So it seems I’ve been derelict in my duties.  Why?  Because I’ve failed to point out the most-excellent “Age of Blogging” event that the folks at Blog Warhammer are organizing (and that OODLES of sites are participating in).

Some quick advice to bloggers new and old:

We love constructive criticism. Let’s face it – if you’re running a WAR blog you’re part of the most passionate, “plugged in” part of our community. You represent an important part of the “voice” of the community and part of that relationship means voicing concerns. While I usually won’t read ranting or aimless whining, but I’ve always got time for even-handed, considerate criticism of what we’re doing. Be tough, be honest, be fair.

That being said:

It’s okay to be a fan. I like reading about people having fun with our game. While it’s fun for Devs to read about people enjoying their work, it’s actually also an important feedback mechanism. Just like constructive criticism helps us know where there’s room for improvement, positive feedback helps us know what people are enjoying the most and, thus, what sorts of things they’d like to see MORE of.

Make sure we can contact you. We really DO read most of the WAR blogs we’re aware of and sometimes that means we have questions to ask or feedback to offer that don’t belong in blog comments.

So… yeah. Get out there and blog! If you start a new site, make sure to let me know!

A weirdly large number of people decided to email/IM me instead of commenting, which is curious. Are you all SECRET FILM MAKERS?

Anywho, to clarify a couple of things:

Yes, I realize that no “big” studio would grant the kind of access necessary to make a good documentary on game making. That being said, it’s far more likely that indie developers would be willing to consider it, if for no other reason than the promise of free advertising. And the story you’d get there would almost certainly be a good one, as there are only two likely outcomes:

1) Plucky underdogs make good and achieve success against all odds.

2) Wide-eyed dreamers crushed by factors beyond their control.

I’d watch either version!

Why hasn’t anyone tried to make a documentary on video game DEVELOPMENT?

I’m not talking some sort of post-mortem, deeply controlled Q&A deal.  I want to see somebody tag along during ACTUAL development and tell the story of how games are really made.

I promise there are all sorts of indie-film honors just WAITING for the Bright Spark who first manages to pull it off.

The Brits have opened a video game historical archive at the National Media Museum in Bradford.  This is a Good Thing.

The nature of our industry has made it far too easy for us to “fire and forget” products in the past with the result being the loss of awareness of the history of great games that have been released over the years. Furtive and legally difficult efforts have been made to preserve the availability of so-called “abandonware” and the success of handheld devices has given added life to older games that get ported to things like the DS, but even then all that’s being saved is the data.

What makes efforts like this archive helpful is the addition of context.

Without understanding where something came from or why it looks, feels and behaves the way it does makes it hard to appreciate the significance of many older games. How can you explain the significance of text-based MUDs to a kid whose first online gaming experience was a graphically intensive shooter on XBox Live? You need a narrative. What was the world like when these games came out? What sort of impact did it have on players? On developers? On future game makers?

People tend to try and compare what we do to movies, which I don’t think is correct. We’re a lot more like music. I was talking with Barnett a few days ago and he mentioned something that struck me as very true. Anyone who loves games – as with people who love music – almost certainly has a “season” in their past where that love was first established and fortified. What you experienced during that “season” is lodged forever in a priveleged part of your mind and psyche and – while you’ll continue to seek out and enjoy new games (or music) for the rest of your life – you’ll always have a disproportionate affection for the things you LOVED during that specific time in your life.

For most of us, that happens when we’re young. I distinctly remember rushing over to my best friend’s house in the Winter of 1993 to try and grab DOOM off of the U. Madison FTP server the day it was officially released. And then, of course, failing to do so and desperately trying to get onto a local BBS that had it available. I have fond memories of weekends spent playing through old Sierra adventure games with my friends – taking turns at the keyboard while the rest of the group shouted suggestions and demands. I remember playing the original Civilization for the first time, then losing the next six months of my life to it. I’ve enjoyed hundreds – maybe even thousands – of games since then, but the games I played in those formative years mean the most to me on a core, emotional level.

It’s hard to communicate what old games meant to people simply by porting them to a phone. You need to offer the human side of it as well to capture the full narrative and history of where we as an industry came from. I hope we see more of this sort of thing in the years to come because the work of the early generations of game developers deserves to be preserved and remembered not simply in screenshots and emulation, but also in stories and in the collective consciousness of new generations of gamers.

Apparently, there’s going to be an announcement about E3 2009 later tonight/early tomorrow.  Current rumors seem to point to it being open to the public (for a fee), which means it’ll be much closer to things like Games Convention Leipzig and PAX. Personally, I dug this year’s event WAY more than the previous events, but I recognize that I’m in the minority.

As such, my personal E3 “wish list” would be:

- Hold it anywhere – literally, ANYWHERE – but Los Angeles.  I realize there’s next to no chance of that happening, but I despise that city more than any other place on earth.  And I’ve been to THREE cities in Alabama.

- Four day show (Thursday-Sunday).

- Days 1 and 2, press and pros only.  This will give companies time to make “whiz bang” announcements and to do dedicated interviews without being swamped by fans.

- Days 3 and 4, open to the public.   This should be plenty of time for fans to see everything and bringing them in at the end gives the press an incentive to get E3 coverage out quickly to help direct fans to the best stuff on the floor.

- “Backstage” area with decent security for press and pros to continue doing interviews and presentations far away from the thumping techno madness of the show floor.  No public access on any day.

- Maintain reasonable booth babe restrictions.  Trust me, people will want to take pictures with your booth babe, even if she’s wearing as many as THREE postage stamps worth of costume.  Borderline nude models create nightmare bottlenecks all over the floor and make us all seem creepy and weird.

- Seating for the public.  LOTS of it.  In dedicated, strategically-placed areas that are away from main walkways.  PAX does this very well and it gives the “tired feet and DS loving” masses somewhere to rest up without creating human pyramids in the middle of every hallway and alcove.

- ANYWHERE but LA.  Hey, it can’t hurt to ask twice.

I guess that’s it.  If nothing else, this SHOULD mean the death of E For All, which was 1000 times worse than any E3.

This is just a quick heads up for my readers regarding my comment moderation policy.

I generally don’t edit or censor anything folks have to say in the comments on my blog (aside from excessive profanity) so long as the comments are on-topic regarding the post they appear in.   I have and will continue to delete comments that are off-topic, particularly comments aimed at dragging drama in from other places, but also comments that are aimed at circumventing the established support systems that exist for WAR/Mythic/EA/etc.

I’m not the right person to come to for tech support and such and my blog isn’t a venue for general public ranting.  There are plenty of other, better places for your voices to be heard if you have concerns or opinions that are related to WAR, but not to what I’m writing about specifically.

So, if you’ve noticed that a comment was either deleted or never posted at all, it’s almost certainly because the comment was off-topic and didn’t belong here.