Hi all,
I don't much like ranting, although I love grumbling - too lazy to put my complaints on keyboard. But for once, I'll make an exception. Exception is, in fact, what I've taken to an article in the December White Dwarf (UK issue). So here goes.
There's this article then, on Golden Demon. And on what you should or should not enter. Now I'm waaaay too far from GD standard, but the comments on what to avoid in entries have irked me: no Eldar Dreads with top hat and tails; nothing from Araby, Nippon, or Cathay; no non-green goblins; no marines with flowery emblems.
One by one, now:
Eldar Dreadnought with top hat and tails. Ok, unless it's some trick by a farseer with a comic streak, it's not quite background - but good for a laugh. So - a good laugh is not a good entry.
Nippon Cathay, Araby - the article claims that the GW crew havn't developed these 'nations' yet, so no-one should try to interpret them as they believe they should be. No-one knows what they look like. Great - so why did GW invent the name Nippon? Or Araby? Or Cathay? Are they registered trade mark? But: "A Cathayan model is not a Cathayan model, it's just a Chinese model, and China is not part of the Warhammer world". Yep, that's from the article. So GW created Cathay - eat your heart out, Emperor Qin. Oh, and remember, no-one knows what anyone from Araby looks like - except GW Italy, which is selling the Warmaster Araby army, I guess. The left hand doesn't know etc.
Green goblins: anyone remember the fire goblins, and the zombie goblins from a couple of years back. From White Dwarf, mind you. But I guess painting goblins grey, or whatever colour, is now tantamount to sacrilege.
Marines and flowers: fair enough - but if crusading knights could use rose emblems, why not space marines? Because the Sisters of Battle have copyrighted the rose, of course!
It gets worse. Ogres are grey, but we're allowed to paint them a flesh colour. Magnanimous! Oh, this just in - a pale green gobbo is ok too....
Finally, we're told that Mozart didn't invent instruments, but "look what he was able to do with them". The arrogance and complete lack of correlation is almost as inspiring as the following revelation: "Reinvention, that's were real creativity lies."
Good grief. The author IS referring to Golden Demon entries, to be fair, but this limitation to creativity and over-sensitivity to its extents is, to me appalling.
Ok, not long enough for a rant, not quite a tirade even. but - for once - I AM angry.
FRoA #10 Greed is eternal. 