Recently I got a call from a good friend asking me to write about how much anger and negativity pervades gaming in our modern era. I reflected the challenge therein, as many of the factoring instigators of such are outside the purview of our humble and relatively focused collector/gaming site. Also, I've spilled much digital ink in various articles over the years championing virtues against such negativity. It is not that more can't or shouldn't be said about the topic, just that there are times and places better suited for conversations that dig deeper into the myriad of problems that are the origin of said negativity.
And yet there are lots of angles about modern gamer anger that can be more readily addressed, if not overcome, by way of analysis and discussion on neutral grounds such as ours. In fact one angle of discussion in particular came to mind by way of my recent reflections playing Fallout 76 and Anthem. These two titles, in their design philosophy, problematic constructions, and correlating critical and commercial reception, pretty much embody the various threads into a cohesive strand of something larger, a specific anger-inducing phenomena inherent to our current-gen gaming.
