VN Ren'Py Being a DIK [v0.10.1] [DrPinkCake]

[felicemastronzo]

The biggest is Neil and MC's poverty, it's just not believable. I'm not saying that there's no poverty in the US, there's way too much, but poverty is relative to the overall wealth of a society. In the US families that have lived on government aid all their lives have color tv's, smartphones, microwaves and etc. Outside of the major cities most Americans own cars, often more than one per family. And the overwhelming majority have air conditioning, in fact I can't remember the last time I saw a car or truck without AC, unless it was a vintage. Almost all houses and apartments have AC.

Neil's income is way off, a construction worker, especially one with 19+ years on the job, is earning a very good income.

Given this we see MC saying he's never been in a car with AC. There was a similar scene where he commented on seeing color tv. Then there's the car's. Where are they? Even the students from relatively affluent families don't have cars. In fact cars, and parking are a major and growing problems for college's, building and operating parking garages have become significant line items in their budgets.

That is part of the spirit of South American telenovelas where the poor are very poor but with healthy values, the rich are very rich and omnipotent, but unhappy

 

[Darkwen]

The biggest is Neil and MC's poverty, it's just not believable. I'm not saying that there's no poverty in the US, there's way too much, but poverty is relative to the overall wealth of a society. In the US families that have lived on government aid all their lives have color tv's, smartphones, microwaves and etc. Outside of the major cities most Americans own cars, often more than one per family. And the overwhelming majority have air conditioning, in fact I can't remember the last time I saw a car or truck without AC, unless it was a vintage. Almost all houses and apartments have AC.

Neil's income is way off, a construction worker, especially one with 19+ years on the job, is earning a very good income.

Given this we see MC saying he's never been in a car with AC. There was a similar scene where he commented on seeing color tv. Then there's the car's. Where are they? Even the students from relatively affluent families don't have cars. In fact cars, and parking are a major and growing problems for college's, building and operating parking garages have become significant line items in their budgets.

Neil and Mc poverty isn't realistic not to the level DPC shows it my family was in construction for a very long time we didn't have a lot of money but I could still play video games, it would be believable if things wasn't easy for them but still got car, tv and everything else a family would have MC act's like he lives in the 70's or a third world country

 

[ffive]

Neil doesn't own a car. I haven't seen any of the frat kids, except Rusty, with a car. None of the HOTs either.

I can't remember, does Neil state the car he's driving when he takes MC to the college isn't his?

Where do you expect to see the other frat kids with their cars? Driving up the stairs in the school building when they go to classes? Or maybe parking it in the middle of frat house when they come to the party? Because that's the areas where the game takes place.

That's not mentioning you actually do see the scooby gang in a car at the end of latest episode, when they leave Patrick's place.

But the argument was about DPC's relative ignorance of American society, seems to me you are the one nitpicking.

This was the only part of your argument which involved someone else than MC and his father. I didn't bother with the other points because you have to admit that "the game doesn't portray poverty/American society correctly because one person is excessively poor" makes for a pretty poor argument.

 

[DavDR]

That is part of the spirit of South American telenovelas where the poor are very poor but with healthy values, the rich are very rich and omnipotent, but unhappy

What a discovery! DPC must be South American. Now everything makes sense

Also, how do you know so much about SA telenovelas?

 

[dalli_x]

If you haven't noticed DPC has shown his ignorance of conditions in the US on many occasions, leaving many of us questioning why he would set his story in a culture that he is so ignorant of.

I offered the Mom in rehab as an example of something that Quinn might need money for, and given how DPC has shown us glimpses of Quinn's Mom, it may be an accurate example. But, once again, if that's the direction he's going then he has already flubbed it.

If you pay close attention you will notice that DPC's writing has a particular weakness in exploiting his ideas. For example, Maya. He wanted her to be held hostage to her Father in some way, but he hasn't been able to successfully exploit the idea in his story. Mainly due to his ignorance of student loan's (or inability to do a google search).

Now, there has been a general trend in the story so far with Quinn, that she desperately needs money for some reason. A reason that we don't yet know. The only possible clue we've seen so far is her Mother. It could be something else entirely but this late in the story is does seem unlikely. Either way I am confident that he will fuck it up entirely.

 

[felicemastronzo]

What a discovery! DPC must be South American. Now everything makes sense

Also, how do you know so much about SA telenovelas?

My mother is a big fan. Until I was 13-14 years old I had lunch with them.

Culture is always culture

 

[dalli_x]

Neil and Mc poverty isn't realistic not to the level DPC shows it my family was in construction for a very long time we didn't have a lot of money but I could still play video games, it would be believable if things wasn't easy for them but still got car, tv and everything else a family would have MC act's like he lives in the 70's or a third world country

Neil's poverty can be realistic considering what is written in Neil's BIO. He once had a legal dispute and something like that can drive a person into lifelong poverty.

 

[shazba jnr]

The biggest is Neil and MC's poverty, it's just not believable. I'm not saying that there's no poverty in the US, there's way too much, but poverty is relative to the overall wealth of a society. In the US families that have lived on government aid all their lives have color tv's, smartphones, microwaves and etc. Outside of the major cities most Americans own cars, often more than one per family. And the overwhelming majority have air conditioning, in fact I can't remember the last time I saw a car or truck without AC, unless it was a vintage. Almost all houses and apartments have AC.

Neil's income is way off, a construction worker, especially one with 19+ years on the job, is earning a very good income.

Given this we see MC saying he's never been in a car with AC. There was a similar scene where he commented on seeing color tv. Then there's the car's. Where are they? Even the students from relatively affluent families don't have cars. In fact cars, and parking are a major and growing problems for college's, building and operating parking garages have become significant line items in their budgets.

These examples are all easily explainable with some contrived bs, so they don't really showcase ignorance with the US, they're just flippant plot devices to provide humble beginnings of the mc. DPC could have bored us with some sob story with the specifics as to how the dad bought his own construction business but it was a dud and he ended up in piles of debt and had to sell the family home and shit, and only now has he started to be able to put some money aside. Therefore they live in a run down house and have a beat up car. It's not unbelievable, it's just not common.

Not sure about your comment on cars. Most scenes don't call for cars. The mc borrows Rusty's car to take Quinn downtown, Jill drives them to the picnic, Jade drives the mc to her house. So these scenes call for a car. But most of the characters live in the dorms, their incentive to have a car on campus isn't high. And even if they do have cars, there no reason for us to see them.

 

[ReallyNotTimmy]

The biggest is Neil and MC's poverty, it's just not believable.

Agreed. Neil works in construction… as does my brother, who owns a half-million-dollar house, three cars, and supports a wife and five kids with that income. And Neil’s a supervisor… and somehow he’s barely getting by.

Now, a plausible explanation would be that when Lynette died, the doctors went to extraordinary lengths to save her, and they were very expensive, and Neil got saddled with the entirety of that hospital bill.

I have a friend who nearly lost her life to Covid, and her bill was in the millions. Without health insurance, she’d be paying that (and her student loans) off for life. If Neil was uninsured—if he’s non-union and his bosses shafted him—of course he’s poor, and might be poor forever. And if he earns enough money to pay those giant bills and a mortgage, he’s not eligible for government aid.

So: implausible, but not impossible. It’s just DPC never fully explained the poverty.

 

[felicemastronzo]

Agreed. Neil works in construction… as does my brother, who owns a half-million-dollar house, three cars, and supports a wife and five kids with that income. And Neil’s a supervisor… and somehow he’s barely getting by.

Now, a plausible explanation would be that when Lynette died, the doctors went to extraordinary lengths to save her, and they were very expensive, and Neil got saddled with the entirety of that hospital bill.

I have a friend who nearly lost her life to Covid, and her bill was in the millions. Without health insurance, she’d be paying that (and her student loans) off for life. If Neil was uninsured—if he’s non-union and his bosses shafted him—of course he’s poor, and might be poor forever. And if he earns enough money to pay those giant bills and a mortgage, he’s not eligible for government aid.

So: implausible, but not impossible. It’s just DPC never fully explained the poverty.

The only explanation in the story is the legal problems Neil allegedly had. But this is news thrown in at the beginning of the game and never surfaced again. Hard to give it any dimension

 

[1000Spiders]

This feels like nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking, tbh.

It isn't. Do you live in the US? Go to the nearest college campus and start counting cars. For that matter, go to the nearest high school. For MC to have driven only rarely before taking Cathy home is silly. For him to be shocked that Jill's car has aircon beggars belief.

 

[Darkwen]

Neil's poverty can be realistic considering what is written in Neil's BIO. He once had a legal dispute and something like that can drive a person into lifelong poverty.

Even with legal problems it shouldn't lead to a life time of poverty unless he fuck up massively, but what are these legal problems if they really this bad then how does Neil even have a job something like that would make him a big risk and another question why isn't Neil in lock up in a jail cell?

 

[maaarco2014]

my friends, is there a post with all new preview?

 

[1000Spiders]

Even with legal problems it shouldn't lead to a life time of poverty unless he fuck up massively, but what are these legal problems if they really this bad then how does Neil even have a job something like that would make him a big risk and another question why isn't Neil in lock up in a jail cell?

He means a civil judgment, not a criminal one.

 

[dalli_x]

The only explanation in the story is the legal problems Neil allegedly had. But this is news thrown in at the beginning of the game and never surfaced again. Hard to give it any dimension

I'm assuming this is because the MC didn't bond with Neil until he was 12. It was only through a legal dispute that Neil was awarded custody of his son.

Spoiler: Screenshot

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[dalli_x]

Even with legal problems it shouldn't lead to a life time of poverty unless he fuck up massively, but what are these legal problems if they really this bad then how does Neil even have a job something like that would make him a big risk and another question why isn't Neil in lock up in a jail cell?

Don't find a problem where there isn't one. Are you conducting a legal dispute yourself without having legal protection insurance? Let's see how far you get. It also depends on who you are suing. If your opponent is rich, he will drag you from court to court and legal fees are not cheap.

For example, why would he go to prison over a custody dispute? One speaks of a legal dispute and not of a criminal case or a capital crime.

 

[ffive]

It isn't. Do you live in the US? Go to the nearest college campus and start counting cars. For that matter, go to the nearest high school. For MC to have driven only rarely before taking Cathy home is silly. For him to be shocked that Jill's car has aircon beggars belief.

Like the others pointed out, the game simply doesn't have that many scenes where you would have any actual opportunity to see cars, but it's a mistake to conclude from this that the cars are non-existent.

I seriously doubt DPC isn't aware that cars are prominent in the US, especially when students bragging about their cars and showing them off is pretty standard part of the college life movies this game is very much based on.

And MC's family being excessively poor is, again, not very convincing that the game somehow portrays American culture all wrong. Because that's literally one person out of dozens and on top of it it's the person the game has vested interest in portraying as poor bumpkin, even if it does it in ham-fisted manner.

 

[Darkwen]

He means a civil judgment, not a criminal one.

That's never stated other then in the bio but since you can't go to jail over debt one would think it a civil case but the question still reminds what did Neil do that so bad that he in this big a hole

 

[Darkwen]

Don't find a problem where there isn't one. Are you conducting a legal dispute yourself without having legal protection insurance? Let's see how far you get. It also depends on who you are suing. If your opponent is rich, he will drag you from court to court and legal fees are not cheap.

For example, why would he go to prison over a custody dispute? One speaks of a legal dispute and not of a criminal case or a capital crime.

Right but legal dispute can mean anything of course it most likely nothing that is criminal but it worth asking what did Neil do. Other wise it a plot hole because even if it someone just trying to drag you through the court a lawyer can handle it for you of course that cost money but still that would be something over time he can come out of .

 

[ffive]

Right but legal dispute can mean anything of course it most likely nothing that is criminal but it worth asking what did Neil do. Other wise it a plot hole because even if it someone just trying to drag you through the court a lawyer can handle it for you of course that cost money but still that would be something over time he can come out of .

Doesn't have to be anything Neil has done specifically. Could be something like a company he worked for making him a scapegoat for some failure and saddling him with some kind of settlement payment.