Gaming

The way this CEO operates is absolutely worthy of condemnation and viewing him through the lens of unfeeling cosmic horror is, if anything, a nicer take. But it's fair to say that people operating at that level of wealth have become detached from and profoundly alien to normal folk.

I don't think you're parsing this comic fairly or engaging with its content by labeling it "edgelord violence or insults."

Pretty much ALL of Hbomb's substantive examples from the video are from CTRL-ALT-DEL which is like ... the worst example imaginable. There's screenshots of PA's art, but beyond the one dumb gag about "stake me bro" he never really gets into PA's writing. ODD, THAT. Because if you actually read Jerry Holkin's posts, you'll find a level of writing that puts the lie to the notion that these are idiots making cheap, derivative work. Setting aside the fact that they've been doing this so long that they basically defined the genre.

And as an aside, really Harris, web comic artists as targets? You've done it, you've achieved the epitome of punching down. These and other extremely sane takes from the guy that brought you an almost 2 hour long video on the goddamn Roblox "oof" sound effect.

They've done the cosmic horror joke many times. I found it funny in my 20s.

Gabe's art has gradually deformed and is just horrible now.

To be fair, that's not all the strips. That's the one the OP chose to show.

Like I'd say going through 20-30 strips only 2-3 were like that.

edit: here's a strip that I thought was pretty decent but isn't like the one in the OP
https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2023/06/09/conveniente

They're the "political cartoon" of gamers.

Right? I feel like it hasn't. My first thought on seeing the link was 'holy shit penny arcade still exists' followed swiftly by 'oh dear God what is this hideous malformation of my nostalgia' shortly after the art loaded.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one that thinks this! I can see how and why it happened, as the art style became increasingly stylised and exaggerated over the years, but visually it's really, really not my cup of tea. It feels like what happens when you spend all your time just drawing the same thing over and over (ie, two specific characters) to the point that they become increasingly caricaturised and distorted.

No one else I know dislikes the art, and like... I dunno, it's a successful and well-loved comic that a lot of people enjoy. I don't begrudge them that success. It's just not a visual style that works for me. And it's kind of nice to know others have noticed the same thing and it's not just that my perception was completely off.

No. There was a time around when I was in high school where it had some really great art, and writing. To see what it is in 2023... is grotesque.

Shit... I wonder how the forums are faring? I used to be all over those back in the day.

Which is stupid AF cause aren't Millenials the primary audience for PA comics? Why would you insult your base?

Can you post an example? I've followed it for a while and I'm honestly having a hard time thinking of a single comic like that.

I'm a proponent of the idea that company charters and financial reports are world-warping rituals that turn the company itself into a self-aware, self-serving horror

I think that would make more sense in a Shadowrun campaign.

The thing I keep thinking of is that Musk bought Twitter and destroyed billions of dollars of value with bad decision after bad decision, and this Unity thing is still dumber than all of that.

I'd believe he's also an anglerfish-style lure from a Hell dimension. I think I'd be more surprised if that wasn't the case.