I'm really starting to hate forums that are based around gaming. Jesus Christ, most of the forums I visit are filled with some of the most annoying, hypocritical and negative  people in the world. Every game screenshot that is released is judged and scrutinzed into oblivion, every sequel that is announced starts up 20 page threads about how the developer is going to stuff up the game and then you have the constant ninja bias that goes on when it comes to specific platforms. 

A few examples of game forum stupidity would be colourful games. Everyone cries about how games aren't colourful enough, games aren't unique enough, everythings an FPS and so on, but then when a colourful, unique game that isn't an FPS is shown, it's criticised to hell and bombs. Enslaved is a perfect example. It's a game that tries to do things differently and when the first screenshots were released, forums like Neogaf, IGN and Giant Bomb started shitting all over the game, with some people saying it's too colourful. Then as soon as a brown shooter is released, those very sites have massive threads discussing and praising games like Call of Duty, Gears of War 2, Bad Company 2, Medal of Honour and then they all look forward to upcoming games like Battlefield 3, SOCOM 4, Gears of War 3 and Killzone 3. 

Game forums are also negative about everything. Nearly every time a game is announced or a developer discusses something, the forums always have to put a negative spin on it. Oh, hey, Mercury Steam is developing a new game? I hoep it's not as shit as Lords of Shadow, HYUK HYUK! Just Dance sells 3 million copies? That's 3 million stupid people then, HYUK HYUK! Dragon Age 2 is being better adapted to suit consoles? Bioware are crappy developers and Dragon Age 2 is going to be a crappy game, HYUK HYUK! For a community that supposedly loves videogames, they majority of their time is spent bashing videogames.

The whole ninja bias thing is just ridiculous and this is something that occurs on this forum as well. If you have a preference, then admit to it and try not to hate on everything the 'oppossing' console does. You can have an opinion on it, but some people just repeat the same bias statements every single week and then critisize people when they make similar statements. A recent occurence would be the whole tie thing that was going in that last Worldwide sales thread and I was a little disguested with how people were acting and how many pages it took up. It's such a silly argument, but people took it so seriously. We seem to discuss specific terms like fanboy, tie, console exclusive, troll, conspiracy, copycat and hackers, more often than we actually talk about videogames. 

VGChartz has a better community than most sites, but I've noticed that some people are starting to go off the rails. I'm at least confident in saying that this site is more open minded towards most games, but when a thread about El Shaddai goes on for 2 pages, but then a thread about how '360 something something PS3 something something sucks' goes on  for 12 pages and it's literally a thread about nothing but sqaubbling, you kind of feel a little sad.

What are your thoughts? Sorry about the length.

Its true, its damn true.

You're attributing parts to the whole in part of your allegations. Generally the people bitching about colorful shooters are not the same people bitching about non-colorful shooters, much like how some people complain that certain fanbases are unpleasable, it's rather a matter of split bases

As far as fireworks threads getting more attention than substantive ones, that's just human nature right there. Why do you think the combative/humorous pundits get far more attention than serious crap like "Face the Nation?" same reason. Nobody likes to see harmony, we want conflict

Well your not wrong.

Do we know for a fact that it's the same posters complaining about a lack of colorful games who get all excited over Call of Honor 1,438: Modern Black Ops at War? It does seem like forums give off mixed messages sometimes, but I heard a rumor that many different people can post on the same forum. Sounds kind of far-fetched, though, I admit.

But I basically agree with your overall point. Fuck all forums! Including this one!

The path to enlightment is beset on either side with temptations to lure the soul.  Focus not on the hate on your left OR the hubris on your right; rather walk tenuously in the middle understanding that it is the folly of man that leads to either extreme.  Happiness ensues when the pettiness of others becomes as apparent as the pollen in a sunlit field.

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HAHA.  OR just do what I do and try to ignore the idiots!  There are quality posters everywhere, they are just sometimes hidden by the garbage.

welcome to the internet, where seriouz bizness is conducted 24/7.

Edit: I do agree with you though, it's the reason why I don't really quote or get into arguements as much as I used to, I realized that arguing with some i haven't met before and wouldn't give a damn about(no offense) over *insert game/console here* does nothing that fuels a never ending flame war.

the reason for joining VGC other than the sales data was the community seem to atleast have a head on their shoulders when it came to debates  rather than the usual f*** off/console has no gamez/ ect" comments. though recently is seems even VGC is getting a little tainted if you know what I mean...:(

Was Vgchartz always like this? I can't remember it was.

Well. It's the internet after all. Best place for voicing your opinion and acting like a douche.

This is just silly.  Enslaved didn't bomb because it was colorful, it bombed because it was a short single player game that wasn't really anything special, and people didn't want to pay $60 for that.  Actually I guess this is the perfect example of forum stupidity since you ignore games like LittleBigPlanet 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Gran Turismo 5, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Cataclysm, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Minecraft, etc.  Those are just fairly recent games, and even then there are tons more.  None of those are brown FPSs, yet they all sold well and are generally liked on forums.

Makes it seem like you just hate Call of Duty's success.  If you think games aren't colorful enough then stop playing brown first person shooters, those aren't the only games on the market.

Well, some communities are fairly small and easy it's to keep track of who has what opinion about something. This site is a perfect example. I don't really know anyone on this site, but just by looking at their names I could list their preferences and favourite games. As an example, I know you like Flower and Yakuza 3 and some people find you funny sometimes. Larger sites like GAF validates your argument, but after spending a couple of years reading the posts from the same 300 or so posters, it's pretty easy to pick up on the hypocrisy. Youtube comments and N4G are a totally different matter, those guys are impossible.