I think a lot of people -- Xbox fans especially -- get upset because, while the cynicism towards MS is most certainly deserved, it can get a little excessive. You, Amir0x, don't seem to do that. Your posts are mostly level-headed, but that is not true for a lot of GAF. Please do not tell me that the constant making fun of MS and the Xbox brand constitute "interesting discussion." I know you aren't, but that's partially what spawns all this "persecution complex" that people (most of whom haven't a clue as to what the term means) are seeing.
If you mean do people posting "have you seen Titanfall" all day long is 'interesting', than of course no. I even made a sarcastic thread about that, actually, since it is a little ridiculous. But I think I just interpret and value the negativity a lot differently than some folk. Yes, I would say without a doubt the anger and criticisms of Microsoft have entered into 'excessive' territory. The problem I have is this idea that because it's excessive that the criticisms themselves don't hold the same exact amount of merit.
It doesn't bother me that it is excessive for the moment because I know the wave of resentment is temporary and directly tied to ongoing transgressions. When Microsoft ends these mistakes and starts on the road to having that trust relationship with gamers again, it will still take many months, if not years, before it full recovers. I would only suggest that this "excessive" anger is a natural and expected result of what occurred, and that Nintendo and Sony must face it in turn when slip ups occur.
I would also suggest one of the reasons it seems so overwhelming right now is that GAF has never been bigger than it is at this very moment. Specifically, huge hordes of GAFers had their accounts activated this year, and it takes a while for the mods to work through who has merits as a poster and who doesn't. As a result, the average post quality always declines for a few months after major waves of posters before rising back to the norm.
Additionally, because GAF is bigger than ever before, there is an even more predominant "echo chamber" effect wherein popular opinions form a sort of horde wherein poster after poster jumps on similar posts and overwhelm an individual, and it may appear like it's "ganging up on someone" when it's really just a numbers game... so many posters, so many people wanting to comment, so many having similar thoughts... lots of repeated ground covered.
I don't think the gaming community was ever united as strongly as when we were against the anti-consumer XBO measures, so the echo chamber was naturally louder than ever before. That said, since I feel it was earned and deserved criticism and I am of the belief everyone deserves to have their say, no matter how repetitious, it has yet to bother me.
What does bother me is ->
● A campaign of misinformation (Microsoft is at it this time; Sony was at it in 2006)
● Posters who act like they don't understand where the excessive criticism is coming from
● Posters who act like the criticism itself is overall somehow unfair
● Posters who act like the criticism is part of some great SonyGAF or HiveMind Conspiracy.
● Fucking with Consumers, a group I am obviously a part of.
These are important underlying issues, because it often leads to a great amount of disrespect shown to those with legitimate positions because some 'fans' may be frustrated with hearing the same complaints over and over.
The important thing to remember is to take a break if it is getting to you, maybe try your hand at other topics of conversation, and then return when you gather your thoughts and feel you have something to contribute. If you think the conversation is repetitive, you only add to prolonging it by engaging in whining theatrics. Would you not say this is fair?
It's really important we as a community try to engage commentary that may be part of 'minority' views. It is important we fairly evaluate claims made by individual posters and thoughts they have. So many official topics around the gaming communities on the internet become circle jerk topics where individuals within the threads attack any negative perspective like packs of roaming hyenas. And then there are other times when we see someone getting beat up a bit and then we all pile on, which can understandably get overwhelming. That's not always fair either (although I don't have sympathy when that happens to someone who is obviously trolling).
And speaking of trolling, people need to learn what that means
Used so indiscriminately around the internet.
Some say "well it's not like Sony didn't get the same treatment in the PS3's early days." So they did. But that's not the point. This constant making fun of companies (deserved or not) is unnecessary, suffocating to intelligent and interesting discussion, and really isn't all that funny besides. That thread about the Xbox employees who couldn't open a lock on their SUV is a perfect example.
The thing I don't understand is how -precisely- you're labeling the discussions. You say it is "making fun of" the company. A lot of people are bitingly sarcastic at this point, bitterly skeptical of all claims made by Microsoft. This is true. What does not seem to be true is the categorization that a majority of these discussions or the tone of these discussions is an attempt to 'make fun of' Microsoft, or earlier in 2006 Sony.
These are consumers exercising the most important power they have: their voice. With it, they stopped a giant from trampling all over their consumer rights. With it, they slowed Sony's arrogance and forced them to consider our needs until they have become a consumer-friendly dream this go around. Now, they give us
so much value with things like PS+ that $600 seems like a distant nightmare.
In the end, even if a fairly large percentage of the conversations have turned into simple reductionist ribbing, I would take that percentage if it meant keeping the overall pressure hard on these companies. And when we start measuring our steps because we don't want to offend fanboys or giant soulless conglomerations and companies, we begin to arbitrarily limit our power. It's impossible to moderate the tone of a community of millions of gamers across the internet. It is better to let the anger naturally flow where it may than caring at a few hurt feelings over videogames imo
