Xenich Do you, in general, play computer games often? Are you a "gamer"?
Pretty much. Have been fairly consistently playing them since Pong/Oregon Trail days. I don't play as much as I used to, though enough to know basically what is out there, what they are doing, etc...
Well, you seem kind of shocked by the fact that people on the RPG Codex spend time with and even enjoy games that they know have flaws.
The Codex is a gamer forum, and gamers play games - that's kind of the point. We can't just go "Hey, I hear Divinity's endgame isn't so hot, so let's completely ignore it." I mean, you can, but if you keep doing that then at some point you just lose touch with the hobby, and then what's the point of even posting on a gaming forum? So it's kind of a Darwinian thing.
As Roguey is fond of saying, RPGs aren't really a "good" genre. The life of an RPG player is all about enjoying the good bits, trying to ignore the meh bits, and holding one's nose while grinding past the bad bits.
It isn't the issue of them playing games that have flaws, it is the swooning over them like they are the best thing since sliced bread. They do this with each new game released, they act like a bunch of teenagers and then get very defensive over any negative comments on the game. After a time, the honeymoon is over and then they all start getting negative. That isn't a gamer playing games, that is mainstreamers chasing fads.
I don't doubt PoE has some good elements. I can appreciate some terrible games "for what they are" and I can pick at good games for what they lack, but I don't fall for the hype like I used to in my youth. Like I said though, it isn't the fact people are playing the game, or even that they are enjoying it. Rather it is their lack of desire to objectively look at the flaws of a game until they have become bored with it. You saw the shit people flung on in the PoE forum on release, it was like I walked into the Bethesda forums. Some were giving honest evaluations of various systems and were being attacked by the same fan boys who do the same things over with every new game release. Hell, I disagree with Roguey quite often on many issues, but you are telling me the JS worshiper is more objective and level headed on a JS game than the rest? Like I said, this site is filled with people who aren't gamers in the sense that they truly appreciate game systems, but merely mainstreams who wish to be entertained.
I can appreciate the "style" of a mainstream game and why someone would find that appealing, but... this is the cRPG forums and the discussion is on cRPG games that are fighting the mainstream decline. So I would expect those who are evaluating the game to be a bit harder on the developers than they are. These developers don't need to be praised. There work should be critically evaluated, noted for when it does well to cRPG game play standards and heavily criticized when it fails such. I mean, I understand the excitement of something "familiar" to which PoE brings in terms of nostalgia, but this fad worship is so mainstream it turns my stomach. When one of the most "elitist" cRPG sites on the net acts like the average youtube channel when it comes to a new game being released, we have problem and this incline you guys are looking for? Will never come if you don't hold developers feet to the fire. Your praise of a game should be... "hard earned", not passed around like a cheap whore.
They did the same with D:OS as well. On release, it was the best thing since sliced bread, people were defending it like fan boys rather than agreeing/disagreeing on aspects and keeping the focus on what it can do better, where it needs to improve. You guys hate Hiver, but he was pretty much the only one from here over on their forums giving extensive feedback, suggestions, weighting the good and bad and fighting off the mainstreamers. Hell, people were praising the game, it was winning game of the year all the while Sven was claiming the game missed its mark, needed to be improved, etc.. I mean, for craps sake, the developer of the game was being hard on his own work while the rest were dancing around like teeny boppers. Then.. after the honeymoon is over, look at all the D:OS sucks, terrible game.. but damn.. PoE is like "da bestest game eva!".
Like I said, it isn't the fact people play games as such, it isn't the fact that might enjoy them. It is the all too common manner in which they fad praise things. That is my problem.
