I’m not going to try to tell you that you’re wrong. I’m just going to suggest that when something triggers you emotionally, you become much more focused on it. The problem becomes bigger, nastier and more prone to be seen as malevolent and intentional. Personal.
90% of the players (at least) don’t read the forums. I’m going to hazard that the reason that 90% of the players don’t read the forums is because they are not as emotionally invested in the game as we are. As such, changes are more easily adjusted to and shrugged off. I’ll also hazard that (just throwing out random numbers here) 95% of that 90% don’t invest much if any money into the game. They probably don’t buy covers. They likely don’t drop more than a few bucks here and there for a roster slot or two - if even that. The game is just a distraction, something to do, and nerfs and buffs and balances and collecting everyone and getting top 5 every tournament and all that just don’t matter to them.
They know, however, that the forums exist, if they pay attention to any of the pop-ups that link back here. They just don’t care to read them because it’s not a big thing. They’re not invested in the game, financially or emotionally.
The people here, on the forums, are the passionate ones. The invested ones. Time and money, sure, but absolutely an emotional investment. You could even, if you want to look at it with a cynical eye, see it as a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, but let’s face it - the reason why we’re here is because we want to be. We’re focused on the game. We follow it avidly. We might be fans, or obsessed, or just really really like the game. As such, changes and nerfs and all that affect us much deeper on an emotional level.
Because this is the internet and easy to vent our thoughts and feelings with a degree of comfortable anonymity, and because every single human being (self included) has a tiny spark of self importance, when something affects us emotionally, we feel well within our rights to spill out every thought and feeling that runs through our heads - often while the emotion is still running hot. This makes us look like fans in the real definition of the word - fanatics. This makes us look hostile. We’re not, not really, we’re just emotional creatures with a (possibly unhealthy?) attachment to the game and how we play it.
There’s no intent to deceive here though, I’m sorry. The reason? Any player of an online game on a level more than severely casual knows that online games go through changes, adjustments, balances, revamps, improvements, evolutions, nerfs, buffs, whatever words you want to use for it. They know it, and should expect it (especially when they have played the game for more than a month, they can see change happening regularly) and should not be surprised and outraged by it. Since we know that the time, effort (money?) and whatever else we put into our characters can be adjusted, we should not cry foul when it happens.
It is, of course, okay to feel upset about it. For a little while. Then make some decisions (stay? go? be F2P? whatever) and move on. This is a game. It’s a good game. I like this game. I’m emotionally invested in it. I’ll get irritated at it sometimes, naturally. But the moment that it makes me furious? I’ll walk away then. That moment has not yet come, because I expect these changes to happen and have done so from the moment I picked up the game.
When people have moved past their anger and made their more reasonably-minded decisions, I hope to see them here still - and in the game as well. If not, well, online gaming is fluid and constantly changing - not just the game itself, but the people who play it. Whatever happens, I hope you all do well with what you decide.
Regards,
Bluey
