Do we really want games to surprise us? (Gaming)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Wednesday, August 09, 2017, 19:04 (2487 days ago) @ Korny

My issue is exactly what I said: You buried a good article about one game under unneeded, over the top criticism about a different game.

Is it over the top? Is it really criticism? I didn't say that is what it was, I specifically said "from the looks of it", judging from what we've seen so far. Is it likely? Possibly not. I think you're taking something that I inferred, and acting as though I've made an absolute statement like certain other folks around here do...

That’s just another variant of “you can’t criticize me because it was only my opinion.” Yeah, you included magic words of “from the looks of it” but the rest of your phrasing and tone didn’t really allow for things like “possibly not.” Leading with a wholey negative intro only to point out that you included some get out of jail free “in my opinion” type words just makes it look like you don’t want to own up to what your opinion really was.

Besides, an opinion based on clearly incomplete facts is not worth much at all.

I'd love to hear more about Senua's Sacrifice, but not from someone who is going to waste my time by being a "prominent moron" for two paragraphs before getting to his actual point. You criticized TotalBiscuit for jumping on a game he hadn't played, but I guess it's fine when you do it? "Do as I say not as I do?"

But I have played Destiny 1 for all three years, and I've followed every bit of news to come out regarding Destiny 2 (and I even played the Beta, on multiple platforms, with several different groups of people!)

I probably played a demo of Disney Infinity 3.0 at a Toys R Us once and I saw a tech demo of Senua's Sacrifice that included zero gameplay. Oddly enough, you won’t find me drawing conclusions about the full game based on either of those things.

Was the crucible drastically different? No.

Heh. I strongly disagree! I went back to D1’s Crucible the other day and was miserable. It was sooo nice having a few days where melee combat seemed strategic and fair. Where I had more than a single magazine worth of ammo for any secondary weapon I choose. Where nobody could kill me by sticking me and simply hiding around a corner. Where the map wasn’t subdivided into slices by six different Icebreakers. Drastically different? I say: Heck yeah it was!

Was the strike drastically different? No.

No. But it was better in multiple ways. Scale. Sense of location. An interesting, challenging boss battle that cycled through multiple different mechanics.

Social Space? No.

The one hour, severely feature-limited stress test of the social space? I’ll do the right thing and hold off judgement until I see the full version.

Story mission? Bright lights and pretty colors aside, no.

Compared to most Destiny 1 missions? Yes!

So how is my observation "over the top" when I say that it's continuing a pattern that we've been on for the past three years?
We shouldn't be fanboys, man.

Because of the language and tone you used. “And yet, preorder sales are through the roof.” clearly linked back to “Eh.” “Expected.” “We've been calling it since Year 2.” & “Other than a few elements that it's borrowing from Horizon Zero Dawn (and a few other games), nothing is a surprise.”

“...we're going to coast off another three years of much of the same repetitive grind that we have been for the past three years.” was just as weighed down with negativity.

Notice how you dropped all your negative one liners in order to make your “observation” seem less like a string of personal complaints and criticisms? If you’d done that the first time I would have batted an eye at your intro.

Next time, stick to the points you actually want to make and leave off the pointless opening blather.

Highlight something that contrasts a game, but make sure to never point out how it contrasts that game, or you'll hurt someone's feelings. Got it. Don't think that's how it works, though...

Well you certainly nailed “never point out how it contrasts that game.” Since, really, your “contrast” between Destiny 2 and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice can be summed up as: “Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is not a sequel.” When we talk about Hellblade 2: Senua's Other Sacrifice in a few years all your “Expected.” “We’ve been calling it” and “we're going to coast off another three years of much of”’s might just apply!