Return to Monkey Island’s Ron Gilbert withdrawing from the internet after abuse
See, this is why we can’t have nice things. A lot of fans of the retro point-and-click puzzle genre were over the moon recently with the announcement of Return to Monkey Island. This is to be a follow-up to the original Monkey Island titles, which are regarded as seminal outings in their field and paved the way for many an imitator throughout the 90s and 2000s. I know a fair few folks who grew up alongside Guybrush Threepwood, and his… threepy wood and male brushes. The puzzles were marvelous, the stories engaging, the comedy wonderfully dry. Ports and remasters notwithstanding, we’ve been waiting on a proper series conclusion for some time; and now, courtesy of creator Ron Gilbert, it’s at last on its way. But as is usual, the internet just can’t let anything lie. Per Guybrush’s voice actor Dominic Armato, Gilbert is withdrawing completely from online discourse about the Monkey Island series. Why? He’s found himself the target of abuse. Fie on you people. Fie, I say.
That’s right – no more announcements, no more trailers, no more details, dev updates, anything. “I’m shutting down comments,” Gilbert said in a post featuring the new trailer for the game, which will presumably be the last preview now. “People are just being mean and I’m having to delete personal attack comments. It’s an amazing game and everyone on the team is very proud of it. Play it or don’t play it but don’t ruin it for everyone else. I won’t be posting anymore about the game. The joy of sharing has been driven from me.”
Always a win for common decency when a hateful minority can successfully beat a man’s will to engage about his passion project out of him. In case you’re curious, the vast majority of the negativity has centred around Return to Monkey Island’s artstyle, which abandons the traditionally pixel-art aesthetic for a stylish 2D look. This is of course ignoring the fact Monkey Island remasters exist in different artstyles, and that Gilbert has already (very thoroughly) put concerns to rest about the change:
Gilbert speaks out
“So it isn’t pixel art, and that was a discussion that Dave Grossman and I had early on about, ‘should it be a pixel art game? Should it not be a pixel art game?’ Ultimately, we thought that we just had a lot more freedom and flexibility to not make it a pixel art game. I think people are going to be very happy with the art once they see it and once they see it moving and the animation. We have an incredible group of animators on the project, and it’s really neat when you actually start to see everything moving in the game.”
Not good enough for you? That’s fine, but maybe don’t hurl bile at Mr. Gilbert, eh? I for one am excited to check out what’s been announced to be the last Monkey Island outing, and will be doing so in full knowledge I never had to bash the creator to get it. Ta very much.
How about you? Are you a Monkey Island fan? Are you excited? Let us know!
Via, Twitter.
