So am I just supposed to hate the game?

So I've been playing this game on and off since June of 2004. Why? Because I enjoy it. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't be here, and if the game didn't continue to evolve in ways I enjoyed, I wouldn't keep playing. But there's a disturbing trend I've noticed over the last couple of years, in which many long term players have violently turned on the game, picking out each and every flaw they can find, all while acting like they're acting in the game's best interests by acting hyper-critical towards it. I'm not saying that criticism of any kind is bad, and a real fan should never point out flaws, but I've begun to feel like the City of Heroes community has fallen into that paradigm of cynicism=intelligence that plagues so many other fandoms.

But at the end of the day, I still find myself really enjoying this game! I like the community, I like the story, I like the design. Could they all be better? Yes, but I've never felt like ignoring the good parts of the game could improve my overall experience in any way. Granted, the increased criticism towards this game has caused me to notice some of the weaker parts of this game and become more critical, but I feel like I'm expected to play this game almost maliciously, looking for flaws at every turn.

So what I guess I'm trying to ask here is, would I really be doing anyone a favor by hating this game? Because I can't really see any benefit of continuing to play a game I hate.

I don't think it's much more pronounced now than it ever was. People were as nasty to one another and to the devs on the forums starting from launch at least. It does make you wonder about specific people whose every single post is about how they hate whatever new thing has come along, doesn't it? But they don't seem more numerous now than in the past, to me.

I really liked the original "Star Trek" TV show.

I also thought that "Journey to Eden" and "Spock's Brain" were abominably stupid episodes as they were written.

That does not mean that I hate "Star Trek." It means that those episodes were stupid in my view. It is not Feast or Famine regarding the overall show if I like or dislike a particular bit of it.

There is one other facet, Mr. Squid. The Devs do follow the Forums overall. If a particular complaint is addressed reasonably, and the feedback is strong enough, they very, very often respond. That does not mean each player will get what they want any time they say anything, but it does mean that the Forums are a useful feedback tool.

It's a game. Play and have fun, and don't give a damn what grumpy people on the forums have to say.

I find that quite a few of these hate threads that start up are due to one thing and one thing only.


The Big Green Eyed Monster

Well I am an original vet and still love the game for everything it was is and promises to become. The FTP brought the game back for me and I am as much a fanboi as ever.

I never let the cynicism get to me in the past and that trend carries on to today. Take the game for what it is, point out the bugs ya see along the way and continue to enjoy what it is you have always enjoyed in the past. I still see bright spots in the community and miss some of the old community that has moved on since.

I kinda moved away from the fanart section for this very reason. Got into some ridiculous drama with a few members and it drove me away from the game but I am back and loving it again.

In other words, don't sweat the small stuff.

The forums have always been a hotbed of anger and bitterness which is almost never actually reflected in the game itself.

It's true for most games, really. Forums are generally made up of people who are discontent and opinionated enough to want to talk about the game rather than just play it.

Constructive feedback is good-- which includes constructive criticism. I'm sure I'll have more constructive feedback as time goes on. But the game still feels new, fresh and exciting for me...I may as well have started playing yesterday in that regard. How am I supposed to feel about it? For several years before I came to City of Heroes, about a decade actually, I wasn't able to stick with an MMO for more than three months. Two years into my subscription here, and I'm still moving through new storylines (written years ago for most of you) and major story arcs, still finding new things to like about old ones (old to me means I did it last year ), still smiling at their punchlines, still stumbling into new mission maps, still looking forward to never-before-seen zones, still meeting the most awesome teammates I've ever had the pleasure of getting to know, and still being surprised and impressed by player creations (I came in because of Issue 14, so it's been there since the start for me).

If loving City of Heroes is wrong, THEN I DON'T WANT TO BE RIGHT!!!

The worst part of it, for me, is the skill I've had to develop for "treading lightly" on the forums, a landmine field filled with spoilers; like a kind of "peripheral reading" Spider-sense, I'm getting better at knowing when to look away from a sentence or paragraph before I've read too much. Interestingly enough, I've begun to notice that it's often the extreme cynics who don't mind spoiling the game for everyone else--and will even make a special effort to do so--almost like they're jealous of other peoples ability to find joy in something. They're probably Redside.

(Kidding about that last part, I have a few Redside characters now, even if I can't play there for very long stretches at a time. )

You will embrace the hate.

Well as I see it, forums are a place for voicing opinions and such and everyone is entitled to their opinions. From what I've seen there are plenty of players out there who post some awesome ideas and some who just enjoy a good rant. Then there are some who think they know better on how the game should be run than the developers. I have learned to pretty much tune the last group out. Nowadays I may read a few comments on a new thread but often by the 5th or 6th post the conversation has turned away from the original topic enough where it just isn't worth while to continue reading. One really has to learn to weed out the constructive feedback from the forum trolls who are just posting to up their rep.

But I try not to let the things I read in the forums influence the amount of enjoyment I get out of the game. After 5 years of continued gaming on CoH, I'm not about to let someone with a sour disposition ruin my entertainment.

I have been here since day one and I *love* this game. I choose to play this over most of my other games when I have free time. I wish I had the time to play more. I miss my friends who have left (although some have come back), but I can enjoy myself whether I am on a PUG or solo. I am very excited for a number of things coming up.

As for the hate... I sometimes wonder if it is related to the fact that the devs generally do listen to us and try to give us what we want. Beast Mastery is the most recent example. I don't know any other game-- MMO or ortherwise-- where I have seen devs take such joy in surprising their players with fun things that they have been hoping for and been told were not possible.

We, in return, respond by asking for more and more. Suddenly the nice things that they get us are not exactly what we want and we throw temper tantrums. I sometimes feel like we're spoiled kids in a toy store.

Mother: "Here sweetie, I bought you the toy you wanted." *Smiles*
Child: "I wanted the red one! The red one!!" *Throws self on floor, kicking and screaming, eyes rolling to the back of head.*

Mender Silos has green eyes.

One word - Passion.

If all you had were smiling happy faces that were like GG and responded to everything done by the devs with smiles and there was no passion in finding a way to make the good into the great then the game would slowly drift into nothingness.

If I throw a critque out it is for the simple reason that something seems wrong about how we are doing things. I mean remember the old Model T saying - you can get any color you want as long as you want black. People were not happy with just black for very long.

I want content and rewards for solo players, small team folks, large trial players, those who love new costumes, powers, content and so on. To retain and encourage all players to find a way to have fun.