#bad faith gamer critical

[dragon--sage]

bad faith gamer: VEILGUARD WON'T BE GRITTTTYYYY AND DARKKKKK LIKE ORIGINS!!!! passssssss

origins:

(this isn't nug slander btw, no nug hate will be tolerated on this post)

[chloefraazers]

okay, i have something to say.

horizon is a franchise that rekindled my creativity and passion for art and storytelling after over a decade of burnout. and even with my love for it, i can and have expressed scepticism about offshoots that can put horizon 3 at risk.

for example, i am hesitant about the online project. i know the Scary Article posted yesterday has no official guerrilla sources, so i take all it says with a grain of salt. still, it worries me that sony could be considering pushing the online game (and so much more) before release of horizon 3 and completion of aloy’s story.

do i think an online multiplayer horizon would be neat? yes. but it's undeniable that now is a very risky time for live service games, and i’d worry that sony would bank so hard on this, then pull all resources for horizon 3 if it underperforms. (especially with the rumour that the look will be more stylized like overwatch or fortnite, which… lacks the immersion that makes horizon so special.) in fact, i’d be ecstatic to see multiplayer horizon included with horizon 3, much like red dead online, and the last of us online multiplayer, and mass effect all having their online additions as part of the game.

now, the remaster of horizon zero dawn was another one of them. i wanted to see it remastered someday to bring it up to horizon forbidden west graphic and accessibility quality, but i was willing (and wanting!) to wait until after horizon 3’s release.

so, when the hzd remaster was announced, i was super apprehensive because of previous remaster history in other IPs. instead, i was blown away and very pleasantly surprised.

the remaster is such a labour of love from the dev team at guerrilla, as well as the performance actors who re-recorded 10+ hours of footage to give hzd the makeover it deserves. i don’t see it as a “remaster” — i see it as guerrilla making the horizon zero dawn they wanted to make a decade ago, and finally having the means to do so.

there are people who hate this franchise, and they spout the same ignorant, repulsive, misogynistic bullshit in every argument against it. they mock aloy’s design because she doesn’t fit their standards of what they think a woman should look like. they call her “fat” in a derogatory manner because her face is soft and round, when we know if it was thin and chiseled they’d call her a “man” because of course their misogyny comes with transphobia.

they mock the story because they can’t relate to a young woman’s personal journey that is about her finding and accepting different forms of love, finding where she belongs and who she is, and saving the world is incidentally secondary.

they mock the fans for existing because we love the franchise and express ourselves with no apologies; we show there is a place in this world for horizon, and that threatens their incel agenda.

recently i participated in a trend of fan artists posting their fave giving the middle finger. let me be clear: this middle finger is not mocking those upset that their favourite IP has yet to have a remaster of its own. it’s for those who are angry that horizon exists at all, and offended at the idea that there are people who love the franchise and are excited to see it the way it deserves to be seen.

you can love something immensely and be critical of it, especially when you know it has the potential to be something incredible and you long to see it reach that pedestal.

you can also not love something and instead of trying to ruin it for other people who do love it, you could choose to not be an asshole and simply not engage. bad faith “criticism” is simply hate speech, harassment, and bullying from angry, lonely people who can’t abide that the “gamer” space is actually diverse, and want to drive people away to feel powerful in their own smallness.

so, the tate salute is to all those who are personally offended that a single piece of media among a sea of options isn’t catered specifically to their desires. we are the ones under your skin, not the other way around. as long as horizon is here, so are we.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Why'd you retire your genderbend shorts series? I thought it was neat and I was really disappointed it ended up being so short-lived.

It was fun to make, but the comments just got exhaustingly heinous.

And I know "comments bad" is table stakes on YouTube, but it wasn't just the usual suspects. It would get all the expected Angry Gamer Boy™ nonsense, all the insults and yelling and regurgitated "soyboy cuck libtard" stuff, but then on top of that there'd also be a bunch of gender essentialist bullshit from like TERFy and radfem commenters I'd have to deal with, and then on top of that wildly out of pocket bad faith criticism from people determined to apply the absolute worst interpretation possible to everything I said.

It all made it really hard to find and engage with criticism made in good faith, and it just ate up way more of my mental resources than it was ultimately worth.

I also kept running into the limitation of the format - shorts only give you sixty seconds so there simply isn't room for nuance and disclaimers. That made it hard to write scripts that wouldn't accidentally come across as gender essentialist, or seem like they were co-signing and endorsing gender stereotypes. Some people wrote good faith critiques of the shorts to that effect, and... I'm kind of inclined to agree. Given the subject matter, shorts just might not be the format for it.

Much as the out of pocket bad faith criticism annoyed me, shorts as a format also sort of invites it. I couldn't write nuanced scripts, so it's kinda no wonder that I wasn't getting nuanced reactions, y'know?

[volkihar]

People have turned into professional haters and it's so annoying. I personally believe that a game can not be fully judged before it comes out. That's what reviews are for, after all.

Honestly, the biggest problem isn't even criticism. It's attitude. Using starfield as an example, there are valid criticisms of it, but "this game is dogshit" or "worst game I've ever played" are nothing more than bad faith hyperbole. It's less criticism and more hating for the sake of hating.

VERY REAL AND TRUE. i'd rather take the word of someone who put solid hours into a game and gave me their list of pros and cons than have to listen to one more person be like "this game is so boring i couldn't even get past the tutorial and the art isnt hyperrealistc in 2024 so it looks like dogshit"

because all that tells me is that you didnt bother actually playing the game. "couldn't get past the tutorial" sounds like a skill issue rather than an actual review 🤨 and hyperrealism is so overdone, i prefer when games have a unique art direction :/

but I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that the level of negativity seems hyperbolic and almost performative. like do u guys even like video games? because it doesn't sound like it. and yes I know the gaming industry has been a mess and there HAVE been a lot of disappointment in terms of releases lately, I'm not ignoring that, but I think deciding a game is an "immediate flop" before release based on the trailer alone is kinda wild 💀 "hater bandwagoning" has become a real thing in gamer circles lately and it's kinda embarrassing. if you look at any discussion board/announcement comment section for any game on steam you'll want to explode. and subreddits for games are literally intolerable (there now has to be a dedicated "low sodium" sub for every game ever now, it's a mess)

[yourbutcboyfriend]

introduction posts

You can call me buck and I use hy/it pronouns. I am a GNC Butch intersex Abinary Transfemmasc and a Lesboy who is Bi Sapphic-Achillean T4T.  this i my Coining/flag making blog before you think of following me I do support all good faith labels and I also believe in people reclaiming slurs used against queer people Like Dyke,Fag,Tranny etc… I'm also a mixed BIPOC jew I'm in support of Palestine and I am anti-zionist.

My DNI list

Zionists

Bigots

Anti-good faith labels

TERFs (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists)

SWERFs (Sex-Work Exclusionary Radical Feminists)

Aphobes (Prejudiced against asexual/aromantic people)

Racists

Homophobes

Transphobes

Pro-lifers

Disrespectful or hateful individuals

Ableists

Fatphobes

Anti-BLM rhetoric

Climate change deniers

Conspiracy theorists

Anti-vaxxers

QAnon supporters

Religious extremists/fundamentalists

Stalkers/harassers

Interact List

16. Queer artists and creators 17. Mental health advocates 18. Anarchist/anti-authoritarian thinkers 19. Indigenous rights activists 20. Environmentalists/eco-feminists 21. Harm reduction educators 22. Sex educators 23. Childfree/anti-natalist supporters

24. Polyamory community

25. Kink/BDSM practitioners

26. Gender non-conforming individuals

27. Transgender trailblazers

28. Butch/masculine lesbians

29. Bearish/masc queer men

30. Drag queens/kings

31. Ethical non-monogamists

32. Relationship anarchists

33. Feminist pornographers

34. Queer gamers/geeks

35. QTBIPOC community

Thin Ice List

11. Those questioning identities in bad faith

12. Allies who keep making the same mistakes 13. Willfully ignorant individuals 14. Concern trolls and sealioners

15. New acquaintances who seem potentially problematic

16. Aggressively centrist "rationale" thinkers

17. Edgelords taking things too far

18. Corporate brands with shady practices 19. Mainstream media outlets

20. Radical feminist gender critics

21. Religious apologists

22. Diet culture and fitness influencers

23. Pick-me/"cool girl" types 24. Conservative LGBTQ+ individuals

25. Men's rights activists (MRAs)

26. All Lives Matter supporters

27. Anti-Islam sentiments

28. Zionist apologists

29. Immigration restrictionists

30. Tradwife/feminine revivalists

[thefirstknife]

I think a lot of what's happening is that many players are legitimately burning out because of the way bungie models the game (people don't call it FOMO: the game for no reason, there's definitely a truth to that feeling), increasing prices putting further strains on wallets as people continue to struggle financially (getting priced out of a beloved hobby is painful), and various genuine harmful choices over the life of the series, etc. but all of that's being co-opted by bad faith actors who are looking for a reason to tear Bungie down--I think you're at least partially right that there's a lot of anti-LGBTQIA+ people targeting them for being visible allies (and members of our various communities!) and just just hollow rainbow capitalists. And there's probably people who just want to stir up drama because they find it fun. So they're all distorting the actual complaints and making it so hard to have a frank discussion about good and bad practices. The real stuff gets drowned out and people tired of the BS shut down genuine complaints without realizing because it's hard to sort through it all. I think the technical term for the current situation is "clusterfuck"

For real. Burnout is a real problem that very few people recognise and often they just refuse to recognise it when it hits them personally. And like, burnout isn't just "I'm a little bored of this," continuous burnout can lead to actual health problems.

I always tell people that if you log into a game and you're not feeling it, you're only there to mark a checklist and you're annoyed by every moment spent playing, please take a break. FOMO stuff is also a real issue, but I also always tell people to just try and think about it from a broader perspective. Will you miss out on stuff? Probably. Will this matter to you, truly, if you have no interest in the game anymore? Like, if you think about it, missing out on content from a game that doesn't bring you joy should not be that big of a deal. You're not enjoying it anyway, so who cares if you miss things that you don't enjoy?

FOMO design is really awful and it's unfortunately everywhere and it takes so much energy to get yourself out of thinking that everything around you is super urgent and you have to latch onto it NOW or else.... In truth, this is just a sneaky method to keep people hooked. It's not real, you're not really missing out on anything. Even if you are, I promise that it's better to "miss out" than fall into burnout. You're the only one who can break your own FOMO.

A lot of gamers don't get it and don't even try to get it and actually get super defensive when you tell them that they're exhibiting symptoms of burnout. This is also another way that people try to deflect criticism. Sometimes someone will incessantly shit on a video game and you'll tell them "you have burnout bro, you need to take a break for your own sake" and they'll insist that you're just saying that because you're bootlicking a company or whatever.

On the other hand, sometimes you will criticise something legitimate and people will try to shut you down with claims that you're just burned out. Differentiating between these two is super difficult, especially when the community is acting like the Destiny community is acting like now. As you said, we're dealing with a clusterfuck. There's legitimately burned out people hateplaying the game who refuse to recognise it and there's people who want to talk about genuine problems and the former are making this an incredibly difficult conversation to have.

Two other related asks under:

It's utterly bizarre. The cynicism is so high that people are literally ignoring easily verifiable facts they can find with one google click away because it means they get to join their pitchforks against Bungie. And like, you can hate a company all you want but at least hate the real things they've done? The Bungie Foundation is legitimate work that helps people all over the world. This one aint' it chief.

This is the reddit thread where people were having a meltdown over the post about the foundation stuff for Bungie Day to the point that a moderator had to make a pinned post about this and there's one other most upvoted post about it just beneath. A lot of the shitty comments have been deleted and some are still there but downvoted, but people for real showed up to say crap about Bungie and lie on a call for charity.

It happened on twitter too (link if you're brave enough to go into replies and quote tweets, I don't recommend it), because of course it did. People are largely upset that some of the bigger goals have an emblem and shader as a reward and now they're calling it the "100k $ shader." And like. It's not for you. You don't need these two items. They're not here for you to buy. They're here to incentivise donations to charity. Bungie isn't getting rich from this; they will literally not see this money. It's going to charity.

I could bet my entire ass that the same people crying about this shader being unobtainable (we don't even know what it looks like btw) are the same people who are standing by their favourite streamer when they say that some in-game activities and rewards shouldn't be obtainable to the majority of the players. It's baby behaviour, and worse now because the post about Bungie announcing a charity is littered with comments from ghouls who think that THIS is the right moment to stick it to the big corpos (and ask to "fix servers").

LMAO! Literally though. I, unfortunately, play a Blizzard game and like. I'm sorry but you will not convince me that Destiny has worse monetisation than Overwatch. Like, maybe you can convince people who don't play anything else, but I do.

And honestly, if some other game is better to someone? Please feel free to play that then. I do my absolute best to limit the amount of money I will ever again give Blizzard to as close to 0 as possible, but if Blizzard's monetisation and morals are fine to you, go wild I guess. Applies to any other company for that matter. I personally find it baffling that we've spent YEARS learning about all the ways Activision is actually being led by demons from hell and that they deal with lawsuits every few months and treat their employees like crap, but we're totally fine hyping up Diablo 4 (and I guess we forgot all controversies from before about Diablo 3 and Diablo Immortal and everything). But to each their own. I'm not on Diablo twitter posting about this. It's not my problem. Hell, I'm not even engaging with Overwatch stuff because I know that I will just be negative about every aspect of it, even though I'm still playing here and there. I disagree with what they're doing so I play less and don't buy stuff and then I'm not angry about a video game every day of my life. Life hack.

[snapscube]

I really like the last of us part 2 for the most part (with SOME criticsms and frustrations) so Im shakin in my boots to see how they adapt it for the show!!!! Maybe they could add things or fix things that could really win people over this time. Im just hoping the fans wont be as toxic as when the second game dropped

Oh yeah there are definitely a couple things about TLOU2 that I would either criticize or maybe just find a little odd, but overall I think it is a highly courageous and meaningful addition to the story with a good heart behind it.

Honestly, when it comes to fan toxicity, I both would expect that a lot of the same bad actors are going to crop up again unfortunately. However there's also a part of me that has faith in general audiences not being nearly as toxic as Angry Gamers tend to be. I don't know, all I know is that I completely trust them to handle this portion of the story well after how they nailed Part 1. And they already seem to be taking a bit of criticism to heart anyway, which is nice to see, and I'm just excited to see it play out. Personally, I think it's gonna be a lot less of a direct adaptation than Part 1. The structure of Part 2 (without spoiling reasons as to why for people who are planning to follow my streams or just haven't seen it yet either way) really doesn't lend itself to linear television storytelling imo, I think the structural choices they're able to get away with in the game are fully justified by how it enriches player empathy towards the characters involved, and that aspect is extremely necessary for the story to work. But I could also see it not landing at ALL in a television format. I don't know! It's intriguing to me. We'll see!

[goldensunset]

even as someone who's been into pokemon for like 15 years now yeah i get it. people act like its some kind of moral failing to still like pokemon sv?? enjoying the game and criticizing it where deserved are two things that can co-exist but also you don't have to constantly remind people who do enjoy it that its not up to snuff. we know. we are acutely aware. we are talking about kieran's character arc rn tho you can leave that for another time thanks

the point of this ask is do whatever you want my guy. block idiots who cannot help but bring up the graphics every two seconds like their life depends on it. also i very much enjoy your commentary on the games 👍

honestly it's not really this site it's mostly people on other social media who have the stalest takes on the matter ever cuz that's where the most normie and old fashioned dudebro gamers live. not even just for this topic but in general it feels like other places with more users tend to have the same dusty recycled opinions but on tumblr it's always fresh which is why i like it here. and like you're right it's very bad faith in general to assume that someone who loves a thing isn't aware of its flaws and it's also annoying when someone in an otherwise good post has to throw in a 'i know this media is bad because xyz but-' no you didn't need to say that. ok. i don't know whether it's to try to save face and try to criticize their own thing before someone else does or to be mean but it is just not necessary.

also tumblr is like the only site where you can take stories completely seriously whether it's a literary masterpiece or peppa pig or somewhere in between which is nice. you won't find character arc analysis of pokémon npcs anywhere else that's for sure. and as someone who takes everything seriously i hate when someone is like 'isn't this for eight year olds' so what. eight year olds can have nice things too. i am frolicking in the beauty of this world

[disconnectedkat]

It's been like 3 days since Veilguard's release date announcement and there's already so much bad-faith 'criticism,' concern trolling, nitpicking and general shithead behaviour out there.

There's obviously the outrage tourists who never actually planned on playing the game just talking shit, but the amount of supposed 'fans' I've seen actively wishing for failure is ridiculous.

Probably Origins stans who never moved on, y'know the type that thinks tedious crpg jank was the peak of game design and copious amounts of rape and calling women cunts is the pinnacle of 'dark fantasy' writing.

Somebody should remind gamers that it's okay to actually enjoy games.

[just-antithings]

AOT anon has returned with a gift!

TL; DR: Antis’ moral condemnation of AOT fans has functionally created a perfect environment for gamergate but anime, and worse.

First off, i want to state that I agree that there is a lot of very thinly veiled antisemitism within AOT’s canon, and no number of screencaps about people saying genocide is bad is going to avoid that—be it titans and blood libel, the ghettos and the armbands, the tacit implication that genocide against the Eladians—despite being morally reprehensible—would be a necessary measure to stop them from destroying humanity, i’m sure you all are at least somewhat familiar with these talking points. This is not a condemnation of AOT’s fans, I certainly don’t think you’re all secret nazis or someshit, I’m just highlighting that there is miles of ground to cover for a critical analysis of AOT for anyone who’s willing to approach it in good faith.

However, as many people have pointed out, a lot of these references are allegorical and/or subtextual in a way that means that the only people who would really pick up on them are either already deeply antisemitic themselves or make a concerted effort to keep track of antisemitic tropes and talking-points. My point is the people who would be best targeted by a propagandistic anime/manga like what AOT is claimed to be won’t pick up the message it’s supposedly trying to spread. To a lot of people it’s just a good story with lots of gory monster killing, a gritty conspiracy and some juicy emotional arcs. And, from their view, the Antis who treat their affection for a story as something morally condemnable are being completely unreasonable; they’re reaching, they hate morally and emotionally complex media, and they’re out to kill everyone’s fun. And, this is a reaction that can be very easily exploited by any remotely fandom-savvy far right recruiter: Antis are snowflakes becomes SJWs are snowflakes, criticisms of the status quo is overly sensitive whiners trying to take away the things you love, the SJWs are thought police, harassing marginalised groups is good and necessary because of The Culture War, and actually all even slightly left-leaning critique of something popular must have been engineered by The Communist Jews Who Wanna Take Over The World, so on and so on. We’ve literally already seen this with gamergate. A Feminist™️ took issue with misogyny in the gaming scene became The Left Wants To Steal Our Video Games and the only way to protect them is by calling Anita Sarkisian the k-slur and sending people death threats—except that time, most people weren’t actually accusing The Average Gamer of being a bad and terrible person for playing WoW. Antis turning criticism of a piece of media into a moral condemnation of anyone who consumes it makes the process of media criticism entirely too personal in a way that plays right into the hands of fascist reddit and 4chan types, and antis should, by all respects, be the types of people to pick up on that faster than most—but they seem to care more about their larping as the Last Bastion Of Morality than actually engaging thoughtfully with media and good faith discussion around it, and i kinda really hate that. I know this is long, but in my defence I dod warn you that I have a Lot Of Opinions on Antis’ reactions to AOT.

.

[dragon--sage]

bad faith gamer: VEILGUARD WON'T BE GRITTTTYYYY AND DARKKKKK LIKE ORIGINS!!!! passssssss

me losing my shit in the darkest and grittiest moments of origins:

[weaselbeaselpants]

The Eight Rings of Bad Internet Reviewer Hell

-Ring One: Listicle-Fever-

A source that’s better at cataloging content worth the viewer’s interest gets it into their head that they are a decent source of information and critical opinion. Bonus points: +the source is user generated and voted for without moderation, so it’s really no one’s actual opinion +article sites quote each other as a source

Examples: WatchMojo, Cracked.com, Listverse

Exceptions: PanPizza and CR

-Ring 2: Funnyman thinks he’s a Reviewer "oh god"-

While everyone's a critic, not everyone is a reviewer. This bad faith + bad take combo comes from a person who’s better at making observational jokes (riffs) at something, but then thinks said jokes are meaningful analysis simply because they occasionally point out actual problems in the material. Bonus points: +jokes are offensive and not funny +they’re actively ignoring the actual text to make jokes +deflects their own critics by calling everyone who doesn’t buy into their jokes “butthurt fans”

Examples: CinemaSins, Cracked.com, post Demo-Reel Doug Walker, ScreenJunkies

Exceptions: Rifftrax/MST3K, Retsupurae (rip), ABrandontoThePast, penguinz0 

-Ring 3: “Let’s go through the movie together :D”-

A standard retrospective-based review format; best used on contained 3-act structures. The reviewer obviously has the foresight of having watched something before they discuss it to the audience. At their best, these kinds of reviews are fun. At their worst, these videos are just validation farms designed to rip on something sillystupid. Bonus points: +performatively angry and over the top +reviewer takes the subject too seriously in a way that feels unpleasant or a chore to sit through as an audience +alternatively, they have the same trouble as the ‘Funnyman’ and holds no interest in what they’re talking about

Examples: Irate Gamer, MysteriousMr.Enter, ConfusedMathew, Doug Walker again

Exceptions: PeanutButterGamer, Jenny Nicholson, Phelous and Allison Pregler, Bad Princess Movie Podcast, Double Toasted, YourMovieSucks, ToddintheShadows

-Ring 4: Super-Fan-Fail-Theorist-

Bi-monthly theorizing about what a new plot development for a show is, or after-the-fact musing on a what ‘something’ nebulously ‘means’. Very often transforms into fan theorizing and analyzing media for conclusion’s sake. Prone to A LOT of bias of the fan reviewer’s absolutist-take. Obsessed with a product’s fringe and ultimately deeply invested in what is a shallow-insight. Bonus points: +reviewer won't parse the difference between their theory and the text +reviewer is defensive and won’t share the fandom with people who don’t share their take

Examples: Game Theory, Wisecrack

Exceptions: CinemaCartography, Jacob Geller, Sarah Zed and Lady Emily

-Ring 5: Wannabe Breadtube Retrospecterer-

Reviewer wants to be a researched, respected, ‘enlightened’ 2-hour vid maker but is really just an annoyed fan who’s lengthy reviews aren’t structured. Criticism might be valid, but is usually more about what the reviewer doesn't ‘like’ than what's actually wrong with something. Feels more like a lecture and a take-down than it is an enlightening hot take, at best. Also, it's your fault if you disagree with them and they live rent free in their critics heads- totally not the other way around! Bonus points: +incorrect, ludicrous, needless accusations tossed around at ppl they dislike +sounds like they're telling the audience how to feel, not why they feel think something is "awful and here’s why” +reviewer refuses to apologize or correct themselves if they get their facts wrong

Examples: Lily Orchard, Mysterious Mr. Enter again, half of the alt-light douchbags with hour long rants about Star Wars who ironically are all out to counter leftBreadtubers

Exceptions: Accented Cinema, Shaun, Folding Ideas, Xiran Jay Zhao, Princess Weekes, Lindsay Ellis, Lady Emily again, BenettetheSage's newest vids, Cheyenne Lin, and Sideways

-Ring 6: DNI-Danny -

Otherwise known as the “Anti". Jaded by years of abusive standom, they cling to good takes and criticism when it’s convenient for them but otherwise see fandom and critical analysis as a battlefield THEY MUST win. Very judgemental of people who don’t share their (sometimes exact) opinions; quick to gaslight/block/smear people just for association. Absolutist as a means of keeping oneself ‘safe’. Bonus points: +apologizing is NEVER AN OPTION +genuinely treats fandom takes as tho they’re comparable to politics and real morality +DNI list consists of MAPS, bigots, republicans and ppl who ship that toxic ship they don’t like +"no I didn't even watch the video, I don't have to!!" +"cancel culture doesn't exist"

Examples: Lily Orchard again and also prolly some tumblr user you know

-Ring 7: Choked on the Reddit-Pill-

Caught in a toxic dance of death with the DNI-Danny. May be the reason the former exists, but absolutely exists to counter the DNI-Danny at their bs by functioning more bs. So obsessed with being a counter argument and fighting for “actual social justice” (whatever that means) that they don’t recognize their own absolutism, centricism, or selfishness for what it is. Where the Anti counters with “think of the marginalized” the Reddit-Pill is obsessed with “well I’m not [worst case scenario] so why it is my problem that [worst case scenario] exists, HMMM???!” Bonus points if: +really love the term ‘moral guardians’ unironically +“fiction never reflects reality” +"cancel culture doesn't exist" +"some of us can tell the difference between fiction and reality"

Examples: Bad Webcomics Wiki, 4chan, half of the complacent "not me"-base that is KiwiFarms

-Ring 8: Actual Moral Guardians-

Not a jaded or concerned fan fighting for the rights of the marginalized, or for other people, at all. Not even a critic. Legit cult member working in ACTUAL bad faith. 100% unironically believes that liking (or even watching) something means you are being brainwashed/going to hell. Ostensibly has a skewed understanding of how media actually affects people (because they legit think it happens thru mind control and not emotional connections.

Never have good takes or good faith-basis of their own. They can only ever parrot criticisms from other people to fit their usually conservative-minded beliefs. Legit witchhunt. 

Examples: Jordan Peterson, The Satanic Panic, Ben Shapiro, QAnon, Breitbart

inb4: "DID YOU KNOW that the reviewer you rec actually did-"/"they don't like that other reviewer you rec"/"they won't fuck you stop promoing them"

>I'm not here to tell you the ppl I recommended in the links are saints, good people, or even the best reviewers with the one take to rule them all. I don't know them. I'm recommending them on the basis of how to see this kind of reviewing done right.

>I'm not these reviewer's moms. I don't know them. I'm pretty sure some of these people dislike some of these other people- I don't even watch every person I recommended here- but why or how is none of my business. I'm recommending ppl as a viewer.

>I'm aroace and a lot of these people are married or taken. I HOPE they won't fuck me, tbh.

If your favoritist reviewer-person ever is on the example list, barring the final rings, it's none of my business Jan. I still like ScreenJunkies tbh.

[studiousbotanist]

when i say re7 is my least favorite entry in resident evil, i definitely don't mean to shit on it cause i've really come around on it . when it first came out i was pretty excited to see a refreshing take on the series ! but then got pretty pissed seeing so many people shitting on revelations, and re5 and re6 in comparison . i aint gonna tell you they're good games but they were campy, they had my fave characters in it and the crossover between them in 6 was awesome .... TO ME ! it is unfair to re7 that a lot of my opinion on it ended up souring specifically Cause people were like . well finally resident evil isn't dogshit anymore when its like . it was a new take ! it was so different compared to anything done b4 . some of it i didn't enjoy, it felt too modern for me . but then when re8 came out i Really enjoyed ethan in it and the first person was a treat vs third person (i still havent tried out the third person update for re8...) i'm not a professional gamer critic just a guy who's really passionate about resident evil whether good or bad LOL . i was just thinking about it ...... ive got pals who absolutely hate re5 and re6 (for good reason) but love re7 so when i share my opinions i never want it to come off in bad faith . also jack was fun ... i think a goal for next year is to play re7 myself . but its difficult to (ironically) talk about resident evil right now or consider opening it . i miss it a lot and will eventually . oh man its deifnitely bed time cus this turned into a huge ramble !!!

basically . re7 is my least favorite, doesnt mean its bad . i think re8 pulled in some of the classic campy charm from earlier entries and it felt a lot more Like a resident evil game to me, and it really had me enjoying ethan as a character and its made me want to revisit it . i don't like having irrational feelings abt something just cause the people surrounding it pissed me off

[fulgursmediaanalysisdrama]

Netlixes Witcher writers being publicly outed to hate the books is good, very good actually. Because nothing matches except some aesthetics (at least for season 2. Season 2 sucks)

Finally found someone who brought that up in a convo, I was stoked and wanted to join in, but his very next sentence he complained about how there were black people in the show when Witcher played in a fantasy medieval Europe. And then I didn't want to talk anymore

Bitch wasn't even white himself, well white turk ig idk but that isn't white supremacists white just normal racism, but still bro. Black people existed back then, I promise. Their history of colonialization and general trade and travel is also different, everything is different, only languages and places got loosely kept. Who cares? Like few of the characters are described by skin color, we know there are people from far away lands that aren't secluded from the "medieval europe setting" so even if I accepted your hogwash as good faith it'd be wrong.

This shit makes me so mad, that there is this real thing happening in the netflix behind the scenes where they ruin the story and message in favor of fascist esque opinions or meaninglessness. And then critique of the writers that becomes popular is one by racists because they point our attention to a different unrelated fact and combine it with the "the writers hate the witcher" tidbit that only reveals they themselves don't know Sapkowskis writings or their themes.

But because their audiences read as little or at least as poorly as them and with no curiosity of their own they get away with it.

Probably "the quartering" or someone is his source. Should've asked, didn't want to.

I also have no respect for the witcher games because tbh they breed exactly that. I don't know whether they actually support any of these views but from what I know witcher 1 is a terrible game and 2 only playable. And that from the books misunderstandings like that never arrived, while those who played the games and then read the books (or never did) believe a ton of bad shit about racism and the elves. Now this could also be a (male) gamer problem just maybe (since the games are heavily made to appeal to male power fantasies, something that is the exact opposite of the books imo) but it seems that if the games has the potential to endorse said gamer problems and opinions then it should've made a better job of not doing that.

My criticism isn't that a nude sexy Geralt is shown in the games, it is that in those moments he has too much agency and power in those situations to force the reflection we got in the books, where he is sexualized all over the place and is pretty unhappy most of the time even tho he enjoys both sex and the general company of women. Meanwhile in the games he can just fuck anyone as if it's mass effect 3 and the relationships are about as shallow and bad as they can be

Like another of my roommates, who has played the games but didn't read the books, complained that he didn't like show Yennefer. Neither do I so I thought this could be a cool starting point for a conversation.

My criticism was that she's a big piece of shit but shown as worthy of our understanding and sympathy, and that the way she acts and the way the framing wants us to feel about her and Tissaia are just complete opposites of each other. Unlike book Yen show Yen is one of the worst people I've ever seen. And the character development and time spend on self reflection is nil but suddenly at the end everything is fine and good again.

Jaskier is different, the Witchers themselves are different, the show ends as a celebration of the masculinity that is criticized in the books.

Yeah his criticism was that Yen isn't at all like in the games to him, that she's a different person he doesn't appreciate. She isn't hot

Fuck the games, fuck the show (sorry cd project red, make a better games next time and think about themes more)

[gascon-en-exil]

I was reading a political article and it was describing a term called the "exhaustive majority" i.e the group of people who are tired of the polarization going on in the US, and I think "exhaustive majority" is a good term to describe a decent chunk of the FE fandom especially in the aftermath of 3H; they're tried of the constant mudslinging and harassment for having opinions on fiction and ships, they're tired of the overexposure, they're tired of people pushing the idea that opinions on fiction = opinions on real life, they're just tired. And honestly that's probably why some people see Engage as a breath of fresh air and a sorta return to form.

I'm not sure if those are quite equivalent. While I've never kept up with that sort of thing I'd wager that that term is being used to describe people who aren't interested in politics to begin with and see any sort of political discourse or action as distracting them from whatever it is that they care about. This is hardly a new thing, or unique to any particular country or culture. I'd consider the fandom equivalent to be those people who consume media but then don't go online and talk about it or otherwise get involved in any sort of community surrounding that media.

Judging by how general gamer YouTube channels talk about Three Houses when they're recommending games or ranking them or whatever, it would seem that the majority of players are unaware of (or simply don't care about) how controversial the game has been in online circles and how it's led to so much combative fandom drama. Those praising Engage for being more straightforward and lending itself to less emotionally-charged subjects for argument - gameplay min-maxing, character tier lists, pointing out the odd choices made by the localization etc. - are those who've lived through the years of discourse and are probably tired of them not because they didn't care but because it dominated the conversation surrounding FE16 and crowded out almost everything else for over three years. If you spend any length of time in online fandom you'll know that arguing over things that ultimately don't matter is one of the foundational pillars of the internet, so I read it as more exhaustion over the same tired wank being reheated over and over with nothing new being added (except when Three Hopes came out, but that only prolonged the same discourse) but with all parties becoming ever more aggressive and the fandom becoming even more sharply divided over opinions that we'd all basically formed back in 2019.

I've actively participated in discourse myself, both criticism and analysis of the games themselves and fending off trolls and other bad faith actors from multiple corners, but after about a year of that I grew bored of the same topics being rehashed over and over again and basically only joined in when prompted. It's been great to finally have something new to talk about, even if I still prefer Three Houses to Engage overall.

[heartshapedcreaturefromcriptoon]

Unpopular Opinion? (And if it is, I don't give a fuck..) but Viv doubling down on how Mimzy couldn't possibly be an antisemitic fatphobic stereotype and no one in their right mind that wasn't just a bad faith critic could possibly read her that way because she "based her off of a chicken" and basically "pointing at her and immediately accusing her of being an antisemitic stereotype makes my white passing latina atheist ass 'uncomfy' so can we stop now? 😬 " and then just giving her a fucking tattoo of the symbol of the greed ring in the final product makes all the antisemitic and fatphobic stereotyping that Medrano claims she's like, totally not doing THAT much worse ...

Especially since they supposedly already kinda admitted to Rosie being Jewish Coded?

And like, I'm not Jewish myself, though I'm also Irish American so I can make this joke, but the fact that the Evil Leprechaun Overlord of the Hazbin fandom who makes his gold off of shitty YouTube clickbait exploiting every bit of "drama" related to Hazbin he can get his sweaty neo nazi gamer simping mits on doesn't agree Mimzy is an antisemitic stereotype ether, doesn't mean shit to me ether but I do think Viv should just put out a statement about him or something, too...

puts him in scenarios puts him in scenarios puts him in scenarios (which is your favorite?)