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Recently, I stopped reading the online blog of a well known videogame analyst; Sean Malstrom. What caused me to stop reading his articles? He crossed what I like to call "The Bullshit Line". The Bullshit Line is an area of disrespect and disagreement caused by an opinion I refuse to accept or the person goes too far in explaining an idea or comment. This line I used to judge online analysts, commentators, reviewers and anyone that deals with opinion. If they cross the bullshit line they are done. Nothing in the entire world will convince me to go back.
Who have crossed the line so far? Go Nintendo, Sean Malstrom, Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation, The Nostalgia Critic and VG Cats.
Who have yet to cross the line? The Game Overthinker and The Angry Videogame Nerd. The Game Overthinker, however, is in a dangerous stance and may cross the bullshit line if he watches what he says. The AVGN has graciously stayed out of the line because even when he gets opinionated he confesses that his opinion doesn't reflect everyone's and actually posts facts so his information is less bullshit.
Now, how can these people avoid crossing the bullshit line? First, don't go overboard with your opinion. You may have the right to say what's on your mind, but not everything thought is valid and acceptable. Second, always be humble even in fame. One trend I notice with these guys is that once they gain popularity they think they own the internet and do whatever the hell they want and it ends up ruining their work. Yahtzee, for example, I thought was an excellent reviewer and a great, if cynical, alternative to the hype creating gaming media. But once he got famous and the imitators rose he just became more and more cynical to the point where it wasn't believable anymore and just started making bullshit claims to "please the fans".
Third, avoid bias. Malstrom lost me when he started placing old games on a pedestal and used that as a foundation for his analysis. Its understandable that all of us as thinking, reasonable human beings we tend to have preferences and love to express it. But when you tend to push that bias onto people and try to pass it off as fact then it gets annoying.
Note that I don't use this to judge people in general. This is mainly for people whose sole purpose is to comment on recent events and offer ideas and thoughts that we can use on our own thought processes. So don't worry, I'm not THAT judgmental. :p
-pap64
Who have crossed the line so far? Go Nintendo, Sean Malstrom, Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation, The Nostalgia Critic and VG Cats.
Who have yet to cross the line? The Game Overthinker and The Angry Videogame Nerd. The Game Overthinker, however, is in a dangerous stance and may cross the bullshit line if he watches what he says. The AVGN has graciously stayed out of the line because even when he gets opinionated he confesses that his opinion doesn't reflect everyone's and actually posts facts so his information is less bullshit.
Now, how can these people avoid crossing the bullshit line? First, don't go overboard with your opinion. You may have the right to say what's on your mind, but not everything thought is valid and acceptable. Second, always be humble even in fame. One trend I notice with these guys is that once they gain popularity they think they own the internet and do whatever the hell they want and it ends up ruining their work. Yahtzee, for example, I thought was an excellent reviewer and a great, if cynical, alternative to the hype creating gaming media. But once he got famous and the imitators rose he just became more and more cynical to the point where it wasn't believable anymore and just started making bullshit claims to "please the fans".
Third, avoid bias. Malstrom lost me when he started placing old games on a pedestal and used that as a foundation for his analysis. Its understandable that all of us as thinking, reasonable human beings we tend to have preferences and love to express it. But when you tend to push that bias onto people and try to pass it off as fact then it gets annoying.
Note that I don't use this to judge people in general. This is mainly for people whose sole purpose is to comment on recent events and offer ideas and thoughts that we can use on our own thought processes. So don't worry, I'm not THAT judgmental. :p
-pap64
contemplative
If I'd stop watching Yahtzee because he said something I disagree with strongly, I'd miss out on the actual good stuff that's coming from him most of the time : P
Besides, disagreeing strongly with something and venting off about it is fun in itself :D
Anyways, its all about personal preference. Nothing to scratch your head over.