Poll: A random thought to ponder...

[latenightapplepie]

Their prices are terribly high.

That's all I have to say. I won't shop there unless I know I can't get the product anywhere else.

 

[linwolf]

I like Gamestop. Never buy games there, but there are a huge selection of cheap b-movies at the one near me.

 

[Trivun]

We don't have Gamestop here in Blighty, although I believe that the company is trying to set up a small number of stores in places like London or Northern Ireland or something (not entirely certain, though don't the Republic of Ireland have Gamestop themselves?). So I answered the poll based on Gamestop's equivalents in the UK. That is GAME and Gamestation.

Overall, I generally like both stores. The layout isn't too bad and is easy to navigate, and their preowned policies are both okay (I managed to get Bioshock 1 and 2 together for just £20 in a pre-owned deal at GAME, and I'm going to get a load of great stuff like Lost Planet and Gears 2 in their '4 for £20' deal soon too), though admittedly they do slightly underpay for pre-owned titles unless you get store credit instead. Regarding other gamers, I don't generally do so in either store, but the staff are friendly generally and I do sometimes enjoy chatting with them while waiting for a sale to go through on the system or while they're fetching my new disk from the stockroom .

So overall, I have no problem with either store. Hell, I've even applied countless times to both stores for a part-time job, though to no avail (not that it matters anymore now I have a job at Waitrose...)...

 

[Imp Poster]

Now, on to the discussion bit. I've only been on the forums for a short while (lurked for 3 or 4 months, finally made an account a couple of weeks ago) and I've noticed an interesting trend. It seems like the vast majority or this community hates Gamestop with a passion. There are a few that seem to be indifferent, or even like Gamestop, but the vast majority seem to dislike Gamestop and its practices.

However, most of this hatred seems unbiased, or at the very least unexplained. I cant count how many times I've seen somebody say "GAWD I HATE GAEMSTOP, THEY ARE LIEK SUPA BAD!!!111ONehundredELEventYOne". Of course, for all the idiots and trolls, there are several users who explain their feeling with actual sentences, and use actual reasoning. The main reasons appear to be "Gutting" (removing a game from its case to remove shoplifting, thereby making it "used" to certain people) and people running into Gamestop employees who are jerks.

TL;DR, Do you like or hate Gamestop? What makes you hate/Like it? Do you not care? oh, and no flaming please.

Several, that's it? Well, maybe sometimes, we don't feel the need to explain ourselves everytime we don't like or like something? Does that make us a troll/idiot if we don't? So what if we don't like Gamestop? What does that got to do with you? Why do you care if we do or not?

You been lurking for months and came up with 2 things in general why people hate Gamestop. One being obvious, is it normal to like a company when their employees are jerks? Don't think Gamestop is special. It is just like any other company. You got jerks, you aren't going to be liked.

Gutting creates a double standard. So if I walk into Gamtstop, buy a game factory sealed, open it and right there, return it because I don't like the game based on let's say, the instruction booklet. Wouldn't Gamestop consider that game used and not give me my money back in full? Yet, Gamestop "guts" a factory sealed game and sells it as new? I don't care what their reason is for doing that. It has nothing to do with me as a consumer. I don't steal yet Gamestop graciously puts me in the same category of stealing so I have to deal with their problem of buying "gutted" games. That's what I don't like.

With that said, I do pre-order games at Gamestop. They don't gut those.

 

[Yoshemo]

I hate that they give me 5$ for a game that sold really well for 50$ 14 months ago.
I hate that they sold me Metal gear solid 3: Subsistence without including the 2nd disk, and covering up the "do not sell without both disks" part of the label.
I hate that they sold my friend Devil May Cry 2; also without the second disk.
But overall, I like the store

2.You should check the box before you leave, and watch the guy as he puts the game in the case. Yes we shouldnt have to but its the only way to be sure. It happens occassionally (as you obviously know) and sometimes it can be just a simple mixup. I had that happen once, pointed it out, and the guy immediately started looking for the second disc. When he found it he apologized and I was on my way.
I dont think I've EVER left the store with a used game before I took a good look at it and made sure it was in good shape. Of course, the problem seems to happen more with new guys than with the more experienced guys, but you never know...

At the time, I was new to the MGS series and didn't know it had 2 disks. I found out a couple months later and removed the price tag, which they convieniently put over the "do not sell without both disks." Its just a bit unfair

 

[crimsontaco]

I like Gamestop. Its mostly their staff though. I normally end up talking to them for about 10 minutes before I realize that I came to buy something. Business-wise, I do find it a little odd that their prices are pretty high for a game that came out 5 years ago.

 

[MrMoustaffa]

snip

When I said people who dont voice their opinion very well, I meant the people who act like idiotic 12 year olds and whine without posting a reason, or at least without showing any knowledge of the english language. The people who just say, "I hate gamestop because its garbage" and so on and so forth. If you looked at the sentence just before that you would know who I was actually talking about. You posted a reason, and had solid basis in your arguement, so you should be able to realize you arent one of those. Although honestly, you didnt need to chew me out like that, as I wasnt targeting you. Starting flame wars like that wont make people look favorably on your side of the arguement. It would be like if I told you to go F@#$ yourself because you dont like Gamestop. It would be a crude insult, and reflect people who like Gamestop in a bad light.

As for the "several" bit, that was just how I chose how to word it. That didnt LITERALLY mean I thought that there were only a few people who had legit reasons to hate gamestop. It was late when I wrote that and I just kind of typed it without reading into it that too much. I'm sure there are tons of people with good reasons, but I forgot to put that there, so just chill.

As for the reasons of people being displeased, those were the main 2 I noticed since I've been here, and I put down those because I figured they would be the most common. I've heard others, but they seemed too specific to mention in the poll, as there was most likely only going to be 1 or 2 people to vote for them. I tried to cover the most common topics since I only had 8 vote spots to use.

And finally, on the lurking bit, I always "lurk" a forum before I join it so I can get a good idea of how its users act. If I dont like the community, I dont join. If I do, I eventually make an account. Can you honestly say that you signed up for every single forum you've been on right away without "lurking" for a few days to see if it was a good forum? Plus, I have to admit I was kinda lazy and didnt feel like making an account up until recently, otherwise I probably would have signed up 2 or 3 months ago.

I didnt start this thread to incite a flame war, I just wanted to see if the hatred was as widespread as I thought it was, so just chill a little bit and relax. I'm not calling you out or trying to make you mad. However, at the time of writing this, it seems like I was wrong to think most of the people here hate it. If anything, the Escapist forums appear to be split pretty evenly right down the middle.

 

[MrMoustaffa]

@Yoshemo

Ah ok, I get you. I've been there (not with games, DVD's of all things) so I know that must've really sucked. Sorry if I sounded a little snobbish in that last post to you, I was trying to give advice, but after looking at it, realized I must have sounded like a complete jerk...

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Why is it that all games cost 60 bucks when everywhere else they're 50? Thats what i dont like about the store. And the fact everyone who works there is an elitist and yells at me for saying fallout 3 was boring.

 

[Imp Poster]

snip

When I said people who dont voice their opinion very well, I meant the people who act like idiotic 12 year olds and whine without posting a reason, or at least without showing any knowledge of the english language. The people who just say, "I hate gamestop because its garbage" and so on and so forth. If you looked at the sentence just before that you would know who I was actually talking about. You posted a reason, and had solid basis in your arguement, so you should be able to realize you arent one of those. Although honestly, you didnt need to chew me out like that, as I wasnt targeting you. Starting flame wars like that wont make people look favorably on your side of the arguement. It would be like if I told you to go F@#$ yourself because you dont like Gamestop. It would be a crude insult, and reflect people who like Gamestop in a bad light.

As for the "several" bit, that was just how I chose how to word it. That didnt LITERALLY mean I thought that there were only a few people who had legit reasons to hate gamestop. It was late when I wrote that and I just kind of typed it without reading into it that too much. I'm sure there are tons of people with good reasons, but I forgot to put that there, so just chill.

As for the reasons of people being displeased, those were the main 2 I noticed since I've been here, and I put down those because I figured they would be the most common. I've heard others, but they seemed too specific to mention in the poll, as there was most likely only going to be 1 or 2 people to vote for them. I tried to cover the most common topics since I only had 8 vote spots to use.

And finally, on the lurking bit, I always "lurk" a forum before I join it so I can get a good idea of how its users act. If I dont like the community, I dont join. If I do, I eventually make an account. Can you honestly say that you signed up for every single forum you've been on right away without "lurking" for a few days to see if it was a good forum? Plus, I have to admit I was kinda lazy and didnt feel like making an account up until recently, otherwise I probably would have signed up 2 or 3 months ago.

I didnt start this thread to incite a flame war, I just wanted to see if the hatred was as widespread as I thought it was, so just chill a little bit and relax. I'm not calling you out or trying to make you mad. However, at the time of writing this, it seems like I was wrong to think most of the people here hate it. If anything, the Escapist forums appear to be split pretty evenly right down the middle.

Yeah because I find this place to be the reverse of what you said. Only serveral people respond like the way you are complaining about. So I took offense to that and played some defense. Thats all. Chew you out? I was asking you about what you were saying. I didn't judge you or call you any names or even label you in any stereotype or even have an opinion on you. I just wanted you to think about what you were saying. As you can see of all the response you are getting, people can form an opinion that isn't of a 12 year old. That doesn't mean that we can't form an opinion like a 12 year old though. And lurking isn't bad but to come out of lurking and putting alot of us in a "12 year old box", well I just want out.

 

[MrMoustaffa]

snip

Yeah because I find this place to be the reverse of what you said. Only serveral people respond like the way you are complaining about. So I took offense to that and played some defense. Thats all. Chew you out? I was asking you about what you were saying. I didn't judge you or call you any names or even label you in any stereotype or even have an opinion on you. I just wanted you to think about what you were saying. As you can see of all the response you are getting, people can form an opinion that isn't of a 12 year old. That doesn't mean that we can't form an opinion like a 12 year old though. And lurking isn't bad but to come out of lurking and putting alot of us in a "12 year old box", well I just want out.

Hahahah it appears we just keep misunderstanding each other. Sorry about taking offense to the earlier comment, it just seemed like you were really angry at me. Stupid text, I cant tell if someone is mad or just stating an opinion :\ We're both trying to keep from getting a flame started, then we misread each other. Guess I need to type more clearly...

I didnt mean to lump you in again lol, and in hindsight, maybe I should have ommitted the "obnoxious 12 year old" part of my initial post. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

And yes I'm quite happy with how this thread is going, I'm hearing some interesting points of view on it. Oh, and sorry you've had some crappy experiences with Gamestop too.

 

[imnot]

I like the shop, not so big a fan of the staff.