So I wrote a little thing and figured I might as well put it up here too. And yes, I know it's massive, there's a very succinct TL;DR at the bottom but obviously it's very oversimplified.
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There is something deeply wrong with the video game industry right now. Well, as I imagine you yelled from a soapbox while gesticulating wildly after reading that, there are several. But there's one that's become very, very apparent and has had a massive effect on the community, including me and many other people I've talked to. So it's only fitting that this issue comes from the community itself.
Yes, you, in the general sense, the majority (or vocal minority) of the online gaming community, are a part of something fundamentally flawed. You should know what I'm talking about already. Now a quick bit of clarification because someone will be that guy, when I say "gaming community" or "you" or "the audience," please don't go out of your way to ignore the figurativeness and be that guy. The specific group of people I'm talking about will hopefully be apparent. Alright then.
The gaming community is based on hate and distrust.
Go to any forum or site comments or even people in real life, and look for reactions to any upcoming game. Taking one off the top of my head right now, it might be a good idea to look at Halo 4, since it, unfortunately or not, has a very diverse hate-base. Let's start off with a few quotes, taken from a variety of online communities. [sic]s are left out because I can't be bothered with forum posts-
"They can't just let the damn series die can they?"
"Instant respawns, a perk that lets you see through walls, powerful weapons drop on the map in random position, class loadouts.... Its just not Halo anymore. Halo is dead."
"It's fine to judge mechanics on how they function in the system but Halo that doesnt feel like Halo is still a dissapointment."
"I guess if you like everything being changed to the Call of Duty style of multiplayer and gameplay, it's alright. Just to simply milk the cash cow that is first person shooters right now, instead of being innovative."
One thing that's important to note is that, as you probably know, Halo 4 has not been released yet (at least as I'm writing, you might be reading this from the future). No gameplay footage has been released outside of short clips from trailers. No press, as far as we know, have gotten their hands on the game. And people are declaring, as you've seen, that the entire series is "ruined forever." Now, I'd rather not get into the psychology of it since that would take another whole article, but these people are obviously being irrational and heavily biased. If you don't see that, you are too. But I don't mean to say that those people are wrong and I'm right because I'm so obviously perfect and not biased at all, I'm talking about awareness here. But again, that's an entirely different article.
See, irrationality and bias is everywhere and they're accepted parts of life. The problem is when irrationality becomes common, or even worse, constantly expected. As I said earlier, this isn't typical overreaction, this is a widespread mindset that's been in the community for much too long to be considered a passing phase. And it's dangerous.
But I do have to say that it is somewhat justified to be cautious when following the industry today. Video games are young and even the biggest publishers don't know exactly how to handle it all so we get a lot of unsavory tactics and actual disappointments. I repeat- it's justified to be cautious. There's a difference between being hateful and being cautious.
Right now there's a very strong "us vs. them" thought pattern. Some people seriously and honestly believe that developers and publishers are actively trying to antagonize their consumers, and these sorts of conspiracies end up becoming rumors, which end up becoming those little thoughts in your head that pop back up again when that part of your brain is stimulated again, and when they pop back up in enough people at the same time they can become actual beliefs. You would have a hard time trying to find anyone who trusts a developer outside of the one(s) they might follow (or, as the gaming community likes to say, the ones that they're a fanboy of). Or as what's happening with Halo 4 or Hitman Absolution or what will definitely be happening with the new Gears of War that was recently announced, people who were "fanboys" of the developer will go into RUNIED FOREVER mode and claim that they'll boycott the game the second something seems to go against their personal views of what makes Franchise X Franchise X.
Although I might be a bit behind the times there. The boycott phase seems to be over now, after the word lost all its meaning through overuse and consistent failure to actually follow through. Now we're starting to get into a similar phase with petitions. Whenever a group of people hear or see something they don't like, someone will go to change.org and make a petition either asking or demanding that the developer make some change to please them. Just recently there was a petition regarding DLC for Dark Souls. But not just any little DLC issue. From what I could find out, some DLC had been announced for PC and there was an active "no comment" on its availability for consoles, along with an acknowledgement of the console players' interest in it. In someone's mind this constituted a preemptive petition rather than trust or patience (UPDATE: It's recently been announced that the DLC will be coming for consoles, rendering the petition completely unnecessary.)
Now, I don't mean to say that voicing your opinion is a bad thing. If you honestly think that a decision will be detrimental to the game or series or audience, you have every right and reason to say it. Where the line is drawn is when that gets into demands.
I guess I'll have to get into Mass Effect 3 now. I was hoping to avoid it but it might be one of the best examples of consumers putting themselves against the developer/publisher. I know no one wants to keep hearing about it, so I'll keep it short.
The game that was released was the game that was released. The ending to that game was made for a reason and if there was a significant internal disagreement it wouldn't have made it through production. The audience has every right to be upset over it if they disliked it. They have, however, absolutely no right to allege that Bioware is obligated to change it.
And that's where the hostility started. Almost instantly, Bioware became a symbol of betrayal. EA became in people's minds a machine fueled by fat men in suits that sucks in money and spits out solidified disrespect. The reviewers that didn't follow the majority/vocal minority's opinion (something along the lines of "Mass Effect 3 is a betrayal of everything the fans ever felt and the ending retroactively ruins the entire franchise and nullifies anything positive about all three games", and that could very well be a direct quote) were seen as machines that suck in money and spit out high scores. And the fans saw themselves as victims of oppression.
I suppose that's natural for people, though, especially in groups. And especially with the "gamer" demographic. There's always been a strong disposition against "the man". And whoever is unlucky enough to anger their audience becomes "the man" for a short while until someone else makes the same mistake. It becomes a cycle of constantly redirected hate, driven in waves or irrationality- Developer 1 files a lawsuit against pirates and the community shifts their hate toward them, then a month later that hate has settled and Publisher 1 announces that Franchise X will be getting another installment, so the hate shifts toward them, then a month later that hate has settled and Developer 2 announces that their game won't have dedicated servers so the hate shifts toward them, and so on.
It's childish. And the gaming community needs to grow up eventually. We can keep up this cycle forever. It's damn well possible that the majority of online discussion will always be about how Franchise X has been ruined forever or how Publisher 1 is the worst company that has ever existed or how Developer 2 so obviously sold out. It's possible that the minority of conspirators and their ridiculous theories (reviewers taking bribes, or my personal favorite, publishers plant moles in forums years ahead of time to clean up PR messes) will start to leak into the community's thoughts until people start to forget that this is an entertainment industry.
There needs to be a massive shift in perspective here (and no, I don't think I can actually do anything to affect that even with you reading this right now). Developers, publishers, and game reviewers are all people. Never forget that. They all went to school and had Christmas or whatever holiday with their parents, they all have their own morals and personal beliefs, and they're all relatively intelligent. They know what the community thinks. They're not blind. When a reviewer gives a popular game a 6/10 they know what they're in for. When something like Mass Effect 3 happens, and they gave it a 9/10, they know the accusations that'll be thrown around. When a publisher/developer gives a game DRM, they know that there'll be backlash and they know everything that's been said in angry forum rants. And at the end of the day, they're giving something to be entertained by. Very, very few people will be in the industry if they aren't passionate about it. Yes, even the millionaire CEOs who seem so "out of touch". This is a time where people need to open their view a little bit. Almost every single complaint is from the eyes of the consumer only, and only takes into account the consumer's interests. In a perfect world, that's all that would matter, but unfortunately that's not possible outside of a utopian society. Companies need to make money. Steve the environment artist needs to put his kid through college. Publisher 1 can't be confident in investing in Super Niche Adventure Game The Game because their stocks have been falling for a solid year, so they put their money in Bankable Gritty Brown Shooter to get back on their feet. Dave the writer is done with his job once the game is out of preproduction, and sometimes bonus content is the only thing between him and getting laid off. Never forget that.
Does that mean that every decision is made in everyone's best interest, and the industry is free of corruption? Hell no. But it's not nearly as prevalent as gamers proclaim or believe. Just because someone is receiving your money, that doesn't mean you have to watch every step they make and call them out for being corrupt when they do something that doesn't sound quite right.
Just trust someone for once. If a developer wants to work on another installment of Franchise X, let them. If there's an audience for it, let them have the game, even if you don't like the sound of the new direction for the series. Instead of defaulting to "this is now ruined forever", be cautious, not hateful. No one deserves to be hated for a relatively minor decision in an entertainment industry. Microsoft doesn't deserve to be hated for continuing to develop Halo, EA doesn't deserve to be hated for investing in their popular franchises, etc. Hate is a strong word and a strong feeling. If you throw it around so trivially, you better have a damn good reason be so unhealthily resentful. Or you could stop. You could remember that every game that you buy has hundreds or thousands of hours of people's work put into it for ten hours of your enjoyment, and you could appreciate that for once. Maybe let them know that they really are making something you enjoy. Maybe send them a card and some flowers. I'm sure that would be a little improvement in their day in the middle of the floods of hate mail that get sent their way.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TL;DR: hundreds of people put time and money into pleasing you, so maybe you should appreciate the good things for once instead of holding a grudge over every little thing that ever pisses you off. At the very least it's healthier for you and the community.
And please remember that this TL;DR is way oversimplified and not the entire point. So many people are quoting this alone over something that's covered in the actual text.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There is something deeply wrong with the video game industry right now. Well, as I imagine you yelled from a soapbox while gesticulating wildly after reading that, there are several. But there's one that's become very, very apparent and has had a massive effect on the community, including me and many other people I've talked to. So it's only fitting that this issue comes from the community itself.
Yes, you, in the general sense, the majority (or vocal minority) of the online gaming community, are a part of something fundamentally flawed. You should know what I'm talking about already. Now a quick bit of clarification because someone will be that guy, when I say "gaming community" or "you" or "the audience," please don't go out of your way to ignore the figurativeness and be that guy. The specific group of people I'm talking about will hopefully be apparent. Alright then.
The gaming community is based on hate and distrust.
Go to any forum or site comments or even people in real life, and look for reactions to any upcoming game. Taking one off the top of my head right now, it might be a good idea to look at Halo 4, since it, unfortunately or not, has a very diverse hate-base. Let's start off with a few quotes, taken from a variety of online communities. [sic]s are left out because I can't be bothered with forum posts-
"They can't just let the damn series die can they?"
"Instant respawns, a perk that lets you see through walls, powerful weapons drop on the map in random position, class loadouts.... Its just not Halo anymore. Halo is dead."
"It's fine to judge mechanics on how they function in the system but Halo that doesnt feel like Halo is still a dissapointment."
"I guess if you like everything being changed to the Call of Duty style of multiplayer and gameplay, it's alright. Just to simply milk the cash cow that is first person shooters right now, instead of being innovative."
One thing that's important to note is that, as you probably know, Halo 4 has not been released yet (at least as I'm writing, you might be reading this from the future). No gameplay footage has been released outside of short clips from trailers. No press, as far as we know, have gotten their hands on the game. And people are declaring, as you've seen, that the entire series is "ruined forever." Now, I'd rather not get into the psychology of it since that would take another whole article, but these people are obviously being irrational and heavily biased. If you don't see that, you are too. But I don't mean to say that those people are wrong and I'm right because I'm so obviously perfect and not biased at all, I'm talking about awareness here. But again, that's an entirely different article.
See, irrationality and bias is everywhere and they're accepted parts of life. The problem is when irrationality becomes common, or even worse, constantly expected. As I said earlier, this isn't typical overreaction, this is a widespread mindset that's been in the community for much too long to be considered a passing phase. And it's dangerous.
But I do have to say that it is somewhat justified to be cautious when following the industry today. Video games are young and even the biggest publishers don't know exactly how to handle it all so we get a lot of unsavory tactics and actual disappointments. I repeat- it's justified to be cautious. There's a difference between being hateful and being cautious.
Right now there's a very strong "us vs. them" thought pattern. Some people seriously and honestly believe that developers and publishers are actively trying to antagonize their consumers, and these sorts of conspiracies end up becoming rumors, which end up becoming those little thoughts in your head that pop back up again when that part of your brain is stimulated again, and when they pop back up in enough people at the same time they can become actual beliefs. You would have a hard time trying to find anyone who trusts a developer outside of the one(s) they might follow (or, as the gaming community likes to say, the ones that they're a fanboy of). Or as what's happening with Halo 4 or Hitman Absolution or what will definitely be happening with the new Gears of War that was recently announced, people who were "fanboys" of the developer will go into RUNIED FOREVER mode and claim that they'll boycott the game the second something seems to go against their personal views of what makes Franchise X Franchise X.
Although I might be a bit behind the times there. The boycott phase seems to be over now, after the word lost all its meaning through overuse and consistent failure to actually follow through. Now we're starting to get into a similar phase with petitions. Whenever a group of people hear or see something they don't like, someone will go to change.org and make a petition either asking or demanding that the developer make some change to please them. Just recently there was a petition regarding DLC for Dark Souls. But not just any little DLC issue. From what I could find out, some DLC had been announced for PC and there was an active "no comment" on its availability for consoles, along with an acknowledgement of the console players' interest in it. In someone's mind this constituted a preemptive petition rather than trust or patience (UPDATE: It's recently been announced that the DLC will be coming for consoles, rendering the petition completely unnecessary.)
Now, I don't mean to say that voicing your opinion is a bad thing. If you honestly think that a decision will be detrimental to the game or series or audience, you have every right and reason to say it. Where the line is drawn is when that gets into demands.
I guess I'll have to get into Mass Effect 3 now. I was hoping to avoid it but it might be one of the best examples of consumers putting themselves against the developer/publisher. I know no one wants to keep hearing about it, so I'll keep it short.
The game that was released was the game that was released. The ending to that game was made for a reason and if there was a significant internal disagreement it wouldn't have made it through production. The audience has every right to be upset over it if they disliked it. They have, however, absolutely no right to allege that Bioware is obligated to change it.
And that's where the hostility started. Almost instantly, Bioware became a symbol of betrayal. EA became in people's minds a machine fueled by fat men in suits that sucks in money and spits out solidified disrespect. The reviewers that didn't follow the majority/vocal minority's opinion (something along the lines of "Mass Effect 3 is a betrayal of everything the fans ever felt and the ending retroactively ruins the entire franchise and nullifies anything positive about all three games", and that could very well be a direct quote) were seen as machines that suck in money and spit out high scores. And the fans saw themselves as victims of oppression.
I suppose that's natural for people, though, especially in groups. And especially with the "gamer" demographic. There's always been a strong disposition against "the man". And whoever is unlucky enough to anger their audience becomes "the man" for a short while until someone else makes the same mistake. It becomes a cycle of constantly redirected hate, driven in waves or irrationality- Developer 1 files a lawsuit against pirates and the community shifts their hate toward them, then a month later that hate has settled and Publisher 1 announces that Franchise X will be getting another installment, so the hate shifts toward them, then a month later that hate has settled and Developer 2 announces that their game won't have dedicated servers so the hate shifts toward them, and so on.
It's childish. And the gaming community needs to grow up eventually. We can keep up this cycle forever. It's damn well possible that the majority of online discussion will always be about how Franchise X has been ruined forever or how Publisher 1 is the worst company that has ever existed or how Developer 2 so obviously sold out. It's possible that the minority of conspirators and their ridiculous theories (reviewers taking bribes, or my personal favorite, publishers plant moles in forums years ahead of time to clean up PR messes) will start to leak into the community's thoughts until people start to forget that this is an entertainment industry.
There needs to be a massive shift in perspective here (and no, I don't think I can actually do anything to affect that even with you reading this right now). Developers, publishers, and game reviewers are all people. Never forget that. They all went to school and had Christmas or whatever holiday with their parents, they all have their own morals and personal beliefs, and they're all relatively intelligent. They know what the community thinks. They're not blind. When a reviewer gives a popular game a 6/10 they know what they're in for. When something like Mass Effect 3 happens, and they gave it a 9/10, they know the accusations that'll be thrown around. When a publisher/developer gives a game DRM, they know that there'll be backlash and they know everything that's been said in angry forum rants. And at the end of the day, they're giving something to be entertained by. Very, very few people will be in the industry if they aren't passionate about it. Yes, even the millionaire CEOs who seem so "out of touch". This is a time where people need to open their view a little bit. Almost every single complaint is from the eyes of the consumer only, and only takes into account the consumer's interests. In a perfect world, that's all that would matter, but unfortunately that's not possible outside of a utopian society. Companies need to make money. Steve the environment artist needs to put his kid through college. Publisher 1 can't be confident in investing in Super Niche Adventure Game The Game because their stocks have been falling for a solid year, so they put their money in Bankable Gritty Brown Shooter to get back on their feet. Dave the writer is done with his job once the game is out of preproduction, and sometimes bonus content is the only thing between him and getting laid off. Never forget that.
Does that mean that every decision is made in everyone's best interest, and the industry is free of corruption? Hell no. But it's not nearly as prevalent as gamers proclaim or believe. Just because someone is receiving your money, that doesn't mean you have to watch every step they make and call them out for being corrupt when they do something that doesn't sound quite right.
Just trust someone for once. If a developer wants to work on another installment of Franchise X, let them. If there's an audience for it, let them have the game, even if you don't like the sound of the new direction for the series. Instead of defaulting to "this is now ruined forever", be cautious, not hateful. No one deserves to be hated for a relatively minor decision in an entertainment industry. Microsoft doesn't deserve to be hated for continuing to develop Halo, EA doesn't deserve to be hated for investing in their popular franchises, etc. Hate is a strong word and a strong feeling. If you throw it around so trivially, you better have a damn good reason be so unhealthily resentful. Or you could stop. You could remember that every game that you buy has hundreds or thousands of hours of people's work put into it for ten hours of your enjoyment, and you could appreciate that for once. Maybe let them know that they really are making something you enjoy. Maybe send them a card and some flowers. I'm sure that would be a little improvement in their day in the middle of the floods of hate mail that get sent their way.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TL;DR: hundreds of people put time and money into pleasing you, so maybe you should appreciate the good things for once instead of holding a grudge over every little thing that ever pisses you off. At the very least it's healthier for you and the community.
And please remember that this TL;DR is way oversimplified and not the entire point. So many people are quoting this alone over something that's covered in the actual text.
