The Other M Drama In Hindsight

[Remnants]

If there's anything haters, defenders and even those who refused to take sides can all agree on, it's that this game caused quite a storm in the fanbase, something that was visible even to this little community of ours. Can't say I know exactly what happened around other fansites like m2k2, Shinesparkers or any of the others but I have been around here to see some things...

The question I have is, how has this affected the Metroid fanbase or just the Metroid Database community?

The latter is much easier for me to answer. Only problem is that I showed up right when the crossfire was already going on so I cannot say for sure if this benefited or harmed this here community in any one or more ways.
Obviously, emotions ran high; something pretty common with any new release. Since people have a natural tendency to just express themselves and vent their emotions, whatever those may be, you have lots of opinions flooding in. To me it seemed like the negative reception of the game always outnumbered the positive. Still, it seemed like the defenders only grew more determined to defend the game in the face of such overwhelming opposition so they fight back pretty fiercely. What happens now is that the fanbase or community is divided. In the face of all the fighting, something else is brewing. Emotions begin to die down, in some more quickly than others and many who have sobered up enough to see what the community has become will most likely feel embarrassed or shamed of what we've been reduced to. There seems to be one of two things in general that this shame can drive people to do; shape up or ship out but violent behavior is also a possible outcome. With the former, some vent their frustration at the whole drama which might sober up certain people but the more likely outcome is increasing the collective feeling of shame in the community. People leave, they straighten up or they just get tired of talking about it. Seems like all three of those happened. Right now, MDb is experiencing pretty good stability as fighting and division isn't something I'm seeing much of anymore.

Juuust my interpretation on the matter.
I'm no psychologist or sociologist but I've read and listened to a couple of lectures that covered certain topics which spun around in my head for some time, partly because I think this could come in handy in the near future.

[Emperor Ing]

You have to understand that the game came out three years ago - everything that has been said about it has more or less been said, and I think for the most part, we just don't care anymore, about Other M or the drama it caused.

It makes me sad that several of our best members decided to leave, but that didn't have to do with the drama but rather the game itself.

I wouldn't read too much psychology into a game forum, especially vocal displays of hate or support for Other M. It's part of being a 'fanboy.'

[Infinity's End]

There were a few people who came here just solely to bitch. Sometimes there are a few stragglers who come here just to bitch, but it usually ends up being a single post, they speak their peace, and then they leave forever. Yeah, it's pretty much calmed down. The people who were the loudest and biggest haters have left completely. Mental, our ex-forum mod, left because of a conflict of interest. His shitty little blog is used as a tool by many on the internet as "proof" of MOM's flaws, though most children don't understand it's all just his (utterly bullshit, unproven, and completely subjective) opinion.

[darkpower]

Meh, it's how the internet is anymore. It's not just Metroid that it happened to. Did you see the uproar that came up over the Tomb Raider trailer because of one simple scene that people took completely out of context? What happened recently with God of War: Ascension and how they had to change a trophy name because of an uproar over that? The notion that Blizzard can never please anyone no matter what they try to do to make WoW better?

Yeah, it's ridiculous how bad it's getting nowadays with stuff like this. It's not just this game, but how the internet and how you can be as anonymous as ever and get away with saying the most obscene and offensive and crazy stuff about anything at all. Not only that, but they hide behind those that have legit complaints to shield themselves from any criticism (that way, when we call the crazies out, the legits think that we're calling THEM out with just as much vitriol...funny how things can be right now).

I'm fine to have a legit, mature discussion pro and con about any game, M:OM included. I'm not for people who decide to either be master trolls or just get crazy or become elitists or purists while acting crazy and irrational without knowing a single spec of what it is they are talking about, and when I call the crazies out, it doesn't mean that joesmith with a legit complaint about game x that he took the time to get facts and point it out in a constructive and mature way is going to be grouped in (unless, of course, joesmith is hiding behind crazyguy to shield himself from any counterpoints).

I liked the game and thought the way they hid things and tried to present the story was pretty well done. Perhaps the story would've been better as a prequel (I think the recent love for Tomb Raider's story and that Lara Croft is because we know going in that she isn't the tough as nails woman we would be used to because she hasn't developed that just yet...but we do learn how she finds that strength through fear), but I enjoyed the game despite it being short and somewhat easy. I think it's harder to introduce new story elements in an interquel for the reasons specified in numerous other places. I understand people won't agree with me on how good the game is, but as long as the objection is made maturely, then things will be good.

Thing is, the state of the internet is making it hard to get any point across without flame wars and trolling happening.

[Doc Scratch]

Why does Metroid Database even have an Other M subforum? Nobody cares about Other M the game. There aren't discussions of its mechanics or bosses or powerups like there are in the Classic or Prime forums. The last post in the gameplay forum was in May of 2012. Even the story is barely talked about; the last post in the stickied thread was six months ago.

The only discussion here I see is pointless bickering about the game's quality, occasional non-game related crap (action figure thread), and childish, gossipy attacks like this one.

Mental, our ex-forum mod, left because of a conflict of interest. His shitty little blog is used as a tool by many on the internet as "proof" of MOM's flaws, though most children don't understand it's all just his (utterly bullshit, unproven, and completely subjective) opinion.

[darkpower]

Why does Metroid Database even have an Other M subforum? Nobody cares about Other M the game. There aren't discussions of its mechanics or bosses or powerups like there are in the Classic or Prime forums. The last post in the gameplay forum was in May of 2012. Even the story is barely talked about; the last post in the stickied thread was six months ago.

The only discussion here I see is pointless bickering about the game's quality, occasional non-game related crap (action figure thread), and childish, gossipy attacks like this one.

Mental, our ex-forum mod, left because of a conflict of interest. His shitty little blog is used as a tool by many on the internet as "proof" of MOM's flaws, though most children don't understand it's all just his (utterly bullshit, unproven, and completely subjective) opinion.

1. You cared enough to make a post about how much people "don't care". (no offense intended. Just saying you did)

2. You do indirectly highlight a fault in the game I saw: game was easy and short. Thing is, that's the norm with games these days, not just with MOM. I expected the game to have some more to it in terms of gameplay and difficulty, and in some ways, it delivered, but in other ways, it didn't. But those things can be fixed in future games. It's not like there are franchises that have games that didn't meet expectations on those fronts. Some franchises tend to do that.

3. The reason why story line isn't discussed right now is because of how discussions about it usually degrade to. Honestly, I can't count how many times I've seen someone try to theorycraft why this or that happened in the game in an in-universe style of thinking, only to have a brigade of people (that TotalBiscuit in one of his videos described so eloquently as the "video game Taliban") degrading it into an out of universe discussion of "why did Sakamoto think of this" followed by a flame war over the game's story quality that never gets anywhere and never leaves us alone. Not saying it's unallowed to dislike any game, but you should see how badly the debates over this game becomes. Many don't discuss the story because they don't want to bother with people that choose to resort to name calling or personal attacks just because they express their love for a game and want to discuss the story of said game.

I'd love to shoot the theory craft with anyone about how the story could go with anyone that has an open mind, regardless of their feelings for Other M. I just don't want to risk being subjected to the same immaturity that we've been getting. Some people wanted to hate this game from the second it was announced at E3 2009 (I think I have the year right). How could Nintendo win when you have hatred like that?

[TheBlackCat]

Why does Metroid Database even have an Other M subforum?

Because this is a metroid site, it is a metroid game, every category of metroid games gets a sub-forum, and so far Other M is the only game in its category. If there are more third-person 3D metroid games I am sure Other M will lose its category and will be merged with them. Whether people like the game or not, it still exists. We can't just pretend it doesn't.

[Doc Scratch]

1. You cared enough to make a post about how much people "don't care". (no offense intended. Just saying you did)

When I say "people don't care about the game", I mean that they never talk about the game itself here. I'm sure plenty of people care about Other M's gameplay and story; I just wish they'd post about it.

2. You do indirectly highlight a fault in the game I saw: game was easy and short. Thing is, that's the norm with games these days, not just with MOM. I expected the game to have some more to it in terms of gameplay and difficulty, and in some ways, it delivered, but in other ways, it didn't. But those things can be fixed in future games. It's not like there are franchises that have games that didn't meet expectations on those fronts. Some franchises tend to do that.

My post has nothing to do with the quality or length or difficulty of Other M. All I am saying is that nobody is discussing the game's mechanics or storyline on this subforum outside of "Other M was good." "Other M was bad." ad nauseum.

3. The reason why story line isn't discussed right now is because of how discussions about it usually degrade to. Honestly, I can't count how many times I've seen someone try to theorycraft why this or that happened in the game in an in-universe style of thinking, only to have a brigade of people
degrading it into an out of universe discussion of "why did Sakamoto think of this" followed by a flame war over the game's story quality that never gets anywhere and never leaves us alone. Not saying it's unallowed to dislike any game, but you should see how badly the debates over this game becomes. Many don't discuss the story because they don't want to bother with people that choose to resort to name calling or personal attacks just because they express their love for a game and want to discuss the story of said game.

I'd love to shoot the theory craft with anyone about how the story could go with anyone that has an open mind, regardless of their feelings for Other M. I just don't want to risk being subjected to the same immaturity that we've been getting. Some people wanted to hate this game from the second it was announced at E3 2009 (I think I have the year right). How could Nintendo win when you have hatred like that?

I'm not sure how to respond. It really sucks to have people rain on your parade like that. If your problem is that all of your discussions on Other M get silenced, how is maintaining the status quo going to help? It seems like the only thing that could solve this problem is more strict moderation and enforcement of the "No negativity rule".

Why does Metroid Database even have an Other M subforum?

Because this is a metroid site, it is a metroid game, every category of metroid games gets a sub-forum, and so far Other M is the only game in its category. If there are more third-person 3D metroid games I am sure Other M will lose its category and will be merged with them. Whether people like the game or not, it still exists. We can't just pretend it doesn't.

Not having an Other M subforum doesn't mean pretending Other M doesn't exist. It just means not having a place that might as well be highlighted "ARGUE HERE ABOUT OTHER M!" If it's really an issue, just rename the Prime forums to "3D Metroid games" or the Classic forums to "3rd-person Metroid games". If the people here can fit a freaking pinball title in the Prime section (Where is my pinball section?), they can fit a third-person 3D Metroid somewhere.

People don't argue about Hunters or Fusion or Echoes or Corruption to the same amount they argue about Other M, and I think part of it is that there is a big, importnat looking Other M subforum where most of the recent threads are "Was Other M good or bad? Garble garble garble." It's a magnet for drama.

[sharonlover]

People don't argue about Hunters [/color]

Were you even around for Hunters? Lose your memory? Hunter's, in my opinion, caused the most problems by my recollection.

As for why there is a Other M forum, it was a new game and there were bound to be many many many posts about Other M (which looking at the numbers shows that to be true). It was the next big game.

You sorta have to look at it in arcs. You've got the classic arc, the prime arc, and then what ever is going to happen with the continuation of the story from Other M. Makes sense to me. It may be pushed into a different category in the future but for the time being, there was enough interest to make it's own sub-forum.

[Emperor Ing]

We all stopped arguing about Hunters once a) IUniverse left, and consequently, b) we finally realized that Hunters was garbage.

[Apothem]

Funnily enough, Hunters is almost tolerable on an emulator with a mouse and keyboard. I don't think I'll ever be able to properly acclimate to those sorts of stylus controls, though. Serious case of wankers cramp.

[Doc Scratch]

I thought people already knew Hunters was garbage. Iuniverse seems like a one-man crusade to me from what I've read of his posts on other forums.