Georgios (he/him)

I wonder if critical discussion about board games is in a very early, fragile state, where we can't yet voice passionate disagreement, because it is always seen as reactionary dismissal of game criticism as a whole.

It seems incredibly difficult to say "this take is wrong", without worrying about people reading it as "stop thinking, it's just a game" or worse yet "stop being so woke".

But I do think that criticism must eventually allow for passionate disagreement, in order to actually develop distinct stances, views and viewpoints.

We can't have nuance without difference.

Feb 20, 2024 at 9:23amWeb
Show threadManuel CorreiaFeb 20, 2024
@Georgios Very likely, but I think it's also a consequence of social media, because that seems to be the default reaction to any sort of critique. I also see it happening in my other hobbies, it's exhausting.
Show threadGeorgios (he/him)Feb 20, 2024

@gamesbymanuel I agree, that the way social media has shaped our way of engaging each other has made these kinds of conversations more difficult.

I used to think that establishing your identity off-line with each other would help counteract this problem, but that doesn't seem to take.

Show threadManuel CorreiaFeb 20, 2024
@Georgios That second part is key. I don't think it happens nearly enough on more private spaces such as blogs, but in a public feed, any criticism gets drowned by calls of "it's just a game", "just scroll past", "go to another site", as if things could not and should never improve.
Show threadGeorgios (he/him)Feb 20, 2024

@gamesbymanuel Yeah. I have a lot of sympathy with more prominent critics who are already pre-emptively addressing such dismissal in their reviews.

But I also think that this doesn't lead to a more open critical conversation about games, because we're all too busy distancing ourselves from the reactionaries. Instead of a conversation we end up with a lot of individual opinions existing independently of each other.

Show threadManuel CorreiaFeb 20, 2024
@Georgios I agree, but given the current structure of the internet that seems like the most likely scenario.
Show threadOddbodFeb 20, 2024

@Georgios It seems like critical discussion of *anything* is in a fragile state at this moment in time, especially in the US.

Though it can depend a lot on the community where the discussion is taking place.

Not intended to minimize your observation though. Even if the broader state of the world were different, board games are definitely still in an early growth phase that's bringing a lot more people and focus, so it's not surprising if you're correct.