Does online negativity about a game influence your desire to play it?

[Flame Lord]

I do sometimes; there are some people who like to write off any kind of gamer outrage, but I feel there's usually a nugget of truth in it. For instance, I may never play the new Battlefield, and that's only because I saw the outrage for it and looked into it and found a lot of the changes they made to not be to my taste, so I'm passing on it.

 

[Shocked_Onlooker]

Not really. If I am interested in playing something I play it regardless. Some recent examples of this for me were Far Cry 6 and Madden. The overall mood about this games especially here on era seems to be pretty negative but I still played them and enjoyed because I know what I like.

 

[Man-is-Obsolete]

I would like to say no, because like many others I can usually tell what I'm going to like by the looks of it before release. However, that would be a lie because a lot of the times the negative attention the game receives at release is confirming my feeling and ultimately is what keeps me away. Because I want every game to good, and am willing to be convinced.

An example being Star Ocean 4 and 5. Love the series, both games looked rough pre release but had feedback been positive I would have certainly gave them a chance. Feedback was overwhelmingly negative so I stayed away.

Guardians of the Galaxy broke the other way for me, it showed terribly and I had almost zero interest. Then it kept getting positive buzz and people I knew were hyping it up and so I picked it up.

 

[Gelf]

Really depends on what the negativity is about. On many occasions I see people negative about something I actually see as a positive or something entirely irrelevant to my own enjoyment. I have my own taste and I'm not bad at filtering out criticism that doesn't apply to me.

Certain game design issues are major irritations to me though so I'd be silly not to listen to specific negativity regarding the existence of those. But really even positivity could do that. Many people really love approachs to game design I'd want to avoid.

 

[StrangeRoboMemory]

Depends entirely on what is being said.

 

[TooBusyLookinGud]

I feel the nitpicking of flaws in games overly negatively effects my desire to play even though said flaws might never even occur to me if the internet hadn't told me they were there.

Can ignorance be bliss?

Click to shrink...

Yes because once you hear their gripes, they will be stuck in your head the entire time you play.

 

[Desi]

sometimes. It really depends on what I want out of a title. Like I know people are not hyped on I Am Setsuna but I really want it so I'll just cave.

 

[sandboxgod]

Yes I am influenced by what others perceive. I like to take in opinions from many different angles before buying in. There's times I ignored the warnings from the masses to my detriment (Star Citizen) and other times positive hype really help me find games I wouldn't otherwise give a shot (Returnal / Demons' Souls PS3 when it released made me buy a PS3)

 

[Rpgmonkey]

When (not if) I play a game that interests me depends more on how much it interests me and how much I want to prioritize it, not what positive or negative things people are saying about it online.

There's stuff I think could be better about a game, but I usually get some enjoyment out of just about every single game I play, and I buy and play dozens of them a year. So I've decided it's not a good use of my time to read up what people online are saying about a game and I should just play it myself once I decide the time is right. At this point I think I have a strong enough grasp of what I do and don't like about games and it's very rare that a game surprises me in any good or bad way.

 

[Blackleg-sanji1]

I was excited for days gone on this place what you think

 

[Leveean]

I still enjoy it, but the online negativity surrounding World of Warcraft can be overwhelming sometimes. It's such a bummer.

 

[Equanimity]

No. I actually enjoy some of the games that get crapped on by critics and forum users alike.

 

[Blayde]

Really only when it's negative like the game is broken and buggy. Otherwise I don't care if people like it, I play what I want.

 

[DanteSparda504]

It depends on the negativity. I do tend to be more interested and embrace a game if the internet, particularly this place, shits on it. The internet likes to dog pile on games over the stupidest shit and I really want to give a game a chance after I see the game getting dog piled for stupid shit.

 

[ThEoRy...]

No.

I liked Anthem, Andromeda and Too Human!

 

[StrappingYoungLance]

If I'm already really interested in buying and playing a game it has zero influence on me at all. If I'm less interested and looking to see how a game is more widely received before buying then yes.

 

[etrain911]

If a game is cheap enough, then I don't mind not looking at reviews to influence me (i.e. PS Plus, Gamepass, some kind of deep discount putting it comfortably in the <15 dollar range). If a game is 60 or 70 dollars? Then absolutely I want to know people's experiences with it first, that's too much money to put on the line for me.

 

[Rendering...]

Sometimes, for games I'm kinda interested in. The best recent example I can think of is Cyberpunk. If that game had come out to rave impressions, I would have grabbed it at the first decent sale.

If I'm hyped about a game, like Halo Infinite, I won't be put off by what people are saying about it. Of course, it's always nice to see favorable impressions.

 

[kamineko]

Not really, no. I guess if the aggregators are really bad, I will think more carefully about my decision, but I am pretty good about knowing what I'm going to enjoy.

If anything, I've been repeatedly burned by positive discussions here and elsewhere. It's good to listen to other people, but also to yourself.

I mean, I bought Andromeda for five dollars and I feel like I came out ahead. I don't regret my time with it.

e: I will say that hearing about a developer or publisher being shitty can turn me off immediately if it's something that's important to me

 

[CosmicGP]

Of course. I can ignore it if 5 people say a game sucks but not when 50 people say it.

 

[MegaSackman]

Generally no but I remember being interested in Anthem and then... well, I decided to step away from it thanks to the internet.

I was a bit excited about Avengers too but I did try that one on the beta and it was rough, so no internet influence there.

 

[m_dorian]

Sometimes and it's case dependent.

I bought ME Andromeda despite the harsh criticism and it was, mildly, not good.

I wanted to play Shadow of War because i really liked the first one, which had good reviews but didn't like the monetization so i skipped it until they removed it. I got bored and dropped it.

Generally i do not support games that have aggressive monetization and/or the developer or publisher are big assholes.

 

[cgpartlow]

Honestly a lot of online negativity makes me more curious about a game. I tend to have a lot of fun with games the "consensus" seem to hate on.

 

[AlgusUnderdunk]

Playing Balan Wonderworld on Switch at the moment.

And Mighty Number 9 is sitting on the pile waiting for its turn too.

 

[Chasing]

Sometimes. The reception to 2042 convinced me to never pick it up.

 

[Zachary_Games]

Good games always find a fanbase. Even poorly received games at launch. Once the dust settles, the good games are kept alive by online discussions. That's how I find gems.

 

[Gavalanche]

If the general sentiment is bad, it will at least make me re-think it. Cyberpunk is one example where because of all the negativity about how bad it is for consoles, I haven't and won't touch that until they release the PS5 patch version and it is confirmed to run well. It depends on the game completely though and what the negative stuff is.

 

[Milennia]

I get ladder anxiety, it's kept me away from league for the last 6-7 years, stopped playing around season 2 due to toxicity
In FPS games I just mute the whole lobby

 

[gothmog]

It depends on so many factors like price and if I like the genre. But yeah, sometimes I skip a game if I feel there's a compelling negative story. I can always pick it up later.

 

[Stranger Things]

I know what kind of games I enjoy (horror, fps, tps, action/adventure, realistic/walking sims, etc)

so if I see a new game come out in a series I like, such as COD Vanguard, I know I'm going to have fun playing it regardless of what people say on internet forums or reddit or wherever. A new COD will always be more or less what I'm familiar with so I can't really go wrong unless the devs completely flopped.

if it's a more niche game that looks kind of cool based on trailers or gameplay ive seen on youtube, I might do a "is X game worth playing" google search and see what comes up. lots of games look really cool on the surface but end up actually being a buggy disaster that is not your worth your money. Or weak combat, stupid story, starts off great but becomes a slog halfway through, etc.

Some games are also really short like can be beat in 4 hours, so is that worth buying full price 60 bucks? IMO rarely, so reading up on those negative reviews is helpful to decide what to put my money and time towards.

some games are just dead, too, like multiplayer games, so it's good to read up on how popular a game currently is before buying it.

 

[Musubi]

Nope. Other people's opinions don't really matter to me when I'm considering purchases.

 

[Nikus]

If it's Era negativity then it makes me want to play it more.

 

[The Spoony Hou]

It does. It makes me more interested in the game. People raving positively about a game just makes me ignore it for longer.

 

[CanUKlehead]

Sometimes, and I'm not particularly consistent.

Being a huge fan of Shenmue, I was pumped for Shenmue 3 but after THAT much negativity, I'd rather leave the memories alone and avoided it. Same with Mass Effect Andromeda.

At the same time, I know what I'm getting with Assassin's Creed and tend to pick up the ones with settings I'm interested in (no on Egypt, yes on Greece) even if many are lukewarm on them at this point.

On the flip side, I avoided FFXV and played that in 2020, and it's one of my favourite FFs, so.

If we're talking about how the Internet hates a game because of something awful that the developers do/are, like Activision, I am also inconsistsnt there. I haven't played an Acti game since Advanced Warfare...but because I don't like COD anymore. Ubisoft is getting there though, for me, and I've avoided everything since ACOd.

But everyone has different thresholds, so whatever.

 

[Deleted member 20831]

No

• I watch lets play videos from new game
• Gameplay and game options
• Gameplay tips/beginners videos

The above give me much better information than just reading or listening to rant about games.

• Once I start playing the game, then I read/watch/consider negative rant

 

[coolasj19]

Usually makes me wanna play the game more to be perfectly honest.

 

[Cantaim]

No because the internet lacks the ability to rationally explain why they do not like a game without resorting to hyperbole.

 

[Lady Gaia]

It depends a whole lot on the take. If the criticism seems warranted and is in line with something I had seen hints of and was already worried about? I might take it seriously. If it amounts to someone not liking a game or a genre that appeals to me, I can simply dismiss it and make my own decisions with confidence.

When it amounts to bandwagon piling on a game in ways that seem unwarranted, though? I've been known to be stubbornly adamant about support a developer and rewarding their efforts by giving it a fair shake if I see something I'm genuinely curious about but might not normally purchase. That was the case with Driveclub, where the mocking leading up to release was so absurd and overblown that I not only bought the game but also the season pass - and I don't generally bother with driving games. The team may not have had a commercial hit and I suspect the server side was problematic from a cost perspective even when they did get the kinks worked out, but the team was incredibly talented and I thoroughly enjoyed playing it. It's such a shame there ws never a Pro update and will never be a PS5 sequel.

So yes, I am sometimes influenced but it can go both ways and I am much more easily swayed opposite of the intended direction.

 

[NullPointer]

Depends upon the criticism really.

I picked up both Knack and Death Stranding because the complaints painted a picture of something I might like. Was right on both counts, even with the justified complaints.

If the negativity is about performance, monetization, crashes, lost saves, server issues or missing features, yeah, I'll take heed.

 

[JahIthBer]

I started to just block it out, getting Gladiator multiple times in WoW i had a lot of people send lovely comments my way, just ignoring people works the best for me, it tends to make them more mad when you don't respond.

 

[Zurick]

No. I am the storm.

Played MGS Survive after those reviews, and enjoyed it.

 

[Veelk]

Depends what the negativity is. If it's something like "THIS GAME BETRAYS IT'S FANS" then you can safely expect it to be a goty contender.

 

[Lucini]

Depends on what the criticism is:

if they're saying a game blatantly disrespects the player's time or is overtly anti-consumer then I'm out. If the negativity is just some overblown culture warrior bullshit then I'll probably end up still playing.

 

[Turnabout Sisters]

I'd say no but I'm sure on a subconscious level it does

 

[EarthPainting]

If something appears to be utterly broken or chugs in a way that will probably do my head in, then I appreciate the heads up. If it's just general complaining about not liking the game, that will probably not deter me from playing it. There have been plenty of instances where I disliked things that came frequently and highly recommended, and liked things folks tried to put me off from. I've played enough stuff that my priorities sometimes shift away from merely "good" and instead towards "interesting" or "memorable".

On that note, if I see multiple people talk about how something breaks all the rules of good game design or controls, I'll probably be more interested. More often than not, I'll still end up not liking it, but there's something to esoteric design and control that fascinates me an unreasonable amount. I respect games that re-invent the wheel, are unaware of the wheel, or try to make a case for why there's no need for one to begin with.

 

[Rhaknar]

it does not. Game, movie, tv show, whatever.

At worst, I'll go "yes, this is indeed bad". But I always need to know for myself.

 

[Hagi]

Online negativity is so over the top especially here, I just try and filter it out.

 

[Deleted member 37928]

Of course. Every choice I make is informed by lots of things, including other people. Even If I really like a certain genre for instance I look for opinions from experts within that genre. I'm not interested in buying broken games or games that don't succeed in delivering the experience that I'm looking for.

 

[amara]

The controversy around TLOU2 actually convinced me to buy it day 1. I was planning to wait until it was on sale

 

[fourfourfun]

Oh, there can be an inverse effect BTW.

Final Fantasy XV gets a resounding - to quote the great William Shakespeare - "shitting on" round these parts, but I'm really enjoying it. I've dunked hours into the game so far. Maybe the expectation setting has played a part with the game punching way above what I was expecting.