https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=173.245.50.161&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T19:57:08ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:1019:_First_Post&diff=103236Talk:1019: First Post2015-10-12T02:53:52Z<p>173.245.50.161: </p>
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<div><span style="color: red"> Consistent posting order . . . .</span><br />
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With a Wiki, you can edit the posting order any way you want, there's no reason you have to add your comments to the bottom [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 20:15, 20 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
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[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=first First!!] (ok, bad joke...)--[[User:Bpothier|B. P.]] ([[User talk:Bpothier|talk]]) 19:36, 20 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
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I personally prefer seeing comments in chronological order, especially if the respondents reply to each other. I find it very annoying to see the reply before I've had a chance to read the original. The current comment system on Slate (where not only do new comments appear first, the page defaults to auto-updating, so the comments move down the page as you are trying to read them) is especially horrible. [[User:Blaisepascal|Blaisepascal]] ([[User talk:Blaisepascal|talk]]) 20:15, 20 August 2012 (UTC)<br />
:I prefer threaded discussions. Chronological is close enough for short discussions, but threaded makes it so much easier to find read all the replies a comment got. (Yes, I know I'm replying to a year-old post.) [[User:gijobarts|gijobarts]] ([[User Talk:gijobarts|talk]]) 07:06, 2 September 2013 (UTC)<br />
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<span style="color: red">. . . . is overrated.</span> [[Special:Contributions/74.213.186.41|74.213.186.41]] 17:01, 1 April 2013 (UTC)<br />
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I have the same interpretation as the current explanation, yet the "Incomplete" text says there are other interpretations. What are they? [[User:Smperron|Smperron]] ([[User talk:Smperron|talk]]) 15:52, 27 January 2014 (UTC)<br />
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This is precisely why Digg failed and now Reddit will fail. The moment the owners think they can manipulate discussions is the moment any discussion has any real value. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.50.161|173.245.50.161]] 02:53, 12 October 2015 (UTC)</div>173.245.50.161https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1333:_First_Date&diff=862131333: First Date2015-03-12T20:29:54Z<p>173.245.50.161: /* Explanation */ They rounded off the rest of VI with ORAS</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1333<br />
| date = February 21, 2014<br />
| title = First Date<br />
| image = first_date.png<br />
| titletext = I sympathize with the TPP protagonist because I, too, have progressed through a surprising number of stages of life despite spending entire days stuck against simple obstacles.<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
TPP, or {{w|Twitch Plays Pokémon}}, was the first of a creative and radical new variant of streaming gameplay videos created in early 2014 — a few days before this comic was released.<br />
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Some consumers enjoyed watching video games being played by other people (usually 'popular' gamers known for entertaining gameplay), thus streaming sites dedicated to streaming gameplay were created. [http://twitch.tv/ Twitch.tv] was one such site.<br />
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Whereas traditional video game streams involved the channel broadcaster or another personality playing the game, the channel "Twitch Plays Pokémon" recorded a {{w|Internet bot|bot}} playing an emulated game of [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Red_and_Blue_Versions Pokémon Red] for {{w|Game Boy}}. The game inputs given by the bot were based on players' messages in the video stream itself. Thus, the watchers of the stream were playing the game themselves using chat "commands." The Pokemon character behaved incredibly erratically, frequently getting "stuck against simple obstacles" (as mentioned in the title-text) and moving about in a strange manner ("Why are you up there?"/"Bye...Okay, coming back now"). <br />
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Despite this, the character advanced surprisingly far in games. They have beaten the [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Elite_Four Elite Four] and [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Champion Champion] of generations [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_I I], [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_II II], [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_III III], [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_IV IV], and [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_V V], and [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Generation_VI VI].<br />
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Currently, they are playing a modified version of Pokemon Red, this time with the goal of catching all 151 Pokemon available in that game. You can see the state of the player characters' Pokémon and inventory at game end in [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Twitch_Plays_Pok%C3%A9mon this Bulbapedia article]. <br />
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TPP surged in popularity rapidly since its inception, reaching 80,000 channel viewers within five days. Derivative channels (such as 'TwitchPlayers') soon arose, turning "Twitch Plays..." into an idea rather than a single channel; that of crowdsourcing a task, such as controlling a single person (as in the Pokémon games) for erratic and often hilarious results. The stream, which is still active as of this writing, has reached [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/twitch-plays-pokemon memetic status].<br />
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In the above comic, [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]] are on a date. However, Megan is behaving very erratically. Cueball determines that Megan is being "controlled by Twitch," as her behavior matches well with that of the TPP protagonist (whose name, canonically, is [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Red_(game) Red]). <br />
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Megan loudly declares at one point that she is "SAVING" her 'game progress', referencing the incessant saving in TPP via random button presses. The random ten-letter string she says is reminiscent of the [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Nickname nicknames] that all of TPP's Pokémon end up with as the players move haphazardly across the game's keyboard. <br />
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Her fascination with the "cool spiral" is an allusion to TPP players' fascination with the [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Dome_and_Helix_Fossils Helix Fossil], an in-game item. As user input often leads to checking of the in-game backpack followed by erratic commands to handle the items within, it was common for various [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Valuable_item valuable items] to be haphazardly thrown away. However, players quickly discovered that the Helix Fossil, as a [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Key_item key item], could not be tossed. The players' realization that the Helix Fossil would stay in the bag almost permanently throughout the game caused TPP players to jokingly regard it with a near-religious reverence for its constant appearance, with many acting as if the protagonist was "looking to the Helix for guidance".<br />
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The title text, as explained above, simply is a light-hearted joke from [[Randall]], empathizing with TPP as he has also spent real-life days stuck against simple obstacles, and is surprised by how far he has gotten in life despite this fact.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball and Megan sit at an intimate dinner table. They have plates and glasses of wine in front of them.]<br />
:Cueball: So, did you grow up around here?<br />
:Megan: I love you.<br />
:Cueball: ... huh?<br />
:Megan: Waiter! One of everything on the menu.<br />
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:[Megan stands up. Standing on her chair, she's holding a plate.]<br />
:Cueball: Why are you up there?<br />
:Megan: I'm stuck. This plate looks delicious. Aaaoogaoag.<br />
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:[Megan has put the plate down and walked off-panel.]<br />
:Megan: Bye.<br />
:Megan: OK. Coming back now.<br />
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:[Megan is crouched on her chair, holding a spiral.]<br />
:Cueball: You're being controlled by Twitch, aren't you?<br />
:Megan: Check out this cool spiral!<br />
:Cueball: It's—<br />
:Megan: '''SAVING.'''<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Internet]]<br />
[[Category:Pokémon]]</div>173.245.50.161