Why the Negativity?

[loc978]

"Becoming" very negative?

...maybe I missed the times when this place wasn't brimming with insightful criticism and no small amount of rancor.

Also, we may very well be seeing the leadup to another gaming crash like 1983. Our industry big boys are getting waaaay too big for their britches.
So, some bitterness is to be expected.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but my country is currently spiralling into xenophobia due to the tragic murder of an off duty british soldier in the street by a couple of mental bastards with machetes, unemployment doesn't seem to be getting any better, individuality is being damn near systematically wiped out, everything's always getting more expensive, the xbox one is unbelievably, god awfully bad and anti-consumer, personally my tutors are dicks who don't seem to know what the hell they're talking about, telling us to constantly read completely irrelevent bullshit whilst seemingly not reading our essays properly before marking them (I'm serious, my last feedback ran almost completely counter to the actual essay, no this is not all in my head it outright contradicted what the essay actually contained), the people i'm supposed to be getting therapy from appear to be ignoring me, and a lifetime of loneliness and rejection by everything from girls to society itself has never looked more likely.

Yeah, i'm running low on things to be positive about. At least the nostalgia critic seems to be getting better again.

Oh, and if you're thinking of saying something like "WELL YOU HAS ELECTRICITY AND INTERNET" just don't. We all know that shit only helps on a bit of a bad day, it doesn't do shit against a major downer.

I don't give a flying fuck if you don't like hugs or ponies, YOU WILL HAVE ALL MY HUGS!!!! ACCEPT IT!! [i]ACCEPT THE HAPPY!!![/i] :3 [footnote]Seriously though, I want to give you a hug now.[/footnote]

On topic: Eh, seems to be the usual amount of cynicism to me. It's to be expected, actually. After all, there's a lot of really stupid crap that's been going on in the AAA industry for quite some time now and the next console generation is seeming to be setting things up to get much worse. Even though so many game journalists / critics / personalities as well as average core gamers in general have made their thoughts on all the anti-consumer practices very well known in both polite and not-so-polite ways, none of the offending companies seem to pay heed to any of it whatsoever and continue to do things that are quite frankly pissing their customers off.

By the looks of things, the Xbox One may have been the final straw for a lot of people, as the words of numerous high-level Microsoft employees seem to be painting a dark picture of what's to come. Even though Microsoft has backpedaled from some of these statements, the fact that it was the Microsoft VP who said many of them as well as what little we have had Microsoft confirm without backpedaling makes what once seemed like mere paranoia as actually plausible now. Add to that the lackluster PS4 reveal and the disappointing launch of the Wii U, and the next generation of consoles really doesn't leave people with much to be optimistic about. The collapse of numerous once-legendary game studios / publishers / franchises as well as many high-profile AAA games selling very well yet being regarded as disappointments and even disasters only adds more fuel to the proverbial fire.

To put it short, the gaming industry as a whole may be doing fine, but the AAA console scene seems to be falling apart entirely due to a combination of customer dissatisfaction and numerous juggernaut companies preferring to stay as they are and stagnate rather than adapt to the scenario at hand and repair their fragmented relationship with their customer-base. The industry as a whole is in good shape, but much of the AAA market will be unsustainable if things keep heading in the direction that they have been. Too many companies are already losing money even on huge successes. They simply cannot afford to damage the faith of customers any more, yet it seems like they're going to do just that.

Now take into account that most people here genuinely care about the gaming industry - even the AAA market - as well as current global events and whatever other issues they may be facing within their day-to-day lives or even within their own fandoms and the reasons for all this cynicism become clear.

[b][u]IMPORTANT:[/u][/b] I will say this though - if you want things to get better, try making more positive threads and being a source of positivity for people. Complaining about complaining doesn't really lead anywhere except to more complaining. Try to help people relax and remind them of the good, rather than focusing on the bad and condemning them. As the old saying goes, "You will catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

 

[Vetta E-dom]

You know a really great way to encourage change and weed out bad business practices in the industry? Instead of going to a random forum and bitching (not directed at you, but instead all gamers)about the issue's that you want changed. Perhaps write up a letter or email to said company and actually tell them what's up (Not with an aggressive tone). I absolutely guarantee that if gamers dropped the bullshit of keeping the anger dialed up to 11, and instead "acted" appropriately to issues in gaming, actual change could happen. But instead what will happen; Don't like the amount of content in game, want sequels to IP's you love, Don't want always online, Don't want an always on kinect- ***** into the proverbial empty hallway that is the internet forums with the megaphones of negativity.

I was under the impression the OP was talking about the content contributors of the Escapist, who are more likely to be heard than a random person on the forums.

Besides, how spectacularly naive can you be to think if some people wrote polite letters these disgusting business practices would change? These corporations aren't retarded. They knew that things like always online, lack of backwards compatibility and inability to play used games would piss a lot of people off, but they did it anyway because they though they could get away with it. So I am going to react appropriately to the gaming industry by treating it like the joke it's apparently determined to be, and not buying into their bullshit anymore.

You're completely right lets keep yelling into the unrelated forums that really seems to be working right? *does small search on gaming news sites. Wow what's with all these problems in gaming why isn't our yelling working, its almost as if doing nothing/ the same things over is not resulting in the changes we so desperately want. O well guess I'll go back to screaming at the bestbuy help desk because subway was out of meatballs last time I went.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I guess people just really aren't interested in the new generation, so it'll either die down after they're released or get a whole lot worse and go on until the next one.

In terms of the actual users, I'd actually say they're less negative- there certainly seems to be less hate directed at eachother. In the past it was Halo, CoD, 'elitism' and Mass Effect.

 

[manic_depressive13]

You're completely right lets keep yelling into the unrelated forums that really seems to be working right? *does small search on gaming news sites. Wow what's with all these problems in gaming why isn't our yelling working, its almost as if doing nothing/ the same things over is not resulting in the changes we so desperately want. O well guess I'll go back to screaming at the bestbuy help desk because subway was out of meatballs last time I went.

Yeah, because they don't give a shit. What makes you think writing groveling letters will be work any better? The games industry is run for profit, and the more bloated it gets the clumsier its attempts to rip off its customers. Welcome to capitalism.

Also that's a terrible analogy. It's more like telling anyone who'll listen that Subway has really terrible business practices so they probably shouldn't shop there. Running out of meatballs is an unfortunate event, not a deliberate attempt to milk as much profit from their customers as possible. I can't even think of what would correlate to bestbuy in your example. The Escapist, I guess? But screaming at bestbuy implies blaming them for Subway's shortcomings, whereas no one is accusing the Escapist of responsibility for the industry's shitty choices.

Ah whatever.

 

[Yopaz]

I can't remember a time the internet wasn't a pool of negativity. Why is it like this? Because it's a way to get rid of anger and frustration that would drive people in the real world alive. We can rant all we want and sometimes even argue, but no-one really cares about what you say. There's no judgement, there's no sympathy. We can afford to vent, so we do.

That's my hypothesis at least.

 

[Vetta E-dom]

You're completely right lets keep yelling into the unrelated forums that really seems to be working right? *does small search on gaming news sites. Wow what's with all these problems in gaming why isn't our yelling working, its almost as if doing nothing/ the same things over is not resulting in the changes we so desperately want. O well guess I'll go back to screaming at the bestbuy help desk because subway was out of meatballs last time I went.

Yeah, because they don't give a shit. What makes you think writing groveling letters will be work any better? The games industry is run for profit, and the more bloated it gets the clumsier its attempts to rip off its customers. Welcome to capitalism.

Also that's a terrible analogy. It's more like telling anyone who'll listen that Subway has really terrible business practices so they probably shouldn't shop there. Running out of meatballs is an unfortunate event, not a deliberate attempt to milk as much profit from their customers as possible. I can't even think of what would correlate to bestbuy in your example. The Escapist, I guess? But screaming at bestbuy implies blaming them for Subway's shortcomings, whereas no one is accusing the Escapist of responsibility for the industry's shitty choices.

Ah whatever.

Hold on hold on, I'm on the other line with the best buy help desk they keep telling me to unplug my sandwich and plug it back in doesn't seem to be working. They ask if I've tried holding down the restart button, IDK don't think i'm getting anywhere, now the lights not coming back on?

Well have fun yelling across the escapist about your problems with M$/Sony/ or Nintendo they'll prolly be by soon to deal with your problems. Also gotta love how you've interpreted, "(Not with an aggressive tone)" to mean groveling. Because I mean hey its not like an email or letter is being read by a human being right, mines-well insult their mother, dog, Sandwich/modem combo (excluding meatballs of course) can't just state your opinion/stance in a well articulated response to the companies policy, make sure they can see your tone and maturity all in one combo.
Keep the outrage dial at 11 gamers those companies are bound to take you serious any day now.

 

[Ratties]

Hatred is not a bad thing at all. Alot of people think that negativity is some kind of 6-eyed demon beast that can only be slayed through the power of kindness. The feeling of negativity can be just as useful as being happy. Really good thing about already being negative is the fact that you won't fall for the same bullcrap twice. Every single one of these companies that get hated upon, have time and time again, done something shitty. Do agree that some people just start hating right out of the gate, with no real reason to.

 

[Autotelic]

Negativity can make for some interesting discussions, as long as it's constructive.

 

[Vegosiux]

I swear recently we used to get a different 'Man gets brutally murdered by demon watermelon' story every week.

So that's where I left the blasted thing, sheesh, can't let it out of your sight for a moment once it gets possessed.

OT though, I'd say that the general moods of communities, online included hang in no small part on whether or not there's an economic slump going on. And as it happens, there is. That makes people more cynical and grouchy to begin with, and a lot more prone to call bullshit on industry practices. When you aren't under financial pressure you are going to let some things slide, but when every cent counts, you want value for your money, and you'll get cranky when you're expected to pay for tacked-on shit you didn't want.

 

[shrekfan246]

The Escapist forums are great and fellow Escapees are wonderful people

Being great and being negative aren't mutually exclusive.

OT: I get the impression you're talking specifically about the news articles and content creators around here, in which case I wouldn't really be inclined to agree. But ever since Mass Effect 3 released, the forums around here have become more and more hostile, and it seems the most innocent things can turn into massive shit-storms. The cynicism around here when it comes to next-gen consoles, especially from PC gamers -- who stand only to gain things from the game development 'standard' suddenly skyrocketing, hardware-wise -- really burns me up.

Yeah, there are a few big companies in the industry right now making incredibly stupid decisions. There are also a bunch of companies making great decisions. But, well:

The reason being, if someone feels negative towards something, or has a negative experience of something, they will generally make it known.
But if someone has a positive feeling towards something, or has a positive experience of something, they generally won't say anything at all.

Why focus on happy things when we can just ***** some more, right guys?

 

[Vegosiux]

Why focus on happy things when we can just ***** some more, right guys?

Mostly because when things are going the way we want we don't inclined to change them, and we don't talk about them because we're too busy actually enjoying them. I suppose.

 

[Something Amyss]

Lately almost every one of these "articles" about gaming seem so biased and unfavorable.

Let me stop you right there. You just mean unfavourable. The articles here have always been pretty biased. You only seem to have a problem now that you perceive them as negative, which is the only time people seem to play the "bias" card. Not saying what I want to hear? "you are teh bias!"

Honestly, you're on a gaming site with articles written predominantly by gamers at a time gamers are under fire from the corporate world I'm not sure what you expect out of things, but if it was unbiased you wanted, you wouldn't be coming here in the first place.

 

[Whytewulf]

Lately almost every one of these "articles" about gaming seem so biased and unfavorable.

Let me stop you right there. You just mean unfavourable. The articles here have always been pretty biased. You only seem to have a problem now that you perceive them as negative, which is the only time people seem to play the "bias" card. Not saying what I want to hear? "you are teh bias!"

Honestly, you're on a gaming site with articles written predominantly by gamers at a time gamers are under fire from the corporate world I'm not sure what you expect out of things, but if it was unbiased you wanted, you wouldn't be coming here in the first place.

It could easily be just perception. The world is rough, I like to delve into my imaginary worlds.

Let me clarify a couple things, one is that I have been buying games since the early 80's, sold games for years, etc. I have seen lots of peaks and valleys. I am not in some sort of blissful dream world, where as I said in my original post, I expect things to be all rainbows. But being on this site for 4+ years, it seems lately I have seen a spike. Maybe it's just timing as it's new console time. We users expected greatness, and I admit I am not impressed. But sometimes I just want the information less skewed. I love a good debate, so hence why I enjoy coming here. With that said, I am still hoping we get some good news. Like a good MMORPG with crazy created different characters.

 

[Kurt Cristal]

It probably happened some time after they banned user Vault101. She always was there to cheer us up with her bad grammar and dumb ideas we liked.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

Because only dumb people and corporate apologists can think anything positive about the future [/sarcasm]

we are in an age of awesome, I am excited to be playing in it.

I for one am excited for the future. We have so many things going on. Android gaming might take off, these new consoles could reach a huge audience, the fact that consoles are using similar architecture to pc's could mean a lot of great pc ports and buying $3000 computers to play on the best settings could be a thing of the past. And there's so many good games to look forward to

For the record though, while the articles are kind of negative I find most of the authors write with a take this with a "take this with a grain of salt" kind of tone. The comments that complain about the end of days

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Negative thread are the most fun to read.

 

[Frotality]

thats just how humans work, and the recent stream of disappointment and bad news from the industry has just brought it out. its the same with any job: do it right a hundred times and you get nothing, do it wrong once and youre fired. well the industry has done it wrong a few times without any real punishment or change, so people's natural reaction is to vitrify everything they do out of spite for their unpunished wrongdoings.

 

[Ishal]

The Escapist forums are great and fellow Escapees are wonderful people

Being great and being negative aren't mutually exclusive.

OT: I get the impression you're talking specifically about the news articles and content creators around here, in which case I wouldn't really be inclined to agree. But ever since Mass Effect 3 released, the forums around here have become more and more hostile, and it seems the most innocent things can turn into massive shit-storms. The cynicism around here when it comes to next-gen consoles, especially from PC gamers -- who stand only to gain things from the game development 'standard' suddenly skyrocketing, hardware-wise -- really burns me up.

Yeah, there are a few big companies in the industry right now making incredibly stupid decisions. There are also a bunch of companies making great decisions. But, well:

The reason being, if someone feels negative towards something, or has a negative experience of something, they will generally make it known.
But if someone has a positive feeling towards something, or has a positive experience of something, they generally won't say anything at all.

Why focus on happy things when we can just ***** some more, right guys?

I'd say you are correct. I was a lurker on this site for about 3 years or so before joining late last year. I was remember when there will be brawl and Doraleus and Asscociates was here. God I miss Doraleus...

But yeah, I was a bit appalled with how this site handled the Mass Effect 3 situation. Every content creator here with the exception of a few (maybe) called us "whiners" and "entitled brats". Now, granted, "retake mass effect" and the better business bureau was a bit ridiculous... but I was disappointed by a lot of the content creators reaction. I won't name names... but we all know who were the most vocal.

Negativity is something that will only continue with the way the industry is going, not to mention the current state of economics. Also, lots of people seem to enjoy snarky sarcasm and its veiled negativity. Also, following some content creator's twitter accounts can be downright toxic... I'm not trying to be cute about saying that either... reading what Total Biscuit tweets makes me want gouge my eyes out to the point where I had to unfollow him. And I think a lot of us remember the implosion MovieBob had when he found out JJ Abrams was handed the reins for the new Star Wars. Fuck, even Graham Stark commented on how toxic is was.

TLDR: negativity isn't bad when its necessary, other times its just pedantic and boring. Also, what you and Topaz said is correct. When i'm positive I'm happy and enjoying myself, I'm not on a forum complaining or raging.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Well, as many have mentioned, most of the biggest firms in the gaming business seem more interested in hatching schemes to get more out of you than anything lately:
-Enhanced emphasis on DLC
-Draconian DRM practices that put the user entirely at the mercy of some system post-purchase
-Stupid talking heads in suits who keep trying to speak for everyone and shame dissent instead of listening to their customers
-Shitty bait-and-switch games with good ol fashion lies to secure sales (SimCity, A:CM)..
-A baffling loss of emphasis on new games, concepts and IP; primarily due to the increasing panic among AAA to secure sales through broader appeal.

But even among all of this, there are still things in gaming I really look forward to.

On my waiting list, I have Starbound, the new Terraria patch, Battleworlds: Kronos, Shadowrun Returns, and half a dozen other smaller titles I am really looking forward to. Of course, nobody is interested in hearing about those; all topics about the forementioned died out since there wasn't much for people to ***** about.