The spoiled brat epidemic - does the gaming community get more and more toxic?

TrueBlueHero

pravus my personal hero 2014
Sep 12, 2013
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The recent outcry (including insults and threats) with Rise of the Tomb Raider once again reminded me of how awful the gaming community can be.

I mean, sometimes the general mood is almost toxic.
From time to time I even feel uneasy reading certain boards because there's so much concentrated aggression, negativity and even hate.

I could quote hundreds of comments (this is from Gaf) - but just to illustrate how ideologically charged and absurd some discussions are becoming:

I don't know how much the rest of you know about PS culture (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like it is on XBOX where you can become successful by being an a******. If you screw someone over on PS, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.
Square, publicly apologize and cancel Tomb Raider for XB1 or you can kiss your business goodbye.

The thing is: I know it's the Internet but as someone who's involved with videogames for a very long time I just can't remember that it was ever this bad.
One thing I've observed is that the Internet community is winning on power which more and more people are becoming aware of. There's no arguing that there are many advantages to this (more power to the customers) but I also get the feeling that there's some kind of 'spoiled brat' mentality circulating.

Arn't happy with something? Cry and curse and bitch until the world bends to your will.
But really scary things happen when mobs are being formed - when the general opinion leans towards some people's agenda nothing is holy anymore.

People that have nothing to do with certain decisions are being insulted and harressed.

For me it's very sad that big platforms such as Neogaf are even supporting such a behavior in that very little is done to keep the discussion as civil as possible.

What's your take on the situation?
 
I believe that quote is a joke from a video made after Final Fantasy was announced for Xbox. The I'm am expert line was in that.

The video was also a piss take at the outrage from Sony fans threatening to boycott the game.
 
ive been gaming for over 30yrs and never have I witnessed so much hate towards another console maker. There has always been console wars but this is getting beyond personal.
 
It is the same with anything really. Once you get a large group together things often turn more violent or unpleasant. When you add anonymity( or perceived so since the Internet is not really anonymous) to the mix then it simply perpetuates.
 
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it!"

Agent_K.jpg
 
Yeah. This isn't anything new or even worse from the days when the OG Xbox was launched.
 
Found the video I was talking about. Still funny



Yeah but the crazy part is - there's a lot of truth to it.

It is the same with anything really. Once you get a large group together things often turn more violent or unpleasant. When you add anonymity( or perceived so since the Internet is not really anonymous) to the mix then it simply perpetuates.

Agreed. Yet why is noone standing up against it?
 
It's just as we get older, there are more kids playing games than ever before. You know what kids are like. Especially those that are neglected by their parents and given an Xbox or PlayStation to shut them up. At least that's how I like to look at it. Kids don't get what they want? They throw a hissy.
 
Eurogamer has become rather toxic over the last year and a half and they actually encourage it with many of their articles.
 
Yeah but the crazy part is - there's a lot of truth to it.



Agreed. Yet why is noone standing up against it?

How do you do that ? I think there is a time for action and time to simply ignore the A-holes. Things like death threats and absurd overreactions like that need some kind of action, even if that is simply IP blocked/banned from forums or social media. Same with people being over-malicious with name calling in a persistent way.
Pretty much anything else can be ignored and simply filed in the childish/immature draw.

At the end of the day thought the majority of it, I would say, is basic attention seeking. Lonely people sitting in solitude begging for some attention regardless of its quality or meaning.
 
Yeah but the crazy part is - there's a lot of truth to it.



Agreed. Yet why is noone standing up against it?

You can't really stand up against human nature and unfortunately this is exactly what this kind of behaviour is, albeit the worst of it. All you can really do is set an example of your own and not act in the same way.
 
OP, you just quoted a timeless classic joke post... "__ just shot themselves in the foot".

http://ffxiii360.ytmnd.com/

That original wasn't a joke post, but it's been mocked and reworded a million times over now.

Close thread and publicly apologize. :D
 
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OP, you just quoted a timeless classic joke post... "__ just shot themselves in the foot".

http://ffxiii360.ytmnd.com/

That original want a joke post, but outs been mocked a million times over now.

Close thread and publicly apologize.
The best YTMND from all that was some guy feeling like he had nothing left to live for. Think it was on Gamefaqs and the guy reading it was doing all slow like he was about to die and it had some sad music playing.
 
That's not true. Just look at X1 this far: It's been beaten to death over and over again.

I'm not sure how old you are so I don't know if you were on TXB when the original Xbox launched but it was exactly like this. Console and gaming bashing was an epidemic ,just like it is now. There are other posters here as long as I am so I'm sure they'll agree.
 
I do fully agree with you though trueblue, some of the hate is absurd.

The ignore button does get a lot of use because of this.

Agreed. Yet why is noone standing up against it?

If you're talking about gaf, it is mod endorsed. Complaining about it, you will likely end up banned, be accused of being a shill/astroturfer and be accused of trolling, derailing topics/offtopic etcetc. If you enjoy your account there, I wouldn't bother. Srs.

Enjoy your games, laugh at the butthurt aggro. You can't take any of it seriously, some of them stir up the hate like it's their job.
 
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I've not seen it this bad, ever. I've read people stating how they absolutely HATE Microsoft for doing this and how they wish they'd just bow out of the competition. Simply need to go! Thats heavy, man. Heavy chit..
 
The person you quoted deserves a b*tch slap with all 5 fingers going across that angry face full force.

This is a business and as a business it will go through "business" type moves/situations. I understand the anger for those with only 1 console but at the end of the day they the moaners would be doing the same thing if they were presented with a good offer from a big company. All that loyalty goes out the window once the cash is on the table so why cry about what a publisher or developer is doing if they would probably do the same thing too if they had the SAME financial opportunity in their face?

Hypocrites I tell ya Lol
 
Gamers have always been a passionate bunch. My older brother told me fights in junior highschool between friends over the Sega v. Nintendo competition that went on. I think the internet has just given a voice to the faceless fans of the industry.

But I think the web has made the gaming community stronger than over. Its given rise to gaming communities where gamers can congregate and have discussions. True, some of the discussions become rather spirited while others can get downright negative and hateful. But for the most part even when gamers don’t agree points are raised that perhaps others didn’t consider. I don’t always agree with some folks here but I do respect their right to their opinion as do many of the other members here.

So, I’m thankful to the web for bridging the distances involved and bringing together my gaming brothers & sisters. Without it I never would have made such good friends and wouldn’t be able to debate with so many fans of the industry. Don’t ever let the hate outshine the good.
 
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Things got nasty the first few months the next gen consoles were released, but it has calmed down to normal levels now.
 
The internet, you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
 
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it has been going on for years i still remember playground fights over what was best the commodore 64 vs zx spectrum but the difference now is that any idiot can post comments on forums and social networks and have an instant following of fanboys agreeing and spouting more rubbish.
the C64 rules by the way;)
 
It was civil at my school as well with groups often going round for some gaming be it SEGA, Nintendo or Sony.

No one cared which console it was on.
 
It's the games.

I have never witnessed a more disgusting fan base than COD players. Even in a game mode like BO2 zombies where you ought to rely on friends. So many douchebags.

I grew up on Mario, Sonic, Zelda and even though the gaming community was pretty much non-existant it was a very positive and even therapeutic experience. It was more about experiencing the journey than it was about winning.
 
I saw the videos of the COD competition they did and the s*** talking was pathetic.
 
It's the games.

I have never witnessed a more disgusting fan base than COD players. Even in a game mode like BO2 zombies where you ought to rely on friends. So many douchebags.

I grew up on Mario, Sonic, Zelda and even though the gaming community was pretty much non-existant it was a very positive and even therapeutic experience. It was more about experiencing the journey than it was about winning.

It was actually very civil back on the OG xbox too, and right at the start of the 360 life-cycle. I remember playing the first burnout on 360 and it was just fun. Everybody was cool, fun teasing, boasting and all that. Really not sure where it went wrong, but it went wrong in a fairly big way.