PCGamer's open letter to the gaming community

[synth]

Original is here: http://forum.pcgamer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=41206&sid=a814135852e9dac6bec79dbb7b1905d8

This is a letter which I'm currently posting to a number of PC gaming fansites on the web and which I'd like to get distributed as far and as wide as the community will allow. It's contents are as equally relevant to anyone who uses the Gamer forums, so without any further ado:

Hello,

This is an open letter to anyone who?s interested in videogames writing or having the unique achievements of their gaming community aired to a wider audience.

My simple view is that news-stand games magazines and large sections of the gaming community have gradually drifted apart.

As editor of PC Gamer in the UK, it is painfully apparent to me that while the magazine does a reasonable job of fulfilling its review/preview functions, it does not adequately reflect the incredible diversity of culture and invention that now characterises the PC community online.

I?d like you to help us put that to rights. Games mags are constructed by small, tight-knit teams. In-house expertise is broad enough to cope with retail gaming, but the available resources are unable to cover the far-flung corners of gaming that now exist. That?s partly why magazines have failed to keep pace with their communities.

In order to cover these communities properly, PC Gamer needs their representatives to help us out. I regularly read web-published articles which I think are easily good enough to appear in a magazine. But the writer may never have considered that opportunity. Perhaps they didn?t think a games mag was an appropriate place for such an article. Perhaps they didn?t think it was good enough. Whatever the reason, I?d like you to consider submitting your articles to PC Gamer.

What kind of articles are we looking for? Anything. Anything that you could imagine yourself, as a gamer, opening a magazine and being interested in. I?m trying to create a magazine that communicates the incredible experiences gamers have. A magazine that reports on the amazing transformations that dedicated communities have wrought upon the games they love. I think such a magazine would print articles about the destruction of Kerafyrm The Sleeper in Everquest. It would report on the morphing of games like Grand Prix Legends and Interstate 82. It could relate the tale of a dramatic duel in Jedi Knight 2 or cover the phenomenon of swoop bike races in Star Wars Galaxies. Anything at all. Single-player gaming, multi-player gaming, modding, MUDs, indy games. The building of the Space Station in There, the development of unique in-game body language. A well-argued opinion piece on the state of videogame interfaces. Crazy antics on stunt servers or a simple essay on how a game stirred an individual?s emotions. Anything which says something fascinating about game culture. The only rules are it?s got to be about games, and, if it?s not about PC?s then the article has to be applicable to the universal gamer. PC Gamer is not a console mag.

Articles can be of any length. And PC Gamer will pay for articles published. I can?t promise to say yes to everything, but I am open to all ideas. And if you don?t want to write but know of a vibrant gaming community we should cover then tip us off. We?ve recently been mailed by people involved with Trespasser, Grand Prix Legends and Interstate 82.

I hope this letter is not seen as a threat to some of the excellent websites that I regularly visit. Publication of an article in PC Gamer does not prevent its subsequent use elsewhere. Moreover, PC Gamer is not big enough to absorb the entire community?s output. But if you have an article at your fingertips that deserves a wider audience then let us know.

Best regards,

Mark Donald
Editor, PC Gamer (UK edition)
Britain?s Best-Selling PC Games Magazine

[email protected]

 

[mrchimp]

Why would i want to read articles in a magazine when they are already on the web?

 

[Mac]

sounds like you don't read magazines anyway. What he is trying to do is make magazine articles cover the communities of the games, not just the games themselves. I think this is a great idea.

 

[ComradeBadger]

I think it's a brillient idea, and I'd be interested in helping

 

[Mac]

cant wait to read an article in pc gamer from comrade badger

 

[Gorgon]

Sounds Cool.

 

[Argyll]

Great idea.

 

[ComradeBadger]

cant wait to read an article in pc gamer from comrade badger

I hope they'll let me

 

[Anthraxxx]

Cool, a chance for an average joe like me to get published in a well-known and respected magazine like PCG.

 

[Direwolf]

That is cool. We may not realize it, but many if not most gamers get their information from magazines.

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

Oh man it would be fantastic to see gamers from these forums actually have a part in games magazines.

 

[slicktick]

I think that the info that would get into magazines because of a move like this would be incredibly more valuable than what is there now, it would give a very broad view and more insight into how a game develops after it was published, all in all Great Idea

 

[Sulkdodds]

Wow, I'm a big PCG fan, and since the HL2.net magazine folded (grrr ) I'll definetly give it a go.

 

[ComradeBadger]

You do realise this is the UK PCG right?

Oki. Well, I'm not sure if my writing standard is up to that, but sure I'll have a go

 

[Sui]

most of the people posted her e are from the uk, and it definately sounds like agreat idea. i subscibe to PCG, so it sounds interesting...

 

[Sulkdodds]

Of course I realise its PCG UK! Why the hell would I buy PC GAMER US?

 

[Kadayi]

I like the intention of what he says, but I think that the minutiae of (and game specific jargon) what people in communities such as ours write about would be hard to convey to a broader audience. The gamers experience is very much about being there in body and soul in many ways, and although there exists a receptive audience within these communities, much of what is transcribed is easily lost if the reader doesn't share the writers enthusiasm.

 

[Maxi]

Wow, sounds cool! Im going to e-mail that guy and ask if I could write something.