All the news that’s fit to print
In 1911, a staff writer for Shipbuilder Magazine got invited on a tour of the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. While he was there, he was shown something that he thought was truly a marvel of modern engineering… a feat that could never be surpassed.
He raced back to the office and wrote words he would later regret, “The Royal Mail Steamer Titanic… Practically Unsinkable!”
That simple headline was read, commented on, and reprinted so many times that by the time the Titanic sailed in 1912, she was no longer “practically” unsinkable… she was unsinkable and it was no longer a headline in a magazine… it was fact! Of course, we all know the rest. The Titanic sank with a whisper that was heard around the world and is still heard to this day nearly 100 years later.
Over the course of the last few months as I have tried to figure out exactly how I was going to present this site, I have realized a number of things. First off, there are literally boatloads of sites and blogs out there talking about industry news. Secondly, as the debate rages on about “are bloggers just writers or are they reporters,” I realized that, like the games themselves, we are starting to take this whole blog thing far too seriously. Finally, I worked as a reporter while in college. It was a job that I hated and I swore I would never do it again.
Besides, as I have said before, I think that any and all industry news needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Most news is based off of press releases written by the company and some is simple scuttlebutt written by those who are idealistically hopefully or irreversably resentful of the industry as a whole. They either think their game of choice is the heaven and earth all rolled into one and want to convince everyone else of that fact or they are jaded beyond repair and want to prove through bitter words how stupid company X is beyond any doubt.
Press releases spawn hopes. Hopes spawn rumors. Rumors turn into stories. Stories become fact. Before long, those who are not in the know have read so many versions and retellings and speculations that they start to believe something that simply is not true. The end result is almost always supreme disappointment because the industry cannot possibly live up to rumors that have spun out of control.
As a result, I decided that this site would never be about reporting on the current talk of the industry. It would be just a place for me to ramble about what I was doing in whatever game I was playing, a place for me to talk about real world matters that were on my mind, or whatever else happened to strike my fancy. In short, this was my sandbox. Anyone is welcome to come and sit down for a while. Just don’t try tell me how to play in my own backyard.
Try as I might, however, I can’t resist commenting on this. My anticipation for this expansion is extremely high as the Kunark era of EQ was, in my personal opinion, the high point of that game. I thought the expansion was amazing.
Regardless of how excited I am about it, however, I also find that I am a little apprehensive. I have done my best to avoid reading too many of the rumors and speculations coming out about the expansion, but I just can’t help but have my own. As much as I loved Kunark in original EQ, there is a part of me that is a little fearful that no matter how fabulous this version of Kunark ends up being, I will still be a little disappointed.
But, I have hope. I also very much loved the continent of Faydwer in EQ1 as it is where I spent months growing up and learning the game and I ended up being more than just impressed with what the development team did with the EoF expansion.
Whatever the reality will end up being, I am looking forward to my first gaming expansion for the first time since Shit Outta Luclin was released for EQ1 and ruined my hope and faith for gaming expansions.
It’s not what you think.
Last night, I got major blue balls. (<– work safe)
I thought I was going to die.
