I was reminded of this reading the comments to the "as it happened" stream on the BBC website for the coverage of England's latest cricketing disaster against Australia. Have a look at some of them:
From Sue and Keith, disgruntled in Sydney: Having paid a lot to come out to watch the Melbourne and Sydney tests, it was bad enough knowing that the Ashes were lost. But can we sue the ECB under the Trades Description Act as we haven't seen what could be described as a cricket match at either game. Pathetic.
From Iain: The most pathetic display by any sporting team leaving these shores to represent England. Only Broad and Stokes deserve the right to wear the Three Lions again. Pathetic.
Jack B: Cook should hand his resignation in within the next 24 hours. What an embarrassing, pathetic leader he has been.
Paul R: Make no mistake the English cricket team are a national disgrace. Gutless and clueless. Are they hurting? Not enough.
Lewis C: Not one to knock an England side, but the tour has been a shambles. Not even a victory for pride's sake. Given fans nothing.
Matt Jones: Can I suggest that the whole pampered squad donate their first-class tickets home to the poor suffering fans that spent thousands on the trip down under. They're not fit to wear the shirt. A total and utter shambles.
Mark: Awful. Simply awful from England. Resignations/changes please. Just not good enough aside from Stokes in the whole series.
See what I mean? THE ENGLAND TEAM HAVE GIVEN THE FANS NOTHING. We demand reprisals! Punishment! We want people to lose their jobs! Bring back hanging! We wanted the England team to win and they were so fucking inconsiderate they went and lost! PATHETIC.
It's not enough that the England cricket team went and tried their best and happened to get beaten by a better side. They didn't do what we, the fans, wanted, and therefore they are a disgrace. It's not enough that RPG designer Y created a game that wasn't perfect for every individual fan in the entire universe: the fact that he wasn't specifically tailoring it to my needs and outlook on the world is a bloody scandal.
People are self-entitled whinge-bags.
I have observed it to happen mainly with hobbies that people identify so much with that they think it inconceivable that they could leave and find another hobby. Instead the begin to think of themselves as "citizens" of the hobby with a right to be served by their "government" instead of free agents who can simply choose another of the dizzying array of entertainment options in today's world. cf. this.
ReplyDeleteMaybe people who are big fans of a particular sports team can also be seen as citizens.
DeleteRoger right that the Citizen is the problem.
ReplyDeleteEvery true dickhead in the hobby (and I'm sure you know the names on the tip of my typing) is, or claims to be, concerned about effects on "The Wider Community".
They don't just dislike the thing- The Thing Encourages Things Like The Thing, which will have Deleterious Effects in the long run.
Like as if there's a Wider Community and as if anyone should give a fuck.
"there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families."
Delete"Simpsons did it." Which is to say, I think The Simpsons really nailed it with the classic "Worst. Episode. Ever." exchange (and leaving aside the irony that I am one of those people who will loudly complain about the "tragedy" of The Simpsons' decline in quality and over-extended lifespan):
ReplyDeleteComic Book Guy: Last night's Itchy & Scratchy was, without a doubt, the worst episode ever. Rest assured that I was on internet within minutes registering my disgust throughout the world.
Bart Simpson: Hey, I know it wasn't great, but what right do you have to complain?
Comic Book Guy: As a loyal viewer, I feel they owe me.
Bart Simpson: What? They've given you thousands of hours of entertainment for free. What could they possibly owe you? I mean, if anything, you owe them.
Comic Book Guy: Worst episode ever.
I think this argument holds true even more for RPGs. There's a bit of cost up front, sure, but once you buy in, you theoretically don't need to spend another dime and can derive literally thousands of hours of entertainment from your purchase, all commercial-free.
I think there is a difference between sadness and anger. I am sad about the decline in quality in The Simpsons, especially when I see re-runs from the first couple of seasons when there were actual stories. But I'm not ANGRY in the way that some people can get about their hobby or TV programme of choice.
DeleteThat simpson's thing is pretty interesting actually; because you're not getting it for free, you're getting it in return for sitting through adverts. The simpsons guys are still getting paid for making crap, and the free-ness only matters if your time spent watching the adverts has no inherent value.
DeleteIn other words, the clever character represents their viewpoint, the stupid character represents you, and they are trying to forget the basis on which their wages are made by claiming that your time is worth nothing!
So ironically, that is an example of how entitled the simpsons producers are.
WHY AREN'T ANY OF YOU PEOPLE THINKING OF THE CHILDREN?
ReplyDelete