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[crobb991]

bare with me guys this could be a red flag to some on here but sure.

WHAT THE FUCK HAS HAPPENED TO THIS HOBBY?

Is it just me or has this for of entertainment got so much more toxic than it was a few years ago? While there's always been a few twats on online i have always been lucky enough to avoid most of it thankfully.

recently, we've had that twat that hit his wife while streaming, we've had the controversy of BFV having female characters. Which while historically inaccurate doesnt ruin the over all game experience.

we've had the ridiculous obsession with microtransactions and cosmetic dlc.

we've had the loot boxes.

will we head back to a time when the hobby was fun? will we ever get to a point where games are complete on arrival and dlc adds rather than being cut content.

and for the love of god will the moaning entitled fuckwits that ruin this online ever just move on

thoughts?

 

[Virex]

Normies started playing

 

[GermanZepp]

Normies started playing

Boom!

 

[Queso de Grande]

It is not that gaming is different, it is just that social media and the internet makes all of the crap come to light.

 

[JORMBO]

There’s more games out there then ever now and I feel like there is something for everyone. All of the things mentioned in the OP can be ignored by people that just want to buy and play games.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

My outlook on it is that the reporting within gaming as well the way opinions are communicated throughout gaming communities (only sharing outrage) has lead to a lot of this. If we seen actual unbiased reporting on topics that were well researched and written to include the majority of opinions, not just the 2 most extreme sides of a issue, we’d see a better industry overall.

Just my opinion of course.

 

[120v]

long and short of it is we have "personalities" now... sort of like how the reality tv phenomenon in the 2000s made relatively mundane folk superstars. add that with a helping of trump era cultural discord it just looks pretty nasty in aggregate .... but i'd like to think its a case of the bad ringing out louder than the good and the hobby is mostly in good shape

as for mtx/lootboxes it's just how money is made now. publishers have been bleeding off $100+ million 'one and done' mega productions for awhile so naturally it'd come to this. luckily there's pushback and hopefully there'll be more of a middle ground going forward

 

[Deleted member 77995]

It's the same phenomenon as if you watch the news. Bad news sells. There is a market for outrage and you are being catered to.I don't preorder and I don't buy any day one DLC. My backlog is huge and I don't care about the hottest and freshest titles. Occasionally something catches my interest because of what a friend may post on Discord and then I go on big media blackouts. If you're someone who tracks gaming news daily and absorbs every piece of information on upcoming titles you'll never get quite the satisfaction you want.

On the news bit does "Hundreds of millions of gamers around the world enjoyed their hobby last night, peacefully" sell? The internet does a good job of putting wacky shit under a magnifying glass and making things seem more prominent than they actually are.

 

[Uhtred]

We put up with all the shit the publishers and developers threw at us and didn’t bat an eye. Releasing incomplete mess of a games that require months and months of post launch patches to make the game right.

The micro transactions, loot boxes, now ads. We allowed this. I weep for next gen, our games are going to look like the Las Vegas strip.

Until the community says enough is enough, it’s going to get much much worse.

 

[Solo Act]

It is not that gaming is different, it is just that social media and the internet makes all of the crap come to light.

I think there's a lot to this sentiment, common as it is. I also believe that if you take anything and stare too closely for too long, you will come away seeing a lot of the flaws. Many of us on this board have an expert-level knowledge on gaming by information saturation alone. That kind of knowledge will reveal the warts on any hobby, subject, industry, person, etc.

 

[Zekra Dezivad]

The only thing that bothers me is that it seems to me that a lot of people around me is more interested in talking about their political views than the hobby/passion itself.
Maybe this forum and the social that i'm following is just becoming older, we are just aging (we aren't old, we're just more experienced ), so it's natural that there are more interest in bigger themes. I don't know.
Still, I find that I'm not enjoying reading about games anymore as I used to be just few years ago, this is very true

 

[sublimit]

will we ever get to a point where games are complete on arrival and dlc adds rather than being cut content?

 

[Mr Hyde]

My guess is that uncomplete games, loot boxes, microtransactions, huge day 1-patches will be even more prevalent in the next generation that comes. I don´t think there is anyway to stop it, unless the video game industry implodes upon itself and have to reboot 1983-style. I do a lot of research nowadays before I buy a game and I never buy games on day 1 anymore, except in a few rare cases (such as Resident Evil 2 Remake). I always go for complete editions if I can and I always wait out for sales.

I´ve also noticed how I tend to gravitate more towards old games or indies, rather than the next AAA blockbuster, and that´s mainly because AAA today is, for me atleast, almost always synonymous with the above issues. And I just don´t have the time or energy to be bothered by that shit.

Regarding toxicity in online games I tend to stay away from MP-centric games. I play Warframe now and that´s as good as it gets. The community is very nice and helpful, no hostility, but I only interact via text chat. Voice chat is muted. Other than that, it´s only singleplayer-games. The furthest I can stretch for multiplayer is Dark Souls or Bloodborne, but those are SP-games with MP-elements. The community though are full with elitists and grieving assholes so it can be a negative experience. On the flipside, I have met a lot of good folks through Dark Souls that I´ve become friends with so I guess it goes two ways. MP-centric games like Battlefield or CoD doesn´t interest me in the slightest, I would not play them even for free.

To sum it up, I tend to find myself delving more into the past than the future. The industry is heading in a way that seems uncertain for a player with my tastes. When new games drop I research a lot and if it´s a hot mess I pass it up. Life´s too short to be caught up in garbage games whose only purpose is to milk me for money.

 

[Bonfires Down]

I think gaming is by far in the best place it's ever been. Don't care about cosmetics or DLC myself and games have plenty of content even in their original state. The controversies don't affect the games themselves in any significant manner, and I find it kinda fascinating just like watching a train wreck.

 

[Petrae]

What happened to gaming? Video games got HUGE as a business, and the internet made the wet dreams of CEOs and shareholders alike come true.

When an industry gets big, more and more people want to invest in it, because they believe that their return on investment will be solid, if not spectacular. The problem with this comes from ever-increasing expectations for sales and revenue, which eventually become unattainable in most cases and often require some shitty post-launch money-making schemes to even get close.

Internet connectivity has been great for allowing players to find opponents anywhere, but it also has enabled several shitty business practices and provides a convenient excuse for shipping unfinished or broken games at launch. The original premise of DLC was fair, but it quickly got out of hand. Content that used to be included in games is now left to DLC for extra revenue, or to steer preorders to different retailers. Costumes, skins, bonus levels, and more are now often paid DLC or “exclusive preorder DLC” that eventually become paid DLC.

Internet connectivity also has shifted the balance of power severely toward the industry. Publishers and platform holders can now disable licenses to digital goods at any time, without warning. You almost have to read the 300,000-word EULA to understand what your few remaining rights are.

The plug-and-play aspect of console gaming is now dead. Waiting for games to install to a console’s hard drive, and then waiting for huge patches to install on top of the game install means that physical game purchases often require long periods of waiting before they’re able to be played for the first time— not to mention the occasional need to “clean the fridge” and decide which games to delete so that you have room on your hard drive to install the new one. And be sure to manage your data cap!

There’s no question that there are some great modern video games out there, but the barrier to entry gets increasingly more annoying, as do the greedy tentacles within them that constantly grab for your wallet. And it’s only going to get worse as we roll into the upcoming new console generation.

 

[JordanN]

Gaming became mainstream. There are now a lot more idiots and social justice warriors who want to carve their own space in it.

Remember when gaming used to be called a "boy's club"? Back in the 90s and early 00s, gaming was much more tight knit. I mean, we even had LAN parties back then where you had to know other people in real life in order to play multiplayer games with them.

But in 2018, any idiot can turn on his smartphone, download a game and now he's a gamer. You can see what happened to quality. It went downhill to appeal to the masses.

 

[TacosNSalsa]

The more you entrench yourself in it the worse it will seem. Just wait for impressions from various sources after release to see if it's something you would want . then buy or don't buy .

 

[Crew 511A]

This industry is truly ripe for another crash, and it might be the best thing that ever happens if it contracts and gets a lot smaller. People would lose their jobs, but that's life.

 

[Husky]

The overmonetization of my hobby really has ruined the experience for me. Gaming truly is less fun on my end.
Now I just won't give a dime to any game with microtransactions. If it has them, it's an automatic no-buy.

 

[InterMusketeer]

I think it's pretty simple. There's more and more significant problems to bitch about now.

 

[BusierDonkey]

The only thing that bothers me is that it seems to me that a lot of people around me is more interested in talking about their political views than the hobby/passion itself.
Maybe this forum and the social that i'm following is just becoming older, we are just aging (we aren't old, we're just more experienced ), so it's natural that there are more interest in bigger themes. I don't know.
Still, I find that I'm not enjoying reading about games anymore as I used to be just few years ago, this is very true

Politics are all the media focuses on anymore, so it's become a social thing as a result. There are always opinions from any angle worth hearing, but when I start discussing something funny I saw in Xenoblade 2 and some dingleberry starts in on a politically charged rant about how the game portrays women he'd read om "game journalist site" I have to step back and wonder when that person became a Yak Bak.

 

[Petrae]

This industry is truly ripe for another crash, and it might be the best thing that ever happens if it contracts and gets a lot smaller. People would lose their jobs, but that's life.

I just can’t see a huge crash like ‘83. The industry is still making billions of dollars yearly, even with a sense of dissatisfaction that’s been growing and with a new generation of consoles on the horizon to infuse cash quickly.

What I can see is continued contraction, with major publishers and developers either folding or merging. Indie houses will still stick around, but won’t have the power that AAA houses have. Meanwhile, those who remain will still need to rely on consistent post-purchase revenue to appease shareholders, so the issues with DLC won’t go away. Deadlines will also still be a thing, so “ship it and patch later” will remain the mantra.

 

[LucidFeuer]

A younger more degenerate generation, internet hidden PR defending and manipulating people into accepting unacceptable practices, and most coward weak-minded people accepting. That's what happened.

 

[TacosNSalsa]

This industry is truly ripe for another crash, and it might be the best thing that ever happens if it contracts and gets a lot smaller. People would lose their jobs, but that's life.

They would have to sacrifice a puppy to and a baby for people to stop buying enough for that to happen...

 

[PumpkinPie]

I feel like game companies detest gamers these days, the way they try to milk us dry with DLC, numerous collector's editions, micro transactions etc.

To top it all off they give us buggy, broken games, and if we don't buy them it's our fault when our favourite franchise is cancelled. Like we should be grateful for being fed shit!

I've never felt so disillusioned with gaming.

 

[theHFIC]

Because now that gaming is more accessible through mobile and console devices. The pool of game playing people, both male and female, has grown dramatically. There are now really 3 sample pools of gamers that tend to clash.

1. You have the gaming purists that feel that gaming is their God / Science given right because they have been playing video games longer than you. They feel that all games should be male character driven with women in the role of being rescued or as any other type of non player character. Any game that features women or different ethnicities in a prominent role is obviously the work of developers with a liberal social justice agenda.

2. You have the new generation of gamers that take inclusiveness way too seriously. They feel that all games should provide options for man, w woman, every other gender out there, every race, religious background, and sexual preference. If a game doesn't cater to all of these demands, it means the developers have a right/far right/alt right agenda.

3. Then you have people who just want to play a fucking video game. Instead of having to focus on the gender or historical accuracy, they have to deal with loot boxes, micro-transactions, buggy rushed games, and the fucking morons that make up the two groups mentioned above who make the whole environment toxic.

Unfortunately, social media and various forums have made it real easy for the first two groups to thrive like bacteria. For the 3rd group, the fact that people still pre-order shit games, or pay for shit DLC / Microtransactions encourages the developers to keep going down that path.

 

[Silvawuff]

Honestly? Bad news sells and gets the most clicks. There's a huge positive side to gaming we don't see much of. I think the criticism should be on gaming journalism and how it's presented and consumed.

 

[Elfstar]

1)Social media and hugely mainstream internet gave every loud, insane, vocal weirdo a platform to express themselves, while journalism needed constant controversies and outrage to bait audiences and sustain itself
2)Development costs skyrocketed and companies are costantly finding new, greedier ways to exploit the consumers

There's still plenty of fun to be had in modern gaming, just cut off all the useless online drama bullshit and choose the right games to play.

 

[Petrae]

I feel like game companies detest gamers these days, the way they try to milk us dry with DLC, numerous collector's editions, micro transactions etc.

To top it all off they give us buggy, broken games, and if we don't buy them it's our fault when our favourite franchise is cancelled. Like we should be grateful for being fed shit!

I've never felt so disillusioned with gaming.

To video game companies, you are a source of cash. That’s it. The internet has pulled back the veil and given the industry more transparency with which to show its disdain for its consumer base.

The industry only cares that you pay up... and now that the video game industry is almost too big to fail, it doesn’t care much when consumers are dissatisfied.

 

[Strife In a Teacup]

our games are going to look like the Las Vegas strip.

Fallout 76 is Circus Circus.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

Is it just me or has this for of entertainment got so much more toxic than it was a few years ago? While there's always been a few twats on online i have always been lucky enough to avoid most of it thankfully.

imo gaming has always had the same level of "toxicity" being a mass hobby of course there are going to be shitty people in there, just like there are shitty people in sports, comics, movies, etc. only main difference is nowadays journalists have run w the narrative that "Gamers Are Shit". it's not a new narrative. it plays into the same old stereotypes from back when it was cool to hate nerds in the 80s for liking that stuff. so they have made it their MO to dig up any toxic behavior and hold up it to the light as representative that all gamers are horrible people.

tbh im not sure whether the toxic elements are really that much greater or it's just that people report on it way more. go back and read some gaming mags from the 90s and the journalists would be the ones saying toxic shit.

my advise is just ignore it. we don't spend time fretting about the way games were portrayed by 90s journalists, because it is irrelevant. journalism itself has a sell by date. once enough time has passed, it no longer matters. the narratives they cling to are entirely an illusion.

 

[Nymphae]

There’s more games out there then ever now and I feel like there is something for everyone. All of the things mentioned in the OP can be ignored by people that just want to buy and play games.

Yeah this is pretty much how I feel. I have been able to successfully avoid MTX, shitty DLC, loot boxes, etc., it's really not hard. Sure we've had more "controversies" over the past decade or so, but it hasn't really impacted by ability to find great stuff.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

Honestly? Bad news sells and gets the most clicks. There's a huge positive side to gaming we don't see much of. I think the criticism should be on gaming journalism and how it's presented and consumed.

100% agreed.

The BF:V is a good example of this.

A female soldier with a working prosthetic arm? This was the big complaint from the reveal trailer in the BF community. And the reason behind it was that it assumed huge MTX in BFV. And concerns of cartoony appearance in BFV (more about this below). That it didn't the more serious tone that fans expected from Battlefield.

They said this "A female soldier with a working prosthetic arm"? Heres what game journalist wrote "BF fans are upset about A female soldier with a working prosthetic arm". And then that was the discussion. There were already female soldiers in Battlefield, other Dice game, and other shooters like COD. All with no issues.

Historical accuracy...

The over the top cartoony appearance was off putting to many in the community. But historical accuracy wasn't what they said. That was first said in mass from the reporting of game journalist. The concern from the community was silly tone when expecting a more serious one.

The journalist got the complaints wrong because of their own interpretation of what was being said. There is a huge disconnect between what the community said about the reveal and what was reported.

They were the catalyst for the story. Had they reported on the story accurately, and had Dice read from the community directly instead of reading the "news" about it... this would have turned out very differently.

 

[Radical Dreamer]

I hate this term "toxic" people these days brand everything and throw names at everyone, toxic, -phobic, incel (can someone explain origins of this one because pre2018 haven't seen it used at all). And by the way, I think toxicity is over-exaggerated to the point that for me so called non-toxic people are more annoying than toxic, lol.

 

[reconminicon]

Greed and "social justice" is what happened.

 

[Aurelian]

Gaming became mainstream. There are now a lot more idiots and social justice warriors who want to carve their own space in it.

Remember when gaming used to be called a "boy's club"? Back in the 90s and early 00s, gaming was much more tight knit. I mean, we even had LAN parties back then where you had to know other people in real life in order to play multiplayer games with them.

But in 2018, any idiot can turn on his smartphone, download a game and now he's a gamer. You can see what happened to quality. It went downhill to appeal to the masses.

That's not really a healthy attitude to take. I don't want gaming to be a snobbish "boy's club" like you do. I want women (and the LGBT community, and...) to feel more comfortable playing games, to see more of their stories represented. I want gaming to be a place for anyone with the interest and commitment to play, whether they're playing Fortnite for the first time on their phone or getting their third prestige in Black Ops 4 on a custom-built PC. Ultimately, I want gaming to be welcoming and inclusive.

Think about it for a moment... it's gaming. The notion that you need a certain level of dedication to be a 'real' gamer is ludicrous. You're supposed to be having fun, not passing a bar exam. Instead of focusing energy on hate, I'd rather be a good person and encourage as many people to come into the fold as possible.

 

[Elfstar]

100% agreed.

The BF:V is a good example of this.

A female soldier with a working prosthetic arm? This was the big complaint from the reveal trailer in the BF community. And the reason behind it was that it assumed huge MTX in BFV. And concerns of cartoony appearance in BFV (more about this below). That it didn't the more serious tone that fans expected from Battlefield.

They said this "A female soldier with a working prosthetic arm"? Heres what game journalist wrote "BF fans are upset about A female soldier with a working prosthetic arm". And then that was the discussion. There were already female soldiers in Battlefield, other Dice game, and other shooters like COD. All with no issues.

Historical accuracy...

The over the top cartoony appearance was off putting to many in the community. But historical accuracy wasn't what they said. That was first said in mass from the reporting of game journalist. The concern from the community was silly tone when expecting a more serious one.

The journalist got the complaints wrong because of their own interpretation of what was being said. There is a huge disconnect between what the community said about the reveal and what was reported.

They were the catalyst for the story. Had they reported on the story accurately, and had Dice read from the community directly instead of reading the "news" about it... this would have turned out very differently.

Just think about everytime a news outlet ran a "story" or wrote an article completely basing it on a bunch of Twitter or Youtube reactions or comments (like a few hundreds of them, or even just a dozen), straight-up pretending they relevantly represented the thoughts and the opinions of entire categories of people or even the whole public about something, only to spark controversy or to legitimise their opinion and political stances.

How isn't that disgustingly deceptive and unreliable?

 

[DarthBuzzer]

The gaming community has gotten worse and increasingly more jaded, moreso than the business practices being pushed.

Luckily the actual quality of gaming is increasing, so we have that.

 

[PumpkinPie]

To video game companies, you are a source of cash. That’s it. The internet has pulled back the veil and given the industry more transparency with which to show its disdain for its consumer base.

The industry only cares that you pay up... and now that the video game industry is almost too big to fail, it doesn’t care much when consumers are dissatisfied.

I feel like they at least used to hide the fact that they were all about money. Nintendo especially always seemed like they loved games and wanted to share that with us. Now even they just try to sell us the same NES games every gen.

 

[The Incarnation]

I think gaming is by far in the best place it's ever been. Don't care about cosmetics or DLC myself and games have plenty of content even in their original state. The controversies don't affect the games themselves in any significant manner, and I find it kinda fascinating just like watching a train wreck.

Really? Got 4 Gears games last gen, and one this. Similar with Halo, got 3 last gen and got one this gen. Uncharted got 3 last gen, and 1 and a half this gen.

Pretty weak tbh, especially for established francishes. System selling franchises at that.

We' ve only received GT Sport, this gen compared to 2 fully fledged GT games last gen.

All this clamouring for a New Xbox and Ps5 has me wondering, because it is not like the Xbox one X and Ps4 Pro are outselling the base models.

Personally, l think there's a rude awakening to be had in the near future.

 

[Elfstar]

I feel like they at least used to hide the fact that they were all about money. Nintendo especially always seemed like they loved games and wanted to share that with us. Now even they just try to sell us the same NES games every gen.

Didn't the Nintendo's president straight-up call dedicated jrpg gamers friendless, lonely losers during the N64 era?

 

[Northeastmonk]

I find the negative when it cools down in real life versus online. In real life I pay money for games. I play them and sometimes I don't have much to say to my real life friends. I have gamed since the beginning of the 90's. I've lived through many consoles, a person's negative comment about gaming, and so forth.

I went online and I found people who excelled at it. They were either working in the industry, gaming, or just understanding the concept of gaming.

It changes all the time. People will always want censorship, people will say they quit, people will "grow up", etc etc... it can suck at times as much as it can be amazing. To me, gaming is a lot like a Cherry Blossom. It resembles something beautiful, but also something that is short lived.

I enjoy what I've created for myself or better yet, what I bought for myself. I enjoy gaming like I always have. But if I wanted to dive deeper, I could see the toxic, unwanted, forgotten about, and complete lack there of in terms of importance and signicance to it all.

I don't let that get me down. I buy digital because it's convenient for me. I don't necessarily want to buy games at a store anymore. I love getting AAA $60 games, but I enjoy buying them online/digitally. I feel better than if I actually went to a local store.

There were so many people on the internet trying to make a buck or get noticed for gaming. Yet, once they lose their steam they're gone. Gaming isn't bad at all. It's wonderful, but the parts around it come down to who wants to make it convenient for them.

For some people gaming feels like it's an entitlement while others feel like they're doing something a minor or young adult does. Why should I justify why I game now to someone who may have never played or just started gaming?

After a while you start seeing the marketing and you don't see yourself in their category of who plays games. You see some other young person who started gaming almost two decades after you started. Yet why did we build up all our interest and all our knowledge? Why did we learn all this lore and fantasy, all these control schemes. I talked to a 20 year old who loved games, but had not played a lot of titles I listed off to him. He watched them on Twitch and YouTube. It's discouraging because real life, your local city, watches these marketing campaigns and that's what they believe. The stigma isn't to listen to what we know about games, it's that picture of some young kid shooting people in a video game.

I might sound like I'm not making sense. Gaming is wonderful, but the stigma and social toxin makes it feel bitter and awful at times.

 

[ArnoldSewerby]

Spiraling development costs and a user base that would kick up all sorts of shit at at a rise in game prices

 

[Aurelian]

I hate this term "toxic" people these days brand everything and throw names at everyone, toxic, -phobic, incel (can someone explain origins of this one because pre2018 haven't seen it used at all). And by the way, I think toxicity is over-exaggerated to the point that for me so called non-toxic people are more annoying than toxic, lol.

Incel is short for "involuntarily celibate" and has been around as a concept for a while. Basically, incels are a cabal of anti-social men who whine that no women want to date them and blame it on society rather than their own horrible behavior. They act as if they're entitled to sex and sometimes fantasize about making it mandatory (or, in the worst cases, killing normal people as revenge).

There's definitely toxicity in gaming, but if you're a white straight guy you won't see it as much. You're not the target in that case. You can shrug off a homophobic or racist slur; you won't have men propositioning or harassing you because they hear that you're a woman in voice chat.

 

[Petrae]

Spiraling development costs and a user base that would kick up all sorts of shit at at a rise in game prices

With all of the extraneous bullshit that publishers pull— a plethora of special/collector’s editions, advertising deals and promotions, a fuckton of DLC, and more— it’s tough to listen to the video game industry cry poor because of “development costs”.

There’s also a much larger number of consumers who buy video games these days, which increases the amount of revenue.

Publishers have nobody to blame but themselves when it comes to out of control development costs. Consumers are already pumping billions of dollars into the industry annually as it stands. They’re not responsible for how that revenue is spent.

 

[Mr Hyde]

Didn't the Nintendo's president straight-up call dedicated jrpg gamers friendless, lonely losers during the N64 era?

Yes. Hiroshi Yamauchi said it in a interview during N64 launch. He was salty about Squaresoft leaving Nintendo for Sony, after Square complained about cartridges being too small for a game like Final Fantasy VII. It was Yamauchis decision to stick with cartridges and his pride hurt Nintendo for years.

 

[Danjin44]

I only play single player and Japanese games and I no longer care for online gaming and thanks to that I’m able to avoid shitty part of gaming industry for most part.

 

[Redneckerz]

I actually geniunely don't care what the gaming sphere does there. I play Single Player, i play offline, i play for up to an hour max and if something annoys me, i put the game away and ill try again in the few days.

A hobby needs to remain a hobby for yourself.

 

[JordanN]

That's not really a healthy attitude to take. I don't want gaming to be a snobbish "boy's club" like you do. I want women (and the LGBT community, and...) to feel more comfortable playing games, to see more of their stories represented. I want gaming to be a place for anyone with the interest and commitment to play, whether they're playing Fortnite for the first time on their phone or getting their third prestige in Black Ops 4 on a custom-built PC. Ultimately, I want gaming to be welcoming and inclusive.

Think about it for a moment... it's gaming. The notion that you need a certain level of dedication to be a 'real' gamer is ludicrous. You're supposed to be having fun, not passing a bar exam. Instead of focusing energy on hate, I'd rather be a good person and encourage as many people to come into the fold as possible.

I use "Boy's club" liberally. To refer to the old guard who kept gaming from turning into the mainstream mess that is today.

Growing up, I actually did play a lot of video games around girls. I even remembered in Middle School/ High School, I saw lots of girls bringing in DS and PSPs to class which kinda surprised me.
The point however is that gaming didn't actually care if you were a boy or a girl or LGBT. You just shut up, and criticize a game for its gameplay. It didn't need to be made any more welcoming than that.

Now fast forward today and major Game Studios are actually saying "Diversity is just as important as gameplay". Um, no sweetie. 20 years ago, games played fine without making a point of which skin color you controlled.

 

[ipukespiders]

I stay behind the curve, so by the time I get a game, it's already patched or I don't bother.
I don't think I own any 2017 or 2018 games.