Forums / Discussion / Serious Debate

It's something I've been thinking about recently, and I wanted to get your thoughts on.

On the internet, people have a variety of different opinions on a wide variety of topic, but at the end of the day, one thing I do see people advocate for is that "Your opinions are your own. don't let anyone else tell you otherwise." The "consume product" meme kind of throws a wrench into all of that, by mocking or making fun of people who like or buy a specific product or piece of media.

But why do this? Why do people feel that making fun of others who are on the same level as them will give some form of supremacy? Are people really allowed to have their own opinions or allowed to enjoy whatever they want?

Yes. If you hold high praise to mass-produced drivel that is deliberately inconsistent with itself and fail to ask questions you are contributing to the continued degradation of media. In order to hold higher standards for media we must first hold higher standards among ourselves.

That being said I don't expect the vast majority of edgy teens who parrot the meme to have any sort of education in knowing what that higher standard is or when to hold people to it. Nor is simply mocking the mindless consumer mentality sufficient, education is needed.

It needs to be used to spearhead a movement for improvement, it has value as such.

"In order to hold higher standards for media we must first hold higher standards among ourselves."

I feel this can be interpreted as us needing to do a better job of holding ourselves accountable when it comes to voting with our wallet and the choices we make in regards to purchases on a personal level, rather than mocking or making fun of others for what they prefer to purchase.

I think attacking the consumer does have a legitimate point if the product/media is continuously ruinous or harmful in some way to its own industry/audience. For example, the over-monetized hell that gaming has become was only possible through the gradual acceptance of consumers putting up with greedy publisher's antics. What became horse armor became map packs, then pre-order items, then pre-release content, then cosmetics, then skins, then season passes, then early access, and finally micro-transactions and lootboxes. It's a shady business practice, but people buy it up regardless and keep it alive.

The industry saw how much consumers were willing to pay and they kept pushing the line further to the point of absurdity. I'm glad we came to some sort of consensus after EA's Battlefront 2 went too far, but even then, it's not much better.

My criticism of people who buy into my given example does not come from a sense of superiority or wanting to ruin others fun. It comes from genuine concern, its making gaming worse for all when people buy into this predatory crap.

No. Not at all, it's a way to end an actual conversation.

Everyone above had some good points about consumerism, but once the insults fly, the discussion ends, and the good points are lost. It's the same for everything.

Anyone who's on the receiving end should have some self-respect and cut it short, and anyone saying them should re-access if there's a better way to make a point, or if they're rude because they're angry.

It's a more appropriate insult for hypocritical people.

Like if someone is always griping about Hollywood remaking movies all the time but likes all the live action re-makes Disney produces.

They aren't a dumb consumer if the thing they buy doesn't meet your standards, they are if the thing they buy doesn't meet their own standards.

Wise words, son.

If you like, say, modern Call of Duty games, that's perfectly okay.
The problem comes when you criticize other multiplayer FPS/TPS games for their predatory monetization schemes while failing to acknowledge that CoD also does the same shit.

I like Nintendo games but fuck if I'm not gonna call them out for their awful anti-consumer practices, DMCA trolling, and outdated design (particularly when it comes to online functionality), and any fan that fails to acknowledge these objectively terrible practices would be deserving of being called a nintendrone

I mean, blind praise is kinda stupid but if somebody likes something while simultaneously honestly acknowledging it's flaws and problems, that's ok, in my opinion at least.

For example: I enjoy the Michael Bay Transformers films. I also acknowledge that they're pretty terrible plot-wise and especially dialogue-wise and characterization-wise. They're pretty much only good for giant CGI robot fights and robo-gore, everything else is kinda awful if you're asking me. Also 2000's movie tie-in games are a guilty pleasure of mine, especially Transformers: The Game.

Now if I saw someone calling them masterpieces or high-quality products, I'd call them an idiot, because they're terrible, mass-produce drivel. I'd only praise the first one for having cool CGI at the time and nothing else, but the others are kind of a downhill tumble in terms of quality.

TL;DR: Acknowledge the flaws or you deserve to be called out for being an idiot.

It's fine to mention the flaws of a business firm or product. From my perspective, when it becomes an issue is when it just becomes too repetitious.

I've tried to be more open-minded on opinions in recent years, but you can only complain about Nintendo DMCAs, online, anti-consumer™ stuff, etc. for so long that it just becomes tiring. If people have been complaining about this stuff for over half a decade, and it feels like nothing's changed, will complaining even make a difference in the long run?

Does not wanting to hear about these things for the millionth time make me a Nintoddler? No, and obviously I don't agree with any of it, either. It's just like complaining about the fall of The Simpsons for the millionth time, or complaining about the new seasons of Spongebob for the millionth time, etc. You can only complain about the same thing so many times before it just becomes tired and annoying.

The company your complaining about has proven that they won't budge on their decisions, so all your really doing is essentially screaming at a wall.

If all else fails, vote with your wallet. Heck, if anything, if you don't vote with your wallet, yet continue to complain, you run yourself the risk of looking like a hypocrite.

why would you blame your fellow man for falling to the highly catered highly market researched and pandered media? rather than blaming the companies that know how the expertly manipulate and control the market.
educate, do not berate.

Nope. As long as they like it in the right way for the right reason, I am okay with that.

/thread