Season 2 Premiere of Red vs Blue

brent_linux writes "Red VS Blue, winner of several awards, has started up their second season. If you missed their first season you can pick up the DVD from their online store. To view the high quality videos you have to donate money to the cause, but like before you can view the lower quality ones for free."

Comments

Eh?

[lukewarmfusion]

Not only is this a dupe, they're on the second episode of the second season. This might have been postworthy if it had gone up a week and a half ago.

Re:Eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not only is this a dupe, they're on the second episode of the second season. This might have been postworthy if it had gone up a week and a half ago.

Feh, whatever. Red vs. Blue was interesting for the first bunch of episodes since it was something different. I got bored with it after the newbie stole the other team's flag while they were debating something. I doubt it got much better.

Re:Eh?

[lukewarmfusion]

There are some great jokes later in the season. I particularly enjoyed Tucker (I think it was him) going through the portal and thinking he went back in time. "So that makes you.. a gay robot." Hell, it's better than most of the crap on TV. BTW, Previous post: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/01/11/ 2327220&mode=thread&tid=127&tid=186&tid=188&tid=20 4&tid=97

Re:Eh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yup - link here.

Re:Eh?

[kwerle]

Ya know - the first episode of season 2 did almost nothing for me. Episode 2 is damn funny.

Puma? What's a Puma?

[drfishy]

Because of Red vs Blue myself and all my friends have started calling the rocket launching Warthogs Pumas...

I wish they'd put more effort back into writing

[Eric S Rayrnond]

The early episodes are beyond comparison, very top notch stuff.

However, as the first season got on, the writing seemed to degrade noticeably and the plot got a little wonky at the end when Church decides to do that thing he does (avoiding spoilage).

I'd advise them to slow down a bit, produce fewer episodes and take us back to the excellent writing of the first 5 episodes.

Re:I wish they'd put more effort back into writing

[Marsala]

I know whatcha mean....

I feel the exact same way about fetchmail.

:)

I keed! I keed!

Re:I wish they'd put more effort back into writing

[Tet]

I feel the exact same way about fetchmail.

A humourous reply, yes, but YHBT. Take a look at the spelling of "Raymond".

Re:I wish they'd put more effort back into writing

[Illserve]

Yes please. First 5 are great and hits the skids hard thereafter.

Re:I wish they'd put more effort back into writing

[74nova]

i disagree. the stuff about the puma is classic,but the rest of the early dialoge is phonky. the acting is terrible in the first ones and gets much better as time goes on. id have to agree that the plot gets worse, but they relied on almost a Seinfeld-ish talk-about-nothing style early on that had no plot at all. not that that's a bad thing, i rather like some of it, but they at least had a story as time went on. keep in mind i didnt like the story any better than the lack thereof in the earlier ones, but at least it existed.

so i guess all that to say that the quality of production and acting got better, a bad plot emerged, and the humor got worse. overall a very good buy on DVD, i think.

wtf is red vs. blue?

[motardo]

tell me now, is it some CTF stuff or someting?

Re:wtf is red vs. blue?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's an online video-comic thing. It's hard to explain. Basically its a series of comedy episodes made with video from Halo's multiplayer mode. The characters twich and nod as real people voice them. It's written pretty well and is usually really funny. It's a continuing story, so you will want to start from the first season, which they have taken off their site to ease the server load of season two, but i'm sure you can find the first season on bittorrent or other p2p apps.

Information please

[MacBrave]

Since I'm cable TV challenged and the site appears to be /.'ed, could someone explain what Red vs Blue is about?

Re:Information please

[Cthefuture]

Yeah, I was just about to post the same thing.

A more useful description would be helpful for many people. I mean, I have no idea what the hell Red vs. Blue is.

They took the time to post on the front page, please provide a description! Ugh, geek syndrome (assuming everyone is in the know, and if not then you must suck).

Re:Information please

[Anonymous Coward]

Fark has some information about it in their forums.
Scroll down past the picture of al gore to see it.

Re:Information please

[merlin_jim]

Red vs. Blue is machinima, that is, animation made with the help of consumer 3D software; in this case, Halo for the XBox.

So they took a bunch of guys, hooked them up in Halo, wrote a script, got some cameraguys, and recorded a DVD. It's VERY VERY funny stuff.

Re:Information please

[Bish.dk]

could someone explain what Red vs Blue is about?

The short version is that it's a kind of sitcom produced using the Halo game for XBox.

The show centers around a completely irrelevant valley, on a warridden planet, in which two groups (rather stupid) soldiers from opposing sides have been stationed.

The dialogue is hilarious, and the show can't be recommended highly enough.

Re:Information please

[lukewarmfusion]

Red vs Blue is an online animated series featuring characters from the video game Halo. It falls under the category "machinima" - which means that they use existing engines to create or animate characters and "act" out scenes. Sundays and Mondays are particularly bad for them because (after being mentioned on Slashdot last year) their traffic has increased tremendously. After last year's success, they put together a DVD of the first season and some additional stuff. It's $20 and well worth it if you enjoy the series. As the post mentions, they've won quite a few awards and have gotten lots of press as a result. Oh, and it's damn funny. (Why is my first post modded troll? - the story is a dupe and it's nearly two weeks after the fact.)

Re:Information please

[geekdoc]

Ok, so here's the skinny.

Red vs. Blue is based on Halo, and in fact, the videos are created by a group of guys choreographing the movements of a multiplayer Halo game to follow their story.

The story is a relatively simple one. Between the Covenant invasion (Halo) and the invasion of Earth (Halo 2), a brutal civil war broke out between the human marines (the reds versus the blues). While in most places, the fight is ugly and bloody, the boys in Blood Gulch Canyon can't seem to figure out why the hell they are where they are, seeing as though their location holds no strategic value.

Throw in lines like "Women are like Voltron. The more you can hook up, the better it gets," an overbearing sergeant, and a retard of a blue recruit, and hillarity ensues.

I hope this helps.

Re:Information please

[Hexedian]

Red vs. Blue is a humor serie made with HALO in-game graphics.

Why does it have to be Red vs Blue?

[WIAKywbfatw]

Why do Red and Blue have to be up against one another? Can't they just get along? I bet if they worked together they could make a lovely shade of purple.

Re:Why does it have to be Red vs Blue?

[merlin_jim]

Why do Red and Blue have to be up against one another? Can't they just get along?

Actually, a lot of the jokes are based exactly on that topic...

Re:Why does it have to be Red vs Blue?

[jabberjaw]

bet if they worked together they could make a lovely shade of purple.
It's not purple! It's like uhh... a lightish red.

Re:Why does it have to be Red vs Blue?

[AveryT]

Reminds me of the joke about the two ocean tankers that collided. One was carrying red paint, the other blue paint.

Both crews were marooned...

Re:Why does it have to be Red vs Blue?

[scumbucket]

I would have named it Black vs White, but then I would have been labeled a racist or something.

Re:Why does it have to be Red vs Blue?

[Wolfrider]

--Two of my favorite jokes in the series:

o The Warthog coming over the ridge, playing loud Mexican music

o The machine-gunning warthog (or Puma) holding down the 2 guys behind the rock with a continuous stream of gunfire. One guy getting shot at turns to the other and says, "They've gotta run outta ammo SOMEtime!"

Re:Why does it have to be Red vs Blue?

[merlin_jim]

I like the guy running the machine gun. If you have surround sound on the DVD, you hear him behind you yelling stuff like "Oh yeah you like that? You want some more? Here's some for you!"

That and the "Why are we here?" conversation from the first episode...

existentialist material

[unk1911]

the red vs. blue is reminiscent of the existentialist thought processes. it reminds me of samuel beckett's "waiting for godot" -- really great material, especially if you've ever played halo and contemplated on life

Re:existentialist material

[quantum bit]

Waiting for Godot? Ugh. Red vs. Blue is about 100x better.

If you want existentialism that isn't boring, might want to check out "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" by Tom Stoppard.

Re:existentialist material

[djtripp]

I can't believe I never thought about "Waiting for Gadot." So would that make RvB, Machinama of the Absurd?

So is Tucker, Vladamir and Caboose, Estragon, or is it Simmons and Griff? Or is it the otherway around?

Re:existentialist material

[Anonymous Coward]

Shut up you fag. It's supposed to be funny. Go back to eating wheat germ.

Re:existentialist material

[soren.harward]

The comparison is right, but the label's a little off. Beckett and RvB are both "absurdist," not exactly existentialist. Yes, the former is an offshoot of the latter, but the point of absurdism is really just to show that existence is pretty much meaningless and all our efforts amount to nothing. The existentialists didn't take such a dim view of the human condition.

High quality videos

[gpinzone]

Are there torrents available? That way, they don't have to pay for the bandwidth, and I don't feel guilty not donating.

Re:High quality videos

[Anonymous Coward]

Are there torrents available?
Suprnova.org is your friend.

Re:High quality videos

[barureddy]

Does anyone know of a torrent that doesn't use a tracker which uses port 6969? My campus blocks that port for security reasons.

Re:High quality videos

[peterb]

Not to be the neighborhood scold, but this attitude is really insulting.

I don't mean the "I don't not want to pay for it" attitude -- hey, there's lots of things we all don't pay for. But the idea that you would only feel guilty if you use their bandwidth. It kind of implies that the "valuable" part of Red Vs. Blue is the money that goes in to hosting their site and streaming the media instead of, oh, I dunno, the time and sweat and effort it takes to produce something -- anything -- worth watching.

I know you didn't mean it that way, but I just had to say it. If you're going to feel guilty about not donating, feel guilty because you're not paying them for the huge effort they put in to create something you enjoy. If and when you decide to donate (or buy a DVD), do it because you want to reward them for their creativity. Not for their bandwidth.

Re:High quality videos

[argStyopa]

Yes, go to the red v blue page, there are bitorrent links for the whole first season, haven't checked season 2 yet.

Re:High quality videos

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you nuts?! Why would anyone pay for this stuff in the first place? It's mildly humorous - but it's nothing you can't see in a million other venues, in slight variations.

This is more of the "hey, that's kind of silly" rather than "oh my god this is genius" variety. Paying for it would be a lot like having to pay to see fark altered photographs. Mildly amusing but, again, not enough to actually care to pay for it.

Re:High quality videos

[Vermifax]

Not insulting at all, especially with a rampant slashdotting of their site going on.

Especially since you're berating him for wanting something they GIVE AWAY FREE. All their past episodes are still available, AND on bittorrents for the most part that rvb links to to save their own bandwidth.

Re:High quality videos

[Vermifax]

One minor correction, they have taken down season 1 temporarily, but will restore it after their traffic levels out.

Re:High quality videos

[grahams]

They don't give away the high-quality videos for free. Read again and come back with a clue.

Re:High quality videos

[Metaldsa]

Its not insulting in the least bit to have the attitude of "its on the Internet, its machima, it should be free." We aren't talking about a corporation here. I don't feel guilty reading 10 web comics in the morning even though they put their time into it. If you want to create something for the Internet then don't expect to become rich off of it. Red and Blue was driven from word of mouth from the free versions.

I understand they work hard and want some money for their series so they offer a high-res version for paying customers. But I shouldn't feel the least bit guilty about wanting a bit torrent for the free version. If they don't want a free version then they should only sell high res versions and dvd (although the success of the show would be horrible because word of mouth on forums completely drive their high-res sales).

Re:High quality videos

[Metaldsa]

And then I realize the subject is about the high-res versions (yeah he should have kept his mouth shut if he wanted something for free which others pay for). Just like ripping off movies, music, and other media he should realize that hard work where people expect to get paid shouldn't be downloaded for free.

Re:High quality videos

[SkunkPussy]

here is a link to a torrent from suprnova:

Season 1 Episodes 1-19

Re:High quality videos

[sco08y]

I know you didn't mean it that way, but I just had to say it. If you're going to feel guilty about not donating, feel guilty because you're not paying them for the huge effort they put in to create something you enjoy.

Look, by that logic, they should be donating to me.

Re:High quality videos

[danila]

If and when you decide to donate (or buy a DVD), do it because you want to reward them for their creativity. Not for their bandwidth.

That's the same as with piracy. I will never ever pay these guys a single kopeck (penny, eurocent, yuan). These videos are fun, but I am not a rational economic agent, so for me they are simply in a different category - "stuff, which I can enjoy for free, but will never pay for". Do you enjoy chatting with your sister or wrestling with your brother? But would you consider paying for it? Thought so.

Red vs. Blue, as well as most of the movies are in the same league for me. I enjoy them, but won't pay. If I can't have them for free, I will live without them, but I will not pay (not because I am a cheapskate, simply because).

The fact that I won't pay doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy a better quality copy. So it would be only natural for me to get it from BitTorrent, eDonkey or another P2P. And of course, in this case I will be paying for bandwidth, in the form of my ISP bill.

The parent poster probably feels the same way. He won't pay for the videos, because for him it is not worth an arbitrary small amount of money. But he still would like to contribute to the bottom line of these guys. The only way he can do that is by not wasting their bandwidth. So he wants to get the videos on BT and in that case, why not high-quality versions? BTW, I am sure that he would be more than happy to buy them beer or something else, as long as this is not a direct monetary contribution.

Re:High quality videos

[74nova]

um... they give it away free. should i feel guilty for watching it for free? all this guy says is that he already feels like a mooch watching it for free (even tho they encourage it) and doesnt want to tie up their bandwidth. i see absolutely nothing wrong with this.

i prefer downloading linux distros via torrent for the same reason. i already feel like theyve given so much letting me have it for free, id just assume not have them have to pay even more for me to download it

Re:High quality videos

[Hooded One]

About halfway through the first season they started providing all the downloads in BitTorrent. Not sure why that's not happening this time.

must get good gradesssss

[bbowers]

Well I was definitely skeptical at first, but the two movies I watched weren't that horrible. I now see where my career goes if I don't get good grades in my classes in college... I'll be sure not to make that mistake ;-)

Re:Puma? What's a Puma?

[TMLink]

Hey Simmons! What's the name of that mexican lizard that eats all the goats?

That would be the Chupacabra, sir.

Hey Griff! Chipathingy. I like it. Got a ring to it.

What Red vs Blue

[savagedome]

you missed their first season you can pick up the DVD from their online store
Is this about the red vs blue dvd war. Well, then picking up the dvd would be interesting :)

You are right. What the heck is red vs blue? The site is /.ed

Favorite quote from episode 20

[Ignorant Aardvark]

Medic: "I'm a pacifist."
Soldier 1: "You're something that babies suck on?"
Soldier 2: "Isn't that a pedofile?"
Medic: "I'm a PACIFIST."
Soldier 2: "Ohh, my mind was on something completely different..."

I'm doing this from memory, sorry if it's slightly off, but I found it to be hilariously funny.

Re:Favorite quote from episode 20

[PeeweeJD]

Don't ever be alone

Re:Favorite quote from episode 20

[teh*fink]

you guys find this stuff funny? i watched that same episode and about 30sec after this part i just closed it...how is this funny? it's boring, slow, derivative and not witty in the least. i'm not saying i could do anything much better but jeez...

i hate to say it but, is this what geek humor is?

Re:Favorite quote from episode 20

[Anonymous Coward]

No, that's not what geek humor is...that's what non-humor is. You're not the only one who thinks it's crappy, even among fans of the game it's based on.

Re:Favorite quote from episode 20

[Lord_Dweomer]

"i hate to say it but, is this what geek humor is?"

Yes. It is. You see, humor does not have to be funny to EVERYBODY to work. And why even bother posting that you don't find it funny? Why are you even reading this story? What a troll.

Re:Favorite quote from episode 20

[74nova]

ok, tell me something that you like and it is likely something i dont care for. once you tell me what it is, i can ridicule you for liking it and get a superior attitude towards you for it.

i dont mean to sound like a prick, but i like this stuff and find it entertaining. just because you dont like it, doesnt mean its drivel.

i like fast, gas-guzzling, american muscle cars. you most likely do not. does that make whatever kind of car you like crap? probably not.

Re:Favorite quote from episode 20

[darkonc]

i hate to say it but, is this what geek humor is?

A really good joke takes at least 3 people. One person to tell the joke. One person to get the joke and one person to laugh at for not understanding it.

Obviously, you're number 3 in this case. Not a problem.. I just hope that you don't mind being laughed at.

and, what?

[Tweakmeister]

Sure would help if the poster was a bit more descriptive for us not in the know.

Sound quality on DVDs?

[sootman]

I loved the season 1 episodes but the sound was horrible--sounded like they were yelling into a Radio Shack mic and it was often too quiet or too loud. Is the sound on the DVD any better?

Re:Sound quality on DVDs?

[otis wildflower]

Are you sure this isn't intentional? They're supposed to be a squad talking over radios...

Re:Sound quality on DVDs?

[arashiakari]

That was intentional to make it sound like a lofi radio signal, such as a CB Radio or cheap walkie-talkies.

I wouldn't be suprised if they had to "fuzz it up" after recording at a higher quality.

Re:Sound quality on DVDs?

[Alzheimers]

I had the same problem with the DIVX encodes. Download the QT .MOV's and the sound should be much better.

Re:Sound quality on DVDs?

[Politburo]

Unfortunately, when I viewed the DVD, the sound was poor. I mentioned it to my friend who owned the DVD and he said it had sounded much better on his audio system. We were only watching it through television speakers. While other posters are correct that the characters are talking through radios, it was very very difficult to hear in several scenes when I viewed it, without turning it up to an uncomfortable level.

Re:Sound quality on DVDs?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you watch the behind the scenes stuff on the DVD, you can tell that they're recording the voices over the telephone to make it sound like radio.

Re:Sound quality on DVDs?

[pforhan]

Agreed. The sound is just not at a consistent volume. I was constantly having to adjust volume to keep things pretty level.

Rabbit Hole...

[slashblog]

Red or Blue ... errrrrrrr
CmdrTaco has fallen down the rabbit hole...

Low quality video torrents

[whizzzo]

OK, how about any torrents for the free low quality videos considering the current state of their server?

Aaaaah...

[rudib]

The joys of jumping around in a blue T-shirt with "BLUE ARMY" - "CHURCH 13" and another fruitcake with a brown one "ROJO" - "LOPEZ 1010" and no-one knowing what the hell this is all about... Wonderful. =)

(We need to sharpen our ghost impersonation/Spanish skills, tho.)

Re:Puma? What's a Puma?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because of Red Vs Blue, I've started calling all my friends 'cockbite'...

Best Quote from RvB

[CGP314]

Chicks are like voltron, the more you hook up, the better it gets.


--
In London? Need a Physics Tutor?

American Weblog in London

How about this one...

[rmdyer]

"So I said, if you've got a ship that can carry a tank, why not put guns on the ship instead???"

"Shut up, you're ruining the moment!"

+1

Hmm.

[wdavies]

Ok, I'm intrigued. But. Guys. Do. Not. Host. Download. MPEGs. On. The. Same. Site. As. Your. Online. Store.

I would really, actually buy one of these to see what all the fuss is about, but the Store is /.'ed.

Winton

Cheapskates

[mattgreen]

I love the double standards here on Slashdot. Everyone cries that CDs are overpriced and that you'd prefer to compensate the artist directly. Yet the high quality episodes are only available to paying subscribers and the parent comment is a link to a torrent that gives you that materal for free. Whats more, this comment is marked informative. Never mind the fact it advocates not compensating the creators of this series.

Re:Cheapskates

[SkunkPussy]

> Yet the high quality episodes are only available
> to paying subscribers and the parent comment is
> a link to a torrent that gives you that materal
> for free.

Im not sure if this is true - the link I put here is only ~200MB and it hasn't downloaded yet so I can't check it out, there
is another torrent ~4GB which is an iso of the DVD. I didn't put a link to that one.

> Whats more, this comment is marked
> informative.

It is informative!

Re:Cheapskates

[SkunkPussy]

> I love the double standards here on Slashdot.

I love the people on slashdot who don't bother to check out the article/link before having an opinion on what it supposedly contains.

I can confirm the link I provided is to the LoRes episodes seeing as my torrent finished downloading today.

You plonker rodney!

Where'd the bittorrent links go?

[shren]

There don't seem to be bittorrent links this season. Do they really want to pay for all this bandwidth themselves?