I was talking to a friend today and was asked what I played for fun. Told him I used to play FF14, it was a big part of my young adult life. I bantered with people, chatted in Idyllshire, "ragebaited" before that was in the common lexicon, had a blast clearing the early Ultimates, screamed when I cleared...
What went wrong? I always thought it was this game. To be sure, this game has been going downhill in many respects. But I don't know if it's that anymore. I think we're just living in an age of malaise, especially in the United States.
I figured, when you look at how completely nonsensical the Endwalker/Dawntrail story was, that's partly because we can't imagine that kind of society in real life anymore. Really, people just giving up their centuries of hatred because you offered them a steamed bun? That's ridiculous. It wasn't just because part of FF14's writing went downhill. I think it's also because this game is now situated in a very different culture and climate.
And the Heavensward community I remember will never come back anymore, because it was a slice of Internet culture that will never come back. It's not that people grew up, it's that the Internet writ large is no longer a somewhat insulated pocket of culture. Even if you avoid all the politics and current events in FF14, you'd surely feel its oppressive force, suffusing the game culture through every nook and cranny.
I mean, can you imagine anything like the VA drama happening during HW? I certainly can't.
But I don't know if we could ever go back, because we've reached a point where nothing short of a war or revolution will purge this malaise. You have to have an optimistic society and culture for people to feel good about playing average or "OK" games. I'm not sure Americans will ever see that in this century.
Continue reading...
What went wrong? I always thought it was this game. To be sure, this game has been going downhill in many respects. But I don't know if it's that anymore. I think we're just living in an age of malaise, especially in the United States.
I figured, when you look at how completely nonsensical the Endwalker/Dawntrail story was, that's partly because we can't imagine that kind of society in real life anymore. Really, people just giving up their centuries of hatred because you offered them a steamed bun? That's ridiculous. It wasn't just because part of FF14's writing went downhill. I think it's also because this game is now situated in a very different culture and climate.
And the Heavensward community I remember will never come back anymore, because it was a slice of Internet culture that will never come back. It's not that people grew up, it's that the Internet writ large is no longer a somewhat insulated pocket of culture. Even if you avoid all the politics and current events in FF14, you'd surely feel its oppressive force, suffusing the game culture through every nook and cranny.
I mean, can you imagine anything like the VA drama happening during HW? I certainly can't.
But I don't know if we could ever go back, because we've reached a point where nothing short of a war or revolution will purge this malaise. You have to have an optimistic society and culture for people to feel good about playing average or "OK" games. I'm not sure Americans will ever see that in this century.
Continue reading...