We had a very angry year

[Sniper Team 4]

I never got angry over any of those things. The only two I even really paid attention to are the Tomb Raider and Mass Effect 3 ones. Tomb Raider because I simply could not believe that the developer who say that. Seriously, I still can't wrap my mind about that thought process. It makes me worried to play the game now because that sort of mentality went into it.

Mass Effect 3's ending didn't make me angry. It made me depressed. All that work, all those characters, all the time invested, both by me as a player and by the developers, only to have it end like that...it was like watching your favorite time choke at the finals and fall apart. I was fascinated to watch the response though. I loved how players dug up old quotes--mainly the, "This game won't have an ending with A B or C"--and threw them back in BioWare's face, because to me, they needed to be called on that.
What annoyed me to the point of anger was BioWare and some gaming journalists' response to gamers' anger. Yes, a lot of people were coming off as whiny brats, but a great deal more people did an excellent job of explaining why fans were upset, what was wrong with the ending, and just reminding BioWare what was promised. And they wouldn't hear any of it. They threw it back and called everyone names and refused to even admit they made a mistake. The sheer arrogance of BioWare and some gaming journalists was what made me angry.

 

[sanquin]

Mass Effect 3's backlash was justified...up to a point. The complaints, people wanting money back, the video's and forum threads...heck even the cupcakes were fine. Threats, or the child's play charity thing? That was pushing it too far.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I couldn't help but notice in Joe's video that while he is now on the fence for Bayonetta 2 being on the Wii U he wasn't in the previous video where he discussed about it being on the console in the first place which in the end just makes him look hypocritical and again I cannot stress that he really needs to admit to that.

That and the recent DS fans coming out of the woodwork to bash those that want to have an easy mode and also claiming it's the true holy grail of all games making everything else look like supposed utter shit and that it's truly "one of a kind".

 

[Erttheking]

That and the recent DS fans coming out of the woodwork to bash those that want to have an easy mode and also claiming it's the true holy grail of all games making everything else look like supposed utter shit and that it's truly "one of a kind".

Call me crazy, but I think you're exaggerating things, in addition to saying things that aren't true. Who has said that Dark Souls is the holy grail of all games?

 

[zehydra]

I've been saying this since March.
I'm ashamed to be part of the gaming community this year. (and yes, I include myself in that shame, thanks for asking)

Mere recreation turned into a boiling pot of seething stupidity.
We're damn near as bad as sports fans.

You're not a part of the gaming community, as there is no such thing.

There are gaming communities, but just because you are a gamer doesn't mean that you are a member of anything in particular. What another person does is completely irrelevant to how you should view yourself.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

That and the recent DS fans coming out of the woodwork to bash those that want to have an easy mode and also claiming it's the true holy grail of all games making everything else look like supposed utter shit and that it's truly "one of a kind".

Call me crazy, but I think you're exaggerating things, in addition to saying things that aren't true. Who has said that Dark Souls is the holy grail of all games?

I don't like to think I am since I've been seeing it all around the internet and the sheer desire to mock others who want an easy mode makes me just outright hate the fanbase all together like many of my friends have come to learn and while I don't mind Epicnamebro because he's quite calm on the situation but at the same time I dislike a lot of the community that voices against an easy mode.

But then again someone claimed TF fall of Cybetertron as their worst game of 2012 a game I love (basing this last piece from your avatar of course) but I don't feel I need to step up and call exaggeration simply because they said the game was shit for them.

I'm totally not up for a future debate of this sort because from the moment I got this quote I could tell it's a personal one at that and I know what the community can be like here and it's just not pretty so let's not bring the cards.

 

[Atmos Duality]

You're not a part of the gaming community, as there is no such thing.

I'll politely disagree there, and leave it at that.

There are gaming communities, but just because you are a gamer doesn't mean that you are a member of anything in particular. What another person does is completely irrelevant to how you should view yourself.

I *shouldn't* have to and I generally try not to, but I've grown up in a society that constantly decides to shoulder me with stupid misconceptions, stereotypes, and real consequences for those misconceptions and stereotypes.

Here I am years later, watching some of those very same misconceptions become reality.

So pardon me for finding the word "should" somewhat funny here.

as somone above said...as annoying as it is voicing anger is a good thing...somtimes

Well, it didn't do shit for me, except make me an even more cynical person.

I am curious; what did you get out of it?

 

[War Penguin]

Whoa, an Escapist forum post [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.393997-Arrested-ArmA-3-Devs-Denied-Appeal-for-Espionage-Charges?page=2#15946762] was used in that Angry Joe video. Cool.

I know, right? Glad to see that I'm not the only one who thought that when they heard it. I bet he's feeling fantastic about that. Yay! We're becoming more and more notable!

Anyway, yeah I agree with DustyDrB here for all of his points made. With an ever so slight exception to this one...

2. Mass Effect 3's ending: Unjustified. OK, it was a crappy ending and was going to be discussed. And it was going to be discussed vehemently. That was inevitable, and I'm actually with you on that. But the Better Business Bureau filing, the cupcakes, the threats, and all that other shit? Unjustified. There were other things about Mass Effect 3 to be more angry about (on-disc DLC, offline play restrictions). We hardly hear people talk about those.

I will agree with you on this that most fan outcries were horribly unjustified and absolutely crazy. But so was the gaming media's response to those outcries. Many journalists from sites like IGN and Kotaku called fans "whiny" and "entitled," pretty much treating them like children. I don't care how much you disagree with your fans, you just cannot insult your readership like that! I think what more or less what happened was that since fans couldn't rely on the gaming media to voice their displeasure, they had to do it themselves. And they most certainly did not do a good job, considering how they were used to having someone do a better job for them. Specifically, the goddamn gaming media!

I agree that things like complaining to the Federal Trade Commission was way out of line [small](but you gotta admit were pretty goddamn funny in hindsight)[/small], lobbing a whole group of people, some of whom were completely civil about it, and pretty much mocking all of them is most certainly not justified!

Here. This thread, that I so conveniently saved for such an occasion like this, pretty much voices my feelings perfectly:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.358206-Why-I-think-the-ME3-fans-are-actually-mad?

So yeah. I consider that outcry, while out of line in more ways than it was should have been, justified. Stupid reactions from so many fans, but the other side really should have played nice too.

 

[Vault101]

Well, it didn't do shit for me, except make me an even more cynical person.

I am curious; what did you get out of it?

if we remained silents all the time there would be no discussion, our voices would not be heard...why the hell do game forums and games sites even exist otherwise?

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I've been saying this since March.
I'm ashamed to be part of the gaming community this year. (and yes, I include myself in that shame, thanks for asking)

Mere recreation turned into a boiling pot of seething stupidity.
We're damn near as bad as sports fans.

I agree with this but I do have this to say: At least we don't riot in the streets.

In terms of controversies, I thought the ME3 ending thing just got way, WAY out of hand for something relatively trivial. I'm not saying Bob was right but come on people: there were far worse endings in far worse games. The Tomb Raider and Hitman trailer controversies also seemed pointless to me since it was just pre-rendered footage that got people so angry. As for Disc Locked Content and, Capcom...fuck Capcom in 2012, just fuck Capcom in 2012...Not a Capcom fan boy but I still feel really stung by Capcom.

 

[Erttheking]

That and the recent DS fans coming out of the woodwork to bash those that want to have an easy mode and also claiming it's the true holy grail of all games making everything else look like supposed utter shit and that it's truly "one of a kind".

Call me crazy, but I think you're exaggerating things, in addition to saying things that aren't true. Who has said that Dark Souls is the holy grail of all games?

I don't like to think I am since I've been seeing it all around the internet and the sheer desire to mock others who want an easy mode makes me just outright hate the fanbase all together like many of my friends have come to learn and while I don't mind Epicnamebro because he's quite calm on the situation but at the same time I dislike a lot of the community that voices against an easy mode.

But then again someone claimed TF fall of Cybetertron as their worst game of 2012 a game I love (basing this last piece from your avatar of course) but I don't feel I need to step up and call exaggeration simply because they said the game was shit for them.

I'm totally not up for a future debate of this sort because from the moment I got this quote I could tell it's a personal one at that and I know what the community can be like here and it's just not pretty so let's not bring the cards.

Ok fair enough, after a FUCKING AWFUL experience on the Bungie.net forums, I tend to stick to the Escapist only. I just haven't seen it on this website...and even that illusion was shattered when I had the "pleasant" experience of meeting a person who tried to argue that serious gamers had above average intelligence. So I probably don't know what it's like elsewhere. I'm just saying that generalizing all of the fans of a fanbase is kind of unfair.

It's kinda different, that person was talking about the game, you're talking about the people who like the game, which is kinda different.

I'm not trying to start an argument here, I'm just saying you shouldn't let your viewpoint be dominated by sterotypes and the vocal minority.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I've been saying this since March.
I'm ashamed to be part of the gaming community this year. (and yes, I include myself in that shame, thanks for asking)

Mere recreation turned into a boiling pot of seething stupidity.
We're damn near as bad as sports fans.

Have you seen football hooligans?

We were pretty bad during March not without some justification (DLC oversaturation + no A,B,C, ending) but it was overkill on that issue. Still we weren't that bad by a long shot.

Captcha: fire + brim stone (haha Captcha)

 

[Canadamus Prime]

It's partially because of these issues that I've given very serious thought to giving up gaming entirely. I can't stand the practices of the companies that publish/develop the games and I can't stand the behavior of the gaming community.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

Anyone remember the sheer number of threads and the media outcry about about girls/women in gaming, sexism in gaming, sexual objectification in gaming, etc etc? So troublesome!

Since it was a gender-related controversy, each and every one of those discussions never got anywhere because people kept having to tip-toe the unspoken boundaries...which unfortunately didn't do anything to stop the countless "omg misogynist! hit the misogyny alarm!!" cries and bans/infractions being dished out like party balloons.

Just to prove how insignificant that whole thing was, in the past few months there have been jack-all threads about the issue, the media has latched onto other shit, basically the controversy has completely blown over. Anita Sarkeesian and similar loonies have gone back into their shady corners of the internet...no-thanks to the trolls who brought her under the spotlight in the first place, let the internet never repeat that mistake again!
The people endlessly gushing about the topic have put down their megaphones and settled down into their usual routines. The final result of all this? Nothing, LOL.

Most developers either threw out a quick apology to make people shut up (IO Interactive), raised the middle finger and laughed it off (Team Ninja) or went completely unaffected. To quote a wise man, "...and not a single fuck was given."

I'm down with controversies and bringing out the megaphones over every little issue, it brightens up my day with jolly laughs. But not when they drag on for that long, it just gets tiresome >_<

Probably the biggest and most decomposed dead horse still in the room is the whole "video games cause violent crime" controversy...but that should blow over soon as well.

 

[BreakfastMan]

There were many controversies that were very much worthy of discussion and anger, but there were many that where not. I think they were about equal in number (hell, I could even say that the worthy controversies narrowly outnumbered the inane ones and still feel confident in my answer), and that gives me hope that the gaming community can mature.

As for the ones listed in the video? I think all except the ME3 ending and the Bayonetta 2 WiiU exclusivity thing where justified.

 

[Windcaler]

I dont really like angryjoe, hes a poor reviewer at best and his personality grates on me a bit (though thats not really something Ill mark him down for everyone should be themselves even if they annoy me I just wont watch them). The biggest problem in those was of course the ARMA3 devs being arrested for espionage. That really does need more publicity as Greece has just used it to try and distract their citizens from very real problems in their country

The other big one was the Mountain dew thing. Ive been saying for years that perks and endorsments make me extremely suspicious of games journalists and its come to a point where Im starting to feel like games Journalism should require an actual degree in journalism. At least that way we can start to get some standards and journalistic integrity out there

 

[Yopaz]

Meh, there has been a lot of of anger and a lot of complaining over silly things this year. It's basically the same as 2011 and 2010. Gamers bitching is a given. We complain about anything.

Yes, there has been a lot of posts from people hating Mass Effect and misogynists on this site, but there's always been something.

 

[rbstewart7263]

I feel partly responsible in that ive participated in alot of the debating. Partly proud If you look at some past threads i tend to be the last post. Like a debate ender.

And yeah I do think gamers took games and by extension themselves too damn serious for real.

I get it you want more females in games.Me too believe it or not. Making it out like gamers are a "misogynist horde" too fucking serious.

He said japanese games suck big deal. We had a japanese developer say the same you didnt get your panties in a twist then.lol

This year I think I just want to go back to being a gamer whilst everyone else tries to play out there civil activist fantasies out through the gaming medium.lol