Speed (Patreon)

I've heard the 20th Century be dubbed "The Century of Speed" and it makes sense. In 100 years, we went from horse and carts to Supercars, Jet Fighters, and Spaceships. Quite the turnaround. However, I'm thinking the title should maybe be moved to the 21st Century. Not because of the vehicles and aircraft, those are quick but have honestly kind of stagnated… no, the title should be reserved for the 21st Century, because of the internet, and it's speed of discourse.

I know I've started with a rather grand opening, so it's going to seem really silly to now start talking about video games… but that's what most people are here for.

No Man's Sky seems to be the internet's reference point for a "comeback" game. One that started with an abysmal launch and widespread mockery that reached the stars it depicted, and ended with seemingly all the features it promised and more. I mean… I don't recall VR being in its Sony Stage Demo.

No Mans Sky is a game whose entire discourse shifted over a period of five years… but it seemed to go in a linear direction.

Rainbow Six: Siege was also seen as a comeback game too, but unlike No Man's Sky, most of the discourse I see of the game these days stems from players, pros, and casters, discussing the game's waning content. As someone who used to binge the game daily, and revisited it recently after a two year break, I completely understand the frustration.

Siege really hasn't grown that much since those two years I left.

One thing that really struck me was getting a Lesion Mine and Dokkaebi Call at the same time and thinking "…Really? They left these alone?" There really is something to be said for a game like Siege compared to Apex Legends in-terms of how to update a game. The latter's a title I revisited and found almost everything I loved, but with enough new refinements to make it better than those memories.

Siege?

I think I'll stick with the memories.

So Siege's discourse went from "Game Bad to Game Good then Game Meh" over the course of six years.

That's nothing though.

I'm witnessing Halo Infinite shift and mutate right before my very eyes! I'm not even counting all the pre-release stuff, where that discussion changed tone 50+ times. First when the game reached people's hands, they were purely thrilled! "it's such a return to form! So refreshing!" and the hype continued with the recent Beta Test, especially in contrast to the launch of Battlefield 2042, and Call of Duty: Vanguard.

And two weeks later… I'm seeing more and more people start to realize what we're seeing, is what we're getting. Having remembered games like Apex Legends, and Rainbow Six Siege, back when they launched, great gameplay can compel people only for so long… and I won't be surprised if by the end of the year, we're going to see Infinite get the same slamming both of those games got in their early months.

But even that's nothing!

Cyberpunk 2077 anybody?

I'm not sure I'll ever forgot the discourse of that game, because I had to be walking on eggshells before and after launch. Prior to launch, I stayed mostly away from discussions as I didn't like most of what I saw. That 40 minute demo was stuffed with unlikely gameplay features, uninteresting dialogue, and graphics that would in no way run on a console.

Day One was one of the most toxic game launches I ever witnessed, but not because people hated the game. In-fact, people seemed to originally be angry about the early review scores; in particular, there was one woman on Twitter who posted a warning about an early sequence with the character Judy, where lights directly in-front of the character flickered in such a manner to cause Seizers, she knew this, because she was a victim of one, despite the game not having any warning or tool to disable it.

This good-natured warning was taken was day one criticism, where she was berated and spammed with links to videos discussed as support that were actually deliberate attempts to cause another Seizer. People cared enough about Cyberpunk's good will on the first day, to deliberately harm someone's wellbeing over it.

Ironic, considering a day or two later, Cyberpunk became one of the most lambasted products of all time, and now, enjoying the game was akin to a sin. I've heard of several people having their friendships tested over enjoying the game.

But perhaps the takeaway from all of this is how irrelevant this discourse is to your own personal thoughts on a game. It may not seem like that when thousands of people watch a show, read a book, or play a game merely to be a part of the cultural conversation, but that's the power of social media. One small portion of the internet can make a lot of fucking noise.

Perhaps it's personal bias, but I find it best to just view all of this from the sidelines rather than jumping into the fray. Not only does it save you from particularly toxic events… 

It just seems easier.