There’s a problem in the gaming community that continues to rear its head again and again. It’s something we all do, and we need to be aware of it. The issue is one of a bipolar sentiment on what people in the gaming community want from their video game coverage. For this example, we’ll use previews — specifically a Far Cry 4 preview I wrote.
I published my Far Cry 4 preview from a five-hour gameplay session I had with the game last week. A lot of previews I read are overly positive, giving no criticism of games. It’s all sugar coating. So when I write a preview, I give my experience, criticism and all.
Nowadays, gamers ask for transparency in gaming coverage by members of the press. That’s really what gamers want, right? Honesty and ethics? (EDIT: It has been pointed out to me that there's really no reason to bring up Gamergate here. I made the connection to it with transparency and honesty, and that being a big movement, I thought it fit. The edit has been made. My sincere apologies.) I wrote an honest preview that included the good and bad of my five hours of gameplay. It was pretty positive, and I had fun while playing it.
But I got negative responses for criticizing the game and mentioning bugs. Far Cry 4 had a lot of bugs that I had to deal with. It affected missions, combat and the co-op experience. The responses I received said that my preview got “bogged down in things that are quite obviously going to be fixed,” and that “they’ve got plenty of time to iron kinks out before release.” Was I supposed to not mention all of the bugs and ignore them? That’s already a problem we see a lot from gaming media. Previews hype the game up, then come release day, it gets a 6/10. Or it gets a 9, is broken from bugs, and then gets the score changed. So here I was being honest with readers and I’m met with hostility. Why?
Because not all gamers want journalistic integrity, they just want their opinions validated.
I know there are gamers that appreciate honesty, but all a good portion of the community wants is for someone to write something negative about what they hate, or praise something they love. And this whole ‘bugs obviously get fixed before release’ thing? Yea, games NEVER ship with bugs. Skyrim, Battlefield 4, SimCity, any Fallout game, Madden, Watch Dogs — no bugs.
I, in good conscience, cannot pretend bugs don’t exist in a preview I write for a game. Let’s say someone read my preview that didn’t include the problems I had, thought the game was all sunshine and flowers, bought it and then was disappointed that it had bugs. That’s on me and every writer that doesn’t mention them.
While I’m sure there are gamers that appreciate the honesty, I have to vent about the ones that aren’t interested in that at all. When Far Cry 4 releases, the review will reflect whether those bugs I mentioned were fixed or not. But previews should not ignore problems and assume they’ll be fixed before release. Again, gamers just want validation and vindication.
Don’t ask for transparency and honesty, and then complain when someone is honest about a AAA game you might like.
