What is the line between being "entitled" and being "a good consumer"?

[Callate]

To my mind, what "entitlement" means- and why many of the ways it's getting used fail- is the sense you almost cannot imagine that what you are expecting would possibly be denied. It would be such a colossal travesty of justice that it boggles the mind that you wouldn't get it.

If you think about the kind of things we use the word "entitled" to describe without hyperbole- you're entitled to a jury of your peers, you're entitled to an honest day's pay for an honest day's work, you're entitled to live your life without imminent fear of physical harm- this becomes much more clear.

"Entitled" and "entitlement" as they're often used on the Internet almost needs to just be swept from the canon, it's so misused. Almost every statement that uses the words is really a shorthand for "I've already decided that nothing you would say on this matter is of any value, so stop speaking now". It's one of those terms that often comes with a perverse set of assumptions, none of which its user feels a need to explain or define- and they should, and they should be called out if they fail to do so.

Regarding ME: I'm not exactly enamored with arguments like "artists need to be able to create what their vision leads them to without the pressures of consumer feedback", but at least they are arguments, with elements that allow reasonable people to debate the pros and cons. Calling someone "entitled" is like sucker-punching your opponent at the debate and then saying you won. It's lazy, a false victory without much by way of real meaning.

 

[Eddie the head]

*If I agree with you, you're being a good consumer
*If I disagree with you, you're being an entitled whiner

*Note: Not I as in "Tippy2K2", just a generic definition above

This is the only difference I can see between the two. People can do whatever they want to but I'm guessing this is what it ultimately will come down to when someone calls someone entitled...

I read most of the posts here but I was wasting my time because yeah this is it.

 

[Indecipherable]

Soooo many people here proverbially sucking the cock of developers and praising it as the best thing ever.

Seriously guys, they don't need you to fanboy defend them. They, as a company, do not care for you, only your money. Individuals within the company are a different story.

If it's shit, call it out though be respectful to individuals if not to the product itself.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

The difference is that good consumers don't throw temper tantrums like 3 year-olds whenever something doesn't turn out they way they expected it too, or they're otherwise disappointed with their purchases.

Truthfully I think what you're talking about is the difference between a civilised consumer and an uncivilised consumer.

Both are enacting their right to complain about a product, its just that one is doing it like an adult and the other isn't.

And you can talk self-entitlement all you want regarding Mass Effect 3 and the backlash it recieved but in the end, EA/BioWare decided that we were a good (Read: profitable) enough customer base to keep. They are making changes, the outcome of which remains to be seen, to thier product because we have asked them to, in ways ranging from the polite to the vile.

We didn't force them at gun point, we didn't (as far as I know) picket their offices, desecrate their image in effigy or seek and win a binding court order to legally compell them to do this: they chose to do it.

For the record, I wasn't happy with the ending: it really harshed my buzz for the game and left me feeling empty. I didn't donate to the Child's Play thing but anyone that did and asked for their donation back is a bastard who deserves a lick of the cat.

Well I don't believe that the word "civilized" can be adequately used to describe anything related to human beings, so therefor I don't think there's any such thing as a "civilized consumer."

Regardless I wasn't specifically talking about the ME3 ending thing and I really didn't want to get into it 'cause I'm sick and tired of the whole bloody thing, but since you brought it up; I think the response to that ending was the most deplorable, detestable act of gamer/geek behavior I've ever had the displeasure of witnessing (except for the cupcake thing, that was alright). The fact that Bioware/EA is actually giving in and making changes just makes it worse. They should know the the majority of gamers don't have the willpower to stick their guns about anything (if the MW2 "boycott" of '09 is any example) and this would've blown over as soon as their next major release was announced. Their profits weren't in any real danger as most of the whiners are just full of hot air.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Entitled: Believing for one second that you have any right to canonically alter the vision of a piece of work's original creator.

Good Consumer: Constructive criticism of the product.

If I may,

Good Consumer: The above + NOT BUYING THINGS FROM PUBLISHERS WHO REPEATEDLY SCREW UP.