Salt and Reviews

Sometimes we like video games. Sometimes we like them very much. Sometimes we like them so much that we can't possibly understand how someone doesn't like them just like we do. Then we try to change their minds, see the error of their ways; we announce to the four winds just how wrong they are for disliking that which we so adore.

And sometimes we go overboard and start using DDOS attacks against someone who dared not give our new hotness another shiny 10/10.

Wait. What?

'Haters gonna hate' says the popular phrase, but that goes both ways. Jim Sterling's critique of Zelda is based on details that sound, at least on paper, reasonable. The weapon durability issue is often seen in gameplay videos (not the official ones, of course) and does seem like and odd thing to do constantly in combat. Both the Blood Moon and the frequency of rain have been commented in both social networks and certain game sites, enough to know that they both are 'a thing'.

But whatever your opinion is on these 'features' I think we can agree that we cannot, as individuals, go so far as to get so angry at the reviewer to start actions that could cause him actual harm. In the past we have heard of death threats being sent to reviewers that did not grace a certain game with a number superior to 9. Today, besides the insults being thrown at Sterling we are seeing his site being hammered with DDOS attacks, popular with the so-called 'script-kiddies'. Right now, if you try going to the review itself you will end up with a "database connection" error, even after passing a recently implemented anti-DDOS.
Here's a few more reasonable things you can do when you're angry about a game review:

• Yell
• Scream angry words at the screen, while reading/watching said review
• Yell louder
• Angrily post on social networks like Twitter
• Speculate on which console war opponent paid for a low review for the 'new hotness'
• Angrily post on your go-to gamer forums
• Take medication for the anxiety that you get from knowing this review is surely gonna cause the bankruptcy of your favorite game developer
• Write in your own blog about how this review is the first step to a Mad Max-esque future
• Blame Obama (oh yeah, that's not a thing anymore)

All of these are things that already happen, and none of them directly harm the person whose opinion you disagree with. You can have your own opinion, but that doesn't mean that you have/need to change others', much less by bringing sites (or businesses) down. Even Sterling's 7 (oh, the horror!) will hardly deter anyone who wants Zelda to try it. Heck, even his 7 is also clearly explained to be a part of a much bigger package of goodness.

"But Metacritic dropped to 97!"

Oh, boo hoo! Cry me a river. Zelda is not the highest reviewed game in an aggregator site that just jumbles together reviews from all over the internet a produces a magical number to 'sum it up'. For shame.