For the new year, many people often set resolutions for themselves. Even I have done so in the past, but I don’t recall ever actually setting a gaming resolution. That may sound nerdy and weird to many, but it's perfectly plausible to a gamer. After thinking about it for a bit, I do believe there are quite a few goals I’d like to set for myself in regards to gaming.
I guess, in a sense, I did sort of set goals for myself in gaming. One of the main goals was to stop comparing everything to my first online game, Ultima Online. I really, really enjoyed the PvP and housing customization in that game, even to the point of addiction. I’d say seven years of playing it will make you a pretty hardcore fanboy, however, I found that by comparing it to other games, it made it hard to enjoy those new titles. Once I stopped doing that, it was amazing how I could finally manage to enjoy other games. I think this concept spans many areas in our lives and it is something that many of us need to work on constantly.
)
As for new resolutions, I believe I need to be more open minded to upcoming releases. I think many can say that when it comes to a new game launching soon, they tend to be pessimistic. Sometimes I like to believe it is because I’ve gotten so jaded over past disappointments, like Warhammer, the Cataclysm expansion, Age of Conan, etc. And other times I like to believe it is because I find it easier to be under-hyped than over-hyped. While these reasons may be considered sound by some, I believe it is okay to be skeptical but not pessimistic about an upcoming title.
It’s not a good idea to be “dooming” a game before it even releases. That’s a realization I came to recently. I almost feel like a lot of the gaming community “dooms” new releases (particularly by comparing to other games’ successes or failures). Perhaps that’s why there is such high “fanboyism” as some would say. I feel like being pessimistic causes others that may happen to like the game to get defensive and feel attacked. Sure, they may be slightly overreacting, but no one really likes to think that something they’ve enjoyed (a beta for instance) or are excited for is going to be a doomed game. I think this is a resolution many of us should work on.
)
On that note, I think fanboyism is a deadly thing for a game, however it’s not something I’ve found myself guilty of lately. I think that people can highly anticipate and be excited for a game, but they still need to be honest with the developer and themselves. These people need to realize that no game is perfect and every game has flaws. The only way to help a dev improve on these flaws is to tell them, but instead they attack anyone that even tries to shine a negative light on the bad aspects of a title.
Hell, I’ve had hate-blogs written about me just because I said one thing negative about Guild Wars 2 on a TWIMMO show for GamebreakerTV. I had spoken for over 30 minutes on how I had enjoyed the game preview (at a convention), but there was one thing I didn’t agree with. Bring on the rage!
I couldn’t believe the response I received in that case. So many people who are fans of these games have a very skewed way of appreciating the game. I’ve encountered a lot of people who think if you say a few things negative about the game, that must mean you hate it and the developer and don’t appreciate any work put towards it. That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think? Instead, you should be thanking a person who is willing to point out the good and the bad and give reasonable explanations towards why they do or don’t like things… or at least debating their points in a constructive and less hateful way.
)
All in all, I think there are many improvements that myself, and the gaming community, can work on. I’m not going to sit here and tell you what may be a fault of your own, but I will encourage you to take a look.
I hope you all have a happy 2013.
- Hillary “Pokket” Nicole
- Twitter: @Pokketsays
- Facebook: Pokketsays
- Youtube: PokketProductions
Check out more of Pokket's words of wisdom in these articles:
