If you think that there is nothing wrong with Matt Ward's Necron fluff maybe you should try the Necron Drinking game Also I would say that many things have changed from the earlier version of the Necrons, but I think you should appraise the fluff on it's own merits (logic, internal integrity, themes and quality of writing) before looking at the changes. The problem with biasses and attachments is that we all have them, and so if you want to have an unbiased opinion on anything it's necessary to try and detach yourself from the issue in order to get a more objective view. To that end I'd suggest you enjoy the drinking game and try to imagine that you were reading a funny critique of a book rather than anything to do with something you consider 'yours'. The reason for this is that when we treat an idea or concept as an extension of ourselves, our territory, we are likely to react to any perceived threat to it as though it were a threat to us personally. This is instinctive, hardwired and essentially irrational and will only get in the way of your ability to think clearly and make objective judgements.
I'd like to see them added, but I can understand the lore reasons why Necrons who are individuals doesn't make a lot of sense. Yes, there are self-aware Necrons but that is largely restricted to their elite and don't typically include rank-and-file members. Still. They'd be fun to play, and have a lot of potential gameplay depth.
Funny you should mention biases and attachments. That's the pathological Matt Ward haters in my book. This drinking game article is a perfect example of it. The author is niggling about the smallest details and most of the time just presumes that his logic or ideas are the only way the fluff makes sense. Also I never claimed that the Codex was perfectly written (Matt Ward isn't exactly known as a literary genius). I am talking about the general direction the fluff took. IE Necrons not serving the C'tan anymore and more information about the inner workings of Necron leadership. Finally, I'll leave these links here: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/422301.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/409898.page (Yes, a 2:1 ratio is considered the "large majority".)
You are kidding right? The Drinking game is in 3 parts so far and growing... these may seem like minor quibbles to you, but combined they point to a poorly thought through piece of lore.... Also if he is only hating why does he give props on the actual good ideas he finds? When even basic stuff like the Necrons going to sleep doesn't make the slightest sense in the new context you surely need to ask whether it is actually a well crafted story. Now as an Eldar player I don't give two hoots about the Necrons other than as an addition to the 40k lore and frankly didn't even know who Matt Ward was when I started delving back into 40k (around the time of Dark Crusade) so when I say that I was gobsmacked at how such a poor piece of lore writing had managed to get the greenlight to make a codex it was not a result of being "a pathological Matt Ward hater", though I can see how lumping everyone who disagrees with you together a label like that makes this complex and nuanced world seem simpler. Funny that would be my biggest criticism with the new lore... not in minor particulars like the Necron hierarchies, but in the overall thematic shift from horror to military empire wearing halloween costumes lol.
As I said, I don't disagree. The writing is bad. But compared to what we've gotten in other codices over the past few years, it's at least par for the course. Also, even at a cursory glance I can think of rational explanations for many of the supposedly flawed/illogical lore parts the author criticizes. Just take your example of them going to sleep. In the new codex the reason for them going to sleep is because of being weakened from the consecutive wars against the Old Ones and the C'tan. The author seems to think that going to sleep is the worst decision possible since it would actually make the MORE vulnerable to the new "most powerful race in the galaxy", the Eldar. Yet there are plenty of possibilities and reasons why the Eldar didn't or couldn't take advantage of them sleeping to destroy them. First of all, there is the inherent mystery of an entire race practically disappearing overnight. The Eldar might not have known what was going on. Also, they would have to find every single hidden tomb world and destroy it utterly. Which brings us to the next plausible reason: opportunity costs. With the Necrons gone, it is now the Eldar's turn to build a galaxy spanning empire. Why waste time, lives and resources on hunting down a vanished and weakened enemy when you can build your empire uncontested by them? It is the classical storyline of ignoring/underestimating a hidden threat (including the typical ignored warnings of a few "far seeing" individuals ). Not to mention that they had plenty of more immediate concerns and foes to deal with (the newly unleashed Enslavers being the chief among them). Heck, if you ask me the new reason for them going to sleep makes A LOT more sense than the reason given in the old codex. Going to sleep because there is nothing left to harvest? Doesn't make sense, since the Eldar dominated the galaxy after the Necrons left. How would they do that if they were totally decimated? Also the old codex had another contradiction on that topic. In the same part of the codex that explains they are going to sleep because there is nothing left to harvest, the newly unleashed Enslavers are mentioned. Why would the newly crowned, uncontested rulers of the galaxy back down from them? Especially when they and their minions are immune to much of the Enslavers' powers? In conclusion, while the writing may be bad, it is on the same low level we have sadly had to become accustomed to. Compared to the old codex, the general direction of the changes not only make more sense, they are also more suitable if one wants to create a back-story for a specific Necron army. Something the old codex was utterly useless for. I am definitely not accusing everyone who does not like the new codex of being a Matt Ward hater. It has however been my experience over the past few years, that a lot of people criticizing the new codex do so because they are biased against anything Matt Ward does (biases being the point you brought up). Also, a little tip concerning exchanges with people on message boards: Condescendingly calling others irrational, telling them they aren't able to make clear and objective judgements because of supposed "threats to extensions of themselves", as well as accusing your peers of oversimplifying in order to cope with a world that is too complex for them might seem like a clever way for you to disparage your counterparts - it is however no different than directly hurling insults. Not only does this undermine any argument you try to make, it also sullies your reputation. Since the Necrons' "costumes" didn't even change between the editions, I don't see your point. How were the old Necrons less of a military empire? How are the new Necrons less horrifying?
Ok to deal with your points. Firstly though the Crons curled up and went to sleep on their tomb worlds, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they wouldn't be hard to find, it's not like the Lore states that the Necrons made any effort to hide... and even if they had- 1. Don't you think that the Eldar would have checked to see what their bitter enemies were up to... The fact that an enemy disappears is not an invitation to have tickertape parades, it is a good reason to try and find out just what the hell they are up to and that means a thorough and careful search. Sun Tzu the ancient Chinese general and author of the classic 'The Art of War' writes "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Or put another way - In war intelligence is half the battle. 2. As per the above... If your enemies have all gone catatonic for no good reason the sensible course of action isn't to build up in preparation for their return, it's to deal with your current problems and then to kill them all in their sleep - every. last. one. of. them. Building up a galaxy spanning leisure based society is not something you do if you think you have an enemy just biding it's time, but that was also a problem with the old lore. For the great sleep to make any sense the Eldar would have to either. Believe that the Necrons and C'tan were defeated or had been utterly defeated themselves. Both are directly contradicted by the new lore and the last was pretty much a part of the old lore. True the enslavers may have been a problem, but it is very clear that the Eldar survived as did the Orks. It is also clear that the Eldar remembered the war in heaven and the Necrons. Which means that the Eldar were stupid to the point of retardation and just assumed that their greatest enemies the Necrons would sleep forever, that was a problem with both versions. Yes the old lore was ok, of course it had it's flaws, particularly the fact that the Eldar should really have attempted to destroy the Tomb Worlds while the Necrons slept... They certainly had the firepower to do this. The only reasonable answer was hubris and excessive caution! Basically the Eldar had figured out that the C'tan were just waiting for their tomb worlds to be disturbed by new races as they began to spread out across the galaxy and so they thought that they could act as watchdogs to prevent anyone inadvertently waking the Crons.. If you think your empire will last forever then this is a reasonable stance, but it hinges on pride and an unreasonable belief in your own permanence. I think it would have been better if the last act of the Old ones had been to trap the C'Tan, possibly by luring them into stars which were then collapsed into black holes and bound about with twisted warpspace. Cut off from their links to the C'Tan and the perpetual hunger that motivated them, the Necrons became increasingly torpid and eventually went into hibernation... Until the birth of Slaanesh sent ripples through the immaterium and loosened the bonds on the C'tan's prison and the Necons began to wake. At least that way the Eldar would have a reason to think they were gone for good which would have explained why they didn't stick it to the sleeping Crons once they had the chance. Aside from this single and very minor inconsistency the old lore was perfectly sensible and made as much sense as bears hibernating in the winter. Put simply there was insufficient living beings to keep the C'Tan fed and with their main opposition gone, the galaxy in turmoil and the remaining races battling those of their own who were enslaved, not to mention malevolent warp entities roaming the materium the decision to await the return of more plentiful (and considerably less warpy) times makes perfect sense. But the new reason doesn't just seem weak, it's completely illogical and requires Herp and Derp of truly cosmic magnitude on both sides to explain. If by decimated you mean reduced to one tenth of their original number then what makes you think that over thousands of years and with access to the remaining technologies of the old ones and in a galaxy relatively emptied of competition the Eldar could not flourish? The biggest question here is again why not deal with the Necrons while they slept, but I have already covered that above. As I mentioned earlier, the Enslavers weren't the only warp entities on the roam, that time saw the birth of the chaos gods and in the early days there were warp storms and daemons popping up all over the shop. Also remember that these newly crowned and uncontested rulers had a massive weakness to warp based energies and a huge need for food.. There was too many of the first and too few of the second... Luckily they were able to hibernate for as long as they wanted.. 2 birds - one stone! I disagree with it making more sense, the old lore required that you assume the Eldar to be prideful muppets, but at least the actions of the Necrons made sense - but with the new lore you have to assume that the Necrons were pants on head stupid and the Eldar not far behind.
If you read my posts carefully you may notice that I was talking about everybody, and by extension myself. Recognising that we humans (note the we) have certain perceptual biasses and are prone to see threats where there are none (as I see you may have done here if your defensiveness is anything to go by) due to the way language plays tricks on our old instinctual brains, does not equal an attack. It is well intentioned advice on how to think in a clearer way. When I call that tendency irrational it's not a slight on anyone's rationality, but rather the recognition that the instinctual mind's reactions have little to do with our rational 'word' minds. I'm just the same as everyone else and when I get dragged under by the riptide of instinctual response I become just as irrational as anyone else... Hopefully as we develop as humans we learn to treat words and ideas as a playground rather than a battleground. As for the tendency to simplify the world into black and white, hard and fast generalization such as "All 'X' are 'Y'", well again this is very much a human trait, and one that can be seen everyday on the redtops. It basically allows us to reduce complexity to simplicity in order to spend less effort thinking about complex things. I think we can all agree that tabloids are not noted for their clarity of vision when it comes to complicated issues, and when papers start summing the world up in partisan tabloid headlines you can pretty much bet that the article inside will be blinkered and will cut out all those shades and nuances in favor of a very binary and tribal us and them view. Now it very much seems to me that this is a nuanced issue and one that is very much tied up with tribal thinking, and furthermore it looked as though you were considering everyone who didn't like the necron lore to be a ward hater. In order for us to actually be able to have a conversation above the level of tribal grunts and territorial pissing contests we would have to dismantle this black and white division. For my part I am sorry I went about this in such a clumsy manner. The Newcrons are a force that can be bargained with and potentially placated... They act like any other military force. The Oldcrons were implacable and sought to feed you to their masters unless they were driven off.. They acted like creatures in a horror movie. The Oldcrons looks and behaviour derived from a mixture of horror movies (particularly zombies and mummy's curse types) and the film the terminator. The Newcrons keep the same look as the old, but the inside, the 'theme' was changed to be just an army like any other. Essentially they lost the defining characteristic of what makes something 'horror'. Hence a military force in halloween costumes! Weird that last bit isn't meant to be emboldened and I can't get it to revert to how it should be... anyone else finding the forum a bit yonky at times?
