"You probably haven't heard of it"

[Nyaliva]

I've disliked "you probably haven't heard of it" because it's very rarely not douchey.
If someone says it, they have obviously just told me about something. At best they are warning me that it's a bit obscure, however they could wait for me to respond to find out if I've heard of it. The only reason it would be good to warn me about it being obscure is if I'm the kind of person who devotes his life to knowing about everything pop culture and being totally up with the times, which I'm not and as such I'm insulted by that assumption.

And at worst, they're simultaneously boasting that they know about something that is both good and obscure (at least in their opinion) whilst putting me down for being mainstream or at least not as wise to have sought out this gem that they have presented me with, which I'm obviously also insulted by.

Sorry for the deconstructive rant and I'm not putting you down for saying it, I'm just saying it doesn't seem to serve an constructive purpose that doesn't involve an issue of status. When I tell someone about something that's obscure, I find it more exciting to wait and see if they know about it as well. If they don't, oh well, I might warn them if they seem disappointed that they don't know.

 

[JayRPG]

Yeah.. pretty much in the same boat as the OP being a JRPG fan in Australia.

Random: "What's your favourite game?"
Me: "tales of symphonia"
Random: "What the fuck is that, it sounds gay"

I have yet to meet anybody, friend, aquaintance nor stranger, that has played or even heard of tales of symphonia (or the tales series for that matter).

If I ever meet a girl who knows who kratos aurion is I will marry her on the spot.

What's even worse is that I am going to distant world's on the 24th of this month by myself because when I asked my friends to come to an orchestra playing final fantasy music they all just stared blankly and then said no, not that I really mind, I do have a front row ticket

So as of late I have been saying "You probably haven't heard of it" quite alot lol.

"I can't next weekend, I'll be in adelaide"
"Why?"
"uhh... it's a thing, you probably haven't heard of it"

 

[Nyaliva]

On an unrelated note, have you heard of Sparklehorse or Doctor Steel? I like those guys, it'd be nice to find someone else who knows of them.

Wow, I haven't heard Doctor Steel in AGES! I used to listen to "Fibonacci Sequence" and "Build the Robots" like every day. I assume you watch Jacksfilms too from saying "Owaddafuq?"

 

[trollnystan]

I have to say that to most people in regards to what music I like

one of my favorite films is Muriels wedding which I'm sure many non-autralians have not heard of

I saw that years ago (non-Australian speaking); loved it <3


OT: Yeah, I got nothing original to add. I only havea total of 5 friends and family members that play games, so when most of time when I mention my hobby to other people it's all, "Oh do you play that WoW thing?" or "Ugh, you play those violent shot-em-ups?"

Regarding music, Miracle of Sound is the only musician I keep up to date with right now. Again, no one outside the Escapist and 2 of my friends listen to him.

Yeah.. pretty much in the same boat as the OP being a JRPG fan in Australia.

Random: "What's your favourite game?"
Me: "tales of symphonia"
Random: "What the fuck is that, it sounds gay"

I have yet to meet anybody, friend, aquaintance nor stranger, that has played or even heard of tales of symphonia (or the tales series for that matter).

If I ever meet a girl who knows who kratos aurion is I will marry her on the spot.

What's even worse is that I am going to distant world's on the 24th of this month by myself because when I asked my friends to come to an orchestra playing final fantasy music they all just stared blankly and then said no, not that I really mind, I do have a front row ticket

So as of late I have been saying "You probably haven't heard of it" quite alot lol.

"I can't next weekend, I'll be in adelaide"
"Why?"
"uhh... it's a thing, you probably haven't heard of it"

I keep wanting to play the Tales games - played a bit of Tales of the Abyss once - but can't find them for the PS2 anywhere. Cheap that is. (Not fishing for a marriage proposal!)

Plus if I was in Australia you'd be in danger of me trussing you up and stealing your ticket. >_>

 

[Vault101]

The mother figure in that movie is so tragic. It's a good film ("non-Australian" speaking).
.

I dont think I got what her deal was...aside form being a bit nutty...(or the significance of the shoes)

When I watched it for the first time in highschool I was surprised about how said it got..

 

[Legion]

I get that a lot in regards to my music tastes. People will ask me what I listen to, I say that they won't have heard of it, not because I get satisfaction from it, but because I know they won't have. They then pester me to tell them anyway, I do, and then they respond "Nope, haven't heard of it."

It's happened so many times now that I don't even bother giving a real reply any more. Especially considering the people who ask me tend to be the people who only know of it, if it's been in the charts.

 

[Vault101]

I actually do have superior taste in music (especially compared to The Escapist, seriously you guys) but that's not why I say that. I say it because, a lot of the time, it's true.

whoa there cowboy..thats a pretty big call



[quote/]
Wow. I want to punch you in the neck. I mean, I know I'm not Mr. Likeable, and I can live with that. Part of being a douchebag means that my standards for quality are lowered. But even with that you failed to pass the test. I barely even know why. Those things, individually, aren't so bad (okay "I can diatribe on everything" is pretty bad). But altogether they spell out "Neck Punchable".[/quote]
....test? were we being tested?

 

[axlryder]

But hey, we live in a world where a lot of people haven't heard of things like the Arctic Monkeys - let's face it, us interwebz-freaks may have heard of them, but to the rest of the world they are esoteric.

I'd say the Arctic Monkeys are pretty mainstream, honestly. Most people I've talked to have at least heard of them, and if I recall their vids get in the 20+ million view range. I'd say The Kills or maybe Animal Collective come closer to falling under the "faux-esoteric" so to speak.

Come on, dude. You trying to get banned or something?

to be fair, I can't say I disagree with him.

 

[axlryder]

double post, ignore.

 

[JayRPG]

I keep wanting to play the Tales games - played a bit of Tales of the Abyss once - but can't find them for the PS2 anywhere. Cheap that is. (Not fishing for a marriage proposal!)

Plus if I was in Australia you'd be in danger of me trussing you up and stealing your ticket. >_>

Yeah, it's actually pretty difficult with the tales games being so sparse/across so many platforms.

I have Tales of eternia and tales of the world on PSP
Tales of the abyss on 3DS
Tales of innocence on DS
Tales of symphonia on gamecube
Tales of symphonia 2 on wii
Tales of graces f on ps3

I have been considering buying an xbox 360 just for vesperia, aswell as learning japanese so I can play all the games in the series that were never localised >.<

Theoretically, the kratos aurion knowing woman that i'd marry would get a ticket bought for them.. and besides, I might enjoy the trussing up.

 

[xplosive59]

I do this alot with music and people call me a hipster, mainly because when people ask me "What you listening to?" and at the time I am listening to some Experimental Jazz group from the 70's that were never famous or something and the person asking me the question thinks Avenged Sevenfold are an underground band of course of they would of never heard of them and it's pretty obvious.

 

[CheesyGrin1992]

But to add my own - for ages I've been trying to get anyone to respond to mentions of "Lock's Quest" on Nintendo DS and "Little King's Story" on the Wii. Has anyone played them? Anyone heard of them?



EDIT - Just to add to that - "Lock's Quest" was nominated by GameSpot for "Best Game No One Played".

And EDGE Magazine gave Little King's Story 9/10 (not that they're a bastion of good gaming reviews but they don't give out 9 easily). 37,000 units sold in North America.

I have tried playing Lock's Quest before but it's not my kind of game.

However I do have Little King's Story. I haven't played much of it myself (bought it originally when I was having to play my Wii through my laptop, so I didn't really get round to playing it) but I moved in with my boyfriend last year, he picked it up and loved it. I did watch him play, and it's a very nice game, full of character. A fun game to both watch and play. It is a shame more people haven't heard of it, and I wasn't aware it had sold so badly.

However, there has recently been a second game released on the Vita. Again, though, it seems it will just fade into obscurity.

 

[Myndnix]

I unfortunately find myself saying it a lot too, mostly also in regards to gaming. Like several posters (Including OP) have already noted, too few people have heard of Megami Tensei games. And Super Robot Wars. And sometimes even Tales. I've had people react with surprise that Tales of Symphonia is not the only Tales game.
Super Robot Wars is the biggest offender, though. That series needs more love, seriously.
Though it amused me when earlier this year someone else mentioned it to me and said I've probably never heard of it, after which I rattled off the entire plot to Original Generation 2 and he shut up.

EDIT: And try mentioning System Shock to someone. Anyone. Despite being a goddamn classic, way too few people knew it ever existed.

EDIT the second: Oh hell, it extends to other stuff too if I think about it. One of my favourite manga is Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, which none of my friends had heard of before I mentioned it to them. They'd never even heard of WRYYYYYYYYY before, which actually amazed me.
So yes, I find myself saying 'I don't think you'll have heard of it' and things to that effect quite a lot.


Wait. Guys...am I...am I a hipster? >:

 

[CoL0sS]

I say it at least once or twice a day, when discussing newer movies/games/music with my friends. They're too set in their way to keep track of something current, which in turn makes me the hipster of the group.

 

[repeating integers]

On an unrelated note, have you heard of Sparklehorse or Doctor Steel? I like those guys, it'd be nice to find someone else who knows of them.

Wow, I haven't heard Doctor Steel in AGES! I used to listen to "Fibonacci Sequence" and "Build the Robots" like every day. I assume you watch Jacksfilms too from saying "Owaddafuq?"

Funnily enough, I just started watching "Your Grammar Sucks" yesterday (I watched the massive "Best Of" video, it was hilarious). What other stuff do they do?

And yeah, "Fibonacci Sequence" and "Build the Robots" are great, but my favourite Dr. Steel song is probably this:

<youtube=b49y5odNjKk>

The guy's got a great opera voice and an awesome sense of humour.

But hey, we live in a world where a lot of people haven't heard of things like the Arctic Monkeys - let's face it, us interwebz-freaks may have heard of them, but to the rest of the world they are esoteric.

I'd say the Arctic Monkeys are pretty mainstream, honestly. If I recall their vids get in the 20+ million view range. I'd say The Kills or maybe Animal Collective come closer to falling under the "faux-esoteric" so to speak.

The Arctic Monkeys ARE mainstream. My point was that in a world where some people have somehow managed to avoid hearing of a mainstream rock band like them, our definition of "esoteric" may be a little too narrow.

Now to Crunky's response which somehow failed to show up in my inbox:

Because (as you frequently boast) you visit websites full of other people who also think they have superior taste in music?

I thought people didn't pay attention to me. Aw, man. Now I'm gonna have to try and be polite and tactful and shit.

You're the person who got me into Iceage and Wolves in the Throne Room (remember that thread?) so I pay a vague amount of attention to your stuff. I still don't entirely trust you, though. I mean, you don't like Muse.

Incidentally, you might like Nadja.

I dunno - of those two "obscure" artists, I haven't heard of the first one and know little about the second(though I'm always in the mood for new stuff, what're they like?). But hey, we live in a world where a lot of people haven't heard of things like the Arctic Monkeys - let's face it, us interwebz-freaks may have heard of them, but to the rest of the world they are esoteric.

I really can't stand Porcupine Tree. If you like glossy, theatrical, overproduced rock it's fine but for people like me, who can't stand it, it's an empty cacophonous mess. Ty Segall is hit or miss. I love some of it, indifferent to others and loathe the rest. He's fairly prolific (3 albums this year so far) so there's quite a bit to go through.

Typically I find the only 70s music I can truly get attached to is prog (I'm assuming you don't like Yes), so I'm interested in a 90s prog band. Gonna have to look 'em up.

*looks 'em up [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERQDxLsfrjw]*

Yeah, this is cool. Now, as for Ty [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FSTSlyB9sQ]... doesn't interest me as much, but it's got a nice riff. Still, Garage Rock generally falls victim to the problem of being underproduced for me and this seems like no exception.

On an unrelated note, have you heard of Sparklehorse or Doctor Steel? I like those guys, it'd be nice to find someone else who knows of them.

Afraid not. To Google!

Here's a coupla samples:

<youtube=pbDzob84Tok>

<youtube=WVvlVHdLCx0>

Come on, dude. You trying to get banned or something?

Not really. I just like to find a context to use the phrase "punch in the neck".

Er... fair enough. Just sayin', you might get modwrathed.

 

[MetalMagpie]

I tend to proceed the name of the company I work for with "You won't have heard of them" because: a) they don't deal directly with consumers, so there really is very little chance a random person would have heard of them, and b) because they changed their name a couple of years back.

I think the problem is that when I say I'm a software developer, many people (techy people in particular) assume they will have heard of the company I work for. When my boyfriend says he's a mechanical engineer, no one ever asks who he works for, because they don't expect to recognise the name.

 

[Stu35]

You're joking, right? You know that taste in music is subjective....right?

Exhibit A: We're on a thread about music elitism
Exhibit B: I made a cartoonishly over the top elitist statement.

From these two pieces of evidence what can we deduce?

People on the internet don't get that kind of humour.

Especially people on the Escapist, which is populated by nerds who don't go outside and interact with people much.




[sup][sub](lets see if anyone gets it)[/sub][/sup]

 

[Jordy Hartog]

I don't usually say it, but I do usually assume that something that isn't widely known will be beyond the knowledge of someone I'm talking to.

I don't use it as a badge of honor though, or hold it against them. Because if I know something it's because I spend a lot of time looking for obscure things because those tend to be more interesting to me, and I have no reason to assume that anyone who is not me will have the same impulses as I do.

And even then, a lot of the stuff I know now is because I got lucky. I was invited to a gig, I randomly stumbled across them playing somewhere, I found a DVD in a charity shop somewhere, etc. Hell, the artist I've seen perform live four times over the past month (Marian Call) is someone I only discovered because I happened to read a blog post about her on a blog I visit twice a year a most.

I like to share things I like with others, just as I love having others share their interests with me, and I prefer to go for the obscure stuff because where else are you going to find a movie about a possessed chicken murdering people, or a movie about a nymphoid barbarian in dinosaur hell (seriously, with a title like that, how could I NOT pick it up).

If I do use the term, though, I would do so when referring to a band I saw last Saturday night. Largely because it would really surprise me if any of you would have heard of a student band from Rotterdam who have existed for all of three weeks

 

[Eddie the head]

I just think it's a way to get out of explaining things. "You probably haven't heard of it" No I haven't pray tell.