We had a very angry year

[chadachada123]

I think it's a good thing that this year was so angry.

Gamers finally are starting to realize that putting up with bullshit isn't helping anything, except to line the pockets of greedy CEOs.

Yes, a good deal of the hate was misdirected, and some went over the top, but the *general* hate, I feel, was very beneficial.

 

[Beryl77]

I liked it the more bitching the better in my opinion. Some may have overdone it but that's part of it and inevitable in such a large group. I hope people won't stop this year either.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

You're not a part of the gaming community, as there is no such thing.

He's completely correct in that there is no unified community. It's a little ridiculous to hear people whine about how unhappy they are with "a community" when they're often reacting to extremely vocal minorities.

We're damn near as bad as sports fans.

As someone who occasionally frequents a sports forum...and one of the more intelligent, measured ones at that...no "we're" not, and it's not even remotely close. Imagine if the ratio here was about 9 Zeels for every 1 normal human being, and you'd be halfway to how bad a sports forum can get. Go post during the playoffs and you'll want to cut yourself after about 15 minutes. You think people get emotional about video games? Sports are religion.

OT: It was a good list, and most if not all of those were fairly justified controversies. It seems like this was the year that a lot of publisher/consumer tension came to a head, what with day one DLC, always online DRM, journalistic "integrity", etc getting their turn for scrutiny. Even the ME3 controversy, which seemed to largely be about dashed expectations, pushed the sycophantic relationship between gaming media and developers/publishers into the harsh light of day. It's good that we're having these discussions. It's unfortunate that it felt like we were having them all at the same time.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

As someone who occasionally frequents a sports forum...and one of the more intelligent, measured ones at that...no "we're" not, and it's not even remotely close. Imagine if the ratio here was about 9 Zeels for every 1 normal human being, and you'd be halfway to how bad a sports forum can get. Go post during the playoffs and you'll want to cut yourself after about 15 minutes. You think people get emotional about video games? Sports are religion.

9 Zeels? I think i'd just turn my computer off right there, short of having my brain explode with all the blood rushing to it.

I do find it a bit funny when people talk about how bad gaming people can get, when you can take one look at *any* physical sport and it's easily 10x worse.

OT: I didn't quite pay attention close enough to a few of those events, so i'm not going to say much on some of them.

Bayonetta 2- It sucks, can't blame the customers there from the previous game, however nintendo did buy it, so them the ropes i guess..if you need the game that badly then wiiU it is for you.

Diablo III- yeah, i definitely got quite peeved about this one, they built that game from the ground up to be designed around the auction house and online portion, which is such a major fucking pain in the ass for all customers of the game, good luck in inferno mode without using it. Plus I like to crack on actiblizz whenever i can, i hate their business policies.

Lara croft-the guy said some stupid shit, however i think too many people were loaded still from other gender debates so this one took off where the gender wars had been stopped, so a bit unjustified.

 

[Atmos Duality]

He's completely correct in that there is no unified community. It's a little ridiculous to hear people whine about how unhappy they are with "a community" when they're often reacting to extremely vocal minorities.

I disagreed with him already, I'm disagreeing here, and he is only correct in the most idealized sense.

We have a population of several gaming fans congregating online to discuss games. We may not share a unified agenda (and realistically, few large entities do anyway), but we do all play and (try to) enjoy games. The general term makes sense to me, especially in this context.

As for the "vocal minority misrepresenting the silent majority", welcome to the real world!

People make stupid decisions and develop misconceptions solely based on the opinions of the minority all the time.
I've been the victim of such false assumptions and conclusions before due to the actions of the minority (thanks Columbine!)

I'm not saying to act fearful, but be more mindful of those who share interests with you.
It sounds stupid? We live in a stupid world. A VERY stupid world.

As someone who occasionally frequents a sports forum...and one of the more intelligent, measured ones at that...no "we're" not, and it's not even remotely close. Imagine if the ratio here was about 9 Zeels for every 1 normal human being, and you'd be halfway to how bad a sports forum can get. Go post during the playoffs and you'll want to cut yourself after about 15 minutes. You think people get emotional about video games? Sports are religion.

OK, we're not to the point of rioting (yet), but the religious argument isn't that far off for some fanbases.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I disagreed with him already, I'm disagreeing here, and he is only correct in the most idealized sense.

We have a population of several gaming fans congregating online to discuss games. We may not share a unified agenda (and realistically, few large entities do anyway), but we do all play and (try to) enjoy games. The general term makes sense to me, especially in this context.

As for the "vocal minority misrepresenting the silent majority", welcome to the real world!

People make stupid decisions and develop misconceptions solely based on the opinions of the minority all the time.
I've been the victim of such false assumptions and conclusions before due to the actions of the minority (thanks Columbine!)

I'm not saying to act fearful, but be more mindful of those who share interests with you.
It sounds stupid? We live in a stupid world. A VERY stupid world.

Here's your closest definition:

a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists (usually preceded by the ): the business community; the community of scholars.

Gaming is no longer a fringe hobby, and does not share a community any moreso than television watchers share a community. When I discuss TV shows on TWOP, I don't consider myself a "part of the television watching community". And I certainly don't consider myself ashamed when someone else says something I disagree with. I'm not associated with them in any way, shape or form. The fact we share a hobby is completely incidental. What if we also shared a favorite food, or drove the same car? Should I feel shamed as a result of their opinions? It's ridiculous.

I'm not sure why you're handing out "welcome to the real world" lessons when you're the individual fretting about the words and deeds of people who have absolutely no relation to you whatsoever aside from their hobby. It does seem like you're packing some emotional baggage because once you got teased or had someone make a rude assumption about you based on your hobby, and you want to chalk it up to the bad behavior of other hobbyists rather than chalking it up to the ignorance of the people who were jumping to conclusions.

The only community you can really claim membership in as far as games are concerned is this forum, as we all choose to post here, and this forum is not even close to being of one mind on any issue, certainly not to to the point where I'd be "ashamed" to be associated with it. Who would even know or care that I posted here? I could tell the people who loved me the most that I posted on the Escapist and that some people there sometimes had silly opinions about games, and it would be the most irrelevant piece of non-news I could ever hope to utter.

TLDR - You have a remarkably low shame threshold.

 

[DoPo]

I finally watched the video and...more or less I agree with the guy. Although one thing stood irritated me the most in the video and I have to share it with you (even if it's off topic) - Ivan. It's pronounced Ee-van, people, not Hi-van. It uses the I sound like in in or the E sound of when you pronounce just the letter E, if you wish.
That really grated me as he went on how it was shameful the two guys were imprisoned. OK, I get that if you're only reading the name, you can then mispronounce it, but seriously - the audio at the very end (30:15-ish) mentioned Ivan pronouncing it Eevan.

I'm not trying to be pedantic, I don't expect people to pronounce foreign names exactly the same way they are to be pronounced (heck, I can't do it) but changing a whole syllable, entirely, in a two syllable name just sounds wrong.

 

[Atmos Duality]

... a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists (usually preceded by the ): the business community; the community of scholars.

Gaming is no longer a fringe hobby, and ...

And I'll have to stop you right there, because even the definition you just provided has communities as broadly defined as gaming in it (video gaming, if you want to be pedantic here).

It does seem like you're packing some emotional baggage because once you got teased or had someone make a rude assumption about you based on your hobby, and you want to chalk it up to the bad behavior of other hobbyists rather than chalking it up to the ignorance of the people who were jumping to conclusions.

I chalk it up to both ignorant people and the "bad hobbyists", actually.
You can't start a fire without fuel and a source of ignition.

As for the "baggage" it wasn't just teasing or a rude remark. I had punishments for crimes uncommitted* dealt to me by a paranoid school system more concerned with lawsuits than the well being of their students.

It's ignorant profiling, and one of MANY examples I could list.

(*Seriously. I got into one argument with a group of kids, and they suspended me for 3 days over it. No violence. Why? Because I was just "anti-social" and played games as a hobby. They even brought that up with their bullshit "counseling" sessions.)

Ideally, we would all recognize that the actions of a few do not represent the greater whole, but we don't live in that world. So until we reach that ideal world, I will keep handing out my "welcome to the real world lessons".

TLDR - You have a remarkably low shame threshold.

Blah blah snide remark about my persona, blah.

Don't ascribe their behavior to an entire "community" and then hold yourself above it. Couple that with your high-horse mentality about the "real world" (which I find particularly hilarious, given our respective ages) and you're certainly not in any position to be throwing stones about snide remarks.

You made a snide remark, claim it isn't a snide remark...fine.
But then DEFEND THAT REMARK AS IF IT WERE SNIDE BY TRYING TO COW ME WITH ANOTHER SNIDE REMARK.

Fantastic logic on display there.

So if someone in the business community had an opinion you disagreed with, you would be full of shame?

So now we've gone from "it's just a few bad apples" to "one person".
Nice loaded question there.

You're meant to fight against that, not use it an excuse for why you do it too.

So...let me get this straight.
I'm a hypocrite because I note how a few bad apples plus ignorant people = unjust treatment.
And...now you're saying that I'm doing the same thing because I called the overwhelmingly negative attitude of a LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE out?

That is the most contrived insult I've ever seen someone pull on me on this website. Well done!
It's as stupid as the "You're a hypocrite because you're whining about whining!" crap teenagers whip out when they think they're being clever.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

And I'll have to stop you right there, because even the definition you just provided has communities as broadly defined as gaming in it (video gaming, if you want to be pedantic here).

So if someone in the business community had an opinion you disagreed with, you would be full of shame?

It's ignorant profiling, and one of MANY examples I could list.

One of many anecdotal experiences, yes, I'm certain. My anecdotal experience says otherwise, but that doesn't mean it cancels yours out. It also doesn't make it a compelling foundation for an argument. People use anecdotal experience for all kinds of terrible prejudices. You're meant to fight against that, not use it an excuse for why you do it too. This is the very essence of hypocrisy.

Ideally, we would all recognize that the actions of a few do not represent the greater whole, but we don't live in that world. So until we reach that ideal world, I will keep handing out my "welcome to the real world lessons".

Blah blah snide remark about my persona, blah.

It was hardly a snide remark, it was a perfectly cogent observation. Stating that you feel 'ashamed' by the actions of people you don't know and probably have next to nothing in common with is absurdly over-dramatic. If you're discontent with the behavior of certain individuals, address those individuals. Don't ascribe their behavior to an entire "community" and then hold yourself above it. Couple that with your high-horse mentality about the "real world" (which I find particularly hilarious, given our respective ages) and you're certainly not in any position to be throwing stones about snide remarks.

 

[TheScientificIssole]

I may get some flak for this, but I still think that the controversy over the ME3 ending was well deserved, and I still think that the Tomb Raider controversy was undeserved

You should go to wrong town, because you are being wrong. I have stated my opinion on ME3 too much to say any more. And the Tomb Raider "You will want to protect her" controversy was deserved. The developer acted as if male players wouldn't be able to connect with a female like he would to another man. Which is wrong.

 

[Erttheking]

I may get some flak for this, but I still think that the controversy over the ME3 ending was well deserved, and I still think that the Tomb Raider controversy was undeserved

You should go to wrong town, because you are being wrong. I have stated my opinion on ME3 too much to say any more. And the Tomb Raider "You will want to protect her" controversy was deserved. The developer acted as if male players wouldn't be able to connect with a female like he would to another man. Which is wrong.

I refuse to believe that any opinion is "wrong"

 

[DoPo]

I may get some flak for this, but I still think that the controversy over the ME3 ending was well deserved, and I still think that the Tomb Raider controversy was undeserved

You should go to wrong town, because you are being wrong. I have stated my opinion on ME3 too much to say any more. And the Tomb Raider "You will want to protect her" controversy was deserved. The developer acted as if male players wouldn't be able to connect with a female like he would to another man. Which is wrong.

I refuse to believe that any opinion is "wrong"

But what if...your opinion on opinions not being wrong is actually wrong?!

Did I blow your mind?

Because maybe opinions that opinions not being wrong are wrong, are wrong themselves.

Yeah, I'm too am not entirely sure if that makes sense.

 

[Erttheking]

I refuse to believe that any opinion is "wrong"

Well, Boudica was of the opinion that "Hitler was a good man".

[sub]Yes, I went there...[/sub]

Godwin's law has been invoked, you automatically loose

 

[Ljs1121]

I only heard of about four of these, to be honest. I try to stay away from controversy whenever possible.

One thing I do have to say, though, is that the video of the Error 37 guy filled me with a unique mixture of pity and absolute terror.

 

[JellySlimerMan]

7. Bayonetta 2, Wii U Exclusive: Unjustified. The game wouldn't have been made without Nintendo. It's as simple as that. Be annoyed all you want, but don't rage at Platinum or Nintendo. This was the only way, apparently.

You seem to forget that Nintendo was BARELY able to make its gimmick of the motion control work. One of its mayor titles like Leyend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, depended on the wii to do its thing with.....less than desirable results. So, what happens when a game like Bayonetta that you NEED the most precise control as possible MEETS a new technology that MAY be more functional than the last one........but the previous one already made clear that its just plain painful to play.

Dont you think it is a disaster waiting to happen? Bayonnetta would have been better dead just like how System Shock 2 should never get a sequel as long EA has the rights to it.

2. Mass Effect 3's ending: Unjustified. OK, it was a crappy ending and was going to be discussed. And it was going to be discussed vehemently. That was inevitable, and I'm actually with you on that. But the Better Business Bureau filing, the cupcakes, the threats, and all that other shit? Unjustified. There were other things about Mass Effect 3 to be more angry about (on-disc DLC, offline play restrictions). We hardly hear people talk about those.

Fuck the threats. But in the other hand, something that should have been as simple as ilustrating a GLORIOUS fuck up in writing, only managed to expose the WORST in the gaming journalism:

http://awtr.ca/long:mass-effect-3-and-the-art-of-criticism-or-why-colin-mor
awtr.ca/long:everyone-shut-up-so-i-can-hear-myself-decide-what-art-i

The bias is astonishingly bad. It only fueled the frustration and the paranoia that EA has bought everyone to get away with everything, and since they only need to lie long enough for everyone to believe it, they would have succeded.

I dont understand what is the problem with using the Bureau. Not ONLY the marketing was misleading, but also the developers THEMSELVES:


And THAT is being generous. After all, do not forget how the trilogy was "planned" and that "they wont pull a Lost/Sopranos/Gainax Ending" or that the 3rd game ONLY would have the branching narrative feature to have the 16 endings because, if done since game 1, it would have been a writing and coding nightmare.............and they STILL didnt do it.

So again, what is the problem here?

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

What you mean "We" paleface?

I had a rather lovely year.

Mass Effect 3 was an excellent game with a slightly unsatisfying ending that was essentially completely fixed a short while late.

Some people whined about a zombie game that was a ripoff of a better game and other people whined about other nonsense.

The only thing that was even slightly upsetting was the imprisonment.

 

[Madman123456]

This Industry has some serious reshaping to do.
Are you able to provide me some piece of entertainment worth both my time and my money? Apparently many Companies can not do that without slipping into illegal areas.

The most non-controversial "Controversy" was the one with Sega. Do not mention anything Sega has made in any way shape or form.
This is not a call for a boycott or something, like a warning to not go down this dark alley is not a call for a boycott of that alley.
Apparently, it is dangerous to merely mention any of product of Sega, even it is 15 years old.

 

[GeneralFungi]

7. Bayonetta 2, Wii U Exclusive: Unjustified. The game wouldn't have been made without Nintendo. It's as simple as that. Be annoyed all you want, but don't rage at Platinum or Nintendo. This was the only way, apparently.

You seem to forget that Nintendo was BARELY able to make its gimmick of the motion control work. One of its mayor titles like Leyend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, depended on the wii to do its thing with.....less than desirable results. So, what happens when a game like Bayonetta that you NEED the most precise control as possible MEETS a new technology that MAY be more functional than the last one........but the previous one already made clear that its just plain painful to play.

Dont you think it is a disaster waiting to happen? Bayonnetta would have been better dead just like how System Shock 2 should never get a sequel as long EA has the rights to it.

The developers are given relative freedom with how they develop their game, the only real limitation being that they need to make it a Wii U exclusive. I'm not going to argue how effective the touchscreen/wii remote controls are because you were probably already convinced that they are bad before the console was released, but the developers are not under a strict mandate to implement touch screen/motion controls to every aspect of their game. Nintendo is even promoting a 'pro controller' which is similar in function to an Xbox 360 controller.

Unless you believe that the developer isn't capable of producing a quality Bayonetta title, you're discrediting an entire console and all of the games produced on it for the sole reason that you didn't like the motion control on the wii, and you support your thoughts by saying the Wii U is new and that it 'might' not be as responsive.

I haven't bought or used a Wii U myself and don't plan on buying a Wii U until there is a better selection of games, but there was just something about your phrasing that seemed kind of off to me. You aren't giving Bayonetta two an iota of a chance because it might be bad because the console might be bad. And that doesn't sit right with me.

Off Topic: I really have trouble watching AngryJoe videos. His production value is top notch as far as youtubers go, but his channel feeds off of overreaction and anger mongering. Some of his opinions expressed in the video I agree with completely and sympathize with, but he often blows things completely out of proportion. A well adjusted person doesn't break out and scream over matters like Bayonetta 2; not unless that person wants a bunch of people on youtube to get riled up and increase his subscription count.

 

[Something Amyss]

So what were the controversies, so I don't have to watch a bland internet "personality" fail to deliver simple lines?

Anita Sarkeesian and similar loonies

Not sure if you're serious here. But it's funny seeing that in the context of accusing people of needlessly resorting to the "misogyny" card. I am quite interested in seeing if you can come up with a reason for calling Sarkeesian a loony that doesn't trod heavily on misogyny.

 

[Something Amyss]

10. Lara Croft and the whole "rape" thing. Ehh, the dev chose his words poorly. But I don't think it was rage-worthy.

Try being a second-class citizen.

9 . Diablo 3's always-online and auction house: Justified. It's a horrible trend. It's very clear that many people play Diablo as a single-player experience, and this practice very tangibly affects them adversely.

So skip the game. Buck the trend.

8. The War Z: Justified. Blatant lies, black-listing, copyright infringing, and so on. I can't see an argument that the rage against The War Z was unjustified.

Agreed, lying to the consumer is unjustified.

7. Bayonetta 2, Wii U Exclusive: Unjustified. The game wouldn't have been made without Nintendo. It's as simple as that. Be annoyed all you want, but don't rage at Platinum or Nintendo. This was the only way, apparently.

Regardless, a tantrum over exclusivity is pointless.

6. Capcom's persistent use of on-disc DLC. Justified. It's more blatant lies and exploitation of their customers. I believe I remember reading they were rethinking this practice after Dragon's Dogma, though. And they made the on-disc DLC for Resident Evil 6 free. So we'll see how this pans out.

Again, lying to the customer is unjustified. I'm curious, however, as to whether they've actually lied about it.

5. The 38 Studios fiasco. I don't remember much rage from gamers, honestly. But it really does seem like Curt Schilling massively mishandled the situation, leading to his employees being blindsided by the downfall of the company. And the new Rhode Island governor did seem to want to sabotage the project, not caring about the employees. Just an overall bad situation

Does a bunch of people cheering for their demise count? Because a lot of people seemed gleeful that they were going down for the sin of releasing a fantasy game that was not Skyrim.

4. SEGA's censorship and legal action against Youtubers: Justified. Taking down content for an old game and threatening people with legal action? It's almost cartoonishly villainesque.

It's a little dickish, but hardly cartoon villainy. Scale it back.

3. Doritogate and the GMAs: Justified. The ugly side of games journalism was shown in clear light. It should piss off gamers who may have been misled by these people. It should piss off legit games journalists who do things the right way and other get overlooked or have the shadow of doubt cast on them for the corrupt actions of others.

Don't even remember this one.

2. Mass Effect 3's ending: Unjustified. OK, it was a crappy ending and was going to be discussed. And it was going to be discussed vehemently. That was inevitable, and I'm actually with you on that. But the Better Business Bureau filing, the cupcakes, the threats, and all that other shit? Unjustified. There were other things about Mass Effect 3 to be more angry about (on-disc DLC, offline play restrictions). We hardly hear people talk about those.

Okay, so it's wrong for game companies to lie to people, unless it's about Mass Effect 3, evidently. The BBB filing and the cupcakes were some of the most civil and possibly some of the greatest actions taken by a group known for false senses of entitlement and petulant whining. In fact, claims against the practices of Capcom or the WarZ devs would probably do more to help gaming than any amount of fan outrage. While I won't justify threats and tantrums, two of the examples you gave are reactions done right.

On-Disc DLC was part of many of the claims of being lied to, BTW. To say we hardly ever heard about those is as inaccurate as to say the BBB filing was simply because it was a "bad ending."

It's a disservice to everyone.

1. Bohemia Interactive Devs Imprisoned in Greece: Justified. This is just downright tragic. I feel for these two guys. And the Greek government deserves every bit of anger it gets over this situation.

I've never been angrier to see two people jailed for breaking the law.

I know, I know, personal vendetta, whatever.