Expectations too high these days?

I was so excited for GTAV and couldn't wait to get my hands on it, I would do constant research on it following every step of the way. I would watch videos read the forums and everything in between and then it finally released. After the first week of playing it I was loving it and really enjoyed it but I noticed by week two I was already starting to get bored of it. No big dea,l I figured it was because I beat the story and online would light that spark again. After the rough start to GTAO the same thing happened, about a week into playing it I started to get bored with it and it just felt bland to me.

I got really upset feeling like I just got caught up in the hype and that the game was just all hype but then I started thinking what if it was because I was just expecting too much? I had the idea that GTAV was going to be the game of all games, I thought it would occupy me for years to come. I realized that I had no right to criticize this game just because my expectations were too high and ultimately unrealistic, GTA is a great quality game that sets a standard not many other games can live up to.I think this applies to many games these days though, I think a lot of gamers(Not all) just expect way to much and don't give credit where credit is do. When it comes to games like COD and Madden that are released yearly, regardless of whether or not it's considered a rehash a ton of work goes into those games and I don't believe they deserve the amount of hate they get.

I learned something from GTAV and that's to never take credit away from a game just because it didn't meet my specific expectations but to also give credit where its due.

I agree. Too many people tend to play a game like this, decide they don't like it, then making sweeping statements about how it sucks and is a terrible game, completely denying it's inherent qualities. I did not like Skyrim, but I would not say it sucks. It's just not for me. I can certainly recognize it excels in many different ways and has earned it's acclaim, despite my lack of interest in it.

i don't think gamers' expectations are high enough. so many games that are merely functional get heaped with praise for no other reasons than that and how they check off a few other boxes (multiplayer, a popular setting, not "letting down the fans" etc). i'm sure many of the developers do work very hard on these games (and i'd hope they would, seeing as they expect people to pay money to play them), but working hard isn't always enough.

I get the same feeling Solidsnake and i think its because we get so many games that are basically the same shit. Also most AAA games are becoming shallow and dumped down to the point where its almost like taking a game for 2-4 year olds and trying to find the challenge for someone over 15.

Which is also some of the reasons we see a indie hype , those games are coming out because those dev´s want to make the game and not just to make money, so its not been through the commercial mill of the bigger publishers.

I've had to learn to adjust my hype level over the years. I flat out ruined my own Saints Row The Third play through. I was so hyped up after SR2, there' simply no way they could have lived up to it. And then when it came out and was just good, not the mega great pinnacle of open world games like I wanted, I ended up exaggerating it's flaws and liking even less. After SR4 came out and I enjoyed it, I went back and played some 3. It's nowhere near as bad as I'd remembered.

Same thing happened with Halo 2. The multiplayer in 2 was fine, but i enjoyed the story and sci-fi themes in the first one. So the story left me with such a bad impression. But there's no way it could have matched what I was hoping for.

You just have to temper your expectations. Forge them into something reasonable.

Whoa Whoa hang on. Lets not commit suicide just yet, isn't Rockstar partly to blame as well, I mean they did brag about how much there would be to do in GTA V. And allthough that was true, there just was not alot of things worth doing. They half assed most of their many many activites, its not wrong for a gamer to expect something to do whilest scuba diving besides stare at fish all day. Ofcourse I outgrew Rockstars Laziness 3 years ago so I didn't expect squat besides the Quantity > Qauality formula.

Also Hype is for lazy people. If theres a game out there, Research it ! Its whole lot more accurate than hype. Oh God, gamers haven't so lazy.

Gamers expectations are far too low. It's almost like they forget or ignore the previous 10 years of gaming when it comes to new releases.

Y'know, I used to get really hyped up for games when I was a lot younger doing the same as you, TC. I'd eat up every tidbit of info I could get, obsessively watch videos and view pics, scrutinizing and analyzing every detail for obsessive speculation. Eventually I found this to be simply a path to disappointment everytime. Rarely will a game meet the hype and the excitement you've built up for it. Pretty much EVERY game that came out and I loved every second of and that has held lasting appeal.....Batman AA, TLoU, Journey, Guitar Hero (just off the top of my head) were games that I was aware were coming out but paid barely any attention to pregame hype. Hell, I've had games that I didn't know were on the way until they hit. And when they arrived they blew me out of the water because there was no hype or expectation on my part.

Now I don't pay attention to anything about a game that's yet to be released except the date of release and I find I'm being disappointed much less and pleasantly surprised more and more.

Eh? did you even read what Solid wrote.

Also why would looking up confirmed/unconfirmed rumors and fan chatter make a hype lower? i dont think you get what hype is if you actually think that.

Actually the best way to deal with hype is to avoid the game until you can either try it out in a demo/early access/beta or its released.

@ Jacanuk

Hype is lies ! ;)

hehe well, true most times they are.

It seem many give the large name game no room for anything. Many do not seem to care about the tiny things that a game can do. At the same time they praise indie games for a number of things that they are nearly as good.

The argument that indie games are the one making games because they have a passion for game is poor. I bet those that work on large games have the same amount of passion,

Many of the large games do not get the credit that they should get. Innovation is not always large and easy to see.

I completely ignored GTA5 news. I expected more of the same, and only bought it because my brother and I decided to start a crew for GTAO. What I got was exactly what I expected. A little better executed, admittedly, but still the same. GTA Online, on the other hand, is something new. It's still a bunch of people tossed into a landscape and set free to raise hell in whatever fashion they see fit. But now it's more- co op jobs, competitive modes, ambient activities like robberies and gang attacks, and even non violent activities like parachute drops and races.

It changes for me. I think, in a lot of ways, GTA was sort of a middle ground for me. It exceeded a lot of my most basic expectations, but fell short in a few others. More than anything, I love to follow gaming. I probably spend more time reading about it and watching video of it than I actually do of playing it. So, a lot of the time, I already know what I'm getting into before I get my hands on it.

@BadNewsBen: I'm interested to know where you think it succeeded and where it fell short.

I never hype games i get excited but i never hype them up then that way i never get dissapointed.

i totally agree. I try not to get overexcited when i am watching gameplay, reviews, videos and articles about the game. So i am just looking forward to games and try not getting spoiled of the story. I also try not to watch too much of the story and just simple game mechanics the game has. If i like what i see i will buy it trying to have no hype at all. I do think people are expecting way too much out of games these days

Yep, they sure is.

I think most gamers expectations aren't particularly high. However, the expectations of a person who regularly visits this site and posts on these forums may most likely be a bit to high.

OP, it's possible you overdid it with your hype for this game. I mean, you followed it closely before release, and then you beat it in a week. You may just be burned out on GTA!!

Maybe you just got tired of playing GTA.

I have my own set of criteria and objectives/goals when I play a game that I'm sure I would like. If my expectations aren't met I don't rage about it since I understand a little bit on how this game works. By that I mean all the effort put through into making it and stuff like that. Then I just focus on the things that I like about the game and enjoy that part for my own entertainment. I don't always enjoy the entirety of a game, mostly parts of it.

If it's a game that I would just like to try then I base my expectations on reviews I read. Although sometimes there are reviews that are either too pro or too con to the game. That's when I actually decide to try it for myself or not.

I think it's the exact opposite. Most games have been getting way too much credit than they should. The more often develepers produce games, the less likely we are to buy their next release. So much goes into commercializing games these days, that we hype ourselves up by watching everything they have to show us and then when the game finally gets released our expectations are lowered.

I would opine here that having high expectations about a game is a mark of gullibility.

It's easy to get caught up in the hype of a high-profile game like Grand Theft Auto V. Wait-and-see is a wiser policy.

I think gamers' expectations are way too high. Usually they just aren't realistic about things.

Instead of appreciating games for what they are, and what they do correctly... They always binge on a game until they become bored with it and just want to complain about it.

Gamers are seldom satisfied. And when they are, they usually end up making things really overrated.

I think video games are just like the movie industry-- only so many ideas you can come up with. A lot of it are sequels in Hollywood, same applies to video games, but games are much more interactive. Video games down the road could be very stagnant, and already feels so. But I still enjoy to play. My expectations and excitement for video games have gone down considerably but I still like to play with friends. To be honest if it wasn't for online gaming, I probably wouldn't play as frequently.

I still enjoy a good single-player game, but my excitement for certain games never go to fever high, now that I am much more mature, and older. In fact with GTA V I didn't get too excited until I picked it up, never really followed it too much like I use too. I would probably say I haven't felt an excitement for a video game where I couldn't wait for it to come out since 2005. That game was Resident Evil 4.

When that came out, I went straight to Wal-Mart to pick it up after school, and played until midnight. That was one of the most memorable games in my time, and I just couldn't put my controller down. I haven't felt that rush in such a long time, and I am not sure if I will ever feel that way towards another game in terms of expectations and so forth.

But like I said I love to play, as long as it has great gameplay, a great story doesn't hurt either, and being able to play with friends. Since the video game industry changed so much with less focus on single-player games, and more focus on the multiplayer experience my excitement for games has gone down I was always big on single story games.