Cynicism vs. Optimism

[Arnox]

Too many times I go on certain gaming sites and see a massive level of cynicism being exercised in the comments sections and forums. And it really ticks me off. The argument for cynicism being that it's better than optimism. If you're optimistic in this community, you're often looked down on as an idiot.

So which is better? Trick question. None of them. Professionalism is better.

When you're professional, you don't make any assumptions at all whether they be for good or bad. You simply analyze what's there and draw your own conclusion on what's going on. And when you do, YOU DON'T MAKE A MASSIVE DEAL ABOUT IT. Let's say EA is up to their usual anti-consumer practices and are releasing their new game with always-online DRM. In that situation, you would say that this is a very bad practice and you most likely won't be buying their new game. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing dramatic. That's professionalism, and that's how it should be; not going onto a forum and bawling your eyes out or acting like a pessimistic jerk. No one wants to be around that.

[edify]

It's my belief that consumer cynicism is healthy and necessary in the games industry due to how fucked the press is that surrounds it.

If you're planning on watching a film at the cinema for example, impartial and honest critique is widely available from several respectable sources and more often than not, those publications rely on that very reputation to sell copies or bring in viewers. The music industry is even more so in favour of the consumer because the business model has adapted to the fact that people will access the product for free before deciding if an artist deserves their money.

As gamers we are unfortunate in that gaming media is saturated with fucking liars and sellouts to the point where most AAA prerelease reviews read more like advertisements than real critiques. Ordinary consumers have been conditioned to accept the fact that the £40/$60 you drop on a brand new game is sometimes just going to be wasted on a bad product, but you can't take it back because it works as intended. You can't ask for a refund after you've watched a film either but at least you stand a better chance of finding out if it's crap before you pay the price of admission.

Optimism implies trust and we have no reason to trust any publisher out there from one game to the next.

[Arnox]

It's my belief that consumer cynicism is healthy and necessary in the games industry due to how fucked the press is that surrounds it.

If you're planning on watching a film at the cinema for example, impartial and honest critique is widely available from several respectable sources and more often than not, those publications rely on that very reputation to sell copies or bring in viewers. The music industry is even more so in favour of the consumer because the business model has adapted to the fact that people will access the product for free before deciding if an artist deserves their money.

As gamers we are unfortunate in that gaming media is saturated with fucking liars and sellouts to the point where most AAA prerelease reviews read more like advertisements than real critiques. Ordinary consumers have been conditioned to accept the fact that the £40/$60 you drop on a brand new game is sometimes just going to be wasted on a bad product, but you can't take it back because it works as intended. You can't ask for a refund after you've watched a film either but at least you stand a better chance of finding out if it's crap before you pay the price of admission.

Optimism implies trust and we have no reason to trust any publisher out there from one game to the next.

I don't know about IGN 'cause they've always been inaccurate and generally shifty but I do know that Gamespot rarely, if ever, has this problem. They are not afraid to bash a famous game at all and have been very accurate with their news reports.

As to the fans, let me give you an example. Like just today, Microsoft announced that they were going to sell a Kinectless Xbox One at $100 cheaper. Something people have been asking for for a while. And what did a lot of the gaming community say about that? 'lolol micro$oft is desperate now.' (gonna need to upload that facepalm smiley sometime) Seriously, Microsoft has been making nothing but improvements to the One and I've barely heard anything on Sony's front. They seem to be content to just sit there. And with Titanfall out, Microsoft's starting to gain the lead again. And if I'm right about this new Halo being amazing, Sony's gonna have to compete with not just one, but TWO system sellers. And if it can't compete with that, Microsoft's going to catch up and stab Sony in the back, sales wise. Again.

[X0MB13]

I do not play games other than some occasional racing games. I never need a crew or some such bullshit to back me in anything I do in the real or digital world. The comparison of the cynicism vs optimism  is somewhat fractured. I'm a psychology major so with cynicism you are working with trust issues while optimism is an outlook as a whole. I can change this up with correct swapping of terminology and say I am optimistic in my view of others and wish to see the best in them but people continue to show me that the realist (possibly a cynic) is right about everyone else. I do everything in good faith and for 70-80% of my interaction it is done for the betterment of others more so than myself which creates an entirely new disorder of sorts: being a martyr. I'd continue but it would be a longer thread than most choose to read and I will hold some cards for a bit and see hw this forum turns out.

[JanitorJesus]

So you think the comments section of every Steam and IGN page should read like this;

"I did not like this product because it is bad business practice."

"I did not like this product because it is bad business practice."

"I did not like this product because it is bad business practice."

"I did not like this product because it is bad business practice."

"I like this product. Thanks for reading."

"I love this product because it's awesome and it has good graphics and te he ^_^"

"I did not like this product because it is bad business practice."

?

It kinda just more or less seems like you think anyone who disagrees with you should shut up.

Most of the comment sections these days are touted as a 'discussion', not a 'professional feedback section'. Casual discussion usually entails the exchange of opinions and view-points, I'm sorry if that makes you angry, I guess sometimes it makes us all a little angry when we have to read stupid things thought up by stupid people.

In a market so saturated with shitty or subpar products and heavy anti-consumer business models/tactics, it almost does seem a bit idiotic to be mostly optimistic, at least generally speaking, and probably even more so if you spend a lot of money on games advertised to all-hell, with 5 "Special edition" versions right out of the gate. Or whatever other overpriced bullshit is poppin these days.