Do you admit ever feeling schadenfreude from seeing a game fail?

[Weltall Zero]

No, absolutely not.

People need to stop feeling elation when a game succeeds, IMO. Its the more damaging reaction. Like, as a consumer, the only thing we really need to concern ourselves with is if the game is enjoyable or not. Theres a thread in ERA right now, "Are you worried about Sekiro" but not a single person is talking about being worried that the game might not be enjoyable. Every damn person is talking about worrying that the marketing budget is too low, or the lack of PVP might hurt sales, or its not the right time to launch a new IP

Holy lord, yall are not junior executives at From Software, what do you give a ding dong diddly crap about any of that? Lets just worry about it being enjoyable first and foremost.

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You are free to not give a shit about the livelihood and long-term sustainability of the people who make the games you love to play, but feeling superior to others for your lack of empathy is surreal, to say the least. Some people here are mature enough to understand games do not form out of thin air and have people behind them, and want these developers to succeed and be able to keep making the games they themselves love... and you scorn them for this?

It is really true that there's a defense force and a detractor force for absolutely everything imaginable here, holy shit.

 

[Deleted member 16908]

Bethesda deserves all the shit it got and should continue to get for Fallout 76.

 

[Herb Alpert]

Yes I have.
Mostly when predatory practices blow up in the face of the publisher. Like EA and star wars battlefront.

 

[MetalBoi]

If it helps change the gaming industry for the better, why not?

 

[Weltall Zero]

No, because I'm not a petulant child. I recognize that the world does not revolve around me and my tastes, and when a game I'm not particularly interested in fails, I feel a sense of sadness that the developers would not able to find an audience to appreciate their hard work.

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Why would this be about games you dislike, rather than practices or philosophies that you find abhorrent? This is not really about "game X which I don't enjoy", this is about "game X which e.g. is directed by a GamerGater / sexual harasser / general scumbag" (like in the Star Control Origins example, and several others you can probably remember).

 

[orlock]

Too Human: the thread

 

[Dr. Caroll]

Why would this be about games you dislike, rather than practices or philosophies that you find abhorrent? This is not really about "game X which I don't enjoy", this is about "game X which e.g. is directed by a GamerGater / sexual harasser / general scumbag" (like in the Star Control Origins example, and several others you can probably remember).

Click to shrink...

I find the politics of plenty of people in the indie game scene to be abhorrent. Doesn't mean I'm petty enough to find joy in their game failing.

There are game studios with terrible working conditions who have produced games that flopped badly. Just because I object to the working conditions or business practices in general doesn't mean I'm happy with the game failing, particularly if the game is quality in some senses. Some people have this mentality that developers need to be "punished" for their bad behavior.

These people are dumb. I especially have a bone to pick with the man-children who celebrated games like Crysis 3 and Syndicate 2012 (notice the EA trend) flopping because they were angry about how the "fans had been betrayed" and all that nonsense that is waaaaaaaay of out control nowdays.

Developers work really hard on a game, and it's a pretty good game. Despite their best efforts, it fails due to various factors. And then spiteful people come along and jeer, "You deserved it. That's what you get for not listening to your REAL CUSTOMERS," and all that. Look at the people who were celebrating weak sales of Battlefield V simply because they were angry about the game's marketing focus on female characters. This kind of petty, spiteful behavior is becoming more and more common.

I've been playing Alien: Blackout. It's really fun. Yet the internet is full of spiteful and hateful people convinced that the game deserves to fail. That mobile gaming is evil and everyone needs to take a stand against it. That they were "owed" a console/PC Alien Isolation sequel.

Then they start throwing around stuff like "anti-consumer". It's insipid. Modern gaming culture is insipid and spiteful. Burn it all down.

 

[thisismadness]

Whenever a game is doing something I see as anti-consumerI def get some satisfaction from seeing it fail. Battlefront, Mattrick's XB1, ect. Likewise, I'd be happy if all the exclusives Epic is buying end up tanking.

 

[Alexiell]

somewhat

usually when a big game fails from a dev/publisher that are shitty in one way or another

 

[Aztechnology]

Yes, I'm ashamed to admit it but yes. For instance Battlefront 2, with their trash MTX structure. I had it for.

Mainly no, I do not want people to fail arbitrarily. It's usually companies that have bad business practices I feel this way about.

 

[Deleted member 36086]

No, because it's childish. I don't hope a restaurant fails just because I didn't like the meal I ordered from them.

 

[Doom_Bringer]

No, I don't want to take pleasure in people losing their jobs or a studio shutting down.

 

[Anthony Hopkins]

This thread reminds me of this classic.

 

[Deleted member 36054]

Absolutely. Most recently Battlefront 2 because of MTX. Battlefield V was close only because I wanted a new modern or post modern shooter. I'm human, what can I say.

 

[Macattk15]

For those that don't know, schadenfreude is defined as "pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune."
I know I got a little bit of this feeling from witnessing the Battlefront 2 debacle. On one hand I felt badly for the team at DICE who clearly worked hard on the project, but I have to admit I felt a bit of satisfaction from imagining EA corporate's reaction to seeing their micro-transaction structure blowing up in their face.

Do you admit to ever feeling this way in regards to a game's reception?

Click to shrink...

God damn I felt SOOOOO much when No Man's Sky failed with all the RAMPANT fanboys of the game before it even came out back on NEOGaf. Wasn't so much directed at the developer, but I was saying ALLLLL along that they were showing NOTHING about the game and how it looked so empty, but I got poo poo'ed by so many.

 

[Umbrella Carp]

Colonial Marines.

Because Randy Pitchford is a wanker.

 

[SnakeXs]

I initially thought no. It's a team effort and one persons hard work being derided or for naught must suck.

Then my brain started the sirens. It was a far away echo at first but it repeated, persisted, louder and more clear every time it was silently shouted.

76. 76. 76.

 

[Braaier]

No. Never. I would never.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

Of course not.

 

[Dr. Caroll]

God damn I felt SOOOOO much when No Man's Sky failed with all the RAMPANT fanboys of the game before it even came out back on NEOGaf. Wasn't so much directed at the developer, but I was saying ALLLLL along that they were showing NOTHING about the game and how it looked so empty, but I got poo poo'ed by so many.

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No Man's Sky didn't fail, though. The game sold really well and its extensive post-release development has shaped it into a very good and somewhat popular game.

Colonial Marines.

Because Randy Pitchford is a wanker.

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The thing that always bothered me is that although Colonial Marines was not a very good game, people were so blinded by hate towards the project that basically nobody noticed that a month after release, the game received a massive update that overhauled the lighting, increased texture resolution by 4x, and generally pushed the game a lot closer to the pre-release footage -- at least on PC.

Spoiler

The game went from looking glaringly unfinished visually to looking... kinda solid. Dramatically better textures, blue colour correction for the Alien aesthetic, and generally better lighting design. Heck, they even restored some missing visual effects from the demo footage such as the glass cracking in the umbilical when the corpse slams into it from outside. Of course there still is a visual gap between game and demo, but they did try to build a rickety wooden bridge between the two.

I've always had admiration for studios that go above and beyond trying to rectify a botched launch. Colonial Marines had issues with core game design and writing that a graphics overhaul couldn't fix, but I feel they deserved more kudos for trying, and I really don't like the GAMER RAGE culture that completely ignores the post-release efforts to address complaints. People were of course right to be upset that such a hugely anticipated game was such a disappointment, and especially right to criticize Pitchford for failing to take responsibility for the game's quality problems. (Although at least him pretending the game was totally fine despite all evidence to the contrary was better than him trying to throw TimeGate under the bus or something.)

 

[Adnor]

Was going to be my answer, except for the "I shouldn't" part. I feel no guilt wanting it to burn to the ground.

Click to shrink...

I kindafeel kinda bad for the people that work there.

For everyone except Brad Wardell and their PR guy, fuck those two, I hope their careers crash and burn forever.

 

[Ladioss]

I don't really see the point. That's pathetic.

 

[Maximum Spider]

It pleases me when fans have to eat shit about a game they were so desperate to fail.

 

[Aaron D.]

Watching Bethesda Game Studios get pummeled during Fallout 76, and honestly Fallout 4 before that, really turned me off to the entertainment aspect of wanting devs to fail.

Gotta lot of love for BSG, and seeing them dragged though the mud with such glee struck me as really unseemly.

Don't think they're perfect or untouchable or anything, but it was really sad to see the enthusiasm so many took to with dragging on them.

Mob mentality indeed.

 

[mas8705]

It rarely happens, but I like to think it feels really good when the target basically deserves it. I.E. Battlefront 2 and the neverending nightmare that came out of it for EA. Otherwise... Can't really say.

 

[Akainu]

Platinum ones. People like to talk them up but no one really cares about their shit. "B b but that game one game based off of super popular ip and

Spoiler: Let's be real here

the booty.

Warms my heart.

 

[Z-Beat]

Nah, just anger, like when you see a relationship fail because someone didn't take your advice. Theres no enjoyment to be had in that

I do when the game fails due to greedy business practices though

 

[Deleted member 1656]

Lately I've experienced a bit of schadenfreude when the so-called "honeymoon periods" for the latest hottest AAA games end on this forum and the wider web

 

[borat]

No, absolutely not.

People need to stop feeling elation when a game succeeds, IMO. Its the more damaging reaction. Like, as a consumer, the only thing we really need to concern ourselves with is if the game is enjoyable or not. Theres a thread in ERA right now, "Are you worried about Sekiro" but not a single person is talking about being worried that the game might not be enjoyable. Every damn person is talking about worrying that the marketing budget is too low, or the lack of PVP might hurt sales, or its not the right time to launch a new IP

Holy lord, yall are not junior executives at From Software, what do you give a ding dong diddly crap about any of that? Lets just worry about it being enjoyable first and foremost.

Click to shrink...

yeah theres some real weirdos on here

 

[Valcrist]

The only time I would is if the devs are terrible people or there's some sort of predatory practice going on with microtransactions. It's more just being relieved that people don't buy into that though rather than being happy that a bunch of devs got hurt.

 

[Macattk15]

No Man's Sky didn't fail, though. The game sold really well and its extensive post-release development has shaped it into a very good and somewhat popular game.

Click to shrink...

Launch No Man's Sky did not live up to even half the hype some of the most vocal rabid fanboys were giving it.

 

[NuclearCake]

Usually no but i admit there have been a few exceptions. DmC was the big one, it being a success meant no DMC5. The devs and the press also tried their best to downplay legitimate criticism from fans and it was frustrating acrosd the board.

On the other hand stuff like BOTW being a huge sucsess makes me happy and i'm glad the developers adressed all the negative feedback from Skyward Sword. 3D Zelda games became a stagnant archaic joke and the series was on a collision course for disaster had Nintendo kept this up for much longer.

I don't want developers to lose jobs or anything crazy like that but i want good games to be a sucsess and bad games to not be. It's as simple as that. This industry really doesn't need even more bad trends than it already has. Great games should be rewarded.

 

[Deleted member 4434]

No, never. There's always people involved that put in a lot of work and tried their best to make a game that would be enjoyable.
Maybe some prominent people are rude, or higher ups force bad decisions that don't do the game any favour, but there are always people who have no say in it and try to do the best they can with what they have to do.
Even if it's a game I wasn't going to play to, I always feel sorry when reviews are bad or people on social media are really harsh.

 

[Captain of Outer Space]

No. I've never been so mad about a game that I actively wished for it and its developers to fail.

 

[Deleted member 39184]

Bethesda has no one to blame but themselves.

(Management/Decision makers - not the workers. They deserve better tools to work with.)

 

[@dedmunk]

Every time a non-Sony exclusive fails or even just has a few bad points that I can blow out of proportion and act like the whole game sux.

 

[ClickyCal']

No, I don't want to take pleasure in people losing their jobs or a studio shutting down.

Click to shrink...

What if it's a game from a huge dev/company that won't really be affected at all regardless? Like nintendo.

 

[ClickyCal']

if other M didn't flop and actually did decently, there's a decent chance prime 4 never happens. Maybe not even samus returns. They might just turn the series into it.

 

[Oreoleo]

As someone who grew up playing Valve single-player games, it was kinda nice to finally see one of their MP games (Artifact) get largely ignored and discarded. Doubt it will change much in the grand scheme for them, but it would be nice.

 

[texhnolyze]

Reading some comments in this thread disgusts me.

 

[floridaguy954]

If I feel the game has some toxic concepts or messages prior to release, then yeah I'm happy it didn't do well (critically or commercially). No Man's Sky, Battlefront 2 and Fallout 76 are good examples.

Click to shrink...

This is also my feelings on the matter.

Yes, it sucks for those who worked on the game but no sympathy for games (or publishers) that promote toxic gaming trends (can't wait for Epic and their bullshit PC exclusivity push to backfire).

 

[texhnolyze]

Dp.

 

[crimsonECHIDNA]

Mighty No. 9. Just, everything surrounding that game, (the sudden change of art direction, announcing a cartoon before it was even released, trying to launch a second kickstarter before even releasing the game, the actual big trailer for the game) was just a shitshow

 

[electricblue]

It makes me happy when trends I hate fail spectacularly like with Battlefront 2, the game itself I wish succeeded
I only care if games I like are good, bad games I don't spend any time on at all

 

[ohlawd]

yes, all the time

 

[HK-47]

Schadenfreude is great when it's about terrible things blowing in bad people's faces. However in games that usually means that a hard working dev gets laid off while the shitty management and executives that actually made the terrible decisions get bonuses

 

[badnewsbeers]

Nah, never.

Bit fucked up to in most cases considering a large number of games coming out nowadays is a collaboration between dozens of people. Game development is a difficult business and many people have put their livelihoods on the line to deliver a product. To have it fail and ridiculed must be a gut punch considering the amount of effort that goes into making a game. It's hard for me to not sympathise with that.

The mere fact that someone spent eight years working on a single game boggles my mind. That's 70080 hours. Imagine putting that much time into something only for it to fail. I honestly think publishers need to put the people behind the games in the forefront so gamers can come to the realization that there are actual humans behind the games they enjoy instead of just rebelling against a singular faceless corporate entity.

Seeing people elated at the fact that Telltale went under was really fucked up. Especially when you take into account that there was no severance pay meaning people went back to their families empty-handed.

Click to shrink...

I agree with you, with a caveat - I feel simultaneous sadness for the content creators, but occasionally pleasure at the decision makers. In the case of battlefront, it felt like a bad decision was foisted upon the team and the team suffered. Whichever exec made that call should have been the one to suffer.

 

[SlayerSaint]

No, there's enough games out there for everyone where I feel no need to be happy when one I don't like fails.

I don't feel particularly beat up about some though, like Battlefront. I just also don't feel happy.

 

[Leveean]

The industry will be better when predatory practices, half assed bandwagoning, and ridiculous hype cycles crash and burn spectacularly, whether or not people work hard on them. The backlash against Battlefront 2 meant Battlefield 5 released without lootboxes. The Order 1886 disaster meant we haven't seen another short linear QTE slog from Sony again. Hopefully the reaction to Fallout 76 will have a positive effect on Bethesda's next title.

Spoiler

next up: Anthem will teach EA about the dangers of extremely derivative bullet sponge console MMOs and Days Gone will teach Sony about the sharp decline of the zombie genre for the past 3 years or so

 

[MagicDoogies]

Only in the sense that the writing is on the wall that the game was gonna be a flop or a major disappointment yet the fans kept insisting that it was going to make big sales and naysayers were gonna eat crow.

Otherwise? It's a bummer situation. Not many studios making games nowadays have the perks of being able to tell suits to suck it and that their idea of a 'good game' is going to fall. Either they comply or they can not come to work...again.

I'm really having a hard time thinking of any game studio that insisted on making a game nobody wanted or asked for and ate a failure as a result.