One sided and generic arguments that piss you off.

[Nomanslander]

As gamers that like to spend a fair share of time on forums, we have all gone through this. We're always dealing with other peoples opinions as we try to be open minded about them. But we at least expect them to share that mindset when we disagree. Sometimes it's the "stop liking what I don't like argument" and I don't know a single person that doesn't find that annoying, so I guess that's number one.

(yeah... yeah... we shouldn't let things get to us. but I'm not perfect, and some stuff still does... so... yeah!)



-Stop liking what I don't like... too obvious what's wrong with this; I need no explanation.

-Brown games = bad... no they aren't! Stop saying this, and acting like you're so clever for noticing a game needs more primal colors!

-Innovation or burst... the game plays it safe. It's crap! Every game needs to be a new and beautiful experience that excites the senses and creates new ones... -_-

-Remakes = garbage... Dante is garbage because they turned him into a hipster looking dude. -_-

-Violence towards women in games = misogyny... NO IT DOESN'T! (unless it's torture porn) You're really being sexist if you think killing billions of bad dudes is ok and killing one bad female is wrong.

And finally here's one for movies I've gotten sick of.

-Lens flares = movies crap... THAT IS NOT TRUE! Sure lens flares might get annoying, but there's more to a movie than just technical annoyance like lens flares, slo mos, and shacky cams. You know? Pacing, story, plot and character development...?

(Yeah, those last two were sorta looking at you, Moviebob, with your H&G review).

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Well I'm probably gonna open a can of worms with this but.

Spoiler

Anyone who tries to use this as the basis of their argument is missing the point.

As for a more gaming related example. I hate it when people try to suggest that the lack of women in gaming means that the industry is sexist. Most companies would be more than happy to hire female devs. Thing is though that just not that many women study game development.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Sure, why not. I'll play. There's a few I particularly hate.

THE ARGUMENT: IT HAPPENS TO MEN ALL THE TIME
WHERE WE SEE IT: In every feminism/gender wars thread.
HOW IT'S USED: As a rebuttal intended to debunk a claim that something bad happens to women. Woman is raped? Men get raped too you know! Woman faces prejudice? Men face prejudice too you know!
WHY I HATE IT: It's completely irrelevant, and presumes that men and women are competing teams attempting to stockpile outrages for the purposes of winning the sympathy sweepstakes. If bad things happen to group A, bad things also happening to group B doesn't make what happened to group A any less bad, or their complaints any less valid.

THE ARGUMENT: LOL FANBOY / LOL HATER
WHERE WE SEE IT: In any discussion about a popular or contentious piece of media
HOW IT'S USED: As a lazy ad hominem
WHY I HATE IT: It's a lazy ad hominem. It's not even an INVENTIVE ad hominem. If you're going to throw rationality out the window and go for the personal attacks, at least be creative. Make it fun to read.

THE ARGUMENT: YOU SOUND LIKE AN ENTITLED GAMER!
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere anyone asks for anything
HOW IT'S USED: As a lazy ad hominem
WHY I HATE IT: Because it ruined a perfectly good word when we started applying it to ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. Now you're entitled if you ask for things you should genuinely have a right to feel entitled too, including products that actually work or have a basic level of quality control.

THE ARGUMENT: THIS IS SO BORING / THIS THREAD AGAIN / WE'RE ALL TIRED OF THIS
WHERE WE SEE IT: In any controversial or long running topic
HOW IT'S USED: As an expression of your disinterest in the conversation
WHY I HATE IT: What's the point? Stop telling other people what to talk about you boob. This is the internet equivalent of walking up to a conversation between strangers and audibly whining at them to change the topic.

THE ARGUMENT: ....AND MANY PEOPLE AGREE WITH ME!
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere someone wants to add some punch to their argument
HOW IT'S USED: As an appeal to popularity
WHY I HATE IT: Look, guy. You don't even know a statistically significant body of people, and you certainly haven't polled them to see if they agree with you. You're assuming they agree with you, because you are laboring under the delusion that is myside bias.

THE ARGUMENT: I BELIEVE IN A LITTLE THING CALLED FREEDOM OF SPEECH
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere someone is trying to justify being an asshole
HOW IT'S USED: As justification for being an asshole
WHY I HATE IT: You're being an asshole. Also, you being an asshole isn't a freedom of speech issue, it's a "you being an asshole" issue.

THE ARGUMENT: YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO NOT BE OFFENDED!
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere someone is trying to justify being an asshole
HOW IT'S USED: As justification for being an asshole
WHY I HATE IT: You're being an asshole. There's a "War against censorship" side to this, but in 999 cases out of 1000 it's just some jackass defending their right to be a jackass.

THE ARGUMENT: THE RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR IS BROKEN!
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere there is a random number generator
HOW IT'S USED: As an explanation for why the random number generator did not produce the results you wanted
WHY I HATE IT: Because you do not understand what random means.

Man, I could go on all night. I'll stop here.

 

[scorptatious]

Oh hey, someone in America has done something questionable or stupid. AMERICA IS STUPID LOL!!

No, we are all not like that. I especially hate it when someone says something along the lines of "Stay classy America" in an sarcastic way. To me, it just comes off as incredibly snobbish and annoying.

Fighting brown or black people in games = RACISM!!

Now, I'm sure there's a couple of exceptions to this rule depending on the context. But I have seen some rather ridiculous claims of racism towards games that don't even suggest it. For example, I saw this one video of an old lady ranting about how Castle Crashers was racist because the knights happen to have white on their armor, and she equates the bandits and the trolls as brown and black people respectively.

 

[Racecarlock]

I see this one all the time on GTAforums.

"If you don't like realism, go to saints row"

First off, I like the kind of realism where people and humans behave like people and humans and realistic physics are a blast to mess with.

Second, this argument is usually used when defending feature suggestions like fuel for cars and having to eat to stay alive. Mind you these are suggestions for GTA V. Here's where common sense comes into play. Why should I give up a series I have loved since VICE CITY so some other guy can stop at a gas station, get gas, and go "Oh my god, this is so realistic!".

I mean, imagine if someone suggested a modern time setting for elder scrolls, then when you say that probably wouldn't be a good idea he responds with "If you don't like it, go back to dragon age you immature 12 year old!".

 

[Apointicus]

I hate it when people just find ANY reason to hate and blasphemy a game mainly because it's different to the other games in a franchise they enjoy.

Generally this happens when its not even released and is still in an early stage of development. This behavior is sadly very common in hardcore fanboyism.

Im talking specifically about TES:O and DmCmC. While there are good arguments on DmCmC like characterization being noticeably weaker compared to the original game (im not going to list every single flaw) people still dismiss this game as completely bad when in reality the game is GOOD. AngryJoe pretty much sums up what I think about the whole controversy in this section of his review of the game, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4NaBrFkiDo#t=3m23s.

While TES:O is a much lesser case than DmC I've heard people who're saying "it's going to be trash" and making up the most absurd criticism that they can think of because they'd rather they had TES6 than an ES MMO. The most cringe worthy thing I've heard about this game is that if it had a subscription fee it'll go F2P in a year, the game hasn't even been revealed that much to the public and Beta Events haven't even started BUT YET people think they're wizards and can determine what the game will truly be like in the end, just like DmCmC.

TL;DR: Fanboyism is stupid, please don't be apart of it. Judge the game fully when it's FINISHED AND RELEASED. Thank you.

 

[karma9308]

My personal favorite is the "freedom of speech" argument on the internet. You do not have the right to say whatever the hell you want on the internet. That has nothing to do with the right to expression.

More related to gaming, "All games that feature a white protagonist killing non-white people is racist." The game is usually being lazy, sure. And there are cases where it is true. But not every game that has a white protagonist is racist.

 

[Anathrax]

"It's cuz I'm black aren't I?" Comes out of nowhere during a flame war between two idiots. No comments on race were made prior to that. Happens 30% of the time when I'm on kongregate or on a messing around server in TF2, and it never fails to enrage me.

 

[Bashfluff]

1. You'd see things my way if you'd check your privilege!

Because of people who advance this argument, the phrase is meaningless. It's now a joke.

2. My right to not be offended is greater than the right for you to say things I don't like/find offensive.

Self explanatory. If you don't want to hear what I have to say on the internet, there are plenty of other places where I'm not talking.

3. I LIKE THINGS MOST PEOPLE DON'T LIKE SO THAT MEANS I'M SPECIAL/BETTER INFORMED/LESS BIASED.

You like the new New Super Mario Brothers game. Good for you. You start talking about how it's flawless and how you're a special snowflake who is one of the few that didn't come into it as biased...go away.

4. The original is always better.

No, it's not.

5. There is too much innovation.

The problem is very rarely the amount of innovation, but the misdirection of innovation. What is the difference between the amount of innovation of Paper Mario versus Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts? None really. It's just the creative energies were taken different directions and wound up doing different things.

6. It's good the way it is because it is/because it has always been that way.

I'm with Yahtzee on this one. I hate the bland, samey, brown environments of modern day shooters. I hate them playing it safe to such a degree that the genre suffers from a lack of real innovation and that FPS gaming has actually become bland as a whole. I don't like people defend the lives system out of tradition, or how games would force you to replay good chunks of the game for dying.

 

[Rack]

They're dumbing it down!

Okay, so you like complexity, I can appreciate that. What I can't accept is the assumption that developers introduce simpler systems solely to appeal to idiots who couldn't understand the more complex system. There's never any exploration of the implications of stripping down the complexity of the system, whether it leads to more or less depth. Just simpler = worse.

 

[Terminate421]

All FPS are the same!

That right there explains itself.

"Halo is a generic FPS"

I can't think of one shooter that even comes close to the Halo games in terms of how they play, even then if you pay attention, you can see the changes that have been given to this franchise.

"All the new Pokemon suck!"

No. I know you may have an opinion but there is no way that all 500 other pokemon after Generation X suck. Not one pokemon you like? This argument doesn't hold up at all for me.

 

[tippy2k2]

These threads always humor me

Most of the complains thrown into these types of threads are one sided and generic arguments...if you don't agree with the argument

Might as well throw mine into the ring:
-Piracy is OK because the game company is EEEEEVIL!!!! (DRM, makes a shit ton of money, labor law issues, etc.)
-Piracy is OK because information WANTS to be free! Why you be caging up information brah!?
-Piracy is OK because it's legal here!
-Piracy is OK because it's just copy-right infringement! You're not hurting anyone!
-Piracy is OK because I wouldn't have bought it anyway.

And so on and so on. Just like they're going to argue about my reasons for why pirates are thieves is a one-sided and generic argument.

 

[PissOffRoth]

As for a more gaming related example. I hate it when people try to suggest that the lack of women in gaming means that the industry is sexist. Most companies would be more than happy to hire female devs. Thing is though that just not that many women study game development.

Want to know why that is? Not because there are less women initially interested in game development, but because they try getting into the community and then are bombarded constantly by sexist, misogynist, or otherwise unwelcoming behaviour from men. There's no magical part of a woman's brain that makes them say "Video games are icky boy stuff." That's a nerd myth, like chupacabra.

 

[BrotherRool]

Okay the one one I really don't like is:

'It's not even really a game'


It's such a pointless argument. Who cares if it's a game or not? What meaning does it have apart from that someone came into it with the wrong prejudices and expectations. Calling something a game or not calling it a game won't change what that thing actually is one iota. Degrading something because it doesn't fit a label is utterly pointless and meaningless and if we get hung up on 'is it a game?' then we're not going to ask the interesting questions that push forward the boundaries of human creativity and experience.

Good questions and criticisms are 'Is it fun?' 'It's not engaging' 'they don't use interactivity very usefully' 'Does it convey the experience it's trying to convey?' 'Is that a worthwhile experience?'

When people claim that The Walking Dead or Heavy Rain or To The Moon or Minecraft aren't games, there are some legitimate issues there, maybe Minecraft just isn't for them, maybe the thing was responding to the player in an unfulfilling way. But calling it not a game doesn't deal with that problem.

And why be exclusive? If Heavy Rain and The Walking Dead and Katawa Shoujo aren't games, then all that changes is we need to find another name to call them. It's simpler to be loose and inclusive with what you call a game and ask the deeper questions. Otherwise you get a situation where no-one can decide what Modern Art is so people stick wellies down a toilet and ask if it's art, instead of asking whether it's useful or meaningful to stick a wellie down the toilet

And finally here's one for movies I've gotten sick of.

-Lens flares = movies crap... THAT IS NOT TRUE! Sure lens flares might get annoying, but there's more to a movie than just technical annoyance like lens flares, slo mos, and shacky cams. You know? Pacing, story, plot and character development...?

(Yeah, those last two were sorta looking at you, Moviebob, with your H&G review).

You're correct, Lens Flare doesn't =bad film. Serenity has lens flare and it's one of the best films ever. But that wasn't what MovieBob was saying (I believe). It's not lens flare=bad but lens flare used so much you're actually consciously aware of the overuse whilst watching the film and even (in the case of some Star Trek scenes) actually makes it hard to see what you're meant to be looking at.

And in recent years it's become something of a crutch to this particular director, it was really overly heavily used in Super 8 as well and there's a definitely worry it's become something of a fall back mark instead of designing the visuals for the film as required. And in a flashy space ship setting, there's legitimate concern it'll be used again.

But mostly it was snark, if Bob has concerns with JJ Abrams it's probably based on a whole range of reasons of which lens flare is just a symptom and he was making the snarky joke that absolutely everyone thought of when they heard the news. I don't seriously believe he was saying that solely because of lens flare and I donn't think that was how you were meant to take it. It was a joke.

I'm on the fence with Abrams. There were a lot of things wrong with Star Trek that would intensify the problems with Star Wars. Star Trek was a shallow action film with good effects(bar said flair) that didn't really do much to promote character and at times were a little cliche and nonsensical with a pretty bad plot. Which is how you could describe the prequels. But a lot of those things weren't Abrams responsibility and they won't be his responsibility this time round either. So for me he could be good or he could be bad and as long as he invents a new aesthetic instead of stealing the Star Trek one there's every chance to remain optimistic

 

[ComradeJim270]

BloatedGuppy, you are awesome.

Here's mine:

"You played it for [X number of] hours, so you must have liked it!"

Bullshit. There's a huge difference between merely tolerating something or giving it the benefit of the doubt and slogging through it to get to the end, and liking it.

"Of course it has [problem X developer is known for], it's a [X developer] game!"

So? That's not an excuse. If a company is known for releasing games with shitty dialogue, or lots of bugs, or unbalanced gameplay, or something else nobody wants to put up with, that's not a "get out of jail free" card. That's an ongoing problem. That's a matter for concern, because it means they're not learning from their mistakes... maybe because people are saying crap like this instead of calling them out for it.

Or one from before Fallout 3 was released.

"You should be glad they're making [sequel to dead franchise] at all! That franchise could have just stayed dead, you know!"

Resurrecting a dead franchise is hard to do well, and is often attempted by people who don't understand what was beloved about the franchise they're trying to revive. The results are often poor or unappealing to the people this comment is usually being directed. The best response I ever heard to this awful canard is this, paraphrased second-hand from an imageboard thread: "If you shit in the coffin at a wake, nobody's going to care about all the gold dust you ate yesterday"

 

[thesilentman]

Sure, why not. I'll play. There's a few I particularly hate.

THE ARGUMENT: IT HAPPENS TO MEN ALL THE TIME
WHERE WE SEE IT: In every feminism/gender wars thread.
HOW IT'S USED: As a rebuttal intended to debunk a claim that something bad happens to women. Woman is raped? Men get raped too you know! Woman faces prejudice? Men face prejudice too you know!
WHY I HATE IT: It's completely irrelevant, and presumes that men and women are competing teams attempting to stockpile outrages for the purposes of winning the sympathy sweepstakes. If bad things happen to group A, bad things also happening to group B doesn't make what happened to group A any less bad, or their complaints any less valid.

THE ARGUMENT: LOL FANBOY / LOL HATER
WHERE WE SEE IT: In any discussion about a popular or contentious piece of media
HOW IT'S USED: As a lazy ad hominem
WHY I HATE IT: It's a lazy ad hominem. It's not even an INVENTIVE ad hominem. If you're going to throw rationality out the window and go for the personal attacks, at least be creative. Make it fun to read.

THE ARGUMENT: YOU SOUND LIKE AN ENTITLED GAMER!
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere anyone asks for anything
HOW IT'S USED: As a lazy ad hominem
WHY I HATE IT: Because it ruined a perfectly good word when we started applying it to ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. Now you're entitled if you ask for things you should genuinely have a right to feel entitled too, including products that actually work or have a basic level of quality control.

THE ARGUMENT: THIS IS SO BORING / THIS THREAD AGAIN / WE'RE ALL TIRED OF THIS
WHERE WE SEE IT: In any controversial or long running topic
HOW IT'S USED: As an expression of your disinterest in the conversation
WHY I HATE IT: What's the point? Stop telling other people what to talk about you boob. This is the internet equivalent of walking up to a conversation between strangers and audibly whining at them to change the topic.

THE ARGUMENT: ....AND MANY PEOPLE AGREE WITH ME!
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere someone wants to add some punch to their argument
HOW IT'S USED: As an appeal to popularity
WHY I HATE IT: Look, guy. You don't even know a statistically significant body of people, and you certainly haven't polled them to see if they agree with you. You're assuming they agree with you, because you are laboring under the delusion that is myside bias.

THE ARGUMENT: I BELIEVE IN A LITTLE THING CALLED FREEDOM OF SPEECH
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere someone is trying to justify being an asshole
HOW IT'S USED: As justification for being an asshole
WHY I HATE IT: You're being an asshole. Also, you being an asshole isn't a freedom of speech issue, it's a "you being an asshole" issue.

THE ARGUMENT: YOU DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO NOT BE OFFENDED!
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere someone is trying to justify being an asshole
HOW IT'S USED: As justification for being an asshole
WHY I HATE IT: You're being an asshole. There's a "War against censorship" side to this, but in 999 cases out of 1000 it's just some jackass defending their right to be a jackass.

THE ARGUMENT: THE RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR IS BROKEN!
WHERE WE SEE IT: Anywhere there is a random number generator
HOW IT'S USED: As an explanation for why the random number generator did not produce the results you wanted
WHY I HATE IT: Because you do not understand what random means.

Man, I could go on all night. I'll stop here.

You ninja'd half of my list. X-C They're also the ones that I particularly hate the most, specifically the free speech one. Free speech doesn't mean you have the right to be an obnoxious prick.

"YOU DON'T LIKE THIS GAME CAUSE YOU'RE SHIT AT IT!!!!"

I get this from a lot of my friends who tell me to buy COD and play online multiplayer (another argument coming up). I say I don't like COD. Finger pointing and flaming ensues.

I don't play COD because of those assholes. I'm not interested in ruining a perfectly fine evening due to them. And besides, I can throw it right back at those guys. I tell those that haven't played other games to try Dark Souls as a funny response; as a serious response, I roll my eyes and explain that not everything is for everyone.

"WHY YOU NO PLAY ONLINE MULTIPLAYER??!?!?"

Explained already. Not interested in playing assholes and ruining my evening.

"NOO00O0O0O0OO0O0OO0O0O0O0O0O0O0O0OO0O0O0O0B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Like you guys weren't the best at your game when you started. I dare you to go play Dwarf Fortress. You will need some help on your first try. So don't complain when others suck at the game.

Hence why I like the Souls community. We always help to the best of our ability, even though the person in question isn't that great at the game. Other communities also exist, but the Souls community sticks out as one of the friendliest for a game that looks to be catered to the elitist.

Oh, here's one that never fails to crack me up:

"STOP LIKING WHAT I LIKE!"

I don't think I need to explain this one.

I've got plenty more, they're just not coming to mind.

 

[Draken Steel]

"Its just a game"

Has some validity, there ARE people who seem to take things rather hard at times, but at the same time, different people have different priorities. If someone breaks a model ship you spent weeks building, or smashes your new TV that you worked X hours of overtime to get, do you just write it of as eh, its not important? I rather doubt it.

Just because YOU dont care about the game you are playing, doenst mean no one else does.

 

[spartandude]

"Its not out yet so you cant judge it"

i hear this everytime someone criticises something about an upcomming game, while yes they wont know if its shit or not you can still have an opinion about it, otherwise you must treat every game as eaqual until you play it so you must either play every game or no game/

"guys with big muscles are sexualised just as much as women are"

really? im not going to deny in some cases it is but do you really think James Vega is as sexualised as Miranda Lawson?
i get that someone being attractive is subjective but hardly any male muscle bound game characters have sexy designs compared to most female characters (bisexual talking here)

"You just have entitlment issues"

OH FUCK YOU!

"You cant compare these two things because they are different"

Thats why you CAN compare them!

 

[ComradeJim270]

"If you don't like it, make a better one yourself."

GRRAAARRRRGHHHHHHH!

What the fuck does that have to do with anything? I don't have to be Gordon Ramsey to deduce overcooked pasta taste like shit, I don't have to be Leonardo da Vinci to critize a crayon drawing a 5-year old made. Why do I have to be a game developer and hundreds of thousands dollars at my proposal to explain why your favorite game is shit?

Yes, how could I forget this? It's such a ridiculous argument. Games that people actually try to sell are deliberately made so they are not so esoteric only game developers can understand them. The idea that you need to be a talented game developer to critique them is absurd.

Of course, if you're talking about a game made by a small team on a limited budget, have the skills/talent, and really want to piss these people off, you can go "Ok, I will!"