Other than its quality, what factors most affect whether you like a Thing?

I can be moody as fuck about my games and movies. But other than that, no shits given.

The shorts. No good shorts, no deal.

Could use a "none of the above" option, as I've gotten pretty great at divorcing a work from the circumstances and people surrounding it.

Out of the options given, I guess my own mind is the hardest thing to separate myself from (for obvious reasons(, but even then I've learned to give things a second chance if I'm just not in the right frame of mind for it at the time.

None of the above.

@takayamasama said:

The shorts. No good shorts, no deal.

I like shorts. They're fun and easy to we-

I'm sorry. I can't even finish that sentence because I can't stop looking at Ben Grimm's rock dick. It's real distracting.

Edit: OOOH ITS CAUSE I CAPITALIZED "THING." I'm slow.

I can't relate to anyone having to agree with the politics of the creator to enjoy something. Nothing above but if I had to choose I guess it would be my mood when playing.

@pokeikzai: I don't buy Orson Scott Card books for a very specific reason. Buying Shadow Complex was a real moral quandary for me.

Not sure why any of those things would influence how I liked something. Why are you eliminating quality?

I don't know why but this title broke my brain.

outta the options mood/circumstances at the time matter the most for me but how much I like a thing is based on my taste no? I've come back around on things I initially hated after giving it another chance. That said, I usually gravitate toward things that are "weird", has a voice, artistic or if it's done to death, than the execution of it.

I really don't know how I would divorce those different influences from working out why I enjoy something.

I mean they may influence my interest in something or potentially make me less likely to check it out but that's separate to actually enjoying it. Although I guess having your opinions reinforced does make you enjoy things more.

RE politics, you can like something but not want to support the people behind it. I know a friend who enjoys Nestlé chocolate but doesn't like the company so doesn't buy their stuff.

@hunkulese: Because no one experiences a work in a vacuum. Everyone likes to think "I like the thing I like cause it's objectively good." Is it? Or does context have just as much effect as content?

"Your mood/circumstances at the time you consume it." was the only remotely applicable option for me.

More than quality, I think the most important factor for me is the setting and atmosphere/mood of the game/thing in question.

I'm willing to look past most qualitative issues of a game or movie or whatever if it hits the right notes in art style, soundtrack and general mood. Most of my favorite media is far from perfect in execution, and I'd take ambitious and interesting but severely flawed stuff like Sentient over something that treads-well-explored-territory-but-does-it-to-perfection any day.

Its primarily how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking about at the time. I merely good thing may become a great thing in the right circumstances and a good thing might be torture when your not in the mood and if that's my one time watching/playing/listening to that thing then that's how i'll remember it.

However Id be lying if I wasn't also swayed a little of by the politics of the creator and my friends preferences as well friends like it thrown in.

I didn't think politics did, as I was able to enjoy a lot of things where I find the producers views distasteful but when I found out Jason lee was a scientologist, my respect for him was reduced and I started not following his projects at all. Its not so much that I thought the projects he worked on were worse or better than before I knew, it's more that I couldn't support/get behind someone into that. I went from someone who might have checked what he was doing from time to time and trying to catch a movie or show he was in to not giving any fucks.

Friends on the other hand makes perfect sense, not because of group think, but because I generally find out about new music and TV from friends. If I didn't trust their tastes I wouldn't try out half the stuff I end up liking.

Mammary glands and gluteal muscles...or tits & ass.

Mood I guess. I almost went with fanbase, but I realized that has never affected whether or not I actually like something, but it has affected whether or not I want to talk about a thing. There's a lot of shit out there I'd like to have genuine discussions about, but just don't because the fanbases (or rather, the vocal sections of said fanbases) are usually comprised of people who essentially sound like "well, if you don't think this thing is perfect then fuck you!"

@lucien_lachance: What does experiencing something in a vacuum have to do with anything? If something was awesome, why would a fanbase or review scores make you think it's not awesome?

@lucien_lachance said:

@takayamasama said:

The shorts. No good shorts, no deal.

I like shorts. They're fun and easy to we-

I'm sorry. I can't even finish that sentence because I can't stop looking at Ben Grimm's rock dick. It's real distracting.

Edit: OOOH ITS CAUSE I CAPITALIZED "THING." I'm slow.

You two are alright.

I would be lying if any of those things have absolutely zero effect on my enjoyment of something but my mood definitely has an impact on my enjoyment of something.

Sometimes, I'm just in a mood for an open-worldy colecta-thon game so I'd probably lose myself in a Assassin's Creed game. Other times, I'd play for 45 minutes and be sick of it. For some reason, whenever winter rolls around, I get an urge to play some Skyrim and it makes me happier for some reason.

The other options don't really affect my current enjoyment of something but they definitely affect if I pick them up. I try not to let the creator's politics sway me but it does happen sometimes, Fez and Ender's Game being extreme exemples for me.

GameFAQs polls.

Most of the things you listed don't matter much to me, except for the politics of the creator. That can ruin stuff for me. For example, I'd love to play Shadow Complex on the PC, but if it means putting money in Orson Scott Card's pockets then count me the fuck out.

I think all of those may have some small effect on my overall feelings towards a game, but the biggest ones for me are my mood and circumstances at the time, and the fan-base. Often an obnoxious or obsessive fan-base can definitely sour my feelings towards a product overall, especially when it's the sort of fanbase that encourages people bottling up any small criticisms they have for fear of being told they didn't "get it" or "didn't play it right" (Most recently, the Undertale fan-base). On the other hand, loving communities that foster discussion while accepting critique of their game, and coming together to explore the mechanics and lore of a game, can really make me fall in love with the product all over again (XCOM: EU's fan-base epitomizes this for me).

And yeah, I'm sure everyone gets this but often a game will strike me in completely different ways depending on how I'm feeling when I start playing.

None of the above?

Though in an opposite way, a couple of the above things can influence when I don't like a game (primarily with multiplayer games. Bad communities can ruin an otherwise good game but a good community can't make me like a game I don't like in the first place). But when I like something, I like it for what it is, not because of stupid review score or what other people think.

Mood/circumstance is definitely the only thing there that applies to me. I'm one of those super hardcore death of the author advocates. Artist and creation are entirely separate things in my mind. A creator's intentions, political beliefs, actions, and personality just don't factor in for me at all. I would read a book by a murderer or rapist and not really think too much about it. Roman Polanski made some great movies, for instance. He's also a despicable rapist who deserves to be in jail.

It's been the case throughout history that some of the best art is made by some of the most broken, fucked up, horrible people. If I can easily get their shit for free and avoid supporting them I probably will, but if I can't I'll just buy it and it never feels like a big deal to me. -shrug-

None of the above. If it's good, it's good.

Pretty much mood/circumstances, I've stopped listening review scores years ago, if I like the look of something I'll buy it.

besides quality i think it's how the product is marketed or the word of mouth through other fans/ the company. If you try to sell me something and its dumb or weird or a gimmick, tell me that its dumb and stupid. dont sell me a sponge and say its a towel ya know?

I just imagine vinny coming up to me and be like he wanna buy my product? its big and dumb but we had fun with it. ill be more likely to get that product.

I think mood plays a part sometimes.

A random example was the first time I saw Spirited Away. When I watched it I didn't like it. Years later I watched it again and liked it. One key detail between the two viewings was the first time I watched it I was sick. In fact, I couldn't watch it all in one sitting. It turns out I might have more fun watching a movie when I don't feel like shit.