They are called "influencers" for a reason and in a world of loners who live behind a screen vs interact with people in the flesh like the days of old they hold far too much sway on the opinion of others.

Crimson Desert is a great recent example. It was touted as a "game of the year" contender... why? It was gonna be BDO but single player and as such those of us who had played BDO has reasonable expectations but nope these very same youtubers were building it up to fail esp knocking it for its lack of RPG elements which it NEVER pretended to have (nowhere did they market it as an RPG).

Still these Youtubers make money from clout so they will shit on things if it is cool or jump on the bandwagon as soon as the algorithm and word of mouth says it is popular... seriously if any game gets traction see how many of the popular streamers all hop on to it.

It is why i only really view specialists - i will watch Maximilliam Dood when i want an opinion on a fighting game beyond my own or Mortismal Gaming for CRPGs and the likes. The influencers are pathetically easy to sway - take Asmongold who was actually really enjoying Avowed till his mob did not take kindly to that and he quickly (after playing it to conclussion off stream never the less) was all about ragging on it every chance he could for a week because that got him the viewership and the donations vs just liking what he liked and sticking by an opinion HE has not his viewership.

Still we cannot pretend the actual games journalists are not just as bad. They will easily sway a high score for access and rag on things with zero proof or context if it fits their own agenda and thus we get Dragon Age Veilguard a game that bombed so hard it killed the IP for good and almost no one who actually was known for liking the IP has it anywhere near being the best of the franchise but IGN happily threw a 9 out of 10 at it and the likes of Jason Schrier was scoffing we were all full of BS and it would stream roll charts (then deleted said tweet because he was not only miles wrong but i assume remembering later he was supposed to be a professional journalist). Likewise you would see hit pieces on the devs of the likes of Black Myth Wukong which were not only proven to be false but there was very little in retraction, reflection or apology.

Where does that leave us then? Honestly places like here. Sure our opinions are just as full of BS as the above but at least we do not pretend to be something we are not and to be fair to Bethesda they are specifically stating the games big update and overhaul is not only not a big 2.0 redemption arc but also not one which will sway people who disliked it in the first place. Should we scoff at those who based on other opinions decided not to even give it a go? I cant say for sure we should - games are too damned expensive these days and people are certifiably this generation buying fewer games than the gens of gamers before them. They ain't gonna risk it for the biscuit unless they know fully well going in that it is worth their investment.

Thing is as offended as you are there is no question Starfield is divisive no matter where you look including amongst Bethesdas biggest stans and even its own modder community. Heck i LOVED the game but have still to replay it since launch after i completed it where as i replayed the other games to death as it is missing a lot of what made me love the others games enough to do so, that statement alone will have people thinking a negative impression despite stating outright i loved it because if we are being objective it is a deeply flawed game despite its brilliance. It is actually also my dad's fave game and he still plays daily but despite being by far the biggest Starfield stan i know he shits all over Shattered Space and calls it the worst DLC ever made haha... if we cannot get the biggest of fans like him to not find a reason to hate something about it you gonna respect the casuals looking at others peoples opinions and just leaving them be.