10 Impactful Ways Hardcore Fans Ruin Video Games

If you are a gamer, you have an unprecedented amount of influence over your hobby of choice. Sure, it might seem that developers are living in their own little world and at times are actively trying to annoy you, or go against the wishes of the majority of the audience €“ take, for example, the wholly unsatisfactory ending to Mass Effect 3, which caused widespread internet outrage €“ but really, they'd do anything to please you €“ take, for example, BioWare's scrabbling to put out a new, better ending to Mass Effect 3. The internet has rallied fandoms like no convention or zine culture has ever managed before, and its influence is being felt in comic books (which are becoming more diverse and less sexist by increments), TV (Steven Moffat seems to run Doctor Who on the whims of his fans, and The Legend Of Korra recently made an audience-originated romantic pairing canon in the series finale). But nowhere is that audience or influence stronger than in video games. Despite having more in common with the movie industry in terms of huge budgets, dreams being crushed and profits wrought, video games are entirely beholden to fans. That's why they push to release stuff on the date set, even if it's not finished (unless it's Duke Nukem), why DLC artificially extends lifespans - and why careers are made or broken on Metacritic scores. That sounds like utopian vision of democracy, where the walls of capitalism are broken down so that creators and audience can converse on a level playing field and influence can go both ways, rather than gamers being as passive as moviegoers or book readers. In reality, it's a little more complex. Here are ten ways that fans ruin video games.