On the current state of Hawken |
an exploratory thought.
I am currently writing this from a train, with two hours to kill. A forgotten book can truly be a curse, and , as it is my rule to leave weekends fully unplanned, I can only start anything productive when I arrive at my destination.
Excuse me as this might get a little off-track (huzzah for train puns!).
Right, moving on.
On the subject of Hawken Lore.
Hawken is a wonderful game, no matter how you think of it. The design process is, I find inspiring. As far as I am aware, the game underwent an evolution, and it might help to understand this in order to grasp the depth of Hawken.
In the maps, the mechs and the lore, it is obvious that Illail is a world, not created but grown. This game that we love is simply a window into the world. Any change brought to it must, in some manner or fashion, make sense. Take for example the incin. Brought in as a mech who can manage and radiate heat, introduced in Bunker, the coldest map currently in game. The use of him goes further than just taking heat and shooting and overall being OP, he is a product of his surroundings. As the people lived and adapted to their cold environment, so did their Axes. As keeping warm became higher priority to the pilots, it must seem only logical to somehow make their most prised possessions being comfortable. Hence why the incin lacks a cooling system, being in the icy wind you need all that heat. The ability and primary weapon is only a by-product, a fail-safe mechanism in order to defend their position.
Such a simple thing, hinted at by location and time really brings Hawken to life for me.
Take the slums on Bazaar, take the (literal) border of culture and ideology on Front-Line, take the history of Wreckage, the gigastructure on Prosk. All details lost into the discussions of mechanics and want to compete. Do me a favour and explore the maps, take in the environments, and post if you’ve found interesting things.
Hawken is just a game, but only in the imagination of it’s players does it grow. In the past I’ve been involved in the lore, in the writing of stories. Some of you have come back to Art & Media, and it overjoys me to see pilots taking the game into their own hands. With the current state of Hawken, it’s up to you to make it live.
I remember, way back, plans for a website. Can you guess how it was called? Hawken: Crossroads. Oh, boy, believe it or not, but that name is the name of so many ideas. A EU-based community. A player-supported clan and leader board system. A ranked, challenger-based scrimming competition. Even a bloody steam group. But I am most proud of the idea, directly based on journalism.
At the time I was still studying Graphical communication, and was building websites. And out of reading the comics came an idea: Hawken: crossroads, a fictional news outlet, where players could send in “new reports” about the state of Illail. Did you just finish the best game ever? Write about how a battle of Prosk and Sentium ended in the victorious supremacy of Sentium Hardare. Were there duels going on? Send in a report on the two biggest rivals going head to head!
Someday, I wish to make this a reality. I had a fully functioning tumblr site going. It would repost the articles through personal tumblr pages, and volonteers could pick one and send in their stories under an alias.
The system worked. Sadly, things got postponed indefinitely. Someday, maybe, someone could take the initiative from me and make it a reality. I do hope that day comes soon.
Well, on the subject of initiative, let’s talk a bit about Ultra-Violent, shall we?
On the subject of Ultra-Violent.
Ah, Ultra-Violent. An event designed for people to unwind and truly enjoy playing Hawken. Truly, trying to give people the best experience possible.
I remember when it was still called the “European Gentlemen’t Ultra-Violent Wednesday”. I’ve lost count on how many we’ve done now. Must be 7 months, so that would be 28 times. Probably more. And man, does it have a history.
It started with the creation of War Wednesday (more about TAW later, cause it’s got some juicy stuff going on). As the Wednesday event got loaded up I felt sad that there were no EU events. So, me going through life trying not to be the shy kid, took it upon me to take some god-darn initiative for once, bite the bullet, and make my own damn event. With blackjack. And hookers.
Also, there was the Training Saturday, of which there really isn’t much to talk about, except that, at the time, it was a flawed system. Not in the idea, but in the execution. Originally a AUS event (founded by Dawn of Ash, if I’m not mistaken, with the intention of being taken over), got into my inexperienced hands.
I tried to make it work, but there simply wasn’t enough content. Well, lesson learned. fuzzy bunny happens.
Well, would you guess it? Probably the worst timing ever. This is the point, if you’ll remember, that the devs went silent. There was confusion. There was anger. And there was a distinct lack of communication. But there was also Ultra-Violent, and it was the only thing keeping me playing. Even if only two or three pilots showed up, it was my responsibility to, for those 3 hours, keep them entertained.
Hawken has always been dying. The events were meant to get new players involved. Now they were to keep people playing.
Truly, seeing Hawken back, having a rise in popularity I never thought Hawken could have two months ago, is the greatest joy I can ask for. It has influenced my life in so many ways. fuzzy bunny, getting sentimental.
Poopyface. Hahah.
That’s better.
Let’s start looking forward, shall we?
On the subject of Future ordeals.
Yes, more posters are coming. Yes, Hawken will live. But I am getting more and more busy. Therefore I want to ask people to take some initiative, not to start projects, but to communicate. If you have an idea, make a thread and discuss. Be realistic and ask for help. You are not the best in everything, and I’m sure that others are itching to show what they’re worth. Prove themselves. Get busy doing things, because there is more to Hawken than the game.
I’m back to writing crap, god darnit. Gotta stop derailing my train of thought (yeaaaaaaaah).
Alright, so what are my biggest wishes? We’ll start from there and build down.
Well, private servers are back, and they are wonderful. I can’t wait to use the Ultra-Violent servers and start providing more than the half-assed “let’s do a thing”, and then random people joining and us having to go back to regular gamemodes. So many things to try out, so many stuffs to prepare, so little time. Well, good thing Hawken has such great people, devs and players, ready to try new things.
Really, I can’t ask for more, because that would be too much fun J.
Next thing would, I guess, be a clan system. Oh boy, that would be fun. A place so meet up, schedule scrims, would be so darn useful. But, all in good time. It’s not like we’ve failed to do this without a system like this so far! HAH! Who needs devs anyway! ( jk, devs are love, devs are life, <3 <3).
Now, for once, on the subject of comp teams.
Right, Comp teams. Oooooh boy, do you get a false sense of entitlement from being in a comp team. And ooooh boy am I going to get flack from this.
As you play in a team, you start feeling good. You start feeling like a pro. And then, suddenly, “poof”, you find that you can’t enjoy pubs anymore. “Poof”, and you get mad at the sight of a bad team. If you can help it, never let this happen.
I guess that’s my message on comp teams. Don’t be in a comp team. Be with your friends. Don’t forget to have fun and accept a beating, because it’ll do you more good than harm.
Still people think MMR matters. Still, people are wanting to become better than everyone else. I understand, and it is your full right to think so. But, please don’t let it get in the way of other people’s fun, or maybe even more importantly, your own enjoyment of the game. I’m here to tell you that the ONLY way mmr matters is whether or not you can play with your friends. That, and nothing else. It is not a show of skill. It is not something to brag about. It is not a stat used to be “better” than someone else.
What it is is exactly what it says: Match Making Ranking. Used by match making and balancing to try and put you in a server where you and others will have a good time. And oh, boy there are so many ways to break the system. Too many, in fact, for it to matter in any capacity other than a rough estimate.
Don’t feel entitled due to a number. Feel shame due to the fact that you care that your number is higher than someone else’s.
/rant.
Welp, time is coming up soon.
Alright, before I get off, one more thing:
You are free to fight.
Enjoy reading this, bitches! I’M OUT!
Cheers,
John Freeze