Do you feel like all your passions are too niche?

[ElvenNeko]

Today, i learned the news that one more online game i really liked (Evil Dead) stopped development. Somehow, all games i like do that. And almost every show i geniunly enjoy gets cancelled... or ever worse, like with Snowpiercer - they shoot last season, but chose not to release it, and do not even say why. Nobody heared about my most favorite bands, even when i ask in places dedicated to music like that. Even when it comes to appearance - i don't find majority of women attractive, espeically those that are considered traditionnaly beautiful, so even searching for porn is problematic, and irl i saw them only few times on the streets.

I just want to like something that liked by everyone, so it's easy to get and will not be taken away at first opportunity... Constantly losing all the cool stuff i could care about is one of most hated parts in life. If someone experiences the same - how do you deal with it?

 

[AspieChris]

Today, i learned the news that one more online game i really liked (Evil Dead) stopped development. Somehow, all games i like do that. And almost every show i geniunly enjoy gets cancelled... or ever worse, like with Snowpiercer - they shoot last season, but chose not to release it, and do not even say why. Nobody heared about my most favorite bands, even when i ask in places dedicated to music like that. Even when it comes to appearance - i don't find majority of women attractive, espeically those that are considered traditionnaly beautiful, so even searching for porn is problematic, and irl i saw them only few times on the streets.

I just want to like something that liked by everyone, so it's easy to get and will not be taken away at first opportunity... Constantly losing all the cool stuff i could care about is one of most hated parts in life. If someone experiences the same - how do you deal with it?

I pretend to like the things that are common, like football. When I have time to myself, I spend my time on my ‘niche’ interests. It’s a LOT of work but it’s how I got my job and my wife.

It’s sort of like having a 2nd job. I don’t get to enjoy it but it pays the bills. And being picky about what I see as attractive in a woman probably saved me from getting HIV 30 years ago. Promiscuity is a very unattractive trait in a woman.

 

[Misery]

Today, i learned the news that one more online game i really liked (Evil Dead) stopped development. Somehow, all games i like do that.

Keep in mind though, just because something goes "pop!" doesnt always mean it had anything to do with popularity or being too "niche". I say this as someone who almost exclusively plays indie games.

That aside, I looked up Evil Dead on Steam. This doesnt look like it had anything to do with popularity at all. Based on what I'm reading, it had to do with A: the developers didnt advertise well... or at all... and B: the game originally popped up on Epic, not on Steam. A lot of gamers still have that nonsensical hate towards anything that starts out on Epic, so that really doesnt help.

You cant have a functional multiplayer experience if nobody has even been told it exists. A multiplayer-focused game needs to have a build-up BEFORE release (at least a year)... you cant start creating a playerbase AT release and expect it to work. And a game meant to be playable on Steam with a focus on multiplayer NEEDS to hit Steam before or at the same time as other PC platforms, or that first thing isnt gonna happen. It really sounds like the developers either didnt know these two obvious things, or didnt care. Based on further reading... the devs didnt care.

That's honestly just how it is in this hobby. It isnt about "niche". It's about the behavior of the developers. Even a HUGE, really anticipated game can completely crash and burn because the devs or publishers didnt care. Remember Anthem? How about Evolve? Evolve in particular was REALLY geared up for multiplayer. It had a BIG budget, big advertising, and was gearing up for E-sports. Big game from an even bigger publisher. It still died on release, because the publisher screwed it up. Those two arent the only examples. Multiplayer games, huge or niche, NEED to be handled correctly, or they collapse immediately. There are no exceptions. Multiplayer games are also THE hardest type of game to release. If you're focused heavily on them, then yes, this IS going to happen sometimes, big game or small game.

At the same time though, if we're not considering multiplayer when talking about this hobby, well... does it matter if it is really niche? Like I said, I go indie almost exclusively, and that means some very niche games. But just because many others dont know what they are, doesnt mean I cant enjoy them. Though, at the same time, you might be surprised at how many people DO find something that, at first, seems too niche. And you also might be surprised WHERE you find them. Often, it isnt where you'd expect.

If you want to meet more people who are into whatever, maybe it's time to try somewhere new. Like if you're into such-and-such band, right, and they're a smaller band not very well known, going to some place that's more about mainstream music isnt going to do anything at all. So... where do you go? Well, you'll have to explore, and you'll have to PERSIST. First place you find doesnt work? Second? Third? Keep going anyway. Finding a good place to meet people in relation to a certain hobby, regardless of popularity, is not easy. Your experience with this aint exactly uncommon.

 

[Dagan]

The F13 game is about to stop being hosted online, as well. They are doing a new one, though. The same group of folks are who did this newest one, being the Texas Chainsaw game, and a couple of acquaintances with film work are doing the voices. All that to say, it is a more booming business of these style games and getting more and more film actors really in on things, so there's likely to be more to come. Definitely don't think they are going to be lost or not restored or rebooted in ways.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Too niche? You mean like herbal medicine and body work to support women in unassisted homebirth?

 

[Judge]

Frankly I wouldn't care if they were.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

To answer a NO and a Maybe.
(NO) My interests in Natural History and Outdoor Actvities seem to be populated by some intelligent and nice people.
(Maybe) My interest in Trilobites seems niche in Paleontology. These are sophisticated crustaceans which filled many aquatic niches and saw the beginning and end of the Paleozoic (during the great dieing).

But, this November will go after those fossil critters in the Anti-Atlas of Morocco with Geologists and gifted amateurs. And, we will get to the Kem Kem where Spinosaurs are found. Their teeth are plentiful as are the barbed saw-teeth of a 24 foot sawfish (Onchopristus) with a 6 foot long rostrum sporting those barbs that were hunted by Spinosaurs in the water. How cool is that?

 

[Catwoman]

Yeah. I'm obsessed with Batman's dead parents.

 

[Mr. Stevens]

Yeah. I'm obsessed with Batman's dead parents.

 

[Aspychata]

Niche, bougie ghetto, high brow, low brow, l really don't care brow.

 

[Mr. Stevens]

Some are niche and it can be nice to have more people to talk about them with.

Others were niche, but--due to the internet--are more easily accessible. Like certain music tastes. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's a little alienating. It's a little weird to have people love stuff that they probably would have mad fun of you for 20-30 years ago.

 

[Midnights11]

I would say I have a mix of both niche and non niche interests

 

[Princess Viola]

Honestly with the internet, I don't think there's such a thing as having 'too niche' of a passion anymore. You're basically always going to end up finding other people with the same interest.

 

[Tom]

Yes, I definately lean heavily into niche. But the thing is I want to investigate things that interest me, not what happens to be popular. Once in a while they cross, but tbh I like niche better when you do find a person also into it. It is not so crowded and over discussed/played out.

 

[ElvenNeko]

You cant have a functional multiplayer experience if nobody has even been told it exists. A multiplayer-focused game needs to have a build-up BEFORE release (at least a year)... you cant start creating a playerbase AT release and expect it to work. And a game meant to be playable on Steam with a focus on multiplayer NEEDS to hit Steam before or at the same time as other PC platforms, or that first thing isnt gonna happen.

First, it had a build-up with trailer, gamedev logs, usual promoution stuff.
Second, it released on Playstation and Xbox as well, so you can't blame EGS alone. Game had and still has pretty strong playerbase with crossplay option, games are found fast. I have no idea why they decided to discontinue it.

Also, before closing Evil Dead game, they closed Evil Dead show... that was also awesome.

It still died on release, because the publisher screwed it up.

Evolve died on release because of the greed of the developers. They did not want to pay additional cost to hotfix consoles, and didn't want to release patch for pc only. So they kept game for months in unplayable state before they fixed glaring issues, such as not being able to join a new match and being thrown in existing games instead. Then, instead of fixing ballance issues they made bs remake and only worsened it.

Anthem was DOA. It was made with money in mind, those kind of games almost always fail, it was obvious to anyone except devs.

Multiplayer games, huge or niche, NEED to be handled correctly, or they collapse immediately. There are no exceptions.

You are correct, i know games that could been a great hit if handled correctly, for example - Resident Evil Resistance.
But you are also wrong about exceptions. World are full of them. Games like Rust, Ark, Pubg were just thrown into the wild withot any promo or initial announce and became hits. Dead by daylight had major exploits for more than 6 months (that could be fixed in a day), had dev team go on vacation when gamebreaking exploit appeared, was never really advertized and has most boring gameplay out of all games in it's genre, but still are most popular one.

At the same time though, if we're not considering multiplayer when talking about this hobby, well... does it matter if it is really niche?

I don't have complaints about single player games. But since i have big passion for games, i finish them quite fast. Eventually, i run out of games in every genre i play. And while i wait for new ones, i have to play multiplayer to pass the time. The problem is that there is no games that i would really enjoy right now in mp, just somewhat tolerable ones. Every single game i really liked closed really fast. So i just have to play boring games because nothing else interests me.

 

[ElvenNeko]

Honestly with the internet, I don't think there's such a thing as having 'too niche' of a passion anymore. You're basically always going to end up finding other people with the same interest.

Not in my case... i not only can't find people (like in case with music), but also constantly losing objects of my interest (shows and games), so i can't even have things to enjoy in my life.

 

[Mr. Stevens]

Not in my case... i not only can't find people (like in case with music), but also constantly losing objects of my interest (shows and games), so i can't even have things to enjoy in my life.

That is one infuriating thing with the internet. It promises some (false) sense of democracy, and we get Stalinist history, instead. Things just come and go out of existence. I can look up one of my favorite bands on Spotify and all of their albums are there--except their most famous! It just doesn't exist. God knows why.

 

[ElvenNeko]

That is one infuriating thing with the internet. It promises some (false) sense of democracy, and we get Stalinist history, instead. Things just come and go out of existence. I can look up one of my favorite bands on Spotify and all of their albums are there--except their most famous! It just doesn't exist. God knows why.

Try the torrents. Albums of the bands i listen to, like Alieson, exist only there.

 

[Misery]

First, it had a build-up with trailer, gamedev logs, usual promoution stuff.
Second, it released on Playstation and Xbox as well, so you can't blame EGS alone. Game had and still has pretty strong playerbase with crossplay option, games are found fast. I have no idea why they decided to discontinue it.

For this, I'm just going off of everything I read (since I dont play that game), which includes what everyone is saying about it on the Steam forums.

Understand, I'm not actually looking to debate the specific points of this game or something. I could actually ramble for like 3 pages about the specifics of game development itself, having been on the developer side of the fence more than once, and having worked directly with other developers in a core testing role (and I dont mean "early access" stuff) more often than I want to think about. I'll spare you that though. That doesnt get anything done, and I already ranted too much in any case for no reason.

What I'm actually trying (badly) to get at is this: Something seeming niche doesnt mean it cant succeed, and something being mainstream doesnt mean it cant collapse immediately. Those things alone dont determine whether something like this lives or dies, and sometimes, the reasons why something collapses could be anything at all. Similarly, something being niche absolutely doesnt mean you cant find plenty of others who share the same interests, if you care to find others to share with. I'm about as social as a cactus, but I've still managed to find groups that I can interact with in relation to my interests, and being almost purely an indie gamer, my interests are VERY niche. Still found places to meet people who like them though. Same with my other hobbies. If I, spiky as I am, can do it, anyone can, probably.

Those things are what I was getting at. Or trying to anyway, in my rambling roundabout way.

I don't have complaints about single player games. But since i have big passion for games, i finish them quite fast. Eventually, i run out of games in every genre i play. And while i wait for new ones, i have to play multiplayer to pass the time. The problem is that there is no games that i would really enjoy right now in mp, just somewhat tolerable ones. Every single game i really liked closed really fast. So i just have to play boring games because nothing else interests me.

Well, here's the big question that I always bring up when someone mentions that sort of point:

Where are you looking? In terms of finding new singleplayer games. HOW are you looking? And what genres do you play?

I mean, I have literally free time, all the time, gaming is my main hobby, I'm picky about what I'll play and what I wont, yet I never run out of stuff. Heck, I've got a stupid backlog. Even when it comes to shorter games... like, I quite enjoy horror games (that arent enormous and bloated, and I specifically dont really play survival horror in particular), and many of those are actually quite short, yet even with how quick it is to finish many of them, there are always more.

There are 5 squillion games out there, in all genres. And entire types of games that you, or I, may have never even come across.

Maybe try other genres, too, beyond what you currently play? And yeah, I know, this one can seem unappealing, but... who knows? You might be surprised. I've actually been doing exactly this recently (which is why I bring this up), been on a real "try new things" kick just... because. And I have indeed been very surprised at finding out that some things I was CERTAIN I wouldnt like, things that I always thought I hated, well, turns out I actually do find myself liking a variety of things I never would have thought I'd care for. But then, I simply kept trying new things, and never really settled on games that I found boring once played. Heck with that, onto the next search... On top of that, I've found soooooooo many things within the genres I'm super familiar with, that I never knew about.

It's at least something to think about. After all, the only way to get new exciting things you might love, is to FIND them. And if you dont like the next thing you find? Go find more. Particularly when it comes to more niche stuff, they sure as heck aint gonna come find you. Who knows what wild things are waiting out there for you to discover? But if you merely wait, well... of course you aint finding fun things to do.

Anyway, that's all I want to say, I think. I'll pipe down here, more than enough typing done today and my arm is flaring up... time for a break.

 

[ElvenNeko]

Something seeming niche doesnt mean it cant succeed, and something being mainstream doesnt mean it cant collapse immediately.

It certainly can. Yet somehow i was never super attracted to any of the popular games. Well, with some exceptions like Conan Exiles maybe. But absolute majority of games that i really liked were closing really fast( And not because they were bad games. As i already mentioned, RE Resistance was one of the best games i played and had huge potential, but Capcom simply had no idea how to handle online game, and did everything possible to ensure that it fails. I swear, they literally sabotaged that game, almost like on purpose... but it's probably just giant incompetence.

Where are you looking? In terms of finding new singleplayer games. HOW are you looking? And what genres do you play?

Before i was looking everywhere - journals, websites, steam, youtube, whatever. But now, when i played all the older games that interested me, i mostly look on torrents, because every new game that gets cracked appears there, bad or good, does not matter. It's really easy to check new arrivals at the torrent site.

Genres - mostly rpg's or adventures, something that is story-rich. Since i am game writer myself, i love excellent stories and always search for them. Games that have too much gameplay and too little story interest me only if it's online pvp. Sometimes i play horror games, but mostly survival horror, since traditional horror games suck - they are mostly puzzles, a bit of hiding and completly bland story. SOMA is the only amazing exception from that, and there are a few more decent ones, but that's that. Horror games too easy to make, that's why there are a lot of low quality products there that does not even try to scare, and mostly boring.
The problem that most games that aren't rpg's are over in few days, rpg's can last a week maybe, BG3 took me a month to complete two times (i don't like to replay, but this one had good replayability), but i played online games between sessions, so it could be faster. And now i don't have new games to play (Starfield constantly crashing and buggy, new RE dlc isn't cracked yet, nothing decent is released in this month).

Maybe try other genres, too, beyond what you currently play?

Sometimes i do, but i quickly remember why i don't play them. I played almost everything when i was a kid, because everything was new. But i quickly realized what was fun to play, and what was not.