I never really post links saying things like “The Carnival of Gamers is up, you can peruse the possibilities at Game.Slashdot this time around. (Though it is, here.) The reason why being that if you’re reading my blog, then you likely either got here from the CoG or Corvus’ Roundtable (here), or at the very least are aware of them. That said, some slashdotters have apparently talked some shit about gamebloggers, one in particular that raised the ire of Corvus (Man Bytes Blog), Josh (Cathode Tan), and Tony (Button Mashing, the CoG creator.) Personally, I could give a damn about the guy. Few people read what I write and I’m perfectly fine with that. And I usually only post when I’ve got something to say anyway, so it’s not very taxing on those who do. But some others took it slightly more personal. Me? I thought it’d be interesting as I more or less am blogging alone over here. :D The original post can be found on Slashdot (here.)
Gaming blogs are for people that don’t actually play the games, and would rather write about them than fire them up and play them.
I get my gaming in with much Animals Crossing: WW and Civ IV, and Guitar Hero should be coming in the mail next week. And next paycheck I’m fixing (and modding) my Xbox. (Though if anyone is rounding up a good group for CivIV, count me in. The one I was with has fallen apart.) Does this meet your standards or should I be playing more Counter-Strike?
I’m sure that there are incentives to being a gaming journalist, but I don’t know any “journalist” that has stayed up 3 days straight camping for an Everquest drop (just to get spawn jumped) or bought 14 different mice before returning 13 just to see which gets you the most headshots. You know, attributes of real gamers.
I’m no journalist. I’m just some guy who’s curious. Have I played Everquest for three days straight? No. MMOs bore me because the player has no impact on the world around them. Now, I don’t even call myself “hardcore” any more, but a ‘real’ gamer? I wonder if you’ve ever spent a weekend in an apartment with nineteen other people for games of Mario Kart, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, wrestling games, Halo, Soldier of Fortune, Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Risk, and then Monday morning you all work your asses off because you didn’t do any of your programming homework? (Occassionally interrupted by trips to Denny’s, of course.)
And fourteen mice? Dude, have you ever bought a ‘real’ gaming mouse? Who the fuck are you to be able to afford fourteen at once? Christ, my credit cards don’t even go that high…
People that play World of Therycraft[sic] instead of actually raiding. Message board campers that brag about thier[sic] FPS skills. They all share commonalities with people that write about games and game design; they arent real.
Yeah, bloggers are a bunch of assholes because they theorize on gameplay. Go tell that to Raph Koster, Brett Douville, Jamie Fristrom, or any of the game developers listed on the right.
Now, non-dev bloggers? People like me? Sure we talk about what we’d think we like. If you’ve never started a sentence with “Wouldn’t it be cool,” then I guess you have a point. I’ve already said that I no longer consider myself ‘hardcore’, but ‘real’? Man, fuck you. People like you are why Slashdot has become like Fark. Everyone does their best to troll like it’s a good thing, and that any attention is good attention.
But this persons complaint boils down to (what I think) the idea of the Carnival is. It’s a good way to find new blogs that may interest you. If you like my little corner of the internet, then great! Glad to have you reading! I hope you comment some time if the feeling strikes you. But if you don’t the look of a ride at the Carnival, don’t get on it. You don’t have to click a link just because it’s there.