I'm not really sure how to say this. A vague dissatisfaction has been brewing in my head for quite some time now, and has recently made me neglect my Swordplay duties. This dissatisfaction is not over anything specific. Rather, I'm just not really happy with the way things are working out with Swordplay.net. I initially started this page with the intention of bringing readers fair, levelheaded news and editorials about the medieval RPG world. Things were going fine for a while, but recently I've begun to fear slipping into some of the same routines that I always found distasteful on other news sites. Let me explain...

Nine out of ten gaming news websites out there are so desperate for news that they will post any sort of drivel that's vaguely on-topic. If there is a slow news day, they will scour message boards for a post by a designer or a tidbit from a .plan update. Anything just to get something up on their page. And it's understandable. In this business, to build a base readership, it is absolutely essential to get something in print at least every day so that people return often enough to come to rely on you for their news. I, however, have always felt that this practice cheapens the overall quality of the site.

For example, say you run a general RPG news site. Now say there was no real news today, but you noticed that one of the designers on the upcoming RPG, Rudlab's Portcullis 3, has made a post about the fact that NPC's will always start walking left-foot-first. What do you do? Do you post it? Well, it may be of interest to people anxiously awaiting the game, but it is out of place on a general gaming news site. Without question, the same little tidbit will be reported on sites devoted to the game and anyone truly interested will visit that site as it is. If you post it, you are not really bringing anything newsworthy to your site.

That's only the tip of the iceberg with respect to the issues I have with most gaming sites. There's the regurgitory 'first looks'. There's the vapid reviews. There's the off-topic news posted in desperation for content. And I'm not even going to go into the pandering to developers which most of them are guilty of. When I started up Swordplay.net, I promised myself several things. Number one is that I would never sell out. There's enough sites out there which purport to be news sites but which blatantly advertise for their sponsors. I also promised that I would never scrounge for news and that if there was a day with no news, then there would be no update. I also promised that I would never 'dumb down' the news. I'm a hardcore gamer, and that's who I wanted to write for. And lastly, I promised that I would never beg other sites to link to us, or to go around posting my URL all over the place hoping to draw readers. All of these things, I felt, would lower Swordplay's integrity and would end up alienating the type of reader I was hoping to attract.

Well, this brings us to the present. I'm finding it harder and harder to continue without breaking my own promises. I like Swordplay. I think Rao and I have done a great job here... but I am no longer convinced that it is worth it. We are only getting about 5 - 10 unique hits per day. Oh, there are some days where we get a few dozen hits, but there are also days we get none. I suppose it was naive to think that word-of-mouth and search engines were enough to bring readers to our door. The "build it and they will come" mentality is not always true on the 'net. And not being willing to break my aforementioned promises, I do not foresee our readership increasing anytime soon.

Don't get me wrong, I love it that we've got a few faithful readers. They, or should I say YOU, were the reason I worked as much as I have. But as things stand now, I don't see much point to continue running Swordplay.net in the way I have been. I want to climb up on my soapbox and preach to the masses, not just a handful of people (albeit loving, supportive, intelligent, and good-looking people).

So where does that leave us? Well, I'm not sure. I have no intention of closing Swordplay's doors for good. But I no longer see the use of working to post anything close to daily updates. It may not seem so, but it is a ton of work. I must check all my sources every day and spend a goodly amount of time trying to put all the day's news into coherent and hopefully entertaining prose. On a particularly news laden day, it can take hours. So what am I going to do instead? Uh... I don't have an answer to that just yet. The only thing I can really think of is just making an update every now and then when there's big news in the industry. But that hardly sounds exciting.

No, what I'd really like is some ideas. Write to me! Post in our underutilized Forum. What is the world of gaming missing that you would like to see? What could I do that would be well received and worthwhile to the gaming community at large? Or if you think I'm totally off my rocker and should just keep doing what I've been doing, then tell me that too... but you must also promise to make hundreds of your friends read Swordplay every day.

Well, if you can't tell, I'm rather disheartened and conflicted by all this. I thank you for reading my ranting and for your patronage of Swordplay in the past. We're not going away or anything, but we need to do some hard thinking. I hope you will bear with us while we do.

Nothing blew up yet? Wow, I was sure that with so much widespread attention focused on all the major cities around the world lately, that some deranged kook-ball would be blowing up something to show off how incredibly stupid they are. Well, all's well that end's well, unless you end up in a well, and well, that would suck. And then there was News.

A new Ladder Season is up and running over on Battle.net. As the site says, "The Warcraft II, Starcraft and Brood War Spring Seasons have begun and will run through March 1, 2000." Also listed are the Fall 1999 Season Champions. Get the full story here.

In related news, Tuesday wouldn't be quite so Tuesday'ish if not for the fabled Diablo II Screenshot of the Week. <-- There it is! So what are you waiting for?? Also be sure to check out the typically complete analysis on this page over at DiabloII.net.

I saw over at Computer Games Online, a design-stage overview of the upcoming game Rune: Hammer of the Gods by Humanhead Studios. It covers aspects of gameplay, environment, player controls, monster AI, and appendage tracking? Per CDMag: "As with Die by the Sword, characters are modeled with limbs and joints that are separate from their torsos so you can lop off a creature's arm and beat him to death with it, which is simultaneously disturbing and oddly appealing" Noice! Give the overview, and it's accompanying screenshots a peep here.

Also over at Computer Games Online, there is an interesting little piece discussing the Role-playing aspects of today's RPG's, and how we as gamers can approach the genre. OK, so it's not earth-shattering news, but hey, it's related ;p

Avault has a link to 3DO's Crusaders of Might and Magic FAQ. Although the reviews I've seen of the game don't exactly herald it as "The Best Damn Game in the World", I'm sure someone out there is enjoying it. If so, or if you're just a Curious George, hop over to this Avault page.

Lastly, the studious folks over at GA-RPG are reporting that the official Soulbringer site has been "updated with information on a new area, the city of Tortalaran". They have a short blurb straight from the site, as well as all the links you'll need for full information goodness. You can find all of the above here.

So I'm glad nothing went BOOM! this New Year, but I'm even more glad that the Y2K bug hysteria can now just fade away.. kinda like New Kids on the Block (I will refrain from linking, because I'm just not that evil). So we're all safe, we all have power, and we can all keep on gaming! Now THAT'S good Y2K news! C'ya on the flip-side.

Winston Churchill once said, "This is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end. This is merely the end of the beginning."

Well, this morning I peeked out the lead-lined door of my Y2K bunker and saw that the world survived. And I'd just like to say that the planet's continued existence thrills me to no end. It means that we can continue to bring you first-rate RPG news and editorial ramblings! Woo!

But seriously... welcome to the year 2000. I guess we can't officially call it the 21st century or anything yet... but I think everyone agrees that it's a new decade. The 00's perhaps? No, that sounds stupid. How about the Naught's? Ya, I like that. Welcome to the Naught's. Now lets all go make the 90's look like the 80's and the 60's look like the 50's!!!

Recently, a 130MB demo of Thief II: The Metal Age was leaked out on to the web. It turns out it was only intended to be bundled with magazine CD's since it is loaded with superfluous cinematic cutscenes, and the word on the street is that an Internet-friendly version will be available soon. However, before the contraband nature of the demo came to light, I downloaded it and played it through. I must say, I was impressed. Anyone looking for a lush 3D experience in a detailed world, but who wishes to avoid the splattery violence of games like Quake, will absolutely love Thief II. There is enough stealthy sneaking around to keep the suspense up high, and an cool story and central character to keep RPG fanatics enthused. We'll let you know as soon as the official demo hits the 'net.

Cinematix has released a new patch for their action/RPG, Revenant. The patch, version 1.11e, mainly addresses bugs and performance issues. You can grab your copy right here.

Those industrious blokes from DiabloII.net have posted the latest report from their Visit to Blizzard North where they participated in a grueling three day marathon of Diablo II playing. This truly humungous nine page installment is jam-packed with new information about the game and screenshots galore. I think it is safe to say that this is the largest preview of Diablo II to date. It both reveals new facts and provides updates to previously released info about the game. No true D2 fan should miss this article -- that is if you have some serious time to kill. I kid thee not, this thing is enormous. Here's a clip which doesn't have anything to do with anything:

"Squirrels There are not any squirrels in Diablo II, at least not that we saw, but at our hotel there were fat and nearly tame squirrels that would run right up to you and stand up, begging for food. We gave one some trail mix, and he was soon busily burying nuts and fruits like... well, like a squirrel. He even ran into Flux's room, and had to be shooed out, which wasn't all that easy as Elly and Gaile were too busy standing outside laughing, and the squirrel wanted to play ring-a-round the sofa. They wouldn't let you touch them though, Flux tried to pet one and it did an acrobatic little leap and swatted at him and took a nip at his fingers, though he pulled back in time to avoid spending the remainder of the weekend in San Francisco enjoying a round of rabies vaccinations."

Okay, but seriously the rest of the article does, in fact, focus on Diablo II. Go get comfortable and give it a read here.

Okay, so... that's just about the only interesting story I could find today. And I hope it is meaty enough to keep you occupied until the next millennium since I will be out of town until Sunday. (And don't get all anal and tell me the millennium is not until next year... I know it is. But if you are really just gonna stay home this New Year's Eve and wait until next year to do your partying, then you've got issues.) So I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a fun and safe New Year's revelry. May you have someone to kiss at midnight and may that someone actually wish to kiss you back. Rao and I will be back to keep bringing you all your RPG news and editorials next year.... assuming there is a next year. *Ominous music*

I just found out that people sending mail to <anyone>@swordplay.net have been getting their messages bounced back to them for some time. Until I get this resolved, please contact me at nok@theprovider.com. Rao is withholding his real e-mail address, since he may be changing it soon when he switches ISP's. He is getting fed up with the general suckiness of Bellsouth dial-in service. I wouldn't know since I bask in the glorious splendor of DSL from work. (Sorry Rao, had to throw that jab in there ;)

Lest this Tuesday be different from any other Tuesday (and therefore subject to ridicule from its peers), Blizzard released their latest Diablo II Screenshot of the Week. It depicts an Amazon attempting to stop her foes with the power of ice. This pic is somewhat tame when compared to other recent offerings, but it still manages to produce a sufficient salivary response from me as I think about actually playing the game some day. As usual, look to this page on DiabloII.net to get a full breakdown of the details in the screenshot and the info contained therein.

In case you've been out of the loop, the current best-guess for Diablo II's release date is late February or early March of 2000.

I must have missed this a few days ago, but Eidos Interactive launched the official Thief II: Metal Age website. All that is there right now are four screenshots which I believe to be new, and several other sections which have yet to be filled in. It's all nicely wrapped up in a spooky little Flash package that quite impressive. You won't find much information, but to get in the Thief II mood, go have a look here.

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