Can/will the vocal minority ever be a majority?

[hanselthecaretaker]

We all keep hearing about how everything released by companies like EA, Activision, Ubisoft, etc. being rehashed crap and how many people are actively stating they're boycotting them. We see signs with things like 90% dislike ratings on reveal trailers, Meta user ratings, Amazon reviews, etc.

Yet these companies' games all still sell like hotcakes.

So, that's where the question basically presents itself: will this ever change to the point where they have to change their practices, or are they simply too big, and there are too many indifferent consumers out there?

They used to be good, even great companies; they had integrity and it reflected back in their products.

 

[CaitSeith]

Not sure if they'll ever be the majority. Besides that not everyone evaluates the same games with the same criteria (I'm speaking of consumers, not reviewers), these companies chase trends so they sell to the majority. However the silent majority remember the games that burn them more than the games people are more outraged about, and that's what affect their buying decision. Just look at Titanfall 2. That's a game that didn't sold like hotcakes because those people got disappointed with the first game (it sold much less than the first one).

Outrage has limited effect in a game already released. Developers may change and patch things in response (like Mass Effect 3 ending or Final Fantasy XV Chapter 13), but by that point it's too late to boycott. Although the boycott against EA's Origin accomplished its goal (to fix their EULA), it's not the same kind that the vocal minority outrage.

 

[CritialGaming]

No because it's a vocal minority for a reason.

You have to consider that most people who play games, just want to play and don't want to get involved in the bullshit. Hell most people aren't even aware of it.

I have a bunch of guys that work in my warehouse, and I can't tell you how much they just talk about playing Call of Duty multiplayer and Halo. Most of them aren't aware of the gaming world outside of Madden and CoD. I brought my Switch to work and they had no fucking idea what it even was.

There is a broad spectrum of people who play games, and most of them are just your console players, or naive gamer who like their CoD's and their Assassin's Creeds and just buy every new one that comes out. It doesn't matter to them that the games are the same, because they like those games. To them, more of the same is perfect.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I'm pretty sure most of the people who declare a boycott on this or that company are just saying that.

 

[meiam]

Well I mean it happens all the time, there's plenty of big budget game that come out and just don't sell well. That's when the vocal minority become the majority.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I'm pretty sure most of the people who declare a boycott on this or that company are just saying that.

Yeah its all hot air. I don't know a single person who called for a boycott of a game that actually went through with it. They always buy the game on the downlow, either late at night or just off Amazon.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Well sure. Look at Rare, THQ, and all the other defunct companies, and how they crashed. They put all their money into one or two projects that utterly tanked and you can't recover from that.
Ubisoft will sink like 100million into a new Assassin's Creed that'll absolutely bomb and they won't be able to recover.
Just look at Bioware. Andromeda was their last gasp after Inquisition, but they're done. EQ will take 'em out back and put the double-barrel to their head.

These companies actually do die regularly. EA might have a good buffer with the sports games and battlefield games, but that won't last forever. Come 2020, 2030 they'll fly to close to the sun. Won't be one game, but maybe a dozen over 2 or 3 years, all over budget, all critical and financial failures. And that'll be it. They'll sell of studios left and right until they're nothing.

 

[BrawlMan]

I'm pretty sure most of the people who declare a boycott on this or that company are just saying that.

EDIT:

Remember when people were trying boycott Left 4 Dead 2? That went nowhere and made them look all the more stupid.

No because it's a vocal minority for a reason.

You have to consider that most people who play games, just want to play and don't want to get involved in the bullshit. Hell most people aren't even aware of it.

I have a bunch of guys that work in my warehouse, and I can't tell you how much they just talk about playing Call of Duty multiplayer and Halo. Most of them aren't aware of the gaming world outside of Madden and CoD. I brought my Switch to work and they had no fucking idea what it even was.

There is a broad spectrum of people who play games, and most of them are just your console players, or naive gamer who like their CoD's and their Assassin's Creeds and just buy every new one that comes out. It doesn't matter to them that the games are the same, because they like those games. To them, more of the same is perfect.

It's sad, but sometimes a frustrating truth. I have some people in my trade school class that are bit more game savvy, but still don't know about certain games. One guy is an XBOX ONE fan-boy is ignorant of the specs on the system I explained to him and had no idea the simple stuff I explained. For example, he believed that the console could run a full 1080p, when reality, it can only run 900p. And when he claimed the XONE was selling more, I politely pointed with proof on my phone how inaccurate he was, and it became a shock. Apparently, the guy doesn't know the gameplay difference between Doom (2016), Serious Sam, or other shooters. I told him in SS you fight 1000s of enemies, and he say"so does COD". And I say you don't do regenerating health, and two, you're fighting more than just soldiers. He still didn't get it until I showed him. He spends most of his game time playing Madden or COD similar to your co-workers. He did admit to being only interested in those games, but understood why I liked playing other variety of games. He said that didn't have time to play other game, which true in his case, but if spent hours playing COD/Madden/NBA2k, you have at least some time to crackdown on a 6-10 hour single-player game of a different genre.

The other two guys, are more game savvy compared to him, but one mainly plays GTAV, and the second does look for more variety. Though funny story, I showed them all a clip of Bayonetta 2, and they got scared looking at it, because they felt it would be too hard to play it. Now I did show them the optional fight with Rodin first, but even easier fights, they were like "nah, this looks too complicated" or "I don't have the reaction time". I tell them, "If you can do all this fancy shit in GTAV or get all these crazy kills in CODs online, or beat most of those games on the hardest setting; you can play this. You're just scared". I tell them there is nothing wrong with that, but just learn by doing. Oh, and none of them had a Wii U, but two of them has an XBOX 360 or XONE, so they easily could've got the first game. They still respectfully declined.

 

[CritialGaming]

I'm pretty sure most of the people who declare a boycott on this or that company are just saying that.

Remember when people were trying boycott Left 4 Dead 2? That went nowhere and them look all the more stupid.

No because it's a vocal minority for a reason.

You have to consider that most people who play games, just want to play and don't want to get involved in the bullshit. Hell most people aren't even aware of it.

I have a bunch of guys that work in my warehouse, and I can't tell you how much they just talk about playing Call of Duty multiplayer and Halo. Most of them aren't aware of the gaming world outside of Madden and CoD. I brought my Switch to work and they had no fucking idea what it even was.

There is a broad spectrum of people who play games, and most of them are just your console players, or naive gamer who like their CoD's and their Assassin's Creeds and just buy every new one that comes out. It doesn't matter to them that the games are the same, because they like those games. To them, more of the same is perfect.

It's sad, but sometimes a frustrating truth. I have some people in my trade school class that are bit more game savvy, but still don't know about certain games. One guy is an XBOX ONE fan-boy is ignorant of the specs on the system I explained to him and had no idea the simple stuff I explained. For example, he believed that the console could run a full 1080p, when reality, it can only run 900p. And when he claimed the XONE was selling more, I politely pointed with proof on my phone how inaccurate he was, and it became a shock. Apparently, the guy doesn't know the gameplay difference between Doom (2016), Serious Sam, or other shooters. I told him in SS you fight 1000s of enemies, and he say"so does COD". And I say you don't do regenerating health, and two, you're fighting more than just soldiers. He still didn't get it until I showed him. He spends most of his game time playing Madden or COD similar to your co-workers. He did admit to being only interested in those games, but I understood why I liked playing other variety of games. He said that didn't have time to play other game, which true in his case, but if spent hours playing COD/Madden/NBA2k, you have at least some time to crackdown on a 6-10 hour single-player game of a different genre.

The other two guys, are more game savvy compared to him, but one mainly plays GTAV, and the second does look for more variety. Though funny story, I showed them all a clip of Bayonetta 2, and they got scared looking at it, because they felt it would be too hard to play it. Now did show them the optional fight with Rodin, first, but even easier fights, they were like "nah, this looks too complicated" or "I don't have the reaction time". I tell them, "If you can do all this fancy shit in GTAV or get all these crazy kills in CODs online, or beat most of those games on the hardest setting; you can play this. You're just scared". I tell them there is nothing wrong with that, but just learn by doing. Oh, and none of them had a Wii U, but two of them has an XBOX or XONE, so they easily could've got the first game. They still respectful declined.

Exactly. Those people you talk about are the same reason why hot chicks in skimpy armor will never go away. Because diversity in gaming isn't a world that most people understand, nor is it something they even care about. They WANT the hot chicks, they want the big guns, they want their GTA's, CoD's, MAddens, etc. And it is NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER NEVER going away.

The quicker us neckbeards realize that, the happier we will all be.

 

[Souplex]

The side with less votes has won a presidential election twice in my lifetime now.
The vocal minority is the majority in politics.

 

[Saelune]

The side with less votes has won a presidential election twice in my lifetime now.
The vocal minority is the majority in politics.

Well, this is apparently about gaming. I did have to double-take when I saw the topic and looked at the forum I was looking at.

I'm pretty sure most of the people who declare a boycott on this or that company are just saying that.

Yeah its all hot air. I don't know a single person who called for a boycott of a game that actually went through with it. They always buy the game on the downlow, either late at night or just off Amazon.

I think alot of people who say things like this or whatever are also not people who cared in the first place. Alot of people I see who hate on Nintendo for example, tend to be people who stopped caring long ago, or never actually cared to begin with.

 

[josemlopes]

The vocal minority is the majority if the vocal majority is displeased with the game but it still sells like hot cakes.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

The side with less votes has won a presidential election twice in my lifetime now.
The vocal minority is the majority in politics.

Well, this is apparently about gaming. I did have to double-take when I saw the topic and looked at the forum I was looking at.

I'm pretty sure most of the people who declare a boycott on this or that company are just saying that.

Yeah its all hot air. I don't know a single person who called for a boycott of a game that actually went through with it. They always buy the game on the downlow, either late at night or just off Amazon.

I think alot of people who say things like this or whatever are also not people who cared in the first place. Alot of people I see who hate on Nintendo for example, tend to be people who stopped caring long ago, or never actually cared to begin with.

I'll admit that one of the games I was going to boycott was Mass Effect Amdromeda after what happened in ME3. But now that its out, I just feel bad for it. Now I'm not getting for not moral reasons, but because it sucks and has more bugs than Klendathu.

 

[meowchef]

Of course not. For every single person on the Internet and scream about Call of Duty or Star Wars or whatever, there are 10,000 people in real life that enjoy the experience. It's sort of like reading a restaurant review. The people who enjoy their experience aren't the ones that get online and say, "Yeah... it was pretty good..." It's the people that give every single person, place, and thing a 0/10 review that are the ones who get online and scream.

 

[ObsidianJones_v1legacy]

I hate to sum up my opinion with three words at the front, but it's almost essential to do so.

Least Common Dominator.

Why are most games about killing, violence, and beating someone? Power Fantasy. People like the experience of being unbeatable to all.

Why do people like multiplayer so much? Same reason. Power Fantasy. Some will say that it's because they like to be challenged, and some people do just like that part of it. But in the end, it comes down to wanting to beat someone and win.

Why does the runaway unforeseen hit tend to influence gaming culture for years? After the success of Call of Duty, 'Doom'-clones went to the way side. After minecraft dominated the world and created the Video game billionaire, every game had a bit of crafting in it.

Why are most game characters white males? Majority of game players are white males.

Simple fact is this: You can not sink in the overwhelming time, the long hours and the missed schedules... not to mention the metric ton of money into a project to appease a minority. This is a business. And it's why games will never truly be art.

Art literally needs one person to appreciate it to pay off. You hot glue a can to a tree and frame a Mannequin trying to chop it down with a Barbie, the entire world will call you a pretentious douche and will tell you to get a real job. One Billionaire off his rocker looks at it and sees inner peace and gives that Artist 50 million dollars for it... Well, he might be a douche, but he can buy and sell your family.

Video games have a set price. They don't make up with one lucky purchase. Literally hundreds of thousands of people will have to agree the product is worth a purchase sometimes to even break even. The minority, while having good points to some of their arguments, can never be a focus to a business.

 

[BarkBarker]

If all the world was aggressively critical and stuck to their principles rather than impulses, maybe, just maybe. As long as that isn't the case, shit will slide and those who only adjust enough to please a profitable amount of people will not bulge. No need after all.

 

[FalloutJack]

The side with less votes has won a presidential election twice in my lifetime now.
The vocal minority is the majority in politics.

Well, this is apparently about gaming. I did have to double-take when I saw the topic and looked at the forum I was looking at.

Well, he IS drawing a parallel, pointing out that stranger things have happened.

Funny, the OP mentions selling like hotcakes. I understand that companies more recently have taken a bigger loss than they ever have in their lives. It's having an effect. It's just that the companies in question still have alot of money and shitty business practices to supplement this. There IS an effect. All that head-up-their-ass bullshit they call management and marketing can't screw up that badly without it harming sales. It's just that there's still sales and still money in reserve. It's a big business.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

By definition, a vocal minority cannot be a majority, because then they would be a vocal majority.

But as for what you're asking, I think the less than stellar performance of Infinite Warfare, and Assassin's Creed taking "a break" are proof that these companies can have their tails tucked between their legs and eyes bruised. The vocal minority usually means the people shouting the loudest, but sometimes, they are joined in silence because the majority goes, "You know...they have a point this time."

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Well I mean it happens all the time, there's plenty of big budget game that come out and just don't sell well. That's when the vocal minority become the majority.

This.

For a recent example, look at Call of Duty's steadily drooping sales and their sudden willingness to revisit WWII.

 

[kilenem]

However the silent majority remember the games that burn them more than the games people are more outraged about, and that's what affect their buying decision. Just look at Titanfall 2.

To be fare, it was as if Titan Fall 2 was sent out to die. I didn't really hear that much about titanfall 2 in advertisements and it came out around the same time as BF1 and COD. Why not release it March like the original, granted Zelda came out in March but that isn't the same genre or multi platform.