Guernication

My thoughts on games and the issues around them.

Author: Guernica

I just wanted to say a few words about something I saw at the  WWI last weekend that was actually surprisingly enjoyable.

The closing night ceremony was a fairly big affair. People might have missed parts of the opening ceremony the day before because they were more interested in being amongst the first to play WotLK or Starcraft II. But noone wanted to miss the closeout.

It started off in a predictably annoying way with the 'hosts', Kavanagh and Moses, still trying to act like they knew something about modern videogames, introducing the winners of the pro-gamer tournaments. They both appeared a little tired by the illusion they were trying to project - that they were at the WWI for anything but the money, and were a little more restrained in their attempts to pass themselves off as 'one of us'. China couldn't stop herself ordering the recipients of each prize to smile though.

The real entertainment began though with the taking of the stage by everyone's favourite in-house band: Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain! I've never seen them live before, only the snippets of their performance that were featured on the DVD on the TBC CE. They were not a disappointment. Basically, these guys are a great band. I mean, they write songs about the stuff I like - Blizzard games, WoW in particular. But their songs are actually really well written with a variety in melodies, riffs, and pace that a lot of signed bands would kill for. In hindsight this isn't really that much of a surprise. These are the creative minds that make some of the most imaginative and beautiful games in the world. One surprise though - did you know Rob Pardo plays bass in L70ETC? Sorry, I mean L80ETC...

To close the evening out we were treated to a performance by Videogames Live. When I saw the schedule for the evening I have to say I thought there had been a mistake. 'How could they put this orchestral group on after L70ETC?' I thought. Surely this is a misguided attempt to close the weekend out in a 'respectable' fashion. Its something for the old folks to get into. So much for Rob Pardo being a rocker - Blizzard is run by old farts after all!

I'm not ashamed to say I was completely wrong. Videogames Live rocked. It started with one of the two guys behind the act introducing himself and his partner and telling us that they did not want or expect the audience to be quiet while the orchestra was playing. 'If you see something or hear something, please, shout, clap, cheer, whatever you want!' he told us. And we did - as soon as the opening war drums from the theme to Orgrimmar began to pound on the stage, then the horns, then more percussion. A great opener - take that, Alliance!

The orchestra played for maybe half an hour, a medley of pieces from WoW, Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo, with the videoscreens alternating between footage from the games, cinematics, and artwork. A great selection of music and artists - they even had the lead-guitarist from Wings up there at one point!

The most moving piece for my money came about halfway through the performance though. The orchestra played 'Lament of the Highborne' from the questline in Undercity, complete with a solo performance from someone who sounded very much like the actual singer they used when making the game. The videoscreens showed footage of Arthas sacking Lordaeron, Sylvanas Windrunner's death, and the newly undead queen of the city singing her lament. Even though some of the footage came from the Wow engine and was not of typical Blizzard cinematic quality, it was very moving. Something about hearing the power of the instruments, the sadness of a live voice. Incredibly well done.

As I sat there listening, applauding, cheering, I was amazed at how moved I was. It was as if I was rediscovering something about games, something I had missed for some time. It was as if the power of games to involve people and the effort that went into making them was being revealed to me again. I began to re-appreciate the effort that went into imagining the worlds we play in. The creativity it takes to come up with a story like the thousands that run through WoW, Diablo, and Starcraft. The depth it takes to make theme music that stirs up emotions when you hear it and makes your adrenaline flow.

I play WoW a lot, maybe 30 to 40 hours a week. The problem with that much immersion is you can become so used to the world around you it fades into the background. When you're leveling your third or fourth toon through STV, for example. it can be easy to switch to autopilot, just do that quests you know the locations for as quickly as possible so you can ding and move on to the next area. I like to PvP. But that can become as much an exercise in programming your macro's and going through the same battleground motions as an engaging activity.

Watching the videos and really listening to the music took me back to reason I started playing games in the first place - to have fun, to have adventures in amazing settings. It reminded me of what I loved about the games I have played - the stories, the variety, the difference to real life.

I've since realised that even though I've played WoW for years and levelled several characters, I haven't actually heard a lot of the music in the game. I usually play music, often on the PC I'm using to play the game. Or I have the TV on or a DVD playing. I actually heard the music in Shadowprey Village in Desolace for the first time this morning - I felt a little ashamed that someone had gone to all the effort of creating that funky, aboriginal, groove and I had just ignored it for years.

I'm not saying I'm going to start hard-core RP any time soon, or that I'll never listen to Mastodon while I assault Alterac Valley ever again. But I do want to start paying more attention to what's going on in the world and not be so distracted by my other entertainment or other players. I'm going to try not to be jaded by extended exposure.

So, to conclude, I highly recommend, if you have the chance, you go to Videogames Live. They use as much local talent as they can in their show, so it should  be pretty easy for them to tour near you , if you live anywhere near a major city. Hey, they might even come to your country if you ask them enough times! And in the meantime, try turning down the music or the TV in the room you play your games in. Try reading some fiction based on your favourite world. Or just take some time to stop and look around a little and appreciate how great the place you play in really is.