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https://blacknerdproblems.com/a-tier-list-for-talking-tutorials/

Over my eight years and counting tenure as a technical writer, I’ve gained an appreciation for the teaching tools that are implemented across a wide spectrum of fields. Whether it’s the schematic diagram of IKEA instructions, the time-honored Car Owner’s Manual, or even the classic FAQ section, instructional writing exists in a variety of forms. However, none is more iconic than the in-software tutorial guide. 

For however long we’ve had software, specifically video games, we’ve had attempts to create helpful entities within the context and confines of operator systems and digital environments to guide users and players through the vastness of commands and interactions. Hell, this was the premise of various points of Halt and Catch Fire, and it remains one of my favorite historical dramas. As such, I thought it would be a cool exercise to rank a number of talking tutorials.

And then as I tried to think about a “Top 5 Talking Tutorials,” I realized that all of them were actually horrible. The majority of these exposition fairies, mission controllers, and well-intentioned helpers are tolerable at best and absolute distractions and detractors at worst. Hell, some franchises just constantly produce a never-ending parade of paradoxical talking tutorials that just end up making me want to mute the entire game audio.

Still, in the name of technical writers everywhere, we must endeavor to document a not-so comprehensive tier list, because as I was doing research I discovered that this archetype is old as floppy discs and to be all-exhaustive would be exhausting and I would mostly just end up talking about the Legend of Zelda for a couple thousand words.

To qualify this tier list, these have been selected on:

• How personable the character is
• How helpful the character is
• How intrusive the character is (which funnily enough is indeed a separate factor than 2)

These are majority NPCs, although a handful of them do blur the lines, and we’ll address them as they come. I tried to pick emblematic characters from their respective franchises, and we shall start with the characters I’m still on talking terms with and descend into terror inducing.

Talking Terms

While compiling the list, there were two notable exceptions of tutorial-esque characters that I found that I didn’t have an immense hatred for. Of course, it certainly helps that they have fully realized roles and personality outside of being a helper, but they manage to provide useful commentary and critical support.

BT-7242 (Titanfall 2)

One of the best first-person shooter campaigns in history, Titanfall 2 also features one of the better talking tutorials in the form of BT-7274 who also benefits greatly from great writing and also becoming an integral independent entity and partner. After powering on the sardonic mech, the soothing robot tones go over the basics and set up a solid foundation of a font of knowledge and a reliable companion throughout the campaign.

Futuba/Oracle (Persona 5)

The track record of support NPCs in Persona is varied at best, but once you recruit Futuba into the Phantom Thieves, you’re greeted with one of the most helpful talking tutorials of the lot. While some of the repeating commentary does get old, Oracle atop her Persona Necrocomicon provides critical information in fights and while you have already learned the basics of combat and metaversal travel from Morgana at this point, Futuba’s appointment to new mission control marks a slightly less aggregating experience.

Tolerable

For the Tolerable tier, these two characters for some reason or another aren’t necessarily the most useful teachers, but at least provide a steady stream of information, entertainment, and some sort of endearment.

Ghost (Destiny)

This is very clearly a case of Stockholm Syndrome at this point, but Ghost, whether Dinklebot or Nolanbot, has been by my side for about as long as I’ve been a technical writer. There is also a clear nostalgia factor in play, but the Little Light got me through the wilds of the Cosmodrome and has provided several key pieces of information and exposition with varying degrees of helpfulness.

GLaDOS (Portal)

It feels weird to include a classically villainous character, but GLA-Dos is the narrator of the Portal games and the one kinda teaching you the mechanics and also kinda trying to mock and maim you. In many ways, their antagonistic nature makes them more endearing in some respects. It’s certainly a case of where the iconic nature of the character elevates the profile, but that’s how tier list works.

Take Them or Leave Them

Coming right down the middle, I had no particular feelings either way when adding them to the pile of candidates and that trend continued with one getting a slight positive bent, one getting a slight negative bent, and both ending up middling regardless.

Olivia (Paper Mario: The Origami King)

One of the best first-person shooter campaigns in history, Titanfall 2 also features one of the better talking tutorials in Super Mario RPGs have had a long line of tutorial companions, but due to recency bias, the one that comes to mind first while writing this list. It’s a beautiful game with exceedingly repetitive game mechanics and Olivia, a character who I hold absolutely no emotions for, negative or positive. Olivia is aggressively neutral and only the final minutes of the game tip the scales slightly in her favor.

“Adam” (Metriod franchise)

It’s not that “Adam” is a bad mission control character. It’s just by design Adam’s existence as Samus’ mission control is extemporary at best. In Fusion, Samus is a seasoned bounty hunter and outside of the new Metroid DNA and current X Parasite infestation, Samus (and the player) already know most of the arsenal and mechanics to the point where it feels weird to have an explicit extra entity.

Of course, where Adam makes more sense in Other M, Adam here is just kinda of a generic military commander whose interactions with Samus are very much staged in such a way where we think he’s utterly brilliant which certainly does nothing for us given that we’re the one doing all the work.

Terrible

Claptrap (Borderlands franchise)

Claptrap as a playable character I enjoy. Claptrap as an NPC yelling instructions at you, I enjoy less so. Perhaps it is the fact that the walking death box is ostensibly supposed to be friendly and helpful and ends up berating you constantly makes him a counterpart to GLA-Dos. The screeching and yelling grate at you, and while he’s an iconic part of the franchise, as a talking tutorial, he’s like nails on a chalkboard.

Rotom-Dex (Pokemon franchise)

The Rotom-Dex is a cute idea, but as much as I love the idea of artificial intelligences, there are a variety of ethical concerns given that Rotom is not manmade to begin with and giving a smartphone a working voice and sentience is maybe not the greatest ideal. An eternally peppy electric ghost guiding you through regions brings up more peculiarities than not. Plus, it brings all of the negative energy of random phone calls from Generation 2 with an Alexa/Siri twist that doesn’t quite hold up to any sort of scrutiny.

Terror Inducing

Navi (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)

HEY. HEY. LISTEN. There is no world that this tier list gets written without fully highlighting the most iconic embodiment of in-game tutorial characters. Navi meant well, but the incessant chirping and minimally helpful tips and tricks throughout the totality of the game is memorably miserable. There is no other character with a short list of voice lines that can send shivers down a player’s spine. The volume, the constant urgency, the non-specific, non-helpful urges solidify Navi’s place on the list even if as an entity I am mostly fine with the codified exposition fairy.

Flowey (Undertale)

One of the relatively new additions to the pantheon, Flowey is one of the first characters you meet in Undertale and the character that introduces you to Undertale’s combat system. Don’t let the simplistic pixel design fool you, Flowey combines all of the condescension of the previous tutorial personas listed, amps it up to eleven, and then has the audacity to become even more aggravating as the game progress for entirely different reasons.

“CLIPPY”

Oh, you knew this was coming. No tier list regarding talking tutorials worth its salt wouldn’t include the harbinger of uselessness. Clippy was not the first terrible in-software aid, but Clippy is certainly one of the most infamous. 

“I see you’re writing an essay. Would you like help with that?”

I don’t know Clippy, do you have any actual useful information to provide? Clippy was an ideation beyond his time, but there was no that late 80’s/early 90’s technology was at a point where you could create an adaptive in-software application and as a result you get a pest taking up real estate on your screen. And the worst part is that condescending Clippy wasn’t even the only Microsoft Office assistant, he’s just so infamously unhelpful that few people tried the others (who admittedly weren’t much better, but at least had cooler character design).

And with that concludes our tier list. Maybe in a few years, I’ll actually get to write a list of talking tutorials who are actively helpful, but until then, just stare into the abyss that is Clippy’s dead stare.

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The post A Tier List for Talking Tutorials appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://nerdist.com/article/wakanda-forever-kingdom-of-talokan-mcu-explained-black-panther-namor-atlantis-marvel/

In the MCU, we now have a new world power to contend with, the underwater nation of Talokan. In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, we learn that Talokan is essentially the replacement for the Kingdom of Atlantis from the Marvel comics universe. Both cultures are hidden underwater cities, with water-breathing populations. However, there are some significant differences. Chiefly, instead of in the Atlantic (or the arctic), Talokan is located in Yucatan area. But in both cases, their sovereign ruler is the man called Namor, who is both noble and unforgiving.

Talokan Replaces Atlantis

In the comics, Atlantis was a small continent, with a highly advanced civilization. The cosmic beings known as the Celestials caused a cataclysm thousands of years ago, one which resulted in its sinking into the oceans. For centuries, the remnants of that culture lay in ruins on the ocean floor. Later, a water-breathing offshoot of humanity called Homo mermanus, possibly created by the Celestials themselves, migrated to what was left of Atlantis. They created a new culture there, one which eventually gave birth to Prince Namor. However, although the MCU has no Atlantis per se, the underwater civilization of Talokan takes its place in Wakanda Forever, and has many similarities to Atlantis. Including a water-breathing race. But there are also just as many differences.

The History of Wakanda Forever’s Kingdom of Talokan

The name Talokan is based on Mexican mythology. Specifically, it’s inspired by Tlālōcān, a city ruled by the rain god Tlāloc. In ancient Aztec culture, the city was an afterlife destination for anyone who perished by drowning or by lightning. In the MCU, it has become the replacement for Atlantis as their underwater civilization. A hidden kingdom ruled by Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever suggests that a fragment of the meteor that gave Wakanda vibranium, or another similar meteor, landed in the part of the world where Mesoamerican culture flourished. This ties rival nations Wakanda and Talokan together in a way the comics never did with Wakanda and Atlantis.

While speaking with Princess Shuri, who was his prisoner, Namor tells her his origin story, as well as the origin story of Talokan. Some 500 years prior, his mother was a member of a tribe in the Yucatan area of what is now Mexico. This tribe was terrorized by Spanish colonists, and tried to escape from them. Each member of the tribe drank a special herb from a glowing plant that looked just like the ones we know from Wakanda. This plant gave them the power to breathe underwater, but they could no longer survive on the surface. Centuries later, with breathing apparatus, they could emerge from the depths. But their skin would turn blue on contact with air. Only Namor was different from the rest of his tribe.

Namor, the MCU’s First Mutant

Namor’s mother was pregnant when she ingested the herb, and so he became the first child born underwater. But possibly due to his being just a fetus when the herb entered his body, he came out a bit different. A mutant. He could survive underwater as well as on the surface without assistance, and could fly due to the tiny wings on his feet. He also had super strength and durability. All part of his mutation, a mutation no doubt connected to the herb.

Under Namor’s rule, the people of Talokan have harnessed the power of the oceans, and in some cases, sea life itself, to their advantage. In the finale of the film, we see them ride whales into battle. They are fierce warriors, although who they have actually fought against is a mystery. They seem almost totally isolated, even more than the Wakandans. Talokan also carries over the languages and myths of Mesoamerican cultures they sprang from, like the Mayans and Aztecs. Namor himself has the name Ku’ku’lkán, the feathered serpent god, a real Mayan deity. At the end of the film, Talokan still has designs on conquering the surface world. It remains an open question as to whether they stay adversaries to humanity, or eventually, become its allies.

The post What Is WAKANDA FOREVER’S Kingdom of Talokan in the MCU? appeared first on Nerdist.

https://blacknerdproblems.com/hidden-gem-anime-series-to-enjoy-girls-last-tour/

Here’s another entry in the ‘Hidden Gem Anime Series to Enjoy’ series for you all to enjoy: Girl’s Last Tour. I randomly came across the anime on Prime Video ages ago and slowly took my time watching and savoring it. Revisiting it this year meant that I looked forward to all the quiet moments this series included that made me ponder all about the purpose of civilization and who I’d want to travel with in a ruined world. While not bite sized, this twelve-episode anime is a darling that the fandom adores, and I’m onboard to write about for those unaware!

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What is it About:

Based on a six volume manga series by Tsukumizu, this anime adaption follows two girls exploring the ruins of civilization looking for food and fuel in a future where most of humanity is gone.

The series follows Yuuri and Chito traveling in their beloved Kettenkrad motorbike as they try to salvage what’s left of the post-apocalyptic world around them, but they also uncover unique places left untouched and have experiences that change them for better or worse.

With Chito, behind the steering wheel, and Yuuri, handling gun duties, they travel farther than they’ve ever gone, and the anime gives all the philosophical vibes as they ponder on machines and buildings made in the past. They even have a few encounters that will make you cry or laugh–perhaps both! Think slice of life meets most-certainly-post-apocalyptic.

Get in Loser, We’re Riding to the End of the World:

Folks that Girl’s Last Tour could appeal to include:

• Folks who are looking for anime with post-apocalyptic settings
• Folks who are looking for anime filled with silly little moments
• Folks who want anime series centering female characters
• Folks looking for an (wholesome) anime to quietly devastate them

What makes this Series Standout:

I really loved watching and seeing how Chito and Yuuri choose to handle certain situations while traveling: their different personalities and views clash at almost every turn which made for great laughs. Chito, nicknamed and often referred to as Chii-chan, is the more calm and straight-laced one. She’s strict–especially when it comes to their forever dwindling supplies. She appears to be perhaps slightly younger but for sure shorter in height when compared to Yuuri. The second part of our duo Yuuri, nicknamed and often referred to as Yuu, is the more carefree and spontaneous one. She’s a bit of a space case as well, making trouble as she often falls asleep and makes mistakes that cause Chi much stress. In Girl’s Last Tour, Yuu is more focused on the now–and Chi more eagle-eyed on the future.

The girls while young, are old enough to be able to identify bomber planes, ruined machine guns, and tanks but have no clue what chocolate is. A quick flashback scene in the first episode hints at perhaps their first home: much younger and smaller versions of themselves were sent away by a mysterious person from what looks like a military base, camp, or a human settlement on the verge of collapse. This helps explain how they acquired the Kettenkrad motorbike which is specifically a military vehicle and such things like Yuu’s rifle. Moving through metal graveyards of forgotten weapons has them “playing as adults” at times. The two find a treasure trove of rations. After they sit down to eat the first pack together, Yuu “betrays” Chii for the last piece. This scene reminds the audience that they probably weren’t too young to witness skirmishes but have no real working knowledge of why the world is the way it is now. This scene also establishes that what they know of the world and how humans live among each other is mostly, from each other. They are figuring out what a moral compass is and how to operate with one all on their own.

The world that Chii and Yuu navigate is a wrecked but beautiful one. They seek any manner of scenery–damaged rows of skyscrapers that tower over whole parts of cities topped with snow that look majestic. They move through darkened factories and warehouses that hide useful things and house unusual places like workshops and blueprints. At this point in history, it seems that the former humans in that part of the world build entire, sprawling cities with levels and the two girls are simply moving through them to higher and higher levels. Throughout the series, they do discover new experiences like operating a near forgotten piece of technology like a camera as well as uncovering a forgotten piece of artwork enshrined in a world where almost no one is around to appreciate it.

Criminally unrated, Girl’s Last Tour speaks to the ideal and pursuit of exploration. First, the exploration of the human experience and what a person can and will endure. Secondly, the anime’s narrative includes exploration of whatever is left of the world, which is not much. This series is a miss for some for its slow pace and slice of life approach narrative that simmers, not explodes, on the screen. But for me, it moves at just the right pace. Each episode is a clear treasure of a snapshot of the journey of Chii and Yuu defining what life is on their own terms and moving forward no matter how grim and barren the world appears.

As artist, gamer, and YouTuber, Relyable mentioned here in a video, some part of the message of the anime is acceptance. Yuu and Chii come to learn about accepting some truth about life and the world—their lives as human beings will end one day as the world they live in has slowly already been doing so. I love this point, because the two girls are content to go along as long as they have each other. Life goes on and it will end one day but the girls’ choice is to make the most of it and bring meaning and happiness to each other each day–as long as they can.

Girl’s Last Tour accomplishes in getting me in my feels every time with its simple story and profound way these characters learn what makes life meaningful for them. The anime remains an superb addition to the Iyashikei genre and really brings home why such seemingly abstract needs like happiness and companionship matter in bleak times. That’s a reminder I think we all need from time to time but especially now and is part of the reason why Girl’s Last Tour is a hidden gem that I will always recommend.

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You can find Girl’s Last Tour streaming on Prime Video and now on HI-DIVE.

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The post Hidden Gem Anime Series to Enjoy: ‘Girl’s Last Tour’ appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://nerdist.com/article/octopuses-throw-things-at-each-other/

Don’t make me come back there! Scientists have observed octopuses acting like siblings in the backseat of a car on a long road trip, throwing things at each other and playing the “I’m not touching you” game as well as any human. The gloomy octopus is generally solitary, but a lot of them live in Jervis Bay, Australia. This consortium of octopuses (yes, that is the collective noun) seem to get annoyed with the high density accommodations and toss silt at each other. It is not a neighborly thing to do and we’re sure Mr. Rogers would not approve. 

Scientists watched more than 20 hours of octopus videos and found that there’s as much drama in Jervis Bay as on any Real Housewives show. Octopuses are very smart, sentient creatures. Though it’s easy to anthropomorphize that they squabble with their neighbors when they get too close, the team worked to understand the purpose behind the behavior. They rated each throw in order to identify the purpose behind it. They found that the octopus’ body was generally a uniform color versus mottled when they threw silt at their neighbor. Octopuses can change their coloration quickly depending on their mood and camouflage needs. The scientists also rated how vigorous the throw was and noticed that the other octopus sometimes ducked. 

Octopuses do toss shells, silt, and algae to clear space for themselves but the scientists are pretty sure they also direct it towards nearby octopuses on purpose. Some even threw things at the camera when it was set up too close to their den. Though it’s not actually a throw using their arms. Rather, they toss items away by pushing water through their siphon. 

The scientists shared their research in the open access peer-reviewed PLoS ONE. The paper, titled “In the line of fire: Debris throwing by wild octopuses,” includes video of these interactions. We first saw the news in Nature. 

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth. 

The post Octopuses Throw Things at Each Other Like Feuding Siblings appeared first on Nerdist.