Psychology of fanboyism (or why some ignorant kids hate Doom)

http://www.modojo.com/features/20070316/214/cant_we_all_just_get_along_the_psychology_of_fanboyism/

For those who can't be bothered with the link:
Okay, so some kid gets Call of Duty on his XBox. He sees someone playing Doom on his computer with all the bells and whistles of GZDoom. He at first thinks "Why doesn't Call of Duty have demons and chainsaws and room-clearing balls of plasma? That game is so much more badass than COD." Then as a method to cope with his mistake, he's like "Doom is so old! My fucking Atari could do better graphics!"

I doubt he owns an Atari.

Emulator or his brother/friend/whoever owns an Atari. This is all hypothetical.

There's no angle on this story that isn't sad.

I really will never understand what graphics have to do with anything.

I just got done playing Battlefield Bad Company 2 beta with my boyfriend (Which has AMAZING graphics) and had a ton of fun, then loaded up ZDoom after he went to bed and had even more fun playing my next installment of the "Let's Play Alien Vendetta" videos.

Why the fuck do they gotta compete? Both games can be just as good, graphics or otherwise - it's gameplay that should be looked at. Am I gonna sit here and look at pixels and have a great time, or look at a almost-real scene and have no fun at all?

As long as the psychological need to prove one's possessions to be better than others' possessions exists, people will still compete and fight.

As long as people still fight XBox vs Nintendo vs PlayStation or Windows vs Mac vs Linux, there will still be fanboys.

It's not about being psychological, it's about being vain and petty.

Honestly, who the fuck cares?

I for one don't a damn if some 12-year old thinks MW2/Halo is better than DooM. I love this game way too much to be bothered by what anyone else says about it.

It's basically digital segregation. If someone doesn't familiarize themselves with all games and platforms, they're a witless cyber redneck.

Younger gamers probably get their racist tendencies against good games from their parents. Any gamer who's intelligent enough to enter into post-secondary education usually get into Doom sooner or later.

eargosedown said:

my boyfriend (Which has AMAZING graphics)

Is he full HD?

What really bothers me...and I'm not saying its on display here...is the notion that we somehow need to prove something to other gamers. I've heard it a bunch of times: "Everyone should love DooM! Why doesn't everyone love DooM?!"

Everyone who seriously has a problem with anyone *not* liking DooM reeks of insecurity. And if we seek the validation of said audience...the community is in a worse position than I thought.

DuckReconMajor said:

Is he full HD?

Featuring DX11 exclusive tessellation?

Mr. Freeze said:

Honestly, who the fuck cares?

I for one don't a damn if some 12-year old thinks MW2/Halo is better than DooM. I love this game way too much to be bothered by what anyone else says about it.

If you really didn't care you wouldn't make such a fuss over how little you care. :)

I've never once actually met someone that likes graphics over gameplay and refuses to play old games. I never really got that stereotype. Then again, I don't hang out with 12-year-olds.

If you venture out into brick'n'mortar game stores you can usually overhear people like that. I was at a Disc Replay and some kid was talking to his pal about wanting to play Halo 1 so he could "make fun of the graphics."

I read the title of this thread, and I fully expected it to be by Maes.

I think the psychosis is more like 'I must have the latest game' rather than 'I must have the best graphics'.

Who cares though? Doom is old as shit and if kids that were born in the new millennium don't want to like it, what does it matter? We still get newer players who are rather young in this community, probably much more so than other classic games.

There's actually plenty of younger kids here. Besides, young people are usually pretty stupid. Who cares what they like.

Thats a generations conflict. They have born on this time, and will not want to see things from older times. Wanting a boy that plays Halo, Counter-Strike, Fallout, and such stupid games to play Doom, is the same thing as you want a guy who listens to Justin Timberlake listen to Metallica. You can't do anything to change his mind, so, just ignore those people.

I would say go one step further -- they should be beneath our consideration in the first place. No need to ignore what's not even on the radar.

We DOOM players can also be zealous, in any case. (Erm, just look at the post above mine.) On the bright side, the mechanism of an acquired faith in what one chooses keeps people from hopping from one thing to another with the attention span of a fly.

I fire up doom 3 every once in a while just to play Super Turkey Turbo Puncher.

...What have I become?

I'm guessing that the op goes to high school like me... ;)

I used to play Doom all the time in a computer's class, and the only thing other kids had to say were "what shitty graphics".

Besides that, all my friends have adapted to the fact that I don't play new games, and think I'm crazy for it.

Cjwright79 said:

I think the psychosis is more like 'I must have the latest game' rather than 'I must have the best graphics'.

This is completely true for many younger gamers. Many gamers my age would rather play a game thats more recent but has shitty gameplay (i.e. Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing) than a game that's not so recent but has awesome gameplay (i.e. Duke Nukem 3d or Quake).

I just think it's funny that this thread is supposed to evaluate a "fanboy" who doesn't like Doom and the response in this thread by most are exhibiting the exact same behavior by saying that Doom is the best and everything else is stupid.

st.alfonzo said:

I fire up doom 3 every once in a while just to play Super Turkey Turbo Puncher.

...What have I become?

You don't even need Doom 3 to do that.
Isle's: ZSuper Turbo Turkey Puncher 3

I never said I don't accept people who won't play Doom. That would be like that kid who threw a hissy fit because people play ZDaemon rather than Skulltag (though I've implied that I prefer Skulltag).

Another completely relevant shard of info on my project:

At full release, the WAD will include ten Skulltag Deathmatch maps replacing the stock maps. The WAD will still be playable in ZDoom because the main campaign will not use Skulltag weapons and features. The pace of my project has been fairly quick as to release beta ASAP.

Ralphis said:

I just think it's funny that this thread is supposed to evaluate a "fanboy" who doesn't like Doom and the response in this thread by most are exhibiting the exact same behavior by saying that Doom is the best and everything else is stupid.

Look at the thread title. "or why some ignorant kids hate Doom" to be exact. He just fit the mold of a fanboy right off the bat! That's some sharp irony right there.

I do appreciate and respect other things, so I'm not really a vain fanboy. The reason I used the word "ignorant" is to flag those who don't appreciate a gaming milestone such as Doom.

I can't help but laugh at the irony of the suggestion that it's the people who _don't_ choose a 15 year old game over newer ones who are the "fanboys"