Encapsulating XCOM's maddening magic in Haiku
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 10:57 am
Greetings, venerable LW'ers.
My recent venture into returning to XCOM1 and the Long War experience has inspired me to express my otherwise rambling frustrations in a more... poetic way. Few people play XCOM without witnessing something that is truly rant-inducing and which needs outlet. I have come to vent my drunked jolly-happy state of mind in what my friends love or hate as the Drunken Haiku Midnight Text, and I figured this might have its purpose when it comes to this geniusly frustrating game. I invite all lurkers and other readers to chip in if the inspiration strikes. I realise that haiku is a lot more than just a syllable setup, but for us rooks of the pen, I suggest the Beavis and Butthead-model as demonstrated here: - 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. Makes you express yourself with more brevity than I have done in this post so far.
As follows:
XCOM psych at max
Drones soaked all my overwatch
Crippling depression
Or alternatively:
Prepped for endeavours
Flying terror roams in March
Fetal position
As a rant, this would be it:
Haven't played in ages, load up game after watching Rich Evans backseat-game the classic Enemy Within, and I am *pumped*. It's time. I have yet to beat LW 1.0, even on Brutal, so I set my eye on the long run and prepare a schedule to give just the right amount of time each session to avoid grindy-mind. As I load up the first map, I could not have a higher desire to punch Sectoids in the face. I run into 3 punching bags on the nightmarish Metro Station map, and decide to fall back into an overwatch-bait to end all overwatch-baits. Stoked on my tactical prowess, I end the turn... and then it happens. Two drones patrol into me and sweep all 6 overwatches with nothing but mockery for my effort. Suddenly I recall why I hate the early missions and my hype deflates faster than my frontline gets flanked.
Now who doesn't enjoy a good rant? At least the delivery part. But other than contextualisation, this is too cliché to post, at least on its own. But even having expressed this in a more standard format, I spot some potential for poetic prowess:
By day at the helm
By night it happens again
The cycle broken
I encourage you to rant, and rant well. Make the most of it, and get an outlet at the same time! If that's not art, then what can truly be called so?
My recent venture into returning to XCOM1 and the Long War experience has inspired me to express my otherwise rambling frustrations in a more... poetic way. Few people play XCOM without witnessing something that is truly rant-inducing and which needs outlet. I have come to vent my drunked jolly-happy state of mind in what my friends love or hate as the Drunken Haiku Midnight Text, and I figured this might have its purpose when it comes to this geniusly frustrating game. I invite all lurkers and other readers to chip in if the inspiration strikes. I realise that haiku is a lot more than just a syllable setup, but for us rooks of the pen, I suggest the Beavis and Butthead-model as demonstrated here: - 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. Makes you express yourself with more brevity than I have done in this post so far.
As follows:
XCOM psych at max
Drones soaked all my overwatch
Crippling depression
Or alternatively:
Prepped for endeavours
Flying terror roams in March
Fetal position
As a rant, this would be it:
Haven't played in ages, load up game after watching Rich Evans backseat-game the classic Enemy Within, and I am *pumped*. It's time. I have yet to beat LW 1.0, even on Brutal, so I set my eye on the long run and prepare a schedule to give just the right amount of time each session to avoid grindy-mind. As I load up the first map, I could not have a higher desire to punch Sectoids in the face. I run into 3 punching bags on the nightmarish Metro Station map, and decide to fall back into an overwatch-bait to end all overwatch-baits. Stoked on my tactical prowess, I end the turn... and then it happens. Two drones patrol into me and sweep all 6 overwatches with nothing but mockery for my effort. Suddenly I recall why I hate the early missions and my hype deflates faster than my frontline gets flanked.
Now who doesn't enjoy a good rant? At least the delivery part. But other than contextualisation, this is too cliché to post, at least on its own. But even having expressed this in a more standard format, I spot some potential for poetic prowess:
By day at the helm
By night it happens again
The cycle broken
I encourage you to rant, and rant well. Make the most of it, and get an outlet at the same time! If that's not art, then what can truly be called so?