Assume-to-Mouth

Recently, imputation against War Hammer Online buzz in War Hammer community. The War Hammer Online community site - War Hammer Alliance is the first stand up to fight against them.

Saying "I'm not playing the game" or "the game is going to suck" because you made an assumption about a core game mechanic based upon shaky-cam footage, or because a developer said two or three words that pissed you off is probably the stuff of what people like to refer to as "epic failure".

Chicken Little assumes the sky is falling because an acorn falls on her head.
Chicken Little convinces other animals of her story and whips them into a frenzy.
Chicken Little and her friends are eventually eaten by a fox for their stupidity.

Oh, how I wish there was a fox to eat all the Chicken Littles that happen to be popping up lately. You may have seen some of these posts in your travels around the WAR community. Sometimes based upon as little as a few sentences from EA Mythic or even 4 or 5 seconds of grainy video footage, the people who like to post these wonderful nuggets of supposed knowledge about the game have no problem making a huge leap when it comes to the way something is going to work. General sweeping statements, proclamations of doom, and worst of all a definitive conclusion are the telltale signs of a Chicken Little popping up. With the amount of pre-cognition you see in these threads you would think that they had paid for a reading by Miss Cleo and actually believed what they got.

The core problem with this nonsense is that people make assumptions. There's that clever saying with the letters of "assume", but the rational people out there are not the ones who are made into asses, trust me. Now I don't really mind an assumption - sometimes an assumption makes for some good speculation and a productive discussion. Like with anything, it's the extremes that take the cake. I'm going to pick on a recent hot topic here, but it's an assumption to make a post that says "I think that based upon what we know, the King encounter in RvR might work this way." It's a Chicken Little assumption with emphasis on the first syllable to make a post that says "RvR IS COMPLETELY RUINED BECAUSE THE KING ENCOUNTER WORKS THIS WAY WTFBBQ I QUIT".

Or how about those Chicken Little assumption posts cleverly disguised as a legitimate topic that says "Worried about x" or "Concerned about x", when in fact they are worried or concerned about something they read that has no real detail attached to it? I'm a pretty laid back kind of person, but even so, if I got worried about the possibility of lightning striking me simply because there are thunderclouds, I'd probably never go outside on a rainy day.

The most ridiculous posts are the "I Quit" or the "The game will fail" posts. We're going to see a lot more of this kind of terrible, drama-inducing thread after the release, but at least there's going to be some substance to people who are going to try to post those, since they will have actually, you know, played the game. Saying "I'm not playing the game" or "the game is going to suck" because you made an assumption about a core game mechanic based upon shaky-cam footage, or because a developer said two or three words that pissed you off is probably the stuff of what people like to refer to as "epic failure". It's a failure because while people are entitled to do whatever the hell they want to and bless them for it, they look like complete and utter fools because the basis of their claim is extremely thin and lacks any real information other than their own opinion they feel like spouting off in a fit of rage.

If you're not going to play the game or state that you aren't going to bother with it, at least have the intelligence to make that decision based upon something more than "the collector's edition has too much content" or "the campaign is going to be like WoW battlegrounds". If you're reading this and you are one of these people, perhaps you will have come to your senses and come back under another name to avoid embarrassment. Don't worry - we won't make fun of you...much.

And don't think that I'm only focusing on the uninformed negative posts. Uninformed positive posts are just as bad. The only difference is that the taste left in my mouth is not crap, but rather the taste you might get if you shoveled 4 tablespoons of sugar down your throat. To make an extremely positive and overly optimistic assumption based upon a few words is just as bad, and it smacks of people trapped in the WAR bubble. The game, as it looks, more than likely has flaws. The game, when it is released, will likely have flaws. Informed constructive criticism and rational, balanced feedback will make the game better, not worse. To assume utopia when you don't have any basis for it means later, you'll be disappointed.

I hate the "let's wait and see" argument as much as the person next to me, because I think it's a thinly veiled excuse and too convenient, but honestly, it applies here. If you make a decision or a conclusion based upon a few videos, interviews, and newsletter detail, then even if your decision is that "WAR sucks", I'll be the first to say "good for you for making an informed decision". If a mechanic is revealed, or peeked at, or shown but not fleshed out, speculate, but don't conclude. Wait for the information to come and the questions to be answered. Most of all, reserve judgment - I can't believe the amount of people coming to judgmental conclusions about the development cycle, the direction of the team, the color of Jeff Hickman's underwear, and everything else about EA Mythic, based on what appears to be the answers to one or two questions. Things such as class makeup, the campaign structure, and character development have received many details in the past few months. EA Mythic has weaknesses, but one of their greatest strengths is community interaction. It'll be there, eventually.

Think with your head, not with your ass, lest you say something that looks like it came out of it.

[ Last edited by  aspboy at 16-4-2008 13:02 ]