An incredible game review article

[Obryn]

Right I agree with that. I worded that poorly.

My point is that the gamers that responded to the article did not demonstrate behavior that you would not find in any other group of people. Especially on the internet.

I dunno; I haven't seen board invasions orchestrated from too many sports sites.

-O

 

[Crothian]

I dunno; I haven't seen board invasions orchestrated from too many sports sites.

-O

One the other hand I haven't read of any death threats from gamers; I've seen sport forums where they talk about hoping the opponents die.

 

[slwoyach]

It's also an opinion that goes against the consensus, both among gamer and non-gamer organizations, as a board game that has won tons of awards, is on lots of recommended lists, and so on, and is consistently listed as a "gateway" game.

I don't think labeling something an opinion removes it from criticism, especially in the face of other evidence.

I had a film professor who hated the Godfather, yet he was still a published author who's written about film. He went to school with De Palma. The fact that he didn't like a movie everyone else hails as genius (and I also find a bit boring) doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's talking about. It's an opinion.

 

[catsclaw227]

Sports forums are brutal and even the article or blog comments on ESPN.com are ruthless. There's not much friendly banter going on....

 

[malraux]

I had a film professor who hated the Godfather, yet he was still a published author who's written about film. He went to school with De Palma. The fact that he didn't like a movie everyone else hails as genius (and I also find a bit boring) doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's talking about. It's an opinion.

One can dislike something and still think it is good/well done. On subject, I cannot stand Puerto Rico. That doesn't mean I think it is a bad game, just that I don't like it. If they are actual fans of board games, as they claim at the start of the review, it's odd that they would have trouble with some of the issues that they did.

 

[rogueattorney]

I had a film professor who hated the Godfather, yet he was still a published author who's written about film. He went to school with De Palma. The fact that he didn't like a movie everyone else hails as genius (and I also find a bit boring) doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's talking about. It's an opinion.

But I bet your film professor could give a cogent explanation for his opinion that someone who liked the movie, while maybe not agreeing with, could at least understand... The sound is murky, some of the characters' motivations are unclear (why does Kay agree to get back with Michael?), it glorifies crime, violence, and mistreatment of women, etc.

If someone trashes a game or film or album commonly thought of as great, my immediate thought is to ask, "Well, what do you like?" You see in the customer reviews at Amazon things like, "The Beatles suck... Linkin Park is so much better!!!" Then you know you can ignore the reviewer. Someone who wrote something to the effect of... "The Beatles began as a fluffy pop band and then followed trends set by more creative artists such as Bob Dylan and the Beach Boys..." I then know I have to treat them more seriously, even if I don't agree with them.

The reviewers in that game article trashed some very well respected games while giving an "A" to the Office-branded version of Clue and failing to give reasoning for their opinions that seemed to have any connection with most people's experience with those games.

 

[BryonD]

The reviewers in that game article trashed some very well respected games while giving an "A" to the Office-branded version of Clue and failing to give reasoning for their opinions that seemed to have any connection with most people's experience with those games.

... That seemed to have any connection to most *GAMERS'* experience with them. The basic presumptions of gamers going in to a game could make a world of difference. The bottom line is, they did not enjoy it and that was broadcast to an audience that is likely far more representative of THEM than they are of US.

I certainly don't think that a good defense of the opinion was given. But, it remains a subjective opinion.

I'm not putting them up for awards or anything. But they looked "fine". They looked like they were saying they didn't like it from their point of view.

The replies were a bunch of pathetic screaming. If more replies had been reasoned and calm (and I haven't gone back to look since the one time) then the reviewers could have been made to look ill-informed and the games could have gotten some good publicity out of a bad review. But the stereotype come to life in the responses just reinforces the idea of "OF COURSE the reviewers did not like it. The reviewers are NORMAL people. How can anyone expect a game that appeals to freaks like those screamers to also appeal to normal people like us"?

 

[Punnuendo]

Sports forums are brutal and even the article or blog comments on ESPN.com are ruthless. There's not much friendly banter going on....

To be fair, those sports fans don't come across as any more socially adjusted than the people who commented on this article. And no, that doesn't mean it is okay.

 

[catsclaw227]

To be fair, those sports fans don't come across as any more socially adjusted than the people who commented on this article. And no, that doesn't mean it is okay.

I totally agree. Personally, I thought the comments to the review made BGG appear to be an unsafe haven for people who are new to board games or have more...."traditional tastes". YMMV.

 

[rogueattorney]

I certainly don't think that a good defense of the opinion was given. But, it remains a subjective opinion.

I'm not putting them up for awards or anything. But they looked "fine". They looked like they were saying they didn't like it from their point of view.

In calling Ticket to Ride too complicated, they essentially did the identical of a movie critic calling Star Wars a pretentious art-house film. Yeah, it's an opinion. But it's not an opinion anyone else could possibly share having looked at the movie or game. I mean, my Godmother learned that game in five minutes!!!

The replies were a bunch of pathetic screaming. If more replies had been reasoned and calm (and I haven't gone back to look since the one time) then the reviewers could have been made to look ill-informed and the games could have gotten some good publicity out of a bad review. But the stereotype come to life in the responses just reinforces the idea of "OF COURSE the reviewers did not like it. The reviewers are NORMAL people. How can anyone expect a game that appeals to freaks like those screamers to also appeal to normal people like us"?

You're right, of course. But generally speaking you expect critics published in print newspapers not to be making cracks about "going into convulsions on the floor." They basically wrote, "These games are teh sux!!!" and then got the same level of intellectual discourse in reply. They wrote a teenager-ish Amazon.com customer review and got the same thing back. The response to the review wasn't "fine," but neither was the review itself.