How much does it matter if something is 'overrated' to you?

[ThreeName]

It's only a problem if I've gone out and bought the damn thing based on the opinions of others. Thankfully I have since learned and will no longer trust the views of others; not after Far Cry 2 and Just Cause 2.

If people think something I like is overrated (eg Fallout: New Vegas), that doesn't bother me. If people don't like me thinking something is overrated (eg Half-Life 2) that doesn't bother me.

 

[Ratties]

Everybody cares what others think. It's just that we put people in different categories depending on how much we give a shit about them. A stranger online might make you irritated, you both don't know each other. I usually put them in the category of, I am bored and am going to argue with this guy that I will foget about in about 10 minutes.

 

[skywolfblue]

I don't think it's wrong for a lot of people to love/like something, popular doesn't mean bad.

I'm only bothered when the people who are overrating something:
1) Refuse to acknowledge any major flaws (plot holes that undermine the whole story, or a massively buggy game like Skyrim, etc).
2) Target and hate people who disagree with them that it is the greatest thing ever.

This should also be true for people who underrate something. Its something I've seen looking at what people say about Bioshock Infinite and to a lesser extent, The Last of Us. The people who don't like Bioshock seem to have a complete disregard for why people actually like the game and seem to be too busy condemning it because they think their subjective opinion is objective fact.

I also have no problem with people liking or disliking something, but at the very least I want them to try and acknowledge my reasons for having a contrary opinion.

Very true, indeed it goes both ways.

 

[00slash00]

Public opinion most definitely paints my opinion of a game. Before I played Final Fantasy 13 I had heard nothing but how shit this game is, not to mention playing Final Fantasy 12 had dropped my expectations for the series about as low as possible. When I played 13 I found it to be really enjoyable and it is one of my top 3 Final Fantasy games (yes I know, blasphemy).

Now if I feel something is overrated, I generally don't care that much. I thought Skyrim was decent but didn't live up to the hype. It doesn't bother me that people really liked it and I won't try to convince them it was bad or anything. The only time something being overrated bothers me is in the case of games like Knights of the Old Republic or The Last of Us. I had almost zero fun playing both of those games (as someone who normally loves RPGs and enjoys stealth games) and I'd be lying if I said it doesn't bug me slightly when like 90% of the internet seems to flaunt those games as examples of the best games ever made

 

[kurupt87]

It becomes annoying when it is all anybody ever seems to talk about and you find whatever it is underwhelming at best.

If I'm the only one out of a group that doesn't like something then the best I can hope for is that they at least tone it down when I'm there and just deal with that reduced amount. If that doesn't happen, then I'm going to have to: give them a wide berth for a while; rage internally; punch one of them. None of which is a great way to spend your time.

 

[Grach]

Ever since I played Halo: Combat "Evolved", I been extra wary about popular games. If I hear something is awesome, without actual proof (gameplay videos, comes from a trusted developer). Major warning signs are fans extensively gushing about it, usually put in bullshit "best games ever" top ten lists ans extreme responses from the fanbase when it's called anything short of perfect.

So yes, if something is held as the crowning example of gaming by a lot of people, it only invites my suspicion.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Personally I'm getting sick and fucking tired of every thread with the word in the title or OP being derailed immediately by everyone and their mother saying 'overrated' isn't a useful term instead of discussing the fucking subject matter, but thoughts are briefly, it matters somewhat if that means it's overshadowing a thing that I consider better and that is having a detrimental effect on the ability of the thing I like to continue existing (e.g. Some music producers), and not at all if it's something I have no interest in (e.g. sports). By all means call people out on saying overrated as an argument when accusing you of not knowing your own opinions (because that's stupid), but for fuck's sakes, it means they think less of a thing than most or the popular media and would like to see the opinions of the immediate community and whether they coincide with their own.

 

[crudus]

It depends on how much I dislike something and how prevalent something is. For example, the band Fun (or "fun.") is (in my opinion) terrible and overrated. They are very prevalent in my life as they are played over the speakers at my work seemingly constantly (and it is like two of their songs). It inspires ire at the songs and strikes up conversations pretty regularly. Another example is Smashing Pumpkins. I hear them once or twice a day (if at all) so it doesn't bother me. Black Keys is a bad I really liked and thought were underrated for a while, but I hear "Gold on the Ceiling" at least 3-5 times a day (conservative estimates) and really want the media to get over them so I can go back to enjoying their music (as hipster as that just sounded). Though in reality, it is purely a subjective term without real meaning beyond people's noses. The problem comes when people can't accept any criticism I have for whatever it is they like.

 

[The Wykydtron]

As much as "overrated" is the new "pretentious" AKA word of the month that means absolutely nothing, it still has one or two accurate uses though.

[sub][sub]Looking at you Bioshock Infinite[/sub][/sub]

Anyway OT: I never really cared what people say about stuff that I like, hell I thought Bioshock 2 was the best one and I was genuinely surprised by how damning the general Internet consensus was on it. At least it ain't Infinite lol

I never use the word "overrated" because i've gotten into the habit of ignoring reviews entirely apart from maybe 'Scapist reviews because they're not obnoxious most of the time, if a bit questionable in scores sometimes, so I don't really have a rating to compare my opinion to in the first place.

Basically if someone says "I thought X was overrated" it boils down to a fancy way of saying "I didn't like it." Except with Bioshock Infinite of course. Hype train of perfect scores on launch ends up derailing and the new cool thing is to make a clever video on how it makes no sense.

I didn't mean to reference Bioshock so hard in this post actually. It just kind of happened. Sorry.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I don't much care either way. I like what I like and I respect that other people may like different things. I know that the things I like may sometimes be flawed and I try to stay conscious of shortcomings in my favorites. I'd even say I'm most critical of the things I like the most.

Sure, if someone comes up to me and says Skyrim is the most perfect game on the planet, I'll tell him exactly why he's wrong, but otherwise it's live and let live.

In a world where true objectivity is an impossibility, 'overrated' is an utterly meaningless word to begin with.

 

[sumanoskae]

I would have nothing against overrated games if it weren't for two things

Limited development resources and statements made in ignorance.

The issue with games like Call of Duty (To pull out the old argument) is not that they are bad, in fact I think CoD and most of it's competitors are well made games, but their popularity is so massive that it's began to inform the design of other games, games that have no business with multiplayer or even being a part of the shooter genre itself.

CoD clones might not be bad games per say, but everyone that is made represents a more interesting game idea being rejected.

Even still, if I though it was what everybody really wanted I wouldn't begrudge these game simply for being overrated, but this brings to the second reason; a lot of people who do things like claim CoD is their favorite game have played a very small amount of video games.

This is simply due to CoD's massive popularity; even if you generally do not play video games, you have probably played Modern Warfare at least once, and there are many people who basically play CoD and nothing else.

When these people say they love CoD, I find it hard to believe they mean the same thing I do when I say I love Knights of the Old Republic II.

KOTOR II is one of the only works of art, one of the only pieces of fiction, that has ever changed the way I thought or believed about something; when I say I love it I don't mean it's fun, I don't mean I play it constantly, turn my brain off and pretend nothing else exists, I mean it changed me as human being, I mean it and the few other stories like it are what enabled me to discover what I want to do with my life. It is not an exaggeration to say that KOTOR II is part of the reason I am who I am today.

So when the only thing I hear from people who say CoD is the best game ever is that it's fun, that they kick ass at sniping or they like the new guns, that it's basically engaging, I'm sorry, but to me that's not the same thing.

I don't believe that anybody could honestly want every game released to be under pressure to be more like CoD, but when you blow $60 on a set of new guns and a campaign that doesn't last the afternoon every time a new one is released, and play almost nothing else, that's exactly what happens.

When I say games like CoD or Halo are overrated, I don't mean that too many people like them, I mean that nobody likes them enough, nobody really loves them.

In conclusion, it might be inaccurate to refer to CoD as overrated, it might be better to describe it as overly exposed, the fact that the three games that are basically the public persona for video games are Mario, Zelda and CoD should evidence that.

So I would not advise anyone to stop plying Call of Duty, I have no interest in telling people what to like, instead I would offer financial advise; don't spend $60 dollars on 7 hours of new content. You can save money if instead of buying Call of the Halo Wars 67: Modern Reachfare you just keep playing the old one. While your at it, if you really decide you like video games, why not try playing one from a genre you're not accustomed to? You might find a game you actually love, that has a genuine impact on your life, something you really cherish.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

When something is over-rated it overshadows things superior to it that it doesn't deserve to. If these things happen to be things I care about and if I happen to not care about the thing which overshadows them, then that thing being overrated feels like a gread injustice and that everyone who can't see this is an ignorant buffoon.


I feel this is the best way I can condense my thoughts on the matter.

 

[Bonk4licious]

Honestly, anymore it's just that word I think of when a lot of my friends like something that I find out later to not be my cup of tea.

It feels more like people are saying "This game did not meet my expectations," because other people gave them a story about how amazing and jelly-filled the game was.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I think the term is overused as a personal soapbox to crack on games and underutilized as a critical thinking tool. Much of the negative thoughts on games threads tends to be less of a discussion and more of a collection of same-thinking folk who don't offer any real discussion. Of course there are people who do contribute positive things, but they seem to be a minority.

 

[Sande45]

The problem is that successful and universally liked games shape the industry quite a lot since unfortunately the industry is full of copycats trying to cash in on the flavour of the year. If you don't happen to like one of those successful games (i.e. you think it's overrated), it kind of sucks for you because the whole genre is quite likely to shift towards that direction. This was very evident with Call of Duty. So that's why you kind of should care if something you don't like becomes immensely popular.