Gaming + The Internet = Sadness–It Never Ends

I wrote a series of posts recently on my own blog about how gamers on the internet (and some of the gaming press) have become a shouty mob of morons that are ruining the hobby. You may find those posts to be idiotic in their own right, but they’re my opinions nonetheless. I wrote them as more of a way to deal with my frustration at what I was seeing and hearing about my favorite hobby. And I thought I was done getting everything off my chest, until yesterday.

Because yesterday, the internet took stupidity to another level.

THQ, the struggling publisher behind such awesome games as Company of Heroes, Darksiders and Saints Row, did something awesome yesterday. They offered a “Humble Bundle” promotion, where you could pay whatever you wanted to six amazing THQ games. If you paid one cent more than the average person, you unlocked a seventh game, the fantastic Saints Row: The Third. Best of all, you could determine what part of the amount you spent went to charity, what part went to THQ, and what went to the “Humble Bundle” folks that organize these sales.

So, for a small donation, I got Metro 2033, three Company of Heroes games, the original Darksiders, Red Faction: Armageddon and Saints Row: The Third. And I helped the Child’s Play charity. Awesome, right?

Apparently not to a lot of the shouty internet gaming community, and some gaming / tech websites.

See, a lot of gamers seem to feel that because the “Humble Bundle” sales began as a way to promote indie games (they were called “Humble Indie Bundles”), having a big name publisher like THQ take part tarnishes the good name of the “Humble Bundle” brand. Worse still (according to the internet), while the “Humble Indie Bundles” have always been DRM-free downloads of games, the THQ one requires (gasp) Steam activation. So, in the eyes of the outraged, not only does the big evil publisher come along and ruin the “Humble Bundle” name, but they bring the dreaded DRM with them.

Really?

Seriously?

Are we still talking about games here, people?

I give up. I’m going to go play some Metro 2033 now. Rage amongst yourselves. When you’re done determining whether or not the “Humble Bundle” is still humble anymore, you can finally resolve whether Green Day is punk or not, and why your former favorite comic creator is or isn’t a sellout because they’re writing for Marvel now.