In defence of Whining

[Something Amyss]

Nope, they weren't. The only consistent criticism that I saw across all of those who wanted the ending changed was that it sucked.

Yeah, that's why there were thousands of pages and videos and essays on HOW it sucked. Because almost people were saying was "it sucked." Riiiiight.

Interesting how you see simply what you want to see and ignore anything else.

Funny how that's exactly what you seem to be doing. "What? Evidence contrary to my point? I'll claim it as my own and declare victory!"

If you don't want to talk about it, fine, but please don't project things onto me.

In a way that is the point I'm trying to convoy (as True Scotsmen-esc as it got). I have been told the difference between a 'whiner' and a 'complainer': that a complainer has a point. Mind you part of the problem is a given individual ranting about the wrongness of something before (or without) knowing why its wrong, thus the whining. Its an emotional knee-jerk reaction. Not too rational at all.

And that's about the only way people can really justify Mass Effect 3 folks as being "mostly whiners," really. People amped up with strawman arguments that people wanted a happy ending, or saying they weren't making valid complaints because "I don't mind" or "I disagree." Well, you have the right to disagree. That doesn't alone make it a non-point.

Still, here's the thing: not everyone will dismiss you completely, even if your running on pure emotion. After all, the grievance could be real and it just needed a more rational person to point out the 'wrongness'.

Honestly, if you don't have a good reason to criticise, I think you remain wrong. It's sort of like bandwagon jumping. In fact, people will jump on board these arguments just to better justify what was an irrational hatred. I suppose I could see it if it was merely an instance of expression, but you should have a basic idea why it sucks.

Depends on time and place really. In the case of customer service for the most part the ninny behind the counter wants to help you (their job depends on it), and a tantrum then wouldn't do much good if they couldn't help you as those reps had no power to help your plight (and in many cases its the store manager's fault, and they might not hear your problem).

Course throwing a fit might not seem constructive, but getting your ass in the newspaper for being upset over a given offense might rally some people to your side, depending on what it was.

If they're in a position to help though, often times courtesy gets you further because "whining" comes off as "being a dick" and tends to make them hostile.

Even getting in the newspaper may not help you. Look at Occupy Wall Street. And they had a point far stronger than complaints about Capcom's DLC and more relevant than the ending of a game.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that I disagree on the logistics. Everyone wants to shout sometimes, and I get that. I just think most of the time you get further by being polite but insistent. Now, will that work elsewhere in life? That's a dodgier question. I find a little outrage can be both healthy and helpful, but from a customer service PoV...I think it's usually best not to be seen as a "whiner."

 

[BreakfastMan]

Nope, they weren't. The only consistent criticism that I saw across all of those who wanted the ending changed was that it sucked.

Yeah, that's why there were thousands of pages and videos and essays on HOW it sucked. Because almost people were saying was "it sucked." Riiiiight.

That was not even what I said. I didn't say that people didn't have reasons why it sucked; they did. What I said was that the criticisms of the endings were not especially consistent; some hated the star-child outright and wanted it cut, some hated the execution and wanted that to be be better. The only consistent thing across all of that was that the ending sucked.

 

[Dr Jones]

But if they have a complaint based on facts that you acknowledge, that you disapprove of, then it's pretty much whining.

No. Whining is not a subjective term. Whining is a petulant form of complaint. People complained over the ME3 ending, I found it to be decent, I didn't love it, but never had a huge problem with it. The people that had legitimate reasons for the ending not being satisfying (lack of personal ending, which was promised) I'd say were righteous and complained, despite me not agreeing.

 

[Luna]

But if they have a complaint based on facts that you acknowledge, that you disapprove of, then it's pretty much whining.

No. Whining is not a subjective term. Whining is a petulant form of complaint. People complained over the ME3 ending, I found it to be decent, I didn't love it, but never had a huge problem with it. The people that had legitimate reasons for the ending not being satisfying (lack of personal ending, which was promised) I'd say were righteous and complained, despite me not agreeing.

I'm gonna have to say that whining is a subjective term, because whether you disapprove with criticism or not determines whether you think the person is whining, (unless they're misinformed). You didn't call the MW3 ending criticizers 'whiners' because you didn't disapprove of their criticism.


Notice that my original definition contained the words 'don't approve' rather than 'don't agree' and I would say the difference is fundamental.

 

[Something Amyss]

The only consistent thing across all of that was that the ending sucked.

Which is kind of irrelevant, since I argued majority opinion and most people had very similar issues with the ending.

So apologies that I missed your intent, I assumed it had some relevance to my statement, rather than some new idea of consensus. I will endeavour in the future to remind you when you wander into irrelevant erritory.