Why the hate, people?

[Gez]

So why the hate?

I knew an amateur psychanalyst that loved to say "on se pose en s'opposant". I can't translate it while keeping the little wordplay, but the idea is that it's easier to create your sense of self through reject than through acceptance. Easier to define yourself as an "X-hater" than as an "Y-fan".

Political elections are a good example of that (no need to go on specific examples). But you see it in every domains. That's also why negative feedback is more common than positive feedback. Look at the Net, you'll see far more people ranting "this movie/game/music/politician/whatever sucks so much, if there were two of them side-by-side it would create a black hole!!1!1one!" than people raving "this is the bestestest thing evar!!!1!1one"... (Insert typoes, grammatical errors, and l33t spelling yourself for greater accuracy.)

 

[R-Hero]

And EN World isn't a very satisfying place to argue, if that's what makes you happy.

Yes it is, I came in for a good argument....



I have only played DnD, (1st and 3rd with a smattering of 2nd), boot hill and a couple games of d20 modern. I've sat in on games of Magic the Gathering, Pokemon and Yugio with my kids and their cousins.

I don't know if one is better that another, but for me its what books are avalable. I'm in 3.0 limbo now and most of the gamers I play with are going to 3.5.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I knew an amateur psychanalyst that loved to say "on se pose en s'opposant". I can't translate it while keeping the little wordplay, but the idea is that it's easier to create your sense of self through reject than through acceptance. Easier to define yourself as an "X-hater" than as an "Y-fan".

Thanks for this, Gez. It succinctly locked up a whole bunch of things I've been thinking about on and off for the past year.

 

[reanjr]

many people feel free to release their frustrations by taking up much more extreme positions than they actually take on a day-to-day basis.

I do it for fun, not frustration. I'll argue myself if no one's around to disagree.

You're wrong!!! HAHA!!

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I do it for fun, not frustration. I'll argue myself if no one's around to disagree.

You're wrong!!! HAHA!!

I disagree!!

 

[Mercule]

I like lots of different games. In fact, I like learning new game systems. Right now, d20 is my favorite. I've also enjoyed WoD, Shadowrun, AD&D, HERO, Paranoia, Wild West, Cyberpunk 2020, Shatterzone, Aria, Star Frontiers, and a horde of one-shots.

So far, the only game that I've found that I really don't like is GURPS. I've had no good experiences with it and all of my abyssmally bad ones involve GURPS. I don't know that I hate it, though, so much as I am just boggled by its continued existence.

 

[Emiricol]

I play several different systems. Maybe the ones you are talking about, Salad Shooter, are just more vocal - not necessarily more numerous I hope. Also, there's probably lots of people who don't have the time to learn multiple systems, or their group can only agree on one or two systems. That makes D20 a good candidate for those people.

 

[Darkness]

I disagree!!

For this, I have to question your fashion sense and punctuality.

 

[GMSkarka]

So why the hate?

I honestly believe that a depressingly large segment of the gaming population is still struggling psychologically with having been ostracized/bullied in their developmental years, and this sort of vehemence is nothing more than lashing out at the ghosts of their pasts.

They set themselves up as opposed to something, and then rail against it, because it alleviates the issues of helplessness and ineffectuality that they struggled with when they were growing up. It gives them a sense of identity, and more importantly, allows them to dish out some of what they had to endure themselves.

I'm not trying to be snarky or insulting with this---I've seen this behavior the entire time I've been involved in gaming (professionally since 1988, as a gamer for about 8 years prior to that), and I really do think that it is a factor. It's not a majority of gamers (thank god), but it's definitely there....and it's quite sad, when you think about it.

 

[fusangite]

To be fair to those who attack some systems, there really are some systems that are not good for anything. People glom onto what the system says it does instead of what it actually does. I don't see any problem with telling these people they have chosen a bad system.

However, most systems are good at something. And it does baffle me that people have trouble recognizing that when others prefer a different system, this is an indication that they may just enjoy a different style of play.