Same thing happens with most entertainment, be it in broad strokes or small. A similar question has been asked about Star Wars many times. Can't find the article, but there was one article that claimed "Star Wars fans hate Star Wars, but the idea of Star Wars, that they love."
It pretty much stems from idealism. The fictional world is a certain way in your head. When the original author's version clashes with that, it's personally insulting on some level. In the case of video games, a very large portion of a medium of entertainment has insulted most of its oldest fans... so there's gonna be bile. Lots of it.
It's easier to find the negatives than the postitives, so people just focus on the negatives.
Look at Mass Effect 3. The first few days when people were playing it, loads of people were loving it, people were already calling "Game of the year" and I heard many a reference to a "Near-perfect game."
Then came the third day or so, and oh boy. The rage. These same people instantly forgot all the good that they were saying just a day ago because the ending was really bad for them. I'm not saying that they were whining, or wrong, or whatever, but that negativity just swarmed over all their positive thoughts.
You will have a harder time talking about what you like about something that what you hate about something. That's why I tend to respect people more if they have as deep an insight on why something is good rather than why something is bad.
I really really like Mass effect and I could talk about it untill hell freezes over (which will be the moment they say indoctrination theory was true all along)
people love to hate on "fanboys" but I think being a "fangirl/fanboy" isnt about holding somthing up to be the greatest ever while overlooking the flaws
no I can see and accept the flaws in things I like (more or less)
I think being a fangirl/fanboy means that the work in question..game/movie/book/TV series does somthing for us on a personal/induvidual level..it pushes all the right buttons, its like a girlfreind/boyfreind thats "knows exactally what to do" <- if youll forgive me for using that example, sure it may be flawed..but you don't care because it does somthing for you
I don't know I'd call it "normal" or not but mabye some of us tend to "connect" to a certain thing..emotionally even (is this getting weird yet?)
like I dont bat an eyelid when somone slags off Valve or Portal 2 (even though I absolutly adore portal 2) but if somone badmouths Bioware or Mass effect I secretly cringe inside...before I understood subjective opinion and "they are jsut people on the internet" I did this with everything I liked..now its just Mass effect that does it...that weird "obsession" I have
this kind of emotional investment can blow up in ones face if somthing happnes (like the ending) but then the bigger the payoff is if things turn out well
That was interesting, thanks for sharing that. I love all this insight. For a short thread it certainly has a whole lot of different views already.
Unfortunately I can't relate to any of it. I don't love to hate or get so emotionally attached like you explained. I can't tell if anyone really loves to hate but it's a pretty unfair system they have, and the fanboism I see occasionaly does "seem like" an unhealthy obsession.
Djinn8 said:
It's all about the never ending pursuit of happyness, which is in itself and illusion. The best anyone can ever hope to achieve is temporary contentment. It's part of human nature and the thing that drives our advancement as a people. It's present in every community without question. Do the bankers reach a state where they are happy with their millions? No, they make larger investment to make more money. Gamers are no different. We play a game and want more from it in the future.
This is where entilement comes from.
Although we are powerless to impact future developments, we expect, even require, our wishes to be delivered upon regardless. This can only lead to everyone becoming angry or hurt when things don't turn out as expected. This is a growing problem in our developed society. Everyone, from the lowest unemployed person to societies very richest are reliant on everyone around them. No one has any freedom anymore and it's plaguing us with a sense of entitlement and impotence that is rubbing of in every facet of what will be our cultural memory.
It's all part of our evolution. There's no natural advantage to enjoying things that are good, it makes you content and complacent which in the jungle is a very BAD thing. It's much more beneficial for you to be in a constant state of annoyance at everything around you that isn't optimal. We're programmed to notice the problems with life because then we're motivated to fix them. Sure we may be less "happy" as a result of this, but natural selection isn't concerned with making us "happy".
It's easier to find the negatives than the postitives, so people just focus on the negatives.
Look at Mass Effect 3. The first few days when people were playing it, loads of people were loving it, people were already calling "Game of the year" and I heard many a reference to a "Near-perfect game."
Then came the third day or so, and oh boy. The rage. These same people instantly forgot all the good that they were saying just a day ago because the ending was really bad for them. I'm not saying that they were whining, or wrong, or whatever, but that negativity just swarmed over all their positive thoughts.
You will have a harder time talking about what you like about something that what you hate about something. That's why I tend to respect people more if they have as deep an insight on why something is good rather than why something is bad.
I really really like Mass effect and I could talk about it untill hell freezes over (which will be the moment they say indoctrination theory was true all along)
people love to hate on "fanboys" but I think being a "fangirl/fanboy" isnt about holding somthing up to be the greatest ever while overlooking the flaws
no I can see and accept the flaws in things I like (more or less)
I think being a fangirl/fanboy means that the work in question..game/movie/book/TV series does somthing for us on a personal/induvidual level..it pushes all the right buttons, its like a girlfreind/boyfreind thats "knows exactally what to do" <- if youll forgive me for using that example, sure it may be flawed..but you don't care because it does somthing for you
I don't know I'd call it "normal" or not but mabye some of us tend to "connect" to a certain thing..emotionally even (is this getting weird yet?)
like I dont bat an eyelid when somone slags off Valve or Portal 2 (even though I absolutly adore portal 2) but if somone badmouths Bioware or Mass effect I secretly cringe inside...before I understood subjective opinion and "they are jsut people on the internet" I did this with everything I liked..now its just Mass effect that does it...that weird "obsession" I have
this kind of emotional investment can blow up in ones face if somthing happnes (like the ending) but then the bigger the payoff is if things turn out well
That was interesting, thanks for sharing that. I love all this insight. For a short thread it certainly has a whole lot of different views already.
Unfortunately I can't relate to any of it. I don't love to hate or get so emotionally attached like you explained. I can't tell if anyone really loves to hate but it's a pretty unfair system they have, and the fanboism I see occasionaly does "seem like" an unhealthy obsession.
Djinn8 said:
It's all about the never ending pursuit of happyness, which is in itself and illusion. The best anyone can ever hope to achieve is temporary contentment. It's part of human nature and the thing that drives our advancement as a people. It's present in every community without question. Do the bankers reach a state where they are happy with their millions? No, they make larger investment to make more money. Gamers are no different. We play a game and want more from it in the future.
This is where entilement comes from.
Although we are powerless to impact future developments, we expect, even require, our wishes to be delivered upon regardless. This can only lead to everyone becoming angry or hurt when things don't turn out as expected. This is a growing problem in our developed society. Everyone, from the lowest unemployed person to societies very richest are reliant on everyone around them. No one has any freedom anymore and it's plaguing us with a sense of entitlement and impotence that is rubbing of in every facet of what will be our cultural memory.
I guess in this case entitlement would equate to expectation and faith in the ability for others to do well by you. But as optomistic as that discription sounds, it doesn't convey the bi-polar nature that comes with disapointment.
...what is this I don't even!? Ok...being positive is a bad thing...sure why not, having "hope" and stuff is so 2007, we all need to brood on how doomed we are as a species, because god knows there isn't enough of that.
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