Curtains Closed

It's Friday. The birds are out, the weather is good, and normally I'd be working.

Not today. Today I'm closing the curtains and playing Battlefield 1 on my MSI.

I played a few rounds yesterday. I noticed how much fun and how relaxing I found it, and that surprised me a little. Battlefield 1 came out in 2016. The big community has long moved on, which means you can't really play on the standard servers anymore. You end up on specific community servers with a less polished interface. But people are still there. And it was nice to see.

Why this game, and not something newer?

It starts with the opening sequence. You play through as a series of different soldiers in the trenches, and you keep dying. A different face each time, a different name. Whether those were real people I don't know, but the effect lands. The game makes it clear from the first minute that war isn't a game.

For me, sitting comfortably behind my pc, of course it is a game. But it makes me aware that in the real world it's anything but. That awareness, before I've even fired my first shot, is something I haven't seen this explicitly in any other war game.

The second reason is the historical context. First World War. That's over a hundred years ago. Far enough away to make a game of it without disrespecting anyone who is still alive. And the way DICE handled it, the settings, the silence between the firefights, the way they portray the soldiers, feels respectful. It's war, but it's not a celebration.

Modern war games appeal to me less. They move way too fast. You're up against players who've put thousands of hours in and who are by definition better than me. And they lack that distance. They're about conflicts that are still playing out, in countries where people who lived through them are still alive. That doesn't sit right.

Battlefield 1 sits in a sweet spot. Long enough ago that it's allowed. Real enough that you feel it once mattered.

I'd love it if EA did something more with it. A few new maps, some maintenance, nothing more. But I understand they have other priorities and this probably isn't going to happen. What I do hope is that the community grows a little again. That the people who also enjoy it keep finding each other, and that the servers don't empty out.

It's almost nine. Outside the trees are in the sunlight.

I'm closing the curtains.