If I stuck with my cunning plan, I should write about No Man’s Sky today – alternating with EVE online. If I did this, I would have to rely on other player’s accounts since I have not opened the game once for the last 2 weeks. Well, that’s not entirely correct, I tried the other day but my PC blue-screen-of-deathed, likely fault of dodgy RAM or something but I choose to blame the game. Also the interwebs may have infected me but I could not really bring up a good reason for logging in, I had lost the storyline without being able to get back, you can not re-start the game at all (!) and basically, my experience would be flying from planet to planet, cursing the puny inventory and find an upgrade that marginally better than the last upgrade.
Looks like I am also not alone in this:
Courtesy of Steamspy
The game was hotter than Plutonium (pun intended) for the first oh, 3 days and then literally faded out until now only the absolute die-hards log in. And you have to discount those, there are people out there who play competitive Pong for gods sake.
So, No Man’s Sky is dead. The internet is rejoicing the failure with much fanfare and “told you so”. Some even claimed their money back which must be the ultimate insult to the game studio. I personally do not want my money back. I fully knew the risks when I bought the game that a group of over-caffeinated nerds with minimal adult supervision can not realistically produce a AAA title. But I wanted to believe, I wanted them to succeed like I want all underdogs who fight tooth and nail for their passion to succeed. Its my professional upbringing in small companies where a single purpose holds a team together against the allure of a steady paycheck with a boring mass-producer. My $60 are a sacrifice to the God of Startups and I gladly paid them (is this tax-deductible?)
Which brings us to CCP and EVE. See, I liked EVE for the longest time since CCP are not EA or Blizzard etc. They are mean, arrogant vikings that drink hard, fight their VCs from the frozen rock in the Atlantic and insult their paying customers at will. Incarna nearly broke their back, not financially but spiritually and I truly hope this doesn’t happen to the No Man’s Sky crew. Yes, companies sometimes get socked in the mouth. I have been there, I have counted the days to “crater day” (liabilities > assets) myself and I don’t wish this on any team that truly believes what they are doing. And CCP has reinvented themselves, formed up the ranks and fixed the fundamentals of their game pretty much on schedule. I still think that CCP has “it” and I truly hope that I don’t see the day where they formally move to London to prepare for an IPO or acquisition (yes, I read Hilmar’s interview and I am worried). I have done too many of those myself and I know how this can crush the soul of a dedicated team.
And hence I shall propose a toast: I raise my glass to the small, the insignificant, the underdogs, fighters-against-odds, renegades, the losers with just cause. May you never be ruled by powerpoint-wielding marketing suits.
(image shamelessly stolen from our Fearless Alliance Leader – btw, some strip club is missing their tiger skin)
Obligatory Z3R0 Return Mining is recruiting. Join our channel “Z3R0 Public”. Yeah it has those stupid numbers in the name blame Jadecougar.
