To Hell With Comments

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

To Hell With Comments

Yahtzee laments the invention of the comments section.

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[themilo504]

When it comes to videos I think that comments are great for feedback and I find It funny that a reviewer can?t see that.

I don?t really get the point of comments in games but it?s not like it?s hurting somebody unless you try to make it a problem like you?re doing.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Damn right! Screw those scrubs with their vapid meme pasting and horrific pun generation. Not a worthwhile point to be made by any of them. It's you and me against the world!

(I'm the exception right?)

 

[deathjavu]

I feel the same way about the comment sections on news sites. What, exactly, does a comment section add to a news story? The ability for random uninformed assholes to put their opinion on the same level as an actually researched story, and then for other assholes to have their shitty opinions reinforced by the first assholes.

Yes, yes, commenting on this article is ironic, let's get that joke out of the way early.

 

[twm1709]

Well, we may be twats, but at least most of us can spell "probably"

 

[jehk]

Do you think they exist for the benefit of the developer? Do you think Nintendo keep a great big leather-bound book of every comment that the users make, so that they can read every single one and put the feedback into their next game? I bloody well hope not. They'd be fools to waste the effort; they'd have to pick through an awful lot of hilarious fart pictures to find the attempts at criticism.

I kinda disagree with this part. I work for a small indie gaming studio. We've hired someone to monitor our forums and parse the "feedback". Sure there's some crap to wade through but that's why we hired someone else who's neutral (otherwise we'd all commit ritual suicide). In the end the feedback is very valuable for understanding the niche market we are targeting.

Now, I said only kinda disagree. I'm sure Nintendo gets such a massive tidal wave of shit that there's just no parsing it.

 

[Dragonbums]

I feel the same way about the comment sections on news sites. What, exactly, does a comment section add to a news story? The ability for random uninformed assholes to put their opinion on the same level as an actually researched story, and then for other assholes to have their shitty opinions reinforced by the first assholes.

Yes, yes, commenting on this article is ironic, let's get that joke out of the way early.

Please. There are more opinionated, biased stories written as news articles by the day. They are well researched confirmation biases. No better than the comments section where more often than not your likely to find a commenter that points out all the holes in said article but also provide counterpoints and less biased statements.

 

[Sectan]

Isn't Yahtzee basically just part of the comment section that is Vidogamez Jurnalizm?

 

[Omnicrom]

I feel the same way about the comment sections on news sites. What, exactly, does a comment section add to a news story? The ability for random uninformed assholes to put their opinion on the same level as an actually researched story, and then for other assholes to have their shitty opinions reinforced by the first assholes.

Yes, yes, commenting on this article is ironic, let's get that joke out of the way early.

Please. There are more opinionated, biased stories written as news articles by the day. They are well researched confirmation biases. No better than the comments section where more often than not your likely to find a commenter that points out all the holes in said article but also provide counterpoints and less biased statements.

Isn't Yahtzee basically just part of the comment section that is Vidogamez Jurnalizm?

These combined are basically my opinion. Journalism, and no less Games Journalism is just a paid comments section. And I'm in agreement with Yahtzee, I think many comments aren't worth the digital ink they're printed with. That's why I watch only about 40% of the videos he releases these days.

 

[GonzoGamer]

Isn't Yahtzee basically just part of the comment section that is Vidogamez Jurnalizm?

Yea but on this site Yahtzee is always "FIRST!!!""
...so like, he wins, right?

 

[nickpy]

This was true until those fucking Facebook comments were enabled. It undermines the accounts and community system. They were a horrible idea and they need to go.

This place is infected with facebook? really? I didn't think Escapist could stoop that low, I really didn't, and now I feel betrayed! Then again... I suppose it doesn't actually affect me since I have a plugin in my browser which forcibly removes all social media plugins from all websites, which is why I didn't know this place had succumbed.

 

[Visteri]

Hey, Yahtzee, I know this is a comment and you probably won't read it, but just in case: you can sign up for the Feather beta on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/feather_beta]. It hides all comments. It is a great thing.

 

[toastdieb]

Well, we may be twats, but at least most of us can spell "probably"

Provably: With proof; in a provable manner. As in, Mr Grumbles was proving that comments sections are etc etc.

 

[SoulChaserJ]

Yahtzee... Here's the solution to your problem. Step 1 find a large stick. Step 2 smash your computer with said stick. Step 3 Set the stick on fire and set it down on your couch. Step 4 Find the furthest away cave and move in. Your comment problem is now solved... You're welcome.

 

[shrekfan246]

This was true until those fucking Facebook comments were enabled. It undermines the accounts and community system. They were a horrible idea and they need to go.

This place is infected with facebook? really? I didn't think Escapist could stoop that low, I really didn't, and now I feel betrayed! Then again... I suppose it doesn't actually affect me since I have a plugin in my browser which forcibly removes all social media plugins from all websites, which is why I didn't know this place had succumbed.

Facebook comments on videos and articles have been around here for a while. Like, possibly since I joined or even earlier.

When it comes to videos I think that comments are great for feedback and I find It funny that a reviewer can?t see that.

The thing is, take a gander at the comments sections of most of the reviews. Any review, really, but particularly good ones are "controversial" ones like Tito's Dragon Age II/Grand Theft Auto V or Yahtzee's Super Smash Bros. Brawl, or Jim Sterling's Vanquish/The Witcher 2.

Normal reviews become filled with comments to the effect of "I agree/disagree" and occasionally get expounded upon with "And here's why". On a good day, it pretty much ends with that, maybe a bit of light-hearted joking between members.

"Controversial" reviews get blasted down with so much useless bile of "HOW COULD YOU NOT LIKE [Game]!?!?!?! RABBLERABBLERABBLE!" (or of course, "HOW COULD YOU LIKE [Game]?!!?!? RABBLERABBLERABBLE!!!") that it becomes pointless to even read them, because all you're going to see is that and the inevitable arguing between those people and the people who think the reviewer is correct and/or think they should all just calm down.

They're just echo chambers for users, and very rarely contain anything constructive for the person who created the content in question. A notable exception to this is our very own Jim Sterling, if we all recall the beginning of The Jimquisition on this website. But even then, he had to sift through hundreds of angry comments saying "Who is this arrogant fat fuck?!!?!" (many even being worded that harshly) to find the actual constructive responses because that's the reaction people immediately jumped to upon seeing something they didn't like.

 

[Suicidejim]

I tend to find it depends on the site. There are some websites where I've had great and informative discussions in the comments section, and others where any attempt to imitate that success is dead before it leaves the womb.

 

[JoJo]

Well, I suppose that's the reason we never see Yahtzee replying to comments on his videos. I enjoy reading comments, there's a lot of stupidity yes but there's diamonds in there if you look hard enough and you can always find someone to correct if you're feeling particularly smug that day.

 

[Enlong]

Wait, the ratings system in ACIV was real? I was convinced it was a joke. Like, since you're playing a code tester for AE, of course they'd ask focus questions of you. But you're telling me those ratings are actually going back to Ubisoft?