Wednesday 17 March 2010

Being disheartened by WM

I'm not going to write a huge long blog post how PP is evil and I think they are turning into GW because it's not worth the time or effort, but I am being more and more disheartened in the PP community and company.

I look at the way PP is acting and it feels more corporate and less fair than it did before. People say "PP have great customer service" and act like this is a defense, but GW have flawless customer service to the point where you can steal from them if you really wanted to, I don't see how this is a magic bullet that solves all.

The community seems to have shifted since MKII hit as well. We're starting to see less of a "everyones a bro" and more of "OMG BNF! OMG LISTEN!" with several people in the community. BNF (big name fans) belong in the livejournal communities not in the Wargaming one, we're more mature than that (or I'd hope we were). But instead I've seen several names start to pop up and favouriteism and and all the bullshit I can't stand. I could go "Bobaferret did X" and "Gdaybloke did that" but lets be blunt. I don't do BNF type bullshit and I feel the Warmachine community is now doing just that. Either I changed or it did and either way, it's making me feel like I would rather not be part of it.

To go along with the above point, the community quality has dropped below an acceptable standard. We have Podcasts like Focus and Fury, Guts and Gears and to some level Iron agenda that is just releasing terrible quality podcasts that aren't enjoyable to listen to. Then PP goes and gives the worst of these favourtism out the ass, when EVERYONE hates their damn podcast. The only podcast I feel is worth listening to any more is Boosted damage and at times they skirt the quality line as well.

Maybe I've outgrown warmachine and it's time I found a new game or maybe the community has grown, either way I've lost interest in Warmachine. MKII has killed most my interest and PP has finished off the rest of them.

7 comments:

  1. I can't say I share your sentiments with all due respect. I think is an extremely exciting time to be a WM gamer- and I think Privateer Press is in full stride.

    The game, and the community, may indeed be getting old for you and that's your preference- but I hardly sense that is a wide impression amongst WM fans.

    It's a great era for Warmachine.

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  2. Actually, Focus and Fury is the reason I started playing WM. I find it awesome. The uk podcasts are exceptionally lackluster, but they were also first, so I guess it makes sense pp gives them the most love.

    Anyway, looking forward to reading blogs that have something useful to contribute.
    /unfollowed

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  3. Honestly, I'll admit to not being entirely enthused by the community at large at the moment either.

    I also feel that the Insider blogs have this bizarre whiff of redundancy about them - PP have historically been good at communicating with the player base and being down with the Internet kids, so why are they doing these self-congratulatory, contrived Insider things?

    The tone and format are the sort of thing I expect to see from a much larger corporate entity that wants to show it communicates with the user base without actually communicating, and... well, PP already communicates.

    It just seems odd. Not getting-me-drawers-in-a-twist rage-quit odd, but odd enough to remark upon.

    Game's still all right though, and - shocked as I was to discover this - you don't need to be especially active in the online community to play and enjoy the game.

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  4. I'm kinda surprised to have my name dropped here, I wasn't aware that anyone took anything I said any more seriously than anything anyone else said. I'm not a community leader, I'm not a brilliant strategist, I'm not even a Press Ganger - I'm just a guy who really enjoys the game, and works to maintain what I hope is an entertaining blog with a variety of material.

    As to the "insider" status Von mentioned, I'd sure like to know what that entails. PP doesn't give me any information in advance of release date, I still purchase my product on release day like everyone else. I have no more access to PP's staff than does anyone else.

    Frankly, I find it really odd that I'm having to defend myself to another blogger, especially someone with whom I've had many a discussion about the game, and with whom I though I had a degree of camaraderie. It was certainly implied by the casual familiarity you would show as you would randomly cast aspersions on my heritage.

    You're not a fan of certain podcasts and blogs, that's fine - it may well be that you're not the target audience for those particular podcasts and blogs, but other people do seem to enjoy them. I'm sorry that you're feeling like you need to take your ball and go home because other people hold a different opinion than you and make decisions that you personally might not agree with.

    I hope you do find your joy in WM/H again, whether as an active participant in the online community or just as someone who plays at the tabletop.

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  5. @gdaybloke - sorry, crossed wires there. When I talk about "Insider blogs", I'm talking about the things called Insider which Privateer runs on their website, and about the style in which those are written and the apparent purpose they have.

    I am not talking about the status/access/privilege of any member of the blogging community (because, well, why would I? That would be Drama, and Rampant Speculation, and lots of other things I don't like).

    May I ask where the misunderstanding came from? Not so I can bash, but so that I can be more clear in future writing and stop this happening again.

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  6. Dude... where is the joy? Just feel rampant rage and hate from you. Glad I am not sitting in your seat.

    I guess im from the masses who loves everything you hate.

    Hope you find something you can have fun with. Enjoy, life is too short to get all worked about about nice toy soldiers. Great podcasts and people who are having fun.

    Peace

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