The fanbase of every video game has a sharp ‘before’ and ‘after’ to it. While things change through the years as fans fade and come back, remasters or ports bring in new waves, live-service games reinvent themselves every so often, or fans invent ways to keep things fresh (likethe fake games of the Batman Arkham community), there is no moment more pivotal than a game’s launch. There is the distinct before times and after times, and this inflection point is transformative for the community in a variety of unpredictable ways. Perhaps no community exemplifies the bliss of the before times likeElden Ring.
MydisinterestinEldenRingis well-documented, albeit those documents reside entirely on TheGamer and occasionally in the background of an angry YouTuber’s rant. Part of it was undoubtedly the whole ‘git gud’ element, though a sizable chunk was the general open world design that teased the idea of complete freedom at the cost of leaving too much unspoken. I recognise that Elden Ring had a fresh approach that resonated, and that given its reception, thoroughly deserved its many accolades.
But I don’t want to talk about its reception or my opinions on the game today. Those are post-launch topics of conversation, and I want to focus on the before times. Personal opinion is not a matter for the before times. For most games, Elden Ring included, the before times are a land of rampant speculation, of open forum for theorycrafting, of everyone being in it together. Elden Ring teased so much while saying so little, offering no updates for two years after its reveal at E3 (RIP) 2019.
In the two years between its reveal and any follow-up, all that was known was the logo, the involvement of Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin, and some snapshots of unnamed characters. It was a magical time for the die-hard community, brought together by not only a shared love for Dark Souls and the promise of the game’s mechanics expanding into an open world, but the collective disappointment as showcase after showcase, event after event, went by without an update. Itgave them a deep connection the way only the before times can.
It was once a running joke to see whether Elden Ring or Martin’s nextA Song of Ice and Firebook would come out first. Almost two years later, the book is as far away now as it was then.
Post-launch, people are right and wrong. People disagree with each other. People fight. People want to buff the thing you want nerfed and want to nerf the thing you want buffed. People share articles by game “journalists” hating on the game for no reason, then other people read them and say the writer makes a good point but you already know they don’t from vaguely skimming the headline. People suck, and it’s only the post-launch that shows this. In the before times, everything was rosy.
GTA 6is currently enjoying its before time, or at least,it should be. Granted, GTA 6 fans have a bit more go off than Elden Ring fans did with all the leaks, but this should still be a time of peace and prosperity. There is some of this - speculation over whether Jason is a cop, if thetrailer is in reverse, whatLucia’s ankle monitor means for the map, and general excitement. But there are alsodebates on how woke the game is, complaints aboutthe presence of a playable female character, and a general lack of understanding of what Grand Theft Auto means, both literally and symbolically.
Some people arecomplaining about the crime in a series named after a crime, while others seem to forgetGTA’s whole point is to satirise American culture. Perhaps a series this old cannot have a true before time like Elden Ring - there is too much known history to be scuffled over rather than discussed with the freedom Elden Ring fans allowed themselves.
All I know is GTA 6 is the biggest game on the horizon, and that means every showcase and event will see hopes raised and, likely, dashed as it fails to materialise. That should make the before times better, but instead the community is threatening to tear itself apart before the game even arrives. The post-launch is guaranteed to be rotten at this rate, but let’s attempt to enjoy the before times while we can.
