[Change the name of "Infantile Mode," please]

12 hours ago, VerdantThorn.9345 said:

 

Sure you can! And, I thought about just that point ever since people mentioned it a while back when they brought up "Bookah mode." Three things have floated about my brain, in particular (it seems that I like to think in 3's, lol).

First, in some of those cases it is clearly not JUST the in-game Asura talking to the characters, but the out-of-game developers talking to the players (albeit in a tongue-in-cheek way). In particular, with the "Baby's First" collection/achievement set, which is non-diegetic (hey thanks for that reminder of the existence of that awesome word via the patch notes, devs!). That is, there is no in-world counterpart to that collection, so clearly that Asura could not have programmed that. It is like the background music in the zones - there for our benefit as part of the game, not something that were we actually in The Commander's head we would actually hear/see/whatever. That is the GW2 game devs talking to the GW2 player who selects that mode. That's not the case with "Infantile Mode" itself, but the achievement could not exist without the mode enabling it. 

 

The achievements are also a tongue-in-cheek nod to the games that hand out achievements for doing basically nothing.  Stuff like "started the game!"  "jumped for the first time!"  "Opened the settings menu!"  It is - again - not calling YOU a baby.  It's an absolute mockery of that game trend that was going on for awhile.  SAB isn't poking fun at the players - it's poking fun at the games industry in general.    As for "Infantile" itself not being part of Asura vocabulary - most of the language used in SAB isn't.  Look at how the few NPCs talk.  "Bubble Baubles."  Etc.  Moto isn't using normal Asura words in the game because, well, it's a game.  A game where the characters within aren't even asuras (they appear to be mostly humans and a few elves).  It's a lot like many fantasy RPGs using "ye olde English" in that respect - Moto is using terminology and words that make "sense" in his setting. 

This also isn't a normal area in the game.  Super Adventure Box is _literally_ a video game within the world of GW2.  So those achievements COULD very well be in-game/in-character.  It's incredibly cheeky and 4th wall breaky.

While I am against changing the name because I think it is a fantastic joke and changing it won't make it land, I do sympathize with your situation.  I really hope you're able to find a way to mentally shift your viewpoint and understand that it is the mode - and the practices within that mode - that are being called infantile - not you or anyone playing the mode.    I know how you feel - I see you.  And I wish more people here had been more civil.  The unfortunate reality is you are basically playing buzzkill during an event a lot of people look forward to every year.  May not be your intent, and people should definitely stay civil, but that's definitely why you're running into the more... enthusiastic opposition.

 

 

12 hours ago, VerdantThorn.9345 said:

Which brings me to my last point. There is already a line - or a number of lines - the devs don't cross when it comes to words. They don't because saying certain things doesn't make for a positive gaming experience, regardless of whether characters would say them or not. The existence of a profanity filter, and the banning of those words from player/character names is already an indication that there is a line past which the developers don't want to go. So, why didn't that Asura - already a jerk, already insulting, already a narcissist - call that mode "R****d mode"? The developers, unconstrained by such filers, COULD have done that. Because the game developers know WAY better than to be saying that, obviously.

It's actually pretty common for words to be at least censored from player language options but still used in game.  For example, Final Fantasy XIV will censor the word "w***e," but characters use the term themselves ("whoreson" being a particularly notable example).    They're also not outright banned - just filtered by default and can be turned off.   It's more to meet a checkbox for the ESRB and other critic groups.

And as for the "R**** mode" that wouldn't make any sense and wouldn't work with the joke (aside from being horribly offensive).  Because THEN the mode is calling the player something and would imply the mode is for the disabled.  It is not.  Infantile describes the MODE, and the mode BABIES the player.  It treats the player like a baby to the point of being so overly pandering: rainbow clouds that basically bypass the entire level, empty "participation" achievements, etc.    It isn't calling the player bad or incompetent.  The mode itself is infantile to the point of comically missing the point.

[Change the name of "Infantile Mode," please]

Can I make a potential counterpoint that has only lightly been touched on here?

I actually agree with you that the name is insulting.  But I think it should be and I think the joke doesn't work if it isn't.  In-game, the Asura who made it is such a narcissist that he not only plasters his own face everywhere inside it (Moto), but he even plays the part of the princess as well (it's just him in a wig).  And pictures of both abound.

This Asura is absolutely insulting the people who pick this mode.  And it's in character.  And this is an RPG.   Instead of letting the anger you feel boil out into the real world and affect you, channel it in game.   Beat his dumb infantile mode, collect those baubles and force him to begrudgingly hand over the prizes.   Smugly look down on him for every single bauble or zone you clear on Normal.  

What I'm getting at is, instead of letting this become a sticking point for a potential bad time for you, let it become a storytelling moment.  Embrace it.  Have some fun with it: if your character isn't an Asura, how does this affect their view on the little sharks?  If you are an Asura, how will you get back at Moto?

And then stepping back outside of the realm of roleplay, GW2 is a community game with so many players willing to step in and help.  I promise you so many of the HPs out in HoT and PoF are outside the reach of some players and without those trains they'd never get them - but no one shames those players.  People eagerly help those players get it.  SAB is no different - your fellow players will help you.  Their options to help may be more limited but if they needed to checkpoint port you across the levels I'm sure many players would have no problem doing so.  

There's a beauty in humanity that even if some of us struggle with tasks, many others have an abundance of strength or skill in that same task.  All of us need a hand sometime, whether we have an officially diagnosed disability or not.  Asking for help is not weakness or shameful.  I think you'll find more success in asking for a hand up the mountain rather than asking the mountain to be moved, in the end.

Also quick edit for clarity: I LOVE the name. I DO NOT want it changed.  It needs to be this blatant for the joke to work.  Calling it something like "Fluffy mode" or simply "Easy mode" completely loses the actual joke and then it's just a mode.   Infantile is so over-the-top in its description.