Jimquisition: BOYCOTT!

Not G. Ivingname

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Jim Sterling said:
I do think the Diablo 3 boycott is justified.

Not because of the "it's to bight complaint" people are giving it, which just doesn't make any sense to me, but the in game store that is run by the players, uses REAL money (I.E. letting anybody buy power at the start of the game if they want it, and anybody could have their items not sold because somebody else made the price of their same item one cent cheaper), the lack of modability, the always on DRM even in single player, and the complete disregard for it's potential for Esports with the game's PvP on the part of Blizzard.
 

Rednog

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The only thing I would add is that I'm sick of people using the word boycott when they had no intention of buying the game at all. Example "I'm boycotting modern warfare 3, CoD sucks,m BF3 ALL THE WAY!!!1!"
Boycotting is wanting a good but choosing not to buy it because you have some moral dilemma with how it was produced or the company's practices. It isn't boycotting something when you don't like or want the game, and the escapist in particular seems to be notorious for using it in this fashion that in almost every other boycott thread I have to facepalm and point it out.
 

Jimothy Sterling

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intheweeds said:
Genixma said:
I honestly thought he was going to talk about people choosing sides and yelling for a Boycott of the Escapist for the leave of Extra Credits. Well I thank God of Jim to prove me wrong and bring me something good this monday. Awesome.
When i watched I heard the whole thing as a veiled speech about that. It may or may not be, but it is certainly relevant to that discussion. Notice how the most vocal Escapist BOYCOTT callers are still here signing in everyday just to continue posting about it.
It wasn't until the episode was finished that I realized the timing and worried people would think it was about that. I can only assure people it's not.

Also, thanks for the kind remarks. As much as I got off on the wrong foot with the community, I am glad that the show has become rather well received. <3
 

Toar

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You sir, have raised a valid point in gaming. THIS is a good show. It was smart, snark, and well written. Thank you.
 

Faux Furry

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How about we start calling those kinds of histrionic outburst over minor issues something else like, say, FanBoycotts?
Let us all boycott Fanboycotts!
 

intheweeds

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Jimothy Sterling said:
intheweeds said:
Genixma said:
I honestly thought he was going to talk about people choosing sides and yelling for a Boycott of the Escapist for the leave of Extra Credits. Well I thank God of Jim to prove me wrong and bring me something good this monday. Awesome.
When i watched I heard the whole thing as a veiled speech about that. It may or may not be, but it is certainly relevant to that discussion. Notice how the most vocal Escapist BOYCOTT callers are still here signing in everyday just to continue posting about it.
It wasn't until the episode was finished that I realized the timing and worried people would think it was about that. I can only assure people it's not.

Also, thanks for the kind remarks. As much as I got off on the wrong foot with the community, I am glad that the show has become rather well received. <3
I think everyone (at least should) understand that these videos have more planning involved than can be done in such a short time frame. This couldn't possible have been done in regards to the EC fiasco. I knew it wasn't supposed to be about that, for the record. I'm pretty sure I only heard it that way because I'm sore about the people who feel the need to continue the argument on this site for this long, perhaps others are as well.

Regarding the opinions people have about your style: Please don't drop your style. I was actually disappointed there wasn't more of it in this one. I, for one, understand and really like the 'dictator' parody you have going on. It makes perfect sense to me when you put it against the many posts I have seen by viewers on this site about every video creators 'preachy' attitude, completely missing that they are opinion pieces. If they think all video creators are dictators telling them what to think, then give 'em what they want. It's your thing and I would hate to see it go. It's really too bad people seem to miss the point, but don't dumb it down just for them.
 

D0WNT0WN

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Boycott something that needs to be boycotted.

Like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, or atleast get it preowned.
 

Bluecho

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Another stunning rant from the internet's premier cool guy. And while I don't think Glen Beck is all that extreme at all in his arguments, I very much agree with Jim Sterling's stance on boycotts.

Other words that the internet has devalued to the point of being worth less than Austrian currency during the height of post-WWI hyper-inflation:
-Ironic
-Literally
-Any Racial Epitaphs
 

Vivi22

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Plazmatic said:
Im not going to read your response since this was not directed at you for you, or other wise anything to do with you. All I said was the reasons for the boycott which were legitimate. this was not an argument as this was not a matter of opinion.
So it's a matter of fact that the reasons for the L4D2 boycott were legitimate? Hardly.

From what I remember of the boycott, the major complaints were that their had been the promise of updates to the original game, and people assumed that this would interfere with that. This was by far the biggest complaint, and was also demonstrably wrong since L4D has seen updates since L4D2 was released.

According to Wikipedia, some people apparently complained about the characters and aesthetic in the original trailer that was shown, and that the game was going to be released about a year after the original. And while I would agree that not liking those may be a legitimate reason to not buy the game if you're a dick with an over developed sense of entitlement, it's not a legitimate reason to organize a boycott.

About the closest thing to a rational argument I've seen frankly was that releasing the sequel could fracture the community between the first and second games, but frankly, that would be the case with just about any sequel to a popular and widely played game.

So seriously, get over yourself. The boycott was at best some fans complaining about things that were either never an issue in the first place, or which could happen any time a company releases a sequel. I agree with Uber Waddles: you are wrong on this one. L4D2 made big improvements over the first, and saying it could have just been released as an update is silly.

As for the episode itself, I really liked it and have to agree that the videos seem to be improving. Well though out and well argued points on this one. I'm all for people voting with their wallet but agree that crying foul at every little thing and dismissing those who choose not to buy something outright tends to hurt the cause when legitimate boycott's arise.
 

dalek sec

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Jul 20, 2008
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shadowmagus said:
Great show Jim. I'm not afraid to admit that I'm in the apathy camp. It seems like every forum I go to is people boycotting one thing or another. I'm to the point where I honestly don't give a shit, and if there is something that I may not agree with. I won't buy it, but because I don't want to not because of some internet boycott that generally has about as much steam behind it as a toy locomotive.
I'm in the same camp as you Shadowmagus, everywhere I turn people are just boycotting stuff all the time now and it's gotten to the point where I've just stopped caring. Honestly, I had to just take a day off from the Escapist when I heard the reason behind the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott. If I was to post my feelings about the boycotters then and there my ass would have been banned in a heartbeat. It's pretty much how Jim summed it up, you don't like it, then don't bloody buy it or if you actually do boycott something, don't buckle under at the last second!
 

tautologico

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Not G. Ivingname said:
I do think the Diablo 3 boycott is justified.

Not because of the "it's to bight complaint" people are giving it, which just doesn't make any sense to me, but the in game store that is run by the players, uses REAL money (I.E. letting anybody buy power at the start of the game if they want it, and anybody could have their items not sold because somebody else made the price of their same item one cent cheaper), the lack of modability, the always on DRM even in single player, and the complete disregard for it's potential for Esports with the game's PvP on the part of Blizzard.
I don't think a full-blown boycott is justified in this case. Whoever is annoyed by any of this can simply not buy the game. To me most of the points made aren't very important:

1 - Real money AH: With D2 and WoW, Blizzard has fought a losing battle about gold sellers. Note that most gold sellers also sell power, i.e. "power leveling". Black-market gold selling is bad because it creates an incentive for account hacking, which happens a lot in WoW. With D3 Blizzard has taken the risky, but very worthwile road of regulating the market instead of trying to ban it.

2 - Mods: I don't recall ever hearing about or using a mod in either Diablo or D2. I don't think modding was very prominent in the Diablo series as it is in other series (like Starcraft for example). It's a somewhat valid complaint for some people, but something most players won't miss and won't even notice.

3 - Permanent internet connection requirement - This I think is a very valid complaint, but I don't think that it, by itself, warrants a boycott. Don't like the idea, don't buy it. I know some people who would like to play D3 may have problems because of their connection (however, I can't believe this is the case for most people; I live in a developing country and even here almost everyone has a stable internet connection at home).

4 - Esport: I don't think Blizzard has ever considered D3 as an esport game. I remember they specifically saying that PvP won't be balanced, because it's not that kind of game. It's a design decision, it's their call, so it's a very bad reason for thinking about boycotts.
 

lord.jeff

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Faux Furry said:
How about we start calling those kinds of histrionic outburst over minor issues something else like, say, FanBoycotts?
Let us all boycott Fanboycotts!
I like this idea, it'd make it easier to point out when people are being foolish although I think it could easily add up like the word boycott, troll, hipster, and getting used anytime someone has a negative opinion.
 

Frostbite3789

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xsoenx said:
i am Boycotting EA because i can´t take there overpriced and massive packs of DLC, and the Online pass, and shutting down servers, and shutting down companies after 1 bland game.
and the way i do this is that i never pay for something they made directly. so i rent or buy used there games if i wanna try them and i don´t touch there DLC anymore unless it is free
First on the DLC. Activision set that trend in motion with MW. What? 3 maps for 1/4th the price of the game? If you bought that, you contributed to that problem. At least EA's DLC has content for the price.

Shutting down servers. They only do them for really, quite old games where the costs of keeping them running isn't worth it, as the player base is infinitesimally small.

Online Pass...oh geeze. I will never see this as a viable reason to boycott. Ever. Nobody has ever been able to explain it in an intelligent way, that makes sense. They all go that same, stupid bullshit used car analogy. Where they say it'd be like a used car having the brakes removed. No. Wrong. That'd be like removing your ability to use the left analog stick. It fundamentally ruins the product. Having extra features removed because you wanted to buy a cheaper product out of a combination of impatience and being miserly? I have no problem with that.

If you're buying a game used before it gets a price cut, what are you saving? $5-$10? So if you buy 6-12 games, you've saved enough to buy another one. And if you're buying that many games, you have the money for the new copy. So, no, there really is no argument for Online Pass being evil or out to get you.
 

Hosker

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I agree, but, as of yet, I have not found anything even remotely worth boycotting.
 

inFAMOUSCowZ

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You made some good points, and its funny since currently I am boycotting a game. The game is rage. I also feel I have a good reason to boycott it too. They are cutting content out just because someone may buy it used. Devs should never cut content thats just not good on the community. Will I play Rage sure but when I do it will be used just so I can say, fuck you who ever cut the content out. But still enjoy the game. They need to find a better marketing way or else I'll keep doing that.
 

scar_47

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The reason the industry ignores the boycott's are because they happen all the time over every little detail thats released before a game is even out and they simply don't work most people don't follow through remember the MW2 boycott where a good 90% of those that signed a petition saying they wouldn't touch the game were still playing it, until a game tanks because it was boycotted I doubt the industry will pay much attention they seem far more open to reasoned discourse people complaining giving examples and asking why X was done. Your not doing anything noticeable by getting even a few thousand sales cut you'd need a good 10 or 20 k before people would really look into it. And from the industry side its understandable you can't cave to every angry post you can't let a vocal minority run the show and ruin the game for the rest of the audience so what do you do you ignore the crazies while trying to sort through it all and find real issues your audience has.
 

Joe Herbert

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I do not like Always On DRM. I wont buy games with it... So far i haven't. If other people feel the same about this, they can join me in 'not buying it'. I'm not going to write letters. Or scream about it on the internet or cry "boycott!". I honestly think that this is the first time I've mentioned it online. Anyways. Game companies are more worried about my $ than they are about the noise i'm making. So i'll just let that do the talking. My hope that other people will do the same -- without having to organize a boycott -- is probably a little misguided. But hey, i'm optimistic.