Am I the Asshole?

[Metroid_Hybrid]

Obviously *I* don't think so, but I've been wrong before; so here we are..

I started an account on Retro Achievements a few weeks ago, and 3 days ago I decided to finally post in the 'Introductions' section of the forum. And holy shit, the amount of backlash I received was quite extreme..

Spoiler: The post in question..

Hello.. I love that this exists. I only wish that something like this was around when I was a kid in the 90s..
However, I also have a concern.. I have an old, potato computer so I play on a 1st generation phat PS3. Because of which, all of my points are automatically labeled as "softcore," even after hitting the "hardcore mode" switch in the Retroarch settings. This actually offends me a little bit, since I'm personally against the use of save states. I think that anyone who regularly uses save states (beyond practice runs for extreme challenges, speedruns, etc.) are lame. Therefore I think the distinction is great, but it doesn't apply to me..

Edit: It would also be nice to get RA to work on my physical PSP, and/or for the PS1 & PS2 games on my PS3 as well..

Link to the actual thread, for full transparency..

Clearly, the hate I received was over "I think that anyone who regularly uses save states (beyond practice runs for extreme challenges, speedruns, etc.) are lame." Now on one hand, one could argue that I could've left that single sentence out. But on the other hand, I was also making point while introducing myself. I expected some kind of pushback as well, but not 2~3 pages of hate, followed by a 2+ page flamewar between two users that were ultimately "muted," and the thread itself was locked. All in less than 24 hours!!

Now to be fair, it wasn't ALL hate, there was a handful of constructive responses as well. Mainly the one early-on by "CrispyCassette" (fun name, btw) explaining why the PS3 Retroarch-CE can't do "hardcore mode" anymore. But I'm probably never going to bother posting in the Retro Achievements forum ever again..

 

[Tonberry]

Not The Asshole.
Sure, you could've left it out like you said, but it's still really nothing to get up in arms about. I guess some users saw it as a personal attack due to the wording, but that's on them, really.
(Not sure I understand the need to make a vent post about another forum as a full thread instead of like a status post or whatever, but still, I vote Not The Asshole in this case)

 

[Mopeybloke]

Two pages in and I don't think the response you've got was too bad.
They probably should've stopped responding after the first page or so though. Not much to say on such topics.
The whole discussion is kind of silly when you consider how lame everyone that uses achievements is.

Spoiler: JK

I'll have to make my own AITA post.

 

[Metroid_Hybrid]

Not sure I understand the need to make a vent post about another forum as a full thread instead of like a status post or whatever, but still, I vote Not The Asshole in this case

I was just really taken aback by the backlash..

I'm not followed by a bunch of people, so I didn't anyone would see it, and I am legitimately curious..

I also left out the question of if anyone else ever experienced something similar from RA?

 

[Heinzu]

Well, you shouldn't take all the comments too seriously; some are just know-it-alls who want to make themselves look important.

 

[RETRO-VETRO RETRO-VETRO]

No, not really...

 

[Mopeybloke]

SuperCirno may have a point there. Is your PC actually less good for emulation than a PS3?

 

[Tonberry]

I was just really taken aback by the backlash..

I'm not followed by a bunch of people, so I didn't anyone would see it, and I am legitimately curious..

I also left out the question of if anyone else ever experienced something similar from RA?

I haven't used the site apart from just registering and linking PCSX2 to it, so I don't have any direct experiences with the community, sorry.
Though I can imagine a community of achievement hunters might get pretty antsy and defensive if someone would imply the way they get their achievements aren't cool or whatever, since they probably take it super seriously.

 

[Poppet]

This is the stupidest discussion I read today. I truly don't understand the superiority complex some people get from playing videogames- But I also don't care about achievements lol.

Anyway. I concede with Mopey, is your PC really that bad for emulation? Probably with the correct combination of retroarch cores or standalone emulators you get even better performance than in your PS3.

Edit: Plus the fact that Phat PS3 models are more prone to failure than other models, Might be worth looking into using your PC instead or maybe selling the PS3 and put the money towards something better.

 

[χKai]

Sometimes post just get shit responses.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

You came in peace, they brought out the pitchforks.

How are you the asshole?

That said... You really could have left that out.

 

[Clippy]

I'm gonna say 'not really'.

It would've gone over better if you simply said you don't like to use savestates and left it at that instead of calling people out but at the same time some of them got waaaaay more butthurt than that comment warranted.

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

I dont think so, you expressed your opinion and that totally fine. They may not like it or share it, but it is your regardless.

Anyways, I dont think it was that bad, last pages where funny. I never speak to him but Im already missing Wimpyfox... an state of the art trol.

 

[ZEGA ZONIC]

You are not the asshole, they are.

 

[maelbrazil]

I'd say Absolutely not if you had criticized the do and not the doers like "I think regularly using save states is lame" instead of "I think that anyone who regularly uses save states is lame".

 

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

No you're not.

 

[Samatonic Samatonic]

Long story short.....Lack of Understanding. Words were thrown for wrong reasons.

 

[Kamako]

...I have an old, potato computer so I play on a 1st generation phat PS3. Because of which, all of my points are automatically labeled as "softcore," even after hitting the "hardcore mode" switch in the Retroarch settings.

Damn, hardcore mode is disabled because you're using a PS3 to play? As I understood it, you can play with hardcore enabled, as long as you're using the most up to date build of RetroArch with the most recent emulator "modules" or whatever they're called. I have RetroArch on my phone, and I have hardcore enabled on there too. Just have to make sure the modules are kept updated to the most recent release.

Also, not the arsehole.

 

[MasterEn]

i haven't interacted with retro achievements, but going by what you posted; it seems like soft mode actives if you use save states. you don't like them and thus, you don't use them. unless that's not how it works, i don't know but that seems to be the case.
Kamako has the best idea for fixing the issue. keep everything up to date and make sure to check the settings often to make sure everything is set up like you want it to be.
i do think that you are in the wrong for saying that people who use save states are lame. sometimes it is a very helpful tool to have in certain situations, such as trying to do a challenge run and not even being sure of the possibility of even being able to do it. a youtuber named seer is doing a challenge run of the final fantasy games, and the insane hard as balls rule sets make the use of save states necessary in some case to see if some enemies and bosses are beatable, due mainly to how long it takes to even get to them. you spend 9 minutes per run to get to the red soul boss only to die 2 rounds in because of how beat up your characters get on the trip there and them multiply that by several hours and the ridiculous grind needed to get basic healing items from enemies because you can't spend money on items from the store except for spell books: yeah, save states are very helpful to refine your strategy on how to do things.
i know that was a bit specific, but save states can be helpful.

 

[Yousef Yousef]

i haven't interacted with retro achievements, but going by what you posted; it seems like soft mode actives if you use save states. you don't like them and thus, you don't use them. unless that's not how it works, i don't know but that seems to be the case.

Soft mode is enabled and disabled manually from the settings, and once it’s disabled, loading save states is also disabled (but you can still save state to send to achievement developers for testing), there’s less points earned in soft mode, and having it on disallows you from mastering an achievement set. Once you enable hardcore mode though, you’d have to start from scratch.

 

[medisinn]

It's innocuous enough, but you're also throwing shade on people, which is opening the window for a response to that. Is it small potatoes? Absolutely, but it's also your first impression, so some folks are going to take that as being representative of your personality.

I read some of the thread and you definitely double down on your stance, what else did you really expect? You said:

"And call me old, but I see save states as cheating.." in your second post, and:

"Calling cheaters "lame" is uncalled for?? I think it's softer than the actual term "cheater".." in your fourth post. You've went from "save states are lame" to "people who use save states are cheaters", and are now lumping in anyone who uses save states as being a cheater. Is it worth getting mad about? Certainly not, but some folks have the time and inclination to take it as a slight and respond in kind.

In your fifth post, you said:

"One should also expect an older guy labeling themselves as "hardcore" is going to have an unapologetically "harder" edge than not. So coming into someone else's post trying to tone-police them is just as absurd as the reverse (i.e. I'm not going to go into your posts talking shit, so "get off my lawn!").." You've equated very mild pushback: "ohh no I agree with it being cheating but to call other gamers who use that "lame" isn't really called for. Gamers are gamers who cares if someone wants to cheat their ass off." and "we are here all just enjoying games if some do it through hardcore the intended way or in softcore with heavy cheats or a middle ground, we are all still enjoying the games, thats why its a little uncalled for" with tone policing, when it's the mildest, baby-est form of pushback in my opinion. I wouldn't call it hate by any means, you weren't even insulted or swore at, which is surely the bare minimum for a forum flame war.

Reading further on, even the people who disagree with you are still giving helpful feedback as to your emulation woes, and yet you continue on with how toxic and unfriendly the community is and can't let it go. I can't tell if you're trolling or just out of touch. Probably the latter given that you posted this here looking for validation. I voted for "Totally in the wrong!", but I have no problem with you, and if anything I did enjoy reading a very mild 2000s era forum bickerfest, so thank you for posting this.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

I particularly "liked" that one guy who implied you didn't have a job just because you didn't own the greatest, most up-to-date PC and were gaming on an order console... That has to be the most privileged, wildly uncharitable and downright delusional take I have read all year, and I have been to Reddit.

 

[Sleepstate]

depends on the kinda person you are i wasn't there. but if i was i would go "that's kinda rude" but i wouldn't find it response worthy let alone writing paragraphs about it even as someone with to much time on his hands I find the idea of acting this way towards that kinda statement to be a waste of said time.