You know, there ain't a lotta respect going around these days within the gaming community. Creator's don't respect audiences, audiences in kind disrespect creators- devs are disrespected, community managers disrespect and under it all Journalists are the walking mats of the world. But then, Journalists have kind of earned that reputation for themselves. I remember reading a funny article wherein an obstinate little word jockey, whom I can assume comes equipped with a permanent raised eyebrow, insisted it was 'time to trust game Journalists again' because they actually are good at the games the play and actually- they're better than you, when they're not too busy to play the games of course. His evidence? Well, they navigate around these complex and often confusing games before they hit the mainstream without guides or walkthroughs, all with a deadline to meet and nothing but themselves and that massive intellect to guide them. (Guess he just conveniently forgot about the 'press guides' that review copies for games come distributed with in order to ensure that press can beat products before review embargo's lift, huh?)
But the funny thing about respect is that thing is such a slippery little eel to handle- it jumps outta your grasp every other day and there ain't typically a thing to do about it. And when that bugger is gone it's staying gone, cause that's the nature of the beast. Hard won, easily lost. And in order to retain respect, in order to remain with that high regard that earns the deference of those new and old, you have to have yourself a little thing called 'Tegrity. Now, 'Tegrity is all about a few key things. It's about being trustworthy. It's about being respectful yourself. It's about having the wisdom to decide beyond yourself. It's about putting back into the world more than you take. And now we've done talked about 'Tegrity, let me tell about how you lose it.
Now Valve ain't really a game development company. Not anymore. They had those days and they rocked those days with classic titles that still receive plaudits to this day but ever since the rise of Steam that really became their end point. Now they provide the most trusted launcher in the industry and facilitate a near unmatched market dominance. Actually, I think I'm being equitable as a lawyer would be with that statement- Valve is unmatched, at least on the PC market. Which is why it always comes across a bit weird whenever they actually put out a game developed in house by Valve. Like, do they even have game developers working there anymore? If so- why? What do those developers do 90% of the year? Contract out to other studios who actually make games?
It's within this light that many found the apparent open secret of Valve's next game somewhat amusing. Deadlock, as it has known to be called for that was how it was listed within Valve's own tracking software, has been playtested extensively over the past few months, has it's own reddit already open and just ran a closed beta. All before the thing has even been officially announced. In fact, some wonder if the game will ever be announced, or if it will just remain an open secret shared about by those in the know. A kind of cool-kids-club faux-exclusive story that naturally spreads by word for the very nature of who is involved and how atypically it's being handled. That vague and leak-culture-strewn mystery is it's greatest marketing gimmick. So trust some spotty, sweaty journalist to ruin everyone's fun with their stink.
Yes there was a closed beta event wherein many people from outside of the professional scene were invited to try out this new moba-esque hero-based game before so much as an announcement trailer had been cobbled together- and some of those invites went to journalists. Now there was an expectation to keep hush, hush for the sake of the bit- but no actual legal requirements were placed upon the event. No NDA. Just good old fashion honour. Well for gods sake never give a content hungry journalist a choice between good taste and a paycheck- because within hours an article was out detailing as much as humanly possible about Deadlock in a desperate bid for first story rights.
Now as many have argued- there was nothing legally binding anyone not to come out and talk about this game- but that was kind of the point. Valve seemed to be fostering this kind of 'outside the traditional media style of marketing were details about how the game played or what it even was trickled organically from community to community as people put this game together. Which means there's nothing implicitly illegal about a big journalist man slapping an article taking ownership of narrative with a shoddy article. But it's not really all that tasteful, is it? Doesn't really ring with any 'Tergrity, now does it? Knowing that when given a choice between taste and short-term profit the question of not reporting did not so much as cost this journalist's mind.
Of course I totally understand that so may look at my take on this matter and call me unrealistic for believing that a journalist with this sort of information at his disposal is not going to panic post in before some one else gets that scoop. But maybe I just a bit too much expected regard for the games journalism community to assume some small measure of nuance enters in the community when it comes to decision making. We're rarely dealing with life or death scenes in this industry and so much of the traditional journalistic code doesn't really come into play during the day-to-day. Which leaves the question of basic recognisable concepts of raw humanity- most of which have appeared to be entirely foreign to your everyday game journalist because lets me honest here- most don't really care beyond their weekly output.
It's a small matter, I understand that. But the world of game's journalist is combined of purely 'small matters' that makes me wonder why there's even the expectation of this thing called 'respect' around an industry that clearly refuses to foster it. Those that actually benefit this space with either insight commentary or genuine journalistic work don't even work at any of the big gaming-centric companies but instead ply their trade for real news sites that happen to have gaming-poised departments. It's just a sorry state made ever more sorry and pathetic by the general gross sliminess encouraged by the daily going ons. All because we abandoned our 'Tergity.
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