Anti-Theism and Why I Dislike It

2013 is supposed to be a year for spiritual awakening, according to the Mayan calendar.  It is my sincerest hope that this is true, the world needs to come to many realizations about itself.  Personal realizations are important as well and I have made one about myself; I dislike Anti-Theists.

Anti-Theism is the belief that God does not exist and religion is detrimental to society.  I find this, along with Atheism, to be just as close-minded as religious fundamentalism. It has been my experience that Anti-Theists take their point of view and tend to force it upon others more than religious folk do.  They take every opportunity to bring up religion and it’s faults; saying that believers in religion are idiots.  They confront religious people and harass them to no end; in some cases bringing them to tears.

Many also consider Agnosticism to be idiotic as well.  They consider it sitting on the fence rather than admitting that you can’t know and don’t wish to state an opinion until you feel you are confident in it.  They attack anybody with a different belief system; condemning them as idiotic and a worthless human being.  As an Agnostic who firmly believes that all people have the right to believe in what they choose I find this offensive.

I need to say that if you mock religious folk or anybody with a different belief than you, you are not “turned on to the truth”; you’re just an asshole.  If these people are not actively harming anybody, be it physically or emotionally, then let them believe what they choose.  It’s not hurting you at all.  If you happen to be one of these assholes then I want you know that you are what’s wrong with the world.

I realize that not all Anti-Theists and Atheists are like this, but the majority that I’ve come into contact with are.  It’s upsetting to see the way people can treat others.  If you see this happening please do something about it; remember that evil  will triumph if good men do nothing.  I am not siding with anybody on the God issue, but I feel the need to bring attention to this specific problem.  Religious fundamentalists have their faults too and are not entirely innocent but it’s upsetting to see good people who happen to believe in a deity being kicked into the sand by assholes.

Loading Screens in Video Games

Something that’s becoming a trend in game reviews or even just talking about video games is bitching about loading screens, either that they exist or how long they are.  I’m not going to say that video games don't have ungodly loading times, because some definitely do.  I’m making this post to bitch out those that complain about loading screens altogether.

A few days ago while browsing a forum and the topic of discussion was loading screens and one comment really irked me.  The comment read “remember when games didn’t have loading screens, I miss that”, and I have to say that it was the most asinine comments I could’ve read about the topic.  Loading screens are very important in modern video games and there is a way to do them properly, believe it or not.

The reason older games (we’re talking NES and SNES era folks) didn’t have loading screens is because there wasn’t a lot to load.  Maybe some text and sprites and simple AI, but that’s about it.  Modern video games have to load textures, complex AI, lighting, voice, and more for each area you enter, this is why the loading screen is important in modern vidya.  But no matter how important the loading screen is it must be done properly or it will annoy the player.

On the topic of properly done loading screens, developers must realize that the length of the loading screen is incredibly important.  Silent Hill: Downpour had very short loading screens, but in return the game was still loading textures as you played it, this must be avoided at all costs.  Other games have unforgivably long loading screens simply because the area it’s trying to load is too big and it took the player out of the experience of the game, avoid that as well.  The trick to loading screen length is to make the area they are trying to load small enough to load at a decent rate without having to place loading screens all over the game.  Too many loading screens is not a good thing either, it also takes players out of the experience.

Loading screens, no matter how annoying, are an important part of video gaming today.  People should be familiar with them by now, but it seems not all.  I don’t hate the loading screen, it gives me a chance to reflect on the section I just played.  Some games even have mini-games during the loading screen, so you always have something to play, even when loading.  I would suggest getting used to the loading screen, it’s here to stay.