Well, aren't you a little ray of sunshine?
The following is based upon real-world events, but details have been deliberately obscured to preserve the anonymity of participants and bystanders. This isn't about individuals, but about patterns of behaviour. I'd appreciate it if folks would not make an effort to point fingers.
Recently I had a very dissatisfying play session of Halo: Reach. Not because I lost a bunch (indeed I think the honours were evenly split, which means the skill matching was working properly) or because I didn't get to play in my preferred style (I did get my fair share of favoured game types, and a fair crack at the Challenges for the day) but because of voice chat.
Not because of mic abuse; I have a hair trigger on the mute button for that stuff. This wasn't a torrent of profanity or poor singing or inane questions/proclamations. It was the relentless complaints of one of the players, echoed/amplified by members of that Party. A steady stream of perceived defects, changes to the series' disfavour, balance issues, laments for other games, mourning of past glories of Halo... from a player who has spent in excess of 150 hours playing this two-month-old game.
This, shall we say, impaired my enjoyment of the game. To the extent that after an hour or so I begged out of the session, closed the game down, and took some time away before returning later without my headset.
Frankly, if someone is so disappointed with the game why play it like it's a full-time job? It's not like there's a serious lack of good games even on the one platform; every console (even handhelds) has an extensive catalog of games in many genres, and the PC is still going strong too. If the game is that dissatisfying to play, perhaps it's time to move on to another?
To those who claim that such extensive play grants the player a more-informed or priviliged viewpoint, I'd argue that the very extent of play argues against taking the complaints seriously. If the points were indeed as show-stopping as made out, then there's no reason to continue playing unless one is doing so merely to endulge in masochistic griping for its own sake. (Some may argue that it's out of social pressure because Reach is what others are playing, I'd counter that relentless grumbling for that length of time isn't the hallmark of a purely social player; I'd also say again that there are many competing first-person shooters with large audiences.) If the complaints are, instead, exaggerated or not deeply-held then they are not worthy of consideration; it's the "boy who cried wolf" problem, in that by elevating every minor gripe into audible discontent it dilutes the effectiveness of valid criticism.
TL:DR; If you want people to take your complaints seriously, you've got to make fewer of them... either by concentrating on a few key items at a time that need improvement or by giving up on a broken game and moving on to other titles. Either way gives each complaint a lot more weight. Extensive play signals designers that the game is fine as-is, no matter the complaints raised.
-- Steve doesn't expect the opposite, unending paens of praise for the game. He knows that no game is perfect, and that every one has flaws. It's just that constant complaining is corrosive to everyone's enjoyment.
PS: I'm strongly considering muting those who exhibit the above as well as the shock-jocks and shriekers. I'd hate to do it, as the mic is there to help with team play, but if someone is drowning out team calls with whining I'd rather miss the few items of note that may come up by the complainant in order to hear the many, many others of those who actually enjoy the game.
Recently I had a very dissatisfying play session of Halo: Reach. Not because I lost a bunch (indeed I think the honours were evenly split, which means the skill matching was working properly) or because I didn't get to play in my preferred style (I did get my fair share of favoured game types, and a fair crack at the Challenges for the day) but because of voice chat.
Not because of mic abuse; I have a hair trigger on the mute button for that stuff. This wasn't a torrent of profanity or poor singing or inane questions/proclamations. It was the relentless complaints of one of the players, echoed/amplified by members of that Party. A steady stream of perceived defects, changes to the series' disfavour, balance issues, laments for other games, mourning of past glories of Halo... from a player who has spent in excess of 150 hours playing this two-month-old game.
This, shall we say, impaired my enjoyment of the game. To the extent that after an hour or so I begged out of the session, closed the game down, and took some time away before returning later without my headset.
Frankly, if someone is so disappointed with the game why play it like it's a full-time job? It's not like there's a serious lack of good games even on the one platform; every console (even handhelds) has an extensive catalog of games in many genres, and the PC is still going strong too. If the game is that dissatisfying to play, perhaps it's time to move on to another?
To those who claim that such extensive play grants the player a more-informed or priviliged viewpoint, I'd argue that the very extent of play argues against taking the complaints seriously. If the points were indeed as show-stopping as made out, then there's no reason to continue playing unless one is doing so merely to endulge in masochistic griping for its own sake. (Some may argue that it's out of social pressure because Reach is what others are playing, I'd counter that relentless grumbling for that length of time isn't the hallmark of a purely social player; I'd also say again that there are many competing first-person shooters with large audiences.) If the complaints are, instead, exaggerated or not deeply-held then they are not worthy of consideration; it's the "boy who cried wolf" problem, in that by elevating every minor gripe into audible discontent it dilutes the effectiveness of valid criticism.
TL:DR; If you want people to take your complaints seriously, you've got to make fewer of them... either by concentrating on a few key items at a time that need improvement or by giving up on a broken game and moving on to other titles. Either way gives each complaint a lot more weight. Extensive play signals designers that the game is fine as-is, no matter the complaints raised.
-- Steve doesn't expect the opposite, unending paens of praise for the game. He knows that no game is perfect, and that every one has flaws. It's just that constant complaining is corrosive to everyone's enjoyment.
PS: I'm strongly considering muting those who exhibit the above as well as the shock-jocks and shriekers. I'd hate to do it, as the mic is there to help with team play, but if someone is drowning out team calls with whining I'd rather miss the few items of note that may come up by the complainant in order to hear the many, many others of those who actually enjoy the game.