Not everyone’s a fan of the OtherSpace reboot.
A guest logged on the other day – someone who apped for a character long ago, got approved, played a couple of scenes and then “life got in the way.”
“The post a while back of axing idled characters left a bad taste in my mouth and the recent post made me decide to pop back,” the guest said to other players on the MUSH.
I was busy at home at the time, tending to my baby and a pair of borrowed kids from some friends who were off celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary. “Life got in the way,” you see, and I missed this charming visitor.
The guest didn’t like the idea of a reboot to an era that was before faster-than-light travel, before exploration of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. The guest wanted a reboot, I guess, of a straight out-of-the-box, already lived-in cosmos like OtherSpace 1998.
“No offense, I’m not going to hang around for months playing something I don’t want just to pass the time to get something I do want to play,” the guest said.
Well, fair enough. But then the guest said they “honestly feel gipped” by the reboot meaning “we’re taking out [that thing you love] for an unspecified amount of time.”
“Especially since I donated before, too,” the guest said. “I dunno if Wes is even reading this channel, but it’s kind of like enticing you in with the promise of Mass Effect, then pulling the covers away to reveal Kerbal Space Program. Only not as fun.”
A couple of points rankle here. First: NO ONE has donated as much time, effort, or money to OtherSpace during the past 16 years as I have. If someone’s going to get preferential treatment for thematic development based on financial investment, it’ll be me. I’m certainly not lending much credence to someone who professes love for the old theme when they couldn’t stick with it for more than a couple of scenes and can’t even remember who their character was. Sorry to disappoint. Second: I never promised anything remotely resembling the original OtherSpace in the lead-up to the reboot. In fact, I very specifically outlined plans to go back so far in the mythos that player actions – not the game creator – would play a much larger role in shaping the universe, from the technology that breaks the light barrier to the alien worlds they discover.
I fully appreciate that providing a blank canvas full of creative potential – a veritable space opera sandbox – isn’t going to be for everybody.
And they can find something else to amuse themselves. That’s fine by me.
It’s going to be great for others. And it’s for them that we keep chugging along.
You can’t please anyone.
I tried to help the guy. I failed. I think he was dead set on bitching about it though. What really got me was the ‘I donated so I’m right’ mentality. Wrong attitude to have.
And you’re right in your article. At the end of the day, you have given the most, you call the shots. 😛