A Train Wreck
594 words.
If you don't instantly recognize this, we can't be friends.
While seemingly every where I turn at the start of 2019 I see people talking about how it’s a great time to start blogging because blogging is super hot and rewarding and it’s all fine and nothing is on fire and burning right to the ground around us, *I* am sitting here wondering what the heck is even the point of this blog anymore.
Gaming in 2018 was a train wreck, in my humble opinion, which means the main topic of conversation to write about here is how much gaming is a train wreck. But you can’t really say that out loud or gamers get really defensive and start to push back about how, no, it’s *not* a train wreck, it’s all fine, this thing we’ve invested so much time and money into is perfectly fine and it’s even growing beyond our wildest dreams and the future looks brighter than ever, right, right? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to say to convince ourselves that everything is fine?? That’s how rationalization works, right??
But I’ve also been thinking about the tone of my writing in the latter half of 2018 and how most of the comments reflected back to me seem to indicate that I’m way too harsh in my criticisms, even though I often spend a whole lot of time trying to tone them down. I mean, in 2018, I probably spent about 75% of my writing time editing, going over every sentence to make sure it has exactly one and only one meaning that is perfectly clear.
Still, every time I see myself quoted in MassivelyOP’s Global Chat column I cringe, because I think to myself, “Is *that* what I sound like?? Is *that* the message people are getting from my writing??” I mean, I admit I tend to put some sarcastic bite into my writing because that’s the whole point of writing, to make people think and laugh and cause some sort of reaction. But it seems like the only reactions I ever cause are *negative* ones and I’m not super thrilled about that. On the other hand, talking about rainbows and puppies is not really my thing.
So there’s a blog post I guess. I’ll just do that thing where I blurt out unedited stream-of-consciousness rambling. This one happens to be the biggest trope of all blogging: A blog post about blogging. And it’s kind of a rant, to boot, the second-biggest blogging trope. Yep, it’s all burning to the ground, like one of my RimWorld colonies. All that’s missing is a Labrador retriever yelping in pain because they can’t get out of the burning building.
P. S. Tweets embedded just for @Scopique!
P. P. S. Oh god now I have to find an image for this. Blogging is such a pain sometimes!
P. P. P. S. I even changed my initial title, “Blogging Is a Train Wreck,” which would surely have drawn a lot of eyeballs, to simply, “A Train Wreck,” which will hopefully pass by unnoticed.
Archived Comments
Jaedia 2019-01-05T13:54:57Z I don’t personally see the point in cynicism when there is so much joy to be found, but there’s certainly a place for balance, too. Being critical of things we love is still important in order for things to improve, I think most of our worry comes when that’s ALL there seems to be on the web. Honestly, you’ve never struck me as a guy being cynical just for the sake of it, but what do I know? I’m rubbish at keeping up with blogs and social media these days. :D
Athie 2019-01-05T15:16:32Z So, yeah, all the major gaming stories this year were bad. Not just in the MMO space, where we’ve had a good few years to get used to the drumbeat of doom. But also in the rest of gaming culture. I think a bit of negativity is fine and needed. Gamer culture, and to some extent culture more broadly, blurs the line between critique and trolling/hating. But the refusal to accept that negative responses are in principle just as valid as positive ones is itself a major problem that enables the broader troubles of gaming.
UltrViolet 2019-01-05T16:21:14Z This gives me an idea for another post actually. :)
Bhagpuss 2019-01-07T10:04:33Z
Part of the problem is thinking of “blogging” as some kind of simple, single-use activity. It’s writing, that’s all it is. I doubt you’d come on and claim that writing is “on fire and burning right to the ground around us”.
Blaugust/NBI last year was very instructive for me. Remember Gevlon’s analysis of what a failure it was, which was the opposite reaction to most of the participants, who generally seemed to think it was one of the strongest years ever? To some extent you take out what you put in but there is also factual evidence to consider.
I put a load of new blogs in my blog roll during Blaugust. Half a dozen or so of those have posted almost every day since then. Lots more post regularly. I see the posts flag up on my list but I don’t necessarily jump to read them, because last year this insular community opened its doors and some of the most prolific bloggers that came through them don’t write about games much - or at all.
Blogging about gaming might be in decline and blogging per se may not be quite as big as it was before the growth and particularly the mainstreaming of social media, but the concept is still very much in vogue. In the book trade, having a successful blog is still a gateway to a publishing deal. Having a successful vlog is better but a blog does have the advantage of demonstrating you can, y’know, write…
So, I don’t see doom and gloom in blogging’s future. I see the usual process of adaption and refinement that is the norm for all maturing media. If you only want to read blogs about games, you might struggle, though, and if you only want to read blogs about MMORPGs then, well, you’re screwed.
As for the games themselves, particularly MMO(RPG)s it’s a not-dissimilar picture. The wild west discovery phase of the early years is long past; the exponential growth of the gold rush is over; the territory has been mapped, the land has been settled, now it’s time to consolidate. We have plenty of MMO(RPG)s now. We don’t need more. We certainly don’t need a never-ending flow of new ones. Especially since the entire point of MMO(RPG)s is that they never end and can’t be finished, let alone won.
I thought 2018 was a solid, consolidatiing year for the genre. There’s a lot of deadwood and some of it needed to be cleared. On the other hand, there was recognition that some of the supposedly dead growth actually just needed some care and attention to bring it back to life. Everyone bangs on about how sad the closure of Wildstar was - and it was - but no-one is banging the drum for the resurrection of what is, to my mind, a better MMORPG - Fallen Earth.
The one common factor I see in the blogs of people who seem to feel everything is going to hell in a handcart is specificity. People have very - very - particular requirements and expectations. Life doesn’t really work that way. You get to chose from what there is, not what you wish there was. I’m spoiled for choice whereas others seem to be starving.
As for your struggle to get people to hear what you think you’re saying, I refer you to the Intentional Fallacy.
http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100006219
http://faculty.smu.edu/nschwart/seminar/fallacy.htm
Probably the most helpful academic theory I ever encountered in respect of my own writing and reading.
UltrViolet 2019-01-07T14:45:15Z You touched on a lot of points here that I might comment on but it’s way too much for a comment :) One thing I’ll say is I don’t think Intentional Fallacy applies outside of literary circles. If I were writing fan fiction here I’d agree, but I’m usually trying to communicate concepts in a way that the reader will understand the same thing I’m thinking, so in that way I think of it more like technical writing.
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