Star Wars 1313: Change of Plans
Whether it’s an unexpected trip, a storm, an illness, or any number of other things that interrupt the expected flow of life, one thing that is a guarantee in life is that plans change. Sometimes it’s circumstances outside our control that change things, and sometimes it’s our own inaccurate estimation of how things will go. Either way, reality doesn’t quite look like we thought it would. Most of the time we roll we with it, adjust our plans to fit whatever new reality we’re dealing with, and carry on. Sometimes the changes we encounter throw our plans out the window entirely.
As gamers, we’re exposed to this idea of changing plans enough that I think we’re a little more used to it. Games are announced, and then scrapped. Games look like they are going to play a certain way, look a certain way, or be of a certain level of quality, and then the actual product doesn’t match those expectations. Marketing can often be to blame for the latter, as they are trying to sell a product or experience, and so showcase the best parts while quietly ignoring the flaws that detract from the entire experience. I’m sure there’s a few games that come to mind here.
What’s interesting though is that we have our own expectations apart from what the developers or marketers have tried to give us. This can stem from who is working on a game, the history of a developer, or our own love for an IP. A few examples: the fact that Hideo Kojima works on a game, that Bethesda is developing it, or that it’s a new Star Wars title. Each of these examples carries with it a set of expectations. It’s going to be weird (and some people love that). It’s going to be buggy (but maybe it’ll spawn a new meme). It’s going to have a lot to live up to (because nothing tops KOTOR). We accept these expectations, but when it’s someone else fumbling in the same way, it’s harder to accept. I’m thinking of Cyberpunk 2077 here, as I feel like the flaws in that game would have been more easily accepted if the title had come from Bethesda instead of CD Projekt Red.
A couple of things have me thinking about all this. First, the recently released footage of work that was done on the now-cancelled Star Wars 1313. While I don’t recall ever being explicitly told that the main character would be Boba Fett, the premise was that the player took control of a bounty hunter in the Star Wars universe, operating on level 1313 of the planet/city of Coruscant. If you haven’t watched the footage yet, I highly recommend it. It provides an interesting glimpse into what might have been. The atmosphere, the action, the overall feel of the game shown in the video looks like it would have been a lot of fun to experience, and it’s a little sad that we don’t get to enjoy this vision of what it would be like to be a bounty hunter in that universe. There was a lot of work that went into 1313, but Disney bought Star Wars and plans changed.
The other thing prompting me to think about changed plans is that I had to take a trip without much notice. I had expected the normal routine, and now I’m halfway across the country instead. This not only changes my plans for the everyday stuff, but also interrupts my ability to play games from my library or write as planned, hence the late post this week. I expect I’ll be back to a more normal routine in a week or two but, as we know, plans change. Thankfully I’ll still be able to write a bit, and I don’t have to be playing a game to write about games more generally.
There are a couple things I take away from all of this. First, how we react to change is important. Whether it’s a cancelled game, an unexpected trip, or a global pandemic, we need to be able to adjust to our new reality in order to move forward. If we behave as if change didn’t happen at all, we’re only able to make plans based on what might have been, not reality as it is, and that’s not going to serve us or the people who depend on us. We need to be flexible and expect that things will change. Maybe don’t expect specific terrible events in order to plan for them (although being generally prepared is always a good thing, I think), but be flexible in your mindset so that when things do change you’re not frozen and unable to move. Second, I think it’s okay to look back at what might have been – even be sad or upset about it – as long as we don’t get trapped there. Maybe it helps us to see more clearly the things that we want in the here and now, maybe it inspires new and better change in the future. I know I’m hoping that someone working on a Star Wars games sees that new/old footage and works to incorporate some of the cool stuff we saw there, for example. Letting what might have been inspire hope rather than despair is key.