Destructoid hates you

[King of Creation]

<strong>[ Community -> Article ]</strong>

<p>Destructoid has <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/videogame-fa ... 6.phtml">a rather interesting article</a> up about you. Yes you, and you, and you too. They hate Fallout fans. The article is an overarching critique on franchise fandom in general, but they specifically stick it to Fallout fans. Check out the highlights:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>One of the main problems with these so-called fans is the fact that they never want things to change. They'd rather that games never evolved, and that 1996 had been the last year a new game was ever made. Nobody typifies this more than Fallout fanboys, who threw a fitful tantrum over Fallout 3. Their problem? The fact that it wasn't 100% exactly like the original Fallout.

An original Fallout that, I may remind you, was released in 1997. Never mind that games have moved on since then and a game that played exactly like Fallout likely wouldn't have made any money, and then nobody would get anything in the future. A lot of these complaints stem from the arrogant idea that the fans know much more about a game than the developers themselves. They talk as if their word is law, telling us that "this is not a Fallout game."

In fact, that's exactly what one man, No Mutants Allowed's Vince Weller, declared when Fallout 3 was released: "It's not a Fallout game. It's not even a game inspired by Fallout, as I had hoped. It's a game that contains a loose assortment of familiar Fallout concepts and names ... Electricity, pre-war electronic equipment, powered and still working computers (just think about that for a second), working cola & snack machines, weapons, ammo, scrap metal (needed by many), and even unlooted first aid boxes are everywhere."

Because the game did not adhere 100% to this one man's vision of what Fallout was, the game was no longer a Fallout game. Because various concessions were made to the loot and environment in order to keep the game playable and fun, it was a betrayal. Oh no, unlooted first aid boxes! No, it wouldn't make sense for such things to survive in Fallout's world, but it's a videogame, and it has to function like one, something that these so-called fans seem to forget.

Yet others hated the game simply because Bethesda was making it. Some of them were declaring it to be "Elder Scrolls with guns" long before the game was even released. It's not like Interplay was incapable of doing much of anything at the time, eh? It doesn't seem to matter that what these people want is impossible. If it's not exactly what they like, then fuck the game.

Fact is, this was the first Fallout game in years, and most people loved it. So, these people were complaining about a new game for their favorite franchise that was pretty good by all accounts and made a lot of money, ensuring future Fallout games for quite some time. Yet, had these guys had their way, I doubt we'd even be talking about Fallout DLC, or New Vegas, or anything Fallout-related right now. Had these guys had their way, we'd have a game that looked, sounded, and played like something from 1997, and it would have sold to a small group who would then have likely complained that it hadn't changed enough.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>They go after a few other franchises as well. Check out the whole article <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/videogame-fa ... <p>Spotted @ <a href="http://www.rpgcodex.com">RPG Codex</a></p>

[Killzig]

For what is usually dismissed as a vocal minority existing on the fringes of what is even commercially viable, people sure like to devote a lot of attention and energy to discrediting our views. The horse is dead.

[Stainless]

Stopped reading after the first paragraph, the guys a clueless fuckwit.

[Frater Perdurabo]

The author is dumb. Simply one dense motherfucker.

[Kashluk]

It came to mind that St. Toxic drew these parodic images of what the dialogue in FO3 would probably look like... and he was disturbingly accurate with his guess. Claiming FO3 to be "Elder Scrolls with guns" was a sad joke by the Fallout fan community, but it was even sadder that the said joke came into reality.

The author is dumb. Simply one dense motherfucker.

I've got to agree with this one.

[Caleb]

Well...at least we know he doesn't read the forums.

[SenisterDenister]

Nobody does.

[Kashluk]

The author of the article is called Jim Sterling, according to the Destructoid-website.

You can read some other magnificent material by him over here. Plenty of fine 'journalism'.

[Dogmeatlives]

too many halfwits spew their little hate-filled mind turds out on our internets, seemingly to fill some "written bullshit" quota they need to meet by the end of every month.

[Retlaw83]

I had no problems with the engine Fallout 3 ran on, or the shift in viewpoint. The problem I had was the story sucked, and the art direction was spotty - like combat armor not looking like combat armor, combat shotguns looking different, super mutants being retarded, etc. On top of that, unkillable NPCs ruined a lot of immersion. And let's not forget the massive departure the Brotherhood of Steel was from the previous games.

I'll highly recommend Broken Steel to anyone. Too bad you have to play through the rest of the game to access it.

[SenisterDenister]

Jim looks like a smug overpaid asshole, and for his line of work any payment is too much for his quality.

[Blargh]

Seems to be a fond topic amongst such journalists, with many a regurgitation over the years. Usually the same tired whitewash : 'They wanted everything to stay exactly as it was ! / They claim it will be 'Oblivion with guns', we all know that it is absurd to look to the past for insights into the future !'

Seeking some significance from this tedious refrain : Could it be ? They realise they were wrong and, not unreasonably, hate ?

That, or they see 'us' as a paper donkey ?

Watch Blargh give a fig.

Ehue.

[Wolfman Walt]

He's lucky this is the internet. For realz.

Edit: Wait. I know Jim Sterling. He's a fucking blathering moron who deserves to be punched in his fat gullet. He'll sit there and complain about fucking stupid issues in games nonstop with in his reviews and then be like 7 out of 10! His writing is amongst the worst in the industry and he has no idea what it means to be a journalist. Somehow I'm not suprised by this article anymore.

[twoisms]

what a fucking smug rat bastard. this isn't journalism so much as it is poorly manufactured bait bullshit.

try reading it aloud for shits and giggles.

[inomel]

The horse is dead.

And yet it still hangs on the wall to get clubbed every so often. I'm going to save this article. Another reminder to take frequent breaks from the internet.

[Manoil]

Simply one dense motherfucker.

Judging by the photo courtesy of Kashluk, I would assert that statement also in the category of his morbid obesity. But I digress;

While not addressing our arguments whatsoever, I will give him that what is the best for a product or project changes with time; the best seems to be what meets the requirements of what the demands are at the time it is presented. I will, however, say that by killing off virtually all of the previous design aesthetic, dumbing down the inventory, statistics/traits, and dialogue, and having a spotty presentation in numerous other areas was not a smart fit. But by just barely meeting/surpassing the standards of many who just ask for simplistic, little-minded violence, they were able to get away with calling it "GOTY." I can defend the idea of putting the player in a gritty, first-person perspective of the wasteland, but not of having the complexity of a hack-and-slash.

Is this a correct statement, or am I just alone in this "one-man's vision?"

[MadBill]

I don't care what random cocksucker bob or fred says: the original two fallouts will always live on in my heart and soul. Right next to Shadow Warrior actually.

[Yonmanc]

Essentally, the guy's an SDF on a pay-roll. Bring back Connor!

[gobbleykins]

I'd just like to say that my first experience with the Fallout franchise was with Fallout 3, I played it on x-box a little and played it on PC for a little too. Without ever playing the originals, I thought it was a shitty game, a rehash of Oblivion (which was crap), and I got bored before I could bother playing through the whole damn thing.

I bought the first and second Fallouts a few months later and I was way impressed, needless to say. My point is, having no prior experience with the franchise, I still found lots of issues to gripe about. Apart from that, when compared to the originals, FO3 shoves the cultural references and atmosphere down your throat, rather than FO's subtler style.

Not to mention the writer's a moron. His response to the quote about the NMA dude's grievances completely misses the point of the argument, that FO3 presents a premise with elements of game-breaking unbelievability, but he rather rags on his "vision" or whatever he was trying to say.

The root of the problem I could tell immediately from the title of his piece. Journalism has changed somewhat from what it was (no doubt because journalism is shifting focus, from newspapers to the internet, where there is, generally, no real quality control), so that now anybody who posts opinionated, uninformed pieces with a semblance of rage can be called a "journalist." This dude gets paid to lose it and post his verbal diarrhea so that yuppie hipsters can wank off over how neutral and composed they are. Cool.

Anybody else a fan of the other games he panned? I'd be interested in whether by some chance he's hit the flipside of the coin and isn't completely off base in calling out the fans of Sonic and Diablo, or if he's just a complete raving buffoon.

A final thought, Sterling lauding FO3 looks to me like he's getting paid to pave the way for mediocre, shitty videogames dumbed down for the masses.

[jimmypneumatic]

Wow, you guys are being trolled by someone who didn't post or even register with DaC ffs, we've taken the hate to a new level. Yes, a troll in a suit spewing drivel on a shiny soapbox. Please don't feed the trolls.

That aside, no game made in the same franchise many years later with completely new methods of thinking and the 'throwback' mentality will ever live up to the standards set by the originals. Not to mention the completely different approach to development required by the advanced technology and a brand spanking new developer. To say I wasn't surprised by the less than stellar debut of F3 is an understatement, so the whole argument is lost on me really.