Other than religion and politics, what do you think is the most controversial subject in general?

[Alolan_Apples]

We all know that political discussions, as well as discussions on religion, race, economics, hot news stories, and anything else in that matter tend to breed hostility and break out into flame wars (not just here, but everywhere). However, not all controversial discussions or discussions with a lot of toxicity are based on stuff like religion and politics. Out of all the non-political topics you can think of, what do you think is the most controversial topic?

In my opinion, pretty much anything related to Pokémon and how it went downhill since X/Y. While discussions about anything going downhill is controversial and a topic trolls like to talk about, people have taken video gaming more seriously these days, and the Pokémon fandom is one of the most toxic ones. The Dexit topic and how the Sword/Shield hatedom behaved is the worst one, but the fandom has been pretty negative even before that (heck, they’re still pessimistic towards Gen 6 as of today).

 

[-Blue-]

I'm sure there's a lot of controversial topics, but most would probably get this locked if it gets too heated. So I'll do a light controversial piece. There's a lot of games I love and some I've disliked or extremely so, but they all have their flaws. You wouldn't think they do if you ever talked to the fans of said games because bringing up the game's flaws always upsets them. Like the game is their baby and personality and they can't handle admitting it's ok if the game is flawed and you like it. Not everything is 100% flawless.

I really like the game Grounded (about teens who were kidnapped, shrunk, and let loose in some backyard to defend themselves against the elements and all the creepy crawlers. It's such a fun game, but the combat is very clunky and some of the building mechanics (you can build a variety of things, bases, and shelters) can be wonky.

But if you go on any discussion forum or site like Reddit the fans refuse to listen. It's ok to say the combat needs fixing or that the way building works needs a tweak. It doesn't make the game you love garbage now. You would think these fans would want their favorite game to actually progress and be better instead of stuck in the past with their gatekeeping that allows the devs a free pass to push out whatever. Looking your way Gamefreak and FromSoft.

 

[Neb]

Any discussion of a video game with dark themes attracts a lot of young fans who are too young to be playing it. For example, Mouthwashing is an excellent horror game with complex characters and serious themes that get wildly oversimplified by its many teenage fans. Any discussion of certain characters and events in the game's story leads to many bad takes and hostility. I'm only in the fandom for the wonderful fanart that gets created and yet I'm still subject to endless discourse over the game's story. With that fandom it's Undertale in 2015/2016 all over again.

 

[-Blue-]

Any discussion of a video game with dark themes attracts a lot of young fans who are too young to be playing it. For example, Mouthwashing is an excellent horror game with complex characters and serious themes that get wildly oversimplified by its many teenage fans. Any discussion of certain characters and events in the game's story leads to many bad takes and hostility. I'm only in the fandom for the wonderful fanart that gets created and yet I'm still subject to endless discourse over the game's story. With that fandom it's Undertale in 2015/2016 all over again.

I get what you're saying. Not that I can back this up as I've never played Omori, but I've heard a lot of the fans of the game are too young to understand all of the complicated themes from the story. So they always vilify the sister who is really just being a regular sister and not out to be this horrible abusive sister that the kids think she was. It's never implied she was a horrible sister. Again that's the comments I've read on fans who were old enough for the more mature themes and the kids who probably shouldn't have touched the game until they were older.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

Another game that’s a hotbed of controversies - LittleBigPlanet. Back when Media Molecule was in charge of the game (as well as a few months after), there were several controversies involving the games. The biggest ones (not counting the actual political/religious controversy with their use of one of the songs):

• The Cool Levels and how they’ve been mostly copied spam from the same person.
• The Mm Picks (the developer favorites) no longer the best of honor and filled with mediocre levels dominated by two or three creators and holiday levels.
• The removal of the “Boo” rating, which has been abused as a tool of hate and grief.
• Community misbehaviors that actually got Media Molecule involved (like the scoreboard hacking and the Lethal Sackboy glitch)
• The whole H4H and P4P thing.

Even minor controversies have hit the game. For instance, the Move Pack had a few mini-games that were ridiculously hard or broken, and you’re expected to play them to get all of the prizes and unlock all of the achievements.

I remember talking about LBP’s controversies a lot on LittleBigPlanet Central. I even kept doing it until others lost patience in me. But given that’s it’s more of a creative game, this is expected.

 

[Croconaw]

Anything can turn into a heated discussion on the internet, lmao.

 

[Shawna]

I’d say maybe abortion or the death penalty. I don’t want this thread to go off the rails, so that’s all I’m gonna say on this topic.

 

[Corrie]

Anything to do with the LGBTQ+ community.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

I’d say maybe abortion or the death penalty. I don’t want this thread to go off the rails, so that’s all I’m gonna say on this topic.

Anything to do with the LGBTQ+ community.

Not trying to be bossy, but those are political topics or social topics. I’m mostly looking for stuff like TV show controversies, video game controversies, and sports controversies. Stuff that we don’t expect to get controversial or toxic since they don’t involve hot-button issues, but end up becoming so.

Anything can turn into a heated discussion on the internet, lmao.

That is true. Especially on GameFAQs and Twitter.

 

[-Blue-]

Not trying to be bossy, but those are political topics or social topics. I’m mostly looking for stuff like TV show controversies, video game controversies, and sports controversies. Stuff that we don’t expect to get controversial or toxic since they don’t involve hot-button issues, but end up becoming so.

That is true. Especially on GameFAQs and Twitter.

No, it was understandable what you meant. When I read your topic it reminded me of that meme still frame of Fynn Rider? from Tangled and how a bunch of swords are aiming at him with the caption 'what opinion do you have that causes this' or whatever.

 

[ShawnFuzz]

Take it from me... and please hear me out. I have learned my lesson and am just using my own experience to help further your discussion... I am NOT trying to start a debate!

I have learned, harshly, that if you criticize the TBT community because people are posting comments to earn event currency rather than for just pure discussion... well... it gets controversial, especially if you don't speak like a politician when you say your thoughts. One wrong comparison, and admins are everywhere. (Thankfully for me, and all of us, the admins are wonderful people!)

Again, I have apologized, and don't want to restart ANY of that! But I am answering your question honestly! Basically, poking at a community can lead to controversial opinions... really fast.

 

[SkyKnight03]

The Smash Brothers community on GameFaqs is weirdly cultish about which characters they want included. As in, people will base entire accounts and personalities on this.

It was one of the reasons I left.

I'd rather not receive death threats because I mention wanting Toad in the game.

It's probably cooled off right now. When the DLC is still actively being announced, the community is rabid.

 

[AccfSally]

Anything that involves a very active character shipping fandom. Will never forget that time back in 2009 on the site Gaiaonline, where I just asked a simple question.
For example: "Why do people not like Raymond?"

The question was just out of pure curiosity, before someone showed up and made it about ships while also getting all personal with me; like WTF.

 

[seliph]

the price of impostor collectibles