My Love Affair in a galaxy far, far away.
My buddy Phil pointed out to me that Dillenger Escape Plan had a video featured on the On-Demand video service we both happen to subscribe to. I'm not a devoted fan of the band, but I keep a few of their songs handy - crazy material full of dissonant sounds that somehow work together. I listen to them as much out of respect as enjoyment.
Imagine my dismay, then, when I watch the video - devoid of all the elements that attracted me to the band in the previous years of casual listening.
Again - not a huge fan, but this dissapointed me, and I discovered that the vocalist was new, and the band was moving in some sort of new direction. The whole experience annoyed me - it seemed they were just capitalizing on the reputation of the previous band. The sound was so completely different, I couldn't understand how it was still the same group, really.
There are bands out there, like Bad Religion, that you can count on for a certain kind of experience. Sure, I may take a single of Generator over the entire New America album, but either way I'm in for a Bad Religion record.
But I'm not writing to vocalize some music snobbery.
If you've been following the gaming headlines, you'll have noticed the Star Wars Galaxies revamp. I'm one of those oddities that's been off and on with SWG since just after launch. I admire it's sheer amibion to the extent that I can easily ignore the generally buggy state of the game. Where other MMORPG's can't hold my interest for more than a month or two, Galaxies is like a favorite T-Shirt. No matter how stained or torn, I always end up wearing it again.
The game's no stranger to controversy. SOE's made sweeping changes before now, causing huge outcry among subscribers, and has suffered a lot of badmouthing from the hardcore audience. All the while I've quietly applauded their boldness. This revamp, however; it has me worried. There's an overwhelming sense of sadness, not outrage, among other long-term players when I log in this week. We've only got two weeks left with the game we love - the game we've loved for over two years.
From what I've read, and a very brief opportunity to play on the test server - the game's fundamentally changed. Why would SOE do this? One popular theory within the community dismisses this as a dumbing-down for upcoming console ports. But that's just a rumour, right? Why alienate your (albeit dwarfed by WoW) consumer base to appeal to a different demographic that you might not even be able to grab?
Why not just release a new SKU?
And this is what makes me wonder: if Dillenger Escape Plan wants to keep their name despite adopting a totally different sound, why wouldn't Sony/Lucasarts want to keep the SWG name (which is inarguably visible, even if the repuation is questionable) despite changing the core design and mechanics of the game?
In both scenarios, you're alienating the "faithful", but you stand to gain a whole new audience, and let's face it - of those faithful, only a portion will actually leave. Most will try the new sound/gameplay if out of curiosity alone, and many more will stay.
Just a thought and a theory, I've no idea how close to or far from the mark I am with it. But the fact remains:
I only have two weeks left with the game I've loved for two years. The name may not change, but my game will be irrevocably changed, and that's made me more sad than I would have expected it to.
Imagine my dismay, then, when I watch the video - devoid of all the elements that attracted me to the band in the previous years of casual listening.
Again - not a huge fan, but this dissapointed me, and I discovered that the vocalist was new, and the band was moving in some sort of new direction. The whole experience annoyed me - it seemed they were just capitalizing on the reputation of the previous band. The sound was so completely different, I couldn't understand how it was still the same group, really.
There are bands out there, like Bad Religion, that you can count on for a certain kind of experience. Sure, I may take a single of Generator over the entire New America album, but either way I'm in for a Bad Religion record.
But I'm not writing to vocalize some music snobbery.
If you've been following the gaming headlines, you'll have noticed the Star Wars Galaxies revamp. I'm one of those oddities that's been off and on with SWG since just after launch. I admire it's sheer amibion to the extent that I can easily ignore the generally buggy state of the game. Where other MMORPG's can't hold my interest for more than a month or two, Galaxies is like a favorite T-Shirt. No matter how stained or torn, I always end up wearing it again.
The game's no stranger to controversy. SOE's made sweeping changes before now, causing huge outcry among subscribers, and has suffered a lot of badmouthing from the hardcore audience. All the while I've quietly applauded their boldness. This revamp, however; it has me worried. There's an overwhelming sense of sadness, not outrage, among other long-term players when I log in this week. We've only got two weeks left with the game we love - the game we've loved for over two years.
From what I've read, and a very brief opportunity to play on the test server - the game's fundamentally changed. Why would SOE do this? One popular theory within the community dismisses this as a dumbing-down for upcoming console ports. But that's just a rumour, right? Why alienate your (albeit dwarfed by WoW) consumer base to appeal to a different demographic that you might not even be able to grab?
Why not just release a new SKU?
And this is what makes me wonder: if Dillenger Escape Plan wants to keep their name despite adopting a totally different sound, why wouldn't Sony/Lucasarts want to keep the SWG name (which is inarguably visible, even if the repuation is questionable) despite changing the core design and mechanics of the game?
In both scenarios, you're alienating the "faithful", but you stand to gain a whole new audience, and let's face it - of those faithful, only a portion will actually leave. Most will try the new sound/gameplay if out of curiosity alone, and many more will stay.
Just a thought and a theory, I've no idea how close to or far from the mark I am with it. But the fact remains:
I only have two weeks left with the game I've loved for two years. The name may not change, but my game will be irrevocably changed, and that's made me more sad than I would have expected it to.
posted by NonGenre at 2:48 AM
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