We have been looking closely at previous Homeworld games to really get an idea of the core elements that make it so unique. We also asked you what the most important themes were in the franchise, and the top answers were: exploration, redemption, and exodus. We agree, and we are working hard to craft a narrative that really speaks to the true Homeworld experience - and to all of you.
They're designing the game by focus groups, renaming them as "feedback from the community".
We're just getting more of the same, instead of something new, which is the obvious result of a survey of fans, the results of which will always reflect what has been done, instead of where it should go.
I guess it kinda has to be this way, given how kickstarter-y the whole process was, but I was hoping for more dare, more imagination. This process hints we're not going to get that at all, instead a glued pastiche of well surveyed desires from a defined community produced by an analyitcal engine of creating "experiences" and other entertainment corporate jargons I'm too pissed off to even enumerate.
My prediction: it will be technically marvelous and boring as ****.
Regretfully I have to agree. Homeworld seems to be going down the rabbit hole of becoming a fully fledged franchise, with all the heartless corporate moulding that goes along with it.
I'm reminded of why I liked Cataclysm so much. It was cheesy, it was cliched in some ways and it was certainly flawed, but it was something different. I was massively sceptical of it when I first picked it up, but then I grew to love it. At first I didn't like the idea of the Somtaaw acting as proof that even our beloved Hiigarans can take advantage of each other and be just as petty and flawed as everyone else, but the idea really grew on me.
Cataclysm had the feeling of opening up a much larger galaxy with all the myriad factions and politicking going on. It reminded me a lot of DS9 oddly enough.