Do Gamers Moan Too much?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Lyndoman, Oct 2, 2018.

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  1. Lyndoman

    Lyndoman Avatar

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    I've observed gamers seem to complain more than any other hobby I encountered. Why is this?

    I'm not talking about this place specifically, but the hobby as a whole - or is it a pastime, a frivolous way to avoid thinking about our inevitable deaths?

    A quick perusal of any gaming drinking hole and you can observe huge barrels of text, replete with the gnashing of teeth, throw across the internet.

    And yet if you were to drop into a forum for modelers of World War One fighting ships, you wouldn't experience the same raging histrionics.

    Is it because gaming, particularly MMO attracts a certain type of human?

    Or is it because a game allows you to zone out from the harshness of the outside world? Provides you with a plump, comfy pillow in which to flop down on, zone out and allow your brain to exist in a state that replenishes essential proteins to neurotransmitters - aka grinding/meditation - and then change occurs in the game that no longer allows you to achieve this state? Leading to a grabbing of the pitchfork and the desire to form a mob and storm the forums.

    I find the psychology of gaming fascinating.

    The reaction of people to games such as this is more interesting and engaging than the game itself.
    Games these days have become mind traps, drawing on the latest work in habit forming techniques. One only has to look at how this is applied to keep you addicted to social media to see this in action and also applied to gaming. The persuasion wizards who cast habit spells on the heaving masses have far more tools these days and understanding of how to use them.

    But if gamers moan because of an aspect of the game changes, leading to the inability to achieve a specific mental state, then why do they not simply stop and do something else.
    Why invest time in forms of communication detailing gripes?
    Why then stick around to continue playing the game that you publicly hate?

    The evil part of me thinks the devs sit around a large table each day, eating Cheetos and drinking Dr Pepper coming up with ideas to annoy their gamers, "I know, let's do...... and let's see how hard they squeal?" Which of course would make a great episode of Silicon Valley but I have found the creators of this game to be of the most high ethical and moral order. Whose only goal is to create a game that is kick ass and can compete in the current market.

    Although, I have found a section of the human tribe who moan as much as gamers and that's
    coders.

    What do you think?
     
  2. Steevodeevo

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    The world has dicks and nice folks. There's a higher percentage of dicks playing MMOs than making model dreadnoughts.

    Dicks are encouraged to exhibit **** behaviours in game forums as they can't be given a clip around the ear in the virtul world.
     
  3. Spungwa

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    Oh think you would if they discovered that the glue that came in their kit dissolved after 1000 hours, and all their hours of work were wasted.

    Many games are also designed to be addictive. They drip feed reward at just the right amount so you crave more, just like fixed odds gambling machines. This is not games addiction, this is straight up addiction.
    When you change things that make people go backwards, you break this reward cycle and that is like taking the drugs away from a drug addict.


    Regards
    Spung
     
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  4. Feeyo

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    Internet I am uber syndrome. Lots of Internet users and gamers have it.
     
  5. kaeshiva

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    Its actually funny that you mention modeling hobby here.
    The warhammer (tabletop) community has more "raging histrionics" than our own beloved Sota, often due to balance changes within the game, the retiring of beloved units, etc.
    Although I suppose those technically qualify as gamers, though not online gamers...:x Particularly gamers who have invested considerable time/money into their hobby. They don't want to wake up tomorrow and have the game not be fun anymore, or that the strategy/method/thing that they enjoy doing is no longer viable and they have to start completely over. At some point, you have to weigh if its worth it to buy, build, and paint another army from scratch to be competitive or whether you're done. You don't want to be done. You like it. Its your hobby. So you fight.

    Sure, you've got other options, and you could play something else, and a lot of people do move on, we see the same thing here.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
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  6. Gorthyn

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    Apart from the fact that there is a danger that this thread becomes one of gamers moaning that gamers moan too much, I am inclined to agree.

    That said I think at present there is quite a bit to moan about in SOTA. If it's done constructively and with good intentions then nothing wrong with that.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
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  7. Rada Torment

    Rada Torment Community Ambassador (ES)

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    Usually you find these two type of players;

    * The ones who really loves the game but are too passionate to make any objective criticism.

    * And those who loves the trashtalk and act like they know, everytime, what they talking about, eg: I would make a better game with less money!

    Sometimes its hard for some people to find the difference.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
  8. Scoffer

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    People are passionate about what they are interested in, it isn't just gamers. I've known some stamp collectors having arguments.....
    The power of the internet is that it gives peoples a place to express their opinions. Usually this opinion gets tagged with labels such as "complaining", "fanboy" or "elitism" etc
     
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  9. Lady Kathleen

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    I actually think this part is so funny! I have actually thought this from time to time..... Giggles
     
  10. Rufus D`Asperdi

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  11. CarlNZ

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    Hmm, no. It's not unique to gaming at all. I see the same in woodworking groups, model railway communities, artist groups etc. that I'm a member of. You're probably just more heavily invested in gaming, so notice it more.
     
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  12. kaeshiva

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    Indeed! You should hear some of the complaining that comes out of my nan's knitting group full of nice little old ladies! Its intense!! Its a den of iniquity, ball-of-wool theft, arguments about color choices, gossip, finger-pointing, and language you certainly wouldn't expect!! ha
     
  13. Magnus Zarwaddim

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    Of course we do. But to quote Perry White in Batman v. Superman: "[Gamers moan too much.] Other breaking news. Water, wet." ;)

    We all feel entitled somewhat. We all want different things. Some times, a bunch of us want the same thing. This does not necessarily mean it's the right thing, even if a bunch of us want it.
     
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  14. Mykll

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    I would not want to argue with angry grannies with knitting needles in their hands.
     
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  15. Sir_Hemlock

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    Damn straight.

    I love the drama posts + fighting. God bless reddit
     
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  16. Daigoji Gai

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    Back in January during a work trip, we were kicked out of the lobby of the hotel we were staying at because a raging nerd debate started over The Last Jedi and the staff thought we (both the girls and boys in the group) were about to get into a fist fight/brawl in the lobby. They originally said we were making too much noise (which was malarkey because there was a raging party going on in the bar CONNECTED TO THE LOBBY) then finally admitted we were alarming the staff because our debate/argument was intense.

    At the start of the NFL season, a shouting match started during the office's fantasy football league draft over selecting kickers as one of your first three draft picks.

    Epicurus was so full of himself and his concepts he denounced Plato, Socrates and Democritus. So, nothing new.
     
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  17. Krissa Lox

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    Conflict is both a cause and consequence of growth, and success in most any endeavor is mostly tied to constructively managing conflict rather than avoiding it. That's a natural principle, not a gaming one.

    But since a lot of gaming areas deal with recreational conflict, then it also seems reasonable they tend to have more respect and understanding of this principle than modern "civilized" society is always comfortable with. That doesn't mean that gamers in particular have a problem.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
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  18. craftymethod

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    Community outcasts and outspoken critics exist in all hobbies (where contentious situations exist), but you don't see them creating their own community which exists solely to mame and launch vitrolic attacks against developers and other players for the "crime" of being optimistic and enjoying the process of development.

    The hard part is not getting dragged down to their level.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2018
  19. jschoice

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    Although I agree that any hobby has its epic debates the gaming community seems to me me to be the most toxic. When comic boom people debate D.C. Vs Marvel it comes down to a matter of personal taste. The same goes for PvE vs PvP.

    When it comes to game mechanics and game play is when things really heat up. I cringe when I read posts claiming that developers are intentionally doing things to tick off their player base. That would be the worlds dumbest business model. Another change that gamers are struggling with is the concept of open development. The idea of developing a game for 2 or 3 years without the public knowing about it only to release it with a beta stress test has not always worked out well for publishers and developers. Even series like COD, Assasins creed, battlefield games, have had their share of hate thrown at them when they try something different and it fails yet they get equally blasted by gamers when it is the same boring format.

    I believe in the process of open development because it makes for some awesome games. Path of Exile and Warframe are two of my favorite that come to mind. No matter how big of an internal testing team you have the exploits and imbalances only are revealed through actual game play by real players, because there are always gamers looking for ways to game the system or look for exploits that give them an advantage. I applaud devs that take this seriously and make changes based on the metrics.

    The most damaging gamer rants are the ones who clearly never tried the game or have little time into it yet posts crazy nonsupported information as this quickly snowballs into a bandwagon effect of unsubstantiated negative reviews.

    I am sure a lot of the rants stem from passion for gaming but it comes down to tone. One can share candidly how something appears broken or a system is not fun but when we add insult and the "I am done with this game" it will more often get unheard.
     
  20. Cordelayne

    Cordelayne Bug Hunter

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    So funny you bring up Warhammer, I used to LOVE to play Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) with my cousins in the U.K. when I was a wee lad.

    Although I haven't played it in decades, the anger at what CEO Kevin Roundtree has done to the game (and the company) is palpable. Some of it is warranted for sure, like the exorbitant prices for plastic models that used to be metal, or the destruction of WFB to create The Age of Sigmar! I would be pissed too if I had spent hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on WFB only for the company to cancel it and create a whole new game system. Never mind the time commitment involved with assembling those models and then painting them. Yikes! :D

    Yet before all that had happened, I can still recall going to my cousins' local Games Workshop store in Guildford and hearing the arguments and yelling over rules and how a previous edition was better than the newer one. It was crazy! I was like eight years old and here were grown men yelling at each other as if their lives depended on their next dice roll, lol.
     
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