Note: I originally wrote this as a response to another thread in the Forum, but I decided to make this a separate post so that other users could have a chance to read this and share their comments.
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Gamers are a diverse group. Some are young, some are older. Some are well educated, others less so. Some are highly outspoken, others are
more quiet. Some are easily offended and salty, others are more patient and forgiving.
In other words, gamers (like any customer base) represent a cross-section of humanity.
In Hawai'i (my home), a majority of the community works in the visitor industry. Visitors in many respects are like gamers; they desire escape into another place from their current lives and can get VERY frustrated when their "vacation" does not go according to plan. And since most visitors spend a ton of money to travel and stay in Hawaii, some of them feel entitled to get angry about not getting the quality service that they have spent their hard-earned dollars for.
Video game developers and community managers on the other hand are like the people who work in the restaurants and hotel. They desire to make as many people are happy as possible, but have to deal with the crap that occurs when people are unhappy with their services. They also have to deal with situations that are beyond their control. If the chef messes up the dish, for example, the waiter is going to hear the complaints first and then he/she will have to take the food back to the kitchen. If a hotel guest finds bugs on his bed, he's going to take his complaint to the front desk manager, who then has to work with housekeeping to fix the room or provide the guest with another room.
This is why I (jokingly) tell my family and friends who work in the visitor industry that they should get a certificate or degree in psychology, since they will have to deal with all kinds of people and personalities.
Anyways, my point here is that you are never going to fully please anyone all of the time. That's just the nature of any service-related industry, and this is why I don't envy people like Hamish and Natchai. Yes they're getting paid to play games and represent a game, but as we've all seen lately, they also have to absorb the brunt of everyone's anger and frustration. The devs get blamed too of course but they are more insulated in the same way a cook or housekeeper is less likely to get blame directly from a customer than a waiter or front desk receptionist.
So while we continue to post our critiques or express our frustrations with The Division, we should also take a step back and ask ourselves how we'd handle things if we were the CM or Devs right now.
Aloha.
That is where most forums go off the rails.Originally Posted by lamebear808 Go to original post
Everyone is an expert and knows exactly what they should have done, should do, etc..... in their minds.
Hating on games has become a true sub genre of gamer. THEY HATE EVERYTHING and they love to go on and on about it and play those games they hate more than anyone else so that's how they know they all suck....
Yeah... crazy... I know... but true.
Mahalo for the effort nonetheless.
And I forgot to mention in my OP that the nature of the Internet also magnifies the negativity, since it's much easier to be angry at some one when you're not looking directly at their face.
I just thought up the tourism industry analogy this morning while reading through the forums. I kinda feel like this game is like a hotel or restaurant that initially received great reviews on Yelp/TripAdvisor but is now receiving terrible one-star reviews from "elite" and even non-elite reviewers, as well as bad press from the local and Mainland media.
And Mahalo for reading my (long-winded) post.
Why is their toxicity across the community?
Because people are upset at the state of the game overall. Justifiably.
Why are people upset?
Because they care about the state of The Division.
Why do they care?
Many reasons, including:
a)They made a purchase want to see a return on their investment.
b) They are passionate about the potential of the game, and want to see The Division reach said potential.
c) They've invested many hours into the game and don't want all those hours to go to waste.
Are all angry / frustrated posts around here bad?
No. Rooted in most angry threads, is a critique or feedback, that in 90% of the cases, is actually legitimate and well justified.
Does that excuse the anger, and people acting like self-entitled brats?
Absolutely not. The manner in which you transmit the message, goes a long way in determining how that message is received.
If you have a legitimate and justifiable concern about the game, but your message is laden with cursing & swearing off Ubisoft with anger and vitriol, then no, your message is rarely ever going to be received the way that you intend it to. Those threads are hijacked by their toxicity and only invite more of it. THe message is lost in the hate.
But if your message is concise, maturely written, and to the point, then it's got a better chance of staying on point, maintaining relevance, and leading to some sort of change.
and when you believe your anonymous.Originally Posted by lamebear808 Go to original post
Ignorance is curable, but it becomes stupidity when you adamantly refuse to learn, empathize, or see someone else's perspective. If you go to a biker bar and announce you think all Harleys are POS, The only person to blame for what happens next is oneself. Vomiting emotionally at the mouth might make you feel better, but once you move into the real world, it causes more problems than it solves.
The fact that most of these posters would never communicate at work the way they do in social media has always blown my mind.
Just found this on Reddit. It's quite similar to what I just posted here in the forums.
https://m.reddit.com/r/thedivision/c...d_for_hammish/
It seems like the Division community is currently divided into four groups:
1. "I love this game and I believe it will get better soon."
2. "I absolutely hate this game and wish I'd never bought it in the first place."
3. "I still enjoy playing this game, but it has serious issues that need to be resolved soon."
4. "I don't care. I just play the game and move on when I get bored with it."
Originally Posted by lamebear808 Go to original post
I think thats a very interesting analogy sir
I keep saying it, but I hope everyone realises that 95% of the people on a gaming forum only come here because they are annoyed about something. Happy players usually are too busy gaming. Thats why gaming forums are usually overwhelmed with vitriol, anger and spite.
I am loving the Division myself, but yes, there is a large bag of problems that need addressing urgently. But you are right, abusing the customer service staff because you are not happy is a wank thing to do.
Good post OP
I can't and won't speak for anybody else, but from my perspective, the community generally wants to like the game, but in its current state that is very hard to do.
New bugs and glitches are being found DAILY. Many of these things should have never made it out of Alpha, but here we are, two months after official release.
Also, it's a two-way street.
The CM and others were very smug and arrogant -- no other way to put it -- When the game launched because it was a hit, obviously. However, some continue to maintain this smugness even in light of everything that has transpired and come to light about the game on various fronts. This is where I believe the community is justified for not feeling like they are "wanted", or "valued".
The other underlying issue is trust... Especially for PC gamers.
We (I play on PC and console) were assured they would have anti-cheat measures in the full retail release during the Beta. It now comes to light there may be no way for anti-cheat to be integrated at all because it may require an entirely new game coded from the ground up. If you read between the lines, this points to UBISoft and Massive *knew* the game was never going to / be able to have cheat protection, but they sold it to PC gamers anyway... Based on a LIE. I'm not a legal expert, or Internet Lawyer, but that smells of fraud, and negligence at the very least which are matters that can have financial repercussions in a court of law.
That would sum up every game ive ever owned.Originally Posted by lamebear808 Go to original post
I would think that would go for everyone.
Ive often thought about the old days playing games on my ZX Spectrum. In those days you brought a game and played the same few levels to desth because thats all there was. Obviously no such things as DLC. Gaming has moved on so much now and no-one is happy anymore unless they are constantly getting new content.
This includes me. People expect so much more.
Just an observation.