Poll: "First World Problems"

[Mylinkay Asdara]

People get to complain, that's fine, about whatever - and I'm not going to pull the first world card on them. When people act out about what they're complaining about to the point that they are equating their problem with starving in a war torn nation by the level of emo they've ratcheted themselves up to or by direct verbal comparison - THEN I will say they are experiencing a First World problem and to adapt some better coping skills.

 

[Worgen]

Saying "first world problems" is just another way of saying "you don't matter". Its probably one of the most condescending things you can say to someone and if they only punch you in the face for it then you got off lucky.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

I don't think its really complaining as much as it is a really cheap and lazy attempt at humour. Saying "that's a first world problem, deal with it" is just a dickhead thing to say, isn't witty at all. I'd rather someone just shut up and say nothing at all than receive a "first world problem" response.

Err, I always thought that "first world problems" referred to people making an enormously big deal out of trivial shit.

Like someone spilling soda all over themselves and then declaring that their whole life is ruined and that they might as well just drop dead.

That's what it should refer to, but the phrase has been overused and mutated into something useless.

 

[lacktheknack]

People complain too much. That's all there really is to it.

There are legitimate complaints and illegit complaints.

And many...MANY people seem to miss out on which is which.

This. As it is with everything.

Some things just aren't worth complaining about, and it's eleven or twelve different kinds of irritating when that's what people complain about.

See: Yesterday's "Wii Us can be bricked if you don't follow simple instructions!" debacle.

the Wii U bricking thing was fucked up, considering the default setting turned the system off, causing several systems to just suddenly commit suicide, and most firmware updates aren't 5 freaking gigabytes. And complaining that your 300-350 dollar brand new gaming system is bricked before you even play it, even if you somehow caused it (especially if you caused it considering at that point you voided your own warranty) is certainly something worth complaining about, and if you don't think so, could I have a couple bucks because you clearly care nothing for your money.

As I said in the other thread:

IT DOES NOT TURN OFF AUTOMATICALLY MID-UPDATE.

TURNING OFF ANY ELECTRONICS IN A FIRMWARE UPDATE WILL BRICK THEM.

WARRANTIES COVER POWER OUTAGES.

I. AM. FULL. OF. RAGE.

(MAYBE IF I TYPE IN ALL-CAPS, PEOPLE WILL READ THIS STUFF. SHOUTING IS NOT DIRECTED DIRECTLY AT THE GUY I'M QUOTING.)

The only remotely valid point you have is the 5 GB download (still waiting to hear if that's even true), but that's barely noticeable in this day and age.

The whole thing reeks of a smear campaign fueled by ignorance of ALL electronics and people being too lazy to Google stuff. The part that makes me scream in all-caps is that it's WORKING.

As I said in the other thread, people are mocking the kettle (the Wii U) for being black when the pots, pans, stove and bowls (all other electronics) are ALSO black (ie. brick if turned off in a firmware update).

 

[MrBenSampson]

I thought the phrase "first world problems" was just meant to be funny. The first time I heard that line was when I was in a hotel with a friend while we were on vacation, and I said to him that I couldn't sleep because the digital clock was too bright. After that I couldn't sleep because I was laughing too much.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

I think it's perfectly legitimate. How big a problem is is relative to your normal state of existence. If you lead a normal life in a first-world country, a product not working as advertised is a legitimate problem. If you lived a hypothetically perfect life, where nothing was imperfect at all, a loose piece of gravel on the road would be a legitimate problem, because it is a deviation from what you expect. I imagine we see a loose piece of gravel in the same way some starving South Africans might see our game not working properly. And possibly our hypothetical perfect person may see a game not working properly as we see someone starving to death. But in all cases, the problems are problems realtive to the person experiencing them.

But who am I to say. This is all subjective.

 

[Carlos Storm]

"First world problems"
Do they exist? ofcourse, but people are allowed to complain, alternately other people who don't see those problems as something worth complaining about are also allowed to kindly paraphrase "stfu".

Actual FWPs can be divided into 3 categories:
1.)Problems stemming from our own lazyness(at the time of writing I'm a littler thirsty but don't want to walk across the room to my minifridge to grab a pop, maybe in a bit)
2.) Problems stemming from our own pickyness(I get to the minifridge and find out there's only sprite, but I'm really in the mood for coke)
3.) Problems that occur because of our fancy/expensive toys/electronics/luxeries (OT kind of falls into this imo, the latest gaming fad not running at 60fps(I was under the impression human eyes couldn't detect much more than 30 or in that area, anything past that just seems extremely indulgent) on the precise setting you want it to does strike me as a FWP) The NigaHiga video had a good example of this: "My new iphone doesn't fit in my skinnyjean pocket.
EDIT: I just thought of another fwp for this category, 0 in the font the escapist uses has a dot in it and keeps making me think my screen is dirty


Yeah people will use the term condescendingly, we human being will always find loopholes or ways to warp phrases, atmomic structures, laws, etc. we're awesome like that.

People complain too much. That's all there really is to it.

There are legitimate complaints and illegit complaints.

And many...MANY people seem to miss out on which is which.

This. As it is with everything.

Some things just aren't worth complaining about, and it's eleven or twelve different kinds of irritating when that's what people complain about.

See: Yesterday's "Wii Us can be bricked if you don't follow simple instructions!" debacle.

the Wii U bricking thing was fucked up, considering the default setting turned the system off, causing several systems to just suddenly commit suicide, and most firmware updates aren't 5 freaking gigabytes. And complaining that your 300-350 dollar brand new gaming system is bricked before you even play it, even if you somehow caused it (especially if you caused it considering at that point you voided your own warranty) is certainly something worth complaining about, and if you don't think so, could I have a couple bucks because you clearly care nothing for your money.

As I said in the other thread:

IT DOES NOT TURN OFF AUTOMATICALLY MID-UPDATE.

TURNING OFF ANY ELECTRONICS IN A FIRMWARE UPDATE WILL BRICK THEM.

WARRANTIES COVER POWER OUTAGES.

I. AM. FULL. OF. RAGE.

(MAYBE IF I TYPE IN ALL-CAPS, PEOPLE WILL READ THIS STUFF. SHOUTING IS NOT DIRECTED DIRECTLY AT THE GUY I'M QUOTING.)

The only remotely valid point you have is the 5 GB download (still waiting to hear if that's even true), but that's barely noticeable in this day and age.

The whole thing reeks of a smear campaign fueled by ignorance of ALL electronics and people being too lazy to Google stuff. The part that makes me scream in all-caps is that it's WORKING.

As I said in the other thread, people are mocking the kettle (the Wii U) for being black when the pots, pans, stove and bowls (all other electronics) are ALSO black (ie. brick if turned off in a firmware update).

First: your picture scares me and will most likely give me nightmares for years to come, I hope you're happy and a good day to you kind sir.

Second: The allcaps did indeed work as I am considering purchasing a WiiU and will now make sure to follow the instructions as to not burn $300-$350

Third: I miss the days when I could just plug a game into my system and play the god damn game without 20+ minutes of updates and installation, a sentiment I'm certain I'm not the first nor the last to utter.

 

[The_Echo]

Complaints, I think, are always context-sensitive.

That said, the First World Problems thing has its moments. But it really does seem kind of like a way to complain a lot without really complaining, if that makes sense.

 

[FallenTraveler]

Complaining about first world problems?

First world problems dude.

Anyway. It's not that you shouldn't complain, it's that you could be doing something considered more worthwhile than complaining about something silly. So, instead of complaining about how guild wars 2 doesn't run at the resolution you want, you could be helping starving children. See, much more effective use of time.

I think this really originated from people saying truly moronic things, now it has expanded to be about anything other than war, death and destruction.

 

[Zydrate]

They're pretty funny. Whether they're legit or not is on a case-by-case basis.

But someone already stated my thoughts. If we were banned from complaining just over the virtue that "someone else has it worse", then only one person could complain, ever. That in itself, isn't fair.

 

[loc978]

To me, the first world problems response is there to mock someone being childish about entertainment. It's fine to detail a gaming problem and ask about a solution. When you get extremely emotional about it, attributing a level of importance that it just doesn't deserve that you start deserving a little light mockery.
At least your center-channel speaker still works.

In other words, don't ***** about inconveniences. Fix 'em or deal with it. Not sure why so many people didn't learn that growing up...

 

[ProtoChimp]

Its pretentious. Its okay to complain about problems, even little ones as long as you don't make a big deal about it. Someone who spouts first world problems is an attention seeking ***** trying to sound clever, when they themselves probably do it more than anyone else.