How much does it matter if something is 'overrated' to you?

[Pink Gregory]

I just notice this as a sore point seemingly coming up in online discussions about vidyagaems time and time again.

I 'unno, it perplexes me that people could be so concerned about what other people think of entertainment media; so is it a genuine search for the 'truth' (I'm giving the word truth a really dirty look), or is it another case of 'stop liking what I don't like'?. Or is it none of the above?

Does it matter to you?

 

[Zhukov]

The often given answer is, "You should like what you like and not care what anyone else thinks."

But that's bullshit.

There are some people out there who are so self-assured that they can happily disregard the views or opinions of other people. Such people are rare however and most people who claim to be like that are either kidding themselves or just plain old full o' shit. Most of us mere mortals place some value in the opinions of those around us.

If a person is told something they don't agree with often enough, they will either modify their own views to conform or harden their own views in order to "counter" the unwanted influence. Either way, their views will be influenced by those around them.

Frequently encountering opinions that conflict with one's own, even on trivial subjects like whether or not Dark Knight Rises was a good film or not, forces one to consider that they might be wrong, and most of us really don't like that feeling.

So, does it matter to me personally?

Yes, at least a bit. I try not to get all obnoxious about it and I absolutely despite "Is X overrated?" discussions, but I won't deny that I feel a bit irritable when I encounter a lot of people who like something that I actively dislike.

 

[skywolfblue]

I don't think it's wrong for a lot of people to love/like something, popular doesn't mean bad.

I'm only bothered when the people who are overrating something:
1) Refuse to acknowledge any major flaws (plot holes that undermine the whole story, or a massively buggy game like Skyrim, etc).
2) Target and hate people who disagree with them that it is the greatest thing ever.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Words

Oh I'm not disputing that people are influenced by other people in what they think, but I 'unno, so much of the discussion seems disproportionately heated to me; as if there's some cosmic order that needs to be maintained for what kind of abstract 'rating' that entertainment media had (I feel the same confused disdain for people who go on about 'legacy' of vidyagaem serieses).

I know, I know, welcome to the internet, where responses are disproportionate, but it just perplexes me how much it can genuinely bother people. Just seems like an ego trip, with some people. But then again, y'have to believe that someone else is wrong somewhere to have an opinion in the first place.

Not that this was a good discussion of what you said, I just felt obliged to reply.

 

[Magicite Spring]

I don't think it's wrong for a lot of people to love/like something, popular doesn't mean bad.

I'm only bothered when the people who are overrating something:
1) Refuse to acknowledge any major flaws (plot holes that undermine the whole story, or a massively buggy game like Skyrim, etc).
2) Target and hate people who disagree with them that it is the greatest thing ever.

This should also be true for people who underrate something. Its something I've seen looking at what people say about Bioshock Infinite and to a lesser extent, The Last of Us. The people who don't like Bioshock seem to have a complete disregard for why people actually like the game and seem to be too busy condemning it because they think their subjective opinion is objective fact.

I also have no problem with people liking or disliking something, but at the very least I want them to try and acknowledge my reasons for having a contrary opinion.

 

[Vegosiux]

A lot. After all, to me, "Overrated" means "It's actually worse than I was lead to believe". that's kind of what the word means, that it's rated higher than it deserves (and it's all subjective, but when it comes to liking/not liking entertainment, only my opinion counts for me, deal with it).

So basically, whenever I say "overrated" I use it as a shorthand for "Yaknow, I don't think it's that great. Oh and please quit trying to guilt me into changing my mind."

 

[Uhura]

so much of the discussion seems disproportionately heated to me; as if there's some cosmic order that needs to be maintained for what kind of abstract 'rating' that entertainment media had

Yeah, I see this a lot with movies and it's just bizarre. I think the attitude stems mostly from the fact that a lot of people feel like they can assess the objective quality of a movie/videogame and get upset when the general consensus doesn't agree with their "objective" assessment. So it's often a combination of a) a need to figure out the "truth" (the "objective" quality of a movie/videogame) and b) the "stop liking what I don't like" attitude. People who use the term overrated in this manner usually also get upset if you try to point out that the enjoyment of art is a subjective experience.

Of course, there are also people like Vegosiux who use it merely as a shorthand for "I didn't like it as much as others" but the difference is that people who use the term like that don't usually end up ranting about how wrong people are for liking the movie X and how they are stupid sheeple and morons for not seeing how overrated the movie is.

 

[shrekfan246]

A lot. After all, to me, "Overrated" means "It's actually worse than I was lead to believe". that's kind of what the word means, that it's rated higher than it deserves (and it's all subjective, but when it comes to liking/not liking entertainment, only my opinion counts for me, deal with it).

I could be misreading (it is still pretty early) but I think the OP is asking about when other people are always going on about how "overrated" something is, not when you personally think something is overrated.

OT: The problem I have with any discussion about how "overrated" or "underrated" something is is that somewhere down the line people always seem to forget that other people will have other opinions, preferences, likes and dislikes, tastes, etc. So it always turns into shouting matches about how "[Thing] sucks, you shouldn't like that terrible piece of garbage because it was fundamentally bad in every way!" or "[Thing] was awesome, how could you not like it, it moved me in a way that no other piece of entertainment ever has before!"

They're all valid points, to be sure, but at some point people just need to be able to acknowledge that everyone isn't going to agree on something and other people can indeed find the adequate "9/10" or "10/10" enjoyment from something they don't think is very good. And on the flip-side, people who love something need to be able to acknowledge that sometimes there's just going to be people who aren't that interested in it or don't think it's as good as they think it is.

 

[Tom_green_day]

'Overrated' is a bit of a non-word to me. It doesn't mean anything. People just use it as filler when they don't know how to express their own opinion or don't actually really believe that opinion and just want people to think they do.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Considering Ocarina of Time is my uncontested favorite game, I don't need to comment on loving a game many consider to be "overrated." I know I love it, if others don't that is their prerogative. I won't hold anything against them as long as they don't try to tell me I'm wrong/stupid/nostalgic for loving the game they may not see much good in.

 

[duwenbasden]

Nope. If I like it I'll get it.

 

[DrOswald]

The problem with overrated things is not the one original product that was overrated. The problem is that highly popular material ends up shaping the future of an art form so when something is overrated we end up getting dozens of copies of something that wasn't that good in the first place.

Take Evangelion for example. On its own Evangelion is pretty good. Shit ending, but what are you going to do. But it was so amazingly popular and, yes, overrated that it has laid down the path for Japanese video games and anime to follow for more than 15 years. It is only recently that the industry at large has started to move away from the tropes Evangelion set from being the norm.

The whiny teenage brat protagonist? You can blame Evangelion.

95% of JRPG's are packed with meaningless pseudo religious symbolism? Blame Evangelion.

Extremely convoluted "deep" plot lines that don't make any sense? Evangelion.

And the real problem is that the reason these tropes worked at all in Evangelion were that they were counter to the tropes of the time. Without that factor these tropes are just bad. In fact, I think you could make a strong argument that the single greatest factor in the near death (or at least the sever reduction in popularity) of the JRPG was the rise of the Evangelion tropes. The JRPG makers found an extremely popular and easy to follow formula. It worked for a few years before people started getting sick of it but game makers have stuck to it blindly for over 15 years.

That is the problem with overrated material. It severely damages the environment in which art is created, especially if that material is created in a commercial environment.

And for this reason alone I have a deep hatred for Evangelion. Not because it was bad, but because it was good enough to be overrated and cause everything to go to hell.

 

[Casual Shinji]

There's only been one instance where a fandom liking something seriously got on my nerves, and it was with Portal. And that was a game I really liked. But it's like people were getting all smug for liking it, and the freaking non-spot 'cake' references made me want to vommit.

A lesser example would be My Little Pony, a show I have never even seen one second of. But the constant barrage of MLP pictures/gifs/fanart/whatever just got woeful. Just as anything you're constantly exposed to starts to get really tiring after a while.

 

[Saelune]

It depends. I like a lot of things that are overrated...key word like. I mostly just don't get it a lot, or hate when it overshadows things that are more deserving. Like I just beat Uncharted 1 after having the Gamestop guy rave about it. It was...ok. I don't regret playing it, but it didn't blow my mind like it did him.

Though I tend to avoid overrated (or seemingly so) things if I am not already into it. I try to give such things the benefit of the doubt at times, but often I just feel pushed away by the raving super fans.

Not to say I probably act the same way they do about my own favorite things.

 

[CaptainThom]

I think the word overrated is overrated and would love it if everyone stopped throwing it around. Enjoying certain games is subjective and people are often far to keen to forget that, for example i think mortal combat and WOW are utter trash but it doesn't make me right, nor them overrated.

 

[babinro]

It doesn't bother me at all actually.

I think I've dulled my sense to the concept that everything that it's cool to hate popular things on the internet. In reality, we all have our own opinions and they will inevitably go against the grain from time to time.

I find it fascinating that when something reaches a certain popularity threshold it's no longer a big deal to insult. Meanwhile, other, less mainstream ideas are more likely to invoke a response. For example:
- Valve sucks.
- Nathan Fillion is a terrible actor.

vs

- EA sucks.
- Justin Bieber is a terrible singer.

I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say here so ignore the random thoughts. If you told me something I love like Batman: The Animated Series was overrated it wouldn't genuinely matter to me. I like to defend my thoughts but that's more a fun activity/challenge then an attempt to save face or maintain my pride. I'm explaining why the thing in question was worthy of my attention more than why it should be worth of yours.

 

[thesilentman]

It doesn't for me. Everything is set to a certain quality standard for me, and if it doesn't fit my tastes, fine. I won't call it overrated, just not for me.

I'm amazed this whole thing even exists, but hey, it's the Internet and video games; what could possibly go wrong?

 

[Vegosiux]

A lot. After all, to me, "Overrated" means "It's actually worse than I was lead to believe". that's kind of what the word means, that it's rated higher than it deserves (and it's all subjective, but when it comes to liking/not liking entertainment, only my opinion counts for me, deal with it).

I could be misreading (it is still pretty early) but I think the OP is asking about when other people are always going on about how "overrated" something is, not when you personally think something is overrated.

Was early when I replied too, so I might have misread it as well. But what I'm saying is that while too much hype often works to make me actively opt out of whatever it is, I'll only decide whether it's "overrated" or not once I've actually tried it. I'll still say it was way "overhyped" though, even if through some negative space wedgie it comes close to the pure distilled awesomeness it's been made out by that hype.

 

[Asita]

Obligatory:


Seriously though, I've seen the word used enough times that I see it as having lost almost all practical meaning, and at the end of the day, the term is meaningless in and of itself. I've heard it said that Skyrim, Portal, Ocarina of Time, Half-Life 2 and Final Fantasy 7 are all overrated. I'll happily grant that that's at least partially true. All of these titles are very popular, perhaps get more praise than they are truly due, and almost certainly are hyped up by fans to levels they couldn't hope to reach. That alone can make a case for something to be overrated. It's important to note, however that saying something is 'overrated' does not suddenly mean that it is a bad title. Point of fact, something can theoretically be overrated and an outstanding achievement. To be overrated simply means that the speaker found the quality to be below what they had been led to expect. It is less criticism about the work itself and more criticism about the reaction to that work. All of the titles I mentioned might well be overrated, but I gladly maintain that all of them are good titles in their own right and have no qualms enjoying them, defending them as such or playing through them again.

 

[tippy2k2]

Zero

I've always thought that it was an incredibly stupid term since "overrated" is a moving target. Overrated is going to be different for every single person in this forum. I'm a 27 year old adult; the opinions of others (in terms of what media I consume) is so low on my totem pole of cares that it might be underground (and I think I've demonstrated that plenty of times in all the "unpopular" shit I defend/argue for...seriously, I could make a laundry list of things of unpopular opinions I have in gaming).

Underrated I give a bit more leeway towards since underrated is usually a bit more universal. Something that is underrated is generally unknown and so those conversations can lead to unknown gems popping up.