I handled that poorly. (Gaming)

by Harmanimus , Monday, June 11, 2018, 16:54 (2361 days ago) @ cheapLEY

I much prefer giving talented people room to create interesting new things, free from harassment
I don’t think anyone here has crossed any line in that regard, but the internet in general certainly has

Sadly, the internet is the lifeblood of the world now and we haven't sorted a way to filter out the poison. I wish no one were assailed by the harassment people often receive as creators - whether the works they produce merit such critique or not. Maybe one day we'll all listen to Carl and really appreciate our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

I appreciate the general sentiment of your post, but for the sake of my argumentative impulses, I will agree in full to giving talented people room to create interesting new things but have to hammer that caveat into the ground that that is not luxury people possess when working within established settings and intertwined with the existing frameworks and materials therein.

Had 343i done Halo 4 in a more traditional style - I'm not gonna have the argument about if that was to make Halo their own or not as it's not pertinent - and followed it on with something like Halo 4: Forerunner and embraced a change in artistic and gameplay styling I would likely have been all aboard that hype train. Instead they stopped a lot of good will in its tracks. They've done a lot to rebuild some of that good will, but they've definitely continued to handle it with questionably steady hands. But I keep giving them another shot each time because I have investment in the world they are playing in.

As an aside, the negativity leveled at 343i isn't new to them in the Halo series. Whether you want to discuss the changes to gameplay between CE and 2 or 2 and 3, or art direction changes between the same (everyone remember the negativity grunts with exosekeletons brought about in the first place, and then when 343i removed them?) or, hell, almost everything people say about Reach. People are critical of things they love. Sometimes that is to much higher degrees when we see things we used to love mishandled and falling to something we don't anymore.