There are a few tenets to journalism that the general public doesn't normally take into account.
We are supposed to remain impartial, which depending on the subject matter can be quite tricky.
We are supposed to be skeptical, taking nothing at face value and always questioning the responses we receive.
And good journalism is supposed to invoke debate in its readers by being topical, presenting differing viewpoints and in some cases pointing out controversy. But regardless of the viewpoint, its there to get you thinking and talking.
After conducting the preceding interview, I had the chance to sleep on what was said and mull things over.
On the surface this is a call to arms for the best players in the game to challenge for supremacy under a single banner with like minded people. In and of itself, a reasonable goal. After all, this is a game and games by definition are competitive. We play because on some level we wish to have a chance of winning or at the very least achieving the goals we wish to set ourselves. For those who are able, Fusion is providing perhaps an ability to beat the best by becoming the best.
It is perhaps some of the other claims that I am skeptical of.
Has a stranglehold on Division 1 truly effected the development across all divisions? I have a friend who has recently joined the game and now has a Clan war and a Faction war under his belt. He is at the bottom end of our lowest clan, in most cases just trying to ensure he can get his 8 wins and hoping he can contribute a bit extra by getting some sucker bounces or catching somebody out of formation. He still has to grind his way up through the levels. What precisely is a shake-up in Division 1 going to do for him?
I myself have coming up on 2 years of game time under my belt. I must have been fighting in and around div 4 for a good 6 months to a year. I certainly don't consider myself to be a camper, neither am I a power leveller. I just play my game, ensuring it fits around life, work and family. I advance at the same rate everyone above me does, hence I'm still in the same division. At this rate, I'm certainly not going to be able to raise myself up to the position where I can set my challenge.
Unless of course I power level, in which case I will arrive at division 1 or 2 level wise with about as much strength as a soluble condom and be about as much use. Catch 22.
Oh, unless of course as I power level, I dig deep in the wallet to keep my relative strength appropriate. It kind of goes against the claim that Fusion will be able to do just as much with a crystal player as they can with a niode one if you can't remain as a crystal player to even challenge them.
And lets talk about these challenges. One question I should have asked is what happens to those incumbents who get challenged for their seat? A D1 player gets bumped to D2, but what if you loose your D2 seat? Is there going to be a D3 clan? In essence, are we seeing just the start of another clan family?
Or is D2 the bottom limit? Loose your seat, thanks for your service, but you ARE the weakest link. Goodbye! Better make sure you left your previous clan on good terms and with good references then, because you may well need them to find another berth in one of the more traditional clans that still sets store by loyalty and friendship.
There were certain other claims of which I am dubious.
True, I have not been on the receiving end of a hiding by the likes of the Brotherhood or Cyberstorm where there has been anything like parity in our levels in order to test the claims of their training package. But seriously, Is their training that much more superior than what can be had in the murky mid-levels by clans who have to compete against the perpetual campers?
And why would a military pedigree have any effect on the outcome of a game? Are non-service people excluded from challenging for a spot? The name is on the tin, it's a game, not a life or death situation. Now don't get me wrong, I have lots of friends and teammates who are ex-servicemen. But none of them is a Rick Priestley or Matt Ward, or even a Kasparov, Karpov or Fischer. Those are the guys with GAME pedigree. If you get those guys on your team, I'll sit up and take notice.
And I'll leave you with this. Remember that regardless of whether you agree, disagree or simply have a differing slant an anything I have written or the guys from Fusion have said, we want to hear from you, and the devs do too. That's what these articles are about; to encourage you to think for yourselves and debate the game.
Name, player ID, pop them in the comments section below and you even get paid in niodes for throwing your hat in the ring.
Submitted by David McCallum #701548