Over-Recommended

[MetalMagpie]

Have you ever had a game recommended to you so many times (and which such levels of enthusiasm) that it actually put you off playing it?

It seems counter-intuitive (surely if lots of people like it, then it should be worth trying?) but I've noticed myself having this problem and wondered how many other people do.

My best example is the Mass Effect series. At first, I didn't play Mass Effect 1 simply because it was an RPG (not a genre I completely hate but hardly my first love in life either). Then the 9/10 reviews started rolling in. Then I noticed forum threads calling it one of the best games of all time. Then close friends insisted I just had to play it. Then the hype started for Mass Effect 2. Then...

Well, I still haven't played Mass Effect 1. Not out of any logical reason. Not because I think I wouldn't enjoy it. I haven't played it because - behind all my pretensions of being a mature adult - I am a small, petty, spiteful individual and I don't want to play it. I have come to hate a game franchise that I have never actually played.

Anyone else with a similar experience? Did you ultimately play the game? Did you enjoy it?

 

[Zhukov]

The ridiculous degree of hype surrounding the release of Skyrim managed to put me off. When people start shouting "game of the year" about a game that they haven't even played, the warning bells start ringing.

After about a month I got it anyway, if only to see what the fuss was about.

Like all Bethesda games, at first I really liked it. Then the fun slowly drained away until it came to rest at the level of 'adequate'.

 

[Tiswas]

Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Skyrim.

The problem was that after all the hype and stuff I went in with high expectations. And found them all to be very very very average. And Skyrim was just broken and shouldn't have been released in the state it was.

 

[Dandark]

Battlefield 3. I heard it was good from a friend who got it and was thinking about trying it even after the failure of a beta. However there was no way for me to try it, usaully I would rent a game that I am on the fence about to try it out but I can't play multiplayer at all without paying for an online pass.

That and the stupid hype really put me off, especially when people started calling it the and I quote "best shooter of this generation".
Im glad I didn't get it now, it doesn't look very good from what I have seen, essentially Cod with vehicles and bigger maps.

 

[hazabaza1]

Valve games. My god, the amount of jerking off for Portal and Half Life 2 made me expect a lot better than average. Sadly, average was all I got.

 

[Scrustle]

No not really. I generally don't listen to people when they go on and on about how great a game is. I usually just acknowledge that it might be something to check out but after that I tend to ignore any more talk about it. It's just people repeating the same stuff so I don't see why I should pay attention.

But I do have friends who were put off a game for that reason. I have one friend who doesn't like Zelda because people kept going on about it to him about how great it was when he wasn't interested. I have another friend who hates even hearing the name Portal because they had a friend who just went on about it non-stop praising how it's the greatest thing man kind has ever created. I would probably hate Portal too if that happened to me.

 

[GundamSentinel]

No, I usually make up my own mind whether or not I want to buy a game. I never really listen to recommendations. I do however sometimes get annoyed by people shouting GOTY and giving praising reviews before a game is out. Doesn't put me off buying it if I want it though.

 

[DioWallachia]

Have you ever had a game recommended to you so many times (and which such levels of enthusiasm) that it actually put you off playing it?

This exist from a long time:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HypeAversion

Now something weird happened, for a minute i tough that you refereed it as: "Have YOU recomended a game with enthusiasm that actually put YOU off from playing it?"

 

[BENZOOKA]

I can't see recommendations ruining a game for anyone, unless you're the kind of person who has problems with being convinced to think otherwise or jumping into the train after everyone else.

Some people with major enthusiasm can of course use their coloring brushes to describe the game to extents that are clearly exaggerated without knowing any facts beforehand. But that only tells it tickles all the right spots for the people in question.

And is there actually someone who takes unconditional value in random people in the Internet, praising games for you, who don't know you at all nor any of your gaming tastes and preferences.

Hype is a completely another matter then again. That can raise expectations up to where they can't be met.

 

[Lilani]

I avoided Skyrim until just this last weekend. After it became clear the fanboys were overhyping it beyond anything it could possibly be, I decided I was not going to buy it at launch. But now I have it, and I'm enjoying it a bit more than I thought I would. I still don't regret not buying it at launch (saved me $20 and ultimately I've got the same experience).

 

[AlternatePFG]

The ridiculous degree of hype surrounding the release of Skyrim managed to put me off. When people start shouting "game of the year" about a game that they haven't even played, the warning bells start ringing.

After about a month I got it anyway, if only to see what the fuss was about.

Like all Bethesda games, at first I really liked it. Then the fun slowly drained away until it came to rest at the level of 'adequate'.

Yeah, I have to agree with you. It annoyed me when people were shouting "Skyrim - Game of the Year" before it even came out.

I actually bought the game on release due to personal interest, and while I can say I've gotten more than my money's worth of playtime from the game, I just feel like that time wasn't well spent, if that makes any sense. Not a bad game by any means, I mean I enjoyed it for awhile, but it just feels to me like a glorified timesink nowadays.

I will take recommendations on games though, because I've benefited more from them than I've been burned. Obviously I won't take recommendations for games that even haven't been released yet, but a lot of my favorite games I played because people pointed me in the direction of them.

 

[Smooth Operator]

That's a common source of fandom hate, it's almost like a social inertia law, every fanboy overreaction will result in an equal and opposite reaction.

I get that reaction all the time, nothing in this world is perfect so the moment someone pulls that out of their ass my bullshit-o-meter will be going nuts.

 

[MetalMagpie]

This exist from a long time:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HypeAversion

Cheers for the link. *disappears into TV Tropes*

 

[efrafa_6]

Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Skyrim.

The problem was that after all the hype and stuff I went in with high expectations. And found them all to be very very very average. And Skyrim was just broken and shouldn't have been released in the state it was.

I agree with all of this, but I love Skyrim.

 

[TehCookie]

Okami, Psychonauts, Beyond Good and Evil, SotC. Sure they're all good games but in any thread that asks for a non-mainstream game they're listed a billion times. Being the hipster that I am I played most of them before they were recommended so I can't say it put me off though.

 

[krazykidd]

I have yet to play portal 2 . I really liked portal ( bought it after everyone and their mother recommended it to me), but when he same thing happened with portal 2 , i was just like meh , someday , still haven't played it though , and in all honesty , i don't really want to .

 

[MetalMagpie]

Being the hipster that I am I played most of them before they were recommended so I can't say it put me off though.

What actually is a hipster? Not sure we have that term in the UK. From the context, I'm guessing it's someone who buys a lot of stuff?