Anyone besides me beginning to cringe at certain terms because of Video Games?

[The Almighty Aardvark]

I don't understand all of this hate for immersion. It is probably one of my favorite aspects of games. The ability to create a world that feels real and gripping doesn't seem to me like something that should be disregarded. There is bound to be some degree of subjectivity to it as different things are going to work for different people, but that doesn't mean that a game shouldn't be criticized for doing it poorly, or applauded for doing it well.

The hate is not for the act of being immersed.
It's for the overly and poorly used term "immersion".
There's a difference.

But I disagree - games should not be criticized or applauded for the arbitrary line one associates with suspension of disbelief - since very often, one person's line can be on a completely different continent than someone else's (so to speak).

It's not like judging aspects like controls, gameplay, bugs, graphics, etc, since, while there may be a little variation from one person to the next - the results are often pretty consistent when reviewing those aspects.

Immersion on the other hand comes from way off in left field and has no actual relevance since that one element that could be completely off-putting for one person is the thing that another finds most appealing. In such - it's a completely useless term for reviewing a game that gets used for that purpose far too often.

What about something with a similar subjectivity, art? Should the art of Okami simply not be commented on because someone else could jump in and say that it is ugly and awful? Same with music, story, characters, and heck, even gameplay. I love the Dark Souls gameplay, whereas I've seen people who think it is absolutely awful. Simultaneously I hate the style of combat used in games like Batman: Arkham Asylum and Assassin's Creed, whereas I've seen people who absolutely love it. I'd say there's the same degree of variation in all of those things as there is in immersion.

Actually I think immersion is easier to comment on than gameplay, art, etc... since it basically boils down to what makes the game feel real and grounded. One moment that did that for me in Metroid prime was how your visor would fog up from steam, I doubt many people would say that steam acting like, well steam, seemed too far fetched and took them out of the experience

EDIT: Just to avoid possible argument I am not saying that fogging up of your visor made Metroid Prime an immersive game on its own. I'm just saying that it's a factor of what adds to the immersion of the game

 

[Waffle_Man]

I dislike any use of an unqualified term when trying to do anything other than expressing a purely subjective opinion.

 

[Exius Xavarus]

I...don't really hate any words. I just wish people would use them more properly.

While I do agree with this on the whole of the subject, I must admit that I've gotten a bit tired of the word "epic".

Maybe it's because I work in a Gamestop, where I'm subject to their... liberal use of it in everything, but I can no longer find any meaning in this word whatsoever.

I'd have to agree. Half the time, the gaming industry will use Epic to describe something that isn't even remotely awesome. Very much the same way young teenagers abuse the word love. They're both thrown around so much, their meaning just has so little impact now.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Yeah yeah, I get that. However I don't understand the desire to have games be more like real life to the degree of your modern military shooters. I don't want my games to be any more realistic than Super Mario Bros. or Angry Birds, or Plants vs. Zombies, or Doom, or Skyrim, or Dragon Quest.

Well if you can't understand that other people like different things, that's your problem.

Oh I can understand that. What I don't understand is the need to try and sell a game as being "realistic" or having high levels of "realism." I thought real life IE realism was what we were trying to escape from by playing video games.

 

[Dead Seerius]

The term 'enemies everywhere' because I'm trying to give Mass Effect another shot, and guess what Shepard's favorite thing to say while fighting is?

Just shut the hell up already, man.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

"Realism" Why the in the name of fuck do we want our games to be realistic? Games are supposed to be an escape and how can you escape from real life if the game is realistic?

Yeah! How dare people find games like ARMA or forza motorsport 4 fun!

Oh they can certainly play those games for fun, just don't ask me to understand how they can find them fun.

 

[JemothSkarii]

As for my own: Tryhard, feminism/sexism

Namely this, because people take it overboard or nitpick and the copious amount of arguments and flame wars on this website have nearly made me want to leave.

Also, casual; and I mean that for when people play on Easy. I'll admit that I'm not God's gift to gaming, and I consider myself halfway decent. But I like to play most games on Easy so I can see the story and enjoy the mechanics. If it's way too easy (a la MGR:R) I'll turn it up. But I hate being called some filthy casual because I like using a gamepad on my PC or play games on Easy.

Hell, most games say I should play on Hard.

 

[babinro]

There is way to much internet lingo/cell phone slang that irks me but I'm forced to live with it.
- teh
- moar
- umad?
- brah
- lawlz
- gears
- 10kk
- r u
- wut, wat, whut

What's worse is you see some of these in day to day life now.
My grocery store sells some snack named OMG's! *shudder*

Can't change the social trends though so I just accept it.
Oh well, can't say the slang we used 20-30 years ago was any better.

 

[CriticalMiss]

'Social gaming'. Because having something on Facebook makes it social, whereas a multiplayer game elsewhere is just a game. Quite often they aren't even that sociable, unless harassing your friends about your sheep that needs a massage counts.

I'll also throw some internet chips down on 'Realistic'. Huge amounts of money have gone in to developing massively detailed character models, lighting mechanics and physics engines. How are they put to use? Making generic shooter games set in the same dusty middle eastern towns full of 'terrorists'. It was mentioned earlier that games should be a way to escape reality. Fighting terrorists in the middle east isn't exactly imaginative.

Oh, and 'Epic'. It's so over used in all walks of life now that it has lost it's meaning. A bland storyline a few hours long is now considered epic. Ok...

 

[SextusMaximus]

Immersion - most useless, overused and meaningless term in video games today.

"That game uses a red screen to show damage - that totally kills my immersion".
"That game uses a red screen to show damage - that totally adds to my immersion".
"Having to deal with a multiplayer aspect kills my immersion".
"Having other people in my game is so immersive".

Meaningless tripe.

Immersion is the level at which you are able to enter into the game world without it being broken up or interrupted by reality. So yes, all of those phrases are applied correctly.

 

[Dryk]

I'll also throw some internet chips down on 'Realistic'. Huge amounts of money have gone in to developing massively detailed character models, lighting mechanics and physics engines. How are they put to use? Making generic shooter games set in the same dusty middle eastern towns full of 'terrorists'. It was mentioned earlier that games should be a way to escape reality. Fighting terrorists in the middle east isn't exactly imaginative.

It's really odd how realistic when it comes to media doesn't mean realistic at all as well, I think we need a new word for it

What's worse is you see some of these in day to day life now.
My grocery store sells some snack named OMG's! *shudder*

http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1922_53768203893_5607_n.jpg

 

[JEBWrench]

"Realism" Why the in the name of fuck do we want our games to be realistic? Games are supposed to be an escape and how can you escape from real life if the game is realistic?

It's just my opinion, but I think the word people should use instead is "believable".

The Palladium RPG books suggest the term "plausible" instead of "realism" in their more modern-set games.

Surely if someone wanted a 100% realistic driving/shooting/flying/cracker-eating game, they'd just go and do it real life, no?

I... I'm assuming you're joking? I know people throw that phrase out with sports games in a ridiculous fallacy, but for driving and flying games too?

In fact, I'm gonna throw "just go do it in real life" as another term that video games have made me cringe at.

Gamer .

I hate that word so much that i refuse to associate myself as a gamer . I play games everyday ( and addiction really ), own 10 consoles , own about 300+ games . Have played about 500 games in my career, Paricipated in a few local tournaments , spend an average of 6 hours a day playing games. It's my main hobby . But i will never call myself a gamer. I don't want to be associated with what "gamers" have become .

Mountain dew drinking, elitist, entitled , whiny,brats .

Yeah i said it . Come at me bros .

This would be it. I can't stand that word, I'd never use it to describe myself or anyone who plays games, and I hate the fact that it carries so many negative associations that just being called a "gamer" is enough to devalue your stated opinions.

I'm with you two on that one, I hate the negative stigma it has outside gaming areas, like it makes you less of a person.

I dislike the term inside the gaming community.

 

[Rariow]

Entitled. You know what? I AM entitled. When I pay 60 bucks for a game I'm entitled to get a damn game, not a piecemeal assortment of what was left out of the DLC bucket. Now stop saying it as though me asking to get what I pay for is bad. I don't want to buy Mass Effect 3 and instantly get access to BioWare's whole library. I just want to buy Mass Effect 3 and get Mass Effect 3.

Not really a word, but the Escapist has made me come to cringe at "Well, it's official", because that usually leads to someone expressing their opinion as though it's the only valid one. That said, the community here is a lot better at listening and considering arguments than most others.

 

[Whispering Cynic]

If there is one overused word which makes me literally cringe it's the word epic. Everything is labeled "epic" these days, every contrived piece of shit of a game, every minor act done by some halfwit on Youtube. The real meaning of the word is pretty much lost...

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Oh I can understand that. What I don't understand is the need to try and sell a game as being "realistic" or having high levels of "realism." I thought real life IE realism was what we were trying to escape from by playing video games.

We're not trying to escape from how real life LOOKS though, we're trying to escape from what real life means for us. Not everyone hates the sight of reality; some like it, just want it to be different in other ways. The consistency of real life makes it easier for us to suspend our disbelief.

Though at this point I'm not sure whether your problem is with realism or with certain settings.

The thing is if video games get too realistic they become too frightening to play, esp. the really violent ones. I remember looking at screenshots for this game, I forget what it was called, but it was some RTS about an invasion of America or some shit, anyway my reaction was "No way, this is way too real for me." So it baffles me that we are trying to achieve total realism.

 

[wetfart]

People that say "I'm going to roll ". Unless you have a fist full of d6's you're not rolling anything. Stop saying that!

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Gamer .

I hate that word so much that i refuse to associate myself as a gamer . I play games everyday ( and addiction really ), own 10 consoles , own about 300+ games . Have played about 500 games in my career, Paricipated in a few local tournaments , spend an average of 6 hours a day playing games. It's my main hobby . But i will never call myself a gamer. I don't want to be associated with what "gamers" have become .

Mountain dew drinking, elitist, entitled , whiny,brats .

Yeah i said it . Come at me bros .

This would be it. I can't stand that word, I'd never use it to describe myself or anyone who plays games, and I hate the fact that it carries so many negative associations that just being called a "gamer" is enough to devalue your stated opinions.

I'm with you two on that one, I hate the negative stigma it has outside gaming areas, like it makes you less of a person.

I dislike the term inside the gaming community.

As do I. I figured agreeing with the previous guys meant I had that viewpoint too.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Nexon has me hating everything that has...Nexon in it.

yeah .... I hear you there, I used to really love Vindictus to D: still a good game just woefully mishandled, that and the drop rates for anything lvl 60 and up. I don't care what they say there is zero excuse fore there to be ANYTHING that you can grind for months and never see(tears, pants, hearts, shiny stones and so on)