LogFAQs > #912658600

If you're gonna make a topic arguing people should treat games fairly and discuss them on their own terms and then argue that people treating games fairly and discussing them on their own terms are annoying and they aren't even real gamers anyway, I think the place you're looking for is one of the many GamerGate sites, or at least Vlado's Nationalist topic.

Really? Like, that's seriously your answer? Okay. I'm going to assume from here on out that you are referring, in general, to the far left desire to censor media including video games. If I'm wrong I will change my response accordingly.

The issue here is not that they are, or are not, treating games fairly but, rather, that the reasons for what they say and do hold no basis in the game itself. For example, complaining about the masculinity in GoW is only a problem if masculinity is a problem. However such a thing would not be decided by the game but, rather, real life. Real life wherein the decision of the value of masculinity has been made by people whom have decided on these reasons for political and moral standards. In other words; not gamers. Now, arguments CAN be legitimately made one way or the other in regards to the acceptability of such a thing (and I'd really rather not go off on yet another side-line argument) especially within the context of the game itself. For example; it being strange for Kratos to suddenly and randomly stumble across two women on a temple on a titan's back and proceed to bang them or what-not.

However, think back to Hot Coffee. Remember, that mission COULD NOT be accessed normally within the game. You had to go and install a third party mod in order to get it to work. The people outraged about it had no clue what they were talking about and it showed to anyone who had even a basic knowledge of gaming. Likewise, a lot of the people outraged at the lack of 'strong female characters' often do so at the expense of throwing multitudes of strong female characters whom have existed in a multitude of games under the bus. Effectively because said characters didn't agree with their own personal interpretations of what such a thing should be. It becomes clear that these people are casuals at best whose knowledge of the industry doesn't go beyond trailers, mobile games, and the occasional AAA title. As such they hold no place criticizing the industry since they hold little to no actual knowledge of the industry.

If someone actually docked points from a game score simply for carrying a political message that they did not agree with, a political message that also showed they held only a shallow knowledge of the industry, people would be right in being outraged. I've been on the receiving end of such a thing myself when I've made criticisms of games while holding only a basic knowledge. It's part of how I learned to NOT do such a thing. Sending someone a death threat as a response is far overboard, especially just for a bad review, but if someone went '7/10 too much water' or '5/10 No female lead' or something you can bet I'd sure as heck be furious with the critic and want to respond at the least; assuming I didn't take the high-road and just flat-out discount their review and potentially the entire critic.

My dad always said that the right to swing your fist wherever you want ends at another persons nose. I do believe you have a right to like what you like, be critical of what you think you should be critical of, hate what you hate, and so-forth. However, if you don't act responsibly with said rights you won't be a hero worth listening too, you'll be a drunkard flailing fists wildly and meaninglessly that everyone just tries to ignore until they hit someone.
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I am the gentle hand who heals, the happy smile who shields, and the foot that will kick your ***! - White Mage