Buffy fans will recognise that song. What does it have to do with a 40K blog? I'm glad you asked. The recent announcement that the game was getting it's first loyalist Primarch back has set the old internet forums going hell for leather again. Some of it positive as it should be but there is a lot of negativity that I feel isn't justified. The lyrics to this song are perfect for the current online atmosphere.
Where do we go from here
The battle's done,
And we kinda won.
So we sound our victory cheer.
Where do we go from here.
Why is the path unclear,
When we know home is near.
Understand we'll go hand in hand,
But we'll walk alone in fear. (Tell me)
Tell me where do we go from here.
For more years than I can count there has been a huge push from the fan base to advance the storyline. Now at last we are getting somewhere. The Doomsday Clock is counting down the seconds to midnight. Cool things are happening and... everyone loses their minds.
I was as shocked as anyone when Magnus the Red popped up and Fenris was all but wasted. I mean wow! We have a traitor Primarch and surely that meant that GW couldn't stop there. Which loyalist Primarch would make a return? Well, my money was on Leman Russ considering the whole Wulfen and Fenris business but no. Instead we get the fall of Cadia, the birth of an Eldar god and the Primarch of the Ultramarines returns! This is a great time to be a Warhammer 40K gamer. We are at last getting everything that we wanted.
So why is everyone so frightened that when 8th edition comes along that we'll be reduced to an Age of Sigmar type game or that the current universe will come crashing down and something new appear in it's place? GW have already said, and I have no reason to disbelieve them, that the game and the universe are not entering the "End Times".
The problem is, in my opinion, that we have what we wanted but now fear of change and of the unknown is gripping people. I'm not a fan of change and I don't like new editions when they aren't necessary (and I don't consider GW making fresh cash every few years necessary for an edition change), but right now I am super excited for the game. These new characters, balanced super heavies and the direction that the game is going, is just going to make the game better. I recently said on a Facebook discussion that the universe has always been grim dark but now the game is becoming epic. Sorry, EPIC!
In the years to come god-like heroes and villains from all factions will stride the battlefields of the 41st millennium and it is going to make the game better, whether you are a competitive tournament player or a casual play at home with your mates type player. This isn't a time to be frightened for the future. It's time to embrace the game, reload that bolter under your bed, and claim the galaxy for yourself!
Great reference, I even have the album of that episode at home somewhere!
ReplyDeleteI think my own fear of 8th edition is that it will simplify things beyond the point I'm comfortable with, for example I don't want to see models hitting each other in combat on fixed figures, that feels less like a combat between two participants and more like fighting an inanimate doll to me. I do think however that we need a rebalancing of the game, perhaps an acknowledgement in the rules of some of the balancing mechanics we've seen from tournament organisers such as limiting re-rollable saves to 4+ on the re-roll, or changing first blood from being the first unit killed to killing a unit in your first turn, therefore making it scoreable by both players.
We gamers are a funny bunch though I agree, clamoring for something and then being terrified of the potential when we realise it's actually happening.
I know what you mean. Right now I am enjoying 8th edition a lot. I just wish that when they write the books they word things better. That for me would clear up a lot of the perceived problems. Just tidy it up without dumbing it down and jobs a good one.
DeleteMy issue with the possible changes is that the game's becoming closer to a high fantasy setting than the low fantasy one which drew me to the game in the first place.
ReplyDeleteThe whole point of 40k is that the age of Gods and Heroes and the golden age of humanity has passed and they've lost, plunging the 'current' 40 setting into the maelstrom of general shittiness that it's currently in. All that's left is to make a valiant stand against the dying of the light.
The fact that Primarchs are returning and the Eldar now have Ynnead awakened gives the setting too much hope in my opinion and really dilutes the 'grimdark' (god i hate that word) aspect of the entire thing.
I'm hoping that GW don't forget this key tenet of the 40k universe before the end of Gathering Storm and the inevitable release of 8th edition.
It is I suppose but I wouldn't say it's quite that bad. These are the "end times" (not a fan of that descriptive myself) and I expect the gods and heroes to appear at this time. There is no hope, just a flicker of possibility. If the followers of Ynnead do somehow defeat Slaanesh something else will arise in it's place. The Eldar will still be a dying race but their souls won't go to Slaanesh. A phyrric victory at best.
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