In episode 100 of his fantastic podcast, Virgin Worlds, Brent discussed (amongst many other things in the mammoth milestone episode) the fact that many fan-created outlets for game news, specifically podcasts, get little to no recognition by the industry's "professionals," in the form of groups like 1up, and GameSpot, as well as in podcasts by the game companies themselves, with the exception of SOE. Honestly, it's the sort of thing that I had never noticed, given that I am much more inclined to listen to honest fan creations that corporate schlock, but it is a bit vexing, particularly since I believe it is carried out for reasons guided by outmoded thinking.
I believe that these corporate podcasts might see an illusory conflict for market share from the grassroots material. It may be that they view referencing the merit of another podcast on the same level as referencing a competing company/game. This is ludicrous, of course, since most podcast listeners can and will listen to multiple casts per week.
It's not terribly surprising to me that this is occurring, given that I feel like the natural tendency of many corporations is to resist grassroots change. Institutional arrogance combined with this false sense of a market share is what I believe causes this artificial barrier and the radio silence on the corporate end. I'm glad to hear that SOE has their head on straighter than the rest. Maybe I can call off the blood feud I initiated when a certain patch hit a certain game based on a certain LucasArts IP...nah.
As an aside, if you haven't listened to Virgin worlds...do so. The Podcast Collective hosted there has a lot of good material to choose from, including the EVE-centric Warp Drive Active.
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I listen to several of the collectives podcasts and as a EvE player I have a major issue with them.
ReplyDeleteEvey MMO podcast apart from WDA doesn't "get" EVE at all. They usually end up slating it for having something missing while all the time missing the point.
I was listening to one of the collective podcast a few weeks ago and they were dicussing their ideal MMO... They mentioned player owned territorys, fighting over them, "Real-PVP" and the list went on, they were discribing EVE and EVE is everything that a lot of veteran MMO'ers are looking for yet when its staring them in the face they don't seem to be able to see it.
Small thing but a pet hate of mine, its happened over several months that i've heard the same comments made and as an EVE fan haven't understood why they don't "get it"...
@Imperius Blackheart -
ReplyDeleteTrust me, we (the Collective) "get it" and we know it and we all respect EVE and think it is a very solid game... but if you listen carefully you'll hear us point out again and again how the fun in EVE is sparse - found in brief moments between hours of idle travel from system to system. So if we talk about hardcore game elements and act as if they're missing, what we're really saying is: they're missing from any game that we have the patience to play.
Imperius: Thanks for the feedback. I don't know if you have listened to the latest "Shut up, we're talking," (number 19), but I think they "get" EVE pretty well. I notice that when EVE gets compared to other MMOs, it is usually the pick for the extreme of "hardcore" as far as the crowd that it attracts. I think a lot of us really do fit that mold. Also, I think the last SUWT show did a great job of breaking down EVE's impactful pvp. Granted, it was all in a discussion about what we want WAR to be, but it still showed some insight into the internet spaceships we love so well.
ReplyDeleteIn general, I do agree that a lot of media out there (especially the "pros") don't "get" EVE. The most recent MMORPG.com review of EVE should be evidence enough of that. Whenever the description of PvP is shorter than that for PvE in EVE...you're doin' it wrong. EVE doesn't have too much innovation to offer the PvE'ers out there, but it's the hardcore pvpers among us, the players of Lineage and old school UO, that keep chomping at the bit for more salty carebear tears.