Come join us to talk about the new Bethesda game Starfield. There has been some angry people who set really high expectations for the game and now are mad the game didn’t meet their fake expectations.
Reddit ex-pats may recognize the format from subreddits like LowSodiumCyberpunk or NoMansHigh
Hell, I remember all the hype building up for Skyrim for years before its release. I made it a point then to ignore all the articles and reviews and Bethesda salesmanship, and I was in awe at the game on release. I remember people being angry about snow wasn’t sticking like Bethesda promised or some such nonsense.
Same thing with Starfield…I’ve ignored all press events and interviews and spoilers and anything that had to do with promises of features. Just started it tonight and I’m enjoying it. I’m not in awe yet, but it’s fun. I’m certainly not angry about anything, that’s for sure.
Ignoring the hype(eroblizing) is always the better option. People follow every little crumb of a rumor over years and build up a mythical, impossible standard in their head. Of course they’re disappointed. People online just get so toxic about the things they “love”. It’s sad to watch.
Personally, I don’t really bother with keeping up with things like upcoming releases, reviews, teasers and trailers.
Not only to avoid the hype but also because there have been a couple of occasions when watching a single review or trailer on YouTube led to me getting a recommended video of the game during the release week, and that video had a massive spoiler in its title.
I prefer to go into it completely blind. Maybe I just have incredibly low standards though. Some of my favourite games are those which were widely hated.
Although after spending 10+ years on Reddit (which I’ve since quit using). Even the dedicated game subs are full of bitching and constant arguments, and God help you if you’re a fan of MMORPG’s cause that sub seems to absolutely despise them.
I do the same for pretty much everything these days. Between news bites about every little thing about production, to trailers with way too much…everything, it feels like if one’s not careful, the entire thing will be known before it even comes out. That goes for games, movies, shows, etc. I find the experience much more enjoyable when I avoid those info dumps as much as possible.
And yeah, “fan” spaces online seem to inevitably become toxic pits of negativity if it’s not proactively negated. I’m sure an entire study could be done on it all, but my cursory conclusion is that it’s a result of 1) constantly focusing on one thing, and 2) finding the small flaws in that thing that become “bigger” by focusing on them for too long. People tend to let objectively small issues that are really only a small part taint their opinion of the whole.