The problem with Games

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > General Bullshit > The problem with Games

a shiny rock: Nov 13, 2009

The bar for posting is lower than it should be, unfortunately.

I would say there's a lot going on that isn't really shitposting, trolling, arguments, or other bullshit that's intentional. Instead, I feel that the quality and content of the average post has gone down. It's not "low content" like a one-word post, but it's a lot closer. Personally I wish the bar was higher on content/humor, and even long for the days of banhammer months. A lot of these threads read more like a chatroom than a forum based around thoughtful dialectic.

It feeds into the megathread problem; there's a reason certain threads for popular games are 7000 pages long. A lot of people have very little to add but do so anyways. I know you acknowledged the megathread problem and its intractability in the OP, but it has really brought the quality of information I gather here down in the past few to several years. Anything that's not Battlefield, Dark Souls, etc gets choked out.

I only bring this up because I really have loved this forum since ~2000, and for like a decade I was always able to find new, interesting games I had not been exposed to; The reasons I feel that this happens less and less, are reasons I link to the Megathread thing. Not to belabor that point, but I get most of my information about neat new games I want to play on Giant Bomb now, which has filled this gap very well. Sadly.

As a good example, I really feel like the Planetside 2 thread exemplifies this. Very little usable information past basic stuff in the OP is found in its hundreds of pages. Instead, there is roughly 75% posts that add very little but are not against the rules, which only make it harder to find good info. The rest is a FYAD-quality shitheap of posts between people who are way too attached to their in-game faction. For over a year, several posters have been purposely instigating arguments, which they know from the past is *never* going to lead anywhere. It's painful to read. Technically, it's discourse... technically.

I love this forum, but sometimes it's tough.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:27

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 26, 2024 00:50

TEAYCHES: Jun 23, 2002

same

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:31

YOURFRIEND: Feb 3, 2009; You're an asshole, Mr. Grinch
You really are a cunt
You're as cuddly as a cockring
and charming being a shitheel
FUCK YOURFRIEND!

hosed up if true.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:32

ScratchAndSniff: Sep 28, 2008; This game stinks

im gay

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:33

goat manilla: Nov 13, 2003

When I played planetside 2 as a non-[GOON] I once flipped a [GOON]s galaxy while in the warpgate and he got really mad and said that he was going to get all of [GOON] to report and ban me. I was never banned. :smug:

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:34

a shiny rock: Nov 13, 2009

goat manilla posted:

When I played planetside 2 as a non-[GOON] I once flipped a [GOON]s galaxy while in the warpgate and he got really mad and said that he was going to get all of [GOON] to report and ban me. I was never banned.

hosed up if true

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:35

Zesty: Jan 17, 2012; The Great Twist

The joke here is that you can replace "Games" with "GBS" and still be correct.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:36

THE PENETRATOR: Jul 27, 2014; by Lowtax

goons are crap filth shitt fucekrs

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:36

Dial-a-Dog: May 22, 2001

You name a thread "state of the games forum" and you have to expect someone is gonna seriouspost like this

Edit: anime mods please post a state of the anime forums thread thanks

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:38

Ahundredbux: Oct 25, 2007; The right to bear arms

Games is always a fun read

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:39

ur in my world now: Jun 5, 2006; ^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}; Smellrose

hey yo op wanna play some big team slayer add me gt chizmack

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:39

Stick Figure Mafia: Dec 11, 2004

I wanted to start Let's Playing games but I don't think it's worth the risk of suicide

edit:

nilumtil posted:

I learned more in TCC and TFR than most people know about those subjects.

Stick Figure Mafia fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Aug 9, 2014

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:43

Simply Simon: Nov 6, 2010; 📡scanning🛰️ for good game 🎮design🦔🦔🦔

Stick Figure Mafia posted:

I wanted to start Let's Playing games but I don't think it's worth the risk of suicide

It's fun and good

EDIT: your suicide of course

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:52

veni veni veni: Jun 5, 2005

Lol all of my posts in games are the type of posts that make that guy hate games.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:56

ur in my world now: Jun 5, 2006; ^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}; Smellrose

[VGS]

# ? Aug 9, 2014 20:58

babypolis: Nov 4, 2009

it is really lovely to glance at that forum and just see a giant wall of megathreads though

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:01

buglord: Jul 31, 2010; Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!; Buglord

Why didn't you just post this in the games sticky

e: wait what the chirst

buglord fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Aug 9, 2014

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:06

THE PENETRATOR: Jul 27, 2014; by Lowtax

Stick Figure Mafia posted:

I wanted to start Let's Playing games but I don't think it's worth the risk of suicide

edit:

from what I've seen it's okay to just stop wherever and not continue because who gives a poo poo it's someone playing a video game lmao

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:14

Moola: Aug 16, 2006

Games is real bad

really really bad

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:16

a shiny rock: Nov 13, 2009

Avocados posted:

Why didn't you just post this in the games sticky

poo poo why didnt i think of that, my bad

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:16

Moola: Aug 16, 2006

like have you guys tried reading Games?

it is BAD

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:17

The Droid: Jun 11, 2012

tranime scholar posted:

[VGS]

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:18

THE PENETRATOR: Jul 27, 2014; by Lowtax

if you havent read the starbound thread theres a guy who keeps posting about how the devs are ripping him off and lying to everyone and the fact that the game isnt done already is horseshit and he wants his money back because starbound is dead

its really loving funny, and GOOD

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:18

Yaldabaoth: Oct 9, 2012; by Azathoth

the problem with the games forum is everyone is a true believer and will slobber the knob of any game that gets a thread

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:20

THE PENETRATOR: Jul 27, 2014; by Lowtax

the worst threads and the only threads i read are the dark souls threads. makes sense.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:21

Moola: Aug 16, 2006

Yaldabaoth posted:

the problem with the games forum is everyone is a true believer and will slobber the knob of any game that gets a thread

someone described it as DEFEND YOUR PURCHASE the forum, and it is basically that

holy moley

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:23

ur in my world now: Jun 5, 2006; ^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}
^{Same as it ever was}; Smellrose

The Droid posted:

hirez .___.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:23

Someguy: Jul 15, 2001; by Lowtax

Moola posted:

like have you guys tried reading Games?

it is BAD

no way i love reading opinions from people that are really bad at the games they are talking about, because the worse they are the more fervently they push their bad opinions about the thing they are bad at

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:34

Jose Oquendo: Jun 20, 2004; Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie

The correct solution is to grow the gently caress up and stop playing video games.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:36

Fetus Tree: Feb 2, 2003; Can't post for 2 years!

Jose Oquendo posted:

The correct solution is to grow the gently caress up and stop playing video games.

this, except unironically

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:37

THE PENETRATOR: Jul 27, 2014; by Lowtax

Jose Oquendo posted:

The correct solution is to grow the gently caress up and stop playing video games.

um excuse me they make M rated games for a reason, the reason being, mature adults want to shoot people in a virtual reality where their actions have no consequence, so that they can live thru the mundanity of everyday life and vent their frustrations about their job / love life / terrible hosed up brain, etc.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:38

Jose Oquendo: Jun 20, 2004; Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring movie

Fetus Tree posted:

this, except unironically

I was being dead serious.

THE PENETRATOR posted:

um excuse me they make M rated games for a reason, the reason being, mature adults want to shoot people in a virtual reality where their actions have no consequence, so that they can live thru the mundanity of everyday life and vent their frustrations about their job / love life / terrible hosed up brain, etc.

Activision Presents Call of Duty: Brown People Murder Simulator 2014 Edition Special Hardened Edition w/ Remote Control Car and Night Vision Goggles. Reserve yours at Gamestop today.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:40

Yivgev: May 19, 2004; i brought my +1 ak-47

Fetus Tree posted:

this, except unironically

greetings pedophile apologist conquistador

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:44

Moola: Aug 16, 2006

Games is bad but games are good

gently caress you if disagree I aint got time for it m8

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:44

Cubone: May 26, 2011; Because it never leaves its bedroom, no one has ever seen this poster's real face.

gaming culture is a failed experiment. it hasn't evolved passed the days of receiving vhs tapes in the mail where two badical dudes tell you about the new star fox game, and anybody who thinks it has is wrong, or a liar. the fringes are pulling in a thousand different directions, hunkered down in their indie bunkers writing 400 paragraphs about the ending of Braid, and the comparatively massive mainstream audiences shell out money for inferior products out of brand recognition, feeding the consumerist beast at the core of the entire thing, doing nothing to advance the medium, and the culture surrounding it is irrevocably tainted by the complete lack of critical thought that allows them to keep pulling in money. "maybe bioshock is art?" suggests a confused toddler. "it is like movies!" adds an idiot. crazy in moloch, cocksucker in moloch. games are trash, gamers are trash. burn and salt the earth.

# ? Aug 9, 2014 21:57

Ponce de Le0n: Jul 6, 2008; Father jailed for beating 3 kids after they wouldn't say who farted in his car

Parallax Scroll posted:

The bar for posting is lower than it should be, unfortunately.

I would say there's a lot going on that isn't really shitposting, trolling, arguments, or other bullshit that's intentional. Instead, I feel that the quality and content of the average post has gone down. It's not "low content" like a one-word post, but it's a lot closer. Personally I wish the bar was higher on content/humor, and even long for the days of banhammer months. A lot of these threads read more like a chatroom than a forum based around thoughtful dialectic.

It feeds into the megathread problem; there's a reason certain threads for popular games are 7000 pages long. A lot of people have very little to add but do so anyways. I know you acknowledged the megathread problem and its intractability in the OP, but it has really brought the quality of information I gather here down in the past few to several years. Anything that's not Battlefield, Dark Souls, etc gets choked out.

I only bring this up because I really have loved this forum since ~2000, and for like a decade I was always able to find new, interesting games I had not been exposed to; The reasons I feel that this happens less and less, are reasons I link to the Megathread thing. Not to belabor that point, but I get most of my information about neat new games I want to play on Giant Bomb now, which has filled this gap very well. Sadly.

As a good example, I really feel like the Planetside 2 thread exemplifies this. Very little usable information past basic stuff in the OP is found in its hundreds of pages. Instead, there is roughly 75% posts that add very little but are not against the rules, which only make it harder to find good info. The rest is a FYAD-quality shitheap of posts between people who are way too attached to their in-game faction. For over a year, several posters have been purposely instigating arguments, which they know from the past is *never* going to lead anywhere. It's painful to read. Technically, it's discourse... technically.

I love this forum, but sometimes it's tough.

Reminder that the steam thread op was longer than than war and peace

# ? Aug 9, 2014 22:03