On the nature of negativity.

[:1]I've mulled over whether to post this or not, since it is not specifically about the game, but about the community at large...since it is the community forum, I thought I'd give it a shot; if it is out of place, my apologies.

Perhaps my thoughts are not as relevant as they were say, a month ago, when the beta still seemed so far off. With its imminent release, the speculative and often combative threads we've read and participated in will give way to more specific curiosities, and arguments about what we know, and not about what we assume..perhaps I will still be relevant, time will tell.

I'd like to hear some feedback on why some posters maintain an almost constant negative posture to not only the game, it's design and development, but also to the readers, posters and the concept of debate.

Specifically, I'd like to know what the payoff is; for example, my payoff from writing this is (hopefully) satisfaction of my curiosity on certain behaviors, as well as the pure joy of writing.

So what is it that drives people to, for example, write that "system A is pure garbage" rather than "I don't like system A"? I used this specific example because the first statement is one of the criticisms that irk me, since it often comes unexplained, whereas the second needs no explanation.

Is it just passion without perspective? How do others feel about this? I suppose we could just write it off to bad manners/upbringing/lack of education, but, while that is a cop-out in and of itself, I have seen some posters here write bitter retorts in one thread, and then a thoughtful insight in another, and it perplexes me to see such, in my opinion, warring philosophies in a single mind.

Well, thanks for reading, and any feedback will be appreciated. Peace.|||Whenever you read user comments on something, whether its a video game or an automobile, the general trend is to be negative. The reason is that most people don't feel compelled to praise something if it works precisely how they want it to. However, they will not think twice to complain and whine if it doesn't fall exactly to specifcation.

It gets doubly worse when the complaints come out of speculation and not actual experience as it is in this case since no one has had the chance to use these things hands on yet.|||Quote:








So what is it that drives people to, for example, write that "system A is pure garbage" rather than "I don't like system A"? I used this specific example because the first statement is one of the criticisms that irk me, since it often comes unexplained, whereas the second needs no explanation.




Personally, I'd say that either statement, unexplained, is no good. Neither one of them conveys any information about why someone might dislike that given system.

I agree with Degrin on his explanation of negativity. That's the only reason I have posted in this forum, in fact. When everything about D3 looked good to me, I didn't feel the need to make any posts on it anywhere. I just checked in on how it was going now and then. When I heard about some stuff I really loathed, I then felt like venting for...say a week. Here I am. If it bothers you, I, at least, will be gone in a few days.|||It's commen sence on the forum i have to say. Everybody getting bored reading those posts while we keep posting our negativity unconciously. Sometimes you just post when it comes into your mind.|||@ Drachasor: I was trying to imply that the second example might be more elaborate, perhaps the first one as well, but I was not real clear on that, I was trying to be succinct.

I would not say it bothers me enough to complain about it, but it piqued my interest as to why person A might write the following:

System Y is an absolute joke. Obviously Blizzard doesn't care about any of its fan base if we wind up with utter garbage like this.

While person B might write, instead:

I really don't like the change to system Y. I really enjoyed the old Y, and I don't understand why they made this change; I enjoyed aspect X, and felt it added a different dimension. They could have tried to use idea Z on Y, and I am really unhappy with Y as it is.

Both convey frustration, both are negative; one is constructive.|||Quote:




Both convey frustration, both are negative; one is constructive.




Most of the time I believe it's an emotional responce, upset people not thinking clearly or logically. Also a lot of it is venting, lashing out for no reason other than to get their negative emotion out of their system. Not a great way to act online or off.

It happens on both sides of discussions. I see more rude comments coming from people who can't seem to tolerate any critical threads about their favorite company/game/feature no matter how constructive they might be.

Poor social skills.|||Quote:








@ Drachasor: I was trying to imply that the second example might be more elaborate, perhaps the first one as well, but I was not real clear on that, I was trying to be succinct.

I would not say it bothers me enough to complain about it, but it piqued my interest as to why person A might write the following:

System Y is an absolute joke. Obviously Blizzard doesn't care about any of its fan base if we wind up with utter garbage like this.

While person B might write, instead:

I really don't like the change to system Y. I really enjoyed the old Y, and I don't understand why they made this change; I enjoyed aspect X, and felt it added a different dimension. They could have tried to use idea Z on Y, and I am really unhappy with Y as it is.

Both convey frustration, both are negative; one is constructive.




Oh, I guess I responded the way I did because I take the "that system is garbage and here are 5 reasons why..." approach.

Honestly, I don't complain about THAT much with regards to games, but when a game I am looking forward to does something disappointing, I usually complain about it on a forum somewhere. This seems like a harmless way to get it out of my system, and if my reasoning is flawed I have changed my mind in the past. However, I really only do this about systems I have a good reason (in my best judgment, of course) to view as significantly inferior to the alternatives.

Honestly, what bothers me more are the people that defend a game or company no matter what. This is really, really common. I remember back when information on Star Trek: Online revealed there were lots of reasons to think it was going to suck, there were many people who'd defend it and Cryptic no matter what. I wonder sometimes where such people would draw a line.

That's not to say there aren't unreasonably negative people too, but overall a few negative comments have never bothered me, even if I debate with them for many pages on several threads.|||The answer is simple: People tend to be more vocal when they are upset or disagree with something than people who are happy/content about something.

In other words, you won't see many threads saying "I am content about the Rune system." But you'll see plenty of "WOW blizzard are stupid for removing skill points".

Remember, for every 1 complaint thread, there are hundreds of approval threads that don't get posted.|||Quote:








The answer is simple: People tend to be more vocal when they are upset or disagree with something than people who are happy/content about something.

In other words, you won't see many threads saying "I am content about the Rune system." But you'll see plenty of "WOW blizzard are stupid for removing skill points".

Remember, for every 1 complaint thread, there are hundreds of approval threads that don't get posted.




Though, as an aside, I've usually found when fan forums are dominated by negative comments and threads, then the game won't do well. Judging by this forum, it won't be the case with D3, but it was certainly true of Star Trek: Online. Though, I guess part of how well this barometer would depend on how the mods of a given forum treat negative threads (this is why official forums are a bad place to test this).|||Quote:








Though, as an aside, I've usually found when fan forums are dominated by negative comments and threads, then the game won't do well. Judging by this forum, it won't be the case with D3, but it was certainly true of Star Trek: Online. Though, I guess part of how well this barometer would depend on how the mods of a given forum treat negative threads (this is why official forums are a bad place to test this).




Yeah but Blizzard fans have a long history of being whiners

This is what happens when you make games that are more than just games, but part of peoples lives. They have a large stake in it and want to ensure it's being taken care of.