Poll: Do you buy videogames to be part of the crowd?

[Meinos Kaen]

This seems like an antithesis, considering where videogames come from. There's a story behind this.

On Reddit, I made a comment where I called a user's not choosing to buy The Last Of Us for GTAV a pretty poor call of judgment. I got downvoted to hell, of course, because r/Gaming's current trend is adoring the game and kissing the road where Rockstar walks, while I don't really care for the game even if I recognize its value. I even had someone call TLOU an average shooter, but the original commenter's answer was what really threw me for a loop. His answer was...

TLOU will still be there when I'm ready. Playing a GTA at launch is more important to me. It's one of the few times my hobby doesn't feel niche. You can pretty much just start talking to any male, between the age of 10 & 35, about Trevor's exploits & he'll know what you're on about.

This really shocked me, especially with the social stigma I endured as a kid for being someone who liked playing videogames over soccer -you americans and your made up words-. I eventually learned not to care, but is this what videogames are for some people, now? To fit in with the crowd you have to play the popular games, otherwise you're out of the loop and you can't be one of the 'cool kids'?

I was wondering if this was as widespread as I fear it is and if any of you do what this redditor does as well.

 

[Evonisia]

It's been that way (at least for me) for about half a decade now. You'll basically just be told by the crowd (or in my case my friends) that game x is amazing and not getting or, god forbid, not liking it is grounds to be insulted. Of course my attitude towards that is "fuck the popular opinion" because if I don't like Modern Warfare 2 for example then I don't like it. As for buying, I don't really do it. Unless the game looks like something I want to play, then I won't play it.

 

[Meinos Kaen]

It's been that way (at least for me) for about half a decade now. You'll basically just be told by the crowd (or in my case my friends) that game x is amazing and not getting or, god forbid, not liking it is grounds to be insulted. Of course my attitude towards that is "fuck the popular opinion" because if I don't like Modern Warfare 2 for example then I don't like it. As for buying, I don't really do it. Unless the game looks like something I want to play, then I won't play it.

That's my sentiments exactly, but this guy, when I presented him with this similarity...

It's like watching football just to be able to talk about it, even if you don't like it.

He answered...

No. It'd be like having the option of watching two football games & choosing to watch the game your friends are watching so you can talk about it with them. Then watching the other game.

Was wondering how many guys thought the same.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

If I did that then I would have wasted my money on ME3, COD and Diablo 3, but I didn't. I tend to play games by-myself, for my-self.

In the past before the internet I might have done so but with the plot synopsis and Youtube videos of the endings freely available after a few days there isn't much point.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I did when I was around 15 yes, because at that point peer pressure is the only rule to live by.
But now I am far more likely to avoid a game everyone is spazzing over just so I don't get pulled into the nonsense.

 

[krazykidd]

I did that in highschool. However , back in highschool was the ps2 era , when was starting to get popular. Lukily for me , the popular games were good, like socom , max payne , vice city , FF X ,etc . So while i did buy games ( on launch) to talk about them ,i actually ended up liking them .

After highschool , i had no one to talk about games to . So i stop buying games on launch , and i stopped caring what was popular . Now i just buy games I know i'll like ( mostly Jrpgs), with the occasional game from another genre, if i'm curious enough.

I bought GTA5 on launch because i was curious , and i haven't played a sandbox game this generation, so i was like , why the hell not.

 

[Fireaxe]

The only time to buy a game to be "part of the crowd" is if it's a multiplayer focussed game at launch, IMO.

 

[Sixcess]

TLOU will still be there when I'm ready. Playing a GTA at launch is more important to me. It's one of the few times my hobby doesn't feel niche. You can pretty much just start talking to any male, between the age of 10 & 35, about Trevor's exploits & he'll know what you're on about.

I can sort of see his point... if he's talking about a circle of actual friends who'll be playing it then yeah, jumping onto it at the same time as the rest of the crowd will keep him in the loop for the next few weeks, let him be part of the shared experience of discovering a new game, and ensure noone needs to avoid spoilers.

On the other hand if he's playing GTA 5 now just to be able to trade 'water cooler stories' with casual acquaintances... well, I hope he's enjoying the actual game but that's a little sad.

I have spent more time than I would have in an MMO that I feel is enjoyable but mediocre, but that's for one particular person, not for the sake of being accepted into the general 18-35 demographic.

 

[Meinos Kaen]

TLOU will still be there when I'm ready. Playing a GTA at launch is more important to me. It's one of the few times my hobby doesn't feel niche. You can pretty much just start talking to any male, between the age of 10 & 35, about Trevor's exploits & he'll know what you're on about.

I can sort of see his point... if he's talking about a circle of actual friends who'll be playing it then yeah, jumping onto it at the same time as the rest of the crowd will keep him in the loop for the next few weeks, let him be part of the shared experience of discovering a new game, and ensure noone needs to avoid spoilers.

On the other hand if he's playing GTA 5 now just to be able to trade 'water cooler stories' with casual acquaintances... well, I hope he's enjoying the actual game but that's a little sad.

I have spent more time than I would have in an MMO that I feel is enjoyable but mediocre, but that's for one particular person, not for the sake of being accepted into the general 18-35 demographic.

My thoughts exactly. Barring that I wouldn't have bought it even if it was because my friends played it as well -if I don't like something, I don't buy it, stop, no matter what my friends say-, buying something that it's being sold at... How many dollars, again? Just to be part of the demographic is one of the saddest things ever.

 

[suitepee7]

no, because that shit is retarded. while i'll admit it is good to discuss common ground, and a lot of my friends get the same games as me, it is also fun to talk about games they don't know about, to give more information and the like.

that being said, IF it is a choice between two games and you're going to play both anyway then it does make sense to play the same as others, purely for discussion value (and if you're into it, the online modes)

 

[Sarge034]

Snip

While it is not the sole factor in my decisions, it does have merit. For example, I bought Splinter Cell Blacklist and enjoyed the multiplayer. I knew I was going to get the game at some point, but I also knew that larger titles were coming out soon afterwards and if I wanted any chance of having a good time in multiplayer I needed to get it sooner rather than later. And boy was I right. The day GTA 5 came out it went from being able to quite out of any lobby and be guaranteed to find another to only having one or two lobbies in the two most popular playlists. A grand total of 50ish people floating around the MP servers.

So I can see prioritizing a game with strong emphasis on MP over a game with strong emphasis on SP if you are going to get them both. Personally I love TLOU SP but I have never touched the MP, and never plan to.

 

[The_Echo]

I don't have the expendable income to purchase games for such shallow reasons. So no, I don't.

But even if I were a bazillionaire, I still wouldn't, because that's dumb and why should I bother spending my free time playing a game just so I can talk to strangers about it?

 

[Drummodino]

Fuck no. I buy a lot of games, but they are always the games that I want to buy. None of my close friends have played many JRPGs besides Pokemon. I've bought 5 JRPGs in the past 3 months. None of them have played Fallout. I've got all of them except Tactics. None of them bought DmC. I did. Only one of my friends watches anime. I love anime. My friends have never touched any visual novel. I froth over Katawa Shoujo. I can list many more examples.

To be fair I do have games I can discuss because there are games that my friends play that I play as well (e.g. recently Pokemon, TLoU, Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider). But I didn't buy those game to have something to discuss with them, I bought them because I wanted them.

Gaming for me is mostly a solo endeavor. I play games to lose myself in them, to experience the world without any distractions. Sure I've played multiplayer games before and really enjoyed them. I played Super Smash Bros yesterday with my buddies. However, I would never buy a game I didn't want just because my friends bought it.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I don't think I've ever bought a game just to be part of the crowd. Yeah, when I buy a game I really am looking forward to on day one I may be partially influenced by my desire to talk about it with everyone else (ex. BioShock Infinite), but it is hardly the reason I buy. I buy the game first and foremost because I want it. Even if I looked forward to talking about Infinite with everyone else while it was still new, I bought Infinite day 1 because it was the sequel to one of my favorite games of this generation. Likewise, I don't buy games like Pokemon, Civilization, CoD, Mario, or any other popular franchise I happen to enjoy. I buy them because I actually enjoy them and when I cease to have enjoyment with them (ex. pretty much every CoD since MW2), then I stop buying it, no matter how much my friends pester me to get it, and trust me, my friends can get downright annoying in how much they want me to buy each new iteration of Assassin's Creed no matter how many times I tell them that I can't stand the series.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

Yeah if it's a multiplayer game. When a big multiplayer game first comes out EVERYONE is playing it. It's easy to set up 10 person lobbies and have a shitload of fun. Even if the game is good, after a few weeks something new comes out, some people start to shift back to their comfort zone games, and the community dissipates.

And even if that isn't the case and a game is played for weeks and months and years after release, when you finally do pick up the game everyone will already have a jump on you. In competitive games everyone will know how to play much better than you. In RPGs your friends will all be level 70 something and having them play a level 5 goblin cave with you won't be the same experience.

 

[tstorm823]

Anyone born after 1990 who thinks there's a stigma against them for playing video games either lives somewhere dumb or is just wrong. I made a couple friends based entirely on zelda games like 17 years ago, and now everbody plays video games. There might be a stigma against the person who zealously talks about them to people who don't care, but that's not a video game thing, that's every hobby ever.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

To be part of the crowd? Really? I pretend I don't know a thing about video games to be part of the crowd.

OT
No I have never bought a video game because it was popular I have only ever bought the games I am interested in and hey if they just so happen to be the flavour of the month so be it. I'm not rich enough to blow 60 dollars on something just because it?s popular, at least when it comes to video games...

 

[Skrimmy]

No. I go after games that look fun, or even mildly amusing to, ME and ME alone. Probably the best example I can give is my purchasing of Anarchy Reigns (Look it up if you don't know what it is.) It was relatively unknown to my group of gamer friends and as a result no one but me bought it. I had more fun on that than I ever did on Battlefield 3.