tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831276194138109948.post9074018993030956921..comments2024-03-28T10:14:58.693+00:00Comments on The Good the Bad and the Insulting: Turning A Blind Eye To What Matters - Why Warhammer Reviews Are The Writers' Worst EnemyBellariushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02652722543111095280noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831276194138109948.post-76189125157605223622016-06-20T23:47:08.660+01:002016-06-20T23:47:08.660+01:00I think the cause of this apathy is an evolution i...I think the cause of this apathy is an evolution in how peopke access the background.<br /><br />Many people assume that everyone kniws everything, that every young player has trawled Lexicanum and that there is nothing new to be learned. That the lore is the lore.<br /><br />Whilst to a certain extent this is true. The stories from my 3rd edition Chaos Space Marines are retold in the katest codex right? Right...and wrong.<br /><br />I suspect a lot of veteran reviewers and customers see their first interactions with the background as the pinnacle. This assumption engenders the attitude that releases are rules releases, not lore and rules releases.<br /><br />Shosuro Tetsuyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07343009722667828271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831276194138109948.post-86198494683726193142016-04-16T23:28:05.273+01:002016-04-16T23:28:05.273+01:00It's worth it with certain ones, though it'...It's worth it with certain ones, though it's sadly pretty hit and miss these days. If you're after great lore and pathos in the manner of the Second Edition, i'd strongly suggest taking a gander at Codex: Black Legion or the Cypher the Fallen Angel dataslate, and the Sixth Edition Codex: Imperial Knights was excellent. Atop of this, the Fifth Edition Codex: Dark Eldar would probably offer the sort of lore you'd be after as well, and it's honestly one of the two xenos codices I always point to as an example of lore done right. You can usually find them going cheap on ebay these days without too much trouble.<br /><br />As for the last few editions of Codex: Space Marines though, you're sadly not missing much. The Fifth Edition was so bad it caused a lot of people I know to abandon the Ultramarines out of shame of what they became, the Sixth was good but unremarkable and the latest one was just very generic abridged version of its predecessor sadly.<br /><br />Anyway, many thanks for the compliment. Certainly glad to know you found some use for my half-mad rantings.Bellariushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02652722543111095280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831276194138109948.post-73523107651451033042016-04-16T03:34:59.543+01:002016-04-16T03:34:59.543+01:00I have only just come across your blog and already...I have only just come across your blog and already been poring over your insightful and well-written articles. The 2nd edition lore books and Codex: Ultramarines were my first introduction to the world of 40K and have very much shaped my passion for the hobby. Around the early 2000s though, I really felt that the new stories in White Dwarf and codexes were getting very generic and boring and had none of the strong characterisation and pathetic ethos that first got me involved. I guess after a while I just gave up on reading the lore - in fact I don't think I've read any of the fluff in the last three Codex: Space Marines - assuming it would just keep being either core fluff that I already know or bland new stories. Maybe I should start reading some of it again...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831276194138109948.post-1217422374720667462016-03-30T23:26:55.111+01:002016-03-30T23:26:55.111+01:00I've noticed that this is not a unique thing t...I've noticed that this is not a unique thing to the Warhammer franchise. We have seen this same trend in PC gaming, with an increased focus on the visual themes and showy / flashy distractions over substance in story.<br /><br />I would offer up the recent interest in games that harken back to classic gaming such as Pillars of Eternity, where story is more prominent than the action, as a beacon of hope that this isn't necessarily a permanent shift in the market.<br /><br />I think that the biggest challenge of modern gaming is having GOOD writers that understand how to craft a story that doesn't come across as diarrhea-from-a-pen, or completely disconnected from the gameplay and narrative that the developers are trying to convey.<br /><br /> Tiernocnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831276194138109948.post-11399014500349848132016-03-20T19:46:48.638+00:002016-03-20T19:46:48.638+00:00Honestly wish I had an answer for you, but you'...Honestly wish I had an answer for you, but you've basically summed up my own thoughts here. The attitude far too many fans seem to have is treating the lore as basic flavour text and little else, or something to help excuse new campaigns. So long as it doesn't completely break the game or make a complete mockery of their army, they're happy to sit back and let things play out. The only reason there seemed to be such a backlash against Ward was because he kept completely breaking armies over and over again, and insulting those he disliked. Let's face it, bad as some have been, I don't think anyone has tried to call every other faction a poor copy of their poster boy for a few years now.<br /><br />Perhaps the reason for this is that too many people are jaded or just have given up hope of being good. After so many years of bad lore, and rising prices, those who cared about storytelling just went back to the older editions they liked. That's a guess admittedly, but I have met those who went all the way back to the Second Edition after seeing what was done to some armies. <br /><br />Also, on the subject of Forge World, part of me keeps wondering if that's as much down to personal notes as editorial demands. John French is consultant there and it is thought that his influence helped turn Perturabo into a barely controlled psychopath in the Horus Heresy rulebooks over any prior depiction. However, the Ultramarines just keep being awesome (wait, sorry AWESOME!!!!!!!!) no matter the writer, until we have stories of them erasing all past defeats, no matter which author is working on them. Bellariushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02652722543111095280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1831276194138109948.post-51741906197736149082016-03-19T23:51:42.376+00:002016-03-19T23:51:42.376+00:00I do have to agree, and this is definitely an ongo...I do have to agree, and this is definitely an ongoing problem I've seen in a lot of places. I think it might also have to do with the forums, if you look at all the popular sites, you can see many places to discuss the rules, yet almost no places to discuss the lore. Anyone who's trying to discuss the lore in the most recent reviews is drowned out by people who only care about playing the game, whereas I consider the lore to be equally important, if it wasn't I wouldn't be playing the armies that I play today. <br /><br />I wonder why this sort of apathy started though, you can see it both in reviewers and customers, people who just shrug off bad lore or think that the lore is awesome because it presents their own side as unstoppable. I've seen more than a few comments saying that Mont'ka had awesome lore on top of awesome rules, and I have to wonder if it's a new customer base that has these beliefs, or if the old one has just grown numb to it over the years and all of these retcons. <br /><br />The only ones who really seem to care are Forgeworld and their books, along with their customers, as I've always been able to have good discussions both on the rules and with the lore as far as those go, with the one exception being the Ultramarines (they love them more than Ward does).grdaathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00722216755745063033noreply@blogger.com