It's been a while, hasn't it? Just now, I finally wrote a new article after a six month hiatus. The truth of the matter is that this blog hasn't been particularly active ever since I graduated in June. I'd like to give you a brief update on the why and how.
After the safety net of school disappeared, my time suddenly became a whole lot more valuable. That didn't stop me from wasting a lot of it on silly videos and drama, but it did make it a lot harder to invest genuine effort in non-paying work. And in time, a lot of the drafts I had lying around aged badly; I had a Phoenix Wright article planned, for instance, which will need serious revision after the release of the sixth game in the series, Spirit of Justice. A lot of other ideas, I've just lost interest in. Lastly, it's been pretty hard coming up with new ideas! Maybe a part of that is that I still haven't found a specific focus, but I don't want to limit myself to any specific perspective on art and the industry. If you have any particular suggestions of what you'd like me to write about, please go ahead and post a comment or send me a message.
That isn't to say the situation is particularly grim, however. I do have work, and I have been able to do the occasional art stream on Twitch. I've noticed that the active pressure and immediate nature of livestreaming is a good motivator for me, which is why I've been able to do it even though it doesn't pay. Maybe it's an idea to write blogs while streaming, as well- it's unusual, but I'm sure I could find an audience for it. Something to consider for 2017!
Anyways, with the explanation and update out of the way, let's briefly reflect on this year.
About half of my posts mostly involved narrative; the most popular examples being the one on Undertale and the one on Life is Strange's ending. The other half discussed more general game design, like the one on Darkest Dungeon's mechanics and the one on big numbers in RPGs. I've barely really discussed visual design, even though I'm an artist by trade, so that's something I'd like to cover more in 2017.
In terms of views, my Darkest Dungeon article was the most popular article this year! I had expected Undertale to easily take number one, but the Undertale articles have taken 2nd and 3rd place from what I can see in the analytics. I'm really grateful so many people took the time to read my work and offer their own thoughts! In spite of my lack of consistency, people still regularly read my articles, and I can't tell you how happy that makes me.
As for the business side of things, my blog isn't exactly a source of income. It's not a huge issue because I do like to write, but investing time and effort into something gets a lot scarier when you're dependant on your time and effort to make a living. I'm wondering if I should set up a Patreon for my articles. I'm not sure, however, if my readership is consistent enough to make that work. So, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Would Patreon be a good idea?
_
Right, that's enough rambling. In spite of my inactivity, it's been a rather good year for this blog. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read my articles, and do feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. It's always appreciated!
Thursday, December 29, 2016
The Objective Review
People often define the quality of reviews based on how objective they are. But to what degree does this - and should it - apply to artistic media like videogames?
For anything that can be bought and sold, there's bound to be reviewers. It makes perfect sense - very few of us have money to burn, and before you spend your money you'll want to know exactly what you're getting into. There's no debate on the value of reviews when it comes to a simple product of which the value is defined by, say, durability or weight.
On the other hand, something that is entirely artistic is hard to review. A painting can be criticized on its composition or use of colour, and maybe the authenticity of its content, but it's very easy to simply accept deviations from the norm as a unique style. When something is a work of art and only serves that purpose - to be self expression - you enter some pretty murky territory when it comes to critique. This is why reviews and detailed critiques of "pure" art aren't very common or popular.
But what if the reviewers are discussing artistic media, which falls somewhere in the middle? To be sure, you can still stick to the basic facts - how many episodes are there of this series? How long is the movie and which actors star in it? Does this game run at a specific resolution or framerate? Facts like these can influence a purchase, but they're usually not the most important factors.
With that in mind, many reviewers give their reviews a unique spin. They'll focus on something they or their audience might find important, and in doing so, offer a different perspective than a dull list of objective specifications might. This means there are many unique and interesting reviews that appeal to a variety of audiences. For this reason, a lot of critics and their audiences have voiced their frustration that people seem to put objectivity on a pedestal. But the question is, is objectivity really what people are after? Is that the whole story?
A critic such as John 'TotalBiscuit' Bain might express a personal dislike for platformers, for instance, but because he wears this bias on his sleeve and doesn't make it out to be an objective problem, people don't particularly mind it. Contrast this with say, a critic who detracts from a game's score for a similarly taste related reason. This would almost certainly result in irritated reactions from the audience. A similar problem arises when critics berate a game, or even dock its numerical score (which is an issue of itself) for social, political or religious reasons.
But does that mean that subjective elements, be they the critic's taste in game mechanics or religious views, cannot and should not be involved? Not at all. It is simply that the audience should be made aware of these biases and how they influenced the final review. A hypothetical Christian reviewer might believe one or some elements in GTA V to be amoral, for example. But if he or she were to state that in their review verbatim, they would be doing the game and their audience a disservice. It would be better to say that 'I find this to be amoral based on my religious beliefs,' for instance. Rather than pretend that your beliefs and perspectives are objective fact, be objective about your subjective lens. In that respect, what I think people are after isn't necessarily just objectivity; it's honesty.
To close off with an interesting example, 'Christ Centered Gamer' is a Christian game reviewer. It considers morality in its reviews, but gives it a separate score. I haven't seen another website combine their beliefs with a more generalized form of reviewing, and made with work with numerical scores, so my hat's off to them.
Objectivity, while important, isn't the only thing people want from their reviews of artistic media. In truth, what people want is a proper balance between the objective and subjective, and some good honest transparency about the latter.
For anything that can be bought and sold, there's bound to be reviewers. It makes perfect sense - very few of us have money to burn, and before you spend your money you'll want to know exactly what you're getting into. There's no debate on the value of reviews when it comes to a simple product of which the value is defined by, say, durability or weight.
On the other hand, something that is entirely artistic is hard to review. A painting can be criticized on its composition or use of colour, and maybe the authenticity of its content, but it's very easy to simply accept deviations from the norm as a unique style. When something is a work of art and only serves that purpose - to be self expression - you enter some pretty murky territory when it comes to critique. This is why reviews and detailed critiques of "pure" art aren't very common or popular.
But what if the reviewers are discussing artistic media, which falls somewhere in the middle? To be sure, you can still stick to the basic facts - how many episodes are there of this series? How long is the movie and which actors star in it? Does this game run at a specific resolution or framerate? Facts like these can influence a purchase, but they're usually not the most important factors.
With that in mind, many reviewers give their reviews a unique spin. They'll focus on something they or their audience might find important, and in doing so, offer a different perspective than a dull list of objective specifications might. This means there are many unique and interesting reviews that appeal to a variety of audiences. For this reason, a lot of critics and their audiences have voiced their frustration that people seem to put objectivity on a pedestal. But the question is, is objectivity really what people are after? Is that the whole story?
A critic such as John 'TotalBiscuit' Bain might express a personal dislike for platformers, for instance, but because he wears this bias on his sleeve and doesn't make it out to be an objective problem, people don't particularly mind it. Contrast this with say, a critic who detracts from a game's score for a similarly taste related reason. This would almost certainly result in irritated reactions from the audience. A similar problem arises when critics berate a game, or even dock its numerical score (which is an issue of itself) for social, political or religious reasons.
But does that mean that subjective elements, be they the critic's taste in game mechanics or religious views, cannot and should not be involved? Not at all. It is simply that the audience should be made aware of these biases and how they influenced the final review. A hypothetical Christian reviewer might believe one or some elements in GTA V to be amoral, for example. But if he or she were to state that in their review verbatim, they would be doing the game and their audience a disservice. It would be better to say that 'I find this to be amoral based on my religious beliefs,' for instance. Rather than pretend that your beliefs and perspectives are objective fact, be objective about your subjective lens. In that respect, what I think people are after isn't necessarily just objectivity; it's honesty.
To close off with an interesting example, 'Christ Centered Gamer' is a Christian game reviewer. It considers morality in its reviews, but gives it a separate score. I haven't seen another website combine their beliefs with a more generalized form of reviewing, and made with work with numerical scores, so my hat's off to them.
Objectivity, while important, isn't the only thing people want from their reviews of artistic media. In truth, what people want is a proper balance between the objective and subjective, and some good honest transparency about the latter.
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