While the site only officially launched a few days go, Gameforms editor Ed McGlothlin has already written a few editorials. One that's gained a fair amount of publicity concerns lack of quality among gaming sites.

Read it? Good. In all honesty, you may be offended by it, particularly if you work for a gaming website. It doesn't really matter which one, the blanket statements paint everyone with the same brush. It does seem doubtful that such a biased and argumentative editorial would be accepted in most professional newsrooms, but I digress.

Ultimately, the point that Ed's trying to make is that gaming journalism is a mess. I'm not going to argue the point too heavily - on some level, I agree with him. I dislike poorly done fan sites (despite having made one in the past). I dislike biased journalism and badly worded content. Should the blame be placed on every single person who is affiliated with a non-Gameforms gaming site? Absolutely not.

I'd wager that no small part of the blame lies squarely on the industry itself.

The gaming industry is a bit of a strange success story, having grown from virtually nothing to an industry that rivals Hollywood in profitability. Many of us have seen it happen during our lifetimes. It's not just the sheer magnitude of the growth, but also the vast technological improvements we've seen. Compare Akalabeth to Morrowind. Who knows what kind of technological gaming advances await us over the next few decades?

Despite this, there is still a lot of immaturity in the game industry. There are the big-name developers who head up dismal projects, or who insult their fans and competitors. (Hmm.)

There's the games that cause damage to people's systems. The games that are released extremely prematurely, and full of bugs. It speaks volumes about the industry when a game actually works so well when released that we're able to overlook significant content gaps.

That's not even going into some of the other issues within the gaming industry. What about the case of the MMORPG designers who (allegedly) gave away closed beta accounts for lunch? The disappearing Anarchy Onine news updates? These stories are everywhere.

There's the fact that so many of the games released are derivative clones of other titles. The fact that nearly every PC game has adopted a release-and-patch schedule. The use of sex and violence to sell otherwise unremarkable games.

Then again, this shouldn't be surprising. There's an old saying that says that 90% of everything is crap. Why should the game industry be any different?

Aside from the somewhat poor example set by gaming companies, another factor to consider is role of the fans. I'm not talking about the quasi-journalists with their word processors and FTP upload accounts. I'm talking about fans within the companies. Part of the problems I've mentioned above come from this very issue - in many cases, game developers are fans who are living a dream, and not always setting a good example in the process. I'd wager that the vast majority of the people in the gaming industry are gaming fans. As tech jobs go, the industry's on one of the lowest rungs of the ladder. Ed mentions the poor salaries earned by gaming journalists, but that also extends to most other positions within gaming companies. Sure, there's the occasional example of the guys who make it rich, but that's the exception, not the rule. Given the large amount of competition for gaming jobs, it's probably safe to assume that anyone who's working in the industry wants to be there - else they'd probably find a higher paid position elsewhere.

This begs the question: If the game developers are fans, what's wrong with the people covering the industry being fans?

Conversely, is a fan wrong for writing about something they enjoy? Absolutely not.

Are fans more likely to fall into a trap of being biased in their coverage? It's possible. There are certainly fewer checks and balances on online media, which may be the real issue. The ease of updating a website means that those people with no interest in maintaining higher journalistic standards can get their work up just as easily as those who want to publish good work. On the other hand, no media is free from bias, no matter how professional the source. To dismiss sites offhand for possessing such a bias is both foolish and hypocritical.

Would RPGFan be a better site for covering more genres? No. It wouldn't be RPGFan, it'd be another multi-genre gaming site. Does the fact that the word "fan" appears on our site make us any less dedicated to our work? Far from it. Does using a handle on this site mean my words have any less meaning? No.

I've written content for this site for three years. I've had a lot of fun doing so, I've met some great people, and I've learned a lot about a very unique industry. That's what being a fan is about, and that's why I write about games.

If, on the off chance Ed's correct, however, I'll gladly eat my poorly assembled words, go huntin' in the backwoods of the gaming media, change my name to Cletus, and worship an obscure series of games.

Then again, should my words be banished to the equivalent of an online leper colony by the Professional Media, I'll find another way to occupy my time.

Important features of 1.50 include new Realm Abilities, a boost to crafters (allowing 94% minimum quality), new item display information, and so forth.

As the press release doesn't seem to be up on Mythic's site yet (odd), I'll post it here.

New information about this process has been posted on the Zone site.

Thanks for the updates on AC, DAOC, etc.(not to mention giving me first dibs on your reviews:)) but what I'm really waiting for is a preview of Harvest Moon Online, with villages from sea to sea to sea offering up their nubile misses for hardworking farming lads the world over, marriage being but the first of many "tasks".;) IOWs, please don't dis the fun of rping weddings, some of us find the reality of commitment to be intriguing in a game of fantasy.....

Oh ya, questing is where it's at for mages!

Later,
G.C.
BTW, love that kitten!:)

Between my little professionalism rant and all the miscellaneous news, it's been a fun column to write. I didn't get to the whole level treadmill thing this week, but I will sometime. Mail me!

- Cameron Hamm (tortolia@rpgfan.com)