Internet Backdraft/Video Games: Difference between revisions

* Whether or not [[Microsoft]] should make a handheld is quite the issue within the gaming community.

* After the [[Hype Backlash|commercial failure]] of the [[Nintendo 3DS]], Nintendo dropped the price of the system to a paltry $170 in the US, literally ''5 months'' after its release. People who bought it prior to the price drop, despite Nintendo trying to compensate with a collection of 20 games (most of them classics like ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' and ''[[Yoshi's Island]]''), were not pleased.

** On the side of those who hate DLC, we have understable complaints, since some DLC are content removed from the game in order to sell it under the disguise of DLC (such as some missions of ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''), content already on the disk but that you need to unlock with a DLC in order to use it (such as the costumes of ''[[Street Fighter IV]]''), content which could be seen as vital (or at least very useful) but that you need to buy as DLC in order to use it (such as the chest in which you can store your equipment in [[Dragon Age Origins]]), or even some content which we can reasonably think should have been available in the game right from the start instead of being sold separately as DLC (such as the costumes and arena fights of [[Final Fantasy XIII-2]], DLC available since the release of the game). Some DLC are not new content, but just a way to [[Bribing Your Way to Victory|bribe your way to victory]] (such as some DLC in [[Tales of Vesperia]], which allow the player to gain levels, money, artes, items... It's not so much "downloadable content" here, and more like "paying cheat codes"). And let's not start about the activation codes of [[Batman: Arkham City]], preventing you from accessing a part of the game if you buy a second hand copy of the game instead of a new one, which will make you unable to enjoy it... Unless you buy the DLC which allows access to these parts of the game. Overall, this side sees DLC as a cash machine for the editors, and fear that they are considered as cash cows.

** On the other hand, the other side argues that DLC can provide new content and fun to a game long after its release, allowing us to prolong the experience. Also, some DLC are whole new levels or adventures, depending on the game, which can lead some DLC as being seen as true extensions. Needless to say, it depends heavily on the quality of the DLC.

*** And this is coming up again with ''[[Street Fighter X Tekken]]'', since it was revealed that the 360 would get no exclusives whatsoever and the [[PlayStation 3]] will be getting '''five''' exclusive characters...two of them being [[Pac-Man]] and [[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] (Okay...Bad Box Art Mega Man...but people are mad all the same)

** Of course, if said port actually ''does'' happen down the road, expect an enormous backlash, with fans of the original system complaining about being "betrayed" by the company that decided to port over the game, and fans of the system the game is being newly ported to coming over with victorious "I told you so" remarks.

 

== Companies and Individuals ==

* [[Capcom]] has been getting [[Flame Bait|massive]], [[Unstoppable Rage|massive]] [[Hatedom|amounts]] of flak for [[Vaporware|cancelling]] the third ''[[Mega Man Legends]]'' game, especially so shortly after cancelling ''Mega Man Universe''... and announcing ''[[Capcom Sequel Stagnation|another]]'' [[Updated Rerelease|version]] of ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]''.

** And now that the new characters for ''Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3'' have been leaked, Mega Man himself is ''still'' nowhere to be seen. Mega Man fans are seething with enough rage to power a solar system.

** Mega Man fans are '''furious''' about his inclusion in ''[[Street Fighter X Tekken]]''. Why? Because not only did they give him his [[Off-Model]] appearance from the first game's NES cover, but deliberately made him a middle-aged, fat loser who just screams "[[Joke Character]]." Capcom's mishandling of the series is one thing, but deliberately rubbing salt on the wound by ''turning your company mascot into a complete joke'' may just drive them over the edge. It doesn't help that his bio is almost identical to [[Mega Man Legends|Trigger's]] bio, which only serves to remind people of the cancellation that started this whole mess. Keiji Inafune ''himself'', who was currently working at Capcom at the time before the games above were cancelled, made the decision to use the "Bad Boxart Megaman" design when Mega Man was included in the character roster. [[Dude, Not Funny|Not that it has stopped fans from]] [[Too Soon|screeching at Capcom about the design decision]] (it was supposed to be a joke, but it backfired immensely).

** And then, Capcom outright stated that they were trying to draw in [[Call of Duty]] fans, even calling it "the dream," and they were deliberately making ''[[Resident Evil 6|RE6]]'' more [[Actionized Sequel|action-based]] to do so. Cue fan backlash at Capcom "dumbing down" RE for the [[Lowest Common Denominator]], and people retracting their excitement for the game. [[Sarcasm Mode|Nice going, Capcom.]]

** Ace Attorney fans weren't too happy ''at all'' when Capcom gave the [[No Export for You]] treatment to Ace Attorney Investigations 2. The petition for it to be released is still up.

* [[Nintendo]]'s recent business decisions and the fact [[Cash Cow Franchise|they keep milking their top franchises dry]] have come under criticism in recent years. The more hardline Nintendo fans, and even Nintendo itself, tend to be derided as [[Nostalgia Filter|living in the past]], unable to accept the current trends that Sony and Microsoft are adopting in their game consoles.

*** Not only that, but Nintendo's 2008 E3 event left its fanboys foaming at the mouth, wishing Nintendo to burn in hell after saying they had been lied to about Nintendo claiming to be revealing some games that weren't casual (aka core titles like Mario and Kid Icarus). Reggie's co-worker explaining about her broken wrist has already become [[Memetic Mutation|a popular fad on forums]].

*** In a funny twist, with the announcement of the [[Wii U]] having HD graphics, a good chunk of fans are proudly touting this as a great feature. Bring up how they didn't care for HD graphics for the Wii and watch the fireworks.

*** [[Hilarious in Hindsight|Funnily enough,]] Nintendo seems to have adopted a similar system for the [[Wii U]]. Fans were surprisingly bemused.

** Bringing up the subject of limited online and friend codes to Nintendo Wii fans can be hazardous to your health. Mention that you think Wii games should have more comprehensive online modes/play and you'll either be labeled a [[Stop Having Fun Guy]] who wants Wii games to be havens for cheaters and griefers, or worse, you'll be told that you only want to play online so much because you don't have any real friends. Of particular controversy are the debates over the limited online play in ''[[Super Smash Brothers]] Brawl'' and the lack of online multiplayer in ''New [[Super Mario Bros.]] Wii''.

** Or, heck, bring up EA in general, particularly if you bring up anything speaking in their defense, or otherwise question their internet [[Butt Monkey]] status.

** Newest offender: EA's "Online Pass" and used games.

** And then gained it back when it announced the Origin cloud based distribution system. Which sells EA exclusive games with little chance of a sale like [[Steam]], as well as running poorly, lacking the features of Steam, and [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick|periodically scanning the user's hard drive]].

* If you want a real flame war, try and mention [[X-Play|G4TV]] and its status as a credible news source. Watch as people crawl out of the woodwork, either stating that they are the best news source ever, or a [[Fox News]]-esque mouthpiece for "hardcore" players. But whatever you do, don't mention them in front of Nintendo fans.

** Microsoft dedicated half of their conference to Kinect (A.K.A Project Natal) which controlled questionably. A quarter of the conference was dedicated to features on Xbox Live that most gamer would probably never use and another quarter was used to showcase the games [[Misaimed Fandom|gamers actually care about]]. It was so bad that they had to [[Bribing Your Way to Victory|give everyone in the audience the new Xbox 360 model]].

** Ubisoft took the cake, however. They started off well showing gameplay for ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'', started to wobble a bit with Shaun White Skateboarding, got back in with Ghost Recon and Driver, then completely flew off the handle with the same Kinect game that was showcased in the Microsoft conference and a BREATHING GAME. There was a brief point of redemption with the return of [[Rayman]] in Rayman: Origins, with got quickly shot down with a [[Michael Jackson]] dancing game in the style of Just Dance. With no actual footage, just dancing. Cue [[Face Palm]].

** On that note, just say that Shigeru Miyamoto is anything but a video game legend who can do no wrong, and watch the fireworks explode.

** The game's motion controls are a point of [[Broken Base|debate]] with several fans. Are they just what Zelda needed after years of button mashing(or, in ''[[Twilight Princess]]'' Wii's case, [[Waggle]]), and a return to the depth of ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link|Zelda II the Adventure of Link]]'s'' combat? Or are they needlessly clunky, and make the combat sluggish and [[Fake Difficulty|needlessly difficult?]] There is no middle ground here.

* There have been arguments on whether [[VG Chartz]] is a good place for software sales estimates. You do not mention these numbers on NeoGAF. ([[Wikipedia]] outright banned it.)

** For those who only care about American software sales, [[VG Chartz]] vs NPD. Escpecially after a weekly sales update.

** Later Gamespot cheated and flipped the votes between [[Metroid|Samus]]/B&B when B&B were winning thanks to the said imageboards; the tirade that ensued on the Gamespot forums were not light following this, just HINTING that Gamespot pulled a fast one caused week suspensions at the LEAST. Never talk about proxy voting on ANY character....

** Related was the Greatest Villain contest. Two of the four semi-finalists were [[The Force Unleashed|Darth Vader]] and [[Arkham Asylum|The Joker]], having crushed entries like [[Diablo]] and [[Final Fantasy|Kefka]] on the way up. Half the community insisted they shouldn't be in the contest due to being Movie and [[Comic Book]] villains, while the other half defended the decision.

** And then that certain [[Image Board]] once again messed with the votes and allowed [[Gears of War|General RAAM]], a very bland villain that hardly appeared in the game, to beat powerhouses like [[Half-Life 2|Dr. Breen]] and [[Final Fantasy VII|Sephiroth]].

* IGN as game reviewers. Do they just whore out higher ratings for the big budget AAA titles regardless of actual merit, or are they fair in their judgments? For am especially sore point, bring up their review of Metro 2033. The reviewer went through the whole review sounding like he had rather enjoyed the game, which he stated was good but had a few issues. And then he suddenly slapped it with a 6, specifically stating poor stealth and glitches. To people who defend IGN, these would be justifiable reasons to mark a game down. To IGN doubters, these are just excuses to mark down a great game.

** It doesn't help that the premier Call of Duty, Halo, Battlefield, and Gears of War games are almost exclusively the only games to have 9's and higher. or even are the only games or series to routinely score high 8's and above.

* Similarly, Victor Ireland either massacred ''[[Lunar]]'' with Clinton and fart jokes or salvaged a stupid generic JRPG and is the true father of ''Lunar''. Since Ireland himself falls into the latter camp and remains ''extremely'' bitter that XSEED did not hire his new company when they licensed and localized the PSP [[Enhanced Port]], this gets ugly ''really'' fast since there's a good chance he may show up and egg people on.

* Controversial game reviewers get this at times, especially ones that invoke [[8.8]].

 

== Specific Games ==

** [[For Massive Damage]], attest that you found [[The Scrappy|Chris Thorndyke]] (from the [[Sonic X]] anime) to be a well-rounded and likeable character ''throughout'' his two-season run.

** Or ask whether it's Eggman or Robotnik. Check the section on Birdo's gender for the likely responses.

** Also talk about your favorite shipping and say why all others are wrong. [[Ship-to-Ship Combat|Sonamy vs Shadamy and Knuxouge vs Shadouge]] are highly popular debate topics.

** Heck, just saying you don't like a character will get you into trouble. Depending on the character of course. Then there are the characters that saying you ''like'' them will get you in trouble.

** Say that ''[[Sonic Generations]]'' is better than ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles]]'' or vice-versa.

*** Or [[Take a Third Option]] and say ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'' is better than either of them.

** "So old-school Sonic fans, how were the physics in ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 4]]''?" After saying that, ''you'd better run like you were the Blue Blur himself''.

*** Crank it [[Up to Eleven]] by stating that you found Sonic 4 to be a ''superior'' game to the Genesis games, let alone a good game. That alone should spark a holocaust between fans of the classic Sonic games and fans of Sonic 4 (especially if the most elite of both sides are involved, who depending on which side they're on condemn any praise or criticism of the game) so intense, you'd need to borrow a [[Sonic 3 and Knuckles|flame shield]] just to avoid getting charred in the process.

** Similarly, posting anything about the console game ''Brotherhood of Steel''.

*** Back when the above game was in production, Interplay shut down ''their own official forums'' for the game due to being filled by angry posts.

** Or admitting you play as Pikachu. See [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/02/22 this ''Penny Arcade'' comic] and accompanying blog post.

** Another one is to mention that ''Wolf,'' is [[Shotoclone|too clone-y]] of ''Falco,'' who is too clone-y of Fox, and that previous characters that were removed should've replaced this triple-clone. You'll get a pretty nice battle going: might even result in some Soylent Snacks for the show.

* The moral ramifications of fighting Nobodies and Organization XIII in ''[[Kingdom Hearts|Kingdom Hearts II]]''. [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]] in general evokes this, but this gets it a lot in particular as you spend the first three hours of the game ''playing as one''.

** Oh, and how about this, [[Ship-to-Ship Combat|go on a forum and ask 'so liek does Sora mac on Kairi or Riku or whut gaiz?']]

** More recently in ''[[Birth By Sleep]]'', we have the villain Vanitas who is revealed to be a ''seventh'' {{spoiler|Sora}} clone (if those numbers are crunched correctly...). Nomura is officially on thin ice, alongside half of the fanbase...

** Go to a Kingdom Hearts forum (ESPECIALLY KH Insider) and post a simple topic of, "Why do people hate Kairi?" Sit back and watch as a freaking ''cult'' of people say she's a bitchy, obsessive Sora fangirl that hates Riku, exists to only be a [[Damsel in Distress]], and that Namine and/or Xion are 10x better. Some even have the latter part in their ''signature''.

*** Which is already starting to generate some backdraft from guitarists pointing out that plucking the string and knowing what fret to press isn't that much less superficial than the older controllers.

** Not to mention the ongoing argument about whether ''Guitar Hero'' or ''[[Rock Band]]'' is the better plastic instrument simulator series, which has been going on since the latter made its debut in 2007 and shows no signs of abating.

** Any discussion of [[Nirvana|Kurt Cobain's]] likeness in ''Guitar Hero 5''. Is the game honoring him or standing against everything he (supposedly) stood for by including a virtual replica of him? Is witnessing him singing completely asinine songs just plain wrong or [[Crosses the Line Twice|humorous in a sick way]]? Is Courtney Love a whore for lending his likeness to Activision? (On a side note, the late [[Johnny Cash]] was also subjected to the same treatment as Kurt in ''GH5'', yet there was much less outcry over his avatar. Nirvana [[Fan Dumb]] much?)

** Hyperspeed in Guitar Hero and its Rock Band counterpart, Breakneck Speed. The increased speed leads to notes being spread further apart, which some people find makes it easier to play. Now go to a message board and say that it's cheating.

** Other topics to avoid are "Who was the best villain?" and "Who's responsible for Sephiroth's actions?"

** Say you like ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''. For more kindling, try saying that on [[That Guy With The Glasses]] or [[The Spoony Experiment]].

** Call [[Final Fantasy VIII|Squall Leonhart]] by any other name like [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Squall Lionheart]] or [[Gannon Banned|Leon Loire]] to any true fans of the series and see what happens.

** The announcement during E3 2008 that ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'', previously a Playstation 3 exclusive title, would also be coming to the Xbox 360.

*** And now that the game is out, saying you have any opinion on it, good or bad, will cause you to be attacked by half of the broken base. For extra spicyness, say you think its bad, and that all of the problems of it are because it went to the 360, and if it stayed exclusive it would be a much better game.

** There's really four types of FF fans: the new fans, the fans who claim the series ended with ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' or ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', the fans who claim the series ended with ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', and the ones who ignore the crazies and just enjoy the games.

** ''Never'' bring up [[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance|Marche]]. It will inevitably cause heated arguments about the morality of his actions, or whether he's [[Alternate Character Interpretation|actually the villain]].

** Never tell anyone that you were happy about {{spoiler|Aeris' death}}. You will be flamed to eternity.

 

* [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Aeris vs. Aerith]] on any site where ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' may be discussed in any capacity. It's especially annoying because you can't even ''mention'' the character without starting a fight. Even [[The Other Wiki]] had to kowtow to the fighting and spell it ''both'' ways, but the wars still continue.

* ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' and [[Game Mod|Windower]]. The amount of heat generated from the flames about whether it's legit or not has enough heat to rival the ''sun''.

** Want to really light things up? Bring up [[Nigh Invulnerable|Absolute Virtue]], and say he actually ''is'' beatable outside of the now-defunct methods. The forum will then implode, collapsing on itself through sheer whining.

** Here's a [[Blatant Lies|great idea]]: go onto any Metroid forum and say that [[Super Metroid]] is anything less than perfect. The flames will fly.

* Saying anything positive about the plot in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' on a ''[[Warcraft]]'' fan-forum.

** Or for that matter, arguing the relative merits of PvE and PvP in ''<s>[[World of Warcraft]]</s>'' any MMORPG.

** Or try admitting you're one of the many millions of people that plays WoW on the chat channels or forums of some other MMOs, and you may as well have posted "I poop delicious cinnamon buns, while your dandruff is anthrax" for the way people will react to it.

** If the game's official forums are to be believed, EVERYONE who plays the game hates it, EVERY change made is bad and is cause to cancel your account (no matter how minor it may be) and of course, EVERY class is simultaneously overpowered, underpowered and fine how it is.

** The Celestial Steed incident, where Blizzard released a mount for sale in the cash shop. The premise of the game's financial model means that players should not be able to pay to gain an advantage over other players. The mount cost $25/£17, and was sent to all characters on the purchaser's account through the in-game mail. The resulting explosion on the forums rivalled Eyjafjallajokull in severity. The mount is now called That Retarded Horse, or TRH for short, thanks to the EU [[Troll]] (in a number of ways) Totalbiscuit, who very suddenly disappeared from the forums a week or so later.

*** The [http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25712374700&sid=1 backlash] was epic in proportions. It hit about 300 pages within around 5 hours of the original post. Within a day, it had over 1500 pages (it currently has almost 2500 pages, with an additional 700 pages in its sister thread on the European forums). The previous record for a long thread in the [[WoW]] forums seems to have been something around 400 pages. Not only this, but several [http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/07/07/real-names-rile-online-warlocks-and-wizards/# news] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10543100.stm websites] decided the uproar was worth a story. To top it all off, a Blizzard employee, community manager Bashiok, posted his own full name as a show of good faith, and was quickly hunted down IRL and harassed ''mercilessly'' by irate players. Blizzard employees have since been made exempt from the changes, citing "[[Double Standard|privacy]] concerns".

**** [http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2548785589 RealID Fiasco, take 2.] In May 2011, Blizzard announced they were developing a feature that allows the ability to group in the Random Dungeon Finder with your [[Real ID]] friends as a "premium feature" (i.e. Paying an extra fee on top of the monthly subscription). The announcement of this feature has come on the heels of the news that World of Warcraft lost 600k subscriptions from January to March 2011 and has been almost universally panned by the playerbase, most of whom feel this feature is a quick cash grab to make up for the lost subscriptions.

** Ever since Blizzard decided to try making 10 man and 25 man raids equally difficult and rewarding so that people may focus on just one size at a time, bringing up concerns on the official forums about either size will often end up with members that raid either size flaming each other viciously. Popular opinions are that whatever they're not raiding is lots easier (seemingly [[It's Easy, So It Sucks|faceroll]] from the overall difficulty of encounters, but also the logistic aspects)and saying that 25 man raiding is the only [[Bigger Is Better|real size anyway]](so the privileges are obvious), so 10 man raiders can bite themselves.

** [[Broken Base|Garrosh]]. [[Creator's Pet|Hellscream]]. Picking either side of the arguement will end poorly for you as you contest if he's in the right to be an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Blood Knight]], or if his warmongering is leading the Horde to be [[Stop Being Stereotypical|Violent and dumb like every other orcish race in fiction.]]

** Go to a video related to Burning Crusade or classic content and say you liked anything in Wrath of the Lich King or started when it was the newest expansion (Cataclysm counts to a lesser degree). You will then be derided as a "Wrath baby" who does not have the skill or dedication for raiding.

* [[The Lord of the Rings Online]] has always had a backdraft regarding Eagle/Flying Mounts. A forum member will start a thread stating their opinion that the ability to fly Eagles around Middle-Earth in some form would be a great feature. It does not matter whether they suggest free-roaming flight, scripted flight path travel or storyline only flashbacks. Fans of Tolkien's Lore will flock to the thread denouncing the idea, quoting source material, demonstrating how it would be impossible/difficult to program, and providing links to numerous threads in which the Developers have flat out said that they have no intention of introducing Flying Mounts. More gameplay minded forummers will weigh in arguing that the Lore should not get in the way of fun, that new code can be written and that the developers could always change their minds in the future.

* Anything related to Enhancement Diversification or the Global Defense Reduction used to be backdraft material in ''[[City of Heroes]]''. Those wounds seem to have mended since boosts to player enhancement power. Continuing hot buttons are insistence on a traditional "Healer/Tank/Damage" structure in teams, as well as the increasing role of super-super "Incarnates" in game lore.

* [[Fire Emblem|"Who are Roy and Lilina's mothers in Fuuin no Tsurugi?"]]. Or any such variant.

** Go to any forum and bring up Micaiah. Inevitably, someone will bash. Just as inevitably, someone will retort with how interestingly conflicted her character is. (Sometimes, you get the bonus of someone comparing her to Ike, which then devolves into Ike's Sexuality territory.)

** Go to a ''[[Fire Emblem Jugdral|Seisen no Keifu]]'' forum, mention Beowulf even once, and watch the fans vs. the haters drag the threads out for at least 5 pages before the wank dies down.

*** Earrrgh... Lachesis is constantly called a slut by the fanbase. Despite her initial claim about not wanting to marry anyone who's not better than Eltosian, she is constantly paired with either [[Brother-Sister Incest|Eltosian]], [[Base Breaker|Beowulf]], or [[Badass Normal|Fin]]. (it's not like she's unpairable AT ALL). And THEN comes all the OTHER males in the series... [[Les Yay|and sometimes females...]] Talking about any possible Lachesis pairings is a GREAT flame war in the making.

** Avoid speaking about Skyrim at RPG Codex at all costs.

** Just attempt to say "I don't like Elder Scrolls" at Reddit's /r/gaming subforum. This troper bids you good luck.

** Mentioning anything about [[Discredited Meme|arrows and knees]] pretty much anywhere will get you burned at the stake.

* Go to any ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' forums and declare that ''Blood Omen II'' absolutely deserves to be part of the game canon.

* Go to any ''[[Castlevania]]'' forum, and ask why the gamers hate [[Polygon Ceiling|3D games]]. Or better yet, ask which game is worse: ''Curse of Darkness'' or ''Lament of Innocence''.

** Or how about this phrase: "I love the new anime art they chose for ''Dawn of Sorrow'' and ''Portrait of Ruin!''"

** Mention that you like the way Obata redesigned the character for ''[[Castlevania Judgment]]'' and you'll immediately be torn apart as a [[Death Note]] fanboy by people who consider themselves true fans (unless you bring up Cornell, who they generally agree got a kickass redesign).

* Discussing the pairings in the ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' fandom (especially Lloyd/Colette, Lloyd/Sheena and Zelos/Sheena) runs the risk of initiating a flame war. If you must discuss the pairings, do ''not'' bring up the Drama CDs and whether they're canon or not. If you do, you only have yourself to blame.

** If you want to get ''Legend Of Zelda'' fans riled up, talk about whether or not you think voice acting should be introduced to the series; this is one of the most controversial topics among Zelda fans. And if you ''really'' want to get them riled up, talk about whether or not you think ''Link himself'' should talk.

** Apparently, [[Legacy Character|multiple Links]] running around is fine with Nintendo fans, but a simple [[Parental Abandonment|parentage affair]] hurts their minds.

*** That wasn't even Nintendo!!!!

** An efficient way to get flamed is to mention that ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|Wind Waker]]'' was anything but a childish insult to hardcore gamers. If you have fireproof clothing handy, you might even claim it (or ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask|The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]'') was better than ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'', or criticise ''Ocarina of Time''.

** If you want to get them riled up, mention that [[BioWare]] must be homophobic since they didn't include any gay/lesbian love interests in the second game and, along similar veins, point out that their classification of asari as a mono gendered race instead of an [[Always Female]] one proves your point. Related to this topic, imply that everyone who disliked Mass Effect 3 did so because they are homophobic and hated the inclusion of the same-sex romances.

** Casually ask a group of fans this: ''Who do you prefer overall, Male or Female Shepard?'' Take it one step further and then ask ''Default Male Shepard or Custom Male Shepards''? Hope your shields are optimized.

** Casually mention that you play as a renegade or a paragon. Within minutes you'll get multiple people referring to you and/or your character as "stupid" or "naive" (if paragon) or "sociopathic", "evil", or "deserving of a bullet in the back by squadmates" (if renegade).

*** Similarly, mention what class you play as. Soldiers get decried as 'boring [[Gears of War]] nuts', Adepts, Sentinels, and Engineers are 'underpowered and weak', Vanguards are 'flashy, cheap, overrated, and annoying', and Infiltrators 'can't do anything but hide'.

** Go and pretend you are a random nobody on the Normandy in [[Cerberus Daily News]]; oh boy, you wil be shot on sight.

** The biggest case of backdraft in the history of this franchise is certainly the one regarding the ending of Mass Effect 3. Say ''anything'' about that ending that isn't distilled disgust. For best results, say it's a good ending and that Bioware shouldn't release some kind of DLC overriding it. Imply that those who don't like it [[True Art Is Incomprehensible|simply don't understand it]].

*** There's been a certain amount of backdraft against all the arguments about the endings as well. In particular, many people have gotten just plain sick of hearing about it and want to move on to other topics. There was also a case where some people who'd donated to the Child's Play charity said they wanted to withdraw their donations after learning the charity itself had no ties with the goal of Retake Mass Effect, which got a lot of people angry (including people from said movement), out of concern that they were using said charity to promote a cause other than helping sick kids.

* Bring up ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' in a ''[[Warcraft]]'' forum or vice versa, note the similarities, and enjoy the fireworks. In an attempt to prevent fires, many WAR posters started calling ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' "that other game", [[The Scottish Trope|The Game That Shall Not Be Named]] (TGTSNBN).

* The fastest way to piss of the [[Nippon Ichi|NIS]] fan base is by being a graphics whore.

** [[Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten|Artina]], oh Artina. A normal yet perhaps bland character in a sea of extremes, or a bitch [[Purity Sue]] that everyone loves? You won't hear the end of it. And good luck if you ask about shipping her with Val.

* Pick somewhere, anywhere, doesn't matter, just go to someplace on the internet and even suggest that [[Street Fighter|Dan Hibiki]] is a [[Joke Character]]. You ''will'' have multiple Dan Devotees crawling out of the woodwork to explain to you how he's [[Serious Business|just as serious and valid as any other fighter]] and you had better show some respect to the greatest street fighter '''''EVAR'''''.

** Mention you're fine that he [[Shoo Out the Clowns|was killed off]] in ''[[Street Fighter X Tekken]]'' and you'll get roasted.

** Or worse, the user-created content intellectual property and/or moderation debacles. Especialy ludicrous with the latter, since Sony does remove levels based on other intellectual property, ''even those that they own''.

* If you value your life, do NOT say anything positive about ''Wii Music''. Apparently, '''nobody''' is allowed to even ''remotely'' enjoy the game, since doing so will cause Nintendo to make more [[Casual Game|casual games]], thus games are [[Ruined FOREVER]]!

* Go into a messageboard or blog comment thread based around a ''Gran Turismo'' game and bring up ''Forza Motorsport'', or vice-versa. Or bring up how much more fun arcade racers like ''[[Burnout]]'' are. ''Or'' mention that you've been playing super-technical PC racing sims like ''GTR'' and ''Live For Speed'' for years and know for a ''fact'' that they are more true-to-life than any dumbed-down, arcadey console ?sim? racer.

** Two freaking days after a Famitsu scan of the ''[[Persona 3]]'' ''Portable'' release, and the forums are starting to heat up. ''Damn''.

** Do ''not'' bring up any of the female main character's romantic social links, or the lack thereof.

** Or say you prefer Yuzu's Ending in ''[[Devil Survivor]]'' (for anything besides its [[Sequel Hook|Sequel possibility]]), and pray that you won't be incinerated.

** Tell a ''Persona 3'' fan you liked ''Persona 4'', and watch as you get flamed.

** [[Two Words]]: Hacked Pokémon. Is it [[No Fair Cheating|reprehensible]], or a perfectly legitimate <s>(albeit unconventional)</s> way to get perfect Pokémon?

*** Actually, asking whether things like Game Shark,Pokesav or Action Replay (the, or one of the,main methods of acquiring hacked Pokemon as well as health and item cheats ect)are good or bad in general will cause a war to break out. It's either a nice way to get better mons and event mons you otherwise can't get after a certain amount of time has passed or terrible and sure to break your game. (Some AR codes will cause crashes or the notorious 'bad eggs',so you do need to be careful.)

** Just casually mention Zoroark. Chances are, you'll be bombarded with flames stating "It's a rip-off of Lucario!"

** Mewtwo's relationship with Mew. Just. Mewtwo's relationship with Mew. Did Mew give birth like the game says? Is Mewtwo just an artificial clone of Mew? No two fans will fully agree on which is canon.

** Try asking if Pokemon promotes "animal abuse" or if it encourages "dog fighting" and/or "cockfighting" (Ahem, we mean with roosters). If you're lucky, you'll manage to get away with a simple heated debate. If not, you'll be roasted by flames.

*** The fifth gen games actually use this concept as one of the main conflicts in the game. Fans tend to widely disagree with whether or not N was in the right.

** Or mention that the black space in the third part of the Giygas battle looks like a fetus. One site even temporarily banned the word "fetus" from its Earthbound forum because the mods were sick of cleaning up the flamewars.

** Just say you like other RPGs more than any of the MOTHER games, they will probably call you a retarded Final Fantasy fanboy.

** Granted, these are mostly vocal minorities as the majority of fans seem to like both just fine. But the minorities are ''very'' [[Vocal Minority|vocal.]]

** The announced MMO by [[BioWare]] [[It Got Worse|made it worse]]. Whether you like it or hate it, it's a guarentee a flame war will erupt if it is invoked.

** Even better. Claim you like where EA has taken the franchise. Praise C + C Generals for being an excellent addition. You can also claim EA is an evil empire that runs on the tortured souls of former Westwood employees and have the same effect.

*** It is Command & Conquer, not Command + Conquer, hence the correct abbreviation is either C&C or the phonetic abbreviation [[Cn C]]! Likewise it is [[Tiberi AN]] Sun, not [[Tiberi UM]] Sun and may Kane have mercy on your heathenly soul if you ever write NOD instead of Nod. And if you're in for some Blackhand Tortilla Party-level roasting, just mention the latest game: "Command & Conquer 4 - Tiberian Twilight"... to quote the Blackhand: "Let the flames rise."

** Say you liked Apollo (or his game) better.

** Ask who the most evil villain of the series is. You might get agreement within each game - despite the " {{spoiler|Zak}} is a jerk" movement, there's not that much debate on who the main villain of AJAA is - and you might even get a plurality to say that Redd White is the worst villain who wasn't directly involved in the final case of any game (provided 1-4 and 1-5 are both considered final) - but asking who the worst villain is in the series overall can raise some disputes.

*** For that matter, merely asking about Edgeworth's orientation or whether Phoenix is bisexual can get some disputes going.

** In relation to Trials and Tribulations: ask what {{spoiler|Diego's punishment should be}} to see some backdraft.

* A great way to simulate the '''Conflict''' extrinsic in the ''[[Nethack]]'' forums is to start discussion on "Numeric pad versus HJKL" or something to that effect. Better make sure your AC is high enough and your resistances sufficient to handle the resulting uproar.

* Go to a ''Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune'' forum and ask whether or not [[Cosmetic Award|dress-up parts]] affect a car's performance. If you're being asked instead, refer to the [[All There in the Manual|manual]]'s take on dress-up parts (it says they have no effect).

* Players in ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' have seen hats at random which are so rare that people want to [[Gotta Catch Em All|catch them all]]. This has lead to some people to use idler programs (a program to emulate playing ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' by sending the required data to the Steam client) to catch the hats without having to play the game. Valve responded to this by taking away some items from the cheaters and gave the legit hat grabbers a halo to wear. [[Fridge Logic]] to the extreme, the cheaters are pissed off about the halo thing and ''have flamed the players that obtained the halos''. That's right, playing fair is somehow not the way to play. Some people have even gone as far as making mods where the halos are replaced by the word FAG. A surefire [[Flame War]] will brew up if you even talk about the halo.

** This has to be added before something ''[[Flame War|worse]]'' comes up and a flamey reply could come around. From the idlers' point of view it went more like this: "What? They're taking away all our items and calling us cheaters? There was no mention that this kind of thing was against the rules, (note that it WAS in the steam TOU that programs "emulating Steam's services" were not allowed) why are we being punished instead of getting a warning? And the people who didn't use the idle program are getting hats for not knowing about the idler program? (Yes, indeed, some idle progammers did seem to think that EVERYONE would use it if given a choice) This is bull!" Of course, in the end, people on BOTH sides overreacted, and BOTH sides were seen as the overreactors (mainly because, of course, the people who overreact are the [[Troll|most vocal]]). The paragraph above describes what the average non-idler saw ("We didn't cheat, we get rewarded, you guys are mad for getting punished for cheating). What the overreacting idlers saw was "Look at these little white-knighters thinking they're morally superior (which is the wording Valve actually used)! What a bunch of brats! I'm going to make a custom model for the haloes saying "fag" teehee". Both sides had their problem people.

* Bring up a video of someone demonstrating ''[[Tetris]]: The Grand Master'' mastery. While you'll get some comments about how it looks very nice, you'll also draw purist trolls who claim that it's fake, on the basis that it's impossible to do on the Game Boy or NES versions. [[Did Not Do the Research|(Never mind that every version of Tetris plays differently to some extent, depending on who developed it.)]]

* Do ''not'' talk about the Balkans on the [[Paradox Interactive]] forums. There are as many views on how the Balkan cultures should be represented in [[Crusader Kings]] and the [[Europa Universalis]] games as there are posters from the Balkans, which is quite a few.

** Not that Starcraft II by itself isn't enough reason to complain. Hot topics include, but aren't limited to:

*** Also, just go to any fan-forum and argue that the DLC was cut from the game to make extra money and should be free.

*** Also better to reserve your comments on how you feel about the word on the changes that were apparently made to ''[[Dragon Age]] II'' (welcome as an interesting change or polishing, or [[Ruined FOREVER|turning the series into]] "''[[Mass Effect]]'' [[Ruined FOREVER|with swords]]"?). Trying to mention it in any positive manner will have the flamethrowers hitting full force against you courtesy of /v/ and RPG Codex

* Say that you think that ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]] 4'' was the best of the BN games. Hell, saying that you like any of the BN games around fans of the other series will get you killed.

* Go to the [[America's Army]] forum and ask for an MP5. Or a knife. You will be slain. [[Cute Kitten|(Along with a kitten. Think of the kittens!)]] The reason for this is that although MP5's are used in the military, they aren't assigned as standard weapons for the units in the game. Most people who ''still'' ask for an MP5 [[Did Not Do the Research|didn't bother to read the other fifty-billion threads where this was explicated]].

* The Western localization of [[CAVE]] ports. Discussing them tends to illicit harassment from people who will tell you to shut the fuck up and get a Japanese Xbox360 instead.

** Mention the US localization of ''[[Death Smiles]]'' around any group of [[CAVE]] fans and the resulting vitrol will be enough to destroy all of Japan.

* The ''[[X-COM (Video Game)|X-COM]]'' FPS has sparked quite a bit of this, mainly due to [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]].

* The arguments about which faction was best in ''[[Geneforge]]'' were quite fun to watch, because they generally weren't about things like "coolness," instead revolving around deeply held beliefs. The series was absolutely ''dripping'' with [[Gray and Grey Morality]], and quite a few people were offended by the very concept that a particular side might be considered morally acceptable. There were all sorts of comparisons to the Nazis ([[Putting on the Reich|justified in one case]], though there were still people who supported that faction, because they thought the rest were even worse!)

* Nintendo's announcement that they had no plans to localize ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]'', ''[[The Last Story]]'' OR ''Pandora's Tower'' to America did not sit well with the gaming community in the slightest. It doesn't help when they actually say "Thanks so much for your passion, and for being such great fans!", which [[Berserk Button|struck one hell of a nerve with Nintendo fans]] and only made them ''angrier.''

** To the point where an existing movement, [[wikipedia:Operation Rainfall|Operation Rainfall]], wants to actually ''flood'' NoA's mailbox with letters convincing them to localize these games. So, it's actually evolved into [[Up to Eleven|Real-life Backdraft]] too.

*** This didn't stop fans for chastising Nintendo about playing it safe with a limited release, as the European version had no problem selling in a wide release(albeit a part of Operation Rainfall's campaign). Europe being a much bigger continent didn't help.

** ''[[The Last Story]]'' [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|has been announced for a wide US release]]. With Op. Rainfall's efforts succeeding, the backdraft is starting to subside...

* "Is [[Ni GHTS]] a boy or a girl?" Type that question into a [[Ni GHTS]] forum and watch the amusement. It doesn't help that [[Ni GHTS]] is [[Word of God|officially]] genderless, yet has a female voice actor who doesn't even try to act androgynous.

* Go pretty much anywhere online. Find a [[Portal (series)|Portal]] related thread. Now, mention you dislike/hate Wheatley. Smell that? Those are the flames starting.

** Is Chell {{spoiler|going to be ok after she escaped the lab or has the [[Half Life|Combine]] destroyed everything and she's pretty much screwed}}? No two people will fully agree on the answer.

** Try saying that you did not think [[The Cake Is a Lie]] was funny at all. Just try it.

* If the topic of [[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]] arises, don't mention that you liked [[The Scrappy|Raiden]]. It generally ends pretty badly.

* FIFA vs Pro Evolution Soccer. Just put that as a topic title, and enjoy the nuclear fallout.

* Go on the forums of either [[League of Legends]] or [[Heroes of Newerth]] and express your opinion about the other being superior, or even them both being quality games. Either way the flames will start. Especially effective if things like graphics, originality and skill cap are mentioned.

* A efficient way to start a [[Flame War]] is to compare ''[[Skyward Sword]]'' with ''[[Skyrim]],'' and side with either game, but not both. Cue Zelda and Elder Scrolls fans crawling out of the woodwork and throwing profane insults at each other. Curiously enough, [[Take a Third Option|liking both]] won't get you flamed.

** ''Skyward Sword,'' ''Skyrim'', and ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]-2'': All three games received perfect scores in ''Weekly Famitsu.'' [[Pass the Popcorn|Did they deserve it?]]

** Or alternatively: Was it worth the wait? Is it even worth playing? Is it a respecful portrayal of disabled people, or badly-disguised "cripple porn"?

** On a cold night simply just mention the name "Shizune", watch as the militant Shizu-haters declare her to be Worse than Hilter while the equally militant Shizubros declare anyone who didn't like her route to be dull witted simpletons who are too stupid to understand it, and enjoy the s'mores.

* Go to the MAG forums. You don't even have to do anything. It's an eternal flame.

* If you want to spare your life, never, ever, tell a hardcore retro [[Rayman]] fan that you enjoyed ''[[Rayman Origins]]''. Regardless of whether you've played the older games or not, they'll say something along the lines of "ORIGINS [[Rouge Angles of Satin|SUX! U ONLY LIEK IT CUZ U NVR PLAIED TH OLD GAEMS]]!!!!111"

 

== Other ==

* Go to any gaming forum with a lot of [[Zero Punctuation]] fans and say anything good about [[Nintendo]]. [[Fan Hater|Wrath]] like you've never known.

** For that matter, go to The Escapist Magazine (ZP's current home site), head over to their forums and say anything good about anything Yahtzee's ever bashed, be it a game or an entire genre. Expect a lot of quotes from his videos during the posts that start flaming you.

** Similarly, whether the original translation (if any), various fanlations, or updated retranslations of a given game are better.

** And in some places, "I don't emulate. I buy real copies" translates to "Hi, I'm an idiot for not pirating, please murder me as brutally as possible."

* No one is arguing that [[Media Watchdogs]] and [[Moral Guardians]] aren't absolutely right about [[Poop Socking]] being unhealthy. But whenever a law is proposed to require [[Anti-Poopsocking]] measures in games or find ways to legally ban [[Poop Socking]], watch the vigorous debates between people who think such laws are necessary to protect gamers and their possible dependents and people who think such measures are nanny-statist attempts to impinge on personal responsibility.

* Make a forum post asking why they censored the game for the Germans (No holocaust, swastikas), but decided not to bother appeasing the Chinese.

** Even better: go to any of the release threads where the author uploaded his/her stuff onto garrysmod.org and nowhere else. Make a post requesting the upload of the stuff elsewhere. There you go. The logic behind this is that a few months ago, garrysmod.org changed its login system so that during registration, the site requests Steam login information to check if you really bought the game. Not logging in means no downloading stuff; [[Genre Savvy]] authors tell everyone in advance not to ask for this.

** Some time before that, the site experimentally changed its downloading system to Bittorrent to reduce server load. After a week or so, the admins changed it back to FTP due to [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|the massive amount of negative feedback they got]]. Also, make a diminuitive post about SVN (version control software used by high-profile addons to ease updating), just try it.

** This is played straight and horribly averted when it comes to Nexon, particularly with [[Maple Story]]. Those who love Nexon and declare that they can do wrong will lash out at you, and possibly some who bought items at full price. The other portion, the arguable majority, will rally in support of you, declaring that Nexon is evil and will insist that they drop or lower prices of cash items. Expect several hundred debates to pop up. And heaven forbid you attempt to [[Take a Third Option]].

* [[Eastern RPG|JRPGs]] versus [[Western RPG|WRPGs]], especially when you add in the debate over what a real RPG is and whether a certain game or even an entire genre actually counts as a "real" RPG. Doesn't help when even some of the [[BioWare|pros]] throw down some kindling.

 

{{reflist}}