Tekken 7 just released a new season pass – actually, it’s their third one. Isn’t that bullshit?? Season passes used to be for the entire stretch of DLC content and now they have THREE for one game. But uh, that’s a separate issue, and I’ll complain about that another time. This post was about not complaining. My actual point was that this season pass contains three new playable characters (two old and one new), a new stage, a new feature of frame tracking for practice mode, and new customisation items. It’s pretty decent. It’s also not an essential purchase – it’s entirely optional. However, a quick scan of the Facebook comments….
“What the fuck, it doesn’t have [insert character here]?!”
“I don’t like that [stage/character/feature]. This update is garbage”
“What the fuck are Namco thinking?”
Most of these comments don’t offer any solutions. Just endless, all consuming negative feedback. I saw one positive comment in a sea of hate. I couldn’t help but think, if I were a developer, how soul crushing that must be. If I get negative feedback in my job it affects me, let alone hundreds of negative comments.
But, maybe that’s an isolated incident. Maybe the season pass really is bad. Think about the content you like, though. For me, that’s Star Wars movies. Dota 2. The Old Republic… and, well…
The Old Republic released content recently (that’s the Star Wars MMO and yes, they’re still developing it) and it was positive feedback for about a day. Shortly afterward though, “where is my new content?!”
There is a huge amount of hate for the latest Star Wars films. Before that there was hate for the prequels. I can happily watch every single part of the Skywalker Saga (Episodes 1 – 8) and enjoy myself. And maybe that’s worth thinking about. Fixating on the negative may lead to positive change, but is there really nothing you can get out of the experience? A lot of complaints aren’t just “here’s a downside”, they’re “fuck this and everything about it”. You’ll see it framed in different ways, but “Disney ruined Star Wars” is a classic right now. I feel kind of bad for those people.
Ultimately, everyone is welcome to criticize, and everyone is welcome to their opinion. Criticism is also essential for progress – some of the best changes in video games (and other things) have occurred due to public feedback. At some point though, your criticism, complaints, whatever… they might get it the way of your honest to gosh enjoyment.
Abed (from Community) says it best:
Leave your complaints and criticisms in the comments!
– Meister
The Meister Mentality 