warning: several magazine article's worth of ranting approaching. seek cover immediatelybefore we go forward, i want you to take a good long look at this list
note the amount of DMs
now, without looking back to the list, note how many DMs (or DM-likes, such as 'war rps' or 'battles') had some sort of suffix. in fact, try to think of how many have multiple prefixes. in fact, if you have any alcohol and are of legal age, take a shot for every one you can think of. two if the server had dual suffixes.
this is called a 'gimmick DM', and this is not a bad thing in and of itself.
in typical arena deathmatch shooters, gimmick dms serve as a sort of 'change of pace' from the well-developed and deep (but chaotic and fun) 'main' game; the one that professionals (or in our case, well-respected amateurs?) have taken time and care in polishing to a mirror shine. typically, gimmick DMs help keep the main game fresh by providing little distractions that cause you to learn new strategies that you can bring into the main game by forcing you to only use these strategies
for instance, in a melee-only gimmick DM (like a knife DM, for instance) the only way you can fight at all is with a knife. thus, by playing knife DMs, you typically get better at using knives and can thus transfer this skill to the main game.
in other instances, gimmick DMs create entirely 'new' modes of play by adding a key feature that would have completely flipped the main game on it's head (for instance, digging trenches, fighting zombies) and thus are interesting experiences in and of themselves, but still typically take lower priority then the main game due to their derivative nature and typically share similar skillsets (unless they cross over with the other type of gimmick DM which
removes key elements, such as all or certain types of guns)
sounds great, huh? gimmick DMs are great examples of community generated content that serves to deepen the layplayer's gaming experience and thus creates a better game on the whole
EXCEPT ON BLOCKLAND
(which is WEIRD AS stuff, by the way)
the thing about blockland is that our unique location between 'first person shooter' and 'sandbox building toy' would theoretically allow us to explore endless types of deathmatches without sacrificing the integrity of the 'main game', since our 'main game'
doesn't exist as a shooter: primarily blockland is a building game, you see. this allows our content-creators to make any sort of 'deathmatch' without having to worry about it 'meshing' with what players already know, since every new package of add-ons (T+T, frogs weapons, etc) typically follows it's own path and requires it's own skillset, and players go about using these add-ons for the first time without any real predilections about how they'll work besides the way they 'want' them to work and the way they 'usually' work (
guns shooting bullets, for instance)
the thing about blockland's community, though, is that we all seem to be lazy as stuff and don't care about the quality of what we make as long as we get a bunch of people to play it. the only thing on our minds at all when we create servers is
what is currently most popular and how can i get more people then the next guy': thus, the server list is typically swamped by stuffty 're-imaginings' of the latest and greatest internet bullstuff, or, even worse, knife tdms and trench tdms
i mention these two types of TDM specifically because holy stuff they are the epitome of everything i hate about blockland deathmatch 'design'
i mean for forget's sake
look at this stuffanything in particular jump out at you?
no?
that's because they're loving flat!it's gotten to the point that i can actually stereotype these things on the server list! "oh, look. blocklander2002's knife tdm. i bet it's a
flat piece of stuff"
the worst part? the reason for this is because this is, technically, the 'optimal' style of knife TDM. since knifing is one of the few 'sports' on blockland that require any 'skill' and 'talent' to succeed at, logically the battlefield must be as featureless and standardized as humanly possible so the contestants can have a fair and balanced competition without anything 'cheap' getting in the way!
not only that, but it's also popular as stuff. not only as a specific type of deathmatch, but as a loving
building style! i mean, why put time and effort into putting together something interesting and deep (or at least something not-shallow and
fun) like 2 buildings and a
loving bridge between them, when you can just put together a few dozen platforms out of 'pixel art', float them 30 miles off the ground and have your server population
shoot through the roofactually, you know what? forget that team fortress reference. i can't stand
that stuff either.
if there's one thing i hate more then uninspired, bullstuff deathmatches it's uninspired bullstuff deathmatches that are built around half-assed knock offs of already-existing content
for instance: you know how everyone and their dog seems to use the tf2 classes for everything? if it's not literally the tf2 classes, it's some sort of chinese carbon copy with uninspired new 'names', as if the old ones were too similar to the original and could legally
be used as a weapon in a loving
court of law. i'm looking at you, pecon.
good job making your new arena
flat and boring by the way.
(
)
the worst part about all this is that all of these issues would be downright negligible if it weren't for the fact nobody's willing to make a loving normal deathmatch anymore. i mean, come on, we've got
hundreds of loving weapons to use - this isn't self advertisement, i'm being literal- and nobody's loving
using them! you guys have an entire loving building's worth of pens and pencils and you're only using them to
draw richards on the insides of bathroom stalls! it wouldn't be so bad if these gimmick games were actually, you know, just gimmicks; taking away nothing and only giving back. instead, they are the only type of
deathmatch on blockland, and the only person who's willing to do a loving thing about it is
gravity cat?what the hell is going on and how the hell do i get you guys to knock it off
by the way, i don't really hate anyone for shoddy builds. i hate you guys for not making shoddy builds that aren't loving knife dms
