[Comp04] Paul's Reviews -- Postscript
Paul O'Brian
have finished the Earth And Sky trilogy, and I've been hugely gratified
by the response the games have gotten. I'm planning to update EAS3 to a
post-comp edition with the feedback I've received about it, and then
I'll upgrade EAS1 to a format that matches the second and third
episodes, with the Glulx sound-effects and so forth. Writing these games
has been really fun, and I couldn't be more thrilled with the results,
especially the comic feelie from this year's game, so thanks to
everybody who has contributed to or enjoyed the games over the years.
Another ending, I'm sorry to say, is that I've decided to scale way back
on reviewing comp games -- this is the last year I'll review comp games
en masse in the way I've been doing since 1996. I'm not saying I'll
never review or judge for the competition again, but I'm no longer
willing to make the hardcore commitment necessary to playing and
reviewing all eligible games within a 6-week period. This year is the
swan song for that. A number of factors led me to this decision, one of
which is that I'm beginning to feel a fair amount of burnout around the
comp -- I want to stop while I'm still having fun. Also, some shifting
circumstances in my personal life are cutting down on my free time a
bit; this year was much more of a struggle than years past have been,
and I don't see the situation opening up anytime soon.
However, another factor is the complaint that I've made several times,
that the comp, while a totally wonderful thing in the IF world, is now
so popular that its success is having deleterious effects elsewhere --
it's turned into a black hole that sucks in a ton of games, including
many that aren't really appropriate for its format. I think my reviewing
efforts are contributing to the very thing I'm complaining about, so I'm
going to refocus. Starting now, I'm going to direct my reviewing
energies to games released *outside* the comp. This is not to say that
I'm promising to review every single non-comp game, but I do plan to
increase my efforts in that area considerably. I'll send my work to
IF-Review first, since it's actually a paying venue, and failing that,
I'll probably post it on my web page, with a pointer in the newsgroup.
I hope it's clear that I'm not trying to make some dramatic, sweeping
exit here. I'm not leaving the IF community -- I certainly plan to
continue with SPAG, and like I said above, I will still write reviews. I
just wanted to let you all know that I'm shifting my priorities, and to
thank everybody who has had kind words for my reviews over the years.
So, thanks. I've had a really good time, and I hope the reviews have
been helpful or entertaining to some people.
--
Paul O'Brian obr...@colorado.edu http://ucsu.colorado.edu/~obrian
Your mission, should you choose to accept it: review an IF competition
game for SPAG 39. Please! Deadline for submissions is December 5th