It’s hard to deny the current trend in internet communities, whenever a new big name game is released there will always be an outcry of people claiming how bad it is regardless of whether or not they have actually given it a chance. I really gave this some serious thought this past week with the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, as I’d had my copy ordered and paid for literally years in advance (note: I had actually forgotten that I’d done this, its always nice to get a surprise present from yourself) I got my copy nice and early and started playing before anyone on the forums had time to add their two cents on the topic.

                As I’d completely forgotten about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and hadn’t been keeping tabs on it and was amazed when I’d finally gotten into the game, the level of detail and the atmosphere was incredible. But apparently, according to the forum trolls, I was at error. As I put the game down to see what others were saying about it I was greeted with pages of claims stating how supposedly out of date the graphics were or how stupid the AI was or how short the game was… regardless of none of these people having actually played the game. Though I can’t say I was surprised at this as I remember the same things being said about The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion.

It appears that to appear cool on the interweb one must state outright their dislike for any newly released big name game. Sure it may have state of the art technology powering its visuals, but it still looks worse than Wolf3D. Sure they have the most advanced AI of any game to date, but I swear that the Head Crabs from Half Life 1 are superior in everyway to the human NPCs of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. These are the types of arguments people make, comparing today’s major leaps forward with those of yesteryear. We all know Oblivion and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are for more advanced than the previous mentioned comparisons (do be aware they are just examples of the typical argument one would expect to see in the forums) but people still make similarly ridiculous claims.

What it all comes down to is trying to be ‘cool’ by acting uninterested. It’s like the guy who pretends to ignore the hot girl thinking that it will in turn attract her attention. The problem with this is once one person starts doing it, almost everyone starts doing it. Then when someone with a legitimate point, either for or even against as it doesn’t seem to matter to the e-wang mongers, they just get shot down because their view, which happens to be based on actual experience, does not conform to the ‘we’re too cool for school’ norm set by those who are more likely jealous than anything else that they themselves do not own the said game. Sure if you have a valid argument that you can actually backup with more than 'cuz ur ghey LOLz' post all the criticism you want. But if you haven't actually sat down and given the game a go before you begin paying it out don't spam the forums in a sorry attempt to impress the other forum trolls, because anyone who has come to realise that they possess opposable thumbs really does not care. All these people are doing is making it harder for anyone who wants to find some valid opinions (i.e.: from someone who has put in the time and effort to try it) about the new game.

So the moral of this story is, please keep your unjustified self serving comments for your friends/family and not for the forums. Thank you.