"Contrarian" Gamers Suck Says Treyarch

[HentMas]

YES! ITS THE MOST INNOVATIVE MEDIA TO DATE!!

then why the hell do we keep getting game after game of the same frikken concept and gameplay???

After Halo every FPS feels the SAME

of course we are going to ***** and complain about the games that are put in the market if they are ALL THE SAME

only my oppinion

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Too true... no matter what the game is, if it has some good points, you will see endless posts about how terrible it is.

Sometimes these are long troll posts from people looking to really stir things up, other times it's a single line comment from people who have only ever played COD saying "it sux".

Either way it just gets damn annoying... I thoroughly enjoy almost every game I play, you need to make something horrendously bad before I start bitching.

 

[rockingnic]

I just have to say this... If a game isn't fun, it's not that good, or why else would you play it?

 

[ImprovizoR]

Oh my god I love the irony here. A Treyarch dude telling us what the gaming industry is about? Him telling us about developers who try new things? Gamers don't hate new things. This guy had been living under a rock it seems. We are constantly complaining about the lack of new IP's. Everything is the same these days and he should know for he is a prat of the most evil gaming empire that doesn't know a first thing about innovation!

 

[Arawn.Chernobog]

Too damn true honestly.

I adore Blizzard and Valve titles, yet I cannot approach the forums for any titles done by either of these 2 companies unless I wish to become angered and frustrated at the incredible amount of bitching, whining, unbearable self-proclaimed superiority over the developers themselves, amongst other, equally embarrassing and annoying, trends.

I do wish a lot of "proud, flag-bearing Gamers" would just shut the f@ck up.

PS: I'm not talking about justified criticism here, a quick stroll through the Battle.net or STEAM forums will show you exactly what I mean, never have I found so much xenophobic, chauvinistic, self-entitled, grotesque, (...) commentary... and I've witnessed WBC rallies.

 

[angry_flashlight]

While bitching has got out of hand more recently, there exists an element of truth behind it. People wouldn't ***** about something if there wasn't a perceived problem. Now maybe they had a few bad games and want to vent on a particular subject where there isn't a major problem, but sometimes legitimate concern gets wrapped up in that crazy rage that Olin is complaining about himself.

Want to stop teh h8? Release a finished game that works on all published platforms equally at launch. You shouldn't need to patch something simple like connection problems weeks after launch when the problem should have been ironed out through QA. If you release your game as a Beta so you can patch it later, you're not doing your job right.

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

Interesting views, essentially blaming the fans for the lack of innovation in the industry. I think he's well-founded with his complaints, it's easy to forget that despite publishers being money-grabbing tyrants, the developers usually mean well and would do everything they could if they had the chance.

However, a lot of his problems wouldn't be there in a new IP. Of course fans are going to complain about change in an ongoing series, but that's because of the glorified perception of the previous popular instalment. By making a sequel, you're drawing a comparison. If the last was well received, you have to deal with people elevating it in their own minds when judging your game.

Fans need to stop bitching for no reason, but publishers need to start listening too. If the problem is that the series isn't living up to it's potential, perhaps it's time to take a break from it or start a new series. That would be the most creatively-freeing option for the developers, and wouldn't anger the fanbase (as much).

 

[Zukhramm]

Yes, let's all shell out the money, buy games for full price (You do know buying from sales is equal to theft, don't you?) and the just shut up and swallow it no matter how bad it is. That is is sure to improve the industry!

 

[AK47Marine]

I will continue to ***** until someone at Treyarch figures out the difference between a 20 round M-16 magazine (which is period accurate), and a 30 round magazine, such as the former not holding as many rounds as the latter...

 

[similar.squirrel]

This would hold water a tiny bit better if it was someone other than a Treyarch employee saying it.
I suspect that the majority of this negativity that irks him so concerns the noobf@gness of whatever piece of military hardware the development team didn't craft lovingly enough, or inane hissy-fits over the comparative merits of the next console-exclusive FPS.

None of those things fall especially within the realm of creativity. When a game like Poral, Mirror's Edge or Mass Effect is released, you don't hear a spate of bitching about it due to the fact that they're innovative enough to make people say 'hang on a minute..'.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

"Rather than growing with it, the trend seems to be devolving. More and more gamers seem to forget what this industry is all about."

Not trying to be a troll here, but that may just be because about half of CoD's demogrpahic isn't gamers, and don't care about the industry.

I wouldn't say so... not when the most audible and obnoxious "fans" are the ones claiming to be the "real" gamers and demanding that the industry should care only about them. As annoying as newbies and know-nothings can be, the worst offenders for what Olin is talking about are those calling themselves "hardcore" the loudest.

Am I the only one that is a little angry that treyarc basically asked for feedback so they could improve the game, and now complain because they don't like it. It's the internet, of course your going to get whiny bitches, no reason to become one. Treyarc, Cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it.

Thank you for your illustration of the problem.

-- Steve

 

[Calcium]

The guy has a point.

Some people mentioned Valve and BioWare don't have these problems with fans, but their fan base doesn't go around buying their latest game braindead without considering if they're going to enjoy it or not. They keep releasing CoD's because people keep buying them, and most of the people complaining about it STILL end up buying the next in the series.

 

[Littaly]

It's a little unclear what type of bitching he is referring to, and what he counts as "bitching".

The thing is, while there is a lot of nonconstructive whine going on in the gamer community, he can't expect us to swallow everything they give us and be happy, that isn't exactly going to help "creativity and innovation" either. Yes, Black Ops has been taking a lot of crap from the gaming community and while it gets a little repetitive, it's not entirely unfounded.

 

[uppitycracker]

He's absolutely right, and something I've been thinking for a while. Any look at the gaming forums on steam will show countless threads of needless bitching, and bitching that is directed at many things that actually make the games fun. The more innovation added, the more people seem to hate it. Sure, some things lack balance, but that can be corrected. Instead, gamers are practically crucifying the developers for adding anything fresh into the franchise, either that or they're bitching that everything that makes the games fun to begin with are just a cut and paste. Hell, I remember one particular SPUF user who was immediately bitching about one aspect to TF2, in every thread he could. Months later, he's in the same threads getting insanely negative to anyone else who is speaking against it, defending it mindlessly. You can't please anybody in this generation of gamers.

 

[bassdrum]

I agree wholeheartedly. It's one thing to present a cogent argument against a game and explain why you don't like it, it's another thing to simply bash it while still playing it.

For example: I don't like to play recent entries in the Call of Duty franchise because the multiplayer map design is too circular and corridor-based--it becomes impossible to gain the upper hand, as when you force your enemies into a corner, they simply run out of the trap or respawn behind you. This, among other reasons, is why I've stopped playing BlOps.

Contrast that to arguments like, for instance, 'ugh black ops is so fukking gay its stupid treyarc ar all dumb'. This may accurately convey the views of the speaker, but it's offensive and not constructive.

At the end of the day, constructive criticism is great. The industry couldn't hope to get any better without it. However, there's huge importance to the word 'constructive'. Ranting at a developer won't ever do anything good.

 

[CoL0sS]

When asked if he has a message for anyone in the gaming industry, random guy on the internet said "Up yours Josh Olin! How about instead generalizing, you extrapolate those with constructive criticism from bitching idiots and consider using their ideas."

I'm not gonna list everything that went wrong with Black Ops, and I do agree with OP. Games are here to provide pleasure, be fun, but to me Black Ops wasn't. As someone before me posted we should concentrate on good things, even if it means playing some other games. But I'll be damned if I give up my right to complain about something I don't like.

 

[AlternatePFG]

I'll stop being such a contrarian when Treyarch fixes the damn PC version.

 

[eldpollard]

Personally I disagree with Olin. If a game is poor one should say so. Would he rather we all heaped on copious amounts of praise to a game that's poor? Well, actually he probably would, it would make being a community manager far easier.
Also "Too many developers who try new things are getting burned by 'pundits' and angry entitled fans who look to be contrarian, sometimes simply for the sake of being contrarian. The only thing this attitude aims to achieve is stunt that creativity and innovation even further, which is something that no rational gamer looking to be entertained would want to do." -Olin. Innovation and creativity, really? When you made the seventh Call of Duty game, that's not innovation, that's churning out another sequel incredibly similar to its predecessors. In order for gaming to move on, it has to change for the better, by having no element of criticism there would be less drive to change.

That said, we shouldn't immediately dissolve into angry shouting and fanboyism. But calmly and rationally saying a game's faults is the right thing to do. We should praise good, unique (actually innovative) games.

 

[Walkchalk]

Allright everyone, stop complaining about the flaws in games. Your hurting the fine folks at Treyarch's feelings.