Gaming Journalists Make No Damn Sense

[CriticalGaming]

How many articles have there been? How many times does a hard game come out, and countless articles cry about the lack of easy mode in games.

Seikro needs and easy mode. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidt...ts-players-and-add-an-easy-mode/#33c1f8281639

Easy has never ruined a game. https://kotaku.com/an-easy-mode-has-never-ruined-a-game-1833757865

Cuphead is not inclusive enough. https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/4/16422060/cuphead-difficulty-exclusion

Over and over again, name a hard game and you'll find a games journalist, (who is a person that is supposed to be invested in playing video games for a living) bitching about how it is too hard.

Well Final Fantasy 7 Remake came out last night. And it has an EASY mode, which brings me to the crux of this thread.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have come full circle. From too hard, to too fucking easy. Yes that's right Kotaku has done another Journalism, this time bitching that the easy mode in FF7 is TOO easy. https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-vii-remakes-easy-mode-is-way-too-easy-1842791313

Bonus points for them saying the game was too hard on normal mode at a single point, thus they dropped it to easy and were saddened by the game being easy.

Sometimes you can't please people I guess.

What do these people want? It was too hard on normal, but you found easy mode too easy? Their whole reasoning for dropping the difficulty in the first place was to get through a fight that was frustrating them, so mission accomplished right?

Which by the way has ALWAYS been my argument AGAINST easy modes in normally challenging games like Sekiro or Souls or whatever. If the developers design for a specific challenge, do not undermine that challenge by letting players circumvent that challenge with an easy mode you can toggle.

Because the temptation is there always. Ya'll can say you don't wouldn't mind Souls having an easy mode because it wouldn't affect the way you play. And it is easy to say that on a forum. But when you are on your 50th death against Gwen, and easy mode is a click away, you are a liar if you say you wouldn't be tempted.

Like in the article, the writer was frustrated, and gave into the temptation and swapped to easy mode. Yes they beat the fight, but they gained only disappointment from how much easier it was. Thus this writer faced the thing every Souls-like fan has ever said on the topic of difficulty. Overcoming the full challenge is what will grant you satisfaction, not dumbing down the encounter just to get over the hump.

Anyway let me hear your thoughts.

 

[Nick Calandra]

Since I have a unique perspective on this, games coverage has gotten infinitely harder to do in the past few years. It's transitioned a lot from "Brands" having thoughts, to individual writers having thoughts. There's not really a singular voice for a brand anymore unless your brand takes a political stance, I suppose.

It's very "bloggy" and even here on The Escapist, we're transitioning from being "games journalism" to focusing on three key things. Storytelling through our features / documentaries, critique and commentary which I think are both self-explanatory.

Most devs / pubs just release their own news now and gaming sites are the middleman rather than the breakers of stories we used to be.

So, I think a lot of people, including this thread overreact to the opinions of games writers. Though I understand when on Twitter these things often devolve into a you're right and you're wrong situation, which always ends up being "toxic".

But yea, I don't really see a huge point in getting angry about these articles and blanketing all games journalists as not knowing what they're doing.

Also, outrage clicks. Simple as that sometimes.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

Why does it matter how someone else plays a game (unless it's multiplayer)? You ain't going to stop them from playing the "wrong" way if that's how they want to play.

- It's not like no easy mode in Sekiro makes everyone "git gud". It takes less than a minute to find a Youtube video on how to cheese any boss in Sekiro. Why not just have an easy mode so people would actually learn the game better over finding exploits and cheese?

- Is not having an easy mode in FFVII going to stop people from grinding/farming to make boss battles push overs? I'm assuming you can do that in the game just like every other JRPG ever made.

- If there's not an easy mode or exploits/cheese/grinding, there will almost certainly be some mod on PC to trivialize the game. Nobody was bitching about games having God modes way back in the day or Game Genies/GameSharks/Action Replays. There always was and always will be ways of getting around the intended difficulty.

 

[Elfgore]

Those Kotaku articles are written by two different people. I've seen Gamers get all offended at being told they're a hive-mind, it's important to remember game journalists aren't either. Next, like Nick, who obviously has more experience than either of us said, it's to get clicks. I'd add, next to major breaking stories and interviews, these opinion pieces are some of the most engaging and driving parts of active video game discussions though. Look what's happening now. They gotta click, we got a discussion.

For the difficulty, keep in mind not everyone plays games for the feeling of success that you might. I know I don't. I play to enjoy the interaction not present in movies, the writing, the world-design, etc. Even then, I don't think your comparison works honestly. I view changing the difficulty to surpass a difficult moment as giving into temptation. Which is something I know Dark Souls drills into your head you shouldn't be doing. Just like in a fight if you give into temptation and get greedy by laying a few too many hits on an enemy, you die. If you as a player give into temptation to win and you lower the difficulty, you've lost yourself the satisfaction of that win. The game giving you the option to do so isn't something to lambaste the game about. It's your own fault. I've been playing a lot of Pirate Warriors 4. All Warriors games have broken characters. Always have, always will. It's inevitable. If I choose to do nothing but play the simplistic yet boring characters non-stop and get bored... that's my fault. Especially when I have a dozen or so interesting characters ready to play.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Since I have a unique perspective on this, games coverage has gotten infinitely harder to do in the past few years. It's transitioned a lot from "Brands" having thoughts, to individual writers having thoughts. There's not really a singular voice for a brand anymore unless your brand takes a political stance, I suppose.

It's very "bloggy" and even here on The Escapist, we're transitioning from being "games journalism" to focusing on three key things. Storytelling through our features / documentaries, critique and commentary which I think are both self-explanatory.

Most devs / pubs just release their own news now and gaming sites are the middleman rather than the breakers of stories we used to be.

So, I think a lot of people, including this thread overreact to the opinions of games writers. Though I understand when on Twitter these things often devolve into a you're right and you're wrong situation, which always ends up being "toxic".

But yea, I don't really see a huge point in getting angry about these articles and blanketing all games journalists as not knowing what they're doing.

Also, outrage clicks. Simple as that sometimes.

My problem with it Nick, is that it is disingenuous. When you cover games for a living, it should only be fair that you have certain qualifications to hold such a position. Being able to write and being able to play games to a minimum degree. It would be like a football reporter not knowing the rules of the game or the names of any of the players, for some reason most gaming websites tolerate their staff to have that same regard towards the games they are covering.

If you want write a blog about a game as an opinion piece, fine, but a write should be REQUIRED by their publisher to have that opinion provide a decent enough arguement to warrant valid discussion.And I mean valid discussion, not "REEEEEEE!!!!!!" discussions.

What we have here in the case of both Forbes, Kotaku, and Polygon, are websites that do not put any value in their journalism. We all know that these journalists wear there politics on their damn sleeves and even Jason Schierer, who puts out great work, also tends to fall into his personal biases where covering specific games. It just starts to become an act, motions that you see over and over again with every game as if the staff as these websites are deliberately trying to write the most rage-baiting bullshit article possible for....well as you said, clicks.

I guess clicks are the purpose of the business, I just wish there was a way we could actually get good articles with meaningful discussion potential, without it devolving into race, gender, or nonsensical incompetence in gamer skill.

But on my original point. The reason these articles bother me is because they function as a sign that the writer in question doesn't know what the fuck they are talking about. They always come across as not knowing anything about the game in question or gaming in general a lot of times, as if you stuck a controller in a random writer's hand (a writer with no interest or experience in video games) and told them to play and write. So what you get is an article that makes no sense, like this "wow easy mode is super easy".

No shit, and the sky is blue, imagine that.

 

[Nick Calandra]

For the difficulty, keep in mind not everyone plays games for the feeling of success that you might. I know I don't. I play to enjoy the interaction not present in movies, the writing, the world-design, etc. Even then, I don't think your comparison works honestly. I view changing the difficulty to surpass a difficult moment as giving into temptation. Which is something I know Dark Souls drills into your head you shouldn't be doing. Just like in a fight if you give into temptation and get greedy by laying a few too many hits on an enemy, you die. If you as a player give into temptation to win and you lower the difficulty, you've lost yourself the satisfaction of that win. The game giving you the option to do so isn't something to lambaste the game about. It's your own fault. I've been playing a lot of Pirate Warriors 4. All Warriors games have broken characters. Always have, always will. It's inevitable. If I choose to do nothing but play the simplistic yet boring characters non-stop and get bored... that's my fault. Especially when I have a dozen or so interesting characters ready to play.

Yup, I actually wrote an opinion on this very subject!

Might be worth a read for OP.

Overcoming Gamer's Block and the Social Pressure to Play Games the 'Right Way' - The Escapist

When gamer's block strikes, it's hard to start playing and finish all the video games you want to play, and it can cause stress. Here's one solution.

www.escapistmagazine.com

I think the main issue I have with some of the pieces like the one on Kotaku, is for what I said, they come off very combative about it on social media, which inevitably gets tied to how people perceive the write-up.

 

[Nick Calandra]

My problem with it Nick, is that it is disingenuous. When you cover games for a living, it should only be fair that you have certain qualifications to hold such a position. Being able to write and being able to play games to a minimum degree. It would be like a football reporter not knowing the rules of the game or the names of any of the players, for some reason most gaming websites tolerate their staff to have that same regard towards the games they are covering.

If you want write a blog about a game as an opinion piece, fine, but a write should be REQUIRED by their publisher to have that opinion provide a decent enough arguement to warrant valid discussion.And I mean valid discussion, not "REEEEEEE!!!!!!" discussions.

What we have here in the case of both Forbes, Kotaku, and Polygon, are websites that do not put any value in their journalism. We all know that these journalists wear there politics on their damn sleeves and even Jason Schierer, who puts out great work, also tends to fall into his personal biases where covering specific games. It just starts to become an act, motions that you see over and over again with every game as if the staff as these websites are deliberately trying to write the most rage-baiting bullshit article possible for....well as you said, clicks.

I guess clicks are the purpose of the business, I just wish there was a way we could actually get good articles with meaningful discussion potential, without it devolving into race, gender, or nonsensical incompetence in gamer skill.

But on my original point. The reason these articles bother me is because they function as a sign that the writer in question doesn't know what the fuck they are talking about. They always come across as not knowing anything about the game in question or gaming in general a lot of times, as if you stuck a controller in a random writer's hand (a writer with no interest or experience in video games) and told them to play and write. So what you get is an article that makes no sense, like this "wow easy mode is super easy".

No shit, and the sky is blue, imagine that.

1. Don't bring the "reeee" stuff in here, we know where that stems from.

You're conflating "journalism" with commentary. There's a difference, whether or not sites truly make that distinction or not. These articles always draw a lot of attention and angst from people that have it out for games journalists, and we get them all the time now. They know what they're doing and no offense intended to you, but you're the target audience and they keep writing it because they know you'll engage with it.

The second point to make is that you obviously don't like these writers, so why follow them? Why not just stop reading what they put out and find people you actually want to read?

 

[CriticalGaming]

1. Don't bring the "reeee" stuff in here, we know where that stems from.

You're conflating "journalism" with commentary. There's a difference, whether or not sites truly make that distinction or not. These articles always draw a lot of attention and angst from people that have it out for games journalists, and we get them all the time now. They know what they're doing and no offense intended to you, but you're the target audience and they keep writing it because they know you'll engage with it.

The second point to make is that you obviously don't like these writers, so why follow them? Why not just stop reading what they put out and find people you actually want to read?

I dont actually follow these writers. However due to the nature of gaming websites, I tend to roam around looking for news in the gaming space. Kotaku, Destructoid, Gamestop, Ign, etc. I go there looking for things like, new game announcements, game delays, stuff like that.

However because those websites are a clutter of things, I often see these articles. While I dont engage with them directly, I do think they spawn discourse to occur on forums like this.

One thing I notice though is that you ignored my point about websites that publish content from game's writers who seem to have no actual gaming experience or interest. The infamous article from the writer who couldn't pass Cuphead's tutorial for example.

Why?

You have inside knowledge obviously, so why does it so often appear that these articles come from writers who appear to simple not understand the material? Is it simply a case of gamers going, "Umm this writer isn't a REAL gamer so their point is invalid."? Or it is a systemic problem with not enough writers available for these websites to find and hire people to write substantial articles?

Kotaku is a website with a well known reputation for "BS" articles, and I personally think it's a shame. We, as gaming enthusiasts, should delight in going to these sights and reading articles from people about a wide variety of gaming related things. Instead more often than not, articles are met with eyerolling in the absurdity of them in the long ling of cases.

Again, it is like having a sports reporter who knows nothing about sports. It doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Houseman]

1. Don't bring the "reeee" stuff in here, we know where that stems from.

We do? Who's we? I certainly don't. I just thought it was a general expression of frustration.
Hold on, let me research it...
Okay, back. Yeah, from my research it seems like just an expression of frustration. Nothing inherently offensive about it.

Can we have some sort of "reasonable person" standard where if a "reasonable person" would find a phrase offensive, then that should inform our rules around the phrase? I don't think a reasonable person would find this phrase offensive.

But hey, you're the authority, and rule 0 and all that, so if you want to dictate to the community what words we shouldn't say, then okay.

 

[Nick Calandra]

I dont actually follow these writers. However due to the nature of gaming websites, I tend to roam around looking for news in the gaming space. Kotaku, Destructoid, Gamestop, Ign, etc. I go there looking for things like, new game announcements, game delays, stuff like that.

However because those websites are a clutter of things, I often see these articles. While I dont engage with them directly, I do think they spawn discourse to occur on forums like this.

One thing I notice though is that you ignored my point about websites that publish content from game's writers who seem to have no actual gaming experience or interest. The infamous article from the writer who couldn't pass Cuphead's tutorial for example.

Why?

You have inside knowledge obviously, so why does it so often appear that these articles come from writers who appear to simple not understand the material? Is it simply a case of gamers going, "Umm this writer isn't a REAL gamer so their point is invalid."? Or it is a systemic problem with not enough writers available for these websites to find and hire people to write substantial articles?

Kotaku is a website with a well known reputation for "BS" articles, and I personally think it's a shame. We, as gaming enthusiasts, should delight in going to these sights and reading articles from people about a wide variety of gaming related things. Instead more often than not, articles are met with eyerolling in the absurdity of them in the long ling of cases.

Again, it is like having a sports reporter who knows nothing about sports. It doesn't make sense to me.

Didn't try to ignore that part, I just don't know, honestly. Jack and I talked about the Cuphead on stream once and I straight up said that isn't something I'd publish, and if I did, I wouldn't be surprised by the reaction to it.

I am of the mind that if you're going to write about a subject, you should be knowledgeable about it otherwise your audience won't take you seriously. You'd get the same reaction if you wrote about cars, or home improvement or whatever. I think people get "too" riled up about it, but it's the internet.

But again, that's why you have options. Maybe you should be reading more of The Escapist, cause we're doing a lot of what you're looking for, instead of Kotaku lol.

 

[Nick Calandra]

We do? Who's we? I certainly don't. I just thought it was a general expression of frustration.
Hold on, let me research it...
Okay, back. Yeah, from my research it seems like just an expression of frustration. Nothing inherently offensive about it.

Can we have some sort of "reasonable person" standard where if a "reasonable person" would find a phrase offensive, then that should inform our rules around the phrase? I don't think a reasonable person would find this phrase offensive.

But hey, you're the authority, and rule 0 and all that, so if you want to dictate to the community what words we shouldn't say, then okay.

I'm not personally offended by it, but it's something that's often used from places like 4Chan. I know it's also a reference to Rick and Morty, which isn't a big deal, but I've seen it used too much against games journalists at this point to know there's no good intention behind it. Not a big deal, I just asked that we don't use it here. Don't make a deal out of it.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Which by the way has ALWAYS been my argument AGAINST easy modes in normally challenging games like Sekiro or Souls or whatever. If the developers design for a specific challenge, do not undermine that challenge by letting players circumvent that challenge with an easy mode you can toggle.

Then why have any difficulty modes at all? Why not just one developer-dictated experience? I mean, what is "normal" except "easy mode" compared to "hard"?

 

[Houseman]

Not a big deal, I just asked that we don't use it here. Don't make a deal out of it.

Maybe I think it's a big deal, even if you don't. Maybe I just really value having the freedom to choose my own words, within reason of course. Maybe I'm more sensitive to censorship because of my lived experience, so that's what makes it a "big deal" to me.

But I'll save that subject for when we have a discussion about overhauling the rules once the tech is done. See you then!

 

[Nick Calandra]

Maybe I think it's a big deal, even if you don't. Maybe I just really value having the freedom to choose my own words, within reason of course.
But I'll save that subject for when we have a discussion about overhauling the rules once the tech is done. See you then!

Hey man, I'm letting a thread run critiquing games journalists. I'm pretty lenient haha.

 

[Elfgore]

snip

Then provide some examples, be they actual articles or just your own thoughts on what a "good" article would be. And again, people play games for the story sometimes and *gasp* the politics. Some people like stuff like themes. It's why there's been a rise of YouTube channels that do nothing but discuss the themes and politics of games and how it ties into their game mechanics. People, including me, want that. I want an article that makes me think about this stuff. If you don't, then don't read it. It's really that simple. Find a website that suits your tastes.

snip

That article feels like it could have been something that I've explained to my friends why I play on easy. Hell, I've even played some of those games on easy, like Soma. Which I've actually played three times because I love everything about it and most likely wouldn't be able to properly enjoy all of that if I had to partake of uninteresting stealth gameplay half the time.

As for the social media backlash, I don't have any or really follow any of us this stuff. Now, going by the usual suspects who would respond to an article like this, chances are most of the criticism is far from constructive. If that's the case, I understand fighting fire with fire. If not, bad on the journalist for not taking constructive criticism and defending their stance.

 

[BrawlMan]

Because bitches be bitches. Whether they be male, female, in-between, or trans. not to mention, gaming journalism is an absolute, pathetic joke. A majority of them care more about politics, playing favorites, or getting the best stuff, then doing their actual job 90% of the time. The only reviewers I trust, are some of the independent ones on YouTube. But even that is becoming a stretch nowadays. Because there are certain groups of YouTubers that are just as bad or worse than some of the gaming sites.

 

[09philj]

Games should include easier difficulties to make them more accessible to players of all abilities. (Also, harder difficulties for people who are into that.) However, making a good easy mode often does not mean just moving damage and health numbers up and down. If you do that, using the game's more complex mechanics can become pointless, which will often lead to the gameplay feeling bland. The aim should be to preserve the spirit and depth of the mechanics while making them more straightforward to use. For example, an easy mode for Dark Souls could keep taking a hit relatively lethal, but make it much easier to avoid taking a hit.

Sometimes it is also appropriate to also have a mode that does reduce the gameplay to it's simplest possible form. If you have a story you want to tell that you want non game players or the severely handicapped to be able to experience with no problems, you can do something that strips away most of the game's complexity.

 

[Smithnikov]

On the one hand, I'm in the camp that, if a dev does not want to include an Easy mode, he shouldn't get shit for it. Pure and simple. Especially with Souls-likes as that's part of what makes them distinct, and a lack of wanting to be distinct is what I personally think is harming gaming as a whole. A game for every taste, not games that appeal to every taste.

On the other hand, I'm a bit fed up with the games journalism hate, or more specifically the degree. It's given a very toxic, and I use that unapologetically in this case, sector licence to run roughshod over anyone who dares disagree with them on ANYTHING, including topics that have nothing to do with gaming. It's a sure fire way to get lumped in with that one dolt of a "journalist" who bitched about Resident Evil 2 having COMBAT or She Who Will Not Be Named. I've been accused of being in bed with her, Zoe Quinn, and Kotaku so much I oughta call them up and ask if I'm due any back pay.

 

[Nick Calandra]

On the other hand, I'm a bit fed up with the games journalism hate, or more specifically the degree. It's given a very toxic, and I use that unapologetically in this case, sector licence to run roughshod over anyone who dares disagree with them on ANYTHING, including topics that have nothing to do with gaming. It's a sure fire way to get lumped in with that one dolt of a "journalist" who bitched about Resident Evil 2 having COMBAT or She Who Will Not Be Named. I've been accused of being in bed with her, Zoe Quinn, and Kotaku so much I oughta call them up and ask if I'm due any back pay.

Yea, it's hard to take a lot of people's criticism about games journalism seriously because of just how nasty it gets. You can question the point of an article without making constant insults and stuff. I'll always respond to comments like that, but that's unfortunately not the norm in a lot of cases because people so quickly blow things out of proportion.

It goes both ways though, cause I far too often see people in the media space dogpiling and being nasty to people online, and then turning around and calling foul when people dish it back.

I just stay out of all of it typically and I've instructed our team to do the same. I personally think a lot of it comes down to social media clout and being in an echo chamber where people always affirm your opinions as "right", so then you feel empowered to constantly bicker at people and such. It's a mess right now.

I was hesitant on OPs thread, but I'd rather inform and give our side of things than just get mad at it and go on Twitter and complain about it. I miss the days where Twitter wasn't a thing, as I've made pretty darn clear in a lot of my posts. It gets nasty real fast on there, and it's not just limited to the people who plays games who disagree with articles, there's a very big divide between people like me, who never worked at mainstream outlets, and the people that work at a lot of the big name outlets. Lots of toxic shit.

 

[Yoshi]

Have YOU ever made a game OP?