Jimquisition: Joy Begets Anger

[Mr. Q]

When watching this week's episode of the Jimquisition, I could help but think of Steve Buscemi's quote from Con Air (quote is at 2:22 since I'm having trouble getting the video to play at the exact spot. If anyone knows how to post a YouTube clip on the boards and have it play at a certain point, please let me know and I will edit this post).


I can understand someone being upset about someone like a game they don't. I'm not a big fan on Man of Steel but I'm not gonna piss on their parade or anything like that. If you like something, whether its good or bad, that's good for you. But don't be a douche-bag about it by bashing someone that likes a game or a movie or if they dislike it. There are bigger things to get your dick in a knot about than besides this vapid idiocy.

Also, congratulations on scoring the Willem Dafoe autographed photograph, Jim. But your "one step closer to the real thing" comment is kinda creepy. Now I'm picturing poor Willem tied to a bed with a block of wood between his legs while Jim himself is standing at the foot of said bed while holding a sledgehammer. ^^;

 

[Barbas]

Sometimes, reading comments sections is like watching the ending of 'Requiem For A Dream'. People need to stop being so insecure, it's ruining any chance for constructive communication and holding back the species.

 

[mada7]

Rushed games like Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 3.

What exactly was rushed about ME3? There was nothing rubbished about ME3 at all, people were just upset that they didn't like the ending, which was pathetic really.

Not liking the ending of a game isn't pathetic. It's a completely valid complaint for any game but in the case of ME3 it wasn't that the ending was bad but rather felt inadequate given the investment a lot of people had in the game from building a character through 3 games and feeling like every choice mattered and every loss a tragedy to have it all boiled down to a single choice at the end without seeing the consequences is understandably frustrating. It does not justify being a poisonous social jerk to people but not being satisfied is perfectly reasonable.


I'll also freely admit that when I see a positive review or award given to something I've played and didn't like (TLOU being the most recent entrant in that category) I post strongly worded arguments against the game deserving that award but I try to at least be constructive with why I disagree and try my absolute hardest not to swear at people in comments

 

[Moth_Monk]

Are you serious?
Are you seriously oblivious about all the sleazy business going on behind the scenes of game reviews?
Do you really not understand why people who bought DA2 based on the perfect score, opened the box and out fell a turd would be mad at the reviewer?
Would you as a consumer trust a single fucking review on IGN?
Do you really think game journalists don't have an obligation to consumers?
Oh wait, do you actually believe this is just about "random people on the internet liking something"?
Are you this naive or are you just balls deep in the swamp yourself?

Weak jim.
Very weak.

This is actually a good point. I often look at reviews of games before buying them and have bought games reviewers recommend before. Videogames are not cheap and I certainly wouldn't want to hear an apologetic, airy-fairy "it's just my subjective opinion, man!", after spending money, from someone being paid to spout off about videogames...

 

[Entitled]

"Get angry", huh?

There is a difference between not wanting people to be joyful, and standing up against trends that you perceive as harmful.

In other words, there is a difference between enjoying Aliens: Colonial Marines, (wich you are entitled to), and actively defending the shady marketing that they employed. People are angry at apologists of negative TRENDS.

It's one thing to like Mass Effect 3, and another for the game journalist class to collectively fail noticing how massively broken the ending is, or to make rants about how criticizing it is destroying True Art.

It's one thing to like DmC, and another to be oblivious to the expectations that maybe the franchise as a whole should also form a piece of art, with consistency and respect for a core theme, instead of pandering to whatever they perceive an appealing style at the time.

If you are a newbie to a series, or genre, or medium, you are allowed to like it's bastard offsprings, not knowing any better. Even if you are an expert of it, you are entitled to have a dissenting opinion about the new direction being good. But yeah, others on the other hand will disagree about it.

 

[Mikeyfell]

But Jim, Mass Effect 3 did tangibly negatively effect my life. It was so bad it broke the last vestige of childlike wonder my cold black jaded heart was clinging to.
I am literally less of a person because that game exists

 

[Weaver]

In the case of reviews, it's probably the audience being disappointed. It's hard to find a game reviewer who you think is on the same wavelength as you in what they like and dislike. It kind of sucks when you find out they aren't.

Though, I don't personally get mad about it.

 

[Raikas]

Do you really not understand why people who bought DA2 based on the perfect score, opened the box and out fell a turd would be mad at the reviewer?

Do you really think that's where people are coming from? Because most of the complaints I've seen lobbed at that score are not from people who bought the game because of that review. They're people who either bought the game at launch because they loved the first one, or people who knew about the complaints later and still decided to give it a try, and just happen to disagree with the rating. I just don't buy that most of the people who are still mocking the perfect DA2 score bought the game just because of that one review.

And frankly, even if you do buy a game based on a single reviewer's word, surely you can own reading the actual review and being aware of that reviewer's taste (and whether or not it matches their own) rather than just taking note of a number.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

See, i'll admit when someone says they like a game I didn't, it pulls me up short. And I do, sometimes evenly snidely, ask how. But I'm not angry, I'm legitimately curious. I have a friend who LOVED Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor. And when I asked 'how? how can you like that game?' he was angry. Granted, I could have worded it better, but that game is notoriously bad and damn near impossible to control, let alone enjoy. and yet my friend swore up and down he had no problems and loved it.
Its times like that its okay to ask how/why someone enjoys a game. Asking how Pokemon Diamond is different then Pokemon Black/White is more legit then simply saying a pokemon players are ten year olds.
I personally thought Fallout: New Vegas was hand and first better then Fallout 3, and I've had to defend that point many a time. But I'm okay with defending it, so long as people want it to be defended. I'm always up for a debate, or hell, even an argument. But simply saying I misinterpreted my own opinion its just sad and cheap.

Sidenote: Totally loved ME3 too. ending could have been better, but hey, headcannons, am I right?

 

[shrekfan246]

Are you serious?
Are you seriously oblivious about all the sleazy business going on behind the scenes of game reviews?
Do you really not understand why people who bought DA2 based on the perfect score, opened the box and out fell a turd would be mad at the reviewer?
Would you as a consumer trust a single fucking review on IGN?
Do you really think game journalists don't have an obligation to consumers?
Oh wait, do you actually believe this is just about "random people on the internet liking something"?
Are you this naive or are you just balls deep in the swamp yourself?

Weak jim.
Very weak.

This is actually a good point. I often look at reviews of games before buying them and have bought games reviewers recommend before. Videogames are not cheap and I certainly wouldn't want to hear an apologetic, airy-fairy "it's just my subjective opinion, man!", after spending money, from someone being paid to spout off about videogames...

This is why it's generally suggested that, when reading reviews for games, you actually have prior knowledge of the reviewer or critic in question, so you can gauge their reaction to what you imagine would be your own. Even better would be finding reviewers with opposing opinions, so you can weigh the pros and cons each person felt about the game in question and come out with an informed opinion yourself, rather than seeing "5/5, guess I have to buy it now!"

For instance, by watching his videos I know that TotalBiscuit is very mechanically-inclined as far as what he looks for in a game, and he prefers the story of a game to serve the gameplay and vice-versa in a symbiotic relationship rather than a parasitic one. By extrapolation, I can infer that his opinion on something like Bioshock Infinite may not align with my own, as the mechanics of a first-person shooter won't necessarily be the first thing holding me up if the game has other strengths to prop itself upon.

 

[Ticklefist]

Thinking about linking this over on the Diablo 3 forums. You can hardly discuss the game there.

 

[PuckFuppet]

Simple answer. People _want_ to be right. People _need_ to be right. And people _like_ being right.

To put it in context, if someone likes a game but you dislike it then you're wrong. But if someone dislikes a game, and you like it then by that same logic... its possible that they are wrong!

 

[shadowxvii]

You're doing a fantastic job Jim.

Have a good 14.

 

[deathbydeath]

Is this what's happening here:

1. Gamers[sup]TM[/sup]: "We're dicks!"
2. Sterling: "Gamers[sup]TM[/sup] are dicks, and so I'm going to make you stop being dicks by being dicks to you until your dickishness goes away!"
3. ???
4. Problem Solved.

Bad Jim, that is not how you solve problems. Dicks breed only dicks, and you aren't helping.

Besides, fanboyish praise can lead to terrible things. Human Revolution was a decent game, but a shitty Deus Ex game. It had no subtleties from the first two, had no clue what DX was even about, and mistook saying "human augmentation" over and over for actually saying something about human augmentation. People ignored these flaws, though, and instead praised the game universally (except for the outsourced boss fights, of course). Now we have Thief 4. Same with Mass Effect 2. The story was undeniably shit, but people ignored that and got Mass Effect 3 in return.

True, you can like whatever you want, and I adore plenty of terrible/flawed things (KotOR 2 comes to mind). However, praising or rewarding a game for doing something terrible is only going to sow terribleness for the future.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Are you seriously oblivious about all the sleazy business going on behind the scenes of game reviews?

Wait, what widespread and common sleazy business is going on, or are you just repeating conspiracy theories?

Do you really not understand why people who bought DA2 based on the perfect score, opened the box and out fell a turd would be mad at the reviewer?

That's their fault for trusting a single reviewer. Part of being a good consumer is educating yourself to the best of your ability. Even assuming the person was a good consumer, you then have to consider that part of being a person is not agreeing with everyone all the time. It is hardly the reviewers' fault that someone disagrees with them, or do you actually want them to lie about their experience and/or attempt the impossible task of agreeing with everyone?

Would you as a consumer trust a single fucking review on IGN?

Yes, I do, but I actually have enough common sense to know that I won't always agree with IGN. I also understand that I should actually read the review throughly to see if something they are complaining about is something that I might enjoy and vice versa. Like I said above, a good consumer educates themselves and also considers their purchase, and relying solely on IGN is hardly doing that. At that point, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Do you really think game journalists don't have an obligation to consumers?

And they don't already do that?

OT: Have to agree, Jim. Even I have to consciously remind myself that people are bound to like things I don't like and that getting angry about it isn't worth the energy. Having civilized discussions is fine, and that will ultimately help better the industry. The fanboy and hater rages that go on, though, are hardly doing us any good. All it does is alienate us from critics and developers/publishers (which only makes things harder on us all) and also prevents us from adequately analyzing the games we may or may not enjoy to see what we can learn from them when looking at, discussing, and possibly developing future games.

 

[CitySquirrel]

Do you really not understand why people who bought DA2 based on the perfect score, opened the box and out fell a turd would be mad at the reviewer?

As others have pointed out, it is silly to assume that what was in the box was a turd. I loved Dragon Age 2... I did two play-throughs in a fricken row. Are you saying I like crap? Or maybe tastes differ and what tastes like candy to me tastes like turd to you. Because, obviously you cannot have an objective game review. People have tastes. This site shows that they would look like: http://www.objectivegamereviews.com/

On a final note: his wife? I thought Jim was gay.

 

[Trilandian]

Best Jimquisition yet.

Bravo, Jim. Bravo. Thank god for you.