May 13, 2017
Samson here, I thought I would share this, from our #1 fan in
the Canadias; in response to our latest episodes ("Indie" Game Devs
- 83 & Dex +4).
Dex +5 will be dedicated to this email:
"Thanks for a great podcast, again. After listening to your latest antics, including mics breaking shot glasses I realized how old and tired I am. Let me explain.
My gaming started around late 80 and became a serious threat to my education when I played Warlords and Eye of the Beholder on Amiga. I quickly realized it will be hard to come back to Talisman and other board games as back in the day I lived in Poland and it was easier to find an illegal copy of a PC game than to find an illegal copy of a board game. I went to university in '92 and then year later migrated to Canada to continue my university education there.
Little did I know, Doom was about to land in my life and replace school as my main interest. The attack on school continued with multi user dungeon text based games such as M.U.M.E. Then I played Meridian 59 and finally Ultima Online.
Now the sad part. Everything I have played since MUME and Ultima
Online has gradually descended into the shit we are being presented
with now, also called games.
Long and hard has been the road to recovery on my part. As much as
I enjoyed the worlds of Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies,
Eve Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and countless others my
dislike for the marriage of whole gaming development and publishing
business began to grow.
I started to notice the deficiencies, early on that could be blamed on emerging companies' inexperience, but soon it became clear it was more than that. It was simply greed. Someone realized games can be profitable. Games don't need to be developed by shy nerds who need to realize themselves in the eyes of their peers. With that, a thought came that good times are nothing but a fleeting moment and for more pleasure one needs to dig deeper into his pocket.
I applaud your energy on the subject of the descent of gaming into the shit hole it is now. I agree wholeheartedly with you and Mr. Madrigal on the reasons why it is so. The unwashed and uneducated masses can have no clue as to the quality of the old games. How would they if they never played such gems as Ghost Recon in 2001 or Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear in late '90s? What would they think of COD and other shooters if they played the original PlanetSide?
I used to get mad and preach on the subject of this descent. I used to debate with younger players the finer points of gaming, the intensity and the rush of adrenaline in full loot games, but since the huge success of World of Warcraft I realized that there are more care bears in the world than players like me. It's the norm to have quest markers, neatly outlined areas and cross-hairs on quest targets. Reading is not required, people don't take chances and generally don't like to dig for answers. It's just easier in the world of micro-transactions. It's faster and cleaner.
I gave up the fight, I'm no Don Quixote, but I want to pass along the passion for gaming to younger generations and I applaud you and your podcast for doing the same.
"Prem" a.k.a. many other names.
P.S. tell Sal that the first first-person MMORPG wasn't EverQuest, but Meridian 59."
Responses -
Devin Steele - "That's why I love Dark Souls and Bloodborne so much. It's guilty of some debauchery (aka DS1's true final boss being in a dlc) but overall its a refreshing departure from the AAA game bullshit."
Jack Acebedo - "That's why I love Overwatch. No DLC at all, and the things you have to pay for are not necessary at all. It's a really smart business model because it insures that people will keep interest in the game and it's a blast to play if you're playing alone or with some buddies"