Interesting criticism I found about us "RPG guys".

BrokeAndDrive

Banned

Banned

• Jun 12, 2010

• #1

From here:

With all due respect, I don't get something about you RPG guys.


I don't get how criticism of a system constitutes "flaming."

I go on line, I criticize movies, etc. People argue. But people are not so wrapped up in their personal consumer choices that they take criticism of their preferred products to be "flaming."

But you RPG guys... someone says a bad word about d20 and Hero (two systems I like, on the whole, but which I find fault with), and it's a "flamewar."

I've said it before, I'll say it again:

This hobby will never grow if the people currently in it do not exhibit more of the traits of mature, well-developed, non Simpons-Comic-Book-Guy adults.

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I think this man has a point. This is something I've noticed and has perplexed me for some time. I've seen the same inexplicable behavior about music preference (OMG I HAET BRITNAY SPAERZ [Wait, is she good and buried now, and no longer a good reference for the "typical popslut" archetype? All I know is she was ragingly popular when I was a high schooler, and after graduating I've been {thankfully} cut off from pop culture so I don't know what's what these days... get off my lawn.] METALIKA R TEH GAWDZ). With certain subjects and not others, people for some reason tend to "internalize" someone else's work, acting like they've planted a flag of patriotism or joined a religion. I admit I used to sort of act like that, but I grew out of it. Mostly.

I'm curious to hear what my fellow RPG guys p) think about this. As for me, I can understand feeling insulted by another insulting what you like. But it seems (to me at least) that it runs somewhat deeper with "geek" hobbies. <armchair-psychologist> Maybe it has something to do with incorporating a separate entity into our identity. Thus, an attack against [It] is an attack against [Me]. And we weren't exactly... guh, if I keep going I'll sound like a pretentious nozzle throwing around words like "unpopular" and "mainstream" and "beaten up by jocks", I'm sure you all know what I'm getting at so I'll just leave it unsaid. </armchair-psychologist>

Or maybe you believe the guy quoted is full of bunk. I'd love to hear the opposing viewpoints! Mostly because the whole "gamers are a bunch of fat, thin-skinned rageoholics" paradigm leaves a foul taste in my mouth.

 

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Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator

Staff member

Supporter

• Jun 12, 2010

• #2

I agree- the man has a point. Just as you accurately compare with discussions of musical taste, too many times, critique of a system gets personal. You saw a LOT of that on both sides of the 3.5/4Ed Edition War.

However, I don't agree with his closing assertion. The RPG hobby is, in a way, inherently insular...and even so, its still growing. Its not exploding like other pastimes, but its healthy.

 

V

ValhallaGH

Explorer

• Jun 12, 2010

• #3

BrokeAndDrive said:

"gamers are a bunch of fat, thin-skinned rageoholics" paradigm leaves a foul taste in my mouth.

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For my money, it's "Forum-users are a bunch of thin-skinned rage-oholics". It's just that a lot of gamers are also forum users.

But, it's the internet. People look upon it as a license to freak out, say whatever inane crap they want to, and to ditch most responsibility (and personal standards).

Good luck.

 

Nifft

Penguin Herder

• Jun 12, 2010

• #4

ValhallaGH said:

For my money, it's "Forum-users are a bunch of thin-skinned rage-oholics". It's just that a lot of gamers are also forum users.

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The ones here on the forum tend to be, yes.

Cheers, -- N

 

Dire Bare

Legend

• Jun 12, 2010

• #5

Interesting how the gentleman you quoted criticizes us "RPG guys" while also mentioning he likes both the d20 and Hero RPG systems. So, he's not an "RPG Guy"?

Dude is just stereotyping, and doing it poorly. Of course what he says rings a faint bell of truth, as most stereotypes begin around a grain of truth.

Some devoted fans of RPG games can be thin-skinned when it comes to criticism of their favorite game. Add to that the anonymity of the internet and (IMO) the decline of civility in our culture and you get the "edition wars" and other examples of geeks taking things a wee bit too far.

But we're all not like that. And even those of us who are (sometimes), aren't like that all the time. It's just the "loudest" stuff on the various messageboards and gets undue attention because it is so annoying.

And I've seen the exact same behavior in other genres with devoted (and overly-devoted) fanbases. Music, film, comics, sports (of all types), etc, etc.

What the dude is seeing is not "RPG Guy" behavior, but "Human Guy (and Gal)" behavior. And he seems to feel the need to be an RPG fan, but yet separate himself from the rest of us "RPG Guys". Best thing is to ignore him, just like I ignore some of my RL friends when they go off like that.

(hmmmm, then why did I reply to the OP . . . . hmmmm)

 

Umbran

Mod Squad

Staff member

Supporter

• Jun 12, 2010

• #6

A couple of points:

1) Movies (and most other consumer media) are not equivalent to RPGs in terms of criticism. A single session of an RPG usually takes up more of our time than watching a couple of movies, and we do it week after week. We've got a whole lot more invested in our games than a typical moviegoer does in their favorite movie.

2) Big 10 college football sometimes has people burnings sofas in the streets. Riots fairly regularly break out at soccer games in Europe and South America. We are hardly rank as aggressive by comparison.

Remember that "fan" comes from the term "fanatic".

 

Silverblade The Ench

First Post

• Jun 12, 2010

• #7

Umbran
lol, very true
Ever time there's an "Auld Firm" match in Scotland, guaranteed there's about 4 murders commited on that day because of that damn game, yeech!
(obviously CoC investigators are needed to determine the evil psychic influences at fault!)

"Firsty secondary thirdly the Forth edition Flaming Troll bums of the Masquerading Crusade all SUCK! 'Cause they don't give me an excuse to murder ye all!! So there! FHTANG!!

 

TarionzCousin

Second Most Angelic Devil Ever

• Jun 12, 2010

• #8

Umbran said:

We are hardly rank as aggressive by comparison.

Remember that "fan" comes from the term "fanatic".

Click to expand...

Why do you hate Tron Guy and Shemeska?

 

M.L. Martin

Adventurer

• Jun 12, 2010

• #9

The quoted post is from back in 2003 . . . and back at that time, you could hardly mention HERO on the RPGNet forums without the system being condemned as requiring 6 hours for a Phase of combat, demanding a PhD in Mathematics to create characters, and being responsible for the Decline and Fall of the Roleplaying Hobby. (I believe someone actually did try to make a case for the last.) d20, IIRC, wasn't treated much better.

So, the problem is that some gamers can be overly defensive about things they like . . . and some gamers can be overly offensive about things they dislike.

 

N

Nightson

First Post

• Jun 12, 2010

• #10

You know, in my experience, it's generally the people doing the criticizing that cause flame wars, either by insulting people who like the product or making statements that are exaggeration at best and outright lies at worst.