Poll: Is the Escapist mostly Anti-Mainstream? (Users more so)
- Thread starter Korten12
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I don't think it matters. People have individual opinions, and even if they are governed by factors such as 'who else thinks the same', they're still their own opinions. We are many persons, not one people, if you see what I mean.
Mainstream is a funny thing... Always if you ask somebody about it, then it's always "those other people" who are mainstream.
Personally when having to describe this site I'd go for "intelligent" - inherent sense of superiority included. That looks like anti-mainstream, but is subtly different.
Personally when having to describe this site I'd go for "intelligent" - inherent sense of superiority included. That looks like anti-mainstream, but is subtly different.
I think the question is posed a bit too simply to answer without qualifying.
I'm not insulting anyone, but do to the overly sensitive nature of some of the Escapist's demographic, I have to state this anyway: I do consider myself a nerd (geek, really, but that's a discussion for another time), and I use the term, usually, with affection.
Escapist is a nerd site. I wouldn't call it a geek site because (OK, I guess I am discussing it here) there isn't nearly so much emphasis on movies (aside from Bob) and music as on video games, and because whenever a socio-political or scientific issue comes up, there's far more flaming and weak sources (wikipedia, comments sections from political blogs and Yahoo groups) and you're-clearly-an-idiot-for-not-agreeing-with-what-I've-never-questioned-or-researched attitude than logic, credible sources and calm, rational debate. I encounter more users nitpicking and heatedly arguing over such things as the science of dilithium crystals in Star Trek (which isn't exactly hard science fiction) or the arbitrary, endless debate over whether Ponies rule! or Ponies Sux! than I find thoughtful critiques of, say, Christopher Nolan's weaknesses as an action director relative to his peers.
I said all that to say, Escapist is a nerd site. That's decidedly un-mainstream, but not anti-mainstream, at least not necessarily. There are jilted angry teens (like a younger version of myself) who have only in recent years discovered how much of our world is manufactured bullshit and who encourage others not to be clones or sheep. Within this group are a smaller number who really don't like anything that's popular that hasn't piqued their interest. But if you check out a "favorite pop songs" thread some time, you ain't gonna find the Eels or Rilo Kiley or the Apples in Stereo. It's bubblegum dance pop, which apparently quite a few Escapists love. I'll refer you now to one of the greatest up-and-coming comics, writer and star of Community, former writer on 30 Rock, Donald Glover.
"Nerds just like weird, specific things. Ask Kanye West what he likes some time. 'I like robots and teddy bears!'"
I'm not insulting anyone, but do to the overly sensitive nature of some of the Escapist's demographic, I have to state this anyway: I do consider myself a nerd (geek, really, but that's a discussion for another time), and I use the term, usually, with affection.
Escapist is a nerd site. I wouldn't call it a geek site because (OK, I guess I am discussing it here) there isn't nearly so much emphasis on movies (aside from Bob) and music as on video games, and because whenever a socio-political or scientific issue comes up, there's far more flaming and weak sources (wikipedia, comments sections from political blogs and Yahoo groups) and you're-clearly-an-idiot-for-not-agreeing-with-what-I've-never-questioned-or-researched attitude than logic, credible sources and calm, rational debate. I encounter more users nitpicking and heatedly arguing over such things as the science of dilithium crystals in Star Trek (which isn't exactly hard science fiction) or the arbitrary, endless debate over whether Ponies rule! or Ponies Sux! than I find thoughtful critiques of, say, Christopher Nolan's weaknesses as an action director relative to his peers.
I said all that to say, Escapist is a nerd site. That's decidedly un-mainstream, but not anti-mainstream, at least not necessarily. There are jilted angry teens (like a younger version of myself) who have only in recent years discovered how much of our world is manufactured bullshit and who encourage others not to be clones or sheep. Within this group are a smaller number who really don't like anything that's popular that hasn't piqued their interest. But if you check out a "favorite pop songs" thread some time, you ain't gonna find the Eels or Rilo Kiley or the Apples in Stereo. It's bubblegum dance pop, which apparently quite a few Escapists love. I'll refer you now to one of the greatest up-and-coming comics, writer and star of Community, former writer on 30 Rock, Donald Glover.
"Nerds just like weird, specific things. Ask Kanye West what he likes some time. 'I like robots and teddy bears!'"
Heck yes. If it's even remotely successful/mainstream and isn't made by Valve or Bioware then it basically becomes illegal to do or say ANYTHING that in any way implies that it is anything other than the spawn of the Anti-Christ.
And that can be applied to just about anything, not just games.
And that can be applied to just about anything, not just games.
The people behind the Escapist are as mainstream as you can get. This is of course a generalization - Russ Pitts falls into this category much more than the Extra Credits crew - because being a game designer, even if obediently holding opinions that are in line with the Game Industry Philosophy Of the Week, is not mainstream in itself.
The community is mostly mainstream. Again, this is a generalization, but it should come as a surprise to nobody. The Escapist is designed to attract as many people as possible and is focused around a very broad and mainstream topic itself - gaming.
More elitist places on the web would be SomethingAwful, bay12 (makers of Dwarf Fortess) forums or the glittering gems of hatred at No Mutants Allowed.
Not that mainstream is something negative while elitist is positive, in and my itself.
The community is mostly mainstream. Again, this is a generalization, but it should come as a surprise to nobody. The Escapist is designed to attract as many people as possible and is focused around a very broad and mainstream topic itself - gaming.
More elitist places on the web would be SomethingAwful, bay12 (makers of Dwarf Fortess) forums or the glittering gems of hatred at No Mutants Allowed.
Not that mainstream is something negative while elitist is positive, in and my itself.
Thing is, I've seen very many games that were financially successful and that's an objective statement that I can't dispute. On the other hand I've played very few games which I can call subjectively good.Aeshi said:
The thing to note is that being successful and being good are two completely unrelated things. As you pointed out this doesn't apply only to games. While not necessarily mutually exclusive, the film that wins the Golden Palm isn't very likely to be the season's blockbuster in terms of revenue.
We've learned to accept that bad movies (Fast and the Furious ect) can be a commercial success despite being outright bad. I wonder why can't we apply the same metric to games?
The thing about mainstream games is that you're very easily going to find someone that doesn't like it, sometimes it is because "they're mainstream" and it's cool to not like a mainstream title, though it might also be because it's "not the right mainstream title" or possibly that it's just not on the console that the user has.
Also whatever game you make a thread about you're more likely to get more anti-game X users than users that like game X, because everyone feels the need to show their dislike for the game, because the Internet is a hostile environment after all.
Also whatever game you make a thread about you're more likely to get more anti-game X users than users that like game X, because everyone feels the need to show their dislike for the game, because the Internet is a hostile environment after all.
I think that the users here tend to be younger (largely teenagers, whether chronologically or mentally) and as such want something against which to rebel. I chose "maybe" because neither of the other options seemed to fit.
Its simple, the people who come to this site tend to be gaming veterans, so they've (we've) gotten tired of the run of the mill type stuff and naturally prefer innovative, or original, or just plain different games.Korten12 said:
Does being anti-misanthrope make me mainstream? Just checking.Abandon4093 said:
Seriously though, I don't see much more anti-mainstream bias here than I do anyplace else. Loads of "I hate humanity, I'm so dark and edgy." types though. But thats just one posters observation.
Wha...??Abandon4093 said:
Yahtzee doesn't hate any games. He loves each and every one of them, so much so that he wishes they were made a whole lot better.