A deep dive into the """cult""" of DRG

[Maximum stupidity]

So over the time interacting with the DRG community outside the game, most of my experiences have been pretty good. However, I encountered a strange phenomenon. Some people have a seemingly unhealthy obsession with this game. Some people are praising the devs and the game to a ludocrus amount. I mean is the game good? I think it is, but is the game perfect? No, It is not, because it was made by normal human beings that also make mistakes, which you know is fine. But then you some people, on the surface, they just seem to be some normal fans of the game like most of the rest of the community. However things take turn and reviel their ugly heads when the game or the devs come under criticism. Some people start mindlessly defending and praising drg. I won't call out any names here but just look at all the threads about season 4.

But why this thread? Recently I had a conversation with a guy, I'm not gonna name here. And he also shared my observations. And that got me thinking, Does anyone else also have seen this? I would just like to get more information on this.

[TLDR]: The matter is too complex for a tldr.

In any case, Rock and Stone

[StaunchStache]

When I read the title, I thought this "cult of DRG" referred to the strange trend I've noticed of one person going "Rock and stone!" for little to no reason in a corner of the Internet completely unrelated to DRG, and a bunch of people replying with more of the same kind, no doubt looking like a bunch of lunatics to those not in the loop.

But no, it's the usual pointless "people defend the quality product they enjoy, and I think that's a problem" nonsense.

[Cot]

This is pretty standard stuff in most online game communities since the advent of reddit, almost every game has a cult that has a parasocial attachment their game and will defend it from any criticism

[RUCKUS RELOADED]

there are absolutely far too many people who are complacent with the state of the game today and just eat up whatever GSG ♥♥♥♥♥ out regardless of its quality. but honestly i think it speaks to a wider problem in the gaming industry
far too many developers and publishers take their audience for cattle, treating them as little more than walking dollar signs. games now are more monetized than they ever have been whilst the quality continues to diminish
so when a game comes along that's actually good, like DRG, with developers who express the bare minimum of consideration for their players, like GSG, it creates an extremely loyal and defensive fanbase of people who rally around the game and regard it as gospel

i wouldn't personally describe it as a "cult" but there are absolutely a lot of community members who refuse to see the game criticised in any way. there arent many on the steam forums thankfully (i wouldn't stay here if there were) but they do exist. the discord is a cesspit of them, stay away from that place at all costs

[Rubyeyed]

It happens everywhere about a lot of activities, companies,items or opinions/ideologies.

People start using something, they like it and over time they start to feel VERY attached to it. In extreme cases it becomes personality defining. This attachment is amplified with a lot of positive reinforcement from others (echo chambers).

Then someone comes around and says "X is bad" and all hell breaks loose because that person is clearly some kind of an idiot or troll, nobody right in the head would say something like that. Even if it is actually a valid criticism. Totally "normal" behavior.

I imagine people are like that about a lot of things even if the complaints/issues are well documented and are true they just won't accept them or attack others who say differently.

[Aimee]

Publicado originalmente por kestrel:

there are absolutely far too many people who are complacent with the state of the game today and just eat up whatever GSG ♥♥♥♥♥ out regardless of its quality. but honestly i think it speaks to a wider problem in the gaming industry
far too many developers and publishers take their audience for cattle, treating them as little more than walking dollar signs. games now are more monetized than they ever have been whilst the quality continues to diminish

And lets not forget the huge amount of early access titles and even kickstarter funded games. Most of those rake in money and never give anything back.
Ever since gaming became an online service, it became a way to make it a fraudulent way to earn money and to trick people into spending more and more.
Gaming is far different than the ''buy a finished product'' that it used to be. And every posibility people find to gain money at the expense of others, is something that will effect gaming.

DRG is one of the rare games that stand out, not because its the best that will ever exist. But because the contrast to everything els right now is so stark, its hard not to appreciate a beacon of light in the darkness.

[gungadin22000]

This thread is an affront to Karl. OP must be sacrificed to appease Him.

[HerrDave]

Hush, you.

Rock & stone!

[IGNITRO]

Publicado originalmente por Vault Traveler:

Its tribalism not a cult

Spot on.

[Ittrix]

Publicado originalmente por Chibbity:

Am the only one who doesn't really see a problem with a "cult of positivity" in the first place lol?

Provided their positivity also applies to people who disagree to be positive about their beloved stuff, sure, but.
That's quite a condition.

[Clockeye]

Publicado originalmente por Maximum stupidity:

Does anyone else also have seen this?

I see it in every game forum.

Publicado originalmente por Aimee:

Have i seen an increasing amount of people who hate and attack the game, to the point of personal attacks and insults to individuals that dont agree? Yes, and you are closing in on crossing that ''line'' with this post.

And then there's people like this that twist people's points to divert the conversation.

[Clockeye]

Publicado originalmente por Ittrix:

Some people do get very hostile when their game is under fire.
People who are so devoted to a game that any criticism, valid or not, is a personal attack on them? That they'd openly insult you, your mother, your father, and all the skill issue spirits that must be haunting your computer?
That's pretty extreme. Over something they follow practically religiously.
So yeah. I'd call them a cult. You see it in every game and DRG is no exception.


Why even bother bringing it up, though? Literally everything ever has people like this.

this guy gets it

[Nightwolf]

its not like the game industry is unique in this phenomenon. you look at cars with ford vs chevy you see the same thing. politics is probably the most glaring example. 9/11, nationalism, religion. for 5000 years this nonsense has been going on in all aspects of life...but the op just now noticed it lol. its most prevalent in successful things where people attach themselves like a barnacle and roll around in the successfulness like a pig hoping somehow it will magically rub off on them. taylor swift is a prime example of her cult that will openly attack anyone that turns on her, credit due to her trying to keep them at bay and be nice tho. that korean group bts or whatever they are called,those mofos could conquer Russia right now with their cult alone.

the internet openly festers this kind of behavior since it has no real regulation. people debase themselves to the most primitive aspects on the net so yeah, this nonsense happens even here. doesnt help that steam and gsg treat their boards as a disease thats spreads lawsuits, so they only do the bare minimum to keep the mob at bay.


on the other hand fighting this nonsense is not easy, social media is probably the best example of the kind of uphill, 100 losses for 1 victory, type of thing that goes on for anyone that puts real effort to reel it in. so for steam and gsg is it worth the cost of fighting? not even remotely, just avoid the lawsuits and thats the extent of their effort which is understandable

[Opal Knight]

So I peruse a number of Steam threads on various games (I'm in the middle of a season event in an idle game for the next couple of months, keeps me on Steam and I look at threads while waiting for my parties to advance levels). And to go back to the OP's original post where he asked about his observations, I would actually have to disagree that there is anything amiss about the DRG forum community as opposed to the plethora of other-game Steam communities.

Many of the games that have a far more negative crowd of posters over the crowd of praisers is actually far more disconcerting than a group of people who enjoy, play, and then post their favorable opinions on a forum for a game. It actually makes a lot of sense. What doesn't make sense are the swathes of players who do not enjoy a game and yet month after month haunt said game's forums touting how terrible it is and warning others away or mocking those who choose to like the game. If I do not enjoy a game I put it down, forget about it, and then move on to a game I do enjoy.

It is far more mentally damaging to obsess over something that one does not like simply because others like it. Far more so than obsessing (which is a strong word in this case) over something one does actually like. If there is a larger crowd of praisers on the DRG forum, I could only conclude that the players enjoy talking about the game as much as playing it, where as there is a greater number of players in other games who enjoy those games but then never choose to come to said game's forums.

I've actually been a little bummed by the fact that so many games have people hanging about a game's forums when they have nothing good to say about it, yet can't seem to just walk away for something more enjoyable to them.

But then people enjoy drama and focusing on negativity, as is demonstrated in this thread. Argument has arisen here where there need be none. People tend to gravitate more to getting into debates and insulting one another rather than actual civil discussions. When people post an opinion, whether that be in support of or against the game it is posted for, the people to jump in on the opinion tend to be the opposing side. And then the threads grow longer and longer with page after page of back-and-forth insults. And what do threads look like where opposition is not involved:

"I like this game, it is great!" Response: "Yeah, me too!"

or

"I don't enjoy this feature of the game." Response: "Nope, neither do I."

And this is where those threads end and then get swallowed up by all the argumentative posts with their reply after reply of insultations.

And, sadly, that is just simply human nature: to focus on the disdain and opposition of a thing rather than to focus on agreement or discourse. But not in any constructive sense, simply to taunt and to goad for the enjoyment of it.

[King Fossil]

Publicado originalmente por Chibbity:

The alternative is being edgelords who just whine constantly about how dead the game is and how it deserves to die; silencing anyone who comes along and actually likes it.

I feel like there should be some middle ground between "giant fanboy" and "person who hates the game and wants to see it fail".

[TyresTyco]

While I have nothing to actually add to the thread I must say... some comments of certain posters made me appreciate them more being here.