How Blackbird joined The Beast

Now that it's all over, I have to ask - was Homeworld ever all that good?

For 1999, we'll need to know the competition in space RTS. Starcraft would probably count. Maybe Master of Orion II. Um. Dune 2000?

The 1999 game hit a lot of 1999 bien-pensant tropes. We're fighting Imperial Japan, basically; except with more of a European Fascist aesthetic. Also "Turanic" raiders, but they've been bought by the Evil Empire - see the hypocrisy. That backstory, which became Deserts' backstory, had hit against Religion. "Hiigara" nodded to (nonShi'a) Islam, favourably. The final cutscene, before Yes take the mike, headtilts about how war is hell. So far, so Enemy Mine (Pitch Black will come out in 2000).

The first game was good enough, for 1999. Also we got a few diversions into a universe much grander and older than this one admittedly-vast conflict, cf. the junkyard and its robo-dog. So "The Message" wasn't obtrusive.

Barking Dog's Cataclysm ran with the expanded-universe of 20-AU-wide junkyards and unkillable abominations. I started to ask myself, how come Relic-cum-Blackbird didn't get in on it; then when Relic reacted so poorly, pointedly not calling their sequel "#3" I asked - why the posture.

I have to assume: ego. Not necessarily that Barking Dog did it better; Cataclysm's gameplay is about the same, with a few improvements. Rather: Barking Dog subverted the lore. Relic didn't ask, what's worse than fascism; they didn't want to ask. Warhammer was asking: answering, that a threat to human life itself is worse. Here, The Beast is worse. The old imperial-remnant works with The Beast; but these traitors could have been the Kharakis, if caught in a bad week.

Eventually the midwit with impostor-syndrome will reveal the nothing at his core. Thus why Homeworld 3 (and honestly 2) is bad. Thus why Exodus will disappoint.

PURPLE HAIR 5/17: ArchCast blames GearBox and one Lin Joyce. Linked here as an alternate-take; I'm not sure I'd blame them for filling-in what the devs couldn't. WAGONS 5/19: They're scrubbing the history. Reddit says "to protect from Harassment"; a lawyer might say "mens rea".