A game receiving a new gamemode and going free to play would generally be seen as a
positive thing… but not so in Counter-Strike, it seems!
I skimmed through the last 100 comments on my previous video about the update and the
negative comments far outnumbered the positive ones.
Right now, Valve must be thinking: ‘ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?’
Although this battle-royale mode for Counter-Strike had been greatly anticipated for years, now
that it’s out, most of you are left disappointed by its design.
Now that it’s free, you fear the game will be overrun with cheaters.
And apparently most of you bought the game a few days ago and feel hard-done by.
Everything this update introduced was WRONG. Silly Valve.
But regardless, this is one the biggest changes the series has ever seen. And this is Valve
right now. ‘ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED’.
Because how can they not be thinking this?
Don’t be mistaken: these updates weren’t released out of the goodness of their hearts.
Making it free to play and creating a battle royale mode were both smart ways of attracting
new people to the game. Don’t forget, we’ve also been complaining for years that the game
is dying. Valve is a business, not a charity. I get
that. But I think people forget that the company is made up of individuals. Hundreds of highly
talented people with a passion for gaming. You don’t work for Valve otherwise. Do you
honestly think they’re sat around their moveable desks, giggling as they think up
the next way to disappoint their fanbase? NO! They have released dozens of sizeable
updates, which with hindsight were pretty good. But how crushing must it be for them
to see their contributions to the games that they love being relentlessly SHAT on by a
community that feels entitled to more? For free? But not for free, because remember,
they bought the game last week.
For those of you who don’t know, Valve deliberately remains quiet. They watch and listen closely
to the community but try not to influence discussions. And I doubt they’ll break their
vow of silence to seek sympathy. Remember, they’re professionals.
But I’m not! So I can say this stuff and speculate about how they feel. As an unofficial
voice for Valve, they neither have to confirm nor deny.
And so I wonder, how can Valve NOT be disappointed when at every turn, they’re attacked by
the community they produce content for? As a Youtuber, that’s certainly one of my worst
fears! In fact, what spurred this video on was this
lovely little comment, suggesting that because I’m positive about the latest update, I
must be on Valve’s paycheck or something! I’m not too upset about this comment- I
receive far worse. Plus I’d love to be on Valve’s paycheck. But I think it nicely
demonstrates the problem with the community. It’s fine to be critical. It means you must
be knowledgeable and know better than Valve does. But to be POSITIVE? I can’t be trusted!
I’ve wanted to talk about my side of this for a while.
As a youtuber, while I can say whatever I like, there are consequences for doing so.
Although I’ve never discussed it with Valve, I have often thought about the connection
I have to them, particularly as my audience has grown into a considerable size! By making
content about their games, what I say inevitably influences what YOU think about them.
If you care enough about my content to watch it, my videos will influence how you think
about something. Maybe not by much! But if me being positive about something results
in you enjoying something you otherwise wouldn’t have tried, or serves as that ‘push’ you
needed to share your own opinions about it, good.
This responsibility is one of the reasons why I try to be more positive than I am negative.
If I dislike something, I’ll say. I won’t lie to you. But if I like something, I’ll
tell you! Even if I’m indifferent about something, I won’t criticise it. Either
I won’t talk about it at all, or I’ll try to see the positives. Because even if
I don’t see the appeal, I’ll try to understand why others might. If my viewers discover something
new that they enjoy because of it, I feel I’ve had a positive influence on the community.
I refuse to jump on the hate-wagon simply to stir things up.
I won’t name individuals but I know that some large youtubers and streamers seemingly
have an extreme opinion about everything! Normally within seconds of learning about
it for the first time! This, to me, is incredible. I have no idea how somebody can immediately
be so confident about something that is really complicated and nuanced! Like, with Battle
Royale, even after I’ve played it for several hours, even then I’m not confident enough
to have a strong ‘opinion’ about it! I suspect it could be weeks, or even months,
before the battle royale gamemode is tested enough by the community to be fairly judged.
And once we’ve reached that point, updates can begin rolling out to address the problems.
Does that sound reasonable? Is there anybody out there who’s seriously proposing the
entire gamemode should be scrapped, end of story? How about the free to play aspect?
Has that caused irreversible damage to the game, or are existing safeguards such as overwatch
and trust factor enough to protect us for now, with adjustments to the system in the
near-future being enough to remedy any emerging problems?
I guess, for streamers in particular, having a strong opinion about everything is seen
as strength of character. And being overly negative is ‘cool’ and ‘edgy’. But
it’s when their viewers blindly adopt these opinions as their own that it causes problems.
Like how every update Counter-Strike receives is met with negativity. Does everybody really
feel this strongly about it? What would it take to make them happy?
I get it. It’s fun to hate something. I’ve been guilty of visiting subreddits that make
me feel shock, disgust and hatred and I see the twisted appeal to it.
But why would you do this to a game that you love? Or at people who are genuinely making
stuff for you to enjoy? That doesn’t seem right. Maybe the problem doesn’t lie with
the game devs. Maybe if every update is bad, then the problem… is you!
To tell you the truth, I don’t enjoy what I do as much as I used to. Back when Global
Offensive was new, up and coming, everything about it was EXCITING! Each new match was
an adventure! But inevitably, 1000 games and 500 videos later, everything starts to feel
a bit… samey. And the same with playing the game. You wonder why that game you had
today wasn’t as good as the old days? That’s because you’re comparing it to the skimmed
highlights from hundreds of earlier matches, now further sweetened with nostalgia. Think
long and hard about whether criticism to updates is fair. And whether it’s time you moved
on from the game that can do nothing right. I’m not ready to move on just yet. I don’t
want to only look back fondly at the good old days. I like to look forward to the future
and a new gamemode like Battleroyale is the perfect chance to start racking up memories
for next year’s nostalgia. I’ve been critical of the community, but
there is hope. Despite an early, popular post on reddit full of criticism, another appeared
a bit later full of praise, and constructive criticism.
There was a lot to like about the update. But there were also genuine problems that
needed addressing, like crashing on certain hardware and a smoke bug that let people cheat
in normal gamemodes. And thanks to constructive criticism, and users submitting their bug
reports, these have been addressed by Valve in under 24 hours. I suspect remaining problems,
if known, will also quickly be fixed. I propose this: the next time CS:GO receives
an update, rather than to blindly leap on the hate band-wagon, stop. Take a step back
and try to see the positives. Okay, you don’t like Battle Royale. I’m still here playing
Counter-Strike because I prefer it to that genre as well! But just because I prefer it,
doesn’t mean I won’t play anything else. This is what I didn’t get when PUBG and
Fortnite came out. People thought it would kill Counter Strike. But you are allowed to
play more than one game! And you’re able to play more than one gamemode, too. CS:GO
now has Battle Royale if I want it, and I probably will occasionally play it with friends.
You may be annoyed that you paid for the game and didn’t get unranked matchmaking in this
update. But nothing’s stopping you from making a new account to play with your friends.
As many accounts as you like! In fact. I’ve talked about a lot of things in this
video, but it can be boiled down to something very simple. There’s too much negativity
online as it is. And I don’t think this is helping anybody. Keep an open eye to change,
if you criticise, be constructive about it… and find a way to be entertained.