For those of you who aren’t familiar with the acronym “SA” it stands for something awful. And no, I don’t mean Sodomy for Anuses, I mean it quite literally stands for Something Awful; as in www.somethingawful.com or the probably more infamous forums.somethingawful.com. In the post I’m going to completely ignore the majority of this forum and focus specifically one one of many subforums (I know, this is complicated internet lingo, bear with me). The subforum I’ll be talking about is called the “Let’s Play” subforum, and I’d like to think it’s a part of the forums that has created a subculture (:O) of it’s own.
The Let’s Play subforum is located deep within the dark, dreary bowels of the Games forum and should be considered the surprisingly handsome child of a horrible, twisted creature. On to the semantics, the Let’s Play subforum is a place entirely dedicated to a very peculiar art form, the practice of recording oneself playing video games. Alright, it may sound a bit strange, but hear me out; it’s absolutely phenomenal. The idea is that the “player” or the “poster” of the LP (Let’s Play) chooses a game from any gaming console they can get their filthy hands on (as long as they have a viable method of recording their progress with that system) and then plays the game. Here’s where the tricky part comes in, while that individual is playing through that video game they simultaneously track their progress somehow; be it through text, picture, or video format. The player then posts their progress* on the forum in a thread (for those of you unfamiliar with the wonderful language of the web a “thread” is essentially a topic post which can then be added onto with replies) and allows other members of the subforum to read and comment on their playing.
There are however, as with all good things, some rules to be followed. One of the more important rules is that which determines, and limits, the games that an LPer (the “player” mentioned earlier) can record. The two prominent rules regarding the games are these: the game must be at least 6 months old before it is LPable (as this will quell both spoilers for those who are currently playing the game and the hype period in which everyone and their grandmother will want to be the author the thread of the new and exciting game), and the game should not be adult-oriented (although there have been a few exceptions). There are a few other rules, but those mostly regard things very specific to the forum and it would do you no good to read them here.
So, why do these brave souls take put their lives on the line and foray into the virtual unknown, tracing their every step as they do? Why do they risk failure, humiliation, and more importantly (not to mention more often) the risk of playing a terrible, boring, tedious video game? They do it purely for the entertainment of those who choose to view their LP. These men and women are heroes, and this post is here to recognize their great sacrifice in the name of our amusement. Thank you LPers, and keep on trucking.
*Usually with some form of commentary, and this commentary can vary drastically from satirical objectivity to a first-person account of the events from the eyes of a certain character within the game.
(SomethingAwful is a forum which requires a one time PAYMENT to be a member; otherwise the forums will be ad infested during your visit, regardless here is the LP subforum link; enjoy. http://forums.somethingawful.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=191 )
Tags: art, famfam, internet, SA, torture, videogames, watersports
