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| Superfans have regularly ruined my experience in games like Destony and The Division. Image Source: Forbes.com |
While perusing the Destiny subreddit the other day I came upon a post asking how many in the community had come back to Bungie's Space Loot Opera after playing The Division. Post after post went on about how disappointed people were in The Division and how terrible a game it is and how awesome Destiny is and always has been. Sure, The Division has had some problems, not the least of which have cropped up in the latest update, but the overall quality of the game is still pretty good. As I read through the comments, I started wondering when all this play one and only one game mentality came from.
I understand that there will always be fanboys for any given game/platform out there. I remember them focusing mainly on the consoles in the past, but recently they seem to have laser focused their zealous ways on specific games. I can't for the life of me understand where this compulsion to tear down every other game that isn't the one you play.
I don't have a ton of cash to throw at games, nor do I have a lot of time to commit to them, but I know what I like in a game. I don't share this delusion that there is only one particular game for me at any given time. My gameplay is guided by my mood. I have a host of games one any given console and a healthy Steam library (with far too many games I've yet to complete) to keep me entertained no matter what I'm in the mood for. I can't imagine shackling myself to a single title unless it were for a particularly in depth article.
Even playing the chosen game with these faith militant can be difficult. I've been in groups of them in both The Division and Destiny. In both cases, they are overly critical, inflexible windbags who want nothing more than to show you how superior their method of defeating enemy A or boss B is. If their plan goes awry in any way (and it usually does) then it is immediately the fault of whoever the pickup player happens to be.
In person, these players are often no less insufferable. When they aren't accusing the new player of screwing up their moves, they are complaining about every single little issue they have ever encountered or heard another player gripe about as though it is a sign of how doomed the game is or how terrible a job the developers did and how much better a job they would do if only Bungie/Massive would hire them, despite their complete lack of any experience in the industry. It's a staggering bit of dichotomous thinking that
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| For all some people would like to try and point out, neither of these games is terrible. Image Source: Xbox.com |
I know I probably come off as terribly bitter towards these folks. You're right, I am bitter. I'm bitter because players like this have soured the experience for myself and other players like me who just want to have a good time and don't take the game so terribly seriously. They are the shitty coworker that ruins an otherwise ideal workplace.
The bright side of this misanthropic rant is that these people are not the majority in any of the games they have pledged themselves to. For every spewing, malcontent sociopath, there are ten people who just want to play a game for a few hours and don't care so much about "getting good." We'll play the raids in Destiny a few times at best and not worry about how much of the loot we have or how close we are to the maximum gear level in The Division. Unfortunately, when it comes to having an active voice in the community we are not the first to the mic. The loud, obnoxious faithful are always first on the scene to deride our questions and remind us how much better they are at this game. We need to be more active in these communities and provide a voice of reason if we want this bullshit to stop. So pop into The Division or Destiny or World of Warcraft or whatever game it is that you encounter these two dimensional maniacs and bring some sanity and balance to their cacophonous squalling.
