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[RedRedSuit]

There is a degree of social influence that happens between gaf posters. There also seems to be an effect akin to the righteous one-star rating to lower the mean effect. Gaf also enjoys being noticed and being a taste-maker. There is a certain celebrity given to gaf on gaming blogs, which I think attracts certain kinds of posters (I know its what attracted me).

Obviously a blacklash isn't something that consciously happens. People don't go, "Well, I liked this game, but fuck it. I'm going to bandwagon the shit out of this." Its like when people say "Man, this movie sucks!" while you're watching one. It's going to influence your perceptions of the quality.

Take the quality of GTA4's story and gaf's reaction to it. The story is actually, for a game, top of class. The acting, writing, and presentation far exceeds typical expectations for the medium. Some critic calls it oscar-worthy. Gaf reacts by shitting on it ad-nauseum and largely without a strong enough base to justify it.

The more hyped something is, the more acute any disappointment will be felt, the harder gaf will negatively react. It's never fair, but it is predictable.

What I mean by groupthink is that a topic starts with the title "MGS4- I don't think I've ever disliked a game this much". It's like a call to all the haters to join together to collectively shit on the game. The shitting reinforces more shitting. Defenders aren't reinforced, but discouraged. Notice that most defenders here have only typed short responses, or responded with qualified statements like "MGS 4 is a tough game to defend". My own were.

A game with a metacritic rating of 94 really shouldn't require such qualifiers. There's a lot to like. I don't expect them when I shit on Halo or Killzone 2.

I agree with that.

One could spend the effort to "defend" it, but it's pretty hard to argue with super-hyperbolic groupthink (at least that's what it seems like IMO) that starts right there in the thread title. And even if you do go through a few pages of "defending" the game, what is the point? No one's going to be convinced of anything, and the rhetoric is just going to get more and more extreme throughout. Basically,

This thread is painful to read. I mean, I know GAF is all about grand hyperbolic assertions and trumpeting one's opinion as if it's the One True Word Of God, but something about MGS really, really brings it out in people. It's not a pretty sight.

Hell, while I really enjoyed MGS4, I was disappointed with GTA IV compared to its predecessor. But at the same time, if you read GAF you might think it's just a bad or average game, when clearly it's a hell of a lot better than most games by most standards.

 

[Dabookerman]

Same time again next month guys?

 

[rataplein]

There is a degree of social influence that happens between gaf posters. There also seems to be an effect akin to the righteous one-star rating to lower the mean effect. Gaf also enjoys being noticed and being a taste-maker. There is a certain celebrity given to gaf on gaming blogs, which I think attracts certain kinds of posters (I know its what attracted me).

Obviously a blacklash isn't something that consciously happens. People don't go, "Well, I liked this game, but fuck it. I'm going to bandwagon the shit out of this." Its like when people say "Man, this movie sucks!" while you're watching one. It's going to influence your perceptions of the quality.

Take the quality of GTA4's story and gaf's reaction to it. The story is actually, for a game, top of class. The acting, writing, and presentation far exceeds typical expectations for the medium. Some critic calls it oscar-worthy. Gaf reacts by shitting on it ad-nauseum and largely without a strong enough base to justify it.

The more hyped something is, the more acute any disappointment will be felt, the harder gaf will negatively react. It's never fair, but it is predictable.

What I mean by groupthink is that a topic starts with the title "MGS4- I don't think I've ever disliked a game this much". It's like a call to all the haters to join together to collectively shit on the game. The shitting reinforces more shitting. Defenders aren't reinforced, but discouraged. Notice that most defenders here have only typed short responses, or responded with qualified statements like "MGS 4 is a tough game to defend". My own were.

A game with a metacritic rating of 94 really shouldn't require such qualifiers. There's a lot to like. I don't expect them when I shit on Halo or Killzone 2.

Not too much people are going to agree with me, but i think Resident Evil 5 suffers from this too. I know it never had universal praise like MGS4, but it's also a great game, with high production values. The only thing "bad" about the game was that... it wasn't very residentevilish.

Good subject for a thread. Games overly backlashed.

Anyway, i loved MGS4. Even if i find some parts of it flawed.
But... according to Kojima is all our fault! (Threat letters, im talking to you).

 

[Ashour]

Has this thread come to the blatant conclusion that

MGS 1 was terribad by today's standards but everyone sees it through nostalgia goggles.
MGS 2 is the best fucking game ever
MGS 3 is overrated
MGS 4 is a third person shooter

:lol No.

 

[TheShampion]

Same time again next month guys?

I can`t wait until Metal Gear Rising comes out so this can all start again anew.

 

[Chinner]

i enjoy the irony of seeing legitimate points being dismissed as being hive mentality when the poster doesn't realise it can work both ways.

 

[Dabookerman]

i enjoy the irony of seeing legitimate points being dismissed as being hive mentality when the poster doesn't realise it can work both ways.

It's shit lol!

 

[Lafiel]

:lol No.

He is right about the third one at least.

 

[rvy]

He is right about the third one at least.

And the others too.

 

[AAK]

MGS4 is absolutely fucking brilliant and I enjoyed every single goddamn second of it. My game of the gen, fuck everyone else.

Agreed

Yes it had its flaws throughout, but NO ONE can deny that its presentation and progression were beyond any other form of entertainment. If you played it looking for reasons to hate it, you won't enjoy it. BUT if you played MGS4 to be absorbed within its world AND when you followed the entire series... it was such an enjoyable ground-breaking experience.

Spoiler

The Microwave scene

among so many others made my heart pump more so than any book, movie, drama, you name it ever could. And all of this enjoyment even before getting into the gameplay.

 

[Fantasmo]

Replaying them kinda stinks.

The first time around, it's all good.. exciting, whizbang, great production values, climactic scenarios. But then I try to replay em and it becomes annoying.

The cutscenes are long, and so are loadtimes. Part 4 compounds things with Act Installs instead of a full install. The cutscenes are too long to watch again and seem overbearing the next time around.

The gameplay, the meat of it all, is very short, despite all the cool tools and scenarios. None of them get it all right, not enough to play again.

So yeah, one playthrough is enough for me.

 

[Fenderputty]

I personally loved the game. Although, some of the cut scenes dragged really bad.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

Agreed

Yes it had its flaws throughout, but NO ONE can deny that its presentation and progression were beyond any other form of entertainment. If you played it looking for reasons to hate it, you won't enjoy it. BUT if you played MGS4 to be absorbed within its world AND when you followed the entire series... it was such an enjoyable ground-breaking experience.

Spoiler

The Microwave scene

among so many others made my heart pump more so than any book, movie, drama, you name it ever could. And all of this enjoyment even before getting into the gameplay.

agreed, no baka gaijin like shakespeare could compare to the genius of kojima-sama... when i saw the robot tase someone in the balls when people on the codec made fart jokes while simultaneously making awkward retcons of the last 3 games, i knew that i was looking at true art

 

[Solo]

:lol

 

[AAK]

Haters gonna hate

 

[rvy]

agreed, no baka gaijin like shakespeare could compare to the genius of kojima-sama... when i saw the robot tase someone in the balls when people on the codec made fart jokes while simultaneously making awkward retcons of the last 3 games, i knew that i was looking at true art

:lol :lol :lol

 

[Haunted]

agreed, no baka gaijin like shakespeare could compare to the genius of kojima-sama... when i saw the robot tase someone in the balls when people on the codec made fart jokes while simultaneously making awkward retcons of the last 3 games, i knew that i was looking at true art

:lol


edit: oh shit, someone else also laughed at gramr's joke - hive mentality total!

 

[Bowflex]

Here is an anecdote for you all:

I was nearing the end of the second act, after FINALLY getting around to playing this game, and I see this thread title. 'What the hell?' I think to myself...

So, I read a few pages and immediately become disgruntled - almost offended even - with all the negative opinions. Because, hey, how could the game possibly get so bad? It's just not possible, right? Its Metal Gear, right?

So I tell myself, it's the GAF 'hivemind' at work, its some form of estranged social psychology at hand. My friend even lent me his PS3 so I could play this game! He vouched for this being the "game of forever" and all that jazz. A very respectable and intelligent friend of mine, too! So okay, I thought...the game has got to be good. I was so sure of this, but just to make sure I TRIED to force myself to like even some of the nitpicked things I probably otherwise wouldn't have.

I tried and I tried and I fucking TRIED to like this game, but you guys were right. Perhaps the biggest letdown of any game Ive ever played. The last half of the game is GARBAGE. Its downright embarrassing. Kojima should be fired. And not just from his job - no - but from a cannon. Into a brick wall. That's how much of a failure this game was to me. Someone earlier said that this game ruined the series for them and at the time I laughed at them. Now, I agree whole-heartedly. The series is ruined for me.

And of course there are so many things done well from a design standpoint and from a technical stand point, but the negative aspects of this game far overshadow even the brightest achievements.

Even beyond the god-awful narrative and the ultra sappiness out of know where....the game is so unfinished and full of plot holes (and holes in general) that I can't believe it even got released. But if you polish a turd for long enough....well, you know...

I could go on for hours scrutinizing the shortfalls of this game in a mini-thesis of sorts, but what's the point? I shake my head at you, Kojima. I shake my head.

 

[Brandon F]

I quit at Act 4, completely disillusioned that such a genius concept for that Act was torn to pieces with lumbering robots and hive mind fodder.

Act 1 and 2 were novel, but the game abandoned its own 'game identity' far too fast. I still feel the urge to revisit just to eke out the missing story I haven't seen, but as a videogame it's a major letdown.

Hard to believe that so many GAFFERS hate on MGS3. That was Koji Pro at it's damn finest.

 

[Raziel]

Here is an anecdote for you all:

I was nearing the end of the second act, after FINALLY getting around to playing this game, and I see this thread title. 'What the hell?' I think to myself...

So, I read a few pages and immediately become disgruntled - almost offended even - with all the negative opinions. Because, hey, how could the game possibly get so bad? It's just not possible, right? Its Metal Gear, right?

So I tell myself, it's the GAF 'hivemind' at work, its some form of estranged social psychology at hand. My friend even lent me his PS3 so I could play this game! He vouched for this being the "game of forever" and all that jazz. A very respectable and intelligent friend of mine, too! So okay, I thought...the game has got to be good. I was so sure of this, but just to make sure I TRIED to force myself to like even some of the nitpicked things I probably otherwise wouldn't have.

I tried and I tried and I fucking TRIED to like this game, but you guys were right. Perhaps the biggest letdown of any game Ive ever played. The last half of the game is GARBAGE. Its downright embarrassing. Kojima should be fired. And not just from his job - no - but from a cannon. Into a brick wall. That's how much of a failure this game was to me. Someone earlier said that this game ruined the series for them and at the time I laughed at them. Now, I agree whole-heartedly. The series is ruined for me.

And of course there are so many things done well from a design standpoint and from a technical stand point, but the negative aspects of this game far overshadow even the brightest achievements.

Even beyond the god-awful narrative and the ultra sappiness out of know where....the game is so unfinished and full of plot holes (and holes in general) that I can't believe it even got released. But if you polish a turd for long enough....well, you know...

I could go on for hours scrutinizing the shortfalls of this game in a mini-thesis of sorts, but what's the point? I shake my head at you, Kojima. I shake my head.

no

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

I quit at Act 4, completely disillusioned that such a genius concept for that Act was torn to pieces with lumbering robots and hive mind fodder.

Act 1 and 2 were novel, but the game abandoned its own 'game identity' far too fast. I still feel the urge to revisit just to eke out the missing story I haven't seen, but as a videogame it's a major letdown.

Hard to believe that so many GAFFERS hate on MGS3. That was Koji Pro at it's damn finest.

WUT. I thought it was the opposite. so many Gaffers love MGS3, including myself. It's MGS4 they're shitting on.

 

[heliosRAzi]

My favorite part of MGS4 was the part where Snake and Otakon figure out that Ocelot is going to use REX to fire a stealth nuke nearly ten minutes after they watched a video where Ocelot and Vamp spell out their exact plans for REX.

Good job guys

 

[MGR]

My dislike of MGS4 comes from the fact that despite the ridiculous cut scenes, loading screens and the four separate mandatory installations I still felt compelled to punish myself and finish the game.

By the end I was just relieved the fucking thing was over.

 

[RedSwirl]

Nobody here has played the second MSX game have they?

 

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Kojima needs to be introduced to the concept of brevity. I still like the MGS games but they do go on with long strands of needless, ridiculous and/or redundant information.