Lol yeah, I don't click on thumbnails that includes a stupid face on it.
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"Nice Opinion you got there. What Youtuber gave it to you?"
- Thread starter SalvaPot
- Start date
Lol yeah, I don't click on thumbnails that includes a stupid face on it.
i haven't let popular opinions influence my choices for close to 20 years now. back when i started gaming i did follow the reviews and bought games that scored high but over time i found myself diverging from those and didn't like several top rated games while i enjoyed stuff that didn't review well.
nowadays the extent of my research just involves seeing if the game is good for stuff i've never heard of but otherwise i decide for myself usually. i don't think i've ever looke dup a youtube review/podcast/etc ever to see if i buy or not buy anything.
nowadays the extent of my research just involves seeing if the game is good for stuff i've never heard of but otherwise i decide for myself usually. i don't think i've ever looke dup a youtube review/podcast/etc ever to see if i buy or not buy anything.
I voted no, but opinions on Era definitely colour my view of some games...in the opposite direction.
If certain posters are big fans of a game, I know it's probably a mediocre game in an expensive wrapper, or for perverts. Mostly the pervert thing. I don't need to play a game recommended by someone who unironically loves Sonic Adventure to know it's bad. I just KNOW.
If certain posters are big fans of a game, I know it's probably a mediocre game in an expensive wrapper, or for perverts. Mostly the pervert thing. I don't need to play a game recommended by someone who unironically loves Sonic Adventure to know it's bad. I just KNOW.
Does he facepalm in the thumbnail? How much of his eyes are covered by the facepalm? Is he looking down or still at the camera with one eye visible through the gap between index finger and thumb? How sincere is the facepalm?
That's where I get my opinions from.
Part of this may be that many, many people don't know how to adequately articulate their own opinion, which is where quoting someone else as your own viewpoint might come from. That or they're just looking for someone 'smarter' to validate their own opinion.
That's where I get my opinions from.
Part of this may be that many, many people don't know how to adequately articulate their own opinion, which is where quoting someone else as your own viewpoint might come from. That or they're just looking for someone 'smarter' to validate their own opinion.
Only one thing really.
Star Wars franchise. The toxicity I have seen in my life from that fanbase has put me off of watching anything in the franchise. Im not usually like that. But I have been particularly disgusted by some of the shit from the fanbase that has made the news cycles over the decades man. Good fucking lord. Ill stick with my Stargate and Bablyon5 Sci Fi fandom tyvm.
Star Wars franchise. The toxicity I have seen in my life from that fanbase has put me off of watching anything in the franchise. Im not usually like that. But I have been particularly disgusted by some of the shit from the fanbase that has made the news cycles over the decades man. Good fucking lord. Ill stick with my Stargate and Bablyon5 Sci Fi fandom tyvm.
I try to not watch reviews for games I intend on buying. I just don't like having another voice in my head while I'm playing.
I can't really think of any YouTubers whose opinions align directly with mine. I mostly watch their videos to hear different opinions when none of my friends have played the game I just beat.
I can't really think of any YouTubers whose opinions align directly with mine. I mostly watch their videos to hear different opinions when none of my friends have played the game I just beat.
I only follow a couple of specific streamers when it comes to games because they seem like decent people and their taste align with mine. Northernlion for instance is known for playing rogue likes and deck builders for instance, two things I love. So if he played a new deck builder and said it was bad, it would give me pause for sure.
If I am interested in a game I doubt much could stop me from playing it, but I have purchased games based on a specific YouTubers thoughts and the opposite applies as well, for sure.
Like everything in life, just need to have some internal moderation about it.
If I am interested in a game I doubt much could stop me from playing it, but I have purchased games based on a specific YouTubers thoughts and the opposite applies as well, for sure.
Like everything in life, just need to have some internal moderation about it.
No. Especially in the games they play. They are always 100% biased based on what is best for them ,(and their communties) with a game
Don't most people around here get their opinions from Metacritic scores? Not the text of any reviews. Just the aggregate score.
"YouTuber" isn't in my personal lexicon. I really don't think anybody on YouTube has an opinion on something that I've played that would ever supplant my own.
It's more the opposite, I'll drop youtubers who do not match my opinions and move to the ones who can actually explain why they don't match my opinions.
I stopped watching gaming opinion youtubers when I realized I was just looking for validation. I was always hoping they would praise games I like and would be disappointed when they didn't. But then I realized there is no point in that.
Of course I still read Era, Twitter, Reddit, etc so it's not like I've tuned out others completely. I like sharing experiences with others. But I'm not so invested like I used to be.
Of course I still read Era, Twitter, Reddit, etc so it's not like I've tuned out others completely. I like sharing experiences with others. But I'm not so invested like I used to be.
Shush you, no one voting no has ever posted in one of our review threads.
100% loll. Look at all these people lying in the polls. There is ZERO CHANCE you keep your head totally empty and opinionless until you try a game out for yourself. It's just not true. Many people will have already formed impressions and opinions without even seeing a single asset, let alone a trailer or a review even. The fact is if wider audience opinions didn't have any influence, you wouldn't even know about what there was to watch. Unless you make use of a random button on a subscription service.
I acknowledge that's not how the question is constructed. Maybe there's an argument for "I always try to give media a fair shake, no matter what people say about it." But like, nah. It's impossible. I think it's better to just understand and assume that we are always influenced (in a broad sense) by the opinions and structures around us and not see that as a negative or scary thing per se.
Hell, I always find it funny how even in many Era threads, the 1st page often has one tenor and tone and thrust, and then later pages are like.. "what were the people on the first page thinking??". Anything can develop its own culture - and what is that if not socialized internalization of other people's opinions?
I acknowledge that's not how the question is constructed. Maybe there's an argument for "I always try to give media a fair shake, no matter what people say about it." But like, nah. It's impossible. I think it's better to just understand and assume that we are always influenced (in a broad sense) by the opinions and structures around us and not see that as a negative or scary thing per se.
Hell, I always find it funny how even in many Era threads, the 1st page often has one tenor and tone and thrust, and then later pages are like.. "what were the people on the first page thinking??". Anything can develop its own culture - and what is that if not socialized internalization of other people's opinions?
i try to let outside opinion not influence what i consume, so i go out of my way to avoid discourse around a lot of things. there are things i've learned about through the media of course but that could be from a negative or positive opinion.
it's not too hard. depending on the media. in terms of shows, i tend to follow creators i enjoy. sometimes i'll see something that sounds interesting. i'll go check wikipedia out about it to see what it's about. but in terms of the things i consume most, i don't really have to have outside influence to find things. it's not as if most upcoming games are hidden, and with things like Nintendo Directs, it's pretty easy to come up with things.
that doesn't mean i've never been influenced, but generally, i'll see something announced or following developers or directors or musicians i enjoy. for music it's even easier. i'll randomly look into a new genre or a new record label and consume everything i can about it. something like anime i follow directors, writers and key animators i enjoy. games i follow developers or i just go in to something that randomly seemed interesting. TV shows and movies i very rarely watch because games and music take up so much time but it tends to still be by creators i enjoy or just by happenstance.
i barely have time to keep up with the things i do enjoy, so i'm not really constantly looking for new games. i'll have bought maybe 10 games this year, and the average amount of time i'll have put into each is 100-150 hours. not even an exaggeration. between FFXIV, Pokemon Legends (150 hours), Rune Factory 5 (150 hours), replaying Rune Factory 4 (100 hours), Monster Hunter Sunbreak (already put 150ish hours into it, at like 350 hours total), just got Xenoblade 3 which, given 2 was 200 hours, will probably be over 200 hours. Pokemon Violet and Scarlet is another 100 hours.
it's not too hard. depending on the media. in terms of shows, i tend to follow creators i enjoy. sometimes i'll see something that sounds interesting. i'll go check wikipedia out about it to see what it's about. but in terms of the things i consume most, i don't really have to have outside influence to find things. it's not as if most upcoming games are hidden, and with things like Nintendo Directs, it's pretty easy to come up with things.
that doesn't mean i've never been influenced, but generally, i'll see something announced or following developers or directors or musicians i enjoy. for music it's even easier. i'll randomly look into a new genre or a new record label and consume everything i can about it. something like anime i follow directors, writers and key animators i enjoy. games i follow developers or i just go in to something that randomly seemed interesting. TV shows and movies i very rarely watch because games and music take up so much time but it tends to still be by creators i enjoy or just by happenstance.
i barely have time to keep up with the things i do enjoy, so i'm not really constantly looking for new games. i'll have bought maybe 10 games this year, and the average amount of time i'll have put into each is 100-150 hours. not even an exaggeration. between FFXIV, Pokemon Legends (150 hours), Rune Factory 5 (150 hours), replaying Rune Factory 4 (100 hours), Monster Hunter Sunbreak (already put 150ish hours into it, at like 350 hours total), just got Xenoblade 3 which, given 2 was 200 hours, will probably be over 200 hours. Pokemon Violet and Scarlet is another 100 hours.
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I'm often overly skeptical of communities and influencers who are in a literal echo chamber. I have stopped watching a lot of gaming stuff on YouTube because I've found there is little to no push back for anything said, content creators just surround themselves with people who at most might give the slightest push back.
I've been trying to filter myself when it comes to discussing opinions that I've absorbed that are standing in for my complete lack of actual experience with media.
I consume a lot of negative opinions on but I try not to discuss them with others in a way that stands in as my own opinion. I had a bad habit of doing that too often, later discovering that I was at times denying myself an enjoyable time because someone else disliked it.
As I get older, I think I'm interested in other people's opinions more than ever and am constantly seeking it, and my perspective is that my interest in the types of media has matured to being a communal pursuit for me. I'm not really seeking validation for my own perspective anymore — I am confident that I can form that on my own for the most part, but there's actually very little worse experiences in media engagement than feeling like no one has feelings about a piece of media that I'm super interested in, even if those feelings don't line up with my own expectations. I'd rather discover that people are lukewarm or negative on a thing I was interested in rather than discussion about the thing being nonexistent, to put it one way. I also enjoy when there's positive buzz and enthusiasm around a thing that I initially had little interest in. I like that my engagement is community oriented, even if I'm not a prominent voice.
So I both consume (and seek) opinions outside of my own more than ever when it comes to media discussion, and that can often mean seeking discussion about media I haven't or have no intention of experiencing myself. I'm just trying to get better at not letting any of those occurrences stand in as my actual opinion on a thing, to a point where I specifically am trying to reduce the amount of times that I'll let negative opinions stand in for me. I'm still guilty of torchbearing for positive opinions pretty frequently, though.
I consume a lot of negative opinions on but I try not to discuss them with others in a way that stands in as my own opinion. I had a bad habit of doing that too often, later discovering that I was at times denying myself an enjoyable time because someone else disliked it.
As I get older, I think I'm interested in other people's opinions more than ever and am constantly seeking it, and my perspective is that my interest in the types of media has matured to being a communal pursuit for me. I'm not really seeking validation for my own perspective anymore — I am confident that I can form that on my own for the most part, but there's actually very little worse experiences in media engagement than feeling like no one has feelings about a piece of media that I'm super interested in, even if those feelings don't line up with my own expectations. I'd rather discover that people are lukewarm or negative on a thing I was interested in rather than discussion about the thing being nonexistent, to put it one way. I also enjoy when there's positive buzz and enthusiasm around a thing that I initially had little interest in. I like that my engagement is community oriented, even if I'm not a prominent voice.
So I both consume (and seek) opinions outside of my own more than ever when it comes to media discussion, and that can often mean seeking discussion about media I haven't or have no intention of experiencing myself. I'm just trying to get better at not letting any of those occurrences stand in as my actual opinion on a thing, to a point where I specifically am trying to reduce the amount of times that I'll let negative opinions stand in for me. I'm still guilty of torchbearing for positive opinions pretty frequently, though.
I know what I like and always open to exploring facets I'm familiar with (ie right now starting to delve into krimi), so I tend to use other reviewers as a way to discover stuff I didn't know about or might not immediately appeal to me. Other perspectives can help me discover what my perspective might glance over or dismiss
So it's more a matter of discovery rather than forming an opinion on stuff
So it's more a matter of discovery rather than forming an opinion on stuff
Yes. Not always, but that's still a yes.
Don't need to play Detroit: Become Human to know that I would hate it on an ideological level
In the off chance I would find enjoyment in the game, I would still hate myself for playing it. I don't give a fuck about "thinking for myself," in this instance.
Don't need to play Detroit: Become Human to know that I would hate it on an ideological level
In the off chance I would find enjoyment in the game, I would still hate myself for playing it. I don't give a fuck about "thinking for myself," in this instance.
Internet impacts my media a ton. I'm not exactly a fan of that fact, but I know it to be true. I've got problems with not watching reviews and reading threads. It's not like I form entire opinions on a thing I've never played/watched, but moreso that what I've read or heard alters how I see something myself.
Trying to break the habit, as I would much rather go back to the "old days" of going into things relatively blind or only off friends' word of mouth. But it is tough since, as you mention in the OP, there's just so much… stuff. I like to read on anything and everything I have even a passing interest in. Problem is, that paints my own opinion a different tone every time.
Ironically, I think I prefer play things away from anyone else. Have a group I'll talk with about different games in particular, but that whole wanting to be part of the zeitgeist — or even a large community — while playing is becoming less coveted. Because there will always be a prevailing opinion. And when you can't help but think of if you follow or substitute that instead of just taking it all in fresh.. yeah. Doesn't quite make for the best experience.
Trying to break the habit, as I would much rather go back to the "old days" of going into things relatively blind or only off friends' word of mouth. But it is tough since, as you mention in the OP, there's just so much… stuff. I like to read on anything and everything I have even a passing interest in. Problem is, that paints my own opinion a different tone every time.
Ironically, I think I prefer play things away from anyone else. Have a group I'll talk with about different games in particular, but that whole wanting to be part of the zeitgeist — or even a large community — while playing is becoming less coveted. Because there will always be a prevailing opinion. And when you can't help but think of if you follow or substitute that instead of just taking it all in fresh.. yeah. Doesn't quite make for the best experience.
I basically only read the quote blurbs that get posted in the review threads on here, and sure some quotes can have an effect on my hype if its a game I'm already looking forward to, but if a game isn't clicking when I'm actually playing it no amount of high review scores is suddenly going to make it a better game to me.
You've never read/watched a critique for a film, book or game etc and had it affect your opinion on it in anyway?
I have to say that is the complete opposite experience for me. There are many pieces of critique of things I either disliked or loved or felt indifferent towards and came away from the piece feeling a little different than I did going in, and depending on how good the writer is at conveying their thoughts about the art it absolutely can change my original opinion.
The main reason I go out of my way to read and watch criticism is precisely because I am looking to supplant or morph my original opinion on something as there is always going to be someone that has lived such a vastly different experience than my own and because of that they are able to look at a piece of art in a way I could never be able to. It can truly make me appreciate the game or novel or song in question more than I ever did. And it can absolutely have the opposite effect to where I end up disliking or feeling less about the media being criticized because someone was able to look at it from their personal experiences and saw many issues that I didn't, and caused me to think about why that was and help me notice those failings more in the future. Even on Era there are some users here that have posted something that made me think or look at things differently.
I think the people that either only look for criticism and opinions from people that already agree with them or dont look for it at all because their initial reading or opinion is always the correct one and as such can never be changed by anyone else's opinion/critique are missing out on some incredible people and criticism that can make you look at a piece of media in a entirely different lens.
As for the question in the OP, I try not to form any opinion on something before I've experienced it myself based on what I've read or watched from critics but I am more likely to be interested in checking out a movie that has a lot positive reception compared to a movie that has a lot of negative reception but I wont say that movie is great or sucks without having watched it.
It may have spread more due to that video but that criticism of their games isn't anything new as I've been complaining about it since GTA4 and so have many people. I remember Jeff Green and Shawn Elliot giving GTA 4 this exact criticism back in 2008 on GFW Radio podcast. GTA4 was the game where I started to notice how much the mission design in their games was basically "Simon Says" and if you decide to try something Simon(Rockstar) didn't say you would fail a mission. Unsurprisingly people noticed it more in Red Dead 2 as its even more blatant in that game than the previous Rockstar games.
We all do it.
However, to some degree I think there are people who absolutely need to have a strong opinion on something and look to Youtubers (or really whoever shouts loudest and can crack the best "joke") and take that as their base opinion. Then it becomes a game of who can 1up the opinions, usually by adding some extra degree of snarkiness or viciousness.
My own personal example is my brother in law, he's a bit of a shut in 22 yr old so he doesn't quite have the life and world experience, so when it comes to gaming, movies and TV he generally parrots whatever Youtuber he watches. For example, he hadn't played much Halo before but he started off immediately disliking the Halo TV show and his opinion was basically the same old talking points that the shouty, angry Youtubers kept ramping up, but when he actually watched the show he ended up liking it. He also really liked The Last of Us PT 2 when he first played it, but then his opinion slowly changed to hating "certain" aspects of the game as he watched more of those same Youtubers.
However, to some degree I think there are people who absolutely need to have a strong opinion on something and look to Youtubers (or really whoever shouts loudest and can crack the best "joke") and take that as their base opinion. Then it becomes a game of who can 1up the opinions, usually by adding some extra degree of snarkiness or viciousness.
My own personal example is my brother in law, he's a bit of a shut in 22 yr old so he doesn't quite have the life and world experience, so when it comes to gaming, movies and TV he generally parrots whatever Youtuber he watches. For example, he hadn't played much Halo before but he started off immediately disliking the Halo TV show and his opinion was basically the same old talking points that the shouty, angry Youtubers kept ramping up, but when he actually watched the show he ended up liking it. He also really liked The Last of Us PT 2 when he first played it, but then his opinion slowly changed to hating "certain" aspects of the game as he watched more of those same Youtubers.
Even with the most trusted people in my personal life I try to take their opinions with a grain of salt and form my own. If I ever do fully take someone else's word it's usually something I know I won't get to on my own or have no interest in doing so, and even then I qualify it as such.
I would reckon most people with limited daily mental bandwidth and attention span (aka all of us) use the critical opinions of others to help filter what gets their attention and what does not.
That's different than simply having your opinions dictated to you by YouTubers, though. And people also tend to find voices whose critical sensibilities match their own in doing so.
That's different than simply having your opinions dictated to you by YouTubers, though. And people also tend to find voices whose critical sensibilities match their own in doing so.
Yes, especially the people that like to pretend they only form opinions based on their own experience.
