Leebo33 wrote:I'm on the same page as Web on this topic. I enjoy this forum and the people on it, but I think we've become way too predictable and boring on both sides of the fun/casual/hardcore debate. Just the fact that we can have a "F Abner" post without any reaction kind of indicates to me the way this board has turned against the so-called "hardcore" sports gamer. I know it was probably a joke and Siam is a nut, but there have been other posts in other threads from other people that kind of hints at the same thing. Guys taking their time to speak about what they see/enjoy/hate shouldn't have to have their contributions greeted with the inevitable sarcasm of posters talking about how they must have got the "special" copy or extolling the virtues of just having fun like folks with a negative impression are loathing, fun-hating, pricks. I'm am totally cool if this community continues to lean towards casual gaming, but it is important to note that it is heading that way. I know I'll still come here for the fun OT threads and to "hang out" either way.
Some people need to understand that users critical of games *can* enjoy them and have fun! There are *very* few posters here that I think have agendas, bias against companies, or unreasonable complaints. Even if I do think they have bias I enjoy reading their posts and getting a laugh. The other night I played a game of NCAA Football where my freakin' defensive lineman didn't rush the passer...they just stood at the line of scrimmage (but the offensive line continued to block where they *should have been*). This was on the most important last play of the game. The QB stood for about 10 seconds and then threw a pick...LOL. I thought it was ridiculous, but I still had fun (don't ask me what I would have done if I had lost). I've lowered my standards so much for NCAA in hopes of a fun experience against the CPU that my new idea of fun is trying to win the Heisman (going to be hard to do with Evan Royster when CPU QBs are throwing 56 TDs a season though but his inflated punt returns may help) and the NC.
In fairness, there have been shots both ways and the "hardcore", "realism", or whatever term you want to use crowd needs to realize that the casual/fun crowd aren't a bunch of mediocre accepting, easy pleasing, rose-colored glasses-wearing sissies

I am just going to go ahead and get this out of the way because I have sensed some underlying animosity towards myself by a few posters here. I was quite verbal (by typing of course

) about the negativity that was flooding these forums months back. I took a lot of s*** about it at the time and still do to this day. For the record I have never felt or expressed that people are not entitled to expressing their opinion whether it be positive or negative, with me or against me. What I expressed was the fact that the negativity was being harped on. Just like I don't want to read a total strokefest about a game I don't want to read a total bashfest either. Just like any conversation I have in real life I don't want to hear the same s*** over and over from the same person. I got it the first time and don't need to be reminded of it every other post. I don't think there's anybody posting here now that is guilty of that and I truly and honestly feel that it is a better atmosphere as a result.
I think it is natural to defend a game that others are bashing that you are genuinely enjoying. Case in point Top Spin 3. I played the demo and didn't like it. I posted as much in the thread and those enjoying the game defended it saying it took some getting used to and once you understand how to play the game gets much better. This convinced me to delve further into the demo to see if I could see what they were seeing. There came a time when things clicked and I did start to see what they were seeing. It was short-lived though and then I started disliking the game again because while I understood how the controls were working I came to a realization of how the game was working and I didn't like it. I stated as much in the thread and felt as though I had made my opinion known without attacking those that were enjoying it. I didn't feel the need to put quotation marks around words as if to say the word fun is a bad one. I also wouldn't have felt the need to change quotation marks to asterisks if something was mentioned about said quotation marks. That's how I envision these forums working at their best; when we can all express our opinions about the games and not make others feel stupid for having a differing opinion.
I put myself out there in a couple of recent threads trying to explain my epiphany with sports gaming, hell life in general, and all I got was back-handed remarks and quotation marks. I was made to feel as if I didn't belong here anymore because I expressed that what I look for in games is different now. That since my daughter taught me how to have fun again that I was f***ed in the head and no longer knew what I was talking about.
I am not the type that will say one thing and do another. I expect civility in all of our discussions and think that the Top Spin 3 thread is a perfect example of a thread that had differing opinions that nobody was personally attacked and the same thing wasn't being said over and over again. It really was a good thread and made it easy for anyone interested to get the information they needed to decide whether or not they wanted to try the game for themselves or not. Posters even offered advice to help others who weren't enjoying the game.
All I have ever strived for around here is a community that can express negativity without being so negative while doing it. It used to be that way here and when I spoke out about it that was because it had changed. I have definitely been misunderstood by some of you because it seems as though I've been pegged with the reputation of being nothing but positive and not wanting to hear negative thoughts about games. That could not be further from the truth. To those who feel that way about me please read what I just wrote and try to see where I am coming from rather than pegging me as that guy. Maybe I haven't done the best at expressing that in words but I think I've done a good job of expressing that through my actions. If you still feel I'm responsible for ruining DSP than I sincerely apologize, that was not my intent.
I am a patient boy.
I wait, I wait, I wait, I wait.
My time is water down a drain.