BY THE ALIMOCHE TEAM
7 DECEMBER 2022
With the holidays swiftly approaching, the nights draw in on another year. Homes up and down, are filled with the sound and energy of an ever-growing trend shifting in popularity, subdividing the youth and creating a new diversion to the ongoing outside media influences of negativity, and oppressively overstimulating media drivel.
People are tiring of becoming consumers instead of characters, and disconnecting from the digital sphere.
We are talking about escapism. From the ratrace of the capitalist machine to the classrooms of the next generation of youthful visionaries. Today we sit in a world of connection beyond anyone's dreams. Escapism is an ever-growing awakening to a world where anything is possible via technology and endless conversation and ideas.
The Gaming Industry is thriving, ideas are flowing at such an excessive speed that if we blink we may miss a trend. But is technology becoming too fast for us as human beings? Do we need to take a breath?
Every day, Nations wake up to a new dawn; a new promise of fulfilment, some kind of instant gratification to fill the void in our lives. Once upon a time, an almost-organic plethora of game nights and television shows brought families together in a way that solidified the unit and gave comfort. Now we have the gaming industry set to become a 340 billion Dollar industry by 2027. Where are we heading?
From humble beginnings of games consoles bringing innovative new games such as Pong in the 1980s to our homes to future generations now immersed in virtual reality, have we as a race have come a long way? Or have we plummeted over the pinnacle of regression? Even though we see the world connecting at speeds faster than light via optic and mobile technology to starlink connectivity there is still something missing with this connectivity .... !!
Direct human connection.
Direct human connection is fostered through building a community of painters, storytellers, worldbuilders, dungeonmasters and much more. It is all about inclusion and diversifying the playerbase.
Photo Courtesy of Brandon MacRae.
There is a growing subculture of gamers craving that same escapism via direct and engrossing storytelling which is lacking of late in many technological, cash-driven franchises prioritising quantity over quality, pumping out mindless, repetitive, pathetic excuses for storylines repackaged into different formats, lacking the originality and forethought of games of yore. This severe lack of storytelling in the digital realm is further emphasised through the immensity of pay-to-win gaming; this can be seen to restrict the flow of the tale behind a paywall inaccessible to some gamers, thus diminishing the art of storytelling due to capitalistic greed. Restriction to content via a paywall in the digital realm is further emphasised by the cost of mods, skins and patches; customisable in-game elements which enhance the user experience by giving the user a role within the tale, and through the exorbitant cost of the game itself, users can feel restricted and excluded from the storylines. Such restriction further drives online gamers to the tabletop due to the multitude of customisation; in the case of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, battle strategies are learnt instead of purchased, which further provides gamers with the intensive experience once lost to the avarice of game companies.
The emerging niche of tabletop gamers intent on not surrendering to lackluster mediocre and sometimes simply uninspiring preconceived console storytelling is a modern phenomenon based on the rebirth of nostalgia. These backstreet bedroom loft gamers are creating a space away from society, away from tech, and through Netflix shows such as "Stranger Things", via introducing lead hero protagonists and emanating throughout the industry via other artistic and commercial formats within popular culture, including convention spaces and fan-built wiki pages. Despite the aggressive marketing from the tech industry, these hidden pockets have existed all along under the radar; reinventing and progressing with integrity rather than for financial gain, and disposable aesthetics.
Tabletop gaming is an iconic pre-internet cultural motif, and with the revival in 1980s nostalgia and the digital detachment of the pandemic, it is returning to modern times, as seen in Netflix's "Stranger Things".
An underground group of elite game designers, players and writers alike, honing their Art. Modern disciples to the ancient art of storytelling, with worldbuilding as their pantheon. Away from the reality, we now boast elaborate and multilayered storytelling on a level that is attracting masses of next generation fantasy players for escapism, but also for community. With the industry attracting such a following, not only is the format physical and tangible, but it has also solidified its place as its own entity subculturally and socioeconomically. With such celebrities as Henry Cavill representing the digital sphere to the late and loved Robin Williams taking to collecting and painting the incredibly detailed miniature figures for said games during his life, do we see it as just a game? Or is there much more to it than a mere game?
An escape from reality is not just escape, it is Healing with mental health at the forefront of everyday lives in 2022. It is time to take stock of exactly the pros and cons of Tech vs Tabletop.
We can so easily be led into consumerism via platforms advertising trends and social media pitting us all against each other. The grand design of things is to keep everyone interacting and stimulated, but overstimulation is rampant in today's world, so the few choose to step away from this. We now have a growing trend of people stepping back, talking and networking, physically coming together for what can only be described as "digital departure" for their sanity and the escapism of interacting in roleplay as any character, the human mind’s expansion into a world of any creation. From games like Warhammer 40,000 with involvement from our interviewee Rick Priestley, to others such as Dungeons and Dragons, developed after combining unequivocal authentic storytelling with toy figurines, almost childlike fairytales, into elaborate full on depictions of battles between light and dark, no-one knows how the journey will unfold until the dice are rolled.
Warhammer and Dungeons and Dragons are cultural phenomena: building worlds and communities alike.
Storytelling as a whole has given rise to development, not just within the gaming industry, but on an anthropological basis, it is some of the earliest foundation of modern language, for language itself was built upon tale and gossip, talking and interacting within the primal confines of the Neanderthal clans. This primitive chatter became Neolithic poetry, Saxon prayer and Norse prose, developing side by side with games involving said collaborative conversation, from knucklebones to backgammon to chess. The resurgence of tabletop gaming therefore endows a new identity to traditional storytelling methods. Could this be the new golden age of Fantasy Wargaming? A cultural rebirth captivating continents and civilisations worldwide and capturing in essence the renaissance of folklore not confined
to one strict culture, religion or set path and rule.
This format can never fail.
As a whole entity it brings together a harmonious community and at a Cost confined to the imagination not to the wallet..!! Fantasy gaming is an eternal sandbox limited to the gamers infinite imagination.
So we leave it to you Alimoche Family...
Is Online Gaming the way forward? Or are we on a quest to return back to our roots, storytelling and individual expression through Fantasy roleplay and boardgaming being the answer? At present, we are at the crux of providing quantity over quality and seeing the consumer losing control over true art and over entitled greed, we question where art for art’s sake has become diminished by the roar of pound notes and dollar bills in the eyes of the executives. The next generation can make the difference. Let's hope we can strike a balance between both the mental and the environmental perspective to make it work for everyone; a harmonious fusion of ideas, and not purely for financial gain as a reality instead of a mere utopia.
Comentários