Hey folks, SinSynn here.
Sorta.
Last night was 'epic barbeque night' here in the Bronx- pretty much everyone that lives in my apartment building made their way to the rooftop for a fun-filled evening of fine dining with the neighbors. We do this many times throughout the summer, and it's always big fun.
The beauty of a rooftop barbeque is that one is not limited to just food off the grill. It's just as easy to make whatever you'd like in your kitchen, and bring it on up. That means you can have rice and beans with your steak, or ribs, or burgers, or hot dogs, even.
And since this is the Bronx, you can bet a multicultural cornucopia of culinary delights will arrive in full force. Rice and beans is considered a staple here, but there was also payaya, curried chicken, oxtail soup, Italian sausages, even a giant bowl of salad with tomatoes and feta cheese done up in proper Albanian style.
Oh so much food, oh so delicious.
One of my neighbors broke out with some 'pre- Fourth of July' fireworks he acquired from some back alley in Chinatown, and another proudly boasted about his grandfather's still, located deep in the forests of the Dominican Republic, which has been producing ten thousand proof rum for decades, apparently.
T'was the rum what done me in, I'm afraid.
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| *Best not to ask why the bowling ball looks nervous* |
While many of my Xenos digestive chambers are contentedly filled with a variety of delectable Terran foods, the Hamster that lives in my head is very, very unhappy with me. Spinning on the wheel that drives my thought processes requires a bit of coordination, you see, and drunken spinning can (and has) resulted in both terrible lapses in judgement and tragic accidents.
But hey, I awoke in my own bed (which finally stopped spinning around dawn), and not in a dumpster or jail cell (I've done both, and I gotta tell ya- not a lotta difference between the two, although dumpsters tend to be more comfortable and smell better), nor did I awake next to something with more tentacles than me.
Hopefully, what little brains I have will stop leaking out of my ears by this evening, so I can enjoy the Macy's Fireworks with my family from our usual spot on the West Side of Manhattan.
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| *To all my 'merican kin- HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!* |
The Crazy Lady I Live With doesn't drink, and my stepson is in his twenties, which means he doesn't get hung over cuz he's stupid.
They're both enjoying my discomfort immensely- the Crazy Lady is running the vacuum on extra-loud as I type this, making the Hamster pound on the walls of my skull, squeaking at her to 'KEEP IT DOWN OUT THERE!'
The steppie left another IOU in my desk drawer, and disappeared just before doggie walkie time.
Oh, sweet Cthulhu...it was so damn bright out there...
Stupid...big, bright, beaming ball in the sky...it's stupid.
-_-
Needless to say, I'm plotting on pushing the two of them into the Hudson River later.
After that, I'm swearing off liquor forever...until the next time I swear off liquor forever.
DON'T YOU JUDGE ME! I can change whenever I want...
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| *Goddammit who wrote this in ink?* |
Speaking of change, the comment sections on my last couple of posts have made me think about it a bunch lately-
(How was THAT for a segue, huh? We're talking a subtly executed, seamless transition here, folks)
- specifically, of course, in relation to our hobby.
(Cuz surely there's no need for ME to change. I iz a picture perfect model of picture perfectness...did you see that segue?)
It's actually an interesting time to discuss change in our hobby- 6th Edition Warhammer 40k arrived recently, and while I'm pretty much uninterested in the whole thing, I have been hitting the blogs lately to read about it, and I've been discussing it aplenty with some of my gamer friends.
My mind being what it is (a rest stop between insanity and 'you don't wanna know'), I can't help but mix up the posts and the conversations with my own posts and comment sections, and I start to make strange connections, see strange patterns...
Games Workshop is ever a perfect example of mass appeal gone awry- they have exactly zero issues in regards to sodomizing their own (much beloved by many) fluff to achieve it. It would be nice to think that they cared about the universe they've created, but the 6th Edition Allies rules made it pretty obvious to me that their fans care far more about it than they do at this point.
It would also be nice to think that there was a time, back in the day, when the creative energy in the GW studios crackled in the air like a plasma rifle charging to fire, but really...GW never liked an idea that they didn't steal, and in many ways that has been the key to their success (and, ironically, Blizzard Software's - lolz!).
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| *Space Marines vs Tyranids...or whatever...* |
It's not just Games Workshop, however. Mantic Games seems pretty busy building 'alterna-clones' of both Warhammer Fantasy and 40k, and more or less being blatantly transparent about it. Do you think when Alessio Cavatore interviewed for the job, they asked him 'so- what fresh, new ideas for miniature gaming do you have,' and he answered, 'well, nothing, really. I just thought we'd rip off GW for a bit and see how that goes'?
At least Andy Chambers and Fantasy Flight went a different rout, 'drawing inspiration' from a variety of sources to create their 'alternate history' background for Dust Warfare. I like the aesthetic at work in Dust Warfare, and many of the models appeal to me. I can't help but wonder how Hellboy would look if Paolo Parente worked on it, though...
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| *No disrespect intended to the legendary Mike Mignola, of course* |
Speaking of tentacles (how's THAT for a....wait, what?), here's a funny image I found of Hellboy doing his best Zeeona impression...
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| *Seconds later, the tongues came out, and things got INCREDIBLY awkward!!!* |
Looking past Mantic and Fantasy Flight, I can just as easily confuse Privateer Press' Colossals for 'Titans,' couldn't I? Then I could look at each and every miniature game out there, new and old alike, and proceed to point a finger at this one or that one for...what, exactly?
For not being wholly original? For not being comprised of completely new concepts, mechanics, backgrounds and styles?
...is that...even possible?
0_o
I think it is, actually...but would anyone really buy into it? Would it get produced, manufactured and marketed? At this point, I know I should be giving a nod to Kickstarter and the internet in general for actually making these things possible, but...'meh,' I guess.
I don't see as much 'innovation' in gaming as I do 'more of the same,' that's for sure. That includes concepts, mechanics, backgrounds, styles and marketing, as well.
Sigh.
Lame marketing and promotion seems to be an impossible trend to buck in our industry. I'm guessing there must be some time-honored tradition when it comes to marketing anything 'hobby' to work from a single template that's never changed...ever.
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| *Grrrr! The big toughie, the hot girly, the poses, everything- so familiar* |
The game may change, but the imagery remains the same.
Then again, the game may change, but not by a lot.
Ours is a strange industry that is basically dominated by a few giants- Magic the Gathering certainly dominates the card games, although I know Yu-Gi-Oh has it's players. I'm sure there's others- isn't there a Marvel Comics CCG?
*shrug*
Still, you've pretty much got Magic the Gathering, and then you've got 'everyone else,' if you know what I mean.
It's the same in the mini game scene, pretty much- there's Games Workshop and there's everyone else (although I know Privateer Press has it's players).
RPG's, at least, seem unafraid to take chances with a lot of things (concepts, mechanics, backgrounds and style), but the way they're marketed remains the same, pretty much.
So...change. We need some, maybe. Not just with the imagery, and the way our hobby is presented and perceived by the world at large, but in the concepts, mechanics, backgrounds and styles as well. Most importantly, I believe, is marketing.
Interesting, innovative things can be successful if they possess actual quality- look at the way Infinity has been received and celebrated by the community.
Would Corvus Belli, and Infinity be able to break out of it's 'everyone else' situation with proper marketing? That would require marketing it to people generally considered 'outside the hobby,' wouldn't it? We already know about it, don't we?
So what if Infinity products were sold in say...bookstores? What if Barnes & Noble (or whoever) had a display, with a rack of Infinity starter sets and whatnot?
Marketing defines how the world at large perceives our hobby, ultimately. Would Infinity be a good representative?
Is our hobby ready for prime time? What do we do? Hide the ugly children?
The only way to get some 'change' in our industry is to get new people into it. The only way to get new people into it is marketing- I don't think 'word of mouth' is gonna cut it, in the long run. Our industry just...doesn't do 'marketing,' in the conventional sense of the word. When they do, it tends to be awkward and cliche, at best.
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| *Would Batou in his underwear help? I dunno, but I'm all for it. He's a sexy cyborg* |
In many ways, our hobby has gotten 'better' in recent years, I believe. We certainly have a lot more on our plate than we did 'back in the day.' Granted, some of it might not be helping portray our hobby in a positive light as far as the world at large is concerned, but the majority of popular offerings do, it's fair to say.
Still, there's a certain sense of sameness to...pretty much everything, and it's been that way for a long time. Is the only thing we really have to look forward to every year gonna be a price increase?
-_-
I may be a knucklehead, but change of any sort sounds like a good idea to me.
Until next time, folks- Exit with catchphrase!
-SinSynn
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