Thread by @FallofCthulhu

I have some free time and could effectively utilise it having a big bitch, if you want. :-)

1/ "It was made by a small team" is not and has never been an excuse for "Is a pile of shit" :-)

2/ Horror is the dumping ground for talent-less copy paste hacks that reuse the style of better games, trying to engender the same scares, but without the soul, in a cold eyed attempt to dupe the credulous.

3/ The Last Of Us is a decent story strapped onto a passable 3rd person stealth game, not the second coming of Jesus.

4/ Survival gaming is the antithesis of enjoyment. Infinite grinding for negligible rewards would be more satisfying trimming every blade of grass on your lawn to the same height with a pair of nail scissors.

5/ "It is fun with your friends" has been true of every endeavour, ever. If it is fun with your friends, then it is comparable to sitting quietly or watching the wall, not a reason to buy the latest Ark re-skin, on the sea.

6/ If you buy a beta and complain about it being buggy you have wildly misunderstood the concept of beta and someone needs to take away your credit card for the greater good.

7/ Making your game open world is not a selling point, if you do not abundantly fill your open world with things to do. If your imagination or time does not stretch to that, make it linear and not shit, rather than open and empty and void of worth.

8/ Bioshock 3 is a lazy, two dimensional shooter riding a tropey mess of contending themes all the way to a bland and uninspiring ending.

9/ Adding homosexual characters, strong female characters, ethnically diverse characters etc. to a game is a positive step forward and does not take away from your enjoyment of the medium.

10/ If you do not like the direction a series or company is taking, do not fucking support them. Do not whine and bitch and moan and then fecklessly buy their games anyway because you have played the others.

11/ Lovecraftian horror does not mean adding tentacles to lazy jumpscares in the 1920's. It is intent, atmosphere, insignificance before infinity and worthlessness before that which does not even think of you as alive. This does not translate well into hero fantasy.

12/ Strong female characters are so few and far between in the gaming sphere that we have to actively think about it to name ten. This is pathetic and provides such little connection for such a wide selection of your core audience as to be laughable.

13/ The whole concept of beta testing within the public sphere, after asking them to pay and inflating their ego's by making them feel a part of the industry is responsible, in large part, for the low quality of "Finished Product" release games.

14/ Hero fantasy, as overarching plot device is the laziest, most 2 dimensional way of delivering a game and is as soulless as the void.

15/ the mindless shucking of consumers by relentlessly duplicating the same lazy, feckless tat for pre-release purchases is anathema. If you cannot think of something vibrant and interesting to shill your game, don't just clutter the homes of your fanbase with worthless shite.

16/ PT is not a game, should not be included in lists of best games and needs to be forgotten. It was a very good tech demo, that once and for all guaranteed that we will never get a proper Silent Hill game, ever again.

17/ Preying, like a carrion bird, on the nostalgia of your fanbase will only occasionally produce Shovel Knight and will far more commonly spit Nightcry into our bitter jaded faces.

18/ There is a roiling spiteful undercurrent of worthless, over-loud arrested developments that think it is ok to be rude to the community manager whose job it is to field their petulant shit. Rather than providing constructive feedback, they screech and wail, and it is tiresome.

19/ Gatekeeping in all forms is rampant throughout the industry, effecting a huge number of people, and if you deny its existence, there is a better than average chance you are guilty of it.

20/ Pre-orders and the associated heart ache will never go away as long as people keep mindlessly casting their lot in with the tribe. In this day and age there is no excuse. Wait 6 hours, watch a stream, read a review and stop supporting this harmful and manipulative horror.

21/ Nudity, excessive violence and sexual assault can all serve a strong thematic purpose when married to a robust and compelling purpose, but are mostly used to indicate gritty, seediness and as such are diminished and spat out rather than adding to and supporting a narrative.

22/ The culture of anonymity in gaming is responsible for the howling abyss of neanderthal behaviour in online play. The removal of anonymity would provoke a return to some degree of actual manners, by revoking the shield from behind which the wretched spit their mindless bile.

23/ First Person Shooters set during a war are as lazy and uninspired as Horror games set in asylums. If you cannot be bothered to avoid such tropes, do not be surprised if they do not find a satisfied audience.

24/ Current political themes appearing in gaming is not only inevitable but healthy. Art has always reflected, parodied and commented upon current life and gaming is no different.

25/ If you wish to create an immersive three dimensional rpg, but exclude the ability to choose gender for the player character then you alienate a large portion of your prospective player base.

Well, there's the first 25, and I am knackered. I will continue with this thread of bitching tomorrow. Thanks for reading. Quite surprised by the amount of uptake. More snottiness, on the morrow then. <3

26/ There is nothing wrong with micro-transactions, providing it does not exclude single player content and does not alter multiplayer competitive capacity. Give me all the ways to support the developer.

27/ Generating positive environments and feedback are the best way to see the change you wish to occur in your favourite games. Screaming and raging rarely endears the screamer and rager to the screamee and ragee.

28/ Paid DLC is a good thing, for the developers and for the player. It is less palatable when a chunk of the game has been locked behind a further paywall and this generates the discontent.

29/ Women in streaming are not stealing your views, through intent or not. If the viewer is only interested in watching a woman play the game, they were never going to watch you, unless you too are a woman. Pull it together and apply some logic.

30/ There is literally nothing wrong with anyone using whatever asset, be it sexuality, wit, clothing, style, allure or whatever, they wish in their own stream, providing it does not contravene T.O.S or the law. If you don’t like it, you are free to not watch.

31/ Game developers in the AAA sphere are no more monsters than those in the indie scene are saints. We deify and malign too frequently and apply our worship or spite too liberally.

32/ In horror, the most important aspect of the game is sound design, by a long way. Passable mechanics and story are elevated by the addition of a ferocious aural landscape that penetrates the players mind and elicits real fear.

33/ Lootboxes that target children are a howling abyss of contempt and despite, whereas those targeting adults just need regulating, as with other gambling.

34/ If you are no longer having fun playing a game, but continue on for some other reason, you should not be surprised when you grow to hate that game. Stop when you are no longer enjoying yourself.

35/ If you don’t enjoy a game, it is totally acceptable to not be a jerk about it to your friend who loves it a great deal. You are allowed to not point out the games flaws and diminish their fun, which you do not share.

36/ I am excited to try out the new Diablo on mobile, do not think that its existence removes the possibility of a Diablo 4 and think there is every chance of it being fun.

37/ Gaming is an iterative process and all game developers learn from each other. It is not a burning sin to see a beneficial practice duplicated throughout a genre. X copied Y is not a valid critique.

38/ If you cannot treat games developers and other industry members with respect, do not be surprised if nothing you say gets listened to but instead is ignored wholesale, due to the rudeness.

39/ There is a massive difference between a game being bad and you not enjoying it. Employ language carefully, lest you upset and offend friends, colleagues or simply humans whose heart and soul has poured into a project.

40/ Brutal, Machiavellian practices, especially those employed by larger publishers and studios, will never stop provided the profit margins are maintained. Your money, or lack thereof, is the strongest impetus for change.