What I am, what I am not. What I do, what I don’t
Given recent events I feel I need to clear up a bit of confusion, as to what I am, what my posts are, and what I am not.
Almost nothing that I write, in regards to games, are reviews. This is due to the fact that I rarely complete games anymore. This is in part, due to the length of time I can devote to games, and also due to the fact that most games just don’t hold my interest for as long anymore.
When I first started writing posts back in my college days I was a single guy, whose sole main responsibility was his girlfriend, and course. I could, and did spend inordinate amounts of time playing games. To the point I was able to complete even 100+ hour games in fairly quick succession. My record was completing both Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate 2 in a mere 10 days straight, completed as in I finished every quest and side objective.
Sadly, as the years rolled on things change, you get married to said girlfriend, you have kids, work, go self-employed, and then all the social requirements for having extended families. Suddenly you’re gaming time is reduced considerably.
What this means is that I’m no longer able to do marathon events and complete epic RPG’s as they come out, and with one or two exceptions, I’ve yet to find a game that would make me want to do that, as games seem to have less quality and more quantity.
As a result I spend as much time as I need to feel I have an understanding of the game, it’s mechanics, and the flow it takes. Sometimes I spend more time just to enjoy the game, and on some occasions that means I complete the game, but usually I don’t.
So how long do you spend on a game? Honestly that depends, for example Kingdoms of Amalur I’ve spent over 300hours in and completed multiple times. Pillars of Eternity I’ve spent 35hours in and I’m unlikely to go back and finish it, or even play it again. Same with the recently released Witcher 3, I’m sat at 45 hours and unlikely to finish or return to it.
All of this means I’m not in a position to write reviews of the games I’m writing about. In my mind, and the views of those professionals I’ve spoken to, reviews require you to fully understand a games mechanics, have played it to completion at least once, sometimes multiple times. Reviews also require objectivity, you have to maintain impartiality when writing reviews. Sadly these days a lot of reviewers don’t, which makes their work bad ‘reviews’.
So what am I? Well, I think we’ve established that I am not a journalist or a reviewer. What I am is a critic, or a pundit, take your pick, personally I don’t care. When I’m asked in a none official way, I simple refer to myself as a gamer who blogs. For official things, such as registering for press access, I call myself a Games Critic, because I feel that is what I am. I write opinion pieces on games I’ve played, in the context of the time I’ve spent on them. The key word there being: opinion
Recently I’ve started to feel that the ‘label’ we attach to ourselves as writers is taking over with some people. They feel they need to be seen as a ‘journalist’ to have self worth or credence to their writing. Honestly guys, you don’t need it, not anymore. The industry as a whole is moving away from journalism due to the negative connotations it’s garnered. Even the likes of IGN no longer refer to themselves as journalists.
Stop worry about labels, just write and enjoy writing, that’s what we’re here for right?
I don’t claim to be perfect with my pieces, and I certainly don’t claim to be right. When people take offence and say I’m wrong my reply is simple. Pick up pen and paper and write a counter post. If you think I’ve gotten something wrong point it out, talk about it, lay out your arguments as to why you think I’m wrong and you’re view is right.
That’s the best thing about blogging and writing opinion pieces, it leads to friendly, and sometimes heated, discussions over the games in question. And that is GREAT. That is one of the reasons I love writing on TBS, while I consider Q a good friend, we don’t always agree on everything. It’s the same with the other editors, I don’t agree with everything they say, but if it’s something I feel strongly about I’ll do a counter post. This sort of interactivity is what is the foundation of community, and of sites like TBS which have multiple editors, from different parts of the world with differing views on life and games.
So always keep this in mind folks. Opinions are fine, differing opinions are even better. Let’s express those opinion civilly and not start burning people at the stake or, burning bridges. Try to change your perspective view, look at what is being written and try to see their point, as well as disagreeing with your own point. I’m not saying take their view as gospel, what I’m saying is don’t discount anyone else’s view point, just because you have your own.
See you all soon
Ryu
