Rantz0rring, don't mind me.

There's been... quite a ruckus lately, what with EA getting some "indie" bundle out and stuff.

People've been arguing, rageing, trying to coin a new hip term to qualify those who try to give their labour of love away to the world and sh*t. Cause, y'know, there isn't anything more important to do at the moment, and there is even a valid reason for that. Or so they say.

I'd rather say "what the f*ck?", if you please.

Cause frankly...

A. The games in the EA bundle were indie. There's no denying it.
B. What if iD had done the same? (yeah, I know, irrelevant now that it's owned by Bethsoft, but you DID see my point, didn't you?)
C. Valve still qualifies as indie in more than a way.
D. WHO GIVES A RAT'S ASS ABOUT THIS BLOODY WORD?

Wanna replace it? Fine. Instead of picking a hip term, why don't you call it what it truly is at heart: Shareware?

- Oh gosh, no please, don't sully me with a word that's usually thrown around for sh*tty stuff boohoo.

Demise is (or rather was at the time of Infinite Dungeons/Mordor II, not sure about it these days... Oh god, has it been THAT long? T_T) shareware.
Spiderweb Software? Shareware.
Wolfenstein? Shareware.
Veni Vidi Vici (hah, now will any ONE of you remember that one)? Shareware.
Commander Keen? Shareware.
Raptor: Call of the Shadows? Shareware.
Scorched Earth? Shareware.
DOOM? Shareware.
The UnReal World? Shareware.
DROD? Shareware. Oh heck. Even back in the days it was, and I cursed it.

The range of games (and qualities) it covers is essentially... well everything as far as I can tell. The lauded Legend of Grimrock can easily be compared to Demise or Devil Whiskey, 'cept the latters came out a while back and it shows - as it will show with Grimrock in a few years, for example.

So why the HECK don't you use the term and be PROUD of it? Think you'll get more monies from the customer because "oh man it's indie"? Errrr... Lemme guess which one of Three Dead Zed or DROD made the most monies. Sure, one's a longstanding and beloved franchise and 3DZ is all new and stuff. So what?


- Oh hell no, cause you know, there are FREE indie games, and shareware is, like, totally not free.

So WHAT? Wanna have it that way? Fine by me. Look at it again. I didn't say shareware. I said Shareware. With a capital S. Like free/Free. Cause yeah, I saw this one coming, so why not.

You SHARE your games, don't you? It's all about SHARING and CARING. EA doesn't SHARE and EA doesn't CARE. EA's in for a quick shipload of monies, and everyone knows it. But will EA get a bundle out with "shareware" all over it? And even if they did, so WHAT? Jealous cause your game isn't featured?

Is it a throwback? Maybe. So what? Does it make your games any less enjoyable?

F*ck hipsters. You know what you're doing at the moment, and that's creating Shareware games. With or without a capital S.

Now that's off my chest, I may get back to DROD. And icons. And stuff. Thanks for your non-time (as I'm pretty sure nobody'll read this, except... 2 or 3 players. Who may see what I did there if they're old enough).

EDIT - Oh yeah. Almost forgot. http://www.oocities.org/siliconvalley/vista/7362/02041999.html

... Oh sh*t. I'm old. :'( - still, you may want to give it a shot if you have some old comp in a corner, or you're still using windows x86... There are quite a few interesting ideas thrown around for the time. Typical of an indie shareware game.