We Reveal Your Picks for the 12th Game of Christmas

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Seriously dude? There's more to it than that. They've been having cash flow issues lately, and they've done a lot of questionable things in the name of staying solvent.

Meanwhile, at the Bioware Headquarters...

"Hey, there's some video-gaming site that is doing a community poll on their favorite games of the year!"

"Hmm, while this is just a community poll with no meaningful effects on anything that has to do with Dragon Age 2, I suggest we pay off the website so that it can land in 12th place"

"Great idea!"

Seriously, look at yourself, look at your mindless fucking accusations. Just because a vocal-minority cried and cried about the game, you expect EVERYONE to hate it. I have been on this site for nearly 4 years, so I know what it is like. If you confuse the opinions of the vocal minority for that of the majority, then you simply don't know the internet in general.

Every time someone started a poll about DA2, the people that actually liked it were at least 50%, while it was a handful of people that whined on and on about it in the comments. Seeing the absolute mind-boggling hatred and stupidity from some of these people is enough to scare some people away from sharing their honest opinion, especially as its customary for people to exclaim that "if you like a game I don't like, you're retarded and/or stupid".

Therumancer's comment and this whole fucking shitstorm has to be the lowest fucking point in the community's history. Its one thing to not like a game, its another to accuse people of corruption just because they do not conform to your opinion.

Even when what they're being accused of is common industry practice? You'll note that I didn't say that he was right,just that his concerns were legitimate. Besides, if anything the lowest point around here was the Extra Credits debacle, where we found out that, you know, The Escapist wasn't paying its contributors? They've done questionable things in the past because they have cash flow issues. Accusing Therumancer of being completely off base with the question is, frankly, completely off base.

Edit: Plus, we're talking about EA here. Bioware doesn't have anything to do with the marketing of their products; that's EA's job as the publisher, and if you think they're above paying for review scores (again, I'm not saying that The Escapist has taken any bribes, but EA at least offers them to anyone they think will bite), you apparently haven't been following games journalism for the last decade; it's not a field known for journalistic integrity.

 

[Hyper-space]

Even when what they're being accused of is common industry practice? You'll note that I didn't say that he was right,just that his concerns were legitimate. Besides, if anything the lowest point around here was the Extra Credits debacle, where we found out that, you know, The Escapist wasn't paying its contributors? They've done questionable things in the past because they have cash flow issues. Accusing Therumancer of being completely off base with the question is, frankly, completely off base.

I'm going to say this one more time:

WHAT COMPANY, IN THEIR RIGHT MINDS, WOULD PAY OFF A MEDIUM-SIZED WEBSITE SO THAT THEIR GAME COULD BE IN *GASP* TWELFTH PLACE IN A COMMUNITY POLL THAT HAS ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT ON SALES, REVIEWS OR ANYTHING OF IMPORTANCE? WHAT WOULD EA GAIN FROM PAYING OFF THE ESCAPIST SO THAT DA2 CAN LAND IN TWELFTH PLACE?

Please fucking indulge me in as why a company such as Bioware or EA would even bother with doing something like this, and why all of this outrage and accusations are not just happening because some people don't like the game.

OMG, A GAME I DO NOT LIKE IS CONSIDERED GOOD BY SOME! IT MUST BE A SHAM PERPETRATED BY THE NWO OR SOME SHIT!

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Even when what they're being accused of is common industry practice? You'll note that I didn't say that he was right,just that his concerns were legitimate. Besides, if anything the lowest point around here was the Extra Credits debacle, where we found out that, you know, The Escapist wasn't paying its contributors? They've done questionable things in the past because they have cash flow issues. Accusing Therumancer of being completely off base with the question is, frankly, completely off base.

I'm going to say this one more time:

WHAT COMPANY, IN THEIR RIGHT MINDS, WOULD PAY OFF A MEDIUM-SIZED WEBSITE SO THAT THEIR GAME COULD BE IN *GASP* TWELFTH PLACE IN A COMMUNITY POLL THAT HAS ABSOLUTELY NO EFFECT ON SALES, REVIEWS OR ANYTHING OF IMPORTANCE?

Please fucking indulge me in as why a company such as Bioware or EA would even bother with doing something like this, and why all of this outrage and accusations are not just happening because some people don't like the game.

OMG, A GAME I DO NOT LIKE IS CONSIDERED GOOD BY SOME! IT MUST BE A SHAM PERPETRATED BY THE NWO OR SOME SHIT!

Do you know how obnoxious you sound right now? The accusations are happening because a vocal majority of users on this site spent several months talking about just how terrible they thought the game was. So you're right, people are complaining because they didn't like the game... along with most of the other people who were supposed to vote on this poll. That's why it's suspicious. Now, I think you're right that EA didn't influence anything on this specific poll, but if you can't see why the result was at least unexpected, you're the pot calling the kettle black, because you're getting angry because you do like a game that a lot of people didn't like.

 

[Caliostro]

Even when what they're being accused of is common industry practice?

If you go into someone's house and spit in their collective face, don't be surprised if you're invited to leave.

That said, yes, a lot of people everywhere said they didn't like Dragon Age 2. It still sold like mad. Bonus points: Remember Modern Warfare 2 for PC? Huge boycott group. One of the biggest around. On release day: everyone playing.

Conclusion: Take what "vocal" majorities or minorities say with mountainous piles of salt.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

If you go into someone's house and spit in their collective face, don't be surprised if you're invited to leave.

Alright, this statement bugs me. I really have to ask where all these circa 2008 posters with low post counts have come from. Therumancer was around for at least as long as you have been, but his post count is huge; I'd say he has about as much right to call this place his house as any other user. I've been here for a little over a year, and my post count is about a thousand posts removed from yours. Hyper-Space has a post count I hit within a few months of joining.

I mean, I get that you guys are annoyed at this, but your post counts, combined with your join dates, show that you haven't been particularly active members. Therumancer was, and so am I, and it honestly seems like you guys have missed all of the questionable decisions that have been made around here in the last six months or so. Therumancer was not making an accusation in a vacuum, he had reasons for wondering whether or not something sinister had happened. What's more, if you read the post where he suggested it, he was polite, and merely voicing a concern that it was suspicious. There were other posters in the thread who got off scot free with much more blunt accusations of malevolence on The Escapist's part. Heck, he even said he would drop it after that post, and he just wanted to voice his concern -- meaning they didn't have to do anything to him, he was dropping the subject anyway. This goes so far beyond an anti-fanboy getting angry because his least favorite game made a list that it's not even funny.

Edit: Oh, and if the Modern Warfare 2 group your talking about is the one I'm thinking of, that picture is misleading, because Steam shows the members of a group that are in a game first, followed by the ones who are online, and then finally show the ones who aren't even logged in. There's a limited number of slots on the front page, so you could have a tiny minority of the members of a truly large group being in a game at the time, and have the entire front page show people who are playing it.