In October of 1997 the demo for Myth: The Fallen Lords was released. I spent 4 hours downloading it only to have my computer crash at 99%. My FTP client did not support resumes. I stayed up until 2 in the morning on a school night just to play the demo. The following weeks were spent doing as little homework as possible, staying up as late as possible, and playing as much Myth as possible. When I heard that the full version was available I drove to the nearest software store, which was 45 minutes away, and purchased it on the spot. And this was a mere two hours before meeting my girlfriend for a date!

  Myth is a classic. Over a year after it was first released I still played it regularly. When I heard that Bungie was taking preorders for Myth II, I signed up as soon as I could. After an e-mail from an ordermate saying "Its on its way to much HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!" the air was filled with anticipation of the sweet package that would arrive soon.

  When I started it up I was wowed. The intro movie amazed me. The solo play was everything that Case, in all his bragging glory, had said it would be. Bungie.net2 was... empty, but very neat. Fire quickly placed itself in the ranks of Intensely Cool Things. However, now that I have had a few days to play with it my opinions are maturing. Myth II still amazes me and it is still fun. However, I encountered many problems and bugs which make it seem like something of a rush job.Here's a quick list of some of the bugs I found in a mere three-day period:

1. Assassin on Venice ends immediately.
   
   
2. Stampede on Drowned Kingdom is missing several stampede units. Players who trade for however many stampede units end up getting significantly less, sometimes none at all.
   
   
3. It is possible to select and attempt to join in-progress games. joining is not actually allowed, but it's still bad user interface.
   
   
4. The arrow keys will move units even during planning time.
   
   
5. I was playing a game on Venice, a map with only 4 starts. However, I had the player limit set to 5. Rather than boot someone, I decided to play as a server observer. However, on player left, so I turned it off. This fact was confirmed independently by people in the game; from outside the game, server observer was not seen to be turned on, and it was not on when I reset the game.However, I was placed in observer mode anyway.
   
   
6. Out of Sync errors happen, rarely, during solo play.

  These are not fatal flaws. They aren't even particularly bad: the buggy games can be avoided, the arrow keys don't do anything useful during planning time, and server observer is rarely used. Indeed, even with these bugs in place MythII is eminently playable. They are, however, frustrating, and they display a disturbing trend. While Bungie has been committed in the past to never releasing a product before it is completely finished, and they have stated that they remain committed, the faults of Myth II seems to show this to be false. Myth II, while good and fun, is most definitely not a finished product.

  Bungie is an icon of the Macintosh gaming world. Their products represent to us the pinnacle of perfection. Many PC users, swelling the ranks with the release of Myth, also see Bungie as being something very special. Bungie was Mac-only, then Mac-first, and in an era where the best of the big game publishers are settling for ports by MacSoft, and some of the others are either not porting at all or many months behind, Bungie is releasing for both platforms simultaneously and doing it with style.

  Bungie truly is something special and up until now I considered their games to be as perfect as can be in an imperfect world. They are still good, but Bungie seems to be sliding down the slippery slope to join the rest of the industry. There is no doubt in my mind that releasing a buggy product early and then following up with a patch to fix bugs later will be more profitable for them. It has become such a standard in the game industry that users have come to expect it. A game released early sells better, especially if it involves a release that comes right before Christmas. While I become incessantly annoyed at the unpolished feel of these products, I don't try to deceive myself. Early releases will probably help sales to the average gamer far more than the resultant bugs from a hasty gold master can hurt. And the average gamer makes up the vast majority of all purchases.

  Corporations grow; this is nearly inevitable. Bungie would seem to be sacrificing their hallowed position at the top of the quality heap in return for added profits. I can only hope that this is a one-time deal, and that after Myth II they will go back to their normal, polished, finished products. But I somehow doubt that this is the case.

  Bungie, you are at a crossroads. You have divergent paths. Which one would you rather take? One road leads to increased financial success and mediocrity, the other to moderate wealth and lasting fame among an extremely devoted group of followers, as well as the knowledge that you have created something that is truly excellent and special. I know which path I would take. Money is transient, but fame lasts much longer, even in an industry that changes as quickly as this one. Think carefully,and make the right choice. After this juncture passes, the paths will grow ever more divergent and it shall become increasingly more difficult to switch.