ya poss tlarn

tangentially related but I was thinking this morning about how many people still go "I'm going to watch this Gaming Presentation that I have no interest in and complain and be snarky the entire time" when they could just do anything else with their time. People are addicted to being mad and disappointed

I'm trying really hard not to sound like a boomer, but I definitely think the internet has changed a lot of how we play and view games, especially with videos and streaming being so prevalent. As a streamer, it can be really easy to get frustrated when presented with a challenge or something not 100% clear because you're in the middle of making content. And streaming makes it easy to miss things because you're also spending attention to the chat and trying to entertain. Getting stuck can feel stressful and it's easy to blame the game instead of stepping back and thinking about what you're missing or if your plan of attack is flawed. And that attitude just spreads. I try to catch myself, but sometimes it's hard in the moment.

Also, just getting older means having less time to invest in a game. It's a lot easier to not care about being stuck and exploring or grinding something out when you have the entire summer break to work with. Plus looking up guides and answers is really easy now. I'm not saying access to information is a bad thing or looking up solutions should be discouraged. How someone wants to play a game is up to them. But if you're looking up answers every time something isn't immediately obvious in a game, then I don't think that's on the game and it shouldn't be called "bad" for it.

As I've gotten older I think I've long since grown tired of game critcism that is "Oh I Don't Like This Aspect (Whether It Be Story Or Gameplay), So I'm Gonna Harp On That And Lower My Gaming/Media Literacy By Several Notches.".

Its why I started gravitating more towards video game essayists like Tehsnakerer and Noah Caldwell-Gervais. Even when they're covering "bad" games they don't get hyperbolic about the worst aspect(s) and still look at the overall picture of the game's issues. Tehsnakerer even has an entire bit of his Saints Row Reboot video going over why the internet's general attitude towards the game felt so off even as someone who didn't like the game himself.