Before Freeman's Mind 2 We Should All Watch Freeman's Mind 1

[HarryHarryPartchPartch]

My suggestion is the title of this thread and while you may misunderstand what I mean, I think you might have an idea.

 

So let me show you mine and you can show me yours!

 

1. How did you come across Accursed Farms?

 

When I was pretty young I came across Freeman's Mind and for a while the concept was solid to me. Throughout my highschool years I used to roleplay a lot and pretending to be the characters was important to me. I was very impressed with how Ross portrayed Freeman as an artist and I'm glad he gave me a new way to experience the narrative of Half Life, in fact the only real narrative I know! I never beat Half Life or played much of it and the memories of beating Half Life 2 are a bit vacant, I'm sure I beat it but maybe I just skipped to the DLC? I think what I just said proves that I'm not really a 'hardcore Ross fan' but that's OK. I watch what I think is a lot of video game reviews. I started off with Spoony and literally watched all of everything he has (and while not every commentary, still some!) as well as The Gentleman Gamer. Eventually I found Ross's Game Dungeon: Arcade America. . .suffice to say, I was HOOKED! Eventually I found these other artists in this order: LGR, Jontron, The Angry Videogame Nerd, Noah Cadwell-Gervais and the propensity of obscurity was all over the place. There is so much to say about the complexity of each individual but leave no doubt, Ross is quality artist when it comes to videogame media for it's for education, experience and entertainment. Ross is someone who made the Peak Oil video from the perspective of a Combine in Half Life 2. He brought a game to life. There are a lot of intangible things he's created that are important to know and experience and people who don't realize this just haven't had the right opportunity to experience his work. Oh, I'm probably answering this question wrong-- No rules d u d e !

 

2. How would you like to interpret "Before Freeman's Mind 2 We Should All Watch Freeman's Mind 1"?

 

Well, after the movie is made we can celebrate sometime afterward by as a community watching the entirety of Freeman's Mind in order to get a clear perspective of how Ross should move on. (This will also give Ross an opportunity to say he watched Freeman's Mind with fans!) If we do it on Twitch we can have discussions between the videos that Ross can interact with. There seems to be a few ways we can go about this (doing it over a few days rather than in one sitting, maybe we can contact Noah Caldwell-Gervais to make a video about Freeman's Mind?) so I think we can all compromise on something. I have been pretty much only watching Ross's Game Dungeon, some/a lot of his videochats on Twitch (always from YouTube), watched all the rants and got to the second Cyril Cyberpunk but only this far:

 

 

Coming back to Freeman's Mind, I was reminded of a lot of how well Ross dictates the Half Life narrative and I really felt the roots of a person who he has essentially become. I grew to know Ross with the characters he pretended to be and seeing him as a person (and the delay!) changed my perception of his existence. So now that I feel like I know Ross as a more as a person, I go back to Half Life and listen to Ross narrate Freeman's existence and it feels different then when I watched him so long ago. For example, when he answered questions in the Twitch about his background in physics or lack thereof it does something to the mystery of Ross' character in the context of Freeman's Mind, and I'm wondering if anyone if similar thoughts are among my contemporaries.

 

3. How long has it been since you've watched Freeman's Mind?

 

Probably months. When I came back to it I thought I'd like to watch it all again, but then I thought if I wanted to do that I should do it with someone instead of by myself. I watched a bit of one episode 5 and I realized it was a really good intro to Freeman's Mind (the beginning may turn off a lot of people, but the idea is after episode five you go back to the beginning to get the best experience.) and then I thought, wouldn't it be awesome to watch it with Ross and all of his fans? I think it'd give us a good opportunity to see where Freeman's Mind stood before moving on to 2.

 

What do you think about the statement? Feel free use my questions and make up your own and to cite others for certain points and arguments they make. This can be a lot of fun and if you'd like to branch out of this topic within reason (talking about all Ross' side projects in relation to Freeman's Mind, for instance) don't be afraid to go the distance. It could be valuable science!

[Selfsurprise]

With the multifaceted information you posted there's quite a bit to take in, but I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability! :3

 

1. How did you come across Accursed Farms?

From what I recall, I think I stumbled rather accidentally upon the series about four or five years ago after a work colleague recommend I watch a series on Machinima called Sanity Not Included (it has its moments) back before I was aware of that particular channels unwholesome agenda. I hadn't really been all that interested in playthrough gaming channel fare, and I wasn't even aware of the existence of actual machinima, i.e. the practice of using computer game assets and programs to make films. I watched episodes one to three somewhat baffled, not really what to make of the format or the voice of Freeman ("is the dialogue purely all in his head? He seemed to get pretty abusive of the other employees, etc...") however I found myself quickly intrigued, both for the nostalgia value of seeing an old favourite game again and the humour, much of which seemed to be derived from the idea of the once stoic (and mute) "hero" Gordon Freeman was actually an angry, maladjusted, self-centered arsehole. I identified with him to an alarming degree...

 

2. How would you like to interpret "Before Freeman's Mind 2 We Should All Watch Freeman's Mind 1"?

I think to get a constructive response from this question I'll actually pick up on some of trains of thought in your own answer.

• Personally I'm not big on adhering to a schedule when watching stuff online, hence the reason I've never signed up to Twitch to similar sites. I'm afraid I prefer to watch stuff in my own time, not least because I work evening shifts and also because I tend to be doing other things like reading, playing games, etc. It's definitely worthwhile to come here and ask other fans of the series if they would like to collaboratively re-watch Freeman's Mind, but its not for me. Sorry.
  
• Seeing Ross as an actual flesh-and-blood human being and not as the living avatar of Gordon Freeman was a strangely disconcerting experience for me too! I'm worried this will make me sound like an annoyingly obsessive fan of the man and his work, but until we started seeing more of Ross's face I'm afraid my brain had somewhat elevated him into an internal voice of consciousness. If I was stressed with my co-workers incompetence my personal condemnation was often rendered as Freeman's voice in my mind. Even while narrating Game Dungeon I interpreted Ross's voice as an almost disembodied aspect of critical analysis and self-effacing weird humour.

 

3. How long has it been since you've watched Freeman's Mind?

Not since late last year I think, December maybe. I ought to pay homage again, if only to make sure I've memorised all my most chuckle-inducing bits.

• "Why does everyone have to keep dying on me? Is it really so hard to just not die?"
  
• "You guys have no appreciation for art! CRITIC!"
  
• "It's a wonder we've even made it this far. We should've all fallen from trees and be extinct right now."
  
• "I've never had any military training, so I don't know the correct procedure for these things, but if I saw my buddy run around a corner and get shot, then I saw my next buddy run around the same corner and get shot, I don't think I'd run around that same corner."
  
• "The cavemen didn't have power, and they had to deal with soldiers with machine guns. And giant aliens with flamethrowers for hands."
  
• "I mean, what am I supposed to say to people? "Wow, you sure did a good job falling down that elevator shaft!" Or "Way to lock yourself inside the freezer! I'm so proud of you.""
  
• ""Yore dead". Wow. I can't even make fun of that."
  
• ""Aliens aren't invading, Freeman, you're just being paranoid.""
  
• ""The mailman's not spying on you, Freeman, you're just being paranoid.""
  
• ""There's no society of anthropomorphic frog people living in the sewer, Freeman, you're just being paranoid.""
  
• ""Owls can't read your thoughts, Freeman, you're just being paranoid.""
  
• " Psychological warfare worked for Vlad the Impaler. It can work for me too."
  
• "You know, as much as I'd like to claim this was the result of me being a genius, it's more that someone else was not."

 

It could be valuable science!

LASER!

CAUTION

LASER!

CAUTION

LASER!

CAUTION

LASER!

CAUTION

[cruderustle]

I always told myself I would do this, but I just couldn't resist FM2.

[AP_Pastor]

1. I remember it was summer 2009. Back then, what I used to watch was the G Man Squad from the Janus Syndicate, those 100 ways to die in Garry's Mod by djy1991 and the Gmod Idiot Box by DasBoSchitt. Around that time period, there seems to be a lull in uploads from those three, and I keep seeing Freeman's Mind in the recommended video, I figured i'd give it a shot. Not wanting to start in the middle, I went all the way to the beginning, thankfully I did because Episode 10.5 was the recent episode that time. After going through all 10 (and a half) episodes, I thought that's it, the show's over! Needless to say, I was a victim of his April Fools prank. I think it was the April Fools episode that sold me to this series. I didn't think much of Freeman's Mind until a year later when I discovered Civil Protection. Before that, I got used to the "animation" used in Gman Squad and the earlier Idiot Box. When I saw Civil Protection, I went "Holy Shit! How did he do that?" I remember thinking this is just like the TF2 Meet The Team videos, never seen anything like it. I've been a fan since then

 

2. I could only wish that we could all gather around physically, and watch all the episodes in a theatre, kinda like that time Shia got people joining him watching the movies he's on. That would be a party.

 

3. Damn, it's been a year I think. So much crap to do at home prevented me from watching an episode. I did have the isolated audio of all the episodes (the ones with just Gordon/Ross talking) If I'm bored or commuting, I'd listen to that and let my head visualize what's happening.

[ThePest179]

1. How did you come across Accursed Farms?

 

I was still in middle school when my friend recommended the series to me. I'm glad that my cringy, early pubescent years were spent on here rather than a more popular site like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or, God forbid, 4chan.

[islandfox]

1. How did you come across Accursed Farms?

I came across Accursed Farms during what we call the "dark days" of that blasted M*******a channel. For those not aware, Ross was essentially stuck on episode 44 because of contractual issues with M*******a. The episode had just been released that day and I wasn't aware of FM prior so I thought "great! I've stumbled across a series half way through" and watched the episodes over a few days, only then finding out over time by YouTube comments that nothing else was coming out. Still, I waited patiently, lurked on YT comments and lurked on this site (only signed up when the final episode was released to offer my thanks, but lurked for years prior) and eventually Ross overcame the issues and we started up again. I was a huge fan of the HL series anyway and I merely stumbled across episode 44 by chance. Some people still find the videos now and post comments but thankfully they won't have to know the sheer length of time we had to wait for new episodes; in way it makes me proud that I/we all stuck by Ross and gave him the backing and the time to do whatever he needed to get them out. I thought the series was wonderful. I've kept up with all of Ross's work ever since and enjoyed probably 95-99% of everything released. I don't often managed to catch the live broadcasts but certainly a few; a crowning moment is in the first of the monthly fan chats, at one point Ross is reading comments and says "ah, somebody loves me"... yeah Hi Ross, that was me.

 

2. How would you like to interpret "Before Freeman's Mind 2 We Should All Watch Freeman's Mind 1"?

 

I don't think a collaborative effort would work in this case; for starters the series is loooong in terms of time (I forget exactly but it's between 9 and 10 hours) so it'd have to be in scheduled sections and in terms of organising I just don't think it'd work. I could be wrong but I'd guess Ross would rather spend the time working on new stuff or doing more progressive fan chats rather than harking back to FM. The videos are up and you can freely watch the series whenever you want. I certainly recommend people watch it though, not only to refresh themselves before FM2 but mainly just because it's damn good and it's the reason 95% of us are here. One thing to remember is you've got all the FM1 episodes ready and on demand, whereas FM2 will take a long time yet again. No sense in rushing things or having a set time; just watch them whenever you get the chance and enjoy it.

 

3. How long has it been since you've watched Freeman's Mind?

 

At the end of 2014 when the final episode came out, I re-watched the whole series over the course of the following week. It's one of those series where I can just watch it whatever the circumstances because the episodes are bitesize and easy to pick up/put down. I intend to watch it again soon as it's been a while, but it's the Game Dungeon that does it for me at the moment and I'm intending to re-watch those too.