I can't take it anymore,
I spent the past three days playing Tribes: Ascend. I didn't play it because I wanted to, I played it because everyone else I know plays it and kept asking "Why don't you try it?". I was pressured to play it not just by friends, I can ignore them when they plea for me to do anything. The internet itself seemed to be alive, and commanding me to play it. Several youtubers I follow extoll the virtues of Tribes: Ascend as the best PC shooter and the most competitive and that all other PC shooters paled in comparison to the mighty behemoth of amazing that Tribes: Ascend was. Reviews were nothing short of glowing praise, finding nothing wrong with the game and even going so far as to say that the game itself was perfect. Video walkthroughs and guides of all kinds appeared to teach new players how to play Tribes, something veteran players of previous games took to with gusto. But the difficulty curve is steep and progress is slow. Gamers all over the web praise Tribes: Ascend as being as close to perfect as a shooter can get and that if you don't play it you're an imbecile and should play it right now because it's free and who doesn't like free stuff? Alternatively if you play it and hate it, like I did, you're a moron because it is so perfect and you just suck go QQ moar noob etc etc.
This isn't the first time I felt every angle of my life was pressuring me to play a game. It was like this with Halo, a game I only begrudgingly respect for being a good casual game to play with friends and only have ventured online to play Grifball. It was the same with Gears of War, which I despised as being bland and monotonous. Same again with Killing Floor which I do respect for being tight and focused, I also damn it giving my fragile heart a scare every time the Patriarch appears suddenly and shoots me dead or any one of the mutant freaks attack me to the point where I couldn't play because I was so afraid I had panic attacks. The same for Global Agenda, Magicka and many other games I own. I can even count Skyrim but that I am okay with because I love Skyrim.
I feel like the gaming community asserts a lot of pressure on its members to play certain games not because those people WANT to, but because if they don't they aren't considered part of the group. As if playing Deus Ex was an entry fee to an exclusive club and daily games of Starcraft II or Tribes: Ascend are the dues. Tribes: Ascend is too obtuse and difficult. It makes me motion sick with its skiing mechanic and I don't like it.
Have you, the community, ever felt pressured to play a game not out of curiosity but because "everyone else" was playing it?
I spent the past three days playing Tribes: Ascend. I didn't play it because I wanted to, I played it because everyone else I know plays it and kept asking "Why don't you try it?". I was pressured to play it not just by friends, I can ignore them when they plea for me to do anything. The internet itself seemed to be alive, and commanding me to play it. Several youtubers I follow extoll the virtues of Tribes: Ascend as the best PC shooter and the most competitive and that all other PC shooters paled in comparison to the mighty behemoth of amazing that Tribes: Ascend was. Reviews were nothing short of glowing praise, finding nothing wrong with the game and even going so far as to say that the game itself was perfect. Video walkthroughs and guides of all kinds appeared to teach new players how to play Tribes, something veteran players of previous games took to with gusto. But the difficulty curve is steep and progress is slow. Gamers all over the web praise Tribes: Ascend as being as close to perfect as a shooter can get and that if you don't play it you're an imbecile and should play it right now because it's free and who doesn't like free stuff? Alternatively if you play it and hate it, like I did, you're a moron because it is so perfect and you just suck go QQ moar noob etc etc.
This isn't the first time I felt every angle of my life was pressuring me to play a game. It was like this with Halo, a game I only begrudgingly respect for being a good casual game to play with friends and only have ventured online to play Grifball. It was the same with Gears of War, which I despised as being bland and monotonous. Same again with Killing Floor which I do respect for being tight and focused, I also damn it giving my fragile heart a scare every time the Patriarch appears suddenly and shoots me dead or any one of the mutant freaks attack me to the point where I couldn't play because I was so afraid I had panic attacks. The same for Global Agenda, Magicka and many other games I own. I can even count Skyrim but that I am okay with because I love Skyrim.
I feel like the gaming community asserts a lot of pressure on its members to play certain games not because those people WANT to, but because if they don't they aren't considered part of the group. As if playing Deus Ex was an entry fee to an exclusive club and daily games of Starcraft II or Tribes: Ascend are the dues. Tribes: Ascend is too obtuse and difficult. It makes me motion sick with its skiing mechanic and I don't like it.
Have you, the community, ever felt pressured to play a game not out of curiosity but because "everyone else" was playing it?
![Fr]anc[is](https://eg-forums-escapist-data.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/data/avatars/l/93/93202.jpg?1620797781){kind=avatar}
So you at least got a better experience than me.
