It's Free so You Can't Compain

Does a trope for this exist yet?

Example: Team Fortress 2 has added hats and weapons that change the style of the game, and many people complain how it's ruining the game, though a common argument is that "It's free so you can't complain"

Probably covered in the useful notes on logic fallacy page.

EDIT: Nevermind.

edited 3rd Aug '11 3:23:58 PM by Neo_Crimson

Complaining About Things You Haven't Paid For

edited 3rd Aug '11 4:43:10 PM by Nexus

Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch is pretty much what it is. If you didn't pick it up, you got no reason to complain about not liking it.

I took economics! Even if I didn't pay in "money", I payed in opportunity cost/time, so I have every reason to cation people against it.

yes I realize how much time I lose complaining about it.

edited 3rd Aug '11 7:23:10 PM by deuxhero

How can it be complaining about shows you don't watch if you're watching the show? In this case playing the game. Just because Valve's updates of Team Fortress are free doesn't mean people didn't pay to play the game or that those free updates are changing the game they were used to playing, that they already paid for.

A man has paid for a lunch ticket to a cafeteria or something. Among his favorite choices are Chicken Patties, Hamburgers, Fried Potatoes, Roast Beef, and Onion Rings. Then one day he finds all of his favorites are now being cooked in an oil he's allergic to. "We added it for free, you can't complain!" is not valid if he has already paid for a service with something else in mind.

I've heard people say that you can't complain about Adventure Quest because it's free.

Which is not only a logical fallacy, but completely wrong.

The right to criticize shouldn't have to be bought with money.

In the future, when the robot overlords take over, each basic human right will be an optional monthly fee.

QFT. And no, we don't have this, though it is an interesting fallacy.

However we do, amusingly, have a trope from the point of view of the fallacy itself.

edited 4th Aug '11 9:35:39 AM by KnownUnknown

I understand criticism. I don't understand it when people go on the forums particularly of that game to post repeatedly that the game sucks and here's the reasons why.

If someone asks for your opinion? Tell em. If you find a thread about games people should avoid, go ahead and post there. Hell, e-mail the devs with your concerns. The primary problem with people criticising games is they go on the official forums and never shut up. The first part? Fine, that actually might be good because people who might buy the game would go there. But when you constantly repeat yourself every time anyone says anything good about the game you're just being a jackass.

Note: This may be influenced by reading comment sections. Any accusations of jackassery are aimed at those people, not anyone here.

Really, it's just that when you're complaining about something you get for free, unless you make it constructive criticism you come across as a jerk. Hell, even a list of gripes you have with the game would be fine, but 90% of the time people say "This game sucks, here's why, and if you disagree with me YOU'RE WRONG."

edited 4th Aug '11 9:52:23 AM by TheInferno

Everyone always has the right to complain. The key difference with free software isn't whether or not you have the right to complain, it's whether or not you have the right to have your complaints acknowledged. If the author accepts money for something, that's a tacit acknowledgement that they're working for the customer.

Free stuff? That's more like “I made a thing, I've decided you can have it too, and maybe I care about what you think… Or not, who knows?”.

It depends. If the DLC is free, yeah, you really can't complain here. You didn't have to download it in the first place.(obviously, I misunderstood earlier in my first post on the thread, my bad)

However, free updates for stuff you don't want is annoying no matter how you look at it. Some examples are constant Wii updates that's solely there for a crappy clock but really to remove hacks. On the other hand, the hacks removed? Only because we can't use a Cheat Device offline, which is something Nintendo lost to Galoob about for the Game Genie.(to clarify, I do not condone online cheating, but offline, who the hell cares?) This is solely an example, and frankly, if you're going to be online, and you do cheat(even if offline), well, did you really think they wouldn't fear you'd cheat online? So yes, you can complain for free stuff if it's bad. Whether they listen or not(or allow you to complain). Likewise, if it pisses you off(and you can't complain to them directly), write a blog about it instead. Works wonders.

TF2 and the Wii are different, since that's not a free product, it's free modifications to something you paid money for, modifications that you cannot reconfigure or refuse to install.

Which is why the Wii is worse. If that's what you meant.

If I'm correct, you meant you could uninstall the TF 2 stuff, right? But not the Wii stuff outside of hacking.(this is why there's updates for hackers to prevent stuff) Notably, not every Wii update is a good idea, as some are glitchy and can brick you for no reason.

No, I meant they're exactly the same, since the majority of TF2 servers will swallow whatever Kool-Aid Valve cranks out.

edited 5th Aug '11 7:02:40 PM by EricDVH

Well, unless you have a server running a mod like Vs. Saxton Hale, which updates every time it gets (unintentionally) broken by an update.

edited 5th Aug '11 7:19:04 PM by RocketDude

That's... just bad. That makes the Wii better in a way since you can turn Wii Connect 24 off. However, there's a lot of updates you're forced to have to play some games.(which is just silly since most of them are to remove hacks, not give us legitimate updates)

Regardless, my only point was that some forced free stuff sucks.

Whereas Team Fortress 2 does get legitimate (depending on the definition of "legitimate") updates in the form of new items being added in (sometimes before they even debut), bugfixes and more.

edited 5th Aug '11 7:48:43 PM by RocketDude

In online games you are forced to have whatever you don't like, be it free or paid, and if most people like that, you'll be seeing it everywhere and you'll feel the need to complain; In offline games you can have whatever you want so it's not that bad.

edited 6th Aug '11 1:22:17 AM by Narmer