Me, New Years Day, f13, Games.

[schild]

So, New Years Day, I'd planned on posting an article early in the morning. First, the clock got synced out on f13. And then some weird shit happened. Turned out a guy outside of our apartment was beating up his mom. No, I'm not kidding. One of my roommates heard it from his room and went outside to calm this guy down. Apparently he felt my roommate was "fronting." So the guy - from now on, Ratfucker - went up to my roommate and punched him in the face. Meanwhile, my roommate had yelled inside for me to call 911 as the guy had a bat and was going after his own mother. Well, between me running in to grab a phone and the guy punching my roommate in the face, the mother somehow got the bat out of Ratfucker's hand. She then proceeded to beat the ever loving shit out of Ratfucker after he punched my roomie. We're talking hits you could hear from inside the apartment. I got outside with the phone as he was running away - this guy looked like a fucking piñata. Well, obviously he didn't make it far and came back just as the cops were getting here.

After we all talked to the police, I found out Ratfucker had been living in the apartment without his name on the lease and had a history of arrests and felonies. Needless to say, I'm doing everything I can to get his whole family the fuck out of here. Yea, I know, domestic violence is everywhere. Fine. But it's sure as fuck not going to be next door to me.

In light of this event, I decided not to post my original article. Which, at its core, was a long diatribe against gaming journalism and journalism in general. If you're wondering what broke the camel's back, you can look to the WoW Recruitment thread in MMOG discussion - but honestly, this has been a long time coming. In short, I'm done writing about games. I'll still be here, doing everything else, but I'm done with gaming journalism for good. I'll be keeping my contacts for all the other writers and contributors should they want interviews, reviewables, etc. and I'll be getting another mod or two over the next few months as we've done nothing but grow since 2004. I don't regret my time writing about games but frankly, I'm tired of the good fight. I'm also tired of the following four situations that seem to continue popping up whether I like it or not:

• Requests to cover games that my audience has no interest in. I don’t know how the hell I got on the Hidden City Games email list, but no, I do not want to cover Bella Sara, damnit.
• Conduct interviews before the company has given me a chance to play their New, Exciting Game™. This one is particularly annoying. Everyone knows where pimps need to go to hype their shit, what makes you think I’m interested in it? I can count on both hands how many previews I’ve done in the last half-decade, and frankly, even though I was hyped for those games and asked to do the previews myself, it still left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
• Interview developer x at company y who just lost his job/was let go when the company closed/was victim to management stupidity. Hey, shit happens. I get it. But unless you’re going to tell me that dragons are real, Jesus is magic, and you kept your QA gimp in a cage, there’s really nothing of interest there. Companies open and close every day and it’s typically because the game was crap and/or the management was terrible. The story has been told thousands of times, and while it’s interesting once in a blue moon, you’re never going to top Sigil. I gave up on that a long time ago and so should you.
• Marketing. Three Words: Not My Job. I'm sorry, but if I wanted to do marketing, I'd get a job in marketing. The gaming industry and the gaming press should be ashamed of the symbiotic relationship they've created. Inexcusable. Now, is there anything wrong with marketing in general? Not at all, in fact, it's damned brilliant what they've done, but outside of marketing - who is doing their job maybe a bit too well - it's a mess.

OK. Fine. you caught me. The mom/son beatdown outside the apartment had nothing to do with this decision, but I needed to put the story on the internet somewhere.

So what have I been doing? Well, I haven't been keeping up with gaming news for a few weeks now. I'm reading and posting in the same forums I've always read. I fully intend to see f13 through until the sun burns out. But for me, now, it's a community with some people that write substantial things that deserve more than a forum post every now and again.

And what am I going to be doing? Well, I've been working on a game with Sauced for a while now. It's a flash game and if it turns out how we're hoping, we think it'll be pretty fucking cool. We have plans further than that, but I think that's enough of a mention. Further details will arrive at Network of Ninja and I'll probably make a thread for us to update in the game dev forum. I'm also probably going to be blogging at NoN about the curiosities of making a game in flash. I imagine Sauced will be blogging a bit as well. We've been working on it for nearly three months now and it's coming along. Also, I'm working on finishing (starting? haha) a book I've been wanting to write for a while. I've been working on that very sporadically for nearly a year. After that? Who knows, maybe I'll make a web game. I'm not sure yet.

I do know this though: For the first time in five years, I find myself interested in the design side of gaming a lot more and I suppose a major part of that is I found criticizing games on the internet to be a fruitless task. Almost as fruitless as getting riled up about politics and not doing anything about it. Maybe my gig at Gameriot/Giant Realm taught me that. I don't care where it came from, but it sure is nice. However, I don't regret my time mingling and wandering around in the god-forsaken wasteland that is gaming journalism. Thanks for sticking with me despite the fact I'm 31 flavors of crazy.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in this thread. I'll answer the first four though since it's rabidly obvious most people don't Read Every Word:

1. Yes, we have and will continue to have a frontpage.
2. No, f13 is not going anywhere, I'm just not writing anymore. Other people will be.
3. As soon as we have stuff to show from the game, we'll show it and as soon as we're comfortable talking about it, we'll talk about it.
4. This is in gen disc and not mmog or PC gaming because I'd rather the regulars here read it than the drive-by fanboy of the week.

[Sir T]

Ok I can understand your reasons for it and applaud your decision. you ggrew developed and know when its time to move on.

One thing though. you mentioned you are interested in the design side of gaming and you mixed in a like swipe at marketing. That makes me wonder. do you see gaming as it is now as an unsustainable medium, or in your opinion if the present trends are continued will it go into a roleplaying style decline?

I'd still like to read your article on gaming journalism as well btw.

[schild]

I'd still like to read your article on gaming journalism as well btw.

Not gonna happen. It was long, insulting, and unnecessary. They know it's fucked and they're riding a gravy train. It's the easiest and most unnecessary job in media.

Edit: Let me elaborate on this. Gaming journalism is a mix of two things: Linking and marketing. It doesn't matter who gets an exclusive or where a story breaks as it hits every single blog and site on the net within 48 hours. It's an awesome phenomenon that's only necessary because of the internet. The cycle works, it's just an insulting mess and I'm not going to be a part of it anymore. Also, gaming journalists, FOR THE MOST PART, are nerds without balls that are afraid to call things how they see it. Editors and ad folks, for the most part are worse. Once again, I applaud the industry and marketing in particular for setting things up this way. It's a staggering victory in a battle the critics would have (and should have) won if they weren't a bunch of nerds who just wanted free games.

do you see gaming as it is now as an unsustainable medium, or in your opinion if the present trends are continued will it go into a roleplaying style decline?

Games are completely sustainable - but companies and developers need to start understanding what niches need to be filled and where their talents may or may not lie. As it stands, there are too many folks trying to do things they're either not prepared or capable of doing or simply shouldn't be doing. MMOGs in particular is a section of the industry filled with people who have lofty dreams, tons of money, and absolutely no business sense.

Edit: Clarity.

[Quinton]

Happy New Year!  I look forward to seeing whatever you're building.  Flash, ugh!  Big audience and very accessable is a win though.  Maybe it'll convince me to finally quit my job and hack on a (differently) fun project though.

Also, if you're going to develop games, build something for Android!  Exciting new platform and new market.  Paid content supported in Q1.  No need to worry about your content being rejected by those jackasses in Cupertino for arbitrary reasons.  Create something actually cool for mobile gaming instead of a shitty port of some existing title and be my hero!

[schild]

Paid content supported in Q1.  Create something actually cool for mobile gaming instead of a shitty port of some existing title and be my hero!

The former needs to exist before the latter will. But, we were thinking about it! And we may in the future!

Edit: Moved stuff to the android thread.

[damijin]

Thanks for the game idea.

Our 3d star fighter prototype was not tolerated well by Flash. It's just not come far enough to handle the polygons yet. Domestic Abuse Online will be a smash hit though.

[Hawkbit]

Good luck and all that. 

I hope you'll still comment on games you're playing.  BIIF has been a pretty good idea, overall.  Some people (like me) came here because we like to see people unafraid of telling how it *really* is with a launched game.  I can use Metacritic to get a base idea of what journalists/marketing are saying about games and know where it stands on the bullshit meter.  But F13 lets me know the real side of the story.  It's been good, for us poor cheapskates that can't buy every game that comes out. 

Anyways, again - good luck.  Walking through newfound doors is always exciting.

[SnakeCharmer]

/obligatory Can I have your stuff?

Maybe you should look into MMO community building/moderation?  I hear WAR is starting something up soon.   

On a more serious note, best of luck with the new endeavors.  Also, good luck with funding (if you decide to go that route).  Be sure to spend enough on hookers and blow.

I can only imagine that asking the same question (why did it fail?) to the same people and getting the same answer (it was somebody else's fault) is only so much fun for so long.  Eventually it probably just becomes a cut and paste job with different company names. 

[schild]

Eventually it probably just becomes a cut and paste job with different company names. 

Gaming journalism has been a cut and paste job since the rise of blogs. Unfortunately people don't seem to be able to do that correctly.

[Paelos]

Eventually it probably just becomes a cut and paste job with different company names. 

Gaming journalism has been a cut and paste job since the rise of blogs. Unfortunately people don't seem to be able to do that correctly.

So, what exactly is your ideal of how gaming journalism should operate, in detail? I see a lot of what you don't like about it, but what is the utopian version of that particular segment?

[schild]

Eventually it probably just becomes a cut and paste job with different company names. 

Gaming journalism has been a cut and paste job since the rise of blogs. Unfortunately people don't seem to be able to do that correctly.

So, what exactly is your ideal of how gaming journalism should operate, in detail? I see a lot of what you don't like about it, but what is the utopian version of that particular segment?

Companies look for advertising outside of the gaming sector that appeals to teenagers and young adults and buys their own copies of games to review and acts as an independent entity unattached and companies have to be lucky to get interviews rather than magazines and sites begging for them. Also, exclusive reveals should be a case of catering to an audience, not a bidding war between magazines.

Also, shit gets called shit. And the good stuff stands out. Also, a universal rating system, if there should even be one. Rating a game is such a nebulous bullshit practice in masturbation anyway.

[Venkman]

There is a universal rating system

The average gamer has proven they don't want hugely in-depth analysis of the game. They want a score that substantiates their own opinion of something they bought by the time they got the article anyway.

One problem is the lack of a language of critique. The other problem is creating such a language alienates the market masses. This is the separation between art and business unfortunately, the reviewers mostly cater to where the dollars come from, and the publishers are by and large not looking to create art haus faire when they're peddling their ware around for reviews.

[schild]

There is a universal rating system

The average gamer has proven they don't want hugely in-depth analysis of the game. They want a score that substantiates their own opinion of something they bought by the time they got the article anyway.

One problem is the lack of a language of critique. The other problem is creating such a language alienates the market masses. This is the separation between art and business unfortunately, the reviewers mostly cater to where the dollars come from, and the publishers are by and large not looking to create art haus faire when they're peddling their ware around for reviews.

This is part of the reason I stopped. There isn't a language for critique and on top of that, everyone's just fine and dandy with how the system is working. Though, Moore got pissed FIFA 09 wasn't in the top 50 or whatever at Eurogamer. Eventually, things will get better. But I don't want to sit around 50 years waiting for them to get better.

[stray]

Lol, "frontin'".. Sadly, I used to say shit like that.


Welcome to Texas. 


Really though, that is untypical Austinite behavior. Probably from Houston or San Antonio.

[SnakeCharmer]

Curious though...Is tossing up your hands and saying 'Fuck it!' and being coffee house angsty it about really the answer?

The way I see it, you're one of the better writers/journalist(?) out there (if a bit cliche-ish at times, but that's fine) and people aren't really going to get the 'company line', so to speak.  There's something to be said for that.

However, I suppose being an indie doesn't pay the bills.

[photek]

Good post. Nice to see you getting stuff done, time to pull my finger out of my ass and start doing something too soon. Sitting around waiting for motivational triggers is kinda beating a dead horse it seems.

[Xuri]

What? You're going to stop writing about games and start (or continue, on a larger scale) to design them instead? Sellout!

[schild]

Curious though...Is tossing up your hands and saying 'Fuck it!' and being coffee house angsty it about really the answer?

I don't think a single thread in Gen disc counts as doing as such. But hey, if it came across as coffee house angsty, at least it came across at all.

And yes, saying "fuck it!" is the answer. This sector of gaming is largely a mess, so it's a proper response.

[Raph]

So, you need a red name now. ;)

[FatuousTwat]

Just watch! Now everything will get better, then when you want to get back in, they wont want you!

At least that's what I would think, and then procrastinate and not leave.

[schild]

So, you need a red name now. ;)

I'm a fan of the sky blue.

[Signe]

Does this mean you'll stop being so cranky? 

You should become a sports writer.  Like that other guy everyone loves around here.  You know.  Keith Olbermann.

[Falwell]

I was actually going to write up a big line about how this is admirable in a "fuck the man" kind of way. Or how you're finally doing something that's giving you some enjoyment. Or the fact that you've kept with it for as long as you have.

Then I thought about our usual practices here at F13 and decided to bring it back down to earth....

Pedo bear if you think Schild is a big, emo, stupid-face.

 

[Signe]

Schild has a lovely face.  He could be a part time model, you know, though possibly not a high class prostitute.

[Soln]

this is admirable, so all the very best.  Just please don't bet the proverbial farm, as it were.  I think we all expect 2009 to be rough one in gaming.

[Sauced]

So, you need a red name now. ;)

I'm a fan of the sky blue.

Speak for yourself!

[schild]

So, you need a red name now. ;)

I'm a fan of the sky blue.

Speak for yourself!

Heh.

[Signe]

Yes, give Sauced a red name.  He can be Tomato Sauced! 

[HaemishM]

Marketing. Three Words: Not My Job. I'm sorry, but if I wanted to do marketing, I'd get a job in marketing. The gaming industry and the gaming press should be ashamed of the symbiotic relationship they've created. Inexcusable. Now, is there anything wrong with marketing in general? Not at all, in fact, it's damned brilliant what they've done, but outside of marketing - who is doing their job maybe a bit too well - it's a mess.

Yeah, it really is.

Good luck with the design side.

[schild]

Marketing. Three Words: Not My Job. I'm sorry, but if I wanted to do marketing, I'd get a job in marketing. The gaming industry and the gaming press should be ashamed of the symbiotic relationship they've created. Inexcusable. Now, is there anything wrong with marketing in general? Not at all, in fact, it's damned brilliant what they've done, but outside of marketing - who is doing their job maybe a bit too well - it's a mess.

Yeah, it really is.

Good luck with the design side.

While the article has an ironic title given my avatar. Still, it isn't my job.

[Strazos]

While I'll be disappointed to see you taking a step back from "journalism," I really must applaud your position in taking the high road and sticking to your principles. I can easily imagine shouting into the wind like you have, for years, has become more than tiresome.

Just keep on keeping on, and all that.

[SnakeCharmer]

While the article has an ironic title given my avatar. Still, it isn't my job.

The games industry has a union?

/runs away screaming like a little girl

[Mrbloodworth]

If you need any art for the game, hit me up.

[Merusk]

Jesus, go away for a few days and everyone becomes a developer.  Wtf!

Good luck and shit.  Grats on finally realizing the only way to change shit is to do it yourself. Everything is easily ignored except results.  Those aren't ignored, but are instead hand waved-away as one-time strokes of luck or the mad combination of a rabid fan base and luck. 

[Yegolev]

I do know this though: For the first time in five years, I find myself interested in the design side of gaming a lot more.... I don't care where it came from, but it sure is nice.

Mazel tov!

If you need any art for the game, hit me up.

I need art for my game.  Although I probably mean that I need "art" for my game.  Also I need to learn to program graphics, so no hurry.