Poll: 'Why the hate...' questions: A summary

[Clarkarius]

I have been a member on the Escapist for just around nine months now and in that time people continue to post 'Why the hate...' threads all asking why people dislike certain games. This would not be a problem if it was not for the shear number of them. Seriosuly the amount of threads I've seen either defending 'Halo 3', 'WoW' and loads of different games is staggering most of which all being clones of previous threads before them or all degenerating into theads resulting in page long rants and multiple people getting Banned, put on probation or suspended from the forums.

So BEFORE people go posting another 'Why the hate...' thread into the already overflowing canyon of them on this forum here is a breif summary of teh answers you'll likely recieve.

But first of all please note:

1) I dont want this thread degenerating into another 'Why the hate...' thread

2) The bellow are based on typical responses and are not my opinion on the matter (unless I say otherwise)

3) Please don't get angry at myself or try to satrt an arguement as I already pointed out; the below are NOT my opinions on the matter and I'm NOT trying to spark any arguements here.

4) Feel free to comment on what you thought of this summary, taking into reagard that it is a brief summary, providing its constructive criticism and not a rant about the reasons posted.

5) I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm walking on egg shells but I really don't want people getting angered at me if they belive i'm criticising a fan base or particular genre of games; i'm just posting the likely responses as to why people hate certain games.

So with that out of the way onto the topic at hand;

1) 'Why the hate for...': Halo 3 (and all FPSs in general)

Apart form the ZP reviews about why many dislike FPS's it is mainly due to the loyal fan bases that each one appears to attract. As is quite often the case most people will only ever often play a single FPS online and will aim to become very good at it; and thus when people criticise said game loyal gamers will defend it or try and make out theres is the better FPS, has the better multiplayer etc.

So in terms of 'Why the hate' for Halo 3 (and other FPSs) is that most of the hate derives from the fans of FPS's made by rival firms each fan base criticising the other firms work and trying to assert the view that their game is the better one. To quote Yahtzee its like the 'crusader like image that consoles and gaming firms attract'. For the same reason why fans of Sony will ontinue to criticise teh fans of Microsoft and vice versa the same thing will occur between teh likes of Bungie fans and Valve fans alike; and will always cpontinue to do so as long as the gaming industry continues to be an oligopolistic market.

Another point of 'Why the Hate' for Halo 3 was also the fact that many thought the game was over praised when it was released. Halo 3 was given perfect scores by reviewers accross the globe (Yahtzee excluded) and many thought that this was unjustified; that is the simple answer and for tiem purposes I wont expand on it. So any way onto teh next game...

2) 'Why the hate for...': WoW (and other MMOs)

Apart from fan disputes (as mentioned above), nearly all MMO's have suffered from the reputation of being games where people have wasted their days staring at computer screens turing into anti-socail blobs (you get the idea...) and the various other 'news stories' associated with the genre, and becasue WoW is teh market leader, it is the game that recieves the most criticism for these scenarios.

However in terms of 'Why the Hate' for Wow in particular it largely come from three groups; the people who hate MMO's after hearing what they do to people, people annoyed of WoW being the market leader and those who are annoyed at WoW players go on about WoW. So any way the onto the next genre...

3) 'Why the hate for...': JRPGs

Unlike the other two example 'Why the hate' for JRPGs is less between fans of the genre arguing over which is the better series, but more from people outside of who dont play the games simply criticising it.

There are many arguements people often raise against JRPGs. Ranging from the constructive arguements of 'The good gameplay being out balenced by narrative'; to the hate filled rants of the FPS and WRPG extremist saying the genre is nothing but drivel.
The likely hood is that if you play JRPGs you are already aware of the general criticism the genre recieves but if your the kind who would post a 'Why the hate...' thread these are the most common reasons you'll encounter...

-Less hatred towards the games but dislike towards Anime
-Poor translation of the script + coupled with poor voice acting
-The balence of cutsecenes in proportion to actaually gmae play
-There a Yahtzee acolyte (JOKING! JOKING!)

There are a lot more arguements against the genre a lot being more hate driven and are often unjustified as is often the case with this particular genre and thus I won't go into them. My advice would be just not to post a thraed entitled 'Why the hate for JRPGs' if you like the genre as you'll just be giving fodder for trollers and falmers to post their rants.

So I guess that concludes my summary in a vauge effort to try and stop 'Why the Hate...' threads but know doubt my efforts will be a vain. However I would like to believe that the above explains why people dislike certain games and will prevent fans from seeing their favourite games criticised in front of the masses and finally bring an end to these annoying threads!

Oh and just as a final note I realise I may have wasted a lot of time writing this and I aplogize for any spelling mistakes and after writing all thsi there is no way I'm deleting it even if it is a load of rubbish...

EDIT: If there is somthing you really think should be added send a private message and i'll add it on later or just post it on this thread.

 

[wrecker77]

What do we talk about now?

 

[DeadlyYellow]

People get too rooted in their ideas to really be swayed, then defend them in ways that seem to always degenerate to sheer idiocy. Good luck trying to broaden their horizons.

 

[Robyrt]

Why all the hate for music games?

 

[Cargando]

I havn't heard people going on about WoW outside of it...

 

[Jedoro]

People get too rooted in their ideas to really be swayed, then defend them in ways that seem to always degenerate to sheer idiocy. Good luck trying to broaden their horizons.

This

Which is also the reason so many debates turn into flame wars here.

 

[lewism247]

After reading your text i have tou say well done!You have voiced quite a few people's opinion's and i thank you for that

 

[Clarkarius]

Why all the hate for music games?

I only did the three as they're teh most common ones. I actually forgot about music games

Good luck trying to broaden their horizons.

I was not planning on.

 

[GuerrillaClock]

I predict we'll have another hate thread by tomorrow.

 

[Ancientgamer]

I demand a sticky!

Maybe add a few more things and spruce up the spelling and grammer.

 

[Proteus214]

I think that some people get so rooted in an opinion of a game that they are willing to pass judgment on it just based on what it is rather than what kind of experience it actually provides the player. For example, I don't dislike all JRPGs, but the vast majority of them do not match my tastes.

It also has to do with the kind of immature rhetoric that people use. For example, in that last sentence above, I could have said "I don't dislike all JRPGs, but most of them suck." Rather than express the fact that they just aren't my style, that would be bashing them unnecessarily and anyone that would feel offended would reply very defensively. If people can learn to manage their unintentional slams and backhanded comments a little better, there would be a lot less of this sentiment going around.

 

[Plazmatic]

I hate halo3 because of the dlc which should have allready been inclueded, and that it started the end of long campaigns, only a few console games now have long campaigns abouve 12 hours.

I cant exactly say I hate MMO's(wow in perticular) for I have never played WoW, but it seems like it set the standard for MMO's to be pay permonth method, which I despise and has stopped me form playing a lot of videogames. It also harms people.

JRPG's they get too cliched alot and I hate it when they use anime 3d models instead of normal models that actually look like real people. Though in general not much to hate about them, as not all are like what I said abouve

 

[EliteDave725]

You've neglected to mention "Why the hate for the Wii".

 

[Clashero]

1) FPS. I criticize Halo 3 for being overrated. While MP with friends is fun, playing with strangers or the.. *pauses to vomit* singleplayer campaign is a chore.
2) I criticize WoW because it's tedious and dull and uninteresting. Give me Guild Wars any day: Tactical combat? Check. Emphasis on skill rather than time spent playing? Check. Emphasis on teamwork rather than individual gain? Check. Individuality among characters? Check. An actual story, a reason to be out there killing all those people? Check, and jot down a red X in WoW's checklist, for emphasis. Ability to tell what class someone is at a glance? Check that shit. Original quests, amazing cooperative missions, epic dungeons and absolutely no fed-ex quests? Check.
3) I dislike JRPG's for the turn-based combat and goofy "save the world against an ancient evil" stories, with clichèd characters. The only one I liked was FFXII, for these reasons:
- The story, while still involving some sort of ancient evil, is mostly a political and military struggle.
- The characters have some sense of originality. Excluded from this point are man-girl Vaan and Cheery Love Interest That Never Comes To Fruition Penelo. Hey! And Ashe's voicework is done by Kari Wahlgren! That's bonus points right there!
- The combat is more dynamic than any other JRPG, even if it is a bit automatic.