass”
* marginalizes videogame characters as NPCs
* Door opens and wind blows out “Oh a door, is that supposed to scare me?” and he puffs up his chest,
* He got chills when he played *Resident Evil* as an 8-year-old, and “the remake is still spooky”

## Quotes

* "Action, combat, and puzzle-solving, in a fantasy setting, sci-fi setting, historical setting, a *spooky* setting" - on how most horror games are only "horror themed," EFAP 11
* “That’s what *real* terror is - it comes at you with surprising potency, hits you with a jolt and leaves you both hot and cold at the same time” - EFAP 11
* “Death ruins horror games” - EFAP 11
* “Death in a game is a release in tension instead of cranking the pressure even higher, you hit a fail state and restart. suddenly that monster that killed you is not nearly as threatening anymore since you just experience a reincarnation.”
* "That instant fucking blue balls, I'm so flaccid" - Al, upon seeing *Don't Starve* onscreen, EFAP 11
* "This guy is desperately trying to be like Superbunnyhop but ends up being IHE" - WithoutWarning in Chat, EFAP 11
* "to be scared is real terror" - Bilbo Baggins, paraphrasing Joseph Anderson, as quoted by DragonRealms in Chat, EFAP 11
* "I am missing on purpose here for the video. I wonder if anyone won't understand that and will leave a shitty comment below. Hey hey." - EFAP 11
* “It's getting weirder as the time passes. To some, subjectivity is the problem not the objectivity” - EFAP 16
* “This is just your subjective opinion, who cares? Personal subjective views are not worth discussing. Despite using reasons that are literally the opposite of each other, these comments are identical 'Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Cards' for people who disagree with something being presented to them, or 'Get-Out-of-Discussion-Free Cards.' Why waste time thinking of counterarguments when you can just do this instead, it’s easy. Most of you may think this is a bizarre reaction, unfortunately it's becoming more and more common and I feel like I have to address it. Anything so that I don’t have to keep saying the same thing time and time again when I speak to people about my videos“
* “Objective opinion pieces do not exist, this is an oxymoronic demand, you are asking a conversational equivalent of hot frozen ice cream. you’ve just not going to get it”
* ”If your desire is a video of only objective facts then you are asking for a dry list of mechanics and low level terminology that has been carefully vetted for any hint of a opinion or subjective leanings”
* ”We can talk about how game may have a spring function, a jump button, and a death system, but we can’t make any statement of how well they work and only the barest of comparisons to other games that have similar things without flourishing the dreaded O-word - opinion”
* “These videos and articles would be like extensions of video game manuals. except even those can have more character”
* “Conversely, if your desire is a video of subjective opinions that speak for an acceptable minimum amount of people that already hold that opinion, then you don’t know how discussions are meant to function. No opinion is truly worthless. Videos like mine are not meant to be a source of confirmation bias. Most content creators do not put up their videos all giddy thinking 'OH GOLLY GEE, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE AGREE WITH ME.' While that can be a good thing depending on the topic, the primary purpose is to encourage discussion, whenever you agree or disagree, it should give you something to think about”
* “Some may change their mind, no matter how impossible that might seem.”
* “It’s debatable if there is such a thing as a bad opinion. but there are definitely some that are uninformed or underdeveloped”
* “Way more people criticizing this latest video without watching it then usual, I hope it doesn’t mean it’s always this high and its more obvious this time”
* “You are a person safely separated from the horrific world remotely controlling an unstoppable god, wasting the potential videogames have to fully realize we've all wondered while watching horror movies: what would I do if I was trapped in this situation? ”