My Existential Experience with No Man's Sky, Part 1

Sean Murray recently sat down with IGN for an interview about the present, past and future of No Man’s Sky. I was eager to find out what he had to say after so much hullabaloo about what happened when the game first launched and the immediate backlash which followed.

 As I read the interview, I could tell that Murray wasn’t trying to backpedal or even make excuses for anything. On the contrary, I believe the man explained that as a developer, as a creative, it’s hard to dull the blade of your excitement when speaking about all that something can be.  Because the potential of anything is bolstered by the dreams of those involved, and in speaking about what they wanted to create, they overpromised.

This happens often with creatives because we can see so many things that others would not since the vision is our own.  That’s fine, for sure, but to overpromise then underdeliver, is a hallmark mistake amongst business owners.  This is why great business owners aren’t always creatives, and they usually work with the creatives in fostering the vision, in scope and meaning. Unlike Kanye West, we all can’t perform the role of our own publicist.

No Man’s Sky NEXT is as close to the real vision that Hello Games intended as could be, in my estimation. And as close as it is, I think it's more than good enough.  Something switched in my head as I ran across this alien planet looking for resources, watching the skies glow and building things to help me get off-world.  Something I couldn't really articulate until now: I began to believe in the power of my own imagination once again.

Not that I had really let go of my thoughts, but I really saw this vast universe that Hello Games unveiled as a metaphor for my own existence...for all existence.  For the dream of humanity and the fight against real death.  It was telling me that I'm so small and so fragile and that the world is unforgiving, but even in all of this, I am at the center of my own story.  I'm building my own world just as I'm excavating on this very fake one.  I knew that I am, within this very act of questioning how all of life works, becoming greater.  And I wanted to explore that.

I think I have always been exploring.  No Man's Sky just illuminated something that had been flowering on the surface and forced me to look at it and watch it bloom.  It's still germinating, and I don't know what it will turn into.  I don't think it really matters in the end, because whatever it is it will exist because of what I do now.

3 Things About the Betrayal Scene in Mafia 3

Just started playing Mafia III yesterday, and I must say it's a beast!  I'm very enthralled by the story, not just because it's well acted but because it speaks to the core of my feelings on racism and society.

That being said, I wanted to convey some insight gathered from the Betrayal Scene early in the game by explaining three key points.

1. This was 1968.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed. JFK was killed as well. I think these two major happenings dislodged the social strata of America at a time when it was already suffering tremors.  These were very distinctive actions, deliberately defiant of the changes germinating amidst the different racial groups in the country.  Reprehensible and horrible for sure, these assassinations also pointed at something festering beneath the surface: the betrayal of hope.

In 1968, the Civil Rights Movement highlighted a divisive, angry and hateful part of the American society that would do anything to silence progress or anything resembling equal treatment.  Mafia 3 initially shows a young Black man with White friends that seemingly care about helping him.  This flies in the face of what we think about that time.  The dream is quickly dissolved as Sal Marcano comes to not only collect his debt but eliminate any idea that this group of Blacks could rise above their station.

2. Blacks were fighting for validation.

I think Black people in this country want so much to be accepted, so much to be loved by those that brought us here, in a country where we are basically captive, for we have nothing to which to return. We were brought here as slaves, sold by our own people to other people that didn’t look like us and returned the sentiment of “you’re just property”.  Given our freedom later through a very bloody Civil War, our faith was somewhat restored in what was “right” and “godly” and “just”.  Still, this freedom was tainted by the deaths of so many, and people are hard-pressed to forget those bloody wages paid.

In this betrayal brought to you by Mafia 3, Lincoln Clay, a man of obvious mixed heritage, is the perfect protagonist during a time when the country was divided and hurting.  He had served in the American military for a time in Vietnam, and had come home to see all that he had and loved torn from him in a single, brutal act. Lincoln, as many Black Vietnam vets, saw a certain respect given to those serving the country; heroism, in fact.  If this situation and this hero are not metaphors for what had happened to Black people in this country up until that time, then I am at a loss.

3. His first thought was to get help from another White man.

Lincoln was nearly dead when the dear Father James came to assist him.  He would ask the Father to send for John Donovan, a CIA operative and friend, to help him. This says a lot because several White men just destroyed his life for no other reason than greed.  He didn’t hesitate to send for Donovan because it wasn’t about Black or White to him: it was simply about justice and getting the job done.  I think we can learn a lot about that mindset, because White doesn’t mean evil.  Sure there are evil Whites, but there are evil people in all races. All ethnic groups.

I love White people.  I mean, I love all people, but I love White people because they took it upon themselves, at great peril, to eradicate all slavery in the world.  And they did, too.  White, Christian people did this, died for the idea of equality, because it was RIGHT.  So, yeah, I love God and Jesus and White people and ALL people who would stand for what’s right.

In conclusion…

I love America. Despite its flaws and faults, I would not want to be anywhere else. I definitely believe Lincoln saw it the same way.  Even though these men destroyed his life, he didn’t take it out on his country. He took it out on them, specifically.  I think racism, in many forms, will exist where ever there are differences in people.  Period.  Is it a major problem for me, in this country? No, I don’t think it is a problem for me majorly.  You may not agree.  And that’s fine.

I love my people, too.  Many Black people, like me, know that we have tremendous opportunity in this country.  I am in awe of all the things I’ve accomplished thus far.  And I’m not done. Because when I’ve reached my goals, I will reach out and help others do the same.

The one fact remains is that we are here, together.  So let’s make it better for one another, despite our differences.  With Love.