So I'm sure many of you here on N4G are tired of the many clickbait articles involving sign-in issues, friend list issues, or just general network errors happening on your console(s) of choice, I know that I am. It happens almost weekly lately on N4G and seems to have become more of a Fanboy melting pot filled with comments of "see this is why i play on X console" or "this is why Y console is so much better than X" than anything else and frankly it is not very productive at all. The problem isn't that these reports are false or untrue but the fact that they are mostly insignificant and pointless and sometimes written just to start controversy.
The issue with most of these articles is, as said previously, the comments section become a battle ground for fanboys who have, for one reason or another, become obsessed with trying to prove that the console they own is better than the console some other user owns, which to me makes almost no sense at all. The logic of most fanboys becomes flawed just based on the fact that not everyone has the same taste in games, i mean how are you going to convince a Gamer who's favorite game is Halo that the PlayStation 4 is better than the Xbox One? Can he play Halo on Sony's console? No he can't, so why would he buy that when the game he wants most isn't available for it? Same logic applies the other way, if a gamer loved the Uncharted series and couldn't wait to get the next installment on the new generation how are you going to tell him the Xbox is better? So what if over a 365 day period one console suffers a little more network issues than the other, it doesn't change what games are available on either console. And why are you trying so hard to prove that your product of choice has the better network, they both have problems at times, call out the companies not each other. If LIVE or PSN keep having issues and you all keep defending it then why would Microsoft or Sony bother spending time or money fixing it when everyone is saying "oh no there's no problems here, it works much better than that other console"
Another massive flaw with most of these articles is that they have started to get posted for the smallest of issues; A few people can't see their friends list, random app on console isn't responding, maintenance on the store/marketplace. I have no problem with an article about why a network was down for hours or even days (a hack, glitch in the system, or other major problems) but for minor little things does it really warrant a fully written article posted to a site that is sure to bring out the "fans". The main issue i have with this is that anyone that uses N4G is sure to know how to use official sources. All the networks have official status sites, twitter support pages, and official forums that someone unsure if the problem is widespread or strictly happening to them can quickly check and get pretty instant information. It feels a lot like if PSN has an issue and a site posts about it all the Xbox Fanboys attack it so then the next time the smallest thing happens to LIVE the Playstation "fans" use it as ammo to fight back, and vice versa, on and on, back and forth, and it just makes everyone look bad.
And finally don't most of these sites realize that by the time their articles are written and posted most of the smaller problems they are posting about are already resolved and the article is basically useless? The problem is magnified by sites' stories' that are posted to N4G, by the time most of these articles go through the approval process and hit the front page, the problems have been fixed for hours. It results in a bunch of "everything is fine here" comments and people accusing others of lying and it's just all a big mess. If a network is hacked or down for a long period of time, write away, I just don't see the purpose of posting about every little issue, it comes off as Fanboy clickbait. If you find that the Networks are performing to a less than acceptable level and have something productive to write about it or there is a long disruption, that is a different story. Sure the Fanboys will show up and comment away but you have still produced a well thought out and insightful article that is worth a read. This blog goes out to the sites that specifically post an article to the tune of: Title: ____ network is suffering from connectivity issues. And the full story reads: User01 is suffering from x issue.
And to the Fanboys, what's your deal? We are all Gamers, we all share the same passion for the same hobby, we love great games, be it Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo, PC or even Mobile, nah nevermind scratch mobile. When a fellow Gamer is having issues with the network of their choice, why kick them when they are down? And why such loyalty to a brand or company? Everyone has their reasons for what they play and tastes for different games, I play on all systems and they're are great guys and girls on all of them and the fanboys just make everyone look bad. Instead of blindly defending everything your favorite company does, call them out sometimes, that's how improvements are made, they won't improve things if they know they have a fanbase that will eat up whatever they sell.
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I've been saying for a while; we need some limitations for these articles.
If a service is COMPLETELY DOWN (not sign in issues for a couple of people or a single feature down), it should have to be an issue for longer than 5 minutes to be news. If it's a single feature, longer than 30 minutes.
If the service is down for SOME regions, some actual effort to catalog the regions affected should be made...and the issue should last longer than 30 minutes to be considered news.
Clickbate has started to get out of hand here on N4G. And apparently it is working outer wise we wouldn't see these kind of "articles" which is some cases source some random guys tweet.