Quake Censored!
One of the most popular news sites on the 'net that covers the game Quake is censored.
While another popular site might as well be.
Blue's News is probably the most widely known and respected Quake news site. This site has really evolved since it was started in June 1996, registering over 15 million hits.
It is not a true news site however, so don't expect to find much by way of editorials or insights from Blue on the events currently making news.
Although, during his brief stint at Planet Quake, he authored two parts of a series on Quake's development that was just outstanding, superior to any story published in the magazines devoted to gaming.
He revealed an insight that only someone who closely followed Quake's development would have, while the so called gaming authority mags cover far too much ground to provide a lot of depth on just one game.
I was also surprised at how articulate and well written the piece was. It left me and a lot of others craving more, which is rarity on net.
With all the info sent his way and the talent to present it in a professional manner, its to bad he doesn't share more of his thoughts on the current Quake going-ons.
UPDATE: 10-28-97
Blue has recently added an Articles section to Blue's News.
This area already contains several rants and other commentary by Blue and others in the Quake community. Nothing to deep, but it's a start in the right direction.
Read the first of Blue's articles on the development of QuakeWorld.
Read the second of Blue's articles on the development of QuakeWorld.
"All the news Blue sees fit to post."
Blue created this page for his own reasons and he is obviously free to set his own rules. I respect him for building a site that everyone in the Quake community can be proud of, but I do not respect the way in which he edits the news.
It is important for you to realize that what you see on blues site is censored, not by some government or high-priced corporate lawyers, but by Blue himself.
This censorship of news is an interesting phenomena due to the fact that it has got to be one of the biggest examples of public defended and supported censorship ever seen on the net.
The Internet is famous for its freedom of speech ideals and this is often cited as one of the reasons for its success. Blue's News stands as a successful exception to this rule.
Mainly due to the fact that Blue is only too willing to not inform you of whatever someone doesn't like. People who frequent Blue's are of the opinion that if Blue don't like it, we don't like it either. Wow!
Some "enlightened" Quaker dumbed down the masses recently in a Quake newsgroup. The "Webster-wanabe" attempted to clear up the confusion regarding the definition of the word censorship. The Quaker states, "censorship only exists if Blue was being forced to censor, not if he chooses to do so himself."
The actual Webster's gotta be getting quite a workout with all the rolling over in the grave he must be doing!
As you can see, supporters can always find a way around the negative aspects of the things they admire. Arguing is futile and Blue has stated he will not consider a change in his publishing policy.
This might seem minor if his site were say, like mine. But Blue's has grown and is read by quite a few in the gaming industry to help keep track of competitors and to enlist support and poll ideas from their games users.
A good example of this is the recent uproar over Activision's licensing of Hexen 2. It seems they will take ownership of anything created with their games tools.
Blue, obviously not feeling well, posted a somewhat weak response in opposition. Even though Blue only stated that this was not the best option for them to take, Activision management immediately responded to Blue with a letter aimed more at pleasing Blue, than trying to make amends with the Quake community.
Like I said before, WOW!
Growing Pains
UPDATE: 11-30-97
Well it seems like the Quake community is suffering a malady that inflicts many things during their "maturing stage", the ailment I am referring to is growing pains.
One negative side effect of this is "web site envy". Blue is getting an average of 10,000 hits a day, or about the total of the other Quake sites combined! I have noticed how his site is leaving Redwood's in the dust.
As a result, many webmasters that feature Quake pages, are beginning to accuse Blue of elitism, favoritism or plain old corporate ass-kissing, if he does not "give their page a mention".
This is due to the fact that a simple reference of your site w/link, can increase that sites traffic many times over, as witnessed recently by the Skillz site after Blue mentioned their latest contest.
Maybe it is not surprising that at the same time a lot of small game publishers are being bought out by bigger companies, a consolidation of small-to-medium size web sites is also underway, as they are either ceasing to exist or accepting offers of having their site "hosted" by larger sites.
One site that is no longer updating offered up a parting shot at Blues and Planet Quake. The Quaked.com webmasters blamed the two sites for "purposely" failing to publicize any site other than those of their "buddies". Read this interesting rant.
Blue puts in a lot of time on the his site and even though I personally wish he would act more like an "real" news source (or at least what I believe a real news source should be like), he still deserves a lot of credit for helping to expand the availability of gaming information on the net.
Redwoods page is geared toward providing current info on efforts to improve the gaming experience. He always has the links where you can get the latest upgrades of drivers, patches and new releases.
This is obviously a page maintained by someone that plays Quake, so when he gives his opinion, its usually based on first hand experience.
The one negative aspect plaguing this site is that Redwood is not the best at describing the Quake events he attends.
The Quake community gathers on occasion to meet new friends and visit with old ones, to laugh, share stories about family and life in general. This usually lasts about a minute, maybe two. The rest of the time is spent hunting down these same friends and killing them.
Ah, one of life's true pleasures is found in the fragging of friend at the top of yonder stairway and then joyously watching as your friends newly sundered head demonstrates the wondrous effects of gravity as it merrily bounces its way down to the bottom step.
Umm, oh sorry, let me continue...
Redwood attended one of these love ins and posted pictures and articles describing the proceedings. He even had the opportunity to visit id's offices, due to the fact that the Quakers had decided to bring their idea of a good time to the place of its birth, the State of Texas.
Unfortunately, the article had more to say about where and what Redwood had to eat, than info to help give the reader any kind of glimpse of what the id headquarters must be like. Insight, which to me anyway, would have been a little more interesting
I mean who gives a rats' ass if he ate at Denny's. This is the reason for my comment, at the beginning of this article, that this site might as well be censored. Redwood sure picked an appropriate nickname, for you would get about the same amount of detailed info if you were to ask a tree.
UPDATE: Oct 7, 1997
It seems our good friend Redwood has been vacationing in Texas, were once again he has visited the id HQ. Promises are made on his site of a report detailing this trip, but so far all the info we have been made privy to is a manufacturer's spec sheet of American "lavaboy" Mcgee's new 28" monitor. (Stay tuned - maybe we'll learn where lavaboy goes and what he orders for lunch.)