Not generally speaking, but for any game with a large fanbase. Really, it actually kind of holds true for anything that has a large fanbase. People will always find things the complain about. The thing is, a forum for a game is more likely to become filled with people who want to bitch and complain rather than post any genuine critique.

One of the only game forums, and probably the last, given my experiences over the 6 or so months I have been a member (and from my understanding the situation is really quite the same on any game forum) that I am a member of is the Minecraftforums. I think I’m a member of the zsnes forum as well as eduke, but those don’t count as those are mature communities built up around well established older games- they don’t typically appeal to the average gamer these days. Minecraft is the only “new” game that captured my attention enough that I decided that I would join the official forums built up around it.

Now, with every update since than, people complain. Over. And Over. And Over. Mojang adds beds to the game- a useful feature for changing your spawn point in what is effectively an infinite world- people complain that it “ruins game balance”, which is a tad weird given it’s just a sandbox game, but oh well.  I’m sure people complained about the addition of sandstone in that same version, come to think of it.

The only feature I don’t really like in minecraft is the wolves; I tend to avoid them. Especially since whenever I use them they annoy the piss out of me and I end up killing them. The last time I tamed some they pushed me unto a ravine I was peering into that was floored by lava. I didn’t have to kill them that time since they piled into the ravine behind me. The reason I don’t complain about it that I really cannot think of anything that Mojang doesn’t already know. They already know the AI sucks. The only thing I can really say, and the only complains you can really find on the forum, amount to “the AI sucks” They already know that. repeating it isn’t going to get it fixed any faster, it just shows how impatient you are. Same with most new features.

Anyway, as usual there are hate threads for 1.0.0, “this should be released” “OMG how can it go from 1.8.1 to 1.0.0!” etc.

One of my responses, in this thread, pretty much summed up my thoughts on the constant complaints:

I swear to god the minecraft fanbase can be the biggest whiny bunch of entitled assholes. They add a feature, people bitch about game balance. They add a bug by accident, people accuse them of being lazy fucks. They remove that bug in the next version, people bitch that they had built mechanisms around that bug. People ask for more interesting mobs with unique abilities. They add more interesting mobs with unique abilities, and people complain that those mobs are destroying their work using that new unique ability. So they nerf that ability, and people complain that the mob is stupid now. People complain that the ores don’t have enough purposes, and then suggest that they add more. People complain about biomes being too small, so they make them bigger, and people complain that the biomes are too big and the landforms aren’t as “epic” (as if that is even quantifiable). People complain that they are spending too much time on new features and not enough time fixing bugs. They code freeze and release a few fixes, and people start bitching that they aren’t releasing enough content. Make up your fucking mind. All the while, they complain that Mojang isn’t listening the the “community” by which they actually mean Mojang isn’t listening to their personal half-baked ideas.

It’s no fucking wonder the Dev steam stays away from these forums. Any actual useful information is drowned out by the noise from people with a phd in being pretentious douchebags.

End of story right? at least three people agreed. Almost all of that is easily verifiable; All those complaints can be seen to exist in the archives and older posts. And there is no doubt that there are so many trite complaint threads that it would be impossible for anybody to sift through them to find the ones that are in fact reasonable critiques with usable suggestions/information on how to fix it. And the attitude of many of those posting such idiotic threads makes it clear they are in fact pretentious.

Imagine my surprise when I wasn’t just warned for that post, but suspended. The “warning” writes:

You made several insulting remarks towards other users. This is not acceptable.

My response essentially inquired as to where these insulting remarks were. I don’t see any. Use of swear words and foul language are there, but they aren’t used directly against anybody. The only thing remotely insulting might be the very last bit about “Any actual useful information is drowned out by the noise from people with a phd in being pretentious douchebags.” And really, nobody can argue that, either. But that is still only one instance. Unless “insult” has suddenly become a way to say “you pointed out facts that occured in the past and used them to form a coherent argument” I fail to see where this comes from.

Hilariously, all my warnings have come from people that only more recently became moderators. Not that that is really relevant, but at the same time it sort of makes sense. I know because I’ve been a moderator on a few and with that “title” you have a tendency to pay more attention to “rule-breaking”. After all, it is ones job. At the same time there is such a thing as taking it to seriously. it’s a game forum, and when somebody happens to use easily cited examples to make a point, I don’t see how that is an “insult” and I certainly didn’t insult other members directly. Unless somebody feels they are a pretentious douchebag, there is no reason for anybody to feel insulted by any of that.

Oh well. At least it fueled me to write a post.