Your opinion: The most overused phrase in gaming.

[cleric of the order]

"Causal". Used to mean something, then it got turned into a dirty word thrown around as idly as a comma., now I don't want to look at it.

You're right.
Only casuls use causal.
This one time i saw a casul on tf2 and he flipped shit calling me a causal so i stabbed him and took his hats, good times.

"Pretentious". It's a word people use to put down games that dare to try to be more than dumb entertainment.

games are a mean of entertainment, any "game" that does not try to be entertaining and instead wants to push some dumb "2deep4u" message or something like that IS pretentious

Not necessarily, I like my art emotional and i like having games being an artistic medium.
I personally think why we've see a rise in the use of the term might have something to do with the games journos over hyping things. looking at you gone home, you were never worth the hype.
but the unfortunate truth is so many game that try to be art, try to be art and suck. Pretense always comes swinging around when someone tries to make things be meaningful, without ever trying to say something honest or earnest.
But I'm a humanists student, pretense is our bread and textbooks.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

"Causal". Used to mean something, then it got turned into a dirty word thrown around as idly as a comma., now I don't want to look at it.

Your right.
Only casuls use causal.
This one time i saw a casul on tf2 and he flipped shit calling me a causal so i stabbed him and took his hats, good times.

"Pretentious". It's a word people use to put down games that dare to try to be more than dumb entertainment.

games are a mean of entertainment, any "game" that does not try to be entertaining and instead wants to push some dumb "2deep4u" message or something like that IS pretentious

Not necessarily, I like my art emotional and i like having games being an artistic medium.
I personally think why we've see a rise in the use of the term might have something to do with the games journos over hyping things. looking at you gone home, you were never worth the hype.
but the unfortunate truth is so many game that try to be art, try to be art and suck. Pretense always comes swinging around when someone tries to make things be meaningful, without ever trying to say something honest or earnest.
But I'm a humanists student, pretense is our bread and textbooks.

i think, for a game to be art it must be entertaining first

to make a game with barely any gameplay that simply tries to push an idea forward, is like making a film that is nothing but a 2 hour shot of the mona lisa

games i consider with artistic merits are games such as braid, shadow of the colossus, ico and anti-chamber, yes they try to convey messages or emotions to the player, but first and foremost, they are entertaining

 

[kilenem]

People who ***** about a console exclusive even though, Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo is flipping the bill. The exact phrase would be "They would make so much more money if they released it on this." I will admit I was kind of pissed about the SF5 exclusivity but I'm not sure if Capcom is doing so hot. Would've liked a 3DS version but maybe will get a VITA version for on the go.

 

[oversoon]

I'm not sure about the overall most overused phrase, but the phrase I think is most regularly used incorrectly is "uncanny valley", and I would consider it overused for that reason alone.

 

[cleric of the order]

i think, for a game to be art it must be entertaining first

Oh like the aesthetics, I'm more of the romantic/high art doctrine. art should be emotional, original dredging deep form the depths of the human soul in a cacophony of rage and sweet emotion.
but i do love fun, like a good human being.

to make a game with barely any gameplay that simply tries to push an idea forward, is like making a film that is nothing but a 2 hour shot of the mona lisa

I agree, and i think we both know what game we are complaining about.

games i consider with artistic merits are games such as braid, shadow of the colossus, ico and anti-chamber, yes they try to convey messages or emotions to the player, but first and foremost, they are entertaining

Yeah, I personally love bastion for that too, had be in tears by the end every time.
And i don't blame you.
The games considered by art as quite a few people now a days are horrible messes, I've literally played deeper more emotionally touching games on kongregate, fucking 2darray and his viricide and the company of myself.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Innovative Gaming Mechanics/Story/Characters is mine. It seems like alot games that come out think that they have reinvented the wheel when it comes to story, mechanics, or characterization.

surprised someone stole mine.

basically just "innovative" in general, anytime I hear someone mention it I usually end up rolling my eyes, because the idea is either half ass/they took shortcuts or it's a case of "what ain't broke don't fix it" and the new mechanics/story/characters are utter shit when nothing needed to be innovated in the first place.

 

[EyeReaper]

I Guess this is less gaming specific, and more of internety, But i see this a lot in games so I'm going to list my grievances anyways.

Firstly, "rekt" I never got the "lul mispeling werds iz fum" craze that the internet loves so much. This is just another one of those. Just irks me.

Also, why the fuck has "salty" been getting a rise recently? I don't even get this one. I thought the term originated from Saltybet, but I could be wrong. I'm just honestly confused as to why "Y u so salty" is a phrase people actually say to other people.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

A lot of people have mentioned "Casual" and while I would consider myself a casual gamer, nobody would really agree that somebody who imports games, owns multiple consoles and, continues playing games on decades-old consoles can be 'casual' when it comes to the playing of video games.

Another thing...which is more of a sentiment than a phrase, is the thought that Nintendo is kiddy. It's definitely child and family friendly, there's no denying that. Here's the thing though; while it's true that Mortal Kombat was censored, MK2 wasn't. Much more recently is the fact that Bayonetta 2 is a Wii U exclusive. During development of Bayonetta 2, when Nintendo reps were shown the sexy-Nintendo costumes the titular character would wear, their big criticism was that the original costumes weren't sexy enough. Yes, Nintendo markets to kids. Yes, the Wii and DS family are marketed towards families instead of the 'core gamer' demographic. That doesn't make Nintendo kiddy...that's just Nintendo not being ashamed of the fact that they make toys.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

"Overrated" and "underrated" get bandied about way more than they should (and I'm actually surprised no one mentioned them yet). "Immersion" is something people really like to harp on about as well.

probably "this is just my opinion". of course it is you twat.

That is probably a response to the people who will quote you with "that's just like, your opinion, man!" when you never suggested it was anything other than that. Might as well get in first.

Yeah, it's an unfortunate fact that unless you write "imo" or something along those lines after every single statement you make, somebody will call you out on it, and say that you're trying to state your opinion as fact. It's damn annoying, and one of the many symptoms of the inability of gamer culture (and nerd culture in general) to handle differing opinions in a reasonable manner. But you know, that's just my opinion.

Yeah, while not exclusive to gaming whenever I see some idiot saying "ITT stating opinions as facts" or "opinions =/= facts" it really grinds my gears. These days apparently stating your opinion is the same as stating your opinion as a fact.

My go to response to "that's just your opinion" is "of course it is, who else's opinion would it be?"

 

[SoreWristed]

'Master Race', it's used as an insult by people hailing from another 'master race' than the 'master race' they are trying to insult. Every 'master race' uses it on themselves because they have found the only medium worth playing games on.
Notable words that accompany 'master race' are 'smooth 60 fps', '1080p', 'Steam' and 'mods'.

I can agree that some people see a 'Master race' statement for what it is, as an overused joke that people paste on to nearfascists who don't accept anything other than their preferred game machine. But the problem with the internet is that it get's torn out of context so much that the original meaning is mostly the exact opposite of the original poster.

I remember a topic on the newgrounds bbs, several billion years ago, that wanted to introduce a punctuation mark to indicate sarcasm. Because let's face it, on 'master race', i need one to see if they're being serious or not. I can't tell if you're a fascist or a free spirited thinker slightly overusing a slur.

If i'm not mistaken it was this one : ~

so

~Master race~

'master race' counter : 8

 

[FirstNameLastName]

The only word I'm tired of seeing regarding games is 'Protagonist'. Change it up a little, we're not talking about Greek mythology here.

Okay, with the number of joke posts in this thread I'm really not sure whether you are serious. Aside from main character, how else can we refer to the protagonist?

And if you suggest hero, I will reach through the computer screen and slap you.

 

[SoreWristed]

The only word I'm tired of seeing regarding games is 'Protagonist'. Change it up a little, we're not talking about Greek mythology here.

Okay, with the number of joke posts in this thread I'm really not sure whether you are serious. Aside from main character, how else can we refer to the protagonist?

And if you suggest hero, I will reach through the computer screen and slap you.

*clears throat*

Dude you control
Man
Main Man
Main guy
Controllerextension
Guy
Dude whose backside has attracted the attention of the floating camera
floating-camera-with-arms
numero uno
Guy whose face is on the box
Nameless, faceless, voiceless Jerk
F************* ti******** and a huge a********
Buddy
Dude who the story centers around
prick
The only one who is animated well
exemplar
the only dude who has an actual backstory more than two paragraphs
Guy who is always on the center of the screen for some reason
Dude who has just had a camera fly into the back of the head
Avatar
Me
Main character
Combatant
Idol
Champion
lead
principal
standard-bearer

And to top it off : the one with the brown hair and stubble

 

[jklinders]

The only word I'm tired of seeing regarding games is 'Protagonist'. Change it up a little, we're not talking about Greek mythology here.

Okay, with the number of joke posts in this thread I'm really not sure whether you are serious. Aside from main character, how else can we refer to the protagonist?

And if you suggest hero, I will reach through the computer screen and slap you.

Truly though. It might be a word from 4000 year old theater but it is telling that it still works more efficiently than any combination of phases or words I have seen in English. If it isn't broke why try to fix it.

the closest reasonable substitutes are "main character" or "player character" and neither of those roll off of the tongue as smoothly or even describe the role adequately enough.

 

[jklinders]

Pretty much anything from bad video game marketing applies here for me. The one that my brain won't let go is "if you push a button, something awesome happens." Or "meaningful choices."

 

[FirstNameLastName]

The only word I'm tired of seeing regarding games is 'Protagonist'. Change it up a little, we're not talking about Greek mythology here.

Okay, with the number of joke posts in this thread I'm really not sure whether you are serious. Aside from main character, how else can we refer to the protagonist?

And if you suggest hero, I will reach through the computer screen and slap you.

Truly though. It might be a word from 4000 year old theater but it is telling that it still works more efficiently than any combination of phases or words I have seen in English. If it isn't broke why try to fix it.

the closest reasonable substitutes are "main character" or "player character" and neither of those roll off of the tongue as smoothly or even describe the role adequately enough.

For me, personally, the suggestion that we should stop using the word protagonist to describe the main perspective character is like saying the word chair is over used, and so we should instead call it a horizontal sitting platform, just so that things don't stagnate too much.
Player character is video game specific phrase. Main character works, but if there is a perfectly common single word that describes it, I would say it wins out.

Plus, I'm not sure why it should matter that its usages is rooted in ancient Greek? English as a whole is basically cobbled together out of archaic loan words from across the world.

 

[jklinders]

The only word I'm tired of seeing regarding games is 'Protagonist'. Change it up a little, we're not talking about Greek mythology here.

Okay, with the number of joke posts in this thread I'm really not sure whether you are serious. Aside from main character, how else can we refer to the protagonist?

And if you suggest hero, I will reach through the computer screen and slap you.

Truly though. It might be a word from 4000 year old theater but it is telling that it still works more efficiently than any combination of phases or words I have seen in English. If it isn't broke why try to fix it.

the closest reasonable substitutes are "main character" or "player character" and neither of those roll off of the tongue as smoothly or even describe the role adequately enough.

For me, personally, the suggestion that we should stop using the word protagonist to describe the main perspective character is like saying the word chair is over used, and so we should instead call it a horizontal sitting platform, just so that things don't stagnate too much.
Player character is video game specific phrase. Main character works, but if there is a perfectly common single word that describes it, I would say it wins out.

Plus, I'm not sure why it should matter that its usages is rooted in ancient Greek? English as a whole is basically cobbled together out of archaic loan words from across the world.

True on all points. That's English's blessing and curse. It's diverse from borrowing all of those words, but it's structure is a mess from it. I rather like the use of words that actually work efficiently to describe the thing. Maybe someday a better word than protagonist will show up, if that's the case we can retire it. Not because of out with the old, in with the new, but because a better way to communicate it will have shown. But if it has not happened after 4000 years then odds are it won't.

 

[aozgolo]

1080P and 60FPS... maybe it's just because I'm not a multiplayer gamer, maybe it's because I enjoy old retro games as much as new ones, maybe it's because I just have a 22 inch monitor (x2) to play on, but regardless I get soooo tired of articles full of whine about a game that isn't full on HD that can be played without framerate drops below 60... it screams of elitism to me.

 

[Seniqwa]

1080P and 60FPS... maybe it's just because I'm not a multiplayer gamer, maybe it's because I enjoy old retro games as much as new ones, maybe it's because I just have a 22 inch monitor (x2) to play on, but regardless I get soooo tired of articles full of whine about a game that isn't full on HD that can be played without framerate drops below 60... it screams of elitism to me.

I'll go for anything that's stable 30, but I prefer 60. Not because I'm elitist or whatever but because I think it looks better. I think it's stupid/unacceptable that some games have trouble even holding a solid 30 sometimes. 1080p I don't really care about though - only thing I need to be 1080p is my anime.

On topic: I dislike phrases that describes their game as "revolutionary" or any derivative thereof. If any of these games were truly "revolutionary" they would have changed the whole face of gaming. You know what games I would actually consider revolutionary in the past decade or so? Games like Call of Duty (hurts to say this), Everquest/WoW, the Sims, and Prince of Persia/Uncharted which had a marked effect on the number of similar genre games sold/bought and their popularity. And that was largely because the market was just not genre-inclusive enough at that point. The way things are now, pretty much every genre is represented. To be truly "revolutionary" a company would have to create something completely new - recreating the wheel, essentially (and not the way Sega does it with every Sonic generation).

I wish companies would instead be like "We've made what we think is a great game. People who enjoyed the previous game/ will find <x/y/z mechanics/gameplay elements> that they enjoyed. We've also got a really enjoyable story worked on by <writer's name> blah blah blah". I hate the whole "amazing, game-changing, awesome" buzzwords they hamfist into every statement. There's a term for these and I'm blanking on it but it basically means a word that's lost its meaning and you don't even see, you just jump over it as if it wasn't there.