Gaming forums can be depressing places

[Gingerbread Demon]

I mean today I learnt Volition just closed for good, the people that helped bring us the Saints Row games.

But on steam forums people crowing about their demise as if it's some kind of glorious victory but tons of real people got laid off from those studios. All because of the reboot game people are crowing as that was some kind of victory that the game caused the studio to close, not the fact that Embrace lost a billion dollar deal with the Saudis which prompted all the layoffs.

I'm enjoying the game a lot and don't find it woke, where is this woke that frightens people so much?

 

[Alexander Corrino]

The gaming fandom as a whole is hell unless you find a few nice little spots with like-minded people. (Reminds me a lot of certain other fandoms.) It's no surprise to me that there are people who are happy that Volition closed for good - the hatred for the Saints Row reboot game was massive, and it didn't come from only those who hate anything they perceive as "woke", THEY hate anything by default anyway, the hatred also came from a lot of Saints Row purists who felt the game was a disgrace etc. Adding to things, there's the fact that a LOT of gamerbros can't voice their criticism in a normal way. I remember how people literally went after the developers of No Man's Sky right after its release. Yes, it wasn't what had been promised, the anger was justified, but if you're so angry that you literally travel to the studio to harass people there you gotta stop and think about what you're doing.

So yeah. People cheering about the demise of Volition is even somewhat tame in comparison now. As horrible as this sounds.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

The gaming fandom as a whole is hell unless you find a few nice little spots with like-minded people. (Reminds me a lot of certain other fandoms.) It's no surprise to me that there are people who are happy that Volition closed for good - the hatred for the Saints Row reboot game was massive, and it didn't come from only those who hate anything they perceive as "woke", THEY hate anything by default anyway, the hatred also came from a lot of Saints Row purists who felt the game was a disgrace etc. Adding to things, there's the fact that a LOT of gamerbros can't voice their criticism in a normal way. I remember how people literally went after the developers of No Man's Sky right after its release. Yes, it wasn't what had been promised, the anger was justified, but if you're so angry that you literally travel to the studio to harass people there you gotta stop and think about what you're doing.

So yeah. People cheering about the demise of Volition is even somewhat tame in comparison now. As horrible as this sounds.

I know but when I find a game I like I like it, and will support it. I have all the previous games in the series and will play them every so often but I didn't expect the level of reaction this particular game has gotten from swarms of people. Honestly don't find it that bad.

 

[ED-209]

That's people in general, people suck.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

That's people in general, people suck.

Yes they do

 

[FPAlpha]

It's online grand standing, 99% of the people on the internet wouldn't dare say the same shit to someone's face that they post online.

 

[Oddish]

My previous forum was the Bungie ones, when I was a major Destiny player. And there were people who made it their mission to spread negativity.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Ironic that the game was exclusive to the epic store until 7 days ago, and now its dead including its studio, so i guess all that money epic paid to keep it off steam helped dig the studios grave in the end.

 

[HimboTrekkie]

Speaking as someone that works in game development (QA Tester), I try to stay away from most gaming-centric forums and comment sections. More often than nought, I find some really egregious opinions about things you think folks would be upset over. For an example, today on IGN they have an article about game development as a career and workers feeling like it isn't sustainable as work for varying reasons. The comments section is rather full of folks suggesting they leave and find another career, as though that is simply a switch someone can make without great stress or expenditure

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

In todays AI world, there is no garantee that this are actual people behind posts.

But Total War: Warhammer 3 is a new victim of Steam forum mob hate. Massive Review bombing. Never seen such coordinated attack.

That seems to be one of the worst places for this due to the size and spread of the platform more then anything. Happens a lot

Ironic that the game was exclusive to the epic store until 7 days ago, and now its dead including its studio, so i guess all that money epic paid to keep it off steam helped dig the studios grave in the end.

Embrace had a billion dollar plus deal with Saudis and that deal fell through, I think that's really the cause of the layoffs and closing the studio.

 

[Timby]

Embrace had a billion dollar plus deal with Saudis and that deal fell through, I think that's really the cause of the layoffs and closing the studio.

It was a $2 billion deal, actually, and while that falling through didn't help, Volition was effectively a dead man walking after the Saints Row reboot went badly over-budget and sold substantially below expectations.

The real scummy thing here is that Embracer made the layoffs effective immediately yesterday, August 31, instead of today, Friday, September 1, so they didn't have to pay an extra month of health insurance for Volition's employees.

A friend of mine has worked there for a few years and told me:

So we knew that the corporate restructuring was making things precarious, but over the last few months I believe there were talks to not shutter Volition due to the fact that we were now under Gearbox, had a bunch of new projects potentially in the works, etc. It honestly seemed like we were one of the studios more likely to make it out unscathed. And then we hear there's a very important all-hands meeting earlier this morning and there are some people in the meeting that you usually don't see unless some shit's going down. And right away the first thing said was "Volition is being shut down effective immediately".

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

That's brutal

 

[Owain Taggart]

Almost as brutal is what happened to the Gollum game developers, Daedelic Entertainment. They really had no business developing that type of game, given their previous history of mostly developing point-and-clicks, but I'm imagining it was their parent company that gave them the project, putting them in a bind of not having the required experience and being out of their depths. I felt particularly bad about that one because I'd bought several of their games in the past, and they were a good developer for what they were, but their last major project that I was aware of was their Pillars of the Earth game, based on the Ken Follett novel, which was a point-and-click. Going from that to Gollum is brutal, and it's no wonder the game had so many issues. I feel their parent company set them up to fail.

 

[Malicia]

Funny you should start this thread on the same day I decided to take a break from the Steam forums. I check the discussion boards for a few games I've played to death to help out where I can but recently it just seems more hassle than it's worth. I work in IT support so enjoy solving problems for other gamers but there is too much bickering going on and half-hearted threads asking for help with no details to help troubleshoot it. People ask for help never to be heard of again or become combative when asked simple questions. Or people who don't know the difference between their own opinion and fact leading to making incorrect statements about games they only started playing last week.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Funny you should start this thread on the same day I decided to take a break from the Steam forums. I check the discussion boards for a few games I've played to death to help out where I can but recently it just seems more hassle than it's worth. I work in IT support so enjoy solving problems for other gamers but there is too much bickering going on and half-hearted threads asking for help with no details to help troubleshoot it. People ask for help never to be heard of again or become combative when asked simple questions. Or people who don't know the difference between their own opinion and fact leading to making incorrect statements about games they only started playing last week.

Oh gods this x1000

Happens nearly all the time on the steam forums. Or people complaining about poor performance but they are using underpowered hardware and stubbornly not open to advice or suggestions for help.

BTW on steam I am The Cyanide Muffin

 

[Owain Taggart]

I would wager that 99% of the time, most people don't know what they're talking about. The combative nature might come from being embarrassed to admit they're in the wrong which is odd that they're posting asking for help when they themselves aren't open to it.

The other side of it is that sometimes people do truly need help and would be open to it, but sometimes you have casual gamers who often forget to check in. I've never really used the Steam forums myself other than to check to see if something has already been discussed, if I'm hitting a roadblock, so I'm using it more as a resource, because sometimes the issue with games is that they don't communicate something properly. I've literally been stuck once due to a translation error. Game wanted me to do something, I can't remember what it was, as part of a tutorial, and the tutorial text had a word not used in English that completely stumped me, so of course I didn't know what the game wanted out of me. Had to turn to the Steam forums to see if anyone had been stuck there.

 

[fireproof78]

I would wager that 99% of the time, most people don't know what they're talking about. The combative nature might come from being embarrassed to admit they're in the wrong which is odd that they're posting asking for help when they themselves aren't open to it.

Or, they are convinced they are right and want to demonstrate that rightness to others. And, as you say, few want to be wrong.

Also, bear in mind that there is no social investment in the relationships online. The "anonymity factor" impacts our interactions, and we don't see these as full human relationships, for various reasons. Many people would rather satisfied an immediate need, and feel right, or powerful, or satiated, and will sometimes cost relationships in the process. Online relationships are considered lesser to in person ones so if those are lost, no big deal, and it's better to be right.

When it comes to gaming I pretty much just watch a YT video if I'm stuck. I can't ask people for help.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Or, they are convinced they are right and want to demonstrate that rightness to others. And, as you say, few want to be wrong.

Oh man, the times I've seen people believe they were so right only to end up being so wrong and be told off about it, sometimes by the developers themselves is kind of beautiful. Can only hope they learn to not be so smug about it.

But yeah, being anonymous certainly emboldens people for the wrong reasons.

The problem I have with watching a video is that it's less direct. In my experience, it can take a long time to get to where you want due to the rambling nature of these kinds of videos, and sometimes the person making the video doesn't even mention what you're looking for or jumps over it or doesn't do it in a way that really helps, which can be frustrating.

 

[Malicia]

Oh man, the times I've seen people believe they were so right only to end up being so wrong and be told off about it, sometimes by the developers themselves is kind of beautiful. Can only hope they learn to not be so smug about it.

That's sweet when it happens and the dev just dips in to the conversation with a quick correction. Some of the Steam discussion boards are mostly cordial but others can be full of threads with the same people arguing until it becomes personal and the thread is locked. I don't remember ever seeing a moderator post on a thread without locking it. Someone called me a retard recently and the same person mocked another poster for being in his 80s and still playing computer games. People like that are best ignored and I hope I'm still loading up Oblivion when I'm in my 80s. The nostalgia is already huge now so by then it will be off the scale.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Someone called me a retard recently and the same person mocked another poster for being in his 80s and still playing computer games.

Wow, that's bad. Don't they realize that the computer was invented way before those youngsters, and that older people were more likely to game in their day? Sheesh, those young ones need to learn something about respect. Besides, someone gaming in their 80's a sign that their memory is still sharp. And it's been known that adventure games are a good way to keep an older mind busy. I hope nobody mocks them when they're older.