Then how can you take any consumer impressions seriously?
It depends on context. First, one must understand that the problem is not that all these early impressions are suspect, but that due to their nature it's usually impossible to tell one way or the other due to early impressions being especially prone to the cycle of post-purchase rationalization.
The way I've worked through it is to make a list of posters who have a history of breaking through that post-purchase rationalization process, of consistently allowing the chips to fall where they may despite any investment made. It's not an easy thing, but it has worked out great for me... so far when I follow the list, I tend to find impressions that are genuine and well worked through. When I don't, I find a hodgepodge of people who are really passionate about our hobby but believe being negative is somehow an offense. Or I find people who love games but just rushed to post impressions and were always going to like it no matter how many sins the game had.
For me the way it works for someone I don't know...
The earlier the impressions (i.e., the closer the impressions are to the games release), the less likely to are to be taken seriously. Because now on top of the fact they spent a year being hyped and then have a $60 investment, they're rushing to confirm their bias. It's not true in ALL cases, but because of the shakiness of such impressions it's usually just better to smile and not necessarily take it to heart. These people are game fans, they love games and the product made them happy. That's what I take away: someone is happy. I don't take away any statement as to the game's quality one way or another, unless that poster had previously demonstrated an ability to disconnect themselves emotionally from the investments they make.
I really agree with this. It kinda feels like they overpromised and got so lost perfecting certain aspects, they let everything else fall by the wayside.
I really hope if they get a second chance that we get to see some of the earlier stuff promised (crazy destruction, branching melee, stuff like that).
Me too. I think Ready at Dawn is really talented and I do believe now that they have this insane engine in place they can really focus on knocking it our of the park for a sequel. Or hell, even an original game that uses the Engine.
These people are probably sorely disappointed that the game they've worked on for five years, their first really high profile big budget product is getting eviscerated in reviews. I do feel for them, they're people. And I know they are talented folks, as I keep repeating. So I hope despite Sony's financial situation they find it in their heart to give Ready at Dawn another chance at the big time.
Yo Ami! Have you played the game yet? Are you planning to? Or are you waiting for my review?
Damn, so you aren't going to bother with my obvious 10/10 review? :'(
I will probably get the game when it is very cheap, $19.99 or something w/ my Best Buy Rewards card. Probably be there around Black Friday.
I don't think it's fair to say that. If the game was universally praised and the player enjoyed what they played, it wouldn't be questioned. However if the game received mixed reception and/or was mostly panned by critics, they must be 'justifying their purchase', because everyone knows it must be human nature to automatically love something they naturally wouldn't if they didn't spend $60 on it?
Sorry this isn't a dig at you personally Ami, I just despise that word usage. I don't need to justify my purchase of anything, if I like it, I like it.
What's funnier is that same reviewer gave Ryse a 70%.
You don't need to, but it's a human fact of life. Post purchase rationalization (more specifically:
Choice-Supportive Bias) is a real phenomenal, been studied before about many things not related to games but which have the same basic concept and the result is study after study shows that humans do it all the time whether they realize it or not.
There is an inherent drive to justify peoples investment, and it gets more likely to occur the longer that investment exists. And that investment is not merely one of money, but of time. And what happens on GAF or any hobbyist forum really? You can have literal years of people obsessed in forum topics about how awesome a game is going to be. And at the end of time, you have the very real human flaw of being unable to come to terms with the product you've been obsessing over failing to meet its goals.
Part of the problem that arises from such an analysis is that people automatically assume it's a personal attack on their ability to be truthful about the state of a game they've anticipated. It's not so simple. It's not really about honesty vs. falsehoods. It's usually a subconscious thing, people's brains condition themselves to face disappointment by sometimes literally refusing to be disappointed. And complicating matters, there are still a good many people who aren't like that at all, who like you claim to be just like what they like or hate what they hate and so any early impressions are not impacted by that very real phenomenon.
So the issue becomes how do you tell which views are fully genuine, and which are being tainted by post-purchase rationalization? Well the way I do is by the list. Everyone else mileage may vary. But just because it makes us uncomfortable to admit it doesn't mean we can exist in a world where we pretend it doesn't happen. It's a real, studied reality.
All early impressions are easy to approach with cynicism, and that's usually what I do if I'm unfamiliar with the poster. But naturally if the bulk of early impressions drastically are out of step with impressions from people who were given ample time to get through it and who have no horse in that race and didn't spend two years hyped on forums about the game, the question is going to be more quickly raised: what is causing that disparity? And it's easy to lay the blame on that purchase rationalization, because it usually is the cause.
As much as we want the world to live up to our ideals, truth is the world doesn't function that way