The "Me Too" syndrome

[TheSteamPunk]

...Isn't all you people agreeing with the first post an example of the "Me Too" syndrome?

Point is, it's very rare to stumble across something completely new. The best we can hope for at this point (gaming wise) is for some bloke to come up with two things that haven't been combined to death. (Like cavemen and strategy, for instance)

 

[Saevus]

Probably because mainstream games are the worst offenders of the 'Me Too' syndrome. Make a shooter with ridiculously good graphics, don't make any innovations, keep it around 10 hours long, give it a sci-fi theme, and you have nearly every game that has been a worthwhile success in the past few years.

And then you have Halo 3... and that's it. Honestly, that is the only recent Sci-Fi FPS I can think of and even that is set mostly on earth. All of the other popular FPS (Bioshock, Half-life 2 episode 2, CoD4, portal etc) have not been very "Me too", each of them bring something very new to the FPS table. Some more than others but that depends greatly on the developer.

Sorry, but what exactly did HL 2 Ep 2 bring that was fresh and new? It was more Half Life, just with some juicy plot injected into it.

Gears of War and its highly anticipated sequel, Crysis, Resistance, Halo series, Half-life 2 series (hasn't done anything revolutionary since HL2 itself and the Source engine is getting damn old). And then the ones that weren't quite so successful, like Prey.

Mainstream does not mean bad. Bioshock was good. Half-Life 2 was good.

Oblivion, on the other hand, was a filthy, unclean offering that was a complete disappointment compared to Morrowind - when a game needs third-part mods to be good, the developer has failed utterly. All the people who declared it the RPG of the year deserve to eat the fucking curb.

...Isn't all you people agreeing with the first post an example of the "Me Too" syndrome?

Damn right it is. Don't you know it's cool to hate the big players, now? USA, Halo, JRPGs, etc.

 

[mahlerfan999]

I also agree with Purple, far too many people "suddenly" wanted to talk about immersion, the funny thing was that too many people didn't really know what he meant by immersion.

I disagree with this, for counter evidence simply google the phrase 'oblivion "deep, immersive" ' and you'll see what I mean. I like the game, but it's been very annoying how fans (and critics) have used that phrase over and over to describe the game since it's release, when it's not even an apt description! It didn't start with Yahtzee, it ends with Yahtzee. To say that Oblivion is not immersive is to provide a direct rebuttal to the hype. The people who are now saying it's not immersive are not "me too!" people (well okay some of them are), they're the ones that have been trying to say it since 2006 but have been barked down by aggressive fanboys. Who are these people? Why do so many people personally identify with every game they play, every novel they read, every movie they watch?

Back on topic, I'm puzzled to even see people saying that overusing the word "immersion" started with Yahtzee's rant! It's been a buzzword thrown around in reviews of rpgs and sandbox games for years. I don't think I have ever encountered a game where the use of that otherwise wonderful word would make for an apt description.

I would like to see the word "immersion" banned from the gamer's lexicon, at least until mainstream critics can learn to use the word sensibly and honestly.

 

[the protaginist]

Let me give you some examples that you could do.
- After the The world end with you review by yahtzee, did you notice that alot of people started saying JRPG's sucked? Perharps you didnt liked JRPG's from the start. You would probably say "Shut up RAM".

it's funny,becuase I actually started playing Jrpg's after yahtzee's review.

 

[Sylocat]

There have been shining examples of Me Too Syndrome that I can mention. One teacher in my classes who used to work in the games industry remembers that when The Matrix first came out and was such a huge hit, the people who ran the design team were all repeating, "Make it more like The Matrix, make it more like The Matrix," on and on for ages. Something's a hit, so you try and copy it.
Same with the people trying to rip off Pixar by making a ton of CGI flicks about talking animals with celebrity voices, and covering up their complete lack of writing talent by substituting pop-culture references for humor. News flash, people: The reason Pixar's movies are so good is because they have GOOD WRITERS, not because of the fancy graphics.

And yes, I realize there is nothing new under the sun, but you could at least try and copy the GOOD elements about something, rather than just jumping on the latest pop-culture bandwagon without giving the slightest thought to if it makes something good or not. For just one example, the reason that so many shooters LOOK like Halo and/or Gears of War is because the mass market they are targeting only looks at the graphics before buying the game, so if it looks like Halo, they'll assume it's a similar game, and be all over it.

The fans are not immune either. I am so sick of idiots shouting "The cake is a lie" whenever anyone within earshot mentions cake in any context whatsoever that it's almost ruining Portal for me. After the Borat movie came out, I couldn't go anywhere without hearing someone quoting him in that ridiculous accent.

As for Yahtzee's fans, I have a sterling example of Me Too Syndrome: In the Brawl and Mailbag comments threads, the people who agreed with Yahtzee outnumbered the people who disagreed with him by about a 4 to 1 margin, and yet were still complaining of persecution by an endless army of Brawl fanboys who had allegedly descended upon the thread. Why? Because Yahtzee had said there would be a huge reaction.

Same goes for JRPGs. Granted, some people already hated JRPGs before, but how many of them ever used the acronym "JRPG" before Yahtzee said it? How many of them insisted on thinking of it in terms of "JRPGs vs. WRPGs" until Yahtzee did? And how many of them started treating FFVII like the be-all and end-all of JRPGs?

 

[LewsTherin]

I enjoy JRPGs for the most part. Star Ocean, the older Final Fantasies, Kingdom Hearts, Fire Emblem, what can I say, they're classics.

i myself felt a twinge of doubt after hearing Yahtzee's Oblivion review, but all in all, it is a decent, if not one of the best current RPG out there.

FIGHT THE FLOW!

 

[Chartist]

As long as there's a bandwagon people are gonna jump on it, it's always nice to feel like you're part of the in crowd, as for games/films/music/blah why jump on a bandwagon when you can imitate it to the degree that(hopefully) people can't tell which is which.

 

[Andraste]

I very much agree with the OP (me too ). As Oscar Wilde put it: When people agree with me, I feel that I must be wrong.

I totally get what you're saying, but that you said, essentially, "we agree" and then quoted that from Oscar Wilde, I giggled. Just a little.

I think it's only natural for us humans to want to belong. Standing out from a crowd, sticking to your opinions can be tough, especially on the internet where people are all too ready to viciously call out and hammer people in disagreements.

 

[HSIAMetalKing]

I've been saying JRPGs sucked for a long time! Fuckin' Yahtzee gets all the credit, though-- I suppose people never listen to me because I don't have a fantastic British accent.

 

[ideitbawx]

too many people try to fit in because no one knows a good way to stand out. you see it everywhere, not just in arts and entertainment. look at the dating scene (for those of you who do), and look at the 95% of the guys who try too hard to be unique and wind up just looking the same as everyone else, but the 5% who always seem to "hog the chicks" has something the others just don't have. so the others (again) try too hard to figure it out and just make asses of themselves, so they wind up back where they started again.

truth is, that 5% figured out the right way to stand out, and all the other 95% try to do is rip them off every way they can: look what microsoft did with halo, and the shitstorm that followed. and guess what? PEOPLE CAN TELL!! the only reason the rest of the garbage gets accepted is because there are no other options. if there were better original titles that weren't bogged down with bad controls or a prog-rock album with serious pop appeal that didn't sound like all those nickelback wannabe's or if hollywood stopped making fucking sequels to everything, all the dross we're talking about wouldn't even be on our radars.

 

[Jak The Great]

I've been saying JRPGs sucked for a long time! Fuckin' Yahtzee gets all the credit, though-- I suppose people never listen to me because I don't have a fantastic British accent.

I'm going to call you on that one since you have a DragonQuest 8 avatar, but it's all good

As for the Me Too thing, has anybody here tried creating something that they thought was completely original only to find out that it is almost a rip off of some other thing that you have either never heard of or never seen?

I had that happen to me when I was in a Screen writing class and the idea in which I thought up was apparently a complete rip of Blade Runner. The funny thing was that I have never seen Blade Runner so I had no idea I was ripping it off.

This isn't made to excuse the gaming or media companies for making clones, but there are times in which this type of situation happens. I especially don't excuse game companies as there isn't a bazillion games coming out every month so there's no reason they can't check their work.

 

[Johnn Johnston]

When a producer or businessman hears about an idea that is popular, they jump on the bandwagon to make some cash. They make money, proving that ripping things off works, and it sure is irritating.

Sequels to successful movies, other game devs ripping off successful games... as I said. Irritating, but so long as it makes money (or, on a smaller scale, makes someone feel popular), it will just continue.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

I like all forms of RPG- western or otherwise.

However, the latest gen of consoles are just PS2-era games rehashed with better graphics. Thus proving that both the 360 AND PS3 AND the Wii are SODDING AWFUL. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD THEY BE BOUGHT. IT REPRESENTS A WASTE OF PRECIOUS MONEY AND TIME.

I can honestly think of no exceptions. Which makes me angry.


However, I think that not putting a german campaign on the original campaign was pure laziness. 'Oh no, we can't have the player killing Americans!' But it's all right to kill british people, you hypocritical swine? It is? Oh well then. Can anyone reccomend a good mod for me that will allow me to fight British vs American Skirmish battles?

Feur Frei, mit der Firefly.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

i kinda agree everyone hops on the "me too band wagon"

look at things like star wars, spider-man, indiana jones iv and such, everyone follows what everyone else says and doesn't even pay attention to the why they don't like it. i've heard the same tired arguments for each one

i personally don't always follow the trend, i'd rather carve my own path instead of following the one made by someone else

 

[birdbrain18]

kinda like web comics

 

[jebussaves88]

Some "Me toos" that are just way too commmon:
"Halo sux"
"George Bush is stoopid" (Not that I'm disagreeing, its just already been covered)
"Oblivion isn't immersive"
"Psychonauts is one of the best games ever".

Before Yahtzee, I bet the haters were a minority. I frickin' love Oblivion, and found it very immersive, for three months.

There will always be the back up mainstream whose very aim is to not be the mainstream. The kind who say Halo, Killzone, Final Fantasy, Gears of War and Metal Gear are bad. Originally, these would either have been an honest opinion or a "fashion statement". Now it is mostly, as I see it, a mainstream idea on the internet to hate on Halo etc.

And btw, there are some Adventure games of the last gen that are far better than Psychonauts. My favourite being Oddworld: Strangers Wrath

 

[Break]

Did you ever felt this effect? Do you feel it's present around you? AM I RANTING OR YOU FEEL I'M GOING WITH SOMETHING??????

Wait, when did people being sheep stop being common knowledge?

 

[Unknower]

Has anyone else noticed that the beginning of the thread matters a lot how the thread will continue? For example, if in a Halo-thread most of the first posts praise Halo, rest of the thread is probably mostly pro-Halo but if the first posts bash Halo, rest of the thread is probably anti-Halo.

I think that's because people are more inclined to post if previous posts fit to their opinion.

I also find that when Yahtzee hates a lot of people start hating the game, Oblivion for example. Before that review I don't think I had seen Oblivion written here but after that the review everyone suddenly hated it.

It might have something to do with people being reminded about the game rather than lots of people suddenly changing their opinions.

 

[nutmeggles]

I find that people tend to blame Yahtzee for anyone declaring hatred for anything. You think there weren't haters before Yahtzee? Why do you think he's so popular?