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I've commented more than once about what it was like to go through my reader letters to write the feedback column - I've also talked about the irony of how it would take longer to write a column where most of the material came from my readers than to write one without any feedback. So I won't go into detail on either of those.
What I will talk about, however, is the rise of the computer games issues column. As I mentioned, when I started writing this column, it was October 2000, and besides Jessica Mulligan's Biting the Hand, I was just about the only voice out there who actually thought computer games were important enough to be worth talking about. I was also around 24 years old, at the time, and a lot of people my age held similar views.
Perhaps it was me - perhaps I really did open the floodgates - but I doubt it. I think it was the internet that did it. By 2002 the internet had gone from a curiosity in people's homes to a fixture, and people were discovering that they had a voice, and a way to express it. As I bring up at the beginning of this installment, the game magazines were far more interested in promoting games than talking about them in any intelligent way. And so people came online. And the sites that had been about game mods started being about games and the questions they raised too. The grassroots started to take games seriously, and they used the internet to do it. The mainstream is still trying to catch up in a lot of places.
And I went from a lonely voice in the ether to one among a multitude. It was glorious.
I can't claim to have been the one to open the floodgates...I can't claim to even have been a major factor. I doubt that most of the people who started talking seriously about games ever read my little column. But I can make one claim - I was there for the beginning. And it was a thing to see...
Garwulf’s Corner — Emails from the Edge V
Copyright 2002 Robert B. Marks, all rights reserved Ah...another feedback column. It’s a bit odd, looking back at the list of installments...there are so many of them now. I have to say, when I started this column, I never expected it to hit the nerve it did. I was looking at a recent edition of Computer Gaming World just yesterday. Most of the reader mail amounted to compliments or hate mail, usually surrounding a game review. One or two letters were about the format of the magazine. As I read it, I realized just how lucky I am. Every installment that gets posted fills my email box, and while I have gotten my share of straight compliments, I’ve also received insights from scientists, various professionals, some of whom work in the computer game industry, and even from somebody in the Department of Defense working on sentience research! I guess that’s what makes my readers special. Rather than just getting fan mail, I get people expressing their opinions, examining the issues I’ve raised, and often catching something I missed. Let’s just say that whenever a column gets posted, I can’t wait to see what mail comes from it. ( Read more... )Next issue: A Question of Rights?, in which the author examines the legal matter of BNetD.
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As my column moved into its first year, and just about every single installment generated around a dozen reader letters - and often more - I thought it would be a really good idea to give my readers the chance to ask me questions, and have me answer them in a column installment. So, I put out the call, and waited with bated breath for the flood of email I was certain would come.
It was a trickle.
It turns out that my readers, which were in the tens of thousands at that point, weren't interested in me so much as they were interested in my words. They cared far more about my opinion on the topic of the day than what was going on in my life. That led me to a revelation about being a columnist - in the end, it's all about the content.
Garwulf’s Corner — Ask Garwulf
Copyright 2001 Robert B. Marks, all rights reserved Wow...I don’t usually leave columns this close, but this has been one incredible week. Between polishing up a column for the very first English-language Malaysian computer game magazine, preparing for a new job, and preparing legal material in my ongoing battle against VerticalScope, I’ve barely had time to breathe. A little while back, I decided I wanted to do something new for the first anniversary of the column. After all, I have a cadre of loyal readers who I wouldn’t trade for the world, and I wanted to do something special. So, the next three columns are special editions. It is my great pleasure to introduce the first one: Ask Garwulf. I didn’t get as many questions as I had expected, but the ones I did get were interesting. So, without further ado, let’s get started... ( Read more... )
Next installment: Random Thoughts, in which your heroic author looks at the year in review...
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The feedback installments were always my favorites to write. They were also the issues that took the longest, and generally involved sorting through at least a hundred and fifty fan letters for the best of the best, and trying to find a way to excerpt them that retained the point but didn’t turn the installment into a full-length book.
It was never easy. I used to brag that Garwulf’s Corner had the most intelligent readership on the ‘net, and I still hold that to be true. Most of the letters I got were intelligent, well thought out, and a joy to read. Having to picking between them was always painful, and if I could have, I would have shared them all.
Garwulf’s Corner — Emails from the Edge
Copyright 2001 Robert B. Marks, all rights reserved
Right before I begin, I have a bit of administrivia for you. For those who would like to meet me in person, I will be a panelist at the Ad Astra convention in Toronto, February 23-25. This is a literary convention, and promises to have quite a few rather good fantasy and science fiction authors present. The website is www.ad-astra.org; if you’re going to go, I suggest pre-registering now. And now, as promised, dear readers, here is the feedback issue. Since I started this column, I have received a steady stream of letters, from congratulations on a good column, to lengthy discussions of the issue in question. Coming next installment: Staring at the Top Rung, in which your intrepid author pays attention to the ladder rankings...and gets whiplash.
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