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I think if you retitled this blog "Introductions are in Order", or something, you'd get more hits and meet more people!
You're right about the relativity of opinion (although you may have overdid it with the anal metaphor...), but personally I think the problem with Sterling is that he seems to be at odds with himself: claiming to be open to discussion, to be the "mere" spark of a larger exchange, but still picking on his subjects of aversion whenever he has the chance, constantly reminding us of his uncalled-for, seemingly unevolving and often childish "opinions". Jim Sterling does not ask questions, and does not like to be in doubt ; his attitude is patronizing even when it is identified as subjective, and that is not a quality I personally look for in a game journalist.
See Anthony Burch for a reasonable alternative.
[url http://.....ect.]text[/url] with an = sign where the space is.
Ok, I have to tell it, at the end its all OPINIONS...
Thanks for the blog you got fapped... And welcome to the community
I actually wrote an introduction blog post a long time ago, but I made it private because I changed a lot of what was in the post (such as links to stuff I've done) that I ended up choosing to hide it for the time being and never got around to reinstating my original post. I might take a look at it and try to restore it to a reasonable edit. I'll also look at my bio and see what I can do there as well.
@DoctorTabarnac: the thing is, how many of us actually can say we are 100% committed to the rules and guidelines we set for ourselves? If anyone took the time to probe any of us, I'm sure they'd find a contradiction sooner or later. We're all human. We should all be held to this fact. We're all prone to step over our own words and contradict something we expect from other people. It just happens.
I'm not fond of Jim Sterling's approach, but that is my opinion. The fact is, it brings out people of all kinds. It brings out his supporters, as well as the people who try to stay in the middle, and it brings out the "fanboys". In order for different cultures to eventually get along, we need to all come out and debate. Trying to judge someone purely on "how" they choose to debate may not be the best approach, because it ignores the actual debate itself.
We can all learn a lot from reading the most pointless post, as well as the most "human" post, to the most robotic post. We are all collecting information to determine ultimately how we feel. And in order for us to be balanced, we need people willing to step over the lines, contradict themselves so we can avoid it, and blindly bash others so we can grow from it.
I have trouble seeing certain things that people take for granted. I can't tell when Jim is joking or not because of my condition. I learned to assume that everything he says is a joke, but at the same time, serious information can be extracted from a joke. How else would I know not to trust my science project to a blonde!? ;)
I tend to lose my train of thought regardless of inebriation. It's hard for me to walk down one path when there are so many. I try my best to be open-minded and accept all, but I'm prone to the same flaws as everyone else (I'm also fairly drunk by now lol).
In order for a website to be "balanced", it needs all kinds of folk. It needs the soft-spoken "I'm going to give this game an A for effort", to the brash "This game was supposed to be good, but I found so much wrong with it, I'm giving it an F". Just like Shepard needs the crew he has in Mass Effect 2, and honestly, if it were up to me, I would like to fill the role of the "Android" this website does not have, whether through blog or whatever. I like this gaming site more than others because it's so alive. This is what the internet needs.
Now if you'll excuse me, there's a hole that I need someone's armor to cover :P
You were placed on this Earth for a reason. Do your best to ride out the storms, and when the final curtain closes, I'm willing to bet the good will outweigh the bad, and it will all be worth the fight. In other words, keep living.
Most people I know seem to have preferences, while I have trouble determining these things. I guess it comes from being poor most of my life, but if I had to choose between bottled beer and canned beer, I personally prefer canned beer (although I prefer draft at a restaurant, but still). It doesn't mean I can't appreciate or enjoy the bottled beer. They both taste fine (this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that my girlfriend bought me bottled beer! ... =p) and they both give a sense of "being". I think the phrase is "beggars can't be choosers".
In a way, I'm glad it's Sterling reviewing games and not me. I live a simple life, and expect simple things from my games. Because of my condition, storyline and such have almost no say in what I actually feel about a game. It all comes down to playability. If a game proves to be unplayable (a good example is Onimusha 3, which I managed to play through, but I hated that camera so goddamn much), it's extremely difficult for me to have anything good to say about it.
I know no one asked, but I just feel like talking about it. I prefer games that are consistent. Games like Rock Band 2 and Tetris Attack/Pokemon Puzzle League where at the very least, controls are damn near perfect. I never cared much for story because I have trouble learning names, but ask me to hammer a square into a hole, and reward me for it, and you pretty much have a positive experience for me.
Doesn't mean I can't enjoy some of the more complex games. I'm currently playing Dragon Age: Origins and I enjoy the gameplay because it forces me to multitask, something I'm not very good at. As far as the story goes, I have no idea what's going on. It usually takes 2-3 more playthroughs before I finally get it, and then I sometimes become an expert. I just enjoy gameplay.
I've been playing games back in the 8-bit days, when story was almost non-existent. I consider myself a pure gamer in the sense of the word (meaning it's all about gameplay), but I can appreciate a good story as long as the game is willing to hammer it into my head :P.
I'm mainly just rambling lol. I got tons to say but it doesn't come out until someone triggers it. Thanks again for your positive comments. I'm trying to stay alive, it's just that all I've been doing so far is collecting data, and most of what I collected point to the fact that I cannot exist in any reasonable society. I still follow primitive ways such as "survival of the fittest" and humanity has moved on from that to the "protect and handle the weak with care" stage. I'm basically a walking contradiction and it's hard to adapt.
From the data I've collected, it seems that no single person is "mature" enough to really comprehend and handle everything they come across. It's all based on previous events and personal feelings (the sum of our parts). I strongly believe that there are "triggers" that can force even the most intelligent person to respond like a hostile animal. We simply do not have enough experience in these sort of situations.
I read through so many comments in that one thread alone (not counting the other threads I tried to read through) and from what I've gathered, people seem to pick clear sides.
Some people support Jim for being "honest", but this word is hard to digest for me. Would these same people call him "honest" for praising a game, or do they only associate honesty with negativity because most people are trained to hear the worst? I'm not sure.
A lot of people seem to try to draw lines in the community. Jim is a troll, so he can't be taken seriously, yet seriously enough to warrant a harsh response. What?
People who enjoy FFXIII are fanboys of Square Enix. This statement is hard to swallow. Everyone takes a different thing away from the game they play. Some people "are" in fact what is considered fanboys, and try their best to flip a negative experience to positive.
For example, my father bought me a Conan game for the NES back when I was kid. It was the worst game I ever played, and it broke my heart to try to say something bad about a gift, so I ended up rationalizing the experience as "this game was a gift, so I can't badmouth it". Bad idea.
It intrigues me is that the one thing I have trouble comprehending... "Theory of Mind", seems to be a hard thing for any person to swallow. No one is willing to see that everyone operates on their own operating system. We're not all confined to Windows 7 or Mac or whatever.
Again, just rambling.
And I say that knowing that a lot of people have "played the game", but really haven't sat down and played it. Like really, sat down and played the game. Get into that addict mode of "I can stop anytime I want to, I just don't want to" until the game's over of the drugs stop doing their job.
Then go back and critique. I did the same with Killzone 2. I read the review, having preorderd the game before hand because I needed something else to play FNF in, even though I had no hope for the title. I didn't think Jim was serious in his review.
Then the game came 2 day later, and I sat down and played the single player for about 5 hours. I sat down and I really played it, with nothing else on my mind, not Jim's review, not my previous hate with the original Killzone on the PS2, I just said "Fuck It, let me give it a go."
Afterward, my only true complaint was the inability to map buttons on the controller my way. That's just once example of me agreeing with him on games I'm not so sure about. I've disagreed with him on other reviews, I've disagreed with him on games he thinks sucks for his own reasons (coughMassEffectcough), but I've always sat down and had time with the game and game alone, nothing but.
I think if people just sat down, played the game with nothing on their mind, I think they'd be able to agree or disagree with a more a appreciation for who they are agreeing or disagreeing with.
That's just me though. I still gotta really get my hands on Heavy Rain, FFXIII...well, not FFXIII, I'll skip that and go for BC2 instead.
As for your writing, you're certainly great at balancing your OPINIONS on seemingly any matter. I find that when I write, my opinions become more rigid and defined, many times even extreme (usually on the side of negativism), and I might find myself actually disagreeing with my own work. While I think in a similar way as yourself, by balancing both sides - at least before ultimately choosing one, I just don't seem as capable as expressing those opinions as you.
Either way, it's great to see another eloquent, albeit pleasantly scattered, blogger on the site! Please, don't be shy, and keep it up!
I'm glad that the internet exists, because it essentially levels the playing field for me, but if anyone got to the point where they actually wanted to hang out with me, there's a good chance they will see things about me that they have trouble being around.
I think the internet is why I haven't killed myself yet :P Because even if I never fit in, I could at least pretend to be someone on the internet and force myself in somewhere :P Not that that's what I'm doing now, but I'm trying to make a point that the internet is where only brains and thoughts can flourish.
Actually I'm not even sure what I'm trying to say. I'm sobering up and I accidentally fapped my own blog post thinking it would take me to a magical screen where I could either see who fapped me or I could see where I stand on some kind of magical fap-list. I feel like a moron sometimes >.>
"Maybe FFXIII is like corn on the cob and he doesn't like shoving it up his ass, but some people do"
This should be on your header and should be printed as a sticker and put on my car.
1) develop either a balanced or positive opinion of something that Jim puts down in his own review, and are unable to accept that anyone could feel anything (or to the "Jimstreme") negative about what they like.
2) have difficulty in general with anyone taking a shit on anything.
There are more examples, but that's all I can think of right now that I put into words. I never "trust" a review to tell me what I should think about the game. I usually research multiple games and look for common concerns, such as pretty much every review I read had an issue with FFXIII being too linear. Does that bother me? Well, I like Super Mario Brothers. That's about as linear as a game can get if you don't count the warp zones. In fact, I prefer games to be linear, because I will never complete a game like Oblivion or Fallout because there's simply too much to do and no real guidance.
I liked Mass Effect, although I felt the levels were too much "copy and paste" for my taste. I hated exploring new planets only to come across the same damn building with different box layouts. I also didn't care much for all the loot I got. I'm really glad they fixed that in Mass Effect 2. I would rather have 30 linear unique maps than 100 cookie-cutter maps with slight differences. I also like that they made the gunplay more fun. The game played like a dream.
Everyone takes different things away from the media they expose themselves to. A good example is a song they loved from a band, then they find out one of the band members is in the KKK, and they no longer like the song. It's just one oddly specific example lol.
This preference applies to journalism and game reviewers. Whether it's some schmuck with a blog or a full website, they expect all reviewers to follow similar guidelines. They also judge a review based on who is reviewing it. If Jim spent all of his time badmouthing certain people, then posted his first review ever, a lot of people wouldn't even care for the review and just judge him based on his attitude on other things. People look too much at the person and not at what is being said. They are corrupting the data presented to them.
@Arttemis: If you ever post any piano music, I would be interested in hearing. I've been playing piano by ear for over 16 years. It's probably one of the only good things to come out of Asperger's. I believe I have perfect pitch to the extent of my ability. I mean I can learn a song I hear by ear, but because I never studied music, I couldn't tell you what note it was, but I could find it easily on a piano. I just love playing the piano.
I'm trying to be as balanced as I can be, but sometimes, that involves extremes. What I mean is that sometimes I'll say something really harsh and follow up with something really positive (instead of what I've been trying to do now, is simply try to see each side and acknowledge it). I've been known to curse out and praise people in some of my older posts (way before Destructoid even existed). I was young at the time, and have been trying to improve my balance.
But I do agree with you on the listing to what people say instead of focusing on the person himself. Albeit, some argue Jim could word his stuff so it's easier to swallow, but chickens don't lay gold eggs.
(I think I just made that up. Please tell me no one has ever used that before)
maybe its the Asperger Syndrome talking, because i cant recall a time when Jim Sterling has ever "verbally abused" people who had differing opinions of his own.
he writes reviews- people attack him- he rebuts attack. even in his indie game criticism articles he never once attacked anyone for liking indie games nor did he attack all indie games.
if people read Jim Sterling's articles as little as you do (and as little as i read your blog) its no wonder he is under attack so much.
maybe next time do less drinking before blogging.
We don't though. We think we do, but we don't. We think others should, but they don't. We tell others to do the same, but really it all falls on death ears.
I hate it when people rip on Sonic Unleashed, I want to write a blog about how all of you are fucking idiots with brains the size of protons who can't process "fun" from "boring."
I won't do that, and I'll say I respect you guy's opinions on the part, and on the outside as well as on the first few layers on the inside, that's totally true.
But deep down, I really fucking hate you all.
Same with me hating MGS and yall loving it, or me not having a problem with the Wii all while a lot of you do. Secretly, we all hate each others opinions and all think of one another as an incompetent asshole whenever one doesn't agree with us.
Not gunna say it out loud though, unless I'm just that...I don't even know how to explain it.
People are defined by their actions as a whole, but no one should be defined by a single action (or several). If I steal candy from a store, should I be labeled a thief by everyone for the rest of my life? Yes, stealing is wrong, and they provide punishments for such actions, but if a person is labeled by a single action, they can never escape it no matter how hard they try to improve. It's almost like people want to keep those brandished with such titles down to feel better about themselves.
I honestly don't know how long I've been reading this site. I want to say 2007 or earlier but I could be wrong. I don't think I started a blog until I quit my job in 2009 because I was trying to be more social, although it's possible I made the account to enter a "Comment contest". But this is pretty much my go-to site, whether people know me or not.
I personally think Jim should either word his articles better, or even better, put some kind of genuine disclaimer that even I can understand when he decides to post an off-the-wall rant. The way he assumes we'll all automatically be able to "get" one of his satire posts is almost as bad as indie games expecting us to to "get" the fact that even though it told you to walk down the road, it was trying to be pretentious.
@SquawkDerby: Opinions serve their purpose.
I hope I didn't insinuate anywhere in any of my posts that I'm saying we should respect a person's opinion no matter what it is. I'm simply saying we should respect a person's right to generate an opinion. If we cannot do that, then we ourselves should not be allowed to have our own opinions.
I also mentioned that opinions become an infinite loop, because one man has an opinion, then another has an opinion of his opinion, and then it keeps going. It never stops.
My opinion is that I agree with you that Jim Sterling presents himself as a troll asshole. I may have even brought it up in one of the more recent articles. All a troll is, is a person who knowingly says something in a way that incites emotions in other people that read it, and that's what he does. There's no way he is completely oblivious to the idea that if he calls a group of people morons, he is causing emotions to be generated based on his words, be they satire or not.
Your opinion is noted, and I don't disagree with what you said about Jim, but I don't think anyone ever tried to get me to respect and "like" every opinion I hear. I also don't agree with "Call an asshole an asshole" because it might not be an asshole everyday. One day it could be glistening in the sun and someone might think it's art.
Just a really, REALLY bad analogy. And the mental image I saw when thinking about it will never, ever go away.
Thanks Destructoid :P.
He flat out calls anyone who believes the 360 ruined FF13 "officially, a moron", "stupid", a "fucking tool", and he ends the article with "your stupid fucking self". I don't know what kind of family you were raised in, but if anyone spoke like that to me or anyone in my family, we'd have some fucking beef to work our way through. It's not even that I have a problem with what he said in general. I agree that the opinion that the 360 ruined FF13 is uneducated, and even stupid to an extent. But people shouldn't be labeled by one illogical thought, because then, we're all stupid, because no matter what we think, someone thinks what we think is stupid. It's just how it is.
He doesn't do a whole lot of verbal abusing of specific people in his game reviews, and if something I said made it sound like I was saying so, I apologize. I'm trying to work through a lot of data, and it's impossible to say everything I want to say, because I feel a lot.
Your response is interesting. You assume I don't read his articles, but apparently I read more of them then yourself because I can cite specific examples of what I consider verbal abuse.
And if the article I posted as a reference is satire, it certainly fooled me. You can blame that on my Asperger's Syndrome, if it makes you feel better.
As a matter of fact, I love that tag, and we should get one for the Community Blogs as well.
As for the bit on the Troll part, the one thing is that Trolls intend to do what they intend to do. I don't think Jim intends to make people angry, even though he knows he's going to. Honestly, I still think he could have worded the FFXIII review with ponies and rainbows, but if the score was still a 4, and if he stated he didn't like the game and it wasn't worth the time, he'd still get as much shit for it as if he said like he normally does.
The diehard Final Fantasy fans are going to be angry at a negative review of one of their most beloved game franchise, because they love it so much. When it comes down to it, you really can't be angry at anyone because something and FF fan loved just got ripped apart, and some guy who's job it is to rip apart or praise games is getting yelled at because he ripped it apart.
Jim knows what he's going to say is going to make people angry, but that doesn't mean he enjoys it or is intending to make people angry in the first place. And I really can't tell Jim to write radically different from what he's been doing for the past 4 or so years so I can swallow down a review of my favorite game that he thinks is not worth my time; that's like asking him to go jump in a vat of nuclear waste and become Superman.
If he tried, he probably wouldn't succeed.
I also checked the article I've been focused on and I do not see a #satire tag under the image. I mean that's really the only article that I had a problem with (the 360 ruining FF13 one since it targeted real people and called them names for their opinion). I didn't really have an issue with any of his reviews being too harsh.
My opinion is that if Jim didn't want to make people angry, he wouldn't call them names. Again, referring to the one article in question. I don't think he writes articles to piss people off, and he could bash a game to the ends of the earth as far as I'm concerned, because it's just a game, and it's just his opinion of the game.
If you wanted my honest opinion, I don't agree with how he uses scores at the end of his review. I'm sure Deadly Premonition is a fun game for certain people, and I hope to play it some day (which is why I entered the contest with a really bad YouTube video I shot with my Samsung Rogue at 3am =P) because it does look "so bad it's good", but in my opinion, I can't see how it's "10" good, but then again, I haven't played it yet.
The message I get is Deadly Premonition is "so bad it's good" and deserves a 10. Final Fantasy 13 is "trying too hard to be good, but fails miserably" and gets a 4. On one hand, I appreciate that all games are judged and reviewed independently based on the reviewer's opinion.
On the other hand, the number-cruncher inside me wants consistency in scores. If I were reviewing games (which I "might" do and cross-post from my own blog to my destructoid blog), the number system would be way too complicated, and apply equally to all games. I would separate the different parts of a game into their own score bracket, which would add up to "10". So as annoying as it sounds, it would be laid out something like this:
Graphics: 0-2
Sound & Music: 0-2
Gameplay: 0-2
Storyline: 0-2
Misc (Multiplayer, Extras, etc): 0-2
And each 0-2 bracket would break down into 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, etc. It's convoluted, but if I am personally going to review games, numbers are going to be just as important as the review itself.
I can't imagine how good one of my reviews would be though. I have trouble following story, and I only pay attention to graphics, music, and gameplay. I'd have to play a game twice just to get the idea of the story.
Just my two cents. I've always like Jim's blunt reviews, I just didn't like that he targeted people and bashed them for having an opinion. An opinion I think is pretty stupid, but I'm not going to call them stupid for having it, and the only reason I call Jim a troll is because he calls people idiots for having their own opinions.
Circle of life.
Don't waste it on "Booze"... ... Unless it's Yager or Vodka. :P
I think you should post more often here!
We don't bite, usually.
you, sir, are my new hero.
If anything, I probably function better on alcohol. I would have never posted this entry sober. I would've typed all the way up til the end and hit the back button. I'm more of a vodka man honestly. I loved Yager until I drank half a large bottle in a few hours on an empty stomach and got sick. Now I can't even think about it without feeling queasy :(
@mrcecilman: I suppose I should say then that I am full of shit >.> <.< ... thanks :)
I mean, it's hard to sit there and have a console you like and own be bashed to hell and back for one game's mistakes, because it went multiplatform. It's like those people who boo'd the free Xbox 360/FFXIII bundle giveaway in the UK, in front of two of the games designers who MADE the damn thing. I watched that video, and I got so angry I almost blew up in the C-Blogs.
anyway, once again, awesome blog.
I can see why you don't self promote... As DTOID can be harsh @ times on people. Especially non established users! But the interwebs can be a place where, as you know anything is possible.
I bet that would suck just thinking about Yager. If it did make you "THAT" sick. Hate to make the hairs on neck stand up, but if you don't like it anymore. The perfumee aroma can be a swift turn off.
BTW what you said about Jim is all ok. It's just that Jim sometimes doesn't know when to stop his antics. Of ill timed puns and sarcasm. Many of which in this day of Internet, age of demographics & infancy of a maturing industry. An industry that is more realizing of profit margins than Music & Movies now. Could be manifested into something much more than it takes in it's own face value.
Calling Jim the Gaming Industry's Troll of Trolls, I'll be able to admit is a little harsh. Maybe even too fitting at the same time? But on the other hand is a tough "nut" truly to defend. In the face of LEGIONS of User Based Critics. Most of whom are 13-18 yo. I mean what else does this age demographic do all day. (( They've already dropped out of school & are smoking pot. ))
Since he is though a part of DTOID he's loved by MOST of the community members. Since most of the hardcore DTOID UserBase was here before he came. But has to take his lickings too. It's a rite of passage IMO. Jim, for VideaGamez President! :P
: an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions
That. That word to describe how a person acts over crap like 'bad' game reviews or something that disagrees with their view. Here is an example that pissed me off. I got this dood who would be called a friend in american society but I personally think that term friend is thrown too much around. ANYWHO, the one that he was saying that pissed me was how some Apple "douche"- I MEAN Apple 'Genius' told him if you jailbroke your iPhone that you would brick it, end of story. I blew up on him 'cause he was WRONG, dead wrong. Unless you TRY to brick the phone by changing the core firmware, a simple software unlock won't do that. Point of this rant? I fucking hate arrogant people that won't see past their ideas and look for either facts or even listen to others.
Know, how does this fit into this discussion? I don't know anymore really but I think it has to do with Daxelman talking about those 'boo-ers' at that release event. Those people were acting like douches for a sense of just being arrogant which also plays on those who went and blamed the 360 for all the short-comings of FF13. ARROGANCE, IT PISSES ME OFF. Now I look at it as the core of what Jim was saying. He was trying to make that a satire cause he had a serious message. But he said bluntly and directly to the point. Works for me, call those out for being ignorant smeg-heads they are.
Again, blah blah blah people suck in general blah blah blah. Anywho, I like this read, makes me think of my head a bit. Almost like I was really talking to you, makes a more enjoyable read, I guess. Not sure I agree with everything but I can't debate with anyone so I usually just give up. Oh well, hope this post doesn't put people in a sour mood, cause I wanna make myself likeable on Tomopop. :P
I'm extremely passive, but the one thing I have difficulty tolerating is abuse, whether it be physical or verbal/emotional. I am guilty of verbal abuse, at least back in early 2000 when I made it a habit to pick on people for what they thought or felt. A lot of the time I was just doing it because I felt people needed to be toughened up, then I realized it wasn't my job to make people tough, there are plenty of other things happening in the world to do that, so I pretty much stopped.
It has become more of a reaction, in that if someone calls me a moron, I might get upset and resort to their tactics, calling them names, etc. If I ever do that, I wouldn't do it on the front page of a popular blog. I'd post it in the community blogs, or keep it in the comments section of where I was called an idiot (main page, blog, anywhere it happens). It's not that I am saying people shouldn't "flame" each other, it's just that most people expect to be able to flame someone without them responding in a similar manner.
I'm not particularly defending Jim Sterling. I can see the things he does that make him look like a hypocrite. I can see how his last article about reviewing games could be interpreted as him possibly looking for sympathy. I can see these things, but do not necessarily feel them as my own opinion.
I wrote the original article because I sometimes hope I can help other people understand what is going on. The fact is, there is never just one thing going on at any time. A person could be flaming someone and giving them constructive criticism at the same time. It's not even limited to "2 sides of a story". We're talking about thousands of people reading the same article, and all of them taking away a different version of the story.
Whether it's due to misinterpretation, bias, not paying attention, not caring, looking to start a fight, looking to tear apart a man, looking to defend a good friend, sucking up to someone, and literally thousands of other possible motives, we all read things with different colored glasses.
If more people stopped and thought about what they are about to say, if they flipped position and put themselves on the other side of the argument, they probably wouldn't post their first reaction. And this is why I rarely post (except when people are responding to me, I make it a point to try to respond to as much as I can, and if I didn't respond to something, I appreciate that person letting me know and I will try my best to reply).
@mrcecilman: I'll be honest. I don't read every article on the site. I try to read as much as I can, because I'm always collecting data, but there's so much to absorb, and I'm supposed to be playing Dragon Age :P What I'm trying to say is that the one article I linked to is the only one in recent memory I can think of. I know he's usually quite harsh in his articles, but I had not seen any attacks on people for what they think, and if there were any I saw, I might have assumed they were satire because when an article is more bashing than actual opinion, I assume it's satire and written for fun. The FF13 article about the 360 version ruining the PS3 version seemed more serious than satire, which is why I care at all about how he wrote to other people.
I certainly don't have sympathy for him. I envy him being able to do what he does and get paid for it. In fact, if you want my raw opinion based on current data, It really bugs me because I'm unemployed, about to declare bankruptcy, and I can't work because my condition makes it difficult to be around people. I'm also depressed because it seems like life is always trying to keep me down. For someone to be able to make a living having such harsh opinions (this actually applies more to TV personalities) it really upsets me.
But I can see his appeal, and I do take enjoyment in most of his articles. I like watching him bash inanimate objects, even if hundreds of people spent years making them, and millions of people enjoy it regardless of what he says. It's fun to read.
Thanks for taking the time to read :) as well as your comments.
Stick around, man. This sort of writing is appreciated.
@Usedtabe: Thanks. That's why I put it on the front page :) It's the one song I'm really proud of (I'm also proud of Xuan's Nightmare in the Walking in Circles section, but I need to work on the mix). I love Walking in Circles so much because it's part of my "foundation". My album is going to be 16 tracks, 3 tracks are the foundation (Walking in Circles = Finding a problem, Theory of Mind = Finding a Solution, Against the Wind = Putting the solution into action). The other 13 tracks are the "Journey" of the album.
It gets really experimental, and I want every song to sound different and stand on their own. I want people to say "Hey, I didn't care much for most of your album, but I really liked "Any single song on the album", it stood out and hit me. Walking in Circles is being written to tell a story that I hope people can find something to take away and use for themselves.
@BS3 Owner: Actually, when I originally posted back in December (I edited the blog entry and made it public again if you check my dtoid blog it should be right under this one), I had a lot of people "want" to flame me for self-promoting, but I did it in a way that was okay to them. The only reason I made the entry private is because it linked to a lot of Youtube videos and directories that were all deleted. I didn't want people coming to this blog and getting 404'ed, I had been meaning to restore it when I got my site back up.
I don't really see it as people on Destructoid can be harsh. Everyone here has an opinion, and some of them have to express it in a harsh way, but that's how they are. The community forges itself by weeding out those who can't handle the constant flames. I was part of a community called Gamingforce back in early 2000 that basically existed on flaming the so-called weak and the people who stuck around, we all became really good friends. I'm used to it :)
There definitely seems to be a tightly knit community that has already accepted Jim Sterling and will defend him to the death. I'm fine with all that. He's a decent guy underneath all the drama and controversy he generates, intentionally or not. I've read some of the things he said and it surprised me how passionate he can be when he's not bashing skulls in. But now I sound like I'm kissing his ass :P
@oryharakestrel: I'm having difficulty reading your comment. Are you saying you blew up on a guy for being misinformed about jailbreaking? If that's the case, it sounds like you are being arrogant based on your definition. It also sounds like you are talking about your friend and him possibly blowing up on the guy, which would make him arrogant. I apologize for not understanding your comment :/
For some reason, whether it's Asperger's or just my thinking in general, I have difficulty comprehending certain complex behaviors such as Arrogance.
Actually I'm not used to responding to so many people and concepts. I'm feeling a bit burned out lol
Majority of people overlooked the reason for the booing at that FFXIII event. Read the comments again and look for a guy names Anus-something or other.
As for the blog, well I have to strongly disagree that opinions are all we have to give and, as you say, "...everything is subjective. It's all relative." But I'm not really up for a discussion on it at the moment (if you're interested, browse my comment history.) At any rate hello.
Also, I've never seen someone use shit so well as a tool for anaolgies and relations. =P
I know you did an intro, but I never saw it, so welcome!
back to what we were discussing earlier, its obvious you missed the point of "that" article entirely. Jim wasn't attacking people for thinking differently then himself, he was attacking people that weren't using INTELLIGENCE. he was attacking people who treat xboxes and playstations like fundamental christians (saying that one is a perfect God and the other is Devil and therefore causing all the evil in the world). but there's really no point in arguing with you:
"You can blame that on my Asperger's Syndrome, if it makes you feel better."
wow man. that's at least twice of just what ive read (not every comment) where you blamed YOUR lack of something on Aspergers. im not trying to correct you, or troll, or help you, or anything but you seriously need to take some responsibility.
im sorry you were born with a genetic disorder. welcome to the club. lots and lots and lots of people (myself included) are born everyday with all kinds of problems, genetic mutations, and disorders. having Aspergers doesn't qualify you to write off your every shortcoming. man up already, stop blaming your problems on something else, figure out how to be a productive member of society (it hurts but we all have to do it), and be glad you weren't born with something legitimately debilitating like MS.
"I'm not particularly defending Jim Sterling. I can see the things he does that make him look like a hypocrite. I can see how his last article about reviewing games could be interpreted as him possibly looking for sympathy. I can see these things, but do not necessarily feel them as my own opinion. "
hypocrite? for someone who "has difficulty comprehending certain complex behaviors such as Arrogance" you sure can "see" a lot about Jim Sterling. in one sentence you blame your inability to understand on your condition and the next minute you claim you know the inner workings of someone else's thoughts and feelings. your entire blog is riddled with similar inconsistencies.
whats worse is that you get 30 faps for such a thing... whatev man- wasnt meant to be a hard handed rip. its all just opinions right?
"I certainly don't have sympathy for him. I envy him being able to do what he does and get paid for it. In fact, if you want my raw opinion based on current data, It really bugs me because I'm unemployed, about to declare bankruptcy, and I can't work because my condition makes it difficult to be around people. I'm also depressed because it seems like life is always trying to keep me down."
i dont take back anything i said before. lots of people are dealt heavy hands- i am also unemployed and broke (through seemingly no fault of my own). but having been on both sides of the fence i say dont envy someone like Jim just because it seems like he has a good job. im obviously nobody but from one random stranger to another you have no idea what his life is like, what hes been through, or what it takes to do a job like he does.
im sorry your in a bad situation. we all are right now. games are supposed to be an escape from those things- who cares about inconsequential things like game reviews or game reviewers? (not just you but) everyone needs to quit whining about what someone said about what and either have fun or be miserable.
like i said before it could always be worse- you could be living in Michigan.
Since you brought to light your Asperger's at the top of your article, social awkwardness is clearly a heartfelt issue for you. I hope it is of some consolation that all people are like this.
Often the most brash and extrovert people are compensating for their own self-esteem issues with their veneer of confidence.
The truth is, it is an adjunct of social interaction through the internet that the isolation of prose above any other form of communication stirs up heightened tension. In a sense, all users are largely anonymous and impersonal, so empathy is scarce and this often leads to cold, impersonal judgement.
Luckily, as a group, DToid are more open than most internet communities. It's part of why they're so awesome.
Having said that I missed most of the article. But you sound smart n shit...so I best not fuck with your wit :O)
Welcome
lol
We should be buddies. I like this post and we should talk sometime.
Interesting that you speak of the benefits of respecting someone else's point of view when a symptom of Aspergers is (can be?) the inability to empathize.
My nephew has Aspergers and it's cool to see that it's not going to prevent him from being able to write wicked blog posts when he's older.
Welcome to Destructoid. You'll fit in just fine here.