FREEMAN’S MIND 2: EPISODE 16

On 11/6/2021 at 5:20 PM, Im_Unemployed said:

Yes, but only mine. You must heed my wisdom.

 

fair enough

On 11/6/2021 at 10:27 AM, daisekihan said:

I guess I'm going back on what I said earlier by continuing this, but it is not my belief that Ross should stop making them because I dislike them. I think Ross should stop making the series because he seems to dislike making it. On his streams, the most enthusiasm he can come up with for FM2 is that it's better than working a day job. If Ross really is still passionate about the project and a lack of care has nothing to do with the recent episodes, he should by all means keep trying to make them. But I highly doubt that to be the case.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Ross has probably never really been passionate about Freeman's Mind. It wasn't even supposed to be a full series, just like three videos to the Resonance Cascade, if I remember correctly. The only reason he kept it up so long was due to fan response in the first place, in which case you could probably apply this same argument to the entire series. I feel like if Ross thinks that fan response is a good enough reason to continue, I'm not gonna argue with him because I sincerely enjoy the show and would like to see him continue it. 

If Ross decides to stop because he's run out of energy or inspiration for it, that's fine, too. But I imagine the only way that would happen is if he gets a resounding response from the entire fanbase, which doesn't look to be happening because most of us seem to still really enjoy it. I'll continue to watch until that day ever comes, regardless. 

On 11/6/2021 at 3:08 PM, Kaweebo said:

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know I could speak for anyone but myself. Maybe you feel comfortable importing your own personal biases onto other people and assuming you know what's good for them, but I tend to believe that my voice only goes for myself and what I can see as observable evidence, which 82,000 video views on this latest episode alone seems to prove. So pardon the fuck out of me for expressing my opinion that I enjoy the show anyway, even if you think Ross is phoning it in and contributing to its declining quality. Both of those comments were in response to you guys putting forth your own opinions as if they were the only ones that matter and reason for Ross to stop making episodes, to which I argued that I felt the opposite. 

 

The only person telling Ross what to do was the guy who wrote a formal fucking request to end the show based on his own dissatisfaction with it and nothing else. Every other argument you people have made comes from theorizing on Ross's mental state like actual arm-chair psychologists based on comments he's given and substituting evidence with your own personal headcanons on the reality.

 

 

See, like that. Ignoring the fact that if he really hated working on the show, he could quit at any time. There's nothing actually keeping him on but his own willingness to continue making it, regardless of whether he enjoys it or not. He's expressed his thoughts on continuing Freeman's Mind and yet fan demand brings him back. That's up to him to decide if he wants to continue listening, which he seems willing to do so far. But I would not begrudge him if he had no steam left for it. I just hate people putting themselves out there to influence him to quit because they don't like it. That's insulting to Ross, number 1, because you're essentially badmouthing his work and trying to wrap it up in a pretty 'I just don't think your heart is in it' bow, and it's insulting to those of us who patently disagree with your assertion that quality has declined. 

 

Honestly, I'm uncomfortable even talking about what Ross should or shouldn't do because it's not any of our decisions to make. My only argument was that it's not anyone's place to request he put a stop to something based on their individual opinion. It's narcissistic to think your opinion is that fucking important that it deserves to be seen one-on-one and given as much credence as the 45,000 other people who still tune in to watch. 

It still is and was. 

 

Pretty much what Kaweebo said.

I do feel as if some of you guys are overestimating your importance somewhat, I only posted because of the off chance that this conversation wound up swaying him somewhat.  The blue planet mod for freespace was ruined by a handful of idiot testers who nobody else agreed with but who had relatively unique access to sway the creators, so I basically decided that not taking my chance to contradict people who I think are seriously wrong is almost always a mistake.

Okay, Ross has set things straight in the last chat and seems like I was wrong, which is great. As Ross himself has said, there is nothing pleasant in saying that something goes wrong and to be right about that.

On the contrary, I will probably enjoy the series more from now on.

Guys, chill.

Like, have you *considered* what that point of the game looks like? Gordon comes into that hideout minutes after being heavily pursued, and yet everyone is acting like nothing of interest is happening and talking about getting him out of the suit and working, or go play with the robodoggy.

It might not be the best episode, but it's well made and still in character.

Anyway, i'm looking forward to Ravenholm. Really looking forward to it.

And, Ross, if there isn't a great chemistry between our dear Freeman and father Grigori, then i would ask for my bitcoin back.

(j/k, but still - take as long as it takes to make it *good*)

On 11/6/2021 at 2:40 PM, ScumCoder said:

Okay, Ross has set things straight in the last chat and seems like I was wrong, which is great. As Ross himself has said, there is nothing pleasant in saying that something goes wrong and to be right about that.

 

 

On the contrary, I will probably enjoy the series more from now on.

Well I’m glad we can all come together on this in the end. I’m sorry for coming on harsh during the argument. Hopefully there’s no hard feelings. 

On 11/6/2021 at 2:40 PM, ScumCoder said:

Okay, Ross has set things straight in the last chat and seems like I was wrong, which is great. As Ross himself has said, there is nothing pleasant in saying that something goes wrong and to be right about that.

 

 

On the contrary, I will probably enjoy the series more from now on.

I need to stop day drinking for those. 

I don't even remember saying that. 

If Ross hasn't lost interest, that's great. But the fact remains that Half Life 2 is an NPC heavy game and if Freeman's only reaction to them is screaming about how unrealistically they're behaving and constantly reminding the viewer by proxy that the NPC's can't really hear Freeman, it's going to become unwatchable. It doesn't matter if it's "in character" it is. Freeman's Mind isn't supposed to be an Oliver Stone movie, it's supposed to be comedy.

As for Ravenholm, if Ross continues the way he is now, not only will he not have chemistry with Father Grigori, he's going to do little other than complain about how annoying he is or how he's not behaving like a human. 

On 11/6/2021 at 5:05 PM, daisekihan said:

As for Ravenholm, if Ross continues the way he is now, not only will he not have chemistry with Father Grigori, he's going to do little other than complain about how annoying he is or how he's not behaving like a human. 

I would put money against you on that, but I think gambling isn't allowed. @The Britain?

On 11/6/2021 at 5:24 PM, Im_Unemployed said:

I would put money against you on that, but I think gambling isn't allowed. @The Britain?

I definitely hope I'm wrong. I hope Ross was just burned out by the canals and Freeman will actually do what he does best, thriving in chaos. 

I for one thoroughly enjoyed the new episode and most that preceded it, and I always look forward to new content.

I fairly liked it, but I can see how Ross's version of Freeman will come into tension with Valve's more rail-roaded approach to storytelling and immersion in HL2. It's not easy to stick the landing, and it seems Ross might not have stuck it here. I'm hoping/anticipating that Freeman will come around a little near the end of HL2, that we may see real changes to Freeman's characterization. Maybe he'll not reflexively draw a gun on the Vorts, at least.

I do also think some of the annoyance is due to people genuinely thinking that the characters in half life 2 are good and reasonable, and freeman's reaction to them is upsetting that.

I think attempting to portray alyx as this arrested-development type character is kindof a good faith effort on his part to make the character work better.

I think the problem is less that there's any inherent flaw to Freeman reacting to the NPCs the way he does and more that the volume of content is way larger, with a bunch of named recurring characters rather than four faceless scientist models getting splattered across Black Mesa in a million different ways.

On 11/6/2021 at 9:09 PM, RocketDude said:

Maybe he'll not reflexively draw a gun on the Vorts, at least.

But can you really blame him, though?

Long time viewer here.

Just registered to comment that IMO this is indeed a much better episode than most HL2 ones. I don't blame Ross though, it is just HL2 being much more action and script heavy is not very suitable for FM-style narration. The game just doesn't give Freeman any time to express his thoughts.

As for Gordon's reaction to NPCs. I would love him to be more cooperative, this could have added some variety, but Freeman is one man army and I just don't see why he would bother cooperating with such "rebels". I haven't played HL2 in a decade, but I remember even back then they looked silly.

Ross, if you see this, Thanks so much for the Freeman's mind series. I get so excited every time a new episode comes out and am always impressed with your creativity never ceases to amaze me. Just wanted to let you know your hard work is really appreciated!

I loved the Episode, had a good laugh! Great work Ross.

It's really fun  to see your take on freeman and how he reacts to the behaviour of the NPCs.

Awesome stuff, keep it up! :)